By the time the group had got out of the day spa, a gentle breeze rolled over the town, passing through pony and structure alike. It felt cool, refreshing, and pampering to the touch. It felt even better as the warmth of the sun bathed those in its presence, making the coolness of the wind that much more pleasant. Along the ground, the fields of grass and the families of flowers swayed and waltzed as they were softly nudged by the breeze.
It seemed that most of the crowd had cleared away from the town center despite being greatly active some time before. There were still a handful of pony-folk taking strolls through the village, although there was not as much of a rush as before. Everything looked a lot more peaceful-- quiet, calm, and relaxed.
"C'mon Gai, I just wanna know what you're hiding," a powerful voice exclaimed. As the group walked back towards the library, Rainbow Dash was hovering in front of Gai'vahros, trying to peak down his outfit. "why else would ya try so darn hard to pick that towel up without standing up?"
"L-look, it's nothing, really," Gai'vahros stammered, rather irate at the pegasus' constant persistence at trying to get the information she wanted out of him. "like I said, it's rude for people like us to show our naked bodies to others."
"Chyeah, but you're not on your world anymore, are ya? And, neither are you getting naked in front of other people like you! I mean, look at us. We don't wear dresses and shoes all the time, do we?"
"That's different, my Lady Rainbow Dash. It's only natural for ponies to wander around without clothing. For us, it's more… delicate than that."
Twilight, however, shook her head and sighed, mainly at Rainbow Dash' persistence but also at Gai'vahros' secrecy to which she couldn't understand. "Well, in Gai'vahros' defence, Rainbow Dash, you did jump into the bath with him and try to look under the water."
"Hey, I didn't know he was gonna kick me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she prodded Gai'vahros in the cheek with her fore-hoof.
"I told you that was a natural reflex," Gai'vahros pleaded with the pegasus, "and it's not normal for a person, or pony, to just try and look… there. It's a delicate matter."
Eventually, after their bickering from one person to another, the group finally made their way back to the library. The place was amazingly quiet, which was quite a surprise to Spike and Twilight. Usually there was some kind of noise coming from the building, be it the sound of shuffling books, papers, equipment, or Spike snoring during one of his midday naps. There was only the calm sound of silence.
Twilight made her way to the front of the door as the rest hung back to allow her through. With a hoof, she slowly opened the door as though she was expecting to see something, something gone horribly wrong while they were out. To the unicorn's relief, nothing was out of place. "Good, everything's still here." Twilight spoke to herself as if to reassure herself that everything was fine.
"You have troubles with break-ins, my Lady Twilight?" Gai'vahros asked in concern, looking around to make sure nothing was missing or out of place to the best of his knowledge. "I can't think of anything that anyone would want to steal from a library that they couldn't just borrow."
"Nah, that's just Twilight being a worrier again," Rainbow Dash huffed, "she's always got her mind on this place if she leaves it for too long without anyone looking after it."
"Oh, my Lady Twilight, I didn't think you were one for martial prowess," Gai'vahros smiled at the unicorn, feeling a greater deal of respect for her considering her already established magical prowess, too. "but I've never seen you carry a sword before."
"No, Gai'vahros, 'worrier', not 'warrior'," Twilight was quick to correct the blood elf, not wanting him to get the idea that she's a violent pony. "but Rainbow Dash is right. I do tend to worry too much about things."
"Ah, but that's just who you are," Gai'vahros placed his hand on the unicorn's head and petted her a little. "that's just a reason why you have so many friends. No need to regret having such a trait, my Lady Twilight."
"Thanks, Gai'vahros. Oh, by the way, what time is it?"
"Oh, it's… ten past twelve," Rainbow Dash said as she turned to the clock that hung only a few feet away from her before turning back to Twilight. "see? I told ya we'd have plenty of time! No need for schedules and time tables and all that work stuff."
"So, what're we gonna do for four hours?" Spike asked, though he meant it in a rhetorical manner. The little dragon made his way to one of the desks nearby the window, taking a seat. "We ain't gonna leave until four o'clock, right?"
"Well, we still need to get ready, right?" Twilight responded, using her horn to pick up her satchel-- the right satchel, this time-- and emptying the contents onto the table next to her. Despite being such a small bag, it held a lot of things. Out from its seemingly bottomless depth were several papers, an ink well, a quill pen, a few strong glass bottles, two books, and a long piece of parchment. "I just hope I can make enough room for all the things I need."
"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight, who was starting to group everything in separate piles. "You only need a sleeping bag, Twilight. Don't tell me you plan on doing work while we're supposed to be, y'know, RELAXING."
"Hey, I can't neglect my work, even when I'm out, right?"
"No, no, this will not do," Gai'vahros tutted, making his way over to the table where Twilight began shifting things around. Reaching up to where the bag hovered in the air, Gai'vahros snatched it and, with his other arm, swept all of the content into it before tossing it back onto the coat rack. "I can't let you do that, Lady Twilight."
"Hey! What're you-- give me my bag back!" Twilight yelled at the blood elf.
"I won't allow you to work while we're camping, my Lady Twilight."
"Just watch!" Twilight exclaimed in hostility towards Gai'vahros, trying to walk around and past him. However, before her head could pass by, the blood elf extended his arm out and blocked her. A bit irate, she gave a low growl before trying to duck under him arm, which was only met by him lowering it. "Gai'vahros, this is important!"
"More important than spending time with your friends, Twilight?"
Twilight wanted to speak, but she really had no answer. Her expression wasn't as angry as before, but she still felt some animosity towards Gai'vahros for telling her what to do. But, as she thought about it, he was right. Spending time with her friends was, indeed, more important to her than doing some research. Research could wait, after all. Ponies, however, get impatient. "… Yeah, you're right," Twilight looked towards Rainbow Dash and Spike, who were in awe at seeing Gai'vahros' capricious nature. After a moment, so was Twilight. "Gai'vahros, you didn't call me "Lady"."
"You're right," Gai'vahros answered in a soft, brooding tone. He turned away, noticing that he had left his backpack on the tree trunk table in the center of the room. The blood elf opened the main section to make sure nothing was taken while he was out. "that's because you weren't acting like a lady."
"I… I'm sorry. I guess friendship is a high regard for you?"
"On the contrary, my Lady Twilight. Where I come from, there is no need for friends. Rather, the concept of 'friends' is more in line of 'comrades'. In the art of war, there are no friends; only allies. Allies can become enemies in an instant, and you wouldn't even realize it until they had already stabbed you through the heart."
"T-that's terrible," Rainbow Dash was almost physically hurt from hearing of such a thing. She understood that friendships could end, sure enough, but she couldn't begin to conceive the idea that it could turn to violence. "how could something like that happen?"
"I guess you don't have many issues with war here. It's very simple; two guys could be comrades-in-arms, working alongside each other to a common goal. But, at times, their peoples-- their nations-- could be at war with each other. At the end of the day, they must then choose whether to forsake their families, their kin, and their homeland… or to forsake their friendship."
"But what about friends of your own kind, Gai," Spike asked. The little dragon knew what it was like to live outside of his own species. "don't you have any friends back home?"
"No. When you do what I do-- adventuring, seeing new places, meeting new people-- you don't have time to make new friends, and, those who you do make friends with, usually end up dead in the midst of conflict. For me, I'm better off not making friends than to lose them."
"But we're your friends, right?" Rainbow Dash swooped towards the rather melancholic blood elf, wrapping a foreleg around his shoulder and pressing her body against it. The pegasus gave a big smile, but Gai'vahros did not return the sentiment or even give her his visible attention. "…Right?"
Gai'vahros paused for a moment. His hands stopped, motionless, as he held the bag open with two hands gripped lightly around the edges of the opening. After a bit of time, the elf gave a small smile before turning to look at Rainbow Dash. "Yeah," he said with a soft but more happy tone of voice. Taking a hand off the bag, the Gai'vahros petted Rainbow Dash on her head, stroking her mane a little with a finger and thumb. "yeah, you're definitely my friends."
The atmosphere began to change from one of a thick layer of discord and melancholy to one of heightened love and care. Twilight couldn't help but smile knowing that, despite all that Gai'vahros had said, he found it in his heart to call each of them "friends". Spike stood a ways from the blood elf and Rainbow Dash, feeling a small tear well up in his eyes but he was able to hold them back.
Gai'vahros stood up, removing his hand from the top of Rainbow Dash. Even though he was wearing gauntlets he could still feel the soft fluffiness of the pegasus' mane. "Anyway, you guys still need to pack, right?" he spoke, addressing both Twilight and Spike. "All my things seem to be in order, so it's just you two, now."
Before any one of them could respond, two ponies appeared at the front door. Both Fluttershy and Rarity stood at the doorway before allowing themselves entry into the library. The two of them had smiles upon their faces as though they were looking forward to the camping trip despite earlier reluctance.
"O-Oh, I hope we're not interrupting anything," Fluttershy said sheepishly, lowering her head in embarrassment. "w-we can come back later… that is, if that's okay with you guys…"
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, you didn't miss anything," Twilight giggled as she opened a small cabinet under one of the bookshelves, taking out a small bedroll. "we were just packing. By the way, you guys are here early."
"Well of course, dear," Rarity spoke aloud as she made her way to Gai'vahros. "I thought we could relax a little, the whole group, together! Well, that, and I ran out of material for my dresses and was completely BORED sitting at home doing nothing."
"Oh, actually, my Lady Fluttershy, how are the animals," Gai'vahros had some concern over Fluttershy being comfortable with her friends being left with his assistant. "is Mogan keeping a close eye on them?"
"Oh, oh yes," Fluttershy seemed incredibly joyful as she spoke as though the orc gruntling was a miracle worker. "all of the animals took a really strong liking to Mogan. I've not seen them so happy and comfortable with a stranger before."
"Haha, that's great news. Oh, my Lady Rarity, where is your little sister? I thought she'd be with you by now."
"Oh, no, I haven't seen her since she left to find Scootaloo," Rarity responded, although she was amazingly calm about the prospect of her sister being away for so long. "though they're probably at their little Crusader's clubhouse. Don't worry, she'll be here on time."
"Well howdy there, every-pony," a deep accent came bursting through the doorway. Applejack casually strode into the library, which was starting to feel very packed. "ah hope y'all don't mind me an' Apple Bloom comin' early. I thought maybe I'd let her see a certain someone."
"Heya, Gai!" Apple Bloom came dashing out from the side of Applejack, running up to Gai'vahros and nuzzling the side of his leg affectionately. "Are we REALLY goin' camping together!?" It seemed as though, out of all those present, Apple Bloom was the most enthusiastic pony about going.
"Haha, it's great to see you again, little Apple Bloom," Gai'vahros chuckled with a big smile on his face, petting the little filly on her head. "and you bet we are. You ready to have some awesome fun?"
"Sure am!" Apple Bloom couldn't control her excitement, lightly hopping up and down on the floor.
"Hey, I wanna have fun, too!" A very high pitched voice made itself known as everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie at the doorway. Or, rather, hanging upside down from the top of the doorway with her upper body in view. She quickly, and amazingly, flipped down from the door frame and landed on all fours, turning to the crowd inside. "Did ya remember to bring crumpets, Gai?"
"Uh… aha, they're in the post?" Gai'vahros replied with an awkward smile and a sarcastic comment.
Pinkie stared at Gai'vahros for a moment before sneezing, shooting out confetti from her nose, much to the astonishment of everyone-- especially the blood elf. "Oh! Okay! Did they send it to here? Oh, no, wait! What if they turn up while we're camping? You shoulda had them mail it to the forest! Oh, but the forest doesn't have any mailboxes…"
"Uh, Lady Applejack? How did Pinkie do the whole sneeze thing, with the confetti and party blower noise?" Gai'vahros whispered to Applejack, who leaned her head into his direction.
"Ah, beats me, Gai. That's just Pinkie Pie bein'… well, Pinkie Pie."
"Yeah, Twilight said something like that earlier…"
For a while, everyone took a seat inside in a large circle of chairs as though they were at some sort of meeting. All those present were having a good time while they were waiting until four o'clock to head off camping. Twilight was instructing Spike to write down some reminders, which the little dragon did, as they were spoken. Fluttershy and Rarity were talking about how they were going to spend their time camping, a conversation that was apparently a carry on from before they came. Pinkie Pie was entertaining Apple Bloom by, well, being Pinkie Pie. Finally, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were talking and making quips at each other about Applejack's flying yesterday when they went to Cloudsdale.
It was all alien to Gai'vahros. As the blood elf sat back on his chair, he just looked around, watching all of these ponies talk, laugh, argue, smile, help each other-- so many different things that he had never seen in such a long time, what with the war effort on Azeroth. For a moment, Gai'vahros began to think back to the times when the Horde and Alliance worked together to face a common enemy. It was those times where he felt like what he was doing was the right thing.
"Hey, Gai, are you gonna tell us more stories, tonight?" Applejack's voice suddenly caught Gai'vahros' attention. "I'm sure Rainbow Dash here would just love to hear about how you fought off scary undead stuff."
"H-Hey, Applejack! That's not funny!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, lightly nudging the earth pony.
"Hah, I've got plenty of those stories to tell," Gai'vahros replied with a smirk on his face, noticing the chagrin on Rainbow Dash' face. "but I promised Twilight I would talk about the Nexus War. I think it would be best to demonstrate that magic should not be abused."
"Heya, everyone!" the conversations between everyone came to a halt as they all turned to the door. Stood at the archway was Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who stood beside her. "Oh, everyone's here already? I thought we were meeting up at four? It's only half past one."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, darling," Rarity quickly got up out of her chair and gave her little sister a big hug. "we all thought we'd come early, I guess." the unicorn looked at Scootaloo, who seemed a bit shy for the most part. "It's good to see you, too, Scootaloo."
"Hey there, kiddo," Rainbow Dash looked over her foreleg that rested on the back of the chair, turning sideways to give her attention. "you lookin' forward to camping?"
"Oh, hey, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo looked up with a cheery expression on her face, looking up at her idol. "yeah, I'm totally psyched for it! But… uh, who's the guy sitting next to you?" Scootaloo was a bit nervous as Gai'vahros looked back at her. She tried not to make eye contact, though.
"Oh, this is Gai. He's from another world! But, he's stuck here until we can find a way to send him back."
"A-another world?" Scootaloo's eyes widened and lit up, looking at the blood elf who only smiled back in return. "Oh my gosh, this is AWESOME!"
"I know, right!?"
Gai'vahros turned his chair a little so that he could turn on it and present himself to the little pegasus. "Haha, I'm not sure if it's THAT awesome," the blood elf spoke in modesty, "but It's a pleasure to meet you, little Scootaloo." Gai'vahros held out a hand to offer a handshake to her.
The little pegasus paused for a moment before extending a foreleg, bumping the end of his hand. "Is that how you hoof-bump someone who isn't a pony?"
"A… "hoof-bump"?" Gai'vahros was dumbstruck by such a concept that he didn't even know how to respond, besides repeating the phrase.
"Anyway, girls-- and guys-- we're all here." Twilight stood at the back of the room, drawing everyone's attention. "I think it would be good if we all set off now. We could always have a picnic, too."
"Oh, that's a brilliant idea," Rarity spoke up as she turned to Fluttershy. "me and Fluttershy have got ALL the necessary things for just an occasion."
"H-hey, but the crumpets haven't arrived yet!" Pinkie Pie couldn't help herself but yell out obstructively, what with crumpets still on her mind.
"Anar'alah, I hope to heaven that Lady Rarity or Lady Fluttershy have crumpets prepared…"