Minerva had seen and experienced many things in her lifetime. War had taken her husband and many of her friends. Even with wisdom, the wonders of the magical world had both daunted and amazed her. She had long since admitted that there would always be one more thing capable of taking her by surprise. Currently she was peering down at three such things.
Three young, well, horses were looking back up at her, none of them could have weighed over 25 pounds. One appeared to be a unicorn, another a pegasus, and the third lacked both a horn or wings. One of their most noticeable features was that they were brightly colored enough to make one’s eyes water. As such they were probably more poisonous than strychnine laced with arsenic. However, in their favor, Hogwarts itself had allowed them to be placed on the roster and the sorting hat would pick out anyone or anything inherently dangerous. Aside from that, she had seen puffskein look more threatening.
With each passing second, the ears of each filly were being laid back on their skulls further, and their eyes were getting bigger in fear. It was time to nip any complications in the bud. “Well children, did you have anything else you wanted to tell me?”
The wee white unicorn raised her hoof, in the manner of a child raising her hand to ask a question, and said in Miss Belle’s voice, “I really need to use the bathroom right now!”
Minerva blinked, opened her mouth to say something, then blinked again. “Please make it quick, Miss Belle. You three have obviously left out things we will have to converse about.” With that she turned and sat in one of the two comfy chairs.
There was a blur of white, and the bathroom door slammed shut.
Minerva gestured to the remaining chair and the two remaining fillies climbed onto it. Being as unthreatening as possible, she made several passes with her wand, checking each for poisons. Thankfully, there was a notable lack of any toxin.
The toilet in the next room flushed followed, shortly, by the sound of the sink running water. Soon, Miss Belle joined her friends.
Minerva regarded the sight in front of her. It was both a first for her and at the same time a comfortably familiar situation. Here were students sitting in front of her wondering just how much trouble they were in. She waited patiently. If they were guilty of anything, they would most likely tattle on themselves at this point.
“Discord was the one who thought we should look like you to fit in!” they all blurted, as one, into the uncomfortable silence.
Or, they would point fingers, err hooves, at the culprit.
“Fit in?” she prompted.
“Fer school,” Miss Bloom offered. “We wanted to go to magic school. So, he helped us.”
“So, he bought you these pendants?” Minerva asked as she handed the neck pieces back to the fillies. There was no reason to keep them from their owners and Minerva drastically needed a reduction of the cuteness levels in the room.
“Nah, he just made ‘em.” Miss Aloo shook her small head and tossed the chain over her head.
The spell work of the pendants was some of the best Minerva had ever seen. The small equines flowed quickly into human girls. This was obviously magic beyond N.E.W.T level.
Also, readily apparent was that the chair was not intended for three girls, no matter how small they might be. Miss Aloo had been pushed up and over the arm of the chair. She somehow did a flip in the air and landed on her back.
“I’m ok,” she said raising her hand. “That didn’t hurt.”
Sighing, Minerva said, “Expecto Patronum.” Suddenly, a glowing cat appeared in front of the Professor. Miss Belle squealed and hopped over the other arm of the chair to get away from it.
“Cat!” The door to the bathroom slammed shut once more. Taken aback, Minerva let the patronus dissipate.
The sole remaining occupant of the overstuffed chair looked at Minerva and offered, “Sweetie Belle don’t take too kindly to cats on account of Opal.”
“There will be cats at Hogwarts.” Minerva informed her.
“That’s great,” Miss Aloo said from her place on the floor, “We’re bigger than they are now.”
Thinking back to how small the fillies were in their true forms, Minerva was appreciative of how ailurophobia could be easy to come by.
“It won’t hurt you.” Another incantation and the cat was back. “Tom, we would like to take a meal up in the room if you please. I believe we’ll have dinner salads.” Minerva spoke to the cat, which flicked its tail and disappeared once more.
“Is that gonna be a regular thang?” Miss Bloom asked.
“That was my patronus,” Minerva replied. “It is a difficult spell that not everyone can master. When you do, it will be an animal that is specific to you. As you saw, mine is a cat.”
“Ah don’t think you coulda pick a worse one for Sweetie.” Apple Bloom frowned.
“Manticore,” Miss Aloo suggested.
“Okay, aside from a manticore that was probably the wo . . .” Miss Bloom corrected.
“Or hydra,” Miss Aloo once again offered up.
With a sigh Miss Bloom continued, “Okay …aside from a hydra or a manticore.”
“And then there are timber wolves.”
“Would you stop that!” Miss Bloom snapped.
“Behave,” Minerva commanded, and was pleased when she was instantly obeyed. She then projected to the bathroom door, “Miss Belle, the cat is gone. You can come out now.”
The door creaked open and a pair of green eyes timidly surveyed the room.
There was a quick summoning of two more chairs. Then, Minerva said, “We seem to have been sidetracked. You were about to tell me how you decided on Hogwarts for you schooling.”
“Well, yesterday we decided we wanted to go to magic school. Since it was too late to enroll, with school starting next week and all, we decided to ask Discord if he could help,” Sweetie Belle explained and the other two nodded their heads in agreement.
“Yesterday?” Minerva spotted what she thought was a lie. “We received the reply to your acceptance letters over two months ago.”
“Discord did say he was sending that owl thru time as well as space.” Miss Bloom shrugged. “Ah guess he sent it two months into the past.”
“I see,” Minerva frowned. “So, this Discord managed to enroll you in Hogwarts, enchant three pendants, give you gems for money, transport you to the alley, and send a reply back in time all on a whim from you to go to magic school?”
“That sounds about right,” Miss Bloom agreed
“Discord got the gems from my sister’s boutique.” Miss Belle nodded her head.
“Uh huh,” Scootaloo grunted positively.
“Does your family know you’re here?”
“Maybe?” the trio honestly replied.
Minerva valiantly fought the urge to facepalm. She was going to have a wonderful conversation with Albus tonight.
“We shall proceed on the assumption that you will be attending as planned,” Minerva stated. “Are there any special needs you may have?”
“We like apples?” Miss Bloom ventured and received eye rolls from the other two girls.
“That can easily be accommodated,” Minerva answered and waited futilely for the other shoe to drop.
“I got nuthin’.” Miss Aloo shrugged. “We’re not exactly sure how you’re different from ponies.”
“Besides,” Miss Bloom calmly asserted, “Discord said these pendants would help us fit in; I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Hush you two,” Miss Belle whispered from the corner of her mouth. “This is where we ask for all the cake we can eat.”
<->
Sometime later, Minerva rode the stairs up to the headmaster’s office. She had sent a patronus asking Albus to call a meeting for the heads of house. This was going to be one for the record books. She didn’t even raise her hand to knock on the office door; Albus invited her in without the need as was his habit.
The plinking, wheezing, chirping, and other sounds emitting from the strange collections of devices met her senses and she was greeted with the sight of her colleagues sitting in comfortable chairs in front of the headmaster’s desk. The warm atmosphere of the office sought her out and invited her in, as did the headmaster.
“Ah, Minerva, so good of you to join us,” said Albus Dumbledore, the very definition of an old wizard, smiling and beckoning for her to take a seat. He was wearing an absurd baby blue robe that was highlighted in yellow sash and had animated trees dancing across it.
“Yes,” the head of Slytherin mused, “we are all on the edge of our seats, wondering why you have had us summoned.” He was an unpleasant man, who routinely dressed all in black, and was named Severus Snape.
The heads of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both sent him glares.
“I had to put a sensitive project into stasis in order to respond,” Severus gave as way of apology, or as much as he was known to apologize.
Pomona Sprout, the aptly named herbology teacher and head of house Hufflepuff, scolded him, “Serverus, I’m sure she has a good reason for this meeting. You would do well to show some consideration.”
The final head of house, Filius Flitwick, could only nod his head in agreement. He was a small man, part goblin to be precise.
“Now, Pomona,” Albus chided. “I’m sure Serverus didn’t mean anything disrespectful.”
Pomona didn’t look convinced.
Meanwhile, Minerva wordlessly sat down, causing Filius to raise an eyebrow at this uncharacteristic behavior.
Skipping pleasantries, Minerva got directly to the point. “We are going to have some unusual additions to the first-year students this year.”
Severus was unimpressed. “If, you're referring to Potter, I do believe we were all already aware.”
“Hogwarts is going to receive its first unicorn student,” Minerva continued as if she had not been interrupted.
Filius’ eye slightly widened. When had Minerva developed a sense of humor?
Everyone in the office stared at Minerva as if waiting for the punchline.
“There will also be a pegasus and another one known as an earth pony.”
The wait for the punchline continued in vain.
<->
“I can’t believe they put ham in a salad,” Sweetie Belle complained. “Who does that?”
“It ain’t like you never had ham before,” Apple Bloom said, pulling a potion book from her trunk. “We don’t have hogs on the farm just fer the manure ya know.”
<->
“Extra-dimensional ponies?” Severus repeated.
<->
“The cheese was a rather nice addition though,” Sweetie Belle conceded, sulking in a chair.
“I thought it could have used some dandelions.” Scootaloo was fiddling with her trunk.
<->
“What kind of name is ‘Discord’?” Pomona asked?
<->
“Wait a minute.” Sweetie Belle suddenly looked up. “What do you suppose was in that shepherd’s pie yesterday?”
Scootaloo tapped the 5th square on her trunk’s face plate. “Dunno, but it was good.”
<->
“Apples?” Filius let his eyebrow lift again.
<->
“You don’t suppose they eat ponies, do you?” Sweetie Belle shuddered.
“Nah, they seem too civilized to be going around eating anypony.” Apple Bloom watched as Scootaloo climbed into her trunk.
<->
“The records at the ministry said what?” Pomona did her best to suppress a giggle.
<->
“Cool!” Scootaloo’s voice called from inside her trunk. “There’s a kitchen down here, and a bedroom; it’s a miniature apartment.”
<->
“You can’t possibly be serious,” Severus said for the sixth time.
<->
“Wait! Did you say kitchen? I have my own kitchen?!” Sweetie Belle clapped her hands together with glee while her friends both froze in horror at the realization.
<->
“You are serious.” Filius gaped,
<->
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle watched as black smoke poured out of Sweetie Belle’s trunk.
“Five minutes.” Apple Bloom turned to Sweetie Belle “You owned a kitchen for exactly five minutes.”
Sweetie Belle whimpered.
There was a knock on their room door. Tom wanted to know what was up with the smoke.
<->
“So, in summation,” Albus said, tapping his fingertips together and leaning back in his chair, “we have three unique new witches, who have confirmed access to a high-level enchanter. Said enchanter may or may not have the ability to send owls back in time, two months being well outside the limits of our own knowledge. This Discord was also able to penetrate the ministry and forge documents and in doing so displayed a questionable sense of humor. On top of all that he most likely has the ability to send individuals through the dimensions, a feat that is theorized to be impossible according to six different laws of magic.”
Albus took a breath and continued, “Said young witches are actually members of a previously unknown equine species, apparently with extra-dimensional origins. Clearly it would be wise not to intentionally antagonize said enchanter of unknown power or the children he has sent for education. As only a fool of the first degree would risk such a potentially disastrous confrontation unnecessarily.”
There was a few second’s pause.
“So, you’re saying we shouldn’t inform the ministry,” Severus bluntly stated.
“Especially, not minister Fudge,” Filius agreed.
“This has been a very informative meeting,” Albus beamed. “Lemon drop anyone?” he offered as he popped one into his mouth.
<->
“How, in the name of Merlin, did you manage to burn orange juice?” Tom asked popping his head out of Sweetie Belle’s trunk.
“Forget the orange juice!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Can you save my kitchen?”
Behind her, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were frantically shaking their heads no.
Tom looked directly at Sweetie Belle and said, “Professor Snape is going to love having you in his potions class.”
<->
“Minerva,” Pomona asked, “What precautions have you taken to stop the girls from wandering into muggle London?”
Minerva stiffened slightly then headed toward the floo.
<->
“I’d say we’re due for a bath,” Sweetie Belle stated, rubbing her once-pink blouse.
“There were some nice sized tubs in our trunks,” Scootaloo suggested.
“That’s okay,” Sweetie Belle shrugged. “There’s a perfectly good tub in the bathroom.
“You mean where the mirror is?” Scootaloo queried.
Apple Bloom looked back and forth between her friends, then said, “Sooooooooooo, your trunk or mine?”
<->
Sweetie Belle slowly awoke. She was content, if not very coherent. She snuggled closer to the source of warmth she was laying against. It was strangely smooth. A totally unexpected sensation that immediately brought her to full wakefulness.
It was Apple Bloom. A furless, half asleep Apple Bloom, “Go back to sleep,” she said. “We don’t have to be up yet.”
“That’s okay,” Sweetie Belle said slipping from bed. “I’ll just go make us breakfast.”
A completely awake Apple Bloom leapt onto the floor. “No, no, no, we don’t need to use the food stocked in our trunks. It’s got all them preservation spells on them in case we need it. We’ll just get breakfast downstairs again.”
“Awwww, but I wanna cook something,” Sweetie pouted, “like cereal.”
“Yah mean oatmeal?”
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of cold cereal,” Sweetie Belle corrected.
“Sweetie, you don’t cook cold cereal.” Apple Bloom face hooved. “That’ll be why it’s called cold cereal.”
“Oh.” Sweetie smiled. “I get it now.”
Scootaloo softly snored, blissfully unaware of the averted disaster.
“Why don’t cha pick out an outfit for each of us to wear? You were paying attention when we bought it all.”
Sweetie gave Apple Bloom a serious look. “You do realize we still have to pick up half the clothes we paid for yesterday. We were told they’d be done this afternoon.”
“We were? Ah mean, we ain’t gonna spend all day shopping like we did yesterday.”
“Books,” was Sweetie Belle’s one word answer.
“But we already tried for our librarian cutie marks,” Apple Bloom complained.
Meanwhile Scootaloo snored onward.
“We got time to do shopping later.” Apple Bloom stomped her foot. “Ah’m declaring an ‘explore everything but the stores’ side quest.”
<->
An hour later, the girls walked down the stairs into the Leaky Cauldron’s common room. It was still earlier than most people would be happy with.
They opted for oatmeal and fruit once again. Becky even brought Apple Bloom extra apples.
“Don’t you be going anywhere now,” she said waving a finger at them. “Professor McGonagall has made plans for you so that you’re less likely to be getting into trouble in the time left before school starts. You’ll be wanting all your luggage from your room.”
The girls confirmed that they were carrying their trunks and Apple Bloom was still wearing the pouch. Becky then used Scootaloo’s Gringott’s key to settle their tab.
As per usual, witches and wizards had been coming and going via floo the entire time. One such wizard arrived, looked around and immediately headed to the girls' table. He wasn’t wearing a dress, er, robe, as the girls had learned the fashion was called. Instead, he had on a tweed suit and a funny hat, all of which Sweetie Belle thought clashed with his red hair.
“Good morning.” He smiled cheerfully. “It would be my guess that you three would be Apple Bright, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. My name is Arthur Weasley. Professor McGonagall has asked that you stay with my family until school starts.
“Mah name’s, Apple Bloom. Apple Bright is a cousin of mine, though.” Apple Bloom was quick to correct the mistake with her name.
“Apple Bloom it is then.” Arthur clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “As this was a bit of a surprise for all of us, and I’ll be needing to head to work soon, shall we be heading out then? Becky here can vouch for me.”
Becky just smiled, nodded and went back to her work.
Arthur herded the children over to the fireplace, “I understand this will be your first time using the floo system.”
The three girls just stared at the fireplace.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Arthur reached up and placed a sickle in a bowl and took down another filled with a green powder, “Okay, Sweetie Belle, you're first. Take a pinch of powder, throw it into the flames and say, ‘the Burrow’ in a clear voice. When the flames turn green just walk into them.”
Sweetie Belle looked at the powder suspiciously then took a pinch. She walked up to the rough stone fireplace and felt the heat from the fire merrily crackling away. Screwing up her courage she said the requested words and surrendered her pinch of powder to the fire. Unsurprisingly, the flames turned green. She leapt forward, and was gone
Apple Bloom eagerly walked up next. Arthur held the powder bowl for her to reach. She quickly followed Sweetie into the flames.
Scootaloo was bouncing in place awaiting her turn. She barely acknowledged Arthur while she retrieved her powder. One quick phrase and a jump later and she found herself zooming along. She was seeing into other human’s houses from a perspective of their fireplaces as she rushed by. For a human witch, it would have been going too quickly for any clear coherent view, but not so for a human-pegasus witch. She saw several informational scenes as she shot past. For instance, a couple of fireplace views confirmed that it was probably human mating season.
Almost without warning, she shot out of a fireplace. It should be noted, when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had exited the fireplace, they had stumbled a little bit but were able to catch their balance and stop. Not so with Scootaloo, she came out faster than the other two had. She managed to get some air time, right up to the point she collided into the backs of her friends. They all went down in a heap.
“Oh dear,” Scootaloo heard a voice say. “Are you three alright?” She looked up and beheld the largest human mare as of yet. It was like a human Mrs. Cake, only a lot less blue.
There was another flash of green and Arthur Weasley arrived, “Well, then,” he said. “I’d like to introduce you to my wife Molly. I'm afraid I can’t stick around, I’m already late. But you’re in good hands, and I’ll see you tonight.” With that, he rushed back to the fireplace and was gone.
“Ah think he managed to get that all out in one breath,” Apple Bloom commented as she took in her surroundings. They were definitely no longer in the Leaky Cauldron. They didn’t even appear to be in Diagon Alley. Instead, they were in a cluttered, yet comfortable-looking, living room. The entire surroundings radiated the feeling of ‘home’.
“You all are so cute,” Molly said. “Normally, Arthur would be eating with the rest of the family, but today he’s been summoned in early. You, however, are just in time. I was just about to call my children down for their breakfasts.
She walked over to a spiral staircase and yelled up, “Percy! Ginny! Ron! Twins! Breakfast is ready!” She then passed the girls, gesturing for them to follow her into the kitchen.
“We’ve already had breakfast, thank you,” Sweetie Belle let the human know. She was surprised by the large table in the room, just off the kitchen, which was laden with food. Apparently, this woman loved to cook, this woman whom Sweetie Belle would be spending a couple days with. Perhaps here was an opportunity.
There was the sound of running feet and a young human filly entered the kitchen. She was about the same size as the three girls already in the room and had red hair. It wasn’t the same bright red that Apple Bloom sported, but more of reddish brown, leaning more to red than brown. She stopped wide-eyed when she realized that her mother wasn’t the only occupant of the room.
“Hello.” The members of the CMC came over to introduce themselves, “Mah name’s Apple Bloom.”
“And I’m Scootaloo.”
“I’m Sweetie Belle.”
“I’m Ginny,” the girl replied, smiling widely. “Where did you come from? What’s with your hair? Did you use magic to get it that color?”
Molly watched on with a smile. Her daughter could use someone her age for company. It was a pity it would only be for a couple days until school started.
The twins singled out that moment to enter. They were human colts, obviously older and bigger than Ginny, and they shared the same hair color as her, though they keep it much shorter than her. They looked very much like one another.
“Well look here, Fred. We had an outbreak of little girls,” the first one said.
“I thought I was George,” the second protested, “but right you are, they seem to be coming right out of the woodwork.”
“They do indeed.”
“Some right bright colored hair too.”
“Almost like . . .”
“. . . they had a go . . .”
“. . . at playing . . .”
“. . . with our potion supplies.”
Apple Bloom had lost track of which was speaking but perked up at the mention of potion supplies.
“I’m gonna need some popcorn, if this is going to keep up,” Sweetie Belle deadpanned. Scootaloo nodded in agreement.
“Fred, George,” Molly scolded. “Don’t be bothering the girls.”
“Yes, Mother,” the two chorused and made their way over to the table to eat.
The next colt, with the same red hair, raced past them with barely a glance before he was seated and stuffing food in his mouth.
His mother evidently thought this wasn’t acceptable, and opened her mouth to say something, when the oldest colt yet entered the room. This one nodded and said ‘Good morning’ before taking a place at the table.
Molly huffed and said, “These two are Ron and Percy. The twins are Fred and George; don’t bother asking which is which, as they change constantly.” Ron and Percy lifted a hand to wave at the girls and the twins gave them a smile.
Ginny had obviously decided getting to know the visitors was more important than eating and had to be ordered to the table to eat.
Though the girls had already eaten, they decided to sit as well and witness the meal while they waited for their new acquaintances to finish their meal.
They observed that humans had a fondness for bacon.