Day 1 Footnote: In the event that the reader is unfamiliar with myself and my kind, I have provided notes for a brief description, which shall be denoted by (?)
I awoke with naught but a soft buzzing in my head that day. I heard the chirping of birds and the sigh of the wind through the trees; I supposed I must be in Torvus Bog (1). When I arose to examine my surroundings, however, I was at a loss, for the foliage and atmosphere were nothing like that of my home.
A closer inspection revealed vibrant and healthy green leaves. The bark on the trees around me was flaky and brown in color. I breathed in, and the air was almost intoxicating in the sweetness of it; this was most certainly not my homeworld (2).
The sound of running water came from nearby, so I decided to investigate it. I rose to my feet, remaining crouched somewhat so as to avoid sticking out too much (3). The brush offered little resistance to my long strides, and before long I arrived at a small river. The water here flowed just quickly enough to avoid being stagnant, as evidenced by the debris lazily floating along the surface.
I glanced around, searching for any signs of life, or if I was fortunate, perhaps even signs of civilization. The ground was muddy enough that I was able to spy a set of tracks on the opposite bank of the river. I hovered over the waters and alighted on the other side, kneeling down for a better look at the footprints.
The depressions in the mud were rather small compared to my own track size, barely half as long as mine were. The tracks, I observed, were rounded and smooth, most likely made by a hooved creature, and the depth of the indent was slight compared to the width and length of it. Whatever had left it was much lighter than one might expect for a creature of its size.
I looked to the sky, hoping to discern the approximate time until this world’s sun would set. Based on the sun’s current position relative to the horizon, as well as the soft orange light that was beginning to creep over the forest, I found it reasonable to assume that I had perhaps two hours at most until dark.
With that in mind, I decided that it would behoove me to follow the tracks left here, in the hopes of finding a civilization that I could share company with. Mind you, this was not out of fear for my own safety, but rather out of a desire to reduce the amount of risk of anything forcing me into a combat situation that I would rather avoid, at least until I could gather more information on my current location.
As the tracks continued further and further away from the river, I had to rely more and more on visual clues other than the actual hoofprints in the ground. It was difficult at first, as I was unfamiliar with the plant life that grew here, but with patience I was able to discern some telltale signs of passage. I continued on in this manner for perhaps thirty minutes before I heard the sounds of something moving in the distance ahead of me.
Perhaps this was the creature who had been leaving the tracks? I strained my senses to get a better look at the being, only vaguely able to make out a quadrupedal form from this distance. Not satisfied, I cast my mind’s eye towards the creature, hoping to get a feel for its level of intelligence, if any (4).
Initially, my mental probing was met with silence, but I soon discovered a strong presence where I knew the creature to be. Their mind was well-fortified, allowing me no access to even the most basic of surface thoughts or emotions. I must admit my surprise that the first living being I should encounter in this strange place would be one so intelligent.
I decided that politeness would be the appropriate method to approach this person. I sent my mind’s eye to gently make contact with the other’s consciousness, much like one would knock on the door of a stranger’s house. Immediately I felt and saw the quadruped stiffen and look up in alarm and suspicion, and I surmised that it must be concerned of the presence of a predator.
To keep things from spiralling out of control, I called out to the creature.
“Peace, friend, I mean you no harm.”
The quadruped turned to face in my direction, and I could see its head swiveling about, searching for me. An interesting fact, I thought, that I would be able to see farther in the dim light of the forest than a creature native to it. Nevertheless, I put my scientific ponderings aside and stepped forward slowly, keeping my hands up in a placating gesture.
After a moment, the being’s gaze locked onto me, and I saw it crouch into a low stance, which I assumed was a defensive one. I once again called out to it.
“I assure you, I come in peace.”
As far as I could tell, the quadruped had no visible reaction to my words. I wondered if it could understand what I was saying; as soon as the thought occurred to me, a feeling in my gut told me that it must be true for this case. I once again brushed against its mind with my own, and I broadcast to it an image of myself and it sitting peacefully together and conversing.
That certainly got a reaction out of it. The creature stood back to its normal height and began cantering quickly towards me. As it closed the distance between us, I was able to make out more details about its physical form. It bore a pattern of stripes across its body, alternating between black and white. In truth, it reminded me of a creature I’d once seen in an image given to me by a human I used to know (5).
I remained still, keeping my hands raised so as to be clear in my non-hostile intentions. The being, which I will henceforth refer to as a zebra, finally stopped when it was within one or two paces of me. By the way it carried itself and the distinct roundness of parts of its body, I felt safe in assuming that this particular zebra was female. It, or rather she, scanned me up and down several times; I could only assume she was looking for any possible threats.
When she was done, she lifted one of her front legs towards me and pulled it back towards herself. I touched her mind to glean what she might mean by it, and was rewarded with a mental image of her leading me to a small hut. I conveyed my gratitude to her, and the zebra nodded her head in return.
As we walked through the forest, I allowed my curiosity to overtake me. How could such a creature exist? It was so similar to the human zebra, and yet far different. Even then, my mind regarded the foliage; it reminded me of the flora that was found on a human world. Had I landed on a human colony? If so, why couldn’t this one comprehend my speech? The humans had been quick to try and make friends with my people, so the language barrier shouldn’t be a problem for a human world. Perhaps this one simply didn’t have a translator module.
It was dark by the time we arrived at the zebra’s hut, so the first thing I did upon our arrival was to conjure a few light spheres that I sent to hover around the clearing in which we stood. The zebra seemed shocked at that, and I could sense a brief flash of uncertainty from her mind. I wondered if she was unfamiliar with energy manipulation; it would be one of the only reasons I could think of that might cause her to react in such a way to my light spheres.
Regardless, she seemed to compose herself quickly enough, and opened a small door in the side of the hut. She went inside, then turned and repeated her gesture from earlier, indicating she wanted me to follow her inside. I crouched down, but even at my shortest I was too tall to squeeze through the door. My hostess seemed to notice this, as she held one of her hooves to her chin in thought.
It was my turn to hide my surprise at the sheer flexibility of her front limbs; she seemed to be able to bend it in almost a full circle of motion. Later, when I had the time, I would have to study the bone and muscle structure of this curious species.
Seeing as my zebra guide was at a loss for what to do about my size, I sent her a mental image of myself resting comfortably in a tree and pointed to the edge of the clearing. She paused for a moment, but eventually nodded in understanding. With that, I stood up and looked around for a suitable tree to spend the night in. Once I found a good candidate, I fluttered my wings and hovered up to a comfortable little crook in one of the branches.
I settled against the thick trunk of the tree and allowed myself to sink into a restful state, though I made sure to keep my mind’s eye attentive for any hostile presences (6).
When I rose from my rest on the second day of my presence in this strange land, I glanced at the sky to determine the approximate time of day. The sun was yet low on the horizon, barely peeking over the low mountains in the distance. It was a strange coincidence that the length of this planet’s day/night cycle should be so close to my own. I looked towards my zebra companion’s hut, wondering if she had awoken yet.
As if in answer to my question, I saw the silhouette of a quadruped moving about through one of the hut’s windows. I decided not to disturb her; instead, I hopped down from the tree I was in and strode off a short ways into the woods for my regular exercise. I was unfortunately without my usual training course, but I’d practiced in far worse than the woods.
For today, I settled with twenty wide circles around the hut at full speed, and for extra challenge I did not allow myself to touch the ground, leaping from branch to branch through the trees. Considering my height, it was quite difficult to avoid hitting some of the thicker branches, and I broke a few by mistake whilst sprinting past.
It was interesting to me how fragile these tree limbs seemed to be. Once I completed my run, I picked up one of the thick branches I’d snapped by mistake and tried to break it over my knee. The amount of force I needed to apply was much less than that required to break trees from Aether; I would have to keep my strength in mind for the future, as breaking things by mistake would be a terrible faux pas.
I was about to begin my strength training when my host came out of her hut and spoke at me in a strange tongue. I adjusted my translator to try and accommodate, but to no avail. This language was vastly different from that of the humans.
This revelation struck a small chord of uncertainty in my heart. If this creature did not speak human, then I would likely not be on a human world. In such a case, returning home to Aether could be much more problematic than I’d hoped.
My zebra friend finished speaking, but I had not the faintest idea what she’d said. I touched her mind with my own and sent her the feeling of confusion, hopefully conveying my lack of understanding. She tried speaking again, and I could tell she made many of the same sounds as the previous time. I decided to take a different approach.
“My apologies, friend, but I do not speak your language,” I said. I then repeated my feeling of confusion to her.
This time she seemed to understand, at least by the spark of recognition I felt from her mind. She repeated the gesture that had startled me last night, rubbing one of her hooves against the bottom of her mouth. I felt a measure of deep thought radiating from her, and so I slowly sat down on the ground beside her.
It wasn’t too long before my friend seemed to come to a solution. She gestured at me with both of her front limbs, holding them up in a placating manner. I looked at her thoughts and saw a picture of herself walking towards a town while I stayed here at her hut. I nodded and mentally acknowledged her intent.
The zebra nodded in return and began cantering off into the woods. I made note of the direction she took in case I should need to find either her or the town which she was headed for.
Now that I was once more alone, I began to wonder how I had even come to be in this place; as far as I knew, all of the dimensional chaos following the destruction of Dark Aether had ended over a cycle ago (1). Perhaps something here had drawn me in? That thought, though, left me with a sense of foreboding that I could not shake. Crossing dimensions was not something to be undertaken lightly; we Luminoth understood the hazards of dimensional travel well (2).
If something, or someone, had pulled me across dimensions, I was at a severe disadvantage; that person or thing likely knew all about my and my kind, but I knew nothing of it or this place. I hoped that my current situation was nothing more than a mere coincidence.
Brooding on my arrival here caused the time to fly by rapidly, and before I knew it, the sun had risen to its zenith in the sky. Its light was quite warm, a bit like the heat one would feel in the wastes of Agon Sector (3), though the warmth radiating from this sun almost felt benevolent. I cast that thought aside as silly.
I was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger beginning in my stomach. I had eaten nothing since my arrival yesterday, nor drank any water. Perhaps I should have thought to ask my zebra friend what was edible in these parts. I wondered if anything here was even edible for my kind at all.
That thought once again brought my spirits low. This planet could have any number of hostile bacteria and viruses, so I would have to be quite careful of what I touched, ate, and drank. At least until I had ascertained otherwise, my stay here would have to be intensely clean.
Time continued to pass in fits; occasionally I would be lost in thought for hours, and other times I would be methodically counting away the seconds. Hopefully my hostess would return soon.
Just as my counting of seconds broke the five thousand mark, I felt a powerful, enigmatic presence in the clearing with me. I immediately rose into a defensive stance, straining my senses for more information on this being. A frown creased my face as I felt a few threads of dark power emanating from the presence; if this were an Ing, I had inadvertently brought grave danger to this place (4).
As if it had noticed my unease, the being began circling around the outskirts of the clearing, likely relishing in my tension.
“Dark one, reveal yourself!” I shouted to it. “Your quarrel is with me, let us settle our accounts on the field of honor.”
It did not seem to like the hostility in my voice, as it thrust forward with its mind in an attempt to invade my own. I stood strong against it, weathering its assault like a great rock against the crashing waves of the sea. It continued to assail me, searching for any weak points in my defenses, but I offered it no such weakness.
With a great cry, I unleashed a wave of bright energy, sending the dark one spiralling off into the brush. I prepared to give chase when a voice called out to me in the strange tongue of the natives. I glanced towards the source and my eyes fell upon the four figures standing at the edge of the clearing, staring at me in varying levels of fear and uncertainty.
The first of the four I recognized immediately as my zebra friend; she was the one who held the most uncertainty. The other three that were with my hostess were built similarly, but with several differences; each of them bore a pair of wings at their side and a long, spiralling horn jutting from their heads. Two of the winged ones were quite tall compared to the zebra, reaching a little higher than my knees.
It struck me then that my zebra friend must have been returning with the other three just as I repelled the dark presence, and had likely been caught in my attack by mistake. I sighed inwardly; this would make discussion with the local authorities much more difficult.
Nonetheless, there was a dark being about, and I could not let down my guard while it threatened myself and my companions. I cast about my senses for its location, but to my surprise I could not find it anywhere, nor even any trace of its presence here. What manner of being was this? It appeared and disappeared at will, assaulted the mind instead of the body, perhaps other tricks that it had yet to show. This would be a formidable foe indeed.
For now, though, I needed to turn my attention to the three newcomers, who were likely the authorities for this area. I could not allow them to get the wrong impression of me, else I risked incurring their wrath and could be forced into conflict with them. I bowed low, as was the custom for my people when expressing gratitude or when in the presence of greater beings.
“Greetings,” I said, making sure to keep my voice as pleasant as possible. Even though they couldn’t understand me, I knew that they were intelligent enough to appreciate the effort. “My name is U-Mos, son of V-Mos, and fifth Sentinel of my people, the Luminoth (5). To whom do I owe the pleasure?”
The three winged-horned ones looked at each other and spoke in their tongue. Oh, how I longed to know what they said! At last, though, the smallest of the three stepped forward. It was close in height to the zebra, and its skin was a very odd shade of purple. Her body was shaped in much the same way as the zebra, so I found it safe to assume that this one was female as well. I saw the horn on her head begin to glow as she spoke.
Instead of hearing the language that I’d grown accustomed to hearing from them, this purple one spoke in gibberish bits and pieces of my own tongue! I marvelled at that, for I had assumed that there would be no translating capability amongst them after my initial contact with the zebra. However, the reality of it set in quickly, and I realized that the purple one’s capacity for converting our languages was quite flimsy at the moment, only sending scattered letters to my ears.
I held up my hands in a gesture asking her to stop. At first, the purple one didn’t seem to understand, but after a few whispered words from one of the tall ones, she ceased speaking and simply looked at me plainly. I pondered what I might do to convey my peaceful intentions, when another of the three horned-winged ones stepped forward.
This one sported a skin of a very dark blue, and unlike the zebra and purple one, the blue one had a billowing font of hair flowing from its head, which fluttered about in a wind that I could not perceive. The blue one also appeared to be shaped as a female, which prompted me to wonder if this society was matriarchal. Such a thing would be most intriguing.
Regardless, this blue female seemed to bear the most mistrust of me, if her defensive body language was any indicator. She said something in her own tongue, and immediately the purple one stepped back behind her. A foreboding feeling settled in my stomach; I sincerely hoped that they would not try anything violent.
The blue one’s horn glowed, and I felt a vast, nigh-impenetrable mental presence pressing heavily against my own. I grunted in surprise, shielding myself against the unexpected intrusion. The other tall one of the three winged-horned ones was saying something to the one pushing against my mind, and not long after I felt the alien pressure against me reduce in intensity.
I breathed a sigh of relief, though I remained wary of the blue one, who continued to keep her mind’s eye just skimming the surface of mine. I felt nothing at all from her, so thick were her mental defenses. I met her continued presence with my own formidable barriers. If this one were in a position of power, I would not be surprised; such mental fortitude was a sure sign of authority.
The blue one still glared at me with distrust, though she retreated to allow the last of the winged-horned ones to step forward. This one bore a dazzling coat of white, and like the blue one before her the white one also had a flowing mane of hair, though in a stunning panorama of colors. I felt a light touch against my mind from this white one, though she retreated into herself quickly, as if inviting me to follow.
Cautiously, I did so, and felt in her thoughts a great deal of worry and concern. My initial response was to wonder what was causing her distress, but it was quickly obvious to me that I was the cause of her concern.
The white one showed me a mental image of herself and the blue one in a grand hall filled with statues and draperies and all kinds of luxury. Accompanying that was a feeling of command, and an image of the blue and white ones leading a great army of armored quadrupeds.
These two must hold a position of great power, indeed, I thought to myself. I was fortunate to have arrived so close to a seat of power that the rulers could come at such short notice.
Following the previous image came a feeling of great peace, and an accompanying image of the army from before beating its swords into plowshares. It would seem that this society was a gentle one, having learned to live in peace with themselves. I wistfully thought of my own people, and how I longed to return to them even after just a day of being away.
The white one then sent to me a final image of a mysterious being looming over her peaceful realm, and she gestured towards me with her mind, as if suggesting that I were the one that threatened their tranquil lifestyle. The way she suggested it, though, it didn’t sound like an accusation, but rather a question:
Are you a threat to our people?
I felt it implied in the simple sentence that if I did prove to be a menace, these three winged-horned ones would have no qualms banishing me or otherwise removing the threat I would have posed. I most certainly understood their position; was that not exactly what I, as the Sentinel of my people, were also entrusted to do? With that in mind, I resolved that I should explain myself to my hosts, that we might be of accord. I wished no discord between us.
With difficulty, I managed to convey my thoughts to the white one; that I too was the guardian of my people, and that I respected their authority and wished not to tread upon it. She seemed to take an eternity to consider my intentions as I had presented them, and at last nodded her head. I sighed in relief.
She sent another image to me, one of an orange quadruped carrying a basket of small, red fruit-like objects. I felt her associating the image with food and sustenance; I supposed these red spheres must be their primary dietary item. She also presented me with the feeling of lateness and tiredness, and as I glanced into the sky I was amazed to find that it was already close to sunset. How time flies in a strange land!
I nodded my assent and conveyed it to her with a thought. The three winged-horned ones quickly departed after that, leaving me once again with the zebra I’d first met. Beginning to feel the exhaustion of the day myself, I simply gestured to the same tree I’d slept in last night, and she seemed to understand, as the zebra left me to my own devices after that.
It almost saddened me to face the prospect of resting. There were so many questions buzzing in my brain, I couldn’t hold them all. Was this society a matriarchal one, like I suspected? What could the wings and horns mean for the three rulers I’d met? What kinds of powers did they possess? Were the red sphere fruits their only food item? Why did their primary food so closely resemble the Grand Circle? (6)
All this and more I wondered, but I knew that dwelling on it would only deny me rest and solve nothing. With a sigh I sank once again into a rest coma in this strange land of quadrupeds.
I rested for what I estimated to be five hours before I was roused from my rest by a familiar presence. I cast about my senses and grimaced when I felt the same dark presence from before. Without a moment’s hesitation I leaped from my perch and raced through the treetops towards the darkling.
It must have noticed my approach, because it once again disappeared in an instant. I slowed to a stop and hovered in place, frustrated at this being’s evident love of toying with me. The next time I spoke with the three winged-horned ones, I would have to tell them about the dark presence that lurked in their lands. Perhaps they might know more about it.
With a lack of any further reasons for being about, I returned to my tree and resumed resting. The rest of the night fortunately passed without incident, and I rose with the dawn the next morning. I went through my training as I had the day before, though this time I allowed myself to stray further from the clearing than I had before, so that I might find a nice-sized boulder for my strength training (1).
After about an hour’s passing, I returned to the clearing feeling quite hungry, as one is oft wont to be after a good warmup. In the future, I would have to carefully monitor the amount of energy I spent, at least until I acquired a reliable source of nutrition while I was in this world. I cast about my mind’s eye, searching for my zebra hostess, but to no avail. I surmised that she had left once again to fetch the three leaders of this land.
To my surprise, however, she returned shortly thereafter with an orange quadruped. I recognized this one from the image I’d been shown yesterday by the white one of the leaders. By her shape, I surmised that this orange one was also female, and she also had what looked to be a brown, circular-rimmed hat about the top of her head. On her back she carried a relatively large basket of the red fruits I’d been shown.
I sensed much uncertainty from the new orange quadruped. To allay her fears I took a step back and slowly bowed low, while greeting her with a thought. She reacted with surprise, jumping back a short distance. I maintained my peaceful posture, though I sent her the idea that I had no intention of bringing any harm to her.
She appeared to accept that; however, I couldn’t tell if I had truly gained her trust. Her stance was still cautious, if more relaxed than before. I moved from my bowing position to sit down, bringing myself down to only slightly above her eye level.
The orange one brought the basket of fruits towards me and carefully set it down beside me. As she let go, I caught a brief glimpse of affection in her thoughts directed towards the fruit. In that moment, I realized that this must be a farmer who had grown these fruits with the work of her own hands. Or in this case, hooves, I realized as I noticed the end of their limbs ending in firm crescents of some bone-like substance. Fascinating.
I decided to attempt to engage this one in a bit of friendly talk, in the hopes that my geniality might provide a more favorable impression upon the rulers and her countrymen.
“Did you grow these yourself?” I asked. I also sent the feeling of curiosity to her, followed closely by a feeling of nurturing and raising a crop (2).
She didn’t react as vehemently as she had the last time; I suspected she was more surprised by my interest in her than my method of communication. She said something in her language, and I gleaned from her thoughts that she was affirming my suspicion that she had been the one to grow these fruits.
I sent the orange one a feeling of gratitude as I lifted one of the fruits out of the bag. I held it aloft for several moments, studying it to ensure that there would be no contamination (3). When my scanning came up clean, I sighed in relief, for my hunger had truly grown over the last two and a half days. I quickly brought the fruit to my mouth and took a small bite of it; I was pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of it, and there was a certain crispness in the fruit’s succulent flesh that I found quite tasteful.
I continued to eat until I encountered a particularly firm section in the center of the fruit, where several small seed-like lumps sat. Assuming the fruit was done, I pulled another from the basket and consumed it much more quickly, as my hunger would no longer wait patiently now that food was available.
Several minutes passed as I ate and ate. I could tell that the orange one felt mildly proud that I obviously enjoyed the taste of her fruit. She seemed to have finally grown comfortable in my presence, which I suspected was likely related to my voracious appetite.
Eventually, though, I had had my fill, leaving approximately half of the red fruits uneaten in the basket. I desired not to eat too much, as it could hinder me if I needed to defend myself or my hosts. Now all I needed was a nice drink of water and I would be alright for a while.
That in mind, I sent a query to the two quadrupeds that were in my company as to where I might find a stream with clean water to drink from. The orange one said something to the zebra, and the two of them went into the hut that the zebra lived in. I waited only a short time before they returned with a small bucket of water.
This surprised me slightly, for I had not thought that any kind of sophisticated water transfer system would exist in this kind of wilderness. Perhaps we were indeed quite close to the rulers’ lands, then.
I cast aside my thoughts as I accepted the water from them, once more scanning for any signs of impurity. Again my search detected no harmful entities in the water, and so I drank slowly from the bucket until I had emptied it. Feeling refreshed, I stood up and stretched my limbs, hovering a few inches off of the ground.
There came a feeling of amusement from the two quadrupeds, and I couldn’t help chuckling myself. It was contagious.
It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen the three rulers yet today, so I sent a query to my zebra guest as to where they might be. She sent me an apologetic feeling and relayed a picture of several figures sitting around a table discussing something, three of which I recognized as the winged- and horned quadrupeds from the previous day. The zebra attached a great sense of importance to the thought, and conveyed that I was the subject of their talk.
I was dismayed at the inability to speak with the rulers again, but I knew that they would come back when they had dealt with their own troubles. It wouldn’t do to rush them. I acknowledged her with a nod and began pacing about the clearing.
The orange one spoke to me again, and as I turned to face her she pointed off in the direction she had come from and sent me the feeling of going home, that work needed to be done. I bowed once more in gratitude for her food and she departed with a friendly wave. I turned back to the zebra, but unfortunately she too had work that she insisted needed to be done.
With a sigh, I resigned myself to wandering the nearby area for what little information I could gleam. Now that I was alone, I couldn’t stop the tide of curiosity and questions that bubbled constantly in my brain. One amongst them took priority, however, and my spirits always felt tested when I thought about it.
How was I to return home?
I had no answer currently, and my exploration offered no progress. I returned to the clearing when evening fell and settled into my tree for my rest.
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.
After Moon left the room, I moved around and inspected the various furnishings that lay within. Many were designed to open on hinges, revealing empty space inside. I suspected that these were for storage, but I could fathom no guess as to what could possibly be intended for being stored here.
Aside from all the hidden extra space, there were several smooth mirrors in the room, though none of them could even hold a candle to my height. There were several windows as well, overlooking a very organized courtyard filled with such colorful plant life that I was momentarily stunned.
Past the flora, I could see the other side of the courtyard was a bright white wall, likely a type of limestone. Several golden spires rose into the sky beyond them, leaving me curious as to what the spires might be intended for.
I pulled away from the window and was about to sit down when the door opened and the white winged-horned leader entered. I greeted her with a bow and conveyed to her the question of what I might address her as, like Moon had asked me.
Where Moon had taken a moment to respond, this one answered without hesitation, saying something in her tongue and sending me an image of their planet’s sun in the sky. My curiosity yearned to know more. Were these three winged and horned ones leaders of a sky-worshipping religion? Such would be a fascinating thing to encounter.
Sun asked me what my own name was, and I gave her the same response that I had to Moon. Sun didn’t even try to pronounce “U-Mos”, which gave me a small amount of amusement; Sun and Moon seemed to be about as different as the heavenly bodies they represented.
She queried me as to whether or not there was anything I desired that they might provide for me, such as some food or drink. At the moment, I felt it would be prudent to request only a little bit of sustenance, which I conveyed to her. I also requested to see the purple one again, as I wished to break down the language barrier that continued to separate us. Communicating via thoughts and ideas certainly worked well enough, but it was time- and energy intensive compared to the ease of the spoken word.
My host nodded in response to my two requests, and subsequently departed. I settled down onto the soft floor to finally ponder some of the things I had been hoping to think on for the last day or so.
Foremost in my thoughts was the way that Moon had brought me here. I had been so eager to see their technological prowess, but now that I looked back on the event I did not recall seeing any kind of portal or gate, or any technology at all. Only her horn had given any indication of abnormal activity.
A sudden realization came to me, one that I am surprised I did not think of before now. Each of them used their horns to produce various effects; therefore, this must be their technology. I marvelled at how great their scientific prowess must be if they could harness such cybernetic enhancements to such a powerful degree.
Indeed, powerful and fine-tuned as well, for Moon had transported us across dimensions without even opening a portal. I began to question whether or not I was the more advanced of our two sides in this first contact.
However, this could pose a great boon to me as well. With such easy access to the inter-dimension, I suspected that getting home to Aether might prove to be easier than I had initially feared it might be.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of the door opening once again, the smaller purple one entering the room. I sensed from her an interesting mix of anxiety and excitement; I suspected that my request to see her personally must have had an impact on her.
She surprised me by lighting up her horn and speaking a brief word in my native tongue.
“U-Mos,” she said, pointing at me. I nodded in affirmation and asked what I might call her. She turned off her horn and spoke in her own language, and in her mind I glimpsed a picture of the sky at eventide. I decided to simply call her Evening then, perhaps Eve for short.
I spoke in my language and pointed at her.
“Evening,” I said. She lit up her horn and repeated the word back to me. I couldn’t help but appreciate the quickness with which Eve picked up my tongue.
The two of us continued on in this fashion, each of us naming an object in our own language and repeating it back to the other. Before I knew it, the sun was setting in the sky and Eve was panting with exhaustion, I suspected from maintaining her translating implant all day. She turned to leave, but stopped at the door and turned to face me again.
“Farewell,” she said haltingly, “Tomorrow talk you more.”
I bowed.
“It would be my pleasure, Eve,” I said in her language, which I now knew they called ‘Equestrian’. I should amend here that I tried to say this in Equestrian, for I had the same incomplete grasp of their tongue as Eve had of mine. The translator module that I had and her own capabilities for translation certainly helped, but we still had to do much extrapolation to get other things correct.
I was pleased at the rapidity of our progress today; if events continued at this pace, I would be here for no more than a week. That is what I hoped, at least. Even now, I already knew that they called themselves Equestrians, I knew the names of many basic objects in their language, and even how to tell apart their genders.
There came a knock at the door, and I sensed an unfamiliar Equestrian female on the other side of the door. I reverted back to using telepathy and feelings to convey that she was welcome to enter into my room. I felt slight amusement at the surprise of the newcomer at my presence in her mind, but she admirably persevered through it and came in. I felt curiosity strike me as I observed the small cart that this one pulled behind her, though I could tell by the smell of it that this was likely intended to be my supper for today.
Admittedly, I was slightly eager to sample some of the food that had been prepared here, but I needed to make sure that these dishes were as safe as the round fruits were. I scanned over each one, and I was pleased to find that none of it contained any toxins or dangerous microbes. I faced the one who had brought my food and spoke in broken Equestrian.
“Thank you,” I said. To be sure that I had gotten my point across, I sent her the feeling of gratitude. She offered a quick bow to me and scurried out of the room as politely as she could. I took no offense, for I knew how strange it must be to bring food for an alien.
Once she had left, I brought several of the various dishes before me and sampled each of them. Some were quite delicious, leaving a delightful taste in my mouth, though others were quite foul and required me to wash down the taste with several mouthfuls of water from a pitcher that had been provided. Of particular note was a soft, spongy food of a peculiar dark brown color that was covered in a layer of a very sweet and smooth gel-like substance. The delightful thing was served in a relatively small cylindrical shape that was wider than it was tall. I left a small portion of it so that I might ask Eve what the name of this treat was.
I ate until I was comfortably full, which put quite a dent in the amount of food they’d brought for me. The sun only barely lingered over the horizon, casting a great panorama of reds and oranges through the sky. From my window I had a breathtaking view. Aether hadn’t seen a sunset like this for many a centicycle.
Away from the window I turned, lest a bout of homesickness overtake me. For now, I simply wished to rest after a long and busy day. So I did.
