It was cold, but inside of her protective bubble Twilight couldn’t feel it. She could see that the air was thin and dry because even as cold as it was, there wasn’t any frost on the plants that were somehow able to grow in the light from the distant star. She processed this and scratched down notes while in a daze, still not fully comprehending what she was doing. She was determined to remain focused and avoid emotional reactions until their journey was complete, and she already knew that once she got home she was going to need to do quite a few of those breathing exercises her sister-in-law had taught her.
Twilight’s spell allowed her to move around on her own by walking along the underside of the protective shield like a hamster in a ball. Now that it had been cast, she could maintain it on her own easily while still taking her notes. Though she wished she could get a closer look at what she was taking notes on as Luna could, she was content with the enforced distance being the price of the protection.
It was only becoming more clear as she and Luna explored that the strange plant life they had seen when they first arrived was the most complex organism they were going to find. This cold, dark planet would support nothing greater. For Twilight, it almost seemed to instill a feeling of melancholy. There must be uncountable billions of empty worlds like this one that would never be anything more.
Even more so, it was really driving home just how rare her own world was. All those intelligent species sharing the same planet and the heavens were full of planets with no life more complex than a cactus. She had to be honest with herself that her restlessness was not entirely due to excitement. A small hint of fear hovered at the back of her mind at the very real lethal environment right outside her small magical bubble.
For Luna, the fear of the environment may not have been present, but she was no less in awe of the desolation of their surroundings. Once the two had surveyed their initial surroundings, they had started making long-range teleportations to the horizon at each new point in order to try and survey as much of the planet as possible as quickly as possible. Observing the sky for a time in each location seemed to indicate the presence of other planets around this star, and she was eager to see what they could find on those. After the fourteenth such hop with no sign of more advanced life, Twilight’s first set of notes was as complete as she could make them.
“Where are we going next?”
“That bright point there,” Luna responded, pointing to it with the tip of her hoof. “We will observe that world and then either look for another prospect or return home.”
With that, Luna’s horn and eyes began to glow with the same intensity the diamond once again emitted, and with a brief sensation of falling, they were at their next destination. It was at that point, however, that Twilight noticed the familiar sensation in the pit of her stomach persisted. She was actually falling.
Any panic that might have followed was kept at bay by Luna quickly catching the orb in her magic. This allowed her to once again take a few deep breaths and look at the surface below them. The only problem was there wasn’t one.
As far as she could see in all directions was a sea of clouds, and the most odd thing about them was that they were primarily green, and she couldn’t see any break in them. The entire mass below them shifted and moved as one. She looked over to Luna for an explanation, but her partner was too excited by the observations she was making with her magic as the two floated above the seething mass below. She did however notice that Luna’s wings were open and beating, so it appeared there was some kind of atmosphere here.
“This air is not like our home world’s,” Luna began, “I’d hardly say that it is air at all, in fact! What we can see below us is actually concentrated clouds of gas that seem to be being compressed by this planet’s much higher gravity. As far as I can tell by the spells I’m using right now, this world may be composed entirely of gasses collapsed together and held together by their own gravity! It may have no surface at all!”
While Luna seemed as ecstatic as Twilight had been when she first told her about this plan to travel to another star, the hint of fear that she had been suppressing before was coming back far stronger now. While the Princess seemed delighted at the idea of them being suspended above a massive sea of likely poisonous gas being held down by likely crushing gravitational force, her mortal partner was starting to wish they had picked a different planet to visit.
“Luna, are any of those clouds composed of water vapor that pegasi could stand on?”
“Not that I can see, no. At this height the air is too thin and cold, and down below the gravity compressing the gas should also be causing it to heat to extremely high temperatures. Actually, my sister and I’s observations of her sun showed that the process by which it creates the heat and light that warms our world uses gasses quite like some of what I can detect here. Theoretically, that could mean that introducing enough gas into a world like this one may cause the gas to ignite at the core and create a new star!”
Twilight now regretted asking the question. The mental images of being instantly incinerated in an inconceivable inferno were doing nothing to help her anxiety. She had thought that after handling being in the open cold of space, she could handle something like this, but actually looking it in the face appeared to be another matter entirely.
“Princess, I’d like it if we went home now.”
A single look at the unicorn’s wide-eyed expression and her rapid breathing removed the need to ask what was wrong. There was another bright flash, and they were somewhat safely back on the world they first arrived on. Much to her chagrin, the moment her hooves were returned to solid ground her legs failed her and she ended up on her belly inside her protective bubble.
“Are you alright, Twilight?”
“I-I think I will be once we’re back home. I’m sorry-”
“It’s fine.”
The diamond once more glowed brightly with Luna’s eyes and horn, and with another blinding storm of magic, they reappeared inside of Luna’s chambers in the castle tower. As much as it embarrassed her immediately after she did it, Twilight couldn’t help but rub her cheek and forehooves into the carpet briefly just to reassure herself she was safe again.
“My apologies. I did not think about how frightening some of this might be for someone who doesn’t have my power.”
The purple unicorn regained her hooves and immediately began rummaging through her saddlebags for her notes on the desolate first planet. She had her tail turned to the Princess, but she had already seen hints of the mortified look on her partner’s face. Luna walked around in front of her and lifted her chin out of her saddlebags with a hoof so she could look her in the eyes.
“Twilight, there is no shame in fearing death. All ponies do, and it is part of what makes up our drive to live in the first place.”
“I didn’t think...I just didn’t think it would be like that. I know what we’re doing is dangerous, but thinking about falling into something that doesn’t even have a surface and will poison you, crush you into paste, and then incinerate you-”
“Twilight, you need to slow down before you hyperventilate.”
Realizing that she had started breathing rapidly as well as talking quite quickly, the unicorn took a moment to breathe deeply and try and slow her heart rate. She could still feel her cheeks burning at how foalish she must look right now.
“Again, I apologize for not considering how shocking some of this might be. You should know that I am fairly certain most other ponies would have been a sobbing mess instead of handling this like you are right now. I understand it can be embarrassing to have fear overtake you, but you were very calm despite that fear.”
“I’ll be ready next time,” Twilight responded, taking a last deep breath and feeling some of the color fade from her cheeks. “I just think I need to do some more research and probably sleep it off. I want to go over my notes first though.”
The two were soon poring over Twilight’s observations. Luna added her own points for Twilight to write in, since the unknown conditions of each planet they visited necessitated that the notes be taken inside the unicorn’s protective spell in order to avoid them bursting into flame from intense heat or crumbling in intense cold. On paper, their first explored planet was of no further value as far as exploration. However, as a first step, it had proved their spell was a success, which was a major victory for their project.
“Well, Twilight, I am afraid that I must bid you good day. My sister requested that I inform her of our trip as soon as I returned, and she will no doubt have sensed our return.”
“That’s fine. She’s probably got that look where she’s clearly desperate for details but trying not to show it.”
The two shared a short laugh and parted ways. While Luna headed toward her sister’s tower to inform her of their journey, Twilight left the castle and headed toward her parent’s house. She had thought about paying them a surprise visit while she was up in the city, and now she had a heck of a story to tell them.
Mom is not going to believe this.