The rain poured down outside. Like always here, it seemed to go from sunny to cloudy to waterfall in about thirty seconds so the moment things got dark, I retreated to the closest cover there was.
Which sadly, was the chamber of skulls.
I was hardly the only pony in there of course. Midnight and Moon Dancer were having another conversation about something. Tempest stood next to Midnight, looking slightly confused.
Don't blame her there, I been caught in their magibabble a time or two, I had the same reaction.
Other ponies were here too, a couple of archeologists were studying the pile of skulls, the rest likely still working their way through the lower level.
Dee was off in a corner by a torch, scribbling something in her notebook.
...Oh damn it, I forgot my satchel in my tent. Could I risk dashing out to get it?
I looked back out through the hallway to the outside, an almost solid wall of water outside the entrance.
Nope, fuck that. I'd drown before I reached it.
"Escaping the rain?" Dee asked with a smile as she crossed the room over to me.
"Yeeep," I agreed and shook my head, "I'm starting to get really sick of this jungle. I mean, barring the predators and rains it’s kinda nice, but..."
She grinned and flicked her ears, "Not the only one," she admitted, "And I'm used to them."
I nodded and then frowned, lowering my voice, "Hey... I'm sorry for before."
Dee looked at me in surprise, "For what?"
"For when you talked some sense into me over there," I said and motioned towards the hallway outside with my wing, "You shouldn't have needed to do that. It's my expedition, I should have kept it together instead of..." I trailed off and shook my head, "I'm sorry."
Dee rolled her eyes, muttering something beneath her breath before she shook her head, "You just had a rather emotional surprise," she then said, "I'd be surprised if you didn't freak a bit. And that's after we lost six ponies to the jungle."
"And I shouldn't have put any of that on you."
Now she looked annoyed, "And you didn't."
"But I'm trying to-"
"Stop talking," Dee said and I snapped my mouth closed and she moved a bit closer,
"You're the leader of this expedition," she said quietly, "But that doesn't mean it all has to rest on your wings. Things have happened, bad things. Everypony needs somepony to talk to sometimes and everypony needs friends. We're friends, right?"
I nodded.
"Sometimes it helps to talk things over with a friend," Dee said, looking up at me, moving a bit closer, "Even just go get to vent or get a new and different perspective of things."
I nodded again, swallowing. We were almost close enough to touch.
"If I told you something I was having trouble with, would that be me 'heaping' that problem onto you?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"So why would it be the reverse?"
"...It wouldn't," I admitted with a small sigh.
Dee nodded and put her hoof against my chest, "We're friends, we can talk about things."
I nodded, "Yeah. Sorry."
She rolled her eyes again and dropped her hoof.
I grinned, "So," I asked, "Does that mean if I ask what your actual name is, you'll tell me?"
Dee smirked, "Nooope," and trotted past me towards the outside, "Oh, look. It's stopped raining."
I glanced at her for a second before I followed her outside. The sun was starting to break through the clouds already and I took a deep breath from the clear air.
"...Might not be overly fond of rain," I admitted, "But I like the scent when it's over."
"Me too," Dee agreed and looked up towards the sky, "...I'm tired of a bedroll, I should be able to catch a stray bit of cloud before it's completely gone. Want one?"
I really, really liked that idea.
"Show me how?" I asked.
She nodded, "Come on, we need to hurry before they dissipate!" and then she took to the air.
I quickly followed her into the sky.