“So let me get this straight,” Applejack started, looking at me with a rather harsh gaze. Currently, I was sitting with Apple Bloom in her family's living room. Across from us where the older members of the Apple family: Applejack, their older brother Big Macintosh and their grandmother, Granny Smith. “You want to teach Apple Bloom magic, that by yer own words could kill her?”
“Everything in this world is dangerous Applejack,” I retorted with an eye roll, “I’ve been using it for a century and I ain’t dead yet.”
“Is this even legal?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes. Good lord is she pig headed.
“I’m glad you brought that up, I’m actually going to Canterlot today to talk to Princess Celestia about that.” I reached up and pulled the letter out from under my hat. With a smile, I passed it off to them, letting them read it.
“Ah don’t know how ah feel about this,” Applejack said with a scowl.
“Ah’ll tell you what,” Granny Smith started, “Ms. Terra is offerin’ ta teach our little Bloom magic, you ain’t gonna keep her from it cause ya don’t like magic!”
“But Granny-”
“Ain’t no buts, ah ain’t lettin’ you stop Bloom from being the first earth pony ta learn magic,” the elder mare said with a curt nod, passing the letter back to me.
“There are two other things I need to talk with you about,” I said, placing it back under my hat. “First off, I would like Apple Bloom to stay with me. It’s more a safety issue than anything. I’ll make sure she gets to school and that she comes here to get her chores done.”
“And what's the other thing?” Granny Smith, who I assume is reserving judgement.
“Well... it’s a lifespan issue...” I said quietly, knowing this was going to be hard.
“It ain’t gonna shorten her life is it?” Applejack asked, her eyes wide in horror.
“No, no, nothing like that,” I assured her quickly, “Rather... using it will make her live longer... much, much longer...”
“How much longer?”
“Applejack, I’m almost a hundred and I look like I’m in my early 20s. The simplest answer is that she’ll outlive all of you and probably most people she knows.” I closed my eyes, letting that sink in.
“Ah’ll outlive everypony...?” Apple Bloom asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.
“This is your choice Apple Bloom,” I placed my hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.
“Ah think ya should go for it,” Granny Smith said with a comforting smile.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac added with a smile of his own.
“But why?” Bloom asked, looking rather confused.
“You have the chance ta make history, Bloom,” Granny Smith said, not losing her smile, “Don’t let it pass ya by.”
“Applejack?” Bloom asked, turning to her big sister.
Applejack sighed, sinking into her seat. “Ah might not like it Bloom but if this is whatcha want, ah’ll support ya.”
Apple Bloom went quiet for a few minutes, obviously lost in thought. She looked up at me with tear stained yet determined eyes. “Ah’ll do it.”
“Good,” I said with a smile, “I’ve already talked to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s parents about this. They’ll be meeting us at the station, our train to Canterlot leaves in an hour,” I got up and headed toward the door. “See ya then!” I waved as I left the house. “I really, really, really hope I’m not going to screw these kids up...”
I sighed a little, still stuck on Hyperius. God, I hate raid bosses. Plus its not like I could get any help, I’m the only one on this world with a Vita... I think. I really have no idea. With a sigh, I quit out of the game, browsing through my library.
“I bet I’m gonna be good at air magic!” Scootaloo declared, catching my attention. Thankfully we had managed to get an empty car. I really, really, really didn’t want to have to keep them calm in a crowded car.
I gotta admit, the trains here are really nice. Trust me, I’ve been on subways, these beat out anything Earth has. At least in the US. I dunno, I didn’t travel. Shut up, don’t judge me.
“The actual term for air magic is aerokinesis,” I piped up, returning the Vita to its pouch. “In all honesty your talents could be anything. Hell, you could get freaking necromancy... which I’m sorry, I won’t touch with a fifty foot pole.”
“Isn’t that like... stuff with dead stuff?” Sweetie asked with a shudder. Oh god, so they know about necromancy... great. Please, whatever deity is reading this, you know who you are, please don’t let any of them be aligned with necromancy. I don’t need heat like that on me and neither do they. Ugh, who am I kidding, they're laughing their asses off up there from my misery.
Thankfully, Apple Bloom came to my rescue before I could dwell on past... let’s call them... ‘misfortunes.’
“So... we’d have ta live with you?” she asked, giving a welcome change in topic.
“Yes. Think of this like any normal apprenticeship. The student lives with the teacher to learn constantly... and so you guys don’t use up your life force like idiots,” I said rather bluntly. You’re probably saying ‘teachers shouldn't be so harsh on their students.’ Yeah well, some ideas have to hammered home and this is one of them. “This magic can, and will, kill you if don’t pay attention. I have to make sure you three can learn how to do it with enough skill not to overextend and kill yourselves, and it’s best to have someone experienced around in case you hurt yourself.”
They wilted a little under my tirade, but didn’t seem too disheartened. Good, that should mean that they have the drive to do this.
“Looks like we’re here,” Sweetie said, hopping to her hooves.
“Okay, let’s go,” I got to my feet, cracking my back. I grabbed my hat, quickly dropping my Vita into it and pulling out my staff. I couldn’t help but smirk at their reaction as I placed the hat back on my head.
“How the hay can your staff fit in your hat?!” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open a bit.
“My hat is enchanted, it’s waaay bigger on the inside than on the outside, but it only works for me,” I said with a bigger smirk, adjusting it on my head.
“Keep this up and you’ll never get rid of them,” Kaz said with a chuckle, jumping onto my shoulder.
“Well, isn’t that the point?” I asked, scratching his ears gently. He licked my hand, murring softly. “Let’s go girls, we have to get to the castle before three. I’m meeting royalty and I’d like to make a good impression.”
I led the girls off the train and out into Canterlot. I had been here only a few days before, when I first came through the portal. Gotta say, I really don’t like the place. You know those stereotypes of uptight British people? That’s Canterlot in a nutshell. I mean, seriously, we’re walking down the street and they’re all sticking their noses in the air as we go past, a few mares whispering to each other. Yeah, talk it up ya fuckers, thats all you’re good for. Anyway, ponies weren’t the only ones giving us looks. You may be surprised to know, there are a LOT of human tourists. Makes sense, portal’s expensive for both sides to maintain so why not increase the tourist trade? Though at the moment, it’s mostly celebrities and the extremely rich. Personally, I swear I saw Johnny Depp here last time. So yeah... we have the rich elite of two races sticking their noses up at us. Great day this will be. 80/80, would live it again.
“I do believe we’ve arrived,” Kaz said, catching my attention. Due to my... inner monologue? Narration? Inner narration? Whatever the hell you all call this. Anyway, due to... THIS, I hadn’t really been paying attention to where we were going. Thankfully for us, Kaz has a most excellent sense of direction.
“Excuse me,” I said to a guard, pulling Celestia’s summons thing out from under my hat. “We’re here to see the princess,” I handed it to him, watching him scan it. Now that I think about it, all the guards look alike. Hmm... either there’s some Clone Wars shenanigans going on or enchanted armor is standard issue. I’m gonna go with the armor bit, I don’t see this place having clones.
“Everything seems to be in order,” he said with a nod, passing it back to him. He signaled to his partner, the two opening the gates for us.
“Thanks guys!” I said chirpily, leading the girls onto the castle grounds. This place really is impressive, not many sights on Earth can match a city/castle hanging off a mountain. A guard met us not too far ahead, leading us into the castle. I gotta ask why do engineers feel the need to make these places so damn mazelike? I mean, at least in Resident Evil, the mansion was designed like that because Spencer was a weird fuck who watched too many spy movies. What were they expecting with this layout? Confuse invaders?
“Please wait here while I see if the princess is ready for you,” our guide said, stopping in front of
a large set of doors that may or may not have been made of pure gold. A lot of gold here, stuff’s more common than iron back home, makes me wonder how they set up an exchange rate at all.
“Gah, how long are we gonna have to wait out here?” Scootaloo asked boredly, crossing her arms with a pout.
“I dunno,” I shrugged, leaning on my staff. “I’m actually really surprised that we got an appointment this soon. Celestia must find this rather important.”
“Princess,” Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“Hm?”
“She’s Princess Celestia,” she clarified. “Rarity says that royalty deserves proper respect.”
“Heh, she’s got me there,” I admit, a smile on my face. “Though, I think she fails to recognize that most royalty would rather be addressed casually.”
“How do ya know that?” Apple Bloom asked, raising her eyebrow.
“I bet you’d like to know, huh?” I smirked, adjusting my hat. “You’ll find out at some point.”
“Wait... are you a princess?” Scootaloo looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Nah. Well... lets just say my mom’s someone really important and leave it at that.” I looked up to see the doors open.
“Her Majesty will see you now,” our guide said, gesturing for us to come inside. I nodded to the fillies before heading in. I looked around, taking in the sight of the rather impressive throne room. At the opposite side of the room is Celestia, giving us all a warm smile. Her guards stood on either side of the throne, while a rather stuffy looking middle aged man gave me the stink eye.
“Hello again, Terra,” Celestia spoke, her voice rather soothing.
“Hello, Your Majesty,” I gave a bow, gesturing for my charges to do the same.
“This is the woman you were telling me about?” the man asked, looking at me like I was some kind of freak. Not like he was much to look at himself anyway.
“Yes, this is Terra,” Celestia said, looking between the four of us before settling on me. “Terra this is Bruce Macgarvin, the United States ambassador to Equestria. I’ve been discussing human magic with him.”
“As I’ve explained before your Majesty, humans are incapable of magic. I do believe this woman has fooled you.” Bruce scoffs, glaring at me.
“I admit, I have yet to see your magic personally, Terra. Would you mind giving us a small demonstration?” Celestia asked, never losing her calm demeanor.
“Of course.” I nodded, holding my hand out, palm upward. I took a breath, electricity starting to dance along my fingers. I let it arc between my fingers before I fired the bolt into a chandelier, which crackled with electricity for a few moments before dying down.
“W-what?” Bruce asked, his eyes bulging out of his head, “That’s not possible!”
“Oh, but it is,” I countered, shaking my hand to get the numbness to go away. “You’d be surprised how many magic users exist on our world, hidden below society’s surface.”
“If I may ask Terra, why do you hide your magic?” Celestia asked, bringing up a topic I had been dreading for a while.
“If I’m going to be honest? Religion. I’m not going to say who's right and who's wrong but most of them say magic is ‘unholy’, and in the old days... they hunted us. Some of them still do, so we had to go underground, hide ourselves away from the public. It’s why I came here, so I could practice in peace.”
“I see. You do use mana, don’t you?” she asked, looking at me with critical eyes.
“No your Majesty, all humans use their life force to power their spells,” I explained, though I was unable to gauge her reaction.
“You do realize that type of magic has been banned here for centuries, correct?” she spoke with a soft, neutral tone.
“Yes, Twilight informed me of this,” I nodded, looking up at her.
“And yet you wish to continue to practice it? And you have it in your mind to teach these young fillies to do the same?” she gestured to the girls, who looked a little nervous.
“Your Majesty,” I started rather calmly, “I am tired of having to hide who and what I am. I came here for a fresh start, I beg of you, please allow me to do so,” I bowed my head, hoping she’d see things from my point of view.
“I am sorry Terra, but I cannot remove the ban at this time,” she paused, most likely seeing the frown on my face. Well, no shit, you just crushed my dreams here. “However, I will allow human practitioners to continue in its usage and allow them to take apprentices. If this proves successful, I shall remove the ban completely in, let’s say... thirty years?”
“T-that’s more than fair your highness,” I said with another bow, relief flooding my mind. This turned out a lot better than I thought it would.
“Good, then the matter is settled,” Celestia smiled, nodding her head, giving us our cue to leave. “Though I do believe, ambassador, this gives us much to discuss.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” he said with a glare in my direction. What’s your damn problem guy? Don’t hate because I made you look stupid.
“Thank you for your time,” I bowed again, this time joined by the girls. We took our leave, walking out of the throne room.
“Does this mean you’re gonna teach us?” Scootaloo asked, buzzing her wings excitedly.
“Yes, my dear Scootaloo, it does. From this moment onward you three are officially my apprentices.” I smiled down at them, watching as their faces lit up, and they all linked hands in a circle.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS WITCH APPRENTICES!! YAY!” the three screamed in unison as they threw their hands in the air, causing me to cringe and cover my ears. I’m extremely surprised that they didn’t break any windows or vases. I also can’t help but feel I’ve unleashed some kind of monster, but, ya know, not all monsters are bad.