> An Earthling Earth Pony at Celestia's School of Magic: Year One
>  by Halira
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 26, 2058

I sat down in my seat, barely able to contain my excitement. Bouncing in my seat, I got a few strange looks from the students near me, but I didn't care; I was here! 

“Please, students, try to get seated quickly so we can begin orientation!” the white unicorn mare with the purple and pink mane standing in front of the other staff shouted while smiling. In the corner behind her, I spotted Professor Applebloom and had to stop myself from hopping in my seat even more than I already was. 

“Wow, earth pony must be lost,” I heard someone nearby mutter. I decided to ignore it. There were always going to be people trying to put me down. The fact that Professor Applebloom was on staff here just confirmed that an earth pony could do magic, too!

The whole staff sat in two large rows of seats at the head of the auditorium. Most of them were unicorns, but, in addition to Applebloom, there was a pegasus, and sitting directly beside Celestia at the head of the seats were a pair of humans, a man and a woman. Magic was not just for unicorns. 

“What's with the humans?” someone else near me whispered to their neighbor. 

“Don’t know. Maybe it’s some ambassadors or something?” the neighbor replied. 

Sitting next to Celestia indicated they were important, so ambassadors was a good guess. I still thought they had to be on staff, though. The man looked like some stereotyped wizard from the old movies with those robes and staff, maybe a Korean one, since he looked Asian. The woman was middle-aged, had short brown hair, and was definitely of northern European ancestry. She was dressed in a business suit, which made her look more like some company CEO than a mage. Neither of the humans were smiling  

“Why are their non-unicorns on staff? What can I possibly learn from the likes of somepony like them?” some filly asked in a haughty tone.

“Dang it, there's always got ta be at least one of y'all in every class,” a colt said in an exasperated tone.

“What, pray tell, do you mean by saying that, you uncouth…yuck…rural pony?” the haughty filly shot back.

“Ya know what ah mean,” the colt replied. “There’s always some high-nosed rich pony that thinks they’re better than everypony else. Guess we found out who it is early on.”

GGGOOONNNGGG

I covered my ears with my hooves, and so did everyone else, including most of the teachers and the princess. The unicorn that had told us to take our seats now had a large gong and mallet floating in her magic beside her. She smiled and floated them over to a corner. 

“There now,” the mare said in satisfaction. “Now that everypony has quieted down, let me be the first to welcome you to this school. I’m Professor Sweetie Belle. I cover a few different magic subjects, primarily more advanced topics that you won’t be dealing with in your first year, but I also teach music, writing, etiquette, and serve as a school guidance counselor. In addition, a few of us run a camp for young ponies during the summers and routinely help out with other colts and fillies. The thirty of you will hopefully be around each other for the next four years, provided no one flunks out. I hope everypony can make some great friends during that time, so let's not be so rude to one another.”

I had no intention of flunking out. I’d pushed myself in school to this point; I could keep pushing myself. From everything I'd heard, the Equestrian schools were much easier than schools back home, so failing seemed unlikely to anyone who made it this far. 

Professor Sweetie Belle partially turned and pointed a leg at the princess. “I know you’re all eager for it, so let me introduce Princess Celestia and let her say a few words!”

There were hoovestomps and cheers as Princess Celestia stood up and spread her wings, even from the ponies that had been critical of the teachers earlier. The princess smiled and waited for the cheering to subside. 

“My little ponies and foals visiting from Earth, founding this school has always been one of my proudest accomplishments, and it brings me joy to see that it continues to operate and shape minds so many centuries after I commissioned it. Today, you join a long line of students who have passed through these halls on their way to shaping our history. I do not doubt that I will be hearing much more about each of you in the coming years,” Celestia warmly greeted the class. 

There were more cheers and stomps, and the princess waited for these to quiet before continuing. 

“This year is going to be a little different than years past. It has been a while since we last overhauled our standards. This is not the first time we have made radical changes to how things are done in the school’s history, and it likely will not be the last,” Celestia informed us. 

There was some quiet murmuring among the students at this. I assumed she was talking about the admittance of non-unicorns to the school. I hoped she didn’t point me out. I didn’t want to be put on the spot right away.  

Celestia held up her wings higher, which seemed to quiet the whispers. “There are going to be a considerable number of changes. These were necessary because Equestria’s circumstances have changed since the heyday of this institution. I have tried in the past to limit how fast our society has advanced, fearing that rapid advancement could destabilize our society, but now we are faced with a massive influx of new ideas, technologies, and other pressures from beyond our borders. Earth is now starting to open magic schools of their own, and the Earthlings have constantly impressed me with what they can accomplish. In a few years, they will present something this school has never had to contend with: serious competition from other magic schools. Already, we are starting to have friendly competitions to display students' skills, and both worlds will be watching these competitions to see who has the best students. In order to stay the premier magic school…nay…to even stay relevant, we must adapt. Otherwise, we will be left behind. Equestria must return to being at the forefront of magical knowledge and capability.”

“I heard she’s really competitive. She gets really into it and hates to lose,” a student whispered. 

“Didn’t you hear?” another student whispered. “We were beaten in the magic games last year, and she fired half the staff after that, and most of the rest retired out of shame!”

“Equestrian mages outclassed by Earthlings? This cannot be allowed to happen. The princess continues to prove her wisdom if she decided to clean house after such a humiliation,” the unicorn colt seated in front of me whispered haughtily. He was sitting beside the stuck-up filly who had been called out earlier. 

“A few years ago, I brought in an outsider to suggest how to update our schools and keep us competitive, one of our greatest critics from Earth,” Celestia continued when it quieted down. “While she made plenty of recommendations, the previous administration of this school was stuck in their ways and refused to act on them. Now that the previous headmare has retired, I am appointing a new leader of this school who will make the changes that need to be made.”

Celestia turned and faced the robed human man on the other side of her. “Allow me to introduce your new headmaster and allow him to say a few words. Please give him your full attention.”

The entire audience was still and quiet with shock as Celestia sat down. Bringing humans on staff was one thing. Appointing a human to be headmaster was another. Did she have that little faith in her existing educators that this seemed the only solution?

The man slowly got to his feet. He stood there, staff in one hand, looking impassively at us all.

“I have reviewed all your files, and I can’t recall a single one of your names because not a single one of the files stood out to me as anything other than bland and uninspired. There is no pony of great power, no prodigy, no one to inspire confidence. I’m sure I could go down to the local orphanage and find half a dozen foals with more promise than the lot of you. You are everything wrong with the Equestrian education system. If this is the best Equestria has to offer, it is in a sad state indeed,”  the man said in a dry, bored tone. 

The teachers all gasped, apparently as shocked as me and the other students. We were so shocked that we couldn’t even gasp. I noticed two people didn’t look surprised: Celestia and the human woman. Celestia was the one who picked this guy out to lead, so she must have known this was coming. The lady probably agreed with him. 

“Perhaps you can be a little nicer, Headmaster,” Celestia whispered loudly. “These are twelve to fourteen-year-old foals who need encouragement.”

The man rolled his eyes. “However, I’ve been told to try to look at the positives. What I said before means you have nothing but an opportunity to impress me. The bar is set very low to do that at this point, so it shouldn’t be that much of a struggle. It is my sincerest hope that every single one of you impresses me beyond my wildest expectations.” He smiled at the end, and it looked like smiling might have been painful for him, likely because he did it so little. 

This new headmaster wasn’t making any friends with the students or teachers. I had a bad feeling about what kind of changes would be implemented.

“Now, we shall discuss how things will go this year,” the man said, standing stiffly. “The thirty of you will be divided into three smaller classes of ten each instead of maintaining a class of thirty. This allows smaller class sizes and your teachers to work with you more individually. The ten in your group shall all attend the same core classes together and room in the same area of the dorms together. You shall each get a personal advisor from among the faculty, and they shall give you additional instruction one-on-one. Every student shall receive a ranking each week from one to thirty. At the end of the year, unless I have been sufficiently impressed by more than twenty students, the ranks twenty through thirty will be sent home and told not to come back. Our teachers have better uses for their time than instructing students that aren’t going to accomplish anything.”

The unicorn colt raised a leg high. “Sir! What if everypony passes?”

The man scowled. “Passes? If you are part of the bottom third and fail to impress, you didn’t pass, regardless of your grades. Each grade level will have fewer students than the last. By the time you are ready to graduate, only five of you currently present will remain–unless a miracle happens and there are too many good students to let go.”

“I will not be sent home! My parents paid good money to get me into this school!” the haughty filly from earlier shouted. 

The headmaster smirked. “Congratulations, you just became the first to hold the rank of number thirty.”

She turned red in the face. “I am-”

The headmaster waved dismissively at her. “I don’t care what your name is or who you are related to. It has ceased to make a difference. You declaring you earned any right to stay because of money gives me a low opinion of you. Whatever your parents might give the school pales compared to what Earth investors will give if we show our capability, so I don’t care if they get angry at your dismissal. You don’t want to be number thirty? Impress me. Show me that you aren’t just a spoiled filly who thinks having money makes you worth my time.” 

He put his arm down and looked around, then pointed right at me. “You! You will be our starting rank one. Don’t introduce yourself or say anything; I'm not interested, but an earth pony getting into this school is at least showing some signs of being a hard worker…which is…something. I believe competition breeds results, so I am introducing an element of competition to our curriculum. Whoever is ranked number one at the end of the semester will receive a reward for their trouble: any single item for sale anywhere in the city that a minor can legally buy at the time of the final ranking for the year, regardless of price. If you want to waste the reward on a piece of candy, you can, or you could buy a unique artifact. If it is for sale in the city, and there’s no age restriction on its purchase, it is yours. Let’s see how long you hold onto your spot. Ranks can change based on grades, accomplishments, attendance, and by impressing me. While I won’t be teaching, I will be stepping into your classes from time to time to observe.”

At least a few other students were looking at me. It was the first day of class, and I already had a target on my head. I figured there would be, but it would be because I’m an earth pony or an Earthling, not because the headmaster directly put the target on my head. Other students were going to want that reward. I was tempted to not even try to be number one. What did I want that could be bought anyway? However, I was also determined to prove that I deserved to be here, and that meant doing the best I could. If I didn’t impress this guy, I could end up being sent home, and I couldn’t live with that. 

He sat down. “My words may seem harsh, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want each and every one of you to succeed. While I admit to being demanding, I do not intend to be cruel. I honestly hope that you all impress me, and I have no reason to send any of you home; it would certainly make returning this institution to glory an easier task. However, I have a mandate to make this school the best magic school in existence, and I will not embrace mediocrity to spare your feelings. That would be a disservice to this institution and a disservice to you. Professor Sweetie Belle may now continue with the orientation.”

A filly raised her hoof. “Headmaster, sir! You didn’t tell us your name.”

He smirked again. “I’m the Headmaster; that’s all the name you need.”

Professor Sweetie Belle bolted up out of her seat and to the front of the professors, smiling broadly. 

“That sounds like an excellent segue for me to start introducing the staff!” she said, so oozing with enthusiasm that it had to be forced. “I’ve already introduced myself, and you met the Headmaster. I don’t know his name either, and I don’t know anyone on staff who does, so don’t feel bad. Most of the staff is new, including me. So we will all be figuring this out together–including some of the policies our Headmaster just announced.”

She pointed to Applebloom. “Let’s get the non-unicorn introductions out of the way first since I’m sure you’re all wondering about them. This is my friend Professor Applebloom! She teaches alchemy, Botany, and a few other science courses. She may be an earth pony, but her alchemy is top-notch!”

“She’s also mah aunt,” the country-seeming unicorn colt whispered proudly. That was interesting. Maybe this colt knew some secret alchemy information through his aunt. He seemed nice enough that they might be able to be friends. 

She pointed to the pegasus. “This is my friend Coach Scootaloo! She doesn’t teach any magic. She is going to be teaching nutrition, and she is in charge of your physical fitness courses. Being physically fit and eating right helps you with your magic, and she’s a great coach. She is also the assistant guidance counselor if I’m unavailable.”

Sweetie Belle pointed at the human lady. “This is Professor Newman. I’ve never actually seen her cast a spell, but she seems to know a lot about magic and can pick up whatever you might be doing wrong and tell you how to correct it. She will be teaching magic fundamentals and theory classes as well as magical literacy and terminology. She also teaches an advanced course on spell melding–that’s combining two or more spells into one to create a new effect, but it can be hazardous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Moving on to the unicorns,” she continued, pointing to an older mare with glasses. “This is Professor Raven Inkwell. She is the only holdover from the previous faculty, but even before she was a faculty member, she had been an aide and advisor to the princess. She’ll be teaching several mathematics courses, as well as illusions.”

Sweetie Belle pointed at a pink unicorn. “This is Professor Luster Dawn. She’s the youngest professor on staff. She’ll be covering transmutation, teleportation, and combat magic.”

She pointed to an older stallion. “This is Professor Neighsay. He will teach the history of magic, Equestrian history, and all courses dealing with artifacts and relics.”

She pointed to the last unicorn. “And last but not least, this is Professor Glitter Drops! She’ll be teaching about elemental magic–that’s spells focused on fire, water, earth, wind, and light.”

“You forgot one,” Headmaster said sourly. 

Sweetie Belle jumped. “Oh, yes! Not present is Professor Psychic Calm! He teaches about dream magic and serves as the school psychologist, which is different from just being a guidance counselor. If somepony has issues that are too much for me or Scootaloo to deal with, we refer them to him. He’s pretty old and tends to sleep most of the day and keep to himself, so you may not see him outside of class unless you get referred to him for counseling. You may not see him even then–he can be a little odd. You’ll likely see and meet our three groundskeepers when you are going around campus; one of them is a kirin, so don’t be shocked by that. We have a full-time librarian, and we also have three cooks. I try to help out in the kitchen when I can.”

“But they chase you out because they don’t want the school burning down,” Professor Scootaloo interjected.

Professor Sweetie Belle pouted. “I'm not that bad.”

“Yes, you are,” all the faculty said in chorus. 

“In addition to being Headmaster, I’m the school doctor. I don’t want anyone coming to me with food poisoning or severe burns. Stay out of the kitchen; that’s an order,” Headmaster grumbled.

Princess Celestia stood again and smiled at Sweetie Belle. “Your cooking may need work, but you have many other excellent qualities. Thank you for doing an outstanding job introducing the faculty and welcoming the students.”

Professor Sweetie Belle bowed her head as she returned to her seat. “Thank you, Princess.”

Princess Celestia looked at the students. “As the Headmaster has explained, our standards are getting much more rigorous than they have been in the past. The magic games that I mentioned previously not only earn the school notoriety but also earn the school funding from investors. The schools on Earth are currently very popular with these investors, so they have been getting a lot more of their money. While I would like to expand and improve the facilities here, the Equestrian budget is not endless. We are holding the games here for the first time this year. First-year students will not compete in the games, but I expect you to be on your best behavior when they come. Most of the second and third-year students, and some fourth-year students, will be competing in the games in six months, and I hope you show them your full support.”

“I’ve already sent home all the riff-raff from the older classes that weren’t up to standard,” Headmaster said. “We have a much more focused group of students in the upper classes now.”

“Leaving us with a lot of angry parents screaming at us,” Professor Inkwell said in an exasperated tone. “And many of those students that remain are focused because they are terrified of being dismissed as well.”

“And because of that, I’m sure they’ll perform much better than that dismal last-place finish this school endured last year,” Headmaster said. 

Last place? No wonder Princess Celestia had gotten mad enough that she decided to allow such drastic changes to the school. 

“But we must remember that this is a school, and the focus is on education, not competition,” Princess Celestia continued. “With the exception of those specializing in combat magic, the fourth-years will abstain from the games to focus on their studies. While we do want to ensure every student gets a well-rounded education, each of you will be determining a specialization by the end of this school year. In addition to your other studies, you will do additional coursework in your specialization, and it is your specialization that you will compete in during the games.”

I already knew what mine was going to be: alchemy. I doubted I could even do any of those other types of magic as an earth pony. 

Celestia spread her wings. “Now, if you would all step outside, we can start assigning who your classmates and dormmates will be, and you can start learning about each other and building friendships that I hope stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Everyone got up from their seats and start heading towards the exit. When I got out to the aisle, I hurried to meet up with the colt who said he was Applebloom’s nephew. 

“Hi! I’m Turnip Jones,” I greeted.

He blinked and smiled as we continued walking together. “Hello. Good ta meet ya, Turnip. Ah’m Bright, Bright Pear, that is. Kinda cool haven’ an earth pony make it into the school. Mah ’brother will be might thrilled ta hear ‘bout it. He always told meh that earth ponies can’t get ta go to this school. Might happy to be wrong on that…or might not, seein’ as he’s too old ta go now. Excuse mah speech. Ah live on a farm.”

I chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m from a farm, too, out in Kansas.”

“Kansas? Where’s Kansas?” Bright asked as we reached the outside. 

“Oh, it’s on Earth,” I said. 

He stopped in his tracks. “Kansas is on Earth? Is it near New Yolk?”

“Uh, I think you mean New York. It’s in the same country, so, sorta,” I answered. “You interested in New York?”

He shook his head. “Nah, but mah aunts go ta Earth sometimes, and the portal is at that New York place, so they talk about it more than other places on Earth. They say it’s the biggest dang city they’ve ever seen. Is Kansas big?”

“Big and empty,” I answered. “Lots and lots of farms. Lots of people yelling at each other about water.”

“Why water?” he asked in confusion. 

I shrugged. “Not enough of it. People are only allowed to use so much, and nobody is ever happy about how much they get to use. It limits how big of crops we can have, but they say if we use too much water, we’ll use it all up, and all the farms will fail. I’m not really into farming, so I don’t understand the details.”

“Yeah, ah ain’t in’ta farmin’ either,” Bright replied. “Mah whole family farms, side for my aunt Applebloom, and my sis, who went here. Ah want ta be like my big sis. Ah want to be a hero, like mah aunts. Ah’m goin’ to learn combat magic and join the royal guard like her. She’s an officer and does all kinda fancy magic ta fight monsters. Bam bam bam!”

“Oh, look, the dirt pony and the dirt pony with a horn are bonding! Isn’t that sweet?“

We both turned to see the snooty filly who was complaining that she deserved to be there because her parents paid good money for it. 

I frowned but then smirked. “Oh, look. It’s Miss Thirtieth-place.”

She stomped. “I’m Prim Tape! Of the Canterlot Prims! My family has more money than your whole little dirt towns put together!”

“Yet not enough to buy some manners.”

We all looked up to see Professor Newman standing there, arms crossed, glaring down at us. 

Prim backed away. “What I meant to say-”

“I would have you apologize for your behavior, Miss Prim, but apologies mean nothing if they are not sincere, so it would be pointless,” Professor Newman dryly said. “What I will do is remind you that the princess has little use for officials who sit around insulting their constituents. Your family holds a number of official positions in the government, does it not?”

Prim licked her lips. “It does.”

Professor Newman nodded. “Behavior like this often comes from a foal’s home. I wonder what the princess would think if she found officials in her government who spoke this way about the majority of her subjects. A simple investigation could uncover such information.”

Prim’s eyes went wide. “Please don’t.”

Professor Newman smiled. “Did I hear a please? Perhaps I was mistaken, and your parents did teach you some manners after all. I will withhold doing any investigation, but if I hear you using the term dirt pony again, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?”

Prim nodded in a hurry. “Yes, professor.”

Professor Newman turned her gaze to me next. “And you, Mister Jones, shall not insult anyone else’s ranking. Rankings can change quickly, and you could find yourself at the bottom after a few bad days, trying to work your way back up. Ponies may remember you mocking others’ rank when you need assistance, and that would not bode well. Do I make myself clear?”

I nodded just as fast as Prim had. “Yes, professor.”

Her eyes shifted to Bright. “As for you…I found no fault in anything you said or did, but that could be because you hadn’t had the opportunity before I intervened. Your aunt told me about your father. He thinks before he speaks. I advise you to always remember to do the same. It helps keep you out of trouble.”

He nodded. “Yes, professor.”

The professor turned and walked away. Prim stuck her tongue out at the professor’s backside. 

“Stupid human, doesn't even have magic,” Prim muttered.

Professor Newman stopped and looked back. “Did I hear you say something, Miss Prim?”

Prim yelped and stepped back. “No! Nothing, professor.”

“Hurry and line up for your dorm assignments, then,” Professor Newman instructed. 

I turned and looked up at the school building. Here I was, beginning the first year of my studies at Celestia’s School of Magic, and I intended to be one of the students who graduated. This was the beginning of my bright and glorious-

“Stop standing around gawking and follow instructions, Mister Jones.”

I jumped and hurried into place. “Yes, professor!”
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe we get to room together! What were the chances? I laughed as Bright and I headed toward the dorms directly across the street from the school.

Bright watched me prance and chuckled. “Ain’t no mystery. Ah think she might have been dedicin’ who roomed with who on the spot and already seen us hangin’ around each other. Most the pairings she made seemed ta be ponies who’d been talkin’ ta each other.”

“Ewww! I can’t believe I must be in the same class as you two dir- as you two farmers!” 

We turned and saw Prim close by us, making a dramatic gagging gesture. Did this filly have nothing better to do than cause us trouble? I wondered who her roommate was. I hadn’t been paying attention. Bright might know. He seemed to have noticed more than I did. 

A red colt walked up beside her and pushed her mouth closed with a hoof. “Now, Prim, dearest sister, making such a face in public is not becoming of one of our stock, nor is it likely to earn the Headmaster’s approval. We must learn to be friendly with the colts and fillies we shall share instruction with. Let us not forget that most of the Element Bearers came from humble roots. I dear say, I believe this one colt made the claim he is an Apple, which makes him closely related to the great Applejack. Is that not so, valued classmate?”

Bright blinked a few times as if trying to figure out how to process who was speaking to him. “Urh, ah’m Bright Pear, and Applejack is mah aunt.”

The red colt smiled broadly and extended a hoof while his assumed sister rolled her eyes. “Good show! I’m Red Tape. I believe you have met my darling sister, Prim Tape. I do apologize for her behavior. She is somewhat disgruntled that she has to attend this academy, but our parents insisted upon it. I fully take her side on that matter and would rather she be enjoying the luxuries of our estate right now, instructed by private tutors. It is I who should be burdened by proving myself, not she. But, alas, my parents take a very traditionalist view to all things.”

“Oh,” Bright replied, clapping his hoof to the rich colt’s. “It’s alright. Mah family is kinda traditional too.”

Red gave a beaming smile as he set his hoof down. “Splendid!” He then looked at me. “And you! An earth pony at the school of magic! What a wonder to behold. I do not believe I have yet to catch your name, good sir.”

Well, Red Tape seemed nicer than his sister. Maybe this was a chance to make another friend.

“I’m-” I began.

“Mister Jones!”

I jumped. “I didn’t do anything!”

Professor Newman approached us and looked down at me. “You will follow me to the Headmaster’s office.”

I backed up a step. “What did I do?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Did I say you did anything, Mister Jones? Come along. The Headmaster does not wish to be kept waiting.”

“You should probably promptly make haste if the Headmaster requires your presence,” Red Tape said. “You do not wish to be seen as disobedient, do you?”

“Uh, no. I don’t want to be that,” I agreed. 

Professor Newman started walking back towards the school. “Then follow along, Mister Jones.”

I hurried to catch up and fell into a trot beside her. 

“Um, so, you’re from Earth too?” I asked. 

She glanced down at him. “That should seem obvious. Hominids died out in this world long before ponies learned how to speak.”
.
“Hominids?” I asked in confusion.

She sighed. “Species relative to humans, Mister Jones.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Equestria had those,” I replied. 

“Not in many thousands of years,” Professor Newman said. 

“So…where on Earth are you from?” I asked as we entered the school building. 

She stopped and looked at me. “Mister Jones, I am a citizen of Equestria. Where I was born is a private matter. Do I make myself clear?”

I gulped. “Very clear, professor.”

She sighed. “Don’t be so terrified of making me mad. Let’s say that I needed to get away from all the stress, and the princesses were kind enough to give me something to do that was away from it all. Sure, Equestria has its issues–stuck-up nobles, buildings a little too small for humans, random monster attacks, and let's not forget the traditional annual villain trying to take over the world. Still, I’ll take that over all the things I was worrying about back on Earth. Even if I have to make occasional trips to Earth for these silly games, my life on Earth is still behind me, and I intend to keep it that way. So don’t ask about it.”

I blinked a few times and held up a hoof. “Um…can I ask what you meant about random monster attacks and annual villains trying to take over the world?”

She chuckled, the first legitimate sign of happiness I had seen from the scary professor. “If you make it through your four years, you’ll get to see your fill. Don’t worry; you are safe here. I would say this is the safest place in the city.”

“Safer than in the palace with the princesses?” I asked, not able to keep the doubt from my voice. 

“Oh, definitely safer than there. Where do you think most of the villains head to first when trying to conquer this place? The palace is probably the worst place to live in the city if you are concerned about being safe from attack,” Professor Newman answered with a shake of her head. 

I hadn’t considered that. 

She started walking again. “Come along, Mister Jones.”

The Headmaster’s office was halfway down the second-floor hall and had a large pair of double doors for some reason. They opened on their own as we approached. That was kinda gimmicky, but at least we didn’t have to open them ourselves. They looked heavy. We stepped in. 

The room was dimly lit because the curtains were drawn shut, letting in only a tiny sliver of light. The walls were lined with bookcases, which about a quarter of the shelves had scrolls instead of books. The Headmaster sat at his desk at the far end of the room, reading a scroll while writing on another scroll. His staff was leaning against his chair.  Professor Applebloom sat beside the desk and waved to them as they entered. The doors shut once they were entirely in the room. 

The Headmaster glanced our way. “Please wait just a moment.” He then turned his gaze to Professor Applebloom.

“Applebloom…,” Headmaster said slowly and dryly. “Can you explain to me how our kitchens ended up with ten large crates of apples and an invoice from Sweet Apple Acres requesting five hundred bits? I’m asking you because…well… I’m sure you can fill in the rest.”

Professor Applebloom flinched. “Well…you see, my youngest nephew just started attending here. He’s never been far from home, and ah felt like bringing him a taste of home, ta make him feel good about bein’ in the city. He’s the only foal left out of me, and mah siblings foals-”

The Headmaster stared at her.

“-and the grown ones haven’t started havin’ their own foals yet. Not that ah’m ready to be a granny yet, seein’ as ah’m only forty-seven, which ain’t that old. Forty-seven is like the new thirty-one-”

The Headmaster continued to stare blankly at her. 

“-but ah’ve hinted to them that they won’t be young forever and should marry and settle down-”

The Headmaster yawned widely.

“-although mah oldest nephew and his wife have been actin’ kinda secretive lately, so there may be some buns in the oven that-”

“You want foals in your family to spoil, and your nephew, whats-his-name, is the only available one at the moment; I get the idea, but you’re paying the invoice out of your next paycheck, professor,” Headmaster finally said. “Don’t ever bill anything you order to the school again without authorization from me.”

Professor Applebloom flinched again. “Yes, sir.”

Headmaster raised a hand and beckoned us to come forward. We walked up to the desk. The Headmaster pulled out a different scroll and started looking it over.

“That earth pony, hmmm,” Headmaster said as he looked over the scroll. “You present something of a problem with how our current curriculum is set up. Putting you in a class where you’re expected to teleport, transmute things, do fire magic, and so on seems to be setting you up to fail.”

I lowered my head.

“Some artifacts can let you channel your inner thaumic energy much like a unicorn uses their horn. My staff functions for me in that manner,” Headmaster continued. 

So that’s how the Headmaster performed magic well enough to be in charge of a magic school. I looked at the staff leaning against his chair. It looked like it was made entirely of blue crystal except for an odd spot in the center that looked like an hourglass made out of some pearly-white stone. I wondered where a human got something like that. That wasn’t something that would just be lying around on Earth, and what was he doing for magic before he got that staff? Did Professor Newman also have something like that? There didn’t seem to be anything obvious on her person. 

“I’ve spoken with Professor Neighsay about whether this would be a feasible solution,” Headmaster said, still reading whatever was on the scroll. “However, he says it would take him time to make, and he also does not feel comfortable entrusting such an object into the hooves of a first-year student who hasn’t yet taken his class on artifact safety. That makes it a solution for what to do for future years, but not this one.”

Professor Newman crossed her arms behind her back. “Turnip Jones is one of two scholarship students who aced the magic fundamentals and theory test. He deserves every chance to succeed.”

I’d aced it? Wow…I had no idea. I mean, I felt like I did well on that section, but it had been a very long and complicated section. There’d been a few questions that I’d been very unsure about, and at least two that I literally just guessed about the answer. 

Headmaster looked up at Professor Newman. “Who is Turnip Jones?”

“The earth pony,” Professor Newman clarified. Wait, he really had forgotten my name? I assumed the report about me was on his desk. How’d he forget my name?

“What an unfortunate name,” Headmaster mused as he looked back over whatever he was reading. “Let’s see, you mentioned your interest in alchemy ninety-four times throughout your application.”

“You counted?” I asked in disbelief. 

He glanced at me. “It was something to amuse myself with.” He looked back down at the report. “Very well. I hate to give special treatment to any student, but it seems that we will be forced to do so in this case, and it is my fault for not having a plan in place for a non-unicorn meeting the requirements for entry. I will not punish you for my oversight. While you will be taking most of the same courses as your classmates, the courses with professors Luster Dawn and Glitter Drops will be delayed until next year. Instead, you will take extra courses in the sciences with Professor Applebloom and artifacts with Professor Neighsay. You may need to do extra work over the summer to catch up with your classmates on the subjects you are missing this year, but you are used to hard work, aren’t you?”

I stood at attention. “Yes, Headmaster, sir!” 

He made some notes on a different scroll. “That’s settled then. Professor Applebloom will be your advisor, of course, but Professor Newman will be the one to draw up your altered class schedule. You may report to your dorm. Professor Applebloom, I expect you to report to the kitchen and help the staff figure out what they are going to do with the sudden excess of apples they have. Ten crates of apples take up a lot of storage space.”

“Yes, Headmaster,” Professor Applebloom said with a nod. 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Why aren’t you moving? Get!”

Applebloom got up and ran for the door, which opened on its own just in time for her to not smash into it. 

“You two as well!” Headmaster ordered. 

“Come along, Mister Jones,” Professor Newman instructed. 

Once we were outside the now-closed doors to the Headmaster’s office, Professor Newman looked down on me. “I have some matters to attend to, which include working out your class schedule. You will report to your first class tomorrow with your classmates, as that is my class, and I shall have your schedule ready for you then. You should have no problem finding your way to your dorm room. Don’t dawdle; the groundskeeper who supervises the dorm will already have to repeat herself to you about dorm policies. Don’t keep her waiting overly long to do so.”
.
“Thank you for standing up for me in there,” I said. I wasn’t just being polite. I didn’t expect her to speak up on my behalf. 

She nodded. “Your scores on that test indicate you understand the fundamentals and theory of magic well. That is a good foundation to build on. While I don’t expect perfection, I expect you to do well in my class, as much of it should be a review for you. Don’t disappoint me, Mister Jones.”

“What did the Headmaster mean by I have an unfortunate name?” I asked. 

She raised an eyebrow. “In some circles, Turnip is a slang term for an idiot, which is why I don’t address you as such. I know earth ponies have a fascination with farm produce, but I don’t understand what goes through their heads sometimes. Be on your way, Mister Jones, and don’t be late for my class tomorrow.”
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were three dorm buildings, each supervised by a different groundskeeper. One dorm building had the third and fourth-year students, one had all the second-year students, and then there was mine, which had all the first-year students. Each dorm building had three floors, and my class was on the third floor. That meant lots of stairs to climb because elevators were rare in Canterlot. Luckily, I was an earth pony who grew up on a farm, so a little extra workout running up the stairs didn’t bother me.

As I reached the landing, I saw someone was in the way, and I tripped and collided with them as I tried to stop.

“AHHKK! This is why there’s no running allowed on the stairs!” the pony I collided with hollered. 

“Sor-” I started to say but stopped to gape. 

In front of me, lying on the floor, was a creature wholly engulfed in black and pink flames.

“Someone get the kitten!” a student yelled. 

Huh?

A unicorn filly walked over with a tiny tabby kitten held out in front of them using their magic. She held the kitten out towards the flames. Oh no! Was she going to toss it in?

“Awww, so cute!” the flaming monster said, and its flames suddenly went out, leaving behind what looked like a brownish-green mare, but she had scales in some places, along with what looked like a ruddy-brown lion’s mane and a single jagged antler. 
 
The strange mare grabbed the kitten and rocked it like a baby. “You are so cute! I can’t stay mad while looking at you!”

“Mew!” the kitten happily meowed. 

The creature set the kitten down and turned, and looked at me. “Okay, I’m calm again. No running on the stairs. Someone can get hurt.”

I was still staring. “Um…who are you?”

The creature stood up. “I’m Groundskeeper Spring Fling, but you can just call me Spring. I’m in charge of supervising and maintaining this dorm building. I’m guessing you’ve never seen a kirin. Are you one of our students? I thought they were all unicorns.”

I blinked. Kirin…right. “Yes, I’m a student. I’m Turnip Jones; I’m supposed to be in room 4J.”

She nodded.  "Just down the hall on the right. Your luggage should already be there. Let me go over the house rules. You already heard no running on the stairs. There’s also no running in the halls, no running in your room, no jumping on the beds, no stomping, no staying out after nine, lights out by midnight, no loud music, no physical fighting, no dogs, no birds, no hammering nails into the walls, no level four or higher spells, no hazing, keep your room clean, do not leave any clutter in the halls or stairs, and find Miss Pretty Purrface or a fire extinguisher if I get angry–preferably Miss Pretty Purrface; I don’t like fire extinguishers and they leave such a mess.”

“Mew!” said the kitten, who I assumed was Miss Pretty Purrface.

“Oh! Don’t let Miss Pretty Purrface into your room. She’s supposed to be out patrolling the halls. Don’t let her get outside the building, either; she’s an indoor sweetie kitty,” Spring concluded. “If you have any problems, my room is room 1A.”

“Got it!” I said.

Spring Fling picked the kitten up, who quickly lodged itself in her mane, and the kirin and the kitten took off down the hall. 

I looked at the filly who had brought the kitten over. She was gray-furred with an orange mane; her mark looked like a wrench and a hammer. “Hi, I’m Turnip! Nice to meet you. Thanks for saving me from the angry kirin.”

She chuckled. “I think the building catching fire would require us all to be saved. I’m Hannah.”

I blinked. “Hannah? Are you from Earth?”

“Yep! I’m from good old Mississippi,” she said with a smile. “Never thought I would get admitted here. Taking that test for that scholarship felt like a super-longshot, but here I am! Oh…and don’t mention angry kirins. My roommate is a kirin, and she gets kinda stressed if you mention angry kirins. I think living in kirin villages must be pretty traumatic.”

“There’s a kirin student?” I asked. “I didn’t see her during the orientation. Where was she?”

“Oh, Summer was in the restroom the entire time. I had to take a quick tinkle after the presentation and found her hiding in a stall,” Hannah answered. “She was terrified the faculty would notice that they’d admitted a kirin, and they’d say it was a mistake and send her home. If only she’d come to the orientation, she’d have seen you and felt more secure about being here. I mean, she’s at least got a horn…well…antler, but it does the same thing.”

I looked down the hall where Spring had her face up to a door and was talking to it. “Come on out, Summer Wummer! Miss Pretty Purrface wants to see the bestest new student at the school of magic!”

“Mew!” the kitten echoed. 

“Oh, and Spring is Summer’s mom,” Hannah added in. “I think Summer is hiding out until her mom goes away.” She jumped. “This is my chance to tell you about the rest of our class! I’ve already learned everyone’s names and which rooms they are in!”

“Oh, that sounds-” I started but got cut off as she grabbed me with her magic and dragged me to the first door of the hall. 

“This is the room for Twilight Glow and Lunar Light. I think Professor Newman put them together because of thematic naming,” Hannah said as she pointed to the door. “They’re out right now looking for the library, so you’ll meet them later. They’re both stallions. This class is a little stallion-heavy, which doesn’t bother me. Supply and demand, baby!”

“What?” I asked but didn’t get an answer as she hauled me across the hall. 

“This is the room for Red Tape and Prim Tape. They’re twins, but brother and sister, and I don’t think they like rooming together. They haven’t said anything about what they want to specialize in. Maybe they don’t know,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “They’re also stinking rich! You know what that means? Networking! Investing! Great ponies to know. We are so lucky to have them in our class.”

“Oh, that sounds-” I started, but she was already moving to the next room, taking me with her to the open door.

“This is your room!” Hannah announced. 

Bright waved at me from inside the room, which had beds on either side of it. “Howdy, roommate. See ya met Hannah. She’s got some spunk!"

“Yeah, she’s-” I started, but Hannah was already off to the next room, and I had no choice in following her since she still hadn’t released me.

Bright stepped out of our room behind us. “Ah’m goin’ to go explorin’. Talk to ya later!” I watched him head for the stairs and leave me to deal with the terror of Hannah. 

The next room had two colts sitting outside it, trying to contain smirks as they watched me get literally dragged along the floor. 

“This is Onyx Swirl and Rocky Road,” Hannah introduced. Onyx had pitch-black fur with a white mane, and Rocky had brown fur and a white mane; both looked pretty muscular. “They’re training in combat magic to join the guard, like your roommate. Have any plans for dinner, Onyx? We could share a dish.”

Rocky snickered as Onyx looked away and rubbed the back of his head. 

“I…uh…Rocky and I were going to get s-something small and go for a j-jog,” Onyx stuttered. 

I decided to come to his rescue. “And what are you intending to specialize in, Hannah?”

She released me at last. “I’m going to become an artificer! I had to come to Equestria to learn how because thaumically active materials are obscenely expensive back on Earth. How am I supposed to practice my work if the practice materials cost millions of dollars?! That’s just not practical or cost-effective! I’d never be able to master artifacts on Earth. But here, materials are just lying around all over the place. People toss them in the trash like junk and use them as currency. From a financial perspective, this was the only choice I could make for my future.” She batted her eyes at Onyx. “A future we could have together.” 

Onyx pushed Rocky and pulled his door shut. “Sorry! Rocky and I have to do that thing at that place before it gets too late. You know, curfew! We’ll see you around, Turnip, and uh…Hannah.” The two of them quickly ran towards the staircase. 

“Hey! No running in the halls!” Spring shouted as she walked briskly after the pair. 

“Mew!”

I didn’t know if Onyx was interested in Hannah as well and was too insecure to deal with her coming onto him or if she was sexually harassing someone who wasn’t interested. She should probably tone it down in any case. 

“So, that just leaves Summer, right?” I asked her. 

I was hoisted back into the air by her magic. “Yes!” she exclaimed and carried me to the last door of the hall. 

She dropped me on the ground outside the room.

“Ow,” I whimpered  

Hannah knocked softly on the door. “Summer, I distracted your mom, and she’s gone chasing after Onyx and Rocky. I’m coming in.”

Okay, that put the whole coming onto Onyx thing in a different light. However, it might be a worse light now. Hannah might be a teeny bit crazy. 

She opened the door to reveal a similar-looking room to mine and Bright’s, except this one had a kirin filly the color of spicy brown mustard with a bright red mane. 

“Look, Summer, this is Turnip! You aren’t the only non-unicorn here,” Hannah announced proudly, pulling me into view. “Turnip, this is Summer Blaze, my awesome roommate.”

I was still on the ground, and I might have had some splinters in my rump from being repeatedly dragged along hardwood floors, but I still raised a hoof to greet her. “Hi, I'm Turnip, Turnip Jones.”

She blinked in confusion as she looked at me. “Hi, I’m Summer. Are you okay?”

I picked myself up off the floor. “Yeah, I might look scrawny, but earth ponies are tough.”

“You’re right about the scrawny part,” Hannah said. “Do you get enough to eat? You barely weigh much at all. I don’t think I’ve ever dragged a pony around as easily as I just did you. We need to get some food in you.”

Did she drag ponies around like that regularly?

Summer hurried over to a corner and grabbed a box with her horn…antler’s magic, and floated it over to me. “If you’re hungry, you can have these—they’re cookies. My mom made them for me, but she made way too many. Don’t worry about taking them all. She always makes more, lots and lots more. I’ll never run out. She’s been showering me with attention since I was hatched.”

Hannah nudged me while smiling. “Isn’t that cool? Did you know kirin hatched from eggs before today? Because I did not. Who knew Equestria had an intelligent monotreme species and that they’d be a close pony relative?”

A flick of flame appeared on Summer’s hooves. “Kirin are ponies, not a close pony relative.”

“Actually, kirin are fully ponies and fully dragons.”

We all turned to see a colt who looked like a male unicorn version of Twilight Sparkle; he even had the same stripe in his mane.

He coughed into his hoof and then raised it and raised his head. “During the Age of Grogar, a small part of what would eventually become the unicorn tribe and a now-extinct subset of dwarf dragons were melded together into one species by Grogar’s wild magic, so the kirin tribe was born. They are fully ponies and fully dragons, the only species capable of interbreeding successfully with both ponies and dragons. I read about it in Nomi Clature’s The Complete Evolutionary History of Ponies: Volume One. It’s a very fascinating read.”

Hannah hurried over to the colt and pointed at him. “And this is Twilight Glow! He’s a bit of a nerd, and he’s got a thing for Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Argh! Why must I be in the same class with all these freaks!”

We all turned to see Prim outside her room door, glaring at us. She then advanced towards us. 

“Seriously, we have Hannah, the crazy Earthling mare. We have a filthy backwater kirin. We’ve got an apple farmer. We have an earth pony, and-” She sniffed Twilight Glow as she got close to him, then pointed a hoof at him in disbelief. “-and we have a nerdy Princess Twilight fancolt who creepily dyes his fur and mane to look like her!”

Twilight Glow backed up slowly. “N-no, I don’t.”

Prim smirked at him and touched a hoof to her nose. “The nose, knows, commoner. That’s high-quality dye, and I do have to compliment your stylist for their work. However, I recognize the brand by its smell. Those aren’t your natural colors. Judging by how much you must have on for me to still pick up on the smell after it has fully set, they aren’t even close to your natural colors.”

Twilight Glow looked like he was holding back tears now. 

“Sister! Must you be so callous with your words!” Red Tape yelled as he stormed out of their room and towards them. “This brazen superiority complex and brutish behavior is exactly why our parents chose to send you here! Yet, you still fail to take corrective action. It is like you don’t want to have your inheritance! At least you prove me right. I told them that sending you here would solve nothing.”

Prim stomped as she turned to face her brother.

“Please, don’t stomp. You’ll bring my mom back,” Summer whimpered. 

Prim didn’t seem to care. “Why did they have to room me with you?! There are plenty of other noble fillies in our year that they could have roomed me with, but instead, they put me in this freakish class with you here to constantly chastise me! This school is out to get me, and I want to go home!”

Red gave her a knowing smile. “You are free to go home anytime, dear sister, but you know what will happen if you do.”

Prim seethed. “No! I am not going to lose it all. I am Prim Tape of the Canterlot Prims, and I will get what is owed to me by birthright! I am not going to be disgraced!” She whipped her head around and glared at me for some reason. “And I will not end the year in the bottom third of the class. Watch out, dirt pony, you aren’t going to hold that first-place ranking for long!”

We all watched as she stormed away to the stairs and down them.

“Hey! No stomping!” Spring yelled from somewhere below. 

“Well, my parents always said to try to say positive things about people. To say something positive, you have to admire her determination, and she has a very impressive sense of smell,” Hannah said. 

Twilight Glow did break down crying at this point  

This was going to be an interesting school year. 
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 27, 2058

The rest of the first day passed rather calmly. The dining hall was in the main building, and the majority of our class ended up eating together at the same table–except for Prim, who had gone out to the city somewhere to dine, and Lunar Light, who couldn’t be torn away from the library. 

Students from other classes and years gave our table plenty of looks. Everyone knew it was because of me and Summer. The two of us really were the only two non-unicorn students in the entire school. I was unsure if there were any other students from Earth than me and Hannah. There wasn’t any visual clue to something like that. Even names weren’t a surefire way of learning if someone was from Earth since there were plenty of ponies from Earth who had adopted Equestrian naming conventions. There were even ponies from Equestria who had adopted Earthling conventions–although that was less common. One of the bigger clues was whether they said things like anyone, someone, everyone instead of anypony, somepony, everypony. Equestrians almost always inserted pony into their terminology. 

Nobody from the other classes bothered me or Summer during dinner, but that might have been because of the Headmaster, who sat at the head of the dining hall eating what looked like a roasted boar–which I wondered who had cooked it and how the other students felt about seeing it. Still, despite his bored expression as he ate, he was clearly watching everyone in the dining hall, and all were on their best behavior as a result. 

The first night at the dorms was primarily quiet, aside from hearing Spring Fling chew out Lunar Light for almost breaking curfew by arriving back at the dorms with a mere minute left to spare. I kept to my room and unpacked my meager luggage, which consisted of a few pictures of my family, a few books, and my Donatello Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Generation 10 action figure with ninja-kicking action–Bright didn’t see the appeal. My parents said they would get me the seventy-fifth-anniversary figure next year. I’d have to pick that up over the summer break. Bright’s side of the room was also primarily pictures of his family, which were much more numerous than mine. He also had a sword, which somehow was not against dorm rules. We didn’t have to worry about bathroom supplies because the school provided those, just like food in the dining hall. Most of us didn’t have much or any money, and the school couldn’t have us starving or unsanitary.

It was a new place, and I wasn’t used to sharing a room, so it took me a while to fall asleep. I dreamed about how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were in school, but they were constantly being sent to the principal’s office for not holding a pencil correctly. Then, the dream suddenly paused.

“Greetings, Turnip Jones. I’ll try not to take much of your time. I just wanted to ask if you had any questions or concerns about the school.”

“Who is this?” I asked in confusion. 

“I am Professor Psychic Calm. This is a dream. I’m checking on each student and ensuring no one is having problems before classes start. Do you have any issues you wish to discuss?”

“Uh, I can’t think of anything right now. Is anyone else having issues?”

“Sorry, I maintain complete confidentiality with those I speak to, so I cannot reveal that information. If you have no questions or concerns, I’ll release you. I have many students to check on, and this form of communication takes me much longer than it once did.”

“Oh, well, guess I’ll see you in class then.”

“You are not currently scheduled for my class this semester, and since I operate here, few of my students ever see me in class, so seeing me is unlikely. Enjoy the rest of your sleep, along with your first day of classes.”

Riiiiiinnnnnnngggggg[

I fell out of bed. “What’s that sound?! A fire alarm? Did Spring catch fire again?”

There was a click, and the sound stopped. 

“Ya ain’t never heard an alarm clock, Turnip?” Bright asked.

I looked at him. Next to his bed was an old-timey wind-up alarm clock with a dimple clockface and two bells on top. 

“Not like that one,” I answered. “We haven’t used alarm clocks like that for longer than my grandparents have been alive. I’m not sure my great-grandparents even used them. I’ve only seen something like that as an icon.”

“What’s an icon?” Bright asked.

Right, Equestrians didn’t have cell phones. Few had any form of phone, for that matter, and the majority of places didn’t have electricity. It was only now starting to occur to me how separated I was from certain things I took for granted. I may not have been from a city, but we still had phones and electricity. 

“Have you ever used a computer?” I asked. 

Bright nodded. “Yes, Princess Twilight had one of those doohickies put in the library back home. Ah heard the library here has ‘em, too.”

“Icons are the little pictures you click to make a program pull up. We have programs that do electronic alarms, and most of them sound nothing like that,” I explained. 

Bright blinked. “So, y'all sleep in libraries back home for the computers to wake ya up? Mah aunts never told meh that. Earth is strange, but ah bet ya get a lot of readin’ in.”

I stared for a second. “I think your aunts might have left a lot of details out in describing what life on Earth is like.”

He shrugged. “Well, they sure as didn’t mention y’all sleep in libraries, so they must have. Hurry up and get outta bed. We don’t wanna be late for breakfast and then class.”

I sighed. “I’ll tell you about Earth over breakfast.”

We made it down to the dining hall, saddlebags empty except for quills and paper. Breakfast was pancakes, apple juice, and sliced apples. As we ate, I explained to Bright and Summer what Earth was like while Hannah chimed in.

Bright finished off another apple and looked at the two of us questionably. “So, your town is called Munjor, and it is in a part of Kansas, which is in a part of Earth called the United States?”

I nodded. “Right.”

He then turned to Hannah. “And your town is called Jackson, and it is in a place called…Miss Sipi–which ain’t the name of any mare, and it is also in the United States place.”

“It’s Miss-is-sip-pi,” Hannah sounded out. “But you got the rest right.”

“Munjor is much much smaller than Jackson, though,” I clarified. “Jackson is about the size of Canterlot, while Munjor you can see the entire town after walking five minutes.”

“I think Jackson is bigger than Canterlot, honestly,” Hannah chimed in. “I’m not sure how many ponies live on Canterlot, but I’m not sure it would even qualify as a city back home, maybe a mid-sized town. You could fit like five or six Canterlots in Jackson, and Jackson isn’t even that big a city. There are cities on Earth you could fit a hundred Jacksons into.”

“Munjor isn’t anywhere near that. Munjor barely qualifies as a town,” I lamented. “Most maps of Kansas don’t even bother to include it. There’s like two hundred people there. You were talking about your aunts visiting New York City, right? New York City has over twenty-five million people living in it.”

Bright blinked. “No way! That’s darn near half the number of ponies in Equestria! That many ponies couldn’ live in one city.”

“There’s a bunch of ponies in New York City, but most of the people living there are humans,” Hannah corrected. 

“That’s worse!” Bright exclaimed. He pointed to the Headmaster. “Look how big humans are. You can fit two grown ponies and a foal en the same space as one of them there humans.”

Summer shivered. “Humans scare me. They’re so big, and they eat other creatures. What’s Headmaster eating now?”

I looked at where Headmaster was sitting. It was pretty easy to make things out. He was in full view of all the tables. 

“It looks like bacon, eggs, and sausage,” I said. 

“What’s bacon and sausage?” Summer asked, cringing down in her seat. 

“Pig,” Hannah answered. “He was eating a boar last night. Seems like he has a taste for swine flesh.”

Summer whimpered. 

“I wonder where he gets the meat,” I said. “It doesn't seem like it should be that common in Canterlot.”

Bright waved a hoof dismissively. “Not that hard. Mah family raises pigs to hunt for truffles, but we get too many, so we sell to them there griffins. Ah know what happens to the pigs, ah ain’t no fool, and mah family ain’t the only farmers who do the same. It ain’t pleasant to think about, but takin’ care of an excess of pigs gets expensive, and turnin’ loose just leads to a bunch of wild hogs causin’ destruction and attackin’ ponies. Plus, money is money, and most farms always need more of it.”

“Still, it can’t be cost-effective,” Hannah said. “Meat has to be a pretty penny in Equestria. Where would he even find a butcher? Earth has pony butchers, but I didn’t think Equestria did.”

Summer gaped in horror. “Earth has ponies that kill and chop up critters?!”

“Well, yeah,” Hannah said. “They were meat workers before they were ponies, or their parents were, and they just sorta kept doing it because that’s what they knew how to do, and it provided food for humans. Humans are still the dominant species on Earth, and it just makes economic sense for ponies to do things that earn them money from humans.”

Summer looked at me with big, tear-filled eyes. “You said you grew up on a farm on Earth. Does your family hurt critters?”

I shook my head. “No, we kept chickens, but we never sold or butchered them. We just kept them for eggs.”

She smiled at me. “That’s good.” She then looked at Bright. She frowned and started steaming, literally. “Unlike some ponies that murder critters!”

“Ah don’t even like farmin’!” Bright protested. 

“Kirin student.”

Everyone in the dining hall turned to look at Headmaster. He was still focused on his breakfast, but he now had his staff in one hand. 

“If you catch fire in the dining hall, I will be forced to douse you with water. Please control your temper,” he said in a monotone. He didn’t raise his voice, but it projected to the entire hall  

Summer raised a hoof as if she was answering in class. “My name is-” 

“I don’t care,” Headmaster said, cutting her off. ”Control your temper.” He then looked up. “All students should now take your plates to be cleaned so you can make it to class on time. If anyone damages their plates, they will stay behind to help the staff clean. The last to deliver their dirty plates to the staff will also be helping clean. Oh-and you have to bring your own plates to the staff. It is good to be helpful, but you also have to have responsibility for what you are using.”

“But aren’t we graded on attendance?” a student at another table asked. “Won’t we be late to class or miss class if we stay to clean?”

Headmaster nodded. “Yes, so you best not be last. Don’t break anything, either.”

“That’s not fair! Somepony is going to miss the first class no matter what!” another student protested. 

Headmaster went back to eating and didn’t reply. He seemed to have lost all interest in the students. A member of the staff delivered Headmaster a plate of pancakes. 

Students immediately left their seats and started levitating their plates off the tables. A line quickly formed to give the plates to the staff. 

I looked down at my pair of plates and mug. I’d have to stack the smaller plate and my mug on the larger plate and carefully carry the large plate by mouth. There was no way I could avoid being last in line. It was the first day of classes, and my attendance was already going to suffer. If this happened every day, the only way I was going to make it to my first class was if I got up earlier, ate earlier, and was out of the dining hall before everyone else was done.

Bright, Hannah, and Summer were looking at me. 

“Ya know, one of us could let ya get in line ahead of us. He didn’t ban students from doin’ that. We can probably clean plates faster,” Bright suggested. 

I smiled at them and shook my head. “Nah, go ahead. No matter what, someone has to take the hit, and it could end up being one of you in the future. Go ahead. I’ve got it this time, and I’ll just make sure I get here earlier in the future. First class is Fundamentals and Theory of Magic, and I aced that part of the exam. Ptogesdir Newman said so. So I can survive being late. Being late isn’t so bad anyway. I’ll probably drop a few ranks and get this target off my back.”

“If you’re sure,” Summer said, sounding anything but. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I confirmed. 

“I don’t see any overall benefit if we end up being late instead of him, and he says he knows the material. That makes him being ladt the net least negative impact. Let’s get moving,” Hannah said before grabbing her dirty dishes with her magic and joining the line. 

Bright frowned. “Ya still will have more trouble washin’ dishes than us.”

“I got this,” I insisted. “If you keep hanging around here worrying about me, you’ll be late too.”

Summer nudged Bright. “He’s right. We’ll be late if we wait too long. He isn’t going to change his mind, so we need to go.”

Bright reluctantly started moving along with her. “Still don’t seem fair.”

I watched them get in the rapidly shrinking line. By the time I gathered my dirty dishes, the line would be gone. I carefully started stacking my dishes. Bright was right. This wasn’t fair, but I knew things would be harder on me because I was an earth pony, so there was no use complaining about it. 

Making my way to the place to turn in my dishes was slow going. I was half-tempted to rush since I was going to be cleaning dishes whether I dropped mine or not, but Headmaster was still sitting at his table eating, and even if he didn’t seem to be paying attention, he’d proven that he was very aware of what was happening around him. He’d likely think I was being a troublemaker if I dropped my dishes now and they broke, which could only lead to a more significant drop in my ranking. I was almost certainly dropping out of first place because of being late to or missing class; I didn’t want to fall to the bottom third. 

I finally got to where the cook stood and passed him the dishes. 

“So, where do I go to wash?” I asked him with a sigh. 

The cook looked over to Headmaster, who looked up from his meal at me. 

“You don’t, earth pony. You go to class,” Headmaster answered. 

I blinked. “But you said-”

Headmaster grinned. “I said the last one to return their dishes needed to help wash. What is on my table?”

I looked at his table, and realization sunk in. He had lots of dishes, some with food still on them. He hadn’t even finished eating yet. The person who would be helping wash dishes was the Headmaster. He’d planned it all along. 

“Students need to pay more attention to what is being said to them. This is a school of magic where following directions can prevent a spell from blowing up in your face. If students don’t comprehend what is being said to them, they can’t follow directions,” Headmaster said. He then sighed. “Such a disappointing lot of students; not one paid attention. No wonder we finished last place last year. Move along, earth pony. I have dishes to wash. Pay attention in the future.”
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took me a while to find the classroom I was supposed to be in, and when I did, it was not because I’d figured out the room labeling or even where the room labels were but because the door was open, and I heard Professor Newman lecturing. 

“Mister Jones, so good of you to join us,” Professor Newman said as I walked in the door. “You are running five minutes late, and that shall be noted. Thankfully, you didn’t miss much more than the beginning of my opening monologue. There are no assigned seats, but they are first come, first serve, and there is now only one seat left. Please, take it. I have left a book out for you on the desk.”

I looked around the classroom. The classroom floor had four tiers of elevation. The room had plenty of space, and it seemed designed for a bigger class. The entire left wall was covered in bookcases, the right with windows. The bottom tier had the teacher’s podium, a blackboard, a teacher’s desk, and Professor Newman–who looked comically large compared to the desk and podium. However, the oversized blackboard looked more normal beside her. The next floor level had three desks, each sitting two students a piece. The next level had two more desks, spaced so they could see between the gaps in the first three. 

My ears lowered after I surveyed the seats to find where I was supposed to sit. The only open seat was next to Prim. First come, first serve meant nobody wanted to sit next to who might well be the class bully—even her twin brother, who was sitting at the head of the class near the window with Bright. Prim and I were in the back row away from the window, closest to the door. 

“Sit down and stop staring, Mister Jones,” Professor Newman instructed. “You can look around after taking your seat. Your seat has that much going for it. Remember to stay after class. I will give you a note excusing your tardiness for the next.”

I reluctantly went to take my seat next to Prim and had to wait for her to move her saddlebags, which looked like they were made of violet silk with pink ribbons, off my seat and setting them on the edge of the table. I took my seat and set my plain brown saddlebags on the floor. Prim gave me a disgusted look. 

“Now that we are all here, we can get to the actual details of how this class will go,” Professor Newman addressed the class. “When I am speaking, or I call upon someone to answer, I expect everyone else to be silent. It is distracting for me, and it can be distracting to your classmates who are trying to pay attention. Not to mention, it is rude.  When you are doing individual activities in class, you are free to whisper with your neighbors, but I don’t want anyone shouting across the classroom. There will be assigned reading on most days, along with an occasionally assigned project. However, there will be only one test, the final. That will determine your final grade.  I may give you a ten-point bonus on the test if I feel you have a better grasp of the material than you showed on the test and were having a bad day. After all, some students panic on tests. It won’t be more than ten points, so don’t count on me giving you a free pass. You demonstrate you know you understand the material by how you do in class throughout the semester. Oh…and anyone caught cheating on the final will be immediately failed. Don’t think you are too clever for me to catch. I am very good at detecting what you are doing.”

She walked over to her podium, picked up a textbook, and held it up. “These are your textbooks for this class. You are to keep them in good condition and return them at the end of the semester. You will need to visit the library for additional reading during the semester. I have provided the library with the reading list, and our librarian, Moon Dancer, has multiple copies of each book for you to check out. She may be able to direct you to additional reading if you are curious about any of the subjects covered in this class.”

She gestured to the blackboard where many runes had been written. “Much of the early classes will be dedicated to studying runes. Runes are the coding of all magic, whether you are aware of it or not. Another way to look at them is that they are the elements of magic, like the atoms in any matter. While unicorns are most aware of runes, this is not strictly reserved for unicorns. When a pegasus takes flight, they use a spell that allows it, with specific runes. They may do this by instinct, but it is no different than any of the spells you may cast. The same can be said of the power earth ponies put into the soil or into trees when they buck them for fruit–even the muscles in their body are flowing with a passive spell filled with certain runes. You need not be aware of runes to utilize them but to advance to higher levels of magic, you must understand the coding of spells and how runes will interact. To reach the highest levels of magic, you must understand runes on such a fundamental level that you can create new runes, but that last shall be beyond the scope of this class.”

She walked away from the blackboard. “Another important factor in all magic is thaumic energy. Thaumic energy permeates everything, and many things, you included, produce their own thaumic energy. Runes are made up of thaumic energy. Consider runes the processed and ordered forms of thaumic energy, while other thaumic energy is generally raw and unordered. Different spells require different amounts of thaumic energy to work. Your body produces and stores thaumic energy, and your thaumic flows allow you to utilize what you have stored. The most powerful magic users produce at fast rates, store vast amounts, and have thaumic flows that allow them to utilize vast amounts of thaumic energy. Your recovery time from casting spells is determined by how much your body can produce, but your thaumic flows and storage ability determine how far you can naturally reach when casting powerful spells. The most powerful spells are beyond most, for they can never hope to store or utilize the thaumic power required of them. However, just because you can’t cast a spell alone doesn't mean you can’t learn a spell. Casters can pool their thaumic power together in the casting of a spell to accomplish feats that none of them can do alone. Celestia and Luna may be able to move the sun and moon easily, but a strong group of unicorns can do it by pooling their combined power. There is power in cooperation.”

She walked back to the podium and picked up a bracelet. “One of my duties on this staff is assessing the capabilities and potential of each student, along with catching any mechanical problems or blocks a student might have with their magic early on so we can find solutions to overcome them. This is a recent invention. It simulates one of the powers of the Earthling crystal ponies by measuring the power of whoever holds or wears it. You radiate power, even when you aren’t using it. This doesn’t tell you everything about your capabilities, but it gives you a general idea of your power. The more power it detects, the brighter the gems glow.”

I noted that nothing was glowing in the bracelet at the moment, despite the fact Professor Newman was holding it. Did that mean she had no magic?

Professor Newman gently tossed it on the desk that Summer and Hannah were sitting at. 

“Each of you shall try that on, see the result, and pass it on to your neighbor. Keep this up until everyone has had a turn. I expect to hear no hazing of students for their results. I don’t expect it will glow brightly for most of you, only faintly. This puts your power in perspective. If one or more of you do get a bright glow, do not think too highly of yourself for it. I know a mare named the Great and Powerful Trixie, whom this bracelet would glow brightly, but her skill and range of spells are minimal. Far weaker unicorns accomplish much more with their magic. Power is one thing, but power without skill means little. Even the weakest caster can accomplish much more than a mighty one if they know more and have mastered more. The weaker’s need to work harder can be seen as an advantage, for they must strive to understand more to do great works while the powerful often foolishly take for granted that their power is all they need.”

Hannah was the first to try slipping on the bracelet. I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting, but I could see her ears and how they sagged as she looked at the results. She then passed it on to Summer. The difference was immediately apparent when she put it on because I could see the glow from where I was sitting, even though I couldn’t see the bracelet. 

“Very strong,” Professor Newman commented. “You look like a mid-level four–exceptionally strong for your age or a full-grown adult–stronger than half the faculty. You may reach level five by maturity. As for you, Miss Moonbow, you seem to be a low-level three. That may advance to a mid-level three by the time you mature. Please continue to pass the bracelet on to your neighbors.”

The following table had Red Tape and Bright Pear. Red was the first to try and looked at his result impassively before passing the bracelet to Bright. Bright looked at his result and shrugged. 

“Two high-level twos, both of you should settle somewhere in the three range by the time you are grown. Most adult ponies are in the three range, and most foals your age are somewhere in the twos, so do not be discouraged by the result. Remember, with study, what will separate you from average ponies is not your power but your skill. If I had a magical problem, I would take a single well-studied level-three mage over a dozen level-fives who didn’t have a clue what they were doing,” Professor Newman said. “Keep it moving.”

So it continued through the class, with Professor Newman naming off numbers as she watched the results. Over and over again, it was much the same—lots and lots of twos, sometimes a three. It seemed like Summer might have the strongest magic power in the class. 

The bracelet was passed to me, and when I put it on, I saw a similar dim glow to the ones I’d seen from Rocky and Onyx, who had both been declared high twos. That wasn’t upsetting. I had no belief that I was anything special when it came to magical power. 

Prim practically yanked the bracelet out of my hooves with her magic as I took it off. When she put it on, my heart sank at the sight of the much brighter glow the bracelet gave off. 

Professor Newman nodded. “Mister Jones gives us another high-level two, and it seems Miss Prim is a high-level three who may reach four by maturity. Miss Blaze is stronger, but you do slot in solidly as the second-strongest student in this class. For context, while these tests are newer, and we can only speculate about measurements of other ponies when they were young, Princess Twilight Sparkle is believed to have been a high-level four when she was around your age. Starlight Glimmer was believed to have been already a six. I’m glad we have no future Starlight Glimmers in this class; such a student would be such a massive headache that I have no desire to deal with. It is essential to teach them to restrain that kind of power because it is too easy for them to overload spells and inadvertently cause mayhem and destruction.” 

The professor turned and looked at Summer. “I’m already expecting some incidents of Miss Blaze accidentally pouring too much power into a spell and causing chaos, but she isn’t so powerful that it should be a regular thing. Miss Blaze, I will schedule some sessions with the counselors. My concern is that any such mishaps might cause you enough distress to go ablaze, complicating the teachers’ efforts to undo any side effects of overloaded spells. While I'm sure you already practice some calming exercises, I want you to be even better prepared to maintain calm, just in case. You will inevitably make mistakes, and mistakes are a valuable growing experience that no one should be ashamed of making while learning magic, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do what we can to limit the damage. Do you understand, young mare?”

“Yes, professor,” Summer answered, not seeming upset about what had been said to her. 

Professor Newman smiled at her. “I am also your assigned advisor if you were unaware.” She turned and looked at Lunar. “And yours as well, Mister Light. I will have a special time to meet with each of you one-on-one to get to know you and help you figure out the best ways of achieving your goals.”

She then took the bracelet back from Prim, and even up close, I didn’t see even the faintest glow in the gems as Professor Newman held it. It had started glowing lightly when I had just touched the thing before I put it on, so just having contact with it was enough to indicate someone had magic. Professor Newman had no magic at all. How did the school end up with a professor teaching magic who couldn’t even perform it? It seemed like it should have been an essential qualification. 

Professor Newman saw me staring at the bracelet in her hand and quickly stuffed it in her pocket. 

“The first of class is an easy day,” she said as she stepped back towards the podium. “For the remainder of our time together today, I wish you all to read the first chapter of the textbook while I draw up some letters for Miss Blaze’s counseling sessions. I will ask a few of you some questions about the content before releasing you. I expect you to read the second chapter before tomorrow and be ready to answer questions about it at the beginning of class.”

I opened my book and flipped past the table of contents, preface, and about the authors sections to find the first chapter. 

“Do you have to wave your hoof around all over the table? It’s disgusting,” Prim muttered as she used her magic to open her book and turn the pages. 

“I can’t turn the pages without my hooves,” I whispered. 

“Sounds like an earth pony problem that shouldn’t have to be mine,” she whispered back. “You’re spreading dirt all over the table with your dirty hooves.”

“My hooves aren’t dirty.”

“What have you been walking on then?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure it’s your hooves. If you are going to share a table with me, you shouldn’t be so disgusting.”

“I didn’t want to share a table with you. It was the only seat available. If you were nicer, maybe someone else would have sat with you, so I didn’t have to sit with the filly that her family doesn’t even like!”

Professor Newman stood up from her desk. “Mister Jones and Miss Prim, Human hearing may be weaker than pony hearing, but that does not mean I am deaf. While I think the concept that everyone can be friends is an absurd one, we are all capable of being civil and avoid deliberately saying hurtful things. You’ll both be serving a one-hour detention with me at the end of the week.”

“What did I do?” Prim and I asked in chorus. Really? She thought I was the one in the wrong here?

Professor Newman sat back down. “You may both consider that question during your detention. For now, please continue reading, and I advise you two to keep silent if all you’re  going to do is squabble with one another.”

Great, I was the first student in our class to get detention–well, tied for first. This was not how I wanted to start the school year. 
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My next class was Mathematics with Professor Raven Inkwell. Of all my classes, this was the one that I was looking forward to the least. I was at a magic school, and here I was, taking a class in the most boring, most mundane subject ever. 

I arrived only a minute late to this class, and although it earned me a raised eyebrow from Professor Inkwell, she didn’t comment on it. 

The classroom was set up almost exactly like the previous one had been. However, unlike Professor Newman’s classroom, which had been barren of all decoration, Professor Inkwell’s classroom had plenty of decorations…and almost all of them involved Princess Celestia in some way. There were photos of Princess Celestia–a few with a younger Professor Inkwell standing near the princess, paintings of Princess Celestia, marble busts of Princess Celestia’s head, and a large poster that had a stylized version of Princess Celestia made out of triangles with the words Our Great Leader written below. Everything was framed except the bust, and all the frames looked expensive. 

If I had to guess how Professor Inkwell stayed on as part of the faculty when everyone else left in shame or dissatisfaction with the direction, it was because she had an overwhelming desire to please and prove herself to the princess. If the princess wanted better results, Professor Inkwell was determined to deliver, no matter how unorthodox the changes to the school might be. Of course, this was just my guess. I’d seen people worship the ground certain ponies they respected walked on before, and the decorations made me think I was seeing it again. 

Being late, I was left once again getting the last seat. However, this time, it looked like I would be next to Hannah since Prim had surprisingly moved next to Summer. Maybe she decided that Summer was worth her time if Summer was the only student in our class with more magical potential than Prim. Perhaps Prim thought she had a better chance of rising the class ranks if teaming up with the strongest in class. Prim’s ambition might be stronger than her distaste for kirins…or maybe she was trying to prove she could get along with other students and decided the filthy but powerful kirin was easier to get along with than the filthy earth pony with no power of note. The ways of grade school politics would make any politician’s head spin. Whatever the case, sitting next to Hannah seemed preferable to sitting next to Prim. 

Before taking my seat, I went to the front of the room and passed the note excusing my tardiness to the teacher. Professor Inkwell took it with her magic, not seeming concerned that I just had it in my mouth, and read it with a mere glance before putting it on her desk. 

“Thank you, Turnip Jones. That seems to be in order. You may take your seat,” Professor Inkwell instructed. 

I did as instructed. Hannah gave me a weak smile as I sat down, but her attention focused primarily on Summer and Prim. Jealousy maybe?

Professor Inkwell floated a long pointer over to the podium and rapt it against it a few times to get our attention. 

“Greetings, students. I am Raven Inkwell,” the professor introduced herself. “You may remember from orientation that I am the last holdover from the old faculty, and I stayed because I was not ready to retire on the note of failure. I don’t do much for formalities. I served the princess faithfully as her personal aid for years before taking this position, and while I am proud of my work, I have had enough formalities to last a lifetime. Since some minor show of respect must be shown to the faculty, you may address me simply as Miss Raven. Again, greetings!”

“Greetings, Miss Raven,” several of us said in a disjointed chorus, catching the hint. 

Miss Raven smiled and nodded. “While I have a reputation as a stiff bureaucrat in many circles, especially with older nobles who had to deal with me as the princess’s aid, I try to do my best to dispel that notion. I want you all to be at ease in my class, and while learning will always be our primary objective, we can have some fun now and again. I think that learning while having fun helps lessons sink in better.”

Her smile slipped. “That being said, that doesn’t mean I don’t hold high standards. When you turn in work to me, I expect to see all your work on how you came to the solution. It isn’t just about getting the right answer; it is about understanding the process. Mathematics is a system of processes, and so is magic. If you can learn and master mathematical processes, you’ll have an easier time learning and mastering spells.”

She floated a scroll in front of her and adjusted her glasses. “I can see you all here by mere headcount, but I still want to call roll so that I can put faces to the names. I am familiar with Summer Blaze and Turnip Jones due to their notoriety as non-unicorn students, but the rest of you are only names on a scroll for me at the moment. Let’s change that. Prim Tape, where are you?”

Prim raised a hoof. “Here, Miss Raven.”

“Good, good,” Miss Raven said as she looked at Prim and returned to the list. “Where is Red Tape?”

Red raised a hoof. “I am before you, Miss Raven.”

She looked at him and then Prim. “You two are twins, correct? From the Canterlot Prims?”

Prim smiled broadly. “That is correct, Miss Raven.”

“Indeed it is,” Red said with a nod. 

Raven nodded. “I am familiar with your family. They are a rather demanding bunch, but they are at least dedicated to doing their jobs, which is more than I can say of some nobles. I hope you continue the trend.” She looked at her list again. “Bright Pear?”

“Right here yonder, ma’am,” Bright said from beside Red. 

Miss Raven smiled slightly. “Clearly from the Apple family. Applebloom is an accompanist alchemist, and your other aunts have done much for Equestria, so I hope you do them proud.” She looked at her list again. “Hannah Moonbow?”

“Right here!” Hannah announced herself. 

“Hmm,” Miss Raven said as she looked at Hannah. “Hannah is a name of Earth origin, but Moonbow seems like a name from somewhere in Equestria. Do you have mixed parentage?”

Hannah shook her head. “No. Moonbow is my old human family name. I don’t know the tribe…which I feel ashamed for not knowing for sure…Lakota, I think…but it is from a Native American tribe. It isn’t directly related to Navajo or Pueblo–those are the ones who are naturally immune to ETS.”

Miss Raven nodded. “Interesting. I didn’t know there were groups of humans that independently had similar naming conventions to Equestrians. That is something new I learned today.” She looked at her list again. “Lunar Light?”

Lunar suddenly jerked his head up. “What? Yes? Can you repeat the question?”

Miss Raven arched an eyebrow at him. “I am calling roll. Would I be mistaken if I assumed you were a bit of a night owl?”

Lunar sagged in his seat. “Just a little, professor. I tend to stay up late reading.”

“Well, do try to get proper sleep. You clearly have been dozing before you even got here if you missed, I said Miss Raven will do,” Miss Raven said. 

He hung his head. “Sorry, pro–I mean, Miss Raven.”

“Just come to class better rested next time,” she said before reviewing her list again. “Twilight Glow?” she immediately turned her gaze in his direction. “I’m assuming that is you?”

He blinked in surprise. “How’d you guess?”

“The coloration,” she answered as she adjusted her glasses. 

“It’s a dye job!” Prim proclaimed. 

“Sister, do not embarrass our fellow student!” Red chided. 

Twilight Glow looked ready to cry again. 

Miss Raven smiled at him. “Don’t let her get to you. There is nothing wrong with having an idol. You might not believe this, but I have a bit of a thing for Princess Celestia.”

We all looked around the room at the numerous displays of the princess in question. 

Miss Raven chuckled nervously. “Or…perhaps you easily believe it. Well, to let you know, Twilight Glow, I’m your advisor, and I will be happy to tell you a few tales about Princess Twilight that not even her biographers know about.”

Twilight Glow practically squeed. 

She looked at the last table. “And, by default, you two must be Rocky Road and Onyx Swirl unless I have random students in my class who don’t belong.”

“I’m Rocky,” Rocky said. 

“I’m Onyx,” Onyx said. 

Raven looked them over. “What a strong-looking pair. I think I recognize your likeness, Onyx Swirl. Would your father have been Onyx Shield of the royal guard, by chance?”

Onyx beamed. “Yes, ma’am! That he is, and my grandsire, and his before him.”

Raven nodded. “I know your grandsire and met our great grandsire. Your great grandsire was captain of the guard when I first apprenticed at the castle as a filly not much older than you. Excellent guards, all three of them. They were all highly devoted to the princess. I’m sure you’ll continue the tradition. Although, I don’t believe any of them attended magic school. They all went straight to the military academy. It is curious to see you here instead of there.”

Onyx shuffled his hooves on the table. “Well, the thing is, and not disrespecting my dad, grandsire, or any of the others, but the guards don’t seem to do much when a legitimate threat attacks Equestria. We always have to rely on the Element Bearers or some other great hero to save the day. I want to be a guard, and I will be, but I want to be a better guard, one that doesn’t need somepony else to come to save the day.”

“Hmm, it seems you, like the princess, desire a higher standard than what we have become accustomed to. Perhaps you are the type of youth our nation needs more of,” Miss Raven replied thoughtfully. 

“Oh, I could do with a few more colts like him,” Hannah snickered. 

I rolled my eyes. She really did have a thing for him. 

She looked at Rocky. “And you, Rocky Road. Do you wish to be a guard as well? You and Onyx Swirl look like spears forged from the same metal.”

Rocky nodded proudly. “We are. We grew up together and always talked about what Equestria needed. There are powerful ponies in my family–my grandmare can lift more than anypony I have ever seen, and her little sister is none other than Pinkie Pie. I might not be as powerful as them, but I’m the first unicorn in my family since my grandsire, so I want to learn how to utilize what I have to my fullest potential. I can be a guard, but a better breed of guard if I learn all I can about magic.”

Miss Raven smiled. “Truly admirable, and both of you come from such distinguished lineages. I hope you both help support and push each other towards your goals.”

She looked at me, then at Summer. “Then, finally, we have the true oddballs of the school, venturing where none of their tribe has striven. I admit I’m unsure how to teach either of you beyond this class, and I feel a little intimidated by it. In my youth, I am ashamed to say I thought great magical power was reserved for unicorns. However, I have been privileged to witness ponies such as Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy do wonders. I also watched in amazement the recordings of the great Wild Growth, as well as less notable but still powerful ponies from Earth such as El Capitan, and I have learned the folly of my tribalist thoughts in the face of such displays of might.”

She sighed. “Even then, I still subscribed for some time to the idea that it took great power to achieve greatness, but then I was humbled by the likes of Sunburst, Sunset Blessing, and Star Tracker, who are all weaker in magic power than any of the students currently attending this school. Yet, they pushed the boundaries of what we understood possible with magic. I watched a humble pegasus colt, no more than ten years old,  who couldn’t manage the magic to fly, stand, and win against a beast that had pushed the Element Bearers to near defeat. I have encountered one thing after another that has forced me to reconsider my misconceptions. When I say I am intimidated to be teaching you, it is not because I doubt your ability to achieve great things but because I doubt myself, for I am not anywhere near that level of greatness. Still, all I can do is my best, as those I witnessed did.”

She went to the front of the class and faced us all. “So I say this, as an old mare who has had her misconceptions dashed and torn apart, I am going to do all I can as your teacher to help you continue to push the boundaries and make this school the greatest magical school there is once again. This school has endured humiliation after humiliation these past few years, but we must learn, grow, and evolve to meet the future. I count those humiliations as a wake-up call and look to the future, knowing we are laying the foundation for something better, and I am proud to be part of it. I hope you join me in that pride.”

There was hoove-stomping all around. Not a single one of us abstained. 

Well, so far, the dealing with the faculty was going a hundred percent better than I had feared. Miss Raven certainly was friendly. Professor Newman seemed a little more businesslike, and I still thought she was wrong to give me detention, but she also seemed to make no judgments about students who weren’t unicorns, and she had stood up to me to Headmaster. Headmaster was an enigma, and he appeared to have disdain for the students but no more disdain for me and Summer than he did for anyone else. I wondered if he had the same disdain for the faculty–probably not; he remembered their names. Remembering their names was more respect than any student got. He, at least, was willing to make some compromises to help me out.

Miss Raven lit her horn, and the blackboard suddenly filled with mathematical equations. 

“Now, it is time to get to work, students,” Miss Raven announced. “Pull out your scrolls and quills; it is time to start with pre-algebra. If you haven’t looked at your schedules in detail yet, you shall be having class with me and class with Professor Newman every day because our subjects are critical to establishing a good foundation for your magical education. Your classes with other professors will rotate day by day.”

I hadn’t gotten a chance to look at the revised schedule I’d been given. I just kind of went where I was told. I knew everyone had a free period after this class. I’d take a look then. 
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I caught up to Bright in the hallway right after class with Miss Raven ended. 

“Hey, why were you sitting with Red instead of me?” I asked, feigning offense. 

He blinked and rubbed the back of his head. “Ya see…ya was late gettin’ ta class, and Red didn’t want to sit next to his there no-good sis. He ain’t half-bad, for one of them there nobles. If ya’d been there on time, ah’d have sat next ta ya for sure.”

I cuffed his shoulder gently. “I’m just pulling your tail. I know I was late both times, and can’t blame you for not saving me a seat. I can’t blame Red for wanting to escape Prim when he can. Sharing a room with her must be miserable.”

Bright looked relieved as he nodded. “Yep, Red was tellin’ me all ‘bout how she always lorded over him that she was the primary heir to their family estates, and he’d only get the leavins’. She seems to think she’s better than her brother just as much as everypony else.”

“I’M GOING TO FRY PRIM’S MANE!”

We turned to see Hannah marching down the hall, horn lit, dragging the struggling form of Summer behind her.  

“Hannah, don’t do this!” Summer cried, trying to get a grip on anything. “It will be okay. I can take care of myself.”

“She threatened you. That is not okay!” Hannah growled. 

Bright stepped in Hannah’s way. “Whoa, missy! What’s goin’ on?”

“It’s not that big a deal!” Summer insisted, looping both her forelegs around a nearby bust of Starswirl the Bearded while still floating in Hannah’s magic. That probably wasn’t a good idea. If Hannah started pulling her along again, it would just topple and break the bust. 

“You didn’t get this mad about her getting on my case or when she mouthed off before,” I said. 

Hannah finally dropped Summer, who landed on the floor with a thud but who didn’t seem to mind the sudden crash landing. 

Hannah grit her teeth. “That was just mouthing off like the spoiled brat she is; this was a threat! I’m going to teach that stuck-up priss a lesson she’ll never forget!”

I frowned. “That’s not a good idea. Her magic is stronger than yours, and since none of us are trained in combat magic, she’d win any fight through brute magical force. The only pony in class who could beat her is Summer.”

Summer stood up and shook her head, making her lion-like mane flap everywhere. “I’m not fighting her. I’d get in trouble, and none of you are either because I don’t want you to get in trouble. My village leader told me things like this might happen, and I can’t let ponies like that make me feel afraid or angry. I have to be brave and not let her get to me. She’s just trying to scare me.”

“She’d be expelled for sure if she hurt Summer. Ah don’t think Prim would risk that,” Bright said, sounding confident. “Summer’s right; it’s all talk with no action.”

“What exactly was said?” I asked. 

Summer looked down. “Nothing specific. She just said that if I didn’t go home, bad things would happen to me.”

“See! That’s a threat!” Hannah said in outrage. 

“A pretty vague one,” I countered. “I don’t think any of the teachers would accept that as justification for trying to fight Prim. We could just go to Headmaster and tell him…or one of the other teachers. Miss Raven has to still be close by.”

Bright frowned. “Ah ain’t sure. Bein’ honest is all well and good, but tattlin’ ain’t a good look either. Ah got in trouble before for bein’ a tattle, and ah learned mah lesson. Maybe if Prim said she was goin’ to do somethin’ in particular, but what she said ain’t got no detail. Ah ain’t tattlin’t that somepony has bluster. Ah don’t want that kinda label.”

Hannah stood up straight. “I’m not just letting this go. If you don’t want to say anything, that’s fine. I’m not putting it on you, but you can’t stop me from doing something. I won’t fight Prim–you’re right, that could only go badly for me. I’m sure the priss has gotten at least some private magical tutoring, so she probably knows more than me besides being stronger, but I am going to go straight to Headmaster and say something. I can’t let her think she can get away with threatening my friend. As someone who wants to join the royal guard to protect ponies, I think you can understand that.”

Bright and I looked at one another and then back at Hannah. 

“We’ll walk with you to Headmaster’s office,” I said. “We can’t confirm she said that since we didn’t hear it, but we can say she has been disrespectful to other students and insulted Summer for being a kirin. Those things we heard.”

“If we’re asked ‘bout it. That would be answerin’ a question, not tattlin’,” Bright reasoned. 

“Just don’t tell my mom. She can’t find out,” Summer insisted. 

Hannah looked at Summer. “Why? Shouldn’t your mom be allowed to know that you are being picked on and threatened? It isn’t good to keep that kind of thing from your parents.”

Summer shook her head vigorously. “No! She can’t control her temper as well as me. If she heard Prim threatened me, not even her kitten would calm her down. She’d burn down the dorm building in her rage and get fired! I can’t let that happen. 

I didn’t want her mom to get fired, but even more than that, I didn’t want her mom burning down the dorm building, maybe with me in it. 

“We won’t tell your mom,” I assured her. 

“But what if Headmaster does?” Summer asked worriedly. 

Bright shook his head. “Ah don’t think he will. He like as not won’t remember she even is your ma.”

Hannah nodded. “He does seem to care very little about our personal details, even our names. I doubt he’d bother to remember who our parents are.”

“He might not even care when you report this,” I cautioned. 

“I’m still going to try,” Hannah insisted. “Let’s go.”

It only took us about two minutes to walk to the Headmaster’s office. When we arrived, the door was cracked open, and voices were coming from inside. We paused outside the door to listen.

“Headmaster, I must insist you do more to secure that staff. It is one of the most powerful artifacts in the realm, perhaps only surpassed by the Crystal Heart and the Sunstone. It shouldn’t be so carelessly left lying against your chair.”

“Correction, in my hands, it is stronger than either of those objects,” Headmaster replied to whoever was speaking to him. 

Hannah went wide-eyed as we continued to listen. She was at this school to learn about artifacts, right? I suppose knowing that Headmaster had an extremely powerful one that he carried around with him impressed her. 

“All the more reason it should be secured!” the other speaker continued. “You use it in substitution for a horn, but such an item could wreak untold havoc if the wrong individuals took control of it.”

“Did I not say it is only that powerful in my hands? Its power is a small fraction of its full capability if used by anyone else. You pay as little attention to what is said as the students,” Headmaster said in a bored tone. 

“That isn’t confirmed. It is a completely undocumented artifact, and what little is known about it is from my limited observation. If you would allow me to better study it in a secure-”

“You tire me, Neighsay. The staff stays with me. It is an extension and enhancement of my power. I will not be parted with it so you can do experiments.”

Neighday snorted loud enough to be heard in the hall. “Hear me, Headmaster, I will not be the only one to notice the staff's power level. There will be questions asked. I question where such an object could have come from. That is no work of Earthlings, and there is no record of such a staff in Equestria. It shows up in your possession, yet we know nothing about you, not even your name. Who are you?”

“What’s it matter who I am?”

“Every member of the faculty has a documented history except you. Humans that have immigrated to Equestria and been granted citizenship are few. That Newman woman even has a well-documented history, but for you, there is nothing. It is as if you appeared out of nowhere. Are you a changeling?*

“No, Neighsay, I am not a shapeshifting insect. The princess knows my identity and has put her faith in me. That should be enough for you. You are distracting me from reading reports. Be off with you.”

Summer started to say something, but Hannah put a hoof over her mouth. Neighsay must have been leaving because we heard hoovesteps from within the room coming in our direction. We all quickly backed away from the door. 

Neighsay exited the room and glanced questioningly at us as he did so. 

“Are you foals eavesdropping?” Neighsay asked, sounding annoyed. "It is a poor habit, a sign of delinquency. What is the meaning of this?”

I thought of an answer fast. “We needed to talk to Headmaster, but we wanted to wait until you were done talking about whatever you were talking about because it would be rude and disrespectful to interrupt.”

Neighsay sniffed. “I suppose that is so. Very well, your actions are forgiven, but don’t make a habit of listening into private conversations.”

“The door was cracked, so it can’t have been that private,” Bright muttered. 

Neighsay raised an eyebrow at him. “You are Applebloom’s nephew, are you not? You are to write for me a hundred times; I will not contradict my elders, and turn it in to me by the end of the week.”

Bright looked annoyed but sighed and nodded. “Yes, professor.”

Well, at least it wasn’t just me and Prim getting into trouble. 

Neighsay smiled. “Very good. Hurry about your business. You may be on a free period, but it won’t last forever. You do not want to be late to your next class.” He then turned and walked off down the hall. 

“Not sure ah like him,” Bright muttered. 

“You’re just mad you got in trouble,” Hannah replied. 

“Yeah, that’s so,” Bright agreed. “Let’s get this over with before some other professor takes offense at us bein’ here.”

We shuffled into the room, with me knocking on the door as we did. Headmaster was at his desk, staff leaning against his chair, reading reports. He did not look up at us as we entered. 

“So many interruptions,” Headmaster said, sounding bored as usual. “Earth pony, kirin, whatshername, and whatshisface, what can I assist you with? Make this brief; I am a busy man.”

Hannah strode forward, dragging Summer along once again. “Headmaster, sir! My friend Summer was threatened by one of the other students!”

Headmaster finally looked up from his work towards the pair. “Threatened, you say? Who is Summer?”

“I’m Summer, Headmaster,” Summer squeaked. “Hannah is making a much bigger deal about this than she needs to.”

He looked at them consideringly. “Perhaps. What was the nature of this threat?”

“Prim told Summer that if Summer didn’t drop out, something bad would happen to her!” Hannah announced. 

Headmaster gave them a half frown. “Who is Prim?”

“Prim Tape, she’s the rich filly who you declared was starting at number thirty in our class,” I informed him. 

Headmaster pulled out a scroll and looked it over. “Ah…that one…I see–more potential than the majority of the students in your class if she applied herself, but she has so little discipline; how disappointing. I’m not fond of people making threats, even vague ones. In fact, I take great personal offense at it. I will have her brought to my office and give her a stern talking-to. Do not worry about the issue anymore. You may leave now.”

We’d figured out by this point that being dismissed by Headmaster meant leaving immediately, so we hurried out the door. 

“That went better than I expected,” I said. “I didn’t expect him to care.”

Hannah nodded. “I was right to insist on talking to him. What do you guys think about what Neighsay was saying before? I kind of figured that his staff was some sort of magical artifact, but I never imagined that it would be that powerful.”

"He said it was stronger than the Crystal Heart or the Sunstone,” Summer said. “I’ve heard of the Crystal Heart, and I know it is really powerful, but I never heard of the Sunstone.”

“I have,” Hannah replied. “I’ve read about every famous artifact. The Sunstone is what moved the Sun and Moon in ancient times before Celestia or Luna were even born. The old unicorns broke it and were forced to move the Sun and Moon themselves until Celestia and Luna came along.”

“So that shiny stick has more power than the thing that moved the Sun and Moon?” Bright asked in disbelief. “Seems mighty dangerous to have just laying around.”

“And nobody has ever heard of this artifact before now, and it just shows up with Headmaster, who nobody knows where he came from,” I added in. 

“So, it has to come from Earth,” Summer said. 

Hannah shook her head. “The cost to make something like that would be astronomical. It takes a lot of money and effort to make thaumically active materials on Earth, and they tend to be less efficient than Equestrian materials. You have to have big crystals to hold a lot of power on Earth because of that inefficiency, and if that thing is as strong as Neighsay says, Earth wouldn’t be able to make it on such a small scale as a staff you could carry around. It would be a huge thing that nobody would be moving around. Even in Equestria, it would be extremely difficult to contain that level of power in native materials, and it would take a truly exceptional mage to figure out how to do it, like Princess Twilight level–and she thoroughly documents everything she does. Plus, how would Headmaster end up with it?”

“We can’t know that without knowing who he is,” I said. “I never heard of any powerful human mages. A few humans have strong magic, but that magic always does one thing or a range of things–like superpowers. I know a famous illusionist human, but that’s all she does and can do: illusions. She can’t learn to do anything else with her magic; that’s all it can do. So, they don’t have mages.”
.
“But Headmaster is supposedly a full-fledged mage,” Hannah said. “He said the staff is explicitly tuned to him. That indicates someone made it for him since he can’t do his magic without it. That leads us back to asking who made it.”

“Celestia?” Summer suggested. “She’s the one who appointed him, and she’s really powerful–powerful enough to make something like that. She’s also got a motive to do so. She needs a powerful mage leading the school, and she wasn’t satisfied with the mages she had.”

“Maybe, still seems strange,” Hannah said with a shake of her head. 

I looked around for a clock but didn’t see any. 

“We should head towards the next class,” I suggested. “We don’t want to stand around too long and be late, and we aren’t going to figure out the secrets of Headmaster standing here talking about him, but let’s make that a goal before we graduate. We’re going to discover who Headmaster really is.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Bright agreed. “Next class is Elementary Defensive Magic. Ah’m lookin’ forward to it.”

I blinked. I knew that was one of the courses I was having substituted out for the moment. That meant my first substitution class was coming up. I needed to look at my revised schedule and determine what I was taking. 

I pulled the appropriate scroll out of my saddlebag and unrolled it on the floor to read. 

Introduction to Artifact Safety with Professor Neighsay
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took me a while to figure out exactly where to report to class with Neighsay. Eventually, I found the room I was looking for but was shocked to learn that it was not a classroom but his office. 

He looked up at me from where he was reading at his desk as I entered. “Mister Turnip Jones, you made it on time, if just barely. Close the door behind you and take a seat.”

I did as instructed and then looked around for a seat. Neighsay’s office was dimly lit, with dark red curtains drawn over the windows, an equally dark red carpet that reminded me of dried blood, and bookshelves lined with scrolls and massive tomes. There were also two large lockers with padlocks on them. The only seat in the room seemed to be the one Neighsay was sitting in behind his desk. Not knowing what else to do, I sat down in front of the desk, just far enough away from it that he and I could still see each other.

He grimaced as he looked at me. “It seems ill-advised to have admitted a student incapable of performing the essential tasks to pass his classes, but that is what our administration has decided to do. Honestly, in the old days, such a thing would never have been allowed, but the rulebook has been tossed aside in this desperate gamble to right the course of this institution. I can’t say I find any way this could correct our course, only worsen it, but the princess has given the headmaster ultimate power in deciding how things shall progress, and I can only do what I can to try to make something of this farce. Honestly, there is innovation, and then there is absurdity, and this clearly falls in the latter category.”

Okay, I was now in agreement with Bright. I did not like Professor Neighsay. 

He floated a scroll over and dropped it on the floor before me. “That is your assigned reading list. All those books are available in the library. If at any point one of them isn’t because it is checked out, you may come to me, and I will loan you a copy, which I expect to be returned in perfect condition. Your first assignment will be to read Sun Orchard’s discourse on the history of artifacts and provide me with a one-thousand-word essay by the end of the week explaining how you think artifacts most impact the realm–and do not plagiarize. While we are supposed to meet three times a week, it will be more often just at the beginning and end of the week, with me assigning you tasks to complete in the interim. By the end of the semester, I will be testing you on the proper care for artifacts, giving you a list of artifacts of which you will give detailed explanations of the risks that improper care of each, in particular, can bring, how to minimize those risks, and what the best course of action to take if for some reason a problem arises. I will do some demonstrations on and off that I expect you to take careful notes on. Do I make the expectations clear?”

I nodded. “Yes, Professor Neighsay.”

He nodded in return. “If you demonstrate to me to my satisfaction by the end of this course that you have retained the lessons, you shall be granted access to an artifact allowing you to use your magic much like a unicorn can. You will be allowed to use it for the rest of your time at this institution, including the breaks, but upon graduation or termination of your enrollment, you shall return it to me. Perhaps if you excel well enough, you can create a replacement while you still have the capability. While I do not think that is likely, I do not dismiss it as a possibility. I would like it if you impressed me, Mister Turnip Jones.”

“I hope I can impress you, Professor Neighsay,” I replied, feeling it was the only appropriate response. 

He smirked. “Well, you at least know how to be respectful. I have a question for you. You are from Earth. Have you heard of any human matching Headmaster’s description, or can you discern anything about his origins?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been curious about it–everyone I know has been, but there isn’t anyone on Earth I know of is like him. He looks like he is Asian, so maybe he’s from China. I heard they have a lot of strong magic users there, but not many people know much about them because China keeps everything secretive. That’s only a guess. He could be from anywhere in Asia, or he could be from somewhere else entirely and just have Asian ancestry. I wish I knew more to tell you.”

“Hmm, it is more information than I had, at least,” Professor Neighsay sighed. “Humans all look alike to me, and I’m unfamiliar with features common to different regions of your world. The China hypothesis might be worth pursuing since the Chinese school performed the best in the last two years’ games. Having two humans on staff frustrates me to no end.”

Since Neighsay seemed willing to vent, I decided to try to pry for some information, especially if he was also frustrated by Professor Newman. 

“I noticed that Professor Newman didn’t get any reaction from the artifact that tests our magic power. Does she have no magic?” I asked. 

He grimaced. “None that I have been able to detect. If there is any, it is exceptionally weak to the point of uselessness. The woman was an errand runner for a great mage for nearly thirty years. I suppose over those decades, she learned much about magic from her employer. I’d have preferred we employ her former employer, and that mage previously worked at this school but has not been seen in the last two years, and her whereabouts are unknown. She was nearly eighty years old with power no greater than yours, so perhaps she died–pity. Professor Newman primarily teaches foundational courses, and her advanced course could only be taught better by her former employer and Starlight Glimmer, so I have fewer qualms with her presence here compared to Headmaster, who is a complete unknown.”

“Well, if I notice anything odd or telling about Headmaster, I’ll let you know,” I replied. It didn’t hurt to be in the good graces of my teachers, particularly one my ability to stay at this school past the first year depended on. Neighsay might even end up giving me clues about Headmaster’s identity in turn. Was I a brownnoser? I had a very brown nose, like my fur, and brownnosing could open doors. I didn’t need to like Neighsay, but I did need him to like me. 

Neighsay looked me over. “You do seem to be the observant type, the observant type who asks questions and knows how to speak to those in authority. These are the traits of a good student. You may count me as moderately impressed.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Professor Neighsay.”

“I have been involved with education and politics most of my near hundred and thirty years of life, and I can say from experience that those traits are also the traits of a smooth talker and opportunist. I am older and wiser than you, young colt, and am wise to you,” Neighsay continued dryly. “Not that it is terrible to be those things if you channel that to the greater good–after all, most great leaders have a gift for speaking to others and taking advantage of opportunities, and this school is not just training mages but also leaders. Still, you bear watching.” 

He was nearly a hundred and thirty? He certainly didn't look it. I would have guessed he was in his sixties. Prolonged lifespans and youth were a sign of having strong magic. It was why a pony like Applejack looked young enough to be Professor Applebloom’s daughter, even though Professor Applebloom was Applejack’s little sister, or why Starlight Glimmer still looked like a young mare not even ten years older than me, even though she was well over sixty. Magic expanded lifespans. If Neighsay was that old, he must be pretty powerful. 

I had a sudden vision of my entire class gathering for our fiftieth class reunion, and all of us looked old, except for Summer, who would still look like she was fresh out of college. That would be weird. 

The fact he could tell I was brownnosing and prying for information was enough to make me decide to stop trying to get more out of him for the moment. 

“I will do my best, Professor Neighsay. Um…so, what are we doing the rest of class?” I asked. 

“Nothing,” Neighsay answered. “You have your assignment. I expect you to have it ready for me next time we meet. Make sure to double-check your spelling and use good hoovewriting. I don’t want to have to decipher what you have written. If I can’t read it, you don’t get credit. You are free to go about your own business until your next class. Be on your way. We will meet again on Friday.”

I left his office unsure of what to do with myself. After double-checking my scroll, I saw my next period was lunch, then onto Physical Education with Coach Scootaloo. The only adjustments to my schedule this semester had been this class, and on the rotating day, I had Herbology with Professor Applebloom instead of Elementary Elemental Magic with Professor Glitter Drops, and I had two adjustments next semester as well. My heart sank as I also read I was going to be required to take summer classes to catch up on the four classes my classmates had that I didn't, but would eventually have some free periods next year when my classmates were taking classes I took this year, so there was some tradeoff. 

That class had been particularly short, so I had a lot of time on my hooves before lunch. Maybe it was time to find the library. 
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had to ask around about where the library was. It turned out that it wasn’t actually on campus. It was next door–not towards the dorms, the other direction. It was in the palace. 

Going there and coming back would cut into my lunchtime if I spent more than a few minutes in the library. I supposed I could reach it and introduce myself to the librarian. At least I would know the way and could get there faster next time.

There was a road that curved behind the school towards a drawbridge that led into the palace. Two lines of ponies were crossing the bridge. One line was moving quickly, the other much slower. Four guards and a trio of officials stood at the front of the line. One official seemed to be interviewing each pony as they reached the front of the slower line. The other two officials appeared to be paying half attention to who was being interviewed in the slow line while at the same time briefly nodding through ponies in the faster line without an interview. 

I walked up to the slower line. “Hello, I’ve never been here before. What’s with the two lines?”

An earth pony mare at the end of the line looked at me. “If they know you and know your general business at the palace, then you get in the fast line, and they let you straight through. If you’ve never been here or don’t have regular business, you must get in this line so they can determine who you are and why you are coming to the palace.”

Well, I would have regular business here, but those guards and officials probably didn’t know who the students were if they never interviewed them. That meant that I had to stand in the slow line. No wonder Lunar Light had been at the library so late last night. It probably took him forever to get in. 

Then again, the line wasn’t moving too slowly. Maybe I might not have the time to do much, but I could at least get through the line this time and find the library. In the future, I could go in through the fast lane. 

I got in line behind the mare. She looked back at me. 

“And what brings you here, colt?” she asked. “You seem a little young to be on a mission.”

“I’m a student, and I’m going to the library,” I explained. “My name is Turnip Jones. Who are you, and why are you here?”

“I’m Clover Leaf,” she answered. “I’m on my way to make a petition on behalf of my village. The main road in and out of our village needs repair. We’ve been repairing it ourselves, but it’s badly eroded, and our materials are poor, so the repairs never last long. Our carts keep getting stuck in the holes and the mud. It is seriously hurting our town’s ability to trade. I’m here to ask the princess for aid in fixing the road.”

I smiled. “I hope she approves your petition.”

The mare sighed. “I hope so, too. Our town mainly produces exotic flowers. They trade well when we can get them to other towns, but it's been hard lately. We need to trade; otherwise, they’re all we have to eat, and just eating flowers isn’t very healthy. There’s also no trees in the area, so there’s no wood other than what we get through trade. We need that road functional.” She gave me an appraising look. “What kind of school do you go to that you need to go to the palace library?”

I pointed a leg across the street. “The School of Magic. I just found out that the palace library is our library. I guess that saves space.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You go to the School of Magic? Are you pulling my tail? Earth ponies don't go to the School of Magic.”

“I do, and I have an earth pony professor. Professor Apple Bloom teaches alchemy—that’s what I want to learn,” I replied. 

“That's like potions and stuff, right?” she asked. 

“Among other things,” I answered. “There's a long history of non-unicorns doing alchemy. Professor Apple Bloom is a great alchemist, and she learned the art from a zebra who had studied the works of the great mage Meadowbrook, who was also an earth pony.”

“I never heard of that,” Clover said with a hint of wonder. “I didn't know earth ponies could be mages.”

“Sure you have. You heard of Wild Growth, right?” I asked. 

“Oh, yes!” Clover replied. “Her picture used to be on all those products from Earth when I was a foal. I heard that she was a powerful pony, but my parents told me that she had to be just a mascot that was made up.”

I shook my head. “No, I'm from Earth, and I've seen her…well, seen her on TV. She could grow forests in seconds, raise mountains from flat ground, and cause earthquakes. She could even tell where everyone was around her by feeling them moving on the ground because she was so connected to the Earth…but she burnt her power out while saving a city. She can't do that stuff anymore.”

“Did she save the city?” Clover asked. 

“Well…the city was kind of a wreck after, but parts of it still stood, and most people survived. If she hadn't been there, it would have been one giant crater, and everyone would have died,” I explained. 

“A city is made up of its ponies, not the buildings. You can rebuild buildings, but not ponies,” Clover said sagely. “I'm sorry to hear she burnt herself out. She sounds like a great pony. My parents and grandparents told me stories of Tirek and how he stole all the pony magic. They said losing their magic was the worst feeling ever, and you feel like you want to die without it. That was before I was born, but I believe them, and I imagine being burnt out feels like that. If you are going to that school, you'll probably push yourself very hard. Be careful so you don't burn out, too.”

I chuckled. “I don't think that will happen to me. Alchemy relies on the magic of other things. It can't use me up.”

“If you say so,” Clover said with a smile. 

More people got in line behind me as the line slowed down, and everyone in line seemed to grumble as the officials up front seemed to be having trouble with a pair of unicorns who appeared to be making a fuss. My guess was they weren't being admitted or not getting their way about something. I didn't have a phone since coming to Equestria, so I was unsure what time it was or how much was passing. There was a clock face on the school building, but that wasn't visible from where I stood. The line needed to start moving, or I might as well head back to school. I didn't want to cut my lunch short. I could already imagine Headmaster pulling the same stunt again, only this time, he wouldn't arrange for himself to be last. 

Eventually, the pair of discontent unicorns relented and walked away, grumbling. As they walked by the back of the line, I heard their mutters to each other. They weren't speaking to one another in Equestrian; It sounded like some sort of Chinese language. I wasn't sure if it was Mandarin or Cantonese or what; it was all Chinese to me, but it definitely had that kind of feel to it. I supposed that if there were people visiting from the United States, there were just as likely to be people visiting from other Earth nations. It was just odd seeing Chinese ponies in general. China was very closed off and secretive, aside from their regular declarations that all ponies and all humans that wished to be ponies were welcome and that they would cover the costs of migration and travel for ponies (humans had to fend for themselves on that front, even if they wanted to be ponies). China had become diplomatically and economically cut off from much of the world due to their overt belief that they should convert all humans to ponies. They still did trade through neutral countries—primarily ones who couldn't afford not to trade with China, but for most of the world, what happened in China was a mystery. Equestria must still have diplomatic relations with them if they were visiting here. 

“They speak oddly; never heard that tongue,” Clover commented. 

“They sound Chinese. It's a big nation on Earth,” I replied, adding the last bit in case someone from Equestria might not know. 

“Oh! I heard of that place,” Clover said. “The princesses have to meet with their delegates regularly, and they always ask Equestria to turn over some ponies to them that we have given sanctuary to, even if they were talking about other stuff first, and the princesses always refuse. The fuss those ponies make has become so legendary that I doubt a pony in Equestria hasn't heard talk about the ponies that dare to get in yelling matches with the princesses in the throne room. Even for a farm pony like me, that's scandalous!”

“Equestria is harboring Chinese refugees?” I asked in surprise. 

“There's five of them—I’ve also heard it is six. I don't know anything else about them other than that, but it's always the same five or six ponies they ask for—the story changes about how many. I don't know why they want them so badly. They can come to talk about trade, but before the talk is done, they’re demanding those ponies be turned over to them. I can't imagine what they did that they want them so badly. It's not like the princesses would shelter criminals,” Clover explained. 

That was confusing. Why would China care so much about a few ponies? I was sure plenty of people defected or migrated away from China every year, maybe even important people who knew state secrets. What made these five special that they'd jeopardize a rocky relationship with the most powerful nation that would still talk to them? Well…they must care a little about that relationship; otherwise, they'd try taking the ponies directly. 

Actually, maybe it wasn't all ponies. Clover said she knew nothing about the ponies they were after; perhaps she assumed it was all ponies. That was an easy mistake for an Equestrian to make. Headmaster looked like he was Chinese, and he had a powerful artifact that no one knew where it came from. It seemed unlikely China could make something like that, but maybe he had figured out how and run away to Equestria, where he did make it. Being able to make something like that would be extremely valuable to China—extremely valuable for anyone. That could make Headmaster one of those they were after, especially if they needed him to have it work at full power. 

That was all speculation on my part. I'd tell Professor Neighsay about it at the end of the week. Hopefully, that would help my standing with him a little. He was right; I was an opportunist who wouldn't pass up something that could help me. I wasn't the only pony like that. I could tell when Hannah spoke that she cared a lot about weighing costs. Maybe it was more a financial thing with her, but it wasn't that different. I didn't make it to Equestria without jumping on an opportunity…and maybe defying a few people who were likely very VERY angry at me right now. I wouldn't be shocked if the school got a letter. I still hadn't quite figured out how I would deal with that if it came. I should probably be glad I had to take summer classes and do everything I could to make friends with as much of the faculty as possible before that letter inevitably came. I hoped it was just a letter. 

The line was moving much faster now, even faster than it had before the Chinese ponies brought it to a screeching halt. Maybe the guards were trying to make up for the inconvenience while the ponies in line were also making every attempt to be quick and clear about who they were and why they wanted to be admitted. No one wanted to be THAT pony after what we just waited through.

Most ponies ended up getting in. I only noticed one who was sent away, who was standing two spots ahead of me and was asked to come back tomorrow instead. Clover was let through with no issue and directed to where there would be another line of ponies waiting to present their petitions to Celestia. Then it was my turn. 

“Name?” the official asked. 

“Turnip Jones,” I answered. 

The official jotted it down. “Business at the palace?”

“I need to use the library for school,” I answered. 

He jotted that down as well. “Name and location of your school?”

“The School of Magic,” I answered before pointing across the street. “Right there.”

The official looked up at me from his scroll. “An earth pony at that school? You're joking, right?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I'm the first earth pony admitted.”

The official frowned and pulled out a scroll from a pile he had below his desk. He unrolled it and spent a moment looking it over. 

“Pull my tail and call me a daisy; you are listed among the students,” he said in amazement. He then rolled up the scroll and put it away. “Very well. In the future, you may take the fast line but will still need to state your business. There's a map to the library as soon as you walk into the main hall. Follow that, and you should have no trouble. Do not wander anywhere else—you will be detained if you do. Carry on.”

I grinned sheepishly. “I actually need to get back to school for lunch now. I just wanted to get this over with so I could use the fast line in the future.”

“Well, carry on with that then. Just get out of my line,” the official said with a dismissive flick of his tail. 
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I returned just in time to meet Bright, Hannah, Summer, and Red heading into the cafeteria. 

“Ya missed a great hot and tootin' lecture!” Bright said as I came up to them. 

“Yes, Professor Dawn was a major change of pace from the previous two classes,” Red agreed. 

Hannah sniffed. “Not my cup of tea. No profit in her type of magic unless you want to be a mercenary, and that has too much risk. Dead people can't spend their income.”

Summer seemed to shiver. “I thought it was a little scary. I don't like violence. All those blasts that she did are worse than a bunch of the villagers going nirik. She could have destroyed a lot of things.”

Bright waved a hoof dismissively. “Nah, she had it under control. She's an expert.”

Hannah rolled her eyes and then looked at me. “So, how did the class with Professor Neighsay go? Did you learn a lot about artifacts? I'm kinda jealous you get to start on that already while we have to wait until next year.”

I flicked my tail. “Not much to say. He gave me a report to do by the end of the week, along with a reading assignment, and that was it—no lecture. He dismissed me early, and I went looking for the library. Neighsay did try to find out if I knew anything about Headmaster since Headmaster's probably from Earth. He doesn't seem to trust him.”

“Headmaster does cloak himself in a fog of mystery, so a little mistrust might be prudent under normal circumstances,” Red said. “However, Headmaster has the princesses' utmost confidence, so I wouldn't fret too much about it.”

“He did say he wasn't happy about Prim threatening me, so I guess he can't be that bad,” Summer chimed in. 

I kept my suspicions that he might be a defector from China to myself. If it turned out to be not the case, I would look silly for suggesting it. 

“Ah ain't really concerned about him,” Bright said. “Let's go get our grub before there's a long line.”

We headed into the cafeteria, and worry about a line was immediately put to rest as we saw plates of food floating through the air to where students were sitting. A quick glance around showed the person responsible for this to be Headmaster, who stood gripping his lightly glowing staff near where the food was typically served. There were a lot of plates and mugs moving through the air, and I wondered how he kept track of it all without colliding something into a student. 

We took our seats at our long class table. Everyone was present, including Prim, who had chosen to eat elsewhere during the last two meals. At the head of our table sat Professor Inkwell. I glanced around and saw the other professors spread out among different tables. We took our seats at the far end of the table since those were the still open seats. Within seconds, a plate of salad, a plate with a slice of apple pie, and a mug of some sort of juice were deposited in front of us, along with forks. 

On my leg was my always-present pony strap, which I used to strap the fork in place so I could use it. The others had no need for this since they had horns and could levitate their forks with ease. I looked around to try to spot Professor Apple Bloom and was pleased to see she was also using a pony strap, as was Coach Scootaloo. 

Before I could dig into my food, Professor Inkwell got up from her seat and headed to the head of the cafeteria, and Professor Sweetie Belle and Professor Newman joined her. Professor Sweetie Belle stepped in front of the other two and lit her horn. 

“If I could have your attention, students, I have some announcements,” Sweetie Belle said, voice carrying, likely because of a spell she was casting. “First off, I hope all returning students had a wonderful summer. I also hope that everypony's first day of classes this year is going smoothly. I need to let everypony know that attendance for lunch is mandatory. This isn't just when you eat. Because it is the only time we can guarantee the entire student body is together, it is the faculty's best opportunity to make school-wide announcements.  We will also be having speakers come to talk to you from time to time during lunch. You don't have to be perfectly silent during these talks, but we ask that you speak to each other in whispers if you do speak. There will be spells enhancing the speaker's talk and reducing noise from elsewhere, but they only do so much, so don't be rude and get too loud.”

She gestured to where Coach Scootaloo was sitting. “Next, you may have noticed that all the professors are eating at tables.”

Professor Newman bent down and whispered something to Sweetie Belle. 

“Correction, all professors except Professor Psychic Calm, who rarely leaves his room due to medical reasons and would be sleeping around this time anyway. He's at a very advanced age for his magic level,” Sweetie Belle corrected. 

I was told he was old, but I hadn't realized he was so old he was bedridden. Why was he even teaching? The guy should be retired and relaxing. Advanced age for his magic level could mean he wasn't that powerful, simply a master of his craft. 

Sweetie Belle continued. “While you are free to chat with any professor sitting near you at your table, please don't leave your table to chat with a professor at another table. We are here to eat and hear announcements, just like you, and if we have to spend our entire lunch answering questions and explaining things to a line of students, we lose that chance. Unless it is an immediate emergency, contact us in class or at our offices. We will change where we are sitting regularly, so don't think that the current professor at your table will be the only one to ever sit near you. We want to get to know students better, so expect us to casually chat with our neighbors and take time to get to know everypony over the course of the semester.”

That seemed okay. It meant I would get a chance to chat with Apple Bloom at some point. She was my advisor, so I'd get that chance anyway, but every chance was valuable. 

“That's everything from me. Professor Inkwell has some things to say, then Professor Newman,” Sweetie Belle concluded, then returned to her seat. 

Raven Inkwell stepped forward and lit her horn. “I'll be quick. Signups for extracurricular activities will take place at the end of the week, here in the cafeteria, one hour after sundown. While these are not mandatory, they are an excellent way of building camaraderie, friendships, and having some fun. I hope that most of you will participate.” She then headed back to her seat. 

Professor Newman stepped forward and clasped her hands behind her back. “I cannot use magic to project my voice, so forgive me if I seem to be yelling,” she shouted. “We have received word that there are Chinese envoys in town. Do not engage with them. Do not answer their questions. If any of them cause you any problems, please immediately report it to a faculty member. Do not invite them onto school grounds or into the dorms. They caused trouble with the previous administration, and they were banned from this campus as a result. We must suffer their school visiting for the games; we do not need to suffer those envoys. That is all I have to say. Please enjoy your lunch.”

They pestered the previous administration? That was before Headmaster had come to the school. The only holdover from that administration was Professor Inkwell, and she certainly wasn't from China. Actually, Professor Newman hadn't been part of that administration, but hadn't she been the personal assistant to some mage on staff before? If they had caused trouble before, she and Professor Inkwell would be the ones still here who had to experience it. I wondered what they'd done and been after. 

I looked over at Red. “So, has anyone pulled your sister to Headmaster's office?”

He'd been lifting his fork to his mouth to take a bit of his salad but paused. “No, nopony has pulled Prim aside for a meeting with Headmaster as of yet. Why? What has my dear pernicious twin sister done now?”

“She threatened Summer,” Hannah growled. 

“It wasn't that big a deal,” Summer quickly said. 

Hannah glared at her. “You shouldn't be such a doormat. You need to stand up for yourself.”

Summer looked down. “You don't understand. Many ponies are always going to say mean things to me. They don't want kirins attending magic schools. They say we're dangerous. I can't fight back, and I definitely can't let myself get angry. I have to stay calm and take it, or they'll kick me out and never let a kirin in again. My entire tribe is depending on me showing that kirins are safe to have here.”

“That's a hog-troth full of pressure ta be under,” Bright said sympathetically. “Ya sure everythin' will alright?”

“It has to be,” Summer murmured. 

“We'll look out for you, don't worry. You might have to keep your temper in check, but we don't,” I said. I then remembered something. “You did seem to start to lose your temper when we talked about pigs on farms.”

Summer started to steam visibly. “Please, don't talk about that again.”

I quickly shook my head. “I won't, I promise, but it shows that there are still things that get under your fur. You seem to be very protective of animals.”

Summer seemed to relax. “My mom always has had some pet around or animal she was mending back to health. My grandparents say they took her to visit Fluttershy's animal sanctuary when she was a foal, and the experience really impacted her. She was always taking care of some animal or another after that. We have several birds, two dogs, and a few lizards back home. My dad is caring for them while we are away, but she still has a kitten to keep her company here. I'm used to having animals around. They're like a part of my family. I can't stand the idea of somepony hurting one.”

“I understand, but it's something that can be used against you. You have to be careful about that,” I cautioned. 

“Quite right,” Red seconded. “I’m sad to say that duplicitous ponies would not hesitate to pounce on such a weakness if it were known. I'm sorry to say that my sister is such a pony, and she would take full advantage of this knowledge to put you in a compromising situation.”

“I'll be careful. I will have those counseling sessions, and I'll talk to them about this and see if they have suggestions,” Summer assured us. 

“Just be careful,” Hannah said with worry. 

I decided to change the subject, lest we end up doing Summer harm by letting Prim overhear us. Prim seemed caught up talking to Professor Inkwell, but that didn't mean she'd not notice. 

“What sort of extracurricular activities are there?” I asked. 

“Not sure,” Bright replied. 

Red finished chewing a bite of his salad before answering. “Oh, the normal fare. There is the buckball team, cheerleading, drama, painting, chorus, band, culinary arts, gardening, and fishing. Our family has attended this school for generations, so one member or another has been involved with all the clubs at some point.”

“There's a fishing club?” I asked in confusion with a hint of worry as I looked at Summer. 

She noticed me looking and smiled. “Don't worry. I don't get worked up about fish. We have to feed the cats and dogs meat to keep them healthy. Where do you think we get it?” Her smile dropped as she looked at Red. “As long as the fishies are being caught to feed critters that need meat and not just for sport. Hooking them causes them pain and fear, and doing it for fun is pure animal cruelty. I prefer catching them with nets; at least that's a little less painful.”

“All catches are donated to feeding the destitute and starving cats of Canterlot, I assure you, dear lady,” Red said. He looked around the cafeteria. “However, I'm wondering if some of the normal activities may end up being cut due to a lack of students to fill the rosters. The new administration has reduced the size of the student body, and that may mean not all clubs will be able to fill their ranks with an optimal amount of ponies.”

“I hope buckball is still on. I want to join the buckball team. I've got a great buck!” Hannah said proudly. 

Bright smiled smugly at her. “Not as good as mah'n. Mah aunts were a great buckball players. Taught meh everythin' there is to know.”

She gave him her own smug smile. “Well, if you know everything, you can play one of the other positions while I buck. Knowing is good, but then there's pure talent.”

Summer looked at me. “What do you want to do for activities? Since you're an earth pony, the buckball team will certainly want you. 

I shrugged. “Not sure. I'm not too into sports. Drama seems like too much work. Gardening feels too stereotypical for an earth pony, and I could go a million years without ever farming something again. If it doesn't bother you, then maybe fishing. It's laid back and gives me time to study while I wait for something to bite. Maybe I can use the fish to make friends with your mom's cat. It might be a good idea to have him like me if I ever get back to the dorms late. What about you?”

She looked down. “Oh, I don't know. I don't want to do anything that gets me too much attention. I might try painting. I enjoy crafts, and my specialty is wood-shaping, so maybe adding some paint to fancy my creations up might be a good idea.” She looked at Red. “What about you?”

Red held his head high. “The stage calls to me. I have the heart  of a thespian, and this year shall surely bring my greatest performance.”

Lunch was actually longer than a standard class period, which was nice and meant there was no need to rush eating and plenty of time to socialize. It also gave time for our food to settle before going to our next class. Soon, it would be time to get our revived energy ready for Coach Scootaloo. 
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we got to the grounds a few minutes early, we were met with a visibly frustrated Coach Scootaloo watching a sunglass-wearing web-winged pony stallion meddle with a phone on a tripod. 

There were many names for that tribe—night pony, amazon, thestral, nocturns, cave ponies, forest ponies, urbanists, dream ponies, and sometimes bat pony, although the last was considered derogatory and never said in their presence as they tended to be much more aggressive and vicious than the other tribes, making it your fault if one of them mauled you for saying the forbidden term. The sunglasses were standard among their kind during the day because their eyes were highly sensitive to light, and sunlight was often too much for them. They were fewer in number than the other tribes, tending to gather together in conclaves in the bigger Earth cities where they were still outnumbered by almost every other tribe, but were able to get some voice in local politics by pooling enough of their numbers. They rarely traveled to the countryside and rural areas, as that left them isolated from their tribe, and though they were never truly alone when asleep, they still longed for the company of their kind when awake—they claimed day ponies, as they called the other tribes, could never fully understand them. It was said they were even fewer in number on Equestria than on Earth, having one city and a few small towns, all deep in the Foal Mountains, their numbers having been decimated to near extinction in some long-ago conflict. They were a strange tribe with magic and instincts that felt alien to the other tribes, putting them on the fringes of pony society. I'd seen them on TV before, but never in person, not until now. 

“Do we really need this newfangled tech thing?” Coach Scootaloo was saying to the nocturnal pony. 

The stallion grimaced. “This thing is a very simple phone design that is almost thirty years old. It is hardly newfangled. Unfortunately, modern phones need constant Wi-Fi access to do basic tasks, and Equestria lacks Wi-Fi. So you are going to be dealing with this vintage relic.”

“Sounds like the old version is better,” Scootaloo said.

“If you like limited storage and a tiny fraction of the processing power, it doesn't even come with a drone function or standard hologram keyboard projection, but this serves its purpose here,” the stallion grumbled. “Your headmaster wants a visual record of your class working out for promotional purposes. This is how you get it. Worry about your class, and stop worrying about what I'm doing.”

“I've never seen a bat pony before,” Summer said in wonder. 

The stallion spared us a dirty look. 

“Don't call them that. They don't like it,” Hannah said. “They say if you insult too many of them, the Queen of Nightmares will give you bad dreams.”

“That's just a foal's tale that she does that, but still, you shouldn't call them that if you want to get along with them,” I added. 

“Oh, sorry,” Summer said. “Do you mean Luna when you say Queen of Nightmares?”

I shook my head. “No, it's a pony back on Earth, but they say Luna gifted her with great power. There's all kinds of stories about how she scares foals, but I've never met anyone who was visited by her.”

“I have,” Hannah said as Onyx and Rocky walked up. “There was this bully back in school, always picking on weaker foals. The Queen of Nightmares apparently took issue with this, and she came into his dreams. He wouldn't say what she did, only that she confronted him, but whatever she did shook him. He never picked on a foal again. He actually became kind of a nice guy after a while. There's all kinds of stories about how she comes to punish bad foals.”

The stallion stopped what he was doing to look directly at us. “That's right. She happens to be my big sister…adopted sister, and if you foals ever visit Earth, you better be good, or she'll get you.”

“Don't try to scare them,” Coach Scootaloo chided. “I don't think your sister would appreciate you using her to scare them.”

The stallion shrugged. “She's cool with it. She gets a kick out of being the monster under the bed that mothers use to warn foals into good behavior. Having people afraid of her gives her some warped amusement, especially since once you get to know her in person, you have a hard time being afraid of her. She's so dainty, bakes you sweets, and jumps in terror at unexpected noises—not exactly monster material.”

“That doesn't seem so bad,” Summer said, perking her ears up. 

The stallion gave her an evil smile.  “However, she's a whole other story when asleep and uses nightmares to help teach ponies lessons. It is never just a punishment. She isn't about just intimidating you into doing what she wants. Her nightmares are to teach you about yourself or give you a new perspective—so you can be a better pony or less of a walking piece of horsecrap. I've been on the receiving end of one of those once. I admit that I deserved it; I was being a total jerk to someone who didn't deserve it, and my nightmare sis decided she had enough and did something about it.”

Scootaloo sighed. “We're in Equestria. Nopony needs to worry about her.”

The stallion looked back to Scootaloo as Prim approached. “But I heard next year's games will be held at the Skytree Institute of Magic. That's basically on her front lawn. Best to know what they're in for.”

“Next year, not now,” Scootaloo reiterated. “Are you done setting up that doohickie?”

The stallion nodded as Twilight Glow and Lunar Light arrived. “All good to go. Have fun with your gym stuff.” He then spread his wings and flew a short distance to be under the shade of a nearby tree.

“What a strange pony,” Red commented. 

“Earthlings are weird,” Coach Scootaloo said with an exasperated sigh. 

“I'm an Earthling, so is Turnip!” Hannah protested while pointing at me. 

Scootaloo rubbed her head while looking down. “Sweetie's going to be mad at me. Don't put your hoof in your mouth on the first day, Scoots. You've got this. You deal with foals all the time,” she muttered. She then looked up and smiled. “Well, weird is just another word for unique and interesting!”

Not the most graceful save ever. 

“Anyway,” the coach said as she scanned us with her eyes. “Looks like you are all here now, so we can begin. I'm Coach Scootaloo. A little about myself—you might notice that my wings are tiny; I was born with underdeveloped wings, and they never grew to full size. I can manage very short flights—enough to get me over a big gap that I might not be able to jump, come down softly from a height, or hover for a few seconds, but I've never been able to fly properly. I found other ways of using my wings and became a good athlete. Just because you don't have earth pony strength and pegasi flight doesn't mean you can't all be athletic.”

I raised a hoof. “Um, I'm an earth pony.”

She rubbed her head again. “Right…I kinda had this speech planned out for a bunch of unicorn students.” Summer raised a hoof, and Scootaloo facehoofed. “Okay, I get it.”

“You're doing great!” the stallion yelled from his shady spot under the tree. 

“Don't know if he's trying to be encouraging or sarcastic,” Scootaloo muttered. “Alright, everypony…and everyrin-”

“Everypony is fine,” Summer interjected. 

Scootaloo visibly took a deep breath. “Okay, everypony, I know that you are all at magic school, and your focus is on magic, but a strong and healthy body helps with that just as much as it helps with an athlete. Using magic can take a toll on the body. I heard about a pony who once strained herself so much using magic that she literally started bleeding everywhere, and her fur was so soaked in blood that it seemed to be black. I hope nopony here ever has to strain themselves that much, but it highlights what magic can do to you when you are pushing yourself hard. It is important that you keep yourselves healthy and fit with regular workouts and good eating habits. These are important to everypony, not just mages, and anypony can learn how to properly care for their body. That's why I'm here, to ensure you learn the right habits to keep you fit.”

“Do you think she left bloody hoofprints everywhere she walked, and everything she touched, she ended up smearing blood on?” the stallion asked. 

Scootaloo looked at him in disgust. “How can you even think about that?”

“How can I not?” he countered. “I mean, the imagery is just so…wow.”

“I presume she did, and I presume it hurt a lot,” Scootaloo answered in exasperation. “Can you stop interrupting? You are distracting me while I'm trying to stress the importance of physical fitness to my students.”

The stallion held the little thumb nubs on his wings up. “Sure thing! You're doing great! Hey! I was told I needed to be more supportive and complimentary and not so crude and mean. Am I doing a good job?”

Scootaloo gave him a forced smile. “You’re doing great!”

“Great!” the stallion called back. “You know, the trick is that every time I want to call you a technologically impaired hick, I say you're doing great. Who knew it was this easy to be supportive and complimentary? I will be the most supportive and complimentary pony on this planet.”

“Great…” Scootaloo said with bemusement. 

“You're doing great!” the stallion reiterated. 

Well, at least I wasn't bored by gym class so far. 

The coach stood up straight as she could and spread her wings, which were indeed fairly tiny. 

“Okay, students! I think we have had enough talking. I'm about action,” she announced. “I want you all to put your saddlebags in a pile near me. Afterward, we'll do some stretches and then jog a few laps around the school building to warm up. Then the real workout can begin.”

So much for not being bored. I hated running. 





It ended up being ten laps around the school, which I found nine too many. I wasn't at all winded by it. Being an earth pony did come with certain advantages. I was just bored. Hannah and Bright kept pace with me the entire time, as did Rocky and Onyx. Summer had started tiring out around lap five, and Red not long after that, although both eventually finished the entire ten laps. Twilight Glow fell flat on his face on the ninth lap and was taken over to the shade by Scootaloo. Lunar Light looked like he might end up falling over, too, but eventually got through the tenth lap. One of us was struggling more than the others, and the way she was panting, the sweat she was dripping, and the greenish hue of her face almost made me feel sorry for her. 

Prim passed in front of Coach Scootaloo to complete another lap. Her jog at this point was barely more than a crawl as she struggled to put one hoof in front of the other. 

“Am…am…am I done…yet,” Prim panted as she glanced at Scootaloo. 

“That's only seven, but I think you're done all the same,” Coach Scootaloo said as she looked Prim over. “Sit down in the shade. I'll get you some water.”

Prim pulled her tongue back in her mouth and set her jaw as she picked up pace just a little. “No! I'm…I'm going to finish this! I'm not going to be outdone by everypony!”

“No, you are going to sit down and take a break before you hurt yourself. That's a direct order,” Coach Scootaloo said firmly. “Everypony else is done. Part of fitness training is knowing when you have pushed yourself too much. You're severely out of shape. If you push yourself too hard, you will make yourself sick and possibly tear a muscle. We'll get you where you can do the ten laps, but it isn't happening today. Sit, relax, and get something to drink. You'll be doing light stretches for the rest of the class to make sure you don't cramp up—along with the half the class that had a hard time doing ten laps. They also pushed themselves hard, just not as hard as you.”

Prim sat, and there were tears in her eyes as she looked at the coach. “But I can't afford to fail!”

“You aren't failing this class on day one, don't worry,” Scootaloo assured her. “Shade, now. The others mentioned can join her over by our supportive light-sensitive stallion.”

“Great effort!” the stallion called out. He then climbed the tree he had been sitting under, startling everyone who watched. Climbing trees was not something hooved creatures typically did, at least not most tribes. There was a reason they were sometimes called forest ponies. 

Scootaloo shepherded Prim, Summer, Twilight, Lunar, and Red over to the shade, got them some water, and then focused on walking them through some stretches they could do while sitting. The stallion was probably watching, hidden among the branches of the tree. That left the other five of us standing around in the sun, wondering what we should be doing. 

“Ah thought that there Twilight Glow was outta shape, but the prissy filly would be plum worn out tryin' to feed a bunch of sleepin' chicks,” Bright remarked. 

Rocky stretched and flexed. “Well, some of us are more natural athletes than others.”

“Yeah!” Onyx agreed and raised a hoof towards Rocky, who clapped it with his own. 

Hannah batted her eyes at Onyx. “How do you feel about athletic fillies who can keep up the pace with you?”

Onyx pushed himself back, butt sliding across the ground. “I…uh…they're…nice….”

A wandering part of my mind wondered if Rocky and Onyx were more than good friends. They were always in each others' company, and Onyx was clearly uncomfortable with a filly hitting on him. Other than being together all the time, there wasn't any strong evidence for it. The pair had been friends before coming to the school, and they were roommates, so it made sense that they would continue to hang around each other. I guess that part of my brain was only wondering that because a small part of me wanted to see Hannah flabbergasted that she was coming on so strong to a gay colt, just for the amusement factor. She’d get over it, but that might mean she'd transfer that interest to some other colt in class since she made it clear on the first day she thought she had pick of the litter due to supply and demand. That made me hope Onyx wasn't gay because I wasn't sure I could deal with a filly coming onto me like that. Red probably wouldn't return the interest of any non-noble. Twilight and Lunar didn't seem her type. Bright was a possibility; he was athletic and reasonably well-connected. She might indeed have pick of the litter. Summer might be the most appealing filly under normal circumstances. Summer was quiet, sweet, and exotic, but I think every colt might also be a little wary of her, considering any argument with her could result in her bursting into flame. The threat of immolation was a turn-off. Love might be described as a burning fire, but I doubted that most wanted that to be literal. Still, that was more appealing than being with Prim. 

I decided to save Onyx again. At some point, he might owe me a favor. “So, Hannah, Rocky and Onyx obviously work out. Bright grew up on a farm. I'm an earth pony. How'd you get to be so strong and athletic?”

She stopped tormenting Onyx to look at me. “I may not have grown up on a farm, but I still grew up doing a lot of heavy work. My parents are salvagers and ran a scrapyard. Even when I was too young to use my horn, I tried to help out. We were always pulling appliances and cars apart to get usable parts or scrap metal. It was hard work, and even when I got to using my horn, I would still put a harness on and haul things around, just out of habit. Doing all that built up my muscles.”

“Gathering metal is cool. My dad is really into metallurgy,” Onyx said. 

Hannah immediately started making doe eyes at him again. “And what are you into?”

“I…uh…stuff…”

Welp, I'd done my best to save him, but some people couldn't allow themselves to be saved. I decided to try once more since I had nothing better to do. 

“Do you think that stallion over there really is the Queen of Nightmare's adopted brother?” I asked Hannah. 

Hannah took her eyes off Onyx again, this time to look at the tree the stallion was hiding in the branches of.  “Not sure. He does seem to be from Earth since he knows all about phones, but he seems a little young to be her brother. She's been in that position for over thirty years, so she's got to be in her fifties, if not older. He doesn't even look like he's thirty, so that's a huge age gap. I think he's just making things up. Who from Equestria would know any better?”

“I heard him say next year's games were being held somewhere called Skytree, and the coach didn't correct him, ” Rocky said. “Is Skytree on Earth?”

“Yeah, it is,” I confirmed. “It's a newer city that has massive trees.”

“It isn't that big. It's like three times the size of Canterlot,” Hannah added. “The trees are supposed to be the biggest in existence and break the rules about how tall trees can get. They say some residents track time by where the trees' shadow falls on the city because it is like a giant sundial. They also say there is a big forest just beyond the city that has zombies in it, but I don't believe that part.”

“I heard everyone in the city is secretly a ninja assassin,” I added. 

“That one's just silly and stupid,” Hannah said with a snort. 

“Next year, we’ll be the ones competing in the games. Guess that means I'll get to see if all the stories about Earth are true,” Rocky said with a grin. “I don't believe cities get that big. I'd believe the stories about zombies in the woods before I believe a million ponies can live in one city.”

Going back to Earth was a troubling idea. I wondered if there was any way I could get out of doing the games. 

Scootaloo returned. “Alright, while they are doing some light stretches, you five will be doing a legitimate race. Just one lap around the school. After that, I'll have you join the others in relaxing, and we can start discussing nutrition.”

Ugh! Someone save me and send me back to regular magic classes. 
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last class on the day had been Writing with Professor Sweetie Belle. The class wasn’t going to be a standard writing class. Yes, there would be writing lessons about properly writing letters and reports, but much of it focused on how to read spellbooks and write down spells. Writing spells was a bit of a complicated endeavor. Yes, you had to know the runes, but you also had to see the layout of the runes for a spell. Runes were not put in a spell in dimensions like you would read words on a page. Runes could overlap, be combined, and were often placed on a three-dimensional plane; sometimes, you had to account for where a rune would be when. This required more intricate ways of writing spells down without overcomplicating things. This required learning an entirely new way of writing. It was like going back to kindergarten all over again. It made my head swim, but I did my best to try to follow along. 

With no more classes on the day, we were free to do what we wanted. Bright went off to do some strength training with Rocky and Onyx. Red said he had a correspondence that he had to have mailed out. That left me with Hannah and Autumn. We all decided to do some sightseeing around town. Twilight joined us at the last minute—Lunar had taken off to the library immediately after class, although none of us saw him leave. 

“So…what should we go see first?” I asked..”It’s all new and strange to me, so I’m not picky.”

“I’m the same. I’m happy to see anything. It’s just nice to get away from school for a little while,” Summer said. 

“I want to see the main shopping district,” Hannah said. “It would give me an idea of what the going rates for various materials are. I know they are much cheaper here, but I'm not sure how much.”

“I’d like to see Twilight Sparkle’s old family home,” Twilight said. “We can only see the outside since her parents are still alive and live there, but it would be nice to see. Did you know that her mom was an alumnus of our school, just like her?”

“Not surprising,” I replied. “What did she study?”

“Combat magic,” Twilight answered. “Both her parents were in the Lunar Guard when they were younger—it operated even before the return of Princess Luna. Her dad was typically in an office, filling out paperwork, but her mom was the type who was always on the front lines fighting monsters. Her mom eventually got court-martialed, and her dad resigned his commission soon after that; that was not too long before they got married.”

“Twilight’s mother got court-martialed, really?” Hannah asked in surprise. “What did she do? Did she kill someone?”

Twilight shook his head. “Repeated failures to follow orders. Her mom was always the type to jump straight into the action, resulting in her often disobeying commands to stay put, hold her ground, or guard something. She knew a monster was nearby, and she’d go charging off to fight it. You can’t be a soldier if you can’t follow orders. She later became a comic book author, using her experiences in the guard for inspiration.”

“She made comic books?” I asked, even more surprised. The princess having a comic book creator as a parent seemed somehow more far-fetched than some rogue guard. 

“She writes them; she doesn't do the art or anything like that,” Twilight clarified. “Her writing is in reasonably high demand among comic publishers.”

My ears perked. “Maybe they have some of her comics on sale in the city.”

“You have money?” Hannah asked. 

I frowned and shook my head; Summer did as well. 

Hannah sighed. “I don’t have much, and I’m supposed to save it for emergencies.”

“I have money. I’m not as rich as the Canterlot Prims, but my family is fairly well off—new money is what the Prims call people like us. I would be happy to get you each something, as long as it isn’t too expensive,” Twilight said. “My parents would get mad if I went on too much of a spending spree.”

“New money?” I asked.

“Entrepreneurs, they have self-made fortunes instead of inherited ones,” Hannah said. “What do your parents do?”

Twilight rubbed his head with a hoof. “My parents have a fleet of small cargo ships in Manehatten, six ships in all, with plans to get more. They ship to and from the Griffin, Zebra, and Dragon kingdoms. We don’t own the cargoes; we just transport stuff, but it makes a fair amount of money, enough for us to live comfortably, even after paying for upkeep and crews.”

I considered this. Getting stuff bought for me seemed like a good deal. Twilight might be making this gesture to try to buy into our good graces. He didn’t seem to have made many friends outside of his roommate, and it was questionable how strong that friendship was since Lunar seemed to take off without him repeatedly. Twilight Glow idolized Twilight Sparkle, which meant friendship was highly important to him. More friends benefitted me much more than a comic book, but what option would gain me more points with him, accepting or turning down his offer to buy things for us?

”You don’t have to do that for us, but thanks for offering,” Summer told Twilight. 

Well, it seemed the choice was made by someone else. Summer likely hadn’t even considered weighing the options; she just did what her first positive impulse was. It was endearing. Seeing her behave that way made me feel ashamed of myself for weighing what was useful. 

“You can hang with us all the same,” I assured him. It seemed the right thing to do. “Perhaps we should skip the shopping district for today, especially since most of us don’t have money.”

“I really could-” Twilight began.

“No!” Summer insisted, stomping her hoof. “You aren’t spending your money on us. That’s your money. We can go look at the house you want to see. I’m sure there must be other interesting things along the way.”

She was only being firm, not angry. There was no sign of smoke, but Twilight still jumped at the stomp. Considering how quickly he melted at Prim’s bullying, someone seriously had to help this guy with his confidence. 

“I’m fine with seeing this house,” I said supportively as I looked at Hannah. 

Hannah sighed. “Fine, we can go look at the Twilight house. I’d probably only upset myself by seeing how much I still can’t buy. One day, I’ll strike it big!”

I chuckled. “Be sure to buy me a comic when you do.”

She grinned. “I’ll do better than that; I’ll buy you some hundred-year-old first edition.”

“Um…do you have any idea how much that costs?” I asked skeptically. 

She raised her head high. “Nope! But I’ll be so rich it won’t even matter!”

We all laughed at that. It wasn’t that funny, but the enthusiasm for which Hannah declared it somehow made it funny. We then headed out towards the Twilight house with our Twilight leading the way. 

The buildings in town were all alabaster white. The streets alternated between grey, white, and blue. There were occasional trees with tiny fences around them. Plenty of ponies were walking around, but as many as I would have expected in the capital city of Equestria. Most of the ponies were unicorns, but there were still pegasi and earth ponies about, just in lesser numbers. We even spotted a pair of humans in business suits dining at an outdoor cafe. They looked comically oversized for the table and stools they were provided, like adults sitting at a tiny foal’s tea party. 

A kirin stallion walked by and stopped to wave at Summer, who paused to wave back before the stallion continued on his way. 

“You know him?” I asked. 

She seemed startled at the question. “What? Oh, I’ve seen him before in my village, but I don’t really know him. Still, it’s nice seeing another kirin around here.”

“Wonder what he’s doing here,” Twilight said as we continued on our way. 

“He runs a shop back in the village, so he might be gathering stock or meeting with a supplier,” Summer replied. She then paused and pointed. “Look! A park!”

“That’s Canterlot Central Park,” Twilight identified. “The quickest way to the house is by cutting through it.”

“Guess we know which way we’re going,” Hannah said. “Summer is excited about it, so let’s go see.”

Summer frowned. “Are you not interested in the park?”

Hannah shrugged. “Not exactly what I would be coming to Canterlot to see, but it might turn out to be a nice place to hang out and relax outside of class. I’m sure Turnip will be happy to see it.”

I cocked an ear. “Why would you be sure of that?”

She looked me over. “Well…you’re an earth pony, and there’s trees and grass and dirt—”

“That’s tribalist!” I protested. 

She frowned. “Are you not interested in seeing more of all that?”

“Well…I am, but—”

She grinned. “You can take the earth pony away from Earth, but they’re still an earth pony. Don’t worry, I still think you’re cool. Feel free to make any comments about unicorns being a bunch of physical weaklings you want.”

“But you’re pretty strong,” I replied. 

“And you don’t want to farm or mine or do any other stereotypical earth pony jobs,” she replied back. 

I chuckled and raised a hoof to her. “Okay, fair.”

Hannah clopped her hoof against mine. “Fair.”

It was unclear how big the park was, looking at it from the outside. I could see where it ended to my left and right, which was about the size of a city block. How far it went in front of us was the mystery. Some earth ponies had senses that could tell them, in a general sense, how far vegetation stretched.I wasn’t one of those earth ponies. The path going in winded, and trees obscured where exactly it went or ended. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. 

“I hope this isn’t like New York City Central Park, where we can get mugged,” Hannah said. 

“I’m sure that park isn’t that bad, and neither is this one,” I said. 

It would be embarrassing to admit I was nervous. Yes, I liked vegetation, as Hannah said, but I was from Kansas, and vegetation in Kansas meant something very different than what this was. There were no woods in Kansas, none that I’d ever seen, and I’d never been anywhere that had woods. The most enormous vegetation I had come across was corn fields. Corn stalks could get reasonably tall, but not like this. There was something scary about woods in general. I knew this wasn’t a forest, but it was still far more trees in one place than I was used to. The fact it was in the middle of a city made it all the more unnerving. 

“You okay?” Summer asked. 

I pulled my eyes away from the trees. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

“You seemed nervous. Kirins have to pay attention to how other kirins are feeling; it’s a safety thing. I can generally tell how ponies are feeling,” Summer explained. 

“You’re an empath?” Twilight asked, astonished. 

Summer shook her head. “We’re not empaths or anything like that, but we learn to read body language well. Turnip’s body was very stiff, his ears were slightly flattened, his tail was a little too low, and his eyes were staring at the park without blinking enough.”

“Hmm, you’d make a killing as a used car dealer,” Hannah said. “So, what’s up, Turnip?”

“Are your earth pony senses picking up something about the park?” Twilight asked. 

I debated lying briefly but decided I might as well tell the truth. “I’m not used to being around a bunch of trees. The idea of woods makes me jumpy.”

Hannah started laughing, and I gave her a dirty look. 

“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t laugh. It’s just so un-earth pony,” Hannah said. She got control of herself. “But you’re here at magic school, so why should anyone be surprised? Are you going to be okay with this? We can go around. If you need to prove something by going in, I’ll have your back for that. I’ll give you all the support you need.”

I smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll go in. Summer was looking forward to this. I don’t want to disappoint her. I can have a little courage.”

There was a boom, like thunder, despite it being a clear day. We all looked up at the sky; there were lights. A wave in so many colors…

Twilight yelled something, but I don’t know what; I was so sleepy…
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up in a bed, but it wasn’t my bed. There was a pale blue curtain around it. Was I in a hospital?

The curtain drew back, and Headmaster stepped through. 

“You’re awake. Good,” Headmaster said as he took a seat beside the bed. “You’ve been out for nearly five hours, the longest. How are you feeling?”

“A little headache, but not too bad, I guess,” I replied. “What happened?”

“You had a surge. It exhausted your magic reserves, which in turn exhausted you. You were taken to Canterlot Hospital, but the student with an unhealthy obsession with the Princess of Friendship alerted me to what happened. I had you transferred here to the school nurse’s office once I convinced the doctors you would be fine after resting here.” Headmaster answered. 

My headache was minor, but I did want something for it. “Where’s the nurse?”

“I’m the nurse,” Headmaster replied. “I’m going to give you a few pain pills. You may take one as needed for pain once per four hours. Make sure you snack on something right before you take them. I have some apples here for this one. I doubt you will need more than one. If it persists, don't hesitate to get in touch with me. What you primarily need is rest. Under the circumstances, you and the others are excused from class tomorrow to rest. I will alert your teachers, and you shall not be penalized for the absence.”

I hadn’t noticed that there was a side table, but it had a bowl of apples and a jug of water. Headmaster picked up an apple from it and handed it to me. I grabbed it with my fetlock and now noticed how weak I felt. I’d really used up all my energy. 

“I never heard of anyone but newborn foals surging, and they don't get like this because of it,” I said as I looked at the apple. 

“It is uncommon but not unheard of. Newborns don’t suffer for it because their bodies haven’t fully established the various passive spells that are always active that come with maturity. In fact, if you were just a year or two younger, this might not have exhausted you either, but you are old enough that the spells maintaining your earth pony strength and your ties to your cutie mark need a regular flow of power, so you suffer when that is suddenly disrupted,” Headmaster explained. 

“My ties to my mark were disrupted?!” I asked in horror as I tried to lift the covers to look at my flank.

He put a hand on the covers to stop me. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t take that much power to maintain that, and your mark has its own reserves separate from yours that typically kick in if something like that happens. Its first priority if something jeopardizes the connection is to restore the connection. It will do this even if completely severed. It knows where it belongs and devotes all power towards staying or returning there. This is also why rehumanization spells never worked on transformed that got their marks; the marks would fight back against any spell that tried to take their place away. Your mark is fine, and your strength will fully recover in a few hours. You should eat; that helps with the process.”

I took a bite of the apple. I didn’t have a lot of appetite, but he did say I needed food and rest and that the pain pill, which I very much wanted to take, needed me to eat first. It occurred to me that I might get very tired of apples by the end of the semester, considering how many Professor Applebloom ordered that still needed to be eaten. 

Another thing occurred to me, and I had a sinking feeling. “You said I was the last one to wake up. Did my surge hurt anyone?”

“No, you didn’t hurt anyone; you just weren’t the only one who surged,” Headmaster explained. “The kirin filly and your friend, who seemed far too concerned about whether this would be able to earn her profit in the future, both surged at the same time as you. On campus, your roommate, the Apple colt, surged while doing a workout with two other students and ended up putting a large weight through a wall with his levitation before he passed out. There may have been others, and I’m confident there were, but they were elsewhere in Equestria or managed to go unreported if they were here.”

“Why did we all surge?” I asked, confused. There had to be a reason we all surged at once, some trigger. 

Headmaster seemed to weigh whether to say anything for a moment. “I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon since everyone saw it. There was a massive sonic rainboom. Rainbooms are typically the result of Rainbow Dash, but this was the result of some colt. It may take a decade or more, but it would seem Miss Dash has some up-and-coming competition. The rainboom in itself was a surge, and the phenomenon has been known to trigger surges in others before. I don’t have any further information about the colt as of yet, but Princess Celestia is looking into it,”

“Oh,” I replied. Not sure what to think of that. “Why’d I wake up last? Was my surge worse?”

Headmaster sighed. “You ask an excessive amount of questions. The others were not so inquisitive. Your surge was not too bad, as it didn’t do any damage to anything. The kirin, Summer Blaze, had it the worst. However, you have your earth pony strength that is always passively on. Your surge sapped that, leaving you far more exhausted as a result. It should recover by morning.”

“You remembered Summer’s name!” I gasped. He gave me a dirty look, and I flinched. “Sorry. You just never seem to know students’ names.”

“I am a medical doctor by trade. I always remember a patient, Turnip Jones,” Headmaster replied flatly. 

“Oh.”

I think that was the most concrete information about the Headmaster’s history anyone had gotten. Yet it raised even more questions. Why was a doctor put in charge of the school? What was a doctor doing with a superpowered magic staff? 

He frowned at me. “I see the questions forming in your head and will tell you now you won’t get your answers beyond this—I was not the first, second, or even fifth preferred option to run this school. However, those who were preferred were either busy with other things or refused the job. I was recommended by two of them and coerced into taking the position. That doesn’t mean I take this no less seriously or will be neglectful in my efforts to restore this school to its former glory. I was given a task, and I intend to do it.”

He set a handful of pills down on the side table and stood up. 

“I recommend you eat at least one more apple and take a pill. After that, you are free to return to your dorm. Your saddlebags are at the foot of the bed. Don’t push yourself too hard. You still need plenty of rest. If your lack of strength or headache persists, or if you have any other health issues, you know where my office is,” Headmaster instructed. He then turned and left. 





“Oh! You’re finally back! Miss Pretty Purface was getting so worried!” Spring exclaimed as I entered the dorm building. 

“Mew!” Miss Pretty Purface echoed from somewhere in the mass of Spring Fling’s mane. 

I still felt weak and didn’t look forward to climbing all the steps to my floor, but I’d manage it. I smiled at Spring. 

“I’m okay, just tired. Is Summer alright? I was told she surged as well.”

Spring’s ears sagged. “She’s upset. What happened wasn’t her fault. Nopony could have anticipated something like that happening, and nopony got hurt. Yes, there was some damage—”

“Damage?” I asked in shock. 

“Oh, you must have already passed out by then,” Spring said dejectedly. “Summer ended up burning a few trees and some grass. The pegasi and the unicorns were able to get the fires out before they spread. It really shook her, though. She was the first to wake back up, and she woke up to seeing ponies putting out the aftermath of her surge. I didn’t see it, but I was told it was big. I’ve tried to comfort her and tell her it's not her fault, but as soon as I brought her back from the nurse’s office, she locked herself in her room. I didn’t want to make a scene by forcing my way in. She’d be mad at me if I did that. She needs rest anyway, and I’m trying to give her space. My husband says I need to let her set boundaries, and I’m trying to do better with that.”

“I’m sure she knows you are trying, and there’s nothing wrong with worrying about your kid. I know she worries about you, too,” I told her. 

Spring sat down, and the kitten jumped out of her mane and started rubbing against her. 

“I know,” Spring said, sniffling and petting the adoring kitten. “But she’s getting older; she’s starting to transform from my little filly to a young mare. She’s thinking more complex thoughts. Her tastes are getting more sophisticated. She doesn’t depend on me as much anymore. Sometimes I feel like she goes out of her way to show how independent from me she is, and I respect that, I do, but I still see her hurting and all this pressure she’s under, and all I want to do is hug her and tell her everything will be alright, and have her believe me because she’d never believe her mommy could be wrong. In a few years, it will be me going to her for all the answers and reassurances. I’m just a simple village kirin; she’s the smart one attending this big school. She already knows more arithmetic and things from books than I do, my smart little filly.”

Oh, boy…I had no idea how to deal with this. I just wanted to go lay down…well, lay down after I checked in on my friends to make sure they were okay. This sounded like stuff Spring needed to talk to another adult about, preferably an older one who had gone through having their kids grow up. Was there a faculty member I knew had kids? Probably multiple, but I was sure Professor Applebloom had grown kids. This sounded like a good problem for Professor Applebloom to deal with, not me. Why was she venting to me?

She lifted Miss Pretty Purface back into her mane and stood up. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be venting to a student. I’m just worried about my daughter. She’s probably been worried about you. Maybe she’ll talk to you. If she does, can you try to reassure her that everything will be alright?”

I smiled again. “Yeah, that’s no problem. I would have done that anyway.”

She nodded. “Thank you. Lights-out has been pushed back an hour for your floor since I know everypony has been worried about their classmates. Do try to keep the noise down. The rest of the dorm is trying to sleep. I’ll be making my rounds up there right before the extended lights-out time to make sure everypony gets to sleep.”

“Mew! Mew!” Miss Pretty Purface declared. 

She started to turn to go down a hall but paused. “Oh! And tell her that I am very proud of her for getting her cutie mark. It is very rare for a kirin to get a mark. I guess that kind of magic is just weak in our tribe, but most of us go our entire lives without one just fine. She is so special for getting one, even if the circumstances were scary.”

I blinked. I rarely paid much attention to ponies’ marks unless I saw them regularly, so I hadn’t even noticed that Spring and Summer didn’t have them—although Summer must have one now. I rarely thought about my own, which was a pair of quotation marks around a few letters with gaps between them. I honestly had no idea what my mark meant, though I never admitted that to anyone. Whenever anyone asked, I just told everyone that the meaning of ”Rd Bn Te Ls” was a secret only I knew. I considered dozens of things the mark could mean, but nothing ever seemed to line up right. The local CMC branch back home thought it was fascinating since letters, while not unheard of, were still rare in cutie marks. I really should start paying more attention to others’ marks. 

Still, if I was going to encourage Summer, her new mark probably was an excellent place to start. We needed to impress Headmaster, and a kirin with a cutie mark certainly sounded impressive. 

“I’ll be sure to tell her that,” I assured Spring.