Finally, Luna and I had set off into the air, already plenty of distance between us and the Royal City of Canterlot. I told myself I would do this later, so I set about my feet to explore the rest of the luxurious ship. Apparently, I hadn't noticed a door earlier, one that faced out to the room with the table and the stairs that led below deck, so I curiously opened it.
Inside was a tall but thin room, that of which I strongly assumed was the bathroom, because inside, I found shower furnishings in the farthest-right corner. There were two knobs (if you want to call them that) close to each other, a faucet head, and another one of those infamous toilets... The showers here weren't hard to use at all; I just had made fists and stick them in the recessed regions to turn the water on, although the height of the shower head nosed above them left something to be desired.
You see, the shower back at my Ponyville residence was custom built, and by that, I mean that the only difference was how the shower head was moved three feet up the wall. Apart from that, any shower I used up until that point forced me to sit on the floor underneath it, so I could get proper water coverage. It left me wandering how one would use the bathroom in a place this cramped. Like, if somepony was showering, but I really, really needed the toilet...
Awkward...
Moving on, when I went downstairs earlier to offload mine and Luna's things, I didn't venture beyond that entire room. There were two doors, both opposite each set of bunks. First I went through the door on the left, finding it to be stocked with the various provisions that FancyPants had spoken of earlier. Food and water, and many other essentials we would use to last us over on our journey--it was all stuffed there. The food was at the very back of the hall-like walkway, and it was accompanied by a refrigeration system. I'd say a simple plug-in boxed freezer would have been more space efficient, but hey, kudos for making it look neat.
Most of the food there were prepackaged, freeze-dried items that needed to be reconstituted with water and heat. Mostly with heat, though. Thank goodness for the microwave at the start of the room.
All of these items were, more or less the same kind of items I packed in my billy can, which was also unnecessary now.
Moving on once more, I moved through the door at the right, and it led me into a rather cramped space. I could have thought of it as a kitchen, but it would have fit very loosely. There wasn't a conventional oven or a range top, or even a combination of the two. Or, truly, I didn't think there were really any indications that hinted toward a kitchen. There were only two switches fixed to the far wall, with a small door above them. The compartment looked like it could probably fit a small pizza from Earth by comparison, at most.
Other than that, there were a couple of drawers at the side walls for utensils, and a cupboard with a couple of pots and pans, with a shelf above it for any herbs and spices that could be used in food preparation.
I thought it was all very impressive, no matter how simple it really was, but the ceilings were also a lasting impression on me.
Being six foot tall meant I had a height advantage over the majority of creatures living here, but the ponies were, for the majority of them, not much taller than four feet or so. This left me at a disadvantage when it came to ceilings, but I was glad that my head was just an inch or two shy of most of the ones I've encountered on the ship thus far, and thankfully I still had plenty of room to continue getting around.
I went back up to the control room, and I saw Luna looking out at the passing clouds, almost daydreaming while the pegasus pilot steered and the unicorn engineer fiddled with all of the ship's innards behind the double doors.
The pegasus pony pilot stood on his hind legs, leaned toward the wheel he was rotating, his beautiful violet irises made visible as the sun moved from the clouds, shining gently on him. His coat was a of a very pale sky blue hue, similar to his rugged-styled mane and tail, but they were of darker saturation, with two different colored streaks of the same general shade running through the middle of them. He possessed no Cutie-Mark from the looks of it, although his taller and thicker horseshoes were something that really stuck out. Since he was [leaning] up on his hind legs, he was around my height, probably a single inch shorter than me.
"If I may ask, Princess," he started, still very focused on the route ahead, "but what's so important this far out for you and your friend here to brave these uncharted lands and skies?"
"We're looking for answers." I replied rather quickly. I didn't want to spill too much, if any, and as far as I was concerned, they would just as much be in the dark as Luna and I were about our destination. The Princess gave me a curious look with somewhat pursed lips, seeing as how the question was originally directed towards her.
"Answers, huh?" The pilot acknowledged my physical presence with a quick glance at my face, then turned back to the sky and chuckled a bit. "Hehe, sounds like an adventure to me!"
Luna had to somewhat think about her next response. "Well, to answer your question, my father wishes to seek out the means to return to his home world for... personal reasons. If curiosity approaches you, then it is up to him if he wishes to share "
"You're quite right." he nodded at the two of us. "You know, I never tell my clients anything like this, but I would actually like to learn more about your friend, princess, as well as your goals...if it's not at all too much to ask." Luna and I then shared a mutual feeling of both reluctantly and caution upon our meeting eyes.
"Well, we're not gonna doing much of anything here aside lounging around." It was a good thing the pilot didn't see me wink at Luna, who nodded back at me, following my lead.
"I don't see why not. You are helping us a great deal, here."
Acting casual while keeping a major secret is much, much harder than everyone makes it out to be.
"Great, thank you!" the pilot exclaimed, slightly stuttering. "It's a real, real honor to get to know the father of the great princess Luna! The dinner period is coming up, too. Would that be a good time to start?
We both nodded again. "Mmhmm!"
"You know..."
Great. I had already slurred ourselves into what I feared would be a disaster of a conversation. I swear, it just slipped out--I was busy thinking about how we would slither our way out of suspicions later on. "By all means...I didn't catch your names earlier. I don't really think Fancypants mentioned them either. What are they again..?"
"Heh, it's no problem. I understand excitement can take over. " The vigilant pilot shared an enthusiastic smile with us. . "My name's SkySurfer, and over there behind those doors is my trusted colleague, Ratchet, she works the machines." We looked at the compact work station Ratchet had, and, though we couldn't see much through the tinted windows, we did see the silhouette of somepony operating various mechanical anatomies.
The thing about their names brought back a perplexing revelation: A pony can have either have two names, or just one. They can gave a given name preceded by a surname, or just a simple name.
For instance, Pinkie Pie was a member of the Pie family and she had a surname, and Applejack was from the Apple family but she didn't have a surname, with their heritage often naming someone after something related to apples. Rarity was simply named Rarity, despite having a sister with the last name of 'Belle'. Naming systems were extremely contrived in this world, so I took it as they came and tried not to think about them too much.
SkySurfer locked the steering wheel in place with the steel rod that leaned on its pedestal. The ship was now headed on a bearing of three-hundred and two degrees towards Alexmanedria, Heliopolis.
Just then, Ratchet was seen hopping off her seat through the glass, and then she opened the double doors to join us.
But actually, Ratchet was a female! Surprising, as my consensus of an engineer was a male profession, but I was terribly wrong, it seemed. This girl looked, literally looked, like a machine.
Her four legs made no mechanical whirring, but they pivoted and bent back and forth as she walked out, kicking one of the open doors behind her shut. Her coat consisted of a pattern of seductive brown satin-like fur and, in very few areas on her body, metal scraps that looked to be in place of flesh. These areas included the right side of her neck, nearing her throat, her entire left rear leg, along with her left flank. There was no skin there at all. The mechanical joint that allowed her to trot toward us was covered by a thick metal plating, but the joint could still be seen if somepony was short enough, while the others couldn't. Her other rear leg was partially replaced with ores, but not as much and in less areas.
She is a Unicorn, and her horn was shorter than most of her species was, but for some reason, I was left pondering what her magic was like, because, also for whatever reason, she has a ring with some sort of decoration on it, on her horn. I had a feeling that it meant something, though.
"Hey, buds!" she greeted us with her comfortable, inviting demeanor. We all exchanged a few greetings afterward, and then we agreed to adjourn to the table.
Suddenly, I felt a little bad for having to hide the truth from them...then we adjourned to the table. The stop there was purposed to let the gems recharge as Ratchet had said at one point.
There was one more reason to stop and schedule our meal for the time, aside from the fact that we were all fairly hungry. The gems that provided energy for the whole ship needed to take their well-earned break and recharge, as Ratchet was mentioning as we took our seats. I was listening to her more than Luna or SkySurfer was.
This gal was a maniac for what role she did on the ship. They already knew how it worked.
"If you run them for too long without stopping," she explained, "then you also run the risk of burning them out. If we give them a chance to rest every so often, I can juice them up with a little magic and refresh or, making more sense here, 'recharge' them."
Yet another explanation for her energy came from the fact that we had already taken out precooked dinners, heated them up, and finished them on the way to the dining room. The way this was all working out was definitely out of the normal notion, but it worked nicely at the same time.
"So," kindly asked Sky, cutting Ratchet off in the same manner. "I believe you were going to share your story, mister Human?"
Having a rather blunt smartass attitude, I only chose to exert that part of me when I chose to: This was one of those instances. I also really did love being deemed politically correct, and thus, a miniscule grin spread onto my lips.
"That was an implication just made by yourself. I merely agreed to talk so we can better know one another, as you said originally." I gave him a dirty scowl as I leaned back in my seat, and my unexpected words made Luna and I chuckle. "But yes, since you asked, I will tell you all of what I feel comfortable sharing."
I took a drink of water to moisten my parched throat. Then I began.
"I'm from a planet called Earth. Just simply... Earth. Luna had somehow made her way there, but she was just a filly at the time. Neither of us know how she got there..." With all three sets of eyes on me, and still surprised at how fast Ratchet had become friendly toward me, I continued on. "I raised her until Celestia was able to find her, and yeah, it was the last place she looked, I'm sure... Anyway, that's why you heard her call me father earlier. But up until that point, I had some family members pass away in an accident; the details of which I won't go into..."
Luna saw my face, weary from explanation, and took over for me.
"When Celestia did manage to find me, she allowed my him to come back to Equestria with me, largely because he didn't have too much holding him back, after keeping me alive until she found me there."
Ratchet leaned back in her seat, forehooves leaned against each other on the table, purely interested in the story. It looked like SkySurfer had the same, if greater, expression as Ratchet did. "While he have other family, he couldn't see or visit them on a regular basis, or any basis, really."
"All I want to do right now is travel back to Earth so I can pay my respects to the ones I lost and get some much needed closure with them, and everyone else who has no idea where I am right now."
When I finished, silence approached all of us for a brief moment before Ratchet spoke up.
"I, uhm... Wow." She seemed rather stunned at my story. Though, I wasn't really expecting a different reaction at all.
"So... You're from another planet." quizzed Sky.
"Not just a planet, but a different universe entirely." I said. "Not to sound patronizing or anything, but you do understand the concept of a universe?"
"I do, matter-of-factly." Sky spoke. "The universe is a collection of planets, stars, and other celestial bodies that float around up inside it."
"Bluntly put, yes, but strictly speaking, no." I countered. "A better way to put it, I feel, anyway, would to be to blow some bubbles. Each bubble is one universe, and inside each universe is an innumerable amount of planets and stars and galaxies. I'm from one, and you're from another. That's also what's called The Multiverse Theory; the idea that there is more than one universe floating around."
"So...how can you plan on getting from one to the other? How is that even possible?" remarked the confused unicorn, keeping her gaze on me.
Following her inquiry, I slung my bag forward to my chest and pulled out the plastic sleeve that held the map. I unfolded it, sliding my finger across the rough, reinforced parchment until I found the same depicted region that I showed to Fancypants. Again, with the map being its ridiculous size, I refolded it to accommodate the area. Then, I pointed at the furthest northwestern geographic images on the map.
"This," I emphasized with a few taps. "is a crack in the surface of your planet. It's called The Breach. What I've only managed to turn up about it...is that the crack is the source of all magic in this world. Unicorns learned to manipulate it with their horns, Pegasi use it to fly and manipulate weather, and Earth Ponies... It's still kind of a question on how they really use the magic."
"So are you able to explain how this helps you get back to Earth?" asked Sky, also pointing at the five earthly masses.
"I don't know how or why, but if this is so incredibly powerful for it to relay magical energy all across the surface of your planet which it sounds like it already, then I figured the source of it would be strong enough to transcend spacial matter and take me home, and then come back later."
Ratchet's horn radiated a golden aura as she magically picked the map from the table to took a closer look at it. "Something about these islands doesn't sit right with me," she commented. "I mean, look at 'em."
She physically placed the map back down on the table and used a hoof to indicate the five islands. "This one... Eden, the map says, looks like the rest of the other land masses. But it's these four; Elir, Edonna, Ert, and Evisica, that look a little odd. It looks as though they could be floating." I had to take a second glance at the map. That was something I should have picked up from the beginning.
"You're right. The surface looks normal but it looks like you can see the underside of the islands, like they've been ripped out of the ground." Ratchet must have had to have an extreme eye for details, considering her unexpected profession. I looked at it and laughed. "Heh, how about that, floating islands. Now I've seen everything."
After the whole conversation was said and done, I was still surprised at how SkySurfer and Ratchet didn't think I was crazy, considering my human species and where I came from, as well as the explanation I gave them. A few intentions behind our lengthy excursion had Sky telling Luna and I how he had to make sure everything was still running smoothly--This particular ship had only been airborne a couple times.
The first occasion was after its completion, launching so every pony could see how it functioned. The second time was during a journey around the mountain Canterlot had been built into. It was actually involved in the construction of the city's foundation!
He confirmed over the intercom--all of the mechanisms checked out and ran smoothly. Sky and Ratchet also mentioned how they needed to take shifts to make sure the ship kept working throughout the night. Ratchet worked until two in the morning, at which point he would wake Sky up for him to cover her and continue piloting us in the right direction.
I, on the other hand, retired to my bed at the same time Luna decided she was beat for the day. She flapped her way up to the top bunk of the bed as I pulled another one of my bags from underneath mine and pulled out my collection of various knives. I brought a few with me, to say the least, and by far, the largest one I owned was a Kukri, my utmost favourite out for them all. It wasn't one of the traditionally modeled ones, but a it was a modern reproduction.
I had a bit of a propensity for collecting bladed implements while I was on Earth, and they all served a practical purpose in Equestria. A couple of times, I had taken them into the Everfree Forest to keep them in attentive use, hacking at some of the dead limbs that had fallen, and it proved to be of it's worth when some of the ponies needed favors from me related to needing use for that wood. Because of that, I used a couple of straps to tie and secure it to my leg, largely because, if the handle rode on my belt, it would prove to be frustrating, poking me in my side all the time.
Another one of my favorites was a Tanto-style blade with serrations down toward the hilt. This one had been designed specifically for tactical and covert use, but I still managed to use it on wood well enough. I found this one more convenient to carry on a strap slung across my chest so I could draw it easily with my right hand. The fact that I had to draw it upside-down was a little unconventional, but I liked the idea. One of the others I owned is a simple Mora knife, used for the more finer tasks of carving and whittling. The fourth and final one I brought with me is an absolute beast of a bushcraft knife made by a well known knife company back on Earth. My time in this land gave me many opportunities to use all of them, but that meant vigilant sharpening and cleaning, too.
Speaking of that, I reached for a diamond rod I had earlier earlier used many times and began to work on the Kukri, keeping my eye out for any nicks in the blade's edge. Diamond rods were meant for profiling and removing nicks, but for finesse I used a ceramic rod to hone the edge. I started going over all of the knives, sharpening them and making sure they were in my select order before putting them back in their sheaths. In turn, I neatly slid them back in the bag and pushed it under my bed again.
"Hey, dad?" came Luna's voice from above me. I thought she would have been asleep by now.
"What's up, Luna?"
"Why now?" she simply asked.
I blinked in confusion at her vague question. "What do you mean by that?"
"When we were on Earth and you were taking care of me, why didn't you visit your parents' graves then? I do realize this is a loaded question, but know that I mean no harm by it."
Well then. If that wasn't the most saltiest thing ever, coming from sweet little Luna. But really, the more I thought about her inquiry, the more I saw the point she was getting at.
"I don't know how to answer that..." I said. "Part of me wants to say that I was busy taking care of you, but I guess the real reason was that I was afraid of what would resurface if I thought about it. You know me; if something bad happens, I just deal with it in my own way, even if that includes forgetting about it." I was careful not to raise my voice too high so I wouldn't wake SkySurfer, and Luna followed the low tone, but continued conversation eventually led to him stirring in his sleep.
"Would you two mind?" he slurred, taking pauses in between his sentence. "I have to get up in five hours, you know."
With unspoken gestures of our own, we decided that now would be a very opportune moment to get some sleep. Since this was my first time on an airship, flying thousands of feet in the air over Celestia-knows where, I doubted I would get a good night's sleep from the developed sense of unease I had from thinking head-on about our journey...
I did manage to drop off to sleep at some point, only to reawaken during the middle of the night to use the restroom.
I really found it annoying; how during the day, any and every action barely seemed to register on the scale of volume, but as soon as the sun went down, that was somehow a cue for all noise made at night to be amplified... Thousandfold. Opening and closing the door to my highly desired destination was like a grenade going off right next to a megaphone, and that lead Sky, now awake in the control room keeping the heading, to come down and investigate the sound.
After whispering a silent apology and relieving myself, I returned to bed and didn't reawaken until about nine A.M. the following morning. Luna had already been awake at the time I did, still in the process of lowering the moon. Her tenacious habit of ending the routine at about that time was also a way for her distant sister to know that Luna was safe, in a sense. If Celestia found the lowering and raising of the moon to be later than scheduled, then she'd know something was wrong.
We later spent the morning going over the map trying to discern what we were going to find on those floating islands. It was concluded that nobody would know, seeing is how the lands were largely unknown, but that didn't stop us from having a laugh or two guessing what could be lying in wait for us. Our wild assumptions got to the point of being rather asinine when I said,
"Maybe a giant floating head with one eye and more eyes coming out of tentacles on its head!" I followed with a gesture that included me flailing my fingers on my head and closing one eye. Pretty much just having fun.
The next couple of days were spent in the same relative fashion; just doing whatever we could to keep ourselves entertained while we flew to Alexmanedria.
I decided I would mostly be in charge of meal preparation an hour before its provocative dinner period, seeing as I worked in a cafe and restaurant on Earth and had adequate experience. Making the meals especially tasty while retaining enough herbs, spices and seasonings was something I felt I was good at, and it proved to be true for two out of three days, minus the first night. An incident involved with failing to check the little door oven thoroughly left us to fend for ourselves with about three 'Cup-Whoa-Noodles' each for the night. It was crazy that night.
By the fourth day, major cabin fever began to set in. Being enclosed in a small space for a lengthy period of time really can do a number on one's sanity. Sky and Ratchet had the duties of the ship to occupy themselves with, but for the most part, I didn't bring a lot along in the form of entertainment, so I just spent most of the days' time making sure the things in my bag were in good shape, taking a daily shower, and writing in the journal I brought along.
A few handwritten thoughts literally had me questioning how good of quality my life in Equestria would be if I had also lived here without wearing clothes. I actually thought about it, but ended up crumpling up the paper and laughing for a good few minutes.
Then, on the morning of the fifth day, Ratchet came down to the sleeping quarters to inform us that land was in sight. And, as excited as ever, I grabbed my binoculars and bolted up to the control room's panoramic viewing windows. I went right up to the front and peered out the window using the high-powered tool. I spent about a minute studying the oncoming land and noticed something peculiar beyond the island adjacent to the mainland I saw, as on the map.
"Hey, Luna," I called. "What do you make of this?" I handed her the binoculars, and she levitated it up to her eye level. She too stared at it for a while before speaking up.
"I am not sure, it looks like some sort of monument."
Being our fifth day into our super boring trip, I just about had it with this wait, and to prove my vigilant patience any good, I stayed at the window to help keep sight over the huge mass we were approaching. Eventually, a stretch of water popped up through the clouds, and after that, a better view of the monument.
Sitting in the middle of the ocean, with us now above the land mass, we all saw two 'islands' that looked like they were connected by a bridge, all above the body of watered. One of them was Heliopolis, but the other was definitely Alexmanedria.
We passed over the monument after a while, but it would have been another half-days' journey to cross the large bay between the two floating island. My increasing became restless to the point that my heart needed a break from it all. And seeing as I had to wait only a little bit longer, I decided to strum up that earlier conversation with Luna below deck.
I laid my back on my bed head hung over the side looking up at the dark ceiling while Luna looked down on me from her point high up on the bunk bed.
"You know, Luna," I began. "After my grandparents and immediate family died, I kind of alienated myself from the rest of my extended family at that point. I dunno why, really. We often didn't see or speak to each other outside of family gatherings and the like, which were few and far between."
Luna looked a little down at this point in time, but she was listening. I continued though, concerned with the look on her beautiful face.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is...I shouldn't have been so quick to leave. Not that I regret my decision or anything, but I should have gotten the closure I needed before coming here to stay with you, and if I did do that, we wouldn't be here right now...together. So It's kind of my fault we're both far from home in every sense of the word."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, dad." I loved it when Luna called me 'Dad'. It always brought a smile to my face always and made the homesickness ease up a bit. Equestria was my new home now, and I would have to start getting used to it at some time in the long run. "You didn't want to lose me after spending a lifetime bringing me up, and I respect that. But don't beat yourself up about any of that. It's not your fault your parents passed on, and neither is it your fault how much younger you were at the time." She took a pause.
"...When all of this is over..."
And then a single tear dripped down from her right cheek.
"And when we're finally there... We can all go home, happy together."
I stood up on the bed to reach up and caress Luna's saddened face. Then she came down to my bed and curled up right next to me, rubbing and nuzzling my face with hers. In turn, I appropriately hugged her body tight and close to mine.
Hugs always made me feel better, and Luna was definitely no exception. I've hugged my fair share of ponies, and by far Luna was the best, and I'm not even playing favorites. Her coat was just soft and silky enough to lose myself in, and her astral mane felt absolutely amazing to run my fingers through. It almost felt like I was running my hands through water, but without the resistance.
Luna's mane wasn't like that on Earth. No. That came later after she returned to Equestria She explained how it was an extension of magic, so much so that it manifested itself as its aura-like appearance. Her normal mane and tail still resided underneath the layer of magic, and she could revert the appearance at any time, but the need never really came up, and neither of us ever saw a problem with it. While on the topic, I tried asking Luna what Celestia's natural hair color was, and she 'accidentally' let the secret slip: it was apparently only the lightest of pinks.
Now, I'm not going to lie; I could just picture a white filly mare with a light pink mane bundled up under a fluffy blanket, sleeping. I told Luna that it sounded like the most adorable thing ever, and she had to agree, but it didn't stop her from giving me the 'Did you just hit on my sister?' look. I fell for her trap and stammered and repeatedly swore how Luna was the most incredible mare in all of Equestria, and other such ridiculous compliments. She always managed to get those kinds of words out of me every now and then. I spoiled her so much.
Eventually, towards the late evening, we noticed another island off to our left through the windows up in the control room. From the map, we ventured it is Hosstralia.
"It's a nation founded by outlaws and exiles." explained Ratchet. "Basically like an island prison We'd best give it a wide girth so not to draw unwanted attention towards us, and trust me, you don't want that. It'll add more time to the journey though, but we should arrive midday tomorrow."
Just great. Just freaking great. Another day spent on this sordid ship bored out of my freaking mind.
I spent a chunk of the remaining time just pondering the things I could do to kill more time. The capital of Heliopolis, Alexmanedria, which reminded me of Alexandria, was the location of the Great Library, I once again realized. Perhaps we might find a library with more information if that one didn't prove sufficient? Who knows.
The book I loaned from Golden Oaks about a week ago said that this whole country is populated largely by Earth Ponies, Minotaurs and Canids, which were like Minotaurs, but more dog-like. Those guys can dig something fierce too. They've dug innumerable amounts of tunnels underneath the place leading who knows where. One could easily assume that they're the ones responsible for the giant crevice in the middle of the continent, digging so many tunnels before the Earth collapsed upon itself.
Sleep didn't come easy that night. I was too worked up with how close we were to the rest stop, yet how far away we were at the same time. But when I did eventually force myself to sleep, it wasn't for long. I woke up about six the next morning and instantly went up to the bridge to see how far we had flew over the land.
It turns out that, since the first time I saw the city from the sky, we passed over its coast an hour ago and should be ready to land in Alexmanedria by eleven or twelve in the afternoon. You could imagine how melodious that was to my ears after spending damn close to a week on this ship. So I figured it would be a smart idea to tidy up my things, but I also planned on leaving my heavily-used knives and a few other bits and pieces behind, for the sake of saving some room in my bag in case I might find something of use or importance in the city.
After all of that plus a shower, I went up to the bridge to spend the rest of the time before we would touch down to Alexmanedria. I felt like an astronaut. I still don't know how Luna felt while she was on the moon, but still.
After all that, plus a shower, I went up to the bridge for the remaining time as we made our descent into Alexmanedria.
I figured to think that the residents here would be strangers to a giant floating balloon with a metal cage on it's underside carrying a human, but again I was dead wrong. The people here actually had several of their own ships of many different designs than ours, anchored to the ground, much to my surprise.
We docked at the closest available station guided by Sky and were finally able to depart off the ship. I had no words at all. My heart was beating rapidly as my eyes instantly went sightseeing. It was as if I was scared, but I wasn't at all. I thought they would be scared me for the sole reason of my species, because I had no idea if the residents here had heard of me yet. But really, I wasn't that much different than the Minotaurs and Candis here, who were also bipedal. I just assumed they thought I was a different breed or whatever.
Something that I thought really stuck out to me with his place is its unquestionable resemblance to ancient Egypt. In every direction I looked, the city was dense with the themes, decor, and just the all around atmosphere. There were some stone temples, some statues, and a few palatial buildings for the more higher class citizens. Rugs hung at at stands of some of the roadside shops, and most of those shops included the sales of food and pottery stands. Some popular trading posts hid well within the crowds of citizens. They sold clothes, (some secondhand), fine jewelry, and more of the stapled decorations I was already weeing along the buildings we walked past.
Most of the places we landed eyes on looked like standard bazaars that carried nothing particularly eye-popping. But of course, there was still some modern technology similar to what was used back in Equestria. It was re-purposed to fit the aesthetics of their culture, even though there wasn't much of it in this country.
Luna seemed pleasantly surprised about the scenery nevertheless, turning her head left and right frequently.
"Haven't you been out of Equestria before?" I asked her.
"I went out of town once but I didn't particularly like the destination."
"Oh? And where was that, pray-tell?"
She turned to look at me with one of her signature, most devious smiles.
"The moon!"
I mentally facepalmed and Luna just giggled at the both of us. At least she still had a sense of humor at this point in time, not that she could remember too much of what happened. You know, missing puzzle pieces and all...
"What's first on the agenda then, Luna?" I asked once more.
"What do you say we find a local around here who can educate us on the city? Or maybe just ask them where we could find a library?"
"Not a bad idea at all. I'd like to think that most things we're looking for right now pass through word of mouth at restaurant and stuff. Those places are like magnets for out-of-towners, and maybe we'll hear about the library while we get some real food. Hehe."
I can share his as a fact: if you want to know the juiciest gossip around town, or figure out whatever the word on the street is, just work in a restaurant. The waiters and waitresses overhear all sorts of things all the damn time, and they don't even try to--it just gets drilled into their heads enough to where it simply becomes common knowledge.
We managed to track down what looked like a fairly busy cafe. Instinctively, we then proceeded inside and sat down sipping from the two complimentary goblets of water while we waited for someone to come by and take our order.
"So... What do you think of this place?" Luna asked me. "This is only my third time here."
"Your third time? Wow, heh. I think it's a nice escape from what I'm used to in Ponyville. And back on Earth too, definitely."
"I think it beats the moon, no doubt." Luna smirked at me again, knowing I despised falling for those loaded questions from before.
Eventually, a blonde mare with a tan coat with a toga draped loosely over her quadrupedal form came over to us
"Oh wow!" she called, turning all heads we were near. " Oh gosh! I-It's an honour to meet the beautiful princess, let alone serve her at my shop!" I think after that, she calmed down after taking a deep breath in. "Hehe, to what do I owe the pleasure, your majesty?"
Luna blushed quite a bit, and then spoke proudly. "My friend and I are just passing through on a stopover. We were hoping that you folk had a library we could browse, if you know of any around here."
The mare paused for a moment to ponder the question. And in that time, Luna apologized.
"I'm sorry if that came out of nowhere."
"We do have one, but it's pretty much only got the local history. But they say that...to the north, I think, there's some kind of old, ancient library."
And to think, that all this time-all we had to do was ask the right person. "Where is it located?"
"To the north as I mentioned, but no one really knows where it is. There's speculation that it's at the bottom of the chasm that's up that way, through a cave down, but no one whom has ventured out that way has returned. Er, that is to say, even if some of them have, they're keeping quiet about it."
I had a big grin on my face at that point, but, from the looks of Luna's expression, I had already forgotten that my stomach wanted to speak too.
"Now then, what can I get you two to eat-oh my gosh, I'm so excited."
I ordered something completely random, considering how there were no menus available. A huge veggie wrap stuffed with tomatoes, sliced onions, fresh mushrooms, lettuce, and further down the line, that was my choice, with a few sauces that could be described as chunky pureed beetroot, hummus, and tabbouleh. It was just too delicious; it reminded me of classic Turkish cuisine.
Luna had a salad of some description that could only be labeled as exotic. It had a lot of the local produce tossed together in a light balsamic vinegar dressing. But man, I could smell it from my place across the table!
After eating, we left a gracious tip and left our seats, asking around a few more locals to try and narrow down the search for the library the waitress told us about.
It was a bit of a mission to find, since all of the stores located in the stone and clay-built buildings looked pretty much the same, save for a few bits and pieces in the windows. But eventually, we found a decent lead. We tracked it down by keeping on the city streets, following snipped directions from everyone we asked. When we walked as far as buildings and stone walkway ran, a single ran-down looking stucture sat, but the possibility of its closure debatedly came to mind. Luna asked a wanderer near us, and he just pointed at the building.
"Are you blind or something?" he said, rather rudely.
I shook off some embarrassment and went up to the door to knock. I ended up pushing it open and calling out into the seemingly empty room.
"Hello?"
At my echoed call, a Minotaur flipped the beaded curtain behind him as he walked through it. He did nothing for a while but stare at my figure, I assumed. Everything about him led me to think back to the days of Iron Will.
"Hello!" he exclaimed in a very rugged voice. "I am Karrun, what can I do for you? What books are you be after?"
"Well for starters, what's your oldest book you have? I'm looking for some specific information about a certain location in the northwest."
He raised an eyebrow at me and stared blankly for a few seconds, pondering my words. "I know what you speak of, and I don't have anything of that exact nature, but...I may still be able to help." He got my attention already. "To the farthest North, at the bottom of a crevice, is a library guarded by a creature."
I gave Luna a nudge as she entered the inside of the building with me. "If the librarian and the waitress know about it, then there's got to be some truth to it!" But...the word about the creature was fairly disconcerting.
"What... What kind of creature are we speaking of?" spoke Luna.
"No one really knows." Karrun replied. "The Canids dig tunnels to the bottom of the continent, as is their nature, but they're often not heard from again. It's useless going straight down into it from the surface. "Nobody is willing to take that route, and the pilots for the airships we have don't want to risk it. I don't blame them though."
Well that was a bit of a blow to the purpose and self-esteem of the journey. I started to feel a little devastated inside.
"But..." Karrun continued. "I heard you have a ship of your own, do you not?" Luna and I gave him an honest and hesitant nod. "Excellent!" the Minotaur bellowed. "My son, Jahurl, can be your escort there, he knows the way to the chasm."
I should have taken the warning as he deeply inhaled.
"JAHURL!"
At the dangerous call of his son's name, another minotaur came from behind the beaded curtain. His physiology was almost exactly like Karrun's, but in a slightly more compact build accommodating his smaller, more adolescent body.
"Escort these two to the chasm, they wish to visit the library it contains."
Jahurl raised an eyebrow too. Heh, like father like son. "What information do you seek, travelers?"
"The Breach." I deadpanned. Jahurl didn't seem to bat an eye.
"When do we go?"
Subtle much, don't you think?
Either way, I explained how our ship was currently getting restocked with a few fresh supplies, and that we would be ready to go by the morrow so there would be plenty of time to get there and back by the day's end. Jahurl said he'd meet us at our ship in the morning, ready to go at our earliest convenience.
I had a good feeling we could rely on him. Our lives might just be very well at stake.
After visiting the library, Luna and I spent the rest of the day looking around the various markets, some shops and some lone stalls. We didn't venture out too far from the ship as assurance for familiar ground and to avoid getting lost.
Some of the things these guys had were amazing. There were some intricately woven rugs that even Rarity would make a fuss over "how she simply must have it to show it off", pretty much. And what was even more-like, way more impressive was how these guys didn't even have magic either; they did everything with their hooves and the minotaurs used their... hands? We awed at samples of exotic cuisine that included some of the local fauna. It was cooked using various styles and pots, and lock chests, local clothing stores... It didn't end!
We later saw the sun depressing into the close mountains West of us. Luna and I decided that, after we grabbed dinner, that would be a better time than ever for us to retreat to the ship. She needed to get to raising the moon anyway, without focus on anything else. Both SkySurfer and Ratchet were aware that we were staying in the city all day and coming back close to dark, so we went back to the same cafe-turned restaurant for evening service, and were greeted at the door by the same mare that waited us earlier on in the day.
"Greetings again, princess and friend! Are you here for dine for Supper?"
"Indeed we are." Luna confirmed.
"Excellent!" The waitress just beamed overwhelmingly. "Just follow me to your table and we'll get started!"
She lead us to the same table we spent our last visit at and handed us two scrolls between Luna and I. We unfurled them and discovered they were menus. I didn't notice these before, but nevertheless, the meal more than made up for me having to come up with it.
In Ponyville, the menus were often on parchment with a thin wood border like a picture frame. The catalogs here were the same, except for the fact that these ones added to the authenticity and atmosphere of the place, the the themes actually matching the culture and environment. It was definitely a breath of fresh air, a break from the monotony of some other cafes.
Some of the menu's choices were odd, to say the least. Since there wasn't any meat on the menu, they substituted for other protein-based items, namely some of the locally harvested--shall I say--insects. Not to say that's all that was on the menus; there were other choices as well, but those were the ones that stuck out at me the most. We watched a few plates of those peculiar selections come out of the nearby kitchen doors, and we were rather impressed with their wafting scent that filled the area. I had to say, it made me want to try some!
And so, I ended up ordering a couple skewers of crickets with some heavily salted potato wedges and a salad on the side. Luna got the ants, much to my amusement. I couldn't help but joke about how horrified Fluttershy would be if she knew we were eating other (formerly) living things. We laughed about that a bit. I'm going to pony hell for laughing at that
My were surprisingly delicious. They had just the right crunch factor with some kind of saucy, savoury glaze to boot. Luna's ants had a powerful aroma to them, telling me they had been cooked with spices rather than herbs. She was highly satisfied with her exotic meal, as was I, very much so.
Then finally, after our debatable last meal of the day, we began to making our way back to the ship when I bumped into a rather peculiar individual. He looked like an okapi--having the form of a horse with zebra stripes with normal fur covering their bodies. But the thing is, back on Earth they're actually a type of giraffe!
So weird, man...
I noticed that his coat had swathes and patches of black and white zebra fur with brown fur swirling around and mixing with the zebra patterns. I couldn't see his cutie mark either; that region of his body was purely just covered in stripes.
Luna and I were brought about some rather pleasant news as we entered the ship's side door. Ratchet had just finished charging the gems, and that meant we were ready to take off with no problems tomorrow. Luna had gone to find a quiet place for her to raise the moon, and as she left the room for that purpose, I informed the engineer how we were changing course for a different destination to the North, also adding our explanation about how Jahurl would be coming alongside us as a guide, seeing as how he knew the area much better than we did.
With full stomachs and a chance to explore an ancient library, a few thoughts lingering in the back of my mind told me that Twilight Sparkle would most likely kill to be in my situation. I managed to get a peaceful nights sleep at that thought. I wasn't particularly fond of her...
I involuntarily woke mid-morning at around nine-thirty AM to the sound of my name filling the air.
"Hey, MIDNIGHT!"
Over the intercom, Sky told me that our Minotaur guest had arrived to escort us to the chasm. He wasn't kidding at all about the earliest convenience either. I told him, over my own personal microphone at the front of my bed (also very convenient) to let him on board and take off as soon as all preparations were made. I got up, took a quick hot shower, then immediately climbed up to the bridge to meet him.
"Welcome, Jahurl!" I happily greeted him. "Please, follow me so we can talk."
I led him down the corridor and to the furthest left turn, where Luna was eating her breakfast. She didn't mind at all. I went and got the map from my bag to show him, and then I took us to my map spread across the table. I pointed at our general location, as of now.
"There," said the Minotaur, directing my finger at something that I should have noticed before. I guess I wasn't much of one for details.
There was a giant crack in the middle of the country, in plain sight now that he pointed it out to me.
"At the bottom is your library." he explained. "But I must warn you, it is said to be guarded by a creature of legend called The Beholder."
"What does it look like?" I asked.
He only shrugged. "No one who has managed to come back is willing to talk. Figure it scare them pretty good."
So there have been explorers trying to get to the library. And some even have...
"How many that go... come back?"
"Not really sure. We only hear few rumors floating around here and there, but nothing that gives credence to the legend."
"The legend of what?" asked Luna, finished eating.
"Legend say that long ago, there existed a great library. One day, planet started shaking violently, earthquake if you will. Big crack opened up and swallowed library into it. Since then, no one heard of or seen it."
I've always been intrigued by the idea of stories making it out despite very few eyewitness accounts. "If there's no one that ever talks about it, and the ones who go searching go missing... Where do these stories some from?"
"All of it is purely gossip. Everyone hear different things so they make up own stories about library and anything else they hear. If one person read a book and tell it to someone, eventually you make up a different story entirely down the track." I couldn't help but snicker at that.
What he described was exactly like Chinese Whispers, a game I played when I was in school. The basic idea was to sit in a circle, and a designated individual would whisper a word into someone's ear. The process would repeat until it reached the last person in line, where he or she would announce the word. The fun of it all was seeing how much the word changed as it spread through other ears. There was one instance where a girl had begun with sunflowers, and ended up with something completely different. I remembered that same girl crying at the end because her word got twisted. Gossip; the most destructive force in the universe.
"So what you're telling us is that... we don't know what we're going to run into down there, or even if the library is still in one piece?" I just realized how stupid of a question I proposed to the table. Of course the library would be nothing more than rubble after an earthquake.
"Yes. But that also mean we don't know if Beholder is real or not too."
He got me there.
The remainder of the conversation we had as we walked back on the bridge was spent with Jahurl briefly telling us about is himself and his family, and he then asked me about Earth, my planet. I told him all that he needed to know for the time we were allowed. The ship had started moving again about half an hour ago, and we arrived to meet Ratchet and Sky at the perfect time.
"Holy crap..!"
What was right across the glass was awe inspiring to say the absolute least. This crack wasn't something small, or a simple chasm, it rivaled the grand-freaking canyon!
"Man... That's huge..." I muttered
"That's what she said." Ratchet replied dully, eyes still on the Great fault.
I wasn't sure if anything in this world--or even mine--could rival this monstrosity.
When we descended low enough, we all saw how the earthly anomaly had gone all the way through the floating continent! We flew over its edge, but, past its cliffs, it was essentially pitch black leading down inside.
"Only time sun shine in is morning or evening. Apart from that, nothing but shadow."
Well damn, that window already passed out of easy reach. It was early afternoon and the sun had just gone overhead. And as we went down even lower, the winds really started to pick up and threatened to throw the balloon around, possible leading to our early demise. They died down after one lengthy minute, but we still had every reason to be cautious-there was possible a monster down here with us.
"Hey Luna, no chance of you making the Sun go back over this thing for a couple extra hours, is there?" My proposal was more of a joke than anything. She had no control over the Sun.
"That is an interesting thought, but I'm afraid I can't do that. Not really sure if I would be could be trusted with something like that. Because... You know... "
"Hey Ratchet," I called. "Does this thing have any external lighting?"
"As a matter of fact, it does. I was just about to turn it on too."
The high beam lights at the ship's front instantly sliced through the blanket of darkness. All we could see so far was mere earth, as blank and featureless. as it was. But still, the lights cut us somewhat of a major break.
"Okay Sky, can you take us as deep in as you can?"
"Anything you want, sir!" And so, the pilot nodded and we felt the ship moving forward faster.
"I will let you know when we are near." said Jahurl, excited by my own leading energy.
"And I'll do my best to watch for any hazards, and any leads we might be able to take" added Luna. "You're aware of how well I can see in the dark areas"
"Yes I am... " I paused, closing my eyes and soon realizing how I was on my way home, step by slow step. "Thanks guys... Now we've got a library to find!"
We spent a good portion of three whole hours scouring the nooks and crannies of the rigid walls the chasm possessed.
"This thing must go on for freaking miles and miles." I said. "How in the heck are we supposed to find a library in a place like this?"
"Some Candis that dig down here have also tried to find the library. Look for their holes on the edge." Jahurl mentioned a very good point. The only problem with mentioning them in the manner that he did was that we would have no clue where those holes might begin, and even end.
A few seconds after that thought, Ratchet turned the outside lights off and suggested that we hug the rails outside and look out with a pair of binoculars she lent me and Jahurl. We took them and opened the door to the small hull, scanning the desert-like area for any telltale signs of where to begin. I thought about looking for tracks in the sand, but the circulating winds would have easily blown the dirt back over them.
Looking over some holes we found in the walls, we saw that they were as rough and sloppy as rough and sloppy could get. There really was no other way down or into this place without digging your way to the bottom as Jahurl said the Canids do, and even that proved, by a few examples we saw, to be extremely difficult. Pegasi were out of the question for sure, for venturing down here; even if they resided in the country, they would just get trampled by the winds down here. Their bodies were too fragile. Gryphons wouldn't make it either. Dragons might have had a good chance, but their population here was lower than the other races hat lived up there, and their nature would prove difficult just to get them active.
If Spike was able to fly, and had much more muscle on him, then maybe... Maybe he would make it inside.
"There!" I shouted, very much to everyone's surprise.
"Do you see the holes?" asked Luna.
"Well... Not exactly, no, but I see something else that looks worth searching."
"If not holes, what do you see?"
"Well, it looks like the ruins of a building, if you want to call it that. I mean, there's a portion of what could be a foundation on a ledge to the right of us. And...." Another discovery."Yes, holes. There's a lot of holes."
Sure enough, as approached the structure based on my direction, the started becoming more and more visible. The ruins were held inside a cornered stone structured that couldn't be more than ten meters long on each segment. Holes littered the walls around it, and they were grouped more towards the building itself and fanning out from it.
"Sky, take us down into the chasm through that area!"
He begrudgingly began to lower the ship back down into the chasm and Ratchet knew it was time to shed light. It was mid-afternoon at this stage, so while sunlight did enter the chasm, it didn't reach our specific area, just the top-most portion of the chasm's opening, so artificial light was still very necessary.
"Ratchet, is there a way to control these lights or do they just sweep back and forth?"
"Over on the second panel from the left, near the front, The two knobs." I followed her instructions gratefully.
Sure enough, there were two small joystick-type knobs. I used them to guide the spotlights around the walls. And halfway down, I saw something interesting...
"Guys, guys, I see something!"
Everyone rushed over to the window to see what I shined the two lights on. We all stared in awe at the bits and pieces of an old building. Domed spires, remains of raised walls and granite floors, sections of towers, and stray bricks all littered the area, among many other things, most notably those special things we were really looking for all this time.
"I think we just found our library."