Glittering Gold | March Monthly Quest

"Hey! Wait up!" called a voice that was slightly echoing, Eloa didn't care though the human would catch up eventually. She was still kinda scared of them, but her parents had told her they weren't so bad and she could trust some of them, mainly the ones around the ranch. Her wobbly legs made for bad running though and after a dash of a few hundred yards or so she came to a stop that was almost a tumble over herself. She decided she would see if the human could find her and backed her tiny self behind a bush, peeking her head around occasionally to see if the human was coming. It took a little while but she finally heard footsteps getting louder and closer to her, then past her. She giggled to herself as she poked her pearly white head out and gave a squeal. The footsteps came running back towards her and then past her again before they stopped. "Eloa! Come on! Raziel is gonna have a fit if I lose you," As soon as she heard that her face turned into a pufferfish, letting the breath out making her lips flap as she groan. If the human told her parents that she disappeared on them that would mean a long lecture later on "the dangers of being on her own" She stomped out of the bush and stood on the deer path between the human and a climbing hill and let out a snort. She watched as the human man turned around and let out a sigh of relief. Eloa made a raspberry at him to which he scowled. He strode towards her and she lifted her muzzle, closing her eyes "Don't be such a snob Eloa, don't you know bad foals will never meet Regale?" Eloa's eyes flashed open as she stared at the human, how did he know about Regale? Did all humans know him? He just winked a dark eye at her and motioned for her to follow him and pushed his silver hair out of his face. The two of them walked side by side through the brush until when he pushed aside a bush they were greeted by a wide-open plain, lined by a beautiful beach with golden sand.  Eloa was in awe as her bright pink eyes took everything in and in the blink of an eye, she was running, running so fast she surprised even herself. Her tiny hooves thundered across the ground as the wind whipped through her scruffy manes and tail. She could barely hear the shouts with the wind whistling in her ears. There was so much beautiful stuff to take in and she wanted to look at it ALL! She had found a river and was running along it, water splashing over her hooves as they squished into the sand. She followed along that river for what seemed like forever, her pace quickly winding down as the energy of a small child is not unlimited. She was walking now, puffing out breaths. She was coated in sweat, her sleek bare neck swiveling to and fro to look around. The river happened to pass a field of bright orange flowers, the smelled so sweet and delicious she couldn't help herself and started munching. The bright orange flowers squished between her teeth and tasted like a sweet, like a sugar cube. She plucked flower after flower, gobbling as many down as she could before going back to the river and filling it with the nice, ice-cold water.

"Well well, looks like someone beat me to them!" came a deep and hearty voice from behind her. She squealed and all but jumped around in place. Eloa was now standing face to face with a living golden statue. She stood there, her mouth hanging open as she stared up at him. He was looking down at her with eyes that were two different colors. His manes and body sparkled like a shiny rock " I... I..." Eloa said as she stared, her ears pinned back. She felt a tickle in her nose, her lip started twitching. The golden stallion's ears pinned back, he was watching her lip twitch and her muzzle started tipping forward on its own, almost like muscle spasms. Tears welled in her eyes she felt so embarrassed. "Are you ok little one?" She tried to look up at him but with her head shaking on its own it was hard to do little more than lock eyes with him. He looked genuinely concerned. He stepped closer, his golden muzzle prodding against her side and neck. "How can I help you?" Eloa let out a sob before she could manage to get out "I don't know," He stepped closer to the little white filly and used his muzzle to press her head against his leg, which stopped her head from shaking but her muzzle was still twitching. Eloa was stunned to say the least but she couldn't help but sob into the golden stallion's leg. They stood there like that for a few minutes before the stallion lifted his head, he could hear footsteps. "Someone is coming little one, we should get to cover," he said soothingly to the tiny white foal. Eloa looked towards where the stallion was looking and seen her human running towards them. "No, he's good. We came here together," She said sniffling and trying to quiet her sobs as he muzzle continued to twitch on its own accord. The golden stallion looked at her quizzically but before he could say anything else she was totting towards the human. The stallion flattened his ears as he watched just to make sure that the little filly wasn't in any danger. He watched as the human slowed his approach to a very slow walk as he got closer to the filly, his eyes though were on the stallion. The golden stallion watched the human kneel down in front of the foal and cradle her head to his chest for a few minutes, which seemed to make the foal feel better. He was talking softly to her and she turned as well to look at the stallion before coming back over to him. He lowered his head to touch the foal on the forehead "He wants to thank you," she said to him with a sheepish smile. "Well," he thought for a moment before deciding something "First you have to tell me your name," the little white filly looked at him through squinted eyes "Eloa, who are you?" The gold stallion laughed "What a beautiful name for a pretty little thing," he could see the foal's face glowing red at this point, her lips pursed in embarrassment. "My name is Midas little Eloa, tell me, do you believe in Aether?" Eloa looked up excitedly at Midas at the mention "Oh yes! I met him once! He was so nice and brought my daddy back to life," Midas stared down at Eloa flabbergasted, "Weell, then I guess that makes you quite special to him. I'll meet you human then," Eloa squealed and galloped back to the human, bucking and squealing the whole way. Midas shook his head but what was this tenderness? Surely it was circumstantial... a beautiful creature such as he shouldn't be bothered by the problems of others. But he did give his word, and one's word is an unbreakable oath. He hardened his features and took a step or two towards the human who was standing next to Eloa, he little white fluff of a tail standing upright as she waited.

"Eloa he's looking at us, what did you say to him?" Andric said as he watched the golden stallion take a few careful steps in their direction. His heart was beating so hard in his chest, was the stallion going to attack them or was he curious? He could feel shadows writing in his gut, he knew that they would be a useful way to escape should the stallion attack but until he showed signs it was a must to keep them controlled. Eloa looked up at him with what looked like a grin on her face, if she wasn't scared surely the stallion was friendly? Andric admired the beauty that was this golden king of this strange place. The surroundings themselves felt otherwordly and he was sure he himself wasn't meant to be here, perhaps this was just some sort of special ballator place. The stallion got closer and closer until he stood at least five feet from him. Andric carefully and slowly reached into his bag, because he knew he had some dried salmon in there that he had brought as treats for Eloa on their outing and surely it was an acceptable thank you for looking after the foal during one of her attacks? With the dried hunks of fish in hand Andric slowly bent down and placed them at the hooves of the stallion. The golden one stared at him with eyes of two different shades and once Andric had backed off enough he leaned down and took a deep breath. He made a face but bit off a small piece as if to taste then devoured the pieces of fish. With a smack of his lips the stallion leaned down and ruffled the hair on top of Eloa's head and staring deeply into Andric's eyes before turning and wandering out into the open plain. Eloa turned to him and squealed before prancing back towards the way they had come. He guessed that the stallion was pleased with the offering and with the sun starting to sink Andric knew they should probably find their way back home. He looked back and was able to just make out the silhouette of the stallion watching them from a plateau to which he waved before he and Eloa found where they had come in from and made their way back home from the mysterious place.