Star Breeze yawned and stretched. Upon doing so, she started to notice a little bit of restraint to her movements. Daylight also registered even through her eyelids but, as she opened them, her surrounding environment was blurry at first. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves in order to clear them and get rid of eye crust. When next she opened her eyes, her vision cleared considerably more. Her eyes cleared enough to determine she was wrapped up in a cloud-like sleeping blanket in the sky although, in this case, the term “sky” was only about thirteen feet off the ground.
Continuing her scan from above, she saw a stream that led up to a gorgeous waterfall complete with a shimmering rainbow. This cliff face wasn't as tall as the one she saw last night. She was still in a forest and, in the daylight, she could see her surroundings that much more clearly.
Eventually she spotted something else noteworthy. Hovering near her, there was a small string of clouds formed into a very distinctive shape. It was very close to her, only about three feet away from her face. She was obviously meant to notice this. The way those clouds were shaped spelled out the sentence, “Had to take off for a bit, my sweet. I'll be back soon.”
Star Breeze grew a proud grin as she said under her breath, “Good one, Dad. You lousy show-off.”
She pulled off the cloud blanket from her then stood and stretched on the small cloud. She leaned far back then far forwards, almost tipping over the edge of the cloud but she managed to hold her balance. She then stretched out her stark black wings with white dots.
When she felt she worked the kinks out of that, she dove off the edge of the cloud. She glided her way towards a small pond in front of the waterfall.
She peered into the water and saw her own reflection. For fun, she made googly eyes at her own reflection followed by a series of other silly-looking facial expressions until she noticed movement under the water. Focusing on that, she saw . . .
“. . . fishies!” she exclaimed in delight. “Such shiny scales! How pretty!”
Just then she noticed something else unusual in the reflection of the water. Concentrating on that, she saw unusual activity in the sky above her. A hole was poked through a cloud far above her and it spread wide in seconds. Star Breeze gave that reflection a knowing grin before she looked up at the actual sky.
“Wow. You're right, Dad. That wasn't too long,” Star Breeze said to herself.
Staring up at the wide hole in the sky for a few seconds, eventually she spotted what she expected to see, a lone figure diving down beyond terminal velocity. It actually blurred since it traveled down so fast. The main reason she could see it was because it left a cloud streak in the sky with faint flashes of lightning within it.
The figure maintained this speed much further down than most ponies would be comfortable seeing but Star Breeze had seen this often enough not to be scared.
As expected, a fog grew off the ground and thickened to cushion the fall of this fast-moving figure. Plunging into the cloud, it stretched downwards for a few seconds but never quite made it to the ground. When it shot back upwards, the figure launched back up thirty-five feet in the air, did twelve somersaults in the air before landing back onto the earth with the left fore-hoof pounding into the ground.
Shortly after that, her father's Mist Cloak settled down, hanging off of his shoulders. The hood of his Mist Cloak was initially pulled up, secured via a hole that his horn stuck through. A silver aura shimmered in the edges of the hood which lifted the hood up and over his horn so that it, too, could settle on his shoulders.
“Morning, Sweet,” he greeted her sweetly.
“Morning, Dad,” Star Breeze greeted back.
“Sorry for leaving you for a short while but I heard an emergency call on the wind from somepony nearby, so I had to go help real quick. While I was gone, I also picked up some breakfast,” her dad explained.
“Good. I could use a bite to eat.” Star Breeze trotted over to her father. “What's for breakfast?”
Her father's Mist Cloak telekinetically lifted up for a few seconds while his saddlebag also lifted up then flew around him in order to land softly in front of his daughter's fore-hooves. “Dig in,” he invited her kindly. “It's mostly fruits, nuts, and berries. I picked them up around the surrounding area.”
“That'll do,” Star Breeze said in contentment. She bent her head down to chow down on the food. Eventually, she looked back up and said with her mouth full, “Yo goien toe eat som too?”
“No thanks. I'm good for now,” her dad replied as he trotted over to the pond nearby. From there he splashed his face with water telekinetically a couple of times before bending his head down to drink some of the water.
After finishing up most of what was in the saddlebag, Star Breeze also went over to the pond to drink her fill. After that, she regarded her father. “I hope you don't think I was going to let you get away with not finishing the rest of your story.”
“Hadn't even crossed my mind,” her father returned. “I was just waiting until you were ready to resume.
“Here.” Her father tossed her a small rock which she caught with her right hoof. “I figured you might want to play with that while I resume the story. Maybe you can practice holding it on other parts of your body just like uncle told me in the story.”
“Did you manage to do it?” Star Breeze questioned.
Her father gave a coy grin and said, “Spoilers!”
“C'mon! You gotta tell me!” Star Breeze insisted. “Did you or didn't you pull it off?”
Her father's coy grin faded a bit as he announced a bit more seriously, “From the context of where we left off in the story, I can tell you that I did make an attempt. Back then I did not succeed to hold objects on other parts of my body yet like, say, my elbow . . . but I did manage to launch the stone from my hoof a few times.
“Every time I did it, though, I felt a slight jerk in my leg. That made it harder to convince me that I didn't just throw it the normal way.
“The challenge of this task is not to launch the stone with your muscles but with your energy alone. You have to learn to keep the leg perfectly still and instead concentrate on the energy that holds the stone to your hoof. You already do that without thinking about it. You see, when you do that, you are using your mind and your energy to attract the energy of the stone to your hoof like a magnet. To launch the stone away from your hoof without moving a muscle in your leg, you have to imagine the magnetic polarity of the pull you have on the stone to suddenly reverse. A positive to positive or negative to negative charge in magnetics repels each other, like this.”
He looked around for another stone then spotted one very close to the pond. He telekinetically drew it to his left hoof then held it towards his daughter. “Watch me. Or rather, watch the stone.”
She did. Before her very eyes, she saw the stone suddenly fly away from his hoof without glowing for even a second.
“Did you see? I didn't move a muscle in my leg, nor did the stone itself glow. You also felt no wind current, I assume, so you have to realize now that I'm telling the truth.”
“How long did it take you to pull this off?” Star Breeze asked curiously.
“One day. Even less than that, actually. Just a couple of hours but, as I said, it was a flawed attempt. It was really hard at first to launch the stone without feeling that slight jerking motion in my leg. I had to practice many times over and over again to minimize that reflexive jerking motion in order to fully convince myself that I truly was launching the stone from my hoof entirely by magically repelling it.”
“Let me try,” Star Breeze said enthusiastically as she focused on the stone.
“Keep your leg still. Just focus on the energy of your body,” her father instructed. “Picture, in your mind, what the energy looks like surrounding the stone and your hoof. See how they pull at each other. Now imagine that polarity reversing.
“Oh! And be careful where you aim that stone when you do.”
Star Breeze did as requested. In her mind's eye, she saw how a magical aura flowed around her body and the stone. She imagined the stone's aura a different color than her own. Her own she imagined to have a purplish aura, but the stone had a gray aura.
As she concentrated further, at first she felt the opposite result. She felt the stone drawing tighter on her hoof because that was her habit when picking up objects like this. She continued to focus and relax the pull of the stone on her hoof. It did eventually settle down, then she imagined energy gathering up her leg and building to an exploding point just below the tip of her right hoof. She let the energy build up for a while before releasing it on the stone. Immediately upon doing that the stone flew away hard and fast from her hoof. Her father's eyes widened in shock when the projectile flew a few feet to the right of his head fast enough to be seriously damaging if it hit him. It landed beyond sight to both of them.
Looking over his right shoulder in the direction the stone flew off, her father then whistled in an impressed way. “You're a natural,” her father said in genuine surprise. “Keep that up and you'll get your cutie mark in no time.”
“I did it! I did it! I did it! Woo-hoo!” Star Breeze cheered while jumping up and down three times.
“Yes you did,” her father agreed as he looked back at her. “What you just did now took me years of practice and you did it on the first try.”
“Well, I am your daughter!” Star Breeze said smugly as she stood up on her hind legs for a few seconds and put her forelegs on her hips. “Like father, like daughter. Perhaps the energy flow of your years of practice transferred to me when I was born.”
He smiled at her fondly as he said, “I used to believe that, that magical potential was entirely genetic and could be passed down from one generation to the next.”
Star Breeze resumed standing on all four legs as she asked, “But you don't believe that anymore?”
“To a point, I still do.” Her father trotted past her as he spoke. “Magic is in everything, including our blood. The more we awaken that potential, the more we charge our blood with magic.
Magic is in the blood and, the greater that magic is, the more likely it can pass on to the next generation, but there are even larger factors when it comes to awakening one's own magical potential. It can always be just a presence if you do nothing with it. To give it shape requires willful intent, concentration, emotion, and focus.”
Now standing behind her, he looked back at her over his left shoulder. “I brought up a point like that on the second day of camping with my uncle that first time too. Here's what he said to me.”
xoxo
“Uncle!” Quill called to his uncle who was sitting near the pond by the waterfall, seeming to meditate peacefully until his nephew called to him. His uncle looked back at his nephew to acknowledge the call. “I've been thinking about a lot of things while I meditated, as you told me to, absorbing myself in the spirit of nature, and I have to say that, for some pony who has been doing this only recently, it sure comes rather easily to me but, in particular, the call of the wind keeps resonating with me the most.
“I find that funny because it seems to me that you resonate especially closely with the earth.
“I'm not mistaken, right? At least when it comes to you? Your magical aura color is golden. I think that's one of the earthy hues.”
“The aura color of one pony has nothing to do with that. Rather, it's more a matter of inner spirit,” Ramadon lectured. “My aura color is golden because that's the hue that most resonates with me.
“As for the earth, yeah . . . I feel a connection to it, but I also feel a connection with magic itself and that exists everywhere.
“I respect the earth. I find it sacred, but I find everything else no less sacred.
“To know and experience magic to the level I do, you have to truly understand and experience the cycle of balance between the various elements of nature. In that balance there is harmony, and in harmony there is magic.”
“But could you argue that you feel closer to earth somehow? Like that kind of magic responds to you more easily?” Quill checked.
Ramadon closed his eyes again as he shrugged. “I suppose so.”
“Then would it not make sense to say that, because your affinity is to the earth, mine is to the sky? Between the two of us, we are meant to balance each other. To evoke harmony between us.”
“You could look at it that way,” Ramadon invited casually.
“I think that's it!” Quill said a little excitedly. “I think I'm starting to understand the larger relationship between nature, magic and our magical bloodline.”
“Bloodline?” Ramadon queried, looking a little startled by that statement. He opened his eyes again as well as looked back at his nephew. The degree he needed to turn his head to do so kind of hurt him to maintain so he pat a rock in front of him as a request for his nephew. Quill proceeded to do so.
“Yes,” Quill confirmed upon arrival after he sat down in front of his uncle. “Our family is one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Certainly you are. I think the only one who trumps you is Celestia herself, but of course, she's an alicorn. She's probably on a whole another level on her own. As a demi-god, she's immortal which I can't say for just any pony in Equestria, but you and . . . my father and his father before him and so on and so on . . . you have all consistently proven that magic comes especially naturally for us, but each of us channels it in different ways I think.
“You said to me yesterday that love can be one of the most powerful magical sources of all, but earlier today I was thinking about the fact that that particular emotion comes in many hues, if the emotion itself could have any color. There is love between father to son, mother to daughter, aunt to uncle, husband to wife and vice versa, love between friends, love between pets, even love between ponies and objects or ponies to various terrains. It isn't simple enough to have just one definition. It comes in all shapes and sizes. They are all strong, potentially equally strong between all the various different types but the differences should be acknowledged.
“Similarly, I'm convinced that our family has a sort of charge and affinity to one particular element or another.”
“So you think that just because you are born into this family, you naturally have a greater connection to magic than any other pony?” Ramadon checked.
“Isn't it so?” Quill asked innocently. “I guess there is technically no real proof of anything, but the closest thing we have to anything resembling that is when a pattern gets repeated over and over again enough times to make accurate predictions of it in the future. If it happened many times before, it is logical to assume the odds are strong that the pattern will continue into the future. This has occurred with our family.
“Many do assume unicorns are born with a finite amount of magical potential and ours seems especially potent. Am I wrong?”
“Genetics can factor into anything,” Ramadon agreed. “A pony with taller legs might be able to gallop faster unless it's too tall as to threaten balance. Some might be born with a greater disposition to see better at night or fly faster.
“There are a lot of factors to consider and family history is one of them, but so, too, is your current environment. If your family has been raised for generations in the arctic, you may naturally grow up with a thicker hide to help protect you from the cold but, if you moved further south to a desert terrain, you may find yourself changing fast enough to prevent your death.
“Factor in also inner will and intent. If I lift my hoof now,” Ramadon did so, “it happened because I chose to do so.
“Your mind and beliefs govern your reality far more intensely than most ponies would realize. Believing the weather should be warm strongly enough will actually cause reality to manifest that even though it seems like an external source from yourself, but it really isn't. Since we're all connected, inner belief can affect seemingly true external sources.
“As to what you say about elemental affinity, there may be some truth to this. Just as we have personal free will, I also believe free will exists on a much larger scale too like, say, the whole universe. A mind that encompasses something that large would also be affected by everything that exists within it. While that can be hard to imagine, it doesn't mean it isn't so.
“In this world, nature is strongly influenced by magic and magic has a natural tendency to attempt to balance itself. If it didn't, then the system we rely upon could crash and become totally unreliable. If I do indeed have a natural affinity for the earth then it would make sense that the next generation would gain an affinity for the air to balance us out.
“That same logic applies to a grander scale, too, like other pony families for example. What applies to us must also apply to every pony else. Don't think of this in a sense of ego. We're not more important than any other pony, we're instead equally important. I'm not saying you're wrong about us, but you should also realize you are correct on a broader level as well.”
Ramadon put his forehooves behind him as he leaned back then said, “Let me tell you a story about a pony who once existed in Equestria many centuries ago. That pony was also a powerful unicorn and he existed in a land where he thought his magic could thrive to a greater degree than any other ponies around him. He had an affinity for the earth too, but one thing, in particular, signified his talent and that was his affinity for crystals.
“Crystals, you see, can channel and store magic better than most other substances on our planet. If you want to make a magical item, it is easier to do so using crystals as a medium. Not only can they gain a charge quickly and easily, but they can hold it almost indefinitely until you tap into it and use it for some purpose, or you can use it to enhance some other spell.
“The pony I'm talking about happened to be an expert in crystal magic. By studying that and its relationship to magic, he gained many advantages his fellow ponies could only dream up, but the pursuit of power eventually corrupted him.
“That's rare, especially to this degree. Most ponies you'll meet all over Equestria are generally good-natured. When you meet a stranger and it happens to be a pony, it's actually a safer bet to assume they are a potential friend rather than an enemy, but the pony I'm referring to channeled power from some very dark sources.
“Magic exists in everything, and it includes everything that is a part of reality. That means it can become a pleasant dream or a horrible nightmare.
“For this power-hungry pony, he existed in a land where crystal was especially plentiful until it vanished from our lands, never to be seen again. Before that point, the source of his power was so readily accessible and, because of it, he could also channel it in degrees most other ponies could not.
“Now my question to you is this; what went wrong? At what point do you think this power-mad pony crossed the line within the boundaries of morality? Is his power source to blame? Is it the degree of power he had to blame? What do you think it is?”
“With great power comes great temptation, I suppose,” Quill reasoned. “Also I suppose the greater his power was, the more his fellow ponies feared him. Maybe that could have been a factor.
“Yesterday you told me emotion is usually the fuel for a unicorn's magic, and love is the strongest emotion of all. In the opposite direction, some might argue the power of fear is formidable too. If he was surrounded by the influence of fear often enough, he might have eventually learned to draw upon it as a potential power source. If he wanted power no matter where it came from, then he might be willing to experiment with any boundary.”
“If fear is the basis of your argument, then what exactly caused the fear?” Ramadon asked.
Quill thought on that, then answered, “Probably not his power source, at least not at first. When it comes to the fears of other ponies looking inward at this situation, I think they would be more terrified by the degree of power rather than the source he tapped into unless the power source itself was clearly harmful like, say, sacrificing ponies blood to power magic.”
“The source of his power he tapped into, besides his inner emotions, was crystals,” Ramadon explained. “Crystals are not inherently evil. They can be, but have just as much potential to be a force for good.
“There was another crystal within the empire he came from that was exactly that. It radiated the light of pure love and harmony for miles around their capital city. So strong was it that it protected them from otherwise hostile elements of their environment.
“You see, this land once existed in the far north. Up there the weather can't be controlled, and one particular tendency of that environment is arctic ice to the degree that it can be deadly if exposed to it long enough or hard enough. In order for those ponies to continue to exist up there without dying, they needed a magical power source that could maintain itself without getting exhausted.
“Crystals can do that. When it comes to magic, crystals have more endurance than ponies do. We draw upon our emotions but, no matter what that is, we eventually tire of it. Using up our energy consumes the energy we normally gather when we fall asleep. Used often enough, we pass out, but crystals have different physiology. They don't have the same limitations that we do. They have different limitations instead, but I'll get back to that later.”
“Wait a second. I never heard any of this before,” Quill complained. “If a city like this actually existed, you'd think there would be a written record of it somewhere.”
“You'd think that, wouldn't you?” Ramadon agreed.
“Of course, some histories can be so tragic that many ponies may not want to remember even if they could.”
“If this occurred centuries ago and there is no written record of any of this, then how come you know?” Quill challenged. “What's the source of your knowledge?”
Ramadon looked up as he said, “Regardless of the outcome of this power-mad pony, he started out like any other pony. No tyrant is born innately evil. Just because the end looks abnormal doesn't mean it always was. He had a family too. He had friends who loved him at one time.
“Either way, there are many that knew him at the time both before and after he changed. Some were wise enough to foresee the direction he was heading and got the heck out of dodge before the city collapsed into oblivion. This included members of his own family who once existed close enough to the source of the danger to see it coming.
“While most other ponies in history either chose to forget this story or never knew it in the first place, this family passed on the secret of their history from generation to generation, convinced it was important not to forget the dangers of their legacy. Most of them believed that magical potential was built into their blood as well, and that also included dark potential. That family believed that a history forgotten is a history at risk of being repeated.”
Quill gave a neutral shrug as he said, “Well that makes sense for that family, but how did you come across this secret?”
Ramadon passed Quill a cunning smile that helped to lead Quill to a startling conclusion.
“Wait a second!” A shocking epiphany dawned on Quill. “Are we that family? Are we related to this power-mad pony?” Quill grew even more shocked as that question led to another conclusion. “Am I related to this power-mad pony?”
“Sombra,” Ramadon said. “His name was Sombra. The few who know that name consider it bad luck to speak his name, but history should be remembered lest it be doomed to repeat.
“As for the answer to your question,” Ramadon gave a dismissive wave at his nephew as he said, “it doesn't matter.”
“Why not?” Quill demanded.
“Because whether I say yes or no to that question, it does not change your potential. No matter what he accomplished or did in life, it has nothing to do with you.
“Let's just say, for a moment, you are related to him.” Ramadon gave a neutral shrug. “So what? You are also related to thousands of other ponies who aren't remembered for anything significant.
“This same logic also applied to Sombra back in his day or any other great pony in history. For every one great pony that he was related to, he was also related to thousands more who lived normal lives which, by the way, isn't a bad thing.
“Family relationship isn't what determined his destiny for greatness. What did determine that was putting a lot of work into his efforts. He worked extremely hard to get where he was, regardless of ultimate morality, and he faced many challenges along the way. Some you might not even expect.
“Life is complicated. You only have to look to your own life to realize that. Realize, also, that applies to every pony who lived before you. Even if they are famous, they are not known for everything they did. Perhaps the things that are not sung in history could have been just as important into shaping the ponies they eventually became.
“If you ever become famous for anything, realize also that history is very likely to misjudge you as well. Ponies will believe whatever they want to believe regardless of the truth.
“From the perspective of just your life, however, none of the rest of these things matter. Don't worry about ponies who came before you or worry about ponies who will come after you. Just focus on your life. The present is the most important factor in your timeline.”
“I don't get it. You're telling me family legacy isn't important and yet you lay on me the history of this great and terrible pony who once existed long ago then . . . what's the point?”
Ramadon looked at his nephew as he said, “I'm telling you this to give you a balanced perspective. Some would argue that family lineage is very important but I'm saying that what you choose to do with your own life matters more than whom you are related to.
“At the same time, I also admitted family lineage is a factor but it isn't the only factor.
“I know this argument might seem two-sided and kind of complicated but that's because I'm trying to paint a realistic picture for you by informing you that's how life generally works. There are many sides to every argument and all of them have some validity.
“In the end, you have to make your own choices and decisions about what you believe. Once you reach a conclusion, don't be surprised when other ponies reach a different conclusion even if they have the same evidence.
“If you choose to believe you are a powerful unicorn just because you happen to be related to one that existed many years ago then so be it, but that same argument can justifiably be said about any other pony.
“If you go back far enough, you'll realize we're all related to each other. If time dilutes that, however, then how much does that ultimately matter?”
Ramadon lifted a hoof for a moment. “It is important to remember history. Your ancestors went through many trials and tribulations. If it led to success then it would be helpful to know how they did it so you can repeat it on purpose. If it led to something dangerous then, again, it would be helpful to know that in order to avoid the same mistake.
“When you look back in history, I also encourage you to consider it with an open mind. Everything that is known in history books might be way outclassed by everything that isn't written down.
“If that same logic can apply to today then it's just as likely to apply to yesterday as well. No pony today can observe all events happening all at once and write it down fast enough for it to remain relevant and, even if they could, it might only apply to one infinitesimal moment of time.
“There are many reasons life is full of surprises and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but pay attention while you can to be more prepared for the bad surprises and, of course, that too is a matter of opinion.”
“How did the entire city vanish?” Quill asked in a spooked tone.
Ramadon looked forward as he answered, “I don't have the answers to those questions. Those who lived closer to him still didn't know everything about him.
“Your father, for instance, can accomplish things that you can't do today.
“Sombra was an expert at something to a degree that nearly any other pony could not understand so it made him somewhat unpredictable even to those who had some insight.
“Based on what I heard, however, he was defeated by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the Crystal Empire. Maybe they even killed him. He was prepared for that contingency to a point. It seems as if, while he collapsed into defeat, he had another crystal or something linked to his life force that activated automatically upon his death. That crystal was programmed to curse the rest of the city and drag it down with him out of pure spite.
“Again, I warn you, that history has a way of getting misinterpreted and it's especially common when it's passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. It can lose something in the translation over time.
“No pony knows the full truth, even those you might expect to.
“Princess Celestia herself has chosen to remain quiet on the issue from what I can tell and, considering what happened, I don't blame her. I think she just doesn't want to depress the current generation of ponies. In her eyes, I think she sees her secret as necessary because telling it would not likely lead to anything useful. What's done is done, and I think she's content to leave it at that for the moment unless circumstances regarding it changes later on, then we'll see.”
Ramadon looked at his nephew. “You can look at Sombra as an example of your potential if you want to. You could say the same thing about Star Swirl the Bearded. You choose your own role models. Once chosen, be content if you end up different from them after all because you are different from them.
“That applied to them as well.
“Personally, I think you should look up to yourself and your own potential. Do something worth remembering, and do it for yourself.
“Remember how I told you that reality is only a matter of personal perception? Why hasn't there been a flying unicorn before?
“Well, maybe because it hasn't been done before or, if it has, that knowledge has gotten lost in history.
“If you manage to change that perception, you may find that you are indeed the first but not the last unicorn to take off into the skies. If one pony could do it then it teaches others that they might be capable of it as well if they, too, have the inclination.
“To do something that seems to have never been done before is very bold, but challenges are not really walls, they are doors. Find the doorknob. Find the key, then press on.
“History will judge us all, perhaps multiple times as they gradually discover new evidence.
“In the meantime, be the judge of your own life. While it's here, it should be the only one that really matters to you.”
Ramadon grew quiet again and closed his eyes as he resumed his meditation. This time Quill did not feel inclined to disturb him again. His uncle made his point and gave his nephew plenty to think about.
Following his example, Quill closed his own eyes and concentrated on his surroundings.
Once again the sound of the wind rang especially keenly to his ears and his coat.
In somewhat of a daze, he got up and trotted up a hill only to eventually stand on the edge of a cliff that led to a massive drop. From there it seemed he could not physically go any further but, in a way, that wasn't necessary. From here it seemed like the message of the wind was especially clear. It whistled and spiraled all around him.
“We are one!” the wind felt like it said. “We are the sky! We are the wind! Jump. I will carry you. Trust me, I won't let you fall.”
That was a lot to ask, but a strong part of Quill really believed that. Since that voice also rubbed against his basic survival instincts, he didn't cooperate at the time, but it was surprising how intense the temptation felt purely on an emotional level.
“We are one!” the wind repeated.
It felt too early to make too bold of a commitment, but Quill did allow himself to relax and enjoy the moment. He felt at peace just standing there and listened to the wind whistle through the air, feeling the wind brush through his mane. He looked at the clouds that hung in the sky. He looked at the columns of light beaming through the clouds. He looked at the wide grassy valley that seemed so tiny when seen from high above.
Oh, the freedom of it all! Everywhere . . . a true 3D world! To travel in any direction of the compass except also including up and down.
Absolute freedom of movement.
To laugh at the face of gravity. Oh, the splendor of it all.
“Someday,” Quill promised. “Someday. You'll have to show me everything. For now, let’s just be who we are . . . together.”