Taffy looked up, then back down the hall, before standing up and nodding. She climbed the stairs with Kala, and after what felt like hours, they finally came to a large, round room. There was a bed, a fireplace, a few old bookshelves, and a balcony overlooking the forest. There was also bat guano on the floor, which Taffy managed to step in. "Ew!" She moaned, hopping about and looking for something to scrape her hoof on.
Kala handed her a stone block that had once been part of the wall. "this place is practically falling apart!" she rapped her hoof against the wall. "but it should be strong enough for us to stay here"
"Oh, it ain't so bad!" Taffy said, smiling, as she wiped her hoof, "It must've been real grand way back when." She looked out over the balcony and sighed. "Kinda makes me feel like a Princess..." She blushed and coughed, then turned around, looking back at the room. "Um... do you think we should make a fire? These old books should burn real well..."
Kala pursed her lips. "why not?" she said finally. "It is rather cold. and dark......" she shivered and began gathering books
They gathered the most damaged looking books, the ones that were beyond reading, and stacked them in the fireplace. Taffy pulled a sparking device out of her bag, and crouched near the books. "Can ya beat some wind into 'em with your wings?" She asked Kala, "Ah need some airflow for the fire t' catch,"
With Kala's help, Taffy soon had a nice little fire going, with a pile of books to fuel it into the night. As well as providing warmth, the fire had the added benefit of lighting the room, so Taffy turned off her lamp as she sat on a clean patch of floor. "How many days until they close the orphanage?" Taffy asked Kala, having forgotten herself. She was never good with remembering dates...
"well" said Kala, who was good at remembering deadlines, if not other dates "I think they were supposed to close it a week from today" she sat near the fire "we should be able to get to the heart of the forest, find the treasure, and get back by then, if we move as fast as we can"
Taffy nodded, furrowing her brow as she tried to memorise the date. "Ah hope they don't get too worried about us," She said, after a moment, looking a little guilty. "Ah mean, Ah know we have to do this an' all, but Ah hope none of the nice ponies get upset..."
Taffy thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, Ah guess you're right..." She shrugged, then pulled the map out of her bag to study it, trying to see exactly where they needed to go in the morning.
"well, I'm going to sleep. today has been tiring" she said as she folded her wings and curled up by the fire. "I'll leave you to plan our path"
"Alright," Taffy replied, smiling. She plotted what looked to be the safest path, as far as she could understand the map, then yawned and stretched a little. She thought for a moment, then reached into her bags, pulling out two blankets. She put one gently over Kala, threw a few more books on the fire to keep it going, then curled up under the second one herself, falling asleep as well.
"No..." Taffy muttered, curling up a little more under her blanket. She hated getting up, especially when it was cold...
Kala looked out the window. "well, get up. It's morning. time to go" she said, helping Taffy up. "so, which way are we going?"
Taffy groaned and rubbed her eyes, before studying the map again. "Uh... that way," She said, pointing out the window at a rocky peak sticking out above the trees of the forest. "The caves are under that mountain thing."
Taffy looked out at the drop nervously. "Um... No, it's probably safer if we just walk back down..." She said, hesitantly.
