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

Christmas wasn't celebrated in Equestria, and it came several days after Hearth's Warming. The celebrations for Hearth's Warming had been fun, but they were over, and now Christmas had come with no fanfare or excitement.

The day began with nothing to say it was different from any other. The alarm clock rang for far too long, and I had to walk across to Bright's bed to shut it off. I don't know why I didn't just move the clock next to my bed. I was alone in my room since Bright had gone home for the holidays, yet every morning I still expected him to silence that annoying clatter.

I had the floor mostly to myself. The only other classmate who remained on campus for the holidays was Lunar Light—at least, I assumed he did, but I never saw him go to or from his room. I caught glimpses of him from time to time. Even Hannah was staying with her parents in their hotel. My parents couldn't afford to let me stay with them in theirs.

I went into our little bathroom, easily mistaken for a closet. It consisted of a sink, a toilet, and a small shower stall with no tub. There wasn't even a mirror or window. I suppose we didn't technically need those things, but it always made me want to just get in and out of the room as fast as possible. Perhaps that was the idea.

I quickly did my business in the toilet and took a shower. I skipped brushing my teeth, though I knew that always annoyed Bright, as it was my habit to only brush right before bedtime. I doubted my teeth would fall out if I only brushed once a day. I shook myself dry rather than try to towel dry myself. That was another thing that annoyed Bright when I did it, but he wasn't here, so I didn't need to worry about the critique. Honestly, he grew up surrounded by earth ponies, and he should know how much of a pain towel drying was for us. For a pony born in a barn, he got so finicky about things like that.

My ears perked as I heard something out in the hall. Nobody should have been around, unless that was Lunar, but Lunar never made that much noise. He was typically so quiet, you could call a church mouse loud by comparison. About the only time you ever noticed him was when he was talking to you directly.

Not wanting to show too much eagerness about the noise, I hurriedly attached my strap and headed to the door. My ears sagged as I found that it was not Lunar outside.

"What are you staring at, dirt pony?"

I stepped out my door and shut it behind me. "Hello, Prim. What are you doing back so soon? Your family get sick of you already?"

Prim was hauling a large trunk with her, likely the cause of the noise.

“Didn’t the human already reprimand you for saying such hurtful things to me?” Prim snarled.

I looked up, pretending to think. “I don’t seem to recall that.”

“I quite clearly remember having to spend a detestable hour staring at you in her office,” Prim snapped.

“Oh, that’s what that was for,” I replied as if just realizing.

Prim did another pull at her luggage with her magic. “And you try to depict me as the bully in our interactions.”

“You did open up this conversation with calling me a dirt pony,” I said flatly.

“Why are you here, dirt pony? Shouldn't you be visiting your farm on earth, doing whatever farmers do when they aren’t dealing with crops?” Prim asked, yanking on the trunk again.

“My parents came here to visit. They’re in a hotel nearby. You still haven’t answered why you’re here,” I replied.

She stopped yanking her trunk for a moment to glare at me. “I was just sick of watching my family fawn over my brother. I decided I had enough of a break. and returned so I could better study in peace.”

I watched as she started yanking the trunk with her magic again and looked at the stairwell and back to it.

"How far have you been hauling that thing? I know your magic is strong, but that trunk looks heavy," I remarked. It could just he the distance she hauled it. If she walked all the way from her home to the school carrying anything that big in her magic it could wear her out over time. I wasn’t sure where she lived, but I assumed it was somewhere in the city, so there was a chance she walked the entire way.

"Far enough. I'm almost back to my room," Prim hissed as she pulled at the trunk. It was barely moving.

"Your thaumic reserves must be close to used up by the looks of it. It looks like you're having less and less pull on that thing. You're going to give yourself magical exhaustion," I said, watching her continue to yank.

"I can make it! I'm not a weakling!" Prim announced, giving the trunk another big yank with her magic. It lurched forward about an inch. Getting it up the stairs must have depleted her.

"Will you let me help?" I asked.

She glared at me again. "I don't want your help!"

"I didn't ask if you wanted it. I asked if you would let me. Nobody is here to see you getting help but me, and I won't tell anyone."

She gave the trunk another yank and collapsed down to the ground, panting.

"Are you okay?" I asked, trying not to sound worried.

She waved a hoof absently at me. "I'm fine! I have just had a very trying morning. I suppose you can be allowed to help with my things. Dirt ponies should be the ones doing common labor anyway."

"You're welcome," I said dryly.

I grabbed the trunk handle with my mouth and gave it a yank. It practically flew forward, and I had to hold on tight so it didn't go flying.

"Don't damage my things!" Prim snapped.

I released the trunk. "Sorry, I had been expecting it to be heavier the way you were struggling. I forget my own strength at times. You know, it isn't that heavy. You might have been able to manually pull it yourself."

"I'm not lowering myself in such a way," Prim retorted. "Just be careful with it."

I wanted to just leave it sitting so she would be forced to lower herself that way, but knowing Prim, she would stubbornly continue to attempt it with her magic until she hurt herself. Reluctantly, I reclamped my mouth onto the handle and started pulling it along more gently.

We entered her room. Even if I had never been there, it would be simple to tell which bed belonged to whom. Prim's bed covers were frilly and pink. Red's were... well... red.

"Put it on my bed," Prim instructed.

Getting it into the room should have been good enough, but whatever. I took the extra few steps and hefted it onto her bed.

I had never taken a detailed look at the room before this and decided to take the opportunity. Other than the bed covers, the first thing that stood out was there was a chalk line drawn through the literal middle of the room, going straight to the bathroom. Posted on either side of the bathroom doors were two competing sets of rules.

Each set of rules seemed targeted at the other sibling, and they went from petty—like no humming—to kind of explicit—like never put yourself in a position where your sibling can see your private parts. The list was extensive, including when the other could use the bathroom, how long they could stay in the bathroom, forbidding each other to have friends over, how bright the lights could be on either side of the room, tidiness issues, snacks allowed or forbidden by either sibling, and even whether they were allowed to read letters from home near each other.

"You really are a control freak," I said as I read through the rules.

Prim walked over to her luggage and popped open the trunk. "Half those rules were placed on me by my dear brother, so don't lay it all on me, dirt pony. He even tried to forbid me from reading in the room because my turning pages annoyed him."

"I see that one didn't stick," I said, double-checking to make sure nothing similar was listed.

"I tried countering with the same ban on him, and we both eventually agreed that it was too counterproductive to follow through on," she said. She then levitated a large pouch from her trunk and fished out several large gold bits from it and dropped them in front of me.

"These are for your service. Mother says we should tip the help when it is not in our employ," Prim said, nose high.

I looked down at the coins. I had spent enough time in Professor Applebloom’s class to know they definitely were gold, not the normal brass things I saw traded around. That probably meant they were worth considerably more, even if I didn’t know enough about Equestrian currency to say how much more. I wasn't expecting so much as a thank you, but I would take getting paid for my trouble. This did seem a little much. Did Prim deliberately overtip me, or was she just that clueless about the value of money?

I wasn't going to ask. Asking might have her take them back. I didn't have my saddlebags with me, but my strap was on, and I wedged them between my fetlock and the strap. They should stay in place, provided I didn't do a lot of galloping. My parents likely had something to hold money on them. I'd pass the coins onto them when I met up with them.

"Oh, and I hope the tip ensures you don't go blabbing that I allowed you to bring my luggage into my room," Prim said in her normal high-and-mighty tone.

"Don't want to be caught breaking a rule?" I asked.

She blinked. "Rule? What rule... oh... no... there is no rule broken. The rule forbids friends over. You are no friend, perish such an absurd thought! I just don't want anypony to know I may have required assistance or let my brother believe I begged for it. It is quite humiliating. Plus, am I not your rival? Would you have it be known your rival was so worn out after carrying her luggage up the stairs she needed assistance? It makes you look weak as well if I look weak."

So the tip was hush money. Great. Whatever. I'd already told her I wasn't going to tell anyone, but if she wanted to bribe my silence I wasn't stopping her. At least I had a little spending cash... well... at least I could repay my parents a little, anyway.

"Whatever you want, Prim," I said tiredly. "I'm going to go meet up with my parents. You get some rest or something."

"I'll do as I choose," Prim retorted.

"Of course you will," I said as I left the room.

"And close the door behind you!" Prim shouted.

I sighed and walked back, pulling the door shut.