Although Wilibald’s hooves remained sure on the slippery path, he found himself jolting with a bit of fear every time Midas made a little slip. Would those wings prove useful if he were to fall? It wasn’t something that the little pony wanted to see tested! Maybe it was out of a genuine care for the white-and-black stallion or just because the trauma of seeing someone fall to their doom would be too much for his little heart (definitely a combination of those two). Whichever way, he felt himself relaxing every time the slip turned into nothing more.

And, of course, the conversation helped to keep his mind off of the dreadful fate that was just inches away for the pair! “Most comfortable! I quite like the sound of that. And the ‘least occupied’ part has a certain charm to it as well.” Too late did Wilibald realize that last bit was rather unfairly rude of him so he corrected himself hastily with an awkward explosion of words. “Not that I’m expecting your herd here to be well… worthy of getting away from – but a bit of personal space while sleeping is a luxury.” Not something he was used to, with most of the Anduin ponies wanting to snuggle up right close. Wilibald always preferred to keep towards the edge of the group, perhaps one of the only oddities that he had by their customs.

Okay, there might have been a couple more oddities but they hardly mattered anymore when oddities were the new “norm”.

Finally, they made it to the base and a bright smile appeared on the chestnut’s face… until he spotted the fiery bird tearing into a lizard right in front of him. Now, he had seen reddish birds before – cardinals were a little too flashy for him but he had seen them now and then. Sometimes they made his heart jump a little bit whenever they just appeared out of nowhere!

And this was no cardinal.

He did not move from his spot behind Midas, peering cautiously out as he referenced the bird with an apologetic grin. Forgetting the fact that he knew what this bird was thinking the mere presence of the mare was what was tripping him up to start. “She? So um… you have a pet bird?” Really, Wilibald was rather wondering when all of this was going to stop. There could only be so much that was strange about one place… right? So now the birds were just as colourful as everyone else.