Terra

Chapters

1.0: Arrival
1.1: Students
1.2: Life
1.3: Premium Pie Predicament

1.0: Arrival

Arrival

Terra lived in a tree in the middle of a forest. She had distant memories of her father making this home for her, but they were foggy at best. Her home had a firepit in the center for warming food, scroll shelves on the wall furthest from the door, cupboards for dinnerware she never used, and a staircase to the left of the front door in the far left corner of the house.

She had everything she would ever need in this forest. Food was easy to scrounge for. Protection from dragons and gryphons came from predators, and the house guarded her from predators. That and her ability to outthink them and overpower some of them. Even with all of that, though… she felt something missing. She felt it when she cooked her stews and soups, when she found a new plant in the forest, and when she listened to crickets chirp and owls hoot as she went to sleep. She knew exactly what she was missing, which was part of the reason she had made a schedule for her mornings. She made this when she realized she would have that time to herself.

First, she walked by a certain patch of wild flowers with cyan leaves and a purple stem. She would then continue past that until a bush of berries. By that time, she would have trotted near the edge of the forest, by grassy plains inhabited by trees and a few rabbits. Under the trunk of a certain tree in these plains, she found a mushroom that looked plain. There was a stream she would fill a cauldron of wood out of and mix in the ingredients. Carefully. Precisely. Just in case this would be the day somepony showed up.

The first week after she had thought of this, she had been ecstatic. If I showed up with food and waited long enough, maybe ponies might show up! She thought to herself. After a week, she had slowed her gallop to a fast trot. After a month, a slow one. Now, ten years after this filly’s dream, she gathered her materials and sat, watching not the horizon but the sky and clouds. She felt peaceful until movement caught the corner of her eyes.

Wolves? A badger? Maybe a bear? She thought to herself, the possibilities going out of hand. But as she looked around, all she saw were two dots on the horizon. One was a midnight blue, the other an off white. She did not know whether they were ponies or if they were gryphons from the north, so she continued stirring her soup, hoping for the former.

As the day wore on, the blobs took on shapes. The white blob grew feathery wings and had a pink mane and tail. The blue one grew a horn, with cyan hair that seemed to glisten in the sun. They moved at a slow pace, their fatigue shown clearly on their faces, but they continued forward all the same. After the sun went into the highest point in the sky, Terra felt lucky she had the shade of the tree I brewed under. After a while, she could hear them arguing, though she couldn’t tell which voice was who’s.

“--I know that! But the stew smells so GOOD!”

“Just because you want to follow your stomach doesn’t mean we should put ourselves in danger!”

“Again, we already are doing just that! The searing heat and lack of food is--”

At this point, I could see that the white one was arguing against coming, and the blue one was arguing for it. The blue unicorn looked slightly smaller than the white pegasus, and both had dark rings around their eyes. But as the unicorn stopped talking, the two averted their eyes from each other and onto me. This did not make me feel any more comfortable.

“Hi, my name’s Terra.” I whispered quietly, slowly scooting, hiding herself using the tree.

“What was that?” The pegasus asked.

Instead of answering, I tapped the tree next to her. It infused with magic and grew very quickly. She shaped the wood into 3 medium sized bowls and slowly poured soup into the bowls, ignoring the shocked looks of her visitors. She then carried the bowls over to them, setting them down so that Terra could face the other two, but they had space.

I then said “I made some soup if you want it.” quite timidly.

The others tried the soup. The pegasus took a sip, then set down the bowl and sat quietly, with a wide eyed expression.

The unicorn on the other hand asked “How did you make a soup taste this good?!” and promptly guzzled the rest of her soup.

I let a genuine smile adorn my face, and said to them “I found the ingredients in the woods and had a bit of time to make a really good recipe. I used some berries and wild flowers I found in the forest, and some mushrooms from under this tree.”

I heard the pegasus whisper “So very good.” from my side as I told this to the unicorn.

In a much more comfortable tone, I said “Hi. My name’s Terra, and I live in this forest.”

“Do you live with anypony else?” The unicorn asked while prodding the pegasus.

“Just me. For about ten years.”

The others just looked at me in disbelief.

“Well then, lucky we passed by, huh?” The unicorn said with a triumphant smirk on her face.

The pegasus whispered something with wide eyes, and the unicorn furrowed her eyes and shook her head in disagreement.

“My name is Luna, and my sister is Celestia. We were wandering before we got here, and we just got out of the desert to the south of here.” the unicorn told me.

My mind chewed on that for a second. They caught this as Celestia said “We don’t come from there, we just passed through so we could get away from some ponies who wanted to harm us.”

“Why did they want to harm you?” I asked.

“For being born.” They replied in unison with deadpan faces.

I raised my eyebrow, and Luna decided to elaborate with “In our kingdom, inter tribal marriage and breeding isn’t allowed. So since our pegasus mom had kids with our unicorn dad, we were deemed a ‘danger to society’ and ‘social boundaries’ before we were even old enough to do anything.”

“That seems counter intuitive.” I said plainly. The other two hummed in agreement. “If you want you could stay here.” I told them, hiding a hint of desperation in my voice.

They looked at each other, and Celestia said “We have certain ponies hunting us. Are you sure? We wouldn’t want the one decent pony to die because of us.” in a serious tone.

I mulled it over. “While I would rather not die, I couldn’t send you off in good conscious. Stay however long you want. As long as you help with the food and teach me what you know, I have no problem.”

They smiled, and Celestia asked “Would you cook the soup every so often?”

I nodded, and I didn’t need to hear a response as they they looked at each other with wide eyes and licked their lips.

Author's Note

Hi, so I'm kind of new to this, and I hope you all liked my chapter. I think I'll update this around once a month, having the paragraph size around the same length. I hope some of you have constructive criticism, puns, and suggestions for names, cause I might run out later...
Have a nice day!
This is supposed to be a prologue. Thought you should know. Kay... bye!

1.1: Students

Students

T
I woke up in a furnished castle on the morning of a celebration. Even as I struggled to open my eyes, I could still smell the baked goods. Especially the cake. As I sat up, I took the time to remember the last 20 years. How my life changed when Celestia and Luna, my adopted family, showed up during my daily rounds. I remembered making peace with their bounty hunter. I remembered the refugees who had the same conditions my sisters did. Putting up more houses in the forest until we became too much of a presence. I remembered Celestia’s bravery and quick thinking, setting up our city and keeping it protected. Luna making sure that everyone was having a good time and advancing in science and math. I sat and remembered all of that and more until the cheering outside began to peak.

I walked over to the window and hung the curtains to look outside. And what a sight it was. Streamers of every hue adorned the walls of the buildings. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies all gathered near the makeshift castle grown out of the original tree I made my home in. They entered the castle and cheered. I hoped Celestia and Luna were already awake, because otherwise they would have had a colossal headache.

I exited my room, halting as I came to my sisters’ rooms. Their doors were ajar and there was a wake of destruction leading from them. As I followed it, I already knew where it would lead. It lead to the kitchens, where Luna was feasting on a three layer cake (the whole thing, mind you) and Celestia a five layer cake (same thing). I sighed, making a cool face as I wholley walked into the room. A few things happened simultaneously. First, Celestia and Luna stopped gouging themselves on cake. Then, they looked to each other. Then they took their cakes, Luna in her telekinesis and Celestia on her back, and bolted out of the room. I sighed in relief, then broke out into a fit of giggles.

I took a ten layered cake and walked slowly (not because it was heavy, but because I wanted to savor this moment) to the throne room.

As I walked, ponies around me asked if I wanted help. I politely declined.

As if I would allow others to steal from my crowning achievement.

I finally made it into the throne room, where Celestia and Luna were just about to finish their cakes (one floating, the other fitting almost wholly in Celestia’s mouth), They looked at me, then my cake, then at each other, then back at me. They had mortified expressions as they furiously shook their heads, beckoning me to stop this madness.

Of course I didn’t.

I took a look at the cake. It was nine layers, and each was about one and a half larger than the last. As the top layer was the size of four hoofs, It was pretty big. I shrugged.

I took my first three bites. Chocolate coating, red velvet cake, and vanilla icing graced my senses. I took another three. I could see Celestia and Luna begin to rush behind their thrones. I took the last three in one giant gulp, perfectly fitting all of it into my mouth.

Then I burped.

Later on, we got reports of earthquakes in uncharted regions and dragons cowering in fear of this belch, but for now, the three of us need not know of that.

The first thing I noticed was that Celestia and Luna were in an off-blue shield. I started laughing so hard, I thought that was it for me. I laughed for a good thirty minutes before the chancellor rushed into the room, glaring.
It seemed he did not appreciate my antics.

“For the love of all that is respectable! You are going to cause another war! Stop this needless--” He started.
Keyword: started.
Meaning: he did not get to finish.

I grew the tree around me. When my sisters saw what I was doing, they looked at me wide-eyed and jumped to me. We all fell to the floor below without the chancellor knowing. We ran. We may not have blended in with the crowd, but they were at least used to our antics. Luna went to a drinking contest, Celestia to a sparring match between two guards, and I sat there. In that same spot.

That wasn’t all I was doing, but it was close enough.

I grew moss around me and hardened it. I left holes to breath and see, but they were one way. I stood there and listened to guards shuffling around trying to find Celestia and Luna.

I just watched in contempt.

Until they caught them and had them help look for me.

Celestia knew where I was, but couldn’t get me to budge. Luna caught on next. It was her I was scared of. She used telekinesis to tickle me. In the stone, there was no way to break out of it.
I released the moss and sighed in defeat.

“Fun while it lasted, I guess.” I mumbled. From there, we each headed to our usual stations.

Celestia went to the Court sessions, where she made laws and judged those criminals whose cases had escalated. As there were not many extreme cases, she did paperwork instead.

Luna went to the other court, where ponies came with issues that they wanted an outside opinion on.

I went to shops, commenting on their decor and products. They would write down my suggestions and decide later if they wanted to implement them.

This was the normal procedure for us. The festival was still going on, but we wouldn’t make a public appearance like that until the evening, where we would give long, boring speeches most just slept through.

The chancellor wrote them after all.

I sighed as another year went by, life as stagnant as ever. I was currently at a bakers shop, where they sold cakes, cupcakes, bread, muffins, and other confections. In the back I heard someone new. I came by around this time every year, so who might that be?

“I know this has nothing to do with my rounds, but who is the pony working the ovens?” I asked Pumpkin Bread.

“Oh! I’m surprised you don’t know him. He’s been here since around the time you were here last. He's our… Protege I guess you could call him.”

An idea sparked in my head. Something to hold onto later.

“Thank-you-for-the-idea-gotta-go-bye!!” I said as I rushed out of the door and to the castle.

Galloping, I made it into the castle as Luna was starting to head outside to the carnival.

“Terra? I thought you were supposed to be working, going to shops?” She said confused.

“I have an idea, but need to get Celestia for it. Can you meet me in my room?” I asked Luna. She nodded and started trotting for my room.

I then galloped to Celestia’s office, passing by the Chancellor and a lot of other important ponies. I turned a lot of heads, and the Chancellor straight up chased me, but I made my way to Celestia’s office.

As I entered, I locked the room. Celestia peeked from the stack of paperwork with an irritated expression.

“Would you be patient? I swear, it’s like… Oh! Terra! My bad. I thought you were--” She started.

“I thought of something. Get to my room and don’t let him catch you. Split up.” I told her.

She nodded, then moved to the door, which was silent. I bent the tree around me to fall a story. Celestia followed suit just as the door unlocked from the outside. We fell and ran to the nearest stairs. Celestia flew up the stairs and I galloped. Bending the tree as I went as fast as possible. I could hear the Chancellor running, screaming about ‘two times this day!’ or something like that.

I got to my room with Luna and Celestia both on my bed, waiting for me. I locked the door and Luna set up an anti-spell barrier around our room. I flicked one of the bedposts on my bed, and we descended into darkness. It was a cave, far beneath the earth, where the three of us could have peace.

“So what was this idea of yours?” Luna asked excitedly.

I explained what I had seen at the bakery.

“So… we each take on a protege, or is it the cake…” Celestia trailed off.

Luna giggled at this, and I bit back a couple of laughs as well.

“If we take on students, it might be a bit of work, but we can finally relax a little bit. Between the work all of us do, we hardly ever see each other anymore.” I said.

“But we shouldn’t take just anyone on, right? If we chose random ponies just because it meant we got a break, wouldn’t that be unfair to our students?” Luna asked.

I nodded. “We should choose ponies who have a lot of potential, but also compliment our abilities. Ponies who we think could take our mantles after we pass.” I thought aloud.

“We could make a school where those with magical potential from every race can go to, then choose three from this school.” Luna suggested.

We all muttered in agreement and vowed to help make this a reality.

The next couple of days days went by in a blur for me. I was visiting schools (for the project), and stayed working from just after sunrise until sunset. Celestia, Luna, and I all talked about the policies, the requirements, and the types of students each of us would take. Celestia wanted to base her student on potential of magic. She devised a plan to test the mana reserves on a pony. It wouldn’t kill them or harm them, but would push them as far as they could go. Luna would play chess with them. She wanted them to beat her at chess or cards, showing their mental prowess. I wanted someone brash. Someone who had flaws, who knew their flaws and wanted to work to be a better person. I wanted to gently nudge them onto a better path.

After that, we started talking about the requirements for the teachers.

Laying down on my bed, I asked Celestia and Luna “How will we weed out the teachers who would start the same tribalism that got you two kicked out?”

“If you were there, you would be able to do that.” Luna said nonchalantly.

I stared wide eyes at her. “What?”

“Celestia and I thought you should be the headmaster, as you not only have an eye for troublemakers but also for tribalists.” Luna told me. Celestia nodded in agreement.

“Just because you don’t have the confidence now doesn’t mean that you won’t be good at it.” Celestia told me.

“In that case, I have a plan to weed those types of ponies out.” I told them.

We discussed this for the rest of the evening, joking with each other.

I woke up as soon as the sun came across the sky and dragged my hooves to the kitchen. After the stunt my sisters and I pulled just days ago, The Chancellor grounded us from cake for a week before and after the celebration every year. My sisters and I could have vetoed this, but we found out a little too late. I glanced at the calendar in the kitchen.
“Just one more day my cake. One more day and you shall be mine once again.” I muttered to myself, licking my lips. The chef saw me come in and gave me my eggs and pancakes. I took the plate to the throne room, and opened up the doors for court.

The first in, just like every day, was the infamous Blue Parade. The name sounded festive, but the entire castle knew otherwise. She was a tribalist socialite who thought herself superior to all others, even the three royals. She claimed she was the daughter of an alicorn, but I pointed out that I knew her from the kingdom of tribalists who could never agree on a name for their country.

How she made it as far as she had, I had no idea.

Today, it seemed, she came in to flaunt her ability to wreak havoc on my patience. I started eating while listening Blue ramble on about how she wanted me to step off of the throne and give her my throne.

As if I would allow what happened with the old land happen to this one as well. I thought to myself.

I continued plowing through my food, hoping that Blue would stop before I finished. I finished with the pancakes and the eggs, but was surprised to see a piece of cake appear on the plate. The guards saw this, but said nothing. One even zipped up his lips and winked. I smiled. Blue saw this.

“You haven’t been listening all this time have you you--” She trailed off once more while I at my cake, pretending to listen to her.

The timer for the meeting finally ran out.

“Ma'am, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” One of the guards told her.

“I will not leave when this mare has not listened to a word I have said my entire turn!” She shouted at the guards and I.

Bored and tired of this charade, I pulled a lever hidden in my throne. Blue had yet to learn of this, but there was a platform that would force anyone out that took too long or were rude to my sisters and I. As Blue did both, I sent her down the slide, where she landed in a pile of trash. I threw my plate with syrup filling it down after her, making sure the syrup would not spill.

My guards snorted. I shook my head ever so slightly. “What will it take to get her to shut her mouth?” I wondered aloud.

My guards chuckled at this before resuming their posts.

Then Terra ran into my room, panting.

I ran as fast as I could to Luna, as she was my only defense against her.

I also silently cursed her for doing this again.

I took several turns, Blue still right behind me with syrup in her mane, yelling about how I was unfit to rule if I was this much of a coward.

If it had been anyone else, they would already have been bucked straight through a wall. But even that would come back to bite me. I ran into the room where Luna was holding her court, and locked the door behind me. Luna laughed. I glared at her.

“Can’t you deal with her? Just once?” I demanded.

She shook her head and laughed some more.

Blue seemed to have been Tartarus bent on getting to us, as she used her horn to pull the tree apart.

“Get out of this room. Your turn ended already.” Luna said stone faced

I would have been surprised at her sudden change of mood if she hadn't beaten me at cards many times over.

“You weren’t listening to me, therefore the time spent must be redone. I also propose that Terra be removed for hindering your ability to rule. I’d even think she did it to undermine you, if not kick you out and kill you outright.” Blue argued.

I turned from Luna very, very slowly. Luna looked at me and shuddered, excusing herself. The guards just hightailed and ran away.

I turned to Blue Parade and she realized she had bucked up. Big time. She couldn’t move, but she wanted to get as far away from me as possible. I knew what was happening, but I couldn’t control the excess of magic flowing through me.

I looked at a mirror-door and my eyes glowed white, my fur turned black, and my hooves grew into talons.

I internally cast. Again. Out of anger.

I chuckled at Blue Parade’s remark of me and returned to my normal state. Brown hair, amber eyes, and hooves. Perfect.

Blue seemed to be a lot more impressionable.

“Get out before I publicly execute you for treason, fraud, and anything else I can think of. Return to try and get power for yourself, and you WILL regret it. Are we clear?” I asked in a cutthroat voice, adding a pleasant tone to the end.

Blue nodded and ran out of the castle.

I sighed. Another ordinary day, right?

Six months later

I woke up early and went downstairs. Luna and Celestia greeted me with the papers I would need for the school and a list of teachers. I nodded, ate a quick breakfast, and ran over to the school that the three of us named School for the Gifted. It was built on the outskirts of the city to ensure the safety of the city, and the students and teachers were all waiting on the field. I stepped onto a stage, where all of the ponies could see me.

“Greetings my little ponies. Oh and all the students!” I got chuckles out of this. “Welcome to the founding of the school. I hope all of you are ready to learn, and I know that you will all succeed. Let’s get classes set up for you all after we have your names, cutie marks, and affinity!” I shouted.

The teachers took this as their time. I was greeted by many of the students who wanted to show their tricks, from aerial to casting. One earth pony even tried to copy my ability to warp the plants and earth around me, though it was to no avail.

Once the cluster of ponies had sat down again, I addressed each year. “First year, I want all of you to focus on getting in touch with your magic.” As soon as I finished, a hoof went into the air. “Yes, mister…” I trailed off.

“Spike. I’m in the third year.”

“You have a question I presume.” I said in a calm, almost encouraging tone.

“Isn’t it only unicorns who have magic?” He asked

At this, the teachers and some of the older students answered with a loud “No.” The echoes of this went very far.

I smiled, though not out of jest or superiority, but from teaching. “That is a good question, Spike. Although Many unicorns and young ponies think otherwise, all beings have magic. Unicorns cast spells. Since their magic is flashy, it is regarded as the only kind. But pegasi use theirs to fly and move clouds. Earth ponies use theirs to… well… it’s kind of complicated to explain without prior knowledge. But still a very good question! Any others yet?” I asked excitedly.

Another hoof raised in the same group as Spike. “What would your name be?” I asked in the same excited tone from earlier.

“Sweet Dreams, though most call me Sweetie. Why did you decide to found this school?” She asked curiously.

I thought about an answer that wouldn’t get me in trouble. My sisters and I wanted to educate.” I replied.

“But we have other schools, right?”

“We wanted a place for those with raw power to learn, and help others control their special skills.” I said.

One more hoof came up. “Shining Star. I know this is rude, but why don’t you or your sisters have Cutie marks yet?” He asked.

I froze stiff, though caught myself. Teachers started to chastise Shining, but I held up a hoof.

“I want to be honest with you, but I don’t want certain ‘nobles’ catching wind of it. If you can come by my office after class sometime this week, I’ll explain it to you.” I said, putting on a fake smile. “No more questions?” I asked. No hooves came up. “Okay. Now then…”

I explained certain rules and regulations to the fillies and colts, making sure nobody entered my office. After all, I stored certain paperwork in the middle of the school that nobody should see.

I told Celestia and Luna about those strange foals at dinner.

Author's Note

This was around seven and a half pages in google docs. I just typed until I ran out of Ideas. I hope you liked this, and I'll see if I can update this around the middle of January. I think I can do one of these a month.
//Edit: So I don't know if the view changes will be confusing, but if it is, C is Celestia, L is Luna, T is Terra, and I'll add more later.
//Edit: One minor change. Just the Terra's hair color during her... rampage.

1.2: Life

2.1: Normalcy?

As far as I was concerned, I had a normal week. Sure, my home was destroyed and a castle had appeared near Ponyville, but this was normal. My home being destroyed was disheartening, but I fell in love with my castle upon further inspection. The only redeeming quality was the amount of bookshelves.

The amount of bookshelves sent a blizzard down my back and wings, and my smile rivaled the Ghastly Gorge in length. There was a three story library, patiently awaiting the hoard of knowledge that would soon come.

As I walked back to my eyesore of a castle to put some donated books away, I saw Spike awaiting my return. Of course he had a fold up chair and a comic book, but that just told me he was enjoying himself.

He needs more of that, I thought to myself.

As I came up to the front 'door', Spike saw me and hurried over .

"Whatcha got there Twi?" He asked in his childlike voice.

He knew as much as I did, being my study buddy for years. He was still technically just a baby dragon, though. It made me wonder if his hoard would be one of knowledge.

"Oh, just some old law books from Mayor mare. I'm planning on shelving them, then going to the post office." I responded, books in a safe stack, firm in my telekinetic grip.

"So, what can I do for you? " he asked eagerly.

I barely hold back a flinch. He doesn't know, but I heard he and Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie the other day. They were trying to come with ways to deal with what they thought was a hellhound in the room, my house's destruction. It wasn't necessary, but I had to admit that I had shut myself into my castle in the week that I had it. I was just taking note of all the rooms to map them. Not my fault this castle was larger than Celestia's!

"If you want, you can keep mapping. I have most of the first floor done in this book," I floated the fold up book in question over to him, "and the second floor is about halfway done. Remember that-"

"Each box is a meter in length. I can do that!" He interrupted.

He took the book and ran, starting work as fast as he could. I walked towards the middle of the castle to my library.

I need to remember to go by Rarity's for gems, cook something for him tonight. I thought to myself. Might as well grab some curry and vegetables, make his favorite dish.

I made a shopping list as I unloaded the books onto quadrant 11, section H, Isle 3 down.

"I hereby proclaim this the historical texts of law territory." I muttered as I scanned texts to decide the order of the new books. "Huh. Must be a typo." I said as I skimmed 'Law of the Everfree' by Firma. I continued skimming, taking no notice of it or the others.

A couple minutes later the books were neatly shelved, and I was skipping out of the room.

I headed towards town at a brisk pace, enjoying the sky and clouds. The rainbow streak across the sky missed the clouds, so I assumed that Rainbow was stunt flying. She slowed as she came into town, busting a few clouds before flying off again. I knew I could fly at those speeds too, but I was mostly just happy to be able to fly at all. The flying lessons helped for sure.

When I got closer to town, Rainbow's streak skidded and dropped to my side. After several years of this mare crashing next to me or in my library, I couldn't act phased if I wanted to.

Immediately I noticed the yellow band across her left hoof. It was either a joy buzzer or an insignia. My answer was leaning towards the former as the weather mare/stunt flyer started speaking.

"Hey Twi. How are you? " she asked upside-down on a cloud.

"Just fine. And yourself?" I asked suspiciously.

"We'll, no broken bones yet, so pretty dang good." There was a pause while we walked towards the border of multicolored two-story homes. "You think you could help me with something, Twilight?" She finally asked.

"Such as?" I shot back.

"We'll, Pinkie's being extra… Pinkie right now. I would try to approach her, but she's twitching worse than that bog a year or two back." She seemed to have thought of a mistake, as she quickly blurted "not her Pinkie sense, but like… sugar-rush-oh-my-Celestia-we're-all-gonna-die twitching." She finished with a gasp of air.

After a second of pretending to think about it, I responded with "And I would be able to help, why?"

Rainbow was silent at this. "Well, you know as much about that mare as I do, and she's being weirder than normal. I'm scared of her touching buildings right now, as she'd likely cause one to collapse or something."

"I'll check up on her." I told Rainbow.

Rainbow flew off while I walked through town, taking many left turns.

"Hey Twilight!" Lyra said as she came up to me. She had a broken string on her harp. "Do you think you could do me a favor? One of my strings broke, and there weren't any at the music store that I could buy. I don't want to have to replace all of the strings, and was hoping you'd know a spell to fix it?" She asked me hopefully.

I lit up my horn and the ends of the string came together and stayed. "I'd recommend you leave your harp alone for about five minutes so the magic can do its work. Other than that, anything I can do?" I asked, Lyra following me to Sugarcube Corner.

Lyra shook her head and started taking out a bit pouch.

"Wait! Payment isn't necessary!" I voiced before she got the wrong idea.

"We'll, I was going to get a treat for the both of us, maybe even a bit of… oh I don't know… cake?" She said as I rolled my eyes.

"We can still have cake though, right?"

Lyra smirked and we went into the Cake's shop. Inside, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Cake was at the counter, thinking. There weren't many costumers, as the lunch rush was still an hour away.

Inside Sugarcube Corner, there was Rarity having a scone, the Cutie Mark Crusaders taste testing some new creation, and Bon Bon at the window seat. She seemed to be staring into space, and I didn't want to disturb anypony.

I walked up to Mrs. Cake. "Hi. Is Pinkie on break?" I asked, concerned.

"We thought it be best she have the day off. She ran off to the edge of the Whitetail Woods, fidgeting all the way." Mrs. Cake told me.

"My castle's near there. Do you want me to check up on her when I head back?"

"I wouldn't recommend it Twilight. She needs… things. It's not a good idea right now" Mrs Cake warned.

"Pinkie being her brand of weird is nothing, but this sounds like Pinkie being a normal weird…" I trailed off.

I got some bits for 6 of their fresh cupcakes, and left with a slice of strawberry-chocolate cake. It was sweet and had the perfect strawberry-to-chocolate ratio. It was gooey and had chunks of strawberry that made me yearn for another bite.

The slice was gone the moment I stepped out the door.

I went to the market for ingredients and then the road to the Whitetail Woods.
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Between Twilight's home being destroyed, Discord's betrayal, and the destruction of part of the Whitetail Woods, I was a little overwhelmed. I had injured animal friends, I had Discord being… normal. I had a lot on my plate that Monday. From when I woke up, I was rushing about. I made dinner for the nocturnal animals, breakfast for the rest, got my tea set ready for Discord, and left for Whitetail Woods for the eighth time that week.

To be fair, I left later than I had, going at noon instead of dawn.

Whitetail Woods in the summer had every type of green and brown I could imagine. I loved sitting under the trees and listening to the orchestra of birds, squirrels, and other wildlife living there.

I noticed every hole and nook. Nothing went untouched as I checked for animals. A small time and a mane full of various animals later I found a small clearing of brush, perfect for a medium sized animal to get cozy under.

When I checked, I came across something unusual: Pinkie. She was twitching more than usual, but alone and quiet otherwise. Her attention seemed to be on a Bluejay flying around.

"Pinkie?" I called out. Her ear pointed towards me as she let out a sigh.

"Yes Fluttershy?" She asked in her high pitched voice. It didn't scare any animals. It seemed like there was something missing, I just couldn't put my hoof on it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Not that you shouldn't be here or anything, I'm just-"

"Concerned?" She finished.

I nodded before realizing she was looking away from me. "Mhm"

"Well, I just needed to come out here. I like this place, you know?" I came around to sit next to her. "I haven't had to use my little hiding spot since you girls became my best friends, but I needed somewhere away from ponies…" She trailed off.

My concern grew.

"Well, why did you have to use this spot so often?" I asked.

"I… I don't want to say. Just… know that I'll be fine in a bit." She said, her twitching getting worse. I noticed it was mostly her neck as she refused to look at me, instead focusing on a squirrel.

We st there in silence until I realized why I came out here in the first place.

"I'm sorry for leaving Pinkie, but I need to check for any more injured animals in the forest." I rushed, looking at my friend for understanding.

Pinkie didn't look at me, but I could still feel understanding emanating from her.

"G'bye Fluttershy" Pinkie called out as I left that particular spot in the forest.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

My little excursion to the Whitetail Woods for Pinkie led me to Fluttershy, wandering around for the umpteenth time. I respected her willingness to come out and help the animals, but I got worried about her own health every now and then.

Either way, I walked up to the butterscotch mare she had leaves in her mane, her wings and neck were slightly damp. She wasn't facing me, but the way her ear was tilting told me she knew I was there.

"Fluttershy! Hi." I said.

"Hello Twilight. How are you?"

"Well, I'm doing well. I got some donations from Mayor Mare, so I skimmed those for a bit. I was trying to find Pinkie, and I heard that she came here. Do you know where she is?"

"Pinkie's between some bushes, just sitting there." Fluttershy looked worried at this, and I probably did too.

"I'm going over, can you point me to her?"

Fluttershy pointed deeper in, gave me directions, and left to continue searching for wounded animals. I went towards the mountain at the other side of the woods, humming a song with no tune.

Looking around at the trail of the Running of the Leaves race, I started reminiscing. I thought of the disaster at the Grand Galloping Gala that year, our trial with Discord, and my trouble with Pinkie's sense.

As if I had summoned the pony in question, Pinkie poked out of three bushes. She popped out, looking around, then went back in. And back out she came, looking once more, and went back in. The third time, she backed out, flank first, with a camo hat.

"Pinkie? What are you doing?" I asked the fourth time she popped out.

"Looking for friends, since this is supposed to be a secret." She whispered.

She realized her mistake.

Then she jumped like a cat would and vanished.

I stood there for a second before sighing.

"Pinkie will be Pinkie." I muttered, teleporting home.

Pop

I looked around the room I arrived in, and determined it was one of the three kitchens. There was a window, and I saw I was on the second floor, near the map room. The balcony was on the other side of one of the castle's corners, hidden from my view. I had a view of Ponyville and a field that stretched from there to the castle.

Spike came in, grabbed a plate of gems and sandwiches, and left. He was seemingly oblivious that I was in the room. He was probably just used to me popping in unexpectedly.

"Hey Spike! How much did you get done?" I asked, yelling into the next room.

"I got a quarter done Twi!" He yelled back slightly muffled.

"Thanks! I'm going to read for a bit! You can stop anytime!" I added the last part.

Pop

I teleported 100 yards through whatever gem the castle was made of, straight to the center. It was open air, and I opened my wings to fly to the third floor. I found the only books I had so far, grabbing the one by Firma. Instead of skimming it l like earlier, I flipped to the one hundred fifty-first page.

Then to the 153rd.

Then to the 8th

I flipped through the whole book, speed reading the entire book in an hour, and it still baffled me.

How could there have been 3 princesses before Discord if Celestia and Luna are the only alicorns here today?

1.3: Premium Pie Predicament

1.2: Life

Chapter 2: Testing

I woke up before sunrise, cool air filtering into my room from an open window from a balcony. I groggily got up, rubbing my eyes with hooves that felt like lead, and trotted over to the balcony. I saw Everfree city sleeping. Besides key members of society, such as guards and police, The streets were empty.

I made no attempt to muffle my hoof steps until I brushed my teeth and flossed. By then, I was awake enough to realize why I had woken up.

It was the first day of classes.

From that moment, I knew Celestia and Luna would want their sleep, as they had to stay up most of the night fixing small problems before school started today. Problems such as an anonymous complaint that we already work too much, advising us to give the position to them.

I snuck out of my room and towards the kitchen. As I trotted, I looked around the hallways, seeing Luna’s and my own paintings and pictures of the past. I allowed myself to reminisce of a time long ago, before any pony had come, when we adventured far and wide, from the desert to the ice lands. We faced dragons and goblins and diamond dogs. Even now we faced them, though in the battlefield of politics instead of hoof to hoof fights.

Periodically, I passed by guards, who were surprised to see me up so early. They nodded and some asked if I was alright, but none stayed for long as they had their patrols to go to. It took a while of wandering, but I found my way to the kitchen with some detours now and then (the chancellor was looking for me).

“Ey! The night owl, she comes to join us, boys!” The main chef shouted loud enough for his staff to hear him. They all looked up from their stations. “What will it be today?” He continued.

I shrugged off the implications of his words and focused on my order. My stomach growled. “I’d like four pancakes please.” I said, finishing right before a growl. “With four or five slices of buttered toast.” I continued with a blush. My stomach growled again. “ And a SINGLE slice of cake.” I finished. My stomach did not growl this time.

The chef heartily laughed, and started preparing my order.

“I can have all that to go, right?” I asked him.

The chef nodded and said “I can do that. It will be done in a bit, so you can come back in about thirty minutes.”

I thanked him and left the kitchens, heading towards the dining room. As I was in no rush, I trotted slowly, passing by more paintings. Though they were not of the past, they were still sentimental, as they were paintings of the night sky during clear nights. All of them were drawn by Luna, and though the stars were not oriented the way she painted, her drawings looked better than the reality. I continued walking

I passed by guards and the chancellor on my way. The guards nodded at me and I smiled and nodded back. The chancellor, without the red and gold robes I knew him for, nodded. But when he thought my head was turned, he scowled. I shook my head and continued towards the kitchen.

Once I got there, I saw the chef and the breakfast prepared for me. It wasn’t much on my scale, but enough to go through the morning and wake me up. I ate a stack of four pancakes with syrup and some buttered toast before turning to Chef Cake and thanking him.

I left the kitchen and took a few turns to a hallway with a high ceiling and many smaller paths outward, kind of like the rings of a tree. Looking at the intricate patterns on the main hallway I saw a door morphing, twisting into new patterns as different ponies drew near. Some touched the bark and watched the patterns on the door roll in on itself like the waves in an ocean. The pictures distorted and flowers became vines, which in turn shaped into clouds and mountains. Once it settled down, the final picture was a meadow.

I heard the ponies at the door shift to look at me. They had smiles on their faces and a welcoming demeanor.

“Princess Terra! What a lovely surprise!” The one on the left, a pony with a red coat and an orange mane. “Don’t you normally wake up much after sunrise?” He asked in a voice that sounded young. His voice and body looked familiar, though I couldn’t place a name on him.

What I wouldn’t do for them. I thought to myself, sighing. “I don’t, usually. But I decided to wake up early to go to the school today. I am the principal after all.” I replied.

“Are you sure it’s no trouble? I know how busy you and your sisters can be.” He asked.

A simple question. Well, a decisively complex one, but the implications ran deep.

“Are you the one who decided to petition to become the principal on account of my inherent ‘laziness’?” I asked coolly.

The stallion came close enough to be within earshot of me, and responded in a soft whisper: “Why of course. After all, you are my target.”

My eyes widened in alarm, though nothing happened.

“Wow, you’re easy to tease, even after all of this time. Eh dirtface?” He responded.

With that one word, I remembered who he was. He was the assassin-turned-friend. The third friend I made. I smiled internally, and said “Dirtface. The most unoriginal name by the most unoriginal assassin.” I said, then muttered “I should have figured, Quick Shot...”

Quick was an assassin, though after he admitted to being forced into the role by his leaders he became a close friend. When we first settled down and built our nation, he was appointed the head of the Royal Guard. He was fast in combat, but his cutie mark told his skill in traps and long term strategy.

I walked past him, though he decided to follow me.

“Don’t have anything better to do?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

“Nope. Just bothering you.” He replied as we walked past the bakery.

I sighed and ignored most of what he said until we got to the outer ring of the city.

“You know, these ponies generally do better than the nobility's kids…” He said.

I nodded as we passed Spike, waving and leaving.

I would have been able to talk with Spike’s parents, but decided not to on account of Quick Shot.

“You know them?” He asked as we took an indirect route to the school, cutting through crowds once in a while.

“Their son, Spike, and some others were topics of interest.” I said to him.

He chuckled and we came into the clearing of grass and bushes that came up to the school. It was inside a tree that had natural resistance against extreme heat and cold. It was originally going to be a bunker, but we thought of using it as a school instead.

Once we got to the door leading in, Quick said his farewells and left to his paperwork.

The door was into the school was much smaller than the door to the castle. The hallways were a bit wider, but that was so the lockers and classes could all fit into the rings of the tree. I walked across the wooden floor to my office in the center of the first floor. I passed by grinning fillies and colts on my way.

There were cliques of ponies sorted sometimes by age or neighborhood. Most had ponies with similar interests, such as the gamers, athletes, and the studious. Although I didn’t like to admit it, there were also the bullies. Though there were few, they had a lot of power due to the rumor mills they started, even though it was the first day of school. I could tell this was true by the circle of students watching a fight between a unicorn and a thestral against another unicorn and an earth pony.

There were the obvious instigators, the pair with the earth pony, and the other team was defending. I recognized the unicorn and pegasus on the defending team; the unicorn, who I found out was Rare Gem, was sitting next to Shining Star yesterday, the thestral was Sweet Dreams.

The earth pony ran towards the unicorn, jumping off of their team mate. Rare Gem caught the earth pony with her magic and used the second she had to change his momentum to throw him back to the unicorn aggressor. The earth pony stopped and skidded before hitting his partner, and the unicorn started casting a spell.

At this point, a pegasus teacher came out of the classroom to see what the commotion was. Seeing the fight that broke out, she tensed and got ready to split it up. I put a hoof up in front of her and shook my head.

“I want to see where this is going. I won’t let any pony get seriously injured, but I need to see how those two react.

The unicorn cast an electric spell at Sweetie. Before the bolt could reach Sweetie, however, Gem caught it in her magic, cast a spell I couldn’t make out, and threw the electric combo at the earth pony. The colt tried his best to dodge it, but it was able to hit his torso, and the spells activated. The earth pony was shocked and feinted, probably through a sleep spell.

At this point the unicorn saw he was at a major disadvantage and took a step back to play on defense. Seeing the victors, I lowered my hoof to allow the teacher to go, then walked through the crowd myself. The teacher had picked up the unicorn colt and started for the health room while I stopped the rest of the participants. I came muzzle to muzzle with Sweetie and Rare. They saw me and lowered their heads. All around us, students started leaving, realizing that there was a certain tension in the air.

“I will see you in my office after first period.” I ordered. It took all my strength not to smile or congratulate them, but my efforts would pay off later.

The two of them nodded and left, the unicorn antagonist backing away slowly, as if I were a predator. I laughed to myself and said “I will see you now.”

We started for my office. Though it was close by, it took us a while to get there as I made a slow pace.

The unicorn colt looked as if he was restraining himself from running, though I could have been wrong. We walked down the colorful hallways, colored in by the tree itself, and the colors were vibrant. There was every shade of red, blue, and brown, but they swirled together, making an abstract portrait. As we stepped up to my office, the only room with a white door, I found that the colt was panicking quite a bit. He didn’t let me see it, of course, but I watched him when he thought I wasn’t looking.

We entered my room. Even though I tried to get it clean the day before, it was to no avail. It still looked like a disaster had come into my room. Papers were all over the floor, my desk had random things on it, and my bookshelves had food in them instead of books.

“What is your name?” I asked.

He hesitated, but gave me the answer of “Matrix, ma’am.”

“What occurred before I arrived?” I asked in an indifferent voice.

“The other two were poking fun at our group when--” He started

“Don’t lie to me. I can tell you are lying. Just tell me the truth.” I commanded, sensing his magic.

A little known fact about passive magic is that, when trained, you can sense an untrained creature’s magic. If you have finer senses, like I do, sensing the intentions of ponies, zebras, and griffons is child’s play.

He looked shocked at first, but complied. He lied about a couple of minor things, but he and his friends were pushing students’ patience and Sweetie and Rare pushed back. Matrix and his friend taunted them further, though with no response. They left to do the same with Spike and his group of friends as they had no entertainment. Sweetie then rushed the earth pony while Gem smothered the unicorn’s magic with a blanket of her own. The two fought for maybe 5 minutes, and the rest I saw.

Matrix finished, and I thought for a while. He looked uncomfortable, but I decided to go easy(ish) on them. “I am putting you on a sort of probation. Just you. Your friend, by the sound of it was the leader. He will get the brunt of the punishment. You will instead do a little bit of community work. For the next week, you will stay after school for an amount of time I will determine later. You are dismissed.” I told him.

He nodded and left the already dimly lit room. After he shut the door behind him, the room lit up with harmless mushrooms that light up when I push my magic at them. The corners of the ceiling were littered with these, and my office confused janitors and unicorn scholars alike.

I kind of knew why they were there, but didn’t want certain… secrets to be revealed to the press. The only reason I told Spike’s parents about my ability was because I knew they wouldn’t tell many others.

The first period ended as I was finishing some paperwork for a grade three trip to the forests near us when I heard a knocking at the door. Looking around my office, I saw that much of the floor was clean and there was at least a path going to my desk.

The pony outside my door knocked once more. I yelled “Come in!”. Sweet Dreams and Rare Gem came in through my door. Sweetie looked a bit nervous, and Rare Gem looked defensive.

I channeled my magic to grow stumps for chairs. The two visitors in my room widened their eyes.

“How did you do that?” Rare Gem inquired. She seemed calm, though her eyes were filled with the light of a scholar. She was curious.

Sweet Dreams, on the other hand, widened her eyes for a different reason. Yes, she might have been surprised at my ability, but she was a smart mare who could put two and two together. She was a pegasus, so she knew about passive magic. She probably just didn’t know how I was channeling.

“Sweetie, do you know of the innate magic of each tribe?” I asked, eyes showing amusement.

“I know that pegasi use theirs to fly and earth ponies usually use their magic passively to grow and strengthen those around them… but I’ve never heard of earth ponies with this extent of skill with magic.” She said, unsure.

Rare Gem looked between us, and then asked “You called us here due to the fight?”

I nodded. “I heard one side of the story, and I want yours. Why did you initiate the hoof-fight? I heard that Rare was on the edge, but Sweetie was the instigator. I heard that the fight only began as they walked off talking about harassing other students. But, I have no idea what went through your minds when you decided to fight. Explain.”

After talking for a bit, I found that Rare Gem was only angry because Shining Star, her brother, had been harassed by them. He fought back, but got in trouble through the teachers. Sweetie drew the line at the fact that they dared to toy with them, then with others after they got bored.

“I held hope that maybe, if I was lucky, they would stay with me and leave the others alone. I could not stand then bullying others.” Sweetie said, her tone growing harder in the second sentence.

I turned to Gem and asked “And you? What was your motive?”

“My brother-”

“Do not lie to me. If you lie to me, I cannot give you an appropriate consequence for your actions. Ex. Plain. Now.” I told her, eyes closed and brows scrunched.

“I saw Sweetie and knew I could help. I’ve always worked better in tandem with others, and Sweetie would have gotten hurt had I not. I wanted to lend my efforts.” She admitted.

I sighed internally as I heard this bit. “In that case, you both are free to go, though I would still be… quiet about your consequences. I want you both to come into my office on separate days this week, so I may get to know you both.” I told them with a smile.

They looked shocked to say the least.

“You’re not going to punish us for starting a fight?” Gem asked incredulously.

I shook my head. “Why would I punish you standing up to those who meant others harm? Yes, it could have been handled differently, but you did the best you could.”

“That being said...” I began. The room grew dimmer as the mushrooms dimmed with them. I dimmed it enough to see me, but also enough to have a lasting memory. “You both will have consequences fitting of your actions. I will not save you. This IS your warning.” The room brightened again, with Sweetie and Gem staring at me, heart rate increased. “Mkay? Mkay!” I said aloud. “Oh, and I would like to see Gem today. Sweetie, if you could come when I call, I would be grateful.” I told them.

Sweetie left the room and closed the door with care. Gem tried playing her fear off with a smirk, but I noticed the effort she put forth controlling her breathing.

“I noticed during your fight, you casted in tandem with the unicorn colt. How is that?” I asked.

She looked sideways at me and said “I’m sorry for answering a question with a question, but do you know magic theory?” I nodded at this “Well, I take the magic another is using and twist it a bit. It becomes their magic signature, but I control it.” she told me.

“I’m guessing you can only cast through other unicorns, am I right?” She nodded. “I would like to help you hone this ability, though I’ve already kept you for a little too long. Are you willing to come to the palace? I can meet you about four hours after school, as I have to tell my sisters and get some resources.” I inquired.

She nodded and replied “I can come as long as I get home before sundown. I’ll need to do homework, but I can finish that quickly.”

I smiled and wished her a good day, then got back to my mountain of paperwork.

Gem

The final bell rang and I packed up my saddlebags. I walked with a couple of my friends out of the school, then bid them farewell. I didn’t want them to know about… certain things. I walked home to my mother, father, and brother. Star left before me, but I got there first since he walked with friends.

As I came up to my house, I saw a sight worse than usual. All the shutters were closed. This meant I had to be quiet. The house wasn’t run down, but it also wasn’t very sound. I knew of at least 3 leaks in my shared bedroom alone. My Dad could fix them with his flight, or Mom with her magic, but they didn’t. ‘Cost too much’ they tell me.

“Mom. I’m home” I said quietly as I walked into the door, careful to not wake my father.

My mother looked to me with a snide look and asked “Where is your brother?” It was a whisper, but she looked down on me as if I weren’t worth the time.

“He’s probably out with friends”

“Be careful this time. Your father is sleeping and has a headache.

If he would stop drinking, I thought, He wouldn’t have a headache. “One more thing. I got into a fight today and have to go to the palace for Princess Terra.” I told her.

“What is your real reason for going out?” She asked.

“I told you the truth, and I need to do homework before then.”

“I still think you should never have gone to that school.”

I did my best not to snap at her, as Dad would come out and unleash his fury on the both of us. “It was my decision, not yours. I simply did what I thought necessary to make a future for myself and, perhaps, my brother.” I said cooly. “I think I’ll go do homework somewhere else. I don’t want to wake Dad.” I said, walking out of the room.

Mom wanted to call out to me, but couldn’t risk yelling at me. I left and closed the door behind me. Then, I walked towards one of the parks separating the rich and poor.

When the city of Everfree was first created when I was young, Terra and Luna worried that those in the upper class would take land away from all others to turn them into banks or high class event areas. To combat this, they made areas around the two rings parks, free for all. The parks were used by those that wanted to practice magic at this time of day, though there were a few children with parents running and playing.

I turned towards one of the further corners of the park. I walked for a bit off of the main path, into a maze of trees. Instead of getting lost, I turned and maneuvered my way around to a tree. Before the school was founded, I used the tree to hide things that I didn’t want my Mom to steal or Dad to break. It was sort of my safe spot.

In a certain tree in this entire forest, there was a door that I camouflaged as the bark of a tree. It was heavy enough that a pegasus or earth pony couldn’t open it, and I had a magic seal on it with my signature. It opened, making no sound, and I heard a pony down the stairs leading to the carved out roots of the tree.

I was surprised, but readied myself for any pony. Sneaking down, I first saw a forest green coat and brown mane. I wondered who they could be, when I heard them say “I know you’re there. Come down and we can talk.” It was unmistakably Terra.

I sighed in relief and went down the rest of the stairs. “How did you find this place?” I asked

“All of these trees are connected, and I like to take walks around the foliage. It’s calming. What is your reason?” Terra inquired.

I didn’t want to tell her about my family issues, so I instead said “I came to do homework.”

“I know that isn’t the whole truth, but I won’t push. Do you want me to leave so you can have some peace for your work?”

I shook my head. “One of my assignments is in magic theory, and I might need help.” I said.

Terra smiled and responded “Sure! I’d love to. Beats dealing with stuck up snobs!”

I snickered at this remark as Terra realised she said that aloud. “Anyhow, The parts I need help on are the questions on earth pony magic.”

I explained in detail what I knew that unicorns have full control over their abilities, while earth ponies have little control and pegasi were somewhere in between.

“So basically, I know that pegasi have control over their wind magic and unicorns their spell casting. I know that pegasi have little control over their cloud walking and durability… but I don’t know the extent of an earth pony’s prowess over their magic.” I explained.

“Well, in normal cases, earth ponies use their magic to give to the world around them. Trees and the earth soak in their magic and become energy-dense. Plants and animals then use that magic that we emit as energy, using it to grow. It has a limit, as the trees still need water, sunlight, and air. At the same time, they take in magic, strengthening themselves and making them strong as boulders. You would be pretty surprised at what I would go through on a daily basis after meeting Celestia and Luna.” She explained.

“As usual with everything, there are exceptions. There are pegasi that can light the sky ablaze with fire and gravity, unicorns who specialize in other tribes’ magic, and earth ponies who can seemingly cast spells and, once again, gravity. Celestia, Luna, and I are all examples. I can cast spells, but I worked since I was young to do so. Celestia can light clouds ablaze. Luna is particularly special, though. She specializes in magic itself. There are fields, such as chaos and dark magic, that she cannot cast.” Terra continued.

I nodded and wrote that down with my magic, inscribing what she was saying on a scroll as she was saying it with a simple conversion spell. “What I don’t understand,” I started “is how there is so much crossing between the tribes.”

“When our races first started out, there was one race. We fought and found different ways to survive. There were those who were physically strong in both strength and endurance. There were those who found ways to go faster. They eventually gained flight and weather manipulation. Finally there were those who were skilled in neither speed nor strength. They studied and found ways to cast spells, interacting with the world around them magically.

Even though the three races are different in the way they use magic, they can train themselves so long as they have dedication. There are, of course, limits to the extent they can train. No matter how much you train, you will not be able to truly fly as a pegasus, nor have the longevity of an earth pony. I may be able to manipulate magic, but I could never do so to the extent you can, nor fly.

I trained by pushing my magic to trees since I was young. I used to grow entire homes for myself this way. As I grew older, I was able to make precise things, such as spoons and handles, quickly.

Though that is what I wanted to talk about with you earlier. I wanted to see the extent of your abilities. Did you get what I said” She lectured.

I jotted down what she said without many errors until the end. “You want to see if I can cast in tandem with you, right?” I managed to get out.

“I was actually wondering how you were able to pick up the earth colt. They are resistant to levitation on account of their physical strength. Most unicorns your age don’t know how to do what you did without lethally harming their opponent.” Terra explained.

“Instead of trying to pick him up with my magic, I went the long way around and used his magic to cover him. It wasn’t much, and didn’t last long, but it lasted long enough for me to be able to throw him. At the time, I was trying to see what their dueling styles were, and they never duel. They probably just prey on weaker ponies, hoping they don’t have to make good on threats.” I said matter-of-factly.

Terra sat there thinking for a while, then closed her eyes. “Well, I should get going. It isn’t too late, but I need to get back to the castle to help my sisters with paperwork. Have a nice evening, and I hope to see you again soon.” The tree started to warp around her. “Try not to get into another fight, though, okay?” She said as she left, probably going to the castle. I left the safety of the tree, starting on my way home.

For the first night in a while, I had a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. I hoped it would last longer.

Author's Note

I said every week during break... yeah. Not a good idea. I'll update more often than once a month or so, but I'll need around two weeks per five pages on docs. I hope you liked the chapter, and I might have to add in a dark tab due to the issues I have and will be presenting. Either way, have a very nice day and I'll see you in two or three weeks.