A Foal's Errand (Cerali and TRP)

The door opened a little, and Zecora's face poked out curiously. She looked a little surprised when she saw the fillies. "What is it you fillies are doing here at this hour? This forest at night is enough to make most ponies cower!" She opened the door, "Come on inside, before you see something that makes your eyes go wide!"

 

Zecora looked even more surprised at that. She shut the door, then looked at them. "You seek the lost treasure of the Everfree?" She shook her head. "No, it is too dangerous, I decree!"

Taffy gasped. "No! Ya don't understand Zecora! We need the treasure; it's the only thing that can save our orphanage!" She looked at Kala, hoping she'd be able to convince Zecora.

 

Zecora looked at her sympathetically, then sighed. "Well if you are set on this, I cannot lead you amiss..." She pulled out a map of the forest, and showed them the entrance to the caves where the treasure was rumoured to be buried. it was almost at the heart of the forest, and she warned them of all the dangerous creatures that would stand in their path...

 

Taffy put on her bravest face, then nodded. "Ah am!" She said, smiling back. Before they left, she pulled a device she'd made out of her saddlebags, and copied Zecora's map, so they would know where they were going.

(Not sure if you looked at my OC list or not, but Taffy's basically a repair pony, so her talent is making gadgets and fixing things.)

 

"Eep!" Taffy squeaked as she was dragged along, but then smiled and trotted along next to Kala. She pulled out her lantern again, and checked the map as they followed the path deeper into the forest. The path her was obviously less well used, and was starting to get overgrown; a few times Taffy had to fight her way through bushes and vines that had grown across the road, but stopped when they came across a big patch of blue flowers. Zecora had warned them about this; Poison Joke.

(Cool, just making sure )

 

Taffy looked around, but couldn't see anything that could obviously help them. "Um, do you think you could carry me?" She asked, blushing a little. It wasn't far, but she didn't know how good of a flier Kala was...

 

Taffy held onto Kala, and tried to make sure her hooves didn't brush against any of the taller flowers. After a tense few moments, they made it safely to the other side. Once she was back on the ground, Taffy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks," She said, smiling at Kala, "Ah owe ya one."

She got the map out again, and looked about for any kind of landmark. She made a dismayed noise as she discovered how far they still had to go; they weren't even at the old castle yet!

 

They kept walking, but after a couple more hours, Taffy's eyelids were starting to get heavy. She tried to remain alert, but she was going to need to sleep at some point... She spotted the castle in the distance, and came up with an idea. "Uh, Kala? Do ya think we could sleep in the castle until mornin'?" She asked, stifling a yawn. "we've still gotta go as far as we've already been again, and it'd probably be safer in the day time..."

 

"Ah'm not sure," Taffy admitted, a little troubled, "But we'll be safer that we are out here,"

The pressed on, and soon got the the castle entrance; the huge doors were slightly ajar, and they were able to squeeze through the gap. Inside, the thick dust on the floor showed signs of hoofprints, but that made sense; Taffy had heard about six ponies going to the castle to defeat Nightmare Moon, and they'd come back fine. That was the main reason she hoped they'd be okay too.

"Can ya tell which way leads t' the tower?" She asked Kala, looking around.

 

Taffy nodded, held her lantern a little higher, and headed down the hall. At the end were two doors. She took a deep breath, and opened the one on the right; stairs leading down into the dark, not what they were looking for. She closed it carefully, then opened the other one. An explosion of dark fur and leathery wings mad her scream and jump back, cowering, as a colony of bats flew past her.