Castor and his two associates followed Miss Arrow into the dining-room at number Eleven Magnolia Road, early Wednesday morning. A boy was seated at the table, with three girls seated beside him. Princess Sparkle stood behind them, a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy was visibly shivering and looked ready to bolt at any moment. The solicitor, Lin Yueshi, stood behind the girls, beside Twilight.
“Princess Sparkle,” Miss Arrow said, “Detective Inspector Searle is here.” She stood aside as they walked past her.
“Good morning, Princess Sparkle, Mr. Yueshi,” Castor said. He turned to the short man beside him carrying a box only slightly larger than a regular briefcase. “I would like to introduce Mr. Rob Renzetti, the court recorder for this case,” he turned to the woman just entering the room. “And Mrs. Sarah Wall, of Child Services, who will represent Mr. Potter’s interests during this interview.”
Normally, an interview such as this would take place at the police station or at one of the Child Services facilities. However, Twilight had been quite adamant that it take place here. She had said, “He has no faith in any authorities in the human world. He is terrified that you will just take him, and hand him over to the Dursleys, despite any assurances you or I can offer to the contrary.” She had sighed. “Just getting him to agree to meet you took a bit of convincing. And at any sign you might take him, he will disappear faster than you can blink.”
Her tone had hardened. “As I have said, he is now a citizen of Equestria, and Princess Celestia takes the safety of her subjects very seriously.”
In other words, the usual practice of moving the child of arrested individuals to a foster home would not be allowed, and might cause an international — interplanetary? — incident. Fortunately, having the sovereign ruler of a nation as the “foster parent” made the situation a bit easier. The normal questions of living arrangements and monetary liquidity were a non-issue. Nor the ability to care for a child.
It had been decided that they would only take action to remove the boy should it become obvious he didn’t want to stay with the Princess.
“Mr. Renzetti, Mrs. Wall, I would like to introduce you to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
The court recorder nodded to the woman, set his box on the table, and opened it. He removed a small machine that looked somewhat like a typewriter, but had far fewer keys, and set it on the table. Then he pulled out a small tape recorder and started it.
While he did this, Twilight said, “This is Harry Potter,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “And these three are friends of his, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.”
Castor nodded to Harry, smiling, “Good. It’s always easier when we know what the people in a case look like.”
He sat at the end of the table and glanced at Rob, who nodded. “All right, the recording is on. Today is Wednesday, August 28, 1991.” He glanced at the stenographer who was typing away, making a physical copy in case there was a problem with the recording. “I am Detective Inspector Castor Searle of the Surrey Police Department. With me is Mr. Rob Renzetti, the court recorder, and Mrs. Sarah Wall, of Child Services, to interview Mr. Harry Potter, an eleven-year-old boy, about the circumstances regarding his living with the Dursley family. Present, at the moment, are Twilight Sparkle, Harry Potter, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. The last three are Mr. Potter’s same-age friends. Miss Sparkle is his guardian pro tempore. Also present is Lin Yueshi, solicitor for Miss Sparkle and Mr. Potter.
“Miss Sparkle, Mr. Yueshi,” he said, turning to face them, “As I told you, we need to conduct this interview in private. We’ve discovered that children tend to be unwilling to divulge information when their guardians, siblings, or friends are present. They are afraid that what they will say will upset or disappoint the others. Hence, Mrs. Wall, here.
“It is Mrs. Wall’s job to ensure that the questioning is reasonable and that no one tries to trick or force statements from Mr. Potter that might be misleading or outright untrue.” He looked directly at the seated children. “And to prevent badgering from overly enthusiastic officers.
“This is not a custody inquiry,” he continued, “and questions regarding that issue will not be brought up. We are concerned only with the matter at hand, an inquiry into Harry Potter's situation at the Dursley household for the last ten years, and what he can tell us about it.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. They had already gone over all this. At great length. He was repeating it now for the benefit of Harry and the girls. And the recording.
“Excellent!” said the princess. “I’ve explained to Harry,” she squeezed his shoulder in her hand, “that you have some questions for him regarding his relatives, and that he should be as truthful as possible.”
“Before we begin,” Castor said, “may I take a picture of you, Mr. Potter? We have been unable to find any pictures whatsoever, and there are some suggestions that you . . . are no longer alive.”
Softly, Harry said, “Yes, sir.”
Nodding, Castor took a camera out of the court recorders’ box and gestured for Harry to stand up. Then for his friends to move aside.
Once that was taken care of, he said, “Thank you, Mr. Potter. Now, Miss Sparkle, if you would be so kind as to give us some privacy.”
Smiling at Harry and offering a quick, “Just relax, Harry, everything will be fine,” she ushered the three girls out of the room, closing the door behind her. Mr. Yueshi moved over to sit beside Harry. He smiled at the boy. “I shall remain with you, Mr. Potter, as a witness for Miss Sparkle. If you have any questions about the questions, how to answer them, or want help in any way, just ask me. Anything you say in here is in legal confidence and I shall not repeat anything you say to anyone, not even Miss Sparkle, without your permission. Understand?”
Harry nodded, obviously relieved, and relaxed a bit.
“Miss Sparkle and the three girls have left the room, leaving only myself, Mrs. Wall, Mr. Renzetti, Mr. Yueshi, and Mr. Potter in the room.” Castor said, for the benefit of the recorder.
“First of all, Mr. Potter,” he continued, “I only wish to determine your situation with the Dursleys. This has nothing to do with guardianship or changing your current arrangements. I ask that you tell us the truth, as you know it, as much as you can remember, and without any unneeded embellishments. If you think of something after we’ve moved on to another point, feel free to interrupt and add that information, or correct anything you might have said up to that point. Understand?”
Mrs. Wall added. “And if you become thirsty or want a break, just ask.” She opened her over-sized purse and drew out a small teddy bear. “Here,” she said smiling, “I’ve found that having a plush to hold sometimes makes these things easier.”
Harry nodded uncertainly to the detective, and took hold of the bear, clasping it to his chest.
“We’ll start with the easy stuff. What is your full name?”
They took a break after the first hour, then another at the second hour. They finished shortly before lunch.
Castor was very glad that Twilight had admitted that Harry Potter was in her custody, and had been ever since he had run away. She could have stone-walled him, and he would have been left only with suspicions. Her position in the Equestrian government, and their complete isolation from Earth would have made finding Harry impossible.
And the information the boy had provided had fit nicely with what they had learned from his school teachers and the neighbours. It had filled in many of the gaps they had had in their case. And it was clear from the boy's interactions with the others during the breaks that his new situation was much preferred, and Castor doubted that Child Services could provide a better environment.
While the other adults were angered and dismayed by what they had learned, Castor was simply furious. If he ever caught up with either of the Dursley adults when they were finally released, which wouldn’t be for quite a few years based on the evidence they had, he would be more than happy to share his opinion to the lowlifes. At great volume. And if he were retired at the time, maybe with his fists adding the punctuation. The fine, and the few weeks at the Queen’s Pleasure, would be worth it.
As for the present, the boy was happy with living with the princess. And the way Twilight and the three girls had rushed to console him each time he came out of the room, and were now in the room with him, well he had a very good support group. Friends who would stay with him.
Castor saw no reason why the Princess should not be given official custody of the boy.
And he knew a few people in high places who could make that happen. Best to wait, though, until after the Dursleys were convicted and sentenced.
In the meantime, he would not waste time thinking about it. A trick he had learned in the Sport and Social, future problems belong in the future, concentrate on the problems in front of you! He just made a small note in his notebook-calendar regarding that issue.
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Castor led Princess Twilight and the rest of her entourage into the small theatre on a small military base to the north of London. It was just after six o’clock on Thursday evening. The ladies took the seats that were arranged to one side of the podium that stood centre-stage at the front of the theatre.
He stood behind the podium and looked out at the people gathered in front of him. There were only a hundred and seven of them, leaving most of the theatre empty. He could see them eyeing the unusual lengths and colours of the Equestrians' hair. There were many appreciative looks, as well as some disapproving ones. The smarter ones, or at least the more observant ones, noticed the other half-dozen women and men, with equally unusual hair-colour and lengths, as they positioned themselves at the edges of the stage and the back of the theatre. Each paired with an officer from MI5. One of them was wearing a floor-length house-robe.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” Castor started. “I want to first say thank you for volunteering for this study.” He swept his gaze across them. “But before we go any further I must remind you that everything you see, hear, and do from the moment you volunteered for this study is classified as top-secret. You are, under no circumstances, to communicate to anyone anything you see, hear, or experience while you are participating in it, except when you are being debriefed by authorized personnel of Her Majesty’s government. This includes not discussing any details with your fellow participants in the study.
“The ladies on this stage and I,” he gestured at the six, “are the exceptions. You are to answer our questions at all times with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as you know it. There may be others, in the future, to whom such discretion is also given.
“These conditions will probably be lifted at the end of the study, and you can brag to your children and grandchildren that you took part in this study. And it will be something to brag about, as you will see.” He gave them all a stern look.
“I will repeat what you have already been told regarding this study. Failure to comply with these restrictions will result in your removal from the study, forfeiture of any bonuses, and, under certain circumstances, could result in a charge of treason under the Official Secrets Act.”
There were looks, and a little muttering, between the members of the group.
“Before we begin, though, I require that you state you understand these conditions and have no intention of discussing this study or your participation in it with anyone not authorized by the Her Majesty’s Government, including spouses, family, or significant others.” He smiled wryly. “Yes, I know you all signed non-disclosure agreements when you signed up for this study, this is the last step.” He sighed. “It will take a bit of time. Come up by rows onto the left side of the stage,” he pointed for clarity.
Castor, Twilight, and Applejack waited as the first person approached and stopped before them.
“Do you intend to discuss this with anyone not authorized by Her Majesty’s Government?” asked Castor as Applejack stared at the man intensely. Beside her, while the man was distracted, Twilight was checking to see if the man had any detectable magic.
The man snapped to attention, indicating he was a military volunteer, “Sir! No, Sir!” Applejack smiled and nodded at the man. Castor said, “Excellent. Thank you.”
They turned to the next person, a woman.
They were almost to the end when he saw Applejack frown and shake her head slightly.
Castor stopped and took another look at the man, who returned his look curiously, glancing between him and Applejack. Castor sighed, turned, and waved over a man waiting at the edge of the stage. They waited as he came over.
“I’m sorry,” Castor said to the volunteer, “but you cannot participate in the study. Mr. Carroll, here, will escort you back to London. Thank you for your time, though. Please wait at the side of the stage until we are finished.” They watched silently as the two walked off. Castor sighed. That man was going to have an especially interesting evening tonight, and day tomorrow. He hoped the volunteer had merely wanted to share the excitement of his participation in the “secret” study with his wife or girlfriend. If not . . . well, it was possible Applejack had uncovered a sleeper spy.
The Princess had insisted Lady Applejack meet every one of the volunteers as they answered a question about keeping this a secret. She had assured him that Lady Applejack would somehow know if the individual was lying. He wasn’t sure exactly how she was doing it, but, sadly, Twilight had also assured him that this was a skill unique to the pony in question. MI5 would have loved to get their hands on a way to uncover spies with a series of simple questions.
They finally finished. As the three waited for the last row to return to their seats, Twilight leaned close and said, with more than a bit of disappointment, “None had any trace of magic I could detect.” She was almost pouting. Castor watched Mr. Carroll and his guest exit the theatre.
He nodded his understanding. “You can sit now,” he said to the two women, “you don’t have to stand up here with me.”
They returned to their seats.
He took a deep breath and looked at the remaining men and women. “Thank you all. Is there anyone who wants to change their mind and leave the study? Now is your last chance. You will still be held to the terms of the non-disclosure agreement, though.”
No one moved. A few looked back at the doors at the rear of the theatre where the two men had exited.
“Excellent.
“I’m sure you have all heard the conspiracy-theorists saying that,” he paused, then said in a dramatic tone, “aliens . . . walk . . . among us.” He held his arms up like a bad actor pretending horror as he stepped back from the podium, mouth partially open in pretended shock.
They all stared at him. A few chuckled.
He stepped back to the podium and adopted a serious expression.
“Up until last month, those were just that, conspiracy theories, nothing based in fact.” A few frowns had begun to appear. “Last month, aliens, true aliens, beings not born on our world, aliens from a planet called Equus, discovered a portal, a doorway, if you will, to our world.” Practically everyone had raised eyebrows at hearing that, and a few startled exclamations of disbelief and surprise as they exchanged uncertain looks.
“Last week, a group of these aliens approached a member of Her Majesty’s government and asked to establish an embassy. Naturally, once we were convinced that this wasn’t some sort of hoax, we asked to reciprocate, to establish an embassy in their world.” He had their full attention, although quite a few were staring at the women on the stage with a dawning understanding.
“That’s why you are here today. That’s what this study is all about. And why it must remain a secret for the time being.” He studied his audience. Some were grinning, some were frowning, and some had blank expressions. “I’m sure you can all imagine the panic and chaos that would result should this information suddenly be released on an unsuspecting public.
“While their world and our world appear to be completely compatible, the aliens — they call themselves ponies,” that got a few looks of disbelief, “we’ll get to that in a moment” he explained, “the ponies mentioned that there might be an issue with long-term side-effects from living in their world. They are willing to take their chances in ours, but couldn’t, in good conscience, allow us to proceed unwarned.” He paused.
“You, ladies and gentlemen, will be among the first people to step onto a foreign world. Excluding astronauts who went to the Moon, there have been only five others who have made that trip, myself included. One of them has spent a considerable amount of time there, so we know for a fact that there is no immediate danger that we can detect. Unfortunately, his situation is unique, and rare, and cannot be necessarily extrapolated to the majority of Earth’s population.”
“That was why you all underwent such thorough physicals. For you who are not scientists, that established a baseline of your physical conditions, to help us catch any deviations as soon as practical.
“There is a second group of volunteers, who are being briefed in a separate location, acting as the control group.
“Before we proceed, however, you should know that the portal changes some of the people who go through it to match the native inhabitants. It has done the reverse for the ponies. And they call themselves ponies for a reason.” He turned to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. She grinned and gestured to the woman wearing the robe.
The woman nodded, having been forewarned, walked to up to the podium on the opposite side from the seated Ladies and shrugged off the robe. Before the audience had a chance to react to the apparently nude woman, a waist-high pegasus stood in her place. She proudly stretched her wings wide and posed for a few moments, and then flapped them a few times, lifting herself into the air, before gently touching back down.
The entire audience was speechless.
She flapped her wings again and took a long, slow, lazy flight over the heads of the volunteers.
Lady Dash tsked, “Oh, come on.”
“Dash,” said Twilight, but it was already too late.
The audience watched, astonished as the addressed woman stood and quickly disrobed. The last item hadn’t had time to fall to the floor when she darted to the front of the stage, leaping off it into the audience. The people in front of her gave startled yells, expecting her land on top of them. Instead, they watched with open mouths, as she transformed in mid-air into a second pegasus and zoomed out across the theatre.
The other pegasus just watched her approach. Rainbow Dash flew right up to the other, tapped her shoulder, and yelled, “TAG, you’re it!” and darted away.
After a startled moment, the other grinned and took off after her.
The next few minutes were an aerial display unlike anything the humans had ever seen. Flips, barrel-rolls, hair-pin turns, and abrupt changes in altitude all proved to the audience that these were not actors flying on hidden wires.
Finally, Twilight stood, and yelled, “Dash! That’s quite enough!”
A moment later, the two pegasi were settling down on the stage, the guard beside Dash looking a little bit abashed. The pegasus smoothly changed back to her human shape, picked the robe up from the stage, and went back to her position at the side of the stage.
Rainbow Dash just grinned unrepentantly and jumped up to hover over the stage, her fore-legs crossed as she sat in mid-air. Everyone was staring at that impossible stunt.
Castor picked up where he had stopped. “A pegasus is only one of the major pony types, there are also unicorn, earth, night, crystal pegasus, crystal earth, and Saddle Arabian ponies.”
Beside him, Ladies Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack transformed as he named their types.
“You, however, will not change.” There were a few disappointed looks, and not a few “Awws,” in disappointment.
“That was part of the selection process. Being hoofed creatures, ponies cannot hold a pen or pencil in their hooves, nor can they use a typewriter with any proficiency. Which would make it very difficult for an embassy staff to operate, now wouldn’t it? Not to mention the difficulty guards would have operating their equipment.”
It was a rhetorical question, but he could see that the recruits understood his point.
“And while the ponies have their own methods of writing, I have been told it takes years of practice to become more than adequate at making letters and numbers that are actually recognizable. Time we don’t have.” He took a deep breath.
“The portal, from what the ponies tell us, is supposed to adapt whomever goes through it to whatever world they are going to.” All of the ponies, except Rainbow Dash, transformed back to humans. “This means that when they come here, their bodies are perfectly adapted to surviving and living here.” He turned and grinned at Twilight, “Those are their natural hair colours, by the way. With the help of a stylist, they could make their hair to any human colour, should they so choose.” She smiled impishly back at him.
“That most humans do not change when they go through the portal leaves a big question mark. Does the portal fix things so that, while not changed, humans can easily survive in their world? Or does the portal do nothing? If it does nothing, is there something in this new world that human bodies cannot handle? And I’m not talking about viruses or other diseases — is there a radiation there about which we know nothing that will, in time, cause harm? Or, perhaps, will our bodies easily adapt to that radiation, but then react badly when it is removed when you return here? Will living there for any significant amount of time cause a human to die? Either while there or when they return to here?
“They, and we, simply do not know.
“That’s where this study comes in. While we have made excursions of a few hours with no difficulties, we need more raw data. So, each week, two of you will return and undergo a complete physical, looking for any alterations from the baseline physicals you received. In addition, the ponies will be doing their own medical examinations to see if they can detect anything from their end of things.”
He paused and took a drink from the glass unobtrusively placed on a shelf in the podium.
“I cannot stress enough how important this is to us, to humanity. The ponies have a way to regrow lost limbs that they are willing to share with us. We will begin experimenting with that technology next week.”
Most of the audience sat up straight in their seats, gasping.
“They have a cure for most cancers. They don’t know if their cure will work with us, but they are willing to try. We will begin experimenting with that technology next month.”
Now there were many more exclamations of surprise. Castor knew that there had to be a least a few in the audience who had lost family members or friends to cancer.
“Using their technology, they think they can develop a way to remove pollution from the air over a city like London in a matter of minutes. And those are only a few of the things we will be able to learn from them.”
He paused to let those ideas sink in.
“Settle down, please,” the room grew quiet. “And, yes, those of you in the medical field will be helping us with that while you are in Equus.”
“So, you see, the stakes in this study are high. Each step must be carefully studied for side-effects before being made known to the public.
“And, ‘what do they want from us,’ I’m sure you’re asking yourselves.”
He shook his head ruefully. “Believe it or not, one of their first requests was to see a performance of Shakespeare.”
That got a few surprised chuckles from the audience.
“We do however, have some things that interest them outside of literature and the arts. Our desktop computers and computer games have them mesmerized. They don’t have telephones, television, nor radio. Not even the telegraph. They simply never thought about those!
“Neither do they have grocery stores such as a Waitrose supermarket, nor large department stores. Harrods almost literally had some of them drooling at the variety on display.”
That got him a few laughs.
“However, before you go there, there are some things I must tell you.
He waved his arm at the Lighting Booth at the back of the theatre. As the curtain rose and the lights dimmed, he said, “First, there is a massive amount of evidence that there has been contact between our two planets, going back hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years.”
He touched a control on the podium and a picture of an animal appeared on the screen above and behind him. “Cats, dogs, rabbits, mice . . . ,” he continued naming animals as their pictures appeared on the screen that had been hidden behind the curtain until the whole screen was filled. “. . . are all on Equus. But on Equus, unlike Earth, they are all intelligent.” He touched another button and the pictures disappeared, but a video began playing.
“This is Sweet Apple Acres,” they heard Lady Applejack say, “and this here is Bessie. Say ‘hello,’ Bessie.”
The cow looked down, then back up, and said, “Do I have to?”
“It would be nice.”
She sighed, then looked at the camera. She waved a hoof and said, “Hello.” She turned to Applejack, who was off camera. “Can I go now?”
“Shurely, honey, I’ll be seeing you at milking time.”
The cow gave her a long look, then said, “Okay, just don’t be late, today.” She turned and walked off. The video cut off.
“Not all of them can speak. The ones in the slides I showed you are about as smart as a ten-year-old child, on average.”
He touched a button and another slide appeared, “There are cows, deer, buffalo, donkeys, goats . . . ,” and he started another list.
When that screen was full, he blanked it. “There are mythological creatures as well, almost directly out of Greek mythology! Dragons, griffons, chimeras, cockatrices, hydras . . . .”
When the screen was once more full, he added, “The ones wearing clothes are intelligent enough to have their own countries and civilizations, and can talk with you as well as any secondary school graduate.”
“In short, if you see an animal, it can probably talk to you. If it can’t talk, it can at least understand you.” He paused “Don’t screw up. That dumb animal you’re dismissing might just be an ambassador to a foreign Equus country. If in doubt, ask a pony.” The volunteers stared at him, too gobsmacked to say anything in response.
“As a result, the only meat-dish you will see is fish. We will not be importing hamburger and pork for you to eat. You are, for however long you stay on the other side of the portal, vegetarians. Please do not discuss meat while you are in Equus. If somepony asks, change the subject . . . unless you can say, no, you do not eat that item. Perhaps you can stress the food items we both like to eat.”
"If any of you have leather shoes, wallets, or purses, we will exchange them for non-leather items on the bus.”
To say the audience was shocked into a near stupor when the presentation was finally complete was an understatement.
By the time they boarded the bus, much later, it was night-time. The ride to Little Whinging was quiet, the volunteers mentally digesting what they had learned. The blacked-out windows in the bus prevented them from seeing just where they were being taken. Once they arrived, a canvas canopy blocked their view of the stars as they made their way into the tent, and Equestria.
The hotel in Equestria for human visitors had been finished, and that was where they would spend the first few weeks, getting acclimated to the ponies and learning what was expected of them by their government and the ponies.
۸- ̬ -۸
Well! This story's getting on like a house on fire! Hit a good bit of inspiration have we?
In other news, I just realized, this is a first-contact fic disguised as a harry potter crossover isn't it?
Good to know the Dursley subplot has finally been addressed for good.
And of course Dash puts on a display of aerobatics when she thinks things aren't 'cool' enough.
That being said... this worldbuilding is nice and all, but we're nearly 45 chapters in, and despite having gone to Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts school year has yet to start. I understand that all of this is important to the future of the story, but all of these chapters involving Castor Searle could probably have been shunted into a second story, one that would run parallel to this one. There's slow burn, and then there's stagnating the original premise of the story. This is very heavily leaning towards the latter at this point.
Now I'm curious if any of them will change, despite Twilight's assurances to the contrary.
So, is this the end of the Dursley storyline or will we see the court case and sentencing? Or maybe we'll see one of the Equestrians see the sentencing in a newspaper or something
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I hope this is the end of it. Unless the Dursleys are gonna be treated as actual characters at some point rather than the catalyst for Harry's trip to Equestria I'd prefer they not take up more than a brief mention every once in awhile.
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Next chapter: Hogwarts! Let the chaos begin! Discord is so happy . . . .
Oh the possibilities... I'm waiting for the first romances, the first lovers... This is quite possibly as big a scenario as was ever found in the fanfiction here on this site, and distinctly reminds me of Gentleman for Mares in many ways with how humanity and ponies meet and can start uniting as friends and even families.
The world will change, the future of earth will transform dramatically, and humans will walk the face of Equus. I cannot simply say how glorious this is with how wonderful this first-contact is working out along with making it the Harry Potter crossover.
I cannot wait to see how the worlds develop and the story goes. Especially when the villains like Voldemort get involved.
Also, I still look forward to the Ponies meeting the first Earth Unicorn.
So... No chance of the portal transforming them in Umbrum, Seaponies, hypogriffs, Flutterponies, Breezies, Alicorns or Changelings?
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*squints* >.> I feel like you quoted the wrong person, this feels like a more appropriate answer to
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And now you've reminded me of possibly the most ridiculous character in Magic School Days, Magah.
It's good to see that UK Government acknowledged that it is better for Harry stay with the Equestrians.... but I doubt that the Wizards will agree when they discover it....
Both ponies and muggles are really taking all the steps to make sure that the diplomatic relationship between their nations works - it is good to read.
I can see why the ponies are curious to see Human World's art and culture, beyond the technological exchange. In addition to Shakespeare, I bet that Twilight would love the works of Arthur C Clarke , and Rarity the stories of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and Hercule Poirot/Miss Jane Marple (Dame Agatha Christie)
I would love to see the ponies's general reaction to the Lord of the Rings and Narnia's books!
It is also good that the ponies want to learn about communication technology - that would be a major game changer (Can't wait to see if Twilight will go nuts with Civilization and SimCity! ). Also it is good that the UK Government realize that although the ponies want to trade in good faith, it was possible that some things what work in their world, could not work in the human world - at last without major adaptation.
The Ministry of Magic will go ballistic when they realize (way way too late) the Equestrian/Muggle trade!
I hope that you continue this plotline in this story, since it will the major "Outside Context Problem" that the Wizards will have to deal with!
Well done.
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I can't wait to see that diplomatic tug of war beginning. The books always neatly dodge the hoopla-hoop of the wizarding world technically having no legal standing in their nations by never involving the muggles in the plot, but that's not going to be the case here.
I really really really liked this story. I found it a couple of days ago and read it in a couple of days. I now regret that as I want more. Thanks for the great read.
I'm almost positive this isn't true. You can't have a modern looking city like Manehatten and say they don't have grocery or department stores. Not to mention Ponyville has Barnyard Bargains which I would bet on being a department store considering it made the Rich family their fortune, at the very least it definitely sells groceries since Filthy bought 100 jars of zap apple jam to sell.
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Technically the only one with any reason to object would be Dumbledore since he is Harry's magical guardian and he would have no reason to object provided he's convinced that Harry would be safe with them.
the leather seems like a bit too far, we've seen enough items that should be made from leather in equus to accept that they do have leather. we've also seen select creatures that are not as intelligent and there for i have to doubt they have no leather.
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I keep forgetting that this is a Harry Potter crossover. Was starting to wonder if we'd ever see Harry and Co. go to Hogwarts. Things really got derailed for a bit there with the first contact stuff (all quite well done and interesting itself) but it seems we may be back on track to magic school.
Early Wednesday morning? I thought Prime Minister just visit Equestria on Wednesday, didn't he? Castor just asked Twilight on that same day about Harry, so there was no way he could prepare a meeting with two more individuals this quickly. Is this a typo?
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I believe the author miss Zebras as well, but I don't personally think any human would change into alicorn right away since there is too much magic involved. By the way, does 'Night Pony' actually mean 'Bat Pony'?
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Please tell me Discord is applied for janitor position (or even better teaching assistant) in Hogwarts.
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Nope pretty much the first contact stuff happened because of us commenters giving tkepner ideas. I think it was a question about what would happen when the authorities see the path to the portal.
Just want to clear something up: Castor tells them there is fish in Equestria, but also states they will be vegetarians during their stay. So, does that mean they aren't allowed to eat fish even though it is there? Or is Castor using 'vegetarian' a bit liberally?
9136539
If I understand the Portal right it changes according to the dominant life in the area. If the portal opened in Zibra lands then the transformation be zebras.
This portal opened in the heart of Equestria so the dominant life is Pony. The Crystal Empire too far away in my view to cause crystal pony transformations.
The being getting transformed needs some magic in them already for it to take place.
44 chapters and we still haven't hit day one Hogwarts! Nice going!
9136553
Think he being liberal with the term.
9136509
Waitrose - a nationwide chain of stores. Barnyard Bargains - a local store. Definitely not the same in either quantity or quality of items. And Filthy would be buying in lots of a thousand, not a hundred if he had a chain of stores. And Harrods makes people who have been to malls stare in awe.
9136479
In reverse order,
* Changlings are bugs that can take the form of ponies (their young are clearly nymphs, not mammals)
* Alicorns are not a major race (only four in existence)
* Breezies are too small to interbreed with normal-sized ponies.
* Flutter Ponies are too small to interbreed with normal-sized ponies.
* Hippogriff are eagle-horses and are primarily a predator. Not a pony.
* Seaponies are transformed Hippogriffs, and return to their original form on land
* Umbrum - have not yet been encountered.
9136563
I sometimes feel that the British definition of vegetarian is "eats beef or pork less than daily".
9136566
No chance of Zebra? Because there are highly likely that one of them might meet Zecora who resides in the same Everfree Forest.
9136566
I have to say two things
With Flutterponies I was not talking of Breezies, but to the First version of MLP. ponies with Butterfly wings
And Hypogriffs, we have Silverstream in Season 8 and she look similar to a pony. If Horses are not pony, that could take Saddle Arabians
So, this is going swimmingly. Absolutely nothing has blown up yet.
Which means something is going to go hilariously, catastrophically wrong at some point.
...
Probably when someone realizes that Equus is a geocentric system, and the cause is the ruler of the most powerful nation thereupon. Religious wars, anybody?
Saddle Arabian's are horses not ponies:
i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/22/60/d32260e0380ed9271197ca0e09d2fa1c.jpg
Taller than ponies, though not as tall as Celestia, and no cutie marks.
9136566
I mean, they were the size of regular ponies, but we haven't seen them in G4 yet. Just like the Umbrum are not present in the main show, only the comic series.
They are sometimes confused with the Breezies, which are indeed too small, but both were mentioned, so... I dunno.
Most fanfiction ignores those two species.
Actually, I think the transformed changelings were kinda based on the old Flutter Ponies. I don't think it just came from nowhere. But who knows.
9136583
Hippogrifs are naturally carnivores, hence not ponies. Basic difference in metabolism. Flutter ponies, according to what I read in the MLP wiki, are the size of foals. Definitely not up to the size you would expect of an adult pony.
Zebras do not appear to have magic. They can make potions and use rituals, but are not overtly magic like pegasi and earth ponies are.
9136576
*snerk*
I'm a former serviceman and a former military brat, and we pretty much considered Spam(tm) to be a food group on it's own.
Hmm.
Hey, TK? How would your ponies feel about vat-grown meat?
Or, for that matter, that British made substitute for meat? Quorn, I think it's called.
Griffons, like Gilda, and I'm pretty sure dragons, like Spike, would eat meat.
Sure, it's not something these ponies necessarily like, but there would be meat there.
All I can think of is the party Pinkie is going to want to throw for them.
So in essence, the only reason that he wasn't on the warpath was that he currently haad no war path?
Fun stuff. I love technical crap like this.
So Thursday we see them going to Hogwarts this should be . . . interesting. Good to see the girls still comforting Harry and yes I imagine being told the foster parent is a sovereign ruler would bypass a lot of the usual check's needed. Especially when he's under the care of another princess at the time of the interview who is actively mothering him. Seems the court reporter only gets some of the info though as Spike wasn't present and the ponies are in human form.
9136433
Flames, screams, people running for cover. Literally now that I think about it.
9136445
It is nice to see her presented like she is on the show only willing to tolerate being on the ground when eating, injured or comforting a friend.
9136455
I think it unlikely given Tkepner's set up but it'll be interesting if they do over time transform.
9136479
I would say its unlikely they'll be a non-pony race but Alicorn is definately possible though again unlikely given how powerful a magic user you'd need to be. Given Dumbledores already likened Twilights power to the old gods. Hmmmm I wonder which would throw a bigger wrench into things a human turning into an Alicorn or a human turning into a Draconequs? For that matter if Discord could turn someone into an Alicorn . . .
Random human male: "I wish I could be a magical pony."
Discord: "Here you go?"
Random Alicorn filly: "Wait come back!"
several hours later.
Random Alicorn filly: "Ok so I get that I'm a pony because I made that wish, I can understand I'm a little kid because he felt I need time to grow into my powers and learn to use them. I can even try to come to terms with being turned into a female because all your alicorn princesses are female. What I don't understand is why you can't turn me back?"
"It's fun!"
"PINKIE!"
"However she's sort of right none of us can actually undo Discord's magic as he's too powerful and when we asked him he refused because it would spoil his fun... He also asked us to send you to Hogwarts next year with Harry and the cutie mark crusaders to help you get your cutie mark...We wont be doing that as we don't have enough shampoo to remove the tree sap if they keep growing in numbers."
9136491
I took a look at that but didn't bother reading that one since Sweetie Belle got booted out of the crusaders.
9136494
I like the way you think and can't help imaging
"Hey there I read your chronicle's of Narnia series and Twilight insisted we open a portal there to check the nasty witch poo was defeated."
"She said only one planet at a time though."
"Pinkie!"
I also am curious to see how the might of an active muggle investigation/charging will react on running into Dumbledore's spells.
9136553
Liberally I imagine though considering some of those critters we see roaming around Kludgetown there may be a fish nation out there that would take them off the menu.
9136509
That may be due to a shortage of supply rather than a shortage of demand like when the Apple's sold Cider they sold out long before they ran out of customers.
9136600
I would hope the test subjects were vetted for religious fanaticism before selection. Of course there is the matter that someone selected for "I beleive there are things I can't explain but I'm not particularly religious." may change their views on discovering the ruler of the new planet their own is a literal sun goddess. Especially when she asks them not to worship her.
Equestrians', since there's more than one.
Huge difference, there.
9136657
I have to agree. Just let the humans eat meat I don't understand why the ponies are being such irritating pricks about it.
9136657
Remember, we are deep inside Equestria. There are very few of either dragons or griffons in sight. Expecting to find a meat dish in the local stores or restaurants is silly. No business owner is going to stock a perishable item in the very faint hope that someone might buy it before he has to throw it away. Similarly, the locals are not going to be all that used to seeing others eating meat, except the predators that they flee from in the Everfree forest. Expecting them to be accepting of a species openly eating meat is a more than a little ingenuous.
9136705
I'm not so sure about that. The Griffon's might as we don't see much of their dietry practices but I don't think the dragons actually do eat meat. From what we've seen their diet tends to go more towards crystal/gems that animals. Even Spike eats them regularly and the dragon land seems to be largely devoid of any other life forms and the one's we do see like the phoenixes Garble is more interested in killing than eating.
I also doubt it was the ponies that made no meat an issue I suspect that's coming from the human government in an effort to keep things running smoothly.
Also I think . . .
The hotel in Equestria for human visitors had been finished, and that was where they would spend the first few weeks, getting acclimated to the ponies and learning what was expected of them by their government and the ponies.
should be acclimatized not acclimated its not wrong just the former is more commonly used in my experience.
Just because the Detective think Harry is in good hands doesn't mean the UK Government will agree.
It is very tricky to adopt babies from other countries, especially when child abuse is involved. It makes the country look really bad to other world leaders. Average citizens might to care but it is a really big deal to the big wigs.
I really want to know how the Prime Minister will react. Will he realize allowing the ponies to keep the child will benefit the UK later down the line? After all, he's seen incidences of wards and descendants of Alicorns being used as Ambassadors (based on Blue Blood) and that Twilight has adopted Sapient lifeforms from other species before (Spike). He might even try to give Harry a better experience with muggle humans through private tutors and playdates with his own children (with the ponies permission of course) such as taking his own family and Harry's adoptive family to amusement parks and Arcades and other things children enjoy (it would also let us have more opportunities to see Spike interact with Harry in a brotherly manner). That way Harry will get over his fear of human adults and one day be a very powerful ally. The Prince Minister might not know Harry is famous to wizards but he should know the reason his relatives beat him was because they were trying to "Stomp the magic out" of him. If the Prime Minister helps Harry over his fear of human adults Harry will have his feet in three nations well being the prince of the most powerful of them. Harry could potentially open up trade between the Muggles and wizards through his connection with the aliens, as far as The Prime Minister knows.
Or will he not be able to see that, and demand the boy back? Causing all kinds of tension between the muggles and aliens and possibly war from attempting to remove a member of the royal family.
With how rational this Prime Minister has been shown so far, not like the Minister of Magic, he should be able to see the benefits of leaving the boy with the aliens
Honestly im just waiting for a certain b**ch to appeaer so she can get wrecked early.
I'll give you two hints:
The ministry and pink.
might want to pluralize those.
9136705
Who said it was the Equestrians insisting on anything regarding diet?
It would be the height of stupidity to assume that another species that is vegetarian would not be offended if you chose to eat meat in front of them. They might consider it a deliberate insult and call off any negotiations you were working on. Wars have been fought over provocations like that. If you were in charge of such an expedition, would you take that chance?
9136657
Interesting point about Griffons in MLP. They are omnivores. We see Gilda selling scones in Griffonstone.
They also have flat teeth for grinding plants. Thought finding pictures of griffons showing teeth is hard.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/3/3a/Gilda_is_mad_S1E05.png/revision/latest?cb=20140402205443
9136643
Given the location of the Hippogriffs home and them becoming Seaponies. I think they have a more fish based diet.
9136749
Excellent research! Still, ponies are primarily herbivores.
9136738
Fixed.
At this point I have to ask, where did this idea of Applejack being a living lie detector originate? I don’t recall it being in any episodes and yet it’s all over the place in fics