“Shining Armor!”
Twilight ran as fast as she could across the stone and tackled her big brother with a hug. He looked a little shocked, but still hugged her back.
“Twily!” he exclaimed. “I missed you, kid!”
“But it’s only been a couple of weeks since we’ve seen each other,” said Twilight.
“Then why were you so quick to give me a hug?” Shining Armor replied.
Twilight laughed. “Okay, okay, you win.” She pulled out of the hug with a smile on her face.
Shining Armor addressed all of the students. “First-years, stay here. The rest of you, go that way.” He pointed towards a path to the right. “Entrance is over there.” While the other students cleared out, he spoke to the first-years, all of whom had stayed put. “It’s always been Hogwarts tradition for first-years to enter the castle by boat. If you ask me, it gives you kids a great view of the place.” He started down the left path. Noticing that the students weren’t following him, he shouted “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!”
Murmurs of excitement resounded from the first-years as they followed Shining Armor down the path. Twilight had to weave through the crowd like a stray fish in a school of anchovies in order to catch up to her brother.
“So, how’s your position as gamekeeper coming along?” she asked him.
“Glad you asked. It’s going great! I’ve got a cool little hut behing the castle, and I get to teach first-years how to fly a broom!” He smirked. “Don’t forget, I’m also Keeper of the Keys.”
Twilight snorted. “Great, you get a job for a couple of years and suddenly I have a braggart for a brother.”
“Well, you’re not going to have to live with this braggart for long. We’ve just arrived at the dock.”
Twilight looked up from the conversation and gazed at the spectacular view of the castle and the lake. The reflection of the massive architectural marvel appeared rippling on the lake’s calm surface, creating would-be symmetry.
“Come on, Twilight. You can ride with me,” Shining Armor said.
Twilight snapped back to reality. “It’s okay. It would probably look like favoritism. I don’t want to start school with that image on me. Sorry, B.B.B.F.F.” She smiled at her big brother. “It’s okay, I made a few friends on the train. I won’t be alone.”
“Okay, Twily. I hope you have fun on your first day.”
“I’ll see you soon!”
By now, most of the students had already been seated in a boat. The only one sitting alone was Rarity. Twilight took a seat next to her. “Hello, Rarity. Is it okay if I sit here?”
Rarity smiled. “Oh, of course, darling! In fact, I was worried I would have to ride alone.”
Shining Armor called to the students from his boat up front. “We’re off!”
Twilight and Rarity had both been perfectly prepared to row the boat to the castle themselves, but every boat on the dock began to slowly flow across the water towards Hogwarts. As if the view of the gorgeous castle couldn’t get any better, from the moving boats, it was even more marvelous.
“So, how are you feeling about your first day at Hogwarts? I don’t know about you, but I’m a weird combination of excited and nervous,” said Twilight.
“I think you mean, nervouscited!” said a familiar high-pitched voice. Pinkie and Applejack’s boat had caught up to Twilight and Rarity’s.
Twilight was quite surprised. “Oh, um, hi, Pinkie, I didn’t see you there.”
“Is ‘nervouscited’ even a real word?” asked Rarity.
“Of course it is!” said Pinkie. “I’m very nervouscited too! This is gonna be so fun!”
“To tell you the truth, I’m just glad that Big Mac will be there,” said Applejack. “In a couple of years, my little sister Apple Bloom will be coming here too. And my Granny Smith is teaching Herbology! We’ll have the whole family there soon enough! And that’s not even counting all of my relatives who’re already here…” Applejack continued to ramble on about her family while the girls only half-listened.
“Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash said as she and Fluttershy had pulled up. “Sweet view, huh?”
“It really is beautiful,” said Fluttershy.
“So, girls, anyone else nervous about the House they’ll be sorted in? Shining Armor was in Gryffindor. However, I’m not sure that’s where I want to go,” said Twilight.
“Easy. My dad was in Gryffindor, and so will I.” Rainbow Dash looked very smug.
“Every person in my family has been Hufflepuff. At this point, I think the Sorting Hat isn’t even looking at us and just throwing us all in there,” said Applejack.
“Ditto,” said Pinkie.
Rarity looked a little fearful. “I have no clue where I’ll be placed. I just hope I belong there.”
“What about you, Fluttershy? Where do you think you’ll be Sorted?”
Before Fluttershy could speak, the boats arrived at the castle’s dock. A woman with long blue hair that seemed to be teeming with starlight was waiting for them in front of the doors.
“Welcome, first-years. I am Professer Luna. Headmistress Celestia is my older sister. Please follow me into the hall.” Luna took her wand from her robes and opened the doors. She walked down the corridor with the students following her. They soon arrived in the Great Hall.
The first-years gathered in front of the House tables, just before Celestia stepped up to the podium.
“Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before we begin, I would like to tell the first-years and remind our returning students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, especially those afraid of spiders.” Fearful whispers sounded from the first-years. Celestia giggled. “Oh, relax. I’m just pulling your legs. Just remember to stay out of the forest.
“Before we begin the Sorting ceremony, I would like to say a few words. Magic. Darkness. Pumpkins. Let the Sorting commence!” Celestia handed Luna a very worn hat.
Luna stationed herself behind a cushioned chair, hat in hand. She began to read names off of a list. “Amythest Star!”
Amythest nervously walked up to the chair and sat under the Sorting Hat.
“RAVENCLAW!”
Applause sounded from the Ravenclaw table when Amythest sat with her new House.
“Apple Brown Betty!”
Applejack’s cousin eagerly skipped up to the chair and had the Sorting Hat lowered onto her head. It had been barely a second before the hat shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” Cheers immediately resounded from the House table.
“Told you,” Applejack said to Pinkie Pie.
Betty happily stood up walked to the Hufflepuff table as she was welcomed by her new friends.
“Apple Bumpkin!”
Bumpkin leisurely strolled up to the chair, absolutely certain where she would be placed. And she was entirely correct. “HUFFLEPUFF!”
“Apple Cider!”
Almost every member of the Apple family was sorted before Luna finally got to “Applejack!”
“Good luck, Applejack!” Pinkie called to her friend as she walked towards the chair and sat down.
Of course, less than a second after the hat touched her head, it shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” By now, the Hufflepuffs weren’t cheering when Applejack sat down at their table.
“Berry Dreams!”
“Gee, Applejack wasn’t kidding when she said everybody in her family was in Hufflepuff,” Rainbow Dash whispered to her friends.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
All of the Gryffindors cheered when they finally got a new member.
“Berry Punch!”
Fluttershy spoke up. “It must be horrible, being lumped in with a group of people, with people never even considering the possibility that–”
Fluttershy was interrupted by a “HUFFLEPUFF!”
“Eep!”
The girls sat in watching silence until a “Fluttershy!” was heard. Fluttershy’s face immediately turned quite pale and wan. She was shaking as she slowly advanced toward the chair. Luna was gentle lowering the Sorting Hat onto her long pink locks.
“HUFFLEPUFF!”
Relieved to be placed with a friend, Fluttershy seated herself next to Applejack, who gave her an encouraging smile. “Don’t fret, sugar cube. I’m sure that Hufflepuff isn’t so bad.”
Fluttershy gave her a shy smile. “Oh, it’s not Hufflepuff I’m worried about. I just doubt that Rainbow will be in here, too.”
“Why, is she your sister or something?”
“Well, her dad adopted me when I was very young. He’s a very nice man. Rainbow and I may as well be sisters.”
“Aw, well ain’t that the sweetest thing! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll still see each other plenty, even if she isn’t sorted into Hufflepuff.”
Just as Applejack finished that sentence, Pinkie Pie was called up. She joyfully bounced into the chair, and Luna placed the Sorting Hat on her head. After about ten second of sitting there, the Sorting Hat looked very confused. A few unintelligible murmurs were heard from it. Finally, it settled on “GRYFFINDOR!”
Sorting Hat still on her head, Pinkie ran over to the roaring Gryffindor table. Luna and the rest of the students laughed as she walked over to retrieve it. Pinkie Pie sat next to a third-year with short and straight gray hair.
Soon enough, Luna called “Rainbow Dash!” to be Sorted.
Rainbow grinned and stepped up to the chair. When the hat was placed on her head, it soon yelled “GRYFFINDOR!”
Rainbow pumped her fists in the air, looking very excited. She glanced over at Fluttershy, who looked a little saddened. Rainbow flashed her a thumbs-up and joined Pinkie in Gryffindor.
“Hi, Dash!” Pinkie looked very happy to have one of her new friends in her new House. “This is my sister, Maud!”
“Hello, Rainbow,” said Maud, still holding the same deadpan expression. “I believe you’ve met my sister.” She nodded at Pinkie, who was still smiling her head off.
“Rarity!” called Luna.
Rarity shakily walked to the chair and sat down. She winced when Luna placed the Sorting Hat on her head. She braced herself for the House name to come out of it’s mouth.
“SLYTHERIN!”
Rarity turned paler than she already was. She rose from the chair and, shuddering, stumbled over to the Slytherin table. She took a seat in a quiet corner of the table and shook.
“Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like Little Miss Makeup has arrived.” The speaker, a second-year with oily pale-blue hair, smirked. Rarity shot her a glare.
Slytherin. Why Slytherin? Of every House she could have been placed in, it was the villian House. Every bad witch or wizard in history had been placed here. Heck, she was probably sitting with a few future Dark witches and wizards at that very moment. She would have been fine with Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, even Gryffindor. It just had to be Slytherin. The only thing that could cheer her up now was food. She just adored pumpkin pasties. It was really too bad that they could only eat when the Sorting finished. Hopefully Twilight would be sorted there, too. At least she would have a friend. Oh, dear, why was she thinking like this? She couldn’t wish such awful things on a new friend!
“Twilight Sparkle!” called Luna.
Finally, she had been called! Twilight grinned with a smile almost as big as Pinkie Pie’s. She happily walked to the chair and sat under the Sorting Hat. Celestia flashed her a smile, which Twilight immediately returned. After a few seconds of searching, the hat shouted “RAVENCLAW!”
The Ravenclaw table erupted with applause to welcome their new House member. Twilight quickly walked over to her new friends and took a seat. Ravenclaw! She’d guessed. This was the house of learners. The House with the common room that opened with the answer to a riddle. The house of blue and bronze. She realized that none of her friends from the train had been Sorted with her. Oh, well. She’d be able to see them in class.
“This concludes our Sorting,” said Celestia. “Let the feast begin!”