Chapters The train ride from the capital was long and would have been boring if not for my Vita. Thank God for that little piece of technology. There I was, splayed out in my seat, thumbs going a mile a minute. Currently I was playing Borderlands 2, desperately trying to kill Hyperius the Invincible. Bastard killed poor Gaige about a dozen times before I just rage quit.
“Stupid raid boss,” I said with a grumble. I shoved my Vita into its case, disturbing the fox sleeping on the seat next to me.
“I take it that you’re stuck?” he asked, stretching out and giving a cute little yawn. Oh yes, I should probably introduce my little companion. This adorable ball of fuzz is my familiar, Kaz. Kaz is like a miniature sun, being half-kitsune and half-phoenix. Yeah, don't ask me how that works.
“Yes, I'm stuck.” I crossed my arms and huffed a bit. I'm a sore loser – hell, I broke a controller once because of that bastard Jinpachi from Tekken 5. Cheating ass.
“You take games way too seriously.” Kaz rolled his eyes as he climbed into my lap and licked my hand. I smiled a bit, petting his head gently and giving his ears a light scratch. That always makes him melt like butter.
“Hey, I think we're here,” I said with a smile, thanking whatever deity is listening as the train station came into view.
“Come on, lets get out of this coffin,” I joked, placing Kaz on my shoulder. I quickly grabbed my backpack and made sure not to forget my staff. Grabbing the rest of my luggage was easy enough and soon we were stepping out into our new town.
It was a quaint little place, not unlike the one we just left. “Okay, the house is somewhere around here...” I rambled off, pulling a piece of paper out of my pocket and frowning at the chicken scratch that was my handwriting. “Best get on the good foot,” I mumble, beginning our search.
***
"Are you new here?!" Suddenly a voice shouted from behind me, nearly making me reflexively fire off a spell.
I let out a small shout, spinning on my heels with my staff ready to bludgeon some fool when I saw my ‘attacker.’ She was a little taller than me, with pink fur, a tangled mane and a smile that didn't look anatomically possible. “Um... yeah we're new here,” I said, slowly lowering my staff.
“I just knew it! I know everypony in Ponyville and my Pinkie sense was telling me that somepony new had arrived!” she shouted, somehow jumping up and down without bending her knees. That's just... creepy. “Oh! My name is Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?” she asked, pausing in her bouncing.
“I'm Terra Jaclyn and this is Kaz, it's nice to meet you,” I said slowly, noting that the strange pony was setting Kaz on edge. “Hey um... maybe you can help us, we're trying to find this address,” I asked, showing Pinkie Pie the address on my note.
With a quick glance, she exclaimed, “Oh I can do that! Follow me!” and started to bounce down the road.
“Well, thanks Pinkie Pie, but we need to get settled in,” I said, pulling out my new set of keys and opening the door. Dust blew into my face, earning a bit of a cough. Pinkie, however, didn't seem too affected.
“Okie Dokie Lokie! I have to go plan your welcome party!” she declared, throwing her arms out before taking off in a blur.
“D-did she just say Loki?” I asked in confusion. I shrugged it off and walked into my new home, closing the door behind me.
The inside wasn't nearly as bad as the outside. The previous owner had left their furniture behind, so that was one less thing we had to worry about. I animated my broom and a feather duster, commanding them to clean up the store area. With that taken care of, Kaz and I went up to the living area to get our things unpacked. Thankfully, Mom had taught me that expansion spell, which made the inside of my luggage bigger.
“Well this place does have power, just no internet,” I told Kaz, while plugging in our TV and gaming consoles. “And that finishes off the living area,” I said with a smile as I brushed off my hands.
“Good, I thought that was going to take forever,” Kaz said as he hopped onto the bed and curled up.
“I can tell that you’re bored, why don't you go out and explore the town, maybe do a little hunting?” I suggested, petting his head gently. He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off. “I'll be fine Kaz, you go enjoy yourself. I still have to set up the shop and I can do that myself.”
“Just be safe Terra,” he said, licking my hand before hopping off the bed and trotting downstairs.
"You too," I replied as I grabbed the last suitcase and take it downstairs. First things first, the back room had to be set up. Within half an hour the dingy old office had been transformed into my workstation, complete with a hammock, the desk by the cauldron serving as my enchanting station. If you’re wondering about the hammock, enchanting is a tiring process in which a magic user pours their energy into an object, carving runes into it. It also leads to naps, lots of them. Hm... I'm going to have to hire an assistant.
Anyway, once the back room was handled, I went about stocking the shelves and whatnot. Potions, charms, and enchanted jewelry, all of them handmade, were placed around the shop. It took me a bit to figure out where to put everything but eventually I got it all sorted.
I stood in the middle of the shop, a bright smile on my face. I had done it, I had my own shop. Of course, it was empty at the moment, but that didn't mean I couldn't be proud of myself. “Well, that’s all done, might as well go see the town,” I said to myself as I headed for the door. “Wait...” I said softly, reaching out with my magic to teleport my staff into my hands. “Can't leave without you now, can I?” I headed out into the street to explore.
It was pretty late, with the sun setting on the horizon, casting the sky in a beautiful shade of pink. I found myself just staring off into the sky with a serene smile on my face. I was so out of it, I didn't hear Kaz pad over to me.
“Everything ok, Terra?” Kaz, my ever faithful guardian, asked, rearing up on his hind legs to give my hand a lick.
“Oh, I'm fine, just watching the sunset,” I said, kneeling down to allow Kaz to jump onto my shoulder. “So meet any nice vixens?” I ask with a smile as I start down the street.
“You know full well I'm not into females that I can't hold an actual conversation with,” he huffed, getting himself comfy on my shoulder and curling his tail around my neck. It feels kinda like a scarf, only not itchy.
Oh relax, Kaz,” I said, rolling my eyes. I reached up to scratch his ears. “So what did you find on your little journey?” I asked, my eyes wandering around the town as I walked.
“Oh, I found myself a mouse on the edge of town.”
“You didn't torment that poor thing did you?”
“Of course not Terra, I'm not a sadist.”
“Good... is that a... gingerbread house?” I ask, suddenly changing the subject. In front of us was what appeared to be a gingerbread house, straight out of Hansel and Gretel. “Well that's... strange...” I said, making my way over to it. “It looks empty.” I peered into one of the windows, seeing nothing but darkness.
“Oh there you are I was just about to come looking for you!”
I hate to admit it, but I screamed a bit. I spun on my heels, my eyes wide, expecting a witch hunter or something, only to be greeted by Pinkie Pie. “Geez, you freaking scared me.” I glared a bit at her, but noted the grin on Kaz's muzzle. Traitor.
“Oh, I'm sorry,” Pinkie apologized, reaching out and grabbing my hand, “BUT-COME-ON-YOU-GOTTA-PAAAAAAARTY!”
“Wah?” I asked dumbly, only to be shoved into the dark gingerbread house. “Um, Pinkie?” I asked as the door was closed behind me, leaving us in pure darkness.
“Surprise!” A chorus of voices called out, causing me to let out a scream of my own. I sent a surge of magic into my hands, feeling them pulse with power. Kaz jumped down from my shoulders, taking a stance in front of me, growling at our attackers, who turned out to be a large group of rather stunned ponies.
“Everypony, this is Terra! She’s our first human!” Pinkie shouted, suddenly appearing by my side and wrapping her arm around my shoulders.
“Um... hi everyone...” I give a sheepish smile, relaxing my stance. Kaz does the same, sitting down by my feet.
“Well go on and get to know everypony!” Pinkie commanded, giving me a gentle shove forward, causing me to stumble. I fire a small glare back at her, but she just smiles in return.
“Come on Kaz, lets try to enjoy ourselves,” I said with a sigh, moving into the crowd of ponies. Almost immediately, I was set upon by a group of mares, each with a smile on their face.
“Well howdy there Terra, ah’m Applejack. I run Sweet Apple Acres,” an orange earth pony said. She was clad in stereotypical farmer attire, topped off with a Stetson.
“I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria!” a rainbow-maned pegasus spoke up, a cocky smirk on her muzzle.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you dear, I’m Rarity,” a purple maned unicorn said, her accent chafing me a bit.
“Oh... I’m Fluttershy,” a timid yellow pegasus whispered, before her eyes locked on Kaz. “Oh my, such a cutie!” she squealed as she snatched him up and hugged him tightly.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the town’s librarian. It’s nice to meet you Terra,” a purple unicorn said, extending her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” I said with a smile as I grasp her hand and shake it.
“So what brings you to Equestria, dear? It must have been a big decision to leave your whole world behind,” Rarity asks, to which the others agree.
“Well it was mostly my parents’ idea. They wanted me to get away from home and when the portal was opened to the public, well, they managed to pull some strings for me.”
“Your parents must have some pull with the government,” Twilight commented, sipping her drink.
“You could say that.” I leaned on my staff while watching Fluttershy continue to baby an increasingly irritated Kaz.
“Pinkie told us that ya’ll moved into Knick Knack’s old house, ya’ll planning on opening a shop?”
“Oh I am! I’ve been hoping to open my own magic shop for ages!” I said with a happy smile, perking up.
“Magic? You mean like that stage stuff?” Rainbow Dash asked rather boredly.
“Don’t insult me,” I huffed, a frown forming on my face. “I’m a witch, I use actual magic.”
“Terra dear, humans can’t use magic,” Rarity said, a bit of a worried look on her face.
“Look here,” Applejack said, a stern look on her face. “Yer new here so ah’ll cut ya some slack, but we don’t appreciate hucksters round’ here.”
“Ok fine, I see a demonstration is in order,” I said as I clutched my staff tighter. I focused my power, sending it into my staff. I noted with a smirk that both Rarity and Twilight flinched back, obviously able to sense the magic. I manifested said magic as a magelight, which floated above my staff, bathing us all in an eerie white light.
“T-thats not possible!” Twilight said, staring at me in awe. “Humans can’t use magic!”
“Well I just did, Twilight,” I said, dispelling the magelight. “So please, don’t insult me again, I am a very capable witch,” I huffed.
“I have to study this!” Twilight shouted, her eyes still wide, though instead of shock, they now held a look of curiosity and determination.
“Please don’t treat my charge like a lab rat,” Kaz spoke up, causing Fluttershy to drop him in shock. He padded over, climbing up to take his place on my shoulders while Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow Dash. “She is my responsibility.”
“Your fox can talk!? Thats awesome!” Dash exclaimed before catching herself and returning to her ‘too cool’ attitude. “I mean, that’s cool.”
“I’m sorry if we insulted you dear,” Rarity said quickly, and I note, sincerely, “From what we know of humans, you come off as magicless...”
“Most of us are... or at least most of our population doesn’t even realize the magic inside them,” I said, frowning a little. “It’s not something I want to get into now...” Kaz senses my discomfort and licks my cheek. I give a smile, petting his head.
“Ah don’t know how ah feel about this,” Applejack said, scratching her head, “Hay, ah still don’t even really trust unicorn magic,” she said, giving me an uncertain look.
“As long as you don’t try to burn me at the stake, we’ll be alright,” I said, realizing my mistake a second before six pairs of horror filled eyes were on me.
“Oh there sugarcube!” Applejack nearly shouted, putting her hands up, “ Ain’t nopony said anything about burnin’ anypony!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie shouted, putting her arm around my shoulder and pulling me close, “What kind of friends would do that?”
“Hey look,” I said, pulling away from Pinkie, “It was nice meeting you gals, but I’m gonna go talk to some other ponies,” I started to walk away, but paused and looked back toward Twilight. “If you want to talk magic, come by my shop tomorrow,” I walked away at this point, grabbing a few treats from a nearby table as I went past.
I stepped into my new home, carrying a few boxes of leftovers that Pinkie had insisted that I take home. “Well... that was fun,” I said to Kaz as I walk into the kitchen,
You could say that,” Kaz said. He jumped onto the table, watching me put the food away, “I can’t say if you made a good impression or not.”
Yeah well... we’ll deal with that tomorrow...” I said, moving into the bedroom. I toss off my dress, not really caring as it hit the floor, “ Right now.., I just want to sleep... “ I crawl under the covers, getting comfy. A familiar weight jumping onto the bed alerted me to Kaz’s presence. “Good night...” I said softly, letting the gentle grasp of sleep pull me under.
I bolted awake, barely containing a scream. My body trembled and I could feel that I was soaked in cold sweat.
“You had the nightmare again, didn’t you?” Kaz asked, jumping into my lap. I didn’t look at him, gently running a finger over the scar that snaked its way across my abdomen. It was simple enough to heal with magic but I wasn’t going to erase this one. I would never forget and I would never forgive.
“I’m fine Kaz, no need to worry,” I assured him, letting out a sigh. “We came here to get away from that, remember?”
“You mean so you don’t have to face it,” Kaz said with a glare. “Or should I mention how you abandoned her?”
“I did not abandon her!” I snapped, glaring at him. I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. “Look Kaz, I just... I need time ok? I can’t look at her without seeing him...”
Kaz sighed, getting onto his hind legs, giving my cheek a lick, “I’m sorry Terra, it’s my job to protect you but I can’t exactly protect you if you keep it all repressed now can I?”
“No I suppose you can’t,” I admitted, scooping him up and getting out of bed. I absentmindedly scratched his ears as I headed to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower, you watch the store, ‘kay?” I asked, placing him on the floor at the top of the stairs.
“Don’t drown this time,” he teased as he padded down the stairs.
“Haha,” I said, rolling my eyes. I tossed whatever clothes I still had on to the floor and climbed into the shower. I gotta say, showers are a great way to recover from a nightmare, gives ya time to purge and purify. After refreshing myself, I got dressed, quickly drying my hair in the process. As I headed downstairs, I could hear Twilight’s voice, sounding like she was arguing with Kaz. “Woman doesn’t waste time does she?” I asked myself with a sigh, adjusting my hat. “Good morning Twilight, I wasn’t expecting you so early,” I said with a smile.
“Oh,” Twilight said as she paused in her argument with Kaz. “Good morning Terra.” She smiled. “I figured we could start early but your fox kept telling me it was too early.”
“I have a name you know,” Kaz growled at her from where he was sitting on the counter.
“His name is Kaz and he’s not my fox, he’s my familiar,” I explained, putting a hand on his head and scratching his ears.
“Familiar?” Twilight asked, having already started to scribble on a scroll. It was kinda adorable.
“Ok... how do I explain a familiar?” I asked, sitting behind the counter. I petted Kaz’s head, trying to put it into words, “A familiar is a spirit or being who is bound to a magic user. They act as a guide, protecting them and aiding them in their magic.”
“You're magical?” Twilight asked, turning to Kaz.
“I can talk can’t I?” he replied, rolling his eyes. “But if you must know, my mother was a kitsune and my father was a phoenix.”
“What's a kitsune?” Twilight asked, looking at Kaz.
“A fox spirit,” Kaz said, starting to clean his paws.
“Wait, how does a bird reproduce with a fox?!” Twilight demanded, the illogical idea causing her to overreact.
“Shapeshifting, obviously,” he said before he was consumed with flames. In his place was a small child of around six, wearing a red and white kimono. He had red markings on this face, fox ears on his head, and a tail poking out from his back.
“Remarkable!” Twilight squealed, making me flinch. Why the hell were ponies being so loud? She reached out, tugging on one of Kaz’s ears, much to his annoyance.
“Stop that,” he said, slapping her hand away.
“Sorry...” she said with a sheepish smile,”I got uh... carried away...” She cleared her throat and turned to me, “So Terra, how much mana can the average human store?”
“Mana?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “You mean that stuff most people think magic users use? That's not a thing, Twilight.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, looking at me like I was crazy. “All ponies use mana, even non-unicorns. You probably have a different name for it. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Ok, I’ll try at least,” I said, trying to put it in a way she would understand, “There are a few names for it, Chi, Ki, Chakra...”
“Why do humans have to have so many names for the same thing?” Twilight asked with a grumble, scribbling away at her scroll.
“We barely agree on anything, helps us keep our competitive edge. You don’t want to see what happens when humans stagnate. It’s not pretty,” I cleared my throat, “Though to get back on topic, they all refer to the same thing, life energy. A magic user takes a certain amount to power spells... Twilight why are you looking at me like that?” I ask with a frown. Twilight had stopped scribbling, looking at me with large horrified eyes, “What?”
“Y-you use your life force?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Um...yes? Earth doesn’t really have much ambient magic, at least none that humans use,” I explained, crossing my arms.
“B-but! Life force magic is forbidden!” Twilight shouted, making me flinch again. Seriously I’m going to start casting silence spells here.
“Well, all human mages use it, its just how we do it. Do we use too much sometimes? Yeah, but only the really stupid or inexperienced cast spells that would kill them. Though there are tales of some massive idiots who tried to power their spells with their soul... you don’t want to know what happened to them.”
Twilight just kept staring at me, making me rather uncomfortable. We sat there like that until the sound of trumpets filled the air. “The princess!” she nearly screeched. Shoving her things into her bag, she turned around quickly. “We’ll have to finish this later!” she shouted before hauling ass out of the shop.
“She’s... odd,” Kaz said, shifting back to normal.
“So am I,” I reminded him, getting up. “Hm... should we go try and meet the princess?” I asked, stretching out.
“We have a shop to run remember?”
“Good point.” I walked up to the front and flipped the sign to 'open'. “Let's hope we actually get some customers...”
“Well, crap...” I said with a sigh, looking out at the empty shop. No one had come in in the past two hours. Though I kinda felt like an idiot, who would visit some alien's shop when one of their rulers were in town?
“Now what?” Kaz looked up from his book. If I recall correctly, he’s reading Eragon. And now all I could think about was that shitty movie. Thanks, brain.
“Go try and meet the princess?” I asked, getting to my feet. “Or we could call it a day and just dick around,” I suggested, grabbing my hat, making sure it sat right on my head. You have no idea how often the damn thing flies off my head.
“Either of those work,” he said. After placing a bookmark in the book, he closed it gently. “Lets get going, sitting around here was getting kinda boring anyway.” He jumped off the counter and stretched out.
I grabbed my staff and opened the door to let Kaz out. Once he was out, I closed up the shop, making sure the door was locked. We wandered around for a while, taking in the sights and sounds of the town, enjoying the day rather well.
“I’ll catch you!” a soft voice shouted out. A paradox, I know. We both turned a corner to see Twilight and her friends, plus two armored ponies, guards, I assume, standing around a fountain. A featherless bird was falling through the air, with... I wanna say Fluttershy? Yeah, her, diving to catch it. It burst into flames, landing in her hands as a big ol’ pile of ash. All the ponies gasped, with Fluttershy on the verge of tears as the ashes ran through her fingers to form a heap on the ground.
“What's going on here?” a rather commanding voice asked. We all turned to see a rather tall mare in a white dress, her hair and tail were colored like the rainbow and flowing in the non-existent wind. That’s bitchin’, I am so asking for that spell... wait... all the ponies are bowing... thats the princess isn’t it?
“If I may,” I spoke up, getting their attention, “It seems to me that they were all worried about a phoenix who just reincarnated. Never seen a rebirth so plain though.”
“Plain?” the princess asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah, the phoenixes in my world put on a hell of a show. They used to build these huge nests in Heliopolis, mostly out of myrrh, and use that as a pyre. I saw it once, it lit the whole city up, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Though most phoenixes now just use Burning Man as a cover for their rebirths. Has led to a lot of mysterious babies appearing there though.”
At that the ashes rose up into the air, swirled around a bit, and in a flash a rather majestic looking red and gold bird was born from the ashes. It squawked at me rather angrily. It flew at me, giving me a very hard pecking to the head, knocking my hat off.
“Son of a bitch!” I growled, warding it off with my staff. Stupid fucking bird, it's lucky I didn’t start casting ice spells. I grumbled as I picked up my hat, returning it to its spot on my head.
“I’m sorry Princess Celestia, I was the one who took your bird, I just wanted to help, she looked so sick!” Fluttershy whimpered, having gotten to her hooves.
“It’s alright Fluttershy, all is forgiven, though you could have just asked and I would have told you that Philomena was a phoenix. She was actually trying to play a trick on you until our new friend ruined her fun. Now apologize young lady,” Celestia told Philomena, who was perched on Celestia’s outstretched arm. The phoenix pouted before doing so, letting out a soft squawk. “Good. Now I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name, Ms...?” she asked, turning to me.
“Terra Jaclyn, your Highness,” I said, giving a bow. I hope she, and all of you, weren't expecting me to curtsy. I don’t fucking curtsy, that crap is for chumps too lazy to give proper respect.
Celestia looked like she was going to say more before Philomena squawked at her. The phoenix squawked a few more times, with the princess looking at me.
“Terra... she’s telling her about the spell...” Kaz whispered, nudging my leg.
“What spell?” I asked, looking down at him with a frown.
“THE spell, the one that makes you you.”
My eyes widened and I backed up. NOOO NONONONO! That fucking spell is two decades old, how the fuck did she sense it!?!?! I kept backing up, trying not to panic.
“Ms. Terra, Philomena tells me you have a rather interesting spell cast upon you,” Celestia started, making my blood run cold. “Would you mind speaking with me in private about it?”
“Yes,” I say, trying not to tremble. “Yes I would fucking mind!” The ponies gasped, with Twilight looking pissed. “I am not going to tell you a damn thing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a shop to run. Good day princess.” I gave another bow before getting back to the shop as quickly as I possibly could. After getting inside, I leaned my back up against the door, sliding down onto my butt. With a whimper, I hugged my knees close. I had just gotten here and my biggest secret was already being exposed. I could fight it no longer and I broke down into tears. Honestly? It felt kinda good...
**POV Shift**
“Princess I’m so sorry,” I said quickly, expecting my mentor to be rather angry. I mean, anypony who would be so arrogant as to speak like that to the princess is insane! “We just met her yesterday, if I had known she was going to speak to you like that...”
Celestia shook her head, cutting me off with a raised hand, “It’s actually quite refreshing for someone to speak to me so, most are too afraid of upsetting me if they actually speak their minds.”
“But she refused!” I argued.
“That is her right, Twilight. Besides, I shouldn’t have put her on the spot. Whatever it is, just mentioning it upset her greatly. I should have approached her somewhere private and not in public.”
“She’s probably a spy,” Dash huffed, crossing her arms, “Just say the word princess, I’ll get it out of her!” She flared her wings out to prove her point.
“Rainbow Dash,” the princess scolded gently, “I am rather disappointed in you, not only are you accusing somepony new to our world of being a spy, you are also suggesting the use of
“Yes princess?” I asked, snapping to attention.
“I want you to watch Terra closely. Don’t spy on her, she has a right to her privacy, but try to get to know her more. I would like to know as much as possible about her before I label her a threat. Can you do this for me?”
“Of course, princess!” I said quickly, giving a eager nod. This was the chance of a lifetime, learn more about human magic and make the princess happy, I couldn’t ask for anything better!
“I knew I could count on you,” she said with a smile, giving me a nuzzle, which I happily returned. “I am afraid I must take my leave now. I wish you all good fortunes,” she said before turning and walking away, her guards taking up positions around her.
“So... what do we do about Terra?” Rarity asked, looking at me for guidance.
“We get to know Terra as much as possible without forcing it,” I start, “and without jumping to conclusions,” I say through gritted teeth, looking pointedly at Dash, who huffed and looked away. “She has to open up to at least one of us, right?” I ask, looking at the girls. Perhaps this was going to be harder than I thought...
Author's Note
Here, have some art!
Also a theme song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiHz_HDIIvw this was provided by Midnightchaos. Their both great authors, so go check out their stuff!
“This is just a low level spell,” I commented, letting the fire dance on my fingers. It had been a few days since the whole thing with Celestia and things had calmed down. I didn’t apologize, much to Twilight’s annoyance, but I didn’t aggravate the situation either. Didn’t want to end up as the town bitch... Y’know... that last bit sounded a lot better in my head... Anyway, Twilight and I were comparing magics, and no, I don’t spell it ‘magick’, that’s just stupid.
“May I?” Twilight asked, holding her hand out. Her horn shimmered a bit, causing the flame to grow a little.
“Not too much, I don’t want my shop burning down,” I reminded her, allowing the flame to float above my palm. The heat felt nice, though I imagine if anyone else were to try this it would horribly burn their hand. Heh, magicless chumps those guys are.
“I’m being careful,” Twilight insisted, before casting an ice spell to put out the flame... and frost over my hand.
“Really, Twilight?” I asked, rather annoyed. Thawing out my hand with another quick fire spell, I flexed the freed appendage this way and that, making sure she didn’t cause any permanent damage.
“Sorry!” she said, her ears splaying back with a whimper.
“Hey, relax, no biggie Twi,” I said, rolling my eyes. “So, hit me with the next test, I’m on a roll!”
“We’ll try mixing the magic later,” Twilight said shaking her head. I was hoping she’d suggest that, I don’t want to be turned inside out by a wayward spell or something.
“Maybe a little telekinesis spell?” I asked, levitating a potion and taking a sip of it. Hmm... strawberry... damn, it was supposed to be peach. Ah well, I’ll brew up another batch later.
“It’s amazing how similar our magics are,” Twilight said, looking like a kid at Halloween. She’s rather adorable really. “I wonder if our worlds crossed paths before?”
“It was probably around the time the elves were invading,” I said, petting Kaz’s head.
“Elves? I thought humans were the only race on Earth?” Twilight asked, already getting her scroll out. Where the hell does she keep those? Vector trap?
“The Elves were the first race to connect their world to ours. They tried to invade over two thousand years ago. Atlantis, the most powerful nation at the time, managed to hold them off. It proved too much though and their greatest magic user gathered up most of our world’s magic and sealed off the Elves’ world. Not only did we lose so much of our magic, Atlantis was lost in the process.”
“That’s rather tragic,” Twilight said, looking like she was going to start to cry. God, ponies have the emotional fortitude of toddlers, it’s kinda annoying.
“We managed,” I waved her off. “So what next?” Twilight was about to answer when the door was flung open. In rushed a little orange pegasus with purple hair. Behind said pegasus followed a yellow... crap what are the the third group of ponies called?... Earth! Yeah thats it. A little yellow earth pony with a big pink bow in her red hair, and they were followed cautiously by a little light gray unicorn with pink and purple hair.
“Um... sorry about the door,” the unicorn said sheepishly, “We should have knocked...”
“Bah!” I said, waving my hand dismissively, “No harm done.” I look them all over, they didn’t look more than eight or so. “So did you girls want to buy something? I do have some things I could sell to you.” Most of the more harmless stuff really, some prank potions, luck charms, things like that.
“Actually,” the pegasus spoke up, “We were looking for Rainbow Dash. We were gonna ask her how she got her cutie mark!” She pumped her fist, buzzing her wings excitedly.
“Sorry to disappoint, but she’s not here,” I said, watching as the news caused the little pegasus to deflate. “Though, what in the world is a cutie mark?” That just sounds lame, though I’m not going to tell them that, I’m not insensitive.
“You don’t know?!” the girls gasped as one.
“A cutie mark is what tells the world what a pony is good at!” the earth pony said, holding up her left hand, “Though... we don’t have ours yet,”
“Thats why we want to talk to Rainbow Dash! Maybe how she got her cutie mark will help us figure out how to get ours!” the pegasus added with a grin.
“Well I could tell you how I got mine,” Twilight said, holding up a hand, showing off the tattoo... or what I had thought were tattoos, anyway.
“Well... I guess we can hear it,” the pegasus said, nodding her head.
To make a long story short, Twilight was a little girl, or filly, trying to get into a big fancy school. To pass the entrance exam she had to try to hatch a dragon egg. She almost failed until she saw a weird rainbow explosion in the sky that made her magic go nuts and hatch the egg. It caught Celestia’s attention and she made Twilight her personal student. What? You thought I was gonna copy her story verbatim? Ain’t nobody got time for that.
“And thats how I got my cutie mark,” Twilight said with a smile. She turned to me after a moment. “I don’t suppose humans have anything similar do they?”
I shared a glance with Kaz, debating if I wanted to be truthful. You know what, I think I will. They don’t need to know the whole story... “Actually we do, at least magic users do,” I started, taking my hat off and putting it on the counter. I reached up, removing the necklace I wore, usually hidden by my dress. It was a simple rope necklace with two feathers at the front, one white and one multicolored like a rainbow.
“Those are just feathers,” the pegasus said, looking at them with a pout.
“I’ll have you know, these very feathers are what told me what magic I excel at,” I said with a huff.
“Really?” the earth pony asked, tilting her head, “What do they mean?”
“Well, the ceremony changes depending on the culture, but in the west we have a feather test. Now, in order for a mage to teach their apprentice, they need to know how their magic works. So, the teacher will have their student pour some of their magic into a feather. Said magic can do a lot of things to that feather, and that tells the teacher what schools of magic their student is geared toward. See,” I held up the white feather, “This is the original feather and this is the duplicate feather my magic created. The duplication means I’m good at conjuration magic while each of the different colors represent an element I can control.” I demonstrate, summoning up a small fireball.
“Well, that’s not really a story,” the pegasus said with a roll of her eyes.
“Alright alright,” I said, replacing the necklace around my neck and the hat on my head, “I’ll tell you the story.” I cleared my throat, leaning back in my seat, “It was at least two decades ago...”
I want to start out by telling you all, my mother isn’t my birth mother, well in a way she is but to keep it simple, she adopted me. Our first few days together weren’t all that great, I was stubborn and defiant, while she was firm and unrelenting. It didn’t help that... I was going through some changes at the time. The only thing that kept us together was her promise to teach me magic.
“What are we doing now?” I asked, my arms crossed, a pout on my face, “Is this another one of your tricks?”
“No,” Mother replied, sounding rather frustrated. “We’re going to your training, Terra.” She led us upstairs, toward a room I hadn’t entered. Standing at the door was Rave, a friend of mother’s, a fellow witch who had decided to help with my training.
“So, you ready to start the magic kid?” Rave asked with a smirk. She was weird, tan skinned with green hair that I suspect she was born with.
“Don’t call me kid,” I glared at her, causing her to laugh.
“Well too bad, you are one now,” she teased, sticking her tongue out. “Now come on, I have it all set up.” She turned, pushing the door open, gesturing for me to head inside. I headed in and looked around. It had the look of one of those mad scientist labs you see in movies.
“This way,” Mother instructed, leading me over to a small table. I looked at the lone feather sitting on it, raising my eyebrow.
“That’s a feather, the hell am I supposed to do with that?” I asked, taking a seat on the chair.
“You are going to channel your magic into it, and from there, we’ll know how your magic works,” Mother explained, taking a seat next to me. “Go on, you should know by now how to call up your magic.”
I sighed, giving the feather a stare before holding my hands out. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to focus. It took me some time but soon I pulled up my magic. Feeling it dance on my fingers, I pushed it out into the feather with a gasp. You have to understand, when you use magic, not just summon it up, you give up a part of yourself. After all, magic is our life force, so I wasn’t really prepared for it.
“Thats enough, Terra,” Mother said after a moment, breaking me out of it. I swayed a little, falling out of the chair. I didn’t hit the floor, instead landing in Mother’s arms. “I got you,” she said, holding me close.
“I did it, right?” I asked, barely able to keep my eyes open.
“Yes you did,” she said, holding up my feather, plus the duplicate, “We can worry about that later, for now though you need rest.”
“You’re now officially a witchling, congratulations,” Rave said with a smirk, “You’ll be turning idiots into newts in no time!”
“Groovy...” I muttered before passing out, feeling rather proud of myself.
“Groovy?” the pegasus asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It was the early 80’s, all the stuff from the 70’s was still dying out,” I said with a shrug, “I was a child of the times.”
“I have a question,” the unicorn asked, raising her hand. Heh, she’s adorable.
“You don’t have to raise your hand sweetheart, you can just ask,” I give her a smile, which she returned.
“Um... I was just wondering if you could teach anypony to use your magic?”
Well, that threw me for a loop. I mean, it wasn’t like most humans couldn’t learn. “I suppose I could teach you, if thats what you were going to ask,” I said, looking at her. She nodded a little, making me smile, “Well then I’d be happy to take you on as my apprentice, though I need to know your name first.”
“Oh um... I’m Sweetie Belle,” she said with a smile.
“Wait, Terra, you can’t be serious,” Twilight said, looking rather uncomfortable. What crawled up her ass?
“Twilight, I’m almost a hundred years old, I’m about ready for an apprentice,” I said with a roll of my eyes.
“You’re a hundred years old!?” Twilight burst out, while all the fillies gasped.
“Yer almost as old as Granny Smith!” the earth pony exclaimed, her eyes full of respect.
“Actually I’m 99, I’ll be turning 100 this year. Though you shouldn’t be too surprised, god knows how old my mother is. I ask and she just laughs.” I hate it when she does that, so damn annoying.
“Terra, that kind of magic is forbidden! You could get into a lot of trouble teaching them to use it!” Twilight pointed out, needing to harsh our mellow.
“Thats why you’re going to send your princess a letter on the matter,” I say, catching her off guard, “I don’t want to be deported or worse, so on my behalf, I would like you to send a letter to your princess about allowing me to practice my magic and teach others how to use it.”
She blinked, processing my request, “I’ll write her a letter but I can’t promise anything.” She got up, shaking her head. “I should get back to the library, I’ll see you later Terra,” Twilight gave a little wave before walking out of the shop.
“We have to get going too!” the pegasus exclaimed. She rushed out the door, the earth pony following after her.
“Goodbye Ms. Terra,” Sweetie Belle said, heading out after her friends.
“You all be safe!” I call, waving them all off. You know... those kids remind me of my own... I shook my head, sighing a little. I really hope she doesn’t hate me, though I wouldn’t blame her, what kind of mother just leaves their child to go have an adventure?
“So let me get this straight,” Applejack started, looking at me with a rather harsh gaze. Currently, I was sitting with Apple Bloom in her family's living room. Across from us where the older members of the Apple family: Applejack, their older brother Big Macintosh and their grandmother, Granny Smith. “You want to teach Apple Bloom magic, that by yer own words could kill her?”
“Everything in this world is dangerous Applejack,” I retorted with an eye roll, “I’ve been using it for a century and I ain’t dead yet.”
“Is this even legal?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes. Good lord is she pig headed.
“I’m glad you brought that up, I’m actually going to Canterlot today to talk to Princess Celestia about that.” I reached up and pulled the letter out from under my hat. With a smile, I passed it off to them, letting them read it.
“Ah don’t know how ah feel about this,” Applejack said with a scowl.
“Ah’ll tell you what,” Granny Smith started, “Ms. Terra is offerin’ ta teach our little Bloom magic, you ain’t gonna keep her from it cause ya don’t like magic!”
“But Granny-”
“Ain’t no buts, ah ain’t lettin’ you stop Bloom from being the first earth pony ta learn magic,” the elder mare said with a curt nod, passing the letter back to me.
“There are two other things I need to talk with you about,” I said, placing it back under my hat. “First off, I would like Apple Bloom to stay with me. It’s more a safety issue than anything. I’ll make sure she gets to school and that she comes here to get her chores done.”
“And what's the other thing?” Granny Smith, who I assume is reserving judgement.
“Well... it’s a lifespan issue...” I said quietly, knowing this was going to be hard.
“It ain’t gonna shorten her life is it?” Applejack asked, her eyes wide in horror.
“No, no, nothing like that,” I assured her quickly, “Rather... using it will make her live longer... much, much longer...”
“How much longer?”
“Applejack, I’m almost a hundred and I look like I’m in my early 20s. The simplest answer is that she’ll outlive all of you and probably most people she knows.” I closed my eyes, letting that sink in.
“Ah’ll outlive everypony...?” Apple Bloom asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.
“This is your choice Apple Bloom,” I placed my hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.
“Ah think ya should go for it,” Granny Smith said with a comforting smile.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac added with a smile of his own.
“But why?” Bloom asked, looking rather confused.
“You have the chance ta make history, Bloom,” Granny Smith said, not losing her smile, “Don’t let it pass ya by.”
“Applejack?” Bloom asked, turning to her big sister.
Applejack sighed, sinking into her seat. “Ah might not like it Bloom but if this is whatcha want, ah’ll support ya.”
Apple Bloom went quiet for a few minutes, obviously lost in thought. She looked up at me with tear stained yet determined eyes. “Ah’ll do it.”
“Good,” I said with a smile, “I’ve already talked to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s parents about this. They’ll be meeting us at the station, our train to Canterlot leaves in an hour,” I got up and headed toward the door. “See ya then!” I waved as I left the house. “I really, really, really hope I’m not going to screw these kids up...”
I sighed a little, still stuck on Hyperius. God, I hate raid bosses. Plus its not like I could get any help, I’m the only one on this world with a Vita... I think. I really have no idea. With a sigh, I quit out of the game, browsing through my library.
“I bet I’m gonna be good at air magic!” Scootaloo declared, catching my attention. Thankfully we had managed to get an empty car. I really, really, really didn’t want to have to keep them calm in a crowded car.
I gotta admit, the trains here are really nice. Trust me, I’ve been on subways, these beat out anything Earth has. At least in the US. I dunno, I didn’t travel. Shut up, don’t judge me.
“The actual term for air magic is aerokinesis ,” I piped up, returning the Vita to its pouch. “In all honesty your talents could be anything. Hell, you could get freaking necromancy... which I’m sorry, I won’t touch with a fifty foot pole.”
“Isn’t that like... stuff with dead stuff?” Sweetie asked with a shudder. Oh god, so they know about necromancy... great. Please, whatever deity is reading this, you know who you are, please don’t let any of them be aligned with necromancy. I don’t need heat like that on me and neither do they. Ugh, who am I kidding, they're laughing their asses off up there from my misery.
Thankfully, Apple Bloom came to my rescue before I could dwell on past... let’s call them... ‘misfortunes.’
“So... we’d have ta live with you?” she asked, giving a welcome change in topic.
“Yes. Think of this like any normal apprenticeship. The student lives with the teacher to learn constantly... and so you guys don’t use up your life force like idiots,” I said rather bluntly. You’re probably saying ‘teachers shouldn't be so harsh on their students.’ Yeah well, some ideas have to hammered home and this is one of them. “This magic can, and will, kill you if don’t pay attention. I have to make sure you three can learn how to do it with enough skill not to overextend and kill yourselves, and it’s best to have someone experienced around in case you hurt yourself.”
They wilted a little under my tirade, but didn’t seem too disheartened. Good, that should mean that they have the drive to do this.
“Looks like we’re here,” Sweetie said, hopping to her hooves.
“Okay, let’s go,” I got to my feet, cracking my back. I grabbed my hat, quickly dropping my Vita into it and pulling out my staff. I couldn’t help but smirk at their reaction as I placed the hat back on my head.
“How the hay can your staff fit in your hat?!” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open a bit.
“My hat is enchanted, it’s waaay bigger on the inside than on the outside, but it only works for me,” I said with a bigger smirk, adjusting it on my head.
“Keep this up and you’ll never get rid of them,” Kaz said with a chuckle, jumping onto my shoulder.
“Well, isn’t that the point?” I asked, scratching his ears gently. He licked my hand, murring softly. “Let’s go girls, we have to get to the castle before three. I’m meeting royalty and I’d like to make a good impression.”
I led the girls off the train and out into Canterlot. I had been here only a few days before, when I first came through the portal. Gotta say, I really don’t like the place. You know those stereotypes of uptight British people? That’s Canterlot in a nutshell. I mean, seriously, we’re walking down the street and they’re all sticking their noses in the air as we go past, a few mares whispering to each other. Yeah, talk it up ya fuckers, thats all you’re good for. Anyway, ponies weren’t the only ones giving us looks. You may be surprised to know, there are a LOT of human tourists. Makes sense, portal’s expensive for both sides to maintain so why not increase the tourist trade? Though at the moment, it’s mostly celebrities and the extremely rich. Personally, I swear I saw Johnny Depp here last time. So yeah... we have the rich elite of two races sticking their noses up at us. Great day this will be. 80/80, would live it again.
“I do believe we’ve arrived,” Kaz said, catching my attention. Due to my... inner monologue? Narration? Inner narration? Whatever the hell you all call this. Anyway, due to... THIS, I hadn’t really been paying attention to where we were going. Thankfully for us, Kaz has a most excellent sense of direction.
“Excuse me,” I said to a guard, pulling Celestia’s summons thing out from under my hat. “We’re here to see the princess,” I handed it to him, watching him scan it. Now that I think about it, all the guards look alike. Hmm... either there’s some Clone Wars shenanigans going on or enchanted armor is standard issue. I’m gonna go with the armor bit, I don’t see this place having clones.
“Everything seems to be in order,” he said with a nod, passing it back to him. He signaled to his partner, the two opening the gates for us.
“Thanks guys!” I said chirpily, leading the girls onto the castle grounds. This place really is impressive, not many sights on Earth can match a city/castle hanging off a mountain. A guard met us not too far ahead, leading us into the castle. I gotta ask why do engineers feel the need to make these places so damn mazelike? I mean, at least in Resident Evil, the mansion was designed like that because Spencer was a weird fuck who watched too many spy movies. What were they expecting with this layout? Confuse invaders?
“Please wait here while I see if the princess is ready for you,” our guide said, stopping in front of
“I dunno,” I shrugged, leaning on my staff. “I’m actually really surprised that we got an appointment this soon. Celestia must find this rather important.”
“Princess,” Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“Hm?”
“She’s Princess Celestia,” she clarified. “Rarity says that royalty deserves proper respect.”
“Heh, she’s got me there,” I admit, a smile on my face. “Though, I think she fails to recognize that most royalty would rather be addressed casually.”
“How do ya know that?” Apple Bloom asked, raising her eyebrow.
“I bet you’d like to know, huh?” I smirked, adjusting my hat. “You’ll find out at some point.”
“Wait... are you a princess?” Scootaloo looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Nah. Well... lets just say my mom’s someone really important and leave it at that.” I looked up to see the doors open.
“Her Majesty will see you now,” our guide said, gesturing for us to come inside. I nodded to the fillies before heading in. I looked around, taking in the sight of the rather impressive throne room. At the opposite side of the room is Celestia, giving us all a warm smile. Her guards stood on either side of the throne, while a rather stuffy looking middle aged man gave me the stink eye.
“Hello again, Terra,” Celestia spoke, her voice rather soothing.
“Hello, Your Majesty,” I gave a bow, gesturing for my charges to do the same.
“This is the woman you were telling me about?” the man asked, looking at me like I was some kind of freak. Not like he was much to look at himself anyway.
“Yes, this is Terra,” Celestia said, looking between the four of us before settling on me. “Terra this is Bruce Macgarvin, the United States ambassador to Equestria. I’ve been discussing human magic with him.”
“As I’ve explained before your Majesty, humans are incapable of magic. I do believe this woman has fooled you.” Bruce scoffs, glaring at me.
“I admit, I have yet to see your magic personally, Terra. Would you mind giving us a small demonstration?” Celestia asked, never losing her calm demeanor.
“Of course.” I nodded, holding my hand out, palm upward. I took a breath, electricity starting to dance along my fingers. I let it arc between my fingers before I fired the bolt into a chandelier, which crackled with electricity for a few moments before dying down.
“W-what?” Bruce asked, his eyes bulging out of his head, “That’s not possible!”
“Oh, but it is,” I countered, shaking my hand to get the numbness to go away. “You’d be surprised how many magic users exist on our world, hidden below society’s surface.”
“If I may ask Terra, why do you hide your magic?” Celestia asked, bringing up a topic I had been dreading for a while.
“If I’m going to be honest? Religion. I’m not going to say who's right and who's wrong but most of them say magic is ‘unholy’, and in the old days... they hunted us. Some of them still do, so we had to go underground, hide ourselves away from the public. It’s why I came here, so I could practice in peace.”
“I see. You do use mana, don’t you?” she asked, looking at me with critical eyes.
“No your Majesty, all humans use their life force to power their spells,” I explained, though I was unable to gauge her reaction.
“You do realize that type of magic has been banned here for centuries, correct?” she spoke with a soft, neutral tone.
“Yes, Twilight informed me of this,” I nodded, looking up at her.
“And yet you wish to continue to practice it? And you have it in your mind to teach these young fillies to do the same?” she gestured to the girls, who looked a little nervous.
“Your Majesty,” I started rather calmly, “I am tired of having to hide who and what I am. I came here for a fresh start, I beg of you, please allow me to do so,” I bowed my head, hoping she’d see things from my point of view.
“I am sorry Terra, but I cannot remove the ban at this time,” she paused, most likely seeing the frown on my face. Well, no shit, you just crushed my dreams here. “However, I will allow human practitioners to continue in its usage and allow them to take apprentices. If this proves successful, I shall remove the ban completely in, let’s say... thirty years?”
“T-that’s more than fair your highness,” I said with another bow, relief flooding my mind. This turned out a lot better than I thought it would.
“Good, then the matter is settled,” Celestia smiled, nodding her head, giving us our cue to leave. “Though I do believe, ambassador, this gives us much to discuss.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” he said with a glare in my direction. What’s your damn problem guy? Don’t hate because I made you look stupid.
“Thank you for your time,” I bowed again, this time joined by the girls. We took our leave, walking out of the throne room.
“Does this mean you’re gonna teach us?” Scootaloo asked, buzzing her wings excitedly.
“Yes, my dear Scootaloo, it does. From this moment onward you three are officially my apprentices.” I smiled down at them, watching as their faces lit up, and they all linked hands in a circle.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS WITCH APPRENTICES!! YAY!” the three screamed in unison as they threw their hands in the air, causing me to cringe and cover my ears. I’m extremely surprised that they didn’t break any windows or vases. I also can’t help but feel I’ve unleashed some kind of monster, but, ya know, not all monsters are bad.