"Gaia! Please wake up!"
That's a good wake up call, and early in the morning too. I turned my head and saw little Twilight looking at me with tears leaking from her eyes.
"Oh my... What happened, dear?" I asked, getting up immediately.
"My planet is fro-o-o-zen and I don't know why!" she cried as she hugged me. I hugged her back and tried to calm her down.
"There there... It's just a minor thing, I'm sure. Come on, show me..." I said to her in my best motherly voice. She tried to dry her tears as she nodded just before walking outside my room. Well, back to work for me!
We soon arrived to Twilight's room. There were a couple of her friends and young Cadance, looking a bit worried... Well color me surprised, she managed to turn her world into a white and shiny ball of ice.
"What did you do to it?" I asked.
"I just... I just modified it some parts, nothing serious... it was all very well planned and scheduled..." she tried to explain.
"Yeah! We even took out all the clouds! How can it be so cold when it's always sunny?" said Rainbow Dash as she flew around the planet. They really just...?
"No.... No no no... are you serious?" I asked, trying to get my laughter in control. I decided to take a peek with my 'Gaia vision' as some people call it and... Pfffff.....
"No.... no way!" I said laughing out loud "You just took out all the clouds!" I cried as I laughed so hard that tears came from my eyes. The pink one was laughing with me and it made the situation all more absurd! We were the only ones laughing though.
"Hey what gives?! Twi is working so hard and this happens and you just... laugh it up?!" Rainbow yelled at me.
"Calm down, Rainbow. Gaia, I don't know why its so funny to you but this clearly it's upsetting Twilight and you're hurting her feelings" Cadance said to me and I tried to take a breath. Sure enough Twilight was crying silently and looking at the floor.
"Aw, come here..." I said as I hugged Twilight as I used to do with my son. I put my head on hers and made her look to her planet. "Now now... I know it was a honest mistake but it's just so childish I couldn't resist... Why did you take off all the cloud cover?"
"W-well... without clouds the Sun would be able to heat more efficiently the world, right? I mean, we took out the clouds because of that..." she said as if it was the most common thing. I chuckled a bit.
"Of course... Twilight, what you have here in your world its... a wonderful, wonderful anomaly. You can't think about what it's normal in Equestria and use it as a reference. Tell me, why do you use blankets when you sleep?" I asked her, trying to jumpstart her thoughts.
"Oh, I know! To keep your body all warm and comfy!" answered Pinkie with a big smile.
"That's correct. Now, why this happens? Are not the blankets cold when you get in the bed?"
"Of course, it's your body heat what keeps you warm through the night... not the... blanket..." Twilight explained as I saw a small spark in her eyes. Poor Prometheus, he didn't get it as fast as her. This girl has some serious potential. "...No way..."
"What? What's with all these blanket stuff?" Rainbow asked with annoyance clear in her voice.
"We did it all wrong! Of course it would freeze! How could I be so blind!? We need more clouds on this rock, stat!" Twilight said out loud as she erupted from my hug with renewed strength.
"Your planet it's very cold on the surface right now, but it probably keeps a warm heart inside..." I told her with a wink. Twilight looked at confused but then she smiled before her horn ignited. Soon enough her planet started to get a small cover of white clouds as cracks on the surface appeared, showering the nearby areas with hot magma.
"Whoa, that's pretty awesome" Rainbow said as the planet started to get warmer thanks to the renewed volcanism on it. I just nodded and backed away as I observed how Twilight and her friends started to talk quickly as new ideas ran between them.
"You know, that was incredible" Cadance said as she sat beside me.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything" I said with a smile
"You saw the problem but instead of explain all the little things you just made her reach the conclusion."
"It's more fulfilling to reach to the conclusion yourself than being held by your hoof all the time. Knowing what you did wrong and solving the problem builds character. It was funny but strange too" I told her
"How so?" Cadence asked.
"Well, my son took this test a couple of times and he had a tendency to boil the world. Very frequently. I expected the same but it seems that Twilight has something that my son lacked when he was young."
"Really? Twilight is a very smart mare and tries to prepare for everything, but I don't know what she can have that a centuries-old alicorn didn't have" Cadence asked me with curiosity.
"Let's just say that science without control can have some detrimental effects on the environment" I said with a sad smile.
Those were not happy centuries. Not happy indeed...
The servants and guards in Canterlot Castle are pretty used to see plenty of strange behavior from more creatures than they can count. Moody griffons, prideful dragons... You name it and they probably have seen one doing something odd, quirky or just plain stupid. It was natural for their jobs and they took that in stride.
They were also used to see their princesses in their private life, and obviously made a vow to keep it that way. They couldn't help to chuckle a bit though when they saw the lunar princess dragging a very hairy alicorn male though the halls.
"Its futile. You should give up. I should be working on my ship's engines and not doing... whatever you want me to do" Prometheus said as Luna carried him on her hooves as she slowly flew through the castle. "Also this is extremely inefficient and bothersome"
"It would be easier if you just followed me, and I told you that Prince Shining Armor arrived this morning and requested to see you. You were just too busy tinkering with your computer" Luna said as she carried Prometheus without difficulty. Prometheus just groaned as his legs were dragged thought the castle's floor.
"I was just sending some mails and the like. Plus I'm pretty tired after playing videogames with you through the night."
"You are just lazy. When you were playing that strategy game you were all smiling but when I found that you had one of those... party games as you called them you went all about how doing exercise wasn't fun" Luna teased as she took several turns towards the outside of the castle.
"Really, I didn't spend several decades to help with virtual reality games to do things in real life. I mean come on, there is nothing new under the sun. And being sweaty isn't practical. It makes a mess when you're in a lab doing work. You know, important work? Not this physical labor thing..." Prometheus said as he tried to shake Luna off him, but she just gripped him with more strength.
"You just need to exercise more and move those legs a bit. You are a bit on the pudgy side..." she replied. "N-not that I care or anything... It's just an observation" she quickly added as she blushed a bit, hugging her fluffy cargo a bit tighter. Prometheus made a squeaky sound at that and resigned himself to be dragged by the pushy princess.
Eventually they arrived to the training field of the guard. Shining Armor was talking with some officers as some of the rookies were training in close combat.
"At last, we have arrived! Greetings Prince Armor. I hope we are not late" Luna said as she gently dropped Prometheus on the ground.
"Everything alright?" he asked to them, raising an eyebrow.
"Suboptimal, but it will have to do..." Prometheus murmured as he stood tall and looked at Shining through his thick mane. "So, I've heard that you required me for something?" he asked. Shining smiled a bit and offered his hoof.
"I'm Shining Armor, and yes I told the princesses that I needed you this morning, for... educational purposes" He said as he winked to Luna.
"Oh! I'm glad you called for me then. What do you need?" Prometheus asked with a small smile.
"Ah, just a little thing. You see, some of the guards didn't see you as a fighting pony, but I argued that it couldn't be possible. Even Celestia has seen combat, so I would like to exchange some combat techniques and information. That way we put the rumors to rest and we can study the differences between our styles. Does it sounds good to you?" Shining explained with a smile. Prometheus frowned a bit but then smiled a bit.
"I can do that. There so much one can learn from practical experimentation" he said as he walked towards the sparring ring.
"How did you manage that out? I had to carry him because he didn't want to move and now he's eager to spar with you?" Luna asked to Shining. He smiled widely.
"When you know Twilight you know how to approach studious ponies and make them do some exercise" he replied with a wink. "Alright stallions! We're going to do some warm up rounds and then we will come down to the matches for today. Prometheus, if you would be so kind to exercise with the rookies?" Shining asked. Prometheus shrugged and walked towards them.
"He doesn't seem very... happy" Luna said as he looked how slowly Prometheus moved as he and the rest did the warming up.
"I would move as slow as him if I had all that extra weight on me" Shining laughed as he pointed out how Prometheus was moving in slow but calculated movements.
Some minutes later and they were ready. Or somewhat ready seeing as Prometheus was sweating a bit. The officers smirked at that.
"Alright everypony, let's start with the basics. Prometheus, with me. I'll explain our weapons and how we use them" Shining said. The guards and Prometheus nodded and did as Shining told them. A crash course on medieval weapons later the officers were looking with interest as Prometheus and the veteran captain went to the sparring ring.
Shining took a flexible stand, a longsword floating at his side and analyzing his opponent. Prometheus was just standing there, looking pretty bored with a small sidesword in his mouth.
"You sure you don't need a bigger weapon? We have spears and..." Shining tried to say but Prometheus shook his head. The other guards were laughing at his choice of weapon. "Alright then"
The officers were looking with expectation as one of the recruits made the bell ring, starting the training match.
Shining ran towards Prometheus quickly, sliding to his opponent's side in quick bursts of speed and ready to strike his first point... and hit true on Prometheus' side.
"Point for Shining Armor!" the recruit at the bell yelled as he made the bell ring again.
"Hey, why didn't you move? You didn't even... flinch..." Shining Armor said as he frowned and got in position. Prometheus just stood there and smirked as he raised his head, showing his glowing orange eyes. Shining suddenly found himself a bit intimidated by him, even if he didn't move. "You just wanted to see me in action, didn't you?"
"You're doubting yourself now. That was my move" Prometheus said while leveling his wings with his body, barely opening them but taking a strange combat stance. Almost like... lazying around?
Everypony found this suspicious and Luna noticed another change in Prometheus. He was now projecting an aura of uneasiness around him. Shining also sensed the danger, and changed his stance before the next round to a more defensive one.
"Ah, now we're talking! If you didn't take this seriously how did you expect me to do so?" Prometheus said as a strange buzzing came from him as his fluff moved a bit like under a invisible breeze. Luna saw as his form change a bit under the coat, something changing under his skin, but his coat was so thick that only she or her sister could've noticed the difference. He cracked his neck and played a bit with the sidesword before taking the same relaxed position as he smiled playfully at his sparring partner.
"Alright. Here we go"