An Earthling Earth Pony at Celestia's School of Magic: Year One

We headed towards the castle. Inkwell was the ideal professor to go to, but she would have gone home for the day at this point, and while we knew she lived somewhere in town, we didn’t know exactly where. There was one professor we knew exactly where they lived, well, more than one, but one that we knew where they lived out of the ones who lived in town. We knew Professor Newman lived in Canterlot Castle. She might not know how to help me, but she’d know how to find Inkwell. Inkwell might have gone to her to find whoever it was that was supposed to know something. Maybe she had already done that and could direct us to whoever that was. I needed answers and intended to get them.

“Can you describe what you saw a little more?” Hannah asked as we walked down the streets. “Was it just a filly? Was there anything else?”

“Um…she had a doll and was singing Teddybear’s Picnic,” I answered.

“Any other details?” Hannah prompted. “You were focused on her for a long time. You must remember more details. It could be important.”

I did my best. “The doll was human, it was really old. The cloak was brown and plain—it was dirty. I’m pretty sure she’s younger than us. I couldn’t see her face. She was turned away from us. I don’t know what tribe she is. There was a smell…a really horrible smell. None of the foals were reacting to her being there.”

“Well, we already knew you are the only one who sees these things,” Summer said. “That’s not saying these things aren’t real. Just saying…I don’t know what I’m saying.”

“It tweren’t just seein’ things though; it was also hearin’ and smellin’,” Bright said. “Ya almost got ta see if touch worked.”

“My fur was standing on end and I felt a chill when I saw her, both times,” I said. “I didn’t feel all that with the hallway.”

“Well, she sounds kind of creepy, so that’s not a shock,” Hannah said.

It was late, so the line to get into the castle was non-existent, but the guards were still at the gate.

“Kind of late. Evening library study?” one of the guards asked as we approached

I shook my head. “We need to see Charlotte Newman.”

The guard stood up. “Our resident human? I was told she taught over at your school. She rarely has guests, and typically leaves notice with us if she is expecting any. Is she expecting you?”

I shook my head. “No, but this is very important. Can you let us in?”

He frowned. “I can’t just let a bunch of unexpected foals into the guest quarters. The library is one thing, but those quarters are living space. Think about if it was your home and the ponies who were supposed to be watching it just let random ponies come in. I’m sure you’ll understand.”

“Can’t ya send her a message sayin’ we need ta talk ta her?” Bright asked.

The guards looked st each other and the one that was speaking to us sighed. “Names?”

“Turnip Jones, Hannah Moonbow, Summer Blaze, and Bright Pear,” I answered.

He jotted some notes down. “Reason for visit?”

“I have a magic problem that is causing me a lot of distress and I need help,” I answered.

He raised an eyebrow st me. “If this is something to do with your schoolwork-”

I shook my head. “A problem with my magic, not schoolwork. I’m seeing things and it has something to do with my magic.”

He blinked. “The human might not be the one to go to then.” He looked to one of the other guards. “Go ahead and get the dragonfire. Weird magic problem inflicting a foal sounds like something she’d want to deal with.”

“You’re messaging Princess Celestia?” Hannah asked in shock.

The guard was now in the process of writing a note. “No, it’s getting late, shift is changing. We are sending you to Princess Luna. She is getting ready to set up the night court and she’ll hear your petition for aid. She tends to deal with more of these kinds of requests compared to Princess Celestia anyway. Celestia tends to deal with issues involving financial aid or government policy and so on; Luna deals more with monsters, maladies, and other stuff that needs more direct and immediate attention without all the bureaucracy.”

“Ya think it is worth getting’ a princess involved?” Bright asked.

The guard shrugged as he finished the note and tossed it in the dragonfire. “It sounds like some type of magical malady. I’m not sure how serious it is or not, since I’m no expert, but Luna would have our ears if a foal came seeking help with a magical malady and we didn’t send them on to her. She doesn’t get as many petitioners as Celestia does, so you aren’t taking away from anypony’s time. Some nights she doesn’t get anypony….which I guess is s good thing, since that means less ponies are having immediate trouble. She doesn’t even bother showing up to court half the time unless we message her that there is a petitioner. Most petitioners come on behalf of villages needing financial or legal aid or about some law or tax policy—that’s all Celestia’s domain.”

“Don’t let it bother you if she seems happy you have some malady,” one of the other guards said. “She gets bored, so she likes it when somepony needs her assistance with some problem.”

I guess everybody wanted to feel needed, including alicorn princesses. Didn’t Professor Sweetie Belle say that Princess Luna might not be available outside of class when substituting because she was busy? She didn’t sound that busy.

We sat for about a minute before a scroll suddenly appeared in the air and dropped in front of the guard. He unfurled it, silently read it, and then rerolled it up.

“You have been admitted to night court,” he said. “Go straight in. The court is held at the main throne room—big double doors if you keep going straight. There are also signs, so you can’t miss it. Don’t go wandering off anywhere else; the guards on duty know that you are petitioners, and will detain you if you go anywhere but night court.”

Bright raised a hoof. “What if we have to go to the lit’ colts room?”

The guard’s brow narrowed. “Hold it, and fon’t let it out while you are in the throne room.”

“But what if ah really need ta go?” Bright persisted.

The guard pointed to some bushes off to the side. “I suggest you go now. Watch your step, that’s where I go, and I have a bigger bladder than you.”

“Eeww,” Hannah said.

“What? Better than going in the street,” the guard said. You don’t know how many petitioners I’ve seen just take a dump while in line. Then we have to go through the whole hassle of getting somepony out here so nopony steps in It. Just go in the bushes.”

Okay, not the way I expected the seat of government to operate.

“Bright, do you actually need to go to the bathroom?” I asked.

“Naw, just wonderin’ is all,” Bright replied.

“Um, I might,” Summer said in a whimper.

The guard pointed at the bushes again. “Watch your step.”

We finally made it to the throne room after waiting several minutes for Summer while she de-leafed the bush in her quest to clean herself up. The throne room was big, with a long red carpet that ran straight to a raised dais where a pair of thrones sat—the only seats in the place. There were a pair of guards at the base if the steps before the throne and a pair just inside the door—there’d been a pair just outside as well, all bearing purple and black armor with the lunar crest. Princess Luna sat on one of the thrones looking regally down at us.

“You may approach the throne sjd present your petition to Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, Mistress of the Moon, Duchess of Western Hoofland, Countess of Mareport, seventh-in-line of succession for the Saddle Arabian throne, Governess of the Night Ponies, High General of the Lunar Guard, Patron of Foals, and Dreamwarden—fourth to hold the title.”

I had no idea what many of those titles meant, as I had no idea where Western Hoofland, Mareport, or Saddle Arabia were or whether they were significant places or not. Did Governess mean like the political official Governor or did it mean caretaker? Why did Night and Moon need separate titles? I could guess what High General of the Lunar Guard meant easily enough—exactly what it said it was, and Dreamwarden must be a title related to her dream related duties—which made me wonder who the previous three had been and whether that title predated Equestria itself.

Luna rose and looked at the guard “You reduced the number of title, courtier. Thank you for that. However, could you please try to shorten the list a little bit more.”

The guard looked at her In shock. “More, your highness?!”

She nodded. “Yes. We can think of at least four of those titles that could be abstained from, and one that could stand to be shortened.”

“But I’ve already shortened it so much,” the guard said, sounding horrified.

Luna smiled. “And while we appreciate your valiant efforts to reduce it from ithe previous five minute oration—very much so, we feel just a tiny bit more can be done.”

He used to list titles off for five minutes?! How?!

His ears sagged. “As you wish, your highness.”

She nodded and looked at us. “Sorry for the delay in addressing you. Our courtier is newer to his position, and has great enthusiasm and dedication that makes us proud, but we are still smoothing out a few wrinkles when it comes to formalities.”

“You’re supposed to have bowed,” the courtier guard whispered loudly to us.

“Only one of these ponies is our subject, and we wouldn’t want to put Bright Pear in such an awkward position in front of his classmates or have any of them lower their head to a foreign power. The lack of bowing is forgiven,” Luna said.

“Sorry, your highness,” the guard quickly said, looking embarrassed.

I looked at Summer and she gave me a puzzled look.

“She’s right. The kirin tribe isn’t formally part of Equestria. Didn’t you know that?” Summer informed me.

I shook my head. My knowledge of these details was kinda thin. I was actually more interested in the fact Luna seemed to know all our names and recognize us on sight. Yes, she had seen us that one time we visited Psychic Calm, but I was still surprised she recalled us so easily, and seemed to know both Hannah and I were from Earth.

“Turnip Jones, we believe it is you who had reason to speak with us concerning things you have been seeing. May we ask what prompted the decision to seek our aid today? Has their been a significant incident?” Luna asked. “We are aware of the hallway incident and the incident regarding seeing…a certain individual that we prefer not to discuss. Has there been yet another?”

I gaped at her. “You knew?! How did you know?”

“Raven Inkwell,” Luna answered. “She went to Charlotte Newman for help, and Charlotte Newman got Raven an audience with me. Poor Raven is always so over-concerned with not being a burden on us that she sometimes fails to realize how eager we are to help. Charlotte Newman is more practical, and not afraid to ask for our aid.”

“But you know what this is that I’ve been experiencing?” I asked, brimming with hope.

“We have a strong suspicion,” Luna clarified. “We’re actually awaiting two guests to help shed some light on the subject. First, please, answer the question. What prompted tonight’s visit?”

“I saw the filly again,” I answered. “We were at the park, and I spotted her on the playground. She was singing and dancing with a doll. I kept my eyes on her and almost got close enough to touch her, but a colt ran into me and made me lose sight of her for a second, and she vanished in that second.”

Luna frowned. “We see. We advise you not to attempt to touch anything you have a vision of in the future. It may be harmless, or it may not. However, we do know that visions are meant to be seen and heard, not touched. We don’t even know the ramifications of what may have happened if you had managed this feat, but we expect it would have ended with a far more distressing outcome.”

“Is that there filly that Turnip keeps seein’ dangerous?” Bright asked.

Luna pressed her lips together, seeming to think about this before answering. “Not in and of herself, but she represents dark magics that have long been banned from Equestria—for good reason. It is troubling that Turnip is seeing her. We know her whereabouts, and we were already planning on making a trip to check her status after we learned of the first vision. We will not give further details of her, some things should not be spoken of aloud.”

“What about the hallway I saw before? Is that where she is?” I asked.

Luna shook her head. “The hallway, as it was described to us, was a place we were unfamiliar, and not the location of the filly. We had to consult another to determine where this hallway may be, and it was confirmed it was at a location a great distance from where that filly is located. We advise not trying to interact with that hallway if you ever see it again. It is a very dangerous place. Trying to interact with a vision can have devastating consequences to you. What was not truly there can impact you over great time and distance if you do. It is better to observe and take note of all you see and hear, for these things have meaning, even if the meaning eludes us at this time, but never interact.”

The double doors opened behind us and Professor Newman and an unfamiliar pegasus mare stepped in before the guards closed the doors behind them The pegasus mare looked around the throne room with curiosity.

Luna smiled. “Charlotte Newman and Sunflower Smiles, thank you for coming as we requested. Sunflower, I hope the summons were not too distressing for you?”

The pegasus shook her head. “Confusing but not distressing. I’m more than willing to help a foal in need, but I’m not sure what need you have for me.”

Luna pointed at me. “This is Turnip Jones, also from Earth, one of the students at our magic school, and he may also share a certain gift that you and I both possess.”

Sunflower’s ears flattened. “Oh dear, I’m very sorry to hear that. It isn’t as bad as my variation of it, I hope.”

Luna gave her a look filled with concern and sympathy. “You haven’t been caught in any recent situations where you didn’t have drawing supplies at the ready, have you?”

Sunflower held up a leg where there was a band that had several colored pencils strapped into it. “Don’t worry. I never go anywhere without it. It’s been a while since I was in a situation like that.” She held up her leg for examination, rotating it slightly to give Luna a full look. “See? No injuries. I haven’t taken any bites out of it in a long time. No drawing in blood.”

My ears flattened and Sunflower noticed. “That’s a really rare thing, and I’m the only one who does stuff like that. I don’t know your situation, since this power seems to manifest differently for everyone, but I’m sure you don’t have to worry about that. Sorry if I scared you. I have to draw when my experiences happen, it overwhelms everything else, and if I don’t have anything to draw with…well…my subconscious mind apparently thinks my blood makes good enough paint.”

Luna nodded. “I had never heard of it manifesting in such a way before you. I’m glad you have found a way to be ready for whenever it unexpectedly happens. You aren’t one of our ponies, but we…I…wish nopony to have to suffer from their gifts.”

Sunflower shrugged. “It isn’t so bad, especially now that I always have art supplies at the ready. It is a little scary for those around me, especially if they don’t know about it beforehand, but I’ve gotten to see and go so many places because of the things I have drawn. I'm living my dream."

Newman stepped forward and looked up at Luna. “Next year’s games are in Skytree. The year after that they are at Wabash Manor.”

Okay, that seemed an odd bit of information to throw into that conversation.

Luna frowned at the news. “I see. That does provide some context.”

Sunflower’s ears perked. “Something happening at Skytree and Wabash Manor?”

Newman nodded. “Turnip’s visions seem to indicate as much. Things are moving towards their final conclusion and the powers that be are eagerly making their final nudges. That Skytree and Wabash would be involved is a shock to no one, making such visions redundant information, as such visions tend to be. Still, this is no business of foals. With your permission, Luna, I think by observing you, Sunflower, and young Mister Jones that I can devise a way to temporarily block him from having further episodes. You’d have to be the one to implement this method, but I think I can design it, now that I have three such subjects to observe.”

Sunflower laid her ears back. “You knew a way to block me from having my episodes and you never said anything?! Do you know how many times I had to walk around with my hoof bandaged because I got caught with no art supplies?!”

Newman looked down at her. “Three, that I know of, but you can correct me if it was more. However, I did not know a way at the time, but now that I have three individuals in my presence with the ability I can observe you well enough to discover the nature of the magic and devise a countermeasure.”

Sunflower turned and gave her wings a little flap. “It was five times.”

“Thank you for letting me know. It was sloppy of me to have missed two,” Newman replied.

Luna licked her lips. “Your magical genius never ceases to make me proud, Charlotte, but I am not sure blocking these visions is an appropriate action to take. While the information provided so far from Turnip’s visions isn’t obviously useful, there is some possibility they add new layers to what we know. The fact he has had two such visions about…well, that one was never considered significant in and of themselves.”

“Visions of who?” Sunflower asked, looking at me.

“You aren’t familiar with them in that form, but you have encountered them in another,” Newman said. “One of the visions had the individual in question holding a very old doll and the other had the individual trying to catch a black butterfly. Does that ring any bells?”

Sunflower shivered. “Yeah…it’s impossible to forget that, unless you tried to block out the memory. It’s been a long time since I thought about that doll, and I remember the butterfly mark. Are they still in Skytree? I haven’t had word of them in years—not that I asked about them.”

“My information may be out of date, but I doubt they have left Skytree,” Newman said and looked to Luna for confirmation.

”I checked just recently. They are still there. Magic such as that, even if it is on Earth and not here, is something that I take extreme precautions about. It is forbidden for a reason,” Luna said. “Still, they have remained out of trouble, showing no signs of malice, and Earth is outside my dominion. My descendants keep a regular watch and would have said if there were any troubling developments. They’ve secured ownership of the appropriate wilderness outside the city and fenced it off—I believe the government there has marked it as an area to protect endangered species. Most foolish enough to violate the area are quickly dissuaded by the inhabitants.”

I thought back to the stories I had heard about the forests outside Skytree. They seemed like tall tales, but was there actually something to them?

“So…I l’m not just seeing things? I’m not crazy?” I asked.

Luna looked at me. “You are gifted with the ability to have visions. This can manifest in different ways, unique to the individual—my sister and I have them in dreams, while Sunflower Smiles goes into a trance-like state where she draws something. What you see can be from the past, the present, or possible future. It can take place anywhere. Often times what you see is cryptic, with no clear indication why it is important, but do not doubt these visions are important. The visions do not necessarily need to involve your past present or future, most times they do not, but merely be references to things that can significantly impact others.”

“They are overly cryptic and an unreliable source of information, easily misinterpreted,” Newman said dismissively. “They are a distraction from your studies. There is nothing we can learn from visions that a network of spies can’t keep us already abreast on.”

“Why so cynical about visions?” Sunflower asked.

Newman groaned. “Because they border on religious experience and give people the idea that God is talking to them, and that God has a special purpose for them. They go and misinterpret what they are seeing, misinterpret what their reaction to it should be, and then project their own wants and desires as God’s will. God doesn’t talk to people like they are prophets, people are judged by God for their actions, but he does not guide those actions—because if he did, he’d do a much better job of it all. An individual’s actions are always their own and can only they can take the blame for them.”

Sunflower raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t you think you are being a little reactionary to things that happened with you?”

Newman crossed her arms. “It was a lesson learned, and one I paid a heavy price to learn. I will never presume to speak the will of God again when all I do is project myself into it. I will never do such blasphemy again. When I am judged, I will not defile myself by falsely claiming I was doing God’s will instead of my own.”

“Do not worry,” Luna informed Sunflower. “Newman is still very functional and effective at what she does, having tremendous foresight gained through extreme caution and planning—though she can be bold when needed. It’s just that certain subjects seem to pull old hurts to the surface. We actually tried to convince her to be headmistress of the city’s magic school, but she flatly refused having a direct leadership role, although she made excuses about not being able to cast spells and various other things.”

Well, that was one of the multiple candidates who were ahead of Headmaster. I honestly wasn’t shocked.

“Maybe they were just excuses, but better that I be an effective tool in more capable hands than a leader who brings others to ruin,” Newman said. “As for the matter at hand—I believe it is up to Mister Jones if he wishes to have me devise some method of blocking his visions, although, if I do devise this, it would need to be a powerful being, such an alicorn, that would implement the spell. Interfering with the influence of Harmony or the Story is no small feat. Let the colt decide what he wants, and we can make it happen.”

I stepped backward as all eyes turned on me.

“This seems like a big decision. Do I have to decide right now?” I asked.

Luna looked at Newman, and Newman shrugged. “I can still get the information together. The additional time might allow me to come up with better solutions. I would like to find a way of storing the countermeasure in an artifact that can turn the ability on and off, but that would take me more time to figure out how to do, and it would require me to consult Neighsay on how we would best go about accomplishing it—he and I don’t have the warmest professional relationship. If I did that, that would also require me to broadcast young Mister Jones abilities to the rest of the faculty.”

“That might be advisable, considering he may have additional episodes that they may be witness to,” Luna said.

Newman nodded and seemed in thought. “I am also concerned with the timing of the first episode. What happened. That was right after Psychic Calm’s funeral. What trouble did Mister Jones get up to right before then?”

Newman knew about the truestone incident? Luna seemed to know too.

Luna frowned and seemed to consider as well. “That is a concern. We can’t rule out that triggered something. We know so little about the nature of those things.”

Sunflower looked between them in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Things you don’t need to know about,” Newman answered “But out of courtesy for your assistance, I will give you a very brief explanation. Mister Jones has been claimed by an object that your spouse has one of—a very special object from a very faraway place.”

Sunflower looked at me in shock. “You let a foal come in contact with one of those things?! Why would you do that?!”

“A mistake in judgment was made,” Newman answered. “He doesn’t have it. We are keeping it from him until he is properly ready for it.”

“These things are dangerous. My spouse once accidentally leveled an entire office building with theirs, and it really was a pure accident!” Sunflower protested. “They said that it was only using a tiny fraction of the power it was capable of during the test. We were lucky it was an abandoned building and not one with people in it, and you let a kid touch one of those things?!”

“A severe lapse in judgment, not mine, but one that happened and we now have to accept the consequences of,” Newman said calmly. “One of those consequences may be that it unlocked this ability with visions before the ability would have naturally come to light.When did your experiences begin, Sunflower?”

“I don’t know…sixteen, maybe fifteen years old,” Sunflower answered.

Newman nodded. “That’s in line with the other Storytellers and Seers I have researched .Mister Jones’s age is an outlier. He may have developed the ability on his own eventually, but the stone may have triggered an early development of it. I don’t believe a foal his age should be exposed to such things. It is traumatic for teens developing this ability; I can only imagine it is much worse for a preteen.”

Sunflower came up next to me and draped one of her wings over me. “Well, I’m going to be in town for a while—I’m not sure how long: weeks, months, permanent. Since I’m here, I can mentor him. I know how frightening the visions were for me when they first started, and how long it took me to find some level of peace with them. Mine might manifest differently, but the feeling…the aftermath is the same. There is no controlling them or when they happen, but you can control how much you let them impact your life.”

“If I can block them then that is a form of control,” Newman said.

Sunflower looked at her. “I’m not sure you can. I think you are trying to mess with things you don’t fully understand. You should know better than most of us the dangers of messing with forces you don’t understand.” She suddenly frowned. “You do know that.” She shook her head. “You didn’t need to manipulate me. Just ask for my help. Can you not help yourself or something? You have to manipulate people into doing what you want, even when they’d be willing to without the manipulation? Is it just that much in your nature that you have to do it?”

“I still want to examine you, Luna, and Mister Jones and try to determine a way of blocking it if possible, as a plan B,” Newman said, not denying she manipulated Sunflower into offering to mentor.

Luna sighed. “Charlotte Newman has her faults, but she is well-intentioned. Turnip, do you wish to let Sunflower Smiles to help mentor you? Nopony can teach you how to control your visions, that is beyond us, but she can teach you how to approach them so they don’t disrupt your life. I do think you being as young as you are and experiencing this is concerning, but I agree with Sunflower that you shouldn’t try to block them. They can be a force for good, if you don’t try to read too much into them. They are a tool, and a tool is only as good as the craftspony using it.”

I looked up at Sunflower. “I think I’d like to be mentored and try to work through this.”

Luna nodded. “Very well. Charlotte, you may still observe the three of us and determine what you can by observing the thaumic flows around us, but treat it as simply research to expand knowledge.”

Newman gave a half bow. “As you wish, Luna. Although, I may still pursue a method of blocking it. You are aware one of our enemies possesses this ability as well. My sources tell me Soothsayer still to this day helps develop the enemy’s plans. I would be very keen on blinding them of her vision.”

Sunflower’s ears sagged. “I remember her. She’s still around?”

“She’s still around,” Newman confirmed.

“And a subject that we shouldn’t be discussing in the company of foals,” Luna quickly intervened.

Sunflower gave me a pat on the back. “You all should hurry back to your dorm. I won’t be starting with you tonight, but I will soon. Your professor will let me know how to find you.”

Newman stepped forward. “Not heading to the dorms yet. I still have observations to do. Don’t worry; I won’t take long.”

“Should we be hanging around for this?” Hannah asked.

“Stay,” Newman instructed. “Turnip should not be walking to the dorks after dark by himself.”

She’d never been concerned about students walking back and forth from the dorms to the castle before. Why the change?

Summer stepped forward. “Princess, why do you say that filly represents dark magic? Is she going to hurt Turnip if he touches her? He tried to touch her today.”

Luna looked back and forth at her guards. “Guards, I am about to discuss a forbidden subject. This knowledge is not to be discussed with anypony. Do you understand?”