It was only a short time later that Essentia had Twilight and her friends gathered in front of her in a semicircle, and the priestess had removed the sitar from its case. She plucked at the strings purposefully and with a grin on her face as she played for them softly. The train moved subtly along the smooth tracks as she performed. Essentia inhaled, and then exhaled.
“For the sake of pacing this story, I’m going to just say outright that my birth mother is not fond of hippies in the slightest. She is a conservative, traditional mare who only wished for me to attend Celestia’s school and make money for the family.
“As it were, I most definitely am not a conservative traditional young mare, and I resent the times I tried reasoning with Chroma about the matter. She always punished me every time I called somepony ‘man’ or ‘dude’ because that wasn’t the ‘traditional Canterlot accent’. I couldn’t stand the damned accent back then, and I only just recently come to terms with adopting it again.
“…but that’s not what you want to hear, is it?” ask the priestess.
“Just keep going!!” screamed Pinkie Pie elatedly, grinning wide.
“Alright! Alright!” Essentia giggled to herself and continued her recounting:
“I was a blank-flank for the longest time, even into my adolescent years. I had fascination with mathematics and the performing arts, but neither of these things proved to be my special talent, even after 14 years. Of course, my mother had a fit.
“‘Did you get something on your flank yet?’ she asked me one day.
“‘For the last fucking time, mom, I didn’t find my special talent yet.’
“‘YOU DON’T SWEAR, YOUNG LADY!’
“Mind you, I’m a bit of a snide pony, so my retort to that was, ‘Maybe you need your ears checked because I just swore, and your argument is therefore a logical fallacy.’
“‘Don’t you be pulling any of that philosophy hogwash on me! Now go to your room and study for the upcoming school year!!’
“‘…no! No, fuck you!’ And I just got up and ran out of the house.”
“…just like that?” asked Twilight, her eyes full of worry.
“Just like that,” replied Essentia with nonchalance.
“I’m not discrediting your emotions, but don’t you feel that what you did was a bit of an overreaction, Essentia, darling?” asked Rarity.
“Oh, well, yes! It was definitely an overreaction! However, in my own defense, she gave me that sort of talk every day for a year since I received my certificate of being accepted to Tia’s school. I just got tired of it, so I did what any non-rational teenager does when they’re fed up with their parents, and ran away.”
Pinkie lost her smile as she cocked her head to one side. “Then what happened…?”
“Well, you can say this is when I first got into trouble, at least, as a criminal.” She resumed her playing as she continued her story:
“See, I only left the house so Chroma wouldn’t see me cry. She hates it when I shed quote-unquote, ‘crocodile tears’, which apparently have no real value so long as they disagree with Chroma’s thought process. I just hid myself away in some bar or restaurant, I don’t remember which one, really. In all honesty, I was just scheming a way to get back at her, although I realize now that all she was doing was being a strict parent. I could have been cordial on my own or perhaps be more firm in my stance and handle these situations better, but…again, I wasn’t the most considerate pony at the time.
“After about an hour or so, I figured out that Chroma didn’t even bother to search for me. In fact, when I returned to the house to apologize for my behavior, I discovered that she was having an especially good time with a stallion who was not my birth father. She was having an affair all to her own.”
“My Celestia…”
“I didn’t think ponies like that would exist in Canterlot,” said Fluttershy.
Essentia nodded and continued:
“Well, I took it upon myself to do something about it. I ran inside the house, took her bags, stuffed as much money and as many valuables as I could into my own backpack, and I just ran. I was so full of adrenalin from galloping that, when I fell on my face and scraped my knees, I didn’t even feel it until I was well outside of the city limits, and even then I pushed myself forward.
“‘I’m escaping Tartarus,’ I told myself. ‘I’m escaping the worst hell of my life and nopony can do anything to stop me!’”
“Were you labeled as a criminal?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Of course. My birth mother pressed charges and had the police after me for days.”
“Whoa…”
“How did you ever escape?” inquired a frightened Fluttershy.
“By leaving Equestria, of course. I couldn’t stay here with the police after me.”
“I think what she meant was: how did y’all get away without anypony else noticing where ya went or nothin’?”
“If you’d like to hear the rest of my story, I’ll happily tell you.” Essentia smiled genuinely.
“Please please please please please please pleeeeeeeeease??” begged Pinkie.
“Well, I don’t know…” Essentia smirked.
“Oh, you gotta tell us! It’s a rule! It exists, it’s a rule, I just know it! You can’t leave us hanging at the good part; it’s like closing a book in the middle of a chapter!!”
“…will you please continue?” asked Fluttershy tentatively. Essentia smiled at this.
“Anything for you, darlings.” She resumed her playing and spoke some more:
“I was ahead of the police just enough to hop onto a boat and fork over all the money I had to the captain of the ship. I told him, ‘If you let me stow away on your ship, and you don’t tell the police shit about me, it’s all yours.’ After which he responded, ‘Gladly, Miss.’
“And so I hid myself below deck. I didn’t even know where we were going, so long as it was away from Equestria. After some time, I figured out that we were heading to Trottingham, which was a fair distance away, but nothing too miserable. I was fed on the ship like the crew, and I even found an honest job working in the kitchen as a busgirl. The sailors and I became good friends and they promised to keep their mouths shut if the authorities ever came to them. Such loyal ponies, those sailors are.”
Essentia opened her hind legs just slightly and pointed at her belly with her front hoof. “And that’s where I got this mermaid here. It was my first ever tattoo, and I love it still.”
Fluttershy smiled warmly. She carries such confidence about herself, the shy pegasus thought quietly. Essentia continued with her story for a bit longer this time:
“When I arrived at Trottingham, I had to ditch the boat in case Equestria’s police found out about my involvement with them. But, goodness, was Trottingham beautiful. I had only ever seen the British in pictures and in storybooks, but never in real life. It was so fascinating to finally visit a place I have only admired from afar. However, there was only one problem: I had absolutely no usable money to my name. The only remaining bits I had were Equestrian currency, and it’s different from the currency they use in Trottingham. And this is the point where I got rather…stupid.
“I decided to pick up a career in pickpocketing. Not only was I good at it, but I enjoyed it. There was a certain rush, a thrill, an exhilarating experience to getting away with stealing money and getting away from the law. I was famous in the British criminal community, and I was actually proud of that at the time.
“However, one day, a constable caught me in the act of stealing, and it was only because one of my so-called ‘friends’ ratted me in the middle of it. I was arrested, booked, and promptly jailed almost on the spot; their penal system is not kind at all. And, after a month or so of reflection, I decided to never steal again, to turn my life around.
“Of course, this lasted only up until I got out of jail a few months later. I had gained friends while in prison, and, while I am not proud to say this, criminal acts were still exciting for me. So I got into trouble everywhere I went, and that’s when my traveling career began.”
The rest of them just sat there silently for a long moment as Essentia’s piece on the sitar drew to a close, and the priestess smiled at them sheepishly. “Any questions, darlings?”
“Tons,” said Applejack.
“I don’t even know where to start,” stated Rarity.
“Are you okay…?” asked Fluttershy with her ears fallen.
“I am now, yes,” said Essentia. The priestess placed her sitar down and held out her front legs to show them all her body art. “I got many of these tattoos while serving time in the different prisons I went to, and you can see the different styling of the work per country I visited.”
“Why didn’t you just serve your time in Equestria?” asked a brown stallion across the cart. When Essentia turned her head, she saw that she had the attention of everyone in that part of the vehicle, and she blinked. “The worst that would have happened to you at 14 years old was a juvenile sentence.”
Essentia smiled. “Well, of course, this was something I thought about during my priesthood training. I could have easily just said, ‘Yes, officer. Sorry, officer.’ But, as is apparent, ponies like me can make cartoonish and silly decisions if we overthink things.”
“How did you get involved with priesthood?” asked a fuchsia coated mare. “It’s not exactly a common path to take, especially for criminals.”
“Well…”
“And what did you mean by your traveling career starting?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“…should I just continue my story?”
“Wouldn’t you please?” asked Rarity.
Essentia grinned at this and started a new song on her sitar, one that was of Spanish origin, and she continued:
“To put it simply, I traveled from city to city, I occasionally hopped the borders or escaped the police, and I just kept stealing. The more I stole, the more times I got thrown in jail, and, the more times I got thrown in jail, the more friends I made. It was a simple formula that made sense to me at the time, and I got to sightsee while doing it.
“Now, some of the things I stole did not involve money in and of itself. When I was in Whales, I stole an amulet from a unicorn that allowed me to speak and understand foreign languages. This was nifty when I had traveled to other countries and committed petty crimes from city to city. I would only be in jail for a few months at a time, and I would always get my belongings back. Of course, the only belonging I ever had at any given time was the amulet. And, after a long while, the magic from overexposure to the amulet wore off onto me, so I soon pawned it for actual earned money. I can still learn languages moderately quickly now because of it, although the magic is weaker than it was back then.
“And this was my lifestyle: I stole, I went to prison, I served my time, I moved to the next city, sometimes even to the next country. You would have thought I would have learned my lesson by now, but there was a fondness I felt when doing it all. There were ponies who loved me and cheered me on while in the criminal community, and that feeling I had will probably never leave me. I won’t say I’m proud for having been a thief, but I will say that the love and kindness I felt while in these prisons were genuine.”
“How did you get to Equestria?!” exclaimed Pinkie excitedly; the pink mare was now in Essentia’s face. “Did you steal a boat, walk on water, what did you do?!!”
“And how did you get involved in priesthood?” repeated the mare from before.
“Well, I suppose I should skip ahead to dying my wings, then, because that’s when my life took a turn for the better.” She pushed back Pinkie’s face before continuing:
“Three years had passed, and I was just finishing getting my wings dyed in Sydneigh; that’s when the Equestrian police finally caught up to me. They waited for me to leave the parlor before arresting me with an international warrant. Ironically enough, this was the only other time I resisted them; they were charging me with crimes I had never committed! They were charging me with drug trafficking, pony trafficking, prostitution…give me a break! I was just a pickpocket, for Luna’s sake!
“Well, here’s what happened: they needed an excuse to get me back to Equestria. All they told me was, ‘You are a famous criminal who has been traveling from country to country alongside another criminal who has been charged as a felon.’ So, they labeled me as an accomplice and threw me on the ship back to Equestria.”
“Talk about abuse of power,” said Twilight. “They can’t arrest you without actual evidence of you having done any of those things!”
“Tell that to the police that arrested me.”
“Ugh,” complained the brown stallion from before. “That is a violation of countless laws, including Australian and Equestrian statutes.”
Essentia shrugged. “There’s nothing else to say, darling. I was arrested, and that was that.”
“Then what happened?” asked Applejack.
“Funny you should ask, dear.
“See, when I got on the ship, Princess Celestia herself was waiting for me. She had a carriage awaiting us and a smile on her face. I was confused as all hell as to why the Princess had all of this prepared, but what really confused me was our first conversation.
“‘You gave my soldiers quite the chase, Miss Tempera.’
“‘What do you want…?’
“‘Well, I just needed a way to get you on this boat. Come with me.’ And she hopped onto the carriage while her two fliers strapped on their reins.
“‘And if I refuse?’
“‘Then you’ll get to endure the long trip back to Equestria on this ship with little food or water.’
“And I couldn’t deny that I was starving, so I obliged grudgingly with the Princess and hopped onboard her carriage, where a meal was prepared for me. I was skeptical of the food presented to me; maybe she planned to knock me out with whatever chemical she might have placed inside of it.
“‘Did you do something to this?’
“‘Yes, clearly the alicorn goddess figure that is adored by many would slip drugs into your meal.
“‘…okay, point taken, but…why?’
“‘I was about to ask you the same. Why did you become a criminal?’
And so the rest of the carriage ride was me recounting pretty much what I have told you all so far, and, after the story, we were arriving at the Equestrian borders. Celestia was still confused about something.
“‘So you pass my written test with flying colors, and my math test with a perfect score, but you refused to go to my school and instead fled my police after you stole from your mother?’
“‘It’s not that simple, Princess…’
“‘No, I understand that, but I have to ask why you didn’t seek help before any of this could be allowed to happen?’
“‘There’s no recovery for criminals like me; once a thief, always a thief. Nopony really loves me; only the criminals and low-lives do.’
“‘That is a lie and you know it. I care about you. When I found out that you were the same Essentia Tempera who passed the tests to enter my school for the gifted, I was disheartened at your extensive criminal record.’
“‘Why do you even care?’
“‘I care because you are an Equestrian, Miss Tempera, and I care for all of my denizens. You are not a criminal, not at heart. You are so much more than a pickpocket, even if you don’t realize it yourself.’
“Once we finally landed on the castle balcony, I was at a total loss for words. The Princess cared about me? She actually had genuine feelings toward me as a pony, and she was sad when she found out I was a thief? Something didn’t seem right: she didn’t appear she wanted to charge me with anything.”
“‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Why aren’t there guards waiting for me?’”
“‘Because you’re not going to prison. I have another plan for you.’”
“She told me all about priesthood and how I can find my own personal salvation in studying spiritual magic. I was not convinced at first, but I was honestly getting tired of prisons at that point, believe it or not; after all, I had gotten my wings dyed to start a whole new life altogether.
“I stayed at the castle, and, every day I was there, I discovered more and more about myself through meditation and self-healing. It was an amazing experience, priesthood training. I had never known that I was capable of performing acts of magic and helping others in this way. And…after two years of priesthood training…I got my cutie mark.”
“You were nineteen when you got your cutie mark?!” asked Rainbow Dash in disbelief.
“Indeed so, darling, and now I’m twenty.”
Essentia adjusted her seating position to show one of her flanks, and on it was a lotus flower with the Sanskrit for “spirit” written over it. The rest of them gazed at it in wonder as the priestess giggled to herself, and she declared:
“And, wouldn’t you know it: my special talent is spiritual magic.”
“I thought I heard you right when you said ‘spiritual magic’,” stated Rarity. “But I’m still confused as to how priests or priestesses use it, precisely.”
They almost all turned to look at Twilight for the solution, and the violet unicorn had to contemplate this for a moment before responding:
“Well, in context of supernatural lore, priests are ponies who are blessed by royalty, and they can thus cast spells to heal another pony’s metaphysical body. Unicorns like Rarity and I use neutral magic, Princess Celestia uses light magic, Princess Luna uses both light and dark magic, Sombra uses dark magic exclusively, and Discord uses chaos magic. Spiritual magic is the second rarest form of magic next to chaos magic, but I didn’t think that priests and priestesses were actually real…”
“Well, Tia doesn’t keep us a secret, really,” said Essentia. “It’s just that there are so few of us that it would make sense for ponies to not be completely aware of the Priesthood Council. But, yes, priests are blessed by royalty, and we perform work in the metaphysical sciences, as it were. Healing is one of the primary objectives of priests, but spiritual magic has other utilities, some of which are classified and some are not.”
“Could you show us an example of a non-classified act of spiritual magic?”
“Absolutely.”
Essentia’s hooves then shimmered and appeared to be glossed over with a clear coat of polish, and she levitated her sitar into the air by lifting her front legs upward accordingly. She then opened her sitar case using one hoof while using the other to keep the sitar up in the air, all before putting the instrument away into its proper place and latching the case shut. The priestess grinned cheekily.
“Wait, so…you can do everything a unicorn can with your spiritual magic?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, no, not at all, darling,” objected Essentia. “The only physical spell a priest can pull off is telekinesis. That’s the only real similarity to neutral and spiritual magic, really, but all forms of magic can pull off levitation and things of that nature.”
“Really? That’s actually quite fascinating,” remarked Fluttershy.
“THAT’S SO COOL OMIGOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY SAW A PEGASUS USE MAGIC!!” Pinkie jumped up into the air, cheering loudly before Essentia tugged at the pink mare’s tail like it were a string tethering a balloon. The priestess placed a hoof on Pinkie’s mouth.
“Less coffee for you,” said Essentia with a giggle.
“She don’t drink no coffee,” said Applejack.
That’s frightening, thought Essentia to herself before letting Pinkie go.
“And even so,” began Twilight, “all species of pony can access magic to some extent. Earth ponies access magic from the earth, pegasi from the sky, and unicorns from the stars. Right, Essy?”
“Right.” Essentia smiled warmly. “And, just so you are all aware, all ponies have both neutral magic and spiritual magic within them. Being blessed by Tia just allows a pony to access it more exclusively to the priesthood identity, if that makes any sense.”
“It actually doesn’t,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Alright, well, think of it this way.” Essentia slid the sitar case underneath her seat using her spiritual magic. “No matter how much meditation you do, you cannot pull off levitation with spiritual magic alone. That’s because your metaphysical energy has not ascended to the next highest form; being blessed by Celestia allows for this ascension. If it weren’t for this blessing, I wouldn’t be able to perform what I just showed you not a few minutes ago.”
“Ooooh, I think I get it now,” said Dash.
“So at what point do you get blessed as a priestess, then?” asked Rarity. “Surely having this new form of magic in you must be hard to use at first.”
“Well, being blessed marks the half-way point of the training. And, yes, it is very difficult to master. At least, it is to somepony who has never performed levitation before. And even then there are still so many more things you can do with spiritual magic as a priest than non-priests, but much of that is classified.”
“What happens when the training is over?”
“On the last day of training, you are blessed by the Princess for a second and final time, and you are thusly appointed as an official member of the Priesthood Council. I had my picture taken, but I refused the party afterward.”
“You refused a party?!” exclaimed Pinkie. “How do you refuse a party?! Why would you refuse a party?”
“Because I just figured that the money that could have been used for the celebration could easily have been used as charity, so that’s what I asked Tia to do.”
“…oh,” said Pinkie with a smile. “That’s pretty neat of you, actually.”
“Very humble on your part, indeed,” proclaimed Rarity.
“Well, there were more important things to take care of than have a silly party over it.” Essentia smiled sheepishly. “It turns out all the priests have turned down the same celebration for the same reasons, and I like to think that Tia makes that a final test of a priest’s training.”
“…do all priests and priestesses refer to the Princess so casually like that?”
“When you live in somepony else’s home for two years, you don’t refer to them as Mister or Missus the entire time,” said Essentia. “Besides, she gets tired of being called ‘Your Majesty’ and ‘Your Highness’ every day.”
“Did you ever call her by her royal title during your training?”
“Nope!” Essentia giggled. “I was a rebellious teenager at the time.”
“But surely you relearned your manners after having been incriminated for so long,” Rarity pointed out.
“Well, yes, and I did start calling her ‘Your Majesty’ again after my training, but it always felt…wrong for me to call her by her title, even after I had become more polite.”
“And why’s that?” asked Applejack.
Just before Essentia could answer, the train conductor spoke up from behind them:
“Unless y’all wish to go to Appleloosa, I’d suggest you get off.”
“Appleloosa?” they asked in unison, and they looked out the window to see that the train has arrived at the Ponyville station. After a light gasp, they all quickly got up and ran out of the train, and Essentia laughed loudly as they made their escape from the soon-to-be departing vehicle.
I’ve found them, she thought to herself. I’ve found the ponies I need to befriend for my journey.