.
Lunch was good, I had shared a few of her apples. I like apples; they remind me of all the times I had with Applejack, and her family in the past. A past, to which I can never go back. Maybe I can find a way back to the Equestria I came from? Yet, in this case I may have to leave a friend behind. I do not like leaving a friend behind and I do not wish to leave her behind.
While the fort is large an expansive, it is still very small for me to live in and spend the rest of my life in.
“I am going out, in order to explore the room around the fort! I will leave everything behind, with you; while I make this excursion, but I intend to come back as soon as possible!” she explains.
“Lighten the load? Nothing to lead back to the fort where I hide!” I respond.
“We will need more food, soon enough, and you know it!” she points out.
“Yes, I understand! While I could have helped you, to carry what ever you find; I could probably defend you against what ever is out there, but I understand that if I am seen now, I could be the cause of the danger!” I respond.
“Thank you, Twilight!" she offers, as she is walking along the hall to the lobby.
I do not follow her. Not so much, because I fret; it is just no point. I trot towards my room, as I see her leave our shared home.
“Maybe I could spend some quality time, with that book; reading about these mythological Hordes she mentioned, earlier the other day!” I ponder, while I am trotting towards my room.
“While I do not know, exactly how long it will take her to get back; but, I will have more than enough time on my hooves, reading in the days ahead!” I ponder.
“The book can stand to wait, a few more minutes to an hour, while I am doing a bit of exploration!” I tell myself.
Just because this fort is much larger than my original Fort Book, back hone; does not mean it is unlimited, or that I will wonder off and get lost in a complicated maze of halls and scattered about rooms no end.
Her room is empty; since she had left the food in the kitchen and carry the back pack with her.
My room is empty, short of the two books I was taking from the Dragon’s hoard, when she showed me what a Horse is.
The third, fourth and fifth rooms are basically deserted, beyond Spartan in exactly everything.
When I enter the final room on the black, I am a bit carried away. I light my horn and illuminate the room; with everything I am worth, barely stopping myself before any of the book is blazing. I feel the floor smoldering, in a deep purple glow, but nothing does catch fire- Thankfully.
Seemingly at random, I stop at a particular book in the middle of the room; stopping and scrutinizing it, intensely willing it to reveal something deep under and hidden beneath.
All of a sudden, the books creaks and lifts up from the floor; with a set of other books, in the form of a door like the one I fell into at the Sweet-apple Acres, so many years ago. That was the day, when I had been following Pinkie Pie, in the vain hopes of proving a fallacy in her claims. I had paid for this, in pain and intense humiliation. I will not repeat the mistake, even if I am offered a chance to see her in Ponyville. Ever.
There is a whooshing sound of what appears to be escaping air, then a sirens call is heard from deep within the space created by opening the door. A call, from what appears to be a filly in the age one is about to head for one’s first class. Only it feels as if the filly is my daughter or a younger version of my very self. The contradiction tears at my very soul.
What am I to do?
As I look at the books, making up the door; it looks as if they had been coated by clear, mate rubber, and it feels coarse and sticky to the touch.
As I look down, it looks as if there is a path leading down to the next floor, the basement or it is a sub level.
“A sub level!” I ponder, trying to grasp the full meaning and weight of what I am seeing and the expression behind it.
These books, looks as if coated in clear glass, tainted in the purple hue of my coat, feeling slick and sleek, almost slippery to the touch. Only when I place my right fore-hoof on the surface; it feels as if I wear suction-cup boots with incredible suction I almost grasp the control of. As if I am supposed to be walking down with ease, no matter what the direction of the floor beneath my hooves may be. It feels as if I am trotting down on a level floor. It is not as if I am trotting down in a deep, dark whole in the ground.
Of course, I am not wearing any such boots; I am in fact, still as nude as I had been from the instant I had woken up here.
“Since the path is safely more than two feet wide, there is no problem for me to trot down there. The path is probably closer to five feet wide; I could take my new friend by my side, and still have more room fore safety to spare.
“Speaking of which, or, is it Witches? Maybe I should wait, and wait for her to return; before we go down and explore this discovery, together!” I ponder.
I leave the door open, just in case. For now, I take the chance of leaving it open; rather than leaving it, taking the chance I could not find this again when she comes back. With what ever she manages to find on her little adventure, out there.
“If she is not jealous of this, I still do want her by my side; when I go down there, exploring!” I ponder.
“Of course; I could read my book, or sort the pile of books in our Armory! But, I think I will save these, for later!” I consider.
I do not know how long I will be staying here, so I could as well pace myself. If I gallop off on the adventure now; and I have nothing more to explore, I would be very bored in a month or so.
If I went down, and either found a way home, or just vanished without a trace; she would be feeling abandoned and sad, even if she never had expected to see me here in the first place. Of course; maybe I should never have been here, but now I am. I had been summoned by a convergence of coincidences. Two of which had been pointed out and the third very likely one.
Since I knew, I could not go down and explore this now and alone; I had left the entrance open and trotted out of the room. I trot down the hall, leading me to the lobby; sitting down in the middle of the room, waiting for her to return. Of course, I had known she had to go and that I could not safely follow her, at this point.
I make myself as comfortable as I can, while I wait.
“She knows she is awaited!” I ponder, where I sit, quietly and wait for the girl.