The sky is bight with the sun shining down on Foalida as planes take off and land in the OrNeighdo Airport. At the airport Violet, Sunset, Luna, and Celestia wait at the turnstiles for their luggage. Violet tapping her foot as the sound mixes with the echoes of others passing by and talking.
“What’s taking it so long?” Violet asks.
“We just got here Violet, calm down.” Luna assures.
“I just want to get this trip started, is all.”
“Well, first thing you need to do, is relax, not to rush everything.”
“I know, but I’d rather keep my stu- there it is!”
Violet grabs a large purple bag with a rose embroidered on the handle. She picks it up and comes over with a smile on her face before heading to the others. They all then leave the airport as the warm air hits them as soon as the door opens. They all smile as Sunset and Violet relax their shoulders along with it.
“Feels so nice.” Violet mentions.
“Oh yeah, beats home anytime, haha.” Sunset jokes.
Celestia looks at them and smiles, almost laughing but letting out a giggle instead.
“You two stay here while Luna and I get the car.” Celestia instructs.
They both nod and sit on a nearby bench as Luna and Celestia leave.
“So, how are you holding up?” Sunset asks.
“Still feels odd, I’m uncertain about a lot, like, I feel lost ya know?”
“Yeah, I was like that when I changed.”
“I just hope this vacation can take my mind off of things, did mom or Aunt Celestia mention what we’re doing?”
“No, I packed like I would for any vacation though.”
“Same, they kept it a sec- ahhh!”
Violet grabs the side of her head near her right eye and rubs it in circles a second later.
“Are you okay Violet?”
Violet breathes heavy as she puts her hand down.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a random pain is all.”
“Okay, try not to scare me like that though.”
"I'll try not to."
Just then Luna and Calestia pull up in a red hoodless sports car. The car itself has smooth curves along the front as it's low to the ground. Sunset and Violet get their bags and place them into the trunk and get to the passenger's side. Sunset opens the door and gets in. Violet raises an eyebrow and smirks before placing her hand on the door and bending her knees before jumping up, hanging in the air for a second before landing in the seat.
Sunset rolls her eyes and chuckles.
"Show off." Sunset jokes.
"Couldn't resist."
Luna looks over her shoulder with a small smile.
"Now if we're finished showing off, both of you buckle up." Luna mentions.
Sunset and Violet buckle their seat belts and put their sunglasses on before Celestia and Luna do the same and Celestia drives off.
The warm breeze blows as Celestia drives on the freeway. The wind blowing in their hair as Violet and Sunset smile with their sunglasses on. Violet looks at the signs that pass by as her eyes go wide and starts bouncing in her seat.
"Are we going to Whinny World?!?" Violet asks excitingly.
Celestia chuckles.
"That's part of it, but not just yet."
"Wait, are we going on a cruise?"
"And she gets it."
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"
Violet bounces up and down as the markings around her magic eye and down her left arm glow a bright green. Just then a large quick gust of wind blew behind them, pushing the car slightly faster. Celestia struggles a bit to control the car.
"Calm down Violet, you're magic is acting up." Sunset instructs.
Violet takes a few deep breaths as her eye dims. She slouches back in her seat with a massive smile on her face. Luna giggles a bit and turns her head around to see Violet.
"Got your excitement out already?" Luna asks.
"For now mom, for now."
"Good."
"The sun feels so nice."
Sunset looks over before laying back in her seat.
"You got that right." Sunset mentions.
"That it does, it'll be about an hour before we get there, so relax you two." Celestia insists.
Violet and Sunset lower their shoulders and smile as they tilt their heads back and close their eyes. Celestia turns up the radio as a pop song plays and is quickly changed to a rock station by Luna.
An hour passes as Celestia pulls into a parking lot in front of the dock where the cruise ship is at and as Violet and Sunset get out, they see the massive cruise ship, White with gold along the edges and the bottom is a deep red. People are seen going into a small building in front of the ship as Sunset and Luna get the luggage from the trunk. With all the luggage, Celestia closes the top of the car and locks it before all four go towards the building.
The building itself is covered with glass, the glass where people are entering is stained to look like waves and ocean life, while above is clear, bringing in the light from the sun and the visual of the clouds through. When they enter, the interior is modern, slick check in counters made of silver metal and glass, furniture for passengers to sit in is curved with blue and silver metal like waves of the ocean. The entrance towards the ship looks like a whirlpool with a mix of blue, white and silver. In the corner near the passenger seating is a small waterfall that fills a built in fish tank that is in the floor and covered with glass. Violet and Sunset take their and Celestia's and Luna's bags with them to the passenger seats and wait while Celestia and Luna check into the cruise. Sunset smiles and looks towards Violet as she is looking down, watching the fish in the tank.
"Are you gonna be okay with your magic not running wild?" Sunset asks.
Violet sighs and looks at Sunset.
"I should be, I've been getting better and as far as I know, no one is after me, remember,the person Prim and Proper were after is dead and the only ones that know are us, mom and Aunt Celestia, and our friends."
"I know, but still."
"I'll be fine cuz, please, trust me, let's just focus on relaxing and having fun, okay?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
Just then Celestia and Luna return with boarding passes in hand and give Sunset and Violet theirs. As they do, a chime is played over the speakers.
"Welcome to Whinny Cruise Lines, here we leave the world behind and explore our ports of destination, rock the nights away at our clubs, relax the day away or do activities on the ship that are made for all ages, we will start boarding so please group A come to the gate and show us your passes and you will be brought on board." A female voice announces
They all look at their passes and see they are in group A.
"Well, we better get going." Celestia mentions.
Everyone else nods as they all make their way to the line and shortly after, make their way onto the ship. As they pass the gate, a man dressed in a black suit with a red tie and a white undershirt looks at his tablet with a subtle look of surprise and then a small smirk.
"Found you." The man mutters to himself as he packs his tablet and gets up to join the now growing line to board the ship.
As the four walk onto the ship they are greeted by two rows of employees, one on each side with them walking through the middle as they enter the lobby. The lobby itself has a modern look, though aquatic theme. The elevator shafts looking like ocean waves with tinted blue and silver. The title mimicking the waves with some tiles the look like coral and wildlife. Violet and Luna look around in awe as their eyes go wide and a large smile is on their faces as they make way to their cabin.
The cabin is painted a light blue with white tile and sand colored grout. The two bed frames were curved and fit the ocean wave theme along with the blue and white sheets and pillows. The space was limited, but it was big enough for everyone to move around without too much trouble.
Sunset and Violet set their bags on the near by couch and look out the window. Violet walks over and opens the sliding door and stands out on the balcony, though still at port, she can see the open ocean just in the distance past all the boats and ports. She lets out a relaxed sigh, followed by a soft smile.
“This feels, nice.” Violet mentions.
“Just wait until we get out to the open ocean.” Celestia teases.
Violet walks back in and shuts the glass door.
“Well of course, haha.”
They all head out of the room and shut the door before going to the upper deck.
The upper deck keeps the theme of waves as the rest of the ship, though with much more color, the floor is pine, though cut and sanded to look more like the ocean floor than a wooden deck. People gather in the center of the deck, with some already dancing to the music playing through the speakers. Some are already at the deck’s bar, while others are swiming. Violet and Sunset look in awe just as Luna and Celestia bump their elbows to the shoulders of their own daughters. Sunset and Violet shake their heads a bit and look at Luna and Celestia.
“Don’t take it all in at once, we got plenty of time, go explore.” Celestia advises.
They both nod and go off on their own ways, Sunset heading towards the pool, while Violet heads towards the back of the ship.
As Violet heads closer to the back, the more quiet it got. She sighs and smiles a bit.
“Finally, I can hear myself think.” She mentions to herself.
As she turns the corner, she bumps into someone and falls down. With a small thud she hits the deck. She quickly gets up and brushes herself off before looking at who she bumped into and reaches her arm out to offer them an arm up.
“I’m so so so sorry, need help?” Violet asks.
“Yes, thank you.” The young woman says as she takes Violet’s hand.
Violet pulls back as the woman gets up.
“I’m Violet, Violet Rose.” Violet introduces.
“Cherry, Cherry Blossom, but you may have known that.” Cherry Blossom mentions.
As she brushes her hair to the side, a mark of cherry blossom pedals run down the left side of her face. Violet staggers back a bit.
“How, how did you know?” Violet asks.
“Maidens of Gaia can sense one another, if the markings weren’t obvious enough.”
Violet looks at her arm, and sighs softly with a smile.
“Yeah, you got a point.”
“So where were you going in a rush?”
“Somewhere more quiet, kind of noisy for my tastes.”
“Ah, don’t blame you, Was gonna head to the pool towards the back, wanna join?”
“Oh, sure, I’ll need to grab my swimsuit though, mind if I meet you there?”
“Of course, I’ll see you there.”
Cherry Blossom leaves towards the pool while Violet heads to the cabin.
On her way to the cabin, her heart races as her breathing is now deeper and her eyes widened. She opens the door and hurries inside.
“There’s no way, there’s no way she can be here, she, she disappeared, and now she’s here and she is a maiden like me, what if she finds out?, what if she already knows?, how would she react?, should I tell her? Shouldn’t I tell her?, ugh it’s so confusing!” Violet panics as she paces around the cabin.
She grabs her swimsuit as her mind races and puts it on before looking herself over in the mirror. Her swimsuit is a modest purple two peice swimsuit with thick straps on the shoulders and is more form fitting. She twistd her body around, looking it over one more time.
“I just gotta play it cool, yeah, yeah, play it cool.” She assures herself as she puts on her flip flops and grabs a towel.
Violet leaves the cabin and shuts the door before heading to the pool.
When she reaches the pool, Violet sees a lot more adults and the pool is much deeper than the middle deck pool. She scans the pool and sees Cherry Blossom waving at her. Violet walks over to a pool side chair and places her towel on it just as Cherry comes over.
“Come in, the water is great.” Cherry invites as she crosses her arms on the ledge of the pool.
“In a second.” Violet says as she takes out the scrunchy in her hair and puts it on her towel.
Violet turns and sits on the ledge, putting her feet and legs in the water. She smiles softly as she slides the rest of her body in.
“This water feels so nice.” Violet mentions.
“It sure is.”
“This beats Canterlot’s lake any day.”
“Oh so you’re from Canterlot?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Manehatten originally, now in Las Pegasus.”
“Ah, I’ve traveled with my family, so I’ve beeen around, my mom taught at the old high school.”
Violet and Cherry start to swim around the pool. Cherry has more form in the way she swims unlike Violet who is a bit more chaotic in her swimming.
“I heard about what happened there, it’s a shame.” Cherry mentions.
“It is, did you know anyone from there?”
“I thought I didn’t, but when I looked at who passed away there, I felt this sense of hurt and sadness wash over me, like deep down I remember, but doesnt come to mind, did you know him?”
Violet looks down and sighs.
“I did, he and I were close friends, though he had his heart set on another at the time.”
“Poor girl, sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, yours too, even if you can’t remember him.”
“Youre welcome, and thanks, I’ll remember him eventually.”
“Yeah.”
Violet sinks the bottom part of her face into the water, her eyes cticking above the water like a gator.
“So changing the subject, since you’re new to the whole Gaia thing, I bet there’s lots of questions you want to ask.”
Violet pulls her head from the water and looks at Cherry Blossom.
“Yeah, can all of us control nature?”
“Depends on the role you were given.”
“There are roles?”
“Yep, Warrior, Healer, and Supports.”
“What one are you?”
“Healer.”
“Ah, I guess I’m warrior then.”
“If you can control nature, you are, what is your specialty?”
“Wind.”
“Nice, I have a friend that can control water.”
“Cool.”
“So, how were you chosen?”
“Well, I had a near death experience and was offered it.”
Cherry’s jaw drops and looks at Violet with shock.
“You got to meet her?!?” Cherry shouts.
“Yeah, why, is that a big deal?”
“Only the best of the best when it comes to potential have ever seen her.”
“Really?”
“Yes, girl, you may just be the best of us all, with some training of course.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah.”
“So what about you?”
“Mine was less thrilling, another maiden offered it to me.”
“Ah, so what’s your family like?”
“Rich, Mom is an adviser on a few boards and Dad is a CEO of a tech company.”
“Nice, very nice.”
Violet looks down a bit.
Just then the ship shakes a bit. The water shakes a bit as Violet and Cherry hold onto the ledge. Once the water settles in the pool they look at each other and laugh.
“We must have set off.” Violet guesses.
“Must have.”
“So starts my first real vacation.”
“That’s awesome, I take it most were weekends and such locally?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t bad, but this is something new.”
Just then Violet looks up to see Luna walk towards them, waving as she comes closer. Violet waves back with a relaxed smile.
“Hey mom.” Violet greets.
“Hey Violet, having fun?”
“Yeah, I am actually, oh, this is my new friend, Cherry Blossom.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you, watch out with my daughter, she’s a wild one, haha.”
Violet blushes and hides her face.
“Moooom~” She complains.
“I’m just teasing, well have fun, I’m going to climb the rock wall.”
Luna leaves, though Violet doesn’t notice.
“Okay, have fu- wait rock wall?”
Violet turns her head looking for her and sighs.
“Hope she doesn’t hurt herself.” Violet complains.
“She’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Hey, I got something to go to so I’ll catch you later okay?”
Cherry gets out of the pool and grabs her towel and wraps it around her waist. Violet looks at her with a small smile on her face.
“Okay, I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon.”
“Oh we will Violet, see ya later.”
Cherry then puts on her flip flops and leaves the pool. Violet sighs as she traces her finger on top of the water.
“Even as P.B., I probably didn’t stand a chance, haha.” Violet says to herself.
“Don’t stand a chance with who?”
Violet jumps and looks behind her to see Sunset in the pool.
“Did we forget personal space?”
“Oh, sorry.”
Sunset swims back a bit.
"You know my friend that you found out about, Cherry Blossom?"
"A bit yeah, why? Another flashback?"
"No, she's on this cruise."