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

Trees... why did gathering and identifying herbs have to put me so close to trees? Their branches, covered with teeth-shaped leaves, twisted and curved all around me, a thousand jaws ready to devour me. The wind rustled them, and the branches rattled at me.

"What's wrong with you?"

I wasn't sure who had asked the question. It was one of Prim's snotty friends, that was for sure, but my mind had a hard time differentiating them at the moment.

The forest was bathed in shadow. The trees had stolen the light.

"He's just staring. Is he seeing something?"

Did they not see the monsters?

"Turnip, look down at the ground," Professor Applebloom quietly instructed.

I couldn't do that. My eyes were glued to the horror in front of me. What would happen if I looked away?

"Lorekeeper... can you please cover his eyes?"

"What's going on, professor?"

"What's wrong with the weirdo?"

I jumped away as something reached for me. Was it one of the branches grasping for me, ready to steal me away as they had already stolen the light?

"I shall not continue that attempt. We can't have him running blind through the woods. There are real dangers here, unlike the ones he imagines."

"I have something that can calm him, but I have to get him to drink it," Applebloom said. "That could be a challenge."

"Did he get into something that's making him hallucinate?"

"Oh no! Hold still! We don't want to get it on us!"

"There are no hallucinogenic plants in these woods. There are some out by the marshes, but they require far more water than is found here. Even they wouldn't cause this without ingestion," the Lorekeeper explained.

"I don't think this is a hallucination. It is something else," Applebloom said. "Which of you has the best magical grip?"

"Um... me... I guess."

"Very well. I don't like doing this, but I need you to grab Turnip and hold him still so I can get this calming agent in him. He's probably going to panic when you do it, so you have to hold him tight."

"Are you sure? He's weird, but I wouldn't want anypony doing that to me."

"The Lorekeeper is right. If he runs off into the forest he could get himself hurt. This is less than ideal, but necessary for his safety."

I was right! I knew the forest was dangerous!

"The biggest danger is there are Last Breath Roses in season. You can't smell their pollen from a distance, but one sniff of them can be lethal. There is no cure. They kill within seconds. We can't have him running around where he can go right into a bed of them."

I heard a rustling and I jumped away again.

"Ack! What was that?"

"Probably just a squirrel. You're being as much a scaredy weirdo as him."

"Seemed a little big for a squirrel. Perhaps it was a boar," the Lorekeeper said, seeming uncertain.

"A boar! Is it going to gore us?!"

"Both the Lorekeeper and I can deal with a mere boar. Our focus is on Turnip," Applebloom said. "Posey, get a good grip on Turnip so I can administer this potion."

"Yes, professor."

Something caught hold of me. I tried to struggle against it, but it was too strong. The branches seemed like they were closing in, ready to rip into my flesh.

"Hurry, professor. I'm not sure how long I can hold him. He's strong!"

"Aroma, get his mouth open while Posey holds him!"

"Me?!"

"Just do it!"

I screamed as my mouth was forced open. All I could see were those green teeth. Did they intend to go inside me and rip me up from within? Something went into my mouth... liquid... sap from the trees? It tasted like honey. Didn't bees sometimes store honey in trees?

Something big and heavy jumped on me and held me down on the ground.

"You can release your grips, girls. I'm going to hold him till that potion takes effect. He's not strong enough to buck me off. You did a good job. Thank you."

"Why is he acting like that?"

"It's a panic attack. A reaction to a phobia. I had known he'd gotten nervous around trees, but I hadn't expected it was this bad," I heard someone—Applebloom—say. I was starting to feel very tired.

"He's scared of trees?! What kind of idiot is scared of trees?!"

"That was rather rough," the Lorekeeper said dryly.

"Ah was afraid he would bolt and get himself hurt or run into somethin' really dangerous like a hydra or those Last Breath Roses. Ah had to do somethin' decisive and didn't have time to be gentle. Ah ain't lettin' one of my students get hurt like that," Applebloom replied, sounding out of breath as she slipped into her more rural accent.

"I would have made myself more aware of the severity of such a phobia if I knew it was present before taking him into the woods," the Lorekeeper said critically. "Will that potion knock him out?"

"On its own, no, but he's used a lot of energy in that panic, so it may," Applebloom replied. "If it does, I can carry him back and we can reschedule this trip for another day."

"We might as well reschedule, between this weirdo ruining everything and that wild boar roaming about," Aroma started.

"Please, don't be critical of him. He tried to put on a brave face, but his nerves clearly weren't up to it," Applebloom said. "Everypony is afraid of something, often many things. They may seem silly or ridiculous to the next pony, but that doesn't make the fear any less intense. Maybe he felt shame at his fear and didn't want to say how bad it was. If he wasn't so scared of ridicule, he might have been more open about it."

"And I don't think that was a boar," the Lorekeeper said. "I'm not sure what it was, but boars are very territorial. It would have charged us, yet whatever it was is gone, or gone better into hiding. I thought I saw somepony shadowmelding, though it could have been a trick of the light."

"What's shadowmelding?" Applebloom asked.

"A camouflage ability some of us night ponies have. It lets us blend into the shadows unseen," the Lorekeeper explained. "It is not the shadowmelding that bothers me. Those that can do it will do it when going out in the wild alone. What bothers me is that if anypony from the town had been present here, I would have expected them to offer assistance upon seeing our distress, but whoever this was kept out of sight. That makes me uneasy."

"All the more reason to call this trip short," Applebloom said. "Posey, that yellow grass growing by your back hoof—gather up some of it. That is sourgrass. When it is boiled, it makes an excellent headache relief. Turnip will likely need some of that, and so will I."

I'd been finding it harder and harder to keep awake or pay attention to anything around me. Where were we again? What was on top of me? I couldn't seem to recall. It didn't seem that important either. I was just so sleepy.

There was more talking, but I couldn't tell what was being said anymore. I wasn't even sure what had already been said. It was too much work.

I opened my eyes and saw a soft blue light. Was it morning or evening? Where was I?

"Good, you're waking up. Take time to orient yourself."

I blinked and tried to look around for whoever spoke. I turned my head, just now noticing it was in an extremely fluffy pillow that felt like it was going to envelop my head, and tried to find the speaker. After turning my head to the left then the right, I saw Applebloom sitting at the end of the bed. She smiled at me.

"I underestimated how long that potion would knock you out. How are you feeling?" she asked.

I stopped to consider. There was a little pressure behind my eyes, not quite a headache, but something that felt like it wanted to become one. Everything else about me felt fine, if a bit stiff. I glanced around. We were in a small room with just this one single bed and a nightstand. There was one door, one window, and that blue glowing moss surrounded the doorway, the windowsill, and the ceiling.

"I'm alright, I guess," I answered. "This isn't my hotel room."

She shook her head. "No, this is a private room in the city clinic. Do you remember anything from before you fell asleep?"

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. We were going on our field excursion. I had just stepped into the path the fillies had opened up and...

Oh no.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, sitting up and hanging my head.

"Definitely not. I am a little disappointed you didn't trust me enough to tell me how bad your phobia was, but I'm mostly relieved you are alright," Applebloom replied gently. "Are you sure your head doesn't hurt? Headaches are common after knockout potions."

"It feels... I'm not sure... like there might be a headache later but there isn't one yet, if that makes sense," I answered, trying to find the wording.

Applebloom nodded. "I've got some potion ready for that. I'll get it in a moment or two—be warned, sourgrass draught tastes awful, but it will keep that headache at bay."

"I think I'd rather drink that than have a headache," I replied. Had she mentioned sourgrass before? I think she might have. I wasn't sure.

"I do have an important question that didn't occur to me until after I already had you on my back and walking back to town," Applebloom said, sighing. "I know you sometimes have visions. I had assumed that this was a response to a phobia, but I forgot your unique ability in the moment. Did you have a vision?"

I shook my head. "No... this was all my stupid fear of trees."

"I'd thought so, but I couldn't rule the visions out," Applebloom said with a nod.

I hung my head lower. "I can't do alchemy, can I?"

Applebloom sighed. "Your phobia adds some complications, but it doesn't make it so you can't be an alchemist. I'm going to do what I can to help you with your phobia, since that isn't just disruptive to your career path but to your entire life. I'm going to have to get some help doing so. That requires me discussing it with other ponies. Is it alright for me to do that?"

I weakly nodded. "Okay."

She took a deep breath. "Now onto the hard part. Turnip, when ya are having that much of a problem with somethin', ya need to let me know. Ah know you feel embarrassed. Ya don't need to feel that way. Ah can't help ya if ya don't let me know these things."

"Being afraid of trees is stupid. Who is afraid of things like that?" I asked bitterly.

"Well... you, so that invalidates it as stupid," Applebloom answered. "Do you know that Princess Celestia, the most powerful magical user in all of Equestria who can move the very sun, is terrified of chickens?"

I looked up. "Chickens?"

Applebloom nodded. "She will literally run away at the sight of one. I know some hens and roosters can get bad-tempered at times, but I highly doubt the most aggressive cock would stand much of a chance in a fight with an alicorn, much less Celestia herself, but she'll still run in terror if she sees one. Makes no logical sense, but it is what it is."

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you sure she's scared of chickens, or are you just making that up to make me feel better?"

"I have personally seen her bolt at the sight of one. She also refuses to judge any contest involving a chicken, and won't go near a henhouse," Applebloom assured me. "To be fair, I think she may have had a bad run-in with a cockatrice when she was young, or so Luna explained, and that led to an irrational fear of chickens. Every fear starts somewhere."

"What's a cockatrice? I've heard of them, but don't really know."

She blinked. "I forget sometimes that you aren't from Equestria. Cockatrices are monsters, left over from the Age of Grogar. They have the head of a chicken but the rest of them is more like some sort of reptile and snake. They can turn any creature that looks them in the eye to stone. Apparently, that's what happened to Celestia. She got turned to stone and sat that way for a week after before anypony could do anything to reverse the effect. They can actually be quite friendly, even affectionate, if you know how to treat them, and their feathers are an excellent alchemical ingredient."

"Do they live in forests?" I asked, looking down again.

Applebloom looked away. "Yeah, they do. I'll find you some help with this phobia. We'll work through it throughout the year, and if it still needs help after that, we'll have a chance to pull out the big help next year."

"Big help?" I asked, curious why it had to wait.

"I think you foals call her the Queen of Nightmares, but her name is literally Phobia Remedy," Applebloom said with a smile. "We'll only resort to that as a last-ditch effort, if we can't work through this ourselves. I'll try talking to Luna and see if she can help at all as well. I'm willing to do all I can to help you."

I shivered. "Will she give me nightmares?"

"In all honesty, probably, though I can't say for sure, but if she does, they are nightmares with a purpose," Applebloom answered. "I warn you, Luna might try something similar. The Queen of Nightmares and Luna are cut from the same cloth, and Phobia Remedy learned her methods from Luna. It's just this is Phobia Remedy's specialty while only a side tool of Luna's. Luna will end the nightmare; Phobia Remedy will not. She will force you to face your fears. That can be intense. I'd rather not put you through that if we can resolve it ourselves."

I shivered again. "Yeah, I'd rather try to work this out without her if I can. Foals tell stories about her back home. She's the monster under the bed."

"How's your head?" Applebloom asked.

"It's starting to hurt," I answered.

Applebloom got up and headed to the door. "I'll get the sourgrass draught."

Well, meeting the Queen of Nightmares required me to go back to Earth, which wouldn't happen until next school year's games. Plenty of time for me to figure out how to beat this phobia.

I laid back down. Why had I let myself embarrass myself in front of Professor Applebloom like that? I could have told her. It would have been embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as breaking down like that. On top of that, I'd embarrassed myself in front of Prim's friends. They were sure to tell Prim all about it, and I was in for a new round of taunts and mockery from her. She'd be insufferable. There'd also be gossip. Everyone would be talking about it. This was going to be horrible.

The door opened again, and I looked up, expecting Applebloom, but instead—

"Hey, Turnip! Auntie Applebloom said to bring this here potion for ya to drink, said it would help ya feel better," Bright said cheerfully. Summer and Hannah followed in behind him.

My ears folded. "You already heard what happened?"

"Applebloom told us the gist of it, but Prim's friends gave more elaborate descriptions of it. I threatened to tie their tails in knots if they didn't stop telling everyone about it," Hannah said grumpily.

"I guess all our work trying to get you better with trees didn't work out," Summer said sorrowfully.

Bright levitated the mug full of potion to me. "Here ya go. She said it tastes like hogswill, but ya got to drink it."

I took it in my hooves and put it to my lips. My tongue instantly pulled back from the taste. It tasted so sour that my lips puckered.

"Tastes like hogswill, told ya," Bright said. "Make sure to down it all. Ya need to follow Auntie's orders. She knows best."

I grunted and forced myself to drink. Maybe I could down it all quickly and try not to taste it.

"Did you get hurt? Is that medicine for something?" Summer asked.

The taste still lingered in my mouth as I squinted and tried to ignore the taste. "It's just to stop a headache. I wonder if I would have preferred the headache to this taste. I didn't get hurt."

"Well, if ya ain't hurt, do ya want to head out and go explorin' with us?" Bright asked. "This city is really strange."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean just go wandering around on our own? Won't we get in trouble for that?"

"No, the professors pretty much encouraged us to do it, as long as we got back to the hotel on time. They apparently hired a bunch of ponies to keep an eye on us so we wouldn't get lost or anything," Hannah explained. "I noticed one of them tailing us when we walked over here. They weren't making any attempt to hide."

That tickled my memory about something. Someone hiding, but I couldn't remember what. Maybe it was from when I was dreaming.

“A little sightseeing wouldn’t be so bad,” I replied. “Let’s go.”