The Slumber of Gaia

Chapters

First Contact
Puckish Princess
Table Manners
Wordplay
She came from Space
Moon Encounter
Dusk of the First Day
Royal Flush
Wonders of Nature
Words from the Past
Echoes and Surprises
Alien Diplomacy
Eventful Morning
Alien Diplomacy: Global Edition
Nerding Out
Morning Workout
Those Who Fight
Anniversary Special - The Questions about Gaia
Vacation Schedule
The Maladies of Gaia
The Voyage North
The Imperial City
Anachronistic Pastimes
To the Northern North
Learning and Sharing
Yakyakistan
The Aurora Festival
South towards the Sun
The Path to Griffonstone
The Mountain People
Griffons and Stones
Born Ever Green
The Arrival
Mare of the Wilds
Out of the Blue
The Bright side of the Moon

First Contact

As I was descending to the surface I could feel in my fur the first wisps of atmosphere. I was trying to fly as gentle as possible but it was harder to maintain the angle and velocity than I remembered. Still it was getting pretty hot and if any of the trinkets that I was carrying were to be destroyed by my carelessness I would never forgive myself. My son and his people work pretty hard to make these fancy tools after all.

After putting the bag on my back and between my wings I noticed that I started to slow myself against the lower, denser parts of the atmosphere sooner than I thought. 'Different planet, different air. Makes sense' I thought while observing my chosen landing zone.

It was a verdant forest with a thick mass of trees almost everywhere in its extension. I could sense plenty of animals and plants and they all felt different from the ones back home. I opened my wings slowly, making the transition to subsonic speeds a bit abrupt but gaining some much needed control. I saw some kind of abandoned structure already reclaimed by the forest but I was not interested in buildings, I was there for the fauna and flora, so I decided to change course a bit and landed a bit forcefully on a small clearing.

I decided to take a deep breath and a smile slowly grew on my face. The air was humid and oxigenated, a perfect combination for carbon and water-based life as it was evident for the type of vegetation. The plants smelled delicious and I could sense some kind of animal nearby, with a strange energy if I must say so but an animal anyways. Its green eyes looked at me confused from the bushes as it was natural. I was an alien after all.

It came out slowly and it surprised me with its composition and form. It was a quadruped creature made of wood and twigs, with one head and two eyes while sporting a wooden tail on its backside. It was so... alien! It didn't resemble anything back home! It wasn't a reptile that's for sure, nor it was a dino... it did't have the correct quantity of limbs to be a trichordate... What in the world was it? It was pretty small too. I mean I doubled him in size, but again I was used to be the biggest creature on land.

I approached it and started to circle him, analyzing every aspect of this wonderful creature. 'My first animal friend here and it's so... so... By the sun above, it's just so cute!'

In retrospect, the poor thing looked utterly miserable when I was just petting it and treating it like a pet lizard but I couldn't contain myself.

"Who is a cutie? Who is a cutie? You are! Your hide is so rough and you look so agressive with all those angles... You try to look tough but I know better. You are just a little creature too cute for your own good, aren't you? Yes you are!" I said to it, the little thing whimpering a bit like if it was scared of me. I was a bit sad but I decided to let it go, and at the moment I freed it from my legs it scurried quickly towards the tree line. The forest sounded eerily silent but soon enough tiny creatures appeared around the clearing. I couldn't help but cry in glee.

They were little furry creatures! Some of them had tiny noses and other ones long muzzles... There were so many of them and so different! They approached me curiously as I smiled to them. They understood quickly who I was and started to just smell me as if they expected other creature, which was a natural reaction after all. This planet probably had another creature like me warding nature so they got confused, the poor little creatures...

I scooped up a tiny thing with long tail that was so small that it fitted on my hoof. I nuzzled it and it nuzzled back with a little smile, the other animals quickly growing confident and trying to get my attention. I laughed openly and started to play with them, just enjoying their presence as they enjoyed mine. After a while I just decided to rest and lie on the soft plant cover, closing my eyes and relaxing in the presence of the little animals. A good amount of them decided to lie with me, sharing body heat and as myself enjoying the calmness of the clearing.

Sleep took me and I probably rested a few hours until I sensed a small group of creatures approach the clearing... sapient creatures if I was not mistaken. I tried to ignore them and kept my eyes closed but hearing a gasp made me slowly look to this new creatures.

I've never been so surprised in my entire, long life.

Twilight Sparkle have been surprised many times in her life, but this was one was probably one of the top surprising moments of it.

At the break of dawn she sensed a powerful magical being approaching Ponyville from above, and if past experiences have taught her something, it's that there could be a problematic situation ahead so she decided to alert her friends and prepare for anything. Instead of a cataclysmic event they observed some kind of asteroid flying ablaze towards the Everfree forest. She was suspicious of this and her thoughts were proven right when it suddenly slowed its descent and landed somewhere in the forest. Of course, this called for immediate action.

After gathering some basics and their saddlebags they went to the forest, walking through it at a good pace. They noticed immediately that something was up.

The Everfree felt... gentler. It was a strange feeling. The trees looked livelier, the shadows of the trees looked inviting instead of menacing, and even some of the smallest creatures could be seen running around, not intimidated by predators or the ponies themselves. It looked pretty normal, far from the usual creepy and dark feeling it gave to any visitors. The others noticed as well.

Rarity felt less grossed out by the forest itself and even if she didn't say a word her face was enough for her friend to know that; Rainbow Dash was flying higher than she used to, not feeling oppressed by the tree canopy, Fluttershy was looking in awe and quietly muttering to herself while Applejack and Pinkie Pie were mostly silent and pensive. This worried Twilight a bit, but she and the others pressed on towards the landing place of the strange object. Some time later they found a small clearing with many animals frolicking around a unknown and big pony. They couldn't help but gasp at the unexpected sight.

In the middle of the clearing the biggest alicorn they ever seen rested on the grass. Her coat was a fresh green and looked pretty unkempt, and the same happened with her pale blue mane and tail. She had a golden ring at the base of her horn and some kind of copper armband high on her left leg and the shine of two earrings, a ruby one and and a sapphire one, could be seen on her left ear. But the most interesting feature was her cutie mark: a globe, like a planet... and the clouds on it were moving! At last Twilight and the others noticed that they were also being observed by curious bright orange eyes.

Twilight felt a bit intimidated when the unknown alicorn raised from the ground and walked slowly towards her. She was taller than Celestia! Did it mean that she was older than her?

Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when the other alicorn stopped just inches from her face to look and... smell her? It was like when a dog was meeting another creature.

"Whoa Twi, who do you think she is? For what I know there weren't other princesses in Equestria" Rainbow said while approaching curiously at the alicorn. She just looked to her and smiled calmly.

"I don't know Rainbow... She seems to be the object I saw this morning but..." she tried to approach this new alicorn "Hello? Whats your name?"

The alicorn looked at her and turned her head in confusion, just to titter a bit and make some clicking sounds with her mouth. After some of these noises she looked at her expectantly.

"Sorry...what?" Twilight eloquently replied. The other alicorn giggled a bit and made more clicking and strange noises while looking at her friends and then back to her.

"Ah don't think she can understand ya sugarcube. Seems she doesn't know proper equestrian to me" said Applejack, now the center of the new alicorn's curiosity. Applejack giggled when the alicorn gently poked her in the side "She's mighty playful Ah can tell ya"

"Oh! Now me! Now me!" cried Pinkie Pie, getting on the face of the alicorn. She just tittered again and smiled while poking Pinkie's mane while making more clicking sounds.

"Well for being a princess she does not look like one, does she?" Said Rarity, while touching some of the alicorn's mane. She then gasped loudly "My... how can you look so... so brute and still keep you mane so soft!" she exclaimed. The alicorn made some clicks again and just petted Rarity with care, surprisingly not ruining her mane. "I suppose that one can be delicate even when not looking the part, right darling?" she said to her, the alicorn just kept smiling at her.

"The animals sure like her" said Fluttershy, seeing as some birds were nested on the top of the alicorn's head. "And look, she has some marks on her cheeks. Maybe she is from outside Equestria. I've never seen something like this before" Fluttershy said, smiling softly at the strange alicorn.

"That's a very thoughtful conclusion Fluttershy, and I agree. She is probably lost but I can't imagine why she would want to be in the Everfree..." Twilight said, looking a bit peeved that the alicorn now was playing with one of her wings and making more clicking noises "She doesn't know about personal space, doesn't she? Whoa!" she exclaimed as she was pulled on the lap of the now sitting alicorn. "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked her, just as the new alicorn decided that her wings were not properly cared and started to preen her while she was making clicking noises, this time sounding even a bit disappointed? How can anypony manage that with random noises?

"See Twi? Even a newcomer can tell that you are not taking proper care of your wings" said Rainbow Dash while laughing

"This is embarrassing..." said Twilight, but didn't try to move either "She is quite the expert though" she said while the alicorn worked quite diligently on her wings, and in just a moment of embarrassment where all of her friends watched in amusement her plight she was released. Her wings felt rejuvenated and looked prettier than ever. The other alicorn made some clicking sounds when nodding with a knowing smile.

"Goodness darling, I wish I could have wings to receive such quick and efficient treatment! They look simply fabulous!" said Rarity, now looking to Twilight's wings.

"Well, I don't have much time with my studies and everything so I can't preen my wings that often..." said Twilight, "But enough of that! We must bring her to the palace and tell Princess Celestia! This is too big for me to handle it alone. Another princess in the realm can change Equestria forever!"

"Well and how do ya plan to tell her that, sugarcube?" asked Applejack, pointing to the alicorn that now was petting carefully Fluttershy's mane while she was doing the same to her.

"Oh my... I can see now why the little critters like to be with you so much. Your fur and mane it's just so soft and warm..." said Fluttershy with a kind smile as the alicorn replied with more clicking sounds and a motherly smile.

Twilight facehooved. This was going to be a long day.

Puckish Princess

That was a tasty meal! Certainly better than those packed things in plastic that I've been eating at my son's ship. Eugh! Well, better to think about anything but those disgusting things.

When I looked where the lavender one with the lizard went I spotted a couple of creatures that were even more surprising than the lavender one and her friends. They were way bigger than these small creatures and more like me. The white one was talking to the lavender one, both smiling while talking. They were probably mother and daughter, it was clear as a day. How exciting! The blue one was looking at me with a frown though, analyzing me with her gaze.

"Look dear, it's not very polite to stare, even less so if you are using that ugly little frown. You need to smile!" I said to her while smiling. The others were looking at me surprised and the blue one was speechless. The white one approached me with a calm and serene smile. Ah... there it is a motherly smile if I ever saw one. I knew it!

She made some of those sounds that were their language and looked at me expectantly. "Sorry, I can't understand you" I replied, and I decided to take a peek at her mane. It was a thing that defied logic! It was waving at a no-existent wind and it looked like a rainbow made hair! I had the need... no... the urge to touch it!

This time she tried some cackling sounds, but again I didn't get what she was saying. I poked her mane and it was warm to the touch, as if it was always being bathed in sunlight. The blue one yelled something to me but I ignored her. This mane was so fascinating! It moved on its own and now that I was close to it I sensed some kind of energy inside the mane strands.

Again, the white one talked in a different language. This was pretty near in sound at mine, but the syntax and words were completly different. And yet again I used this to look at her body with curiosity. She was a couple of heads smaller than me, and that impressed me. She was even taller than my son! She was also more on the plump side, it was clear that rump of hers betrayed her figure. I poked her in the side and I could see with my acute eyes the smallest of ripples, confiming my suspicions. She giggled and looked at me with that smile of hers, and I smiled back.

"You need to move more, dear. You need to move more" I said, booping her in the snout marking my point and confusing everyone around me. The blue one approached me almost yelling again, so I was ready to ignore her again... but then I saw her mane.

Oh gosh, it was just the prettiest thing! It was like the night sky, so full of stars! She didn't like to have my head submerged in her mane though and quickly retreated, looking embarrased. The white one said something to me and went to calm the blue one. So big and being a scaredy cat! For shame!

The white and the blue one started to discuss something heatedly. The blue one looked a bit angry while the white one tried to calm her. They looked pretty close... maybe they were family. Mother and daughter? No, the blue one looked way too big to be her daughter... Sisters perhaps? Yes, that seemed to make sense. The white one approached me and looked apologetically at me while saying something with their strange sounds. How sweet of her, to think about my feelings.

"I don't know what are you saying, but I like you" I said with a motherly smile. She smiled back and went back to talk to her sister.

I still liked the pink one more.

And talking about the pink one, she brought from somewhere some kind of treats! Oh my! It all looked delicious! I gave her a big hug and started to eat, not before offering a bit to her too. She eagerly accepted and we ate quickly, making a competition out of the meal. The rainbow one tried to steal some but I caught her with my wing, and cocooned her against my side to the amusement of everyone. She tried to push out of her feathery prison, but I was stronger. When you have a rowdy and playful son you learn how to get him to be still. It was a useful skill to have after all. They never expect the wing!

Once we ate the treats I opened my wing to let the rainbow one free. She rolled out and grumbled a bit but soon she smiled and poked me in the side, saying something in her tongue. I showed her a treat that I was hiding with my leg and gave it to her. She looked at me, confused.

"Next time learn to not prank someone older than you. I've had to deal with a moody son, I can take a sneaky creature like you any day" I said to her. Even if she didn't understand me it felt good to talk to a creature that looked like me. I didn't feel out of place. That... that was a novelty. The rainbow one just nodded with a small smile before getting her treat and fly away.

The white one approached me, talking about something probably important as I looked at her, just smiling silently. She seemed to look pleased with something and pointed towards some kind of contraption. A couple of the winged, smaller creatures were hitched at it... So it was probably some kind of vehicle. It looked pretty flimsy so I decided to not approach it. The white one walked towards it and boarded it, the vehicle not creaking by her weight at all. When she noticed my hesitation she made a gesture to me to go and board the thing. The blue one got in as well, so I walked and carefully stepped into it.

The little ones then went on a sprint while flapping their wings and, surprisingly, we started to ascend! How?

I looked to the sides but I didn't see any kind of anti-gravity device, nor rockets... it was as bare as a rock! But... that should't be possible.

How could this be?

"She looks pretty impressed by our little ponies, don't you agree Luna?" Asked Celestia while observing amused how their guest were looking at the sides of the chariot, absolute and pure curiosity shimmering in her eyes.

"I think she needs to learn proper social etiquette. Nopony dares to touch the royal mane! And she just put her entire head inside mine!" huffed Luna, scowling towards the apparently new alicorn of the realm.

"Clearly she is not accustomed to other ponies. She looks at us in wonder, exploring and looking at everything as if it was for the first time. The poor dear is just confused" explained Celestia

"Well she can explore elsewhere" replied Luna, looking away

"Don't be like that sister. We were just as curious as her once" said Celestia in a placating tone

"Perhaps, but then again we were little fillies back then, her on the other hoof..." Luna replied, looking at their guest again "She is a BIG, grown mare. I think that is all I must say about that, sister"

Luna tried to think about anything but the new alicorn, but it was not to be as said alicorn decided that she was just too grumpy and decided to hug her completely with wings and legs. Luna looked in panic around just to see that Celestia was looking as perplexed as she was. The big mare just made some clicking sounds and hugged her tightly.

"Unhoof me this instant! I am the Princess of the Night! I will not tolerate this, even from a fellow princess! Unhoof me I say!" yelled Luna, trying to escape from the strong grip of the alicorn, but it was futile. "Celestia! Help us! She is trying to asphyxiate us!" exclaimed Luna falling into a mindless panic.

The alicorn just cooed while petting Luna's mane, making soft clicking sounds from time to time. Luna fidgeted in place trying with all of her might to free herself, failing in the process. Celestia was snickering while watching the scene before her.

"Well Luna, it seems that she thinks of you as a dear friend and she is trying her best to help you. You did look upset after all" Celestia said with a small smirk.

"We were not upset! And if you don't want to help us at least don't laugh at us! Have you no shame?" said Luna, not screaming but talking loudly this time. Celestia couldn't help herself but laughed out loudly at her sister.

"This is just rich! Too bad that I don't have a camera with me. You look so cute right now!" said Celestia, and the laughed more loudly "Yes! Because that pouty face! Oh by the sun this is hilarious! Wait until I tell Cade-Whoa!" said Celestia before a humongous wing cut her off, covered her and pulled towards a green mass of warm fur. Between the green fur and feathers she could see the smug face of her sister.

"Not so high and mighty now, do not you agree dearest sister of mine?" said Luna with a fake sweet voice. Celestia struggled a bit and sighed.

"I probably deserved this, sorry for laughing at you Luna. You just looked like a small filly" said Celestia, chuckling a bit. "Our new princess has quite the wingspan"

"Indeed. She also has a fibrous body. You should take example of her sister. I heard that some of our subjects have started to compare your backside with our moon" said Luna with a smirk.

"Luna, you are talking old ponish again. And what if they say so? I'm a healthy mare in my prime after all" replied Celestia, looking as regal as one can sandwiched in a wing hug. The green alicorn decided to make some clicking noises and rested her head over Celestia's while slumping a bit on the chariot. Luna would have found this comical if wasn't for the fact that she was dragged along, making a pony pile on the chariot.

"Well this is quite the development... It seems that our guest is tired and decided it was nap time" observed Celestia while she and her sister were moved carefully to fit comfortably on the reduced space of the chariot. The alicorn made more strange noises before sighing and closing her eyes.

"Tell me dear sister... How much a chariot takes to fly from Ponyville to Canterlot?" asked Luna fearfully

"I hope you are tired, because it seems that we are going to rest for this trip, dear sister" replied Celestia "Besides, for being as fibrous as you claimed she makes quite the pillow" said Celestia while making herself comfortable.

"Surely you jest sister! This is no time for jokes!" said Luna, trying again to free herself from the grip of the green mare.

"Luna... there are times when you just have to shrug it off and just go with it. We are not in danger and I am sure that she is not going to throw us out of the carriage, so..." said Celestia while slowly closing her eyes "I must admit that this feels pleasant... if a bit nostalgic for some reason..."

"Fine, but if I hear about this from our niece you will know the wrath of the night!" exclaimed Luna.

"Alright, whatever you say Luna..." mumbled Celestia. Luna just pouted and crossed her front legs while fidgeting to be in a comfortable position. She tried to deny it but she also felt some kind of nostalgia about this situation. She thought about older times... peaceful times in which both sisters played without care in the world. Luna shook her head, clearing her thoughts and looking at the peacefully sleeping mare that was embracing her and her sister.

"I shall make you pay for this insolence, you oaf..." said Luna, just to be cut off by a sudden yawn. "I will just take revenge later... but there will be revenge... yes..."

Table Manners

I awoke from my slumber when we touched down on some kind of plaza, surrounded by lots of little creatures in golden armor. I awoke the young ones and stepped out of the vehicle, inspecting the armor of the guards. Well... they were proably guards, with all the armor and spears...

They tried to look tough, standing proud and not even looking to me while I was observing them. I tried to make one laugh with my feathers but he managed to not even flinch.

"Oh... you are good at this! Keep up the good work, soldier!" I said to him while giggling to myself. They all looked so serious!

That's when the white one poked me and pointed towards the enormous building behind us. Seriously, How did I miss that? It was... how were they called? Ah, yes! It was a beautiful castle made of some kind of white stone with too many decorations for me to count. Ah, this brings me back memories... Castles were all the rage four thousand years ago back home. They kinda got demolished... by sieges... Oh well...

We walked at a slow pace, the white one trying to explain some of the statues and things as we passed near them. They were pretty, sure... but I felt a lush garden with many animals just at the other side of the castle, and that got my attention for sure. But the young ones had other things in mind.

We walked through many corridors, all of them with pretty decorations and with many of the little creatures carrying on with their lives. I noticed that there were way too much clothing on them. Whats up with that? Uniforms perhaps? That must leave their fur too itchy to be healthy...

As we continued our trip we passed through a marvelous corridor with beautifully made windows. They represented scenes in full color, probably historical ones, and that theory proved to be right when I saw the young ones in several of them. Ugh... this makes me remember about 'The Old Days' back home, where the squid people used to build shrines in my name and make sacrifices... those barbarians...

What it was surprising was that lavender and her friends appeared in a couple of them! They must be some kind of important figures for this world. I knew the pink one was someone important!

And thinking about these late friends of mine, the blue one didn't say a thing since we arrived. Was she angry with me?

"Are you... angry at me, young one? Did I upset you?" I said to her with the most miserable look I could put on my face. It worked way too well and she looked away, ashamed and not looking at me. The white one was in front of me in a instant, trying to apologize for something by her tone. I just nodded and made a small smile. I saw that some of the small guards looked at me concerned. Yes! I still got it! And my son tells me that I'm too old for the 'pouty face'. Amateurs!

We continued to walk and soon enough we arrived at a big room. And by big I mean it was unnecessarily tall and wide for such a tiny and long table. It looked like a dining room but it was just so... stupidly big! Why did they think this was a good idea? Such a waste of space.

They sat on a couple of big thrones, heavily decorated to resemble them, with different decorations on them. Whoa... They still have those? This seemed like a universal thing for castles. You build a castle? Then you put a throne in it! Gaudy things they are, I tell you... Where were the plants anyways? This place just looked so barren and dull without even a sad, potted plant.

Suddenly a little creature with funny hair over his mouth gave me... something. It was made of cellulose and had some drawings on it. So they knew how to write? That's fascinating! How do they do that? I never got the hang of...

What? By the sun and stars above... What was that!?

Their horns were glowing and somehow they got the papers to... float! How could this be? It was not possible!

I tried to find any kind of strings or even some hidden device... nothing! They were chuckling at me with a smile I knew too well. They knew something I don't and they thought it was funny. They are probably thinking they are smarter than me. Well...!

They are probably right, and I'm okay with that. I've never been smart, nor that I need to. I was happy and it was enough for me.

They gave me another cellulose thingy, this time with pictures of foods. Oh! It all looked tasty, so I just pointed everything on the menu. They looked aghast and speechless. I'm a big mare and I need my food!

"I want ALL of it. See? This; and this, and this one too... Get it? I want the food" I said to them, pointing again to all the pictures. They nodded and said something to the now identified waiter. How quaint.

The young ones talked among themselves when the big doors opened to give way to one of the small creatures. He wore some kind of black cloth on his chest, and another white one underneath. The young ones looked pretty nervous now. Well, they had a very good neutral face, but I knew better. You can't fool me... at least twice.

The little one seemed oblivious to my presence and sat almost side by side with me. I looked at him curiously.

His mane was groomed and he smelled sweet, like some kind of plant. His fur was also so clean that it was like looking at a snowy field. All and all, he looked like he loved to be clean, like that friend of the lavender one, the white one with gems on her rump. It was a trend to be sparkly clean or something?

That's when the doors opened again, and I saw my feast march towards me. My it smelled simply divine! As soon as the giant tray was floated to me I started to feast on the food. And by the sun! It was all so tasty! So many new flavors!

This was going to be great!

This was going to be horrible.

The new alicorn was gorging herself with the food with a speed that put Pinkie Pie to shame, trying to taste every food at once, making a mess all over the table. And to make things worse, Prince Blueblood just noticed the giant alicorn that was sitting at his side when he heard the loud, munching noises.

"A-aunty... what... who is this!?" Blueblood tried to say, absolutely terrified of the display.

"Ah... well Blue, this is... We don't know her name yet, but as you can see she is..." said Celestia while evading some food crumbs projected by their guest "...a princess" concluded Celestia. Blueblood looked at her with disgust.

"I think I am not hungry anymore. If you excuse me..." said Blueblood as he was ready to leave, only to find a massive wing to block his way. The green alicorn made some clicking noises and pointed to Blueblood's food with a frown.

"It would be wise to stay and eat your food, nephew. We have found her to be... quite persuasive" said Celestia with a calm smile, just eating as if nothing was wrong in the world. Luna just huffed and tried to eat as quickly as she was able without looking like the green alicorn.

"What? No! I refuse to play games with this dirty oaf! Good day!" exclaimed Blueblood while walking away. Sadly for him a long, strong leg pulled him in front of his food. The alicorn made again some of her odd noises while looking disappointed, pointing again to the food.

"No! I said... NO!" he yelled at her, moving out again. This time the green mare imprisoned him with a hug and sat behind him, pointing him towards the food. "Let me go, you filthy mare! What do you think you are doing? I am Prince Blueblood!" he yelled, at what the green alicorn just smiled calmly and ate her food at a slow pace, showing her impressive patience.

"I do think that she is a grabby fellow, don't you think so dear sister?" asked Celestia, amused by the display.

"I must admit that it looks funnier when we are not the ones being trapped between those steel prison bars of hers" stated Luna, trying to ignore their guest.

"Don't be like that Luna. She clearly means well" replied Celestia

"Aunties! Help me! This beast is not letting me go!" cried Blueblood, his body trapped between the legs of the enormous mare, his head the only part he could move... pointed towards his plate. The mare just made some clicking sounds, making some food crumbs to fall on Blueblood. "She is getting my coat dirty! Eugh!"

"Don't be such a crybaby nephew, and take it like a stallion. It's evident that she just wants you to eat your vegetables" replied Luna with a frown on her face.

"But I don't want to!" He cried, levitating his fork and trying to stab his captor on her legs "Unhoof me! Let me go!" He said with each stab. Both princesses were horrified.

"Nephew! Stop that!" yelled Celestia.

"No! I'll not stop until I am..." tried to say Blueblood, only to be interrupted by the green alicorn, who caught the fork in her mouth and... chewed it "...freed from... her?" concluded a scared Blueblood. The mare kept munching on the fork and ate it, making some clicking sounds and just resuming her food as it was nothing. Blueblood started to eat his food, looking terrified of the mare.

"That was... unexpected" said Celestia.

"I'll say, sister..." replied Luna, both pretty surprised about the eating habits of the new alicorn. "I hope she doesn't take that as a delicacy or we will have to buy more cutlery soon"

"I hope that too, Luna. I hope that too" replied Celestia, looking to her own fork with curiosity.

They ate in silence after that, Blueblood not even grumbling and the maids looking pale at the mess that was the dinner table. Celestia and Luna tried their best to ignore how the green alicorn ate, and without difficulty, food enough for four ponies.

"There! I finished! Can you let me go already, you stupid giant?" asked Blueblood, trying to not yell and make the crazy mare angry at him. The alicorn just smiled and patted him with the utmost care and kissed him on the cheek, placing him on the floor and pushing him towards the door. Blueblood sat stunned, looking towards the mare with a blush on his face. She just waved pleasantly and said something in her clicking language, gesturing to him to go out. He didn't move.

"Sister, I think she broke our nephew. Can we get another one?" asked Luna, this time amused by their guest. Celestia sighed.

"Can some guards just take Prince Blueblood to his lodgings, please?" asked Celestia, and soon four guards carried the petrified prince outside the dining hall.

"That went better than we expected..." said Luna, observing with just a hint of curiosity to the green mare.

"Indeed. It seems that she does like to mother other ponies... not caring for size or age" replied Celestia with a smile on her face.

"I do not find that amusing, Celestia. For being a pony so motherly she doesn't know a thing about eating properly. Just look at this mess..." said Luna, while looking at the dirty table... just to see the green alicorn lapping some food crumbs from the table. "Ugh... this is disgusting. I hope we have something about translation spells in our library..."

"I will look into that. Meanwhile we need to try to make her comfortable at the castle. I hope that, once the language barrier is solved, we can know more about this mare." said Celestia, chuckling a bit. "Maybe then we can teach her about table manners"

"A pony can dream..." replied Luna, closing her eyes. "...but we should keep her when we need to talk to our nephew"

Loud laughter could be heard from the halls of the castle, to the amusement and confusion of a green alicorn.

Wordplay

That sure was an enjoyable meal! The young ones laughed at last... even though I'm not sure why. Something hilarious for sure... I think the blue one got even more blue...

I waited for them to catch some breath before getting up from the table. I wanted to explore some of the gardens outside, they looked just so comfy right now...

But my wishes were not to be satisfied again. The white one approached me and said something, pointing towards the halls and made some strange gesture. More walking... The blue one didn't have that frown on her face anymore, at least for what I was able to see. She leaved quickly and didn't have the time to even say goodbye to her. Rude!

And so we kept walking and walking, this time the trip even had stairs! At least I could steal glances of the outside when we passed near a window. I had to admit that it was a pretty sight... but I wanted to see the place from being there, not from afar. Oh well... the young ones are always busy, trying to order things the way they like. I can't fault them for that, they just don't see what I see.

It was pretty funny when some of the younger guards just looked surprised at me, and we had to stop frequently so the white one explained to them something. Probably about me. I patted them on their little heads every time. They were just precious, working so hard to look serious. How can they look so cute wearing armor? Ah... I miss the times when my son was just a child, trying to make things with sticks and stones.

The white one continued to guide me around the castle, apparently looking for something. No, that's not right, she probably knew the place... She was looking for someone. I wonder who?

My thoughts were cut short when we were approached by some guards. They talked to the white one and pointed towards the corridor they came from. She nodded and made me to follow her. My they sure liked to order others around. I've been ordered to follow them since I arrived! Still it was pretty amusing, all of them so centered about their little things.

After what could've been hours we arrived at our apparent destination. It was a bedroom of sorts, decorated in the tackiest way I have even seen... and that's saying a lot! There were piles of strange and colorful objects everywhere in the room, thrown away without any care. There was also a strong scent inside the room, but I couldn't put my hoof on what it was. It smelled like those treats the pink one gave me earlier today, so it was probably some kind of food. I turned to look what was making that sweet smell when I found myself face to face with the strangest of creatures.

It was... unique. I could feel it was a he at least, and I already saw a male creature with those funny hairs, just like the ones this creature had on his chin. It was definitely a he... Oh? What's this? His limbs were all different? But evolution doesn't work that way... This didn't make any sense. He kept looking at me with his red eyes, so I just smirked.

"You are the strangest thing I ever seen. Do you know how much that title means coming from me, my dear creature?" I said while laughing. He laughed as well while the white one looked a bit angry... at him? He was just a funny guy, I could tell!

When he managed to control his laugh decided to... float? Ok... This is getting weird pretty fast. Fascinating, but weird. How could he float with those tiny wings? He didn't look that light too. I picked up his tail to check its weight, and sure enough it was all muscle. At least he didn't seem to mind... much. He looked to me with a confused expression, and I just smiled and left his tail free. He looked even more confused and I couldn't help but laugh. They are pretty silly these creatures. How can you explore if you don't touch and see?

I walked around the room inspecting the trinkets he had with curiosity while they talked. Most of them looked like toys and figurines of different things and creatures... What's this? Oh? Figurines of the young ones? Not even outside their package. Why would anyone leave toys inside their package? Aren't they made to play with them? I didn't get it.

The odd creature pulled me away from the figurines with urgency, saying something and looking pretty embarrassed.

"Aw, don't worry. I'll not judge you. All creatures are really big children" I said to him with a laugh. He coughed and said something to the white one. She nodded and then he approached me and grabbed my head. He looked from side to side and everything between, looking for something. He even tapped my skull and put his ear to hear how it sounded! Was he some kind of doctor? He didn't look very sure of himself...

He went to talk with the white one again, talking quickly and making some kind of gestures with his front limbs. He looked pretty enthusiastic about something that saw on me it seems. I chuckled at that, remembering about the first time my son's people had the courage to ask me something. They looked so frightened! They thought that I would smite them just for asking anything! Luckily they managed to work out their fears... and then the tests started. I swear that it was the most boring time of my long life.

My thoughts were cut off by some prodding from the odd creature. He pointed to his neck and then to his head. Then he made some kind of gesture and pointed to my head and neck... I didn't get it.

"I can't understand a word of what you are trying to say dear. I'm sorry" I said to him. He sighed and stepped away a bit. He then made a gesture with his limbs... His claws? One was a claw I think... I need to probably take a better loo-ouch!

Did... did I get hit on my forehead? Why am I on the floor?

"Discord! Have you lost your mind!?" Celestia yelled, absolutely livid.

"But I thought you wanted her to speak like us, right? I just did that!" Discord replied while pointing to the almost fainted alicorn.

"You just threw her a ball of magic at her! You could have harmed her!" Celestia replied, approaching the green mare "By my sun, I just hope she is okay..."

"She IS okay, Celestia. I am reformed! I would not dare to harm another living being in any way" Discord said while making a halo appear on his head.

"Ugh... Did I got hit by a maglev again?" Celestia heard from the green mare. "By the sun and stars... I think I'm sick..." the green mare said while Celestia and Discord looked at her perplexed.

"It worked!" Celestia exclaimed, excited about finally being able to communicate with the new alicorn.

"It worked?" Discord said "It doesn't make se-Ah... Ha ha... Very funny..." Discord said to his... claw?

"What worked? Oh my... I think my head hurts" the mare said while holding her head

"Do not worry, it was just a necessary procedure. You can understand us right now after all" Celestia said with a calm voice.

"Understand who?" she replied before looking to Celestia "Oh... it's you, young one. Wait..." she opened her eyes fully "Say something"

"Young one?" Celestia replied, confused. The green alicorn gasped.

"What... What did you do? This shouldn't be possible!" she exclaimed, trying to get up. Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder in a calming manner.

"We can explain later. For now I want to welcome you to Equestria. My name is Celestia, and I am princess of this realm. Can you tell us your name, please?" Celestia asked politely while Discord floated near them with curiosity. The green mare looked at her in awe and she closed her eyes for a second, moving them at high speed like reading something with eagerness. She then coughed a bit and opened her eyes, looking at them with a calm smile.

"I am Gaia. Nice to meet you" She simply said. Her voice now sounded more natural but oddly... normal. She sounded like your average mature mare, but something in her voice made them think about a mother that spoke with great wisdom and experience.

"Bah! I expected the booming sound of a powerful being! Not... this! You sound just so... so...!" Discord said, a bit upset "Oh well. At least she isn't talking 'clickity' anymore"

"I still can talk 'in clickity' as you say, but somehow I know now how to speak your language. Strange, but fascinating at the same time" Gaia replied with a small smile.

"I don't want to impose Gaia, but I really need to ask you some questions." Celestia said, with a small tone of concern.

"Of course, young one. Ask away" Gaia replied, sitting on the floor.

"Well..." Celestia said, suddenly at a loss of words. So many questions and now...

"Go on..." Gaia pushed with a serene smile "Dino got your tongue?"

"Why do you call me 'young one'? Do you know how old I am?" Celestia asked. Gaia chuckled.

"Why no, I don't know how old you are, but I'm pretty sure that I'm way older, dear" Gaia replied, still smiling.

"...How old are you, Gaia?" Celestia asked. Gaia laughed loudly.

"Oh goodness... Do you always ask a lady about her age?" Gaia replied with mock surprise. Celestia winced a bit at that. "Ah, don't worry you little head about it. Let me just... count on..." Gaia replied, closing her eyes and murmuring to herself.

"Oh come on! She can't be so old that she need to count!" Discord said.

"Ah! I am 4,281,006,482 years old, give or take a couple of years. My birthday is the tenth day of the rain season" Gaia replied with a wink. Both Discord and Celestia were speechless.

"You... what?" Celestia replied eloquently.

"That's a lie! You can't be that old! That's not even a number!" Discord exclaimed.

"Sure I am, dear. I am proud to say that I look two hundred million years younger than I am. Hardly anything to brag about, really, but you asked about my age after all" Gaia replied with a wide smile.

"I don't believe you. If I snap my fingers and see your aura surely it will tell me..." Discord said, snapping his fingers and staring at Gaia. His mouth suddenly dropped and his eyes almost grew out of their sockets.

"You are not from this world, aren't you" Celestia asked, her tone careful and worried

"Ah, that question..." Gaia said with a small smile. She raised a hoof and waved "I come in peace! Take me to your leader! Give me all your women!" she said while giggling like a schoolfilly. Celestia looked at Discord for answers but she found that he was also confused about the situation. "Sorry, is that I read that those were famous quotes for first contact that I fo-"

"It's impossible that you are an alien! It doesn't make sense... And that's my job! Are you trying to-" Discord said, cutting off Gaia and floating near her, when a big wing just smacked him out of the air and pulled his head towards the the green mare, muffling his voice.

"Shush, don't interrupt me when I'm talking" Gaia said before looking back at Celestia "So yes. I'm from another planet" she said. Discord tried to free himself snapping his fingers... but after a small glow between Gaia's feathers Discord still was with his head imprisoned under her wing. Gaia giggled.

"That tickles!" Gaia said while Celestia looked at her with newfound respect.

"You... need to tell me how to do that" Celestia said, looking at Gaia in amazement.

She came from Space

This was quite the development! We could talk at last!

Well... we could talk before too. It's just that now we were able to understand each other. I looked at Celestia with my trademark smile.

"I don't know what he's trying to do, but it will be futile. But I am sure that he is sorry for interrupting his elders, right?" I said towards my wing, hearing something muffled by my feathers. "I'm going to let you go, so don't make me put my hoof down again, you little rascal" I said while opening my wing.

"I must admit that that was a neat trick. But you are not going to catch me again, old geezer" He said while laughing and floating away.

"Discord! Show her some respect!" Celestia yelled at him, but I just smiled at that.

"Oh I'm sure that I'm a old geezer alright, and I'm just going to get older!" I laughed loudly, making Celestia and Discord to stare at me.

"She's not fun. Please can you play the twenty questions game outside MY room? I was kinda busy" Discord said while trying to look like he was working on something. He was just playing with some if his toys though... He was just a big child, wasn't he?

"Follow me, please. We shall discuss more on my bedchambers" Celestia told me, while gesturing to the halls.

"Oh joy, more walking..." I said while getting up. "See you later, Discord!"

"Whatever..." he replied. Rude!

This trip was way shorter than the last ones, and the guards didn't look surprised to see me. Ah, words and rumors still travel faster than light. Another universal constant! We were not so different after all!

Her bedroom was a bit smaller than Discord's, but it was tastefully decorated. It had a fireplace too, so this was probably a very warm room even during rain season. I went ahead and put myself on a big cushion near the fireplace, tucking my legs underneath my barrel. Celestia followed me and closed the door before sitting in front of me.

"I know that we have not been the most welcoming ponies, but I hope that we can improve that soon enough. But before that I need to bother you with some questions, Gaia. Would you be okay with that?" Celestia said, showing me a very diplomatic side I didn't see until now.

"Of course you can, dear. I can't get angry at you for wanting to know more. Ask away" I replied with one of my most serene smiles. I knew this was going to be boring, but she looked so determined! I couldn't say no to her. "We can ask each other questions if you want. I really want some answers too"

"Of course, I have no problem with that." Celestia replied with a small nod. "First, I would like to know the meaning of your cutie mark"

"My what? Wait, let me... just a moment" I told her, closing my eyes and looking around my new lexicon for the thing she asked me for... and... There we go! "Oh! You mean this picture on my flanks! Ah, it's a picture of my world. It's always updated. Take a look for yourself" I told her, moving a bit to show her my flank. "Look! There is a storm on that continent right now, and it's a pretty sunny day on the southern one..."

"I... don't know what to say. That's a very interesting mark. But... what is the meaning of it?" Celestia asked, baffled about what she was seeing. "What I really meant to say is... What do you do for a living? What is your purpose?"

"I count more than one question there, but don't worry. I'm not that mean" I said to her, winking "Well... It's a bit hard to describe, but my job is to simply be myself. My world is on my flank because I am it. We are one and the same. I watch for all the living things that live on my world and in return it makes me feel alive. My purpose is to nurture my world with life, and to take care of it. I am its warden" I replied, smiling at her. She looked so lost and surprised!

"How... Nevermind... It's your turn to ask, Gaia" she told me, fidgeting in place. She was getting nervous! It's a tradition to be nervous around me when they ask me things or something?

"Right! How do you levitate things?" I asked simply. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You mean magic? Do you really don't know?" she asked me. I giggled a bit.

"Another question again, dear." I told her and she blushed a bit, looking cute and embarrassed "And answering that... no. I mean, I don't know how to do that sparkly stuff you do with your horn, but I can 'levitate' things with my mind. Just... big things..." I explained to her, rubbing my hooves together. I admit that thinking about some of my past experiments made me a bit embarrassed.

"How big are we talking about here?" She asked curious.

"About... 'a city of one million people on it and its surroundings' big?" I told her with a small smile. She looked surprised... bad type of surprised... She managed to get a grip of herself quickly enough though.

"I didn't expect that... but then again, you are not what I expected, Gaia" she told me, her face a neutral mask. That was cold of her.

"I hear that all the time, dear" I told her, laughing a bit. "I don't know why, though... So! It's my turn again! You asked more questions after all, right?" I told her with a smirk "So... Are you the warden of this planet?" I asked her.

Time to get some real, important answers!

"Warden? You mean...?" Celestia asked, unsure of what to say.

"Yes!, A warden like me, dear. A being that takes care of the planet and its inhabitants. You look like me, and you are the tallest being I've seen around, not counting that Discord fellow... so I thought that you were the one. Am I wrong?" Gaia asked with a light tone.

"As a princess I watch over my little ponies, but other species are capable of taking care of themselves. I once had the title of Guardian of the Sun, if it helps you" Celestia said as her mind working overtime, trying to figure the puzzle that Gaia was. The green alicorn laughed a bit.

"Why would you watch over a ball of burning plasma? Sorry if I find that quite silly, Celestia. It's just too funny!" Gaia said while giggling. Celestia frowned a bit at that.

"I still watch over the sun, there wouldn't be a day and night cycle without the work that my sister and I do. The sun and the moon can't move by themselves now, can they?" Celestia said with a smug face... that quickly vanished under the loud laugh of Gaia, who was on the floor laughing like a maniac. "I do not know why do you find that so funny. It's the truth!"

"Oh my.. that was funny... Wait.. Are you serious?" Gaia asked, almost choking with her laughs "I don't know what a moon is right now, but as far as I know it's the planet the one that moves, not the sun!" Gaia said with a smile.

"W-what?" Celestia said, perplexed with the vehemence of the green mare.

"Yeah! It's like this... the planet it's like falling into the sun, right? Because it's this humongous ball of plasma with so much gravity... But! The planet goes in a orbit because it's like moving really really fast that it doesn't fall. It also spins so while it's doing this orbit thing, giving the illusion that it's the sun the one it's moving... but it's not!" Gaia explained while moving her hooves in a awkward way.

"But that is not possible, Gaia. Our sun is a magical construct that orbits our planet. There was a unicorn council before my time that did my work and moved both the sun and the moon around the world. What you say it's just too unbelievable" Celestia replied, trying to get a grip on the conversation.

"Honey, you already know that I am from another planet. It's really that hard to grasp that maybe you are in the wrong?" Gaia asked her with a playful smile on her face.

"What if we are both wrong? For what I know maybe our worlds are just different. Maybe others work different from ours as well" Celestia said with conviction.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Celestia, but if that was the case yours would be the 'unique' one. Before I arrived here I passed through other star systems, and all of them worked the same way as mine. So it seems that we are both right, in our own way" Gaia said with finality.

"That... is amazing and terrifying and the same time" Celestia replied with a shudder.

"How so?" Gaia asked, curious.

"The fact that your world is always falling into the sun it's not enough to worry you?" Celestia asked her, incredulous.

"Why should I worry about that? It never happened in billions of years. It's not going to happen anytime soon" Gaia replied with a smile. Celestia sighed, a bit stressed. "Aw, don't be like that! You just worry too much. Don't fill your little head with those things" Gaia said while patting Celestia on the head, Celestia chuckled, amused.

"Are you always so... motherly to anypony you meet?" Celestia asked, a smile growing on her face.

"They don't call me Mother Nature for nothing, dear. All creatures and plants are my children" Gaia replied with a serene smile. Celestia looked at her window with a knowing smile.

"I think I understand, if just a bit. For me, all the ponies in Equestria are like my little foals. They are quite silly from time to time too" Celestia said while giggling a bit.

"Really? Please, do tell" Gaia asked while resting completely on the cushion.

"I'm afraid that we need to put off those pleasantries for later, Gaia. I think that I have enough to think about. I need to contact somepony to sort these out" Celestia said with a polite smile.

"Oh, if you say so... It's been kinda fun I suppose. I'll be going then. Nice to meet you, Celestia" Gaia said with a smile before getting up. Celestia ran towards the door and tried to block her way with her wings. "...Is there a problem, dear? Do you need anything else?" Gaia asked with curiosity.

"You see... it would be a great honor to house you for the time being, Gaia. It would make me... most happy if you accept" Celestia asked, carefully choosing her words.

"Aw, you are so sweet! I accept of course! I can spend a few days around you... ponies you say? Around ponies! Thank you!" Gaia said while giving Celestia a crushing hug.

"I'm glad... that you... accepted..." Celestia replied with difficulty, crushed by Gaia's legs.

The tender moment between alicorns was short lived as the door was suddenly opened, showing a triumphant-looking Luna with a scroll on her magical aura.

"Sister! I found the spell! It was very well hidden within the Starswirl... What is going on here, Celestia?" Luna said, looking at her sister being hugged by the green alicorn.

"Hi!" Said the green alicorn to her in a cheery but mature voice. Suddenly they heard the sound of something breaking apart.

"Are you... moon-damned serious?!" Luna yelled, absolutely livid.

"No, I'm not Moon-Damned Serious. I'm Gaia. Nice to meet you!" The green mare said with a wide smile.

From Canterlot to Las Pegasus, every pony heard the frustrated scream of the moon princess.

Moon Encounter

I looked at the little one perplexed at her powerful lungs. Such force! It was like a small hurricane!

"Oh my, did you have to be so loud? We are indoors you know" I said to her while releasing little Celestia from my hug "I can understand that stress can get anyone, but you need to get a grip on yourself dear" I told her, trying to not sound annoyed. I was just worried about the guards! I think the ones at the doors were temporarily deafened by her shout. The young one looked at Celestia with an unamused stare.

"Discord?" She simply asked.

"Discord" Celestia replied with a firm nod.

"Ugh! This is just so frustrating!" said the blue one, walking to and fro while ranting "I spend hours upon hours to find a proper translation spell and this happens! I could just... Ugh!"

"Your sister looks pretty tense... Does she eat frequently? I often find myself a little grumpy with an empty stomach" I said to Celestia, who giggled a bit at that. Why? It was an honest concern!

"I doubt that she skips any of her meals, Gaia. Anyways... I want to present you to my little sister, Luna" Celestia said while looking at her now identified little sister. I knew it!

"It's nice to meet you, young Luna" I said politely to her. She looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

"Young? I am hardly a filly, Gaia" Luna replied with a neutral tone. This again? I really don't want to explain myself every time!

"We will talk about that later, Luna. For now, I need to send a letter to Twilight about some of the findings concerning our guest here, and maybe ask Cadence for some insight as well. In the meantime I need you to show her to one of the guest chambers" Celestia explained to her sister. A bit rude to talk about me as I'm not around, but I know the little ones tend to be wrapped in their own world.

"She is going to stay here!?" Luna asked loudly.

"Dear Celestia offered me to stay a few days here with all of you, and I accepted of course. She said that it would make her very happy if I said yes... I couldn't just say no to her!" I said to Luna as I smiled.

"It is true, sister. I would like to know more about our guest, and I could not allow her to sleep outside when we have free rooms in the castle, right?" Celestia said to Luna, hinting her something with her tone.

"Oh... I understand, sister. I'll show Gaia her lodgings, but I would like to speak with you as soon as possible" Luna said to her sister. Celestia just nodded with a small smile on her face.

"I will send somepony to fetch you when I am finished. Gaia, I hope you find your room adequate to your needs" Celestia said, making a small bow to me. Oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later I suppose...

"I can sleep on sand and still rest without a problem. But don't worry dear, I'll tell you if I find a lizard under my mattress" I said to her with a wink and a small smirk. Luna looked at me very confused.

"Don't you mean 'A pea under the mattress'?" She asked me. Oh? Wait a second... Well, would you look at that! They say pea instead of lizard. How can a pea disturb someone's sleep? Wait... what's a 'pea'? Huh...

"Nevermind. Follow me" Luna said to me, walking out of Celestia's room. I waved at her and walked near Luna. We walked like a minute before being approached by some guards... I think they were guards at least. They had this little shiny armor with dark blue hues and... Oh my gosh... were those wings?

"Oh my goodness... What is this?" I asked, picking up one of the guards with my hooves as I sat on the ground "What is this? Are those little skinny wings? Aw, they make you look so cute, you know that little one?"

"Gaia, what are you doing to my guards?!" Luna asked me, yelling again. Gee, did she only know how to speak in boring and loud?

"I was just looking at his wings! I think they are wings... Just look at this! They look so leathery and cute..." I said, making Luna angrier. I didn't like her.

"Ma'am... can you put me down, please?" the guard asked, his face all red and looking at me with a pleading look. Aw...

"Ok, you can go now, dear" I said, releasing him from my grasp. He quickly walked to the farthest he could be while guarding us. While I was smiling on the outside I felt a bit of sadness inside me. I didn't like when living beings were afraid of me. I wasn't scary... right?

"Gaia, please don't play with my guards. They have a work to do and you messing with them will only make their jobs harder" Luna said to me in a harsh tone. I was just looking at his unique wings! I didn't want to upset anyone...

"I wasn't playing with them, young Luna. I was looking at their wings. They are fascinating things" I said to her as I followed her lead. She huffed in annoyance. What's her problem?

"Well you cannot go around picking up ponies just because you find something interesting about them" She said to me as we continued out walk.

"Why? I'm not harming them, and I'm very careful when I pick up someone. I don't see the problem" I told her with a small smirk on my face. It was just simple logic. I got this!

"You need to learn about personal space and some table manners, Gaia. You can't go around just doing what you want because you think it's fine! Like hugging ponies randomly or just touching them! That is not right!" She yelled at me. Again.

"I don't like your tone, young girl"

"What?" Luna asked, not expecting that from the green mare.

"Honey, I know that life is stressful but would you be so kind to tone down your voice a bit?" Gaia said, keeping that serene smile of hers.

"I am in my own castle and I talk as I please" Luna retorted. Gaia shook her head sideways in a condescending manner.

"Your big sister already gave you the talk?" Gaia asked her, confusing the lunar mare.

"What?" She eloquently replied.

"I know that puberty is a confusing part of life, but you need to control your hormones dear. You've been yelling at me all the time for no good reason" Gaia explained, making Luna blush in embarrassment.

"W-what? I'm a grown mare!" She asserted, making Gaia giggle.

"Of course you are, honey. Of course you are" Gaia replied while nodding with a gentle smile on her face. Luna huffed and trotted ahead as Gaia followed her. The guards tried to keep up as they could without making a run of it, looking confused about the situation.

"I cannot believe this. You don't know nothing about proper manners and protocol!" Luna asked to Gaia.

"Why should I?" Gaia asked, confused. Luna stopped in front of a plain bedroom door.

"Why? You are a princess! You can't act as you please! You need to look as a model for all the ponies!" Luna said, exasperated.

"Since when I'm a princess?" Gaia asked confused as Luna gaped at her.

"Well, you are an alicorn!" Luna pointed out.

"Am I? I never had a name for my species you know? I was always Gaia" The green mare replied with a small smile "It sounds nice. Alicorn..."

"How can you be so ignorant? Those are just basic concepts for any pony in Equestria!" Luna said with a concerned tone.

"Aw, you hurt my feelings. Why would you call me that?" Gaia asked with a sad smile.

"I didn't meant to... I am sorry" Luna said with sincerity, knowing that anger was getting the better of her. She looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Gaia... did you go to school?" she asked the green alicorn.

"Do you mean those buildings where people go to learn? I've been on some of those like a couple of times, but I wasn't there for learning. I was the specimen they wanted to examine" Gaia said, her smile just wavering a bit. Luna was both confused and horrified by that statement.

"I think I need to sit down a bit... Luckily we are already at one of the guest rooms" Luna replied, her face a bit pale. Gaia followed her as they went into the guest room.

It was a simple but elegant-looking bedroom with a queen-sized bed at one side, and a simple wardrobe at the opposite one. Overall a cozy and welcoming bedroom. Luna picked up one of the cushions with her magic and laid on it, after putting it on the floor. Gaia just watched her surroundings with a bit of interest, a bit oblivious to Luna's plight.

'How can somepony use another sapient creature for experimentation?' Luna thought, still sickened by just thinking about that. 'Maybe I am just jumping to conclusions..." She reasoned, calming herself a bit. 'It is still worrying the fact that this alicorn seemed oblivious to our existence, or Equestria's for that matter. And how old was she? She sounds like a grown mare past her youth days...' She pondered while observing how the green mare touched and looked every little trinket with the same curiosity expected from a young foal. 'I wish Celestia had told me more about her findings about her, it would have made my work easier'

When she was satisfied Gaia just let herself down near Luna, letting her body sprawled on the floor.

"Did you find everything of your liking?" Luna asked politely

"It's pretty, and I am sure the bed is comfortable. That is enough for me, dear" Gaia replied with a smile. Luna looked thoughtful again.

"Say, Gaia... Would you be interested in learning more about alicorns and ponies? We have quite the library with well documented information..." Luna asked with a neutral tone.

"That would be very sweet of you, young Luna, but I don't want to be a bother to anyone" Gaia replied with her trademark smile.

"I cannot simply let you wander around knowing nothing about Equestria or its ponies!" Luna said with determination.

"If you say so, dear" Gaia said, sounding not very caring about it. Luna smiled mischievously.

"Oh, and I just know the mare for the job. A pony devoted to learn everything that can be learned under the sun. I am sure that she would be delighted to teach you about our fair country, including its history and customs" Luna said, her smile growing a bit. Gaia sighed.

"I don't see the relevance, but if it makes you happy... I'll not stay more than a few days, so I hope she is as good as you say" Gaia said, looking towards the window. Luna cocked her head in curiosity.

"Just a few days? Do you need to return home so soon?" Luna asked. Gaia just smiled widely.

"Of course not! I'm on vacation, and I want to see your world! From the hottest volcano to the coldest glacier, I want to see them all!" Gaia said with unbridled happiness. "And all the creatures living on and in between" she said, leaving Luna with more questions than answers.

"Are you implying that you are from another world?" Luna asked cautiously. Gaia laughed loudly at the question.

"You should ask your sister about that. I really don't want to sound like a broken record, dear" Gaia said, smiling softly at Luna.

"Oh, I will ask her, you can be sure of that" Luna replied with a frown, thinking about the international problem of a new alicorn flying freely and unannounced around the world.

This situation just got way more complicated...

Dusk of the First Day

It seemed that Luna was worried about something... We didn't have the chance to talk more as suddenly one of the guards knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Your highness, your sister summons you to her chambers" the guard said while bowing towards Luna. "Also, Princess Gaia has been invited to a small dinner this evening, and your highness wants to express that she would be most grateful if she can assist" the guard said politely.

"It will be my pleasure, dear... but I need a guide. I'm afraid I don't know the way to the dining hall" I said to the guard, who just bowed at me. "Also, I'm not a princess. I'm just Gaia, and I would like you all to call me by my name"

"But that would be very improper, your highness" he said, a bit nervous.. I scoffed a bit.

"Proper or whatever... I don't care. I want to be called by my name. Is that clear?" I asked him while raising an eyebrow. He looked pretty conflicted but finally nodded.

"Of course, your... I mean, Gaia. Please, follow me. I'll be your guide" he said while turning around and walking out the room. I noticed that Luna left during my little chat with the little one. She was sneaky, I'll give her that! I still don't like her, she needs to work on her anger issues.

The trip towards the dining hall was pretty uneventful, saving for a small stop at the restroom. After all that food I ate my system had to release some of it back to the earth... on in this case, to the... porcelain thing. I hope it's the correct one at least.

As I got in the dining hall I noticed that there were more ponies present this time... Wait a minute... They were the ones that I found at the forest! Celestia rose from her seat and smiled at me.

"Hello there, Celestia. I see you brought some friends for dinner" I said to her.

"You are right, Gaia. And I think you already know them" she replied with a sly smile. "They were eager to meet you properly"

"That's right! It is an honor to meet a princess that has been unknown since... well... forever!" The purple one said with excitement.

"Sorry dear, but I am not-" I tried to say, but i was cut off by her.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, the princess of Magic, and these are my best friends. Applejack, the element of Honesty..." She said while pointing to the orange mare.

"Nice to meet ya" She said while tipping her hat.

"Fluttershy, the element of Kindness..." Twilight showed me a yellow mare with wings... a pegasus!

"Um... it's nice to see you again" she said with a tiny voice.

"Pinkie Pie, the element of Laughter..."Twilight said while the pink mare bounced in place.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, but you already know that since Twilight just told you! So I really should-"

"Rainbow Dash, the element of Loyalty..."Twilight interrupted Pinkie with an annoyed tone.

"The one and only!" the rainbow pegasus said with pride. So many names, I hope to remember them...

"And finally Rarity, the element of Generosity!" the lavender alicorn pointed to the last unnamed pony in the room.

"Charmed" she simply said, looking at me from head to tail. Another curious being like me, at long last!

"It's nice to see you all again, dears" I said to them with a serene smile. It was really nice to see them again and be able to talk to them.

"I wish to ask you so many questions! Why you have been hidden all this time? Why appear now? Why are you so big? How-" Twilight ranted before being cut off by young Luna. By the stars... I've seen many curious creatures but she is one of the most eager ones!

"Tomorrow we can exchange more information, Twilight Sparkle, but let us dine for now before our food gets cold" said Luna with a polite tone.

I already tasted all the menu so I just asked for a light meal. I didn't want to get fat after all! At least this time I wasn't alone in table manners.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash ate almost exactly as I did. Well, that's not the truth... Pinkie ate in a very unique and loud way. I must admit that it was a pretty amusing sight. Rarity still looked absolutely horrified by me for some reason.

"Darling, your table manners are just simply dreadful. How can you eat like that?" Rarity asked me.

"Why, is there any other way to eat? You bite the food, you eat the food. It's not warp theory, dear" I replied her with a small smile.

"That is not what I meant. Do you need to be so loud and... improper? A lady must be on her best behavior at all times, and know the best of table manners. Yours are... a bit lacking, darling" Rarity explained while grimacing a bit. I think it's because I get a bit dirty while eating.

"Never bothered to learn them anyways. You don't need them to live, dear. They are a thing made by societies, it's just not natural" I told her with a smile. She looked like she have been slapped by someone.

"But you must have them, that's what makes ponies different from mere savages!" Rarity said.

"I agree with dame Rarity. Customs and norms are natural for any society" Luna said while nodding her head. I just shook mine with a smile.

"Maybe you are right, dears. But in the end, we are nothing but animals" I replied to them. I feel so good when I make people speechless!

"You cannot possibly be serious! We are way more than simple animals!" Rarity exclaimed. The others also looked miffed at my words. Oh my, they were THAT kind of people, weren't they?

"Honey, I've seen the rise and fall of many civilizations, and I can say that I'm more amazed by the birth of a child than by the many different ways on how to scratch your plot in a proper way" I said with a small smile.

I need to count how many times they looks so surprised. They sure looked amazed by the smallest things.

Gaia was a mysterious pony, that was clear for anypony present in the dining hall. A walking enigma for the equestrian princesses.

By the way she talked she was ancient... probably predating any known civilization. Celestia already told Twilight and Luna about her findings, and their reactions were mixed.

Luna thought that, while truly older than them, Gaia was... senile in some way. She was oblivious to any kind of social norm and didn't care enough to learn about them. Luna also believed that some of the things she said were product of her apparently active imagination.

Twilight on the other hoof thought that she truly was from another planet, as she talked in another language when she arrived. That also explained her odd behavior and complete obliviousness of equestrian customs. She conceded that they needed to perform some tests before making more assumptions.

They all agreed that she was a very dangerous wild card that needed to be under observation. She wasn't evil, that was a fact, but her disregard of etiquette and other social norms would be a problem when contacting with another species. The dragons and griffons weren't as kind as the ponies after all.

The raging storm of questions assaulted the princesses, and even when they were sure of Gaia's pure intentions, they needed the assistance of Cadence to really gauge what truly was in her heart.

Even the laughter of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie was unable to break the suspicions and worry of the alicorn trio in the room. They decided to watch in silence the exchange of words between the new alicorn and the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Even with the need for answers calling them to ask questions, they had to wait.

Twilight used this situation to observe Gaia's personality. She acted like a mother surrounded by kids, and while polite she just acted as she saw fit. She had an eating contest with Rainbow and Pinkie, and after that she softly discussed with Fluttershy about what kind of animals existed in Equestria, all the time with a smile on her face. Even when Rarity came back for more and tried to drill her some kind of 'decent manners' she just took it in stride, not even offended to be called 'vulgar' several times... or implied by the way Rarity tried to explain Gaia about it at least.

And even with the questions and the suspicion, with the unknowns and Gaia's overwhelming personality... Twilight couldn't help but smile at her. Gaia was like some kind of silly grandmother that lived too much and just tried to enjoy life day by day. She also reminded her of Pinkie Pie, always trying to get a smile out of everypony... but mixed with Applejack's blunt honesty and Fluttershy's kind smile... That was truly something to think about.

Celestia told her that, according to Gaia's words, she was the warden of her own world, and her cutie mark confirmed that in some way. Maybe she embodied her world in more than one way... She was trying to be polite so she didn't stare at her flank, but managed to steal some glances and as Celestia said, Gaia's cutie mark was moving! Not in place but the mark itself. The clouds on the planet where being carried by some kind of winds they couldn't perceive... and sure enough the mark didn't feel like a magical illusion either.

After the uneventful dinner, Gaia was escorted to her room, and Twilight's friends departed to rest as well, leaving the princesses alone in the dining hall.

"I hope Cadence arrives soon in the morn. With her help we can shed some light over this" Luna said, sighing and slumping on her throne.

"I hope so, little sister. If Gaia is as powerful as she looks we will need great amounts of power to even scan her" Celestia said, carefully sipping her tea "We will need to inform her of the procedures as well. I think that if she doesn't allow it they will be unsuccessful"

"I still can't believe she doesn't know a bit of magic, Prin- I mean, Celestia " Twilight said with a small blush on her face "Even being the gentle soul she seems to be, any accidental outburst from her magic can be catastrophic.. I don't believe that she can lift an entire city though"

"She spoke the truth, or at least she believes it to be true, Twilight. We will need to think about how to test her strength" Celestia replied while nodding.

"I don't believe she is that strong either, sister. You can't hold that much energy inside without consequences" Luna reasoned with a thoughtful expression.

"But you remember the Tirek incident, right Luna? We can't be sure of that" Twilight countered.

"That is true, Twilight. We need to find a place where we can test this safely" Celestia replied with a smile.

"I already thought about some barren areas that barely hold any kind of life. I think we can travel via teleportation and perform some of the field tests there. We wouldn't be putting anypony in danger that way, and we could just ask her for some demonstration of her powers as well. It's the perfect plan!" Twilight said while applauding with her front hooves.

"We need to consult with our niece first, but I think that it is a good plan" Celestia responded.

"Agreed. We shall warn our stewards of our brief business outside Canterlot. For now I have duties to perform this night. I hope you enjoy a peaceful rest" Luna said while getting up and walking out of the dining hall. Her fellow princesses also retired to their chambers for a much needed sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Royal Flush

That night I didn't have a restful sleep.

Even with all the excitement of the previous day my mind wandered to past times... sad times when I had to watch my children kill themselves in pointless wars about everything. Even when I gave them everything I had... they still wanted more. They were young and brash back then, but they learned as time went on.

I tried to think on the wonders I would be seeing the next day with small success, but before I could delve more into the past the sun rose from the horizon, bringing a new day.

I noticed that the atmosphere was tense, and all the young ones were watching me as I ate, as if I was going to grow a head or something like that. At least the little one from yesterday, a unicorn called Blueblood, was being a dear and ate all his breakfast in silence, leaving his plate squeaky clean before muttering something and leaving the table. I was so proud of him!

After the uneventful breakfast they started to talk about something while I was sorting out more of my new lexicon. I was looking about that 'moon' thing when the doors of the dining hall opened to show another alicorn, this time one with a lovely pink coat and multicolored mane. Twilight smiled widely at the pink alicorn and ran towards her... and gave her a hug? They also did this funny dancing that made all of the present ponies giggle. Were they sisters like Luna and Celestia? They looked the youngest of them all, that was for sure.

"Ah, so she is the pony I've been hearing so much about lately..." She said, giggling "Sorry, I always wanted to say that. My name is Mi Amore Cadenza. But please, call me Cadance. It's a pleasure to meet you" She said, making a small bow at me.

"Such politeness... Don't worry about that, dear. I'm Gaia, and it's also a pleasure to meet you, young Cadance" I said to her while smiling.

"Welcome back to Canterlot, niece. How was the train?" Luna asked her.

"It was nice as always, aunt Luna. I even had breakfast there. I'm ready whenever you are" Cadance replied with a perky voice. Luna and Celestia nodded at her words. They had planned something for today then? I think they talked about something yesterday... Oh well... I noticed that Celestia rose from her throne and walked towards me.

"Gaia, I need to tell you that some of my fellow princesses are a bit... skeptical about your claims and we would like you to accompany us somewhere where you can show us your powers without disturbing anypony." Celestia asked me. Ah... so we reached that point.

"Of course I would go with you, dear. Just lead the way" I told her. The other princesses got around us, almost making a ball of fur and feathers. "I don't think we would be able to move if you all stick to me like tree sap." I told them while laughing. I also noticed that Cadance was a lot warmer than the others. I wonder if it's because she looks to eat more healthily than the rest? Celestia chuckled at my remark.

"Oh, we are ready to depart. Just try to clear your mind, and close your eyes" She said. What what?

"Why would you...?" I tried to say when suddenly her horn sparkled with energy, just before a flash blinded me. I knew that something was very wrong in seconds.

We moved in a instant from the castle to a place far away to the south. My inner compass went nuts and I almost lost my breakfast. In a couple of seconds my vision cleared to an apparently barren land.

"What!? How did you do that?" I asked Celestia, who looked pretty proud of herself right now.

"That was a teleportation spell, Gaia. One of the many things an alicorn can do with magic" She told me with a smile.

"You need to learn the basics first though!" Twilight said with a wider smile than Celestia. They loved to teach, don't they?

"But first we have something to do. Before anything else we need to perform some standard scans on you, Gaia." Celestia told me in a more serious tone.

"Go ahead. I already had to live through something like this, if a bit more invasive" I told her. Twilight looked a bit conflicted, but pulled out a strange device from her bags... Oh she had bags like me! Mine are prettier though...

"First we are going to measure your magical output. I'm going to put this ring on your horn You see that the ring is connected to this machine? It will tell us how much magical potential you have, or at least a good approximation of it. It's a modified version for alicorn-like beings. I did it myself!" Twilight explained proudly. She was just like my son, with his little machines... "So, we put this right here... Alright! and now we turn this on..." She said while pressing a button.

The little machine exploded as she pressed the button, scaring all of us. I quickly went and looked over her, as she was rigid as a statue.

"Goodness dear, are you alright?" I asked her as I checked her face and eyes "Thankfully you seem unharmed..."

"What happened, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

"It overloaded... in barely a fraction of a second" Twilight said in a whisper "It should have been able to take all of our powers combined, and it just... exploded..."

"Aw, don't worry about that. You can make more, it was just a machine" I told her, patting her head. The other alicorns were looking at me a bit perplexed. What?

"Gaia, you seem to be an ancient being..." Celestia started to say, but I cut her off.

"Stop that, you're going to make me blush. I look hardly that young" I told her with a timid smile.

"...and that you were from other planet. I think that maybe our way to count days and years differ in some way. Gaia, do you know what a second is, and how much time is it?" Celestia asked me. I closed my eyes and looked for its definition. Oh, would you look at that!

"Yes, and it's a time unit I'm familiar with, surprisingly enough" I told her with a smile.

"In that case... how many hours does a day have in your world?" She asked me. Oh, I knew where this was going!

"My planet has a day of over twenty hours. And a year has three hundred and fifty days" I replied calmly.

"That's not so different from our time system..." Celestia said, pensive. Luna didn't look impressed though.

"That may be so, but I want to see what is she capable of" She said with a frown. Girl, you need to smile more!

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

And so, they were asked with the question they were looking for.

"You said you were the warden of your world. Surely you can do something more than watch" Luna said with a serious tone. Gaia laughed at that.

"You would be surprised how much of my work is just watching the world. I could show you but I don't want to disturb this biome" She told them with a serene smile.

"This has hardly any kind of life. I don't think you are going to disturb anything, Gaia" Twilight said. Gaia just hummed and closed her eyes.

"We shall see about that soon enough" She simply said. That's when they felt it. It was just a sudden rush of energy from Gaia, but when she opened her eyes, they knew they were watching something unique for the first time.

Gaia's eyes were now sparking with some kind of power, as some wisps of lime green color were coming out of them. She just looked slowly to the ground, humming to herself.

"Let's see... huh... desert with barely any kind of rain... heat around a third of the temperature over needed to boil water from the freezing point... Aha... no wind from anywhere... that explains the lack of rain. Interesting... there are no thriving animals around, oddly enough... not much altitude, and the magma is stagnant. How boring... Oh? sapient settlement of insectoids... over a couple of thousand souls..." Gaia said as she looked everywhere. After that she closed her eyes and when they opened again they were back to normal.

"T-that is hardly worth anything. We already knew that, even that the changeling hive was somewhere in the badlands. We are going to need more than random facts to be impressed" Luna said, making Gaia chuckle.

"So that's how it is... Alright dear, I'll bite. Are those mountains at the east important in some way?" She asked softly.

"As far as I know they are just as barren as the badlands. Nopony lives there and there aren't any valuable resources in them" Twilight said. Gaia nodded.

"Good. It would be a pity to work on something here and see how it dries to death" She simply said.

"What do you mean?" Cadance asked.

"Don't worry, there will be enough desert left for the little creatures. So, there we go!" She said happily while raising her right hoof. The sand on the ground started to float from the sheer power Gaia was showing, making everypony amazed at her apparent might, only to be scared when she decided it was enough and stomped her hoof on the ground.

All the princesses felt an absurd amount of power coming from Gaia, and the mountains just toppled and went down, shaking the ground and leaving a corridor towards the coast. She stomped a couple of times for good measure, breaking the mountain range in two. Gaia smiled towards her speechless audience.

"The fun has just begun, dears"

Gaia's hooves started to glow lime green as she trotted towards the corridor. Each time one of her hooves touched the ground a plant sprouted, making a trail of green as she walked. The other alicorns managed to control their amazement and went on a chase. Gaia laughed and galloped away, still laughing and leaving now a trail of green grass and flowers behind her. Luna and Celestia opened their wings and decided to fly and watch from above, while Cadance and Twilight continued on hoof.

Soon the celestial sisters noticed that the trail was getting wider and wider as Gaia ran, one biome replacing another in her wake.

Gaia, sporting a wide smile, suddenly jumped high towards the sky. Every alicorn felt Gaia's power building again much like when she flattened the mountains. Gaia started to glow green as she descended, front hooves first. They watched another miracle when the hooves of the green alicorn touched the ground again.

Green light exploded from her, shaking the ground as a green sphere of energy expanded wider by the second, leaving grass and greenery where it touched the ground. In a couple of minutes every alicorn was on the ground, mouths agape as they were now enjoying a sunny morning on the now green prairies. There was a small portion of desert far to the west, but half of the badlands were now just plains of green. Gaia was still jumping around, assisted by her wings, as she made trees grow here and there.

When there was enough green Gaia decided to land and started to make a small riverbed with her own hooves, humming an alien tune as she worked.

"C-Cadance... you didn't see any kind of darkness in her heart, r-right?" Celestia said, shaken by the show of power.

"No, auntie. She is just as pure as a baby foal" Cadance replied with a small smile.

"How i-is that you are s-so calm after, well... T-this!" Twilight pointed out to the now green landscape. Cadence looked at Gaia with a tender smile.

"Because I also felt her love, Twilight. And she could rival me in that area. She just loves... everything, form the smallest plants to the ugliest creatures. She truly has a heart of gold" Cadance explained, her smile not wavering a bit and her tone one filled with conviction.

Meanwhile, a changeling was wondering why there was grass at the hive door.

Wonders of Nature

Ah, it feels amazing to let some power out! It was just some gardening, but I think it will be enough to show them a little bit of my abilities. So I trotted happily towards the group, bouncing a little with each step. I just hope they were satisfied, even if it wasn't one of my best works.

Oh, I managed to impress them alright! They were open mouthed and looking around amazed. Cadance was applauding with a sincere smile. She is such a sweet girl!

"I hope you find this convincing enough, dears" I told them, chuckling a bit at their dumbfounded faces.

"It was truly beautiful Gaia. I've never seen anything like that before" Cadance said to me, looking around, "It's just too incredible, I almost can't believe it myself"

"You are too kind, dear. This is just some little landscaping, hardly a thing to be proud of" I told her with sincerity.

"Some landscaping? Some... landscaping!?" Twilight yelled as she approached me, her mane sticking out in some places and a crazed look in her eyes. Oh my, already made one have a mental breakdown?

"Why yes dear, this is just menial work. Pretty, but nothing marvelous" I said to her.

"You just toppled mountains with a tap of your hoof! That is not possible!" Twilight replied, screaming.

"Obviously it is" I calmly replied.

"Well... I admit that we didn't expect that, Gaia. It was an impressive show of power" Celestia said to me in a respectful tone.

"You... were not lying..." Luna said, still almost speechless.

"Why would I lie about that, dears? As I said, I'm from another planet and I'm here taking a vacation. As a warden of my planet, this is just my typical work, but I usually let things work out for themselves" I explained while nodding.

"Just... what? How can you be so... so careless!" Twilight yelled at me. She is just like young Luna, isn't she?

"What do you mean?" I asked her with a curious smile, which made her more upset.

"You just can't control a world by doing nothing! You need a plan for everything!" Twilight said, pacing in place and frowning in anger "I can't believe your world survived that long with its supposed 'warden' doing nothing!"

"Ouch, you hurt my feelings. I think I did a pretty good job, given that I had to learn myself how to do things" I told her with a sad smile.

"Twilight! That was way out of the line!" Celestia said, scolding the young alicorn.

"I'm sorry Celestia, but it's just hard to believe. I don't doubt about her power, but I doubt she is able to watch over a playground, much less over a world" She said, not giving up on her words. Oh! She is just like my son when he was her age! I know what to do!

"Well, do you really think you can do a better job than little old me?" I told her with a sweet voice.

"I am not one to brag, but I'm kinda good with organization..." Twilight replied with a small smile. Aha! Gotcha!

"Well, I think we can make a small experiment about that... You like experiments, right?" I asked her in the same sweet voice.

"What are you planning, Gaia?" Cadance asked me with curiosity.

"Something truly enlightening for young Twilight. Can we go back to the castle? I need a couple of things that I can probably find there" I asked Celestia.

"Of course. I just hope that you are not planning something dangerous" Celestia said, before teleporting all of us back to Canterlot. Magic was truly an amazing thing!

"Don't worry about that, dear. I assure you that it will be a safe teaching experience" I told her with a motherly smile.

"So, when do we start! What are the objectives of the experiment? Please, tell me!" Twilight said while jumping in place. I laughed at her eagerness.

"Calm down young Twilight. First, I need some water; iron, nickel, a crystal box and a light bulb, a potent one" I told her. Almost instantly, she disappeared in a flash and came back with all the materials. I smiled gently and sat on the ground, picking up portions of iron and nickel and squashing them between my hooves like clay. Every alicorn watched every move with curiosity.

"So... what are you going to do with this? I hardly see anything related to your work here" Luna said with her skeptic tone. By the stars, are all these ponies so impatient?

"First I need the proper quantity of each and make a sphere. Then we put some water... there we go!" I showed them the drenched ball made of metal.

"It's... nice" Cadance said. Aw, she was just polite to say that it looked pretty much like trash.

"Don't worry, I'll create the smallest materials needed for this. They are few, but important!" I told them happily.

"But... what are you doing?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Twilight, dear. Can you light up the bulb, please? And put it in front of the box" I told her. She did as I asked without question. Aha... It will be enough I suppose.

"Now a bit closer to the box... yes, there!" I said, guiding her.

"This looks like one of those biology experiments when you put an egg and hatch it thanks to the heat of the bulb!" Twilight said, excited "The test is to take care of an animal?" she asked me. I chuckled a bit.

"Something like that. I've done this a couple of times before, and I'm sure everyone is going to learn from this experiment" I told them with sincerity.

I picked up the wet metal sphere and smashed it between my front hooves. I poured power towards the sphere, heating it until it melted and quickly contained the metal in a sphere, making it dense enough to have a noticeable gravity field. They watched in awe as I held between my hooves the small ball of boiling metal as I walked carefully towards the box and opened it with my mouth. I touched with my snout each of the sides of the box, giving just a bit of power to it. After that, I put the ball in the box and watched as the power reacted to the ball, making it levitate in place. I blew some air onto the ball, making it spin in place and then closed it.

Now the box held a miniature planet, covered in a heavy and dense atmosphere.

"There you go! Your own planet! You have ten days until it dies of old age" I told Twilight, much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

Gee, they sure were skittish. They were surprised by everything!

"What did you just say? Is that really a planet?" Twilight asked in a whisper. Gaia nodded happily.

"Indeed, it's all yours. Oh! I almost forgot!" Gaia said while walking towards Twilight, and kissing her softly on her forehead, making the lavender alicorn a bit ill with a rush of information "This is just a bit of basic things on how to control and watch over your new charge"

"Oh my Celestia..." Twilight said in a daze, before shaking her head and looking over the planet with worry "But... What is the purpose of this?" Twilight asked.

"Whatever you want, dear. It's your planet. Burn it, flood it or just forget about it. I just want you to watch over it, and take notes about what you do and what are the consequences of your actions. Take photos of it if you want too, they will be very informative" Gaia explained Twilight, as the lavender alicorn absorbed the words.

"But there must be some kind of objective! I know about experiments made 'just for the sake of it', but even those need to have... well... some kind of explanation behind them!" Twilight asked, both confused and fascinated. Gaia hummed a bit.

"Well, in that case I'll tell you this" Gaia spoke calmly, walking around the box with the new planet "If you manage to show me a planet with at least life on land and water I'll call it a success" Gaia said with a small smile. Twilight clapped her hooves and summoned a stack of papers, quills and ink and put them near the planet.

"This is so interesting! I need to monitor everything! It's going to be the perfect planet!" She exclaimed, just to stop and looking at me with sadness. "But... the creatures on it... are going to die after the ten days?" She asked Gaia with a pout. Gaia nodded slowly.

"Indeed, but that's how life works, dear. They will die in less than a second. Each minute will be thousands of years for them, it must be this way if we want to test your abilities in a realistic amount of time. You can't spend millions of years watching over a world now, right? Gaia said while giggling before walking away from Twilight "And remember... Have fun!"

Twilight looked at the planet floating inside the box, a determined look in her eyes as she picked up paper and started to write something. Celestia and Luna followed Gaia as Cadance stayed behind with Twilight.

"I'm sure Twilight will perform beyond your expectations, Gaia" Luna said with smugness. Gaia went to a window and just watched the landscape.

"She is going to fail" Gaia said with conviction. Celestia and Luna looked at her with confusion.

"Why do you say that?" Celestia asked. Gaia just smiled motherly at her.

"Celestia, do you control every little action of your ponies? Do you control when and how they need to eat, sleep or work? Do you put a rule and manage every single thing that happens under your watch?" Gaia asked Celestia.

"Of course not! That would be... Oh... I see..." Celestia said slowly, making Gaia's smile wider with her words.

"She will try to do her best, of that I'm sure. And that's what will be her doom with this little experiment" Gaia said with a sad smile

"How can you be so sure of that? Surely a very well managed planet will be better developed, right?" Luna asked, making Gaia laugh.

"Life isn't about order, young Luna. Life it's about spontaneity and randomness! You don't get animals on land because you made it so, you have them because one unlucky fish had a bad mutation that made it better adapted to the ground, making a whole new world of food at its disposal and helping its survival. Creatures don't discover fire because they decide to, they just observe the phenomenon and one of them has the lucky spark to think 'Oh hey! Maybe we can do something similar!'" Gaia explained, clearly passionate about the issue. "You can plan on something, but you must be ready to go with the flow. Even the most basic life was a lucky spark between amino acids that gave them the ability of self-replication"

The celestial sisters looked very impressed and, as usual with Gaia, surprised by her words.

"What you talk about is chaos, Gaia. That is just not possible" Luna persisted, much to Gaia's amusement.

"No, I talk about other kind of order. One that is just too big for the normal mind to understand" Gaia simply said.

"How can you talk about order when clearly you speak of random chance?" Celestia asked with curiosity.

"Because it all follows a pattern, a universal pattern... because order and chaos are both needed in the universe. And when you have enough of both you have the true order... you have Harmony" Gaia said with a motherly smile. "Oh, and if we translate my actual age to Twilight's experiment... I managed to host a space-faring race of sapient beings by the morning of the fourth day" Gaia said with a timid smile.

And then both celestial princesses knew that this was going to be a hard test for the lavender princess.

Words from the Past

That took more of me than I thought

I was resting near the window, observing the countryside far from Canterlot. The soft hills covered in green grass and small bushes until the great mountain ranges cut the skyline. This truly was a very young world if we go by its apparent geomorphology, too different from the eroded plains that cover my world.

The young ones were thoughtful, probably just wondering about Twilight's test. It was a tough one, but I believe that she will be able to learn from the experience. After all. life isn't always about winning all the time.

"Gaia, I was wondering something..." Celestia asked me.

"What troubles your mind, dear?" I asked her, looking at her with a sideways glance.

"You said that you made this test for somepony before" Celestia went on carefully.

"Yes, that's right. What's your question?" I replied.

"You already said that your world has sapient life, but I was wondering who was this... person? It seems a pretty special kind of test to be given to someone randomly" Celestia finally asked. She sure was a diplomat, trying to ask the correct question.

"It was my son, of course." I asked simply, making both of them freeze in place.

"Son? You mean...?" Luna asked, leaving the question in the air.

"Alicorn? Yes. It's just a bit smaller than your sister but alicorn all the way." I said to Luna with a smirk.

"A male alicorn... what an unexpected turn of events..." Celestia said before chuckling "A frequent occurrence around you, Gaia."

"I aim to live a life filled with many wonderful surprises, dear. It's logical to think that some of those will be surprising others around me as well." I said to her while giggling. I observed that Twilight teleported herself and the experiment towards another room, probably to have some privacy. In retrospective, building a science experiment inside a random hall of the castle wasn't my best idea. I decided that I really wanted to be in the gardens and started to walk away, the two alicorns getting up quickly and walking behind me.

"So, what is his name? Does he have talents similar to yours?" Celestia asked in a polite tone.

"Is he also eons old?" Luna asked, suddenly interested in me. I laughed as we walked.

"Well, he isn't as old as me, obviously. He is in the middle of his sixth millennium and he can't do my work, not by himself at least. His name is Prometheus, and he is my only son from my own blood and flesh."I told them with a motherly smile on my face, remembering when my little boy was just a cute infant.

"That's a unique name. It seems that your naming conventions differ far from ours. Do they mean something or are they just meaningless designations?" Celestia asked. Oh, I see now where Twilight got her inquisitive mind.

"They have meaning, even if it's an old one. It's been many millennia since we both had our names pronounced in their original, primitive language. I didn't invent any language, dear, so at first I just didn't speak. The first civilizations named me and my son, and we stuck with those names. I must admit that I heard a different way to say mine and I liked it more than my original name" I said with a playful smile.

"Do not leave us in the dark now. Continue, please." Luna asked. Ah, the curiosity of the young...

"His name hadn't been changed since the first time. His name means 'foresight', as he always watched over the developing civilizations of my world, from their humble starts 'till the very end and beyond." I told them while nodding slowly, still walking towards the gardens.

"He is just another kind of warden. You watch over the world and he watches over the societies of the sapient races on it?" Celestia asked, wondering out loud.

"Different societies of the same species, but yes. My world only developed one sapient species, young Celestia, but you were close" I told her with a small smile.

"And what does yours mean?" Luna asked. Ah... it's been some time...

"Mine takes me back to the first settlements on my world. They called me Ma-ka. It means 'Mother Earth'. It will always amaze me how they were able to recognize me, even when it was the first time they saw me. I think they lately proved that it was some kind of instinctual behavior. Anyways, a couple of centuries forwards, I found this little but cute civilization that used bronze tools and had beautiful marble and limestone buildings. They had a more advanced language and they called me 'Gaia', and I liked it so much that I stuck with it. The meaning is the same, but I really liked it more than Maka. I still reply when some of them call me that, though. I suppose it's also kind of instinctual since it was my first name" I explained to them, even after we arrived at the gardens and walked through them a bit. Both alicorns looked very pensive.

"Mother Earth... I kinda see why they called you that. But now I have another question. How is that you speak our language when saying those names? I expected you to talk like before when saying them" Celestia asked. I smiled softly at her.

"When Discord gave me the knowledge of your tongue I also learned its phonetics and more ancient words. I just looked for the best matches and made new words if I didn't find anything. When you have seen and heard as many languages as I do you work quick to establish some way of translating concepts. Yours was the hardest since the sapient beings back home don't have a voice box like us. I didn't have a reference to work on." I told her as I observed some of the little creatures approaching us... Ah, squirrels. Such a nice name. Celestia chuckled at my words.

"I suppose we can gather a few tricks along the way." Celestia said with a small smirk.

"It's one of the little perks of being old I suppose." I told her, playing a bit with the squirrel. Both sisters seemed like engaged in some kind of unspoken discussion. I yawned, still a bit tired from before. It really took a toll on my energy.

"You look tired, Gaia. Do you wish to rest in your chambers?" Luna asked with concern. I just slumped on the grass, some animals quickly approaching me and smelling me.

"I think I'll take a nap right here. Don't worry if I don't wake for lunch, I'm known for..." I tried to say, but a yawn again assaulted me "for my long naps..."

A nap sounded... lovely...

And she just went to sleep right there.

Celestia's mind went overdrive with the new information. Gaia was far from alone, and it was clear that these unknown beings were capable of travel through space. Gaia didn't know any magic, but that didn't mean that they didn't travel thanks to some kind of spell... they need to contact with this 'Prometheus' if they wanted to know more about this alien civilization... but in little time Gaia will be traveling and both Luna and Celestia knew that they didn't have the ability to stop her... and why would they?

Celestia looked at the sleeping alicorn, some of the animals in the palace garden resting on and beside her. She didn't know about laws or frontiers but, as Cadence said, she had a heart in the right place.

Celestia decided to talk her mind and told her sister about her thoughts, which concerned Luna. She thought that they already had enough wild cards on the table to add some unknown menace upon themselves. While not apparently hostile they can't assume that Gaia's son was as calm as she was if their own history was something to go by. Wars scarred Equestria and other countries centuries ago and even today the diplomats had a tough work on their hooves. Peace and Harmony have to be worked on if the nations wanted to keep the status quo. Luna knew better than anypony, past times still fresh in her mind.

"It seems that we are at an impasse, sister" Luna pointed out sourly.

"Looks like it, Luna" Celestia replied, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"She didn't do anything bad, but the other countries may not be so open with her, and I'm afraid what one pony with her powers can do when she is angry." Luna explained further. Celestia nodded slowly.

"True... but maybe we don't really need to think about that." Celestia said, confusing Luna.

"How so, sister?" She asked.

"It is simple. We help her" Celestia replied with a smirk.

"What?" Luna eloquently replied.

"It is not perfect, but it will be helpful. If one of us accompany her as... let's say, her guide, we can evade most of the political fallout and she will be traveling as she planned. Well, maybe a bit more planned than she thought." Celestia explained with a small laugh.

"This is no joking matter, sister." Luna said with a light frown.

"Lighten up, little sister. At least it's better than doing nothing" Celestia said with a smirk on her face.

"Maybe we need to discuss this matter with our fellow princesses." Luna said as she walked to the castle. Celestia looked over Gaia again before following Luna.

"I'm sure they will agree with me." Celestia said with confidence.

Meanwhile, Twilight had already a big pile of notes around her, her past glee now gone as she observed the lifeless ball that floated in the box.

"This isn't as exciting as I thought... I got the bulb to emit less light and the clouds to reflect more heat...it already got cold enough to rain... but still there is no life! It's just a wet rock!" Twilight said in exasperation as Cadance giggled at her.

"You are just too impatient, Twilight. You just need to wait" She said with a knowing smile.

"I know, but I just have ten days. Ten days! What if I miss something?" Twilight asked her in desperation. Cadance just rolled her eyes.

"You can't be all cooped up here, you have a castle that needs your attention back in Ponyville and friends that need you there too" Cadance explained to her as she tried to pull her from the small planetoid.

"But it also needs me!" Twilight cried, trying to reach the experiment.

"No. Bad Twilight. I know you love to learn, but you have been acting pretty rude lately, especially towards Gaia" Cadance admonished Twilight, staring at her. Twilight looked down as she tried to evade Cadence's eyes.

"Maybe I've been a bit overzealous with all of this. The stress of the situation coupled with how she acts..." Twilight said as she sighed "I will apologize later."

"Just remember to take it easy. You are not a filly Twilight, and I can't be watching over you when you get like this. You should seek help from your friends if you find yourself lost. Gaia said that it was your planet and it was your responsibility, but she didn't say that you need to do it alone" Cadance said with a wink. Twilight smiled brightly and started to write a letter, thanking herself for leaving Spike at the castle this time.

As Twilight redacted a letter for Spike and her friends, a creature darted from shadow to shadow, his job done and fleeing from the castle while being undetected. The small buzzing sound could be heard by the guards at the castle walls, but they thought it was from insects and ignored it. One thought was shared by the creature and the guard though.

This Spring sure was turning out interesting.

Echoes and Surprises

Where was I?

The ground was hot and blackened, barely illuminated by a sun covered by a deep layer of toxic atmosphere.

Ah... this again...

I looked at myself and sure enough I was a young filly again, the world on my flank covered in a dust-filled layer of clouds and my wings were again too small to be good for flight. I had this dream way too many times...

This was... a memory. A very old memory.

I walked around the still warm ground, looking for something... anything...

This was a few hundred million years after the world was born, still warm from its birth. It was cold enough for the water to be liquid on its surface, so I searched for that. I always looked for water.

People always remember their childhoods with nostalgia, their families taking care of them and they were just without care in the word. I never had any of those. I had a barren rock for a home and myself as my family. I know, I didn't have a very happy childhood.

And neither was this a happy dream. I didn't have any control so the memory carried on, reliving the feelings attached to the memories, and as every time I dreamed this I cried. I cried for something to be there for me, for someone to tell me I wasn't alone and that I didn't have to be sad. No on ever replied back.

This time the dream changed.

"Gaia?" I heard someone calling my name. I turned and saw Luna, looking horrified at her surroundings and very concerned about me. It was then when the hold that the dream had over me broke, and I finally moved on my own. Still, the sadness got the best of me and just nodded at her words.

"Gaia... what is this? Where are we?" Luna asked as she approached me "...and what happened to you?"

"I thought your sister was the inquisitive one" I chuckled, cleaning my tears "This... this is a memory of my world." I said, Luna observing with sadness as she heard my words.

"What happened? It looks... dead" Luna said, not being very tactful with her words.

"It's not what happened, but what didn't, dear. This is way in the past, before any kind of plant and animal existed on my world" I explained to her. Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Truly? That explains your present form" Luna pointed out, making me sigh a bit.

"If that's what you find interesting, young Luna... I wonder how is that you are in my dream" I asked her with curiosity, trying to shake my mind off the memory.

"One of my duties is being the guardian of the dreams, and I sensed that you were having a nightmare. I came to help but... I think this is the first time I have ever seen this kind of dream." Luna told me. Ah, these ponies sure have the most interesting abilities at their disposal.

"It's a recurring memory of mine, dear." I told her. I decided to sit down there and look at one of the multiple volcanoes still erupting and making the atmosphere thicker by each passing minute.

"I can't even fathom how something can live here. No offense, Gaia" Luna said with sadness. I just looked at the sea far away from us and pointed it with my hoof.

"Oh, but there is, young Luna. Right now, millions of microscopic cells are living and dying in those waters, all around the world." I explained to her with a motherly smile. Luna chuckled a bit.

"I see, but please refrain from making those smiles. It's hard to take you seriously with that cute face you have right now." Luna said with a smirk "But I can hardly call microbes as life."

"That's a very common misconception, dear. Life started from these simple cells, and in time they managed to 'band together' as it were and made way to more complex life forms." I told her "And while quite depressing, this was the look of my world for most of its existence."

"Surely you jest?" Luna asked me, unconvinced.

"I'm afraid I'm being serious, young Luna. Almost three billion years passed before life managed to appear, and you already know how old I am. Do the basic math and you will see that I'm right." I explained her. Luna looked pensive for a moment before gasping loudly.

"Is that why this is a nightmare for you? You feel sadness because there are no creatures to share your life with?" Luna asked, concerned. I laughed bitterly.

"No, loneliness was just the start of the nightmare." I told her as one of the volcanoes exploded at the background, a rain of molten slag fell all over the place, splashing water as it fell on the oceans. I looked with pain over the quickly evaporating water. Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why that face, Gaia? It's just water" Luna asked me. The feeling in the memory came back at full force, making me cry as I put a sad smile on my face.

"Because this is the true nightmare... To watch millions of lives die and being unable to stop it. To know that there was nothing in my power I could do to stop this. And that I would live on while they will go where I can't follow..."

I cried. I cried as the filly I was back then, for their deaths and for my own loneliness. It was a very strong revelation back then for my young mind and it still haunts me to this day. I felt a wing draped over me and a pair of legs hugging me as I wailed on poor Luna. I felt foreign tears fall on my head and saw that Luna was crying with me.

And for a brief moment, I didn't feel so alone anymore.

Luna observed the sleeping form of Gaia from her chambers, a solemn look on her face and a newfound respect for the sleeping mare at the gardens.

She knew the pain of losing special ponies to her as her own banishment was still fresh in her mind, but Gaia's feel of utter despair was too deep and real. Compare her own case with Gaia was just disrespectful to the green mare, and she found herself thinking on how Gaia acted and how they interpreted her behavior... and suddenly many pieces of the puzzle fell in place without much work from Luna's part.

She walked out of the room and looked for her sister, as they got separated when she felt Gaia's nightmare and she went to deal with it. Dreams were also a good way to learn about a pony and she didn't want to let the opportunity pass... even if it wasn't what she expected.

She was almost at the throne room when she sensed something odd... a strange presence that was using the shadows to move around the castle. She decided to follow this presence using the same shadows it was using, showing that her title of 'Night Mistress' was not for show.

The presence was very elusive as it took many turns and looked like it was sneaking around in some random pattern, but Luna noticed that she was slowly approaching the exterior halls of the castle, and soon enough she found herself near the gardens... where Gaia rested.

Luna approached the gardens as quietly as she could while sneaking in a hurry. When she was near she heard a strange voice.

"... be useful if we manage to turn her to our side. Such raw power!" said that voice, that was none other than Queen Chrysalis of the changelings. Said queen laughed out loud while a couple of her drones secured a guard that was unconscious near Gaia.

"If she can turn a desert into a flourishing land just imagine if we can control that power! Victory will be mine!" she said while laughing like a maniac.

"Do you always monologue when you are about to perform an act of villainy, queen of the changelings?" Luna asked, making herself present on the scene. Chrysalis scowled at her.

"Princess Luna... I think we haven't been properly introduced..." Chrysalis said cautiously. Luna snorted at her words.

"I know enough. I'll be lenient and let you go unharmed if you leave Gaia alone" Luna said as she stomped her hoof.

"So that's her name... so exotic... And what makes you think that I will be complying to your demands? After all, I have the upper hoof right now." Chrysalis said with smugness. Luna scowled, a flash of light crossing her eyes.

"We have a castle filled with well-trained guards. What makes you think that you will win?" Luna asked her, still pretty mad. Chrysalis laughed louder as she sauntered around Gaia.

"This here is a mare that managed to wield so much energy that makes the love between Shining Armor and Cadence look like a tiny spark in comparison. If I manage to manipulate her to do my will I will be ruling all over Equestria!" she said as she and her minions laughed. Luna rolled her eyes.

"I thought that you will be aiming towards more with so much power at your disposal." Luna said in a mocking manner.

"Silence, fool! Who told you that I will be stopping there? The rest of the world will be next!" Chrysalis replied, offended.

"Of course..." Luna said with a smirk, making Chrysalis mad.

"At least I didn't lose to a bunch of young mares with flashing lights." she said with smugness as she got closer to Gaia.

"Do not think that you are better than me! If you dare to touch her..." Luna said with anger. Chrysalis laughed, raising one of her hooves and moving it over the sleeping mare.

"You what? You will make me yield thanks to your Royal Canterlot voice?" Chrysalis said as she touched Gaia.

And all went to Tartarus.

"All units, code red!" Said a disembodied and slightly mechanical voice, making all the present creatures jump in place.

"Code red!" replied multiple voices multiple times as a small army of small creatures appeared out of nowhere. They were like some kind of armored starfish with three arms. They moved creeping on the ground and even the castle walls as they flicked in place, making themselves appear as if they were using some kind of cloaking spell. They also carried on them some kind of devices that were pointed towards everyone there but Gaia. Both Luna and Chrysalis would be thinking that they looked kinda cute... if it wasn't because they were flooded by them, almost covering every inch of the garden and castle walls surrounding Gaia. When the mass of black-armored starfish took position they heard a sea of clicking noises coming from their strange devices.

"Don't move or we will fire upon ourselves!" One of them said with that strange, metallic voice.

"Don't you mean 'Or we will fire upon you'?" said a younger voice, soon before a slapping sound made itself present "Owie..."

A figure appeared in the middle of the mass of strange creatures, towering over them. It was an alicorn that wore a fully enclosed armor of strange design, with organic and light forms instead of the sharpness expected from a complete set of armor. It walked slowly to the speechless princess and queen.

"It seems that-" he tried to say as a beam of red energy impacted on him, the beam coming from the side. In that side one of the starfish creatures was trembling in place as his now identified weapon cooled off. "Ow! Hey, dude! What the heck are you doing?" the male alicorn said to the thing.

"But the captain said 'Don't move'..."

"Them! It was for them, not for us! How do you expect to do your work if you don't move?" the alicorn said with an angry tone. Murmurs spread through the starfish people, many of them saying things in the line of 'it makes sense'.

The discussion continued as one princess and multiple changelings looked between them with a lost look on their faces.

Alien Diplomacy

"...So we have a consensus, right guys?" I asked them in a hopeful tone. They murmured among themselves before the captain saluted me.

"Yes sir!" He simply said before blending with the rest. I felt someone patting me on my shoulder and I was surprised to see the night princess looking at me as confused as the changeling queen.

"Yes...?" I asked her.

"Excuse us, but who are you?" She asked, looking at me and at my soldiers. Ah, yeah one of the trigger-happy guys had to show us his reflexes and cut me off. I tried to puff my chest out and extended my wings in my patented presentation pose... which has a very embarrassing abbreviation that I refuse to use.

"I am Prometheus, Firstborn of Gaia! Seeker of Knowledge; Guide of the Trichordians, Doctor in practical and theorical quantum physics... and whatever you want me to be..." I said as I put out my helmet, showing my face to her and winking at her. I need to describe myself a bit as I didn't put any description of my appearance before this. I had my mom's eyes and a darker shade of her hair, but my coat was light brown. My hair was an absolute, mess, but I didn't have time for such trivialities. Ah, I need to say that I obtained at that moment a very red, very painful hoofmark on my face.

"How... how dare you to..." The night princess said, a bit red on her cheeks and a furious look in her eyes. I see...

"Master Scribe, take note. After four thousand, three hundred and twenty-two tries... the phrase still doesn't work. Female reaction strangely similar even in different cultures. Further study is required." I told to my ever-faithful scribe as he took notes in his datapad.

"Noted, your lordship. Anything else?" He asked in a polite tone.

"No, that will be for now. Back to your position". I told him before returning my attention to a very unamused Luna. "It was for scientific purposes."

"You are strange..." Luna murmured as she recalled something "... You are just like her, so odd..."

"I'll take that as a compliment, now you!" I said pointing to Chrysalis.

"What do you want?" she said with disgust. As the reports said, she had very bad attitude towards her superiors. Cute. I touched my holopad and opened one of the docs I had saved in it. I looked at her with a stern frown.

"Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, you have been found guilty of a failed kidnapping of the all-mother for the benefit of one or a few in detriment of the many. If you desist on your plan and agree to not tell about this encounter to anyone or anypony you will not be harmed." I said to her with a serious tone. She looked at me with her eyes wide open before laughing out loud at my reasonable demands.

"You... you are too much... are you serious?" she asked me, still laughing. I didn't find it funny, so I recited the document.

"If you do not desist you and your minions will be apprehended and punished as it follows. First there will be lashes, followed by donating a third of your agricultural production to the church of Gaia. After that, there will be more lashes followed by a full meal with no dessert because you have been bad. Then there will be lashes before an appointment with the psychologist..." I said as I found the list strange. I heard some of the boys snickering. No... they didn't...

"...Real mature of you guys, hacking my holopad with an edited version of the text. Ha ha. You got your giggles... now who did it?" I asked them, and they all remained silent. Chrysalis and Luna looked pretty lost again. One of my boys creeped in front of me and saluted.

"I did it, sir. Punish me if you must!" he said, trying to look proud and sure of himself.

"It's nice to know that you both are such good friends, but I know that Scratcher did it" I told him, as he jumped in place,

"W-what?" he replied, scared. Everyone made space so leave Scratcher alone, looking petrified.

"It was a good one... right?" He told me, trying to be funny.

"Sergeant Scratcher... This was not the place nor the time. I've been trying to be reasonable with all your 'all-mother' thingy, but really you are nerding out history books and nobody cares." I told him harshly. "So you are going back to the ship and think about what you have done."

"Alright, boss..." he replied, dejected and walking away slowly. I made a head gesture towards three of my guys and they understood the order. They got to each side of Scratcher and held him as they 'escorted' him. "W-what? What is this?" He asked fearfully. My mother was always kind with everyone. But I was not my mother.

"No extranet for you for the next three days, creep." I told him, making everyone except the natives gasp.

"No... No! No, please! Anything but that! I have a raid with the clan in twenty hours! They need a support for the dungeon!" he pleaded. It was cruel, but it had to be done.

"You will have books, don't worry... all of them romance and fiction stories..." I told him with a wide smile.

"Augh! No! I'll be good, I promise! I-" his pleas were cut short as one of the soldiers turned off his comms. I nodded to then as they carried the poor sod away. I turned towards the natives "So, now with the real punishment..."

"I don't know what is this 'extranet' you speak off, but it sounds vital for your... companions. Why did you do that?" Luna asked, somewhat scared. I know, I would be scared too.

"It's pretty damaging, I know. His clan is going to lose rank because of this and they will be out of the tournament for good this time." I told her. "But you know how these online games work. Miss a day and your cyber life is ruined" I told them. Ah, there it is! Now just read this and reach a profitable...

Wait, why did they look at me like that?

It was... a game?

Luna and Chrysalis looked baffled at the odd alicorn and his entourage of odd soldier creatures. Chrysalis made an exasperated grunt.

"I can't believe this! Another one?! I'm surrounded by nerds!" she cried at the heavens. Prometheus snorted at that.

"Please, I'm expert in tech systems and recreational programs. What are you, from the floppy disk era or something?" he said in an offended tone.

"What is a 'nerd'?" Luna asked, confused by this. Chrysalis pointed at Prometheus, her face contorting between panic and rage.

"This is a nerd! They play games all the time even when they are grown stallions or mares, and they 'nerd out' in tight groups. They are the bane of our existence!" Chrysalis said. The sea of starfish people protested at that with phrases in the line of 'that's just a stereotype' and 'get a life, troll', which confused Luna to no end. Clearly Chrysalis was not a troll, she was a changeling.

"Queen Chrysalis, are you a troll?" Luna asked in seriousness, making Chrysalis choke on her words.

"What? No!" she exclaimed. Prometheus coughed a bit to call their attentions.

"Now now, don't make me be the moderator on this. So, the real document..." He said, pointing to that strange light coming out of his foreleg "Queen Chrysalis, if you don't desist in your dark schemes you will be lashed and... seriously dudes, where was the last time we checked this crap?" He asked to the starfish aliens. They managed to shrug in confusion, making Prometheus so frustrated that he struck himself in the forehead.

"Ok! No lashes! Alright, let's see the rest... huh... sounds reasonable..." He said out loud "Got it. Let's do this again... Queen Chrysalis, if you don't desist you will be brought to our ship where you will be imprisoned for a period of one month. Do you want to do this the easy way... or the hard way?" Prometheus said with a stern voice. Chrysalis laughed and sauntered towards him, making the little soldiers uneasy.

"Why don't you tell me? I know how to play those games too..." She said in a seductive voice. Luna was ready to charge as she saw Prometheus blush a bit, but the steel in his eyes assured her fears.

"You have chosen... poorly" He simply said as one little slot in his armor opened. Suddenly a muffled sound was heard and suddenly Chrysalis was on the ground, paralyzed. Three more of those were heard and the changelings around her fell paralyzed as well. Luna looked horrified.

"What did you do!?" she yelled at them, only for Prometheus to have his hoof.

"Don't worry, It's nothing lethal. I'll be delivering these back to their homes" He told her as some of the creatures creeped towards the downed changelings, somehow making themselves invisible and baffling Luna.

"Incredible... but... were you not going to imprison them?" She asked, and Prometheus smiled in a way that reminded her of Gaia.

"Ah, but she tried to use her charms on me, not tried to kidnap my mother, right?" He replied with a smirk, making Luna chuckle.

"That is true" Luna replied, looking at the male alicorn with interest as she examined his body. He didn't look pretty strong and he was on the pudgy side... He reminded her of Celestia and her cakes.

"Finished with your observations? Fascinating behavior I must say... It's an instinctual response or just mere curiosity?" He asked her as he got uncomfortably close. It seemed that it ran in the family. Luna retreated a bit and blushed, not used to be caught off guard.

"Just curiosity!" She quickly replied. Prometheus cocked his head as he looked at her before nodding.

"Ah, I see... Well, it seems that we need to pack up and leave soon. Sorry if we disrupted your day, this will not be a common occurrence I promise" He said in a calm voice as he checked Gaia.

"You were spying on your mother?" Luna asked.

"Don't judge as I was a bad guy, Princess. I love my mother to death but she is... a free spirit. And many times people without moral will try to use her for their own nefarious purposes" He said, looking sadly at his mother. "...Never again" he whispered. before Luna was able to ask about that ominous phrase he turned towards her with a smile.

"Thank you for taking care of her, and don't worry about leaving her alone. We will be watching her... I don't want that to see her vacation ruined and see her sad. She needs this." He said to Luna with determination.

"You are welcome, Prometheus." Luna said quickly, making him smile at her. She noticed that the starfish people disappeared again, leaving the peaceful garden as it were before the changelings came... but she didn't feel magic at all... How can they do that? Luna was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt her hoof being held by somepony. She quickly found that it was Prometheus just before he kissed her hoof and smiled at her.

"Again, sorry for the trouble, princess but I need to ask you a small favor. Don't tell my mother about this incident, please. You can tell your sister but by all that holy... don't tell my mother that we were here. Would you do that for me?" He asked her. Luna nodded quickly, her face reddened a bit. He smirked and ran way to the bushes. "Take care! I'll see you in a few weeks, if all goes well" He said as he disappeared from sight.

Luna, still blushing, was confused by all of this. Just what in Tartarus happened? Why did he kiss her hoof without royal permission? ...and why did she let him do that? She was going to tell her sister about this when she heard some voices.

"Guys... I'm dying in embarrassment here... why did you tell me that I have to do that?" Prometheus said, apparently invisible but still around.

"Dude, did you see her? I bet she is gorgeous for your race. You never had a girlfriend and we just put two and two together, boss." other voice said.

"... She has a mean slap... my face hurts... Besides, I need to level up my warlock and check on the science blogs about warp theory. I have no time for girls" He replied, making several voices groan.

"Dude!" they said at the same time. There was silence and Luna thought that they left when she heard Prometheus again.

"Well... she was kinda cute..."

Eventful Morning

I awoke bathed in the first sunrays of the morning, fluttering my eyes open and stretching a bit as I tried to brush off sleepiness for good.

I had a strange version of a recurrent dream, but other than that I really had a wonderful sleep. I felt energized again and ready for the day! I was going to eat just a bit before exploring a bit this country and its secrets. I told them that I would be around for a few days... but I didn't say that I was going to be inside a stuffy castle all the time!

I got up and was ready to take off but suddenly I felt something... odd. I looked around me and sure enough something felt out of place, and familiar at the same time. Interesting... I wonder what caused this?

I shook my head and cleared my mind. Whatever it was, it left long ago. I decided to graze some grass for breakfast as I thought for my travel plan for today. If I was quick I could be able to see one of the forests I saw south from here... but the mountains were pretty interesting too. There was something shimmering beyond them and I wanted to see what it was. Maybe some kind of mineral formation? Meteor impacts and time can create some of the most impressive natural landscapes I know. With my connection to all life in my planet, I had to hear many times from my son and his people questions as of why I cared for lifeless things like rocks and crystals, and many times I asked back this. Why shouldn't I? After all, minerals are also part of the natural kingdom.

I was pulled out of my reverie when I heard a loud gasp and the sound of hooves approaching me.

"Oh no, no! I will not tolerate this!" said a masculine voice as it got closer to me. I turned my head as I munched on the grass to see who it was, and surprisingly it was the unicorn with the veggie problem from the other day.

"Good morning, small one" I told him as I ate, making him stop in place, surprised.

"You talk?" He asked before shaking his head and frowning at me "You cannot talk with your mouth full of food, that's improper for a lady! And eating grass from the ground!"

"Why not? It's good, you need to taste it some time" I told him as I took another bite.

"Because I say so! And as a prince of Equestria I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in this castle! Go, go to the dining hall and ask for a proper meal. Move I say!" He told me as he pushed me towards the castle. I didn't put any resistance to his efforts. It was cute, really, trying so hard to move me.

"You are a prince? Are you Celestia's son then?" I asked with curiosity. He just kept pushing me with all of his might.

"No... she is... my auntie... and you will not... insult us with... your uncouth... manners..." He said, getting tired of pushing me. Aw, poor dear... I moved on my own a bit to not hurt his pride as we went towards the hall. Thankfully he knew the way because I was already lost in the labyrinth of corridors as soon as we put our hooves inside the building.

"So... what's your name, little one?" I asked him with a polite smile. He just huffed and blushed a bit.

"I am Prince Blueblood... and I am... not little..." he replied in a childish way. Oh my, I can see why he was yelling at me the other day... or at least I imagine it was because I ate with a little bit of enthusiasm.

"Oh, that's a nice name, dear. I'm Gaia" I told him as I watched how the guards looked a bit incredulous about what was happening in front of them. Truly these ponies are the strangest creatures I've ever seen.

"I've been... told..." He replied, still determined to reach the dining hall. It was just his bad luck that we were intercepted by Cadance at the doors of the room.

"Oh! There you are! We've been looking for you, Gaia. Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"I slept wonderfully, thanks for asking. Young Blueblood here was just showing me the way to the dining hall" I told her, making her a bit confused.

"Cousin Blueblood?" She asked, looking as the young prince tried to look as proper as a pony can look while sweating a bit.

"O-of course, cousin Cadance. Auntie Celestia told me at dinner that she was royalty from a far away land and that she has to be treated as one of our own. I don't even know why she was in the gardens at this hour but what I know is that breakfast is served at nine and it our duty as royals to assist to any social event in time. Tardiness is not acceptable!" He said making himself bigger by puffing out his chest.

"But you told me that I could not graze in the gardens because it was improper for a lady, dear." I told him as I patted him on his head. He just moved away and looked at me with that furious expression that he had the other night.

"Blueblood, you didn't!" Cadance said, a bit upset with the prince.

"I-it was the right thing to do, Cadence! What will the diplomats think if we let foreign visitors eat from the ground like mere animals?" He asked, leaving Cadance confused.

"What diplomats, Blue?" She asked, her face losing a bit of her color.

"You know, the usual ones Cady. They will be here for dinner and to present their respects to Princess Gaia... You look a bit pale, cousin. Are you alright?" Blueblood said, ending his exposition with concern. Cadence just stomped her way towards the dining hall while shaking her head, leaving us confused.

"Did I do something wrong? I just followed protocol." Blueblood said as we entered the room. I patted him with my wing on his head.

"You did fine dear. She is just stressed." I told him with a kind smile. He just averted my gaze and went ahead. The poor dear just acts all tough, but it's a softie inside. I just know it.

At the head of the table, all the princesses were talking very quickly and looked agitated. Oh my, so early in the day and already with some problem. They were too stressed for their own good. I just decided to sit a bit away and eat a daffodil sandwich.

It was probably nothing concerning me anyways.

These days it was just about Gaia time and time again.

"I just can't believe that Blueblood tried to do something right just to make it worse..." Cadance said to her fellow princesses.

"I already told you sister that you need him to find a proper job. This is what happens when he has so much free time between his hooves" Luna said with a frown.

"We need to work something out! Think about the political consequences!" Twilight said as she tried to calm herself with quick and short breaths.

"Calm down, Twilight. It's just a small setback. We just have to readjust our plan to a shorter timeframe..." Celestia said with her calm voice. Luna shook her head.

"We shouldn't be working out the fallout that your nephew just made with his incompetence." She said sternly. Celestia frowned at her sister's words.

"So when he makes a mistake it's only my nephew now?" Celestia asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"As long as we keep Gaia from doing something... not very appropriate for a room filled with diplomats..." Cadance said, trying to focus on the subject. All the princesses smacked their heads against the table.

"It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?" Twilight said with resignation.

"Good morning, princesses." Blueblood said as he sat on his usual spot.

"You! Why did you call for a diplomatic meeting without our consent?" Luna yelled at Blueblood, scaring him.

"W-what? It's just the usual procedure to welcome foreign dignitaries in our lands!" He retorted, looking lost towards the other princesses for support.

"While that is true you should have asked us first. You already knew that Gaia was a special case" Twilight said while nodding.

"But I did nothing wrong!" He said, looking worriedly towards Celestia "Right, auntie?"

"I'm afraid that you just made our work a bit harder without knowing, nephew" Celestia said with a sad smile as shook her head.

"I... I see..." He replied, looking down at his hooves.

"Nay, clearly you don not see the implications of your actions." Luna said sternly.

"Don't you think you are all being too hard on the poor dear?" A voice behind Luna said, making all of them jump in place.

Gaia was behind Luna's seat with a big smile on her face.

"How...? But you were..." Luna said as she looked at the now empty seat and back at Gaia "How did you do that?"

"Oh, you were being so loud that you didn't notice me, that's all." She said. "Now, what's this about young Blueblood and you all being so rude to him. For what I know he just tried to help."

"But when one tries to help usually it does not end in making it worse." Luna said, frowning at Blueblood and making him walk... behind Gaia? She just covered Blueblood with one of her wings as he hid from Luna by pure instinct.

"Now now... everyone makes mistakes. Don't you think that you are just overreacting?" Gaia asked with her motherly smile.

"No, I think not. We are going to be busy all day because of his actions" Luna retorted, making Gaia think about something.

"Well, did you have other plans, young Luna?" She asked.

"I was going to observe my planet but I think the princesses wanted to show you more of Canterlot." Twilight said helpfully.

"I still don't see the problem" Gaia replied, still smiling.

"Obviously if we are busy we will not be able to show you the city." Luna said as she nodded.

"Then Little Blue here should be the one showing me the city." Gaia said with a wide smile.

A chorus of "What!?" was heard in the room.

"It's obvious. You all are going to be busy, but you also said that he had too much free time. I don't see the problem" Gaia said as she got Blueblood between her wing and her barrel, getting a firm grip on him.

"W-what?" Asked Blueblood as he dangled his legs helplessly as he was carried by Gaia. The other princesses suddenly had a dark look on their faces.

"Sure... that is a wonderful idea Gaia." Luna said with a sinister smile.

"B-but..." Blueblood tried to say, only to be cut off by Celestia.

"It would be beneficial for both parties. I'm sure that the prince knows a lot of interesting places in the city." She said with a smirk.

"I..." The prince tried to say only to be again be interrupted.

"It will let Gaia and Blueblood time to bond and know each other. It would make an excellent friendship report." Twilight said as she rubbed her hooves.

"M-my schedule..." Blueblood said.

"Don't worry cousin. You will soon find that Gaia is a wonderful and funny pony to spend the day with." Cadance said with a sincere smile... which made Blueblood more scared from her than from the other princesses.

"We are going to have a wonderful day you and I. You will see." Gaia said as she nuzzled Blueblood, making the other princesses giggle like schoolfillies. "See you later, dears!" Gaia said before walking out of the dining hall, still carrying Blueblood in her firm grip.

"W-wait! No! Unhoof me! I can walk for myself! Blueblood said, his face red as a tomato as he tried to free himself.

"Silly little Blue, you are not between my hooves! You are between me and my wing!" Gaia happily said as he nuzzled him again.

A cry of agony could be heard in all the castle as the princesses laughed loudly in the dining hall.

Alien Diplomacy: Global Edition

I think this is going to be an interesting dinner.

As I went to sit at my now usual spot I observed the rest of the people at the table. I was surprised to see so many different sapient species at once. Truly it was a remarkable sight! I always thought that a world was only capable of sustain one sapient race at once at least for what I knew then. I mean the amphibians were getting pretty smart back home just before the Exodus, but they never acquired full sapience while the trichordates were there. I had a feeling that I was going to be a mommy again soon though! Maybe in the next million years!

But I was getting myself ahead of things. Now with the species!

First I noticed a sub-type of mammal very similar to the ponies, but with stripes. I thought that they were just a subspecies of pony, but thanks to my special sense of sight I saw that they had enough differences to be just that. They were a couple of them, both male and female and watched me with intrigue but not being unpolite about it. Now that I think about it, the one that gifted me those plants at the forest was the same species...

Then there were the big and fluffy mammals with brown coats and horns.

The older one was almost as big as me, even if he had the head lower than any of the alicorns. They had bulky bodies and had so much fur that they looked like big plushies. I took a good look at them to check their biology and noticed that their fur changed with the seasons, a truly fascinating survival mechanism!
Anyways, they looked at me with curiosity and respect, but I think the curiosity of the young one was more out of surprise than anything. Maybe it was the first time he saw a creature bigger than him?

And talking about big creatures, this one was bigger than me.

It was a reptile with wings. Talking about the good old days and they will appear! It looked like a dinosaur but with the wrong number of limbs, with six instead of four. The scales were dull red and had lots and lots of spikes along his spine. I think... yeah, they call them dragons here, but truly it just looks like a small mutant theropod with extra limbs. I need to ask someone about that.

Next to him was a couple of big ponies that had elaborate clothes on them. Wait... Saddles! Curious thing, with many different meanings for a strange piece of clothing. Oh! I almost forgot about them!
These creatures looked like bigger and overall more slender ponies and they lacked both wings and horns. They were perplexed and intrigued by me and their inquisitive eyes were analyzing every part of me, being natural or just my usual jewelry. I have to see if they can make one of their pretty clothes for me!

Oh! And then it was this... Well...
He was an avian... but he also had mammalian parts, so I was pretty confused by that. It was a product of some genetic experiment? It was a small possibility, but that's the only thing I knew that it can create a creature so strange and fascinating. Maybe it was magic? Of course not! That would be silly! As silly as the number of sapient on this world... Just how many more sapients exist here?

There were also some kind of bipedal bovines next to their quadruped counterparts, and just in front of them were some kind of cloven creatures... Deers, that's it! Huh, I thought they looked different from that name... And other ones that looked like predators stood near the door... Diamond Dogs? Where's my son when I need him? This dress is pretty and I do look a bit nicer but this is just tedious!

Smile Gaia, smile. I'll be on my way soon enough... Oh gosh, they were talking to me?

"I'm sorry, what were you saying, dear?" I asked to the reptile, who looked at me with a very inquisitive and serious look. He just huffed in annoyance.

"I was saying that I doubt that you hold as much power as the princesses say. I trust Celestia and Luna but that kind of power doesn't exist!" he said as he crossed his arms. I just smiled a bit but decided to not say anything. I didn't have any idea what they were talking about after all.

"Yeah! It's all bark and no bite! I propose a test of strength to show the true might of this mare!" yelled the bipedal bovine as the rest of the diplomats just groaned.

"No one is going to hoof-wrestle. You just make an excuse to do that at any moment!" the bird-lion said.

"What? Are you chicken?" the bovine asked with a smirk. The bird creature puffed out his chest and walked to me before bowing.

"Excuse me madam, but while I don't want to do such a barbaric thing, I must ask you to..." he said before I interrupted him.

"Sure, let's play a bit. I'm down for a bit fun right now" I told him with a small smile. He blinked slowly and nodded.

"Very well. Boys, bring the mighty table of wrestling!" the bovine said to his guards. Celestia just chuckled and shook her head.

The whole hall was filled with murmurs as a simple but sturdy table was brought to us. We put ourselves in position and Celestia approached me to explain the rules of this game. She pressed a button that was at the side of the table and a strange buzzing was heard around us.

"Remember that you are not using magic anymore, so be careful with those muscles" Celestia told us. I just raised an eyebrow and nodded. The... Griffon! That's better... well, the griffon just smiled politely and readied himself.

"You look strong, but you should know that griffons are better prepared for this. Talons and all that, nothing more" he told me in a joking tone. I just giggled.

"Good luck, and careful with your talon" I said with a small smile.

"Pardon?" he asked, confused.

"Begin!" yelled a smiling Celestia . I just made a little push but his arm was slammed against the table. He hissed a bit and shook his talon and laughed.

"Well lady, you have quite the arm there!" he said with a joyful tone. I just giggled.

"You are a charmer, dear. I know I'm a bit out of shape, but thank you" I told him "Are you alright? That hit was a bit hard"

"Don't worry, I had worse. Good luck with your next contestant" he said as the bipedal bovine quickly sat in front of me and put his arm on the table.

"You will now feel the strength of Bull Fury! Come on, show me what you are made of!" he almost yelled as one of the quadruped bovines sighed.

"You are not in the ring anymore, Argus. Just... do your thing and let's move onto more pleasant things" the... hm... cow! The cow said. I just readied myself and smiled.

"You look so sure of yourself" I politely said. He huffed and smirked.

"I'm an ambassador but also I was a champion of my people in my younger days. I'm still in my prime but one must let the young shine on their own light. I'm now in the world league!" he laughed as the other groaned.

"Begin" Celestia said with a monotone voice, clearly not amused by the bull's antics. The minotaur, curious name I must say, suddenly pushed with all of his might, even using part of his body to put more power into the push. Sadly he had worse luck than the griffon emissary. With a sickeningly crack he managed to unset his shoulder. He cried silently as he bowed at me and walked away to the infirmary. Celestia put a wing on me as she smiled,

"Don't worry, he's fine. Argus is just a prideful bull. He'll be back in a bit." she said in a calming tone. I was a little perturbed, but it wasn't the first time I saw a creature using more strength than they should. Suddenly the dragon took the seat in front of me and smiled kindly to me.

"Impressive show of force Gaia, but would you like to test it forward and allow me to compete against you?" he asked as he put his elbow on the ground and the table changed to allow me to get in a comfortable position. Magic, how does it work?

"Gaia, I'll not tell you what to do, but be careful. Dragons are known for their physical strength and can best us without our magic with little effort" Luna said as she approached me. I just chuckled and readied myself.

"Don't worry young Luna, I had to put my hoof down with dinosaurs that doubled his size. I'm sure this will be fun and nothing more" I told her as I looked at the dragon "I suppose we are going to play to win, right dear? No kid gloves this time" I said as I smirked. He laughed loudly and grasped my hoof.

"I'm going to enjoy this" he said as he also put a smirk on his face.

"Begin!"

The floor cracked with our first push as we started with a stalemate.

He grunted as he tried to force my hoof against the table. I had to really use strength to hold him and it was truly invigorating. It's been so long since I really used my strength! But I was really out of shape and he started to push me down. He smirked at me as he saw that it was getting difficult to hold him. I used a good deal of strength to push him off and even making his arm a bit down. He tensed his body as he pushed again towards a stalemate. We were too focused to notice that the floor cracked more and more as the time went on.

And suddenly both the table and the ground just gave up and we fell in the sudden hole on the floor.

All the emissaries and princesses quickly went down and check on us. We were sprawled, my dress totally ruined and both the dragon and myself were covered in dust and splinters. We looked at each other and laughed loudly, we were even crying out of our intense laughter.

"You, my big reptilian friend, are funny. I like you" I told him between laughs. He just laughed more, even rolling on the rubble around him.

"You are some crazy alicorn mare. We should do this again sometime." He said as he got up and helped me get up, even dusting off my ruined dress and mane.

"Of course. I'm always up to a friendly game" I replied with a smile.

'It can't get any worse' Celestia thought as she tried to patch up the floor as Derel and Gaia just talked about something, the other ambassadors just talking about the unfortunate end of the hoof-wrestling match. 'At least they look friendlier towards her. If she can be friends with someone as grumpy as Derel... Magic of friendship indeed' she thought as she smiled a bit before the main door opened up showing somepony she wasn't expecting.

"A meeting of all the species and you don't invite me? Shame on you, Celestia. I thought we were friends..." said Queen Chrysalis as she sauntered to the center of the hall. Everypony was silent, just observing her with wariness. Everypony except Gaia, who looked at her with unbridled curiosity. "Is this a party or a funeral? You are all so well dressed and serious that I can't tell!"

'Of course she had to appear' Celestia thought with bitterness "What do you want, Chrysalis?"

"Well to meet our otherworldly visitor of course! This is a meeting of all the species of the world to show her, right? Too bad that the mailpony didn't arrive with the invitation... but the past is in the past, right?" she said with mirth as she got close to Gaia. Everyone tensed up as she observed the green mare. "Huh, you looked bigger from the distance" she said to Gaia.

"You look pretty thin, do you eat well? Tell me, please. It's bugging me out" Gaia said without thinking. Everypony chuckled at the comment, making Chrysalis frown at her. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry dear" Gaia apologized. Chrysalis huffed.

"We changelings eat positive emotions like love, and we are not exactly pleasing to the eye, so no I don't eat well" Chrysalis said, trying to look miserable. Celestia and Luna looked at her warily at her strange behavior.

"Aw don't be sad. I love you!" Gaia said as pulled Chrysalis into a unexpected hug... or so they thought. Celestia saw that Chrysalis was wearing a smirk on her face as she got pulled in the hug. They were going to rush towards them when Chrysalis looked perplexed and pulled out of the hug.

"You love me, but I don't feel full. I feel your love but... What gives? Where is your love energy?" Chrysalis said, dropping all the good appearances. Gaia smiled motherly.

"But I really love you. I love every creature that exist, big or small" she said as she pulled one of the zebras in a hug with one arm and the griffon ambassador with the other, nuzzling both of them. Chrysalis observed as she stomped out of the hall.

"Of course! She divides all her love with so many creatures that they only receive a tiny piece of it! Why!? Why do I keep finding the freaks!? This is bullsh-" she raged on as she slammed the main doors shut, leaving everypony inside perplexed.

"That was... something?" the minotaur emissary said as he scratched his head as the other diplomats just shrugged their respective shoulders and looked around in confusion.

"Aw, she looked like she was in a hurry. I have so many question about how she eats something non physical like love..." Gaia said as she tapped her chin with a hoof. "That reminds me!" she suddenly said as she pulled out a small device out of her mane "I should present you my son! He's the one that deals with politics so..." she said as she pushed a button on the device and brought it to her ear. Everyone was silent as she waited something to happen.

"Gaia... Why...?" Celestia tried to say but Gaia shushed her.

"One moment dear... Hello? Springy is that you?" she talked to the device as if someone was in front of her. "Yes it's been wonderful... Yes... Yes?... Oh and what about you? Last time you were on helm duty... Aha..." she went on and giggled "I see, well good luck with that. Say, can you call for Prometheus? I need to talk to him" she asked. Nothing happened in a bit as her expression changed slowly into a small frown, making the princesses worry. They never saw Gaia with any other expression than joy. "I see. I don't care, I want to talk to him now... No... No?... I don't care?... Is that so?" she said as she frowned. "No no! I get it! I... No?... Just... shut up. Tell my son that we are going to talk later." She said as she pushed the button again and huffed. "Boys these days!"

Everyone was silent until Derel spoke "Who were you talking to?" he asked.

"One of my son's crewmen. 'He is not available' he said, 'He told us to not bother him' he said. Well maybe-" Gaia was saying as a spark of light appeared near her, taking the form of a smaller alicorn that launched himself to Gaia's side, getting effectively attached in a strong hug.

"Sorrysorrysorry! I keep telling them to not be so literal!" the chestnut alicorn said as he tried to get Gaia's attention, making everypony in the room a bit uncomfortable. She just closed her eyes and looked away.

"So you say! He made pretty clear that you were not to be disturbed" she said as she looked sadly at him "Don't you love me anymore?" she asked him as she pouted, making some of the royal guards give a murderous look at Prometheus.

"Of course I love you mom. I'm so sorry, I was just checking the main reactor to make some improvements and I just... I'm sorry" He said as he nuzzled his mother. Gaia smiled a bit and nuzzled him back. Everypony had their heartstrings pulled with the family moment, but it was cut short when Prometheus noticed that they were in presence of aliens.

"Well... er... Greetings, people of this fair planet! I come in peace in the name of science and the Trichordians, my people! I am Prometheus, Firstborn of Gaia and I would love to join this multispecies symposium! Er... meeting?" he said trying to show some grandeur, his smooth armor and unkempt mane dulling the effect.

The diplomats were left speechless, not knowing what to do. Celestia tried to analyze the new arrival but she caught her sister stealing glances of the newcomer instead. 'What are you up to, Lulu?' Celestia thought.

"Aw! Look at him, just being a big boy to make is mom proud!" Gaia said as she pulled her son in a tight hug.

"Mother, please! not in front of dignitaries of other countries!" Prometheus said as he tried to escape from his mother's grasp.

Luna couldn't help but laugh at the situation, soon followed by everypony in the room.

Prometheus resigned to his fate and decided to apply both front hooves to his face.

Author's Note

Hello everypony! I'm sorry for the very long wait but RL just demands attention from time to time, and I just had to answer the call.

I have my drivers license at last and I opened a café with my mother two weeks ago (In fact, I'm writing this at work during low hours... which are many now in Summer) so now I am a somewhat productive member of society. I'm hardly a barista but at least I know how to use the coffee machine! :derpytongue2:

These past months were doing and looking for the paperwork necessary to open the café, so there's why I've been inactive around here.

This is 'as it is', as in no editor or proofreader looked at this, so I apologize for the probable and abundant errors in it :ajsleepy: .

I hope you like this chapter, and expect another soon-ish!

PD: Microsoft Edge is a troll. It keeps making corrections to spanish as I write :facehoof:

Nerding Out

Well this was an interesting afternoon.

After exchanging pleasantries with the diplomats my mother went to sleep, a bit weary after such an hectic day, or so she said.

I know she just wanted to escape the ramblings of these politicians. Ah... the wonders of societies, always finding something to argue about.

I just sat there, eating some kind of greens that tasted somewhat bland and observed from my privileged position.

These creatures argued a lot, but they managed to keep conflicts to a minimum and that baffled me. My own people were very warlike early on their history and I had to work to keep those impulses at bay all my life... and my own too. We all do stupid things when we are young and hot-headed...

These were like rivals at worst and family at best. This was an anomaly, and probably a direct result of the strange energy field that permeates all the planet, as unique as the rest of this world.

Our initial scans years ago revealed this anomaly as something astronomically unique and impossible, but here it is as real as our own homeworld. Even with years of analysis from orbit couldn't predict how these creatures work... but maybe it's because we were too different.

Many of the creatures are based on tri-symmetric life forms and this world on the other hoof it's inhabited by bi-symmetric creatures... like mother and myself. Maybe this disposition changed on how they developed?

While I was pondering about this and many other conundrums the time went on and the diplomats left, satisfied with the results of the meeting. Suddenly I felt someone poking my armor. The biggest alicorn, Celestia, was the culprit. She was there just looking at me with a curious expression.

"Hello, Prometheus" she said politely.

"Hello again, Celestia. Do you need something?" I asked, prepared for any inquiry she could have about me or my people.

"Not really, thank you for asking. I was just wondering why you were wearing always that armor" she pointed with her hoof to my power armor. Well... that was a question I was not prepared for.

"Er... I don't know, really. I just wear it. It keeps me warm, clean and it's just overall useful to have. It doesn't bother me, really" I said as I moved a bit in the skin-tight suit. Celestia looked at me with a thoughtful expression.

"I know I can't force you but I would like to see you out of the armor. I've never seen a male alicorn and I'm very curious about you" she said to me. Well, this I can understand! Scientific curiosity!

"Of course, I don't really need it anyways, but it looks... uh... it looks pretty cool" I said, trying to find a good word but... that was it. Power armors are rad and chicks dig rad... right?

I pressed a command in my personal computer and the armor teleported itself back to the ship, leaving my glorious self free of its restraints. I felt extremely exposed and when the hair of my fetlocks brushed the floor I knew why I wore my armor all the time.

You must understand... when investing your time in quantum theory books and MMORPG raids a person tends to let fashion and other things aside.. Just let me explain, really. It will make sense soon.
So, I was born when the climate was pretty cold and my body prepared for this situation. My mother always says that I looked adorable but I think she was just jealous of my thick mass of fur. I mean, look at this coat! But all the fur tends to be in the way of science so I designed suits to cover me and eventually I just wore my power armor at all times. It was also a necessity since my researchers had some health issues when I was in the nude.

So! Right now all my thick fur was just released, letting all the wildness of my mother's side shine and making me look like a smaller and furrier version of my mother. In brown. And male. And maybe way too fluffy. Why is Luna looking at me with that weird face?

"Is this then acceptable? Its my mark still there? Ah, yes... there it is..." I said as I spotted my mark, a blue sun over the horizon of a grassy field. I saw Celestia also looking at me with a very peculiar expression, like scrunching her face. "Is everything alright? I hope I didn't do anything rude..."

"N-no, it's alright. It's just that... you have more common things with your mother than I thought" Celestia said with a forced smile

"How so? It's the eyes? I don't think you can see them very well with this curtain I have for mane" I said while blowing some hair up and showing a bit of my face... only for my mane to came down again and obscuring my eyes, my snout being the only part of my face free from my mane's shadow.

"Well, you are not what I expected at all, and the same happened with her. That's a pretty strong point on my observations" She said as she looked at me. "You sure look... hairier than any pony I've seen" she said with a critical look "Not saying that it's bad of course, just unusual"

"It runs in the family I suppose... is your sister... alright? I think she's vibrating in place... That's pretty awesome by the way..." I said as I saw Luna with the same expression as before and literally moving in place in a somewhat quick frequency.

"What do you...? Luna... stop... You are old enough to-" Celestia tried to say as suddenly something with great kinetic force impacted on my side and latched on me in a deathly grip.

"Help! I have an unidentified object stuck on me! I require assistance!" I cried out as the kinetic missile started to make a very strange sound.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's so fluffy!" A feminine voice said from my side.

"Help! A somewhat talking object has latched on me!" I cried, unable to move. "I'm too young to die like this!"

The princesses of Equestria were normal ponies, even if they looked different from anypony else. This was a fact, and like any normal ponies they had hobbies and things that they hated and loved. It's widely known that Luna didn't like coffee while Celestia loved it. Celestia had a thing with cakes of almost every flavor while Luna really liked the taste of fine brews like aged wine. All Ponyville knew that their favorite lavender princess had a unhealthy relationship with the local burger joint.

There are some things that were naturally more private though, like any other pony in the world. Twilight liked to read adult novels, even if she denies it. Cadence loved to experiment with her husband, not always to his pleasure. Celestia was a undercover prankster and sometimes she pulled pranks so big that even when Discord was in stone the ponies blamed him.

Luna had a thing for plush toys.

"Oh my gosh, how could this be?" Luna said as she crushed Prometheus in her hug "It's soft and warm..."

A wheezing sound came from Prometheus as he was handled like a teddy bear.

"Luna, you're asphyxiating him..." Celestia said with a stern voice. Luna gasped loudly and let him go, making him crash on the floor... very softly thanks to his thick coat.

"I've seen the light..." he gasped as he tried to regain his voice "... need... air..."

"Luna, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked Celestia to her sister.

"I'm so sorry Prometheus. I don't know what happened. I didn't want to harm you..." Luna said while looking a bit sad. Prometheus just wiggled one of his forelegs.

"It's alright... let us say... it was for... science..." he said while trying to sit down "...alicorn hugs... are strong...stronger than... mother's at least..."

Luna blushed in embarrassment, but didn't get up from her place, side to side with Prometheus. He was busy tapping something on his foreleg and didn't acknowledged her presence once she released him. Celestia looked at the scene with a smirk. 'I think Gaia was right. Luna looks like a schoolfilly right now. This material is too good...' she thought as her smirk turned into a sinister smile.

Prometheus was mumbling to himself while tapping his leg and Luna scooted closer with a curious expression on her face.

"What... are you doing?" she asked while peeking over his side.

"I'm using my personal computer to write annotations about this unexpected encounter. I take note on everything I experience for future study and scenarios for the betterment of my people and to improve myself" he said as he kept tapping "Right now I'm typing about this unexpected kinetic attack and its effects, small as they were, in my body" he explained. Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Effects?" she innocently asked.

"Of course. My body temperature raised sightly, mostly around my cheekbones. My body felt heavier and some strange sensations ran and still run around my midsection and chest and my neocortex is experiencing some delays of performance resulting in poor system behavior" He said. Luna looked confused at this strange reply.

"What?"

"He's saying that he is blushing and his train of thought is slowed down. A rather common thing from stallions in certain situations, little sister" Celestia explained as she walked around them with a smirk on her face"Nothing to be worried about"

"Truly? Well then, tell me about this 'personal computer'" Luna asked, ignoring Celestia's strange and unnerving smile.

"Oh it's just a small device, hardly something uncommon these days among my people..." Prometheus said as he looked sideways to Luna. He blushed at her confused expression and coughed a bit "What I mean to say is... this device makes our lives useful. Can be a text editor to take notes or redact documents, play videogames and the like and also be used as a communication device, sending emails and also audio and video streams for personal affairs" he explained.

"Streams?" Luna asked as she and Celestia looked baffled at the tiny thing on his leg, as he tapped the semitransparent interface drawn on him.

"Like... for example. If my mother has something like this on her I could call her and see her face in this holographic display, talking as if we were face to face. Even if she is on the other side on the planet. Pretty neat, right?" He said with some smugness in his voice.

"Fascinating. Please tell me more. How about these 'videogames' you talked about?" Luna asked.

Prometheus smiled almost like Pinkie Pie.

"Sure! There are many genres and kinds of videogames, like books! You have adventure; roleplaying games, action, sports... Everything you can think of, there is a game of it. Even life!" he said as he tapped and slided his hoof at incredible speed.

"Why would somepony play a game about life? That sounds redundant" Luna said as he stared confused at the pictures and text speeding on the display.

"Wish fulfillment, theoretical scenarios, boredom... Imagine that you could make yourself as you want and try to do things differently... or just create random... uh... ponies, and see what happens. Sometimes with hilarious results" Prometheus said as he kept searching for something.

"Like what?" Celestia asked.

"Well, like a pony setting his house on fire by making breakfast and then urinating himself because the bathroom now is burned to cinders" He explained, to the horror of both alicorns.

"That's horrible, and you should feel bad to think that's somewhat funny" Celestia scolded

"I call it 'poetic justice'. How can you burn breakfast anyways?" He said "Aha! there we go!" Prometheus said as he tapped on some colorful icon with buildings and devices of a disparity of styles and, apparently, technology.

"What is this?" Luna asked as he leaned more on Prometheus. He smiled proudly.

"This is one of my favorite games. I downloaded it and translated it from a planet of interesting creatures with a wide selection of games. We passed through the neighborhood and downloaded part of their global databases. This beauty was between the data and I fell in love with its concept" he said as the game was loading on screen.

"What's the name of this game?" Celestia asked.

"Civilization!" Prometheus said as the screen showed a planet closing in as music played along.

Author's Note

Hullo there folks!

I've been a bit busy IRL and I had like... more than six possible chapters after the last one so I had trouble to think what to write but... I choose to write the silliest of the bunch, as usual.
Silliest to me at least.

Hope you like it! (And sorry about the typos that probably plague this and the also highly probable bad grammar :twilightblush: )

EDIT> Gentlecolts... Behold!

Morning Workout

"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"

Those Who Fight

The spectators were silent as both stallions clashed on the training arena. It was an unexpected show for everypony.

Shining took the lead with his first strike but he was unable to land another hit. He tried every move on the book and his foe just made a counter in the most impossible of ways. Sometimes he parried with his sword; he frequently jumped or sidestepped out of the harm's way with ease not normal for somepony so big, more often than Shining wanted to admit he just swatted the sword away with a hoof, not even bothering to blink. It was just maddening for the young captain.

Prometheus on the other hand didn't seem very keen to attack his foe, but that didn't mean he was just standing idle. Every twitch and move made by Shining was registered in Prometheus' mind, filing that info away as he almost danced around, and over, Shining Armor. With calculated movements he studied his opponent as he slowly but surely was giving into his anger, making more predictable moves and trying to tire Prometheus with unrelenting and consecutive strikes. But it wasn't enough.

Even with his short and quick strikes Prometheus just flowed with every move and parried or stopped him every time, his eyes always looking at Shining. Said captain tried to find an opening in Prometheus' defense... and finding just too many.

'How can this be? He deflects every attack even when leaving himself open... How?' Shining though, taking a break as the first round ended. Prometheus was surprisingly flexible and even with a small arming sword he was able to counter every attack.

"Two minutes!" yelled the recruit acting as a referee. Everypony was murmuring about this development, even the princess.

"I don't think it's possible somepony that weights so much to move that quick..." a surprised Luna said as several officers nodded at this, now really interested in the alicorn male. Soon the break time was over and they went into the arena again.

"So... Ready to the next round?" Shining asked as he got into a fighting stance. Prometheus just rolled his eyes and looked at Shining with a small smile.

"Sure. This is fun. It's been some time since I was able to practice with any kind of sword" he simply said, getting again in his infuriating stance, as if not caring for the match. Shining grunted at that and readied himself.

"Begin!"

Shining Armor attacked first, teleporting behind Prometheus as soon as he heard the signal. He approached Prometheus with swiftness and attacked with a quick strike... only to miss as Prometheus moved just barely to avoid the attack, grazing his fur.

"Oh? That almost had me, but you should know that your magic is pretty loud and flashy" Prometheus said as he slowly turned to face Shining. "That's a dirty move. I thought we were going to use our own strength" Prometheus said with a stoic expression.

"Ah, but magic is a inherent ability to every unicorn. Why should I forgo to use it?" Shining replied with a smirk. Prometheus laughed at that before smiling widely.

"Is that so? Well, if that's the case..." Prometheus cryptically said. Shining wondered what he meant before he and every pony with some magic affinity felt a very heavy presence above them. Shining felt observed by every angle and steeled himself for any attack from Prometheus... when suddenly he found himself shooting past the arena and colliding with a haystack.

"P-Point for Prometheus!" the referee yelled. Everyone was sweating and confused.

"I didn't feel a hit. How did he launched me this far?" Shining asked to a guard that approached him.

"I don't know sir. I would say magic but his horn didn't light up once. You just... were thrown away"

Shining approached Prometheus, who was smirking at him. "How did you do that?"

"I just moved you with my mind. Uohohoho" Prometheus said in a joking tone, shaking his hooves as if was a pretty stereotypical ghost. Shining snorted at that.

"Fine, be that way. We still have one more point. Let's see who's the best. So far your style it's just defending yourself except that... whatever you did to throwing me." Shining said as he got in position. Prometheus just nodded at him.

"You still have so much to learn, young knight. You focus on quick and precise strikes to defeat quickly your opponent. Logical, and usually effective against untrained troops or just standard infantry. Your body is in a most excellent condition, balancing muscle mass and swiftness, making you quick on your hooves and strong in your blows... But you are facing someone who perfected combat to an art, and I'll show you just how outclassed you are and how much you ponies need to improve. I am an artist and this is my canvas." Prometheus said as he got into position, smiling at him and puffing out his chest.

"Fighting isn't an art! There is nothing artistic about combat. It's just a means to an end. A tool to protect ourselves and others. If we could we wouldn't even have a guard to begin with" Shining said as he tensed up.

"Ah, but I disagree. I'll show you the true beauty of combat..." Prometheus said as he smiled widely.

"Begin!"

The whole round was a blur for everypony watching the two stallions fight.

They clashed quickly and retreated, making a strange dance out of the fight. They didn't make big or flashy moves, no. It was a duel between battle-hardened warriors, and each blow was meant to hit with force. They moved to the rhythm of a unsung song, almost in a strange kind of harmony. Shining using very well known moves by the equestrians while Prometheus using a very mixed style of fight, using all of his body parts to attack and defend, cornering the young captain to retreat with quick teleports when the pressure was too much for him. As the round went on Prometheus was taking the lead, striking like a well oiled machine and not stopping or slowing his rhythm.

The bell rang and both warriors went to rest, Shining cooling himself with water and watching as his rival for this duel just sat there, moving lazily his wings. 'If this keeps going on...' Shining thought, nodding to himself as he was called to the training arena once again.

The public was tense and everypony was immersed with a battle that was surely going to be on the news as some photos were taken from somewhere between guards. Prometheus just smiled at Shining Armor.

"That was a good warm up. Let's get serious, shall we?" He said, making Shining confused for a moment, but it was just what his foe needed as the bell rang, making the alien alicorn jump into action.

This time Shining Armor was forced to do a hasty retreat as Prometheus attacked him, his neck moving furiously as the small arming sword made Shining's own longsword vibrate, even while being in the magical hold of the young stallion. As Shining tried to sidestep Prometheus jumped over him as he tried to kick him from above. The young captain rolled on the ground, trying to attack the underbelly of the alicorn but it was futile as he deflected the sword with his rear leg. Prometheus retaliated with a swift spin, making a small layer of dust fly between them. Not seeing his objective, Shining played safe and cast his famed shield around him... seconds before his head rattled as his shield was struck multiple times.

"Can't fight in the dark, young knight? You can't hold your shield forever" Prometheus taunted, his form becoming visible as the dust settled.

"Is that a fact? I managed to cover this city with my own power. I think I can manage a small shield for myself" Shining stated proudly... before his shield moved a little as another blow impacted against it.

"Impressive..." Prometheus said before striking again, making the shield move away from him just a bit, and making Shining move with it "Very impressive... You are quite skillful in the ways of magic, but even the sturdier armors have weaknesses..." he said as he continued to strike again and again, making the shield move a little with each blow.

"I admit... that I was afraid you'll break it but..." Shining said as he smiled "It seems that my shield can stand your attacks"

Prometheus just smiled as he continued to strike relentlessly. The officers and other guards were murmuring about this strange and stupid way to fight. Clearly Shining Armor's shield was a match for the alicorn's strength, so why did he keep attacking if it was fruitless?

They didn't know, but not everypony was so oblivious.

"Fool! Move out of the way! You are exactly where he wanted!" Luna yelled at Shining Armor.

"What?" was the only reply he managed to say before his shield shattered with an impact so strong that the ground shook, sending Shining a several meters away from the sheer kinetic power of the blow.

"Point for Prometheus! The winner is Prince Prometheus!" yelled the referee.

"What!? That's not possible! I..." Shining tried to protest as he was that both of his hind legs were outside the ring.

"I didn't need to hit you" Prometheus simply said as he spat the sorry remains of the arming sword. "Damn good shield, but let me tell you a little something about energy shields. Try to divide the shield into identical geometric shapes, like hexagons, so the force of the blows can be distributed and if it breaks it will not all fall apart" he explained to Shining as he approached him "That way you can make stronger shields with less energy... I think you'll need to improve your focus though, since you'll be making a very complex geometrical construct, but I think you can handle it... Just a few pointers, don't have to do it if you don't want to" he finally said as his mane fell to his face, again covering his orange eyes as he mysteriously smiled at Shining Armor. The young captain chuckled as he dusted himself off.

"Is that so? Maybe I should try to be less conservative and more experimental with my spells." Shining said with a small smile. "Good fight, Prometheus"

"That's the spirit! The only way you can improve is breaking established limits." Prometheus said as he nodded, walking with Shining towards the lunar princess.

"Now I'm still curious, how did you manage to throw me away? No pony detected any magic" Shining asked.

"Yes, I am most curious too" Luna said as she approached both stallions.

"I didn't joke when I said I moved you with my mind. I used psychokinesis." Prometheus said, baffling the native ponies around him.

"Don't you mean telekinesis?" Shining asked.

"No no, I used only my mind. No magic or odic force. Just the power of my brain" he said as he pointed towards his head "All in the noggin'"

"I cannot believe that. Truly you jest" the lunar princess said while Shining nodded.

"What, you don't have any psykers in your species? Mind reading... that sort of thing?" Prometheus asked as the group left the arena, leaving the rest of the guard talking between themselves.

"Why yes, we can read minds using a spell form the forbidden archives, and for moving things with the... mind... we have our magic. Every unicorn can perform basic telekinetic feats" Luna explained "You did nothing new, apart from being apparently a magicless phenomenon"

"I could explain in how many ways you can perform similar feats with approximate results but you still need to learn about quantum and hyperdimensional mechanics before even try to grasp some of the concepts of how the thought of a powerful mind affect the visible universe..." Prometheus said before coughing, seeing as his audience didn't manage to follow his explanation "Suffice to say, you are not quite ready yet. You're getting there, and some concepts will be easier thanks to your knowledge on the thaumic sciences"

"Quite... let's just be on our way" Luna said as Shining just bowed politely at both of them

"I'll leave you from here. I need to keep our guys in shape. A pleasure to spar with you, Prometheus" Shining said with a salute. Prometheus just laughed and did a quick salute with his wing.

"Carry on, soldier" he simply said.

As the young captain left both alicorns alone Luna felt that she needed to ask something to her guest.

"So, before the battle... you did something" Luna said. Prometheus chuckled.

"Maybe. It depends on what 'something' did you see" he replied as they walked inside the castle.

"You body shifted, you muscles were less tense and more defined than before. Is some kind of martial technique?"

"No, I just used a little boost. Let just say that shields aren't the only thing than can be improved via geometric patterns" Prometheus mysteriously said as he shook his head, moving his mane away and winking at the lunar princess, making her blush and stop in place.

"W-what!? That's not an answer!" she yelled, making Prometheus laugh as he kept going on.

"Isn't it, though?" he said as he smirked at her, making the dark alicorn huff.

"Fine, be that way. It's not like I wanted to know about your stupid techniques or anything" the princess said as she powered on, taking the lead and looking back with a competitive smile. "What, are you too tired to keep up with me?" she asked with a smirk. Prometheus just shook his head and kept the same pace.

"What would your sister say if you were to lose me? All alone in this dark and solitary castle" Prometheus said as a maid passed near him... followed by a guard.

"My lord" he said to the male alicorn.

"Royal guard" said alicorn replied with a nod. The lunar princess just sighed and walked towards him "This was just a one-time thing. Statistically speaking..."

"Don't care, you tire me with your babbling. Now carry me." Luna said as she climbed on Prometheus, making herself comfortable in the fluffy fur of the now uncomfortable alicorn.

"... Are you not supposed to guide me?" he asked. Luna pointed with her head towards a hall.

"That way" she said, making Prometheus sigh as he walked.

"I was the one making that tiresome exercise. What if I fall dehydrated, or worse?"

"You are a big stallion, so you can manage" Luna said with a smirk "Plus your ranting and lengthy explanations tire me, so while I am your host you need to treat a dame with care" Prometheus just shook his head. "Also I know you can handle little old me on your back. That strike you made against Prince Armor's shield was not made by a weakling... so come on! Chop chop!" Luna said with a laugh.

"You just want to feel my fur... You are lucky that I'm not the bloody warlord I used to be"

"Oh, that I want to hear. How you turned from bloodthirsty warmonger to... what was that word that Queen Chrysalis used? Ah, yes... to a nerd..." Luna said with a malevolent smile. "Now turn right"

"Alone with a crazy princess. Fun times." Prometheus said.

"My lord" said a guard behind one of the columns.

"Are you mocking me or are you really posted in this hall?" Prometheus asked the royal guard, who cocked his head in confusion.

"...My lord?" he innocently asked. Luna meanwhile was laughing as a madmare.

"... Royal guard" Prometheus said as he continued his walk. Luna managed to contain her laughs before resting her head on top of Prometheus' head.

"Come on, say again how alone are you" she taunted.

"Nope, I learned my lesson. I'll not say alone one more-"

"My lord" another guard said.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Author's Note

Hello there folks! This was hard to do since I had like... four different ways to do this battle in my head, so yeah. A bit undecided till the very end. Also the first time I write a fight in English, so be merciful, please :derpytongue2:

Also, soon will be the first anniversary of Gaia! If you want something special you tell me your ideas. I already had a couple, one being a special chapter and another being a drawing, but as I said you can pitch your ideas.

Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you like it!
As always, this has been only proofread by myself so grammar errors and the like are bound to happen, so sorry about that. :twilightsheepish:

Anniversary Special - The Questions about Gaia

Ah, to be young again.

After the small incident with Twilight's planet we all got together to drink tea and share stories. It was refreshing to just mingle with others that are mostly like you. They were small and not all with the same number of appendages... but it was enough for me.

It was just a question of time that they started to ask question about myself. Its always about myself... But they are curious. How can I say no?

"What was that, my dear?" I asked the purple princess.

"I was wondering who was Prometheus' father. You never talk about him. He isn't..?" she asked, hesitant. Ah, of course they would thought that.

"No, not at all. In fact Prometheus doesn't have a father." I replied with a smile, confusing them pretty bad.

"How? That's not how life works!"

"Oh, but you must understand something, young one. Prometheus is... a physical manifestation of something intangible, like myself. He is the trichordian civilization... their hopes and dreams, their knowledge and faith... he is all of that and more. He is a direct reflection of them, and vice versa. He can influence them overall of course, and push them onto a desirable path..." I explained with a bit of difficulty. It was hard to explain, I swear! It's something that it just is for me...

"I think I understand that, but how can be your son? It seems that he just appeared with them, right?" Twilight asked with curiosity.

"Ah, but they were born on my planet... on me. And when the trichordates started to develop intelligence, I got pregnant with him. The moment they managed to band together as a civilization for the first time it was when my son was truly born, and became my full time responsibility" I said with a sad smile on my face. "They were hard times. Every famine or illness that fell upon the small civilization could unmade all their efforts... and kill my son as a ultimate consequence. I could not allow that. So I took a somewhat active role, more than the previous millions of years."

Young Cadance hugged me and smiled at me, irradiating affection. "I understand. The love of a mother is truly a force capable of miracles... and even more if the mother in question is the whole world, right?" she said, making us giggle at that. I giggled at least.

"True. I've been told that I'm pretty scary when I'm angry" I said while laughing... Why is Twilight a bit paler than before?

"G-Gaia... what happened that made you angry? And... what did you do?" she asked. I rubbed my chin in thought. I try to forget about it so it doesn't come to mind as often as other things.

"Well... It was a couple of centuries ago. My son's civilization was in full swing and they consumed resources without thought or care. They dried up nuclear resources to power their energy plants and started to draw energy from... more dirty fuels. They were advancing pretty fast but started to pollute the environment, killing many plants and animals. I was ill from all the pollution and... I wasn't thinking clearly because of that..." I spoke with a small voice. It was hard and painful, but it was the truth. Still... "In a fit of rage I... I razed an entire country. It was a small thing, around five million strong. They were always misusing their resources, dumping hazardous materials on my oceans and turning my soil in barren wastes. I was so mad that..." I found myself out air. So much loss...

"Gaia, you don't have to continue if you don't want to. I'm sorry I asked that" Ah Twilight. Sweet, naive child...

"Suffice to say, it was not pretty. My son and his people got a really big scare from that. They learned though, and started to hear my advice again. Sometimes they just... they just think they're above nature. But thankfully they took the lesson to heart in time" I said with a smile. Cadance quickly tried to save the conversation.

"So tell us Gaia. Do you have any holidays in your world?" she asked me. Ah, the classic 'change the subject' technique.

"Well we do have the Harvest Day, which is at the end of the dry season. It's a several day party that its eating contests and dancing for hours. Let me see... Mhm... Ah! There is also my birthday. While no one knows the exact day they just created a whole holiday for me and they just try and do some kind of pilgrimage a month before it just to spend time with me. Trust me, even a forest can feel cramped with so many people around" I told them with a wide smile. They tried to be good sons, even if they usually forget about what's important. "What about yours?"

"We have Nightmare Night and Summer Sun Celebration, which are mostly seasonal festivals that last one day, and Hearths Warming Eve that is a holiday to remember the friendships we made and how Equestria was born from that... but there are many local festivities in each city and town!" Twilight explained eagerly to me. I suppose that many cultures and peoples have a great variety of holidays.

"Oh, now that we're asking the big things, I got one" Rainbow Dash said as she butted in the conversation.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" I replied with a patient smile.

"I've been hearing things about what do you eat, but they must be horseapples! They were too far-fetched. So... What can you eat?" she asked with a smirk on her face. Oh my, quite a interesting question.

"I can eat everything... and I mean everything" I simply told her.

"W-What!? That's impossible!" she yelled. What a classic!

"Oh but its not. Maybe you can't tell, but I'm pretty old. I'm older than food itself. For me eating its just an optional but highly pleasurable experience." I explained to them "So in time I just tried everything, from rocks to pure minerals and metals. If it exists I probably tasted it sometime."

"What? But... huh... What?" the young pegasus replied. Oh dear, I didn't break her, right?

"Even meat?" Twilight asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, of course. Its very rich in proteins and, if cooked right, can be in most of the best recipes of my world" I told her sincerely. She smiled and nodded at me.

"You should try griffon cuisine. I've been told that they have the best meat-specialized chefs in the world" she told me. Oh, note to self: Griffons like meat. Acquire griffon recipes.

"But if that's true Gaia you were like, a nomad? You have to if you tried every... er... food on your planet" Cadance asked while helping herself with some tea using levitation. I really need to learn that!

"Ah, for the most part yes, I lived a pretty nomadic life when I was up and working but usually I just slept away for a long time, only getting up when something important was about to happen" I told her, making Twilight more curious about the current topic.

"And where did you sleep?" the young and purple alicorn asked.

"I liked to sleep in a temperate forest. It was a nice place. A small stream with tiny waterfalls made a very relaxing sound and used to made my rest easy. I spent so many time sleeping that I even left imprints on the soil, and the fossil remains of my sleeping place were put in a museum."I told her before chuckling.

"Is something funny? I don't get it" Twilight asked as she got a bit closer to me.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that they are... a bit obsessed with everything related to me. You call big spans of time... Hm... let me check... Ah! Eons, right? Well my sons call those same time spans... slumbers"

"Slumbers?" they all asked. Oh my, such a polite audience.

"Oh yes. My slumbers. The oldest eon is called "The First Slumber of Mother Gaia". Seriously, they even have manuals about the stuff and try to know what I dream during my slumbers and a lot of other useless stuff" I told them while laughing pretty loudly. They weren't laughing.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Author's Note

First Anniversary! :pinkiegasp:

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter. I kinda didn't have enough stuff to do a full dedicated chapter for the anniversary, so I picked up ideas that you people had left me in comments and PM and basically used a die to choose some of them.

Sorry for any typos, and hope you like it! :twilightsmile:

Vacation Schedule

Well, what do you know? Apparently they didn't start to study the deepest geological records on this planet and the evolution theory its pretty new for them. They must be a younger civilization than I thought. Hm... that would explain the castles for sure... at least we were talking about something I actually know! Yes!

It was a fun evening for me as we spent the rest of the time before dinner just talking about eras long time past. Young Twilight was fascinated by the idea of dinosaurs. It seemed that my son also had a fine evening for what I heard. What's with boys and beating each other with sticks anyway? Oh well, at least seems that all the young ones had a good time, but for all the pleasures and relaxing atmosphere this castle has, I think I'll truly start my vacation tomorrow. Ah, those volcanoes at the southern hemisphere looked like they were active from orbit and even with that they were filled with lifeforms. I wonder who-

"Everything alright, Gaia?" asked Celestia... Celestia? Oh! It seems that we are in the dining room again!

"Oh, sorry. My mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?" I politely asked her as I took a seat next to her. Oh dear, sometimes I'm worse than my son, I swear...

"We were just getting a bit worried about you. Twilight told us that you went silent after talking with some guards while walking here and you didn't seem to react to anything" Celestia explained to me. I love the politeness of this one. I wish I had a daughter like her... Well, there's an interesting thought... Oh, right! Don't get too distracted again!

"Ah well, I was just thinking about actually starting my vacation and where to go. Its a whole new world after all" I told them with a small smile while looking around the food served to us. Ah, this smells strong and salty. What is it? ...Cheese? From what animal is this made...? Goats? I need to know how they make this wonderful thing.

"Don't you like it here? I didn't do something wrong, right?" asked a sad Twilight while putting a very adorable pout on her face. Aww, I could just hug her right now!

"Don't worry, young Twilight. I've been having a great time here, but I want to experience all what I can from the wildest places on your world. I can't experience them from the comfort of a luxurious bed, right? I want to feel the breeze and blades of grass on my fur again... or the rocks of a mountain..." I told them while picking some of that delightful 'cheese' "...or just swimming down to the ocean floor. You know... those things"

"While it would be amusing to watch, I don't think a big mare like yourself should be doing such activities. Its most unbecoming of royalty" said Luna from her corner, getting a nasty look from my son. Did something happen after the play battle I was told about?

"Well its my time, so I will spend it as I see fit" I told her while munching on the crunchy slice of... Wait, the cheese wasn't... Oh dear... Don't look guilty now...

"Auntie, I think everypony needs to enjoy what they like most and you can't apply the same rules to somepony as... special as Gaia" told Cadance with a smile on her face. Luna didn't seem to agree with her though...

"Mother can do as she pleases. She is an adult capable of making sensible decisions by herself... usually" my son said while trying to look all innocent. That cheeky boy. One uprooted forest and no one lets you live it up. It's not like I didn't make grow one later...

"You should agree with me. You should know that-" Luna started to explain, but she lost me when the bouncy Pinkie tried to catch my attention. Suffice to say, she managed to do so.

"Psst... Not a princess Gaia..." She said as I giggled. This one... really...

"What, pink pinky Pinkie?" I told her. Ha! She giggled! Who is the silly mare now?

... both of us?

"Want to see something funny?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Watch this" she said while pulling something blue from her mane... wait... is that?

"Party away!" she yelled as she fired her small cannon, projecting confetti and what looked like cake batter on everyone. I couldn't help but laugh loudly at that.

"Pinkie! Honestly, would it kill you to be serious just once?" asked Twilight while everyone was silent. Well everyone except me.

"But Gaia was starting to make frowny faces and this was supposed to be a dinner for her!" she explained to her purple friend, while Celestia started to giggle.

"That is true. We were turning this meal into something more suitable for the throne room" she said while cleaning herself with a calm smile "We should enjoy ourselves, rest and tomorrow we will see what happens"

"But Celly-"

"Luna, please"

"Urgh, fine!"

Oh, that pout is killing me! By the stars, how can these ponies be so cute?

"HA!" said Prometheus, enjoying a small victory... before I threw him a ball of cheese that stuck on his horn. Score!

"Be a good boy and don't disrespect the ones who magnanimously offered their house and food" I told him sternly with a small smirk on my face. Not that he could see me from the cheese stuck on his horn anyway.

"Yes, mother. It will not happen again" That's right. I hope so. For your own good, young one.

...Is Luna making faces at him? And now silently mocking him? Yes she is!

"That goes for you as well, girl! Would you mind to have some manners? Its most uncouth to mock others so openly. At least try to hide it!" I told her. HA! That face! And on both of them! Where is a camera when you need it? Oh, here is one. ...and... Click!

"Thanks, young Pinkie" I told her while giving her the camera.

"I'll give you a copy. Or twenty" she happily said.

"I want a big one too"

"Give me that camera!" both Prometheus and Luna yelled as they jumped towards the pink fluffy pony. It was a futile effort.

"You have to catch me first!" she replied while giggling and somehow quickly pronking away.

"Run, run like the wind!" I cheered her as they all got lost in the hallways.

I bet the pink one wins.

After the dinner shenanigans everyone called it a day and went to their bedchambers, but not all with a restful sleep in mind.

Celestia looked out of her window, getting a nice view of the first lights blooming in Canterlot as Luna's moon slowly took its place in the sky. She sat on the floor while sighing, drinking in the views of the city to relax herself after the long day.

"Celestia... Is everything alright?" asked the voice of the youngest princess. Celestia turned around, seeing her former student entering her bedroom. "I'm sorry, you weren't replying to my calls and since you gave me permission to enter even if-"

"Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle. It's alright, and I'm fine. Its just that it seems that Gaia is going to complicate things for us sooner than I thought"

"How so?" asked Twilight while sitting next to Celestia.

"While she doesn't see herself as a princess, everypony in the world is very... traditional about an alicorn and its status within society. Taking that into account we must assume that there will be... let's say a little bit of chaos where she goes, even with the best of her intentions"

"I understand" replied Twilight before musing silently. "Maybe we should give her a tour, then?" Twilight said with a wide smile, making Celestia smile too.

"Sounds like you have an idea. What did you have in mind?"

"We can schedule a grand tour to show her the natural wonders of the world, with some space of course. For what I see Gaia has her own ideas already and we must act thinking that she has a route of her own. We can mix both, and even discover some places that we've never been before! Isn't that exciting?"

"It sounds wonderful, Twilight. I'm glad to have you as a fellow princess" Celestia said before nuzzling Twilight in a motherly fashion.

"Just trying my best. The ponies that will be on the expedition will need to take shots for possible illnesses that we can get during it. We don't want anypony to catch the griffon variant of the feather flu, right?" asked Twilight as she took notes just after pulling out a scroll and an inked quill from somewhere.

"That's a good point, Twilight. Is Gaia immunized to our viruses and bacteria?" asked Celestia out loud, making Twilight drop her quill.

"Oh gosh, that is so true! We must make a full medical exam to have a baseline and check that she's alright before leaving... not that I don't trust Prince Prometheus' technology but..."

"I think I feel the same. I'll sleep better knowing that my own physician makes a check-up on everypony before leaving"

"You are not coming?"

"Ah, I think Luna will enjoy more to know more about the world. She never traveled outside Equestria after her banishment and I think it will do her great good to... dirty her hooves a bit and be with the populace" Celestia said with a mysterious smile on her face.

"Oh, that's true! We can strengthen our friendship with this trip! Oh, I should invite Pinkie Pie too, since she seems to be friends with Gaia already. Maybe Cadance and Shining? Oh, there are so many ponies I want to come but..." Twilight said before stopping suddenly in mid-rant "How will we travel around? I didn't think of that!"

"Relax, my little pony. I'm sure you can use one of the airships that we use in diplomatic travels. Now breathe, just like Cadance told you" Celestia said and Twilight did so, her stress level getting again into acceptable levels.

"You're right, I didn't think about that. Maybe..."

"Maybe you should finish this first checklist and then go to bed and work on it tomorrow" suggested Celestia. Twilight tried to retort but a yawn escaped her before even muttering a word.

"I guess I'm more tired than I thought. Between managing my little planet and trying to make our guests comfortable I forgot my own comfort. Good night, Celestia" said Twilight before nuzzling her former teacher.

"Sweet dreams, my little pony" replied the princess while nuzzling the small princess back.

Celestia looked back to the city, now the night well settled and the light of the moon shining upon the land. She wore a small and relaxed smile on her face.

"Maybe it will be easier than I thought. Bless the little things in life, I suppose..."

She was going to sleep herself when she saw some shadows running around the gardens. With her curiosity sparked, she pulled out some binoculars she used for the opera and focused on the shadowy figures. She laughed to herself silly when she spotted two tired alicorns almost dragging themselves while following a peppy pink pony that was still as fresh as if it was morning.

Author's Note

And here is the next one! I'll try to write the next one sooner, but I've been in a training course that's about installing solar panels (thermal and photovoltaic ones) on buildings and stuff, these last months (I'm finishing the training in a bit more than a month) so I've been tired lately for writing or drawing. I'll try to do a bit every day though! :twilightsmile:

I hope you like it, and if you spot any typos please let me know! I edit this on my own and as many of you know I'm not native and many things slip through my radar. I hope there aren't many of those around this time :derpytongue2:

The Maladies of Gaia

It's been a long day, but at last, all the checkups are done! Seriously, sometimes the young ones are just pushy with their wants and while sometimes its endearing today was just plain annoying.

First, they woke me up early and didn't let me eat breakfast, for some obscure reason I'm sure. Then hours upon hours of tedious medical stuff! They took samples, made me say 'ah' so they could check my mouth and throat, and one tried to get a bit too close to my rear with some strange looking thing. I didn't let her get close.

Then made me do some exercise, like running on a treadmill and pushing some machines. I broke the pushing one. It was pretty and made funny noises. I like funny noises, like the ones made by the medical staff after breaking the machine. I kinda felt pretty bad, but at least they can repair it… Probably, at least.

Luckily they let me eat halfway through the tests, but I was so hungry I ate the plates! And part of the table. Apparently, they liked that and urged me to eat most of the table so they could study 'how I could even function'. Their words, not mine.

Wood isn't very tasty but mixed with the other things it was... Well, it was food so I'm okay with that. That was followed by what I could only call as a free buffet of tiny samples of everything they managed to get their hooves on. I think they expected something a bit more impressive than a belch when they brought some radioactive samples to the remains of the table… or maybe they thought I wouldn’t be able to eat them at all since its pretty bad for any kind of life, but honestly… I think they don’t know how planets are born and just how radioactive a young planet can truly be… I’m not into books and I’m feeling inclined to ask my son for some as a gift to these little ponies…. I think I’m rambling…

I had to say that I felt quite full and had to ask them to stop bringing things for me to eat, but that didn’t stop the examinations and being swarmed with multiple medical sensors. At least this time were a bit more careful when asking for some more samples. I think they want to see if I get sick for eating everything. Been there, done that...

After the gruelling times within that boring lab, they finally let me go and sure as the stars that I went flying straight to the gardens, where I decided to roll on the grass and just relax. I almost rolled over some critters but luckily they developed quick reflexes during their evolution. Good for them! I like to see animals well adapted to their environment and just generally being resilient little things… not that I got anything against frail and dainty creatures mind you… Sometimes random mutations can create breathtaking beings!

“I knew I saw a green blur outside the windows. Is everything alright?” the concerned voice of Twilight asked me, quickly taking my mind off the clouds.

“Too loud… Just relax and… feel,” I said while my mind did just that, feeling everything alive around me. My body was relaxed for this familiar state of communion with my surroundings but my mind was curious since this world truly felt very strange. I could feel the young princess approaching me and sitting next to me as I just breathe slowly with a small smile on my face.

“I’m… not sure what are you talking about. Feeling what?”

I reached her with my wing and pulled her in a hug, making her head rest against my barrel and near my heart.

“Everything… Just relax and feel it...” I explained her, feeling her uneasiness but relenting to my wishes as her curiosity finally won the struggle. She relaxed in my gentle grip, so I released her and felt her now slow breathing. I could almost feel her questions, so I decided to work ahead of them.

“Empty your mind… without focus or thought...”

“I’ll try… but I think I’ll fall asleep,” she said while giggling. I replied with my own giggles and set myself to just enjoy the feeling of life carrying on, as it always does.

I don’t know how much time we spent just there, but probably not that much. I couldn’t keep myself in-tune with the life force of this world for long because a feeling of uneasiness crept little by little when I was more than a few minutes feeling it. It was as if something was missing… but what? I couldn’t ponder on this for long as I felt Twilight’s heartbeat suddenly skyrocket.

“Is everything alright, little one?”

“...Whoa… What is this?” she asked, and I could feel she managed to tap into the life force of this world. This little girl is a genius! Maybe the little powers I gifted her for her mini-world helped her but… Not even my son was able to feel the life force! Oh this world gets more interesting by the day!

“That is the pure life force of this world, young princess. All creatures are born with a piece of it and it develops as they grow old and experienced, just to return to the world in the end. At least that’s how it works back home,” I explained as I stretched my muscles a bit. “Usually it makes the world teeming with life after millions of years. Just try to not look at it for long periods of time, dear. They say things about the abyss, but you can also get in problems for staring at the light for too long… and I’m not talking about blindness either.”

That made her snap out of her probably life-changing moment and look at me with a big smile on her face… and I think I even see stars in her eyes?

“It was so… so… I can’t describe it with words! Majestic comes close, but that doesn’t make it justice! And that’s the kind of energy that fuels your spells? It just… boggles my mind!”

“And I can assure you that my home has quite more magnitudes of energy than yours. Trust me, I’m quite an old lady,” I replied while giggling, making her look at me with clear excitement all over her face.

“But... Life force sounds a bit clinical for my tastes, and that’s saying something. Do have any other names for this kind of energy?” she asked me. I just chuckled.

“Just the magic of life, my dear,” I simply said, and I swear that I saw a spark inside those smart eyes of hers.

The celestial sisters stood silently inside the medical facilities of Canterlot Castle, their regal masks cracking under the stress. They were called by the doctor in charge of Gaia a couple of hours after her release, which was well within the normal timeframe to get useful results via analysis spells. What was making them nervous was that the doctor said that they should come as soon as they were able to, and that undertone of urgency was quite alarming. After all… What could possibly affect an alicorn as Gaia?

“You majesties,” said the doctor as he walked into the room, followed by one of his peers.

“We came as soon as we received your message. What can you tell us about Gaia?” asked Celestia, looking at them with one of her most inquisitive looks. The bespectacled mare beside the first doctor pulled out some papers and cleared her throat.

“Sorry for any inconvenience your majesties, but the results of many of the tests were troubling to say the least.”

“How so? It's because of her unusual diet?” asked the night princess, “I had the suspicion that eating metal wasn’t very good for the stomach,” she finished.

“Surprisingly, she didn’t have any adverse effects after eating so many… things. All the results were almost the same between before and after lunch. No, what we found alarming was with her tissue and blood samples, and well… her weight”

“… You have to me more specific, doctors,” said the sun princess with a neutral tone. This time it was the stallion who took the lead.

“We found traces of heavy metals and strange molecules that we can’t identify in all of the tissues and in her bloodstream. We also found scar tissue in several parts of her and her overall metabolism looked slower than it should, given the other alicorn data we have,” he said as he read through several papers. “I must add that this hasn’t been a recent event since we have found traces of the same substances inside her bone marrow.”

“Doctor... Are you suggesting that…?”

“Yes. We suspect that Gaia has been suffering from a very severe poisoning for a very long time… at least, until recently. It seems that she’s been recovering from the past decades. She has been also gaining weight in the same time span, as we found that newer muscular tissue and her coat are healthier than other parts of her body,” the doctor continued, ears wilted down for interrupting Luna’s question. “Her actual weight is similar to her solar highness, even when Gaia is quite bigger than our princess. We found this pretty anomalous giving her apparent complexion. We estimated thanks to the analysis of her skeletal structure that Gaia at one time almost tripled her actual weight. We couldn’t pinpoint the cause of the loss of weight so we assumed that it was tied to her poisoning, but since she can eat every little thing that she can put in her mouth we can’t imagine what could be the actual cause.”

The air in the clinic’s room was thick with dread and surprise, the faces of the diarchs of Equestria showing their shock.

“How could someone try to poison her?” murmured Celestia, loud enough to be heard by everyone around her. Luna, on the other hand, was fuming, her face contorted in silent anger.

“Such a vile act, to poison a sweet mare, as annoying as she can be,” Luna said, snorting and pawing at the ceramic tiles of the room.

“We are more concerned about what kind of poison could make her ill since clearly eating metal can’t harm her and we are pretty sure that anything dispersed via aerosol can’t harm her either,” said the mare, arranging some papers at the desk. “It's a given then, even for an alicorn, she should be bedridden or almost on the verge of death… but we saw her just enjoying the garden as if she was a puppy just a few minutes ago. We are stumped on how somepony managed to poison such a sturdy mare, and how can she even move,” the doctor said while she kept filing papers.

Both princesses were silent for a couple of minutes, looking between themselves and thinking about this revelation.

“We are grateful for your hard work… Oh, excuse me, but I think I don’t know your names,” Celestia said with an apologetic tone. Both doctors just shook her heads.

“Don’t worry, princess. This kind of news can be very stressful for everypony involved. I am Doctor Spectacle and she’s Doctor Pulse. We will keep working on the results and make a complete report when everything is done. There are more specific samples that need to be worked on,” said the now identified Dr Spectacle.

“Your Majesties, when I said we didn’t know how she can even move I meant it. Heavy metal poisoning isn’t a common thing in Equestria and cases can only be found in settlements of miners that aren't careful enough where they dump their waste, but we know that the symptoms are usually pretty severe like muscular pain, migraines and anaemia. I would have someone looking after her if she were my patient. Who knows when a sudden pain can strike her?” said Dr Pulse, making both princesses pale about the news. “Thankfully we found miraculous that her body was somehow processing the metals in her system and effectively cleaning her from the poison. Usually, someone with a severe case of heavy metal poisoning would be suffering from it for life, but she is going to be as fit as a fiddle in… well, many times over my own lifespan that’s for sure. Not a very long time for her if our data about her is accurate.”

“My sister and I have... much to think about. Carry on, my little ponies, and thank you again for your diligence,” said Princess Celestia before nodding to her sister and departing the clinic. Both doctors kept looking at each other for a while before exhaling loudly.

“Boy… it never gets easy when we have to give bad news to somepony,” Dr Pulse said, getting a nod from his partner.

“Indeed… but we should keep working on more positive things, like this hormone testing. If we take the baseline of a normal a healthy pony...”

“Spectacle, I said it earlier and I say it now. Those tests were negative. We even made several scans at her abdomen and we found nothing. Just because you are a father with a newborn child doesn't mean that you can see foals where there are none! Now get to it! You still have a couple of hours before going home,” Dr Pulse said with finality, getting a grumble from the stallion.

Dr Pulse just snorted, working on some of the other tests. They didn’t know if it was normal for Gaia to have such a high count of estrogen in her blood. After the fifth scan, they were sure that it was just another anomaly to the pile of strangeness that was the green alicorn… and that was enough for the doctor.

Some corridors away though, a couple of princesses were very concerned about their guest.

Author's Note

Hello again! Finally I managed to finish this one and Gaia is almost ready to depart on her vacation... or at least what they want her vacation to be. Gaia is a strong mare that know what she wants after all!

I've not been very inspired these past months and it was a bit hard to go around the art-block, even when I planned most of the story. Its not hard to imagine the strong points of the story... its the parts in the middle the ones that kill me. :ajsleepy:

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's just been proof-read by me since I wanted this done to keep the comments of this story being dead away, so I would be grateful if you tell me about any mistakes you may find in it. :twilightsmile:

The Voyage North

The machines that the little ones can come up with are truly a sight to behold, in my world and here too!

One would think that after so many years I had grown accustomed to it, but they always find ways to build the most amazing things. It’s one of the things I’ll never have that... drive to create things from basic elements like minerals, or from other life forms like woods and bones. I can create sure, but it’s not the same. They put their imagination and after trial and error they succeed. I, on the other hoof, just give it a push and life spawns itself. For example, I cannot even imagine the many hours they have spent designing this… this airship. The ingenuity! The creativity! Ah, that’s why I love them all. They can show me wonders that nature is unable to show without their help.

And talking about help too, young Twilight has been pretty excited after we took off towards that crystal place or something. Apparently, the lovely pink princess rules over there and, hear this… they have crystal-based life forms! Well, not completely crystal but they have some kind of crystalline properties. I wanted to go to the volcanic lands but… this! I’ve never heard of such a thing!

Thankfully my son decided to go back to his place and leave me to my devices once again… even if young Luna is making a good impression of a shadow, always not too far from me.

“You know I’m an adult, right? I don’t need a babysitter more than you do, Luna,” I said with a small smile as she was resting out of the sunlight that was bathing the deck of the airship. No wonder she’s all grumpy and moody, without getting some sun on her skin…

“Be as it may, your son made very clear that he was trusting us to keep you safe. Besides, while an adult he also revealed to us that you usually jump to action when something grabs your attention,” she explained as she stretched her wings, “and it will be beneficial to everypony if a capable pony is always ready to help if necessary.”

“You mean to have someone keep an eye on me because no one wants the crazy old mare to cause a ruckus?” I said with a smile, making her look at me with a horrified expression on her face, “Don’t look at me like that, child. There are many things I don’t understand but I’ve lived enough to have seen this happen to me time and time again,” I explained with a chuckle, “But don’t worry your little head about it. I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”

I was being honest too. While I love to mess with the youngsters, I don’t want them to stress over me… too much at least. I’ve also heard that stress can stunt growth in young creatures and except Celestia all seem to be still on their way to their prime. I mean Twilight will probably have quite the scare when her experiment ends… I’m not looking forward to that.

“I appreciate that, Gaia. I know that I can be a little… strict, but I want to make amends and try to know you better,” she said, looking down and pensive, “I know we didn’t start in the best of terms because of my stubbornness… even if I still feel that you need to improve your manners and behavior, I mean honestly Gaia…” she finished with a huff. Aw, and she was so close to be cute! Now she was cute and grumpy! I couldn’t help but laugh as I got up and sat besides her, squishing her against me with my wing.

“I can’t help but be who I am, young Luna. No more than you can’t help but be yourself at least. For what is worth, I am sorry if I embarrass you in the future, but please… don’t think as I do it with malicious intent, alright? The last thing I want to is to cause trouble by my actions,” I said to her with a maternal smile, “While I can be harsh with my lessons when I’m forced to, I really dislike to do it. I like to enjoy the little things in life better, and well… just live in this crazy universe of ours, I guess,” I said, hugging her tightly. This time she even leaned a bit into it! Success! No one can resist my hugs for long!

“Y-yes. Well… I would like to use this opportunity to really know you, not because my sister said so but because I truly want to,” she explained, moving a bit under my wing, “While we alicorns are so long lived that we don’t know one that has died of old age we never encountered one as ancient as you and… maybe we learn from your experiences. You can teach us so many things from what you have seen and experienced in your life, Gaia,” she said with conviction.

Well, that is a serious declaration if I ever heard one. I was not really angry because of her earlier attitude, I really understand her, I do! I think she overthinks a lot, but I suppose I cannot blame her for that. I don’t trouble myself with the problems and things that happen on a country after all.

“I think that we can say for sure that we will learn much from each other, Luna” I simply said, looking towards the sky and the clouds that slowly passed by. Flying on a machine is not the same as being on your own power, but it was calming all the same for me. I took a deep breath, enjoying the cleanest air that I’ve breathed in many years.

“I can teach you about the delicate and complex cycles of life… at least outside your peculiar little planet of course. I’ve started teaching young Twilight regarding the life force that surrounds every planet with life and she even saw it. It’s... it's been hard to explain some of the things that I do and see, you know? Not even my son was able to use my abilities, even with the same blessing I gave Twilight. But she just did it… and maybe you all can teach me this magic of yours as well, even things regarding ponies on this world. I know I’m not smart but I am willing to try at least, I promise.”

Luna chuckled and shook her head as a wry smile was clearly making way on her face, “She is the princess of Magic after all. If anypony is able to understand the mysteries of the universe, it will be her,” she said with confidence. I nodded at her, completely believing her, “And I believe that you are correct. We can learn from each other in many topics and areas. In fact, and since it will take some time to reach the Empire, why not getting started in some magical basics? You clearly have the power but you lack the finesse,” she continued, frowning a bit, “I suppose that your duties don’t require such precision… but I think I can guide you for the time being.”

I can’t argue with that logic! Who can say that they learned magic from a magical pony princess! if I learned how to use a microwave, I think this magic thing can be a walk in the park!

… Somehow, I don’t feel that magical pony princess is an acceptable expression, but I can’t figure out why…

Luna observed the path of the airship with no real interest in the dark landscape. The moon was already up and most of the ponies on board were peacefully resting, and she was getting refreshed thanks to the powers granted by the Moon. While not the same as sleeping properly she could at least be vigilant as long as she didn’t expend much magic patrolling the dream realm. The small and distant rumbling of the magical engines below the deck also gave a slow but peaceful rhythm to the otherwise silent night, making this one of the most relaxing times Luna had in a long time since her return.

“Something troubling you, your highness?” asked one of the night guards as he approached the ruler of the night. Luna just shook her head as she kept her eyes towards the frozen wastes between Equestria and the Crystal Empire.

“Just many things on my mind, sergeant. I’m afraid that magic lessons with our alicorn guest can even take a toll on me,” she elaborated before sighing, “It’s not that Gaia doesn’t want to learn, and even by what she told us she made tremendous progress. I’m inclined to believe her stories of moving entire forests with her telekinesis after what we have seen from her, so I shouldn’t be disappointed that the best she can do now is to not implode a pot on itself by sheer telekinetic power, but…”

“If you forgive my boldness princess, but I think you feel as she can do better, right?”

“You are forgiven, my guard. And yes… it’s just…” she hesitated, before closing her eyes in contemplation. “I just want to do something for her. I can see it now… she is so alienated from everypony around her since no pony can understand her… at least not until now,” she explained, a frown developing on her face, “Maybe it can seem a small thing for other ponies, but for unicorns the ability to interact with others with our magic is a whole way to communicate feelings and actions. I think I can give her that if I teach her to perform telekinesis like we do we can bring her close to ponykind… she feels like a pony lost without herd, forced to live from her fellow ponies.”

“The thought of being on my own for years even strikes fear on me, your highness. We ponies are social creatures.”

“Exactly, sergeant. And we can develop strong feelings of protectiveness when one of us is harmed, even when it’s a pony we don’t get along with, and nurture our hurt and lost members to integrate them back into the herd. That’s how harmony works,” she explained, pausing for a moment, as if pondering on how to proceed with the conversation, “ I think that since you belong to the retinue assigned to Gaia, you should know something,” she finally proceeded, with a hard seriousness clear on her voice, “She may look healthy and preppy, but our medical experts found that she is recovering from a extremely severe case of poisoning,” she explained, making the guard tense and frown, “And apparently both herself and her son know the cause but act as they can ignore it. I cannot help but try to make her comfortable after knowing that even with all that fortitude she has suffered so much… but even with my wisdom and guesswork I cannot fathom the kind of catastrophe that happened on her world for her to be so scarred. Do you know that she was malnourished for a long time as well? Her, a being that can eat even rocks?” she said, making the guard angrier by the second, “I know what you feel, and I trust that you and your companions will do your work diligently and assist Gaia in any way you can.”

“Of course, princess! I just… I can’t even imagine…”

“I know. I hope that one day she can tell us... We all wish to know more about our otherworldly guest but we can only be the best hosts we can and build our trust step by step for now,” the night princess said as she stretched her wings in a regal manner, “As a princess of Equestria I must follow the example of the Elements of Harmony themselves and be the best mare I can be, for myself and for her too. We must show Gaia the best our world can offer and bring her back to health, don’t you agree my loyal subject?”

“Of course, I agree completely princess.,” the sergeant said, saluting with one of his leathery wings to Luna, “We will be the best royal guards she has ever seen!” he fiercely declared, making Luna nod in appreciation.

“I expect nothing less. We are also touring around the world with her, so we will be representing Equestria wherever she goes. While it’s been a long time since we established direct relations with many realms far from our borders, we can use this opportunity to strengthen our ties with them,” she explained, looking towards the guard, “What do you make of it, sergeant?”

“Can’t say I disagree with that plan, princess. Ponies have forgotten many of our neighbors of old, even the hippogriffs, and they are brethren to us,” the guard stated as he looked towards one of the patrolling guards around the ship.

“They even forgot your kind, sergeant, and you were always next door as it were. Night pony colonies are not a secret after all,” she said with clear pain in her voice, “I believe that Gaia can make a bridge between our forgotten brothers and sisters and us since she is not really attached to anypony in a political fashion, and maybe…” she explained with a tired tone, her voice wavering at the end, “But enough of that. I estimate that we will arrive to the Empire at dawn. Have the troops ready and debriefed regarding Gaia’s status and my orders. They are also not to divulge any health reports or any kind of information regarding Gaia unless commanded to, understood?”

“Understood, your highness. It shall be done.”

“Excellent. Proceed with your duties, guard. And… thank you for lending me your ear,” she said with a small smile. The guard saluted with a proud smile on his face.

“It was a pleasure, princess. We are here to serve and help in any way we can after all.”

“That you do, my loyal subject. Carry on,” the night princess said with finality.

The guard swiftly got to work and went downstairs towards the barracks, leaving the dark princess to her devices.

Looking up to her Moon, the lunar princess wondered if there were other ponies living alone as Gaia out there, wandering the surfaces of other worlds just waiting to be discovered.

Suddenly, the night sky didn’t seem so empty to the night princess, and her world didn’t feel so huge in the grand scale of things.

Author's Note

Hello there! Long time no see, eh? :twilightblush:

I have no excuse... At least not one specially important by itself.
I was looking for a job for a long time; found a job, moved to another house, then didn't have the time to do anything for months... Life, in a word, happened. I'm sorry it took this long, but I'm not sorry I had to take a long absence on creating any work of fiction or art. I had to get a hold of my life and get things in order... and now I feel I can get back to it again.

Don't expect daily updates like at the very start of the story, but they will not take years this time. This I promise.

Now on to the story stuff! This chapter it's not much, the usual Gaia fare, but we are getting somewhere new at last! The vacation time has officially started!

This was the first stop and the most logical from a Equestria-driven airship, but you can make suggestions for the next destination! Since we are going to be from closest to farthest you can suggest any canon place you want, movies and comics included.

In case of a draw or just trusting me with the wheel it will be chosen at random. You time to think about your choice though! There will be at least a couple of chapters in each place before moving on (not all places have many interesting features. I mean, the dragonlands are just a volcanic wasteland but very interesting to Gaia nevertheless) and maybe some small stops along the way.

And that's all for today. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please note me if you spot some misspelling errors since I'm doing the proofreading myself and I know I'm not the best.

Cheers!

The Imperial City

I can’t say that this place was falsely advertised.

I mean when I heard about ‘Crystal Empire’ I thought that yes, some things would be made of crystal, sure… but the whole thing?

The soil seems like some sort of crystalline mineral formation that can’t be natural in any way. I paw at it with my hoof and it doesn’t budge an inch.

And why is it called empire if it’s a city?

“Why Gaia, already enjoying yourself? It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Luna said as she appeared at my side.

“This is truly a breathtaking view. The trees, the buildings and even the ground is crystal! Not see-through crystals thankfully. My gosh I can see it… not seeing them! Can you imagine? Completely transparent everything!” I said with enthusiasm. How could I not? The mere thought of almost invisible creatures it’s just too funny!

“Yes… ah… I see. Well, I would like to present our guide for the empire. This is Mrs. Quartz of-“

“How could you be so squishy? You are a crystal pony, right? You look very crystal-y to me…” I said as I grabbed with my hooves this little piece of mineral cuteness. At least she is giggling.

“Oh my, when we were told to expect an overly affectionate tourist, I didn’t expect this!” she said as she blushed. Oh right… not picking up ponies…

“I’m so sorry, child. It’s just that I’ve never seen a crystal anything! I mean I’ve seen crystals but not moving like you!” I explained, making her giggling again. Luna exhaled in exasperation. I think I’m not managing my stress objectives very well.

“It’s alright. We are no changelings but we sure love to share affection with one another. The entire empire is fueled by love and hope, you know?” the shiny pony said.

“No, I didn’t know! How can you do that?” I asked with curiosity. That’s the second time I’ve heard creatures using non-physical things as energy or food. Emotions sure are powerful but… Could I eat love too? How could I do that anyway?

“Ah, that’s a complex and long story, but I will try to explain our history. You see, many millennia ago…”

And boy did she told a long story. At least I think so… I admit that I managed to grasp important things but just the food alone kept all my attention. Berries, berry sandwiches, leafy greens… you name it, you got it in crystal… and it tastes like food too! Let me explain.

By what I’ve been told, creatures here have different palates for their different diets. The perfect example are the dragons. They can taste rocks and minerals and make a connection to more organic dishes. If a pony tries to savor a rock, well… it will be just a rock, with no flavor at all. That’s a problem I have. It seems that even not knowing about mammals and ponies I truly was built like one and have the same taste buds as them.

So, can you imagine my astonishment when these crystal berries don’t taste like crystal at all! And let me tell you I know a thing or two regarding the taste or rocks.

“Dish doeshn’t tashte like cryshtalsh” I obviously said while stuffing myself with the tasty fruit.

“Gaia! By the stars… Don’t talk with your mouth full of food, please,” Luna pleaded.

“Ah, well… You see princess, most of the produce from the empire has the same crystalline properties. We don’t really comprehend how it came to be, but while they do have more minerals in them, they are perfectly edible,” Mrs. Quartz said, showing me different vegetables and fruits.

“And are the rocks edible food as well?” I asked, absolutely perplexed at how evolution here created such life forms. Our guide just laughed.

“Oh goodness, no! They are shinier than other rocks in Equestria, but that’s it, really. Not very interesting outside jewelry.”

“Fascinating…” I said while tasting more of the things presented to me.

“Gaia, please …” Luna said after I eyed some shiny minerals around. I mean they are all around the place besides the buildings.

“I was not going to eat the rock to see if that was true, don’t worry,” I said.

I totally was, though.

“We should be going anyway. My niece is waiting for us and while we still have time there is still much to see.”

“We can make a stop at the spa. It’s a pretty famous business and we can get ready for the lunch with the crystal princess,” the guide proposed, gushing at her own idea, “You two will be just divine after a session with them.”

“You know… I sense a pattern around here regarding naming conventions…” I said out loud, narrowing my eyes at several vendors around the marketplace. Seriously, they really need a PR expert or something… The only thing without ‘crystal’ in its name is the playground. At least the young ones can enjoy a non-mineral-based name for their park… Aw, they look so cute… They are even waving at me and coming here too! I made a silent gesture with my wing to keep the noise to a minimum. I mean I don’t really want to annoy my guides while they are talking… I need to do something to keep them busy… but what?

“I’m… inclined to agree. It’s been stressful and a chance to relax is appreciated. Please guide us there if you could, Mrs. Quartz.” Luna said with a small smile, “Besides, I’ve been hearing nothing but praises about it from both my niece and princess Twilight. My niece will sure forgive us if we arrive a little late,” the moon princess continued before looking away with a blush on her face, “I also would like to try the crystal treatment and see how do I look with those reflective look you crystal ponies always have.”

“Of course, your highness! Please follow me!” she said with aplomb, a spring in her step as she marched towards the spa… or that’s what I think she did. I was pretty busy trying to keep these giggling foals from discover my master pla-

“Gaia… why are you laying on the ground and covered in foals? They are even hiding in your mane!” Luna said with a tired tone. The foals started to laugh at her expressions… I think. One of them is trying to get comfy over my snout.

“I, for once, am not to blame for this.” I said with complete seriousness. The foals laughed loudly while Luna put a hoof over her face as she shook her head, a small smile gracing her muzzle.

“So… captain, status report,” Prince Shining Armor commanded while his wife just smirked.

“Princess Gaia has been following the planned route with just a couple of hiccups. They are coming to the palace after a complete session at the spa,” he reported with a very professional air.

“Good, good… If that’s all you can return to your post. Thank you for your work,” Shining said with a smile as he nodded towards the captain.

“I’ll be on my way. Good day, your majesties,” he formally replied as he marched through the throne room towards the main hall. Shining sighed in contentment before looking at his loving wife.

“I think we did good, right Cadance? It’s been a peaceful visit for a unpredictable alicorn so far,” he stated, closing his eyes and nodding to himself. Cadance just chuckled, making him quickly look at her with a confused expression.

“That’s not what I’ve heard, darling~” she said in a sing-song voice, teasing her husband.

“Something happened that my guards didn’t catch on?”

“Oh no, they saw it alright, but I suppose a bunch of foals causing a ruckus at the market square is hardly something worth noting. The castle maids on the other hoof…” she said with a sly smile on her face. Shining just blinked at her dumbfounded.

“What?”

“It’s true! Apparently, she became pretty popular with the foals there and they started a tantrum because their new friend was going away,” she explained, giggling a bit, “but she defused the situation quickly. I suppose that she has the abilities of a mother perfected in her own, unique way,” she finished, making her husband laugh at the tale.

“I can’t hardly blame my guards then. They are military ponies, not teachers,” he said as he shook his head.

“Maybe we should get some of them just in case we have a foal riot if we have a sweet shortage at some point,” the pink princess said, now laughing by the absurdity of the idea.

“I hope not! Can you imagine that?” the prince replied as he laughed as well.

As they enjoyed their banter one of the guards came towards them.

“Sorry to interrupt your majesties. The royal guests are waiting for you at the dining hall,” she stated. Cadance and Shining quickly got their laugh under control and nodded to the guard, giving her their thanks before happily trotting towards their destination.

A few minutes later they were able to hear some chatting going on the hall, and not the arguing kind of chat either so they smiled to themselves. They thought that Luna and Mrs. Quartz were successful in their endeavors and managed to show Gaia a good time… and she was able to keep her natural bubbliness to an acceptable level to the usually grumpy lunar princess. Not that they would ever admit that they called their aunt a grump, of course.

“… and then I put the whole thing on the ocean. I mean… the wood floats so it should’ve float too, right? It made perfect sense at the time. It still does to be honest…” the unmistakable voice of Gaia said as they opened the door of the dining hall. Luna was in hysterics when they managed to get a glimpse of them.

“How… How could? I mean…” the lunar diarch said, almost wheezing and gasping for air, “By my Moon… How could you even?” she tried to continue, but was again gasping for air.

“It’s not that funny…” Gaia mumbled. That’s when the crystal monarchs truly saw their guests.

Luna’s coat was as brilliant as her mane, sparkling with hues that made her shine like her own night sky. Said mane and tail were done in the tradition Empire style and adorned with gemstones that gave the impressions of glittering colorful stars. The absolute regal visage was a bit broken by the tearful laughter of the moon princess, but that didn’t detract from her very attractive looks.

Gaia was also showing her pretty side after the spa session. Her mane, as they came to expect, was done in a way it still evoked her nature, done in a stunning braid that thanks to the crystal effect looked like water on a clear beach, giving the illusion of flowing even without the gemstones that Luna sported on hers. Her coat was groomed and cleaned to a fluffiness that made them think of fresh blades of grass slightly wet from the morning dew. Her tail was also done in a braid, flowing like a clear river towards the floor. She was pouting at Luna, but they were able to sense that she was far from troubled by her reaction.

“I’m sorry but it’s just hilarious. No pony was harmed and they were mistakes so… so innocent that I can’t help but find it funny,” the night mistress said, clearing her eyes from tears, “The more I learn the more different sides of you I find, Gaia.”

“It happens… Oh there is the couple I wanted to see! How are you two doing? You came directly to the castle after we arrived. Some troubles at home?” Gaia asked politely. Shining armor coughed a bit after receiving a small bump from Cadance, who looked at him with a smirk on her face.

“Nothing to worry about, Gaia. We just needed to tend to some daily duties since we were called to Canterlot in a hurry to meet you and the other world leaders… the ones that heard the call anyways,” Cadance said as both monarchs sat at the table with their guests, “We can see that you both enjoyed the services of the spa…”

“It was a delightful experience, dear niece. This finish by their special oils is not unappreciated either,” Luna said with a small smile and a relaxed posture.

“I thought we turned to crystal too, but it’s all like pretty makeup. One that I can get use too since it’s pretty unique and made from natural products! I just hope my planet didn’t get the same treatment or many creatures are going to be extremely confused!” Gaia said as she laughed, “But alas, it will not come to that. The ponies at the spa reassured me that this is a temporary beauty treatment and it will not take hold in any way. At least we have photos!” she happily said, showing a group photo of both princesses and a group of crystal foals, all smiling.

“That’s just adorable. I want several copies,” Cadance stated. Shining just shook his head with a smile.

“Sure, here you go…”

“So, how was the tour?” Cadance asked her aunt.

“Incomplete comes to mind I’m afraid, but rather nice what we were able to see. We are going to visit the rest of the city after lunch and we have been promised some shows at the Heart plaza for the night. I think they want us to see the power of the Crystal heart as it creates the auroras. I can’t wait to see them,” the lunar princess said as they were brought meals dutifully served by the castle service.

“Ah, they want to strike first with the main events. Let’s hope that the rest of the Empire doesn’t fall short after this evening,” Cadance mused as she played with her food.

“I’ve heard there is a petting zoo. Can we go later and see the animals there?” Gaia asked as she was devouring the edible food in front of her.

“No, we will go tomorrow,” said Luna with finality, ignoring the table manners of her fellow alicorn.

“Please? I’ll be good...” Gaia asked with puppy eyes.

“No, and that’s a final. Tomorrow we will have the time, I promise. There is so much to do but little time I’m afraid.”

“Oh well, I tried,” Gaia said, returning to her food and leaving the rulers of the empire a bit confused for the mood swing. Luna just shrugged at them.

“You get used to it,” she simply stated.

The rest of the lunch was a rather standard affair as they chatted away for a couple of hours, the relaxed atmosphere chipping the rest of the tension of the last days away and just enjoying some family time.

And with Gaia at their table, herding instincts ingrained in them started to unconsciously classify her as a estranged and lost member of their extended family already.

Author's Note

Since I've got a buffer of chapters already done and you all have been patient with this lazy oaf, here's a small token of my appreciation to all of you.

Thank you for your support.

Anachronistic Pastimes

I thought that this whole world was like a blast from the past, but this was truly a sight I’ve not seen a very long time.

I can’t believe they do jousts for festivals! Well, a pony version of it at least. Jousting fell in popularity in favor of random gun dueling in the middle of street just before it was banned altogether. Here it seems they didn’t get to the murdery point so it’s just hitting themselves with very long sticks as they run against each other.

I mean its fun I suppose… I think? At least the little ones are enjoying it as well as their children. I’ve never jousted myself of course. While I like to play with my children, I really see no point in the competitive side of sports and such. There is enough competition in life as it is to add more to the mix, but I can’t say that the skills that they learn thanks to it are not useful!
“What a shame. It seems that last year’s champion is still on top of her game. I would’ve liked to see another pony on the top but at least she’s as sharp as ever with her lance. What do you think, Shining?” Cadance asked her husband, a small smile on her face.

“It seems her guard training is paying off. Since I invited her after the last tournament she’s been improving by leaps and bounds. I hope that Captain Stout will take her under his wing and train her in command too,” he declared with a pensive frown on his face, “I can’t keep training them personally with the increased workload that comes with a throne, you know?”

“I know, love,” Cadance replied, giving her husband a loving kiss. Ah… young love… “And what do you think, Gaia? Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked. Hm… was I?

“Why I think I am, dear! It’s been some time since I’ve seen some serious rough play between creatures. Nothing bad about a couple of small bruises if they aren’t intentionally given, you know?” I told them with a small smile on my face, “It’s just that competitive nature of everything coming into fruition and it’s in good fun. You should’ve seen the dinosaurs, my dears. Imagine dragons without wings decking it out with all their might!” I explained, just excited to talk about some of the most interesting creatures on my world. They both looked at each other with curious expressions.

“It sounds exciting and terrifying if I’m honest,” conceded Shining as he returned his eyes to the ponies charging at each other… Ouch, that smarts for sure…

“It probably is for small and young creatures like ponies,” I stated, earning some curious looks from both the young monarchs and some cute crystal guards. Those… Eyes! These creatures weaponized cuteness… “What? Your civilization it’s less than five thousand years for sure!”

“Twily always said that there were sprawling civilizations before Equestria that covered vast portions of terrain of modern countries, not including the known pre-classical era realms,” started Shining, adopting a proper teaching posture. So formal! “And while there are no documents from their era regarding their existence, all the ruins still decorating the world are testament enough of their cultures, with murals and temples that preserve within their walls treasures that modern archaeologists still find to this day,” he recited, making all of us look at him surprised.

Holy moly! That’s some memory!

“You are siblings after all…” I muttered, surprised. He quickly looked nervously to his wife, who just giggled at him.

“A-Anyway… Long story short… we don’t really know. For all the ruins still appearing left and right and being unearthed all around the world we can’t date ruins older than three thousand years… any kind of ruins at all. Maybe we are not looking where we are supposed to, but…”

“Your gut tells you that something fishy is going on, right?” I finished for him, getting a nod from the white unicorn, “It really sounds strange. Sadly, I can’t use my powers to see the past. I can only see what there is now and I can’t get very precise with it…” What can be done about this? I’m curious too but I’m no digger! Well… not one that keeps the things in one piece. Hm… Oh! “I’ll ask my son if he knows of something that can be useful for this. Maybe he can help your archaeologists with this! I may be on vacation but I think he will have no trouble with that.”

“That would be wonderful… but please let’s just leave that for later. Now let’s just enjoy the jousting. They are going to finish soon and we need to proclaim a victor. I can’t wait for the traditional song and dance contest! It’s the best part!” Cadance said as she pranced in place. Shining chuckled at his wife and he pulled her into a loving embrace.

“Would you like to be on the dance competition?” he asked her with a husky tone, earning a sly smirk from the pink princess. Oh my, I think they will be going for a baby at this rate…

“Why yes of course my daring husband. We will show them how royalty dances” she replied with the same tone as him. Yep… definitely going for children right there. I can tell, I know these things.

“I like some music, but the zoo visit after that has all my attention and curiosity. Mammals are still a mystery and a novelty to me,” I said, making them look as if I grew another head.

“Really?” both asked at the same time.

“Yes, really. You don’t have any trilobozoans either, and that’s one of the big animal families back home, so there’s that,” I told them, nodding to myself. Different evolution paths provide different animals and plants… and fungi. Geez I don’t even want to start with those…

“What are… trilobozoans?” asked Shining just as the cheering of the spectators almost deafened all of us after a particularly good strike.

“Why they are one of the strangest and most peculiar creatures. You see, trilobozoa means three-lobed animals. This means they have tri-radial symmetry, unlike us,” I started to explain, and from their expressions they were absolutely mystified by the descriptions of these animals.

Yes! I didn’t lose my story-teller touch after all these years! Time to pull all the stops!

As I continued to explain young Luna finally appeared, bringing some snacks and drinks with her magic.

“Finally! I can’t believe how many ponies were backing up the food stands. By the stars… so… did I miss anything?” she asked while taking a sip of some kind of soda.

The crystal ponies were known for being some of the most party-prone creatures of the known world by Equestria. Maybe this started as a necessity since they need to recharge the Crystal Heart periodically to keep the arctic cold out of the city, but they sure took this as an opportunity to enjoy life at its fullest, and it showed.

The crystal monarchs were astounded on how accepting the populace was of the new alicorn, but they believed that after disappearing for a millennium a new princess is just another drop in the whole ocean of new things that flooded the empire after its return.

It was still endearing to see them interacting with Gaia and the animals, who were at the moment surrounding her. The smallest ones were even running up and down Gaia’s back. The adult ponies were just conversing with her, apparently trading some information regarding fauna and flora. Strangely it seemed as if one of the alicorns was not enjoying herself if her frown was anything to go by.

“Say auntie, you look pretty serious now. Are you not enjoying the festival?” asked a concerned Cadance. Luna just shook her head before answering the question.

“I enjoyed it, believe me. It’s one of the things that lingers from the past that makes me feel at home. The music, the games… While I didn’t use to partake in them, I did saw many of them and enjoyed by what they were: an opportunity to leave the troubles behind for a day. Back in my time it was a very much appreciated reprieve from the all too common strife that ponykind used to endure,” the lunar princess explained as she looked at Gaia kept playing with the foals and creatures, “Don’t worry, my dear niece. I’m just overworking myself again.”

“Just try to relax as Gaia does. You and aunt Celestia don’t take any off time so you should seize the opportunity to recharge your batteries as they say,” the love princess said as she nudged her aunt, making her chuckle, “Shining is even organizing everything regarding our reservations for tonight. It will be fine, you’ll see.”

“I’ll try to be more relaxed, niece,” the moon princess conceded. Cadance nodded and smiled.

“That’s all I can hope for,” the pink alicorn simply said before tapping her chin in thought, “I must admit that Shining and i were wondering if you had any plans regarding the next stop for Gaia’s journey after the Empire.”

“Well, I was thinking of-“

“So! While it’s been a blast, I’m afraid that I’m already a little hungry. Next activity was a dinner at the Heart plaza and then another dance or something, right?” Gaia interrupted, appearing out of nowhere and making Cadance and Luna jump a little bit.

“W-Well, I don’t see any problem with that. Did you like the animals at the petting zoo?” the pink princess asked to the enthusiastic mare.

“Of course! They are a very specialized kind of mammal that can only be found here. And they are so cute and fluffy!” the green mare said as they started to walk towards the palace, “I’ve never seen a sheep before today and I can’t imagine what kind of adaption is producing this… how is it? Ah! This wool of theirs! Truly fascinating.”

“There are also sheep outside the empire, but they lack that crystalline aspect that make the local population so famous all over the world,” Luna explained as she looked suspiciously at Gaia’s wings, “They can produce wool in an array of colors but their wool can be also tinted to use it for clothes, after being properly handled of course.”

“So… you cut their wool and then use it to put it on you? Weird…” she stated, ruffling her wings as if repositioning them, and making Luna frown a bit. Cadance in the meantime was laughing at Gaia’s words.

“Don’t be silly! You’ve seen our dresses back in Canterlot, and you can see some clothing on crystal ponies here as well. After being processed they can be carefully threaded and used for more complex utilities like clothes, carpets and all manners of textiles. We are no caveponies!” Cadance elaborated, trying to not giggle at the mental picture of her wearing raw wool as her royal dress.

“Gaia, drop them,” Luna stated with a deadpan expression. Gaia tried to look anywhere but at Luna.

“Drop what?”

“The ewes. I just saw some sparkly wool under your left wing. Come on, drop them,” the moon princess demanded, earning a sigh and some sad bleats from Gaia’s wings.

“Busted… well, off you go, girls,” she simply said as three crystal ewes were delicately put on the ground by Gaia as she opened her wings. As soon as they were all free from the green alicorn they looked sadly at her and ran back to the zoo. In the meantime, Cadance and Luna were looking at her with bemused expressions.

“Were you trying to smuggle some crystal sheep out of the Empire?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, of course not my dear. Smuggling is such a dirty word… and it assumes I recognize frontiers, but nature knows no bounds!” she said, getting astonished looks from both princesses. Suddenly Gaia started to look very thoughtful, “Well, maybe some bounds because moving creatures from their habitat can have catastrophic consequences… extinction events are ‘natural’ when some creatures stagnate with their adaptions, sure, but it’s such an ugly affair…” she rambled, earning horrified looks from the equestrians. She tried to play it cool and laughed, “Don’t look at me like that, dears. And don’t worry, even if I managed to move a couple of ewes, since they were all female, they wouldn’t be able to destroy anything…” she continued, barely reassuring the princesses, “Alright, so towards the food!” she finalized, skipping towards the plaza.

“For all the motherly tones she can be pretty morbid sometimes,” Cadance commented as they walked behind Gaia.

“You forgot, dear niece, that the wilderness of the Everfree and the untamed lands is a harsh place, and while Gaia is a loving and nurturing soul, she also has a wilder side. She stated that she is in fact the very planet she lives on, a planet where the weather strikes on creatures without control but not without measure… at least that’s what I can glean from my conversations with her,” Luna explained, “She also doesn’t pull any punches when she talks, and while we maybe squeamish talking about it… Death it’s just part of life, a fact that Gaia had to come to terms with long before we ponies even existed.”

“…And how do you know that, Luna?” the crystal princess asked with seriousness. Luna just looked at the setting sun with an unreadable expression. “… Auntie?”

“Even somepony like Gaia has their own nightmares, my dear niece, and as anypony suffering from such terrors they need our support to heal. They may endure in silence, but they also call for help in the same way.”

As both equestrian princesses continued their walk, the youngest one couldn’t help but think about Gaia’s love for life along the words and actions of the ancient mare, because she knew that with love also comes the heartache.

To the Northern North

I thought that we were already at the arctic, but it seems that other creatures live further north. How is that possible?

Most creatures have an easier life on warmer climates and most of reptiles, dinosaurs and insects just die before reaching freezing temperatures, and that’s not even delving into plants…

Are mammals so well adapted to the different environments that are capable of surviving in the freezing cold? I’ve been told that they are not ponies but they are quadruped herbivores like them.

I can’t wait to see them!

This morning Luna and Cadance were very attentive to me, and passed by me if the travel plan was for my liking. I was embarrassed about all of this to be honest. If I wasn’t such a sentimental mare none of this would’ve happened! But I would be lying if I didn’t like this kind of attention. In the end I decided to go for the nearest interesting place, disregarding going back to Canterlot.

The air was turned colder as we marched on, most of the ponies getting warm clothes on them because of it. They were wearing the cutest little scarves and boots! It was like seeing a live-doll show, really. Absolutely adorable to watch.

I on the other hoof was pretty much impervious to the weather… and pretty much any temperature change to be honest. I was born when the planet was forged from stellar dust, and while I was unconscious at that time I think that given the circumstances a light freezing breeze was pretty much nothing to me. Believe me, I’ve got medical tests to prove it.

It was kind of funny to see Twilight still fretting regarding her little world, afraid that the extreme temperatures of the frozen north may affect the planetoid. I had to assure her that it was going to be fine, but that didn’t make her relax in the slightest.

At least I tried, I suppose. You cannot win them all!

It was a surprise when the pink one appeared out of nowhere, and I mean it when I say no one aboard saw her before we decided to visit the Yaks. I was pretty sure that the rest of young Twilight’s friends went back to their homes since they had their jobs and families… so how did this one come here at all? I can’t remember hearing any train arrivals at all…

They told me to not question it. I agreed with them, and didn’t bother to think of any more. Sometimes life just gives you curve balls like this, and you better be ready to dodge them!

I had still some questions of the not-pink kind.

“So Pinkie… How come you are so excited to see the yaks? By the guards’ accounts they seem like a rowdy bunch, unlike you ponies,” I asked, curious about the motives of this pile of sugar rush made pony.

“Well what is not to like!? They like loud music, loud games and they like to party hard!” the pink pony said, almost yelling in excitement.

“I would not put it that way, Pinkie. While they are good at heart they are not used to control their strength, and given their size and muscle mass it ends in a lot of property damage after one of their parties. In fact, some of their traditions consist of breaking things for fun,” the little princess explained in a tutoring tone, “It is remarkable though that their sense of pride and honor is shown as paramount on their society, but it is rather fragile and they are easily offended. Probably the reason they didn’t come to the summit a few days ago. They are probably not interested in another pony princess.”

“That’s so sad, since they missed the after party!” Pinkie stated, throwing confetti everywhere, promptly blown away by the cold winds.

“Well that’s a shame, but I suppose I can’t fault them. I respect honesty. I don’t wish for anyone to feel obligated to meet me in any way. That’s why I’m more than happy to be the one to move to meet them! The best way to meet new species of fauna and flora is right on their natural habitat, not inside some boring zoo… “ I said, getting some questioning looks from them,” I like those little pieces of nature for what they are, don’t think I hate them or anything… But they can’t compare to the real deal, you know?” I elaborated, getting a happy nod from them.

“They are just a taste test, but after that you need to go for the gran feast. Sounds good to me!” Pinkie said, pronking around with a wide smile on her face. Twilight just giggled at her antics and I couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

“Leave Pinkie to compare animals to pastries,” she simply stated. I nodded as if I understood the reference.

“Not all animals are sweet and cute of course, but I can see how many species of mammals can be cute as a button, with all that fur and hair… It’s hard to pet a lizard or a dinosaur,” I chuckled, “And don’t even get me started on the equivalent of cats for the trichordians. It’s not easy to tell if they really appreciate the affection when they creep around with their unusual body shape.”

“I thought that it would be more natural since the sapients on your planer are the trichordians…” Twilight said, thinking hard about what I just said, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Even I can see patterns when they are evident enough, dear. Most animals evolve in a symmetrical fashion, with two lobes that are mostly identical and complement each other, except the brain that usually is more complex than that,” I explained, getting Twilight to levitate a notepad and take notes. This girl sure is thorough with her research… “As far as I’ve seen, and I’ve seen many things young Twilight, the most efficient pattern is two lobes, not three and not one. And best to not talk about those Cambrian revolutionaries with extravagant numbers of lobes, fingers and limbs…”

I think I managed to get even the pink one interested in biology! Aw such little faces full of curiosity! Even Luna came out of her nap and was moving her ears towards me.

“Since I’ve already got all your attention gather around and sit tight. I’ll tell you about the mystical times that were what my son calls the Cambrian Explosion.”

The dream realm was a tranquil place tonight, and after skipping duties for too long Princess Luna had to make her rounds, even if she was still not refreshed from her fluctuating circadian rhythm of late.

The Crystal Empire was especially calm today, and after the biggest party in decades it wasn’t hard to guess why. She was also pretty sure that many couples were formed that night, a thing that would bring joy to her dear niece for sure.

It was during her dream patrolling that she was able to spot the distinctive dream of Gaia, but thankfully this time it wasn’t a nightmare. In fact it gave a pretty lively and pleasant aura, and the night princess was more than eager to see and know more about the ancient alicorn.

Once inside she was hit with the sensation of an oddly energized air with strange odors and fumes, that while not unpleasant was quite jarring. There was no grass around but many bushes and small plants… and some unique and tall trees that were not unlike palm trees but with wider trunks and rough bark. Many creatures alien and colorful run around the place and the water of the river nearby was filled with peculiar fish as well. It all felt… peaceful, in a way. Alien, but peaceful.

Suddenly some creature impacted with her and they went tumbling down a small slope.

“Oh my… Is it you, Luna? How are you here?” said a young but known voice.

There she was, the dreamer herself, but she was radically different.

For starters, she was the same size as Luna and her coat was light brown with deep green splotches like a strange pinto pony. Her mane was a deeper blue, and shorter than she was used to, but her eyes were still the same brilliant orange as ever, like the ever burning embers of the core of her planet.

“Where are we?” Luna simply asked, getting up and also helping Gaia up as the now youthful alicorn giggled at her.

“Silly Luna, you are in my dream!” she simply said, laughing out loud and making Luna sigh with a small smile.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“You are not fun. Alright. I admit that after talking so much about the Cambrian I just had a teensy weensy nostalgia trip down memory lane just before going to sleep so… Here we are!”

“I see. Your world sure changed a lot for you to look like this” Luna said, moving her foreleg to basically point to all of Gaia, making her chuckle.

“Of course, I’m sure that you all will also change physically, given due time. But I know what you mean,” Gaia said before starting to happily trot towards a random direction, followed quickly by Luna, “For example, I forgot to tell you earlier but grass was a recent development in my world. That’s why I lack my lustrous green coat.”

“Truly? I can’t imagine a world without grass.”

“Thankfully you don’t have to. You just need to look around.”

And Luna did so, much to both her befuddlement and Gaia’s amusement.

There was a lot of ground visible and without any plant covering it, but unlike in a wasteland there were many trees hiding the Sun. The ground was filled with bushes with strange leaves and fungi of enormous size. At the same time lots of insects and small reptiles - some of them really weird for the lunar ruler - just were there, living their lives in this bizarre but mystifying forest.

“Beautiful, right?” Gaia simply asked, getting a slow nod from the princess, “These were my daily sights for millions of years. These trees were kind of stupid if you ask me. Didn’t have a strong trunk so they piled bark again and again, competing with other trees for sunlight. They grew like modern weeds, and absorbed a lot of bad gases, but at the same time many of them fell off because they were pretty weak on their cores. That’s why the ground is so brown. Almost all the humus come from these. It was kind of hard to walk too because decomposing bacteria weren’t really a thing back then.”

“You are joking! So the trunks just fell and…”

“…and stayed that way. Animals were consumed, same as leaves, but bark and wood… No creature ate that. And the forest fires were spectacular. Whole countries worth of area burning in a matter of days… but then they grew again almost just as fast. It was a strange cycle to be honest,” the for now pinto alicorn said, looking at some reptile that was walking over her hoof.

“Sounds wasteful, but I suppose that no one capable of conversation about proper forest maintenance lived back then…”

“Correct! Also, it helped create coal after millions of years, so it wasn’t wasted after all!” Gaia happily explained, picking up a piece of wood and compressing it between her hooves, showing Luna a lump of anthracite, much to the younger’s alicorn amazement.

“Is that how it is created? I never put much thought on how coal was formed to be honest… Just another peculiar thing that the Earth Ponies did, like rock farming…”

“Oh, but there are some marvelous processes that helped make the world you see. You don’t even have a name for them yet, but they help shape continents and oceans! This is just one of them! One of the most affected by biological beings of course. Coal cannot exist without plant matter…” Gaia rambled on as Luna observed with renewed fascination the world that surrounded her. It was all so unknown to Luna... but she knew how to quench that thirst for knowledge.

“Would you show me how your world works?” Luna asked her, feeling somewhat strange seeing Gaia eye to eye. The older mare just extended her wings, a sudden wind moving away the trees and the ground trembling as it rose slowly under Gaia and Luna.

“My dear and young Luna, there is so much I can teach you, but for now let’s start with one of my favorites!” Gaia said as she and Luna were propelled up by the ground leaving them afloat as it suddenly sunk deeply into the planet’s crust, the magic of the dream realm leaving them suspended over the new cliff, “Come with me, and I’ll show you with conviction the marvels of tectonic convection!”

Learning and Sharing

What a restful night! It’s been quite some time since I was able to sleep so soundly! Well, at least not after a normal night cycle. I always awake fresh and energized after a slumber but those are a teeny bit longer than a day… No, bad Gaia! I can ramble later, now… now we eat!

…Once I found the mess hall on this airship. They say something about forests but I always find buildings more confusing and I don’t know why. Time to use the tested method of finding food: Use the snoot!

And boy did I smell some greens and dairy being served somewhere… Aha! There we are! Twilight and Pinkie are here too. It seems they like to be early birds.

“Good morning, little ones! Did you sleep well?” I politely asked as I picked up a whole tray of cookies and pancakes… still warm! Perfect timing!

“Good morning Gaia. We slept fine, even if Pinkie was a bit loud when she woke up. You seem peppy today so I assume that you had a restful night as well?” Twilight asked as she quickly put the pastries on her plate of out their misery, getting crumbs everywhere.

“I did, thank you for asking. As for being a bit happier today I think that I just rested so well that had some peace of mind. Young Luna also visited me and had a dream tour of my world,” I told them, getting Pinkie to gasp even when she was still chewing on her food.

I think she just work differently or something. Maybe it’s magic? Hopefully the cutest pout from Twilight quickly grabbed my attention. I just lovingly pinched her cheeks while smiling at her, “Aw don’t be so sad, dear. Maybe you can be with us next time, or you can find a way to do it while awake. I don’t know how magic works so maybe it can be done? I mean, I can levitate a helmet without almost crushing it into paste now and moving entire fields was my minimal output before. You tell me, my little book pony.”

“Can you imagine see what I’m thinking right now in this very moment like in a movie theater?” Pinkie asked, making Twilight shudder from the mere thought of it.

“Some things are best kept unknown to ponykind… but your idea is sound, Gaia. Maybe I’ll take a look at memory spells when I get back to Canterlot,” the young alicorn said as she took some notes. I swear she has notepads and quills hidden everywhere! Spooky!

“Hm… talking about memory, do you remember how much time the travel from the empire to this yakyeet place takes? I think we are going slower than before,” I curiously asked, as I’ve noticed that the airship gives less shakes than before.

“It is because we are actually traveling at a slower pace, so we expect to arrive in a day or so. Given the usual bad weather at these latitudes and the possibility of burning or freezing the engine because of carelessness from our part we need to take precautions,” the cultured pony explained, “There have been many accidents because of captains that put too much stress on the engines or because they didn’t take care of them properly with the extreme cold of the north. Thankfully we learned from their mistakes, but it’s a bit sad to think that ponies had to die to learn it,” she finished in a lower tone, making the pink pony frown along with her.

“That’s why those daring enough to test the limits are called pioneers, young Twilight. I’ve learned that creatures often don’t like to follow orders from others and they don’t like a ‘no’ as an answer for questions like ‘should I do this?’ and the like. Mad and crazy also are titles that are associated with these peoples, but without them pivotal developments on their evolution would not exist,” I told them, quickly gathering their attention. I’m not used to be heard so often, but I think this teaching thing is fun!

“What do you mean with pivotal developments?”

“Do you mean like trying a new recipe when you were told not to?”

I chuckled at their questions and thankfully they took it as a signal to listen to me. At least they are polite, I’ll give them that! Much better than some researchers , always babbling about… Oh my, yes. Talking! “Close, but not quite, my dear pink pony. It’s more like… hm… how do I explain?” I said out loud, tapping my chin. Aha! “It’s like when the first sapients discovered fire on my world. Fire is feared by all animals alike. They know it can kill them, but if you get close enough it brings comfort from the cold nights. So one day a trichordian had an idea: What if we took some fire to survive the cold nights? And Prometheus, ever daring even from young age, did just that. After an especially violent thunderstorm a tree was torn asunder, creating small fires that were quickly put out by the rain,” I narrated, getting them to scoot closer to me, “but Prometheus ran swift and true, and managed to bring a burning branch inside the cave we were living in back then. They were amazed by the light and heat, but suddenly they found that the fire was dying out. They were so panicked!” I said, chuckling at that particular memory, “but I just put some twigs and leaves over it, and after spewing some smoke it was back in full force. They looked at me and my son in amazement, and then cheered on as they danced around the fire. After that they kept the fire alive by bringing more wood and dead leaves, learning how to keep it alive and after some time, how to create it.” I finished, seeing as how Twilight was enraptured by the small tale and Pinkie was just eating some kind of popped seed that was white and crunchy. Hm… crunchy seeds…

“So you are saying that without that crazy idea they would not know how to make a fire?” Twilight concluded, getting a laugh from me.

“No, my dear Twilight. I’m saying that without that daring thought and the following actions that it brought, civilization on my planet would not exist at all.”

It was a peculiar sight to see a giant alicorn and a petite pink pony lazing over the floor of the lounge suite, soaking up the small sunrays that pierced the clouded sky and entered the spacious room.

“You do know that the warmth is from the AC crystals below deck, right?” stated an amused Luna as she entered the suite.

“Don’t care, I just need to recharge my solar batteries…” groaned Gaia as she stretched on the ground, followed by Pinkie trying to do the same.

“You are not a robot, Gaia…”

“You don’t know that. How can you be so sure?”

“You never recharged batteries before?” the lunar monarch asked, getting Pinkie to giggle like a little filly.

“Maybe I have lots of them inside” was the petulant reply form the green alicorn.

“Then I shall tell the kitchens that we are not going to have you at the table for the foreseeable future,” Luna teased as she got a humming sound form Gaia, as if she was pondering her reply.

“Maybe I’m not a robot after all…”

“That’s what I thought. What are you even doing down there?” the lunar princess asked, walking towards Gaia and looking directly at her face.

“I just wanted to take a nap, but the pink fluffball isn’t letting me, so I decided to not nap”

“…On the floor.”

“I never said I was very good with plans.” Replied Gaia with complete seriousness. Luna merely sighed and tried to pull Gaia up.

“Come on, let’s put your horn to work . You missed this morning’s practice and you are not going to improve if you don’t use it.” Luna said, getting a groan from Gaia, who didn’t get up and was actually being pulled by the moon princess’ magic.

“But I don’t want to…” she whined making Pinkie Pie laugh.

“By the stars, I know now where his attitude came from… Moon give me patience…” Luna lamented as she continued to move the enormous mare through several hallways to the amusement of the staff, now almost used to Gaia’s antics.

Finally they arrived at Luna’s alcove. It was a spartan but tastefully themed room with few ornaments on it, but enough to see that these were the night princess’ quarters.

“Come on now, don’t be like that. You actually like these lessons. Why are you against them today?”

“I’m not against them dear, it’s just that I really wanted to take a nap. I’m not fan of flying on machines and I find this way of traveling a bit slow and boring to be honest,” she said, sighing as she finally got up, “But I see your point. Maybe this will help with that.”

“Telekinesis is the simplest of spells, but it’s also the most versatile of them all. At first glance and for many untrained ponies, telekinesis it’s just for manipulating objects or creatures from a distance, like with one’s hoof,” Luna explained, lighting up her horn and moving a nearby mug towards her, “They often forget that you can feel with it since it works like an extension of our own body, so you can actually estimate temperature, composition and texture with it.”

“Oh… fancy tool that telekinesis spell. Truthfully, I was able to feel the molten slag that used to be a pot the other day. Poor thing, I really didn’t think I was pressing that hard…” Gaia lamented as she pouted at Luna, making the lunar princess giggle.

“It may be so, but these things happen all the time. And yes, many ponies forget about these facts. These are really useful manipulating different materials as it can help us identify toxicity on many foods and drinks, and even acidic levels on soil and chemicals. This is a great asset for researches and even to foals, since they can recognize danger without being completely exposed to it,” Luna continued, levitating the contents of the mug - a strong blend of coffee that the princess enjoyed immensely- and then put it back to the still floating mug, “Not many have the power or concentration to interact with more than three or four items at once, but it can be overcome by training and study.”

“So, while a powerful unicorn can use it easily, they can be bested by a less powerful one with the right mindset and training?” Gaia asked as she levitated the mug, her horn flaring with an intense green aura that flowed like burning lava without actually burning anything, unlike the gas-like aura of ponies from Equestria. The mug, thankfully, took the pressure with stride since Gaia was still applying too much force.

“That’s exactly right, but please don’t try too hard. I can feel the ceramic of that mug being near the shattering point,” Luna pleasantly said, getting an embarrassed smile followed by a blush from Gaia.

“Oh… sorry. I’m used to hold my strength but it seems that I’ll need to learn a lot more to control my magic properly.”

“Nothing to be sorry about, Gaia. You just need some practice and to take it easy… and please don’t ask Twilight. She will drown you in books, and I suspect that you like to learn by practicing it yourself.”

“You got that right!” Gaia replied, both alicorns chuckling and just enjoying the moment.

“Better to behave for those yeets , right? No magic and stuff?” Gaia timidly asked Luna, causing a sudden laugh from the dark princess.

“Yaks, Gaia, and don’t worry about them. They work hard and play harder so I think they are right up your alley. Break some things on the way too,” Luna said as she nodded. Gaia just blinked at her.

“Oh… its true then? They like to break things?”

“All the time, around all the place,” Luna replied, nodding slowly to her.

“…You serious?” Gaia asked, still not believing it.

“As serious as I can be.”

Gaia was thinking heavily regarding the yaks, not sure if being happy or slightly disturbed by these creatures.

“I think that during this visit I’ll take a nap for real. I like fun but destroying just because… I’m not sure if I want that all the time.”

“Oh… no naps around the yaks I’m afraid. They see it as a weakness, so they’ll wake you thinking that you are ill or too cold. All in good will mind you, but very annoying if you are tired and want to close your eyes for a bit.” Luna explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Gaia just silently put an unreadable expression, but by the mug almost imploding into pieces Luna guessed that Gaia didn’t like what she just heard.

“I see. Rowdy children indeed,” she simply said, earning a somewhat worried look from Luna.

“Don’t go and start a war with the yaks because of a nap, please” Luna asked almost seriously, earning a loud laugh from Gaia.

“Silly Luna! I never start wars!” Gaia happily said, as she turned her head to the snow while putting a mysterious smile on her face.

“Can’t say about not winning them, though…” she simply said, levitating the mug back to her with more control than she had shown before and confusing Luna to no end.

Outside, the blizzard seemed to slightly part away from the airship, getting the captain to thank his gods for the slightly better weather as they plowed towards Yakyakistan.

Author's Note

I don't remember the yak episodes of FiM with clarity to be honest. Thankfully this is not a strictly canon story and while I try to adapt everything that was added to the lore since this story started I try to not break the original idea that I had in mind.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Yakyakistan

Many times, you can find others that question your ability to make judgment on something that you may not have enough knowledge to have an informed opinion… but sometimes it’s just basic common sense, and that’s something that hardly anyone can argue against.

I find myself often in these situations, and when the yak capital was on our sights, I was pretty sure it was not the prettiest place. Calling it a primitive and confusing pile of wooden houses would be an understatement. I was able to spot some debris around the place and by the looks of it they look like dilapidated tables made of wood. Well… I should not be surprised.

“We are almost there. We know there is not much up in the north but we thought that this was a place to visit before we travel to warmer latitudes,” explained Twilight as she bundled herself with a lot of winter gear, “Are you not going to put something on, Gaia? It’s really cold right now.”

Would you look at that! It’s getting pretty nippy… and these creatures live here? Maybe this destructive behavior is to keep the body moving and warm. I think that most of the animals back home would die here without any protection.

“I think that I’ll manage, dear. I’ve been out in space harvesting the ice asteroids that pass near my home planet, so I think that some chilly weather would be no issue,” I said, making her pullout her trusty notepad. I need to ask Luna about that. It seems like a useful spell to learn!

“Are you sure? I’ll be more relaxed if you had some clothing on you. I don’t want you to catch a cold or worse,” she simply stated with worry in her eyes. I just nuzzled her with a smile.

“I’ll be fine, dear. While this is one of the coldest places I’ve ever been, a feat that it’s not easily achieved I might add, I’m not without ways to make myself comfortable,” I told her, earning a spooked look from her, “Don’t be alarmed, little Twilight. I’ll not change the local biome just because it’s a bit cold outside for ponies! No, no… Sometimes one must be flexible and adapt!”

“What do you mean? You can’t change what you are, not even changelings can, just on a superficial level,” questioned the bookish pony. She was not wrong though! But she missed one little point, and who can blame her? These days we all learned so many things that sometimes just slip under our noses.

“Ah, but here’s the thing, my young pony: This body of mine can change a little bit without being a complete reflection of what’s going on at home. My planet self and my body don’t have that level of synchronicity,” I explained to her as I extended my wings just a bit in preparation, making her look at me with a dumbfounded expression, “That being said, you need to remember that there were some glacial events back home, and as the dinosaurs gained plumage and hair to protect themselves against the cold…” just a little push and…

Last time it didn’t make a sound, but I am pleasantly surprised to hear a somewhat loud ‘poof’ sound when my feathers and coat suddenly got fluffier and snuggly. Oddly enough I also gained a weight on my back, and by how it was giggling it could only be one thing.

“I am not your pillow, young Pinkie. Come one, time to go down.”

“No! You are so fluffy and warm! I’ll hide between your wings and I’ll be all snuggly!” the pink party pony said, not wanting to move out. Twilight was between surprised and giggling herself, but she managed to get her laughter under control and move Pinkie with her magic.

“Come one Pinkie, you have to get dressed, unless you can do what Gaia just did,” she mirthfully said with a small smile.

“Oh poo, you are right! I’ll be right back!” said Pinkie before disappearing in an instant. Unfortunately it made me the sole focus of the book princess, taking notes on my now thicker disposition.

“Now I remember that Prometheus was born during a ice age, right? I think I’ve read it on one of the notes at least,” she said, moving pages of another notepad at great speed, “but I can see the family resemblance right now! At least your mane doesn’t fall over your eyes.”

“Indeed! Good memory, little Twilight!” I said while messing her mane a bit, “We lived through several ice ages and while Prometheus can’t change his, I learned how to emulate his thick winter coat… and now I’m ready for our energetic friends down at ground level, right?” I asked her as I was making my coat and wings a bit more presentable. I don’t want to look as if I got out of a dryer after all!

“I suppose so. I’m sure it seems capable of providing enough insulation…” she said, looking unsure at my coat. It was at this moment that Luna decided to rise from the dead and wake up from a small nap, yawning a bit before looking at me with a very surprised expression.

We stood for what seemed like minutes looking at each other before she closed the door, leaving me and Twilight confused and looking at each other, silently asking what’s going on to each other. Soon enough Luna emerged again with a more serene expression, her eyes examining me from horn to hoof.

“I see you are already prepared for the arctic temperatures of Yakyakistan,” she stated, stopping in front of me. I just ruffled my wings as I checked my body and legs.

“Why, it seems I am, dear Luna.” I said, making her eyes track my movements as she had now a conflicted expression.

“I-I see. Well, I’ll go for my winter tunic then. I’ll see you all once we arrive. Until then…” she finished, walking away in a hurry. Twilight just chuckled at the lunar princess’ antics.

“What? What did I miss?” I asked, confused. Twilight just shook her head.

“Nothing truly important, Gaia. I’ll check my saddlebags before touching down in Yakyakistan. Be sure to not forget anything!”

I think I’m missing something really funny, but I suppose it’s just another of those things that little ponies know. Oh well, I suppose it’s not really that important.

Luna was having one of the strangest days of her life, and that’s counting the last few days with her odd alicorn companion.

After managing to not squeal when Gaia just decided to go and turn her already long coat into a fluffy and adorable one, she thought that maybe her diplomatic expertise was going to be required between Gaia and the yaks, but she was actually welcomed by an energic prince Rutherford and a doting shaman that was completely taken by the green and now fluffy alicorn.

The three were having a very animated conversation between themselves and their laughter could be heard from every table at the great hall. There were some broken things, as expected, but far less than all ponies expected coming from their rowdy hosts.

“You know, it’s strange but I’ve seen a similar reaction from a zebra friend of mine that lives in the Everfree,” Twilight said as she calmly observed the loud group from a distance with the night princess.

“Truly? Gaia didn’t know our language back then. How was your zebra friend able to communicate with her?” questioned Luna.

“Not very well, but I still remember that Zecora told us that Gaia was a spirit of nature and she offered some plants to her after explaining to us about her tribe’s beliefs,” Twilight explained before taking a small sip of hot cocoa that the ponies brought with them, “I don’t know how, but she was able to just felt what Gaia was before any of us and I can’t explain if it’s something regarding her affinity with nature but… I wonder if creatures that are connected with nature and the spirit world like the yak shaman over there and Zecora back home are able to perceive something that we don’t” she concluded, her expression marred by a frown as she thought about the issue.

“There are vast fields of mystical arts that the ponies don’t dabble in. It can be because of fear or just by overlooking them, but they are often forgotten and go unknown by the general population. Even back before my banishment we used to look at other species’ beliefs and knowledge with disdain, as if they were not worth our time,” Luna told the young princess as she was overlooking the ponies of the expedition and the yaks just mingling and having a good time,” Even some of the traditional arts known by ponykind have been lost to time. Probably a well-trained pony can be able to sense what these creatures can,” Luna concluded, looking back at Twilight with curiosity, “Now that I think about it, Gaia mentioned that you were able to use some basic level of her powers thanks to her little experiment. Do you feel anything different since you started to work on the little planet?”

“I am not sure. I managed once to see something after the oddest communing with nature and see the life energy around us… but it was just a brief moment, and Gaia told me that I should not see for too long or I could lose myself,” the bookish princess said, thinking about her experiences since that day, “I think something is at the back of my mind after that experience. I can feel the motherly aura that Gaia radiates and not just metaphorically speaking! I think I can get a feel of creatures that are very close to me, like you for example,” she told her fellow princess, making Luna blink in surprise.

“How so? Please, elaborate,” Luna asked, while a loud crash was heard as Gaia, Rutherford and the shaman were, after reaching some sort of accord, smashing the table and dancing over it while smashing it. Suddenly Pinkie also joined them in the traditional yak activity.

“You give a cool and calming aura that reminds me of the night, and that wasn’t something I was able to feel before. Pinkie also gives me this energetic and bubbly feel when she’s around. I think that’s one of the ways that Gaia feels the world around her, you know? But just at a much grander scale,” Twilight explained over the loud laughing of Gaia’s defunct table.

“I suppose is just one of the things we need to investigate at a later date,” the moon princes simply replied, taking a sip of her own hot beverage. Gaia then happily trotted towards them and plopped down on her table, “So you decided that smashing things yak-style was worth in the end?” Luna asked with a smirk, making Gaia chuckle.

“I still think it’s a waste, dear Luna. I just decided to be polite after they gave me such a warm welcome and explained their traditions to me. Do you know that they thought I was General Winter coming for a visit?” she told the equestrian ponies with a laugh, making them chuckle as well.

“That’s silly, but I suppose that for a species that lives between the tundra and the arctic north nature it’s just the sight of perennial winter,” Twilight rationalized, nodding to herself and taking notes.

“They seem to be very respectful of what they can get from nature though. They told me that they take special care to use some seeds to expand some of the plants that they eat. They also provide safe haven to small critters that hide under them so everyone wins!” Gaia happily told them, before picking up a mug of hot chocolate with her magic, albeit with no grace whatsoever and spilling some of it on the table and ground, “I found curious about the General Winter thing though. It seems that it’s a common development for societies to create personifications of things that they can’t control,” she said before sipping the hot cocoa.

“There is a similar ‘pony’ on the trichordian folklore?” Twilight asked, curious about knowing the aliens that used to live on Gaia’s world. Gaia laughed at the question, spilling cocoa on her.

“They are not creative enough to think about that, dear. Still…” Gaia said, cleaning the cocoa on her coat.

“Still?” pressed the purple pony princess.

“When one fights under extreme weather they tend to blame nature is taking part on the fight. I earned the nickname of General Winter back home after a extremely bad planned campaign that happened on the northern continent about two thousand years ago,” Gaia calmly explained, making the equestrian princesses look at her in astonishment.

“You… you need to tell me all about that,” Twilight said in a low voice, and also making Luna finally snap out of it.

“General Winter? Seriously?” she simply asked to the older mare.

“What can I say? It’s not my fault that I had a slight planetary cool down already in progress. They had advisors telling them not to march during winter…” Gaia said before pouting at the night princess.

“Oh! It makes me think about Celestia’s title of ‘The Unrelenting Sun’ after a series of skirmishes against some mercenaries that attacked Equestria four hundred years ago!” Twilight suddenly said, making Luna look at her again with a surprised expression.

“I really need to get updated on historical events. When I think I’ve already got everything covered something comes up and tells me I missed a bit,” Luna lamented, groaning and resting her face on the table.

“Hear hear!” Gaia said, before slamming the table, making the ponies stumble and fall forwards by the sudden lack of support, and making the yaks laugh and celebrate the energy of the big mare, “So, there will be a traditional yak dance after lunch. Would you like to join me? It will be fun!”

The equestrian ponies groaned in response as they tried to tell what just happened and trying to get up from the now destroyed table, much to the amusement of both the locals and entourage alike.

The Aurora Festival

One of the facts of life as I know it it’s that it’s full of beautiful contrasts. Death gives way to new life, like the eternal cycle of plants and animals living off each other and creating wonderful life forms, only for them to perish and give way to new ones that are marvelous in their own way.

Now the yaks were showing how calm and paced their traditional music is, with solemn tones that almost sound like hymns form a forgotten monk order, a clear difference from their exuberant and almost child-like glee regarding the destruction of things. I was just hearing the music, enjoying the simple tones of the strange instrument and looking at the mesmerized yaks. If you compare the previous behavior it was like day and night… and there, another contrast, and one that life as we know depended on it to exist!

Truly it was kind of unexpected if I’m being honest with myself. Usually the normal observable behavior of many creatures can tell you a lot about them, but it’s true that culture has a strong effect over the whole collective, sometimes overcoming their pure instincts as a group rather than evolving with other attributes.

This was one of those times and I was certainly pleased with it. It was not completely hidden and the poor tables can attest to that, but they were in the right path. Instincts tempered by a strong mind!

“It seems that big winter pony is pleased with yaks. Prince is happy that no yak needs to be smashed,” the wooly prince Rutherford said as he came to my side, making me nod in approval.

“It’s been a delightful evening, dear. You sure are different from ponies, but in a good way I assure you. Sadly we will depart tomorrow. I like to see more animals and while the tundra is lovely I’m afraid that there aren’t many around here,” I explained to him, making him nod slowly but making his bangs swing up and down.

“Yaks are best at not having animals. Of course you can visit and party with yaks any time. You are big and strong, like yaks! But not as strong as yak,” he said, more to convince himself than anything. I mean I think the imprints of my hooves will be forever marked on what used to be the floor under our table.

Maybe I was a bit enthusiastic after my initial reservation regarding their customs, but can you blame an old lady for being a bit over the top? How can you break something gracefully?

“I’m sure I’ll come to visit another time. Can’t say when, though,” I cryptically said, making the yak huff.

“Ponies always like to talk in odd ways. Better leave before I start to talk like you, big winter pony,” he simply said bowing to me before going towards what I think are his counselors… or his drinking buddies. I can’t really tell.

“Please forgive prince of yaks. He’s young but has good heart,” suddenly an elderly voice said from my left side. Would you look at that! Pretty sneaky for a hooved animal of that size!

“Why should I forgive him if there was nothing to forgive? He has been respectful and kept an honest approach with me, even if I just arrived here,” I simply told him with a small smile, making him chuckle.

“We yaks respect traditions! We yaks ask nature and ancestors for good weather and prosperous lives, and pay our respects to those who earn them,” he told me, making moves as if narrating a story towards an audience. Maybe it was force of habit? “I saw you coming in a vision, and felt it in my bones. You feel like an old friend, different from nature here. Here nature does not respond to yak’s pleas and yaks use their magic and strength to survive. Like ponies with no wings and not horn, but better! But you moved the storm away, I know that,” he stated, a grateful look on his eyes as he looked at me. It seems that while they are not technologically developed they grew in other ways… Curious indeed!

“Ah, you found me. Yes, I did move it away, but it was just a nudge. I felt a bit cooped on the airship and had to let go of my frustrations in some productive way. Glad to see that it helped your tribe and the ponies alike,” I told him with a playful smirk. He just nodded, getting the wooly bangs to cover his face again.

“Winter pony is strong, even if other ponies can’t sense it. You are not princess, but you are not our nature either. You are good friend of yaks and other creatures and care for others,” he said, again doing some moves as he talked, all mysterious and all of that.

“I try to not be in the way of any creature, but I’m always there to nudge them a bit and set them on the right path. It may be ironic, but it’s in my nature to be nurturing yet challenging. I like to think that anyone should earn their wins, but also should receive help when they lose,” I said, reminiscing on the many times that I influenced life directly on my planet. I still remember the very first interference like it was yesterday.

“Yaks are grateful, winter pony. And if you let an old yak be bold, please see if you can find why nature is silent to us. We are good yaks, right?” he asked me, hope clear in his voice. I just nodded.

“I’ll see what I can do. For the time being, better be with your prince. It seems that he’s getting into a fight. Again,” I simply told him, making him laugh and turn towards the young royal yak.

“That boy is like his father. Better watch him now. Royal yak hangovers are traditional, but not fun,” he told me before departing with the urgency that only an elder creature walking at a sedate pace can have.

Maybe the ‘me’ of this planet it’s just slumbering away, not knowing what’s going on? All these creatures and magic surely are the product of someone looking after this special planet, right?

I can remember the events that created some of my longest slumbers and they were all after getting tired after expending large amounts of energy. I can clearly recall the very first one, after a particular fit of rage and frustration.

One can’t forget the cause of multicellular life after all.

A gentle breeze blew through the plains of Yakyakistan, all creatures enjoying the respite from the usual snowstorms of the arctic winter. The moon was high in the sky and the stars could be seen, but despite that it was not freezing that night, as if the whole landscape was protected by some invisible force.

It was under this calm nighttime that Twilight was walking, as sleep was evading her and she decided to wander a bit around the settlement, her mind still busy as she mused to herself.

‘The day approaches… everything is set up perfectly… so why it doesn’t work?’ she thought to herself, reflecting on the little planet that was resting on a shelf at her cabin on the airship.

“Bad dreams, Twilight?” princess Luna asked, startling the younger alicorn as she appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh, princess-I mean, Luna. You scared me,” she stated, taking a relieved breath, “No, it’s just that I’m having trouble to sleep tonight. I have many things on my mind lately.”

“I can lend you my ear, if you are willing to share your woes,” the lunar princess said, a compassionate smile adorning her face. Twilight smiled at her before nodding to her.

“Maybe it’s just what I need,” she conceded, “I’ve been having trouble with my little planet.”

“Is that so? I’m afraid I’m not following every step regarding your little experiment,” Luna said with an apologetic expression on her face.

“It’s alright, really. I should be one that must document everything after all… I’m not getting the results I’ve wanted. I kept it a secret but… it’s already populated by microbes… but the thing is that it doesn’t produce anything else? It’s like a spherical petri dish!” the lavender alicorn almost yelled in frustration, “I don’t want to bother Gaia for something that should be obvious to me like last time…”

“Maybe you took her advice without any context. I remember she always says that it’s best to let nature take its course, but in many times around our journey she has actively affected the environment and those around her. Complete inaction begets ruin, Twilight,” Luna explained as she started to walk, followed by the younger pony, “It stands to reason that you know my sister’s way of ruling, so I’ll skip to the point and tell you to really think about how she governs Equestria. What is her preferred way to do it?” the night princess asked her fellow royal, a glint of playfulness shining within her eyes and smile.

“How does she…? It’s a known fact that while not intervening directly she is a known strategist and schemer, always thinking ahead,” Twilight recited from memory, “but she’s known to take direct approach when really needed, often taking matters on her own hooves like… when…” suddenly, a glint could be seen inside Twilight’s eyes as a spark of recognition ran across her face, “Of course! Thank you, Luna! I’ll analyze the little planet and see what can be done, I never tried to use all the powers bestowed by Gaia to control it, but I mean of course I would not how could I? I could destroy the thing if I wasn’t careful and after I almost freeze it permanently I mean-“

“Calm down, Twilight. Now that you have a solution, would it not be better to sleep on it and see if you can take on the problem tomorrow?” the dark mare asked. Twilight was going to reply but a yawn cut short that train of thought.

“You know… you are probably right. Thank you for your advice Luna. Have a good night,” she politely said to the elder alicorn, before slowly returning to her lodgings. Luna nodded to herself before looking at the night sky, taking flight soon after and deciding to take a look at the usually unreachable lands of the arctic north.

‘She is still very young and inexperienced, but I’m starting to see what Celestia and Gaia see in Twilight. While grateful for her timely rescue from the Nightmare, I’ve never saw more than the heroine that she was, and not the pony that she actually is,’ Luna thought, as the cold, northern air blew under her wings, propelling her higher than the nearby hills and giving her a unique vantage point to watch the beautiful frozen wastes of Yakyakistan.

Luna watched in contemplation, her wings suspending her easily and the cold not really bothering her under the light of her moon, as it gave her a substantial boost of magic that helped her against the elements.

‘Truly, there is beauty if you take the time so see it’ she pondered, as the ice and snow reflected the light of her moon and the wild aurora borealis that could only be seen there. ‘The Crystal Empire has the best magical auroras that could be seen by any creature, created by their collective hopes and love collected by the crystal heart, but I’ve never seen such beauty from the untamed and unseen energies of our world…’

She had to return soon to the airship, she knew that. ‘There is still a bit of time. Just a moment more…’ she thought to herself, her eyes drinking on the colorful beauty of the aurora. But she knew that in a few hours the sun was going to rise, and all this beauty was going to be hidden once again. ‘Just a few minutes will be enough.’

She was true to her word and returned safe within her estimated timeframe, maybe colder and a more tired than she was before her nightly escapade, but also more enlightened on the natural beauties that laid hidden in plain sight to most ponies, and maybe a bit more understanding of Gaia’s views regarding the natural world.

South towards the Sun

I don’t think I’ve ever flown so much without using my wings before.

I suppose that going closer to the tropics again was the appropriate move after all. I didn’t see any intelligent life past the tundra surrounding the yaks, so I guess I can’t really complain. I don’t really like the cold either.

Cold means there is no energy, and without energy there is no life.

Oh, I think I’m rambling again. I suppose that being with so much time for myself makes me think more than usual, but at least the ponies try to keep me busy with many things. I’ve been taking a liking to learn magic lately, and I can’t wait to show Prometheus what I can do with it!

Luna has been very patient with me and I can’t thank her enough since she makes it easier with the practical parts than it really sounds… because holy stars is she wordy when explaining things. I mean I get what she’s talking but does she really need to use that many words for it?

I suppose that since cultures spend a lot of time creating their own languages they just need to use it for everything… and I’m rambling again… When did little Twilight start talking to me?

“I’m sorry for interrupting you dear, but I’m afraid my mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?” I politely requested, making Twilight blush in embarrassment.

“I’m the one that needs to apologize Gaia. I’m afraid that I’ve got too excited!” she said almost vibrating in place. Good grief girl, what happened during the night?

“So, what is it?”

“I used the knowledge you lent me for managing the planet and I gave it a little spark to push the little cells on its oceans… and now there are some simple creatures living on it!” she said while jumping in place.

“Ah, so you gave life a little push? Good move! And it seems that the planet was just ready for it if they didn’t die soon after. Keep an eye on their evolution, and the landmasses if it has some. It’s time for plants to appear alongside other multicellular life” I explained, making her squee in excitement. That’s just plain cute.

“Really? I will document the different plants as soon as they appear. Who knows? Maybe we can discover useful species that can help Equestria if we replicate them!” she deduced, nodding to herself. I suppose that the experiment can have some positive outcomes outside leaning about evolution… How come Prometheus never tried to use them for that?

“Remember to not work yourself too hard thinking it. I’m happy that you decided to work directly and help a bit, but I need to remind you that there are many more planets without life out there. It just doesn’t work most of the time,” I told her, draping my wing over her and squeezing her against me to show her how proud I was, “I’ve even heard some really strange creatures that live and thrive on extreme planets that would be deathly for most of the known life forms!”

“I’m having a really hard time imagining creatures that are so different from us that we can’t live in the same space…” Twilight stated while frowning, making me want to hug her even more.

“That’s usually how it is, dear. We understand the world in one way and we find it very hard to comprehend things outside our worldview. I’ve seen many things during my long life and I can’t take a different, more open view of the universe,” I told her, looking at some passing clouds, “but I also know that with a bit of imagination others can understand, if in a limited way, how I see the universe.”

“It makes me feel really small… and that’s a funny feeling having a planet the size of my hoof with creatures inside it… to think the universe is so big that I’m just the same for some eldritch creature several times the size of our planet…” she said, trembling a bit. Oh my… I didn’t want to cause her to have an existential crisis!

“Don’t worry too much about things out of your control. Even I am susceptible to things that I can’t influence in any way, and while I can worry about them, I’ll do when it’s time to do so. In the meantime, our only option is to just enjoy life. Learn, play, whatever you find to be your calling… Work on the now and the near future. Leave the distant future for when it comes and learn from the past so you can improve yourself and others.” I told her, giving her a last squeeze before letting her go. Thankfully it seemed that it worked and Twilight was now way more relaxed and even had a tiny smile.

“Thanks, and sorry. I overthink things all the time and fall in bouts of anxiety when I want to find a solution and I’m unable to do so… and lately I’m learning so much of things I’ve never thought before your arrival and I find that ponykind could learn so much…” she explained with a strange shine to her eyes, talking from her heart and pouring her feelings out. I guess that even being a small genius she tempers her mind with a heart of gold. Ah… if more creatures were like her…

“We learn something every day, dear. And I think you will be very busy learning about your small charge these days. Just remember that every experiment, as everything in life, must come to and end sooner or later,” I reminded her. As involved as she was with the little planet, I didn’t want her to be sad from something that was out of her control. Probably a futile effort on my part but no one can be as clinical as Prometheus when it comes to experiments.

Twilight got a sad look on her face but she nodded to me before exchanging a couple more pleasantries before returning to the little planet, leaving me with my thoughts as the airship flew swiftly towards the lands of the avian-mammal peoples. It seemed that we are riding a southward current and we were flying far faster than expected.

I exhaled in contentment as I decided right there to take a small nap. With the incredible feel of the sun over my coat it was hard to not to, so why fighting the urge?

And with a yawn, this mare is going to curl and enjoy the sun. This wooden floor surely beats to nap on hard rocks!

Most of the time the best laid plans tend to find a snag that derails them. It was just the nature of things, and ponies usually prepared for such eventualities.

The calmness that permeated the ship was almost alien for them, as they expected some monster to attack at any second. By per their own calculations they should’ve encountered something by now! But everything was quiet and peaceful.

Princess Luna knew that it was all because of Gaia. The big alicorn was just a natural shield against oddities and animals since her natural aura covered the entire airship, letting the animals know that she was aboard and that they should take care of not disturb them.

As the night princess walked around the airship she pondered about these things. So far it seemed that both other sapients and animals had some kind of stronger connection to nature than ponies, and that let them to recognize Gaia as the very embodiment of nature itself.

She suspected that magic was involved in any way since ponies are the most magically-attuned creatures on the planet. Something regarding magic blocked this connection and made very hard to reconnect to the natural world in any way.

‘Probably why Equestria need to micromanage climate at local level while the rest of the world works on its own’ she thought, looking at the sky as she passed by a window. ‘What happened to the ponies in the past? What event could’ve caused ponykind to be so magically gifted but so naturally deaf at the same time?’

After checking on the below decks to see that everything was up and running Luna continued to wander both physically and mentally.

At first, she thought that her late bouts of introspection were caused by her for now changed sleep schedule. After some inquiry with the crew she found that she was in fact more social than usual and even more upbeat and lively. Unlike during her usual nights, where she spent all the time by herself, the dark alicorn found herself talking frequently with the ponies on the airship, often just getting to know each other as normal ponies. As she found herself back to the top deck the captain of the vessel approached her at a sedate pace.

“Is everything up to your standards, your majesty?” he asked with a small smirk on his face, making the wrinkles on the old pegasus’ face all more noticeable on his pale brown coat, “I’ve been talking to your lunar guards on board and they told the crew that you seemed to be inspecting the airship, just in case that anyone got alarmed by your presence,” he told to the princess as his amber tail moved with the wind that blew over the deck.

“Ah, captain! Don’t worry about your vessel. I was just making myself busy. Unlike our extraquestrian guest I’m unable to take a nap once I’m up, and while coffee does wonders to wake up, I don’t really like the vile liquid and evade the substance if possible,” she explained as she turned towards the aged pegasus.

“Still, I’m glad that everything was working as it should and that the crew wasn’t bothering you too much.”

“Not at all, captain. In fact, I’ve found myself chatting with several crew members and I’ve found the experience quite refreshing. Usually I’m on my own during my nightly duties, barring the silent presence of my night guards,” the night princess said as the captain got her full attention, “ While a bit tiring since I’m used to sleep during the day, I’ve been finding myself enjoying the company of other ponies lately, and that’s a luxury I’m not used to have since I try to keep my dream incursions quick and non-intrusive.”

“I understand, princess. I’ve heard from the crew that they’ve found you more approachable than they thought. If you forgive my boldness, you’ve got quite the reputation at the castle for being very hard to talk to when you wake up, and many are wondering if the new alicorns are to ‘blame’ for this slight change,” he told her, making Luna blush a bit while looking away, but despite that a smile slowly appeared on her face.

“…I was stuck in a downward spiral of my own making, and I admit that it was Gaia’s words that made me realize that I was being… unkind to my sister and other ponies without realizing it. While my duties are capital to the survival of our society, they don’t need to be my whole existence and I’m afraid that I was getting bitter because of them once again,” she said, looking back at the captain with a new light in her eyes, “but these past few days I’ve seen that there is a whole world that I was missing, filled with ponies and wonders unknown… and that if I don’t enjoy them when I can they will not wait for me or anypony else and may be forever lost to the sands of time… ” she said, her voice low and her attention back to the horizon as the coast was already visible from the airship.

“… those are some heavy revelations, princess, but the saying of ‘live the moment’ its still applicable to this day I suppose,” the old captain simply said, contemplating the horizon besides the lunar princess.

“That is true, captain,” she said, taking a deep breath, “I just wished that I didn’t need somepony else to remind me these things. I used to be the happy and joyful sister, and now I’m known as the brooding one…”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, princess. Time changes us, for better or worse, but it also helps us heal and re-learn forgotten lessons. I, for one, think that the ponies aboard are happy to have the opportunity of knowing you, or at least the new and improved you,” he stated before looking away from the princess, “Just as the dawn it’s a prelude of a new day, it’s also a promise for a new starry night,” he said, smiling at the lunar princess.

“You have a way with words too, captain?” she asked, amused at the old pegasus. He just chuckled and shook his head.

“It comes with the job, princess. Hard to give a rousing speech if one doesn’t have the skill to deliver them,” he stated before starting to walk away, “but I’m afraid that words don’t keep the ship moving. If you need anything please let anyone from the crew know. Farewell, princess.”

The lunar princess just nodded at him and watched him trot below deck. The salty air of the coast already permeated the airship, energizing her. It was still noon and she was becoming a bit twitchy, so she decided to take flight and just relax while taking the sights of the northern coasts of Equestria.

For some of the ponies of the many small settlements that dotted the eastern lands they were able to see one the most advanced airships in Equestria being escorted by the trailing and sparking princess of the Night, an spectacle that would be imprinted on their memories for the rest of their lives.

The Path to Griffonstone

Even with the powers I’ve been gifted I’m far from omniscient.

What a concept, right? A being that can affect life at a fundamental level and can also connect to other life forms at the most base and pure level can’t track all of the little critters that live on her world. It’s easier to understand than you think. After all no one can keep track of everything on their own house and from time to time some items may be misplaced, right?

At least that’s the best I can come up with. As good as an explanation as any I suppose… and I’m rambling again.

Truth is, that since I’ve come to this planet the creatures are harder to spot and ‘feel’ than at home, but I suppose that’s natural since it’s not my planet and I don’t own the place. I’m a visitor from out of town that it’s trying to get to know the neighbors after all! That’s why it makes this old-school exploration so exciting!

And it’s in moments like these when I get to know my hosts a little better regarding their beliefs and old tales.

“So you are saying that we can’t stop there since there are dangers that can destroy our airship?” I asked Luna, as we saw some mountains far from us, while approaching the lands of the liminal creatures.

… I know big words too, is it that surprising? My son is a massive nerd after all.

“The legends say that Peaks of Peril are inhabited by two sapient creatures, and while the kirin sound like some peaceful and unique lost relatives to the ponies of Equestria, the nirik and their angry flames can pose a serious threat to the integrity of a highly flammable airship,” she simply stated, “I’m curious myself but so far they are very reclusive tribes that don’t wish to be disturbed. Not even my teacher Starswirl knew about them, and he traveled with the other pillars around all the continent, and even across the sea to the griffon lands,” she continued, a frown now across her face, “We are not prepared to deal with them at the moment, but maybe we can train a team when we return to Equestria. I hope you understand that while I want to accommodate to your wishes I don’t want to disturb them either,” she finished, facing me with an apologetic expression and tone.

“I understand completely my dear, and don’t worry too much. I’ve dealt with many skittish creatures and I know that you can’t approach them out of the blue and without knowing their habits and the like. I suppose we can add this to one of the sites we can visit at a later time,” I conceded, looking back at the enticing peaks with fascinating creatures in them… but it was not meant to be. Not yet anyways! I levitated a bottle of soda that I pilfered from the mess hall earlier and took a sip while enjoying the breeze. Hm! Bubbly!

“You know, you didn’t crack the bottle this time. You keep saying that you are a slow learner, but you are getting the hang of levitation pretty well,” Luna told me while nodding in approval of my not so epic feat.

“Don’t be ridiculous, dear. You and young Twilight told me that this is an ability innate to those with horns and that even foals knew how to do it. I’m just an old mare with muscle atrophy and I’m not getting some exercise, that’s all,” I explained to her, getting an odd look from the dark mare as I took another sip, “It’s not as miraculous as you are making it to be.”

“While that’s true, I think that you were just simply out of touch with the magical nature of your being… at least regarding actions on a personal scale,” Luna said, as she turned towards where the former desert should be, far to the south and beyond the sea we were flying on, “We cannot deny that you have powers exceeding beyond our wildest estimations.”

“You and your sister are capable of moving one satellite orbiting your planet, respectively a moon and a tiny sun. I can’t even begin to think how you do that,” I sincerely stated, getting a small blush from the young princess. She looks so bashful for being just factual truth! It’s like she never had compliments said to her before!

“I believe this is one of those issues that depends on the eye of the beholder. We use our talents in the best way we know and each of us has an important role to fill in the natural order,” she said, smiling at me.

“To each their own, right?” I said, chuckling as I thought about natural order. That phrase just made me itch for some reason… Oh, of course, “That reminds me that I find funny how ponies have to deliver the weather by hoof and how they need to tend to animals. I mean, we are far from Equestria and I’m not seeing a barren wasteland. All seems to be working as designed so far…” I muttered, seeing as how from the tundra to the coasts and now the seas everything seem to be following the laws of nature and science.

“We believe that the highly magical nature of Equestria causes natural phenomena to simply not occur as they should. Many scholars suspected back in the day that it was caused by Discord’s antics during his reign, but any more than that is pure speculation,” Luna explained, again with a frown on her face.

“But before that surely nature had to run its course and follow the rules as anywhere else, right?” I pressed on, making Luna thing hard for a moment.

“I don’t thing we got many documents surviving from the pre-discordian era. I’m not glad to admit that beyond unicorns moving the sun and moon, and pegasi helping with some rains when droughts were coming we don’t have much to go by,” she admitted with sadness in her eyes. That doesn’t make any sense at all.

“Then what happened before ponies? How could other creatures live before they appeared if your moon and sun had to be moved manually?” I asked, not expecting a response

I didn’t get any, as we both pondered on such troubling things. Also, my bottle of soda is empty. Better get one for me and another for Luna. She looks like she needs it.

The coasts of the griffonian lands could be already seen from the airship as the contraption pushed onwards towards its destination. On board, many ponies were already excited to visit one of the oldest neighbors to the pony country, and as always the equestrians were eager to see if they could forge some friendships too along the way.

Many were saddened regarding the lost possibility of meeting the legendary kirins, but they also understood the need of a proper diplomatic team to be on board, and they knew they were merely tourists at best. Still, many wondered about them and the griffons beyond the sea. But not everypony was filled with excitement.

Luna found herself on top of the airship, alone and basking in the light of the dusk as she pondered on the heavy matters that found a way to worm themselves into her mind. Not even the salty winds of the eastern shores were making her less tense.

Unfortunately -or fortunately depending on who you ask- another pony found the hiding princess.

“A bit for your thoughts, princess?” asked the polite voice of one Twilight Sparkle as she landed besides the dark mare.

“Ah, Twilight… is good to see you. How is the little planet doing?” she asked, trying to evade the question.

“I’ll tell you, but I asked first. Some ponies were wondering where you went since they didn’t find you in your alcove,” Twilight said, getting used to the slightly stronger breeze on top of the airship.

“And how did you managed to find me?”

“I asked Gaia,” she simply said, a smirk gracing her muzzle, making Luna chuckle.

“I see…” the dark princess said, trying to stall for more time, but getting a raised eyebrow from the younger royal. “Alright, alright… I’ve been thinking about the dark past beyond the era ruled by Discord.”

“How so? There are almost no records of that era. Believe me, I checked,” stated the studious mare.

“I expect nothing less from a former student of Celestia, but Gaia made some very good questions regarding our history and the history of our world itself,” she said, getting the full attention of the lavender princess, “She asked what happened before the time of ponies. Before unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies roamed the land to control the elements and the celestial bodies… and I found myself lacking the knowledge to provide the most meager of responses…”

“It’s hardly your fault, Luna… Many things before the advent of Discord were lost to time,” she reassured the night princess.

“It may be so, but that doesn’t erase the time before his rule. What happened back then may be unknown to us for now, but it happened regardless. The main issue is that we don’t have an explanation. Can you provide a theory on how the world lived before unicorns were present to move the moon and the sun?” Luna asked the younger princess, getting a surprised expression from her.

“I… I think… maybe… huh…” Twilight tried to say, finding herself unexpectedly without words, “I see what you mean. It’s distressing to think about it to be honest. It’s not a timescale so far into the past some of the things that Gaia told us… but we don’t have a Gaia ourselves to ask what’s going on…” Twilight relented, a downcast expressions accentuated by the last sunlight of the day, making her expression look graver that it was.

“That’s what’s also bothering me. Her planet doesn’t have ponies but it produced two of the quirkiest and most powerful alicorns we ever met, more ancient than all of us combined by an absurd margin,” Luna explained, turning towards Twilight with a serious expression, “her world regulates itself and really doesn’t need them for anything more than safeguarding it, but they exist nevertheless. Our own world on the other hoof seems to be an impossibility on itself since without anyone moving the moon and the sun life would be impossible.”

“But that brings out more questions than before. How did life survive if no pony was there to move the celestial bodies? If ponies supposedly evolved here like any other creature on the models that Gaia showed me… where are the fossils of our ancestors?” she asked, getting more nervous by the second, “And what about the ancient civilizations lost to time and the ruins that they left for everypony to see?!”

“Princess Twilight!” Luna almost yelled, bringing the young princess out of her spiraling anxiety attack by startling her, “I know, and believe me I know those questions that are now popping in your mind, but that’s why I kept my musings to myself,” she explained as the lavender alicorn tried to get her bearings with some breathing exercises, “Those are the questions I’ve been asking myself, but for the time being we can’t do anything to solve them”.

“So what, we do nothing about them?” Twilight asked with a tone of incredulity.

“What do you expect us to do about it? We don’t have clues, documents or anything alike that could help us with them, and we don’t gain anything by piling questions upon questions. We have to wait and see, and maybe we will find something along the way.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it,” she grumbled, making the lunar princess chuckle.

“As Gaia says, we must go with the flow. There are more pressing matters that pondering about the mysteries of the universe,” Luna said with a small smile on her face, getting a questioning look from the smaller princess.

“Like what?” she defiantly asked, earning a not reassuring smirk from the dark princess.

“Like personal hygiene. I know what a good study session feels like, but honestly Twilight you reek of ink and bad sleeping habits. When was the last time you took a shower? There are some aboard, you know?”

“Oh my Celestia…” the now red-faced alicorn said as she took flight towards the interior of the airship as the melodious laugh of the princess of the night could be heard loud and clear by everypony aboard the vessel.

For some reason, one green alicorn found herself feeling as if she missed ‘one of those moments’ as she calls them, but decided to ask the next day and rest.

The Mountain People

I need to be honest with myself and clearly say that this is a pretty underwhelming place, considering the fantastical creatures that inhabit this settlement.

Can’t say I’ve been able to see creatures that have two sides that are from completely different animal families. I mean… they are clearly avians from the front, but then you have the mammalian side behind…

I’m not an expert on genetics, I can’t see things that small after all, but I can look at these creatures and say without a doubt that they are an impossibility. Just thinking of the many incompatible genetics makes my head spin!

We approached the settlement slowly and some of the guards went ahead of us in order to keep the creatures calm… or as calm as they can be, because I’m seeing some of them getting quite rowdy.

“The griffons are not as compassionate as the Yaks, even if they share some penchant for violence. Sadly this is usually directed towards others,” Luna said, suddenly appearing at my side and almost surprising me.

“I can see that, dear. They remind me of the peoples that used to live back in what we call the medieval times,” I said -getting a questioning look from young Luna- so I decided to continue, “It was a time when iron and forge were the staple for all the economies and wars ravaged all across the land using the tools created with them. Petty kingdoms and empires sprawled over the land and they appeared and rose as quickly as they eventually fell.”

“I can see the similarities. They were once a proud kingdom as prosperous as Equestria, but by my sister’s accounts it seems that they were driven by a virtuous monarchy that lost all their power and prestige when a relic was stolen from them. Apparently it was the only thing that legitimized their power over the rest of the griffons, and without that…” Luna explained as she sagged a bit, “they just fell for their most base desires. Truly a sad ending to one of our past allies. I still remember the times me and my sister attended to the courts of the high king of Gryphos…”

“But I thought this was called Griffonstone?”

“Ah, but we are both right. This is now called Griffonstone, but back in my day we knew it as Gryphos. As with many other things, time changed the name of this place,” she said while scrutinizing everything around us, “I find disturbing the state of the once proud capital. Everything is almost run down to the ground…”

“It happens sometimes, dear…” I told her, trying to comfort the poor filly in some way, “Thankfully it will remain that way in your memories, and as long as you don’t forget them they will never fade away completely,” I told her, getting a small smile out of the young alicorn.

“You are right. Can’t argue with that… it is still hard to see it this way.”

“Let’s change the subject then, we will worry about that later. So… tell me about this griffons.”

“What do you want to know?” she simply stated.

“Well… how come they are part avian and part mammalian?” I asked, getting an awkward laugh out of her.

“Question of the millennium there, Gaia. We can’t even start to fathom where they came from. They predated the Discordian Era, so we know for sure that they weren’t created like other chimeras that roam the wilderness. Still, they behave much like one if left without a proper education.”

“That’s hardly enough to say that they are like roaming monsters, dear. That’s a bit harsh, even for you,” I told her, finding a bit surprising that she thinks like that, “Anyone without the teachings of society will turn like an animal, wild and untamed. Instincts are ingrained deep within the brain and when you can only rely on yourself they take command. Survival above anything else.”

“…I never thought about that. Ponies don’t survive on their own without learning the skills beforehoof. At least we don’t know of any proven case so far,” Luna elaborated, putting one of her famous troubled looks on.

“Even herbivores can survive on their own, given that they do not fall to predators. If other prey species exists that it’s easier to hunt so it can be left alone, a single individual can survive indefinitely if the mental state doesn’t deteriorate much,” I told her as I was reminiscing about the times of the great dinos back home. Some of them roamed alone until they answered the call of reproduction! Not the norm with all of them of course, but there are still some animals that behave that way alive and well.

“It may be so, but I need to remind you Gaia that some things don’t apply here, even if we don’t exactly know why at the moment,” Luna said, promptly leaving me without the metaphorical wind under my wings.

“Oh poo, you are not fun,” I maturely replied before ruffling my wings a bit. Boy I wanted to get out of this wooden thing now, “How much before we land? I can’t wait to take a look around. As sad as it looks at least it has a strange way to make itself unique. Can’t say I’ve seen many condemned but still inhabited cities like this one!”

“It shouldn’t take very long now. I think we’ve already paid all the toll taxes, even the false ones, and we should get out of the airship soon.”

“False ones? Are these people robbing you?” I asked, curious about the social dynamic between these two species. Luna just shrugged with her wings as if not really interested about the fact they were losing money.

“Griffons are greedy and they want all the money they can get, and while we can repel them if needed I find easier to act like hard to get and then give them what they want. They’ll leave us alone once they’ve got what they wanted,” she explained as we saw one of these transactions happen just besides the airship.

Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about that.

Despite the optimistic expectations from Gaia the lukewarm reception form the griffons was hardly a surprise for Luna.

Many ill-willed looks were received and a lot of shady deals were offered by the most unscrupulous griffons around, but they were quickly routed out of their way.

Gaia was not enjoying much this stop herself, if her pensive look and uncharacteristic quietness was of any indication. Luna and Twilight had tried to get her to talk, but just received non-committed responses from her. Luckily they found a small group of griffons that were more open to some light questions and curiosity from Gaia, so that gave the equestrians a brief respite from the unwanted tension around them.

“I wonder how they managed to fall so low… They used to be prideful but noble, and now they only fight for scraps…” Luna muttered to herself as Gaia was, for the first time since they arrived, having a good time, “Did everypony… everyone ignore their plight?”

“I am not sure. Not even the history books know exactly about the fall of Gryphos beyond the Idol of Boreas… like many other things they seem to be missing as well,” Twilight Sparkle said in a measured tone, walking slowly towards the lunar princess, “I had my views challenged for a week and lately I’m finding our historical documents regarding our neighboring nations to be unreliable at best… I hate to think that some books aren't as accurate as I thought,” she grumbled, getting a raised eyebrow from her fellow princess, “Don’t get me wrong, I know that knowledge is to be challenged and many revisions have been done to older books to incorporate new discoveries and whatnot… it’s just that the information we had were from those revised editions…”

“Could it be that this information has been edited out?” Luna asked, always suspicious of the deals that usually happened during her precious night.

“No, I’m sure it’s a fault of ignorance. I’ve read most revisions of History of Equestria and I can assure you that the authors and editors have been consistent with the information that was already in the tomes,” she succinctly said as she looked around, “It just seems that ponies found… not important to talk about the other species and they just… fell into obscurity.”

“Sadly that is a hard truth if ever was one. Even the once friend nation of the Hipogriffs is silent to our emissaries… and I’m sure that you know everything about my night ponies already,” Princess Luna said as she exhaled, looking at the curious young griffins approaching Gaia without the look of greed of the adults observing them, “It appears that centuries of prosperity have left our ponies content with their lives inside the nation, not wanting to know what’s outside. We’ve stagnated in more ways that you can imagine,” the dark princess stated, leaving Twilight unsure of her words.

“What do you mean? Magic and technology have advanced leaps and bounds from your own time! We now have steam-powered machines, and many of our creations are also powered by magical batteries in a new field called the magitech, by popular adoption of the term I might add. We are not adventurers, sure, but when were we?” Twilight defended as she numbered the most significant discoveries of the last millennium.

“You can point those out of more than a thousand years? You dears sure are relaxed with your science, but if we compare the absolute stagnation of your neighbors so far I suppose you can think yourselves as the fastest-advancing nation on the world,” suddenly the voice of Gaia said, appearing from behind both mares without any of them noticing.

“G-Gaia! H-How?” Twilight tried to ask before doing a fake cough as if clearing her throat, “I mean- I DO think we are the most advanced nation so far and I don’t say it with arrogance but with proof. One of the main exports of Equestria is in fact technology that later is-“

“I didn’t say that, dear. I said exactly want I wanted to say,” she simply stated with a motherly smile on her muzzle, confusing Twilight even more,

“But you said-“

“She said that compared to other nations we could be considered fast researchers. Never questioned our technological level,” Luna replied, getting a slow nod from Gaia.

“Very good! Now don’t take my words for granted, but so far you don’t know much about your distant past so we don’t have a proper scale…”

“My mom was once a chick like me. Is that much deeztunt?” suddenly a griffon young said between Gaia’s mane while at some distance an indignant ‘Oi!’ could be heard as well.

“Sure is my fluffy boy, but let me talk now, ok?” she said to the griffon that was now giggling like mad.

“Gaia…”

“As I was saying, you don’t know your distant past, but we know ours and even from several inhabited planets. In one of those they discovered fire roughly five hundred thousand years before they were able to use steam engines… but they developed flying machines heavier than air in the span of a few decades. You still use those older machines, just look at the airship we came in! How long has been since you ponies discovered the steam engine?” Gaia explained as she pressed the bookish princess.

“… Two hundred years at most...” she reluctantly admitted.

“And there’s my point. You should be able to split atoms and you just enjoy rides in steam trains,” Gaia said as she ruffled her wings, getting the young griffon to laugh. That last sentence threw Twilight out of the loop, while some strands of hair snapped out of her mane.

“You can hardly compare us with your societies, Gaia. We had to go on our own while we were without guidance before the princesses came to us in our time of need,” Twilight morosely stated, getting Gaia to ruffle her mane.

“Aw, don’t be like that. I wasn’t comparing my children with you anyway. Just some primates we saw along the way.”

“…You were not? Then compared to your children how do we fare?” Luna asked, bracing herself for the absurd response she was going to get for sure.

“Oh, they discovered fire and then over six thousand years later were already leaving the planet. Neat, right? They make me so proud!”

And there it was. ‘Luckily Twilight seemed prepared for-there she goes’ Luna thought as the lavender princess just fell down, stiff as a table.

“Oh dear, I think she got cramps all over her body. Is she eating enough potassium? I think I saw some bananas aboard. Let me get them for you, Luna. Honestly, I swear you ponies have the worst eating habits!”

Griffons and Stones

There is a universal truth in the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, but stereotypes also exist for a reason. Both things usually don’t have room in my thoughts but when I can see both applied to the griffons in front of me I can’t help but chuckle at those phrases.

More young griffons approached us with their mothers, albeit reluctantly if their expressions is anything to go by. The youngsters thankfully didn't have the same enrooted distrust as their parents and they were mostly curious about ponies since they aren’t used to be visited by other creatures.

Lucky for us, Twilight recovered from her muscular issues so we didn’t have to be aware of any griffon stepping on her. She didn’t want the bananas, though. I wonder why?

“…and while we are princesses we like to talk to ponies as friends too. You would not stop talking to your friends if you were to work on an important job, right?” Luna explained to the group of chicks mesmerized with her flowy mane and overall mystical appearance. Not every day you can see a creature that has the night sky as its mane and tail after all!

…Well, I do now lately, but that’s not the point!

“I’m not a princess, dear. You all tend to forget that little detail,” I said while picking up one of the little furballs and nuzzling her, making her laugh, “I’m just along for the ride! Like having the best vacation guides since they are all locals!” I told them, confusion clearly shown on some of their little faces.

“It’s a Gaia thing, don’t worry too much about it,” Luna clarified to the moms nearby. Not sure if I should feel proud or offended by that…

“I’m not from Equestria, so I am too learning how they do things along with every creature I meet during this vacation. So far I’ve been delighted to know how unique each and every one of you can be, and how your daily life is so different from other sapients,” I told them, most of them at least understating what I was saying, even if the youngest were just a little lost with some of my words.

Ah, to be young and not worry about words and hidden meanings… or that’s what I’ve heard from some philosophers. My foalhood is nothing bright and innocent, not like what must be for the ponies here that’s for sure. That’s why I really don’t mind about twisted words and all those things as long as they don’t affect the survivability of the world. One must step up if a maniac is to set up the apocalypse or something like that, you know?

It’s not as exciting as you may think of. Those blasted movies and videogames just show it all out of proportion. Usually it’s less flashy and more shadowy with deals and stuff… and I’m rambling again.

“There are not many ponies that live outside the blanket of the princesses, but I suppose that if you size doesn’t intimidate any potential troublemakers your horn and wings will surely do the trick,” one of the mothers said, appraising me with a glint of curiosity showing behind those watchful eyes.

“It sure helps, dear. It’s just as strange to see some of you griffons outside your motherland but I bet there are some out there living with other races. In fact I find surprising to see many griffons living in what many would’ve called a ruin, but I’ve seen vendors selling their wares on the street like on any other lived-in settlement,” I told her, getting the attention of more adults in doing so. I suppose that sometimes they want to see what an outsider wants to say about them, I guess.

“Not many ponies ask questions about us, they just assume that we are what we are and there’s that,” one of the male griffons said with a tone of honest confusion.

“Sadly that’s the most common reaction for ponykind. If it’s not a problem within the herd then is not worth really noting. Maybe for some kind fellows but when you don’t usually move from your hometown it’s hard to notice the plights of other creatures surrounding our country,” Luna said while dropping her ears, clearly ashamed of the behavior of her ponies. I’m a bit sad to see her like this, but sometimes one needs to hear the hard truths to start to improve one self and others alike.

“You will find that we are not like most of ponies, and not only from being an uncommon species,” I told them with a motherly smile, “and now I’m here, wondering about what happened to this city? Clearly it was a prosperous settlement, but something must’ve happened in the past to drive all of you into poverty. Not even crops are growing around this place!”
Most of the adult griffons looked sadly at the ground, clearly reminiscing of something before one of them spoke up.

“It was, if the tales of our ancestors are anything to go by. We were a trade nexus for all the region and our legions safeguarded the trade routes with their might. Then the fabled Idol of Boreas was lost at the hands of a beastly thief and all came to an end,” one of the older hens narrated as she petted one of the younglings near her, “It was a period of strife and malice from which we never recovered from. Our culture was lost and all the riches were spent in vices and unsavory deals. In the end the glorious nation of our past fell to the claws of mercenaries and brigands, and in time they also left the now barren land.”

“But that doesn’t explain how it got so barren… this is a gradual process, and I know a thing of two regarding soil, believe me,” I told the hen, who chuckled at my words.

“Without anyone to protect them since the legions were paid by the government, who was daring enough to grow crops out of the safety of our nests? Even if the city is in ruins it is safer here than there… well, it used to be anyway. Now the soil is as dead as our king and nothing will grow from them. Even some of you ponies came and saw the lost cause that this land was and left after trying everything they could to revitalize it…” she whispered with sadness in her voice, getting a caring nuzzle out of the young griffon besides her.

“Everything you said?” I asked in a playful tone.

Being the head of the state is usually an arduous work at the best of times. That Luna knew better than anyone else. A thankless job usually and unseen by most of the populace, especially in her case. Still, situations like the one about to happen made her day stressfully and delightfully unpredictable.

“Gaia, think for a second what you are going to do, please,” the lunar princess pleaded to the bigger alicorn, getting a light tittering from her.

“Don’t be silly, I already thought about it! It will not be as grandiose as my work at the former desert, but I’m sure these griffons will appreciate the work all the same,” she told her while happily trotting outside the city, followed by some griffons and Luna.

“Are you sure you are not making a hasty decision with this? You told us that you were not one to actively change the course of nature,” Luna pressed on as she quickly trotted besides the green mare. Gaia just chuckled at the princess.

“I know, dear,” she told her with her motherly smile, “but I’m on vacation, so I’ll not think of work. This will be… like a hobby. You do have hobbies, right?” she asked, her eyes turning green as she looked around the dusty ground with barely any plants around, “Ah, the place seems to be on a healthy place after all. Not much work to do. It’s all there, really, just not away,” she murmured to herself, surprising the observing griffons, “with the proper push it will be a breeze.”

“It may be so, but it will also raise suspicion from the local populace. I would like to help them more than anything else but…”

“But what, young Luna? What is it to tell or do before taking action? I will not ask permission for something that is clearly within my capabilities to do! This is not changing laws on a foreign country or something like that, it’s just… gardening!” she happily stated while pronking in place “Oh wow. That some nasty wind over that ravine. That can be dangerous for sure…”

“…Gardening?”

“I’m just using bigger tools and a bigger pot, dear. That the griffons will benefit from it it’s just a plus!”

“What are you talking about, pony lady? You seem to talk about forcing the plants out of the soil, and we know no seeds live down there, or they would’ve been sold long ago!” one of the adult griffons told her as he approached with his chick on his back, “Every time one of the ponies tried their magical crap they almost worsened the situation! I still remember the last earth pony that tried to use his magic to make the plants grow, she provoked a landslide!”

“Please, don’t belittle my work comparing them with the job of your average pony, young griffon,” she stated, making the chick giggle at her words.

“I’m a father of two, I’m hardly younger you crazy green mare,” he replied while grumbling and showing clearly who was the most mature being between her daughter and him.

“You are all young to me, dear. But enough talk! Time for a bit of green work!” she yelled while jumping to the air… to just placidly lie on the ground, making herself snug as she put her legs at the bottom of her barrel. She started to ruffle her wings a bit, much to the overall confusing of everyone present.

“…Nothing happened,” one of the griffons lamely said.

“Gaia… what are you doing?” asked a confused princess Luna. Gaia just hummed to herself.

“I’m getting prepared. This requires some precision work and I want to affect only this side of the mountain range. While hardly a task worthy of effort I need to not step outside it. I don’t want to change the lands beyond our sight. Nothing good can come from bothering the neighbors, right?” the green alicorn calmly explained, some of the griffons approaching her as they started to feel something around the strange and kooky mare.

“Lady, I don’t know what you are doing but you are creeping the Tartarus out of us,” the father from before said as he looked down to the mare that was apparently doing something by not doing anything. Luna felt the build-up of energy too, quite alarmingly fast as the last time so she knew that she was going to do something worth to write in history books.

“Aw, don’t worry dear. While I cannot do anything about those material needs I’m frankly astonished by you quality of life, and not in a good way. Every creature should live with their basic needs satisfied, and I can’t let this suffering happen here any longer” she said with a tone that conveyed a worry that couldn’t be confused by anything else but pure care from the matron of nature, “I just want to give you something to remember me by, and maybe if you find in your heart to trust me after this… Heed my advice, and go and make a good life with wonderful friends by your side. Life is a wonderful adventure that can’t be truly enjoyed alone, shadowed by doubt and selfishness… but remember that after a long night there will be always a new day, so…”

The griffons found themselves entranced by the energies now surrounding them, invisible to the naked eye but felt in their spirits as they saw how many plants sprouted under and around Gaia, quickly growing and even weaving between her legs and up her barrel.

Luna was surprised and lost about the situation, since last time Gaia was performing a clear show of power to them, but now she felt as she was putting a different kind of show. ‘Is she playing with the expectations of the ones surrounding them?’

Suddenly, Gaia extended her hoof towards the daring father with his chick, a calm smile on her face as he analyzed what was happening in front of him.

“... Who dares to accept this strange gift from this strange mare? My only coins are trust and friendship, but I believe you will find this to be a fair deal,” she cleverly stated, calling to their base desires against their distrustful nature.

‘As I suspected, she is playing on their expectations. They don’t expect nothing if it’s not some kind of transaction’ Luna thought, looking with trepidation at was to come, as she would feel all the energy stored on Gaia’s wings.

Suddenly, the chick on the griffon’s back jumped over her father’s head with a quick fluttering of her tiny wings, and landed squarely on Gaia’s expecting hoof, making her smile widely, much to the now scared parent.

“Very well! Accepted this barter has been!” she said in a strange accent before quickly and strongly pressing her wings to her barrel, “And for the next trick, I’ll make this dust disappear!”

The wind picked up suddenly and strongly, blinding every creature from miles away, dust getting to their eyes as a wave of energy bathed the lands around Gaia and the wind itself kneeled to her might. Luna found herself affected by the dust as well, quickly trying to clean her stingy eyes. By the loud gasp of a young griffon, the chick on Gaia’s hoof was protected from this fate.

“Oops! I think I overdid it... Or maybe just did it exactly as intended? I feel like you were thinking this as the perfect place and made me do this, right little one?” Gaia said, getting a giggle out of the cute griffon on her hoof, “I hope they can forgive me, I was expecting something more tame, but... you like the new look? Of course you do! Come here, let me show some cool plants and critters!” Gaia told her young cohort as she carried nearby… no one sure knowing where since they were all still unable to see anything, but now the barren lands were much less quieter than before, of that they were sure.

Born Ever Green

Many creatures can’t say that they enjoy the work they do.

It’s just how societies work for what I’ve seen in my long life. As the culture and technology develop and improve the works are more specialized and varied than before, with new societal norms to follow and new “basics” to learn as centuries pass… and many of the creatures just don’t feel like follow them all.

A person with artistic education thanks to their parents may try to pursue a scientific career ‘just because they feel like it’ or that it was their call. They will sometimes choose something they despise due to its perceived economic or societal value, living forever in want and even not knowing why.

In this I’ve been truly blessed, as my only reason to exist brings me the most joy. Life is a goal on its own but when presented with loneliness -since bacteria are hardly pettable creatures- what can you do? Well, wish for it to be more complex of course! Maybe pushing them in the right direction but who counts that stuff, right?

That said, this new forest packed with dense vegetation is one of my best works as of yet, at least in small scale.

Deciduous trees and bushes were everywhere, hiding the clear skies as the sun broke through their leaves where the breeze moved them, creating an extremely relaxing atmosphere. Little avians… Hm, what’s the word… birds! Little birds were quickly exploring their new home as the not so little avian-mammals were as awestruck as the little ponies.

“My word, this is some luxurious grass… Ah, smells wonderful too… And I can sense the scent of some delicious fruit around…” I said out loud, inhaling the aromas of the forest with a content expression, “Hm… yes… even the ground was begging for some plant action. It was laughable easy! Usually I have to battle loads of minerals and bad temper but now it was all there, wanting to do something with its existence!” I laughed as the small chick flew quickly through the trees, followed soon by the other younglings.

“B-buh… WHAT!?” I heard from some adult griffon. They are sturdy creatures for sure! They managed to say something after that. Usually it’s just like Luna, looking like a fish out of the water. Still surprised enough to leave them unable to speak coherent phrases though… Improvement!

“Whoa! Where is the ground? It’s all grassy!” One of the little ones asked, making me giggle a bit. Aw, there were so cute!

“It’s still there, but now it’s been put to work. It will also benefit from the new winds carrying more rainclouds from the ocean. You can harvest all you want and with your actual population it will give enough to let fruit rot by the tons,” I said, to their astonishment, “It will help fertilize the ground again, and if you want you can cut trees for houses and buildings. I’ve gave it a little ‘oomph’ that will last for a little bit,” I said, proud of my own work.

“New winds? What did you do, Gaia?” Luna managed to ask, finally out of her stupor.

“Well there was a nasty gorge that was making an air tunnel for some suspiciously bad luck, so I just did some work to make the air go to where it needs to be. I mean, really? What is the purpose of having hurricane-level winds on a tiny gorge?” I asked, not expecting a response, “So with a couple of tunnels down, blocking some small parts here and there… and you have a nice breeze that will help Griffonstone and its surrounding area…” I continued, pausing for a moment, “…although I think I overdid it a bit, but I don’t think a new dense forest will be an issue.”

“…We need to check something real quick! Hurry!” one of the adult griffons said and they took flight quicker than a stampeding dino. Well that’s just rude!

“Ah, I didn’t expect a thank you but just running away? Oh dear… I think I’ll not be welcomed anytime soon… but this things happen all the time. Better get on our merry way then… what’s with that face, little Luna?”

“You just did something incredible for them and you don’t even care if they appreciate your work?” she asked me with an incredulous tone.

“And why should I, dear? Sure, it will be nice to receive some appreciation for a job well done, but I don’t do what I do because I want gratification, but because it’s my job and pleasure to help life whenever and wherever I can. I’m not one to give crutches since they will doom the creatures to extinction once they are off, but on the other hoof I also don’t like when change is especially nasty to some species or biome,” I explain while walking at a sedate pace, just enjoying this new piece of wild nature, “I’m a bringer of life, my dear and young Luna. I strive to push creatures for their own betterment. Sometimes it’s just by showing the more merciful face of Nature, providing when they are left in want,” I continued, caressing a small leave from a bush, looking into the new life as even the plants seemed to move in joy by being near me, “Another times I need to be the stern mother that shows the hardest truths of life, and push them into a world that is hostile towards them and competing for the same resources as them. When they grow complacent it’s my duty to show them that not all work is done… and when they hurt I try to be there and mend them… when it’s possible.”

“I understand. One of the tenets of equestrian society lies upon the concept of Kindness, and how you must help when you can… but sometimes in order to help you must apply ‘tough love’ as the ponies call it nowadays,” young Luna told me as we continued our walk, making me chuckle.

“I like the sound of that. ‘Tough love’…” I said, looking around and hearing in the distance the distinctive noise of a small mob in the making, “Still, this time they needed not a heavy hoof, but a tender touch. I see in these creatures the hardships that shaped them, always fighting for their survival. I can feel it too. Their numbers so low for a civilized species…”

“…I’m afraid to ask, but if it can put your mind at ease, the griffons have been maintaining the same population since ponies discovered them, never deviating too much from the first census ever done,” Luna explained me, barely draping one of her wings on me.

Knowing my numbers regarding sapients, it didn’t put my mind at ease at all.

Griffonstone was at the verge of a full-blown riot-party, much to everyone’s confusion. They just knew they had to do something loud right there and right now, but they weren’t sure if they should feel outraged, relieved or both.

Most of them were absolutely terrorized by the wave of wind and magic that bathed the area, but all that fear turned into confused joy when the once barren lands of the ancient Griffon Kingdom were turned into the lushest forest they ever laid their avian eyes upon.

To be honest and not cynical for once in their collective lives, the griffons thought it was a small slice of paradise for creatures like them. Trees big enough to support several nests, game now running freely under the foliage… what was not to like?

Soon the center of the settlement, now decorated with some trees and flowers, was packed to the brim with griffons and then some. Groups of them that lived near the dilapidated city flew into the old capital wanting to know about this portentous event and soon joined the not-a-party-but-somewhat-a-party that was going on, as described by one griffon baker to one of the ponies visiting with the royal delegation.

The ponies were also both terrified and happy. The elation of seeing some prospective friends receiving such a blessing was a joy for them unto itself, but the sheer and incomprehensible power that they felt over them as Gaia’s spell bathed the lands was putting many things into perspective. And as soon as the talks started some of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle began to fall in place.

The respectful treatment from the local princesses, the devotion to her needs… soon some of the equestrians began to fear what could be under the coat of the strangely amicable alicorn, and their natural xenophobia quickly took hold of them. Some rumors of having the princesses bend to her will began to run around, not taking root with any strength whatsoever, but managing to put some doubt on the listeners. So far all they were all shut down quickly by phrases like ‘She is an alicorn, it’s natural that she has that kind of power’ or ‘she is a princess, of course the can do these things’, but the ones with the weakest will began to feel wariness of the alien alicorn.

In the meantime and back into the griffon settlement, they were celebrating the recovery of the lost relic of their people: The idol of Boreas.

Apparently the griffons that were in front of Gaia as she explained her works connected the dots quickly and flew as fast as they could, finding the resting place of the treasure quickly and bringing it back to the main plaza.

Once they arrived back to the city, Gaia and Luna were pushed in the middle of an improvised parade in Gaia’s honor, as the griffons ate and drank without worry for once and praised her work as ‘something the ponies did right for once’. Gaia quickly found herself in the middle of it while Luna managed to sneak away and gather information about the idol itself and what happened when they were away.

“… and so we got the ponies calmed again, but still we could have used some warning, your highness. I think that even the night ponies felt her magic during their sleep,” one of the day guards reported, making the lunar princess think for a second as she filed all the information away.

“I see. We were not informed as well, my loyal subject, so we could not provide any warning whatsoever. I’m afraid Gaia lives in the moment and just goes with the flow. We can’t predict what is she going to do next, but as far as we know we cannot classify this as a blunder from her part. I’m sure she will be worried that she caused such distress, but looking around I can’t argue with the results,” Luna explained as they looked how a flock of birds flew past them towards the forest.

“I understand and agree with your assessment, your highness. Seeing as the griffons became friendlier towards us once the initial chaos ran its course and the griffons that were with you came back almost yelling while explaining what Gaia did... I can’t say that this didn’t had a positive outcome. That’s not even counting the recovery of the Idol of Boreas…”

“Yes, I’ve heard. It seems that we can expect drastic changes in the political sphere of the griffons. This will bring back their lost desire to improve and given the bountiful land they are on now, well…” the night princess said as she smirked towards her guard. He nodded to her, comprehending the unsaid conclusions of Gaia’s actions. Surely Equestria will gain a lot from this new development, and they both knew it.

Meanwhile, Gaia was almost pushing against everyone as she tried to get out of the partying griffons, laughing as some of the openly hugged her as she passed by and hugged them back with her wings. After fighting a tide of gratitude she managed to find Luna, now alone as her guard went to perform his duties before the green alicorn arrived to her. She was still giggling to herself when she sat beside the dark mare.

“You have become a popular mare around town, Gaia,” Luna playfully stated, getting a nudge from the bigger alicorn.

“You do know that some of them told me they were indebted to me and will follow me because some strange honor code? That’s not being popular, and almost felt bad when I refused… but it was a gift, so I didn’t require any payment,” the green alicorn explained, playing with her mane a bit, “…the attention was nice, though…”

“Sounds like griffonian traditions are getting back in fashion as quick as they managed to get back their legendary idol. I guess we ponies can’t criticize them about that since we almost pray towards the Elements of Harmony themselves…” Luna said, pondering about the symbolism of a race being tied to the destiny of some artifacts or beliefs. Gaia laughed at that.

“Societies being societies after all.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that logic,” the night mare stated, chuckling alongside Gaia, “I guess that the visit will be longer this time. I think several of our ponies wanted to explore the forest and the fruits that bear. They sure looked tantalizing from a distance.”

“Oh sure! It will be nice to be around nature once more, and I also want to know how well my magic did its work. Last time was kind of a quick biome job, but now I took some time to craft the desired effect, even if it was boosted by the natural magic of this world,” the motherly mare explained before tapping her chin in though as Luna nodded to her words while eating one of the strange fruits that were all around them.

“Oh, also I’ve been titled matron of their country or something, apparently,” Gaia said while munching on a fruit as well.

Suddenly she was pelted with fruit mush as Luna spitted on her, coughing and looking at her with surprise, bits of fruit still present on her mouth.

“Oh dear, and I just got cleaned up…” Gaia lamented, ignoring the now catatonic lunar princess.

Author's Note

Sorry for making you all wait. I had half of this chapter done two weeks ago but some minor health issues and other life stuff got in the way.

I also noticed we reached +1900 upvotes! :pinkiegasp:

Thank you all for your continued support! As a little celebratory event I'll open a journal soon in the style of "AMA" posts, and you will be able to ask anything about Gaia that you may want to know! That way we can avoid cluttering the comment section with questions that can be easily answered (and also we can avoid spoilers to new readers as well).

It's not much but I want to save a bigger event for the 2k milestone :twilightsmile: .

Again, thank you so much for your support.

The Arrival

"What's that?" I asked my son, annoyance clear in my voice.

"It's an injection of nanites mom, it helps your healing and..."

"I don't need that nani-thing! I can heal just fine!" I huffed, interrupting him while pushing the syringe away with a hoof, making him drop it towards the floor, smashing it into pieces. There where several other items and bionic implants scattered on the floor, earlier ‘suggestions’ and ‘improvements’ that my son tried to put in me, "This is all useless! You are stressing me out and it's supposed to be a vacation!" I yelled at him.

"But mom! I just want you to be safe!" he insisted.

"You told me that this was a relaxing planet with lots of green places with animals, and that's all I need. Don't treat me like a little girl, I'm still your mother and still bigger and older than you," I told him, patting him rather forcefully on the back to make my point across.

"Mom you're making the others feel kinda useless and making fun of me in front of my people. Please, tone it a bit down..." He pleaded while giving me those puppy eyes.

"Well I'm their mother too, they should know to respect my wishes," I said to him, turning my head and facing the spectators.

They were creatures that stood over three legs and had only one eye, kinda like a jellyfish or a squid "...and you! You should be ashamed of yourselves, disrespecting your mother this way. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, is that clear?" I said to them.

"The all-mother has spoken!" yelled one, and the others looked between him and me with horror plastered on their strange faces.

"What did I say about that!?" I said to him in a force tone, making the poor thing shrinking in his place

"That you... don't like those... names from... ancient times and I'm gonna shut up and go to work okay bye!" He said in a hurry.

I sighed and slumped a bit on the floor. "We are not so different from them. We sleep, we eat and we live like them... so why they keep pestering me with titles?" I said to myself.

"Well, in their defense I must say that we are quadruped animals with wings and horn and they don't look anything like us. There is no animal back on our home planet that shares our physical attributes. We just share bodily functions... to an extent..." he said, looking to me with a meaningful look.

I may need to describe myself at this point. I'm a quadruped creature with wings, horn and tail. I have two eyes with bright orange irises, a light blue mane and green fur. Oddly enough I have a picture of my planet on both of my flanks. I'm also the tallest creature on my planet, even my son is shorter than me. Also as my son had said, there is no creature like us, with hair or mammary glands. We are both the only ones of our species and animal family on our world.

Not that it was enough to be an item of adoration mind you.

"That time they saw me swimming in lava was because I was creating a small island to perform some kind of experiments, to see if..."

"Mom, you were throwing lava everywhere and laughing like a maniac. I had to fly to nearby settlements to calm down the poor fellas because they thought it was the end of the world."

I huffed a bit at that "Well it's not like there were any deaths or anything. Besides it was just one time," I said with finality.

"How about the time when you just uprooted an entire forest and moved it to the Arctic?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just making the area greener. Seriously, did you see how white everything was? It was depressing."

"How about the time when you scattered an entire nation around the globe?" He asked with amusement on his voice.

"I was populating the land with them. They were already traveling, I just did them a favor. Also they were barely a nation, just small settlements stuck in what you call 'the stone age'..."

"How about when you flooded..."

"Alright, alright! I get it! I MIGHT have been doing kinda impressive feats, but that's not enough to..."

"Mom, you created us. If what you have told me is true you created my people from nothing..." He said.

"I was bored and the land was filled with enough plants already," I pouted.

"That's what I'm talking about mom! You were BORED and decided to create life FROM NOTHING!" he said with exasperation "When my people are bored they sing, they dance or play games. Hell I even do those! But you just..." he tried to continue but he was hyperventilating. I picked him up with my forelegs and hugged him, cooing and petting him. He managed to relax after a while.

"I'm not a baby, mom..." he replied with a pout.

"You will be always my baby," I said to him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Aaaawwww..." we heard from the door. There were several of my son's people looking at us, their expressions melting with our show of affection.

"Mom, let me go please, you are embarrassing me..." He said, fidgeting in place. I just kept him in place.

"Why no one should be ashamed of being with their mothers and sharing a moment with them. Should I tell them about when you were just an infant? My, you were the cutest thing..."

"No mom! Stop!" he yelled, panicked.

"Yes! Tell us!" the crewmen at the door said, rallying inside the room. I just kissed my son again, this time on the other cheek.

"Oh yes, he was. I remember this one time when he was..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Mom, you are impossible," my son said while we were walking towards some other part of the ship.

"Oh shush, you loved it," I said to him.

"Well... I like your hugs..." he relented.

"There you go. Nothing better than a mothers love to cure grumpiness," I happily said. "So, why are we going to the fungus?"

"Hangars mom. There you can board the dropship to the surface," he said, his tone a bit more serious.

"Why? It's not like I can't fly there myself," I said indignantly.

"Well we are in space mom. There is no air and it's kind of cold."

"I don't need air in the first place. It's nice to have something to breath but how do you think that I launched ice asteroids towards our home to obtain water?" I said to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well that explains some of the geological findings at least..." he coughed a bit, "Anyways, we should give you some bits of equipment, given that you didn't want any augmentations..."

"I told you a hundred times before son, they will melt or malfunction in the areas I tend to be while exploring. Can some of your things sustain the heat of a volcano?" I asked him

"... No, they can't," he sighed "Alright mom, but you need to be careful with the devices we are going to provide. They are invaluable and unique, at least now" he said.

We walked into the big room, the "hangars" as my son called it, and some of the squid-people were already here. My son said that calling them that it was despective, but frankly, the name they call themselves is just stupid...

"Ah, welcome your lordship. We have gathered the instruments for Mother, so she can board the shuttle whenever she's ready," one of them said.

"Good, but there is a small change of plans. Bring her bags here, she'll enter the planet by herself," he said to them, earning a gasp from them.

"R-right away, your lordship."

I just looked at my son with a bit of annoyance "You are not filling my bags with crap again, right?" I said, forgetting my manners

"MOM!" he said, horrified

"But it's true! You and your people begged me to carry a lot of useless stuff when I told you that I was making a visit to the deepest basin on the ocean floor!" I replied

"But we gathered invaluable scientific data! We need that data mom!" he said with conviction

I sighed and shook my head "Alright, bring your toys and tell me what I need to do. I thought this was a vacation..."

"I'm not telling you to check on them everyday mom, just carry them inside your bags, they'll do the rest," he explained to me "You don't even have to do anything at all, just that they are safe and working. See? It's not like I put between them monitoring systems to see if you are doing OK or anything, he he..." he forced a smile and his left eye twitched a little. I sighed.

"Alright. Just remember about old me and write, OK? I'll be fine," I told him. He teared up a bit and suddenly he launched himself at me, crushing me in a hug.

"This will be first time I'm truly away from you mom. I'll write you every week I promise. Just please check your datapad, you know that..."

"I know son, don't worry. Your mom will be old but knows how some of these work," I said with a smirk. I fluttered my wings and took a deep breath. "Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Just remember to have fun with your spaceship."

"I'll do mom. Take some pictures for the album, but not too many! We already have like twenty!" he said with a laugh. I shook my head.

"I'll try to remember that son, but no promises," I said with a smile.

Suddenly a mechanical sound could be heard inside the hangar and one of the walls opened slowly, showing the planet below. It was a beautiful ball of green and blue covered by white clouds under the light of a yellow sun not so different from the one at home. A faint electric glow around the frame was the only thing that hinted the existence of a force field protecting the beings in the room from space. I walked slowly towards it, anticipation and giddiness fighting inside me. I turned towards my son and his people one last time, smiling motherly to them.

"I love you, and I'm very proud of all of you. Take care," I said before jumping towards the planet, the harsh coldness of space hitting me like a splash of cold water. 'Just like old times' I thought as I impulsed myself towards a somewhat big landmass filled with green and life. I could sense even from here thriving with many kinds of creatures and plants. 'This looks promising already.'

Unbeknownst to me, something was happening inside the starship I just left.

"Sir... is that the universal translator that you were supposed to give to Mother in your pocket?" said one of the scientists still at the hangar. The face of the young alicorn lost all of its color in seconds.

"Oh sh-"

It was a calm day in Equestria. The sun shone kindly over the land giving its inhabitants a pleasant warmth and light, the birds were singing and mostly everypony was enjoying what could be called a perfect Spring day. Yet Celestia, one of the princesses of this land and caretaker of the sun was looking over the horizon intrigued.

Her younger sister sensed a gentle but powerful magical signature in the skies during the night and just a moment ago she managed to feel it going downwards, and if her senses were right this entity was making a beeline towards the Everfree forest. 'What could it possibly be?' she asked to herself, looking towards the forest with curiosity and a small smile growing on her face 'It seems that our youngest princess is going to have an interesting day. I will be waiting eagerly to see what she finds.'

Author's Note

27/01/2017 - Edit. Thanks to PlatinumPony for the proofreading! (This was done months ago but I forgot to put the updates here. Sorry about that!

Mare of the Wilds

My these creatures were pushy! At least the yellow and the pink one were kinder and just walked with me making these funny noises with their little mouths. I giggled a bit and shook my head, "Sorry little ones, I still can't understand you. I'm happy that you try to talk to me at least" I said while petting the pink one. She just smiled and started yapping at high speed, at which I laughed again. I liked the pink one.

At my backside the lavender one was trying to be gentle while pushing me through some kind of path and failing to do so. It was obvious that they wanted me to follow them but they must learn a bit of how to guide someone when they don't know what they are saying! By the sun and stars my rump was achy after all that continuous pushing. I was just enjoying the forest...

Still I wasn't mad. No, I was ecstatic! They were so much like me and my son! The same number of limbs... more or less, the same body type and even the same two eyes! Well... the lavender one was the only one that was like me but the other were pretty close too.

They were talking among themselves and stealing quick glances towards me from time to time. I just smiled at them, and tried to look around for more plants and animals to look at. I saw a patch of pretty plants with strange blue leaves making a bulbous form at the top, but all of them stopped me with worried sounds and looks so I sighed and continued to walk with them. Now that I think about it... there were many of those strange plants with leaves of many colors and smells. I had never seen such a thing back home... the same with the ever-present plants with little but pointy leaves that sprouted from the ground. It was all so alien and fascinating...

We found another quadruped creature, this time with a striped pattern that sounded quite melodic while talking in their funny language. She looked at me surpried and bowed, murmuring something to the ground and offering me some kind of plant. I smiled and ate it, saying a polite "Thank you" to her, which looked to be pleased with it even if she didn't seem to understand the words but the meaning behind them. Maybe the small hug I gave her also helped to translate the words. The plant tasted as delicious as it looked.

The striped one talked a bit with the others while I was just petting one of the little feathery creatures that were at the top of my head, traveling with me. It chirped something at which its parter on my head replied, making a melodic conversation between them. Not a day here and I'm already marveled by these new creatures. I'm liking this 'vacation' thing!

But the time to depart arrived too soon and we bid our farewells to the stripped one, and again she looked quite pleased to see me and bowed. She probably thought I was family to the warden of this planet and wanted to pay me respects. I just smiled and waved at her, a gesture that transcended space and time since she seemed to understand it and waved back at me. Another mile, another friend.

The lavender one was quiet during the rest of our trip, looking at me with a thoughtful expression on her face. "You are going to get all wrinkly if you keep that face" I said to her while laughing a bit, at which she just looked confused and embarrased, choosing to look forward and talk to her friends. The Pink one said something and giggled with me. Maybe she understood the meaning of my words? Definitely I liked the pink one.

Twilight was a bit stressed because of the recent developments with Zecora and the strange alicorn. For what her zebra friend said, the alicorn transmitted a pretty strong aura of calmness and she was probably 'bonded' with all the natural world... which made her the main cause of the Everfree being so 'tame' today. Zecora also said that her tribe traditionaly gives gifts back to the nature in the form of foods so they can appease the spirits of the land. The alicorn didn't seemed to know the context but ate the offering anyways with a smile and hugged Zecora so she knew some manners at least.

When managed to exit the forest the birds on the alicorn's mane flew away while she looked surprised, making a small gasp. Twilight looked the scene with a smile. The prairies around Ponyville were quite impressive.

What she didn't expect was the alicorn to run like a small filly and laugh while sniffing the plants and some bushes.

"Do you think that she isn't right in the head?" asked Rainbow

"Rainbow Dash! How can you say such a thing!?" exclaimed Rarity, horrified by the claims of the brash pegasus.

"But just look at her! She is like a overgrown filly!" Rainbow pointed out while the alicorn was rolling on the grass and basking in the sun. Pinkie was just rolling beside her and talking to her about different rolling techniques.

"Still that was an awful thing to say darling. Would you call our dear Pinkie mentally challenged as well?" Rarity asked with a inquisitive tone.

"What!? No, of course not!" Rainbow replied

"Then why you say that about her? It might not be very proper of a princess but..." Rarity pressed on, only to be interrupted by Rainbow.

"Okay! Okay! Geez... I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean to say something so mean..." Rainbow said, landing slowly and looking to the ground.

"We know Rainbow, that's why we are telling you that. We are your friends and we don't want to see you getting into problems because of a mistake" said Twilight with a smile "Now we should gather Pinkie and her and be on our way to the castle. I need to send a letter to the princesses"

They managed after some coaxing to get both ponies to act like the mares they were and carry on to Ponyville's castle.

It was pretty awkward and some ponies asked who was she and what she was doing in Ponyville, but for the most part they just stared at her. She didn't look like phased and just waved at them, sometimes even getting a wave back. Once they were at the castle Twilight turned to look at her friends.

"Seeing that she enjoys the outdoors I'll enter the castle and send the letter. Meanwhile I need you girls to keep our guest out of problems and near the castle. It's that okay?" she said to ther friends.

"Of course, sugarcube! Ya can count on us!" said Applejack

"Thank you girls. I'll back in a moment!" Twilight replied while trotting to the castle. The strange alicorn was eating the grass near the castle and munching it while looking around curiously.

"Oh goodness, no! Why are you eating that filthy grass, darling? If you were hungry we could..." Rarity spoke while the alicorn looked at her, rumiating the grass slowly "...of course you don't understand a word of what I am saying." Rarity sighed. "Rainbow, be a dear and fetch something for her to eat. We can't allow a princess to eat from the ground." Rarity said while Rainbow saluted.

"On it!" Rainbow replied while flying at top speed. The alicorn looked impressed and made some of her clicking noises.

"Indeed, she's quite the speedster. Now why don't we work a bit on your mane while we wait?" Rarity asked with a smile

"Hay Rares, already trying to fancy her up?" Asked Applejack with a smirk.

"But of course, dear Applejack! We can let her look like she has been living in the Everfree all her life!" Rarity said aghast "It's a crime against fashion!"

"I think she looks nice" said Fluttershy with a small smile.

"Nice doesn't cut for royalty, dear" replied Rarity "But I must be sincere and say that these accesories look simply divine. This armband looks positively ancient and stylish! Where do you think she got it?" Rarity murmured, analizing the looks of the alicorn while she made small clicking noises from time to time, apparently every time Rarity stopped to see some of her accesories.

"I think she's fun! Do you think she would like a party?" asked Pinkie bouncing in place.

"Everypony loves your parties Pinkie, but we need to sort things out right now" said Applejack to placate the urges of the party pony.

A small whistling sound could be heard and sooner than they could think about it Rainbow appeared with a paper bag

"One double giant hayburger menu with hayfries and soda for the big pony!" she said proudly, displaying the food towards the alicorn, who smelled the food with curiosity.

"By Celestia... Rainbow! Some fruit would have been enough!" scolded Rarity

"What? I love hayburgers, and so does Twilight! So she will love them too!" replied Rainbow with a proud smirk

"That is not how it works, Rainbow! Dear Twilight is a new princess so she needs to develop her palate a bit. I'm pretty sure that this grown princess on the other hoof has..." Rarity said only to be interrupted by one peculiar sound.

The alicorn was devouring the menu with glee, dirtying herself with ketchup and grease while eating like a starved pony.

"Well girls! The princesses are already informed and..." Twilight said while walking outside, Spike sitting on her back. She was left speechless because of the bizarre scene.

"Geez Twilight, she's even worse than you" said Spike with a smile

"Shush now, Spike. Well girls... mind to tell me what's happening?" asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you see darling. She looked hungry and started to eat from the ground so I asked Rainbow to bring her some food and..." explained Rarity

"And she attacked it like mah brother after applebuck season! Whoo whee girl... It's been some time since Ah saw somepony eat that fast" said Applejack, amused by the situation. Twilight sighed and went towards the alicorn, who was still eating with a big smile on her face.

"At least she's here and not wandering around town" said Twilight. "That could have been a disaster"

"Aw don't be so grumpy-pants, Twilight! She just enjoys the food. Can't you see her smile? Because I do!" said Pinkie while circling around the alicorn. "I'm happy that other ponies are happy!"

"Yes I saw, and we know Pinkie" replied Twilight with a small smile.

"She's huge! Do you think that she eats that much because she is so big?" asked Spike with childlike curiosity

"That's indeed food for thought, Spike" said Twilight.

"Don't you dare to steal my thunder, Twilight! I'm the one who cames with the puns after all" replied Spike while displaying a mocking frown.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to do that" Twilight replied with a smirk "I can't steal one of the hobbies of my number one assistant"

"That's right!" he said while nodding.

"I am the only one who is horrified by the way she is eating?" asked Rarity with incredulity in her voice.

"That's the most natural way to do it, Rares. Don't know what did ya expect" said Applejack. "Ain't nothing wrong with that"

"But it's she is so filthy right now..." said Rarity

"She can always clean herself, so worry none about that" replied Applejack with a smile "We don't need to make a fuss about it"

"Goodness gracious... Imagine what would the princesses think about her if they see her like this!" exclaimed Rarity

"See who like what, my little pony?" said a calm voice behind her.

Both Celestia and Luna were at the gates of the castle and apparently walked quietly towards the group, both wearing their usual regalia and calm smiles.

Rarity fainted on the spot, while the strange alicorn kept eating loudly and ignoring everything around her. Only the sound of the alicorn munching could be heard around the now surprised group of ponies.

Out of the Blue

"...so I just walked in and asked for some cashews and the poor thing just fainted! They thought that it was some delicacy for me and I always find like a ton of them in shrines and where I use to rest ever since. I'm even the official cashew sampler!" I said to little Blue as we were resting in some kind of coffee shop.

We've been walking around many pretty streets with buildings made as white as the castle itself. Many ponies went on their lives or tried to as almost all of them stopped to see me, usually with surprised expressions. I had to let Blue down before going to some art museum so I was a little sad. I was having a wave of nostalgia by just holding him with my wing. I knew that he was al grown up, but he was still smaller than my son...

"That is... interesting, Gaia. I am sure they were delighted to have you as their sampler." Blueblood said with an even voice. He was just trying to look disinterested, but I know he was enjoying this. He even dropped the 'princess' thing!

"Of course they were. They were always delighted by anything related to me. It was a little tiring, but I knew the were just being polite to me." I said with a small smile. They were just unable to see my mistakes or wrongdoings...

"It is the least they can do. An alicorn is above the common folk by definition. Every alicorn in Equestria holds incredible powers so they can carry their duties, a work that is usually vital for our world. Gratitude and respect towards them are to be expected." Blueblood said as he sipped on his coffee.

"But I don't want that for little old me, little Blue. I am happy to just be myself and see others being themselves too. Masks are worn in plays, not in life." I told him as I ate one of the cookies served with the coffee. These ponies love sweet things, and I think I do now too! My, you can't just eat one!

"One must learn to act in front of some ponies. That is the way of politics and society, Gaia... Would you please stop doing that?" He said as he sighed.

"Boin bwa?" I asked as best as I could with my mouth stuffed with cookies.

"That! It is improper for a lady to eat like a pig. You need to pick your food in small portions, and eat it in silence with your mouth closed." He explained to me as he levitated a cookie and took a small bite. Ah... I see...

"But that's just too slow.... and you can't taste the food with such small bites!" I told him with a giggle, making him grumble.

"It is not about tasting food, it is about appearances and looks. A lady needs to show her elegance and beauty, show that she is like a rose! A beautiful look supported by a strong stem with thorns to protect herself." He said as he nodded to himself. "Strong yet beautiful."

"I'm not like that, little Blue. You can't expect me to fit in that role of your silly social game!" I said to him as I laughed.

"But you are an alicorn! You need to be very example of a perfect mare, like my aunties!" He replied with conviction.

"But I'm not like a rose, dear. Someone very wise said long ago that I was like water." I simply said to him with a smile. He looked at me confused.

"Water? How so?" He asked with curiosity.

"I flow with the world, and wherever I go I adapt and immerse myself to learn and experience the many wonders that the world has to offer. Like water, I can nurture and help to grow from plants to entire cities... and like water I can appear as a devastating storm." I explained to him as I drank the coffee. Next time will ask for juice, coffee tastes horrible. Blueblood seemed to think about my words, frowning and moving his lips without making any sound.

"I cannot picture you doing harm to other creatures, Gaia." He said to me with seriousness. I smiled sadly at him.

"No one is perfect, little Blue" I simply replied as I looked around the busy street. So many ponies...

"I think an apology is in order..." Blueblood suddenly said.

"Oh?" I asked with curiosity. He sighed and looked at the ground.

"I have been judgmental to you and the first time I saw you I said very rude things to you... I do not know why but I have been thinking about my actions lately and I find myself ashamed of my behavior." He confessed as he looked around. "Seeing you so full of life and happiness is such a refreshing sight in a world where I find myself inside a cage of rules and norms that restrict me..." He said with sadness. Ah... I knew what was happening.

I had an effect on the creatures that are in my presence for long periods of time. I don't know why or how but the longer a creature is near me the more compelled it feels to show their true nature... and that was was happening to poor Blue. I turned his head towards me with my wing so he was looking to my eyes and smiled at him.

"You are a good pony Blueblood. You don't have to apologize about that. Don't worry about petty things and let us just enjoy this day at its fullest. What do you say?" I asked him with a wide smile. He managed to pull a small one himself after a bit.

"That is a request I find myself happy to comply." He replied with that tiny smile of his. I made him smile! Yes!

"Let's go then, there is still much to see!" I told him with a giggle as I stood up and got ready to go.

"Of course, let us-" Blueblood tried to say before he was interrupted by an annoying voice.

"Prince Blueblood, is that you?" a stallion with a neatly styled dark mane and pale blue coat said.He also wore small glasses and a suit. At his side was a mare with pale yellow coat and a blue and white mine also styled in a refined hairdo.

"Upper Crust, Jet Set... it is a pleasure to see you." Blueblood said with a tense voice.

"We did not know that you had a love affair your highness..." Said the mare known as Upper Crust.

"We are not an item, Upper Crust. This here is Princess Gaia, a foreign ruler. Gaia, these are Jet Set and Upper Crust, of the nobility of Canterlot." Blueblood explained. I waved to them with a smile.

"Hello!" I simply said, making them cringe. I looked at my hoof and saw that it was a bit dirty with cookie crumbles. Hm... cookies...

"I see... We will be on our way then your highness. We do not want to bother you and your special friend." Jet Set said with disdain before leaving us alone. Blueblood stomped his hoof on the table.

"How dare they? I will show those social leeches... Yes... of course!" He said as he looked at me with determination. "Say Gaia... I want to show you a very nice place..." Blueblood said with a somewhat creepy smile... I wonder what he has in mind!

"I love nice places. Lead the way!" I replied happily.

"They are late! Blueblood is never late!" Twilight said as she looked nervously around the throne room, already filled with delegates of several countries. The dragons were the only ones that were not present, but they are like Gaia and just live at their own pace.

"Be calm, Twilight Sparkle. I am sure our nephew will not try our patience after this morning." Luna said as she looked at the zebra ambassadors as they talked among themselves.

"Hear my sister's words, Twilight. They still have a couple of minutes." Celestia calmly said as she watched how everyone was nervous but excited. Twilight sighed and tried to relax.

"I wanted to ask Gaia about the planet. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash invited me to a small 'Congratulations for your New Planet" party and when we came back the sea was filled with microbes! And I don't know why!" Twilight said. Cadance put a hoof on her shoulder in a calmly way.

"Be patient, Twilight. I'm sure they will be here soon enough." Cadance said with a smile.

"I know, but what if Gaia decided to leave? What if Blueblood had a dark scheme to enslave her and conquer Equestria!?" Twilight said, making all the princesses laugh.

"I for one know that Blueblood is not evil. Stupid to a fault? Indeed he is, but he is not a villain." Luna said as she nodded.

Twilight decided to sit quietly and wait for them as she reflected about the day's events.

After Gaia left they had to interview each of the ambassadors as they arrived. Twilight was the luckiest and she had to interview the zebra ambassadors and thank to her times with Zecora she already knew some of their social norms. They were a pleasant couple and were very polite while asking questions about this 'new alicorn'.

Celestia got the buffaloes and they just got up to date with late events, argued and laughed. The buffalo ambassador was an old friend of hers and while his apprentice was a bit brash the interview went smoothly.

Luna had the griffins and even when we were far from them we could hear the loud yells and screeches from almost anywhere in the castle. It seemed that the griffins wanted to test Luna's warrior side, as Luna was the most temperamental of the sisters and she was absent when the griffins made peace with Equestria. What followed was 'old style diplomacy', which consisted on yelling loudly, insults and the trade of healthy threats. Also plenty of food and alcohol.

The griffin ambassador said that it was the best negotiations he had with Equestria in decades.

The saddle arabians expressed their wish to be surprised and decided to just politely decline the interview, much to Twilight's disappointment. She really wanted to talk to them.

After that, the princesses arranged a wide menu for the banquet and got the throne room ready for it. The guards prepared their drills and the maids cleaned all what could be cleaned. It was almost perfect.

They only missed the main guest.

The doors of the throne room were barely opened as Blueblood walked in. He wore a white suit and his mane while styled, fell on his side with an almost natural look to it. He walked to the table and coughed a bit.

"May I have your attention, please? Thank you." He said as everyone in the room stood silent. "Ladies and gentlecolts, it is my pleasure to present you... Princess Gaia." He said with a smile as he pointed to the throne doors as they opened slowly.

Gaia walked in with a slow gait almost shining under the candle lights. Her coat, mane, and tail were clean and groomed to a point that they looked out of a fashion magazine. Her mane and tail looked like a stream of water, flowing slowly towards the ground and instead of a ponytail she sported an elegant braid. Hooves masterfully polished, coat as green as a prairie and her mane and tail clean and flowing as a river... she looked stunning.

All the ambassadors were deathly silent as they observed Gaia, some of the male ones clearly blushing because of her. Twilight gasped and the other princesses were also left speechless at this great change in her looks. Blueblood just puffed out his chest and looked smugly at their faces.

Gaia stopped in front of the table and looked around her with a motherly smile on her face.

"Hello! My name is Gaia. Nice to meet you!" She said as she waved her hoof.

Blueblood almost tripped in place as he heard and looked at Gaia with a dumbfounded expression.

"Gaia... you were supposed to say the other phrase..." Blueblood whispered to Gaia, as she just tapped her head and stuck out her tongue in a playful manner.

"Oops! My bad!" She said with a giggle.

The Bright side of the Moon

One of the things that I missed the most were these festivals and fairs that used to be all over the place back on my planet. The merriment of all the creatures sure can give off a sense of liveliness that you can hardly find on any biome anywhere, barring some exceptions.

I like to spend most of my time surrounded by nature, that is a proven fact, but even someone such as myself likes to mingle and chat with others from time to time! And these big parties were the best place to do so, far from diplomats, politicians and other party poopers. But as all good things in life, these also went away in time.

With the creation of those computers and the virtual worlds the trichordians had less reasons to go out and mingle in big festivities, and it only went worse from there. Why would you when you can have the same from the comfort and security of your own house? Not that I was in the best health to enjoy anything during those times…

These ponies managed to keep these traditions alive and well, even if the causes were a bit sketchy from my point of view. Darn magic… Is everything on this planet completely affected by it? It’s a little… sad, to be honest. I can’t help but feel that the natural course of evolution on this little world has been stunted by it. I mean levitating things and other feats it’s pretty neat to see! The little ones here are full of wonderful surprises thanks to this magic… but the lack of any kind of guardian so far gives me this nagging feel from time to time…

Well, maybe I can find some clues along the way. For now… Let’s move these flanks!

“Whoa Gaia. I wasn’t sure if you would like it, but you sure are putting some energy with those moves!” the known voice of young Twilight said as she approached me with an amused smile.

“Twilight! Where were you hiding all day my dear? I’m glad to see you!” I said as I pulled her into a hug that she happily accepted, and even gave me one back. Yes!

“I’m afraid I was checking on the little planet and doing some research. I’ve been in a crystal fair before and while it’s a very fun event I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try my best helping you with your vacation schedule. No pony better to be guides than locals, right?” she happily said while floating some scrolls that were swiftly put away.

“And how is it going? I hope you are not stressing over it too much,” I sincerely said to her. I know how scholars can get regarding important experiments. She just smiled and shook her heard.

“Don’t worry, Gaia. I took Cadance’s advice to heart and put your tips to use. Whatever happens, it’ll be a learning experience,” she stated. Well done, girl! That’s the spirit!

“So… taking to heart the advice from the heart princess…” I playfully said, getting a playful shove from her as she giggled. Oh, the nerve!

“You know what I meant! You are as bad as Rainbow with your teasing.”

“All in good fun, my dear. And talking about fun, why don’t you dance with me? It’ll be a blast!” I asked her, getting a nervous smile from her.

“I’m not… the best dancer, Gaia. I’ll enjoy the music from-“

“Ah no! No frowns during a party! Just dance!” I said, bringing her with me and wildly moving at the rhythm of the music, “Let the music guide you!”

“G-Gaia, you look ridiculous!” she said, giggling at my mad dancing skills.

“I do not! I’m expressing my love for these beats! And if someone doesn’t like it, they can look elsewhere!” I firmly stated, bouncing and moving with the music. Twilight was unconsciously already moving with me as well.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” she said before starting to do a strange dance as she got closer to me.

“I can!” I simply replied, laughing out loud with the strange but enjoyable music the crystal ponies were playing.

And dance we did! I didn’t even notice when the moon went up in the sky either!

Twilight was finally enjoying herself, and the royal couple was also dancing too! Luna was just lightly bouncing to the rhythm of the music, but that’s okay! I know that she’s having a great time in her own way!

I was too to be honest, and I was bouncing from place to place, changing dance partners and also changing my dance moves whenever I wanted and when the lovely musicians changed songs. I felt… alive.

I’ve been in parties with my son and the trichordians back home enough times that even I can’t count them, but this… this was not the same. They always look at me differently back home, all of them except my son. These ponies though… there is respect, sure, but… they are not afraid, they approach me and talk to me like I’m one of them. They share their joys and their precious little time with a stranger like me.

I slowly stopped dancing as my energy suddenly began to fade. I decided to look at the party goers… the small smiles gracing their fuzzy faces not so different from mine. They were… relatable to me, in a primal way.

Their bodies, their mannerisms… even the language, once you were used to it… everything just fell uncannily in place, making it deceitfully familiar to me. Seemed like a perfectly developed society for creatures like me. A home outside home…but I knew better. It was all superficial, just a glance at what could’ve been at my planet, one of the many possible things that could’ve happened… but it was never meant to be.

Some of the dancers bump into me, and they ask for forgiveness as they continue their merriment. I give a muted apology as well just before more of them keep accidentally tripping because of me, as they were imitating my earlier energetic dance. I saw that the local alicorns were looked at me a bit confused as my body is pretty noticeable at a glance and everyone kept dancing into me thanks to the chaos of the lively party around us. It seems that the festival was escalating in scope… and quickly at that.

Feeling a sudden wave of weariness, I finally decided to move out of the dance floor and rest for a while on a delightfully peaceful garden that I saw earlier. I had the need to commune with the local nature and see if it could calm my sudden emotional state. It’s been hard to keep my feelings under control lately… maybe I should ask Prometheus about it. I decided to take a last look at the now wild party, now with everyone apparently starting a choreographed song and dance as soon as I left enough space for it. In the end I was unable to fight the sad smile that managed to conquer my usual motherly expression, my eyes finding the ground extremely interesting for some reason.

…Oh my, they need to polish this crystal ground more thoroughly. With all of these partying going on it lost luster and it’s all blurry.

The lunar princess was used to comforting ponies in their dreams, when they are most vulnerable. She had to be more careful if they were suffering from recurrent nightmares or night terrors. She prided herself in being there for anypony and anycreature that slept under her watch.

Awakened ponies on the other hoof were the specialty of her older sister. She was the more extroverted and social princess after all… but by being the oldest alicorn at the moment this duty fell on her withers, and if she was being honest with herself she felt less nervous than she initially thought. That, and her niece convinced her to do so.

Both princesses saw how the green mare was suddenly struck by a mood and they were unable to reach her before she departed from the party. They debated for a little bit regarding who should be with Gaia and, while Cadance was the better alicorn to read emotions it was finally Luna who decided to go. She was going to share the road with her after all.

And there she was, right in the middle of a small floral garden. The plants were in full bloom even without sunlight and the atmosphere itself had a calming effect in the night princess. Even so, she pressed on and decided to imitate her dear sister and approached the resting mare, laying down beside her and pressing her barrel to Gaia’s.

“A bit for your thoughts?” Luna started with a calm tone, getting some movement from the old mare.

“Oh… sorry if I made you worry. It’s just that all the noise was getting to me,” she stated, not convincing the younger pony at all.

“Gaia, I can see your damp cheeks even without the light from my Moon… Did we upset you in some way? What did we do wrong?”

“No! You didn’t do anything wrong, honest! It’s just…” she tried to say, her mind betraying her voice and making her stumble with her words, “These last few days… they’ve been a dream come true. A dream I’m afraid to wake up from.”

“How so?” Luna inquired, putting her wing over the green mare.

“These days in your world I’ve been surrounded by people like me almost all the time, all with their little differences but similar enough that they are not alienated when I’m around, even your guests from other species,” she confessed, looking at the somewhat distant party, “For most of my life, it’s been just me… and when I noticed a life was growing inside me I didn’t have words to express how it felt. Words didn’t exist back then!” she told Luna, earning a curious expression from the younger alicorn, “After he was born he made words and inventions at a pace I’ve never seen. He created new concepts and learned languages from other regions in days! He made me so proud… but I was unable to express it until so much later… How could I if I didn’t know how to speak, read or write?”

“Gaia…”

“I tried so hard… but when I thought I learned how they talked they were already speaking another, more modern language. While my son was writing theories about how the cosmos itself worked I was learning how to write my own name… only to be a dead language by then. It made me realize how dumb and unwelcome I truly was within society. I was just… too different. Always adored… but from a safe distance, lest I destroy something by mistake.”

“Surely your son cared for you? I don’t believe he is capable of abandoning you in any way or form. He adores you!”

“He did try to take care of me and help me… when he had the time at least. He was always busy. He still is to this day… I just knew that I was in the way of everyone, so I decided to go back to what I was able to understand,” she explained, playing with some blades of grass, “But here… with just a scroll and some of your magical thingies you are able to make someone like me understand your language in an instant! I know that it was that Discord boy that was the one that helped me, but your sister told me about your hard work looking and finding a spell to help me understand you! A few moments later and it would’ve been you the one that gifted me with your language.”

“It was nothing, really…” Luna bashfully said, getting an earnest smile from Gaia.

“But it was! I suddenly was able to know you in the moment and not after the fact, just like that! I didn’t have to wait centuries just to be able to say hello and actually remember the meaning of your words! And what were your first questions?” she finally asked, starting to cry with a smile still on her face, “What was my name… who I was… where I came from… what I liked… what I…” Gaia said, but chocked on her words as he started to cry tears of joy, “What I wanted… what I felt… not what I was made of, or how much pain I could sustain, or…”

“Gaia, I…” Luna tried to speak, unable to bring any kind words and finally deciding on hugging the big mare, getting her to carefully cling on her smaller form as she desperately hugged her, “I can’t even imagine… Oh Gaia…”

“Even this vacation was not my decision or my idea… but I accepted anyways. I know I’m always in the way, and my children don’t need me anymore…”

“Gaia, that’s not true. Surely, they-“

“But I do know, Luna… but that’s okay, really,” she said as she kept hugging the lunar alicorn, “Because I would’ve never met any of you wonderful ponies otherwise, and for that I am thankful… thankful to have the opportunity to experience what it feels to belong… to not be the stranger anymore…”

The alicorn’s embrace lasted for quite some time as they just stood there for each other, the younger of the two consoling the giant but emotional pony. Gaia managed to get back from her inner turmoil after a time, and was just contently hugging the dark alicorn and squeezing her from time to time. Luna was pensive, thinking on Gaia’s words and deciding that she would advise on possible routes and nothing more, eventualities be damned! ‘It’s what Celly would’ve done’ she thought, smiling as she suddenly had a daring idea.

“You know… you are still quite strange to be honest. I mean, who eats cutlery anyway?” Luna suddenly said, earning a shove and laughter from Gaia.

“We were having a heart-to-heart and you had to ruin it, you mean pony!”

“I am Princess Mean, thank you very much!” Luna said, posing like one of those pompous nobles from Canterlot, head held high and everything. Unfortunately that made her vulnerable to ranged weaponry like crystal berries launched by a now combative alicorn. “H-Hey! Those can stain!”

“Afraid to get dirty? Oh ho ho… I’m going to pelt you with them ‘till you change color… and then I’m going to clean and pretty you all up real nice like the little princess that you are…” the suddenly malicious alicorn said, a savage smile making way on her face. The stalwart defender of Equestria faltered a bit, suddenly aware that her joking maybe was a bit too successful.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Luna defied, taking a step back.

“Would you bet on that?” Gaia said, readying her leg loaded with fruits.

Thankfully Luna remembered that night that she had promised her sister to be a model princess, so no debts were incurred because of any kind of betting. It would’ve been improper for a princess.

If not, she would’ve lost many bits.