Seeds

by SaintAbsol


Seeds of Magic 2/4

Howdy!

Thanks fer stoppin’ by again; I’ve been workin’ somethin’ fierce to get more free time fer another o’ these here interviews.  Sorry it took so long, but that’s the price I pay fer bein’ me; there are times I miss being ‘just another earth pony’ and not ‘The Earth Pony Sorceress’.  Don’ really like that title, but it’s the easiest one fer other ponies to understand.  I never really saw mahself as any sorta ‘sorceress’ or ‘witch’, to use what some o’ the other ponies call me, but it’s one of those things that just sorta stuck after a while.

Anyway, I’m ramblin’; let’s actually get this whole thing started, shall we?

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Dragon-of-Twilght presents:

A Pony POV Series side-story:

Seeds of Magic; Part 2 of 4
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It’s actually really hard to explain how it works, mah spellcastin’ I mean.  Even unicorns don’ seem to really get it; I mean... I can try, if y’all really want me to.

It’s sorta like... I don’ see the world exactly like most ponies see it.  I mean... I still see everythin’ the way y’all do, but there’s something extra there too.  Magic is in everythin’, even if it ain’t always obvious; it’s like with trees and other plants: Magic comes from the world around ya, through yer grub and water and a bit from yerself, and lets ponies and other things do all they can do.  When ya die, that magic goes back to the world and ya give the magic ya made for yerself to it as well, I think that’s where ley lines come from mahself; that’s why Equestria and the rest o’ the world is so dang magical, it just gets more and more magical as time goes on.  In a way, ya could say that magic is life itself.

Anyway, since I’m an Earth Pony, I understand how to push that magic this way and that to get what I want.  It ain’t too different than what I used to do when I could still work on the farm; it ain’t exactly like what unicorn’s do, since they push some o’ their own magic outta their horns to alter the magic in the world.  I just use the magic that’s already there and change it around a bit; it’s where those circles come from, I have ta direct and keep track o’ the magic when I change it, and that’s how I do it.

Like I said, it’s hard to explain and that’s the best I got.

Hmm?  ‘Teachin’ others to do the same thing’?  ...ya know... I don’ rightly know if that could work.  I mean, it theory, it sounds like it could since I do it; o’ course, ‘in theory’, it’s also said that any self-sustaining spell o’ adequate power could start producin’ thumatic surges ‘n quirks that would lead to it thinkin’ on it’s own, but that’s about as likely as a hog sproutin’ wings and flyin’ off to Cloudsale.

...whatcha lookin’ at me like that fer?  Ya think I wouldn’t know somethin’ like that?  I’m the Element o’ Magic, Sugarcube; o’ course I know tons about it.

Either way, we’ve kinda lost the story here; I’m supposed to be tellin’ ya about mah life right now, not givin’ lessons in magic.  Where’d we leave off last time?

(Interviewers Notes(Earth Pony): You were about to tell us about when you joined the school.)

Thank ya, Darling.

Though, before I get into that, I reckon I should talk about mah livin’ situation followin’ the Rainboom.

Don’ you go rollin’ your eyes at me, missy!  This is about mah family, o’ course it’s important!

(Interviewers Notes(Pegasus): Okay, okay; sheesh!  Sorry.)

Anyway... proud or not, there was no way Granny could afford to even rent an apartment in Canterlot; not to mention, she didn’t have anypony qualified enough to look after the orchard that she could get ahold o’ on short notice like that.  And I didn’t even wanna think about askin’ the Princess to arrange somethin’; I mean... yeah, she probably would think o’ somethin’, but it just don’ feel right askin’ her fer things when she does so much already.

Turns out, though, we could take a third option.  Ya see, Aunt and Uncle Orange, they own their own company in Manehatten, with a lot of branches all o’er Equestria.  They’d been lookin’ fer an excuse to move to Canterlot fer a while, and their niece bein’ personal student to the princess was a pretty good one.

Hmm?  Oh, their company makes lots o’ things; that’s the big difference between the Apples and the Oranges.  See, us Apples, we stayed traditional: Makin’ pies and fritters and cider the ole fashioned way and stickin’ with plain ole apples (and occasionally Zap Apples).  The Oranges, they went the opposite way: Findin’ every little product they could make with oranges and monopolizin’ the market on them, it’s what got them all their money.  I used to think they were pretty low for that, like they were makin’ a big joke about how much work the Apples put into what they made, but I also used to think unicorn magic weren’t real work either.

Uncle Orange pretty much works his-self to the bone tryin’ to make sure his workers all get paid, even if he has to take a pay cut, and don’ tolerate any shady dealings in his business.  He’s always meetin’ with ponies to try and help his company grow, and it’s hard to make everythin’ work for them and still make bits at the end o’ the day.  And Aunt Orange, she ain’t too much different; she’s got a good amount o’ sense about her when it comes to business.  Mares like her ‘n Rarity, they’re so focused on lookin’ good cause it’s all about makin’ an impression; you can argue this way and that way about it bein’ superficial, and-believe me- the Apples and the Oranges have, but it all boils down to respect.

Fer the Apples, respect is about bein’ true to who you are and not ashamed o’ it in the least; fer the Oranges, respect is about takin pride in what you’ve accomplished and not hidin’ it.  Can some o’ both take it too far, o’ course, but that don’ make them bad ponies, it’s just who they are.

Me?  ...ya know, I guess y’all could call me both an Apple AND an Orange.  I’m true to who I am, since I’m always practicin’ magic no matter what anypony says about an earth pony being able to do it, and I take pride in mahself for being the first one to shake things up so much.  Personally, I want to get the families back together; they could learn a lot from each other, if they weren’t so danged stubborn about it.

Anyway, we’ve gotten off the trail again; mah aunt and uncle sold their house in Manehatten, givin’ ‘em just enough money to afford a house in Canterlot.  It ain’t some big, fancy mansion like some ‘o the ponies in Canterlot, but it’s a respectable place in the middle class district; ‘corse, ‘Middle Class’ in Canterlot is ‘Upper Class’ just about everywhere else.  Either way, it’s a pretty nice place, and they’re making a good enough name fer themselves.

Anyway, about the school.

Once everything had been taken care of as far as living arrangements were concerned, I was set to start mah education.

Now, like the Princess had said, I was her personal pupil, so she would be teachin’ me things that no other pony would be learnin’.  O’corse, I still had to get a normal education in it as well; the princess has a lot to do pretty much all day long, so there was no way she could just teach me everythin’ from the ground up.  I was really lookin’ forward to it, since I’d spent so much time listenin’ to Page Turner, but... well, mah first day wasn’t exactly what I’d been expectin’.



It was late in the spring, which made me think of the fact that it was only a few months until Applebuck season back on the farm, and Aunt Orange had insisted on comin’ with me to see me off.  Uncle Orange had wanted to come, but he had an important meetin’ and couldn’t miss it; I couldn’t hold it against him though, since he had moved here just ‘cause of me.  Besides, it was mah first day and I would have been bouncin’ if it weren’t fer my leg; I felt like a pegasus flyin’ all the way to the moon and back and couldn’t wait to get started.  Aunt Orange had even bought me a blue bow to wear so I could make a good impression; sorta like the one Apple Bloom’s always wearin’ these days.

Thanks to mah limp, and bein’ apprenticed to the princess, I had been given a special pass to let the teachers know I was supposed to be there, and to help with the fact that I was going to be late to all mah classes, but I’d promised to study hard and make up the difference.  They also offered to have a pony carry all mah books fer me; but... well, y’all know how stubborn I am when I get an idea in mah head.  I turned ‘em down on account o’ wantin’ to not be a lazy lump o’ a pony; I had learned to walk again just to come here, I weren’t gonna let some books stop me.

I said goodbye to Aunt Orange at the doors, and walked in; and let me tell ya, it was pretty overwhelmin’ to actually be here finally.  Back in Ponyville, there was just that one-room schoolhouse for all the colts and fillies to go at different times; here, I swear, I felt ya coulda fit all o’ Ponyville into this school, Sweet Apple Acres included!  Part o’ it was me still bein’ a filly, thinkin’ everythin’ was big; part o’ it was it just bein’ that doggone big!  I really don’ know how big it actually is, but I know it’s part o’ the palace, and that ain’t small.

I’d been given a schedule the week before, so I had some idea of where to go, and the signs helped with the rest.  My first class o’ the day was ‘Advanced Telekinesis 201’, and started five minutes before I actually go there; I could hear the teacher lecturin’ before I’d even opened the door.

“-known if these moments of power speak to magical prowess at a young age, or it they are completely random.  Now, if you turn to...”  He trailed off as I limped in, lookin’ at me with a cocked eyebrow.  He was about Uncle Orange’s age, had a blue coat and a white mane; his cutie mark actually reminded me o’ mine: it was a really complex seal, the kind ya see on warding spells a lot.  Still, seemed that nopony had told him he’d to expect company.  “Can I help you?”

I really don’t blame him for bein’ confused; I was probably the only earth pony in the whole danged school, and he was supposed to be teachin’ unicorns.  But I was still young and excited, so I just reached into mah saddlebags and pulled mah note.  He levitated it over and read it, just looking more and more confused as he did.  Finally, he turned to me again.  “Is this some kind of joke?”

I shook my head at this.  “No way, teach; Ah’m yer newest student.”  I admit, I had a bit o’ pride there and puffed out mah chest like a showpony; can ya blame me?  I was here on orders from Princess Celestia herself, it’s kinda hard not to be proud o’ something like that.

He blinked a few times, still tryin’ to wrap his brain around the whole thing.  “But... you’re an earth pony.”

“Uh... yeah; and...?”  I’d been through this already with the entrance ponies, I didn’t want to deal with it again.  “Look, the princess herself signed that, sayin’ Ah could be here; it don’ matter if’n Ah’m an Earth Pony or not.”  I could tell he still wanted to argue the point, but he couldn’t think of an actual reason to back up his argument beyond me bein’ an earth pony.

“Fine,” he finally sighed and floated the note back to me, “take a seat, Miss...”

“Applejack,” I put mah note back in mah bag, “thank ya kindly, Teach.”  There weren’t a lot of choices for sittin’, so I took the closest on to the door I could find; the less walkin’ I had to do on mah leg, the better.

“Er... yes, now then....”  The unicorn had to take a moment to get his head back on straight, but he managed it.  “As I was saying, please turn to page 27 in your books.”  I pulled out the book that I’d gotten for the class, then started flippin’ through it.  “Now, while telekinesis is a very common magic, it is very rarely given much attention; I can assume that most of you,” I swear he looked at me then, “have used it at least once outside of this school.  However, how many of you can tell me the limits of telekinesis as it applies to unicorns?”

The other foals around the class seemed pretty nervous, well, the ones that weren’t just starin’ at nothin’ anyway.  None o’ them seemed to be raising a hoof, so I did; problem was, the teacher didn’t seem to be lookin’ my way.  He just paced about in front of the class, frownin’ like Granny Smith would whenever she caught us sneakin’ cookies before lunch.  “Anypony?  Anypony at all?”  I tried to sit up a bit more, with mah hoof wavin’ about a bit to get his attention.  “At least one of you should know this.”

“Why don’t you ask the earth pony,” I knew that tone o’ voice, and I didn’ like it one bit, “she seems so eager to answer.”

Either way, it got the teacher to look at me; though his eyebrow looked about ready to make a break fer his mane it was so high up.  “Er... Miss Applejack?  Do you need to use the facilities?”

I dropped mah hoof and gave him a look, followed by one of those ‘Nopes’ that just seemed to run in our family.  “But Ah would like ya to clear somethin’ up fer me, Teach.”

“And that would be?”

I took a breath, then started right in on the matter.  “Well, when yer talkin’ about the ‘limits’ fer Telekinesis, do y’all mean in terms of the mass one pony could lift?  Or the amount o’ stuff they could carry?”

The unicorn started, and tried to get his wits about his-self again, “Er, well...” but I was on a roll.

“Cause, if’n yer talkin’ about how much one pony could lift, that’s determined by the amount o’ mana a pony can channel plus eighty percent o’ their total mana reserves all o’er the mass o’ the object in grams.”  He opened his mouth again, trying to say something.  “But, if y'all mean how many things you can lift, then you have to take whatever number ya get from the mana calculations and then divide it by the ‘Split Magical Constant’ o’ .656 before takin’ that number and dividin’ it by all by the weights o’ the various things y’all’d be liftin’.  So, in theory, y’all could carry more overall weight if ya split it between a bunch o’ little things instead o’ one big thing.

“O’ course, that implies similarly talented unicorns; and, if’n ya add in Cutie Mark skills, then ya have to consider-”

“Thank you, Miss Applejack!”  He finally managed to cut me off, lookin’ like he’d just seen a ghost or somethin’.  “Th-that was very... very informa- How do you know all this?!”  He was starin’ at me like I was hidin’ a horn under mah mane.  “I’ve only met one other pony with that much knowledge at a young age, and she was a unicorn.  How do you know so much about telekinesis!?”

I just shrugged, “Cause Ah do!”

He opened his mouth a few more times, trying to say somethin’ apparently, but I don’t think he could think right fer a bit.  Found his voice in the end, though.  “Y-yes, quite.”  He gulped, and then turned back to his desk.  “As Miss Applejack said, the limit of your telekinetic powers is determined mostly by your own internal mana and how adept you are at channeling it.”  He hit a stride as he opened one of his drawers and levitated out some pieces of string.  “Now, as you’re all still young, your own telekinetic skills will not be all that developed, even with the qualifications to get into the school.  However, this is not an weight intensive exercise.”  He levitated one of the strings separate from the rest o’ them, then floated it up fer all the class to see.  “I want you to take your strings,” he started to manipulate it with only his magic, “and attempt to tie a knot using only your telekinesis.  Now, you won’t be graded on complexity or craftsponyship, so don’t try to get too complex with the work; also, time isn’t a major factor, since this is the focus of today’s lesson: Dexterity.  I have a few other exercises planned, but we’re starting simple for now”

He started to float them out, givin’ the class one each to work with fer a bit; until he got to the unicorn next to me and just stopped.  I raised mah hoof to get his attention after that.  “Uh, Teach; y'all fergot somepony.”

He gave me one o’ those smiles an adult gives a foal when they say somethin’ like ‘Ah wanna be a Guard Pony!’ or ‘Ah’m gonna tame an Ursa Major!’; the kind foals get sick o’ after the first time.  “Miss Applejack, while I commend you on your knowledge of the theory of Telekinesis, you can’t seriously expect me to believe you can actually perform this exercise.”

Now, again, he had no way o’ knowin’ any better; it weren’t like the princess had taken time outta her day to make a city wide announcement that I was attendin’ her school and why I’d gotten permission to enter.  But, at the time, I was pretty dadgum mad at him fer sayin’ that.

“How about ya give meh one o’ them there strings and Ah’ll show you.”

“Fine, I’ll call your bluff.”  It was that same voice from before, soundin’ even more snooty and stuck-up than last time.  One o’ the other fillies in the class stood up and walked o’er to me; she was about mah age, maybe a bit older, and had a coat the color o’ slightly stale cream and striped mane with white and light purple.  She carried herself like she owned the whole, danged world and tossed her string into mah face when she got close.  “Let’s see you do magic, Earth Pony.”  She chuckled all condescending-like as I brushed the string off o’ me and glared at her.

Now’s as good a time as any to tell y'all how telekinesis works for me.  See, with unicorns, they just push some magic outta their horns and wrap what they want to move up in it to pull it this way and that.  Me, on the other hoof, I have to more or less make a ball o’ mana around what I want to move, than use more mana to direct those around; it’s actually a not as complicated as that makes it sound, but it confuses most unicorns when I talk about it.

Anyway, I was there to learn, but I was angry at the other filly for challengin’ me like like that; and, Sugarcube, there ain’t no Apple worth their name that backs away from a challenge.

I looked at the string, then held out mah hooves; I decided to use two, since it would make directin’ two mana balls easier.  First step was wrappin’ up the ends; simple enough, but the gasp that went through the class when those runes popped up around mah hooves felt real good, so’d the look on that snooty filly’s face.  Next, the circles around mah hooves got a bit more complicated and some more runes appeared around the ends o’ the string and it lifted up.  I moved mah hooves around, directin’ the two ends to move with each hoof.  It weren’t easy, since I was still a young’n, but I managed.

Eventually, I’d managed to managed to make a bow like what I was wearin’ at the time and set it down.  The runes faded away since I weren’t channeling magic anymore and the string floated back down, still tied up.  I gave the filly that had gotten smart with me mah best ‘Take That’ look, “That enough magic fer ya?”

Unfortunately, the teacher passed out before I could really enjoy rubbing it in.


I have to admit, I didn’ expect to be sittin’ in the principal’s office in the middle o’ mah first day, especially when I didn’ do nothin’ wrong.  The teacher’d woken up after a few o’ the other students started pokin’ him, then he hauled me down to the office while muttering to himself.  Couldn’ git a word outta him as to why I was in trouble or nothin’, but I did see a smirk on the one filly’s face that made me wish I could still buck.

Turns out, though, the principal was just as confused as I was over the whole thing.  The princess had talked to him, so he was aware o’ what I could do, so he just sat there while the teacher talked about it.

“And she waved her hooves about like some stage magician and it tied itself in a knot.”  It was kinda funny that he’d make a big deal out of it, since he was waving his own hooves while he said it.  “I just couldn’t take it anymore, so here we are.”

The principal, a unicorn stallion who looked about as old as Granny Smith, just sat there through the whole story without a word.  When he finally did speak, he seemed about as talkative with Macintosh around strangers.  “And?”

The teacher looked fit to be tied after that.  “What do you mean ‘And’?  there has to be something you can do!”

He looked at the teacher.  “Let me see if I understand this before I do anything else: You want me to punish a filly for displaying adeptness at telekinesis... in a class dedicated to teaching advanced uses of telekinesis?”  The teacher did that thing where his mouth moved, but nothing came out again.  “That’s what I thought.”

He did eventually find his voice though.  “But- but-” he pointed a hoof at me, as if that was all the evidence he needed.  “She’s an earth pony!”

“So what if Ah’m an Earth Pony?”  The teacher looked at me, since I hadn’t spoke up once in mah defense before then.

“It doesn’t- that’s not-” Honestly, at this point, I started to feel sorry fer him.  He could barely make it through a whole sentence without tripping o’er his tongue, and he was lookin’ pretty frazzled o’er the whole thing.  “It’s not possible!  Earth ponies can’t do unicorn magic!”

“And yet,” the principal spoke up, “she does.”  He sighed and rubbed at his head below the horn.  “I do realize that this is a lot to take it, I went through it too when Her Majesty explained the situation to me, but- as impossible as it is- there is no denying the evidence in front of us.  Miss Applejack is clearly an earth pony, and she can clearly do magic; it may not be ‘possible’ as we understand magic, but it has happened regardless.  This isn’t something to be discouraged or punished, as hard as it understand as it may be, it’s something we can only encourage and watch what happens.”

This time, the teacher didn’t open his mouth and seemed to be thinkin’ on what he’d been told, which seemed just fine by the principal.  “Now, I suggest you return to your class; leaving magically potent foals alone for a long period of time is generally a bad idea.  Miss Applejack, I do hope you have a much better rest of your first day.”

The teacher nodded, and I hopped down from the seat and followed him out; the whole way back, he seemed to still be thinkin’ on what the principal had said.  Finally, right as we got back to the door, he turned to me.  “Miss Applejack, for what it’s worth, I-”

“Ya dun need to say it, Teach,” I interrupted him, “Ah fergive ya.”

He smiled at me.  “That may be, but I still want to say it: I’m sorry for singling you out like that, just because if your... unique situation.”  And, with that, we both walked back into the class.


Yeah, it was nice to have him say it, even if I didn’ hold it against him; he was just over-reactin’ to the whole thing, since I’m pretty shocking when you think about it.  Plus, he’d been teaching things a certain way for so long, it’s kinda hard fer a pony to just up and change just because somethin’ new pops up.  O’ course, just ‘cause the teacher was good with it, didn’ mean everypony else was.


Ya see, after that incident with mah telekinesis teacher, the principal had given me a new note to carry with me that explained things to the other teachers, so there weren’t gonna to be any more issues with them not knowin' what I could do.  But that just meant that the students were free ta talk about me without the teachers to correct them.

It don’ matter how big a school is; one a rumor starts, it goes through there like a rabbit through a carrot patch.  By midday, literally ever filly and colt in school had heard o’ me and had their own cockimamy theory about what I was: A witch, an alien, somethin’ from the Everfree; I lost track o’ all the things they called me that day, all I know is that next to none o’ them were happy about it.

That one filly who’d try to call mah bluff in class made that clear when she and some o’ her friends waited fer me outside o’ one mah classes just as it let out, and wasted no time in tellin’ me what they thought.

“You should go back to the farm where you belong, Earth Pony.”  The filly was glarin’ at me, backed up by three o’ her friends o’ course, and stepped to block me when I tried to get around her.  “I’m talking to you!”

“And Ah ain’t listenin’!”  I didn’ wanna listen to her anymore, I just wanted to get to mah next class and put her and all her friends behind me fer the rest o’ the day.  “So move yer hide ‘n Ah’ll go mah way and y'all can go yers.”

“Ugh, have you heard yourself talk!”  She put on a goofy expression and pushed her lip back so her front teeth stuck out.  “Ah dunno mah own plot from a hole in da ground!”  She dropped the expression and looked like she’d just eaten an over-ripened apple.  “Wow, I actually feel dumber for talking like that; I can only imagine how you feel.”  Mah face was burnin’ after that, but Granny had always taught me never to feed into a bully’s bad attitude.  It still didn’ feel good though, not when I was bein’ insulted to mah face.

“What, are you too stupid to think of something to say?”  I ground mah teeth and tried to hold mah tongue; they had other classes, they’d have to leave sooner or later.  “Are you even listening to me, Mud Hooves?”  Yeah... ya hear about things like that, but it’s always to somepony else.  I mean, for all the pride I’ve got in being an Earth Pony, I’ll admit that- more often than not- it’s ponies like us that say things like that about pegasi and unicorns.

I don’ know how I did it, but I still managed to hold mahself back after that comment; my face was red and burnin’ with anger though, so it weren’t easy.  Then, one o’ the other fillies knocked mah saddlebags off mah back and the books spilled out.  “Oops,” the mean filly giggled, “looks like you can’t even hold onto your books.”  Her posse laughed along with her, even if it weren’t funny at all, before they finally got bored and wandered off to their classes.

Me?  I just stood there, tryin’ to put on a brave face and pretend I weren’t cryin’.  I knew they were all full o’ horseapples, but hearin’ ‘em say stuff like that fer no reason other than me bein’ an earth pony... it hurt worse than mah leg ever did.

(Interviewers Notes(Earth Pony): Do you need a hug?)

...yeah, come’ere, Sugarcube.



Thanks fer that, some o’ these memories ain’t all that good.

(Interviewers Notes(Earth Pony): No problem!)

(Interviewers Notes(Unicorn): Whenever you’re ready to continue, Miss Applejack)

Right, after they left and I’d wiped mah face clean, I hobbled along to the next thing I had to do that day; which, as it turns out, was lunch.  O’ course, with mah mood and what had happened, I weren’t exactly feelin’ too hungry.  I found a place in a corner, and pulled out the daisy sandwich that Aunt Orange had made and cut-up all fancy like before she’d come with me to see me off; didn’ really eat it, just sorta nibbled on it without really tastin’ anything.

It weren’t until I heard somepony clear their throat that I realized I had company.

I looked up to find mahself lookin’ a purple unicorn filly with a purple mane with a sorta pinkish stripe in the middle of it.  She was about mah age and had a book with a star on cover for a Cutie Mark, and she seemed to be starin’ at me with the big, purple eyes.  “What?”

She blinked a few times before she said anything at all.  “Are you the Earth Pony that the whole school’s talking about?”

After mah run-in with the other filly, I weren’t in the mood for another stuck up pony beratin’ me fer not having a horn.  “Yeah, Ah am; so what?”  Lookin’ back, I really regret bein’ so mean to her; but mah mind was in a bad place.

She shrank back some, rubbin’ at the floor and lookin’ away.  “I-it’s just that... you... I...”  She was startin’ to remind me o’ the telekinesis teacher, tryin’ to find words that just weren’t there.  “What you do it’s just so... incredible!”  Her eyes sparkled as looked back at me, and I got a bit uncomfortable from it.  “I mean, there are a ton of claims about witches and alchemy and all these things that Zebras can do; and then there’s the stuff from stories, like the one about the earth pony who grows a giant beanstalk and climbs up to above the clouds and finds a giant living in a castle, or the fact that Starswirl’s descendants have been predominantly earth ponies, say, are you related to him?”

And pretty much all o’ that went right o’er mah head.  “Related to who now?”

“Startswirl the Bearded, of course!”  I blinked at the name.  “Famous unicorn wizard, rumored to have been the first pony to learn from Princess Celestia?  Mentored Clover the Clever?  First documented and studied the Windigos?”

“Ah ain’t got a clue what yer talkin’ ‘bout.”

The other filly looked like she was liable to fall o’er from that.  “How do you not know about Starswirl?!”

“Same way Ah don’ know ‘bout any o’ that other stuff ya mentioned.”  Yeah... I shoulda probably mentioned that; I’m pretty smart, even more so lately, but most o’ mah smarts are in things related to magic.  I could talk yer ear off about spell theories or mathematics (ya need to know yer numbers to do magic right) and the like, but I don’ have much clue when it comes to other things.

This filly, she was talkin’ things that I had never heard o’ and it was makin’ mah head spin somethin’ fierce.  And she was still goin’ too, even as I lost track o’ what was said; somethin’ about legends o’ earth ponies that called themselves ‘Druids’ and used their connection to the land like unicorns used their magic.  It was interestin’, but it was still confusin’ me like ya wouldn’ believe; and she didn’ seem to be stoppin’ just cause I pointed out I was clueless

“And I have to take you home to meet Shining, my brother would just love you and-”

“Whoa there!”  I finally managed make her hear me, and she looked pretty shocked that I had to be honest.  “First of all, who the hay are you?”

“Oh,” she blinked, “I forgot to introduce myself again, didn’t I?”  She cleared her throat and drew herself up.  “My name is ‘Twilight Sparkle’, and I’m going to be a royal librarian when I grow up.”

I blinked a bit at this, since ya didn’ exactly hear a filly aspire to be a librarian too often.  “Uh... nice to meetcha, Twilight.  Ah’m Applejack.”  We both shook hooves, then Twilight started talkin’ again.

“It’s true that you can do magic then?  I mean, you wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t, I guess, but how does it work?  Are there other earth ponies like you that can do magic?  *GASP*  Is it a family thing?  Are you from an entire clan of Earth Pony wizards?  Does the princess know about this?!”  Eventually, I just used the trick that Macintosh had fer me when I just wouldn’t let somethin’ go and shoved part o’ my sandwich into her mouth.

“First o’ all, Ah’m the only Earth Pony Ah know o’ that can do magic; I don’ know why Ah can, but ah can.  As fer the Princess, o’course she knows; she’s the one what got meh into this here school.  And!  She’s gonna be mah magic tutor.”  Okay, I’ll admit, I was a bit full o’ mahself at the time, but can ya blame me?

Twilight sure didn’; I thought her eyes were about to pop out of her head and she managed to gulp down the sandwich.  “You’re apprenticed to the Princess?!”

The lunch area got really quiet like after that, with a bunch o’ other ponies turnin’ to face us and both o’ us suddenly on the spot.  “Er...”  There weren’t any turnin’ back now, best come clean.  “Eeyup.”

All the talkin’ that had been goin’ on before pretty much doubled after that; hearing the school freak was under the princess’s wing was better stuff than most gossips could hope fer their whole life, but I did feel a bit better when I spotted that one filly that had insulted me lookin’ even more angry.

Twilight sat down next to me, lookin’ real shy o’er the whole thing.  “S-sorry about that,” she muttered, “I- I didn’t think-”

“S’alright; ya didn’ mean it.”  Granny’d always taught me that holdin’ grudges o’er mistakes weren’t how the Apple Family did things.  “Besides, s’not yer fault.  Ah wouldn’t believe it neither if’n it weren’t meh livin’ it.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty unbelievable.”  She gave a nervous chuckle, like she was still expectin’ me to blow mah top, so I smiled and passed another part o’ mah sandwich over to her.

“Ya can say that again.”



After lunch, things went a lot easier; I had most o’ mah afternoon classes with Twilight, so I always sat close to her when I could.  She offered to help carry mah books, but I was still pretty stubborn about that, so she let it go.

Even met her brother when school let out and he came to pick her up; I... uh... well, I ain’t too embarrassed to admit I found him cute.  Ya know how us earth pony gals are: We like our stallions big and strong, and Shining was already playin’ hoofball back then, so he fit the bill.

Huh?  Nah, I’m over him; it was just a crush, those things come and go all the time.  ‘Sides, he’s a married pony now; I’d have to be lower than a grass snake to try and get with him.  ‘Who have I got mah eye on now’?  Well, a mare is entitled to have some secrets.

So, all in all, it weren’t too bad a first day; had some ups and downs, but ya take the good with the bad when yer the first o’ anything.

Sorry to say though, that’s it fer now; there are a few stories I could tell you about me and Twi when we were growin’ up, but most o’ them ain’t too interestin’ or relevant.  Rarity just made a huge sale in Manehatten and invited everypony out fer the night, her treat; so I have to call it quits here.  I’ll send ya another letter when I’m ready to talk again, and I can tell y’all about how I met the rest o’ mah friends.

And I hope ya bring a lot o’ paper fer that; it’s a doozy of a story.