The First Lesson

Chapter 3: The First lesson

Morning at Gallopia had arrived. Had this been a normal day where both of her parents, King Solaris and Queen Artemis (or Prince and Princess as they were known by the common pony tribes.) would be present at Gallopia Bastion and would have personally woken her up. So instead, Celestia and to wake up on her own merit.

Celestia's first meal was starkly usual: some kind of seedy red fruit with a side of eggs with either lobster or fish eggs cooked within it. A little after two-thirds of eating her well cooked but usual and normal meal, she noticed by way of looking at a court sundial that she was very late to her second (or is that first?) lesson with Goethe.

Celestia looked to the table's proper assistant, an earth pony, said, "I'm in a hurry. Just clean up anything I didn't touch or eat." Then Celestia sped away.

"Should have used the Royal Gallopian Voice." Celestia thought.

The Young Princess of Equestria sped down halls and corridors of the upper and lower parts of the Gallopia Bastion, trying to get to the court that Goethe had told her to meet her at during their "zeroth" lesson yesterday.

When she did get to the court the duchess was at, she was taring out beyond the bastion with her dark red hair flowng and with a stare that looked like it could see the very fabled Ti mountains.

"Duchess!! Duchess Goethe!! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for being so late for our first lesson!!" Celestia hollered in the Royal Gallopian voice.

Despite Celestia's yelling, Duchess Goethe still didn't turn to face her to talk and start the lesson. Was she angry at the Princess?

"Goethe?" Celestia wondered out loud, referring to only her royal name.

At last, after what seemed like forever waiting, Duchess Goethe turned around and bent down to look Princess Celestia square in the face. At first young Celestia thought that she was in trouble with her, but that all changed after Duchess Goethe started to smile a little at her.

"Princess Celestia" She said. "The only reason that I had a set time I wanted to meet you here is because I didn't want you to just be running around all day or reading instead of learning things valuable to a Princess of Equestria."

"Oh, then you're NOT mad at me?" Celestia asked, still a little nervous and scared of the possibility of ridicule.

"No, I'm not." Geothe explained to her.

Celestia wiped the brow of her little head.

After a short bit of silence, Goethe said, "So, are you ready to learn what we have to do, and where we have to go for Lesson One?"

"Well..." Princess Celestia had no Clue.

"Today for lesson One we will experience the learning field of astronomy firsthand: on the very moon herself." Duchess Geothe said quite normally.

"Wait, the Moon?"

Before Celestia could even react with another sentence or action, Duchess Goethe's horn lit up crimson, and both Alicorns had  disappeared magically. When they reappeared, the ponies were now on the service of Equestria's planet's only natural satellite.

"Ugh...ah...ump..." Celestia sounded like she was almost choking.

"What's wrong?" Duchess Goethe objectively asked.

"But we really are on the...m-moon...and our planet..." Her gaxe was not on the moon, Geothe noticed, but on her own home planet.

"It's so small, I know." She looked back to Celestia."Can you...FEEL the tremors?"

"What tremors, earthquakes, what?"

"Stop, listen." Celestia was nudged by Geothe to stop talking and walking.

After about what was probably 2 minutes, Celestia felt little shakes in the ground.

"What is it?" Celestia asked.

"Volcanic eruptions all over the surface. Our moon is unstable, and prone to volcanic eruptions ever since we started to teleport her with Alicorn magic, really as far as we as a species can remember. I want you to take in every minute of it as part of your royal education."

But things did not remain quiet as Celestia quickly asked, "The moon is lacking of an atmosphere, right? So as ponies, why or how are we-" Goethe cut her off.

"My Alicorn magic, " Goethe started, pointing to her Horn, glowing a faint red. "Creates a shell of breathable air via a spell I casted around us." Geothe guestered around them with her hoof.

"I...guess that makes sense..." Celestia muttered.

Goethe's educational remarks about the moon fascinated Celestia even more than her remarks about the sun, despite herself being named after the sun. Perhaps it was the smallerness and livable aspects of the moon she appreciated compared to the harsh sun's temperature and unlivability. Whatever the reason, she managed to take a moon rock home to put in her room.

After the last few footnotes were said concerning the science and geography of Celstia's planet's moon, Celestia asked if Goethe could expand the helium shell so that she could explore a little. When Goethe did, Celestia started to run away from Duchess Goethe, and start to climb the Lunar highlands. After a couple minutes of climbing the lunar hills, she started to get even farther from Duchess Goethe.

"Look at meeeee!!" Celestia said flying and floating around either out of flying with her wings, or taking advantage of the moon's much lower gravity. Just when she was about to take off again, Celestia struck a large lunar stone. In just a couple seconds, Celestia was bleeding with her body flat on the ground, then Celestia did something any filly would do, she started crying.

Goethe, who was no more than trying to get over the next hill, saw Celestia just lying their, and teleported to inspect her. When she had teleported to her, Goethe now saw that Princess Celestia was bleeding, and that the fun was now officially over. She teleported herself and young Celestia back to Gallopia Bastion.

When Princess Celestia open her tightly closed eyes, she was in a smaller bedroom with her open wounds being treated by Duchess Goethe herself. She really didn't have that bad of a scrape, but it knocked the breathe out of hrtr, and it was a bad enough scrape to garn herself medical attention.

Goethe noticed that that Celestia had opened her eyes now. "Oh, you're aware where you are now. How do you feel?"

Princess Celestia sniffed up some of her mucus that ran down her nose. "Fine, I guess, now that you put a bandage on mu cuts."

"You really didn't hurt yourself that badly, but, you have to rest now since you hurt yourself nevertheless. This is my own room." Goethe looked around her simple but decorative "lesser nobility" room. "I actually live in a sort of castle-mansion on the southern part of this continent."

"Where's that?"

"I'll tell you when we do Geography and History, silly!" Goethe told Celestia. "But really, my "real home" is kept and attended by many servants, why I even have my own-"

"Um, Madame Goethe?" A male voice came from behind her.

Standing behind Duchess Goethe was a Captain of the royal guard, a pegasi in fact, he had the normal look of soldiers about him.

Geothe glanced up and around to see him. "Excuse me for a moment." She said to Celestia. Goethe walked over to the Pegasus.

What the young Princess Celestia heard was just a few mutterings and a couple of noddings and groans from Goethe. Eventually they both nodded, and the Pegasus walked off.

After he was gone, Celestia said, "What did he say to you?"

Goethe came back to her bed with a neutral face "Well, your mother and father will be away longer then expected. And I've also been told that the problems going on with the unicorns is still at it's height, which means that the talks of secession and moving to another continent are still prevalent. And lastly...it has been reported that Queen Artemis might be very sick. She's been eating odd foods as of late, and her stomach appears to be very bloated, things do not look good." Princess Celestia frowned after this.

"Oh don't worry, things will probably be alright in the end. You really shouldn't worry about such things. What you need to do now is rest."

Celestia snuggled down into her regal blankets. "Alright. Nighty-night."

Goethe blew out the candles and started to proceed to the door, but before she shut it, she said, "OH! There's one last thing I forgot to tell you that that officer told me."

The Princess got up in her bed. "What?"

"Well, as much as I love teaching you, there is a certain Unicorn who I would love for you to meet, who could relieve me of my duties as teacher, so I can exercise my duties as regional Duchess, or governor  of my part of Equestria." She glanced just one last look outside of the room. "Anyway, I need to get some rest in one of the guest room, so good-night."

"But WAIT!" Celestia called out, what is his name?"

"His name," Duchess Goethe said, just before closing the door. "well, he has many names, but the name I use to call him is Ridnarhtim."