Sweetie Belle grinned like a loon as they stepped through the mirror and came out through a pony statue in the human world. She eagerly looked down at herself but frowned seeing she was still a pony. She looked at Spike accusingly, "I thought you said you turned into a dog last time you went through this thing!"
"I did!" Spike insisted.
Scootaloo deadpanned, "Still look like a dragon to me,"
The Crusaders, Spike, and their Sisters had just arrived in the new wizarding city of Trestribuum. Looking around there sure were a lot of humans all over the place... but the ponies were definitely still ponies. They felt so small next to these huge creatures. Humans were nearly the size of Minotaurs! The adult ponies just barely came up to a human's belly and the foals were more then a foot shorter then that!
Still, Twilight smiled, and went into explanation mode, much too the horror of the children, "The dimensional frequency of this world is different then the one Spike and I last visited. Since magic naturally exist here the portal doesn't have to go to the same extremes to adjust our own frequency to match the laws of this dimension. I've been studying interdimensional physics ever since our visit to the other universe,"
The Crusaders' eyes glazed over as she talked, but they were too polite to interrupt... mostly because their sisters were right there behind them, hooves ready to whack a disrespectful filly upside the head. When Twilight was finally finished, Applebloom looked back at Spike and accused, "You didn't actually turn into anything, did you?"
"I DID!?" Spike swore, "It should have worked this time! I don't know why it didn't!?"
Twilight groaned at being ignored. Meanwhile her friends did their best to hide their snickers.
"Come on you lot," AJ advised, "We best get to the train station,"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, "The train doesn't even get here for another 4 hours! I wanna check out the human city!" She turned to beg her honorary big sis, Rainbow Dash, "Think about all the awesome stuff we'll see!"
Sweetie Belle got the cutest expression she could, on her already adorable face, then looked up pleadingly at Rarity, "Can we? The humans brought all our school stuff to us so we didn't even get a chance to check out their shops!"
To promote the wizard schools, Celestia organized a kind of traveling convention at the start of summer break. All the magic schools traveled together to each of the major cities in Equestria. Each school had a different representative eagerly trying to bribe the foals' Guardians, well making their school seem funner then the others to the foals. All the schools were competing next to each other from booths, trying to get as many ponies enrolled as possible.
Hogwarts was the smartest about it, not only offering a full scholarship, but anypony who enrolled that day got a free trunk filled with all their school supplies. The trunk even shrunk to fit into pockets! The wizards even measured the foals for the school uniform and demonstrated how they could stitch robes together in just a few seconds, thanks to an amazing sowing spell. They were almost as good as Rarity! They even bragged that was the type of useful magic even Earth Ponies could learn! The Crusaders couldn't wait to go!
Unfortunately, this school convention, meant the kids only got a glimpse of human magic. They were hungry to see how the exotic creatures actually lived.
Even Spike got in on the begging, "Please Twilight. It be a great chance to observe wizardkind's growing culture,"
There was a spark in Twilight's eyes, clearly Spike knew how to push her buttons. Sweetie Belle was obviously having just as big an impact on Rarity. Even Scootaloo was playing to RD's adventurous spirit. The only one who wasn't really winning over her sister was Applebloom as she just loudly whined "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese". Actually she might be succeeding in annoying her sister into giving in.
Then Sweetie Belle swooped in for the kill against all their sisters, "This will be the last time you see us for the better part of a year. Don't you want to enjoy one last day together?" her words clearly effected all of the grownups.
"What do you think girls?" Twilight turned to her friends.
Applejack sighed, "It would be nice to spend our last few hours bonding instead of waiting for a train,"
"I would have to agree," Rarity nodded.
RD ruffled Scoot's mane, "I heard these wizards fly around on brooms. How about I get you one?"
Well Scootaloo beamed Applebloom ruined it by reminding everypony of the rules.
"They don't let first years have their own brooms," said Applebloom, only to get glared at by Scootaloo.
"Maybe we could sneak it in?" Suggested Sweetie.
Rarity eyed her disapprovingly, "Please girls, try to stay out of trouble," then sent the look at RD for getting Scootaloo's hopes up.
Rainbow Dash nervously chuckled under the gaze, "I was planning on holding onto it until she got back from school," at Scootaloo's disappointed look RD gave her a little shove, just to encourage her to start walking. As they walked away the blue mare whispered, in that far too loud way of her's, "We'll hide it in your pocket," getting Scootaloo to grin and the older mares to groan. Sweetie looked all proud of herself that they were taking her advice.
With that the group of ponies trotted away from the statue, and thereby the train station just behind it. Diagon Alley was just up the road and a broom shop was almost directly at the front of the district.
Scootaloo all but ran inside, with Rainbow Dash right behind her. The others had to hasten their steps to keep up.
###
Jasper Jackson stood in his shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, enjoying the last rush of shoppers before the students left for Hogwarts. He wasn't actually going to allow most of these kids to buy anything. Most of the children were, after all, first years. He wasn't a man to condone rule breaking, despite the attempts of some of the snobbier parents that tried to bribe him. It was just too dangerous. He only sold the best racing brooms and those were just too powerful for little kids. They needed proper instruction from the school before they could handle any of the brooms he sold. Still he saw no harm in letting the younger children browse his shop and dream of when they were older.
Suddenly a tiny orange pony jumped onto his counter and demanded, "Give me the best, most fastest, broom you got!"
Jasper just blinked, taken aback by the energetic little thing, before noticing a pair of wings, "What would a Pegasus need with a broom?" he couldn't help blurting out.
Instantly, the little filly's excitement for the tool, disappeared. She just kinda crumbled in on herself. Jasper couldn't fathom why.
He didn't have much time to ponder on it as a rainbow mare, presumably the child's mother, angrily flew over and grabbed him. She growled out, "Get. The. Broom." before shoving him away.
The man quickly ran into the back, wondering how such a cute little rainbow pony could be so intimidating... and what he could have possibly done to warrant such a reaction. The man instinctively lingered on the other side of the door. He just stood there, in his storage room, dazed as if Stupified, and trying to figure what just happened... which accidentally allowed him to eavesdrop on the ponies on the other side of the door.
"Is... is that what all the humans will think if they see me use a broom?" he could hear the orange filly ask.
"Who cares what they think!" Snapped the rainbow mare, "It will let you fly kid! Soon you will be zipping around me!"
A new voice entered the conversation, "It's no different then using crutches, Scootaloo,"
"That's not helping, Twilight," answered the filly.
It didn't take long for the merchant to put the pieces together... he had inadvertently been mocking a disabled child... Bloody hell...
As the merchant worried about lawsuits or worse yet, boycotts, he quickly grabbed the best broom on the market before rushing back out.
"Here we have none other then the fabled Skybolt," He explained to the filly, "After the legendary, Randolph Spudmore, died the secrets of his creation, The Firebolt, were lost with him," Jasper played it up as overdramaticly as possible. It was simply his routine pitch, while attempting to sell it. Broom fanatics love a dose of lore. He should know, he was one himself.
He continued, "A little known muggle born, by the name of Richard Hart, was lucky enough to get the opportunity to examine the charms of that amazing broom. He was able to reverse engineer it, and even improve it through muggle ingenuity, into the Skybolt. This broom is made of a light weight polymer that allows for greater speeds. It is the fastest racing broom on the market, favored by professional Quidditch players,"
The ponies, Jasper now noticing there were quite a few of them, looked... confused...
"I think I understood half of those words," Said the orange filly, making the shop keeper groan.
This was a first year if he ever saw one. Well of course it was, Jasper couldn't contemplate how such a small creature would be old enough for such a broom. He was just put into such a shock he hadn't thought...
Ponies might have been involved with wizards for 6 months now but 3 of those months were at the end of the school year. Then they had moved into summer vacation. The ponies didn't exactly have the opportunity to join any of the wizarding schools until now... still... he couldn't exactly tell this kid no without getting sued by her mother... and, looking at the bigger picture, the last thing he wanted to do was offend the creatures that the entire wizarding world was dependent on for survival.
Oh hell, one of their party was even an Alicorn! Those things were royalty!
"I don't normally sell to first years," Jasper explained, "But you look like such a special little filly I think you deserve it," he encouraged, "This broom is legitimately the best on the market, favored by professional wizarding athletes," Jasper dumbed down, "You can even shrink it without damaging the enchantments, as what happens with wooden brooms,"
The blue mare looked at the price tag and gaped, "I can't afford that!?" It was 5000 Galleons! That's over 10000 Bits! It cost a bucking years pay!
"Take it on the house," Jasper almost begged, "Call it a peace offering for the... earlier misunderstanding,"
The blue mare glared at him before snatching the broom, "It's the least you can do," she glared.
"I also have some safety gear," Jasper went on, trying to calm her, "And a few Quidditch books. It's a very popular sport in Wizarding England. It help your daughter to know what the other kids are talking about,"
"DAUGHTER!?" The mare blushed, her fur actually turning red from the embarrassment, "I'm 19! Do I seriously look old enough to have an 11 year old FOAL!?" she yelped, truly mortified.
Bloody hell! Jasper was just digging himself deeper! How was he supposed to be able to guess the ages of these creatures!?
The orange filly self consciously tugged on the blue mare's fur, "Can we just go?"
The rainbow mare sighed but nodded. As their party started to leave, Jasper had to do at least one responsible thing after handing such a broom to a first year, "Just, promise me you won't ride it until your flight instructor gives you the go ahead,"
The orange filly looked back at him, before hesitantly nodding her head and leaving with her family.
That could have gone better... and the filly was likely going to get in trouble for having the broom at school... Maybe Jasper could do something about that?
###
Scootaloo walked down the street, with her new broom tucked under her wing... it was the best flying broom in the wizarding world, so said the shop keeper... but honestly... the fact it was free and not really a gift from Rainbow Dash... it made it just a little less special... Scootaloo would have preferred a less advanced broom if it meant her honorary big sister actually bought it for her... she didn't want to say anything though for fear of being seen as ungrateful...
Then there was what Twilight said... the purple Alicorn compared it to crutches... and it was disturbing how well that description fit in Scootaloo's head... there was also the shop keeper's reaction when she first asked for a broom... that certainly hadn't help... A pegasus should be able to fly under her own power... but she never would...
Well Scootaloo was training for the Equestria Games' flag competition... after Diamond made fun of her for not being able to fly... Scoot went to a doctor to figure out why she was having such a hard time with it. The Doctor took some Xrays and scans and... told her there was a deformity in her wings' magical pathways... they just didn't circulate magic like they were supposed to. They did other scans and made sure there were no other deformities anywhere else, luckily there weren't, but her wings were all kinds of messed up... and there was nothing they could do.
A pegasus' body was just too big for their tiny wings to be able to lift them. They needed that magic in order to fly... but Scootaloo's wings just couldn't channel magic the way they were supposed to...
She really was disabled... and this broom was her crutches... using it would be like finally accepting she could never fly on her own... she just couldn't do that...
Why did Twilight have to compare them to crutches of all things? Why did the shop keeper have to be such a mule about her wanting a broom? Why did all the wizards she was currently walking by have to give her such strange looks...
She was so excited at the idea of having a tool to help her fly... but now she understood what it really was... she wasn't willing to use it anymore... she wasn't willing to give up on her dream... she wasn't willing to admit there was actually something wrong with her...
"Come on Scoot," Rainbow Dash got her attention, obviously spotting the mopey face, "Give it a try,"
"The Shopkeeper made me promise not to use it until the Hogwarts' flight instructor said I was ready," Scootaloo came up with an excuse that was technically true, after all, Applejack was right beside Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash sent a glare back at the shop in the distance. Then she sighed, "It's good your willing to keep a promise, even when it's something as hard as that... I'm proud of you kid," She ruffled Scootaloo's mane, thinking the promise was the reason Scootaloo was being mopey.
This made Scootaloo feel even worse. Now Dash thought she wasn't flying because she had such strong character...
###
As they walked, Twilight spotted one particular word that she pointed out to the others, "Ollivander's,"
The ponies looked at the shop curiously.
"Think it's the same Ollivander?" AJ asked.
"It is a wand shop," Rarity observed.
The herd curiously wandered inside. There they saw the same wand crafter that had been traveling with the school convention.
The man smiled as they entered, "Ah, The Pony Sages," he acknowledged the grown ponies as masters of their craft and protectors of their world... although he doubted the ponies understood the meaning of the title, "I hope the wands I made for your siblings are treating them well,"
Ollivander had been taking orders at the school convention that went through Equestria, making custom wands for ponies in exchange for a few of their hairs, feathers, or even horn shavings. What he didn't use for their wands he used to make others, so he was actually making a really good profit despite giving away thousands in raw materials and labor. He actually did something similar for the other magical beings that would be attending the magical schools... it had been a busy few months for him. He had been forced to use a Time Turner to finish all the orders before school started... there were more then 10 of him at a time in his shop, all trying to ignore each other well they worked. Needless to say he had grown much older in this last year. Thank goodness the average wizard lived past 200.
Still this business model had, inadvertently, caused a new tradition for magical beings, like the ponies. The older family members eagerly donated some of their essence to be used in a wand for the child that was off to school. Sometimes even donating the wood from a family farm or sacred tree. The wand chooses the wizard after all and what could be more powerful then a wand that echoes the love of your family. If wizard hairs held such magical properties, Ollivander was sure they would do the same.
The pony Princess smiled, "The foals have been sleeping with them, they love them so much,"
Well the children looked mortified, Ollivander looked proud. The Master craftsman looked at the tiny children, still the size of human toddlers, and encouraged, "A wand should be treasured so. They are sacred artifacts, not simple tools. An extension of your soul well being a separate entity all it's own. I'm glad you understand that,"
He was honestly a little worried that the magical beings he made wands for wouldn't appreciate them like a wizard would. Most wand craftsmen still refused to sell their wands to non wizards strictly because of that. Ollivander's willingness was the sole reason he was chosen for the role. Hearing how these particular children treasured their wands rid his mind of any lingering doubt.
The Sapient dragon child fidgeted a little, "Can I get a polishing kit?" he asked as he put a few sickles on the counter.
The princess sighed, "I just bought you one last month! How much polish does a wand need!?"
Yes the wands would do just fine in these children's hands, hooves, or claws... he just wished the ponies would stop putting the handles in their mouths.
###
After leaving the shop they wandered Diagon Alley for another hour or two before finding themselves in the mundane district.
Applebloom hopped about eagerly, "Muggles have such cool stuff!" she insisted.
Sweetie Belle squealed, "A videogame store!" she cheered, "I can find some cool new games for me and Button to play," she clapped her hooves excitedly.
Applebloom and Scootaloo smiled devilishly, "You mean your special somepony?" they choired.
Sweetie blushed, "He's not my special somepony!" She insisted but it was too late, the singing had begun.
The two other fillies began prancing around Sweetie Belle well chanting, "He's your special somepony! He's your special somepony!"
"Rarity!" Sweetie begged her sister for help. Her face, bright red with embarrassment.
Rarity just smiled, "But darling, I won't be there to help you with such things for the better part of a year. You really must figure out how to handle this on your own,"
Sweetie Belle huffed, "FINE!" and pounced at her friends, a three way wrestling war erupted.
Rarity sighed, "A lady doesn't resort to violence unless provoked," she repeated something she said often to her younger sister.
"They did provoke me!" Sweetie insisted as she pinned Scootaloo to the ground, only to be jumped by Applebloom.
Spike looked over the fight. He could feel the valuable seconds they were wasting. So he came up with a plan and put it in motion, "Guess we'll just go to the game store without you," and started walking away well signaling the older mares to follow. The mares studied their younger siblings a moment, before leaving with Spike, trusting his judgment.
The Crusaders instantly stopped. Screaming, "Wait up!" the fillies chased after them, the battle forgotten.
Twilight gave her little brother a proud kiss on the top of his scaly head.
When they got to the game store there was a big sign that said "Products Do Not Work at Hogwarts," The children crumbled.
"How come?" Asked Applebloom.
Applejack was strangely the one to answer, "Same reason your JoyBoys don't work near the Ever Free Forest. All that Chaos Magic glitches out electric anything,"
"I know an enchantment to get around that," Twilight smiled, "Go nuts," she encouraged the children.
"Not too nuts!" Rainbow Dash called after Scootaloo, before glaring at Twilight and doing her not quiet whispering. Luckily Scootaloo was too far away and too excited by all the human videogames, "Are YOU 'nuts' Twilight? I can't afford to buy Scoot EVERYTHING she wants. Not on a Wonder Bolts reserve's salary!"
Twilight smiled, "All you girls have to do is cover whatever console they pick out," she promised, "I'll buy all the games they want,"
"How generous of you darling," Rarity playfully teased.
Twilight smiled back, "That castle I got has a treasury the size of Manehatten," she embellished, but not by much, "I have more then enough bits to buy the girls a few gifts before they depart. Besides, I hate to tell you this Rarity, but you don't own the monopoly on generosity,"
Rarity gave a mock hurt, "Huff,"
"Look at this Girls!" Sweetie Belle got so excited she whinnied.
"Language!" Rarity automaticly scolded and got an unrepentant "Sorry!" in return.
"What you find Sweetie Belle?" Asked Applebloom.
"The Nintendo Switch," Sweetie awed, "Button was telling me about this. It's not the most powerful console ever, but it's got the best games of the year on it. Button says, since the humans in this city are off the grid anyway, one of the muggles started her own company to port over all the old Xbox 360 games,"
The girls stared at her blankly.
"Is that good," asked Scootaloo.
"That console is LEGENDARY in the human world. It still outsold the newest console by a million units just last year! and that's with the 360 being out of production for years! Graphics and stuff might have gotten much better on the new consoles but the 360 still has the best games in the last 10 years! The only games that come close to rivaling them are on the Switch..."
The girls stared at the Switch in newfound awe.
Applebloom muttered, "If the Trestribuum Switch has access to all those games..."
"Hundreds of this worlds best games," Sweetie insisted.
That's when the girls started drooling.
Well they were daydreaming, Rainbow picked up one of the console boxes, just to check out the price. 45 Galleons, that's 90 bits. Yeah she could easily afford that with the money she had been saving for Scootaloo's Broom.
After all, Twilight wasn't the only one who planned all along to take the kids on a fun adventure through the human city before they left. It was the reason they got here so early... it might have been a little mean to let the kids think they were just going to wait at the station for 4 hours but the looks on there pleading faces was priceless. It was a great prank that the other mares actually went along with.
Once the girls left the store they slipped the bags of games into their pockets... Ponies are weird, thought Spike. They had so much raw magic that there was a literal bag of holding built into their flanks. A pouch that could hold thousands of pounds, without effecting them at all, right under where their cutie mark should be... Spike wished he had something like that.
Surprisingly Scoot put her broom in there to. Spike would have thought she would want to carry it longer.
Spike just shrugged it off and pulled his trunk out of his robe pocket, a much less impressive pocket, before unshrinking it. Then it was a good 30 minutes deciding what games he wanted immediate access to on the train.
Luckily he had plenty of time, as that's how long it took Twilight to enchant all their Switches. They had wandered into a nearby "vegan" restaurant so Twilight could sit and work well everypony else enjoyed a meal. When Twilight finished she hoofed over their Switches and said it was time to go. Spike put the games he really wanted to try in his backpack and the rest in his trunk, before shrinking it again.
"Looks like that took more time then I thought," Acknowledged Twilight, "We better get back to the train station,"
The children growned but Twilight just smiled, "How about we spend the first week of winter break here?"
"REALLY!?" The children excitedly exclaimed. Spike was practically bouncing!
Twilight looked over at her friends, "What do you say girls? We can get everyone out here before the actual holiday. We all have winter off anyway, so it's not like we would be slacking off from work," The entire winter season was a sacred time for ponies. Most stores were closed and each city had a shared food supply they rationed to all their citizens for free.
AJ smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me. Pinkie and I have been searching for new traditions to celebrate with our families anyway,"
RD nodded, "It would be cool to actually have time to check out everything here,"
Rarity argued, "We still have to actually ask Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy what they want to do, but I think it is a marvelous idea,"
The kids cheered, and couldn't stop talking about their Christmas plans, as they were led back to the train station.
###
The train ride was uneventful. They just giggle with delight as they played their Switches. Spike got mad a few times because the Crusaders kept picking games he had packed in his trunk, instead of the games he talked to them about while he was choosing them. Seriously that little dragon is just as bad as Twilight, everything has to be scheduled and planned. They ended up relenting to Spike each time, so as to not exclude him.
Applebloom was already starting to miss her family but felt, as long as she had her friends, it wouldn't be so bad... she really shouldn't have jinxed it.
Turns out the school separated it's students into houses, that way they can have sporting events and such. All the first years were marched in front of four long tables in the biggest dining room Applebloom had ever seen. Candles floated just under the ceiling, stormy clouds, like the ones that matched tonight's weather, echoed in the moving ceiling.
After getting off the train had been miserable. First years had to sit in boats in the rain. They couldn't even see anything, the fog was so thick. She could tell a lot of the wizards where disappointed, like they expected more. The storm must have gotten out of control from their weather ponies.
"Scootaloo," Applebloom smiled as her friend all but collided with the stool when her name was called. Scoot always was easily excitable. It would be pretty cool to see which house they would wind up in.
Scoot climbed into the high stool, well high for pony children anyway, well the wizard deputy headmaster brought the hat over. Professor Neville Longbottom, Applebloom thought his name was.
"Gryffindor!" The hat screamed the second it touched the edge of Scootaloo's mane. She didn't even have to put it on. That was the quickest anyone got sorted yet.
The Gryffindors cheered loudly, and clapped like maniacs. Oh yeah these were definitely Scoots kind of ponies, errr people. She quickly trotted over to them and sat down getting many a back slap and a congrats.
It only took a few other students before it was Sweetie Belle's turn. The hat just sat on her head like it did everypony else's, well they all waited. Applebloom wished she knew what it was doing.
"Hmmmmmmm," The hat sat on Sweetie's head, speaking into her mind so that she and she alone could hear it, "Brave, yes, very brave... but only with your friends encouragement. You think bravery is just recklessness unless there is purpose to it. So not Gryffindor, definitely not,"
Sweetie deflated but they would still see each other every day in class and even get together afterwards. It was definitely disappointing but not the end of the world.
"You still go along with your friends misadventures but only because your friends are involved. Hufflepuff maybe? You are loyal, remarkably loyal, that's a good Attribute to have, but your loyalty is not without limits. You ruined your sister's hat for a very important client because she offended you. Yes, I see, you fixed it, doesn't change the fact you did it," Sweetie looked down in shame. That definitely wasn't her proudest moment... but it got worse as the hat started saying some very hard things to hear.
"You can be very vengeful to those who cross you but your heart is not without compassion, important traits to balance each other... Ambitious... very ambitious... you want to be better then your sister. You idolize her but fear being forgotten, or worse remembered as only the little sister to a champion. It's hard being related to a Sage. Throughout the millennia I have known many of their offspring and siblings who felt the same way... and your right, they were forgotten to time... but not you, no, you won't allow it. I see such greatness in you, such raw untapped potential. you are cunning... so very very cunning. Not afraid to use displays of weakness against someone for the benefit of your goals. You capitalize on those moments without hesitation... and have that spark of... leadership. You can make the tough calls no one else is willing to... your friends often look to you to do exactly that... and you thrive on it... yes I can see you would do well in..."
"SLYTHERIN!!!" The hat called outloud.
Only a handful of Slytherins clapped, and those who did only seemed to do so out of a sense of obligation. Sweetie shrugged that aside as she took off the hat and went to their table. She waved happily at Scootaloo and the orange filly waved back, with equal enthusiasm. Neither noticed the strange looks that got them from their new housemates.
Well more students were called, Applebloom stood in horror. Her friends were in different houses! They wouldn't all be together anymore! Which house would she end up in? Either way she was going to leave one of her friends behind!
When it was her turn to wear the hat she almost jumped out of her fur when she heard a voice inside her head.
"Interesting, here's another easy one. Brave, reckless, but those aren't the traits you value most. No, you define yourself by your relationships. Hard working, always encouraging your friends to not give up and work hard for your cutie marks... and so very... very... loyal... easy to earn your loyalty well being almost impossible to shake... and compassionate, very compassionate, even to your enemies. I can think of no place better for you then..."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
That's when Applebloom started crying, right there on the stool in front of everycreature... she wasn't going to be with either of her friends... she hadn't realized that their last day with their sisters... would be their very last day as Crusaders...