What a restful night! It’s been quite some time since I was able to sleep so soundly! Well, at least not after a normal night cycle. I always awake fresh and energized after a slumber but those are a teeny bit longer than a day… No, bad Gaia! I can ramble later, now… now we eat!
…Once I found the mess hall on this airship. They say something about forests but I always find buildings more confusing and I don’t know why. Time to use the tested method of finding food: Use the snoot!
And boy did I smell some greens and dairy being served somewhere… Aha! There we are! Twilight and Pinkie are here too. It seems they like to be early birds.
“Good morning, little ones! Did you sleep well?” I politely asked as I picked up a whole tray of cookies and pancakes… still warm! Perfect timing!
“Good morning Gaia. We slept fine, even if Pinkie was a bit loud when she woke up. You seem peppy today so I assume that you had a restful night as well?” Twilight asked as she quickly put the pastries on her plate of out their misery, getting crumbs everywhere.
“I did, thank you for asking. As for being a bit happier today I think that I just rested so well that had some peace of mind. Young Luna also visited me and had a dream tour of my world,” I told them, getting Pinkie to gasp even when she was still chewing on her food.
I think she just work differently or something. Maybe it’s magic? Hopefully the cutest pout from Twilight quickly grabbed my attention. I just lovingly pinched her cheeks while smiling at her, “Aw don’t be so sad, dear. Maybe you can be with us next time, or you can find a way to do it while awake. I don’t know how magic works so maybe it can be done? I mean, I can levitate a helmet without almost crushing it into paste now and moving entire fields was my minimal output before. You tell me, my little book pony.”
“Can you imagine see what I’m thinking right now in this very moment like in a movie theater?” Pinkie asked, making Twilight shudder from the mere thought of it.
“Some things are best kept unknown to ponykind… but your idea is sound, Gaia. Maybe I’ll take a look at memory spells when I get back to Canterlot,” the young alicorn said as she took some notes. I swear she has notepads and quills hidden everywhere! Spooky!
“Hm… talking about memory, do you remember how much time the travel from the empire to this yakyeet place takes? I think we are going slower than before,” I curiously asked, as I’ve noticed that the airship gives less shakes than before.
“It is because we are actually traveling at a slower pace, so we expect to arrive in a day or so. Given the usual bad weather at these latitudes and the possibility of burning or freezing the engine because of carelessness from our part we need to take precautions,” the cultured pony explained, “There have been many accidents because of captains that put too much stress on the engines or because they didn’t take care of them properly with the extreme cold of the north. Thankfully we learned from their mistakes, but it’s a bit sad to think that ponies had to die to learn it,” she finished in a lower tone, making the pink pony frown along with her.
“That’s why those daring enough to test the limits are called pioneers, young Twilight. I’ve learned that creatures often don’t like to follow orders from others and they don’t like a ‘no’ as an answer for questions like ‘should I do this?’ and the like. Mad and crazy also are titles that are associated with these peoples, but without them pivotal developments on their evolution would not exist,” I told them, quickly gathering their attention. I’m not used to be heard so often, but I think this teaching thing is fun!
“What do you mean with pivotal developments?”
“Do you mean like trying a new recipe when you were told not to?”
I chuckled at their questions and thankfully they took it as a signal to listen to me. At least they are polite, I’ll give them that! Much better than some researchers , always babbling about… Oh my, yes. Talking! “Close, but not quite, my dear pink pony. It’s more like… hm… how do I explain?” I said out loud, tapping my chin. Aha! “It’s like when the first sapients discovered fire on my world. Fire is feared by all animals alike. They know it can kill them, but if you get close enough it brings comfort from the cold nights. So one day a trichordian had an idea: What if we took some fire to survive the cold nights? And Prometheus, ever daring even from young age, did just that. After an especially violent thunderstorm a tree was torn asunder, creating small fires that were quickly put out by the rain,” I narrated, getting them to scoot closer to me, “but Prometheus ran swift and true, and managed to bring a burning branch inside the cave we were living in back then. They were amazed by the light and heat, but suddenly they found that the fire was dying out. They were so panicked!” I said, chuckling at that particular memory, “but I just put some twigs and leaves over it, and after spewing some smoke it was back in full force. They looked at me and my son in amazement, and then cheered on as they danced around the fire. After that they kept the fire alive by bringing more wood and dead leaves, learning how to keep it alive and after some time, how to create it.” I finished, seeing as how Twilight was enraptured by the small tale and Pinkie was just eating some kind of popped seed that was white and crunchy. Hm… crunchy seeds…
“So you are saying that without that crazy idea they would not know how to make a fire?” Twilight concluded, getting a laugh from me.
“No, my dear Twilight. I’m saying that without that daring thought and the following actions that it brought, civilization on my planet would not exist at all.”
It was a peculiar sight to see a giant alicorn and a petite pink pony lazing over the floor of the lounge suite, soaking up the small sunrays that pierced the clouded sky and entered the spacious room.
“You do know that the warmth is from the AC crystals below deck, right?” stated an amused Luna as she entered the suite.
“Don’t care, I just need to recharge my solar batteries…” groaned Gaia as she stretched on the ground, followed by Pinkie trying to do the same.
“You are not a robot, Gaia…”
“You don’t know that. How can you be so sure?”
“You never recharged batteries before?” the lunar monarch asked, getting Pinkie to giggle like a little filly.
“Maybe I have lots of them inside” was the petulant reply form the green alicorn.
“Then I shall tell the kitchens that we are not going to have you at the table for the foreseeable future,” Luna teased as she got a humming sound form Gaia, as if she was pondering her reply.
“Maybe I’m not a robot after all…”
“That’s what I thought. What are you even doing down there?” the lunar princess asked, walking towards Gaia and looking directly at her face.
“I just wanted to take a nap, but the pink fluffball isn’t letting me, so I decided to not nap”
“…On the floor.”
“I never said I was very good with plans.” Replied Gaia with complete seriousness. Luna merely sighed and tried to pull Gaia up.
“Come on, let’s put your horn to work . You missed this morning’s practice and you are not going to improve if you don’t use it.” Luna said, getting a groan from Gaia, who didn’t get up and was actually being pulled by the moon princess’ magic.
“But I don’t want to…” she whined making Pinkie Pie laugh.
“By the stars, I know now where his attitude came from… Moon give me patience…” Luna lamented as she continued to move the enormous mare through several hallways to the amusement of the staff, now almost used to Gaia’s antics.
Finally they arrived at Luna’s alcove. It was a spartan but tastefully themed room with few ornaments on it, but enough to see that these were the night princess’ quarters.
“Come on now, don’t be like that. You actually like these lessons. Why are you against them today?”
“I’m not against them dear, it’s just that I really wanted to take a nap. I’m not fan of flying on machines and I find this way of traveling a bit slow and boring to be honest,” she said, sighing as she finally got up, “But I see your point. Maybe this will help with that.”
“Telekinesis is the simplest of spells, but it’s also the most versatile of them all. At first glance and for many untrained ponies, telekinesis it’s just for manipulating objects or creatures from a distance, like with one’s hoof,” Luna explained, lighting up her horn and moving a nearby mug towards her, “They often forget that you can feel with it since it works like an extension of our own body, so you can actually estimate temperature, composition and texture with it.”
“Oh… fancy tool that telekinesis spell. Truthfully, I was able to feel the molten slag that used to be a pot the other day. Poor thing, I really didn’t think I was pressing that hard…” Gaia lamented as she pouted at Luna, making the lunar princess giggle.
“It may be so, but these things happen all the time. And yes, many ponies forget about these facts. These are really useful manipulating different materials as it can help us identify toxicity on many foods and drinks, and even acidic levels on soil and chemicals. This is a great asset for researches and even to foals, since they can recognize danger without being completely exposed to it,” Luna continued, levitating the contents of the mug - a strong blend of coffee that the princess enjoyed immensely- and then put it back to the still floating mug, “Not many have the power or concentration to interact with more than three or four items at once, but it can be overcome by training and study.”
“So, while a powerful unicorn can use it easily, they can be bested by a less powerful one with the right mindset and training?” Gaia asked as she levitated the mug, her horn flaring with an intense green aura that flowed like burning lava without actually burning anything, unlike the gas-like aura of ponies from Equestria. The mug, thankfully, took the pressure with stride since Gaia was still applying too much force.
“That’s exactly right, but please don’t try too hard. I can feel the ceramic of that mug being near the shattering point,” Luna pleasantly said, getting an embarrassed smile followed by a blush from Gaia.
“Oh… sorry. I’m used to hold my strength but it seems that I’ll need to learn a lot more to control my magic properly.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, Gaia. You just need some practice and to take it easy… and please don’t ask Twilight. She will drown you in books, and I suspect that you like to learn by practicing it yourself.”
“You got that right!” Gaia replied, both alicorns chuckling and just enjoying the moment.
“Better to behave for those yeets , right? No magic and stuff?” Gaia timidly asked Luna, causing a sudden laugh from the dark princess.
“Yaks, Gaia, and don’t worry about them. They work hard and play harder so I think they are right up your alley. Break some things on the way too,” Luna said as she nodded. Gaia just blinked at her.
“Oh… its true then? They like to break things?”
“All the time, around all the place,” Luna replied, nodding slowly to her.
“…You serious?” Gaia asked, still not believing it.
“As serious as I can be.”
Gaia was thinking heavily regarding the yaks, not sure if being happy or slightly disturbed by these creatures.
“I think that during this visit I’ll take a nap for real. I like fun but destroying just because… I’m not sure if I want that all the time.”
“Oh… no naps around the yaks I’m afraid. They see it as a weakness, so they’ll wake you thinking that you are ill or too cold. All in good will mind you, but very annoying if you are tired and want to close your eyes for a bit.” Luna explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Gaia just silently put an unreadable expression, but by the mug almost imploding into pieces Luna guessed that Gaia didn’t like what she just heard.
“I see. Rowdy children indeed,” she simply said, earning a somewhat worried look from Luna.
“Don’t go and start a war with the yaks because of a nap, please” Luna asked almost seriously, earning a loud laugh from Gaia.
“Silly Luna! I never start wars!” Gaia happily said, as she turned her head to the snow while putting a mysterious smile on her face.
“Can’t say about not winning them, though…” she simply said, levitating the mug back to her with more control than she had shown before and confusing Luna to no end.
Outside, the blizzard seemed to slightly part away from the airship, getting the captain to thank his gods for the slightly better weather as they plowed towards Yakyakistan.