Selene woke up early the next morning. She found Luna already awake, gathering food from the garden. Selene did a quick run through of the ship, double checking to make sure nothing was out of place. Luna grabbed Selene's backpack and loaded it up with food for lunch and dinner, a few canteens of water and then cast a spell on the bag to keep the supplies from freezing.
Selene entered the room, putting on her heavy coat.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked while she slipped her boots on.
Luna nodded. "I will carry the supplies," she said levitating the backpack next to her.
Selene saw her picking up the backpack.
"You don't have to do that, I can carry it," she said.
Luna looked over at the human, Selene's complexion had already started to improve since she gained access to Luna's garden. Still though, there was no reason to make her carry anything, now when Luna could do so with almost zero effort.
"I shall take care of the supplies, carrying this puts no strain on my magic."
"Oh alright, that'll work then cause I'll carry my rifle, just in case we run into something."
Selene walked over to the locker and opened it up. She pulled out the gun and opened the bolt to verify that it was empty. Satisfied, she closed it up again and checked the safety. Next she grabbed two magazines and loaded them both up. One went into the gun and the other into her coat pocket.. Lastly she grabbed a box of 20 rounds and tossed it to Luna who put it in the backpack.
Human and pony made their way outside.
"Will you be able to find your way back?" Selene asked.
"I know the direction, and the approximate distance, when we are close, I will be able to pinpoint it by sensing the magic that brought me here."
The weather was surprisingly calm for the time of year, a low wind whistled through the forest before the two travelers. The temperature was well below freezing and Selene could see her breath with every step she took. Even with the heavy winter gear that she wore, she could feel the cold.
It was not often that she ventured far from the ship. The cold temperatures of the planet were a big factor in how far Selene had been able to travel in the past. She lacked any way to keep supplies that she would need on a longer trip from simply turning to ice except during the ever shortening warm season. It had been many years since she last ventured far from the ship, she shuddered, thinking about that last trip.
"Before I forget, hold still." Luna said, looking at Selene.
Selene stopped and turned towards Luna.
"What's up?" she asked.
Luna's horn lit up and a strange tingling sensation come over Selene. It was gone before she knew it.
"What did you..." it was then Selene noticed that she no longer felt the chill of the frozen air. She could tell that it was cold, but it was a distant feeling.
"That will keep you from freezing to death. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Selene shook her head and smiled.
"Thanks Luna," she said. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the things you can do with magic."
The two made their way south. As they walked through the forest, Selene told Luna more about Earth. Humans been traveling through space for hundreds of years now. They were dozens of populated worlds and an even larger number of smaller colonies throughout the local arm of the galaxy. The Ascension had been heading to drop off supplies on one of the newest human colonies.
Selene knew that Luna was still catching up on human history so she gave Luna a brief summary of Earth's spread into space. She also spent some time going over more modern technology. For everything that she brought up, Luna had a dozen questions.
Gradually the forest started to thin out as they reached the southern edge. Before them a snowy plain stretched for miles. Luna looked back and noticed how far behind Selene had fallen. It was time to take a break and let the girl have some rest.
"Why don't we stop for lunch?" Luna asked, when Selene had caught up.
"Sounds good to me," Selene said, panting slightly.
Luna closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. A pale blue bubble of magic expanded out from her horn, the snow on the ground and the frigid wind were both pushed back. The bubble expanded outwards quite a ways, where it solidified into a translucent sphere, creating a large enough space for the two to sit down and eat some lunch.
Selene grabbed the backpack and pulled out the canteens and packed lunches. She passed one of each to Luna and then opened her canteen and took a long drink. After they had finished their lunch, Selene packed everything back into the bag and they started off again.
As they continued their hike, Selene looked over at Luna, her eyes drawn to the alicorn's wings. She rubbed her hands together as her lips turned upwards into a smirk. She had a plan, and if all went well she'd get to do something she was dreaming about since she had met Luna. As they continued their hike, she turned toward the unsuspecting pony.
"Ok Luna, you said that pegasus ponies can control the weather, and you showed me those images, but I want to see it for real. Go grab a cloud or something."
Luna shrugged and placed the backpack down on the ground. She spread her wings and launched into the air. Higher and higher she flew until Selene was just a speck on the ground below. She found a storm cloud and pulled off a small chunk of it. It had been a long time since she did any cloud work, she'd forgotten how soft they were. She was definitely going to replace her bed when they got back to the ship.
She quickly dove back down, pushing the cloud in front of her. Selene was looking up at her, jaw wide open. Feeling a little showy, Luna pushed the cloud over a tree about 20 feet from where Selene was standing. She landed on top of the cloud and proceed to jump up and down on top of it.
Frozen rain started to fall from the cloud and it gradually lightened, from a dark gray slowly turning lighter and lighter until it was pure white.
Once the rain had stopped, she stopped jumping and floated next to the cloud. She gave it a good kick with her rear hoof. A bolt of lightning shot out and hit the tree, shards of wood exploded outward and the tree started to smoke. Selene jumped backwards, not expecting the burst of lightning.
Luna landed and trotted over to Selene grinning.
"I don't suppose you could switch the planet from this near perpetual winter to summer?"
"I... no, not right now anyway. There is something wrong with this planet, it's one of the reasons you were unable to grow anything."
Selene walked over and put her hands on Luna's wing. She gently stroked the feathers, admiring the beauty.
"The way you can fly... it's amazing! Your wings, they're incredible. You just spread them out and whoosh," she threw her hand skyward,"Off you go. Even watching you I have trouble believing it."
Luna took a few steps back, a blush appearing on her face.
"Selene..."
Selene looked at Luna, her eyes sparkled and her lips curled upward in a decidedly evil grin.
"Can I... can I ride you?" she asked.
"Excuse me?" Luna stammered, her face reddening even more.
"I mean, could you carry me? While flying? You said before it was magic and had nothing to do with weight or aerodynamics."
"I uhh..."
"Pleaseeeeeeee," Selene begged.
Luna shook her head and then rolled her eyes.
"Oh all right, but if you tell anypony of this, I will deny it," she said.
Selene started to bounce up and down with glee.
"Who could I possibly tell?" she asked while skipping over towards Luna.
"How do you want me to do this?" Selene asked, checking to see if there was room for her to fit in front of Luna's wings.
"Allow me," Luna said lowering her neck and dropping crouching down on her front hooves.
Just as Selene was about to try to climb on to Luna's back, Luna launcher herself forward and upward, looped over Selene and grabbed her from behind, sticking her front hooves under Selene's arms. She lifted the shrieking girl into the air and rose up about 50 feet off of the ground. Selene's screams quickly turned into laughter as Luna slowly flew around in a large circle, rising higher and higher.
Luna beat her wings and the two continued to rise. She spotted a cloud not too far away, and started flapping even harder, then glided in for a landing.
Selene felt a brief tingling sensation as Luna soared over the cloud. Suddenly Luna let go, Selene started to scream as she fell... all of two feet before she made contact with the cloud and stopped. Confused, she put her hand out and touched the surface of the cloud. It was cold but didn't feel wet. It was also amazingly soft, and offered a slight bit of resistance that a cloud shouldn't be capable of.
She looked up and noticed Luna laying down next to her.
"How...?" she asked.
"Cloud walking spell," Luna replied, smiling.
"You dropped me!" Selene said, as she got over the confusion and remembered what Luna had just done.
"I had already cast the spell on you, I knew you would be fine."
"You scared the shit out of me, don't do that again."
Selene punched Luna in the side, but she smiled a second later.
"It was worth it though, this is amazing," she said, patting the cloud.
Luna stood up walked to the edge of the cloud and sat back down again. Selene carefully rose to her feet, foot shaking nervously, she took one step, then another, then another. Slowly she made her way towards the pony, but stopped before she got close to the edge.
"You can come to the edge, it is safe."
Selene inched closer to the edge, she wrapped her arm around Luna holding on and then looked at the view below. In the distanced she could just make out the forest where the Ascension had crashed, after that was the snow covered plain they had been hiking across all morning. Even with Luna's spell, she could feel the extreme cold at starting to get to her. She inched closer to the pony, shivering. Luna placed her wing over Selene, sheltering her from the biting wind.
"We should get going, we still have a long way to go," she said, teeth chattering.
Luna nodded, her horn flared to life and she lifted Selene, placing her onto her back. Turning her head around, she looked at the girl.
"Hold on tight," she said.
Selene leaned down and wrapped her arms around Luna's neck. Once Luna was sure Selene had a good grip, she walked to the very edge of the cloud and leaned forward until her rear hooves lifted off the cloud and she fell downward. For a moment she was in free fall, before she let her wings flare out, catching the air.
Luna glided down to the snow covered plain below, upon landing she lifted Selene off her back and placed her back on the ground. Selene immediately latched onto Luna, giving the pony a great big hug.
"Thank you" Selene said. "That was awesome."
For hours they hiked across the plain, getting closer and closer to their goal.
"So what exactly is going to happen when we get where we're going?" Selene asked while stepping around a large snow drift.
"Every spell that is cast leaves traces of magic that are detectable with the right skills. They are like... hoofprints in the snow, the more powerful the spell, the deeper the print and the longer it lasts. There is enough of a difference between a teleport spell and a dimensional gateway that when I carefully study the traces, I should be able to determine which brought me here, or if it was something else."
"What will you do once you find out what brought you here?"
"It depends. If it was a teleport, which I doubt, I will have to wait until I have recovered enough to attempt a long range teleport. The amount of magic I would need to open a dimensional portal is even higher but not by a large factor when comparing it to interplanetary teleportation."
Luna looked down at the ground, and sighed.
"There is a third possibility, that whatever brought me here was similar to the spell that banished me, only much more powerful, this planet may be my new prison," she said glumly.
"Sending you to another planet seems rather... severe," Selene said frowning.
"I did horrible things," Luna said, her ears fell and she pawed at the ground.
There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Selene spoke up. "Well, if I ever get off this rock, you can come with me, it will be like a prison break," she said grinning, trying to lighten the mood.
Luna smiled, and placed a wing on Selene's shoulder.
"Thank you," she said. "I do not think it will be necessary though, I believe that it is most likely that I ended up in another dimension."
"That will present a problem if true, unlike teleports, dimensional travel requires you to have some frame of reference to return to where you came from. I do not know of any easy way to determine where I ended up, so finding my way home could be difficult."
"What about the magical hoofprint? Can that tell you?"
"It will help provide a reference but it will not give me the exact answer, it could still take a long time to find my home dimension."
"Luna..." Selene said, softly.
Luna looked towards Selene, but the girl was avoiding eye contact.
"Will... will you leave when you find your home?" Selene asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Luna's wing wrapped around the girl. She leaned down and nuzzled her gently.
"Do not worry Selene, I will not abandon you here. Before I return to Equestria, I will do all in my power to help you find your way home."
Selene returned the hug and stuttered out a thank you.
"I don't think I could stand to be alone again," she said.
"You will not have to be, I promise."
They both walked on in silence for some time. The sun was starting to dip behind the now distant mountains. They had reached a snow covered hill, it was the feature in the landscape besides more and more plain that they had seen for hours.
"Do you know how much farther?" Selene asked.
"Another hour at most, it is on the other side of this hill."
"Well, let's get going then!"
Climbing the hill was slow going, The surface of the snow was covered in a thin sheet of ice. Eventually the pair reached the top, they took a short break to eat dinner and then began to descend.