//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: The Slumber of Gaia // by Khenlos //------------------------------// As I was descending to the surface I could feel in my fur the first wisps of atmosphere. I was trying to fly as gentle as possible but it was harder to maintain the angle and velocity than I remembered. Still it was getting pretty hot and if any of the trinkets that I was carrying were to be destroyed by my carelessness I would never forgive myself. My son and his people work pretty hard to make these fancy tools after all. After putting the bag on my back and between my wings I noticed that I started to slow myself against the lower, denser parts of the atmosphere sooner than I thought. 'Different planet, different air. Makes sense' I thought while observing my chosen landing zone. It was a verdant forest with a thick mass of trees almost everywhere in its extension. I could sense plenty of animals and plants and they all felt different from the ones back home. I opened my wings slowly, making the transition to subsonic speeds a bit abrupt but gaining some much needed control. I saw some kind of abandoned structure already reclaimed by the forest but I was not interested in buildings, I was there for the fauna and flora, so I decided to change course a bit and landed a bit forcefully on a small clearing. I decided to take a deep breath and a smile slowly grew on my face. The air was humid and oxigenated, a perfect combination for carbon and water-based life as it was evident for the type of vegetation. The plants smelled delicious and I could sense some kind of animal nearby, with a strange energy if I must say so but an animal anyways. Its green eyes looked at me confused from the bushes as it was natural. I was an alien after all. It came out slowly and it surprised me with its composition and form. It was a quadruped creature made of wood and twigs, with one head and two eyes while sporting a wooden tail on its backside. It was so... alien! It didn't resemble anything back home! It wasn't a reptile that's for sure, nor it was a dino... it did't have the correct quantity of limbs to be a trichordate... What in the world was it? It was pretty small too. I mean I doubled him in size, but again I was used to be the biggest creature on land. I approached it and started to circle him, analyzing every aspect of this wonderful creature. 'My first animal friend here and it's so... so... By the sun above, it's just so cute!' In retrospect, the poor thing looked utterly miserable when I was just petting it and treating it like a pet lizard but I couldn't contain myself. "Who is a cutie? Who is a cutie? You are! Your hide is so rough and you look so agressive with all those angles... You try to look tough but I know better. You are just a little creature too cute for your own good, aren't you? Yes you are!" I said to it, the little thing whimpering a bit like if it was scared of me. I was a bit sad but I decided to let it go, and at the moment I freed it from my legs it scurried quickly towards the tree line. The forest sounded eerily silent but soon enough tiny creatures appeared around the clearing. I couldn't help but cry in glee. They were little furry creatures! Some of them had tiny noses and other ones long muzzles... There were so many of them and so different! They approached me curiously as I smiled to them. They understood quickly who I was and started to just smell me as if they expected other creature, which was a natural reaction after all. This planet probably had another creature like me warding nature so they got confused, the poor little creatures... I scooped up a tiny thing with long tail that was so small that it fitted on my hoof. I nuzzled it and it nuzzled back with a little smile, the other animals quickly growing confident and trying to get my attention. I laughed openly and started to play with them, just enjoying their presence as they enjoyed mine. After a while I just decided to rest and lie on the soft plant cover, closing my eyes and relaxing in the presence of the little animals. A good amount of them decided to lie with me, sharing body heat and as myself enjoying the calmness of the clearing. Sleep took me and I probably rested a few hours until I sensed a small group of creatures approach the clearing... sapient creatures if I was not mistaken. I tried to ignore them and kept my eyes closed but hearing a gasp made me slowly look to this new creatures. I've never been so surprised in my entire, long life. Twilight Sparkle have been surprised many times in her life, but this was one was probably one of the top surprising moments of it. At the break of dawn she sensed a powerful magical being approaching Ponyville from above, and if past experiences have taught her something, it's that there could be a problematic situation ahead so she decided to alert her friends and prepare for anything. Instead of a cataclysmic event they observed some kind of asteroid flying ablaze towards the Everfree forest. She was suspicious of this and her thoughts were proven right when it suddenly slowed its descent and landed somewhere in the forest. Of course, this called for immediate action. After gathering some basics and their saddlebags they went to the forest, walking through it at a good pace. They noticed immediately that something was up. The Everfree felt... gentler. It was a strange feeling. The trees looked livelier, the shadows of the trees looked inviting instead of menacing, and even some of the smallest creatures could be seen running around, not intimidated by predators or the ponies themselves. It looked pretty normal, far from the usual creepy and dark feeling it gave to any visitors. The others noticed as well. Rarity felt less grossed out by the forest itself and even if she didn't say a word her face was enough for her friend to know that; Rainbow Dash was flying higher than she used to, not feeling oppressed by the tree canopy, Fluttershy was looking in awe and quietly muttering to herself while Applejack and Pinkie Pie were mostly silent and pensive. This worried Twilight a bit, but she and the others pressed on towards the landing place of the strange object. Some time later they found a small clearing with many animals frolicking around a unknown and big pony. They couldn't help but gasp at the unexpected sight. In the middle of the clearing the biggest alicorn they ever seen rested on the grass. Her coat was a fresh green and looked pretty unkempt, and the same happened with her pale blue mane and tail. She had a golden ring at the base of her horn and some kind of copper armband high on her left leg and the shine of two earrings, a ruby one and and a sapphire one, could be seen on her left ear. But the most interesting feature was her cutie mark: a globe, like a planet... and the clouds on it were moving! At last Twilight and the others noticed that they were also being observed by curious bright orange eyes. Twilight felt a bit intimidated when the unknown alicorn raised from the ground and walked slowly towards her. She was taller than Celestia! Did it mean that she was older than her? Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when the other alicorn stopped just inches from her face to look and... smell her? It was like when a dog was meeting another creature. "Whoa Twi, who do you think she is? For what I know there weren't other princesses in Equestria" Rainbow said while approaching curiously at the alicorn. She just looked to her and smiled calmly. "I don't know Rainbow... She seems to be the object I saw this morning but..." she tried to approach this new alicorn "Hello? Whats your name?" The alicorn looked at her and turned her head in confusion, just to titter a bit and make some clicking sounds with her mouth. After some of these noises she looked at her expectantly. "Sorry...what?" Twilight eloquently replied. The other alicorn giggled a bit and made more clicking and strange noises while looking at her friends and then back to her. "Ah don't think she can understand ya sugarcube. Seems she doesn't know proper equestrian to me" said Applejack, now the center of the new alicorn's curiosity. Applejack giggled when the alicorn gently poked her in the side "She's mighty playful Ah can tell ya" "Oh! Now me! Now me!" cried Pinkie Pie, getting on the face of the alicorn. She just tittered again and smiled while poking Pinkie's mane while making more clicking sounds. "Well for being a princess she does not look like one, does she?" Said Rarity, while touching some of the alicorn's mane. She then gasped loudly "My... how can you look so... so brute and still keep you mane so soft!" she exclaimed. The alicorn made some clicks again and just petted Rarity with care, surprisingly not ruining her mane. "I suppose that one can be delicate even when not looking the part, right darling?" she said to her, the alicorn just kept smiling at her. "The animals sure like her" said Fluttershy, seeing as some birds were nested on the top of the alicorn's head. "And look, she has some marks on her cheeks. Maybe she is from outside Equestria. I've never seen something like this before" Fluttershy said, smiling softly at the strange alicorn. "That's a very thoughtful conclusion Fluttershy, and I agree. She is probably lost but I can't imagine why she would want to be in the Everfree..." Twilight said, looking a bit peeved that the alicorn now was playing with one of her wings and making more clicking noises "She doesn't know about personal space, doesn't she? Whoa!" she exclaimed as she was pulled on the lap of the now sitting alicorn. "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked her, just as the new alicorn decided that her wings were not properly cared and started to preen her while she was making clicking noises, this time sounding even a bit disappointed? How can anypony manage that with random noises? "See Twi? Even a newcomer can tell that you are not taking proper care of your wings" said Rainbow Dash while laughing "This is embarrassing..." said Twilight, but didn't try to move either "She is quite the expert though" she said while the alicorn worked quite diligently on her wings, and in just a moment of embarrassment where all of her friends watched in amusement her plight she was released. Her wings felt rejuvenated and looked prettier than ever. The other alicorn made some clicking sounds when nodding with a knowing smile. "Goodness darling, I wish I could have wings to receive such quick and efficient treatment! They look simply fabulous!" said Rarity, now looking to Twilight's wings. "Well, I don't have much time with my studies and everything so I can't preen my wings that often..." said Twilight, "But enough of that! We must bring her to the palace and tell Princess Celestia! This is too big for me to handle it alone. Another princess in the realm can change Equestria forever!" "Well and how do ya plan to tell her that, sugarcube?" asked Applejack, pointing to the alicorn that now was petting carefully Fluttershy's mane while she was doing the same to her. "Oh my... I can see now why the little critters like to be with you so much. Your fur and mane it's just so soft and warm..." said Fluttershy with a kind smile as the alicorn replied with more clicking sounds and a motherly smile. Twilight facehooved. This was going to be a long day.