It was quite a shock for Gai'vahros to see such a spectacle as a talking pony. He wanted to open his mouth and just let his thoughts pour out, but what is it he could say that his mind hadn't even strewn together yet? The words just wouldn't come to his mind besides a blank slate of disbelief. He had to spend some time to gain composure but then it sprang to mind that, in his world, there are animals that talk. However, those animals were deities or some sort of natural spirit in bestial form. This filly was just... well, a small horse. Nothing about her looked grand or omnipotent; just a normal pale yellow foal with cherry hair. And those huge eyes. Damn those cute, huge eyes.
Gai'vahros couldn't help but just stare into the eyes of the pony and just watch her stand there. Her expression was one of mild fear, more than likely under the belief that Gai'vahros was, indeed, an evil hedgehog monster. Her eyes fixated upon him before slightly shifting up and down, scanning his presence. Even though so much seemed to happen, it was all just in a small window of time. To Gai'vahros it seemed liked minutes, to which he was surprised that the young filly hadn't made a single move. He wanted to move, to say something, anything, but was afraid that his sudden course of action was going to startle her. He had to be gentle. Subtle.
"Ahhhhh!" The pony screamed, quickly turning and sprinting away, leaving behind a trail of dust behind her. The breeze picked up a little as it violently caused the Elf's cape to whisk and shimmer in the wind to one side. It wasn't the gentleness nor the subtlety that Gai'vahros was planning for.
"Ugh, so much for subtlety," the elf muttered to himself, turning to the left where his cloak kept flowing, grasping it with his arm and pulling it back down behind him. "but, then again, I'm not a rogue." The breeze seemed to die down a little as he looked down to the pathway, able to see faint tracks of hooves in the dirt that gave way to the young pony's destination. Careful not to wipe the tracks away with his own or with his cape, Gai'vahros trailed it, noticing the path lead off to the side and onto a second. "Where is everyone anyway? For a town, it seems... deserted."
It seemed the entire path was just made of neatly trimmed grass, about a width of three feet that seemed to go in a straight line and was cut much shorter than the rest of the field, giving it a much lighter shade than the two sides. The trees surrounding the area looked so beautiful to Gai'vahros, as they had reminded him of the days in Quel'Thalas, just a lot more green and not as autumn-y. The breeze picked up a little, causing the fringes in front of Gai'vahros' face to swish to one side, almost blocking his sight as a result.
Within short time, Gai'vahros came across a small hill. The pathway traversed over it, though not too steeply, flanked on both sides by lush purple mounds growing shades of emerald green grass and small forms of fungi. The Elf had seen this kind of thing before, normally in the wake of the Scourge or through some sort of arcane, or even necrotic, infusion. He didn't pay much attention to it in the least, however; it wasn't likely that the Scourge would be able to come here, and even if they did there would be a lot more telltale signs of an undead invasion.
Trekking over the hill, Gai'vahros laid eyes on something he never thought he would see again, at least not in such a short span of time since his aid of Mount Hyjal. In sight of the elf was a rather large tree that resembled a sort of house or shop. The door shaped into an acute archway with a crimson door fastened by gold or brass hinges with a sign with a book outside of it to the left. Parts of the tree has small balconies on them, sky-lined with grassy thatched roofing above them. Amethyst coloured windows sat upon oak window frames with some of them with interior framing styled to look like branches. On the top of the tree rest one more balcony although this one was fastened with a telescope upon it. Gai'vahros believed that maybe this was some sort of mage shop or astronomy emporium. Whatever it was it felt extremely bizarre to him.
Gai'vahros began to reach the conclusion that whoever lived, owned, ran or even indeed built this colossal monument was one of great wisdom and power. Proceeding towards the structure Gai'vahros began to here small voices from behind the door, which was only an inch or so shorter than he was, and he was quite small himself. He began to see humour in the thought of a draenei, tauren or night elf try and fit through the door frame. Regardless of his mind deciding to lament in hilarity, Gai'vahros thought it would be wise to try and find help, or even refuge, in the wake of his unfortunate predicament.
"But, Twi, I'm tellin' ya the truth," Gai'vahros could hear murmurs behind the redwood door. A deep treble in the voice seemed to indicate it was some sort of heated discussion or argument. That and the fact he was standing several meters from the door, "there really is a huge hedgehog monster outside!" Gai'vahros definitely recognized the voice now, but it was the only thing here that referred to him as a "huge hedgehog monster".
"Apple Bloom, for the last time," the other voice sounded very stern, sweet, and impatient at the same time, "there's no such thing as a "huge hedgehog monster". This book has details of every living creature, real and mythical, in Equestria, and nothing in here suggests of a huge hedgehog monster. Except a large hedgehog, of course."
"Fine, i'll get mah sister to come help me then!" Suddenly the door flung open. Surprise surprise, the same young pony from earlier burst through the doorway with a good head of speed. However, she seemed to be looking back towards the building when she suddenly collided with the steel boots of Gai'vahros. Shaking her head, the pony looked up at the staring eyes of the elf before letting off another scream. "Twi, TWIII! It's here! It's following me!" Before Gai'vahros could even so much as raise a smile, Apple Bloom turned and blitzed back inside the building, twice the speed as before, before slamming the door shut.
"... Ah..." Gai'vahros raised a hand as if to call after her but then let it slump down to his side. Giving a soft sigh he stood and waited for something to happen. From the corner of his eye he saw Apple Bloom peek out from the side of the window, though as he turned his head she quickly pulled back to the side. "Well, this escalated quickly."
"Alright, alright, Apple Bloom," The door opened, revealing a pale lavender-toned pony with a very neat and tidy style of mane of indigo that cast a small fringe over her, while the rest was swept back and part of it hung over her left shoulder. Her mane had two stripes of colour as well; one of a deep purple and one of violet, like highlights in a person's hair. What Gai'vahros noticed the most was she had a horn on her head. He never thought horses could naturally grow horns. The pony didn't seem to notice Gai'vahros though, what with her head turned to the side and looking down, more than likely addressing the young filly with her. "Let's see what your hedgehog monster looks--" As her head swung up to meet Gai'vahros, though a distance of a few meters between them, her eyes widened while her pupils shrunk a fair amount. She seemed to have a look of absolute surprise on her face. "--Oh my gosh, it's a huge hedgehog monster!"
'Why does everyone have to keep calling me that?' Gai'vahros thought to himself, rolling his eyes to the side, using one of his hands to fiddle with one of the bangs that sat over his face before staying his hand. "I don't suppose you could--" As he spoke, the lavender pony lowered her head and raised her flank upwards, as though in some sort of battle pose. Her eyes darted towards him while her face twisted into a scowl. The horn on her head began to glow in an aura of purples and blues, more than likely casting a spell.
"I don't know what you are or what you want, but I won't have anyone scare or hurt my friends," her voice took a very serious and protective tone. She was serious enough to use her magic as a means to deter Gai'vahros one way or another. "so I think you should just leave!"
"Listen, Miss, I just--" Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a small hard object clonked the elf in the side of the head, causing him to stumble sideways slightly, almost tripping over his own feet. Holding his head and wincing slightly, he turned to see a small stone on the ground beside him. "Some sort of... telekinetic power?" Gai'vahros mumbled to himself quietly. He didn't think that magi could use telekinesis. He looked back up to the horned pony, rubbing his head lightly to check to see if he was bleeding. Fortunately no, but now his hair was ruffled slightly.
"There's more of that if you continue to stay here!" The pony was determined to get rid of Gai'vahros but he would not have any of it. If he needed to he would be rid of her one way or another if it meant he could get some help. He wasn't fond of slaying horses; in all the things he's had to do he ended up having to bring horses back to their owners. He didn't know if he felt comfortable with this.
"Listen, I need to--" Again the elf wasn't able to finish his words. From out of the door, three quill pens darted towards him but, due to his armour, they simply just ricochet off the gold plate and were flung in different directions. "Hah, is that really meant to--" Suddenly, something dark was splashed into the Gai'vahros' face. Spitting a bit out, Gai'vahros recognized the taste of it. "Ink... ink!? No, not in my... not in my HAIR!" Gai'vahros grabbed the front bangs from his face and desperately tried to ring out the ink, but to no avail. He then tried with the locks that hung over his shoulders but it only began to stain his pale golden strands.
"I'll ask you one last time, beast." The pony wasn't afraid to unleash whatever horrors could be unshackled that had a good possibility of ruining the elf's brilliant looks and astonishing hair. "Leave us alone or I'll... I'll... do something REALLY bad to your hair!"
"My word, what kind of monster is this?" Gai'vahros muttered to himself, wiping away the ink from his face, leaving a mask of black smudge along his face. "If only I had four others here to help me..." Gai'vahros was beginning to get a bit more desperate. He knelt down to one knee and began to plead with the young horse. He never, ever thought he'd have to concede against a mare. "My Lady, please, I'm here to seek help." Finally the elf managed to get a word in that wasn't interrupted by a flying rock, quill pens or the dreaded inkwell.. He began to understand the pain that spell casters have to go through in combat.
Twilight's horn began to lose its glow, signalling her stay of combat. She reared to an upright position again although her eyes didn't change for the most part; her look changed from danger to caution, but she still had a sense of histility towards him. "Help? What sort of help do you need?" Her voice seemed to change to a more hospitable tone although she kept a fierce gaze upon the elf.
Gai'vahros sighed a little before looking around. He didn't think it was be appropriate for him to tell his long tale in the middle of the outdoors, at least not in these circumstances. "I'm sorry, but may we discuss this inside?" The elf dared not move considering her stance in this confrontation. He knew it would be best to play it subtle and diplomatically under her circumstances, considering the fact that he had not any of his armoury with him besides his uniform.
Twilight was remaining cautious although the look on her face did relent with a soft sigh. Her eyes became much more kind-hearted than earlier, with a small smile fixed upon her face. "Oh... okay. Come in." She turned and walked through the door, leading into a large room on what seemed like oak with a surrounding facade of bookshelves. Gai'vahros could just about see inside but noticed the scenery immediately. The room also consisted of a small red rug and a small desk in the corner next to a window, just about big enough to fit himself upon. "You seem like a good... creature. You never once retaliated, so you must be sincere in your words, right?"
"Yes. Thank you, my Lady Pony." Gai'vahros gave a small smile and bowed slightly in respect before gently kneeling down in order to get through the doorway. The room wasn't much smaller than he was, although, upon entering, his highly worn ponytail did brush against the ceiling. He had hoped that no dust or cobwebs would ruin his perfect do.
"Hehe, you can just call me 'Twilight'," Twilight gave a small giggle as she stood next to a small table in the center of the room. Apple Bloom, the other young filly, stood at the far side of the room to one of the nearby windows. "Oh, and don't mind Apple Bloom. She tends to get pretty scared of new creatures she finds."
"Hey, I wasn't scared! I was just a bit... cautious!" Apple Bloom had a cute expression of mediocre frustration on her face that seemed to just make her look more adorable, at least to Gai'vahros, anyway.
"Haha, it's okay, as long as I'm not known as the "big hedgehog monster anymore", and that you don't throw ink in my face either. Thank you again for the hospitality, my Lady Twilight. I appreciate it."
"When I said 'Twilight' I meant... Oh, nevermind. Welcome to my home."