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

I hadn't expected to find an Indian restaurant in the middle of Canterlot, but that was where we were. It didn't call itself Indian, but the aesthetics and menu screamed Indian. I'd only gone to it because it looked different, and explicitly called itself Tasty Treat, compared to the various other restaurants that seemed to have really fancy sounding names—which I could credit Prim for previously informing me tended to equal small portions.

"Indian? Why is there an Indian restaurant in Equestria?" Mom asked as she looked around.

"Well, Equestria has had contact with Earth for more than thirty years," I said dryly.

She pointed to a sign. "That sign says proudly in business for forty years!" I'd overlooked that, and it did throw a wrench in my theory.

"Auntie Applebloom says that Earth has been seedin' Equestria with stuff for millions of years with random portals openin'. Maybe a bunch of stuff from this Indian place yer talkin' 'bout got found by ponies somewheres and influenced 'em," Bright suggested.

Mom blinked. "Maybe... Turnip, pay attention to this colt. He's a smart one."

I rolled my eyes. Until I had been punished earlier that day, my class ranking had been six ranks higher than Bright's, and it was me who had to help him study. Still, it was only a tiny chip at my ego.

An older unicorn mare walked up to us, levitating menus. "Hello, and welcome to the Tasty Treat! I am Saffron Masalla, owner of this establishment. Do you wish a booth big enough for you all to sit?"

"A single booth for all of us would be fine," Dad informed the mare. I'd actually hoped that he wouldn't indulge Mom's desire to grill my friends and divide us up so my friends were at a separate table. That clearly wasn't happening. I wasn't shocked. Dad usually let Mom have her way unless there was some financial issue involved.

"Right this way," the owner said and led us to a booth in the corner. There were lots of rugs and depictions of elephants everywhere. Did Equestria even have elephants? The colors on everything were yellow, red, green, and brown.

We took our seats and the menus were passed out to us.

Mom looked over her menu. "This spell that taught us Equestrian is really spiffy. I can read this better than I can read your father's seasonal plans."

"My hoofwriting is a bit of a mess, to be fair," Dad said as he looked over his menu. "The prices seem more reasonable than I expected."

"Does that mean we can splurge on dessert?" Mom asked.

"No," Dad said without looking up from his menu.

"But Turnip's so scrawny," Mom protested in disappointment.

"We don't even know how his stomach will respond to this exotic food... or our stomachs for that matter. We also have to consider the number of mouths we are feeding. Small amounts can add up," Dad reminded her.

Mom grunted. "Fair enough. I don't want my colt getting an upset tummy."

We made our selections in silence and informed the owner. I wasn't really sure what I ordered. It said it was spicy, but three-fourths of the menu said spicy, so it didn't stand out.

"What are we doing after this, Green?" Mom asked.

My dad considered. "As much as I would like to check in at the hotel, I think going to Turnip's school, seeing his living conditions and meeting with that one professor should be our priorities."

Mom nodded. "Sounds good."

I looked at my friends. "If you haven't picked up on it, my parents have a certain dynamic. Mom is big, and she does most of the heavy lifting and hard manual labor around the farm. The most back-breaking jobs are simple to her. She also tends to be present whenever my parents are negotiating the price of their crops. Dad manages all the finances and makes all the plans. They make a good pair since my dad is really smart, but because he isn't taken very seriously-"

"I take your father seriously, and you had better, or I'll plant you in the ground!" Mom immediately protested.

"-by many others, due to him being slightly short for a stallion," I continued, "he needs Mom there to give him some presence. Everyone gets a little intimidated by Mom when they see her. It lets dad do a lot more favorable negotiating."

"Everyone is scared of me except your father—he's my handsome and brave stallion!" Mom said happily as she nuzzled my dad. Urgh! Get a room!

"Well, excuse me, ma'am, but I think you say too many mean things to Turnip," Summer said. She immediately crouched down and looked like she wanted to hide under the table after saying it.

Mom snorted. "Have some backbone, filly! Do you have grass for a spine? Even Turnip looks me in the eye and doesn't flinch when he mouths off."

"She did speak her mind despite being clearly afraid, dear. I think that is the definition of bravery," Dad said quietly.

Mom chewed her lip. "I suppose it is, but she still needs to stand her ground after she says something. If you think something is going to earn retribution but it's still worth doing, then stand tall, don't let anyone see you flinch, no matter how much your knees feel like jelly. Show your conviction, filly."

Summer pulled herself up and looked my mom in the eyes. "You say... too... many... mean... things... to... Turnip." A little bit of smoke was coming off her mane, a precursor to a fire.

Mom laughed. "I like this one! That was backbone. Turnip, don't lose this one!" She stopped laughing and returned Summer's gaze as Summer's tail started to catch fire. "Turnip ran away from home, betrayed my trust, left us to worry about him, and dismissed my life choices and his father's as meager and pointless. Turnip is lucky all I'm doing is saying some mean things."

"Your mother wanted to go chasing after the bus we knew you were on. I convinced her that she could only get herself into trouble by demolishing a bus," Dad informed me. "She's had four months to calm down, but it's been four months of worry and unresolved anger. I think she is doing remarkably well. I half expected she was going to just jump out of the side of the train, even if there was no exit, when she first saw you. I was already preparing explanations and excuses for it."

What my dad wasn't saying was how he felt. He'd hide behind managing Mom so he didn't have to say how he felt.

I looked at my dad. "What did Newman's agent say to you to convince you to sign the permission forms for real?"

Dad sighed. "Cutting through all the quiet talk and going straight for the throat, he gets that from you, dear."

I narrowed my eyes. "You didn't answer."

"Be more respectful of your-" Mom started to yell, but Dad touched her side and brought her to a stop.

"It's okay, dear. He could have more tact, but he is right, and his point valid," Dad said gently.

Mom gave a small hop in her seat, shaking the booth with the force of it. "Fine! They told us about how many foals applied to go to this place, and how only four out of all of Earth were getting to go, despite tens of thousands applying. They also told us that you were the only earth pony admitted, the only earth pony who has ever been admitted, and how much of an honor and special that was. They said the worst that could happen is you flunk out, and you'd be sent home anyway. They also said... they asked... they asked if you had this much drive and ambition to go if you would be satisfied with your life you could make on the farm or resentful of us if you were made to stay home."

"So we signed the paper, but requested the chance to come see you come the holidays—both to confront you and to see whether your ambition was working out the way you wanted it to or if you were having doubts," Dad concluded. "The agent agreed, so here we are."

"We got your letter," Mom said. "We didn't expect that."

For once, I didn't look her in the eye. "Professor Newman made me write it."

"This Professor Newman is the one who sent the agent?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "She's like the admissions officer. She's also, apparently, a former spymaster, and she knows just about everything there is to know about every student she admitted. She says she recognized the forgery with your signatures as soon as she laid eyes on them... she knew what your hoofwriting looked like."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "How did she get samples of our hoofwriting? We have never sent her any mail or spoken with this unicorn."

"She's actually a human," I corrected. "And I don't know how she got samples of it, especially from a world away. Newman is kinda scary with how much she plans and plots things out. She can't cast spells, but she beat the school's old headmaster in a magic duel without ever casting a spell, just using strategy."

"Good for her. Fancy magic is overrated," Mom said. She looked at us and seemed to realize what she just said to whom. "Um... yeah... overrated... but not useless. Not useless at all! It just shows that you can't rely on it for everything."

Way to sloppily save it, Mom. I know you don't think much of magic, you don't need to pretend. I wouldn't tell her that straight out, but she wouldn't say she didn't respect magic straight out, so it was fair.

"Why do you have a magic professor who can't cast magic?" Dad asked in confusion.

"She was the personal aid to some famous unicorn for years. Everybody seems interested in that unicorn's magic, but nobody seems to know if she's even alive still. Newman was with her so long she must know at least some of it," I explained.

"A famous unicorn from Earth that went to Equestria?" Dad asked, frowning.

I nodded.

Dad gave Mom a look, and she frowned. What were they in the know about that they weren't saying?

Dad sighed. "Sorry, I'm being disrespectful trading glances and stuff. I think I know who is being discussed, but you're too young to have likely heard of her. She was very famous back in the day, then just kind of dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Well, she went to Equestria, so technically she did literally drop off the face of the Earth," Mom said. "From what I heard, Equestria bought her from the government. The government considered giving her up like giving some country nuclear weapons or something. It was a big deal."

"She was dangerous, that's why it was a big deal. Her magic blew up a city once, and it is said she knew the secrets of the transformation magic that made it so ponies were on Earth. Countries, especially China, would kill to obtain her, or try to kill her so she couldn't be used by anyone else," Dad explained. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you being involved with someone so closely tied to her. Nothing good comes from being associated with her."

"Newman says she doesn't even know where her old employer is. She might have died. We can't hold it against everyone who ever dealt with her," I said defensively.

"I'm still not comfortable with anyone so closely tied to her for so long," Dad reiterated. "If you are so determined to go to a magic school, what about Bob the Unicorn's school? He has no ties to her. At this point, I'm wondering if his is the only magic school that isn't tied to her somehow."

"I don't want to go there. I'm where I want to be," I asserted firmly.

Mom bent over the table. "Don't talk back to your father, you mouthy little colt!"

I looked her in the eye. "Do you or don't you want me to speak my mind?"

Mom stared then sat back. "Mouthy little colt, good backbone."

Dad did a light cough. "Be that as it may, we're still your parents and still responsible for your safety, even when you're away at school. Letting you stay in an unsafe situation is irresponsible. Keeping you on the farm without letting you attend magic school seems unjust, but you don't have to attend this one. Bob the Unicorn's school is not associated with anything dangerous, and it's closer to home."

"Listen to your father. He is trying to compromise with you," Mom said.

I tensed my muscles. "There is no compromise. This is where my friends are. This is where the best alchemy teacher is. This is the only school accepting an earth pony at this time."

"I don't want Turnip to leave," Summer said.

"Ah don't wanna lose my roomie," Bright said supportively.

"Turnip's one of us. He stays," Hannah said firmly.

Dad looked at each of us. "We'll table this discussion for now. We still have to see your school and meet with this Professor Newman."

I relaxed slightly, but was still on edge. All I could do was wait.