"Oh." (And then you met me—)
She could've had a thousand different, better first experiences with unicorns. (Hah, shut up—) Less insane ones without heavy scars on their chest, and no secrets buried ten thousand feet beneath ice and basalt. Ones like—like Tembovu, all regal and graceful and majestic
Or maybe she should've met someone like Katerina—graceful, mysterious, painted with the patterns of galaxies far, far away.
What was a textbook unicorn like, anyway? What color? What patterns, if any? What kind of horns? Hooves? Tails? The frown on Mauja's face grew deeper and deeper as he realized there probably was no 'standard unicorn'—his 'standard unicorn' was either frighteningly similar to himself in color, or midnight black. It had to be cultural, then.
Her voice, fortunately, brought him back from his mind's tired, unfettered ramblings. "I must admit, your offer is compelling." She spoke—he couldn't quite put his hoof on it, but she spoke ..differently. Nobly. Not that many verbal shortcuts, certain words—he glanced over her again, head nodding absently. Perhaps she was? Perhaps she wasn't. But in the end, she chose to go with him. (Don't follow the wolf—)
But he wasn't a wolf anymore—he was just Mauja, the victim of his own ranging thoughts. Once, this would've been the perfect ruse (fuck, he'd already done this once, hadn't he?), but now? He was just offering her a nice pond to clean herself up in, as it seemed to bother her, and along the road, or perhaps when she had freshened herself up, he'd offer the customary place in the World's Edge herd.
It seemed a wholly backwards procedure, a total breach of protocol, but it was too late now. "Of course," he replied, soft, gentle. The sun had begun to warm him, touching his face with golden hands. And her, too, but the dust and grime made her seem dull. He blew out somewhat of a half-sigh, turning to face west. "This way."
And his frosted hooves began to eat up the distance.
[ The end! @Eliaren I probably won't manage more posts tonight, so if you're raring to go post a thread for us in the Grove <3 if you haven't done it by tomorrow I'll get something up for us ^^ ]