//------------------------------//
// The Keep  
// Story: Skyrim: The Pony Scrolls 
// by Ziggy05 
//------------------------------//

A dark gray gate led outside of the room. Clutching her sword, Fluttershy followed the stallion, who tried the gate. She tilted her head expectantly but the stallion just shook his head. "Locked and there's no way to get the other gate open from our side." He gestured to a wooden gate. Suddenly, his ears flicked and his eyes widened. "Get down," he barked.
Fluttershy pressed herself to the ground on his command. "W-why?" She stammered. "Dragons?"
The stallion shook his head. "Unicorns," he explained.
The heavy hoof steps of the pompous ponies could be heard. They were speaking angrily to each other about something, although Fluttershy didn't know what. Suddenly, the wooden gate begun to lower and the unicorns trotted through. Fluttershy didn't know who had seen who first, but suddenly her friend had one pressed against the castle wall. Fluttershy's jaw quivered. 	"You get the other one!" He grunted, battling to get an axe in the unicorn's face. 
Fluttershy cried out as a projectile of fire hit her side, burning away some of the skin. She grabbed her sword tightly and ran for cover, ignoring the annoyed protests from the stallion guiding her. "What are you doing?" He shouted. "They'll bucking kill you!" 
Skeptically, the pegasi dived under a table, looked around with wide, shaking eyes. The sword in her mouth hung precariously as her teeth clattered from fear. Then, suddenly, she felt strong jaws close around the scruff of her neck and she dropped her sword with a small yelp. 
"Let me go!" She cried. She thrashed, attempting to get a hoof in the unicorn's face. 
The unicorn threw her to the ground and raised the broad sword in her mouth with large blood thirsty eyes. Fluttershy cowered, fear and pleading in her eyes as the unicorn brought the weapon down for the kill. The impact never came. The stallion, who had just finished burying an axe in the first unicorn's head, knocked the unicorn to the ground at the last second. Her sword clattered on the ground as he pinned her and dug the axe into her forehead, just below the horn. She stared up at him with glazed over eyes- She never even knew what had hit her.
Fluttershy had tears in her eyes and looked at him with a terrified gratefulness. The stallion merely glared back, his eyes cold and hard. "Thats twice now I've had to save your flank," he said softly. "You'd do well to watch out for yourself because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up without one of us getting a knife in our throats." He scavenged through the armor of the unicorns and took out a key, which he swiftly unlocked the metal gate with. "Come on." He said. "Unless you'd like to stop and take the unicorns armor instead?" 
Fluttershy timidly lifted the unicorn's armor off and lowered it onto her flank, putting the pegasi leather on the ground. She shifted uncomfortably- it was a lot heavier and she didn't want to have to keep stealing things from the dead for much longer. Wasn't there a shop or something in the next town? She left the broad sword and went to fetch her own before following after the brown pegasi rather clunkily. 
They wandered down a flight of stairs and turned down a small hall. They entered a large hall, which Fluttershy noted was rather empty. "What is this place?" She murmured. Cluelessly, she took a step forward. "Watch out!" The stallion yelled, recoiling. Fluttershy leapt back, skidding on the floor as a heavy spike door swung forward, squealing loudly as it collided with the area where she had been. 
"Make that three times." The stallion grumbled. "Wasn't really your fault though. Come on, through here- and for the love of Celestia, please don't step on that damned pressure plate again!" 
Fluttershy looked down at her feet, blushing. Sure enough there was a point in the earth where it jutted up a little. It was painstakingly obvious that it was a button. Just my luck, she thought. The second I take my attention off the expedition at hand and they shove a trap right under my muzzle. She followed him, stepping carefully around the pressure plate and they trotted through another door. 
They entered another room, a larger one this time. Fluttershy could see a few things sitting around here and there. Suddenly, she screamed for must have been the tenth time that day as an ambush of armoured unicorn ponies charged level-headed onto them. She was startled to find that they had been hiding around the corner, waiting for them to come there.
The stallion charged at the closest one boldly and Fluttershy, who had been following him with her eyes looked up to see a unicorn cantering at her full speed. He raised his weapon as he came upon her but Fluttershy was ready. Impusively, she lifted her weapon, shutting her eyes tight and heard the clash of metal as their two blades collided. She sighed and, gaining confidence slashed at the unicorn.
It was a careless slash.
As her sword neared the unicorns neck, they shoved her back with a wooden shield. The moment Fluttershy took to recover from her failure was all the unicorn needed and they blasted her with a ball of energy. The pegasi cried in pain and fell onto the ground. She knew nopony would be there to save her this time and she had dropped her sword a few metres away. If she could just reach it...
But no.
Seconds later, the unicorn pinned her with one hoof. Fluttershy reached across, straining to reach her sword. She could just about make it... maybe an inch or two... She gasped in fear when she saw the unicorn raising their weapon. NO NO NO WAIT she screamed in her mind. Her hoof was touching the handle- pushing it closer... suddenly, her hoof closed around the sword's grip. At the same time, the unicorn's weapon fell and their weapons collided. 
The unicorn looked thrown off by Fluttershy's split second recovery and Fluttershy, terrified beyond belief lunged her sword. As the tip sunk into the unicorns heart, they lingered their for a moment, their eyes blank as their mouth twisted into a sick grimace and suddenly they fell, dead onto the ground. Fluttershy slumped back, panting rapidly, thinking of how close she had come to death. Suddenly, she saw the blood on her hooves, fell against the table and wept. 
"Fluttershy?" The brown stallion asked. He wiped a line of sweat off his mane as he pulled his blood soaked sword out of the last unicorn's chest. 	
"NO! NO NO NO! KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Fluttershy screeched, staring at the sword in horror. "I-i"m sorry." Fluttershy whispered. Fresh tears glistened in her eyes. "I-i killed somepony. Thats all there is." 
"They were trying to kill you." The stallion pointed out. "It was you or him."
"I-I guess your right." She got to he feet, giving a little shudder. "Just..." She stared down at the body at her hooves. "I don't want this blood on my hooves." 
"There should be a spring somewhere ahead." The stallion said. "Or maybe a bucket of water?" He stared at the burn on her flank in concern. "You should find some health potions. Look around here for some, or maybe some food?" 
Fluttershy nodded, sniffing. "Okay." She said. She scanned the area briefly. She could see one on a shelf and swiped it, putting it in the pockets of her armor.  She wrinkled her nose at some wine- she didn't drink. She opened the lid to a barrel and took out three healing potions and one of stamina, a small green vial with a cork for a stopper. 
"Done?" The stallion pegasi said impatiently. "Good." He opened the next door with one hoof and then they went through. In the new corridor, it was darker. Not as many torches lit the walls and at least two rows of stairs took them down to the depths of the keep. Fluttershy would probably have liked to be any place but here now- well, except for Hoofgen. That place was a suicide machine.
They ended up in a dungeon. Many cells lined the walls and Fluttershy shivered at what looked like... blood...? On the table? She shook it off and continued to sniff around. She was alerted by a humming noise behind her. Suddenly, there was a metallic noise like a blade embedding itself in flesh and the humming stopped. The stallion ermerged around the corner grimacing. "Damn ponies." He growled. "Theres something in that cage," he said. "See if you can get it out." 
"Its locked," Fluttershy protested, jiggling the door knob with a hoof.
"Find some picks." The stallion said apathetically.
Fluttershy sighed. "Okay." She said. She lifted up the flap to a bag and felt around with a hoof. There were a variety of things in there but finally her hoof closed around a set. "Got some." Nopony spoke as she stuck the pin-like tool in the key hole and twisted it. It took at least five minutes but eventually there was a click and the door came loose. "Come on." She said. 
Fluttershy jumped at the sudden appearance of a corpse but she was beginning to get used to them now. SHe gave a little shudder and helped herself to the bits on the ground, also taking a few potions from the body. She left to see that the pegasi stallion had left without her. "Hello?" She called. She shivered as her voice echoed around the chamber. Timidly, she followed the path down the next chamber, knowing he couldn't have gone far. Sure enough, she had just turned around the corner a second time when he came into view. 
"Good, your here." The stallion said. 
"We'll wait until General Unicornus arrives." 
Fluttershy flicked her ears at the unfriendly voices. "More unicorns!" She whispered.
"We are gonna be killed be a dragon! We need to go now." 
Suddenly, Fluttershy and the two other pegasi rounded the corner. A small stream ran below a series of thin bridges and the room had a feeling of mold and dampness about it. They appeared to have entered a cave system via the keep. Fluttershy winced as the brown stallion lunged his axe into a unicorns back. It took him out instantly but the second one turned and gave a thick grunt of disgust, charging up his horn. Fluttershy watched as her friend made quick work of the remaining unicorn and they crossed the bridges towards the next room.
"Down here," he called. He pulled a lever for her as they trotted down a flight of stairs and a wooden bridge lowered for them to cross. They begun to follow the stream downwards. Fluttershy agreed with this plan; if they followed the water long enough it was bound to come out somewhere.
"Are we almost out?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hopefully," the stallion replied. 
The stream cut off to a stone wall and Fluttershy frowned. Next to her, however was a gap in the stone. "Are we going through there instead?" Fluttershy asked. The stallion nodded and led her through- and they emerged into a room filled with spiders. The stallion next to her drew his sword in fear but Fluttershy rested a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't kill them!" She squeaked. "I'll take care of this." 
She gulped as the spiders descending from the ceiling around her. "L-look, I-I know you have your nest here and all and I know we are trespassing but we really aren't food and we need to get out. We are escaping from a dragon attack you see? We're-
"There not listening!" The stallion's voice had a high edge to it.
"N-no there just..." The spiders begun advanced on Fluttershy and him, some taking reels of sticky web from their abdomens to prepare and wrap up their prizes. Up much closer now, Fluttershy could see their jagged fangs and hooked feet and she squealed in fright. "Uh.. yeah, maybe your right." She held her sword up to defend herself from the eight legged monstrosities.
Then, Fluttershy heard a scream.
"Fluttershy!" The brown stallion yelled. The spiders had begun to swarm over them. Fluttershys heart was racing like a bee and she stood there, frozen to spot. Her eyes darted nervously as she pondered over what she could do. The spiders were now wrapping him up- she had no time to think. Suddenly, she lunged her sword into the spiders back, tears in her eyes. It let out a screech or a clicking noise and fell dead. The others turned towards their new threat, advancing on her. "Oh... um... Sorry for killing your friend..." In seconds she was cornered. 
She shivered and cowered, squealing. When she shot one last look at her pegasi friend however, she found two or three spiders wrapping him with their silk. "You can hurt me," she mumbled. "You can hurt this entire city for all I care... but NOPONY lays a HOOF on my friends!" She glared at he spiders, her eyes burning into their souls. They let out painful clicks and screeches, as if looks could literally kill. As the last of the spiders departed back onto the ceiling, Fluttershy broke into a canter to reach her friend and begun to hastily dig through the sticky cacoon of silk with her hooves.
"T-thanks." The stallion muttered. He coughed. "I really couldn't breath in there." 
As they emerged out of the spider room, Fluttershy was pleased to find that the stream had resumed beyond that point and they returned to following it. Fluttershy was making pace when suddenly the stallion shoved a hoof infront of her. "Wait! Theres a grizzly ahead. Do you want to be torn to shreds?" 
Confused, Fluttershy looked up. Sure enough, on a ledge in the distance was a brown bear, sleeping peacefully on the ledge. For a rare moment, she gave a little smirk. "What do you think my cutiemark is?" She beamed kindly at the stallion and approached the bear. She tapped him gently on the shoulder and watched him yawn. "Oh, um... excuse me. Sorry to interrupt your nap but me and my friend here really need to get past and I was just thinking if you could let us pass without any trouble?" 
The bear growled and Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well.. yes, I know its your territory... but I promise we don't want to steal any fish. You see, we're trying to escape from a monster that attacked Hoofgen and we'll be out of your way as soon as possible. Oh really? Thank you so much!" 
Fluttershy hopped down from the ledge and trotted over to the stallion, who had gone slack jawed. "How- how'd you do that?" He murmured.
"Sometimes you just need to show a little kindness, thats all." Fluttershy smiled softly. "Come on, Mr. Bearington said we could pass through his land. He doesn't want us staying for more then five minutes though, or he said he'll attack us." 
The stallion gulped and followed Fluttershy.. After a short wall through a few twists and turns, Fluttershy adored it as the sunshine begun to shine through the exit. "Theres the way out," The stallion said. "Thank the gods." 
They emerged onto a beautiful landscape of tall pines and hilly mountain tops, lined with snow and ice. The way the sun shone through the trees so perfectly reflected off the surface of polished grey rock, heating Fluttershy's footsteps as she walked down the path. She relished in the cool breeze and squealed with delight as a hare galloped past, accompanied by the singing of small birds.
"We should probably split up." The brown pegasi said. 
Fluttershy nodded. "I agree," she said.
"Where will you go?" 
"Riverwood, probably."Fluttershy beamed. "No particular reason. Its just a quiet town to bunker down in for a while.
"Riverwood, ay?" The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Well, if thats the case, may I suggest finding my sister? She runs the mill. Ll' probably help you out." 
Fluttershy nodded. "Thanks then," she said. She begun to walk down the path opposite to the stallions, following the signs to Riverwood.