The Slumber of Gaia

by Khenlos


Moon Encounter

I looked at the little one perplexed at her powerful lungs. Such force! It was like a small hurricane!

"Oh my, did you have to be so loud? We are indoors you know" I said to her while releasing little Celestia from my hug "I can understand that stress can get anyone, but you need to get a grip on yourself dear" I told her, trying to not sound annoyed. I was just worried about the guards! I think the ones at the doors were temporarily deafened by her shout. The young one looked at Celestia with an unamused stare.

"Discord?" She simply asked.

"Discord" Celestia replied with a firm nod.

"Ugh! This is just so frustrating!" said the blue one, walking to and fro while ranting "I spend hours upon hours to find a proper translation spell and this happens! I could just... Ugh!"

"Your sister looks pretty tense... Does she eat frequently? I often find myself a little grumpy with an empty stomach" I said to Celestia, who giggled a bit at that. Why? It was an honest concern!

"I doubt that she skips any of her meals, Gaia. Anyways... I want to present you to my little sister, Luna" Celestia said while looking at her now identified little sister. I knew it!

"It's nice to meet you, young Luna" I said politely to her. She looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

"Young? I am hardly a filly, Gaia" Luna replied with a neutral tone. This again? I really don't want to explain myself every time!

"We will talk about that later, Luna. For now, I need to send a letter to Twilight about some of the findings concerning our guest here, and maybe ask Cadence for some insight as well. In the meantime I need you to show her to one of the guest chambers" Celestia explained to her sister. A bit rude to talk about me as I'm not around, but I know the little ones tend to be wrapped in their own world.

"She is going to stay here!?" Luna asked loudly.

"Dear Celestia offered me to stay a few days here with all of you, and I accepted of course. She said that it would make her very happy if I said yes... I couldn't just say no to her!" I said to Luna as I smiled.

"It is true, sister. I would like to know more about our guest, and I could not allow her to sleep outside when we have free rooms in the castle, right?" Celestia said to Luna, hinting her something with her tone.

"Oh... I understand, sister. I'll show Gaia her lodgings, but I would like to speak with you as soon as possible" Luna said to her sister. Celestia just nodded with a small smile on her face.

"I will send somepony to fetch you when I am finished. Gaia, I hope you find your room adequate to your needs" Celestia said, making a small bow to me. Oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later I suppose...

"I can sleep on sand and still rest without a problem. But don't worry dear, I'll tell you if I find a lizard under my mattress" I said to her with a wink and a small smirk. Luna looked at me very confused.

"Don't you mean 'A pea under the mattress'?" She asked me. Oh? Wait a second... Well, would you look at that! They say pea instead of lizard. How can a pea disturb someone's sleep? Wait... what's a 'pea'? Huh...

"Nevermind. Follow me" Luna said to me, walking out of Celestia's room. I waved at her and walked near Luna. We walked like a minute before being approached by some guards... I think they were guards at least. They had this little shiny armor with dark blue hues and... Oh my gosh... were those wings?

"Oh my goodness... What is this?" I asked, picking up one of the guards with my hooves as I sat on the ground "What is this? Are those little skinny wings? Aw, they make you look so cute, you know that little one?"

"Gaia, what are you doing to my guards?!" Luna asked me, yelling again. Gee, did she only know how to speak in boring and loud?

"I was just looking at his wings! I think they are wings... Just look at this! They look so leathery and cute..." I said, making Luna angrier. I didn't like her.

"Ma'am... can you put me down, please?" the guard asked, his face all red and looking at me with a pleading look. Aw...

"Ok, you can go now, dear" I said, releasing him from my grasp. He quickly walked to the farthest he could be while guarding us. While I was smiling on the outside I felt a bit of sadness inside me. I didn't like when living beings were afraid of me. I wasn't scary... right?

"Gaia, please don't play with my guards. They have a work to do and you messing with them will only make their jobs harder" Luna said to me in a harsh tone. I was just looking at his unique wings! I didn't want to upset anyone...

"I wasn't playing with them, young Luna. I was looking at their wings. They are fascinating things" I said to her as I followed her lead. She huffed in annoyance. What's her problem?

"Well you cannot go around picking up ponies just because you find something interesting about them" She said to me as we continued out walk.

"Why? I'm not harming them, and I'm very careful when I pick up someone. I don't see the problem" I told her with a small smirk on my face. It was just simple logic. I got this!

"You need to learn about personal space and some table manners, Gaia. You can't go around just doing what you want because you think it's fine! Like hugging ponies randomly or just touching them! That is not right!" She yelled at me. Again.

"I don't like your tone, young girl"


"What?" Luna asked, not expecting that from the green mare.

"Honey, I know that life is stressful but would you be so kind to tone down your voice a bit?" Gaia said, keeping that serene smile of hers.

"I am in my own castle and I talk as I please" Luna retorted. Gaia shook her head sideways in a condescending manner.

"Your big sister already gave you the talk?" Gaia asked her, confusing the lunar mare.

"What?" She eloquently replied.

"I know that puberty is a confusing part of life, but you need to control your hormones dear. You've been yelling at me all the time for no good reason" Gaia explained, making Luna blush in embarrassment.

"W-what? I'm a grown mare!" She asserted, making Gaia giggle.

"Of course you are, honey. Of course you are" Gaia replied while nodding with a gentle smile on her face. Luna huffed and trotted ahead as Gaia followed her. The guards tried to keep up as they could without making a run of it, looking confused about the situation.

"I cannot believe this. You don't know nothing about proper manners and protocol!" Luna asked to Gaia.

"Why should I?" Gaia asked, confused. Luna stopped in front of a plain bedroom door.

"Why? You are a princess! You can't act as you please! You need to look as a model for all the ponies!" Luna said, exasperated.

"Since when I'm a princess?" Gaia asked confused as Luna gaped at her.

"Well, you are an alicorn!" Luna pointed out.

"Am I? I never had a name for my species you know? I was always Gaia" The green mare replied with a small smile "It sounds nice. Alicorn..."

"How can you be so ignorant? Those are just basic concepts for any pony in Equestria!" Luna said with a concerned tone.

"Aw, you hurt my feelings. Why would you call me that?" Gaia asked with a sad smile.

"I didn't meant to... I am sorry" Luna said with sincerity, knowing that anger was getting the better of her. She looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Gaia... did you go to school?" she asked the green alicorn.

"Do you mean those buildings where people go to learn? I've been on some of those like a couple of times, but I wasn't there for learning. I was the specimen they wanted to examine" Gaia said, her smile just wavering a bit. Luna was both confused and horrified by that statement.

"I think I need to sit down a bit... Luckily we are already at one of the guest rooms" Luna replied, her face a bit pale. Gaia followed her as they went into the guest room.

It was a simple but elegant-looking bedroom with a queen-sized bed at one side, and a simple wardrobe at the opposite one. Overall a cozy and welcoming bedroom. Luna picked up one of the cushions with her magic and laid on it, after putting it on the floor. Gaia just watched her surroundings with a bit of interest, a bit oblivious to Luna's plight.

'How can somepony use another sapient creature for experimentation?' Luna thought, still sickened by just thinking about that. 'Maybe I am just jumping to conclusions..." She reasoned, calming herself a bit. 'It is still worrying the fact that this alicorn seemed oblivious to our existence, or Equestria's for that matter. And how old was she? She sounds like a grown mare past her youth days...' She pondered while observing how the green mare touched and looked every little trinket with the same curiosity expected from a young foal. 'I wish Celestia had told me more about her findings about her, it would have made my work easier'

When she was satisfied Gaia just let herself down near Luna, letting her body sprawled on the floor.

"Did you find everything of your liking?" Luna asked politely

"It's pretty, and I am sure the bed is comfortable. That is enough for me, dear" Gaia replied with a smile. Luna looked thoughtful again.

"Say, Gaia... Would you be interested in learning more about alicorns and ponies? We have quite the library with well documented information..." Luna asked with a neutral tone.

"That would be very sweet of you, young Luna, but I don't want to be a bother to anyone" Gaia replied with her trademark smile.

"I cannot simply let you wander around knowing nothing about Equestria or its ponies!" Luna said with determination.

"If you say so, dear" Gaia said, sounding not very caring about it. Luna smiled mischievously.

"Oh, and I just know the mare for the job. A pony devoted to learn everything that can be learned under the sun. I am sure that she would be delighted to teach you about our fair country, including its history and customs" Luna said, her smile growing a bit. Gaia sighed.

"I don't see the relevance, but if it makes you happy... I'll not stay more than a few days, so I hope she is as good as you say" Gaia said, looking towards the window. Luna cocked her head in curiosity.

"Just a few days? Do you need to return home so soon?" Luna asked. Gaia just smiled widely.

"Of course not! I'm on vacation, and I want to see your world! From the hottest volcano to the coldest glacier, I want to see them all!" Gaia said with unbridled happiness. "And all the creatures living on and in between" she said, leaving Luna with more questions than answers.

"Are you implying that you are from another world?" Luna asked cautiously. Gaia laughed loudly at the question.

"You should ask your sister about that. I really don't want to sound like a broken record, dear" Gaia said, smiling softly at Luna.

"Oh, I will ask her, you can be sure of that" Luna replied with a frown, thinking about the international problem of a new alicorn flying freely and unannounced around the world.

This situation just got way more complicated...