Forbidden Land

"Seems the elephant problem started in this year of 1003." Mane commented. "And a lava river this higher? No wonder It feels a bit too hot in here!"

"I find It cozy." Pinkamena smirked with a determined expression without keeping her eyes out of the door with her pistols ready. "Where shall we go next?"

"The previous guy talked about an underground river. We could go there and camp for a bit, because we need water." Mane closed his notebook with the translations.

"Alright..." Pinkamena holstered one of the pistols and walked slowly to the rock door. She opened It with some effort, surprisingly It was kind of easy regarding the heavy material. She opened It and pointed the pistol at something that would jump out of the dark, but there was nothing. "Coast is clear." She informed.

"Take It easy." Said Mane. "If we have to fight, It will be just a bunch of skeletons probably."

"It's still a fight." Pinkamena holstered her second pistol and grabbed the torch from a holder. "And I don't know how It would go. It's my first time seeing such crazy shit."

"Me too..." Mane whispered in doubts. "I wonder if the ruins Copper Spear talked about in Everfree Forest are like this."

"Oh yeah! We should explore those too... if we get out of here alive." Pinkamena checked the corridors with her torch and they were empty of any living thing. "We also should write to them. They don't even know if we got to Ponyville safely."

"That would be nice but they are in the Crystal Empire, I don't know how can we make a letter get in there without the Royal Army or anypony know." Mane shoved his hair out of his face. "I'll have to talk with Thunder Fists."

Again following the indications of the translation, they walked down the main corridor while trying not to look at the walls or floor with gruesome engravings. Sometimes a skeleton of a dwarf pony would make them gave a few steps of distance, wondering if It would come to life and jump on them. Pinkamena wondered what It would be like to be stabbed by a rusty weapon, while Mane tried to understand what made the skeleton from before come to life, but even more what would the next diary would say about the fortress.

They found a bridge and started to hear water flowing. It was the river indeed like one of the diaries had said, and the water even in the weak light of Pinka's torch looked clean and crystallized, making her wish to have a sip. Next to the bridge's ends, there was a passage with a small chore going deep and far through the river, surrounded by raw rock and sometimes smooth stone. They took the passage and sat by a small beach with some black sand and rock sediments.

"Mane." She called while putting her backpack down.

"What?"

"There's no wood here. How the hell are we gonna... camp?" She shrugged.

"Keep that torch lit." Mane sighed seeing she was right. He ended his magic light beam and casted a fireball in the ground and kept It lit with his magic. "It's night time outside. I think we could use a coffee..."

"Let me see this water." Pinkamena walked to the riverbank and knelled down, taking a hand to the water and bringing to her mouth. The taste was divine, of clean natural water washing her thirsty mouth. "This is the best water I ever drank..." She sighed with a smile in relief of killing her thirst.

"That's nice. Fill the bottles and the kettle." Mane suggested.

"Even if I hate coffee without sugar, I'll accept this time. If we are gonna keep an eye in our backs might as well stay awake." She complained.

"Yeah..." Said Mane.

Pinkamena grabbed the empty bottles and the kettle and went to the riverbank with her torch. In the bottom, she noticed something resembling a skeleton in the light of her torch.

"Hey! There's something there." She announced.

"What is It?" Mane asked.

"I think It's a skeleton..." She focused her eyes a bit more. "And he has something."

"It's probably not worthy, don't worry abo-"

*SPLASH!*

"-ut It..." Mane facepalmed while finishing his sentence.

Mane looked at the river where she left her torch stuck in the sand in the vertical, along with the bottles and the kettle. After a moment, she came back to the surface with something on her hands.

"Are you kidding me..?" Mane grumbled.

"He-he-here... I-I f-f-found It..." Pinkamena walked to the shore trembling all over with her clothes all soaked in water.

"Congratulations. Now you are wet, cold and probably gonna catch a cold." Mane clapped slowly with a face of disapproval.

"Shut u-up..." Pinkamena threw something to his lap. "T-t-there. Y-you can thank me l-later." She grumbled while chattering her teeth.

It was another old book. The gold decoration was partially rusty and some of the gems were missing around It. Mane had to give her credit for finding the diaries so easily. Pinkamena searched her backpack for a tiny towel and some new dry clothes, while Mane kept staring at her lustful pink body all wet,while the wet clothes showed a bit more of her underneath them.

"Don't look." She grumbled giving him a stare.

"Sorry." Mane blushed but he kept looking, and he blushed even more when she pulled out a new pair of red underwear.

"I'm gonna change. Work on that translation, I'll leave the torch with you." She ordered in a serious tone.

"O-okay!" Said the blushing stallion.

She walked down the cavern to a dark spot where the light couldn't reach. He started to hear her undress and he leaned forwards to attempt seeing her with a funny smile, but the light wasn't enough. He kept moving his head in attempts to see her, but suddenly, a rock flew in his direction, hitting right in the face with such strength that he even almost fell on his back and leaving one of his nostrils bleeding.

"YOU FUCKING PERVERT!!!" Pinkamena screamed from the dark. "WORK ON THAT TRANSLATION OR NEXT TIME IT'S A BIGGER ROCK!!!"

Shaker didn't say anything. He cleaned his muzzle from the wound and opened the wet old book. The writing was surprisingly well preserved and the pages too unlike the bookbinding. The magic flowed the notebook and the diary, with his magic taking the words to his mind along with the dictionary and the dwarven alphabet he had memorized, writing them with his own magic in his notebook.

After some minutes, Pinkamena returned wearing a white t-shirt and a new pair of shorts. She sat by the torch stuck in the sand while Mane kept his magic going over his task. She took the chance to fill the bottles and the kettle by the river, returning to him just when he finished.

"Done." Mane announced.

"Who reads then?" She asked.

"There's coffee to be made and we don't have wood here." Mane casted the magic fire in the sand again and levitated the kettle over It. "I can't, as you can see."

"You read two times in a row, so It's my turn anyway." Pinkamena grabbed the notebook and approached the torch for a better light, while Mane crossed his legs and focused on the reading while keeping his magic active.