Chapter 28

When I wake in the morning, after perhaps three hours of sleep, I stretch my hoof, to make sure that my hoof is well enough for work today. Not that I feel particularly inspired. Today will be one of those days, I can tell, where everything hurts. Not physically, of course, but in my heart.

I shake my head. What sap. Useless. It does nothing to help me in my goals; it's best to ignore it all. I quickly do all my braids again, as they fell out in all my.. tossing and turning, and head downstairs to check what's been assigned to me.

The book that we developed to keep track of who does what and when shows nothing for today for me. Tomorrow I have a fitting with, well I'll be, Stampede, for his 'special weaponry' that he requested. But today is my concern right now. Usually days like these I'd want to focus on something of my own, perhaps finally start on the sword I've been planning, but today there is no inspiration, no heart to draw from. I shake my head, sighing.

What to do?

The first thing that comes to mind is Discord. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Some big question.. Ah, yes! He called me a 'visionary', just before the whole day went nuts. I really want to know what that means, but I don't even know where to begin on the search for that. Does Ponyville even have a library? I can't remember seeing one in my panicked search for Discord the other day, and that was the most I've ever seen of the town before. Although, to be fair I was mostly on the southeastern half of town. I suppose I should just ask…

"Say, Forgery, does Ponyville have a library?" I ask, the gruff stallion turning from his skillet.

"A lib'ary? Yeah. Used to be in a tree 'n' a middle a town, but af'er Princess Twilight's tussle with Tirek it was destroyed. Think it's in 'er castle now, so she's technic'lly still the librarian. Heh." He chuckles. "Need a book?"

"I might. I have research to do on something. Well, I want to do research." I say, kind of vaguely.

"Is this 'bout that thing w' Discord?" He raises an eyebrow. There's a sneer in his voice that makes me recoil a bit, but I get the feeling the detest is all for Discord.

"Y-yeah."

"I would'n trust anythin' to do w' him."

"A-ah, well… I'm… only interested in something.. th-that came up yesterday, s-so.. "

"Hmph." He's not really listening to me, and I don't really think he cares about it. He's fussed about Discord, something he did in the past no doubt. I slip out, leaving him to his breakfast and the soon to be noise of my crew.

I trot, head down into town. I try to keep my head clear of thought, but everything tries to remind me. I don't need help, of course, but the world loves to point at me and laugh. I try to put my head up, think of something good. Like… maybe I'll see Echo, or, ah, Pinkie? They're fun and pleasant. They're nice… too nice to me. More nice than I deserve… No, no. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, they don't help any. True though they be, it doesn't make anything better to think them over and over all the time.

I move through the town, trying to ignore as many ponies as I can, the idea of their stares weighing on me, slowing me down. Here I do hold my head up, I can't afford a reputation of being the saddest pony around. A reputation like that is hard to overcome, no matter how often you smile. Once ponies know, they don't let it go. Holding my head up is the least I can do to keep that from happening.

Somewhere to my right I hear singing, but I don't feel like being among people, in a crowd especially. I keep going, past the market. However, a voice catches my attention.

"... That's right, Sweet Apple Acres apples're for sale right here an' right now! We got apples, fritters, pies, an' we take orders now too! Step right up, come on ev'ry pony!" It's Applejack. I trot over. Now's as good a time as any to ask if she has any repair work for me, as per our agreement.

"Hey, Applejack!" I try to pour cheer and charm into my words.

"Hey howdy hey, Copper! You here to buy some Sweet Apple Acres apples?" She says with a grin. I can't tell if she's simply joking or if she's incredibly jovial.

"You know, I wasn't, but I think I am now. Can I have a green, uh, that is, a granny smith?"

"Sure thing!" Applejack takes an apple from a pile, tossing it to me.

"Thanks a million! Uh, by the way, got anything for me to fix up for you?" I ask, and Applejack puts a hoof to her mouth, thinking.

"... I don't reckon I do, but thanks for r'mindin' me! I'll be sure ta check when I get home, just ta be sure." She smiles. I smile back, but I feel bad, remembering that I lied to her to make the deal with her. "Need anythin' else? Hey, how's your hoof? I feel right awful knowin' it was our lil game a' soccer that got you hurt like that."

"It's fine, I've been up and out for a few days now, and it doesn't hurt anymore. You needn't worry about a thing!"

"Well, if you say so. I'm real' glad you got better. So, what're you up to today?"

"I've got some research I want to do, so I'm heading to Twilight's castle, where the new library is."

"Yeah, we got a load a books imported by sympathyzin' librarians all over the country, even a few foreign ones, too. I hope they got what you're lookin' for."

"Thanks, Applejack. I hope you have a good rest of your day, and make a lot of sales!"

"That's mighty kind of you, Copper. Have a great day, too!" We wave and I walk off as a more legitimate customer shows up. Now, on to Twilight's castle.

As I trot up to the castle, it looms over me. It doesn't really fit the nature of Ponyville, but as I understand it that was not by intent of any pony. The newspapers across Equestria all gave vague descriptions of it, but none really explained much more than a 'tree of harmony' and the elements of harmony creating the crystal-tree-castle, and that it would serve as both a castle for Princess Twilight and a library. I missed the library part, mostly focussing on recovering from not having any magic at the time.

Tirek was terrifying.

With that terrible mental image in mind, I trot quietly into the castle, finding the inside to be no less crystal-y than the outside. I was in here once before, albeit incredibly tired and nervous, so I don't really recall making note of that before. I wonder if Spike or Twilight are actually here, or if I'm supposed to wander the castle looking for the library. Looking around I see a stack of pamphlets set out on a small end table. I trot over, to find it's a handy looking map of the castle, including directions to the library and instructions on how to find, use, and queue a book for borrowing, as when neither Twilight or Spike aren't there, they can't be checked out. I nod at all that, thinking it's a pretty great set up.

The directions are pretty clear and I find the library pretty quickly. Using the instructions in the pamphlet, I start by looking for the keyword, I guess. 'Visionary'. I find two dictionaries, one normal and one on the arcane, as well as a sort of field guide for magical talents. I don't know why but I didn't really think whatever Discord was talking about and applied to me would be under magical things, but really I suppose it makes sense. Even I can recognize what I do is magic, of some kind. I just really hope it's not black magic or evil somehow.

I first go through the regular dictionary, just in case I'm super ignorant of basic terminology or something.

Full Definition of VISIONARY

1

a : of the nature of a vision: illusion

b : incapable of being realized or achieved : utopian

c : existing only in imagination : unreal

2

a : able or likely to see visions

b : disposed to reverie or imagining : dreamy

3

: of, relating to, or characterized by visions or the power of vision

4

: having or marked by foresight and imagination (a visionary leader) (a visionary invention)

Of all that, second and maybe the third definitions relate the most to me and what I can do, but I suppose that's not really a lot of information, nor does it explain why Discord was so shocked by this sudden realization. I search through the 'magic' dictionary, and find a single, short entry:

Visionary:

A pony able to coalesce magic into their minds and art and thus see the world in the past or future.

Again, there's not much to this definition, though it definitely fits me. I push the two dictionaries aside and crack open the third book. The index shows that pony-related magic is in chapter twenty, as apparently 'magic talent' does apply to other species. Which, again, makes sense. I just never thought of it that way. The chapter has it's own sort of table of contents, and among the list I do see Visionary.

"Yes!" I exclaim, and then remember I am in a library, and that even if I'm the only one here I should still probably be quiet, as this is still also Twilight's home. I flip to the first page on Visionaries, and find that there is quite a bit of information here.

Definition: A Visionary is a pony who can see past, present, or future by channeling the magic of the world through an art form, thus storing the 'memory' or 'vision' in the artwork to be visited later. Powerful Visionaries were said to be able to channel the magic of the world without performing an artistic act or by committing very simple, abstractly related artistic acts. The most powerful of Visionaries were also said to be able channel specific moments, even those of the present.

Causation: There is not a large body of science on how Visionaries come to be- but it has been widely found that almost any talent can lead to a pony being a Visionary. That is, no matter what talent a pony might have, they too have the potential to be a Visionary. As it stands, there are still very few recorded Visionaries, those of which are known are at the time of this writing deceased- the last known being an earth pony named Sunflower under the tutelage of Mystic Rune.

Species: Found most commonly in ponies of Equestria; incredibly rare even in our species, even rarer but still possible in others. Notably the dragons- several dragons in the course of history are known Visionaries, however only two are said to even be alive at the time of this writing, and both of whose locations are unknown. Griffons and Zebras have also had proven Visionaries, though notably weaker and smaller in number than both pony and dragons.

Amongst ponies, less than one percent of any demographic appears to have any leanings towards being a Visionary- most commonly are pegasi, followed by earth ponies and lastly unicorns. No known alicorns can be verified to be Visionaries.

How it works: Unlike how Visionaries come to be, how they work is fairly agreed upon. Sunflower wrote numerous journal entries and similar documents on what it was like to have a Vision, how the magic appeared to work for her, detailed further by her mentor, Mystic Rune. One such an entry reads as follows:

It's a very strange experience! There I was, growing what I love the most, sunflowers, as I usually do, and then it was with a suddenness that was almost entirely slow and hard to describe, that I was seeing something decidedly not what I had been experiencing a moment ago. The vision was hazy, hard to see. I could hear quite a lot, however, in fact the sounds were the clearest details. This was my first vision, you see, and I wasn't paying attention. I was rather frightened, really. But the voices stood out- they were of my mother and father. Goodness, how young they sounded! They were talking about having a foal, and I was rather confused, because I was a single foal, and my parents were considerably too old to bear children.

When I came around, an enormous sunflower had grown beneath my hooves! The sun had set quite a bit in the sky- so much time had passed while I listened to my parents debating over naming what I eventually realised was me!

As one can see with the above entry, Sunflower discovered her talent quite by accident, and it can be presumed that other Visionaries similarly discovered this 'extra' talent without foreknowledge of having it. It is after this event that young Sunflower sought out her town's mage, Mystic Rune, who agreed to help Sunflower study this unique magic and attempt to help her learn to control it. Mystic Rune, with some funding from the Canterlot Scientific Community (CSC), observed Sunflower during multiple attempts at having a vision. The following is an entry from Mystic Rune. Please note this was before a wide-spread scientific method was in place and the formatting of their experiments cannot be helped:

Today (henceforth and in further noting to be known as event number seventy-four) we tested Sunflower again. Last time (event number seventy-three) we met with success, but the event could not be replicated, as Sunflower was 'worn' from the experience. Today she managed to channel another vision, and much quicker this time. It seems that her hypothesis that 'channeling the joy of her talent makes the vision come easier' is being proven true. I hypothesize now that the 'joy of one's talent' is actually what channels the vision outright, instead of something else. This is still a very difficult to quantify hypothesis, but of all the tests we've performed, those where she acts as she would on her own have proven to be the most successful.

Anyway, I had set up the machines the CSC sent us that record spikes in movements of magic, as I know no spells to do it myself. Several 'dishes' were set in a perimeter around Sunflower, facing inward. The dishes are equipped with crystals that 'see' magic, and somehow record the movement. Sunflower herself has a very strong aura- not uncommon in earth ponies but certainly a pony of her age group. As Sunflower began, the device recorded an influx in magic from surrounding areas, and, astonishingly, it flowed into Sunflower. Amazingly, within a window of two minutes Sunflower's body contained more than four times of magic it normally would- and it kept rising. The only outflow was a minute amount that transferred from her into the plant she was growing. I am surprised at myself for not having sensed all this magic in previous events, but even during today's event I felt nothing out of the ordinary. This magic, the magic of the world, it seems, appears to be undetectable. I hypothesize that we are accustomed to it's movement, and that even large mana flows or transfers can go unnoticed to even very magically adept ponies unless they are looking for it. More tests will be required to prove or disprove this thought.

In later entries and with further tests it was nearly proven that Visionaries function by taking in vast quantities of magic in the world around them and channeling it into an object, typically one they produce themselves. Many Visionaries, proven or otherwise, have been 'artists' who create something. It seems the creation process is integral to the channeling of the magic that leads to a vision.

In years after the events of these two entries, Sunflower recordedly channeled a vision while only holding a seed, and later in her life supposedly looked into the future on a regular basis by simply being near her favorite plants, though the latter is unconfirmed, as Mystic Rune became ill and could no longer partake in their usual experiments.

I look up from the text, having read enough for a moment. Wow, that's a lot to take in. Still, I am unsure why Discord was so shocked. This appears to be normal, if ridiculously rare. I ponder for a moment, but keep reading.

What they can do: Visionaries channel visions, store them and can revisit them endlessly. The object they create will display characteristics such as being difficult to destroy, move, or change unless by the hoof of their maker. Only a Visionary can access the vision inside the object, but can choose to share it with non-Visionary ponies. It is unknown if one Visionary can access another's vision, as no two have existed at the same time for this question to be answered. As previously mentioned, these visions are commonly of the future or past, more so in the latter that the former, but rarest still is the ability to channel the present. Sunflower supposedly gained this ability later in her life, and could see events taking place in other countries, but there was no way to test the fallibility of these visions at the time.

And that's it. There's no more to it. The section is dated around three hundred years ago, and Sunflower is cited as being born two hundred years before that. There are citations for her and Mystic Runes' writings, but I'm unsure how rare those are, and namely if Twilight's library has them.

Speaking of Twilight, I hear her and Spike walk in, talking about something, but it stops when they see me at the table.

"Oh, hey, Copper!" Spike says, running over.

"Hey, Spike, uh, hey, Twilight." I wave, a little unsure of what to do. The pamphlet said to come right in, but it still feels a little weird to have just walked into their home.

"Hello, Copper! It's a surprise to see you here! Did you find what you need?" Twilight asks with wide eyes.

"Oh, ah, yeah. Well, kind of. I was actually wondering if you had these three books here, but I was going to go look for them myself… ah.." I point at the citations, but immediately wonder if that's a good idea. Twilight looks at the words, reading them upside down, amazingly, and smiles as she pulls her head up.

"I happen to have Mystic Runes' first two tomes in excellent condition, brand new copies, but I don't have Sunflower's journal. I could probably purchase a copy, if it's important to you."

"Oh, no, you don't have to purchase a whole new book for me, I, I'm sure even one of Mystic's books, uh, tomes, would be perfect for what I need them for."

"And what do you need them for, if you don't mind me asking?" Spike says, putting his face in his hands, elbows on the table.

"Discord said a lot of unusual things when he was sick… I wanted to look into some of it."

"Mystic Runes did a lot of work with Sunflower- one of the best documented Visionaries in Equestrian history- what did Discord even say to relate to that?" Twilight asks.

"Y-you know about Visionaries?"

"Mmhmm. One of the many things I learned under Celestia's tutelage. I was very interested in them when I was younger, and even hoped to be one. I've never managed to actually take in any magic from the world, though. It's incredibly vexing, because Sunflower's journals make it seem so easy. 'The joy's of one's talent', right? If all the joy I've felt conducting magic and being with my friends isn't enough to channel even a single vision, I can't imagine what the lucky, extraordinary pony who is a Visionary gets to feel performing their talent and receiving a vision.." Twilight sighs, a bit wistful. "So what brought on this research? What did Discord say?"

"I, ah.." I don't know what to say, but Twilight keeps going.

"Do you maybe know somepony who is a Visionary? It'd be amazing to know one- maybe even learn from them!" Her enthusiasm gives me confidence that admitting it might not be a bad idea, so I take a breath and say:

"I think I'm a Visionary."