Wilibald had a lot of favourite things. He had a favourite activity (not doing activity), favourite food (clovers) and… well, okay those were the two things that seemed to matter enough to require favourites. But one of his favourite pastimes was walking with good company, and the journey to Helovia seemed like a good idea now that he was in familiar territory.

He was wary of walking beside Midas for most of the way – what if those great big wings were to suddenly have a muscle spasm and whack him right in the face? As a colt, the pony had tried to chase a swan that took objection to it – and he did not relish the idea of even larger wings giving him what-for and knocking him out for days. But the wariness subsided as the walk and the conversation continued. Mostly, Wilibald wanted to hear about where they were going – he never tired of hearing how green and wonderful it would be. He did ask a few other questions such as “Are the horses here generally tall like you?” a question that might have been accompanied with no small amount of distain if it weren’t for who he was asking it to.

Midas was odd, there was no getting around it, but he had a good heart.

And Wilibald just wanted a heads up if he found himself surrounded by a bunch of tall strangers. It might make him re-evaluate how long he would be staying here. But if they gave him his space? This could work out. There were other questions he wanted to ask about Helovia but was too afraid to just yet – afraid of the answers that was. But there were other, logical questions that really needed to be asked about Helovia such as “What’s the most dangerous thing about Helovia?” Super important to know and a very, very high chance that Wilibald was going to regret asking that question as soon as he heard the answer. But if he could at least listen to the worst thing ever, then maybe he could forget about it and pretend it never existed. Also he would know what to avoid with all of his energy.

He welcomed any questions about himself or where he had come from, feeling a little homesick as they crossed over hills and through forests until they came to a spot where Wilibald just had to stop and take in a good look. Well, he didn't know if they had made it to where Midas was leading him quite yet (though boy were those legs of his starting to ache) but there were waterfalls. Maybe if this wasn't 'the Hidden Falls' (which didn't seem all that hidden to him, waterfalls kind of stood out) he could stay here anyway. “Yup. That'll do."

Eventually he would remember to ask about the herd Midas belong to. But the promise of a nice, comfortable home combined with the ache in his short legs was far too distracting for now.

Warriors were things of legend, hardly needed in peaceful places - or so he thought. Helovia was like a foalhood tale come to life and Wilibald had not yet decided if he liked the idea of living inside of one of those tales (but he was pretty sure he didn't). They often ended with casualties and death so as to warn foals against going to look for trouble. Bravery was risky. “I’m unlikely to make a tough warrior.” He responded without any sort of disappointment – it was the truth after all. He had neither the build or the desire to go and fight… whatever warriors fought. Each other? Proving how strong they were in order to impress a mate? Fiddlesticks, just make her the biggest pile of food offerings and she’s yours.

The answer to his second question was rather surprising. He had expected to hear about monsters and plagues, something tangibly fearful. If it was just stupidity, well, that was something he could handle.

It was with absolute delight that Wilibald launched into an explanation of the land he had come from – his smile grew and a little spring entered his steps as home danced as a vision inside of his mind. This was something he could share with Midas happily. “The Anduin Valleys are what we call them. Several little lush valleys that my kind migrate through, each more delightful than the last. There’s nothing harsh about it – the mountains keep out the predators and the winter and we are free to eat and sleep and live.” Speaking about home gave him a little pain in his stomach. Homesickness was not a feeling he had been warned about, having not been experienced by many of those that he knew as no one left, but it seemed to be coming in full force.

“This place actually reminds me of it.” The mountains were comforting though Wilibald’s comment was likely lost in the roar of the waterfall. He had thought this was it – that this place lying before the waterfall was Midas’s home, but it turned out that this was only the beginning. “Sure footed enough, I think.” Wilibald was no stranger to mountainous passages, which were not always dry and free of obstacles, and he picked up the path after the winged male – feeling rather eager to see the actual place that he had heard about.

As they head up past the waterfall, friendly curiosity comes from Midas and Wilibald finds the questions pleasant – and certainly well warranted. He often second-guessed himself about leaving, wondering if it was the right thing to do. He was certainly the first Anduin pony to have travelled so far; many just lingered in the foothills of the mountains and visited the ocean before going back. “Curiosity isn’t a common trait in my kind, but when we reach maturity it often finds it’s way into our minds – we call it ‘Trouble before Ten’ because it usually happens before we’ve seen ten springs. Before we settle down.” It was the general term for the phenomenon, something almost every Anduin Pony went through. “So I became curious about the world outside of our mountain chain and found my way here.” He left it unsaid that he likely would not have come to Helovia if he knew how strange it would have been. It seemed like a cruel mockery of his little bit of curiosity that he would end up here, where so much was odd and made him nervous.

It was with an appropriate sense of embarrassment that Wilibald realized he had not been quite as discrete about his staring as he had originally thought. Ducking his head slightly with an ear flicking back, though the embarrassment coloured his voice easily enough without these outward signs. “I apologize about how I have been staring. The herds were indeed made of only equines. I’ve yet to see another without some sort of adornment since I have come here – though you are the first with wings.” He remembered the sickly looking fellow in that dark forest, the one with the horn. “Does everyone here possess extra limbs?” Wilibald had fit in his entire life – an average pony in an average herd, nothing was odd about him.

Wouldn’t it be a strange twist of fate if he was the odd one out in this place?

The sun shone ahead, and Wilibald found himself rather excited to see what lay on the other side. He had thought where they had begun their ascent was beautiful, but surely what lay ahead would put it to shame.

And of course, it rather did. Moving to stand beside Midas, he took in the sight of the valley before them, with rivers and lakes and trees and all the comforts of home. “Well you did promise me green.” He commented with a grin retaking his features, the embarrassment of before forgotten at least momentarily. On the other side of the waterfall he had been content, but this was something all together rather wonderful. “Simply beautiful.” And with an edge of fondness, he revisited his earlier answer to the question of why he had left the Anduin Valleys. “You see Midas – this right here, this is why I left my home.” To experience foreign lands like this was truly a privilege.

Well, it was certainly a comfort to know that he wouldn’t be the only one without something extra, else he might need to fashion something out of branches so that he did not stand out so much. Thankfully, that did not seem to be required. From the easy manner in which Midas spoke about it, all the species must be pretty welcome in Helovia – and if there were hybrids then perhaps they were not quite as different as Wilibald originally thought! Individual species, maybe, but all essentially the same.

Yes… it was a small comfort at least. This new knowledge might go a long way with his logical senses but that didn’t mean he was going to suddenly get used to the strange world he had found himself in.

New world, new terms. At least he knew what to call them instead of ‘bird horse’ and ‘horse with a sharp bone sticking out of their forehead’. Blessed was Wilibald for having met Midas and his patience, many would not have been so good natured about his ignorance. To the comment of how this home might take somet time to get used to - well - Wilibald grinned and a kind chuckle escaped from him. “I’ll say, but you’ve been a great help so far Midas and I greatly appreciate it. I am in your debt for providing me a safe home.” Just how he was going to repay that debt was not something Wilibald knew just yet, nor did he want to think about it quite yet. There were other things on his mind!

Other, beautiful lands are mentioned and Wilibald allowed himself to wonder at what they were like – finding this large, strange world just a little less frightening now that he was faced with such a familiar view. “I should like to see them sometime.” The comment is idle, it’s hard to focus on anything else other than what was before him. And, of course, such adventures would need to be undertaken after a good long sleep and several heavy meals.

He nodded cheerfully to the suggestion of descending and getting settled. What a wonderful word that was. ‘Settled’ – oh it would feel so good. “Marvellous! Now, an important question – are there specially assigned sleeping spots?” Wilibald’s herd had been rather fond of picking particular spots, and everyone was respectful of keeping clear of someone else’s placing, but some of the other Anduin ponies were not so picky and would have a new place every night.

If he was going to be staying here, the sooty pony wanted to get off on a good hoof! It was a grievous insult to sleep in someone else’s spot – especially when you were among the shorter of the population

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.

Wilibald’s mind was quickly filtering out the parts that were just too much for him to handle and focusing instead on those that he could. So there was a manner in which a horse could share a soul with another animal here – he really was certain he did not want to hear anything more about that. What he was certain about was that he had offended this beautiful, strange bird.

And if there was one thing the little pony could not handle, it was offending anyone. Best to focus on that then how she could speak to Midas within her mind, or even on the little snack that she had found herself. After looking to his winged friend with an apologetic look, he focused his attention on the fiery bird. “Apologies, Fina. I meant no offense by my ignorance. We do not bond with other creatures where I come from. I knew someone who became friends with a cardinal family, keeping them close throughout the year.” His brother, Wilcome, who had been one of the oddest ponies in the bunch. “But you are no cardinal.” He spoke the compliment easily, finding truth in it easily enough. Maybe these flashy looks weren’t his thing but he could maybe see why they would be favoured for some.

Then when Midas spoke again, he explained the connection that was shared with this bright bird. “That is quite incredible.” Was all Wilibald managed to come up with to say – not very much liking the idea of someone else insides his head. But then, he also didn’t like the idea of having wings or a horn or possessing any other body than his own chubby, hairy one.

Wilibald rather felt like he was being cast into the deepest part of the ocean and expected to swim back to shore - there was so much (too much) different about this place in comparison to where he had come from. How could two lands that looked relatively the same give rise to such different communities?

As Midas started to spread those wings, Wilibald took a couple steps backward - uncertain of what was coming. The words, polite and perfect, distracted him well enough for a moment. “And to you, Midas, son of Tharon.” There was a brief moment where the thought of being alone in this strange place was too frightening to handle but Wilibald quickly got a hold of himself. He had been commanding Midas’ attention for a good part of the day, and he doubtless had other things to look after. And as he said, they would have time to talk later.

The company would be missed, certainly, but perhaps it would be good to wander about on his own. Without someone else with him, he wouldn’t feel so bad about hurrying into a hiding spot if he crossed paths with anyone.

First thing he needed to do was scout out a good spot to take a nap and, hopefully, a close spot where a good meal could be had. All this talking and walking and learning certainly helped work up quite the appetite.

Now, back to the matter of how Midas chose to exit. Maybe Wilibald should have seen this coming, maybe he should have thought that, like birds, Midas was capable of flight. But those wings hadn’t seemed big enough to actually support all the weight and he had just hoped they were there for decoration.

So the pony, wondering just what he had gotten himself into, fell back onto his haunches and sat there - watching Midas gain altitude before he simply flopped over in a faint that would only last a couple of minutes. Afterwards he’d wake up, pretend it did not happen and go on his merry way - changing his mind and seeking out some fresh food before finding somewhere to nap.