"Friend is an exceptional title!" she agreed, reaching out to gently touch his arm as she prepared herself for the next set of steps downward. One hoof at a time, one stair at a time - it was going to be a slow process for them both and Whisper made a mental note that she was not going to be heading up those stairs again any time soon, not if she could help it.

"Okay, like this, then. I can do this - we can do this! And then never go up them again, right cutie?" Poor Tian would just have to get used to petnames; Whisper was terrible with formality in any format. But she did fall silent for the time being, focusing on the steps ...at least until the silence got to be too much in such a dim, cramped place. At that point she cleared her throat nervously, giving Tian a sidelong look.

"What will you do when you make it to real ground?"