The Field Journal of U-Mos: Notes on Equestria

by Brony Tom

Day 4: Morning

Day 4

I rose the next morning with little fanfare. I went about my practice as I had the last two days with nothing out of the ordinary. Once I had finished, the sun was halfway to its zenith in the sky above. I decided I might eat a few more of the fruits from the day before to keep myself in good condition, so I returned to the zebra’s clearing and fetched a few fruits from the basket.

Not long afterwards, the three winged and horned leaders appeared at the edge of the clearing from a magnificent flash of light and energy. I had to contain my astonishment, for I had not thought to expect teleportation capabilities from these people. Perhaps I would have to reassess my initial conclusions on their technological prowess.

Once again I bowed low to the three of them, though I made sure to keep my mental defenses strong while I was in the presence of the blue one. She likewise kept her barriers thick and gave me not an iota of feeling. The white one allowed her thoughts to disseminate freely through the air, though I thought I detected a faint trace of some trigger defense should I attack her mind. Wise, though I certainly had no plans that involved any such attack.

Oddly enough, the purple one seemed to have no mental defenses at all, her surface thoughts an open book for all to see. It occurred to me that this one might be a new addition to the group, as she was also shorter than the other two, perhaps indicating youth. I would have to keep that possibility in mind when dealing with these three.

The white one sent me an image of several beings of various species sitting around a table in the midst of a heated discussion, followed by the feeling of indecision. I surmised that their council must not have reached a final verdict on how to respond to my presence, and conveyed that idea to her as a question. She confirmed it with what I could only assume was a great sigh.

This could prove problematic for me. Should their leaders decide that I was a threat, even if it was just from my continued presence on their world, they could construct plans to attempt to have me removed. Such plans would only end poorly for all involved.

I sent her an image of the four of us having a discussion and a feeling of polite request. I felt that I should at least give them a better idea of who I am and where I came from. Perhaps they could even have an idea of how I might get home from here.

My request was met with a positive response from the white one, so I sat down on the ground to put them closer to my eye level. The three of them came forward so that they stood only a meter or so away, though I could sense that the purple one dearly wished to come closer and study me. I couldn’t help but feel amused, so I spread my arms in a welcoming gesture and conveyed to her an invitation to examine me if she so chose.

I remembered that this one was likely the youngest of the three, so I also broadcast my invitation to the other two, like I would ask the parents of a child. They seemed to have a brief debate between the two of them, but soon enough the white one responded with an affirmative. The purple one made an odd noise that I don’t think I could replicate with my vocal chords, but I could tell it was one of joy.

She rapidly closed the short distance between us and paused just before me, obviously unsure where to begin. I chuckled at the sight, reminded of a child that has discovered a new toy to play with. As an offering, I held up my hand to her, palm up, for her to inspect. She nodded and took my hand in her front legs, turning it over, then back to palm-up, then proceeded to test the range of motion of my fingers, stopping whenever she encountered resistance from the joints. All the while, she gazed intently at my hand with her horn glowing a soft purple sheen.

It wasn’t long before she’d gotten through just about everything interesting that my hand could provide for her. In a similar fashion, I offered her my arm, which she carefully moved about and bent, making sure to not bend them in ways that they were not meant to. She seemed astonished at the sheer range of motion that my arms seemed capable of; this came as no surprise to me, as I suspected that their quadrupedal front legs, while extraordinary, were still bound by mostly the same limits as quadrupeds where I came from.

The two of us continued in this manner for some time, with the purple one examining my legs, wings, and I even allowed her to have a close look at my face. Once she had sated the curiosity that filled her, she backed off, and I noticed the glow from her horn fade away. I would have to ask what the glow meant sometime in the near future.

As I looked back to the other two, the white one stepped forward and grabbed my attention with a mental ping. I acknowledged her, and she sent me a feeling of curiosity in regards to where I had come from. I frowned as I pondered how best to respond.

Eventually I settled on sending her a picture of Aether when viewed from orbit. She considered the image for a moment, not comprehending, when suddenly she collapsed back onto her posterior, great waves of shock emanating from her mind. Immediately, the blue one was at my throat, growling something in their language and pressing against me with her mind. I met her force with my own, not giving up a centimeter of ground.

I heard the white one call something to the blue one, who grudgingly stood down from her hostile stance. The three of them began to converse in their tongue, though the blue one never took her eyes off of me. Soon, their discussion become much more animated, if the volume of their voices was anything to go by. I merely sat still, waiting for them to finish whatever had gotten them so riled up.

It was several minutes before they once more turned to face me, each of them with a slight feeling of unease about them, aside from the blue one which was, as always, unreadable. The white one sent me curiosity regarding the means with which I had arrived here. I responded with a mental shrug, for I knew not how I had come to be here any more than they did.

My answer once more sent the three leaders into a flurry of discussion. After they’d finished their talk amongst themselves, the blue one stepped forwards, and even through her formidable mental shielding I felt a sense of distrust. She sent me an image of her touching my hand with her hoof, followed by a rather confusing feeling that I couldn’t place. I conveyed my lack of understanding to her, and she paused for several moments.

She finally sent me a vague feeling of something moving between spaces that I barely grasped, as it came packaged with several connotations that I could not relate to. I suspected that these subtexts must have something to do with their species that was incompatible with my own, at least for now. I attempted to relate this information to her, and she seemed to understand. Once again she pondered for a minute or two and then responded.

The blue one informed me that the three of them would like to bring me to their residence so that I might be more cordially accommodated while I stayed here. She also added that, for the sake of honesty, she felt obligated to tell me that it was also partly so that they could keep an eye on me. I appreciated the blue one’s forthrightness. Such strength of character eased my apprehension in regards to her suspicion of me.

It struck me then just how accustomed I had become to communicating in this way. I no longer had much trouble getting them to understand me, despite our lack of shared language. Perhaps there is something to be said for the bond that ties all living things together.

In any case, it was the moving part that seemed to involve the ideas I had been unable to grasp earlier. I wondered if it was the same way that the three of them had teleported into the clearing; if so, I felt a glimmer of excitement at the prospect of witnessing their technology in action.

I related my acceptance of their proposal, and the blue one nodded in response. She approached me slowly and extended a hoof, which I gently took in my hand. I felt her flinch at my touch, though only slightly. Her horn began to shine with a bright blue light, and then everything faded away.

The two of us drifted through a miasma of color and energy for a brief moment before I felt the familiar dissolution of my body’s particles that signalled dimensional travel. (1) When myself and my host were reconstituted, I began to wonder if perhaps there was yet hope for me to return to my beloved Aether. I resolved to ask my host about their method of travel the next time we had a spare moment. For now, though, I cast about my gaze to see where we had ended up.

The room was quite tall by their standards, such that I could stand straight up and still have a small amount of space above my head. Around me were several articles of what I assumed were furniture, though the style was drastically different from the styles my people were known for. (2) The floor beneath my feet was quite soft, made of some kind of densely-woven fiber. All in all, it seemed to be quite luxurious, if I had to judge by their standards.

I conveyed a sense of gratitude for the fine accommodations to the blue one, who simply nodded and made to leave through the door on one side of the room. Just before she exited, though, she turned around and faced me again. She conveyed to me a query as to how I was identified from others of my race.

The suddenness of her question caught me by surprise, though in retrospect I should have expected the question sooner or later.

“U-Mos,” I said, gesturing to myself. I conveyed the idea of an identifier-- a name, really-- along with my pronunciation of it.

The blue one struggled to speak my name, but it seemed that her vocal chords weren’t capable of producing the sounds required. I decided to ask her the same question she had asked me, hoping to forestall her from damaging her voice for my sake.

She considered my question for a moment before responding with a vocalization of something in her language which I filed away for later, and accompanying it with an image of a full moon hanging in a starry sky.

Moon. So that was her name. Intriguing. I would have to ponder this once I had a moment; so many fascinating implications arose from such a simple thing.

That done, however, Moon at last turned and exited the room, leaving me on my own.

For the sake of brevity, I shall abridge this entry here, to be completed in a second portion which will cover the second half of Day 4.

Author's Note:

(1)- As I have said before, my people are no strangers to crossing dimensions, which is really quite simple. The process is relatively simple: enter a dimensional medium bridging the two planes you wish to travel between, move your body’s particles to the appropriate location on the opposite dimension, and then reconstitute yourself there.
(2)- Our culture is very fond of decorative flora, as well as the incorporation of spherical or circular designs into any aesthetic endeavor.

Comments

[lordofmyth]

huh, tyhis is actually somewhat........... itneresting at least. hmmm.

wonder what umos will do when he learns that they are capable of doing thigns similar to highyl advanced tehcnology without a single device at all.

[lordofmyth]

3661333 personally i prefered that. put simply it would make more sense if luna and celesita were far more powerful tahn him by far. they are both millenium old beings that are capable of punching through castle walls with simple magic blasts. he could defend himself to an extent, but he is ultimately not as powerful as either of them.

[Brony Tom]

3789789
Glad you find it interesting.

[Greatazuredragon]

Very interesting idea, good work so far.