Swing and rhythm had returned to the great stallions step in the days subsequent to his return. Days of rest had renewed his ruined muscles and drained face and his ever loyal friend Glasgow had combed his mane and tail to resemble something of its former glory. Everything from the blistered fur on the tips of his ears to the chipped and beaten tips of his feet would take quite some time to repair. One, Two, Three and four - His ribs were certainly no challenge to count and his sunken cheeks and dull coat aged him at least five years. A small part of Tilney wondered if the herd was truly glad to have him back, or did they just think he was quite a joke for reappearing as he did. Many births had been missed including that of the Prince; It saddened him deeply that he had missed such an occasion.

There were no words to describe how thankful he was to his new little friend. Ultima in all her clueless beauty had been the one to breathe a peculiar kind of restlessness and hope into him which was all he needed to journey home; Tilney even loved her for it. She was angelic, even with her matted hair and grass stained fetlocks. This kindling love for Ultima grew entirely paternal and platonically; Pure, and quite perfect. 

While the circumstanced that they had met under were quite dire, some would say it had been the perfect seed for friendship. They had come to each other naked and kicking, their bodies striped of any finery, unwashed hair and stained teeth. Only their true selves had kept each other company on those few days it had taken to travel to the Edge.

He was settled in the shade of the rotunda, laying on his side and enjoying the sun and nightingale calls. Letting Ultima out of his sight was not a choice he took lightly; he was oddly protective of her. When she had disappeared for over five or ten minutes at  time he would call her back to se what she had discovered. Pushing his aching body off of bronze hanches the great stag stood, striding out of the Ancient Rotunda and ambling in the direction of where he had last seen his ivory apprentice. 

"Ultima!" was his nicker, ears pinned and verdant gaze searching over flowers and between knotted tree trunks for the painted girl. "co-ming!" was only just audible over the wonderful 'swishhh', made by a flock of swans landing in the near by lake. A grin crossed Tilneys ashen maw as his friends hoofbeats filled the forest, her legs distorting the midsummer morning light and creating an interesting light show between the trees as she approached. Announcing her findings, Tilney lifted his chin and laughed "wonderful! can you remember what a moon doctor will use peppermint for?" He spoke slyly, turning his head. He did not expect her to correctly answer this question, but he had faith in her to surprise him. When she joined him, Tilney caught a whiff of the beautiful but slighlty overwhelming scent of primrose on her breath. He eyed her for a few moments before a smirk escaped his nostrils "You know you'll get a huge belly ache if you eat too much of that, don't you?". He could feel her wings hanging over his back as she peered at a blue orchid, mentioning that it was poisonous; Tilney could almost feel the power in them vibrating off of them. As flimsy and light as she was, she had the wind and the air on her side and it clearly empowered her. "Yes, they are quite viciously poisonous. They do not cause death normally but they tend to make those subject to its venom quite delirious and can paralyse" Tilney admired the toxic flowers white and blue petals and the daring yellow and green hints towrds the center; It reminded him of the girl he stood with.
"This is a Blue Orchid, but I'm very forgetful of plant names; To help you remember you can give it another name. I'll call this one the Ultima Flower." 

This angels company was more then refreshing. Her delicate remarks hidden behind the most innocent shades of sarcasm were the perfect remedy for his healing heart and curing mind. Regaining his formerly exquisite social behaviours were proving to be strangely difficult having spent so long in isolation and desolation. Tilney had begun calling her his little swan, but in his elvish mother tongue (Sindarin); She probably thought he was cursing at her or calling her sweetiepie. Ultima was truly that much of a blessing to him though. "Alph" He would sing "don't touch that! you'll break out in hives" or "That's a badger's burrow, perhaps leave it be..."
Tilney knew exactly how grumpy badgers were.

“Abdominal maladies, wasn’t it? Upset stomach, nausea, et cetera? Oh, and I think it helps with memory, too,”

"Correct! You are learning very fast indeed" was his cheer, having to clear his stripped throat midway through his sentence. Listening closely as his swan spoke of perishing to a primrose overdose, and his bubbly laugh returned to the tip of his tongue. "Even better friends then you and I" The stag chuckled, viridescent gaze flicking to his ivory companions sight givers of amber. They were a similar colour to those of the one he loved. Arahs endless golden eyes were a pair he could stare into for hours, but that was nothing new. The mention of eating made the stallion realise just how hungry he actually was, so he turned on his haunches in the direction of home. They could pick and chose form a banquet of berries on their short walk to the edge. "Now that you mention it, I am truly famished!"

Quietness was all that filled the journey until Ultima burst. 
“Are you saying I’m noxious?”  
A gentle smirk was the first thing to escape the bronze moon doctors lips, his crown turning to face the winged girl. "Not at all! You are coloured much like that beautiful flower... It just happens to be poisonous" he assured her. "The Tembovu flower is tasteless and wilts in not even an hour after you pick it; That doesnt mean Tembovu is tasteless and spineless" Tilney cackled. 'Or does it' he wanted to add, though he did not want to fill his young friend with anything wicked.

For a doe so breakable as a feather, he threats were most daring. Tilney let a cackling laugh escape his throat as he made a leap and a dash, split hooves skidding across the damp earth in front of his glistening companion. He had every doubt that she was serious; she wouldn't tell Tembovu he'd said such things, but he would play along and prevent Ultima from charging forwards anyhow. 
"Can you imagine!-" Was his next cackle as he joined the dual-pennoned maiden at her side once again "the look on the great Elephant Kings face!"

Questions flowed throughout the journey; He took some time to talk about the healing properties that foxglove root actually had (despite how deadly the flower was). It made Tilney wonder if she always listened to everything he said; she was filled to the brim with curiosity, but He didn't know anyone besides himself who had the time or patience to listen to someone else talk for hours, especially on topics such as herbs. Most might consider the topic incredibly tideous and tiresome and made for the most drowning conversation. Was it truly out of curiosity she asked? or out of good manner? 
“What’s a Tilney flower look like?” 

"I don't know if there is one Alph" was the copper lads smirking response, glittering gaze finding his curious friends. He caught her own amber gaze searching the verdant shrubs and unruly bushes, perhaps on the look out for berries and so trained his own gaze off the path and onto the paths that bordered it. 
"I've got it--"
"You're a coconut"

"h-AH! How'd you come to that conclusion?"
He quizzed her with only the kindest tone - he did not want to mock her. It was then that Tilney realised how little he knew about his little swan. She had done all the questioning and he all the answering. 
Luckily Tilneys emerald sight givers had just crossed over a thorny blackberry bush by a small creeks deposit. Without evne a gesture towards it, Tilney set off at a light trott and was there at the foot of the bush in onto a few strides. Folding his knees and tucking himself down onto the meadow grass was what the bronze man did next - was there a better was to spend the afternoon? Good company, a soft pillow of meadow fauna, and a gorgeous feast of blackberries. Ashen snout turning to face Ultima after he'd devoured one or two berries, (skilfully avoiding the thorns) he asked her some questions.
"Where did you live before Helovia? What did you do?"

The swans voice became low as she tilted her cranium and spoke of why he did in fact resemble a coconut in her colourful mind - and the more she spoke, the more he blushed. Now Tilney worried he might of offended the lady by laughing; he did after all think she had spoken it in jest. 
"Pardon me for laughing Ultima"
"I did not know coconuts were so valuable! They certainly aren't as pretty as an orchid are they, but it seems they have a lot on the inside that I have underestimated." 

Come to think of it, Tilney was also considerably overjoyed that the doe was so fond of him. It seemed they both held each other accountable for their rescue from the abyss; loneliness and malnourishment in Ultimas case and blatant starvation in Tilneys. 
The young mans vibrant green eyes traced over his companions wings, wondering if sometimes she ever just swept herself up and flew away? It was one of the reasons why he longed for wings, had always envied any equid who possessed them. This golden man was particularly envious of Ultima because she was gifted with two pairs of pennons. It was honestly not a sight he had ever beheld until he set his first sight on Alph - Two pairs of horns he had seen, but two pairs of wings? never.

A giddy chuckle escaped his lips as the girl bounced towards the berries he had pointed out, allowing the young lady to run on ahead before he set off on her trail.
After setting himself down in the grass and allowing his tired legs to stretch out on the cool earth, he heard his friend coo in pain. Tilney was quick to respond, his nose flicking in her direction, verdant gaze looking her way with concern. she seemed quite fine, but perhaps forgot about avoiding the thorns. 
Smirking, Tilney nudged himself closer to the young doe. "Vicious aren't they" he uttered as he closed his eyes, exhaling deeply - He was preparing his body for something magical. 

A dark vapour began to slink between the thorns and the grass around them, rising from the earth as a mysterious pearlescent, purple smoke. Tilney was not used to the rank magic yet, but it was something he was getting the hang of. He opened his eyes when he was certain he had conjured the moons wondrous power, then concentrating on applying it to Ultimas nose and mouth. "be calm, it won't hurt"
With another deep exhale, Tilney allowed the smoke to retract back into the earth and dissipate into the air; it's job was done, hopefully. 
"Better?" the moon doctor asked with the kindest of smiles, looking past his ginger lashes to Alphs eyes of gold. 

It did not go unnoticed that Ultima ignored his question about her birth place. It was a sensitive subject for most Helovians. Where Tilney came from was no home, at least from the little memory he had left of it. Tilney remembered happy times with his siblings but no one other - it made him wonder where Carlisle was and how she fared. He had not seen her in a few weeks now and he was positively dying to introduce her to the swan.
The flaxen man heard his companion quiz yet again and of course it made him grin. Rolling further onto his side, his sight givers took up the lady's once again. "I have not" He utter softly, a wide grin across his maw in response to the possibility of calling her a dung beetle. 

"In the language of-" he was refraining from saying 'my people'. They simply were not his people any longer "-It is elder speech for Swan. It is the language of the Aen Maea Unicorns, perhaps you have herd of them?" 
"It is where I was born and grew up."