Luna sighed and looked at us again. “I have met her. She is not cruel or intent on causing anypony harm. Quite the opposite, she only desires to play and have companionship from foals she perceives to be her age. However, what you see as a little filly is actually older than any of you; in some interpretations she is much older than even me, even if the body is not, a being from the infancy of your universe. She is a construct created from the dead, a product of the forbidden art of necromancy. She is also a foal, an eternal one, incapable of aging, and with very limited ability to emotionally and intellectually develop beyond the age you see her. This means she can hurt you not out of intent, but out of ignorance.”

“That there filly that Turnip’s been a seein’ is a zombie?!” Bright asked in shock. Summer whimpered and cowered down.

“That isn’t quite the right word. A zombie is a single reanimated corpse that is mindless. This filly is made of the parts of many, and she is fully sentient,” Luna explained, as if considering what to call her instead. “Please understand, this is not a creature intent on devouring you. It is a creature that wants friends and to play. A perfectly normal set of desires for a foal, but problematic given it is a form of undead.”

“There’s also the matter of what happens when you touch her in a vision,” Newman said. “We have had isolated cases of things moving through visions. Sunflower can tell you all about that creepy doll pulling that crap constantly years ago. To this day, I don’t know if that doll is an actual doll or some manifestation of power that is beyond all understanding, but it seems to go where it wants to go.”

“I still have nightmares about that doll,” Sunflower said, shivering again. “I’d just be going about my day, turn around, and scream because there was that doll, just sitting there. I could walk right up to it, pick it up, examine it, feel it in my hooves, but as soon as I turned away from it, it was gone until it decided to pop up somewhere else later on to give me yet another heart attack.”

“What…what did it do?” Summer asked fearfully.

“Never did anything, just sat there, being scary!” Sunflower exclaimed. “However, if I could touch that doll, even though it probably wasn’t really there, you might be able to touch this filly. I don’t understand how it works, but it is possible.”

Vanishing as soon as you turn away sounded way too familiar. I felt a sense of dread about what I had almost done.

Newman cleared her throat. “The point is, if you touch her you might manifest her—move her from where she is to you, and even if that is only as long as you are directly looking at her, that could kill her. You are the threat to her in this instance. She can only get so far away from her creator without the magic that made her failing. It is a considerable distance she can go, about a fifty-mile radius, but offworld from her creator is obviously far beyond that boundary. Despite how distasteful it is that she even exists, she is still a sentient being with thoughts, feelings, and some semblance of a soul, one that is not responsible for their existence, and only guilty of being lonely and wanting to play. It is no one here’s intention to kill or destroy her. Anything that lives has its right to life unless it presents a constant intentional overt threat to the lives of others. She is no such threat.”

“Dark and forbidden magic doesn’t always have evil intent or widespread destructive power. Oftentimes it is dark and forbidden because it creates situations such as this, where there are no morally correct choices to deal with it, despite there clearly being a serious problem. No matter what we do involving her and her creator, we are doing wrong. As such, we choose not to take direct action. It is a deeply tragic situation,” Luna explained.

This whole thing was disturbing, but I was confused. “Okay, so I’m dangerous to her if I make her suddenly be here for real instead of just a vision of her, but how is she dangerous to me or anybody else if she just wants to make friends and play?”

Luna looked at Newman. “Can you explain it to him?”

Newman nodded. “She just doesn’t know any better is the short explanation. There are a lot of things that can hurt you that won’t hurt her—everything from physical damage to poison or more. She can lose limbs and it is only an inconvenience for her until someone sews them back on, so her concept of danger is very limited. She can put you in potentially very dangerous situations because she doesn’t recognize the danger to you. You can try to advise her that something could hurt you, and I’m sure that she’d listen and choose some other activity, since she really doesn’t want to hurt you, but that requires you to first know what is coming. It is easier if you are also around anyone who has a lot of experience with her who can anticipate her thought processes, but when you aren't, the risk something bad happening goes up exponentially. In addition to this, she has undead guardians who may hurt you to keep you away from her. They fear outsiders finding her and doing her harm, and if you aren’t familiar to the guardians then you are seen as a potential threat that they must protect her from.”

“I know of one instance where she captured a venomous snake and was eager to show off her new pet, not understanding her pet could do others serious harm when the bites and venom did nothing to her,” Luna said. “Things like this are not uncommon with her. It is childlike innocence, but it is potentially deadly in its innocence.”

“The solution to avoid all this is very simple,” Newman said. “If you are a participant in next school year’s games, don’t go wandering in the woods outside of Skytree. Do that, and no one needs to worry about you having any run-ins with the filly.”

Hannah shook her head. “I’m confused. Is this necromancer person something from Equestria that made its way to Earth? We didn’t even have magic forty years ago, but you’re saying this filly is older than a thousand year old princess.”

“The soul within her is older than me, by a considerable margin,” Luna clarified. “The necromancer himself is not particularly old. He is a younger stallion. His power manifested early, and he created the filly to be his playmate and companion when he was a colt younger than all of you. Those that watch him thought he would dispose of the filly when he outgrew her, but they underestimated his love for his foalhood companion, and they underestimated her desire to live. All his creations house a fragment of his soul, the mind of some past life, and most seem to understand that they are to be animated or put to sleep as he has need of them. This filly is also a fragment of a past life, but a much more alien form of life, and she clings hard to her new existence that differs so much from what she originally was. She loves experiencing life. In anything else this would be heartwarming, but with her…with her it is just a further complication in what is already a complicated situation.”

“So…what do we do if we run into Frankenfilly?” Hannah asked.

“Think about what I’m going to do for you for disobeying me about going into the woods and do your best to make it back to civilization without her following you,” Newman said flatly. “She’s easily distracted, you can likely figure something out to allow you to make a break for it.”

“Won’t that hurt her feelings?” Summer asked.

“Her coming into contact with civilization and causing a panic would hurt her far more and cause far worse fallout than hurt feelings. The kindest course of action is avoidance,” Newman said gruffly. She then gestured at Sunflower and me. “Can you two go stand closer to Luna? It helps if I can see all of you together.”

We did as instructed. The guards seemed a little ill at ease about us getting close to the princess. She held up a hoof and they relaxed. Newman sat down, crossed-legged in front of us.

“Aren’t you going to write this down?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I will later, but writing gets in the way of my thought process. Don’t worry; I will remember all the details. Now, hold still, and let me observe. This won’t take long.”

She cupped her chin in her hand and leaned on her elbow, just watching the three of us.

“Curious,” Newman said. “I had not anticipated that. Very curious.”

“What? Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Wrong?” Newman asked. “No, I don’t think wrong would be the word, just unexpected.” She stood up. “I apologize. I won’t be able to gather sufficient information by observing you three alone. I will need additional subjects, and may not be able to devise something even then. There’s an unforeseen complication.”

“I presume you will share with me the details of this complication?” Luna asked.

Newman nodded. “I will share the information with you and with Sunflower, if she wishes. In fact, I can tell her the news she most eagerly wishes to know. The details are too complicated for Mister Jones, and things he does not need to worry about. He only needs to concern himself with whatever coping mechanisms you can teach him.”

Sunflower stiffened.

“As you suspected, your abilities will not work in Equestria,” Newman told her, looking her in the eyes. She looked at Luna. “I suspect your ability will not work on Earth.” She looked at me. “If I suspect correctly, your ability will work both on Earth and Equestria. I need more subjects from both Earth and Equestria with this ability to fully confirm this, so do not take it as fact. There are two distinct forces at work, and while Luna and Sunflower seem to have a separate one each, you seem to have both. That means if one is unable to operate because of your location, then the other will be. I cannot confirm they would operate in the same fashion, or have the same priorities. This would require further observation, or, more frankly, simply await the other force to do what it will when you are next on Earth.”

“You can determine that so quickly?” Sunflower asked skeptically.

Newman smirked. “No, I can only tell you my working theory based on what I see. I see all the thaumic forces at play around you, and can easily distinguish one from another. I am not fully sure exactly how these forces operate. I will record my findings in a few minutes and begin the painstaking and time consuming task of study and drawing out the various possible interactions. This is not a priority task for me and more subjects are needed for me to make a fully informed declaration of what is happening, subjects who are hard to come by. You all have my working theory, you may cautiously use that as you please.”

“Would you be able to design the blocking technique that you had suggested?” Luna asked.

Newman shook her head. “Not with Mister Jones. I am unsure how the two forces fully interact since one is currently dormant, and I suspect one or the other will always be dormant. I prefer not to meddle with such a thing. It might be possibly devise a method that could block yours or Sunflower’s, if needed, and use the one from Sunflower to blind Soothsayer, but I would still prefer more subject observation to do this—a subject other than Mister Jones, since his interactions are too complex to suggest standard behavior.”

“Why can’t you tell me about these forces?” I asked, feeling frustrated. “You know I’m smart.”

She looked at me. “I do not understand them myself, but if you wish, I’ll give you the brief rundown. Harmony and the Story are two extremely similar forces. Harmony is specific to this universe. The Story is specific to our universe. Consider them guiding forces, forces that try to nudge events in specific directions. There are many ways they may do this, but one way they try to nudge things is with the seers and storytellers, who will have visions. Sunflower, being from our universe, has a tie to the Story. It takes action through her by giving her visions. Harmony does the same with Luna and her visions. These two forces can’t cross the universal divide, they are constrained to their own universe. Their goals may align at times, but at other times they may not, as Harmony and the Story are motivated by different overarching goals themselves. Harmony tries to…for lack of a better phrasing…preserve tranquility and happiness. The Story is not so much concerned with tranquility or happiness; the Story doesn’t want things to get boring. Somehow, both Harmony and the Story have gotten their hooks in you, which means you are getting visions from Harmony right now, but when you return to Earth you may be hit by the Story giving you visions. I am unsure if this will take them same methods, since it is two different forces at work with two separate sets of goals. Their goals do overlap at times, and they may overlap with you—I hope so, for your sake. There is a possibility they are communicating to coordinate what visions you receive, though I am unsure how they could be doing this. However, the fact your visions here deal with subjects from Earth does suggest that is what is happening.”

“So…Harmony is talking to me when I’ve been getting my visions, not the Story?” I asked.

“Unless you have had such an experience on Earth that I am unaware of,” Newman answered.

“So, my visions I’ve had are to nudge things towards tranquility and happiness?” I asked.

“A good point,” Luna said. “I will prioritize checking in on the filly as soon as possible to determine if there is something causing distress. However, I’m at a loss at how your other vision could relate to Harmony’s priorities.”

Newman sighed. “I’ll check with Jordan and see if anything odd has happened at Wabash lately. If not, she will at least know that she might need to potentially up the security there. Anyone actually getting into that hallway Mister Jones saw could lead to a major disruption of tranquility, to put it lightly.”

Sunflower gave me a wing-pat on the back. “See? You’re already doing good with your visions. They're a heck of a lot more useful than mine typically are. Maybe the Story just enjoys being cryptic with its visions; I’m jealous.”

Newman looked at Luna. “I think we have done all we can with Mister Jones for today, and as one of his teachers I am primarily concerned with him keeping up with his studies, of which this is a major distraction. Are you ready to send him back to the dorms now, or was there something else? These foals have had enough excitement for today.”

Luna smirked. “I heard about your duel with Cinch, so you contributed to that excitement. That was uncharacteristically dramatic of you.”

Newman adjusted her shirt and looked down. “A lesson needed to be taught and I was getting tired of hearing her insult our school administration. Sometimes it is necessary to do something dramatic to change course. I’m sure I will hear no end of students questioning me about strategy and my abilities after today. They already started with the older students. They are going to be insufferable tomorrow morning.”

Luna chuckled. “You’ll just have to cope with being admired.”

Newman grimaced.

Sunflower gave me a grin. “Well, it was nice meeting you.” She turned and looked at Hannah. “Oh, and you too! Sorry that I didn’t say hi. It is good to see two subjects of my drawings at last.”

Hannah blinked. “You drew me? One of your vision drawings?”

Sunflower nodded. “You and Turnip, both. Newman’s agents were quick to make off with them. I drew the two of you….oh, it must have been back around February.”

“I’d prefer you hadn’t revealed that,” Newman said with a groan.

“Why?” Sunflower asked..

“Because I prefer it not be known that I used drawings from a strange pegasus as a factor in my decision to admit two of our students,” Newman growled. “It was but one factor, but I do not want it to be known it was a factor at all. What would those that weren’t admitted say when they hear I used such a factor in my decision making process?” She took a deep breath. “But perhaps a person who was once admitted to a college she didn’t even apply would not understand.”

Sunflower blew a raspberry. “I’m sure their situation isn’t as serious as mine was.”

Newman shook her head. “We don’t know how serious their situation is, but it is serious enough for you to draw them. Don’t be so dismissive of your own capabilities.”

Sunflower rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, Miss Visions-Are-An-Unreliable-Method-of Gathering-Information.”

Newman smirked. “You’ve grown, filly. You would never have said such a thing to me when we first met. You grew a backbone.”

“I’ve been through some stuff and seen things,” Sunflower said, spreading her wings. “These foals weren’t even alive when I was that timid filly.” She lowered them again. “But you’re right. I know better than to blurt out secrets. I just felt like things might be safer here—somewhere I didn’t have to always watch what I said and didn’t always have to look over my shoulder, not to mention being free of my visions. It seemed like a nice deal. I assumed that is sort of why you are here. Let me guess, you being here is part of some long-term stratagem that the rest of us could never understand.”

“Something like that,” Newman grumbled. “I preparing the next generation for what’s to come.”

“The old dragon asks about you. She wants you back,” Sunflower says.

“So I heard, and have been hearing for years. The old dragon can worry about someone else. I will not be their pawn. I have chosen my course,” Newman answered.

“There’s a lot at stake,” Sunflower stressed.

“And how is the old dragon’s track record at overcoming challenges? They can’t even get an old woman to answer their summons, and have to send others to beg,” Newman said bitterly. She then looked at us. “Can the four of you go? Sunflower may be trying to be cryptic, but she’s bad at it. Take that as tonight’s lesson. If you are going to be cryptic, be better at it than this than this.”

Author's Note

This was originally part of last chapter but I had to divide it in two die to length.