The elf watched Luna with a smile on his face, watching her brush her mane in front of the large dresser mirror. He wondered why she spent so much time brushing it considering she was doing it not an hour ago before dinner. That, and it was also in the evening. Even by blood elf standards it was quite eccentric.
"You seem to take good care of your appearance, my Lady Luna," pointed out Gai'vahros finally. "Why is it that you do it in the evening? Don't you sleep?"
"The more I brush it, the less I have to worry about knots and tangles," replied Luna without even so much as reflecting upon Gai'vahros' tone of voice, it sounding almost patronizing. "With a mane as long as mine, I need to give it lots of attention."
"Huh." Gently running his fingers through one of the bangs in front of his face, Gai'vahros pondered for a moment. "I've not really thought of it that much. Then again, elven hair rarely gets tangled. Maybe it's some sort of hereditary thing?"
"Count yourself lucky, Gai'vahros, for needn't ever experience the hassle and agony of trying to brush out knotted hair."
Gai'vahros chuckled lightly, shifting his feet on the cushion as he uncrossed his legs. "Oh, and thank you for the dinner tonight," he spoke with great gratitude. "I admit that it was a lot more… different than what I normally eat."
"Different? How so?"
"Like the "sandwich". Never in all my life had I ever thought if taking two slices of bread and putting slices of fruit and veg between them."
"… You don't have sandwiches in your world?"
"No. But this "sandwich" concept… It's pure genius!"
Luna couldn't help but laugh at the concept of how a great knight could find awe in something as simple as a sandwich. To her, it made him look more like someone whose been out of touch with civilization for millennia. "I can imagine it now when you go back: Gai'vahros, inventor of the sandwich!" joked Luna.
Except Gai'vahros didn't see it that way.
"… Anar'alah belore, you're right!" he exclaimed before rising to his feet. "I could bring the marvel and wonder of the sandwich to everyone! I could bring it to Quel'Thalas! No more would there simply be bread and wine to go with our fruit and meat, but plates filled with triangle-cut sandwiches filled with tomato, cucumber, and banana!"
"You're… carnivorous?" Luna sounded shocked by the thought of him eating other animals. He certainly didn't look vicious.
"Well, I like chicken, beef, pork, and --" Then it hit him. A flash of inspiration struck the elf like a bolt of lightning -- and nearly as strong. "… Anar'alah, I could put slices of meat in between the bread and make meat and vegetable sandwiches! I could make something spectacular… a "Pee-Ell-Tee"!"
"A "Pee-Ell-Tee"?"
"Yes! A Pork-Lettuce-Tomato sandwich! And then -- and then I can bless it with powers from the Sunwell, and enchant it with flavour that would sate even the hunger of the undead!"
"I think you're over-thinking all of this…"
"… Oh. Yes. Probably…" Gai'vahros sat back down, his face showed signs of disappointment. "I doubt I could bathe a sandwich in the Sunwell, anyway. Would probably end up corrupting it again."
"Or maybe you'll accidentally create a powerful being made entirely of bread and butter."
That was not a good thought for Gai'vahros. He stared blankly at one of the walls, replaying the sacking of Quel'Thalas in his head again, but replacing all the undead with giant sandwiches with legs. He saw before him square slices of bread attacking elves with sharp pieces of lettuce, throwing carrots from a distance like javelins. He even saw a giant ball of dough in the shape of an Abomination swinging a large pickle, bashing it against any who stood in its way.
"Oh please, no," he exclaimed before burying his face in his hands. "I don't want to be the one to create evil sandwich creatures! I mean, what would you even call them? The Un-bread Scourge? Lead by the 'Wich King? What would be his choice of weapon? Crustmourne?"
"… You've a very vivid imagination."
"You're the one who put it into my head!"
"It was meant to be a joke!"
The two glared at each other before simultaneously bursting into laughter. Gai'vahros placed a palm on his face as he turned away from Luna, while she herself shook her head before turning back to the mirror to continue her grooming.
"Heh. What was I thinking?" spoke Gai'vahros with a smile on his face, staring into the lit fireplace. "I couldn't imagine something so daft ever happening." His voice turned gravelly, imitating the Lich King, as he spoke, "I am the 'Wich King, and you are my chosen Champion, bread knight! Go and sow the seeds of terror and tomatoes upon my enemies!"
Luna shivered a little. "Could you not do that voice, Gai'vahros?" she pleaded. "That's a bit too creepy for my liking."
"Oh. Sorry, Luna." Gai'vahros couldn't help but notice that Luna was still brushing her hair even after all this time. He smirked and shook his head. "Aren't you going to give your hair a rest sometime this evening?"
"I'm being slow and steady," she retorted, not losing her focus. "I can still feel some knots."
"Would you like me to give you a hand?"
Luna merely scoffed at his proposal. "Hah. What would you know about grooming?"
"Asking a blood elf what he knows about grooming --" he rose to his feet and walked over to her "-- is like asking why the leaves fall and the wind blows: it's in our nature." He grasped at the floating brush, holding it in place as Luna reluctantly released her hold of it. "Besides, do you think I could achieve a hairstyle like this if I didn't know what I was doing?" he asked rhetorically, pointing at his hair with a thumb.
"Well, I guess when you put it that way…" she replied. "Very well. You may start."
Taking a handful of her mane, Gai'vahros gently placed the brush against the Princess' scalp. "This could hurt a little. Or a lot," he warned before slowly running the brush down her mane, occasionally tugging as a few tangles and pulling back on Luna's head slightly. Her muffled grunts cued him to try and be more careful, but he knew that any less effort wouldn't get the knots out.
"Hey!" exclaimed Luna. "That hurts, you know!"
"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I noticed that you weren't brushing from your head. There are probably quite a lot of knots near the roots, so this could take a while."
Luna huffed as she tried to take her mind off of the tugging pain on her head. She began to relax more and more as Gai'vahros finished getting the tangles from her roots, appreciating his suggestion as something she would need to bear in mind in future. "So, how often do you brush your mane, Gai'vahros?" she asked.
"Twice a day," he responded, slowly running the brush across handfuls of her hair. "Once in the morning and once in the afternoon."
"Hah. For someone who would make a note of me brushing my mane too often, you don't exactly brush yours irregularly, do you?"
"Well, us blood elves take a lot of pride in our hair. And overall looks. A bit too vainly, I fear." The elf had noticed it earlier, but being near Luna's hair made the smell ever more clear -- the smell of the night sky filled his senses and made his head feel lighter, calmer, and relaxed. "Princess, of what scent do you use for your hair?"
"I've nothing put in my mane. Why do you ask?"
"It smells… It's hard to describe. When you sleep in the wilds, and you can smell the cold air in the night sky alongside the scent of the trees around you and the smell of rain in the clouds. It's that kind of smell."
"I've not noticed it before. I hope it doesn't offend your nose."
"No. It smells good. It reminds me of my younger years when I would go camping in Eversong Woods."
"On your own? That doesn't sound like a good camping trip."
"Oh, no, with others. Me and the other initiates at the academy would spend every 30th day of every month camping. It was like a social thing, something that we always put time aside for. It helped us relax a bit. Get to know each other outside of sparring and chores and everything else. There was me, Jaycen, Cornelius, Irenicus, Faeran, Helios…" He let out a soft sigh. "Always had fun."
Luna hesitated for a moment before speaking. "And… what happened to them? Good things, I hope."
Gai'vahros paused for a moment. "… Jaycen died during the Scourge invasion," he finally replied. "Cornelius, Faeran and Helios followed our "Prince" to Outland. I never saw them again after that -- not even in my own travels on that world. Irenicus… last I heard he had been expelled from the Kirin Tor for stealing archives that only the Council of Six were allowed access to. No one even knows where he is now."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Gai'vahros." It was more trouble for Luna that she had thought it would be. Parts of her were beginning to tremble slightly, her mind becoming hazy as only one thought broke through to the front of it -- a thought she had to speak. "I just hope it doesn't happen to Twilight and her friends."
"It's a painful thing to think about, indeed. But we can't think about possibilities that are beyond our control, or it will only eat away at us from the inside." His hand reached over Luna's shoulder, placing the brush down on the desk in front of her. "All done, Your Majesty."
Luna turned her head in different directions, looking upon the result of Gai'vahros' handiwork in the mirror. A small swish of her head caused her mane to flutter lightly in the air. "My word," she spoke, "this is pretty good work! You have some sort of special technique for brushing hair?"
"Well, remember to always brush from the roots to the tip, and do a handful of hair at a time and not as a big bunch. That's about it, really."
"Even so, I must thank you once again."
"It's no problem at all, Your Majesty." Standing to his feet, Gai'vahros turned and made his way to the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me?"
"W-wait! Where are you going?"
"Well I need to look for an inn before it gets too dark. I don't think I can handle another train back to Ponyville so soon. They're a bit weird."
"But how are you going to pay for a room?"
"Don't worry. I have money," replied Gai'vahros as he pulled a small sack from his belt. "I think a few gold should cover a room for the evening."
"Don't be serious, Gai'vahros! You've no need to pay for anything while you're here."
"Then where do you suggest I sleep? On the street?"
"Of course not! You can --" she stopped herself any further. Her eyes gazed away as a hint of blush formed on her cheeks, veiled by her dark coat. "Why don't you sleep here for the night?"
Even Gai'vahros felt awkward about the situation. "W… where here?" he stuttered softly.
"You know. Here. In my room."
"Y-Your Majesty, is that appropriate?"
"No. I mean -- Yes! Probably! I don't know!"
"But where will you sleep?"
"In my room, too, fool!"
"B-but --" Gai'vahros looked around "-- there's only one bed! You're not suggesting that… we sleep in the same bed, are you?"
Luna turned even redder, now visibly showing through her indigo fur. "Well it's the only option we've got, Gai'vahros! Or you could sleep on the floor, but I… rather you didn't…" As soon as she stopped, she knew that her words could be taken the wrong way. "I mean -- you shouldn't sleep on the floor! It could give you a bad back not sleeping on a mattress!"
"No different to how I usually sleep then," responded Gai'vahros in wit, sitting himself down on the large, mauve rug that had a circular, tube-like pillow at one end of it. "Besides, I shouldn't be wearing all this armor in a bed. Might end up ruining the sheets."
"Then take all of that armor off before getting into bed."
"I would rather not bare my naked body in the presence of a lady -- especially one of royalty."
Luna began to flush, but more in irritation than of embarrassment towards the elf. She did not like being talked back to, or having her authority denied. "Why are you being so difficult, Gai'vahros? Everypony here walks around bare, so stop being such a whiny gnat and sleep in my bed for the one night!"
"Look, Luna, no matter what you do or say, I'm not --"
Luna had had enough of this.
"WE DEMAND YOU GET NAKED AND SLEEP WITH US TONIGHT!"
Her voice boomed loud enough to cause the ornaments upon the walls and the lights hanging from the ceiling to rattle, chiming sounds of glass and gold every second they swung. The two of them gazed upon one-another, waiting for the other to say something to break the silence. Anything. Anything that would slice through the steel-like tension that settled upon the room. Everything became quiet, eerily so.
Gai'vahros finally spoke. "Um…" he paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. "Do you think someone heard you?"
Luna's heart jumped into her throat, almost too embarrassed to reply. Even if she wanted to, she felt her throat close so tight that it was difficult for her to swallow, let alone to speak. But she was able to after a moment, her body relaxing a little. "I… really hope not," she responded in a much softer tone.
Gai'vahros' voice became quieter like soft whispers. "… What if Celestia heard you?"
A small squeak passed through Luna's mouth before she gave a worrying whimper. "She's bound to have heard me!" she replied in kind while pressing her hooves together, holding them in front of her face against her snout.
The sound of steps rung outside in the halls. The sound of metal on stone struck quietly but gained volume with every second step, drawing closer to the two of them.
"Oh no!" Luna turned back to Gai'vahros, grasping his collar. "Gai'vahros, what are we going to do!"
"I don't know!" The elf looked around, trying to find some way to hide or sneak out. "Hide under the bed?"
"It's too narrow for either of us!"
"Out the window?"
"It doesn't open!"
"What! What kind of window doesn't open? Nevermind -- what about out the chimney?"
"Don't be stupid!"
"… A dumbwaiter?"
"Don't you dare start insulting our kitchen staff!"
A click came from the door as the doorknob began to turn. The two froze in place, only watching the door as the knob stopped turning. The steel hinges creaked softly as the door slowly opened ajar before widening to its fullest. Celestia stood before them, her hoof settling on the floor as she looked at the pair of them with suspicion. Her eyes set upon her sister before shifting to Gai'vahros, then back again.
"Luna," she spoke, "is everything alright in here? I heard you screaming."
"S-screaming?" Luna replied in denial. She shook her head. "I-I wasn't screaming! Was I, Gai'vahros?"
"No! Of course not!" he testified, chuckling with unease. "W-what made you think that you heard screaming, Your Majesty?"
"I was sure that I heard, and I quote, "We demand you get naked and sleep with us tonight". In fact, even the guards heard you scream. The two just down the corridor nearly jumped out of their suits."
Luna gulped hard. "Oh! Oh that! W-well, you see… Gai'vahros had no place to sleep, so I said he should sleep here in my room, but he said he didn't want to wear his armor in bed, so I told him to take it off, and he said --"
"Oh? So when you said "we", you were using your Royal Canterlot voice?"
"Y-yes! Precisely!"
Celestia giggled. "Oh, well then that makes perfect sense." She turned to Gai'vahros. "You know, it's been a very long time since me and Luna shared a bed, you know. She always had a habit of snuggling up to her pillow and taking the bed sheets."
"S-sister!" yelled Luna, her face red like a cherry. "You're embarrassing me! In front of a stranger, no less!"
"Oh come now, Luna. That's nothing to be embarrassed about. Not when compared to your infrequent bed-wetting, at least."
"Sister! Stop it!"
Celestia smiled, giggling again. "Okay, okay. I get the picture." She grasped the doorknob with her hoof and began to close it. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, okay?" she finalized with a big grin on her face.
The door closed before the two could even oppose her.
"Argh! Sister!"
"Y-Your Majesty!"
The two gazed back at each other, unsure of what else to say. Luna cleared her throat and got to her hooves, walking over to the bed and pulling the sheets back with her teeth.
"I-I suppose we should get some sleep," she said. "I've got a lot of work to do tomorrow and I need to be up early."
"R-right. Me too," Gai'vahros replied, laying down on the rug and propping his head up on the circular pillow. "Can't believe this just happened," he mumbled, blushing, trying to hide it with the locks of his hair.
"How do you think I feel? Never have I been so embarrassed before, and being insinuated with loving a wild creature -- By my own sister, no less!"
"Hey," replied Gai'vahros before rolling over, "I'm not a "wild creature"! I'm a blood elf! And besides, what's not to love about me? I have beautiful eyes, fabulous hair --"
"And a big mouth to make one disastrous bundle!"
"I'll have you now that a lot of people have complimented me on my lips! Blood elves, high elves… humans… pandaren… --" he shivered a little " -- gnomes. Ugh."
"Lips fit for a dolt." Luna tucked herself under the covers and pulled them over her body before rolling onto her side, facing away from Gai'vahros. "Maybe you should try dating yourself if you think you look so good."
The elf chuckled as he rolled over again, mimicking Luna. His hand grasped at his cape and pulled it over himself like a blanket. "I tried once," he joked. "But I didn't like the taste."
Luna paused for a moment. It took a while for her to understand. "Eww! Gai'vahros!"
The elf only burst into a childish giggle before falling silent. "Good night, Luna."
"Hmph. Good night, Gai'vahros…"
"... Hey, Luna?"
"What?"
"Did you really used to wet the bed?"
"Shut up and go to sleep!"
Sitting at her desk with only an inkwell and quill to keep her company, Twilight traced the words across the pages with her eyes slowly, trying to find anything that could help her. She skimmed backwards several paragraphs, trying to find anything that she had missed the first several times she read through them.
"Is there really nothing in any of these books that could help me perform any translocation or teleportation spells?" she spoke heavily in disappointment.
"C'mon, Twilight," exclaimed Pinkie Pie, her head over the Unicorn's shoulder, "what do you need teleportation spells for?" She prodded Twilight's horn with her hoof. "That's whatchya got this thing for, right?"
"Not for me, Pinkie Pie," replied Twilight, rolling her eyes. "I'm trying to find something that will help us try and get Gai'vahros back to his own world. But everything that I've read so far" -- she turned to a large pile of books -- "doesn't have anything that could help. Even the scrolls in the Canterlot library didn't help, either."
"I've just had a thought," said Applejack. "Why don't ya just write a letter to the Princess and ask her for advice, or if there's anythin' she can do to help us? She's the Princess, after all. She probably has some sorta magic spells an' stuff that none of us know about."
"I'm still surprised that the scroll didn't work," joined Rarity, who was sitting by the desk with Spike snuggled up to her side. "Are you sure that you did everything correctly? Maybe you misread the scroll?"
"No, I'm definitely sure I read everything correctly -- double-checked and everything. Maybe the spell just wasn't strong enough…"
"Well, what did the scroll say?"
"Nothing too complicated. It said that I had to imbue my magic in an item that originated from where the person wants to be transported to. After that, we both had to concentrate during the channelling, to focus on the task at hand -- for me to concentrate on performing the spell, and for Gai'vahros to focus on the place he wanted to return to."
"So what do ya think went wrong?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I'm not sure. The spell worked up to where the channelling stopped, and I was definitely concentrating on the spell…" Twilight looked up, the realization having just hit her. "I think… I think I know what this means now."
"Half-Life Three confirmed?" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, pressing her face against Twilight's.
"… Um… No, Pinkie." Twilight moved back from Pinkie and sat up from her seat. "I think Gai'vahros really didn't want to leave. I think that's why the spell failed."
Everyone fell silent. Each one began to think, began to contemplate why the elf did not return to his own people if what Twilight suggested was in fact true.
"I don't get it," spoke Applejack. "He was always goin' on about how his people needed him and how he was worryin' about what was happening back on Azeroth. Why would he willingly decide to stay here?"
"Maybe it wasn't willingly," responded Twilight, flicking back through the pages of the book on her desk. "Maybe he felt some sort of need to stay here for the time being. I think the fact that Liliandra has come to Equestria is the reason he feel he can't return home yet."
"So kinda like, a subconscious thought kept him from going home?" theorised Rainbow Dash.
"Exactly. Look here," responded Twilight, pointing at one of the paragraphs in the book. "It's all about conscious-driven spells." She began to read aloud, " "Some spells only function correctly through concentration and force of will, such as the Teleport spell and the Move Object spell. These spells require the user to will the spell in the way they desire, such as teleporting to a specific location that the user is thinking about. Some spells can backfire due to lack of concentration or conflicting thoughts"."
"So because Gai had conflicting thoughts about staying and going, the spell didn't work properly?"
"That's what I can conclude at the moment, yes."
"Poor Gai'vahros," said Fluttershy quietly. "Is there nothing we can do to help him, Twilight?"
"I think the only thing we can do is to just do whatever we can for the moment, whatever he needs. That, and we need to find a way to get rid of Liliandra. But… we'll probably have to fight her."
"No problem!" cried Rainbow Dash as she folded her forelegs across her chest. "We'll all help Gai knock her back to Azeroth, right? There's seven of us and only one of her!"
"Eight including me!" bellowed Spike after popping a small ruby out of his mouth.
"No, no, no!" protested Rarity. "I'll not let you get involved in such a dangerous situation! Now, shush and enjoy your ruby -- and no more nonsense." She prodded the ruby back into Spike's mouth with a nudge of her hoof, much to Spike's displeasure of being babied by Rarity. But it was Rarity, so he sooner snuggled up to her than argued with her.
"What are you guys talking about?" retorted Twilight, gazing at each of them. "You heard what Gai'vahros said, right? He doesn't want any of us involved, and will probably not let any of us get involved either. Rainbow Dash… don't you remember what happened when you said this before?"
"I don't care about that anymore, Twilight! This isn't just Gai's problem anymore. This is all of our problem. Some jerky, dead-faced dweeb comes to our world and nearly destroys our town, and we're to sit back and do nothin' about it? Heck no! This is all our fight now, not just Gai's!"
"She's right, sugar cube," agreed Applejack. "As much as Gai doesn't want any of us involved in his lil family feud, we've already been involved whether he likes it or not. And Dashie's right, y'know. We can't just sit back and watch Gai put himself in danger while we do nothin'. It's all our fight now. Well, not including Spike."
Twilight sighed. "I guess you're right," she relinquished. "I guess for now she's not a threat. But we can't do anything until we're all ready and prepared. We'll have to wait until he gets back from Canterlot before we can all decide what we're doing."
"And when we tell Gai we're gonna help him, we're not taking "no" for an answer!"
"Right!" Twilight turned to the window, looking out over the town and towards Canterlot. "I wonder how he's doing right now. I hope he's not being too much of a bother for Princess Celestia -- or Princess Luna for that matter."
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I doubt it. I mean, it's only for the one night, right?"
"Yeah. I'm sure one night couldn't hurt either of them."