A Nature Expedition (QueenChrysalis747 and TheInvisiblePony)

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy stared quizzically at the pegasus, before replying [colour=#800080]"You mean something could be worse than being in a ruin that seems to be impossible to navigate without getting hopelessly lost?"[/colour] She shook her head slightly, [colour=#800080]"Well, you haven't been wrong yet. Very well, I trust your judgement. The sooner we get going the sooner we come to... something, I guess"[/colour]

She started walking alongside to Darkness, this time forwards through the hallway, seeing as how backwards just got more complicated. She walked on for a while, as the hallway stretched out before them, before coming to halt before another door. Seeing as how it was just a door, she opened it, only to stare curiously at a completely blank room. It didn't even seem to have another exit. It was just a solid, stone box. She shot a curious aside at Darkness, before wandering into the room, not knowing what to make of it.

Still, it had to have served some purpose, and maybe it still did. Sure this place seemed to be a crazy madhouse dedicated to the mare on the moon, but a barren room was just too strange. Everything so far seemed to do something, so logically this one had to do something to. Unless it did nothing, which was technically still something. Gah, now she was confused a little. [colour=#800080]"Any ideas on this place, Mr. Eclipsed? 'Cause I can't make heads or tails of it."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"yeah," he followed her in and closed the door and sat in the middle of the room, "we wait,"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy nodded, then sat down as well. Figuring that Darkness literally meant wait, she tried calmly staying still. It wasn't very long before she was slightly impatient, so she tried closing her eyes to focus. That had less success, so she glanced around the room, as her imagination got the better of her. She pulled out the moon trinket and stared at it a tad, wondering if it served any purpose, or it was just a trinket. She pocketed it, thinking very little of it, fascinating as it was, as she sat there next to darkness. Seconds added up to minutes, which in turn stacked with more seconds, until Fantasy realized she was terrible at keeping track of time in moments like this.

In the absence of wondrous magic that could be mistaken for an ominous theme park, it wasn't long before Fantasy's thoughts were directed towards her companion in general. Specifically, she was letting the stories he had told her earlier sink in more, and they certainly were sad. But it wasn't quite pity motivating her, as fantasy mused she actually like him. After all, he was pretty grand... Fantasy blushed slightly, before mentally scolding herself for blushing slightly. She was trying to remain stoic, and that certainly didn't help. Then her attention was drawn once more to the waiting game she was currently playing, and breaking the silence, she spoke up.

[colour=#800080]"What are we waiting for, exactly?"[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"I figured something out," Darkness explained to her, "If we remain in the same section then the hallways will switch every 15 minutes, give or take," he said to her, "So I, well we, are waiting for the hallways to switch," he said and smiled at her, "Just another few minutes to go, then we move on slowly and occasionally must wait a bit to allow the hallways to switch," he started to blush a bit as he remembered how beautiful this mare was.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy nodded in understanding. Now that she knew what she was waiting for, it certainly helped, if just to satisfy her curiosity. Just a few more minutes shouldn't be hard to pass, and she reasoned that this was the kind of waiting that didn't need statue like waiting, and now that there was conversation going, it would be a touch awkward to drop it. She did catch his slight blush, but she didn't bring it up. Rather, she just smiled reassuringly, not knowing quite why he was blushing. She looked at him, and mentally replayed most of the past... however long they were in the ruins, and she thought of each separate moment, and she closed her eyes for a brief second, before deciding that she should at least try to convey honestly how she felt, before the wait was up and the adventure continued. After all, now was pretty much the perfect chance, and this would be the perfect room for talking.

[colour=#800080]"Hey, Darkness? While we have a moment, I just wanted to say that, well, thank you. I mean for tagging along with me. I can't remember the last time I've gone exploring with somepony else, and I don't think its ever been quite this fun."[/colour] She turned her head to the side, as a blush started to show.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"Oh," he smiled at her and caught her blush, "We..well I'm glad I could tag along, its been so long since I've been in the presence of such a lovely mare," he blushed himself as he kept track of how long they had, still 3 minutes to go....what could happen in 3 minutes? he wondered.

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Ah, well, I'm glad you think that, because the feeling's reciprocal."[/colour] She smiled, slightly sheepishly, glad that so far nothing had gone wrong, and she was starting to wonder if even that was simply her being paranoid. After all, it was only when she panicked when something went wrong, and when she was much more confident, as she had been, it all seemed to work nicely. She turned back to the pegasus, and caught the red on cheeks. In response, and nearly out of nowhere, Fantasy placed a hoof up to her mouth to stifle a slight chuckle.

[colour=#800080]"I'm sorry, its just, well look at the two of us, blushing left and right. Two of a pair, it would seem."[/colour] She smiled lightheartedly, as she explained herself. By now, she had pretty much lost track of the time, given that she never really kept it accurately to begin with, so she was focused more or less on the conversation.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"yeah," he smiled warmly, "Oh hold that thought!" he said as he closed his eyes, "Hmmm, we may want to wait a bit longer, that switch didn't help," he said to her as he smiled, "Trust me,"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Taking a quick curious glance at the door, Fantasy nodded hesitantly before smiling. [colour=#800080]"How can I not?"[/colour] She figured it could be worse, besides another 15 minutes would be a rather well spent time. After the initial desire to see what was behind the door, she managed to stifle herself. It was curious though, aside from being a bit clumsy in a few places, Fantasy didn't see how dangerous this place could be, and why would anypony trap an area beyond the front entrance?

Her thoughts were snapped back to attention as she remembered who she was sitting next too. He wouldn't lie, she knew, and as someone who wandered the Everfree, as she recalled him saying, Darkness probably knew danger as he saw it. So, that aside, the mare went back to the matter at hoof. Well, she tried going back to the matter at hoof anyways, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He smiled at her, "Sorry, I can tell you are getting restless," he sighed, "I'm waiting for the exit to be closer and...and another path to be far away," he said to her, "It's magically trapped!"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy raised an eyebrow in response. [colour=#800080]"Magically trapped? Intriguing... I'd imagine we'd very much want to stay away from that. Good call!"[/colour] She nodded in approval, before taking one last glance at the door. She assumed that the trapped hallway had to be fairly close or else they'd probably be on their way. She'd encountered traps before, the ponies who made ruins always had a strange fondness for them, but she had never encountered a trap she was fond of. Mainly because if she did, it probably wouldn't be a very good trap, but that's besides the point. She continued on talking as she turned back towards Darkness.

[colour=#800080]"Well, I can wait a while longer. Especially with good company."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He blushed a bit, "Thanks," he replied to her and smiled, "so, what do you wanna talk about now?" he asked her

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy pondered the question a little, before coming up with a rough idea. [colour=#800080]"Well, I know you love nature, sooo... I don't suppose you have an favorite place in particular?"[/colour] She tilted her head curiously, wondering what Darkness' reply would be. Already, she had lost track of time, but she didn't mind much.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"Well...yeah, but I would much rather show you then tell ypu," he smiled then turned to her, "But you can't tell anypony where it is, It might get crowded,"

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy gave a sly little smile [colour=#800080]"Sounds like we have a deal. Although, do you really expect me to go around and tell everypony about it?"[/colour] She gave a lighthearted chuckle, wondering how difficult her line of work would be if she just told ponies to explore all of the various ruins. Then there'd be nothing left for her! Although, she did admit she was curious as to what this location looked like. It certainly provided something to look forward too, and that was always something.

[QueenChrysalis747]

"So.." he shuffled a hoof, "that killed a minute, now what?" he said very lost on what to do, and shy all over again as now they were really alone, and sort of trapped.

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy looked around the room, thinking of something to say. It didn't help that there was nothing in the room besides the two of them, which rather limited things that could be used as more obvious conversation starters. Darkness was certainly right about her being a bit stir crazy, but there was no reason to emphasize something she could do nothing about. As she looked away from one of the blank walls, she noticed Darkness shuffling his hoof, and she couldn't help but give a small smile, before going back to pining on her previous conundrum for a few seconds. [colour=#800080]"You know, Its times like this I wish I had spent my youth a bit more socially. At least we'd have some more conversation topics."[/colour]

She gave a slight chuckle, wondering what that would have even turned out like before deciding that it would have been, at the very least, quite different. She mentally botched the thought, thinking 'Meh, not much use thinking about that. Its a bit too late for changing a childhood.'

[QueenChrysalis747]

"yeah, I tried to be more social," he sighed bit, "It was so hard, every Unicorn looking down at you because your some freak," he looked at her, "I'm glad you don't think I'm a freak," he said, right?"

[TheInvisiblePony]

[colour=#800080]"Course I don't! I mean, how could I?"[/colour] Fantasy stared a bit quizzically at Darkness, wondering why he'd have to ask that. The stare didn't last long, and she quickly resumed a more familiar smile.[colour=#800080] "Honestly, I doubt you've done one thing down here that I would find freaky, if it helps."[/colour] Fantasy paused for a minute for a second as a thought occurred to her that gave her pause. Stifling a bemused chuckle, she shared the idea [colour=#800080]"Unless, of course, we're both freaks. Who knows how this whole thing works, anyways?" [/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

"Hmm, yes I assumed that makes sence," he smiled to her as he began look around aimlessly. 7 more minutes, he thouht a money!

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy blinked through a few thoughts, every moment seemed similar to the one before it, but given the blank room, it would make sense that the silent moments were all the same. She looked back to Darkness after a second or two, not wanting there to be too much silence, and she spoke up. [colour=#800080]"I guess it does make sense, but then again I'd prefer not to think of you as a freak. After all, its hardly your fault you're a Pegasus, and quite frankly, I think that wings look rather nice on you."[/colour]

[QueenChrysalis747]

He blushed, "Rea..really?" he shuffled a hoof as he looked at her, "Well, um; your attractive yourself," he said to her and went beat red and looked at the ground. He couldn't believe he just said that to her, how would she react, well she kind of already knows he likes her a lot, right?

[TheInvisiblePony]

Fantasy tried very much so no to blush herself, still attempting to maintain her bravado. However, she was certainly surprised by the comment. It wasn't that she wasn't aware of Darkness' feelings, but she was caught slightly off guard by the bluntness of his comment. Not to mention, she had figured he had liked her for being kind, and hadn't really considered her looks. She did try to maintain as basic an appearence as possible. And yet the statement was in the air so it had to be true.

Despite herself, Fantasy found herself blushing slightly as she looked at Darkness. He certainly seemed nervous, if the red face was an indicator of anything, so Fantasy took a breath to try to calm herself. 'I am not used to this kind of thing... I guess I should thank him?' Yes, that certainly seemed right. [colour=#800080]"T-Thank you!"[/colour] Mentally, she chided herself on that. 'Gah! No stuttering! You can't leave that note hanging in the air, its too unsure. He could get the wrong idea!'

[colour=#800080]"I mean, well, thank you! I can't say anyone's ever complimented me like that before."[/colour] Matching one of his earlier movements, she shuffled a hoof.

[QueenChrysalis747]

He looked at her, "Well that's rude of them," he said still shy, "I mean what Stallion would not tell a mare of her great beauty?" he asked as he blushed heavy and smiled a bit as he just looked at her awaiting her reply

[TheInvisiblePony]

Against her will, the slight blush grew as Fantasy listened to Darkness. She was unused to such compliments, given her habit of adventuring on the frontiers of Equestria. For a long second of pause there was silence, so Fantasy resorted to her old habits that happened whenever she was nervous. That is too say, she started to nervously ramble through a very visible red blush.

[colour=#800080]"Oh! Well, it may very well not be their fault, but rather the blame may very well fall on me. That is too say, I tend to avoid large groups, or medium groups, or groups in general. I guess most of my time I'm reading, or well, doing this."[/colour] She paused for a second to gesture around her, [colour=#800080]"This, meaning exploring. I do go into market places, and I have been to the odd party, don't get me wrong there. After a childhood of social gatherings, I've become accustomed to them slightly. At least, I've become accustomed to hiding myself in them. One picks up the skill to panic silently in a corner and be ignored, when the only other option terrifies one." [/colour]

Suddenly, Fantasy recognized what she had started to do, and her blush as she started to apologize. [colour=#800080]"Oh- oh dear! I've started to ramble, haven't I? I'm sorry, bad habit's die hard, you know? Or is it old habits? I don't know when I exactly started to do this, I just stop thinking about what I say and it starts pouring out and- wait. I'm starting to do it again."[/colour] She face-hooved herself, hoping that it would stop herself.