Beneath the Castle “Are you sure we can be here, Twi?” Came the worrisome question of the young dragon as he walked next to his alicorn sister. “So you’re saying you’d rather be somewhere besides some unexplored ruins beep below even the Canterlot Caverns?” Twilight asked while illuminating the dark path leading lower and lower to uncharted territory. “YES!” His voice echoed all around the cave systems they found themselves at. “What if there are monsters or some other spooky things down here, Twilight?” “Then we just need to run away or teleport to safety, Spike. Don’t be so dramatic,” she rolled her eyes before feeling a hand grabbing her right one. Looking down, she found Spike worryingly looking all around him. “Spike, please, don’t be such a scaredy-cat. There’s nothing alive except us this deep inside the caverns.” “Still, I’m not taking any chances!” He exclaimed and fell silent for a moment, before looking up at her. “O-Of something bad or d-d-dangerous happening to you, Twi. You’re a Princess and my big sister, I-I won’t let anything harm you!” Twilight rolled her eyes again, fighting the urge to giggle at the same time. “Oh, I’m sure you will Spike,” coming to a halt, she turned to him and knelt so that they could be at eye level. “I’m so lucky to have such a fearless and brave protector, my little knight,” leaning forth, she kissed the tip of his snout playfully. She didn’t expect for him to then kiss her on the lips, but she melted into it quickly, mashing and moving her soft, meaty lips against his even softer scaly ones. It ended a few seconds later with a wet and audible popping sound as their lips separated. The two smiled and shared a final quick, chaste kiss. “Does it mean we can leave now?” He asked, hopefully. “Not a chance, smooth guy. But good try,” she replied, giggling as Spike sighed in defeat. “Had to try, right?” She nodded. “Valiant effort,” standing up again, the duo resumed their exploration. “But not enough to dissuade me, Spike.” With that said, the two continued to travel down to the unknown for what felt like hours until Spike broke the icy silence once more. “Say, Twi, how come nopony ever came down here if Princess Celestia knew about these so-called ruins before? I surely never heard or read anything about them up until yesterday.” “Spike, come on, you know how much Princess Celestia likes to keep her secrets. I’m sure she has a good reason for telling us without the rest of our friends,” she replied. “I don’t know… something smells fishy about this whole thing.” “Really, Spike? If it was something dangerous, don’t you think she’d send all of us down here instead of casually talking about the ruins over tea and cake?” She asked, smirking. “Huh… when you put it like that, yeah, it does make a little bit of sense,” he reasoned at the end. “Still, I wonder what could be - Twilight, wait, I hear something,” letting go of her hand and running in front of the alicorn, Spike used a hand to aid his already sensitive hearing. “What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked, rushing behind him and lighting her horn more only to reveal countless crystals, abandoned carts, railway systems, and what looked to be the start of a stone pathway just a dozen meters or so in front of them. “I think… I think I can hear water running,” he replied, confused. “But that doesn’t make any sense. How can there be water so far below Canterlot?” “Maybe the spring at the top of the mountain isn’t the only spring available, Spike,” she said, now truly pondering the possibility as the two resumed their walk, with Spike returning to Twilight’s side. They reached the stone pathway and discovered a long trail heading deeper still into some unknown large cavern system. Minutes passed until the duo stumbled across a dilapidated stone arch marking the entrance of some place. Focusing more on her magic, the light pierced through the surrounding darkness to reveal ancient, half-collapsed ruins of a bygone era. “I can’t believe it… there was a city down here? Who built it?” Spike managed to say after a few seconds of being awestruck by the sight. Next to him, Twilight was on the verge of hyperventilating and passing out due to excitement. “Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Summoning her magic, she lifted Spike off the ground before breaking into a run. “Yeah, sure, let’s waltz into the creepy ruins without a care in the world,” Spike sighed before his ear-fins perked up. “Hey, Twi, the water’s coming from there,” he pointed to the inside of the ruins. Sniffing tentatively, he smiled. “Twilight, I think I smell minerals and some heat, too!” “We’ll find out what’s producing it, Spike. I can now hear the running water, too,” she replied before dropping to a knee. “Hop on, Spike,” the dragon jumped on her back a second later, wrapping his arms below her breasts, tugging at her shirt and making them jiggle. “Hang on tight, okay?” She said no more before breaking making her way into the ruins while Spike clung to her back and provided her with a secondary set of eyes and his closeness. Both of them (Spike more so than Twilight) expected to encounter traps of all sorts, breaking apart ruins, dangerous insects crawling all over the place, and maybe even magic wardings and illusions, but they found nothing of the sort. Their exploration was pretty boring but safe, and the few bugs they found were skittish non-venomous types. If anything, it was enjoyable and even Spike began to look around in amazement at the still-standing ruins that, the deeper they entered, the better they seemed to look. Eventually, their exploration led them to a large chamber that had a shimmering blue aura covering the large entrance. Passing through it, Twilight suddenly came to a halt, letting go of Spike’s left leg in order to touch her horn. “What’s the matter, Twi?” Asked the young dragon. “I think… I think we just passed a magic suppression area,” she tried to light up her horn more, but aside from a mild stinging pain and a few pathetic sparks coming out of it, nothing happened. “But you’re still using some magic,” Spike pointed out, looking back at the barrier before pushing against Twilight’s back. The alicorn let go of him a moment later and he tried to breathe fire, only for small green embers to leave his mouth. Groaning, he breathed orange fire next, it acting as normal. “My magic fire is almost gone, too, Twi. Should he head back now?” Turning again to face the alicorn, she found her examining the large room. “Twilight?” “Tell me, Spike, what’s wrong with this room?” She asked suddenly. Spike blinked, puzzled by the question but knew better than talk back. He inspected the room and it didn’t take him long to figure out what was wrong with it. “Wait, this can’t be the last room, right? There are no other exists!” Twilight nodded. “That’s not all, Spike. Look,” pointing to something in front of her, the young dragon ran next to her to see what her horn was capable of illuminating up close. He gasped, smiling, his eyes filling with sparkles of wonderment at what he saw. “What the hay is a pool doing here?” “I don’t know, Spike. But look over there, deep down.” Peering over the smooth, marble edge of the pool, the dragon noticed what she was pointing at. “That’s the source of the water and I bet there’s a system in place, like canals, that creates the waterfalls we hear in the distance.” Spike nodded, taking in a deep whiff and sighing contently. “Not quite like hot springs, but I bet taking a bath or swimming in this water would be pretty darn good.” “Yeah, you said it, Spike. Sadly, we have to keep exploring these ruins,” Twilight replied. Silence reigned for over ten seconds before the two partners in crime glanced at each other. Simultaneously, they began to strip their clothes away until they were left completely naked. Twilight stretched her limbs, her near-hourglass bouncing and jiggling in all the right places. Next to her, Spike couldn’t take his eyes away from the beautiful and stunning beauty of the mare he loved like a big sister and a little more than that. Her breasts were big, each easily the size of his head, adorned at the top with a meaty, soft nipple surrounded by a puffy areola. Her waist was slim, her belly fit, her thighs thick and strong, and her buttocks were round, big, and firm yet soft at the same time with little to no extra fat to be found in her entire body except in places that made her well-attained proportions stand out more. For her part, Twilight glanced at her adoptive little brother and couldn’t help but smile. He was many things, but shy about their nudity wasn’t one of them. Nor he was shy about his sexuality as she witnessed his impressive (for his size) shaft come to full attention. Without saying anything, she picked up their clothes and walked out of the room just to teleport them away. “Where did you send out clothes?” He asked, tilting his head. “To our room,” she explained once she was close enough. “Now, why don’t we go for a swim?” Spike crossed his arms. “What happened to ‘exploring ancient mysteries’?” “Are you seriously going to pass up a chance like this, Spike? When was the last we got a chance to swim freely?” Twilight asked, offended. “Last week, under our castle, remember? We have a giant underwater pool and everything,” he pointed out, smiling at the memory. “Exactly! It’s been too long since we could enjoy a proper dive!” Turning towards the pool, Twilight ran and with the aid of her wings, managed to leap a good distance and at least three meters high. She spun mid-air twice before diving into the pool as gravity did its work, entering at a perfect angle. Emerging a moment later, she turned to Spike. “Come on, Spike, the water’s great! It’s lukewarm at best but it feels sooooo goooood!” Emboldened by the Princess’ actions and words, Spike rushed forth, jumping into the pool with a cannonball. “Fwaaah! You’re right!” Looking around the partly lit room, he pointed to the other end of the pool. “Hey, race you!” “Sneaky wyrm!” Twilight shouted behind him before setting chase. The two continued to play for at least an hour, diving to find the pool was about five meters deep, excluding the hole that poured the water in and a series of smaller holes at the side that filtered out the water to someplace else. They dived, played mock fights, and simply enjoyed the sensation of the water as they floated freely on the pool’s surface. It wasn’t until Twilight, her wings spread and floating face up with Spike comfortably resting on her torso, hugging her breasts and occasionally kissing her nipples, that an idea got into her mind. “Say, Spike.” Letting go of her right nipple, he answered. “Yeah?” “Don’t you think it’s weird there’s no exit except for the same way we entered?” “Hmmm, now that you mention it, don’t these places usually have some sort of trick or secret passage?” “That’s what I’m thinking… say, what would happen if I stop using my magic?” “It’s gonna get pretty darn dark,” nuzzling against her chest, he smiled. “But I won’t be scared if we’re together, Twilight.” Patting the back of his head, she nodded. “That’s what I thought. If nothing happens, then I’ll just bring the light up again, okay? It’s about time we continued our exploration, don’t you think?” “Naked?” Twilight shrugged. “Why not?” The light from her horn died out quickly a moment later. To the surprise of both of them, small rune-like scriptures began to appear all over the walls, partially illuminating the room instead of leaving them in complete darkness. “Bingo~.” As that was happening, the dragon spotted a shimmering veil beneath them, close to the wall.“Twi, I think I see a false wall!” He said, sliding off of her and pointing at the shimmering wall. Sharing a brief momentary glance, the two took a deep breath and then submerged. Steadily delving deeper, they found themselves face to face with the magical wall, and Twilight pressed a hand over its surface, only to find a vacant hole. The alicorn pointed a finger upwards and the two of them swam to the surface once more. Upon breaking it, she smiled widely. “It’s an illusion wall, Spike! You were right!” “What can I say, I’m pretty awesome,” enjoying his moment of spotlight, he cast a look down again. “Twi… are we going to explore it now? Who knows where it’ll lead or how long it is. It could maybe even be a trap.” “True… but I have the sneaking suspicion that won’t be the case. I mean, we didn’t encounter any other sort of trap before, right? Why put one now?” She pointed out, unable to hide her eagerness. “But… if you don’t want to go--” “Hey, I didn’t say that! We’re a team, right? And you’re the boss, Twi. You say go, I follow,” Spike cut her off with a finger pressed against her lips. “And that’s why you’re my number one assistant and favorite brother, but don’t tell that to Shining!” The two shared a laugh before taking a serious mode once more. With a focused deep breath, the two submerged into the depths of the pool with a clear goal and aim. They swam slowly, patiently. Their paddling was slow and measured whilst their strokes were wide and precise meant to use as little precious energy as possible. Reaching the barrier in just a few seconds, they swam past it only to find near-absolute darkness. There were no runes to light their way anymore, so Twilight lighted her horn, and what they discovered confused them. Instead of a large, long tunnel, they instead found a three-by-three tunnel set on an upward angle. Sharing one last glance between them, the two began to swim upward, following the tunnel. As they swam, with the limited light from her horn, they noticed that the stone or whatever material was used to make that ancient tunnel was different from the rest of the ruins, but it was featureless. It’s almost as if it was made to confuse anypony that found it, Twilight thought with worry as she glanced at Spike. Did I… Did I walk us into a trap? Should we go back? Before Twilight could decide on anything, Spike hastened his movements. Choosing to follow her little brother, she found what his enhanced dragon senses had seen before she could see it. The tunnel came to a sudden shift, bending almost unnaturally to the side and losing most of its upward angle, but not all of it. Looking back at her, Spike made a series of hand gestures that spelled ‘Current over there. Something flows up. Follow?’ Twilight replied with a ‘I lead the way’ and took center once more. The space was more than enough to fit them both and was hardly claustrophobic, not that they suffered from that in the first place, but as they kept swimming with no end in sight and with the constant twists and turns they encountered, it was starting to get annoying and incredibly confusing. “Gnnngghh!” She groaned, foolishly releasing a stream of air due to her frustration. There was no way to pick the wrong turn, but the featureless nature of the tunnel mixed with its twists and turns, made it difficult for them to truly go at a steady, even pace. The pressure of the water was another worry. They were deep, far, far too deep to be safe for unprotected divers, and yet the pressure around her was difficult, yes, but not overbearing. Are the size of the tunnel and its shape playing a role in that? She thought before hearing a nasty sound coming next to her. “Bblllgghmmm!” Spike coughed, covering his mouth as he began to strain his eyes and start easing his body to extend the supply of his oxygen for at least a bit longer. Closing her eyes, Twilight tried to remain calm and focus her efforts on finding either a source of air or finding the exit. Opening them again, she began to analyze her surroundings, trying to find anything that could be useful or offer them some sort of aid. Spike was a great swimmer, nearly as good as she was, but his smaller body and age made his time limits shorter than hers. Even so, she could feel the stinging pain of the lack of oxygen rasping against her lungs; her body imploring her to continue breathing. Having no other option but to continue moving up, the duo ascended through the tunnel. Spike inflated his cheeks in an attempt to retain as much air as he could inside of him, his strokes losing strength and his paddling was now starting to become erratic. The alicorn wasn’t fairing that much better either, her mistakes had caused her to burn more than she was comfortable with and were just a few steps matching her little brother’s condition. Fortunately for both, she spotted a concave hole just a meter or so on top of them. Grabbing him by the wrist, she aided the young dragon to reach it at the same time she did. “FWAAAAAAAHH GAAKK!” Both of them took in a large gulp of breath and promptly began to cough, fighting against the taste of the stale air they were breathing and trying to remain afloat whilst doing so. Their breathing eventually returned to normal after a minute or so of inhaling the precious oxygen they so desperately craved and Twilight asked. “A-Are you alright, Spike?” “D-Doing fine, Twi,” he coughed again. “Pony feathers, that was intense. Kinda reminded me of the first time I tried diving with you.” Twilight pondered for a moment. “We can try to return, Spike. We’re not too far yet… although-” “-the pressure and having to go down is going to make it very difficult, ain’t it?” He said, finishing what she was going to say. Then, he sighed. “I say we keep going up. If there’s one pocket of air, then there has to be more, right?” “Right,” Twilight agreed. “Want me to carry you on my back, Spike?” He shook his head. “I’ll be fine on my own, Twi.” She smiled at him before closing in to give him a chaste kiss. Nodding simultaneously, they prepared to continue on their journey up the enigmatic tunnel. Submerging after taking in a large gulp of air and adjusting to the pressure, they began to swim once more. Spike decided to follow on Twilight’s lead, silently admiring how her voluptuous body moved underwater. Every part of her body, starting from her legs up to her jiggling ass and swaying tits hypnotized him, giving him a nice focus and a reason to keep calm. They continued to swim up the tunnel, fighting against their tiring muscles; only now regretting stopping to play for so long as it came back to bite them in the ass. Their arms ached, their legs were starting to feel numb, and their backs felt tired. And yet, they carried on, moved on by the prospect of finding out where the mysterious tunnel ended, who built it, why, and, most importantly, the thrill of underwater exploration. A minute passed, then two, with many twists and angles and the confusing design of the structure slowing them down little by little. “Gmmmhh! Bbrrgghh!” Spike clasped a hand over his mouth as he strained his eyes and his movements lost strength. But even in his weakened form, he still pushed on, swimming behind Twilight. The alicorn was growing desperate for another source of oxygen. Her cheeks slowly expanded as the constrictive pain of her lungs pushed her towards panic. She wasn’t an experienced swimmer for nothing, and such thoughts didn’t cause her more than a momentary distraction. Looking back at Spike, she could see he was struggling, but he didn’t budge, never complained, and never stopped. He’s come such a long way since I first introduced him to diving, she thought, a warm, fuzzy feeling extending through her chest before watching Spike cough, releasing a mouthful of air, but also pointing up and slowly swimming upwards. She followed him and soon found another pocket of air that refreshed their lungs. The two unlikely siblings stared at each other for long moments, gulping for breath and stabilizing their beating hearts, when all of a sudden they began to giggle. Coming close together, they shared an awkward hug for nearly a full minute. Nothing was said, only the enjoyable company of the other was left between them. Having had enough and not wanting to get a cramp in the middle of their swim because they relaxed too much, they took a big breath of air and continued on their way. The more they swam up, the longer the tunnel seemed to be. Twilight had long since given up on trying to form any sort of coherent map in her mind. All she knew about the strange ruins they were traversing was that it simply kept on going, always up and never in another direction no matter how much they explored. They found several small pockets of air placed around seemingly random places. Most of them were fairly apart and even with their underwater swimming skills, it still took every last ounce of their strength to reach them. Others were fairly close, almost as if whoever built the tunnel knew whoever was crazy enough to swim through the maze-like tunnel would need a breather once in a while. It’s hardly the most dangerous swim we’ve ever had, but it’s now by far the most strenuous. Maybe if we hadn’t gone in a bit spent, then we could do this with a lot less hassle, Twilight thought as she swam, never breaking her strokes though she switched between regular paddling and frog swipes from time to time. The supply of air was starting to run out again and she was starting to look for the next pocket of precious oxygen. Then, to her utter surprise, everything suddenly changed. In one last turn, the tunnel that appeared to go on forever upwards, finally came to an end as it shifted to a straight horizontal line for no apparent reason. A tug to her tail made her look back to find the confused expression of her dragon partner. ‘Why stop?’ He signed. ‘Reached end. Follow straight line.’ She replied. And so, with tired muscles, over exhausted lungs, and the primal urge to breathe growing ever stronger on them, the duo found the resolve to do a final stretch and find the exit. They swam and swam, never too fast nor too slow. The walls were smooth and slick, preventing them from just trying to impulse themselves forward. Twilight couldn’t use her magic yet, so they were trapped. They couldn’t go back, as the last pocket of air was too far away. They were committed to either find an exit now or be lost within that watery tunnel forever or until Celestia managed to find their bodies. Not wishing to meet such a fate, the two pressed on harder, focusing on surviving and wanting nothing more but to get out of the tunnel now. When the three-and-a-half-minute mark hit, the two of them were truly starting to fall into desperation. Normally, such times would be just uncomfortable. Twilight could stay underwater for an impressive seven-minute mark and Spike was right behind her with a six-and-a-half mark. But that was assuming they had prepared and fresh. And they were neither at that moment. The long, long swim had chipped away at their strength and their muscles screamed in agony, wishing to rest at long last. She was an alicorn and he was a dragon, but they were young in the same regard and not truly fully developed yet, so they were still pretty vulnerable. “Nnnnggghhh! GGGllrrrkk!” Spike started to choke, his vision becoming blurry and just barely managing to not give in to his instincts to breathe. “Sppppiiggghheeeee!” Twilight called out, forgetting about her precarious situation and reaching for the young dragon. Their hands clasped a moment later and she dragged him forth. Just as fear began to set in and turn into panic, salvation appeared. Not three meters in front of her she noticed a shimmering, twisting light: the light of an illusion wall mixed with a magic-suppression area. Not giving a damn about her well-being anymore, she forgot all discipline in favor of desperate long strokes and frantic paddling. Two meters. “GGLLLRRMMM!” She started to choke. One meter. Her magic was failing her, her consciousness slipping away. Behind her, Spike’s eyes were changing to a red-orange puffy estate as he did his best not to give up. Not now that victory seemed close. Finally, with one last push, they passed the barriers and a near blinding light assaulted their senses. Looking up, even though their blurry vision, they saw the shifting movements of the water’s surface three, maybe four meters above them. A second wind coursed through their bodies, their systems flooded with adrenaline and the desire to breathe again. The pressure of the water was gone and they could now feel more at ease. Or they would’ve if it were not for the fact that they were seconds away from drowning. A few scant moments stretched out into eternity for them, but nearly at the same time, they broke through the water’s surface… and breathed again. “FFWWWAAAAAAA!” “H-HOOOLY SHIT!” The two began coughing, weakly swimming towards an edge. Twilight hit what felt like stairs and without thinking too much about it, turned around to sit on it and truly rest from her exhausting excursion. Spike, on the other hand, stumbled against something soft and warm. He grasped onto it, resting his head over that soft thing that comfortably floated just above the water’s surface. Their breathing was beyond labored as each long, hard gulp of air was almost painful to take, but it was infinitely rewarding at the same time. After several minutes of gathering their bearings, Spike was the first to break the silence. “T-That was insane, Twi.” “We almost d-didn't make it, Spike…” “Too dangerous…” “Who designed that death trap?” “D-Do you think Princess Celestia sent us knowing we would find it, Twi?” “Probably. This smells like something she would do.” “...” “...” “Want to do it again next week?” “Totally!” “Do you mind if I joining you next time?” Spike and Twilight blinked for a moment only to then turn their eyes to the source of the third voice. Twilight looked to her left and Spike up only to find the smiling face of none other than Princess Celestia. Spike also found out that he was sitting on her lap, with his painfully hard erection pressing against her belly, and resting his head on her large, soft breasts. “Am I as comfortable as Twilight is, Spike?” She asked before booping his nose. Either too tired to care or giving up instantly, Spike rested his head on her breasts again. “That’s not fair… you’re both super comfy.” Celestia giggled before starting to pet Spike’s head and turning to face Twilight. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, Twilight.” “Nah-ah, I’m not going to do that now,” Twilight replied, slumping against the pool’s side. A quick glance around the room revealed that they were, in fact, in Celestia’s private pool. “Rest now. Questions later.” Celestia giggled again. The End.