//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: This feels allot like Final Fantasy // Story: The (Mis)adventures of Nava: Book Two // by Navanastra //------------------------------// Chapter 10: This feels a lot like Final Fantasy Edited by: Warlite the Human, Fistfire “Hey, Nava, NAVA!” I felt someone shake me as consciousness slowly returns to me. I immediately jerked awake and looked around me frantically. I sighed, seeing that I was still in the gondola and not in the ruins like how I dreamed. Funny how I somehow managed to fall asleep while being god knows how high up in the air. But then again I am not going to complain. Sleeping through this is certainly better than waiting, even though it leads me to a nightmare. I wiped my forehead, being somewhat surprised that my forehoof had some sweat on it. Shaking this oddity off, I looked up to see who shook me and saw that it was none other than Cloud herself. A very concerned look was plastered on her muzzle. “Hey Nava you ok? You where thrashing and mumbling a bit to yourself quite often after you fell asleep. Were you having a nightmare or something?” She asked as she gave me both a worried and confused look. I nod, before rubbing my eyes. This gesture confused her even more though. “Really, and here I thought that Luna would normally be responsible for keeping such things at bay from now on...or so I heard. Either she didn’t sense you…or even more unlikely she didn’t bother to do anything in the first place. Not sure which.” She responded while rubbing her cheek. It was now my turn be confused as the balloon was passing through a set of clouds. Easily distinguishable even from my position. It was at that point when Glade suddenly turned around from her own little corner to look at us. “Or, it’s because Nava is an Alicorn like them, and Alicorn minds tend to be a lot more resilient to get through in comparison to mortal minds. It still is possible but it obviously requires a lot more efforts for someone to do it, which…also works both ways as annoying as that may be. So it could also be very possible that Luna didn’t sense his nightmare simply because his mind wasn’t leaking any traces of it. Thanks to that thick mental wall.” She commented, which in turn caused me and the two sisters to look at her in confusion. “You seem to know a lot more about Alicorns then most ponies do. How come you know so much about them in the first place?” Flitter questioned, eying the mare a bit suspiciously. Glade just rolled her eyes. “That’s easy, I am over a millennia old, as you three should already know. Which also means that I had A LOT of time on my hooves to get as much information about the topic as I wish. Plus you two seem to forget that both Luna and me have quite a long history together. Longer than even Celestia and Luna have with each other.” She responded, most likely commenting on the nightmare moon incident. This answer sounded the most likely for the pegasus as she simply shrugged. Before returning to her task at looking out beyond the railing. I on the other hand just continued to sit in my little corner as I reflect to the information that Glade has given us. “Never had the idea to ask about my mind as well though. Just about Silver and his connection with my magic.” I thought to myself, somewhat kicking myself now that I didn’t have the mindset to actually get as man answers as possible. Even those that didn’t matter to me at the time. To be honest, there where a lot of questions that I forgot to ask Celestia about. Mostly thanks to the fact that at the time, these ideas weren’t really the main source of all of my problems. The idea that my mind should generally be more robust than others doesn’t really sit well with me though. Especially when you consider that stupid crystal. But then again, the crystal was apparently a very powerful lost artifact which should be able to have no problem in breaking through even an Alicorns mind. This is just all so very new to me. “Hey Nava, better get your ass out of the corner because it seems we are closing in to the meadow where I paid the guy to land us. Just a few more minutes before we land.” Glade suddenly announced. I groaned, pushing myself back up on all fours with a bit of difficulty. Cloud helped me a bit with a hoof which I of course thanked her for with a kind smile, which she returned. Before quickly looking away awkwardly. Not sure what that was about but whatever. At least I am standing again. I could feel how the Balloon was slowly descending. Clouds that were under us where suddenly above us, with the horizon ever so subtle moving upwards against my vision. I looked down over the railing and saw the grassy field quickly but steadily approach us. Feeling quite relieved that solid ground was soon going to be under my hooves again. Just can’t shake this uneasy feeling of my acrophobia after all, no matter how hard I like to try. I just get this feeling it’s going to stay with me like this until I can finally grow out of my skin and take the first few steps to flying. Something I will have to get myself through one way or another. Especially in a land that is primarily occupied by an airborne capable race. “Really starting to wonder how this fancy little airship of your is actually going to look like. The only airship I saw are the ones with those big and long gas balloons on top. For obvious reasons.” Flitter casually commented as the thing finally touched down with a bit of a jerk. Almost causing me to lose my footing…or should I say hoofing in the process. Glade just smiled. “Well in that case you three just have to wait, according to the position of the sun we are a tad bit early when it comes to the arrival time of the ship. So the four of us will have to wait a little bit out here for the vessel to arrive.” Glade answered as she opened the side door of the gondola and was the first to step out. This caused Cloud to raise an eyebrow though. “What do you mean EARLY? I thought that we were running late somehow. All thanks to the chop, chop, and pushing you did on us?” She question, a suspicious frown forming on her face as me and her sister were the next to exit. Glade just smirked as she looked over her shoulder. “Well we were…kind of. Late of being early to be precise as I am an individual who believes in the phrase. “The early bird catches the worm first”. It’s better to be early than late after all.” She casually replied. Both Cloud and Flitter glared at the casually retreating thestral. Especially Cloud as the history with these is far from warm. I on the other hand just shook my head. Knowing that my input in this would be rather pointless I decided to just keep quiet. Especially towards someone like her. “Well, I hope that your supposed pick up will arrive here. Because we are quite far off, even for individuals with wings. I will be off now if you don’t mind.” The pilot called out, causing all of us to turn our head to look at him. Glade just shooed him away with her hoof. “Yeah don’t worry about us. You already received your pay during our first meeting. Which means that your continuous assistance is no longer needed. You can fly back if you want.” Glade answered, which in turn caused the stallion to nod. With another pull of a lever, the flame on top roared to life once more with the balloon lifting off. He gave us a few waves goodbye before quickly disappearing behind the same clouds where we just came from. Never to be seen again from us I am sure, or at least for a very long time. Glade sighed afterwards. “Well then, nothing to do but to wait for a while. The ship should crest the horizon sooner than later. So just sit back and relax.” Glade added as she casually sat down, right next to a tree and leaned against it. Me, Cloud and Flitter simply stood there, looking out at the surrounding field and feeling somewhat undecided with this unprepared situation. We were in hopes that she ships would already be here when we arrived, which obviously isn’t the case. I looked back at the two Sisters behind me. “So, we are just going to sit around for a while and do nothing?” I asked, while blowing a bit of hair out of my face. I have never visited a barber now that I realized it. Stupid for me to not account that even pony hair continuously grows nonstop similar to humans. Cloud groaned while Flitter was a bit busy in inspecting the bags she was carrying. “Well obviously, it’s not like there is anything else for us to do here besides resting on our flanks. Especially with me being still somewhat sleepy thanks to Glade’s early morning ruckus.” Cloud openly complained, which in turn was fully ignored by the thestral in question. Not for Flitter. “Could you perhaps mind using your time in checking your bags instead of complaining? You know very well that we are going to be away for a very long time, which means that it would be somewhat important for you to make sure that you literally have everything with you that you wanted to bring along. Otherwise don’t be surprised later if you forgot or lost something in the way here.” Flitter offered as she continued digging through her belonging. Cloud just raised an eyebrow. “And what the hay am I going to if I DID forget something? It’s not like I could just casually fly back home and get it.” She responded, not bothering to look at her own bags like her sister. “Well you do have a point there.” Was all that Flitter uttered. I just shrugged. “Well, one of the benefits of literally having nothing to your name I guess, don’t have to worry about packing or forgetting anything back home.” I thought, before casually making my way to a random tree and carefully taking refugees under its protective shade. Sitting down against its trunk as Glade did. Even in Equestria the sun can be annoyingly warm sometimes, even more so with fur. Out of curiosity I looked over at Glade to my left to see what she was doing, only to find her sitting there against her tree, dozing away quietly. I hummed to that. Personally I would have loved to do this myself, but given the nightmare I just had a couple of moments ago, my need for sleep is all but void at the moment. Yeah, I can even get a little prissy after a nightmare. I do act or feel like a kid sometimes, and I really wasn’t much different back then as a kid than I am right now. Only somewhat less naïve of course. I was eventually joined by both Cloud and Flits as they too sat themselves down next to me. Dumping their bags and saddle-bags onto the ground next to me before resting. Kind of awkward to have to wait around like this in the middle of nowhere. But hey if Glade’s friends want to show up here and nowhere else more convenient then who are we to change that? They most likely are all thestrals like her, which possibly means that they could be just as naturally thick headed as her. Certainly a difficult bunch to reason with. But at this point I am just throwing around random assumptions without much lead. My tail was unconsciously flapping back and forth behind my flank as I was slowly getting relaxed. The gently Equestrian breeze, the soft smell of grass and bark, accompanied with the distant songs of birds was quite the recipe for me to get drowsy again. Something I quickly forced down. Again, this might be the very last time for quite a while until I will be able to hear, feel and smell the natural Equestrian weather here. Pretty sure that the landscape and feeling far up to the north is going to be a hell of a lot different. Both in nature and climate as well, and most likely in bestiaries too. There is really a lot to expect here, most of which are blind sadly. “Hey wait, is that another balloon coming towards us?” Cloud suddenly asked and more or less breaking the serenity. We all looked up to where Cloud was pointing and truth to be told, another balloon was making its slow decent down onto the same meadow from where we just landed a few moments ago. Though curiously enough, this one was even larger than the one we flew in, with something large, bulky and cloaked cargo taking most of its space. Actually this Balloon had two separated balloons suspended above its triangular shaped Gondola. Quite a unique design for a hot air balloon, but then again nothing too strange. In fact, there are a lot stranger shapes and designs back in my world. With even contest being held with them as to who has the most unique design of them all. We all perked up at this curious sight as the Balloon finally landed. What we saw, or rather who I saw leaving the large basket afterwards caused me to go wide with my eyes. “Wait, isn’t that the strange thestral stallion that I encountered back in ponyville?” I wondered out loud as I watched the browned cloaked thestral leave the Gondola with his pilot in tow. The pilot in question was a rather beefy looking stallion with legs that just screamed work horse, and judging by the way he was pushing the huge but still cloaked cargo out of the gondola pretty much proved it. Doubt that any of us, even Glade could push or pull that thing alone. Then again, I have no idea what it is or how much it actually weighs. If it was a solid piece of something or just a skeleton of parts, in other words being just a hollow frame throughout. Either way, Glade noticed this newcomer as well before she just closed her eyes again. Seeming to know this stud somehow but not saying anything. Or even greeting him for that matter. This was when Cloud next to me perked up. “So wait, you know this dude?” She asked while giving me a sideways glance. I nod while keeping my gaze at him.” Yeah, he was just some random stallion that simply burst through Twilights door when me and Dash were there. Spouting things like “He knew it.” Or maybe “He finally found me” or something like that. Sorry but I really can’t remember much of the event. It has been a while, and I WAS in a coma for most of it too. So yeah…” I responded with a scratch of my head, watching as the stallion was handing the big stud a large sack. Most likely bits from my guess. After that the stallion just began to awkwardly look around himself while the other stud behind him boarded the Gondola before slowly flying off with it. Disappearing into the clouds the same way as ours did. Both me and the two sisters continued to watch him silently. Before he seemed to eventually spot the thestral mare besides us. He seemed a bit hesitant at first before finally making his way towards her, though a bit slowly. “Still wonder who he is though. Maybe some kind of companion towards Glade? Well, either way I will surely find out one way or another by the looks of it.” I thought to myself as he finally stopped in front of her. His shadow casting over her, which in turn, made the mare underneath it flinch a bit before opening her eyes. The three of us perked up our ears to eavesdrop. “Midnight, you do know that you are momentarily stealing the sun from me.” She casually commented, which in turn caused the intimidated stud to tense up before the mare in front him gave of a small smirk from her muzzle. ”Actually keep it up, this blasted tree over here isn’t doing it a well as a job as I hoped it would. But now I am a bit too lazy and comfortable to get off my ass. So yeah, keep standing there.” She casually added before gently closing her eyes again. The stallion who we now knew as Midnight just fidget a bit in place, his expression neatly guarded under his hood, which of course was frustrating for us. But judging from his stance, his weak demeanor and somewhat lowered head, he was at most a very awkward or somewhat shy individual. How do I know? Well just look at Fluttershy. The similarities that this guy provides where very similar. He eventually seemed to steel up as he stood up straight. Removing his hood for the first time and revealing his true features for the first time. He looked pretty average at first, sharing the same dark color pallet that most thestral’s have. Sporting a very basic looking charcoal coat with a set of dark blue colored tail and mane to boot. His mane and tail even had a couple of white stripes going through them, just to add some highlights to them. Though what was the most unique feature and also the most surprising were the two eyes he sported. Both being in a completely different color from the other. The right eye being a crisp baby blue while his left being in a light green. Seeing a pony with two different irises is certainly something and unique. Especially when I personally can’t remember seeing them during out first encounter. Granted it was brief and I was suffering from a near death coma for most of the time afterwards. But still, something like this should stick one way or another, or at least give me a sense of nostalgia. Either way, Midnight was about to say something when Glade quickly stopped him with a hoof. Her eyes snapping open as her ears stood straight, twisting a bit in place in order to catch something that only she could hear. Well, at least until we could hear it as well. “What the…what is that deep droning sound?” Flitter was the first to say that as her ears were mimicking Glade’s at this point. I raised an eyebrow at the same low droning echo as well. Growing steadily louder as the seconds ticked by. At this point Glade was already up and about as she stretched herself a bit. “Well boys and girls. It seems our ride has finally arrived. Strap on your bags and nuts before counting your huts. Remember, boys and Glades first and everyone else second. Now get up before I have to force you” She announced with a grin before facing the direction where the echoes were coming from. We all quickly joined her gaze. At first there was nothing but cloud filled sky above us when all of a sudden, a shadow slowly emerged from its grayish undersides. The shadow quickly grew larger and wider, with the droning noise growing along with it. We all continued to look up at the phenomenon with baited expectations. Me in particular as I had never seen an airship with my own eyes, besides in either videogames games or movies. Blimps don’t count. We all waited, having most likely different ideas or expectation as to what a Thestral airship looked like. All of my own personal expectation though where swiftly crushed and thrown out the damn window as something even grander made itself know to the seeing world. My eyes went wide at the mechanical monstrosity that was slowly but surely peeking its way through the clouds. “This…this is some serious final fantasy shit right here.” I muttered in awe. “Well here you have it. The very vessel that we are going to call our own for the next week or two. Well more like temporary home than really our own, but you all get the point.” Glade casually commented as the thing above us continued to descend. Eventually fully revealing its hull and form to us in all of its fantasy glory. Like literally, the swirly exterior, the very ship like shape, the very obvious steam powered or maybe magical powered propellers on the sides and back of the ship. All of it really screaming Final Fantasy for me. The bloody thing even had a large ring spinning on its stern, with less of it’s half going into the ship with spark arcing through them. Overall, serious Final fantasy vibes here. In fact, this thing kind of reminds me of the Final fantasy 9 ships in terms of shape. Only less colorful, more gold as its dressings and more industrial looking steel and wood as its exterior. Glade smirks at out expression. “Certainly a lot more “interesting” looking than all of those blimp like airships you Equestrian have floating around here. Have a little taste as to how isolated your little paradise really is to the rest of the world. Or at least from places like Nassgardiath.” Glade commented. We silently watched as the massive wood and steel vessel was slowly and steadily touching down on the wide open meadow. Kicking up a lot of air leaves, dirt and grass thanks to those large twin propellers mounted on the sides of the ship. Wind that we could even feel from way over here despite the fact that the vessel was landing roughly a hundred meters away from us. Forcing us to shield ourselves at the first gust. A true testament to the thrust these things can produce to keep this thing in the air. The engines were roaring too, sounding somewhat similar to turbines despite their steampunk like look. In fact, not that the bow of the ship was angled towards us somewhat, I could clearly see a large oval shaped intake vent right under the bow’s tip. A tip that was artistically depicting some kind of bird like species cast in something that looked like bronze. Its neck was long, with its beak opened in a screech like manner and with its large wings spread out on either side, draping themselves along the bow of the ship. If I wouldn’t know better thanks to THAT singular design. I would think or assume that this ship might be some kind of military vessel or belonging to someone from the upper class. Either way it looked far from being a simple cargo ship, or maybe even a civilian ship at all. But then again, I could always ask Glade or wait it out. I am sure the nature of the ship will become clear once we enter. The first one to un-shield herself was cloud. Right after the onslaught of turbine pushed air was over with the engine quieting down. Though again to my surprise the ship wasn’t even fully touching down onto the ground like how I imagined, instead it was somewhat hovering above it. A couple of meters if I had to guess. How does that work I obviously don’t know, especially with the propellers on its side slowing down. But yet again, question I might get answers to once me and the rest enter the ship for the first time. There is bound to be someone who I could ask all of those question that doesn’t revolve around having to confront Glade too much. But then again, all of its crew might very well be thestrals as well. The pure bred kind in fact. Just as Cloud was the first one to relax, she was also the first one to speak. “Holy heaven above Equestria, THAT IS YOUR AIRSHIP?” She said in utter astonishment, a feeling that was silently shared by me and flits. To our surprise it was actually the newcomer that responded for us instead of Glade. Coming up from behind us, though at some distance. “We-well ye-yes. That is actually the Teldahr. A…a Isgrithar class light cruiser of the…the imperial navy back home. Not very well armored but obviously very…very light with powerful engine and decent weaponry on it…basically a fast glass cannon of a military vessel…if…if you want to know.” Midnight explain, though with a few awkward stutters here and there, and even a small hiccup at the end. I nod to that. “Well, that certainly answers that question.” I thought to myself before going back at admiring this fine but still real fantasy like air vessel. To think that this world can’t get even more derailed from the one I know of, but yet again, I am just beating an already long dead horse for no good reason. Pun obviously not intended. Glade eventually just shook her head as we continued to just silently stare at this engineering and…sea…uh I mean air fearing wonder. “Well you know, we could actually be faster on our way if you three would stop gawking so much and actually get you over sized asses in gear. I might not have told you this as well but we kind of have a schedule to keep as well. Travelling on a warship is not particularly cheap after all, especially in foreign territory.” She announced, looking at us with a leveled gaze. I blink, before shaking my head and nudging the two mares beside me. By the way, the obvious implementation are not lost on me. In case someone wonders. Both Cloud and Flits shook their heads as well before looking at each other. Flitter being the first to sigh and make a move. “Well, guess this is it. Onto a ship that will take us far away to a foreign land, not sure how long it would take for us to even see Equestria again. Well fortune favors the bold is what they say.” She announced before moving forward. Both me and Cloud nod to that last phrase before following her, still something looking at the ship in front of us as we drew closer. Glade was quick to follow as well, right at the same time when a door on the lower side of the ship suddenly opened. A ramp was swiftly lowered afterwards, a mechanical one mind, where we could clearly hear the hissing of gas and grinding of gears coming from its pistons. Overall, the entire ship just ricked of technology, not as majorly advanced as our own in terms of electronics, but more in a steampunk or fantasy like vibe. Again, this whole thing just criminally reminds me of a lot of final fantasy games, primarily the one that had a medieval or industrial revolution vibe to them. “This thing is massive.” Cloud commented beside me after we were close enough to it. “How is something so large and heavy looking thanks to all of that metal even able to keep itself up in the air? Is it really just all machinery or maybe even magic related?” She asked after the ramp finally touched down. On the actual ground mind you, unlike the ship itself.