A Nature Expedition (QueenChrysalis747 and TheInvisiblePony)

[QueenChrysalis747]

"Hmm a game sounds more interesting," Darkness said and smiled and looked at the door, "Also like i said i have a knack for direction, my cutie mark allows me to bacially know where all stationary items are and the layout of the land and area," he explained, "Also my best friend, well only friend, is a Unicorn, so she taught me about magic, even if i cannot perform it i know about it."

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy listened intently. This talent of his seemed remarkably helpful, as far as talents go. She glanced at her own cutie mark, musing that it essential meant she went her own way, regardless of if it got her lost. [colour=#800080]"Lucky you had a friend to teach you. I had to read up on dozens of magical textbooks to learn about spells. Oh you should have seen the look on the librarian's face when an earth pony was checking out more spellbooks than most unicorns!" [/colour]She chuckled at the thought.

[colour=#800080]"But yes, a game usually proves interesting. I suppose I've asked my fair share of questions, though. Mayhaps you have a few for me? I'd rather us be even than with me at an advantage, what with all of your answers."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He slowly absorbed what she said and nodded, "Yeah, ok i guess so," he slowly thought and smiled, "Well lets start with simple, how is your family?" he asked then thought for a second, "I mean like the relation to you and how you relate to them."

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy paused, as she considered his question. It was certainly innocent enough, so she thought of the best way to answer that. [colour=#800080]"Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't know my mother or father that well. Rather, I was raised by my Uncle in Canterlot." [/colour]She gave a brief mental smile, thinking of her childhood. It had been a good one, if admittedly a solitary one. [colour=#800080]"He and I got along quite smashingly, barring the odd argument. If there was any strife, it would be those constant lessons in proper manners. My uncle was a bit of a socialite, you see, and he was determined that I was going to be one too. He figured the best way would be hands on, so he tried to teach me by bringing myself along to every party he threw." [/colour]

Fantasy took a pause, as[colour=#800080] [/colour]she collected her thoughts. She never had any fond memories of those parties, and she had always wondered why her Uncle was so optimistic about them. She continued [colour=#800080]"I did learn quite a bit, now that I think about it. For example, I can say with pride I can easily identify the most isolated corner in a party and manage to hide in plain sight for hours. Really quite useful, seeing as how groups of larger than, let's say, three or four ponies render me catatonic." [/colour]She chuckled in spite of herself.

[colour=#800080]"I suppose that makes it my turn again. Let's see... oh! I should think it would be interesting to know why you were in the woods in the first place. Probably an altogether different reason than mine."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"I love it here, you see beside when i reside in my friends house i stay far away from society," he sighed, "My parents made me feel like i didn't belong and its hard to adjust, your only the second pony i have talked to," he giggled a bit, "funniest thing is that the only two ponies i know are mares," he smiled warmly, "But yeah i love nature, so free and un..un..undiscriminating," he said trying to think of the word, "hmm, yeah that's pretty much it."

He thought, "So..my turn?" he questioned and thought, "what exactly does your cutie mark represent?" he asked and then froze, "Oh that must have sounded so rude, Oh sorry!" he thought quick, "i mean whats your talent?"

[TheInvisiblePony]

She nodded at the his answer. Fantasy could certainly relate to that answer. It wasn't quite why she went exploring herself, but it was certainly close enough for her to sympathize with it. She was mildly surprised when she heard that bit about her being his second conversation. Perhaps she had underestimated the situation just a little, but that was no matter. If she was only number two, Fantasy was determined to make it a good one.

With this in mind, she replied to his question without the usual pause, but she did give a brief glance at the shooting star on her flank along with a smirk. [colour=#800080]"I guess you could say it means a few things, really. Let's see... from a literal aspect, I like to fancy that like a shooting star never stays put in the sky, I never stay put on the map. That is too say, I do a lot of exploring. Course, a shooting star is generally a symbol of wishful thinking, isn't it? When I'm feeling a bit cynical I wonder if it means I'm a little naive. Probably, but it certainly makes things interesting."[/colour]

Only after she finished did Fantasy give pause. Even then, she was only thinking of a question to ask in turn. Already only a few rounds in and she had to take a moment to ask a question. Still, she had to hold up, so Fantasy did eventually ask one. [colour=#800080]"Let's see... Okay, I think I've got one. I understand the outcast scenario, but there certainly must have been something you enjoyed doing. I think that would be a good thing to know."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness froze when she asked her question, "Something i enjoyed doing?" he replied a bit confused, "I don't believe I fully understand what your asking me," he looked down, "There wasn't much to enjoy about my youth and i guess I really only enjoy nature," he said looking at her a bit confused still.

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Well, you know, a hobby. Sports, collecting things, things like that. I can understand the nature part, so I guess you preferred camping? Small expeditions, perhaps? Or maybe I'm just over thinking the whole thing. I tend to do that." [/colour]Fantasy tried to elaborate. She took another look at the torch again, simply because it was rather cool. In waiting for a reply, she her mind began to wander as she thought of various books she used to read.

Snapping back to attention, a thought occurred to her. [colour=#800080]"If I might change the subject, and I do apologize, but something seems a little off about this room. Don't you find it a little strange that the inside is so neatly taken care of compared to the outside? Somepony definitely wanted this place to stay hidden, but if the torch is any sign of something, they certainly must have come here often..."[/colour]

The last part of her sentence trailed off as she examined the table for a brief second, then looked back to Darkness.

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness was in thought about the hobby part of her sentence when she started asking about the room and he blinked and looked around, "neat?" he wondered, "I dunno if i would call this neat but it was hidden," he thought, "why ya wanna go?" he asked her calmly

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy tapped her chin in thought before responding. [colour=#800080]"Well, maybe not neat, but certainly more so than one would expect of a cave-esque type place in the woods. And as for going, perhaps it could be fun to carry on..." [/colour]She glanced around the room, but they certainly seemed to be no way of going forwards, given that the only door was the one they had entered through. Something still didn't seem right. Standing up, she became lost in her own thoughts as she walked over to examine the wall. It was perfectly ordinary in pretty much every way, except...

[colour=#800080]"Why would there be two slots for torches?" [/colour]She mused, not really to anyone in particular. A thought struck Fantasy, and rather quickly she turned around and grabbed the torch and slide it into the one that it hadn't been in when she and Darkness walked in. Then came a moment of waiting, as Fantasy stood expectantly at the wall, almost not even blinking for a few moments. After a pause, she turned around slightly disappointed. [colour=#800080]"Huh. I could've sworn something would have-"[/colour]

At this point the mare was interrupted by the sound of something very old sliding open. Turning around, she saw a second door next too the torch. [colour=#800080]"-happened. Haha!" [/colour]She spun back around (again) to face the pegasus, speaking in a normal volume for the first time since meeting the pegasus, with the excitement evident in her tone. [colour=#800080]"You may never get lost, but I know my cliches! Now, If you'll care to come along, I do believe its your turn to ask a question."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He got up and followed with a smirk, "Wel, um, i really dont know what toask, I'm not very good at this sort of thing," he sighed as he followed her trying o think what to ask. A sudden and random thought came across, "Are you in a relationship?" he asked then froz and blushed, "oh Celestia i did just say that didn't i?"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy paused in the middle of what seemed to be a corridor. That was a question she hadn't expected to hear, so it took a second to get past the initial surprise. [colour=#800080]"Well... No. No, I guess not. I move around, well, everywhere too often I suppose. Not to mention, I don't think about that kind of thing often."[/colour]

She was curious as to why he'd ask that, but she didn't ponder on it for long. It might have been unexpected, but it was perfectly reasonable to ask. Speaking of which - [colour=#800080]"Well, I'm out of things to ask, so I guess you win." [/colour]She flashed a congratulatory grin before continuing on, mentally noting that it seemed to be a somewhat lengthy hall.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"win?" he asked, "I don't think I understand, how I can I win at asking questions?" he shook his head and followed her silently as he admired the corridor.

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Well, I guess you can't really, now that you mention it. I figured since it was sort of a question game, It would make a bit more sense and... no, I guess I didn't really think that one through."[/colour] Fantasy smiled sheepishly, before abruptly stopping.

The reason for her stopping was directly related to the corridor stopping as well. Where the hallway stopped, the second room began, and it looked rather different from the last room. In the corner was an antique looking desk with a similar looking chair, both covered with dust. A book shelf ran alongside one of the walls, filled with decrepit looking tomes, each an aged yellow in colour. Other than that, it looked fairly plain, aside from what appeared to be a blank piece of paper on the desk, next to a dried ink bottle. Fantasy whistled.

[colour=#800080]"And this is why I love my line of work. Just think of how many others would have never known about this! Why, we may be the first two to even be down here in years!"[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He nodded and walked past her and into the room and sat in front of the shelf and began to read the book titles, the ones he could make out anyway. They seemed to all be focused around one thing, "This is odd, they are all tales and stories about 'The mare on the Moon'," he said and turned to her, "Whats that?" he asked expecting her to know.

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Mare on the moon, you say? That certainly seems odd..."[/colour]

Just to double check, Fantasy peered at some of the book titles herself, and indeed, they were mainly about this mare on the moon. This was getting curiouser and curiouser the more they stayed down here. Turning to Darkness, she answered somewhat unsure of herself [colour=#800080]"I think... that its supposed to be referring to our dear princess Luna. She was banished to the moon for a quite a while, if I do recall correctly. I wonder... what would the mysterious architect of this place have been doing with these? They can't have been much more than tall tales in the past..."[/colour]

Fantasy tapped a hoof to her chin in thought as she trailed off mid sentence. She carefully grabbed one of the books from the shelf and leafed through it. One after the other, she took a book off the shelf and just flipped through the pages. They were remarkably well cared for, she had to admit. Not a single rip or tear or marking that wouldn't have come from sitting on a shelf for ages. They were still old, but in good shape for having yellowed pages.

[colour=#800080]"I believe, Mr. Eclipsed, that we can safely say this makes little sense. So that leaves it up to us to make everything that was unclear clear."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"makes it?" he questioned, "Why us?" he asked again.

(sory for tiny post)

[TheInvisiblePony]

(No problems!)

Fantasy gave a confused glance at the pegasus. [colour=#800080]"What do you mean, why us? I guess we could go back outside and leave well enough alone, but its wonderfully mysterious down here. You can almost smell the intrigue!" [/colour]​She continued staring quizzically at Darkness, wondering how he wasn't as excited as she was. It had been a while since she had gone adventuring with another pony, was it really all that unpopular with others?

[colour=#800080]"Oh dear, I'm being horribly rude aren't I?" I apologize, I don't go adventuring with others that often. Sometimes I forget that what I like isn't always everypony's cup of tea." [/colour]She looked down and awkwardly kicked her hoof. Since she was right next to the bookshelf, she instinctively reached for the nearest book as she usually did when she was nervous. She glanced at the cover, but didn't bother actually noting the books name. Something about star charts around the moon.

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness looked down, "no, its just why does it have to be us?" he looked away nervously, "Its just very very odd for me to be alone with a mare for such long times," he was shuffling a hoof and was blushing a bit.

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Oh."[/colour]

Now it was Fantasy's turn to blush. That thought hadn't even occurred to her, and it caught her off guard. Rather than trying to take the time to formulate any thoughts as she had done previously, she ended up letting loose a stammered kind of ramble, half directed to Darkness and half to herself.

[colour=#800080]"Well, I guess-no wait. Maybe it's because- no, that would be even worse. Perhaps we should... What I mean to say is that... I don't even... meep."[/colour]

Concluding with an awkward little squeak, the mare felt herself shrink somewhat against the bookshelf, again instinctively reverting to one of her childhood habits. In this case, she tried to hide in the corner as she panicked. "Maybe this is still salvageable on my part." Trying to straighten up a little, she spoke in a nervous voice, which was actually quieter than her already her already small voice. [colour=#800080]"I hadn't really considered it like that. I apologize, but to answer your question, I was just thinking we were already this far in, and, well, that's about it."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He just stood there shuffling his hoof, What do I say? he questioned himself and looked up at her. She was an amazing mare, though only knowing two wan't helping, I like her, but I barely know her! he nodded to her, not sure if she would understand he was ok to move on then.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy was slightly confused when Darkness just nodded, but that was mainly because she was still slightly flustered. It took a moment longer then it should have, but she got the general gist of it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she spoke again. [colour=#800080]"Okay then. I guess you can lead the way this time around. It wouldn't be very fair if I hogged all of the adventure!" [/colour]

She still had quite a bit on her mind though, namely that last comment. How in Equestria did she not see that one? Had she really come to be that clueless? Mentally sighing again, Fantasy decided it would be pointless to go down that route, and instead devote more thought to reacting to this. Tucking the book she had away for later, she re-adjusted her hat (which had become somewhat lopsided after her surprise), and she waited to follow Darkness.

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness looked at her again and then headed down the hallway and slowly made his mental map as he began to figure out what this was. He plotted all the points, watched all the routes and came to one conclusion, "This is a sancuary or shrine," he gasped as he froze, "Who ever built this, well they built it to worship this 'mare on the moon' idea!"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy looked at Darkness as she thought about his conclusion. The more she thought about it, the she realized he was rather right, at which point she flashed a smile at the pegasus.

[colour=#800080]"With a talent like that, I'm starting to think you're getting better than me with this whole explore-the-ruins routine! You should consider doing this more often. Celestia knows that the world has enough secrets. Or rather, perhaps she doesn't."[/colour]

Looking around the shrine/sanctuary, she reasoned that is was abandoned at the very least with Luna's return. After all, that's when the mare on the moon ceased to show up on the moon, and it was a long while ago. Fantasy sighed. That probably meant there wouldn't be any ruin monsters. She had yet to run into any, but all the action heroes in books did. No matter, focus on the task at hand!

[colour=#800080]"I wonder why they'd build it out here, of all places. Rather risky, placing it so close to Canterlot."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He shrugged as he continued down the passage and emerged at the center, there was an odd hill of gears and rocks and upon the top stood a statue of what he could only assume was this 'mare on the moon'

"Wow someone took a while to make this here structure!" he said as he looked it over with a smile