Essentia was waiting impatiently in her seat on the train, and her grin was wide as she squeed to herself quietly. A good length of her mane was over one shoulder, her bangs just touching the top of her circular, orange lensed sunshades. All her belongings were stowed away except for her sitar case which she hugged tightly to herself as if it were a second pony.
“We’re going to Ponyville! This is so exciting, I cannot stand it!!”
She kissed the sitar case and giggled to herself, realizing how silly she was behaving since she left the castle this morning. It was liberating to at last be travelling on her accord and to have the blessings of a parental figure. The latter had never been provided for her until now; she was finally free.
Essentia placed her hooves together and closed her eyes, and the pendant that concealed her tattoos adjusted when she lowered her head slightly. She recited a prayer to herself soundlessly, and she could feel her heart chakra renewing its energy from the rose quartz in her pendant. She smiled to herself once the prayer was finished, and she opened her eyes at the sound of a familiar voice she had not heard in years.
“Alright, time to embark, girls!” said a purple unicorn to her five friends behind her, and Essentia turned her head hastily toward the voice. “Ponyville’s waiting for us.”
Essentia grinned cheekily at the sound of her old friend stepping onto the train, and the priestess got out of her seat to walk toward the front door of the cart where she heard this voice. The gray pegasus was overjoyed as she trotted in place.
Twilight stepped onto the train after a long moment before noticing the mare that was in front of her, and she grinned and squeed happily, pulling Essentia into a hug. “OMIGOSH it’s you!! I haven’t seen you since grade school!”
“I know! It’s been forever, darling!” She pulled away from Twilight and nuzzled her giddily. “Gods, this is amazing.” Essentia and Twilight shared a laugh after having not seen each other since they were both fillies, and Applejack giggled before speaking.
“Y’all are good friends, I take it?”
“Yep! We went to Celestia’s School for the Gifted together for a few years. She stopped going for some reason, but I never thought I’d see her again. It’s so exciting!”
“My intuition told me there’d be surprises on my journey, but I didn’t know it would be so soon!” She giggled and started trotting back to her own seat. “Come on, sit with me! Everypony can fit.”
She led them toward the back section of the cart where nopony sat in the last two seating areas, and they all made themselves comfortable accordingly. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash sat with Essentia while Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie sat in the area just next to them; the pink earth pony screamed internally at first before shouting uncontrollably.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m meeting a new pony! This is so exciting!!” She somehow reappeared just in front of Essentia, and she pressed her muzzle against the priestess’. “What’s your favorite color? Do you like balloons?! I love love LOVE balloons!! I got balloons on my flank ‘cause I like to party and partying is my special talent and I love meeting new ponies and—!”
“Shhh,” Essentia said, placing a hoof on Pinkie’s muzzle. “Just take a deep breath, darling. Breathe cordially, be calm.” Pinkie suddenly produced a grin as she jumped up into the air and screamed happily, confetti and balloons appearing where there was previously none. Essentia sighed in defeat, albeit with a genuine smile as Pinkie floated back to her original seat. She resumed her usual laughter as Rarity spoke up.
“My, that is a lovely necklace, Miss…?”
“Tempera! Essentia Tempera, but you all can just call me Essy.”
“Well, it looks to be crafted by royalty.”
“It is crafted by royalty, darling. Celestia gave this to me herself not a few years ago.”
Rarity was immediately examining it up close now, and Essentia turned to face her. The alabaster unicorn saw on the back of the ovular rose quartz was, indeed, the gold crest of Celestia’s rule, although it had a spell marked on it in ancient Equestrian writing.
“What purpose does the enchantment on this pendant have?” asked the unicorn.
“It…conceals my true coat. Actually, you could argue that it reveals my true coat.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at Essentia’s dubious behavior. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, let’s say I’m a fan of body art.” Essentia grinned.
“OOOOOOOH!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Can we see, can we see, can we see?! I wanna see!”
I actually want to see it, too, thought a blushing Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash noticed this physical change in her friend’s cheeks but decided not to be vocal about it.
“Won’t you please show us?” asked Rarity.
“…I suppose I could.” Essentia removed the pendant, and all of her tattoos slowly appeared on her coat, and her feathers reformed into their dyed state. Fluttershy blushed more and just stared while everypony else went, “oooooo” and analyzed Essentia’s body art.
“My, you sport these rather well, darling,” remarked Rarity.
“Yeah, they’re awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
The pony who was most astounded was Twilight, and all she could ask was, “When did you get all these tattoos…?”
“Well, I got them along my travels. I ran away from home, remember?”
“Well, yeah, but where the heck did you go?!”
“Oh, all over the world, really. I received at least one tattoo for every country I visited, so there’s about 30 or so on me. I’ve honestly lost track of count.”
“…my Celestia…why did you get so many?”
“Well, I got into some trouble with my mom at the time, and she decided to treat me like garbage, and…goodness, you’re all so close now.” She laughed affably.
“Because it’s story time!” shouted Pinkie jubilantly, and Essentia looked at all of them.
“I believe what she meant to ask,” started Rarity composedly, “is, ‘Would you please share with us your story?’ If you wouldn’t mind, of course.”
Essentia deliberated this for a long moment. They actually want to hear my story? These are all strangers to me, save for Twilight, but…oh, the pink one would explode if I don’t.
“Of course I wouldn’t mind.”