Life in Equestria
“Why doesn’t Green have ta go ta school?” asked Applebloom, “This ain’t about what happened with Diamond is it?”
“She’s not in trouble,” explained Applejack, “We just think it would be better if she had a couple days to settle into living in Ponyville.”
“But yesterday you said-”
“Ah know what Ah said yesterday,” said Applejack, “But it was a mistake to send her back to school before she’s ready. You saw what happened.”
Applebloom squinted at her sister.
“Yer not gonna be doin’ that whole overprotective big sis routine again are ya?” asked Applebloom.
“You know I’m sitting right here?” I said
Winona rubbed up against me again and I scratched her ears as best I could with a hoof. Maybe she was paying attention because animals can sense when you’re feeling insecure - or maybe it had something to do with the piece of cheese I’d snuck her when I thought nopony was looking.
As I’d expected for a farm, the milk and cheese were fresh and delicious, but Winona could still have a little bit because she’s very cute.
Applejack smiled at the filly happily playing with Winona. Yesterday she’d made a point to keep them separated so that, in the case Green was afraid of dogs, she could introduce them in a controlled way. Applebloom must have let Winona inside this morning, but she couldn’t be too mad given the outcome.
So Fluttershy was right. Thought Applejack. Animals really do help with anxiety.
Maybe Green would have been better off with Fluttershy than her? Fluttershy never offered though, and she probably had her own problems to deal with.
Applejack wasn’t quite sure what to do with Green today. She and Big Mac had work to do on the farm, but she didn’t want to leave Green to be watched by Granny, not after what happened last time. There was nothing for it but to bring Green with her. If it was Applebloom she could get her to help with the chores, but with Green’s poor hoof grip and co-ordination she probably wouldn’t be able to do much. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too bored just watching.
“Al’right,” said Applejack, “Since you’re not going to school today, how about you come with me and learn about how to run a farm?”
“That sounds nice,” said Green
If Applejack closed her eyes she could almost imagine Fluttershy was standing in front of her.
“And yer’ not jus’ sayin’ that because you’re ‘fraid to hurt ma feelings?” asked the farm pony.
“If I was, you would know.”
“Ah can’t read yer mind Sweetpea,” Applejack said gently
“Ah’m just not that good at fibbin’,” Green mimicked Applejack’s accent
Applejack raised an eyebrow. The filly tried to copy her, but ended up just raising both her eyebrows. Applejack cracked a smile and ruffled Green’s mane, the filly leaning into her hoof much the way Winona would.
Unlike what I had expected, there was no applebucking involved in today’s activities. I suppose it made sense that they wouldn’t be harvesting every day, but there were few other examples from the show of what the Apples actually did when it wasn’t applebuck season.
As it turned out, for me, there was a lot of walking.
There were cows to be milked, eggs to be collected, fences to be mended and saplings to be watered and cared for. I couldn’t help with much of any of it aside from holding up some fencing wire while Applejack tacked it to the fence posts.
Winona kept pace with us too, and despite being a working dog, she still enjoyed a good game of fetch with her favorite pink ball. When my hoofgrip refused to let go of the ball, fetch turned briefly into tug-of-war, but Winona didn’t seem to mind. After a couple hours of this I started to feel tired again - probably because I woke up so early this morning. Winona had a few goes at trying to nudge me into playing with her more, but was mostly content to just sit with me until Applejack called her.
It was nice to be out in the sun without having to worry about my skin, but there was never quite enough time for me to doze off before we moved to the next job. This body still wasn’t very fit, and I found my legs aching before we even got to lunchtime.
Applebloom came back from school in time to get lunch with us at the farmhouse. School was only ever half-days to give children a chance to play or work on their special talent. With the triple length years I guess that half days were more than enough to cover what foals needed to learn for their primary education. Cheerilee taught younger students in the morning, and older students in the afternoon.
“How was your day at school?” asked Applejack
“It was alright Ah guess,” said Applebloom, “Everypony was talking about Green though.”
“What were they saying?” I asked
“Er, it wasn't very nice,” said Applebloom, “Diamond thinks she got ya kicked outta school. Ya are commin’ back, right?”
“I sure hope not.” I replied. “But realistically yes, they will force me to go back to school eventually.”
“But how will ya learn all the stuff ya haf’ ta know if you don’t go ta school?” Applebloom asked.
“I can read,” I said, “So I’ll just get the textbooks or whatever. I can read faster than Cheerilee can teach anyway.”
“What if ya don’t understand somethin’?”
“Then I’ll read other books that explain it better.”
“Ya really like books, huh?” asked Applebloom. “You should meet Miss Twilight.”
“Princess Twilight?” I asked.
“If’in ya want ta be all fancy it’s ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight’” explained Applejack, “But she don’t like ta be called that outside’a court.”
“Oh,” I said, “Alright.”
“Ah have to get back ta work after lunch,” said Applejack, “But how about you girls take a trip to the library and pick out some books.”
Whether it was because she’d been cooped up in school while I was walking around all morning, or just because the farm filly was so much fitter than me, I was straining to keep up as she led the way through Ponyville. I could tell that she was getting impatient with my pace, and I struggled to control my breathing so it wasn’t obvious how out of shape I was.
I’d never really thought about it before, but after the library tree got destroyed, the Castle of Friendship became the new public library. It was much more imposing in person - in pony? - easily a dozen stories tall with walls several feet thick of partially translucent crystal. Racing up the castle steps after Applebloom there was no hiding the fact that I was well and truly winded.
Rather than being cool as I expected from a solid hunk of crystal, the wall was warm. I could feel the magical field of the wall as I leaned against it to catch my breath, as if the wall were a pony.
“Y’all right?” asked Applebloom
“Yeah... I’m fine, I-” I panted, “The castle is alive.”
“It feels like a tree,” said Applebloom, “But with way more magic. Twilight told us each type of pony experiences the castle’s magic differently. Scootaloo said the castle felt like a storm cloud turned solid.”
I filed that under ‘interesting facts I have no context to understand yet’ and followed Applebloom deeper into the castle.
I don’t know how she knew which door was the library since they all looked the same to me. When we entered I was surprised to see a purple alicorn sitting behind the returns desk.
“Princess Twilight?” I exclaimed.
“Shhhh!” Came the immediate response.
I approached the desk so I could speak at a more library appropriate level.
“I mean, er, your majesty,” I said, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“It’s ‘your highness’,” said Twilight, “But please, call me Twilight.”
“Oh. Er, sorry.”
“Welcome to Ponyville Library,” said the alicorn princess, “Is there anything I can help you find?”
“Why are you running the library?” I asked. “Don’t you have, like, princess stuff to do?”
Twilight gave a soft, library appropriate giggle.
“I’m not a ruling princess like Celestia and Luna,” explained Twilight, “So no, not really.”
I almost asked if she was bored, but then I remembered that this was Twilight and she was surrounded by a library three stories tall that she no-doubt had the royal prerogative to reshelve as often as she liked.
I almost just asked for a book about magic, but then I realised how dumb that would have been. I’d have to be much more specific, especially with Twilight. The problem was that I didn’t know enough about magic to even know what I was looking for. Beyond that, I probably didn’t have the cultural context to understand what I was reading even if I found it. Alright, let’s try to cover all the bases and see how many books she’ll let me take.
“I’m looking for the shortest history book you can find that covers history from ancient to modern, a book on pony anatomy, a medical dictionary, a first aid manual, a book that covers the fundamentals of magic, a dictionary of magical terms, and a book that gives a brief overview of the history of magic as a field of study.”
Applebloom was looking at me with a raised eyebrow; Twilight practically squee’d with delight as she clasped her front hooves together.
“Oh,” I added, glancing at her wings, “and a book on royal etiquette”
“Wow, that’s a lot of books!” Twilight said, before squinting a little, “Is this for a school project?”
“Nah,” I decided to mess with Twilight a little, “I got kicked out of school.”
Twilight’s look of horror was cut short by Applebloom, who nudged me.
“No ya didn’t.” Applebloom said, before turning to Twilight. “She jus’ takin’ a couple days off from school ta settle in.”
“Of course,” said Twilight, “They said you had a dark sense of humor.”
Naturally, Twilight would think that getting expelled was the darkest thing to joke about.
Wait.
I felt as if a bucket of ice water had just been poured over the back of my head.
“Who told you that?” I kept my voice even as I struggled to control my breathing
I was suddenly aware of how much taller than me Twilight was, and the silence of the library that had been comforting became unsettling.
I was a little shocked when Applebloom put her fetlock on my withers.
“It’s okay Green,” Applebloom said, “Twilight is a nice pony, she’s not gonna make fun of ya.”
That’s not what I’m afraid of.
I almost said as much until I thought better of it.
What am I afraid of?
“I’m fine.” I said, “I'm just - I was surprised.”
Applejack must have been talking to her about me. Which I guess wasn’t technically a violation of my trust, since she never said she would keep anything between us a secret. I still felt betrayed.
I was looking at the floor and I flinched when purple hooves suddenly appeared in front of me. Twilight had used her wings to leap over the library counter to land in front of me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, “I didn’t mean to make you feel anxious!”
“It’s fine.” I said
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
“It’s just my stupid body overeacting.” I continued. “Not your fault.”
“We can go home if ya like.” Applebloom offered
I looked up at Twilight who had an undisguised look of anxiety on her own face.
Damnit, now I was making her feel bad too.
“No.” I said quietly. “We should stay, I still need to get some books, otherwise we came here for nothing.”
Twilight gave a genuine smile. “Now that I can help you with. It’s always good to see fillies who enjoy reading!”
In my panic, I’d forgotten the list of books I’d asked for, but Twilight hadn’t. That pony’s memory must be incredible.
In a series of flashy, but silent, teleports Twilight had a stack of books that came up almost to my shoulder. On the bottom of the stack was a book so broad it could have been used as a doormat by a pony foolish enough to incur Twilight’s wrath. The book was labeled “Greymane’s Anatomy”.
“The history book I picked out for you isn’t the shortest,” Twilight indicated a tome as thick as my hoof, “But Weathered Scroll provides a good summary in the first three chapters, and there’s a timeline in the appendix, so you shouldn’t need to read the whole thing.”
Displaying this kind of detailed knowledge of the books in her library, without even referring to an index, was almost unnerving. Just thinking about how many years it would take to read all those books made it seem impossible, but if Twilight was in her early twenties she could have spent more than fifteen pony years reading books every day. The equivalent of four decades of experience and all while her brain was in a state of constant growth, the best state for learning new things.
“Wow,” I said, “Thanks!”
Or she may just have memorised the best books on common topics. Which was still a hell of a lot of books.
“Normally you would only be allowed to check out five books,” Twilight explained, “But since Applebloom is here too she can check out the other books for you. Oh, and there’s still one more book you can take if Applebloom wants one.”
“Er, no. Ah’m good.” Said Applebloom. “Twilight, how are we even supposed ta carry this many books?”
“Oh! One moment.” Twilight vanished once more in a flash of teleportation, returning with a pair of filly sized saddle bags adorned with her cutie mark.
“These were my bookbags when I was a filly.” Twilight explained. “If you promise to take good care of them, you can borrow them for as long as you like.”
I looked from the saddlebags to the stack of books, noting the great disparity in size.
I tried to raise an eyebrow, but instead just raised both of them while one eye twitched. Twilight seemed to grasp my skepticism regardless.
“They’re enchanted specifically to hold books.” She explained. “Each one can hold a dozen books and keep them protected from damage, and their weight and volume are reduced by a factor of ten.”
Once Twilight had produced the bookbags Green’s earlier anxiety seemed all but forgotten. The filly had examined them in awe as if they were a lost artifact of Starswirl the Bearded, rather than the standard issue bookbags of a student who attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. It made Twilight thrilled to see filly so excited about reading. She reminded the Princess of herself as a filly; Rather unfortunately so with the anxiety.
She did however, notice the books the filly had chosen. They weren’t the choices of a curious foal; They made more sense as the choices of an educated, but ignorant, foreigner trying to understand ponies and integrate themselves into pony society.
History, anatomy, and magic. They were all topics a filly might have an interest in, but she didn’t just ask for a book about magic, or the facts of life, as Twilight had almost expected for a unicorn her age. The way she’d asked it was clear she was deliberately avoiding children’s books. At the same time she had preemptively asked for reference materials, meaning she expected to have difficulty understanding them but she knew how to study and was confident in her ability to work through it on her own.
Green’s emphasis on finding ‘brief’ history books meant that she was familiar with how long and dry history books were, but somehow didn’t know enough history to even specify what time period she wanted to know about. Anypony who had the briefest exposure to Equestrian history would have known that their history was divided into the pre-Celestial era and the Celestial era, not ‘Ancient and Modern’.
‘Modern History’ was almost an oxymoron; ‘modern’ being synonymous with ‘contemporary’ or ‘new’. Twilight liked it as a turn of phrase. ‘Modern History’: New history we’re making every day. It’d be a clever name for a newsletter about current events.
Twilight stopped herself short of declaring her theory of the filly’s extra-equestrian origin ‘proven’. She was cognizant of the effects of confirmation bias on her own reasoning. She would have to show this list to somepony else, somepony ignorant of her hypothesis, to see if they reached the same conclusion.
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Green is a silly filly
Great work on this chapter! I can feel even more intrigue building up, and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Twilight continues to be sharp. But then I suppose if anyone would note peculiarities of selecting reading material it would be her.
Lol, Puppy therapy continues to be the most effective form of medicine no matter the universe! Interesting to see how Twilight was able to deduce Green's origin with such a small dataset, but this research choices is in her wheelhouse. Keep up the great work!
Anxiety, anxiety, anxiety, self-recrimination, DISTRACTION
CARNIFEXDOGGO, anxiety....10770349
She already suspected because of Green's inexplicable lack of magical development. Because it was already her theory, it colors her interpretation of Green's reading material. Confirmation bias.
God I love it when smart horse actually gets to be smart.
*Cough Cough* totally not a changeling Twi *cough*
...
I wonder if RD would accuse the filly of being a spy...
(You know what I like? I like that Twilight came up with this theory, is working off of it, and not panicking and hauling Green away for dissection, or imprisonment, or making accusations, or anything like that. I like that she's being nice and still publicly treating Green like a filly, and perhaps even considering the possibility that, whatever the species, in many ways they kinda are. They're certainly nervous and having enough difficulty to be one. I LIKE that. Thank you for keeping Twilight kind... and also adorkable.
Also, this.
Best way to ingratiate yourself with the Book Princess. Also, smart asking for a book on royal etiquette! When you know what to do in a situation, it always feels better. Heck, maybe a book on common courtesy, I know it's useful to me to fall back on manners, whether they're outdated or not, when I get in awkward social situations.)
10770396
Green has been meaning to find a book on royal ettiquite ever since she mistakenly called Luna "Highness".
I would like to see art done of the scene where Twilight is giving Green her old saddlebags. With maybe Twilight's face showing her trying relieve Greens anxiety with a little special gift of generosity? Don't forget Applebloom being a little protective Maybe?
Because of course Twilight has a Bag of (Book) Holding.
Luna: Twilight! I believe Green is from another world!
Twilight: YES! BUCKING YES! WHO CALLED IT?! ME, THAT'S WHO!! Ahem, I mean, I agree Princess Luna.
I just hope they're in a language that Green can read.
10770454
Green was already able to read her medical notes, so yeah, no pony hieroglyphics in this Equestria.
Fun happy chapter, yay! Also loved that Luna sequence in the author notes! Very nice artist!
10770450
This would be great XD
10770457
Just curious, will the ponies have ideograms？
10770404
(Ah! I went right back to that chapter, looked, and it was right there! I'd forgotten all about that, excellent consistency!)
Glorious Chapter! Good thing it notified in my feed.
{\__/}
( • . •)
/ >❤️
Want this?
{\__/}
( • - •)
/>❤️Here
❤️🧡You
❤️🧡💛 Go
❤️🧡💛💚You
❤️🧡💛💚💙Did
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜Well
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖Today
Dawww factor over 9000!
Diabetes inducing cuteness via picture.
Wholesome conclusion of a chapter
Oh good, no knocking on wood!
Well shit, the jig is up for green then
Is equestria girls canon In this story,? Is that why she suspects the other world thing?
Awww, hopefully soon poor green will get a talking to and learn she won't be sent to the asylum for being a alien.
I can't quite remember...when did Twilight develop this hypothesis again? (No, I'm NOT getting details about this story and 'Strange Little Colt mixed up, how dare you make such an accusation!
)
Aww, AB is trying really hard to help Green. Watch their relationship end up being the cutest thing in this story.
10770269
She's just a filly, silly.
She's an authority on both. Not sure why you'd doubt her. (Okay, Green potentially being afraid of dogs is reasonable hedge, but still.)
A question Green could stand to ask herself much more often.
Of course Twilight had book-specific bags of holding as a filly. I would expect nothing less.
Yeah, Green's not quite as subtle as she may think. The question is what Twilight will do with this information, and how Green will react should she realize the cat's out of the bag. There may not be any repercussions for not mentioning her extraplanar origins, but if she thinks there should be, well...
For some reason it only occurs to me know, but I wonder, depending on what she's able to learn to a... elementary school level? Since she is a well educated adult, will that allow her to basically home-school herself? Since realistically, with enough self guided study she should be able to pass whatever exams are used to certify home schooled kids in Equestria.
I know she obviously needs to be socialized, but such considerations should at least allow her to be eased into things surely? Only put into school when she is actually ready and mentally stable.
Now that I think about it, it is odd that someone who is obviously highly unstable would be put in school in the first place without at least a few weeks of observation and therapy to make sure they are ready. if anything it seems like the kind of thing that anyone with training to realize that who cared, or at least didn't want to be blamed for the consequences, would make sure of. rather than rush them into things and risk disaster.
I guess hindsight is 20/20?
10770663
Twilight developed the hypothesis after examining Green's thaumatology results. It was offscreen, but Luna alludes to the fact Twilight has discussed it with her.
Uh-oh! Nice chapter otherwise but looks like Green just gave Twilight pieces she shouldn't have.
I can't believe I just now put this together, but if Green keeps that name as her pony name, and stays with/is formally adopted by the family currently fostering her, she'll be Green Apple. It won't even be odd.
Title is a cryptic reference again, click below to reveal:
Twilight's current theory is that Green is a runaway child from a mirror universe that found a way to escape to Equestria through a mirror. EqG is canon in this Equestria, but considered a state secret.
The chapter title alludes to this cryptically "Life in Equestria Shimmers" (according to the song) and Sunset Shimmer is a pony who ran away through a mirror.
10770437
Just contacted an artist about doing that, we'll see what they come up with.
10770829
10770814
First unicorn Apple!
10770709
I believe those were shown in flashbacks.
If analogous item was called "Scribe's" in Ravenloft (bag of holding for scrolls), would be this one "Scholar's"?
10770396
Twilight aware of what happened to Green and now is a witness of genuine anxiety. She wouldn't dare do wrong move, be her theory right or wrong
10770657
I'm pretty sure extra-equestrian means to twilight that she was born in another country, not that she's from a different world for now.
That was a fun one. I liked Twilight's keen observations at the end. Too many people seem to write Twilight as borderline incompetent.
Your portrayal of Book Horse figuring things out was very on point and in character for her.
he who need school...xD study time with books from the library wins :D
is applebloom getting jelless ore just worry about her friend here
10771139
Kinda easy to do with how she usually acts in the show.
Good chapter this one. Book horse being perceptive is a trait not often explored, especially considering she's the only one to suspect Queen Chrysalis despite everypony thinking she's crazy, including Princess Celestia.
Those images are totes adorbs. Smol pone playing with smol doggo the size of smol pone. That'd be enough to give anyone a heart attack of cuteness
10770829
That's awesome and I can barely wait for Green to somehow find out about it, try to cross the gate to go back home, stay a little girl on the other side and go "Oh come on!" while obviously knowing how to move well enough to make Twiggles go eureka! on it.
Only to then get a tearful confession from Green and having to hug it out while explaining that no, she isn't mad and she'd love to have her over more to read together.
Cute chapter. Very nicely paced. Looking forward to the next one!
10771896
Thanks, I've been told I need to work on my pacing.
10771898
Some people like it fast, some like it slow. At least for this chapter you managed to find a nice middle-ground. I'd have to go and re-read the others to see the pacing there but I don't remember any major pacing issues. Though, I'm fairly forgiving with fanfiction (not like you make money off of this, lol).
I'm late to the party, but this is a good chapter. Keep up the good work.