“Hey!”

The shrill voice made Applejack clench her eyes more tightly for a moment, before opening them. Only to be faced with something utterly baffling. It appeared to be herself.

As an alicorn.

But the size of a breezy.

“What in tarnation?” she muttered slowly.

“I’m your mini-divinity! Everyone in this game world has one, but no one can see anyone else’s!” the…breezie-corn? … chirped brightly. No longer shrill, the voice was almost exactly like her own. It was even as loud as her own. In fact, it would have been indistinguishable from hers, if not for the fact that it lacked the Apple Family’s drawl. (Which was not the same as an accent, no matter what anypony tried to say.)

“Mini-divinity?” Applejack repeated, questioningly. Upon closer inspection, the little body had red and pink stripes in her mane and tail, making her look like Applejack had when she’d held the Rainbow Power. Though instead of the whole bushel of apples that had decorated her hooves and flanks that day, not long ago, there was only Applejack’s familiar, three apple cutie mark.

“Mm-hm.” the little creature nodded, as Applejack raised one hoof slowly.

“And what is that?” she asked, moving her hoof to gently poke at the tiny flyer.

“Think of me like a shoulder-angel-slash-exposition-fairy. Normally, we’re shapeless balls of light, but GOD thought this form would make me more comfortable for you. And cute, too.” the mini-divinity answered, raising one hoof of her own to bump against Applejack’s approaching hoof. Applejack blinked at the clop that sounded out. Mainly because it was as loud as if she’d hoofbumped a full-size pony. Then she put her hoof down, shaking her head slightly.

“And what is a…shoulder-angel-slash-whatever-fairy?”

“I tell you about all sorts of people, places, and things in your new world.” the mini-divinity said. Then it…she?…suddenly underwent a massive change.

The mini-corn’s horn—which was already proportionally as long and sharp as Princess Luna’s—grew out to match Princess Celestia’s. And sharper, too, until the point was practically invisible. Her legs immediately followed suit, lengthening and slimming, as did her muzzle. Her fur changed next, intensifying and yellowing somewhat, becoming a dull golden color, while the tips of her feathers gained a greenish tint. At the same time, her mane and tail turned entirely shock-white and burst free of their ties, to blow in an invisible wind. And the last thing to change was a set of regalia, just like the princesses wore, appearing on the diminutive body. But instead of gold or silver, it was a reddish-copper color.

“I also warn you when something you are about to do is considered a crime.” her miniature said. Though proclaim would really be more accurate, considering the dramatic tone. “That includes what kinds of penalties you may face, if caught, along with potential legal alternatives that may exist.”

The sight of fangs in the miniscule muzzle made Applejack blink again, before squinting a little to get a closer look at the miniature’s face. And sure enough, the green eyes were slitted, confirming her assumption that this was supposed to be what she would look like—might look like?—in the grip of the nightmare.

While Applejack had no doubt it would be properly terrifying if it was life-size, looking at it like this—small enough to squish underhoof, if she weren’t careful—it was surprisingly beautiful.

“Ignorance of the law is not even a possibility, much less an excuse.” the mini-divinity intoned, with an imperious nod. A second later, it returned to its original form.

”So, yeah! I generally help you navigate through this world in all sorts of ways.” she said. “And that starts with helping you create your character.”

“Create my character? Can’t Ah just play as myself?” Applejack asked. The mini-divinity’s eyes suddenly glowed bright white, like Twilight’s did when she channeled the Elements of Harmony.

“NO!” came the answer, in an imitation of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Except it wasn’t the Mini-Divinity’s voice that came out, but the voice that had brought Applejack here. “LIKE I SAID, THIS IS MORE LIKE THE MIRROR WORLD, THAN EQUESTRIA. THAT MEANS THAT PONIES ARE JUST SMALL HORSES, AND HORSES ARE NOT SAPIENT. THE POINT OF THIS GAME, AFTER ALL, IS TO LIVE A DIFFERENT LIFE THAN YOU COULD IN EQUESTRIA.”

“And why didn’t you tell me that sooner?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. But the Apple-corn’s eyes returned to normal without The Gestalt giving a reason.

Seeing the thoroughly unamused expression, the mini-divinity rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, GOD can speak through us mini-divinities, but It doesn’t do it often.” she said awkwardly.

“It?”

“GOD doesn’t have a gender or a sex, and is entirely beyond mortal comprehension. It is so different that It doesn’t find the term ‘It’ offensive.”

“Hmm. Except for that last bit, he still sounds like Discord.” Applejack grumbled. Actually, she thought Discord might not be honestly offended by the pronoun, either. Though he would probably pretend to be. In fact, the ponies around him—including herself, she admitted—would most likely be more offended to hear him referred to as such.

After a couple more seconds of internal grumbling about “things beyond mortal ken” Applejack decided to get started with the task at hoof.

“So, what’s first?” she asked the tiny alicorn floating nearby, patiently waiting on her. “Actually, what’s your name? Ah’m gonna feel weird if Ah just call you ‘hey, you’.”

“I don’t actually have a name. None of us mini-divinities do. We don’t really need them. Then again, none of have a real, solid shape, either. So, how about…Oh! GOD just suggested Minerva. It’s the name of an ancient goddess of wisdom, so it suits my purpose.”

“Ah can see that.” Applejack accepted, nodding. “In that case, it’s nice to meetcha, Minerva. My name’s Applejack, which you probably knew already.” she added quickly, holding her hoof up for another bump.

“I did. But it’s nice to be properly introduced, Applejack.” Minerva said, bumping the offered hoof. And again, it was as loud as if she were the size of a real pony. Then it was her turn to get down to business.

“So, the first thing you need to do is choose your race.”

“Alright, what kinda options do Ah got?”

“Dozens!” Minerva chirped brightly—almost more like Pinkie, than Applejack. The pony-for-not-much-longer consoled herself that at least she wasn’t pronking. “But GOD has preselected some options It thinks you’d most likely prefer. It also made some templates based on your natural appearance, but you can modify those later, if you want.”

With that, three rotating images appeared in front of the pair.

On the left was a very strange looking bipedal creature, whose mane had the same style and color as her own. Its whole body was on display, showing almost nothing but orange skin, misplaced teats, and almost draconic extremities. Extremities that ended in soft flesh, instead of claws like Spike’s. The only place that had any covering was a close-cropped patch of blonde hair on her groin.

In the middle was something that was, if anything, even creepier. Just because it looked almost like a pony, in some ways. It looked like someone had blended a pony with the creature on the left. Bipedal again, it had the same misplaced teats and blunt, fleshy claws on its forelegs. Though at least its legs ended in proper hooves. It also had a proper coat of short fur, too. And it had an almost-pony-like head, except that the muzzle was a little too long and narrow. Honestly, it was…more off-putting, than reassuring.

And on the right was another disturbing mishmash. Disturbing in more than one way, in fact. It was a centaur, which was disturbing enough on its own, with Tirek such a recent memory. Unlike the smooth columns that ponies had—and even Tirek, himself—it had legs with lots of muscle at the top and thick hooves at the bottom, with long, silky hair on its fetlocks, but were thinner in the middle. Almost like stretched taffy. But worse than that, the upper body was the same as the creature on the left.

“These are my choices?” Applejack questioned, wanting to shy away from these twisted mockeries of ponydom. And whatever that thing on the left was.

“Not all of them. Not by a long shot. They’re just GOD’s recommendations.” Minerva reminded her. “The choices here are Human, Furred Race-Horse, and Centaur.”

“That’s a human?” Applejack said, suddenly wondering how Twilight had managed on the other side of the mirror.

“MORE THAN THAT, THAT’S WHAT YOUR COUNTERPART FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR LOOKS LIKE.” came the voice of The Gestalt, both pride and amusement unmissable. Applejack could only shudder at that.

“So, what else is there?” she asked.

“Humans start with a lower Perception stat than the other two, because their senses tend to be weaker. Especially their olfactory sense. Smell, that is.”

“Ah know.” “Thanks, Twilight.” Applejack thought to herself.

“Their eyesight actually tends to be slightly better than the other two, though. But not by much. They also have a bit less Strength and Endurance, but better Dexterity, thanks to their smaller, more slender fingers.”

“Fingers?”

“Those digits at the end of their arms.”

“Oh.”

“And don’t worry about learning to use them. You’ll automatically be able to do that, with your exact level of skill being determined by your Dexterity stat.” Minerva explained, before Applejack could even ask. “Humans are a jack-of-all-stats, who don’t start with any special skills or affinities. And while they represent the majority of people in the world, it is only by the thinnest of margins.”

“Ah don’t really think I wanna be a human. What about the other two?”

“Well, the Furred Race-Horse, starts with the best Perception score of the three, while Centaurs have a small edge in Endurance and Strength.”

“Now, wait a moment. I thought horses weren’t sapient?” Applejack asked.

“They’re not. The Furred Races are anthropomorphic sapients. Their bodies are a blending of man and animal. They come in all sorts of varieties. Just about any mammal you can think of. Or marsupial.” Minerva added as an afterthought.

“So why is it a horse, and not a pony?”

“Because ponies are just small horses, GOD saw no need to make them a separate option when you can just adjust your height to the minimum to have the same effect.” Minerva explained. “Just so you know, that would leave you a little under five feet tall, when most humans average between five and a half and six feet tall, depending on their gender.”

“Huh. I’m pretty used to being on the bigger side of average for a mare.”

“Centaurs are pretty big. They rarely grow to be shorter than seven feet.”

“No. A couple moons ago, before Tirek’s rampage, Ah mighta considered it, but now centaurs are a no go. What other options are there?”

“Well, besides ordinary horses, there are also unicorns and pegasi.” Minerva said. “Unicorns start with a better Intelligence stat and all the basic attack spells, while pegasi start with higher Perception and Agility stats.”

“And those are both, uh, furred races, you called them?”

“That’s right. The Furred Races are one of the three categories of sapients in this world. Another category is Humanoids, which includes humans, of course, as well as elves, fairies, dwarves, gnomes, and a few others.” As Minerva lists the various races, images of them appear around Applejack, though she pretty quickly loses track of which is which.

“The third category of sapients is the Manimals.”

“Manimals?” Applejack asked flatly, arching an eyebrow at Minerva.

“GOD thought that whimsical names would make this more fun.” she explained, almost apologetically.

“Whimsical is one word for it.” Applejack thought. “So what are these…Manimals?”

“Creatures that are half man and half animal, like centaurs, lamias, arachnes, harpies, and several others. Well, half-humanoid, technically.” Applejack couldn’t help shuddering at some of the creatures that appeared around her.

“If those are my choices, Ah guess the horse is my best choice.”

“It is a pretty good choice.” Minerva agreed. “Especially since I forgot to mention its starting Skills. Transformation: Humanoid, Transformation: Anthro, and Transformation: Horse. They’re only level one, so you can only use them once a day, but they’ll level up quickly.”

“Why would Ah want to turn into a human?”

“The global population is a mostly even mix of races, but that’s only when taken as a whole. There are many villages that only have a couple different races living there. If they’re not used to seeing non-humanoids, the people living there will be suspicious of you. And while the good ones will try not to let that effect how they treat you, the unscrupulous ones will use that as an excuse to try taking advantage of you. Looking humanoid will help you blend in in some places.” Minerva explained. “Your humanoid form has some other advantages, too. Like a +2 Dexterity bonus. And it’s completely infertile, so you don’t have to worry about pregnancy.”

“Pregnancy?” Applejack blurted out, before sighing. “This is one of those games, ain’t it?”

“YES. YES IT IS.” came the voice of The Gestalt. Applejack had already decided not to refer to it as a god, and this only strengthened her resolve. “I FIND SEX VERY INTERESTING, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NEITHER THE NEED NOR THE ABILITY TO EXPERIENCE IT MYSELF. I ALSO FIND IT AMUSING, THE LENGTHS SOME LIFEFORMS WILL GO TO, JUST TO EXPERIENCE IT, THEMSELVES.”

Most Equestrians were fairly casual about the topic of sex, and Applejack was neither a virgin nor a prude, but she did think too many ponies put far too much importance in it. She still remembered the time Rainbow brought an adult-oriented board game to a sleepover at the library. As a joke, she’d said. But after a few drinks, they’d gone ahead and played it.

And the next time, Pinkie brought an outright pornographic tabletop RPG. With painted models—very detailed ones—and a fully-developed campaign. They’d played that, too. For all of ten minutes, before the chimera started displaying three dicks to try and seduce them. Then everypony except Pinkie had decided that that was enough.1

“THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW.” The Gestalt continued. “HORSES ARE NOT EARH PONIES. SO YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PERFORM ANY OF YOUR MAGIC. NOT YOUR UNGULOTURGY, YOUR CAPILLATURGY, YOUR GEOTURGY, OR YOUR BOTANURGY2. AND YOUR STRENGTH AND STAMINA ARE DETERMINED BY YOUR STATS. WHILE YOU CAN BOOST THEM WITH MAGIC, THOSE ARE SPELLS YOU HAVE TO LEARN, NOT INHERENT ABILITIES.”

“Well, that’s just great.” Applejack muttered, as the mini-divinity’s eyes stopped glowing. “So is there anything else Ah should know about my human form?”

“AS A MATTER OF FACT, YES. YOUR NEW BODY, BOTH ANTHRO AND HUMANOID FORMS, WILL REQUIRE MEAT REGULARLY AS PART OF ITS DIET. BUT SINCE THE BODY INFORMS THE SPIRIT, AS MUCH AS THE OTHER WAY AROUND, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ENJOY THE TASTE.”

“Meat? Ugh.” Applejack shuddered. While ponies were perfectly capable of eating small amounts of meat without harm, most preferred to get their proteins from eggs, nuts and dairy products. At least in Equestria. In desert areas, like Saddle Arabia, it was rumored that meat was a regular part of many meals, to make up for the lack of greens. “Anything else?” Applejack asked nervously.

“No, but your horse-form does have a +3 Strength bonus, and a +5 Endurance bonus, at the cost of not being able to fight with any weapons or use most spells. It can cast some magic, though, and it has no trouble outrunning most things that would want to attack you, though.” Minerva answered. Apparently, The Gestalt had left again.

“Ah can fight just fine with Bucky and Kicks, so that ain’t a problem, either way.” Applejack said confidently, stamping her hindlegs one at a time.

“Then let’s move to the next step!” Minerva said happily. “Choosing your gender and sex!”

“What.” was Applejack’s flat response.

“Gender is how masculine or feminine you consider yourself to be.” Minerva explained, misunderstanding Applejack’s reaction. “Its primary effect is what pronouns people use for you, but there are many places that are only accessible to a specific gender. There are ways to change this later though, if you want to. Your sex just determines what kind of genitals you have.”

“Ah don’t see that happening. Ah was born female, and Ah’ve never had any interest in changing that.”

“OH, REALLY?” The Gestalt said, talking through the mini-divinity again. “ARE YOU SAYING—ARE YOU, APPLEJACK, THE BEARER OF THE ELEMENT OF HONESTY—REALLY SAYING THAT YOU’VE NEVER WANTED TO TRY BEING A STALLION?”

“So Ah get a little jealous of Macintosh’s strength and stamina sometimes, especially when we got a big crop to harvest, but that ain’t the same as wanting to be a stallion.”

“THAT’S CERTAINLY TRUE, BUT IS THAT ALL IT EVER WAS? JUST A LITTLE JEALOUSY?”

“Alright, Ah’ll admit to being curious how the other half lives, once or twice. Most ponies have wondered that.” There was actually a little more to it than that, but admitting that was about the last thing Applejack wanted to admit right now.

“AND THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO FIND OUT.” The Gestalt tempted.

“Ah’m not that curious.” she said firmly.

“OH WELL.” The Gestalt gave in, with the impression of a careless shrug. “MAYBE LATER, THEN. WHEN YOU KNOW HOW TO CHANGE IT, SO YOU CAN TRY IT OUT FOR EXACLY AS LONG AS YOU WANT.”

That was a surprisingly reasonable suggestion. And tempting. More tempting than Applejack wanted to admit.

“JUST REMEMBER, GENDER IS MOSTLY A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO HAVE ANYTHING DO WITH YOUR PHYSICAL FEATURES. SO YOU CAN EXPERIENCE SOME OF THE JOYS OF QUOTE-UNQUOTE STALLIONHOOD, WITHOUT BEING MALE.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Applejack asked, but again, The Gestalt vanished without answering.

“Now it’s time to choose your sex!” Minerva chirped, retaking control of her body.

“Oh. That’s what.” Applejack muttered, before looking at the image before her. “So how’s this work?”

“It’s easy. You just choose the parts you want on this menu and use the slider bars to decide their size.”

Looking at the menu, Applejack saw that breasts and pussy were already selected. “No numbers?” she asked, noticing that the line for breast size was marked with adjectives, instead. Ranging from ‘Mosquito-Bite’ on the far left, through ‘Tiny,’ ‘Small,’ ‘Average,’ ‘Healthy,’ ‘Big,’ ‘Huge,’ ‘Giant,’ and finally, ‘Monstrous’ on the far right

“Nope. Sizes are proportional to your body. And since you haven’t set your height yet…” Minerva explained. Applejack hummed an acknowledgement, then fiddled with the bar for a bit, before settling on ‘Healthy.’ Then, after a moment of awkwardly shuffling her hooves, she gave into the temptation, and touched the button labeled ‘Cock.’

A quick glance at Minerva revealed that the mini-divinity was just floating there patiently, not saying anything, or otherwise reacting. Applejack wasn’t sure if that made her feel better.

After a little fiddling with the new bar—which was identical to the breast one, except the smallest setting, which was labelled ‘Micro’—Applejack decided on ‘Healthy.’ She seriously considered going with ‘Big,’ but she ultimately decided that might be a little unwieldy.

“So why is a scrotum optional?” she asked, looking at the list. “Ain’t that kinda necessary for the cock to work?”

“It’s not whether or not you’ve got balls, but whether they’re internal or external.”

“Oh.”

Applejack was conflicted. The first colt3 she’d been with had really enjoyed having his balls played with, which made her curious about how it felt. But she had some good reasons to want them kept internal, too. Recognizing the dilemma after a long moment, Minerva spoke up.

”There are a few places in the world where you can have your body modified, mostly in the biggest settlements.” she said. “So your decisions here aren’t completely permanent.”

“In that case, Ah’ll leave them inside for now.” Applejack immediately decided. “If this is supposed to be like O&O, then am Ah right in guessing there’s gonna be a fair bit of fighting?”

“That’s right.”

“Ah’ve seen a few stallions laid low by an unlucky hit to the family jewels, and Ah’d rather not have such an obvious weakness.”

“I can’t fault that logic.” Minerva agreed. “And now it’s time to determine the rest of your appearance.”

A minute later, Applejack was looking at a life-size model of her soon-to-be body.

“GOD based this body on your pony body, making it roughly equivalent.” Minerva said. “It has plenty of muscle definition, fitting a woman who puts in a hard day’s work more often than not. And that will be very attractive to most people. Especially those abs. Not washboard, but definitely more than a hint of a six-pack. But there’s still plenty of feminine softness to go around. And a pretty face to go with it. Not to mention that silky smooth, long hair. You’re pretty much the whole package as is, but if there’s anything you want to change, you can. That includes eye color, hair color, hairstyle, or anything else. You can even change your muscle definition, since your Strength Stat is independent of your appearance.”

“Everything looks pretty good, Ah guess. Ah don’t really know enough about this body to know what’s attractive and what ain’t.” Applejack said slowly.

“In that case, you just need to pick your height, and then there’s only one more step before you start.

After a minute of thought, Applejack chose her height as above average, which for a Furred Race-Horse, put her at six-foot-two. Then it was on to the final step.

Class selection.

“There are several options here, but you really don’t need to worry about it too much.” Minerva told Applejack, as more than half a dozen images appeared around her. “There are shrines in just about every settlement bigger than a campsite, and even in many dungeons where you can change to any of the seven basic Classes at will. Or any of the many other Classes that you’ll unlock as you increase your stats, and learn and improve skills.

“Heh. This game sure is a lot more obliging than Ogres and Oubliettes.” Applejack chuckled, looking at the options. “What’s all that writing about?”

“Every Class has bonuses. Mostly to Stats and Skills, but some have equipment or item bonuses, as well. Or other things, like the Ranger and the Tamer classes. Most Classes also have some requirements. Again, these can be Stats, Skills, equipment, items, or other things. A few Classes will also have penalties, so keep that in mind for later.”

Applejack looked around her, counting the panels. Each one came into sharp clarity as her attention focused on it, then faded into blurriness when it moved away. “There’s a Thief Class?” she asked disapprovingly.

“The name is mostly a game convention.” Minerva admitted. “But it’s a very useful and versatile Class. Just look at its information.” she added, when Applejack gave her a skeptical look, and the orange mare did.

Thief
Small blade users, who sometimes prefer to be thought of as Expert Treasure Hunters.
Requirements: None
Stat Bonuses: +2 Dexterity, +2 Perception
Skill Bonuses: +1 Unlock (Spell), +3 Dagger (+10% growth), +3 Short Sword (+10% growth), + 3 Sneaking (+10% Growth), +5 Lockpicking (+20% growth), +3 Pilfering (+20% growth), +3 Pickpocketing (+20% growth)
Equipment Bonuses: One basic dagger or short sword (If none in possession)

“How are any of those skills useful for anyone who’s not a criminal?” Applejack asked.

“There are hundreds of dungeons in the world, and every one of them has dozens of locked doors and locked chests, some of which are immune to or locked with magic. So Lockpicking and the Unlock Spell are both all but indispensable if you’re going delving. Minerva answered. “And nearly every enemy you might fight will have an item of some kind that you can steal off of them, with the Pilfer skill.

“How does that work?”

“Magic.”

“You can’t just say magic and leave it at that. Ah’ve been friends with Twilight long enough to know that’s not how magic works.” Applejack protested.

“DIFFERENT WORLD, DIFFERENT MAGIC, DIFFERENT RULES.” The Gestalt pointed out. Before conceding that, “ALTHOUGH, ‘GAME LOGIC’ MIGHT BE A BETTER WAY TO PUT IT. EITHER WAY, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE, NECESSARILY. IT JUST HAS TO BE CONSISTENT.” Then the glow in Minerva’s eyes disappeared, The Gestalt having said Its piece.

“Ah thought you said that didn’t happen often?” Applejack asked.

“Not normally. But then, these aren’t normal circumstances, either.” Minerva pointed out with a shrug.

Applejack could only nod in agreement, before looking at the Thief’s information panel again. “Okay, Ah’ll admit that some of those skills are more useful than Ah thought, but what about Pickpocketing?”

“It’s like Pilfer, but used against other people. Minerva admitted. “But that’s not always illegal. It can be useful if you’re in combat with someone else. A bandit, for instance. It allows you to take items from them, like healing potions, so that you can use them. Or just stop your opponent from using them. And that’s pretty situational, I admit, but it can be used in other ways, too.

“Like?”

“Like you can join various guilds or organizations, such as a city guard, to get Jobs. Which may involve finding and reclaiming stolen property. Pickpocketing can be used to get the stolen goods back, potentially without having to fight the criminal who stole it. After all, if there’s a gang involved, a fight might well be more trouble than it’s worth. Or you could pickpocket a key to the person’s or gang’s hideout. And there’s also espionage—"

“Ah wouldn’t touch that with a ten-length pole.” Applejack interrupted. “It’s way too dishonest and way more trouble than it’s worth. But Ah can understand how it might not be a bad thing, to be a Thief. Ah still don’t want to be one, though.”

“There are still eight other classes to choose from.”

“Didn’t you say there were only seven basic Classes?”

“There are seven basic classes. The Fighter, which can use any weapon, and has Strength and Endurance bonuses. The Brawler, which specializes in hand-to-hand—also referred to as pankration4—using weapons like knuckles, gloves, and gauntlets to boost their damage, and has Endurance and Agility bonuses. The Support Mage, which specializes in Restorative, Enhancement, and Debilitative magics, as well as daggers and wands, with bonuses to Intelligence, Willpower, and a lesser one to MP. The Combat Mage, which obviously specializes in direct attack magics, as well as daggers and staves, with MP and Intelligence bonuses, and a lesser one to Willpower. The Warrior Mage, which can use many different kinds of magic, without specializing in any of them, with small bonuses in Strength, Intelligence and MP, and some skill with wands, staves, daggers, short swords, and long swords, but not as much as other Classes. The Thief, which specializes in daggers and short swords, and sporting bonuses in Perception and Dexterity. And the last of the seven basic Classes is the Ordinary Citizen, which has no stat bonuses or equipment affinities, but does start with a better Life Magic skill.” Minerva explained.5

“Life magic? You mean like, resurrection magic?” Applejack had to ask.

“No. That would be either Necroturgy6 or very high level Restorative Magic, depending on the exact circumstances. Life magic is just magic used in daily life. With spells like Clean, Scan, Purify Water, and a few others. All classes start with at least level 1 in it.”

“Well, that’s…convenient.” Applejack mused. “So what about the other two Classes?”

“The Ranger and Tamer normally have some minor requirements, but GOD is willing to forgo them this once, to let you start with a little boost. They’re currently listed under Special Bonuses. If you don’t choose them now though, you will have to meet the requirements before you can choose them later.”

Applejack looked more closely at the panels for the two bonus Classes and read them.

Ranger
Dexterous hunters who are good with bows and crossbows.
Requirements: 10 Dexterity, 6 Agility, 6 Strength, Lv. 5 Bow or Crossbow (CURRENTLY DEFERRED)
Stat Bonuses: +5 Dexterity, +3 Agility, +3 Strength
Skill Bonuses: +5 Bow (+10% growth), +5 Crossbow (+10% growth), +1 Fletching (+10% growth)
Equipment Bonuses: One basic bow or crossbow (If none in possession)
Special Bonuses: One Pet-Critter or Beastie

Tamer
People who live and fight alongside the wild creatures of the world.
Requirements: 8 Charisma, 8 Willpower (CURRENTLY DEFERRED)
Stat Bonuses: +4 Charisma, +4 Willpower
Skill Bonuses: +1 Summon Critter (Spell), +1 Summon Beastie (Spell), +1 Summoning Magic (+10% growth), +1 Taming (+25% growth)
Equipment Bonuses: None
Special Bonuses: One Pet-Critter or Beastie, One Steed-Critter or Beastie

“Critter or Beastie?” Applejack asked, turning to face Minerva.

“More of GOD’s whimsical naming. Critters are natural animals. Dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, frogs, cattle, rabbits, squirrels, and others like that.” Minerva answered. “Beasties, on the other hand, are magical, non-sapient creatures. Slimes, wyverns, drakes, terror birds, and whatnot. Basically, anything else you might meet in the wild that is unable to communicate with you. Of course, just because something is able to communicate doesn’t necessarily mean they’re willing to, but attacking one of them unprovoked is still a crime.”

“And how do Ah tell them apart?” Applejack asked.

“That’s what I’m here for.” Minerva reminded her, turning into her Nightmare form again. “You just have to think about attacking them, and if they’re not inherently hostile, I will warn you. Unless they attack you first, of course, and then it’s a moot point, since then it becomes self-defense.”

“Right. That should go without saying.”

“Should, but you never know.” Nightmare Minerva said, before turning back into her regular form and asking, “So, have you decided yet?”

“Ah think so.” Applejack said. “Brawler sounds kinda interesting, but Ah think Ah’d like to wait a little while before picking any sort of specialization, so Ah’ll go with Ordinary Citizen.”

Ordinary Citizen
Your Average Joe (or Jane) on the street.
Requirements: None
Stat Bonuses: None
Skill Bonuses: +1 one random, short-range weapon, +1 one random, long-range weapon, +1 one more random weapon, +1 Scan (Spell), +1 Clean (Spell), +1 Purify Water (Spell), Life Magic +5, +1 one random crafting skill.
Equipment Bonuses: One basic weapon from every Bonus Skill (And 50 ammunition for long range weapons), three changes of clothes, one basic shield, and one leather jerkin. (If none in possession)

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Minerva said brightly. “As long as you’re sure? Then let’s get started!” she cheered, when Applejack nodded. And again, everything went dark, and Applejack felt herself spinning. But this time, she also felt herself changing. Stretching and twisting.

Applejack barely had time to wonder if this was what Twilight felt like, when she went through the mirror, and to hope it wasn’t, before she lost consciousness.

Author's Note

1. Especially Rarity, who’d just lost the roll to resist the effect.

2. Ungulaturgy, capillaturgy, geoturgy, and botanurgy are hoof magic, hair magic (mane/tail, specifically), control over earth and stone, and plant-related magic, respectively.

3. They’d both been 17, but that wasn’t really old enough to be called a stallion, especially in this colt’s case.

4. Pankration . Short version: Ancient Greek MMA

5. Yes, I based these classes on the classic FF 1 classes, with a few adjustments to better fit the setting. Especially the names. I also modified the white mage for better balance. Now a strong one can be as much a force unto themselves as a black mage.

6. Technically, anything that ends in ‘mancy’ has to do with divination. Seeing the future, in other words. If it has to do with magic, the proper suffix is (t)urgy. So this is what most people think of as necromancy. And sorry for going Mudbriar on you.