A Nature Expedition (QueenChrysalis747 and TheInvisiblePony)

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness sighed and looked down, "I'm sorry, I should go, I can see I've quite upset you," he said calmly as he looked at the floor, "I know it's probeley really odd, you just met this pony and already he really likes you," he closed his eyes, "It's just that the only other mare I have ever met is like a sister to me do when I finally find a great mare and we are having fun..." he wanted to cry, "Well you can't entirely blame me for wanting to be more then a friend, you know," he cried a little, "Especially since I never really had someone to love,"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Taking a deep breath, Fantasy felt rather guilty. She hadn't meant in the slightest to respond as strongly as she had, so she had placed the blame for any negative emotion squarely on her own lack of social experience. She tried straightening up, and even took a few steps out of the corner (Especially once she had realized she was there in the first place; good or bad, old habits die hard). She kinda sorta looked up at Darkness, in a kinda sorta upright stance, somewhere in between timid mare and intrepid-yet-well-mannered-adventurer and spoke.

[colour=#800080]"I should think I'm not terribly upset. I very well might be if you took a leave of absence, though. Aside from the last few moments, I thought we were getting along smashingly. And even then, those last few moments were mainly my fault."[/colour]

Fantasy managed to give a small smile, again somewhere between nervous and confident-yet-humbly-so, then took a deep breath. So that was it. If that didn't make clear her opinion on the matter, well, she was never good at being blunt, or straightforwardly honest. In fact, maybe that was one of the reasons she liked this stallion, now that she thought about it. He certainly was more trusting about his past than Fantasy herself would have been in those shoes. Regardless, she awaited a reply, with stance that pretty much mimicked the style of her previous actions.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"Even if so," he said still upset, "What now, I just dunno what to do or say, I realize it was foolish to think a great mare like you could love somepony like me," he looked at her, "Well I guess its your choice what to do now."

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy herself felt somewhat saddened as Darkness spoke. Somehow, he had struck a chord she had even gotten to consider at of the moment. She lowered her head as the pegasus looked at her, not wanting to make eye contact. With her bravado coming and going as it was, she felt a little nervous simply saying anything. She had no idea what to do now. Of course, did she ever know really what she was doing? Probably not. Maybe she thought things would just work out with little conflict. She recalled saying earlier how she occasionally thought her cutie mark represented her more naive nature. Not looking up, she spoke.

[colour=#800080]"I..."[/colour] Fantasy choked up. She realized that nothing she could say would fix this. She just wasn't that good with words. In a somewhat panicky state, she glanced to her side and saw the corridor. In an action that didn't involve the thought process so much, she finished her sentence before bolting down the hallway back to the gear room. [colour=#800080]"I'm sorry!"[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness just watched her go and sighed, "Great Darkness, there goes everything," he closed his eyes and began to cry. He thought of how he had no family, well except when he saw Moonlite, he had no friends, and he would be alone forever. This only made him cry more, alone again, alone forever. He flopped on his side as he have up crying and just laid there, maybe he would just stay there till he died or something, he didn't feel like moving.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy tried to not choke up as she dashed down the hallway. She didn't come to a stop until she came to the room that was filled with gears, the same one she had cut her hoof on earlier. She glanced down at her hoof, realizing that it still kind of stung. She must have forgotten it during the... Fantasy didn't want to transition into that thought. Everything she had done, even asking a few simple questions, had upset Darkness. And now, well, now it was just her. If she was in a better mood, she would have chuckled, however grimly, at how she dealt with situations. Start to feel restrained with Canterlot life? Run off into unknown ruins! Mess up a conversation with a wonderful stallion? Run off into unknown ruins!

She glanced back over her shoulder, realizing that even, no, especially running off probably didn't help at all. But could she go back? After just running off? She was starting to think Darkness was becoming very disillusioned with her. Or at least, he couldn't think highly of her now. And yet, she couldn't just stay put. She practically shouted (or spoke in a normal tone, given her regular voice was fairly quiet) in frustration. [colour=#800080]"Why is this so difficult?!"[/colour]

She sat down, somewhat promptly, and came to a realization. Everything she'd been attempting to do was to prevent the situation from worsening, aside from her last minute panic. But it was more for his sake then her own, she just wanted him to cheer up. Darkness was quite good company, and his revealed love had admittedly startled her, but she was starting to realize that, just perhaps, she felt the same way. After all, he had more or less went with her on this entire adventure, even when he started out barely speaking a word. That was a kind of friendliness one didn't find often.

Fantasy sighed with a slight tremble. [colour=#800080]"I'm going to have to go back."[/colour] She said, not to anypony in particular. She turned back towards the corridor, and with the slight terror of her own actions, she began to walk back down the corridor. [colour=#800080]"I just hope this time I don't make a mess of things."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

Darkness was staring at the bookshelf, as if memorized by it. This was half true; he was reading all the titles, then cutting out certian words and trying to spell a sentence, or paragraph. It was something he did as he tried to get his mind off her, but not in a bad way, he would always feel love to her, but he wanted to forget she ran. He sighed and close his eyes, resting his head on the shelf, "Ugh why is life so hard for me," he chuckled, "I know, I'll go join the Wonderbolts and I can walk around in the outfit so no one will know its me and I will be loved!" he cheered triumphantly, "Except I could never talk to Spitfire, let alone the rest." he sighed again

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy gently walked down the corridor, every step increasing her nervousness. As the hallway became shorter and shorter, each step brought more negative possibilities and overall lengthened the distance Fantasy thought she had left. What if Darkness was bitter? What if he didn't want anything to do with her? What if he had already left? She paused about halfway down the corridor, and considered every possible option that would even be slightly bad. As she paused, for the first time for a tremendous amount of time, she felt like crying. She was already trembling with butterflies in her stomach. "No! Everything is going to work out. It has too!"

She strengthened any resolve she had lying around, and then Fantasy gave a slight smile, just for a brief moment. She had forgotten who she was, that is too say, a naive adventurer. Well, she could use a little optimism, and what was she doing but exploring something a little less tangible? She continued down the hallway, and it went much faster. Sure there were still doubts, but every step now brought a more ideal hypothetical moment into view. Fantasy kept the pattern going until she reached the library.

There he was, just staring at the bookcase. Getting the feeling he had just had a bit of a monologue, Fantasy wondered why he was so terribly fascinated by the books, then realized that was kind of the pot calling the kettle black. As she stood there, perhaps unnoticed by the pegasus, a million things she could say whizzed around her head. Without much hesitation, she picked one and spoke up, staring at Darkness.

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

[QueenChrysalis747]

He whipped his head around hearing her voice, and sure enough she was there! Why did she come back? He wondered as he thought of reasons, but came up empty. He looked at her, not able to tell her emotion or thought he shuffled a hoof. He looked down and looked back up, "Y..you came back?" he finally mustered up to say to her. Oh was that the right thing to say? he wondered, did it sound too rude? Was I too forward, oh dear Celestia make this work out!

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy practically cried out in joy. The initial question she had, of just what Darkness would first say, was resolved, and it was a lot better than what she had anticipated. It was an honest question! No venom behind it or anything! Reinforced in her attempts, she responded. [colour=#800080]"I guess I did. To be honest, I don't think I could have brought myself to leave..."[/colour] She trailed off. Should she tell him? Fantasy was already aware of the pegasus' feelings, but could she bring herself to do it? As it turned out, yes, she could. Well, she could at least hint at it. She picked up the sentence.

[colour=#800080]"After all, if I left I'd never see you again."[/colour] her smile turned somewhat sheepish. Mentally, she frowned "That sounded a lot more corny than what I wanted that to sound like." She shuffled her hoof, as her bravado vanished. Well, that was pretty much all she had planned out. Fantasy had a few more elaborate plans for different situations, but this left her relying a bit more on improv. Again. Well, improv was acting, so despite her nervousness, Fantasy kept a much straighter posture. She certainly didn't want to appear uncertain, so she tried her best not too.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He slowly approached her so that there muzzles were just a foot apart, he wasn't extremely eager, not sure if it was all true. "Really?" he asked her blushing, "he shuffled a hoof nervously, "Well..well I'm real glad you came back," he said nervously as he smiled. He wasn't sure what else to say to her, did she like him more then a friend, or was this her way of saying she wanted him as a good friend. So many different outcomes, he didn't want to jump to any, so he waited to see what she would say, or do, next.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy tried to resist appearing awkward. That would certainly ruin the moment, but they were standing fairly close together. She noticed the stallion blush, and act about as nervous as she felt. It helped, somehow, knowing he looked about as uncertain as she was trying hard not to look. [colour=#800080]"Well, yes really."[/colour] She dared not step backwards, so she just looked at Darkness for a few seconds, before continuing on talking. this time, she had a twinge of guilt in her voice [colour=#800080]"I shouldn't have left in the first place. I'd understand if you don't accept an apology, but at least I was hoping we could start over."[/colour]

Fantasy adjusted her hat, then smiled again, this time happily. [colour=#800080]"You know, I have no idea how you manage to be so wonderful, but I'm determined to figure it out."[/colour] This was going a lot better, the second time around, but she still paused for a thought. "Okay, less corny. Let's see if we can't keep it so. That will probably lead less to him doubting you"

[QueenChrysalis747]

He smiled at her little corny line and blushed still, "Ye..yeah," he looked up at her, "So..So what does my dear Marefriend want to do.." his voice trailed as he realized what he just said, "Oh dear Celestia, oh I mean like a friend that's a mare, not that I'm against the other meaning, but..oh my!" he scrambled for words and shuffles a hoof nervously, "Um..so...what does my friend wish to do?"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy blinked, listening to the pegasus' scramble for words. She didn't quite know what to make of that one, but regardless she found herself blushing slightly herself. She thought of the question itself for a few moments, before responding back to the word fumble. [colour=#800080]"I think I can catch the gist of what you meant, but I digress."[/colour] She diverted her gaze for a second, hoping that didn't sound odd, but in that event, she picked up her sentence fairly quickly.

"In any event, I would suggest a bit more adventure. Neither of us earned our marks for sitting still, so it seems like a bit of a waste just sitting around." Well. That may have sounded better in her head. Fantasy felt the need to elaborate on that one, trying desperately not to dig herself into any holes.[colour=#800080] "Of course, there's nothing wrong with sitting around. Especially with, well, you."[/colour] Mentally, she faced hooved. She had planned at least a few different ways that could have gone. None of them were quite like that one, but she couldn't think of anything else to say, or even ramble on. So, instead of nervously turning away, she kept the same posture, with the slightly askew glance.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He blushed, "Well, um, doing anything with you is great, so i guess we can go adventure, or something," he said still very nervous. He looked at her and shuffled a hoof and looked around, he was so confused what to make of this. Did she like him? how much if she did? Was he being to awkward and up front? Oh all this was giving him a slight headache as he closed his eyes to try and make sense of this all.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy smiled, as she nodded in union with Darkness' agreement. That worked out reasonable well, so without much wait she began trotting back to the corridor. She paused for a second, waiting for him to start following, only as she turned around she noticed his eyes were closed. Fantasy wondered for a brief second what he was thinking about. She also gave one last glance about the library, feeling both another twinge of leftover guilt, and another bolster of courage to prevent the same situation from happening again. She had already slipped up once, another time might be too much. "Well, no pressure at least." She mused, somewhat sarcastically. Feeling like breaking the silence, a curious thought struck Fantasy.

[colour=#800080]"So, Darkness, I already know you spend a lot of time in the wilderness and such, but you mentioned earlier you don't actually spend much time in Canterlot itself. Do you just spend your days here and sleep back in the city, or do you actually spend nights out here?"[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He looked at her and smiled a bit, "Depends on my mood, usually I like the soft comfy bed, but the forest is so serene as well," he said happily and followed her, "So, yeah I do both," he replied as he looked around the library.

[TheInvisiblePony]

With Darkness behind, Fantasy started walking down the corridor herself, nodding at his statement. [colour=#800080]"I suppose I can see your point."[/colour] She continued with a slight chuckle, as she recalled some past misfortunes [colour=#800080]"Of course, the forest is a lot less serene when you get caught in a rain fall. That was the last time I didn't pay attention to the weather schedules!" [/colour]

Somehow, the hall was a lot shorter than she recalled, but she didn't dwell on it that much. Mainly because they were back in the room with the gear filled hill. She looked around, grinning. It was a pretty neat room, practically begging itself to be navigated around. In fact, the way the spinning gears were intertwined with the hill probably had them serve that exact purpose. As she looked around, and even up at the Mare on the Moon statue, she spoke to Darkness [colour=#800080]"Well, we've already been here, so perhaps we should carry on past here?"[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"yeah," he said and smiled, "I shall let you lead on from now, more fun as I know the layout already," he sighed, "My talent is a great gift and a terrible curse," he looked at her, "I can't be surprised that much as I can see them hiding, and I never have a true adventure because I always know where I am." he smiled at her, "But so long as I'm with you at least you'll never get lost!"

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"I can see how that could get annoying... I tell you what. When we run into something, I'll have to act twice as surprised. You know, for you as well"[/colour] She smiled back, as well as gestured out a hoof as if to say 'lead the way'. She started to wonder if she had that talent herself, before realizing about half of her adventures ended up with her getting lost regardless. Somehow the idea of knowing the immediate layout of the area avoided her imagination. She then wondered if Darkness was just as unable to conjure up the mental image of being lost. She gave a mental shrug, as she realized he probably did. After all, that's how he got his cutie mark in the first place.

[colour=#800080]"Oh, and about that unable-to-adventure thing, I'm sure I'll think of something to keep things interesting for you. Maybe I'll stumble into a trap or some such thing."[/colour] She chuckled at the thought.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He smiled at that but said nothing as he walked around the structure and to the back and opened the door opposite where they started and began to walk down the hall. It was so quiet and eerie here, gave him a bit of chills as he looked around to look for an interesting or hidden place.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy followed close behind, looking around the hall they had now wandered into. It was quite odd, how similar it looked to the other one, but something about this one in particular seemed... off. She couldn't place her hoof on anything in particular, but the entire hall was giving off an unsettling feeling. Her smile slowly vanished, as she began looking around with a much more serious and much more interested eye, but she couldn't find any one thing. Maybe it was quieter or maybe it was darker, or maybe it was both. Regardless, it was a change of pace.

[colour=#800080]"Excellent choice, assuming there was some option. I like the atmosphere. Very quaint."[/colour] She tried to keep a polite facade going, reasoning that any fear that could arise would crack through. It's served her in the past, quite nicely. She looked to her left, and over shoulder, when something caught her eye. [colour=#800080]"Hello..." [/colour]she mumbled, as she walked over to a small shiny thing stuck in between the stones making up the floor. It was a small silver crescent moon, keeping in theme with the rest of the ruin. Strangely enough, it was rather out of place in the eerie little corridor, so it was apparent it wasn't meant to be there.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He froze and looked behind, How did I not spot that He questioned himself as he closed his eyes and went wide eyed, "What the!" he said and looked at her, "This place is enchanted, the halls and corridors keep changing!"

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"They're... changing?"[/colour] She looked around, curiously. She didn't feel anything happening, but maybe it was a trip line magic, as in, the corridor waited for one to get in before randomizing. But then, where would they go? Did the rooms stay the same as well... and... the rooms might have... changed as well...

[colour=#800080]"Oh Celestia!"[/colour] Fantasy practically bolted back down the hallway as the realization struck her. The hallway seemed shorter, because she was kind of sprinting, but it did seem rather different. Fairly quickly she came to a door at the end of the hallway, and with any hope the same one they came through. She flung it open, not giving a moment of rest from the sprint, and came face to face with a room that certainly didn't have a statue on a hill. In fact, it wasn't even a room, just a T-shaped hallway split, offering two choices to go, neither of them familiar.

Fantasy panicked for a brief moment, before natural curiosity set back in, as well as the sprint taking its toll. She stood there, staring at both hallways, breathing heavily for a few moments, as a grin slowly set back on her face. Wait... if she went into either of those corridors, there would be a possibility that the hallways would separate her from Darkness. It would seem that it would be especially important for them to stick together, so she trotted back to the pegasus. He wasn't that far off, seeing as how she didn't go that far, but it was still nice to see him again.

[colour=#800080]"Well, you coming? I can't very well have a panic attack by myself. That would be selfish."[/colour] She smiled at him.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"well we must get out of here soon," he replied quite worried, "I just have a very bad feeling that something real bad might happen if we're down here to long," he said and stood beside her, "well come along let's get going!"