//------------------------------// // Ch4 Part 1: Common Rooms, Separate Houses // Story: Hogwarts' Rivals // by ColtKit Productions //------------------------------// The Hufflepuffs didn't have that long of a walk, when it came time to retire to the common rooms. The Prefects led them right through the kitchens, basically next to the great hall. The Puffs saw a large herd of pinkish peach elves, no bigger then the pony fillies. The little elves wore black robes without sleeves, which were so short they barely covered their thighs. They looked like the type of adorable short robes wizards dressed toddlers in. The Hogwarts insignia was over their left peck and a much larger patch of that same design was on their back. Each elf had a leather, strangely comfortable looking, collar around their neck. The little elves immediately stopped when they saw the crowd of Hufflepuffs, staring at one of the first years in particular. "G-Grand Master," one of them muttered in complete awe, and soon all of the elves were on their knees, their arms stretched out far in front of them on the floor. Sindle gave a causal raise of his hand, "Rise," that the much smaller elves quickly obeyed, waiting patiently for his words, "Though I certainly appreciate the formality," he spoke with regal authority, "I ask you not do that again in regards to myself. I will likely be coming through here frequently and I would hate for edict to interfere with duty," "YES GRAND MASTER," All the elves spoke as one. "Return to what you were doing," Sindle ordered and all the smaller elves immediately began ignoring him. The prefects then began escorting the students through the kitchen. They had insisted Sindle walk up front with them when they first entered the kitchen, obviously expecting this. But after the house elves got back to work the prefects let the boy walk behind them with the other first years. Button Mash awed, once Sindle returned to them, "Are you like, some kinda Elf royalty?" he squeaked. The other first year Puffs, including Albus and Applebloom, listening intently, as the older puffs behind them got to gossiping about their summers. Sindle nearly scowled, until he realized who was talking to him. Then, he smiled. The reaction was almost instantaneous, "Hardly, my family is barely middle class," Although, 'Middle Class' by High Elf standard was still stupidly rich. Strangely, the high elf lost his smile and spoke with a great level of sorrow, "You won't be aware of this, as it happened after Starswirl's falling out with our world, but House Elves were actually created by my people. The first were cauldron born, crafted through the skills of our greatest Alchemists. Then given to Merlin and his disciples, in recognition of their power and nobility... wizards have fallen far from their former glory but our pets still serve them dutifully," "Pets?" Button tilted his head. "A House elf is no more intelligent then a dog," Sindle explained, "I do not intend that too be cruel, but in a literal sense. It was how we made them. We lacked the ability to make them smarter at the time. Our limits were met by giving them the power of speech. However, as cauldron born, they have incredible magical power, far more then wizards, making them worthy of respect. Still they need to be trained and looked after," His face looked truly disgusted as he went on, "Trusting them to wizards was perhaps the greatest mistake our elders ever made. They were meant to be companions and protectors, and wizrads turned them into slaves," Applebloom scrunched up her nose, "What's a... slave?" she hoped she got the word right. The golden elf smiled, "You're race truly is the epitome of innocence. I will not be the one to destroy that by teaching you the meaning of such a word... I doubt you could understand the concept anyway," "HEY!" Applebloom glared, "I'm far from stupid," "I meant it as a compliment," Sindle smiled. "House Elves have it much better now," Albus couldn't help himself, once they were out of the kitchen and away from all the tiny elves (who might take issue with a High Elf being corrected about anything). Unfortunately the High Elf just scoffed at him, so Albus insisted, "They do! My Aunt Hermione has done a lot to help them. Given them more rights, better protection laws, and letting them wear proper clothes. House Elves insisted they keep something to mark them as 'under a wizards protection', so they wear the collars now," Sindle was giving the slightest hint of a glare, the High Elf equivalent of screaming obscenities, although his voice remained ever proper and silky, "And you believe that erases of a thousand years of abuse, do you?" "Of course not," Albus glared back, "What happened was HORRIBLE! I'm not denying that. But I never laid a hand on Kreature, and sure as hell never let him hurt himself. He's my nursemaid and one of my closest friends! You can't blame all Wizardingkind for something that happened TWO generations ago!" Sindle's eyes soften, before letting out a sigh, "I suppose not, and I will acknowledge your parents' generation has tried their best to make up for the sins of their own parents," before his eyes harden, "But those sins will forever stain the soul of your species," "That's not true," Applebloom spoke up, shocking both the elf and the wizard. Sindle sighed, "You don't even know what we are talking about," "I get the gist!" Applebloom insisted, "Wizards hurt House Elves, right? That doesn't mean you get to condemn them for something their ancestors did! That's not right!" Sindle sighed, "House Elves are like the cows of your world. Animals, just intelligent enough to talk. Beings intelligent enough to constantly question their base instincts but not smart enough to have higher reasoning skills. Their intelligence, both for Equus Cows and House Elves, is actually a detriment as a result of this. Both are actually less capable then regular animals. Wizards chose to abuse that vulnerability. Turning what should have been a symbiotic relationship, like what you ponies have with cows, into a farce," "Whatever somepony did, NO creature is beyond redemption," Applebloom stated firmly, "And a child should NEVER be blamed for the crimes of their parents, especially not an entire species!" Sindle sighed but let it drop. Her words hadn't actually convinced him but the last thing he wanted was to corrupt such a creature with his own cynical view of the world. There was no winning this argument for either side, so he chose not to participate any further. Soon all the Puffs found themselves walking down some stairs into one of the large cellars, behind the kitchens. There were huge barrels that went up to the tall ceiling. They were laying on their sides and still that tall! A 7th year prefect went to one of the barrels, pressed against the far wall, "Pay attention," She ordered the first years as she took out her wand and tapped a rhythm on the spout of the Barrel. As the lid of the giant barrel swung open, like a door, the male 7th year prefect informed, "We will practice the pattern before leaving for breakfast tomorrow. Normally you are free to leave the common room any time after 6AM, but tomorrow we need everyone to stay behind for orientation," Then signalled for everyone to climb inside the barrel. They walled down the slope through the barrel, that was strangely longer then the barrel itself, before entering an even larger room. It had a relatively low ceiling, with an Earthy feel to it, and bee like decorations and furniture (black and yellow). There were high windows looking out towards the Forbidden Forest, which also showed that the common room truly was underground... for the most part that is. There were plants, of every color, all over the room, and vines going up the dirt like walls. An old, well maintained, painting of some witch was over the fireplace. "I suppose this will due," Sindle delicately put. The Gnoll girl scoffed, "It looks like they gutted the area of everything natural, then stuffed it back in," "Indeed," Sindle agreed. Applebloom shrugged as she trotted inside, "I like it," "As I said," Sindle shrugged, "It will do," ### Spike grinned like a loon as he, and the rest of Ravenclaw, followed their Prefects up the wide staircase of one of the towers. They were marching by year, with the 1st years in front, just behind the prefects. "You notice?" Dinky Hooves got his attention, suspiciously whispering to him as if she made a dangerous discovery. She kept looking back at all the older students. "Notice what?" Spike whispered back. "The wizards," Dinky pointed out, "There are only 3 to 5 in each year. Are human classes supposed to be this small?" Spike blinked and looked around at all the wizards. There were a lot of kids in total but Dinky was right, each individual year had barely any. "Think the other houses are like this?" Spike whispered back. A Centaur boy behind them suddenly leaned his head down to get in on the conversation, although he was still so far above them it wasn't funny, "I noticed the same issue in all the houses. The humans outnumber us solely because of how many grades there are. My mom says there used to be 15 to 20 wizards in each year per house," Spike slumped, "I knew the wars hit them hard but..." he trailed off Dinky, however, was looking at the Centaur suspicious. The Centaur shrugged at her, "My mom wanted me to make sure the wizards weren't lying about how much their population had fallen. She asked me to count all the students," Spike gaped, "Why would they lie about something like that!?" The Centaur shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first time they lied to us in order to steal our secrets," Dinky sighed, "Are all Centaurs so paranoid?" The Centaur crossed his arms and looked stood back up, "When it comes to wizards we are," he admitted, well making it seem like it was the wizards fault. The entire group of Ravenclaws suddenly stopped as they arrived at a large regal looking door. "Centaurs spend too much time star gazing," speculated a nearby Tiefling. The girl looked like the Christian version of the devil. Red Skin, twin horns, sharp teeth, and a long furless tail, "It rattles their brains," The Centaur leapt in front of her, the freakishly tall boy (Thanks to having his lower half being a quadrupedal horse body) staring down the human sized girl, "You want to repeat that!" taking it as an actual insult instead of the playful snark it was intended. "That's enough," Snapped one of the younger prefect boys, "Beygas, stand at the other side of the line!" The Centaur stiffened. Showing he was actually a few inches taller then the teenager. "Now or I'll give you a detention," The Prefect threatened. The Centaur, Beygas, sneered but did as he was told, walking over to the far left of the first years. "You okay?" Dinky asked the Tiefling. Yeah the girl was a little rude but she didn't deserve that kind of reaction. The humanoid shrugs, "No problem, I could have taken him," she insisted. "Gryffindor wannabe," one of the witch's snickered, getting a glare from the Tiefling. The human shrugged, "Relax, half my family are Gryffindors. A little boasting is good for the soul," The Tiefling raised a hairless eyebrow, but the human wasn't done, "Especially when you clearly about to get your arse kicked," grinned the witch. Strangely the Tiefling grinned, "Like I would fall to a horse's arse," "WHAT THE HAY!!" Dinky gaped. The Tiefling blushed, a strange purple color apeared on her cheeks, "I didn't mean you!" she insisted. Dinky gave a dismissive huff, whipping her mane back and sticking her muzzle in the air. Her eyes were closed for all of a moment, but then she peeked back at the red girl and smirked. The Tiefling rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. Spike shook his head, so much bantering. They were worse then Twilight! He never bantered, nope, never. Dinky suddenly wacked him upside the head with tail. "Oh yeah," Dinky smirked, "NEVA EVA!" "Quit reading my mind without permission!" Spike glared. "Not gonna let you get away with lying," Dinky gave a cheeky grin, "Even to yourself, what would Applejack say?" Spike huffed, crossing his arms in a full on pout. Dinky rolled her eyes and muttered, "Not like I can help it," making Spike feel all kinds of guilty. The human girl gaped, "You're a Legilimen!" "A what?" Dinky blinked, "No I'm not a, whatever that is. I'm 1/4 Time Pony. I inherited a little bit of time magic from my dad. Daddy doesn't know if I'm gonna get my Hourglass or a regular pony cutie mark... I hope it's an hourglass," She confessed. All proper Time Ponies had some kind of hourglass cutie mark, "But I only got one heart so probably not," she moped. Time Ponies were like Phoenixes. They lived as long as Alicorns but took it a step further. They could flat out cheat death by regenerating into a younger body, adding millenniums to their lifespan each time. Unlike Phoenixes they could only do it 12 times, so they weren't truly immortal... still... Dinky couldn't do it at all... she had too much regular pony in her blood... The second heart is what let Time Ponies Regenerate but she didn't have one... she was lucky her biology was just Time Pony enough to let her use time magic... Even then she could only go back in time a few hours, stopping time was way easier though... at least when it was just her. The Tiefling was staring at her in awe all the same, she had clearly heard of Time Ponies. The witch girl just looked confused. "What's time magic got to do with mind reading?" The Witch asked. "I have limited psychic powers to," Dinky explained, "But I can't really turn it off. I am constantly picking up everyone's surface thoughts and can't always tell where it is coming from. I can only really look deeper them that by touching some creature... I also see into the 4th dimension, but daddy put up barriers in my mind so that I can only really see the stuff if I focus on it... my brain is similar to a regular pony's to handle all that information," she moped "... 4th dimension," The witch was stunned, for all of a moment, "You mean you can see the future!" "Kinda," Derpy's Heir shrugged, "I can see all of history, all of it. Everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and all the infinite possibilities of what COULD happen. But like I said. My brain can't handle it. So Daddy set up magical barriers to block it out. Unless I specifically focus on something I only see what is happening around me at that moment. My normal Perception isn't really any better then yours," "Well Pony eyesight is better then most creatures," Spike shrugged. Dinky rolled her very large pony eyes, which took up most of her head. As she did, the prefects stopped as they came to a large door. They seemed to finally reached the top. This walk would get old real fast... A 7th year Prefect stood tall as she directed everycreature to look at the door knocker of a Bronze Eagle, "Alright first years, listen up, in order to enter Ravenclaw you need to use the knocker and the Eagle will ask you a riddle. It's a different riddle each time and if you can't answer it, and a Prefect has to let you in, then you will spend 15 minutes sitting on the stool in the corner with the Dunce cap on your head. It will give you a proper tongue lashing for shaming Ravenclaw. This is the house of Intelligence. You should be smart enough to answer a simple riddle," All the first years squirmed worriedly. "You," The 7th Year seemed to point at Spike but then said, "Kobold, knock on the door and answer the riddle," so Spike looked around for the Kobold. The Centaur nudged the little dragon, "I think she means you," "I'm not a kobold!" Spike yelped, causing the 7th year to blush. The other 7th year prefect teased, "Yeah Pansy, Kobolds are a lot skinnier and have much longer snouts. Maybe you should wear the Dunce cap for a while," As the younger children giggled, Pansy blushed and demanded, "Shut it Nathan!" at her fellow Prefect. Then looked back at Spike, "Lizardfolk, whatever you are, get up here," Spike huffed, "I'm not a Lizard either," but obeyed the order and stood by the door. "Mind telling us your Species," Nathan smiled, "So Pansy stops getting it wrong," "I'm a dragon!" Spike glared, all kinds of irritated. "An Equus Dragon," Dinky supplied, "They're Sapient, like the 'True' Dragons of your world," Nathan tried, he really did, but he just couldn't stop himself. He burst out laughing. "Shut it!" Pansy demanded, blushing feverishly. "You called a Sapient Dragon a Kobold!" He kept laughing, "You're lucky he didn't burn your face off!" he was in hysterics, "How about next you go find that High Elf kid and call him a house elf?" he fall on the floor, gasping, but still wasn't able to stop laughing. Spike blushed, "It's not THAT funny," he muttered. Then looked at the other prefect, "You want me to knock now?" "Please..." Pansy sighed in exacerbation, well Nathan was still laughing. Spike reached up for the knocker... but he was far to small to grab it. Stretching out his whole body, and even standing on his tippy toes, but he still was a good foot away from it. This made Nathan laugh even harder, well Spike just blushed, feeling incredibly stupid as well as tiny. Pansy tried to pick him up to help him but Spike refused the offer. Spike stopped making a fool of himself and looked around. He spotted a very large, at least compared to him, chair. He walked over to the fancy thing, clearly only for decoration, and picked it up. "That's a thousand year antique!" Pansy yelped. "Then get some stairs installed in here before next time!" Spike snapped back as he put the chair in front of the door and climbed up it. Finally able to knock, the Bronze Eagle asked, "30 white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then stamp, and then stand still," Spike... blinked... feeling stupider by the second. He stood there for several seconds, not having a clue. Pansy growled, "Come on! It's an easy one!" Spike looked up at her, completely lost. Pansy growled, "It's Teeth!" and the door unlocked and swang open. Before she could demand the little dragon get the dunce cap, Spike yelped, "How is THAT teeth!?" "People have 30 teeth on red gums. They "champ" and "stamp" when you chew," Spike looked down right angry now, "How am I supposed to know how many teeth a human has! I have a hundred and fifty!" Spike opened his mouth to reveal 3 rows of very tiny, and very sharp, teeth... on purple gums. Seriously that riddle would legitimately make no rational sense to the little dragon. Nathan, who had settled down a bit, started laughing all over again. Dinky spoke up, "Ponies have 40 teeth," The Centaur scoffed bitterly, "My people only have 20, as our teeth are much larger then humans, better for grinding plants," as if even his teeth made him superior to humans, "Once again wizards show how prejudice they are. I mean really, assuming little kids should know your biology as if it was a matter of common sense," he huffed. The prefects were all blushing. A 5th year insisted, "We aren't the ones who charmed the riddles!" Nathan got control of himself again, "I'll ask Flitwick, he's our head of house, to update the riddles," he promised as he wiped away a tear away, "For now everyone inside and off to bed. Flitwick will address everyone in the morning before breakfast," However frustrating that was the first years still marveled at the wide circular room. There were bookshelves on most of the walls and stars painted on the dome ceiling. Dinky smiled, "Reminds me of home," Spike blinked, "How?" She gave a cheeky grin, "It's bigger on the inside," ### A/N: Doctor Whooves is not the ponified version of Doctor Who. Rather he is an AU version of him. Doctor Whooves was born in the pony universe as an alien Time Pony, and lived a pony version of the Doctor's life.