"Hateful Prism," Applejack drawled, the skepticism practically dripping from her words.
"That's what I said!" Rainbow Dash retorted.
Applejack crossed her arms as she looked around at the ivy-covered columns. "Are you sure you're being honest? That all sounds a bit... dramatic."
"Sure, but isn't everything that happens to us 'dramatic'?"
"Fair point," Applejack shrugged. "So, she threw off her cloak, grew wings, and floated up in the air?"
"Yep. And she looked mostly like I do now. So, pretty cool. But with more eye makeup and dangly jewelry. And her hair was longer. Oh, and she had wings. Did I mention she had wings?"
"About five times."
"So, she starts going into this spiel about how she is my dark reflection, the symbol of all my wasted potential, everything I could have been if I hadn't been held down..."
Applejack cocked her eyebrow, "Held down?"
Rainbow Dash waved off the concern. "Yeah, it was just another one of those, 'let me try to tempt you with dark magic more powerful than friendship' sort of things."
Applejack had to stifle a giggle. "And was it... tempting?"
"Oh, sure." Rainbow Dash oozed with false sincerity. "It told me I could have saved the world, been a hero to everyone. But instead, I chose to waste all of that on you," she barked out a coarse laugh. "It's like she thought I was Twilight or something. She should have known that I'm awesome enough to do both."
Applejack held her chin in her hand as she considered this. "So what happened next?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Oh, the usual. I gave it a speech about friendship and why it's more important to love what you have than to focus on what might be." She moved her hands up and down in the universal 'blah blah blah' gesture. "Then my eyes went all glowy, I grew wings and some pony ears and a tail... Then I did whatever I imagine a Sonic Rainboom is here in this place." She planted her hands on her hips in satisfaction. "Then I blasted her to pieces."
"Sounds about right," Applejack remarked, completely unfazed by the bizarre turn of events.
"All that was left was a tattered black cloak, which Harry rolled up into a ball and threw into the lake. I can't believe he thought that thing was scary!"
"Wait a minute, are you saying he watched this whole thing?"
"Well yeah, it was all his idea in the first place. "
"You don't think… that maybe you weren't the one this 'Hateful Prism' was trying to tempt?"
Rainbow Dash gave this some serious thought. "Well, now that you bring it up, Harry did seem to be really frazzled by the whole thing. But then again, I get the sense that things are a bit more… boring here in this world than in Equestria."
Applejack nodded vigorously. "Ain't that the truth. You should see what they call 'farming' here. I mean, they literally put seeds into the ground, and then just wait for them to grow. Organically. Can you believe that?"
"You mean, it's not just a… What do you call it again?" Rainbow's eyes widened.
"An abstraction layer? Nope! Just literal seeds, dirt, and time. Now, I'm not opposed to hard work and patience, but it's got to be smart work, know what I mean? Imagine if y'all Pegasi literally moved physical clouds with your wings to make the weather!"
They both laughed together. "Can you imagine? So how do they even decide the weather here?"
"Beats the applesauce out of me. I think they just leave it up to chance."
"Ha! No wonder Discord loves it here."
"Well, that's what I don't really get. Discord said he doesn't have anywhere as much power here as he does in Equestria. But it seems like they leave a lot more up to chance here. Their food, the weather, even their foals, or babies, or whatever they call those things, here."
"Oh, Believe me, I heard all about it from Harry. Here's what kind of creepy about this place. It's like they leave... their whole lives up to chance." Applejack arched an eyebrow and Rainbow Dash leaned in close. "You know what he told me about this place? He told me that people die every second. Every second. Can you believe that?"
Applejack felt a hot wave of revulsion. "Rainbow, I know you wouldn't be pulling my leg about something like this…" Although it was a statement, it really was more of a plea than anything, begging her friend to admit it was just nothing more than a tasteless joke. "No... That's... That's horrible."
"That's what I said! But that's what made him summon that... whatever it was, the 'Dementor'. He told me that they were holes in the world, the primordial embodiment of Death, and told me what they do to people... make them relive their worst memories. I told him that sounds more like Fear than Death. But he was pretttttttty sure. Anyway, here's the crazy thing. When I first saw it, I couldn't see anything. But I knew something was supposed to be there, I could feel it. It was almost like… Like..."
"Like you had forgotten what it was supposed to look like?" Applejack provided.
"Yeah! Like it was on the tip of my tongue… Or… My eyes. You know what I mean. And then, well he asked me what I saw. And it wasn't until I tried to describe it that she, you know, 'Hateful Prism', popped out." Rainbow Dash flopped herself down onto the cool tile of the dilapidated structure in the Forbidden Forest. "You know, I miss Twilight. If she were here, she probably pulls out a book and says something like, 'According to the second book in the Horse Tack Materials trilogy, these sound a lot like the creatures that haunted Citagazze', and then that would be some kind of clue or something."
"Yeah, I miss her too." Applejack nodded, but then suddenly whipped her head around. "What's that noise?"
They both squinted their eyes and peered through the trees in the forest. They could see two figures skulking their way from tree to tree, one holding a compass in her hand and the other holding his wand out projecting some sort of translucent shield. They couldn't tell whose team they were on, so they didn't call attention to themselves.
"So this game, huh?" Applejack cracked a grin as she whispered. "You figure it out yet?"
"Um, yeah! I figured it out two minutes after that creepy teacher told us the rules!"
"Seems pretty easy if you ask me but… Things are different here, I guess. You think Harry will figure it out?"
Rainbow Dash gave this some serious thought. "I don't know. He doesn't really seem like he's that good at making friends but… he reminds me a lot of Twilight. Obsessed with books, and just a bit rough around the edges. And look at her now, Princess of Friendship."
Applejack nudged her friend with a playful elbow. "You thinking he's gonna be a Prince of Friendship?"
Rainbow Dash laughed. "Stranger things have happened."
"Ain't that the truth."
"You know, he's got a little bit of each of us in him. The way he was describing that Dementoid, he said it affected him worse than anyone because 'it was almost physically impossible for him to flinch away from the truth'."
Applejack pursed her lips. "I dunno, usually people who have to tell you how honest they are don't exactly tend to be the most trustworthy."
"Well, that's the thing, he wasn't trying to brag about it. He was trying to make a point about how terrible those things were. It kind of reminded me of Pinkie a bit, with how intense he was. But with that creepy Fluttershy dark side. And he doesn't really think about much besides saving his friend... If that's not generosity, I don't know what is."
"You know, you've checked almost all the boxes... but you seem to be missing someone." Applejack gave Rainbow a sly grin.
"Yeah. I know. We... well, we had a moment."
"Oooooooooooo. Well, look at you, Rainbow Dash!" She laughed as she punched her on the shoulder.
Rainbow Dash laughed and rolled her eyes. "You know it's not like that. Besides, he's literally a baby. He says he's 11 years old."
"You sure that's not one of those 'I call it a year, you call it a season' sort of things?"
"Maybe. Probably. I can't quite figure out how time is supposed to work here. I mean, we've only been here a few days, but it feels like a whole year has gone by." Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and looked up at the sun.
"I'd say it feels more like eleven months, three weeks and two days, but who's counting?"
Rainbow Dash didn't seem to register what her friend had said. "Say, AJ, how much do you remember about... You know, before."
"Hmm. Same as you, I expect. Not much." she shrugged and looked at Rainbow Dash. "You?"
Rainbow Dash stared off into the distance, "Yeah. Not much."
Applejack chuckled. "That had to be the most convincing 'Not much' I've heard in my life."
Rainbow Dash nodded without smiling. "I remember… I remember, being dead, you know? Just… Sort of… Being. For, I don't know how long. Existing without anything to really exist with. And I had this kind of feeling, this memory of who I was supposed to be. Then, I just sort of… You know… Woke up."
Applejack nodded, having recalled a similar experience herself.
"And, ever since then, it's always kind of been in the back of my head that, well, I beat Death once. Who's to say I can't do it again?"
Applejack was now shaking her head slightly. "I don't know there, Dash. I mean, if you remember it, then, well, you aren't really dead, are you? I mean, dead means… Gone. Forever."
"I know, I know. But you felt it too, didn't you? You know it was different. It wasn't like being asleep or knocked out. It was like… Well, it was like being dead."
"Uh huh," Applejack said with a hint of skeptical criticism in her voice. "And how do you know what that feels like?"
"I just told you, because... Oh." Her own use of circular logic just dawned on her.
"Look, Dash. Just 'cause something don't taste like an apple, that don't make it an orange."
The corners of Rainbow Dash's eyes wrinkled, belying just the slightest hint of distress. "But… How can you really believe that?"
"There ain't nothing to believe. You don't believe the truth. It just is. The sky is blue. You can believe all you want that it's red but that ain't going to change much."
"It's funny you say that. You know, Discord once told me… Well, I guess he asked me: if the whole world believed the sky was red, would it matter if the sky was actually blue?"
Applejack thought about this. "You know, I got a lot to say about that. I mean, for one, you know as well as I do that Discord plays by different rules. Half the time, what he's talking about ain't what he's actually saying, and the other half the time, he doesn't have any reason for saying what is saying. And besides, if everyone said the sky was red, that would just mean everyone was using different words to say the same thing. It's like if everyone started calling south 'north', and north 'south'. If someone gave you directions, you'd still find your way, all the same."
Rainbow Dash was nodding vigorously in agreement. "That's just what I said! But then he told me, that wasn't what he meant, and that I knew it wasn't what he meant, and that I was just being difficult. So to teach me a lesson, he did some trick so that everyone thought my coat was red for a day. I was the only one who thought it was blue!"
"I remember that! But see, that's just what I mean. He plays by different rules, only Discord could pull a joke like that. Doesn't really tell us much, doesn't really tell us anything at all besides the fact that Discord likes to stir up trouble every now and then."
"Sure, but… If that's really how you think things are… How do you do all this? "She gestured her hands all around. "A lot of the stuff we do, actually most of the stuff we do is really kind of dangerous when you think about it. Like, really dangerous. If you didn't think, somewhere in the back your head that you had a safety net…" Rainbow Dash suddenly had a very crestfallen look on her face and didn't speak for some time.
"Let me guess. You're thinking the only reason you're brave is 'cause you've been telling yourself that you'll have a second chance if things go wrong? "
Rainbow Dash nodded glumly. "And that's not really… Bravery at all, is it?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "What do you think bravery is, Dash? Being stupid? Taking chances just for the sake of taking chances?"
Rainbow Dash gave a dejected shrug and Applejack continued. "It's fighting for something bigger than just you. It's being willing to take that chance, to make that sacrifice. Tell me, if you had to make the choice, right here, right now. You, or the five of us. Gone, forever. I'm not talking about falling asleep for a long time, or I'm not talking about your mind just drifting between the worlds while you wait for a new body. I'm talking dead, gone."
With no hesitation whatsoever, Rainbow Dash replied, "I'd pick you all. Even if I had to choose between my life and just yours. There's no question."
Applejack gave her a gentle pat on the back. "See? Now that's bravery. And you know what? We'd make the same choice for you too. It's just that we all just have different ways of… You know… Coping with that. With death. For you, you said you feel like you beat death once so why couldn't you do it again? But it wasn't really you that beat death now, was it? See, what you're really saying here is, you trust your friends so much that you honestly believe, down in your heart of hearts, that no matter what happens, no matter how lost you get, your friends would fight for you and you'd fight for them. If that's not loyalty, I don't know what it is.
"And me, well I'm an Apple. I face my problems head-on. I know that it's there, I know it's a possibility. But there's power in that, you know? By accepting the truth, it gives me the power to act on it. And Fluttershy, well, she's a healer at heart. Kindness, healing, life… Those things are kind of the opposite of death, aren't they? She's a warrior, out there on the front lines of the fight."
Rainbow Dash smiled, feeling just a little bit better. "She's a warrior, all right. You know what they say, if you know how to heal, you know how to hurt."
Applejack shuddered a bit but nodded. "Ain't that the truth. And Rarity, well, you know she and I don't always see eye to eye, but I tell you what, she makes it for darn sure that we have something that's worth fighting for, something beautiful…" She twisted her voice into a good-natured mockery of Rarity's inflection, "Something glamorous, darling. And Pinkie, well, sometimes I don't blame her for just leaning in and embracing the crazy. I mean if we're being honest, this all is just a little bit crazy. I mean, we're walking, talking ponies for Faust's sake!"
A sudden rustling in the nearby trees silenced them both, quickly. The two figures were close enough to where she could make out his face: it was Harry. She let out a whispered yell to get his attention.
Harry whipped his head around in their direction and stared at the tree line behind them. He looked over to his companion and nodded his head towards them. The way he was acting, it was like he was being followed. Or maybe, he was doing the following. Quickly, Harry and his companion ran from tree to tree, using the greenery as cover. After a few minutes of sneaking, they finally reached the structure that until they reached the structure that Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been confined to.
"Hey kid, I'm a computer," Harry spoke in a voice distinctly not his own.
Applejack gave a sidelong glance to Rainbow Dash.
Harry waved his hand back and forth. "Stop all the downloadin'!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "He's forgotten already, hasn't he? Maybe I gave him too much credit."
Harry shook his head and frustration and let out a long garbled stream of synthesized, computerized noise. His classmate who had now caught up, a wispy blonde little Hufflepuff first year that Applejack recognized as Angela Ziegler. She spoke in a voice that seemed far too low of a register for her diminutive frame.
"Who wants a body massage?"
Harry looked off another direction sharply, listening intently. Rainbow Dash leaned in and she could hear the noise as well. Footfall, and lots of it. It was coming from the direction of the clearing opposite them.
With sudden urgency in his movement, Harry charged forward. Angela followed a few meters behind, with a bright golden tether of light emanating from her wand having attached itself to Harry. She was saying something as she ran... No, was she singing?
"Low, eee ohh, Mr. Body Massage Machine-GO!"
There was a sense of strange desperation in Harry's movement. His companion followed swiftly thereafter and the noise of the footfalls grew louder as he closed the distance to the clearing. Just as Harry reached the edge, Applejack and Rainbow Dash could see a large group of students emerge, led by a boy with a pointed face and slick, platinum blonde hair.
With one final effort, Harry charged forward, holding his wand as if it were a hammer and then shouted in his own voice, "Malleus Descendum!"
Harry was propelled forward with unnatural speed, and when his wand connected with the ground, a shockwave was sent towards the group of other students. When it hit them, they were all swept off their feet and Angela came charging in afterward, holding her wand high in the air and yelled, in a voice much more appropriate for someone her size, "Helden Sterben Nicht!"
The battlefield was bathed in a blinding, golden light.
Earlier
Draco Malfoy was finding it particularly difficult to research the mystery of Hermione's death. He had staggered into the Slytherin common room carrying what must have been a dozen books. Normally, Crabbe and Goyle would have been close behind, carrying another dozen themselves. But, Draco had them busy collecting intelligence on "Plain Jane".
The name was clearly a pseudonym, and the circumstances of their arrival were suspect in the highest. That alone would have called for a cursory amount of research, and stymied as they were by the complete lack of conclusive information, Draco likely would have called things off. But Draco was both intrigued and concerned by the way that the older Slytherins were either transparently obsequious or gave her a very wide berth, causing the majority of Slytherin House to follow suit.
Nobody seemed willing to actually talk about the subject, but from what Draco could piece together from the tittles and jots of various snippets of conversation and oblique references, there had been some sort of incident involving Reese Belka, a first year, and a dark hallway. "Plain Jane" had apparently interceded in some way, although the nature of the intercession was entirely unclear.
What was clear, however, was that Reese Belka made it conspicuously sure from that point on to never be present in the same room as the pink haired newcomer.
The whole thing stank to Merlin of Potter. Of course, the fact that Potter had apparently become quite friendly with "Tisiphone" and "Megaera" only furthered the suspicion. Those would likely be pseudonyms as well. Draco's father had seen to it that he was well studied in all things related to wizardkind. And because so many of the ancient Muggle myths had their roots in Magical phenomenon, he was familiar with the legends of the ancient world, including The Furies, The Kindly Ones, The Eumenides, The Erinyes: Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto.
Wizard families often got cute with the symbolism behind their names. But a trio? Draco knew that his mother and father had been trying for some time to produce an heir before Draco was born, an exercise which clearly at one point resulted in heartbreak: one day when Draco was seven, he was examining the sculptures on the Malfoy family Oblatorium and noticed one that was smaller than all the rest. A small, blue, green and yellow striped bonbon, still in its wrapper was mounted lovingly between Mother's golden harp and the empty plaque that represented himself. He had asked Father who that was, and the elder Malfoy replied in a shaky voice that he would tell him Draco when he was older, when he could understand.
Draco could not quite remember how old he was when the comprehension of its meaning dawned upon him, but he never asked his father about it again.
Their story was not an uncommon one either. Not every family was as sloppily fertile as the Weasleys. In fact, most weren't. Having three children wasn't exactly rare, but it was hardly something that you could count on, certainly not enough to feel comfortable giving two children names out of an obvious trio. If the third never materialized, it would be a living testament to your family's failure to perpetuate the blood of Atlantis.
There were certainly a good many reasons not to be skeptical of their names. He tried to think like Harry taught him to. He asked himself, what the "prior probability" of a family naming their children after a trio like this, versus the probability that a trio of witches was using assumed names, and he determined the latter was more likely.
Had Harry been there, he would have pointed out that Draco had misunderstood and misapplied the principles of Bayesian reasoning. He also would've pointed out that Rationality is about winning, and that Draco's conclusion was the correct one, regardless of how he came to. But as it were, Draco was unsure of the certainty of either of those truths.
And so it was that Crabbe and Goyle were putting together their considerable lack of wit to the task of investigation, rather than to one which they would likely be more suited: hauling heavy objects.
Having grown frustrated with the lack of progress into his investigation of Hermione, he decided instead to look further into the mystery of Plain Jane himself. He knew that one of the older Slytherins had offered the use of their private quarters and so that considerably narrowed down the possibilities of where he could find her. If this girl was, indeed, going to be the next queen of Slytherin, Draco Malfoy would make sure that he was, at minimum, on her radar.
Two of the three most lavishly appointed rooms had their doors open, their occupants sitting at desks writing letters or reading books. The third office, which belonged to Robert Jugson, was closed. He drew in a breath, held his shoulders high, and rapped on the door. Authoritatively, but not too assertive. His father had taught him the art of knocking in such a way as to communicate, I am coming into this room, and it is only by my forbearance that I am alerting you to this fact beforehand.
"Come in!" A delicate, soft voice called from behind the finally inlaid, heavy oak door.
Draco opened it and was immediately taken aback by what he saw. The bed and desk has been pushed aside to one wall, and the wall containing the window was lined with… were those… Nests? A family of baby rabbits had cozied up into a small bed of straw and a few fat blue jays were twittering around, keeping close to her, until one landed on her finger. Meanwhile, an Abyssinian cat with spectacularly red fur slinked around, its tail weaving in and out between her legs.
But what shocked him the most was that, coiled around her arm, was a powerful, glistening snake, banded with bluish black rings starkly contrasting the white body. He would recognize that snake anywhere, the snake that his Patronus was formed after.
A Blue Krait. What she held in her hands was obscenely dangerous.
And she was talking to it.
Not words, but breathy hisses,
Sweet slithering snakes, she was a Parseltongue.
"Pardon me Madame Plein but…" He had to interrupt his own formal greeting. "Are you quite sure that you want to be holding that snake? I'm not sure if you realize how dangerous it is."
She let out a small giggle. "Oh, this little guy? He wouldn't hurt a fly." She gently crouched down to the ground. Her voice was so soft and yet he could clearly hear every word she said. Except, that is, when she whispered in Parseltongue to the snake, who then uncoiled himself from her arm, and began slithering towards Draco. "See? He's just friendly."
Draco now understood why the whole of Slytherin house was terrified of her. She played the game perfectly. There is no rudeness, no insult behind her failure to return his greeting, for he had not actually greeted her. And now, here he was, scared stiff, plain as day, and faced with an awful choice: put himself in mortal danger, or insult a verified Parselmouth by doubting her control over her thralls.
If you don't like the rules, play a different game, Father had always told him. He would not stand here, shaking in fear as she asserted her dominance over him. Contrary to every bit of common sense in him, he changed the rules, kneeled down, and held his hand out to the approaching snake.
"Forgive my rudeness, Madame Plein. I am Draco, eldest heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy, son of Lucius the Younger, son of Abraxas, descendant of Armand," The honorifics were an ancient, almost forgotten tradition among Slytherins, although not forgotten among those families whose bloodlines truly mattered. The guest would introduce themselves, their house, their lineage. The host would then send forth the serpent of the house to greet the guest, at which point you inquired as to its name, "And how shall I address this most honored, most august Blue Krait that defends your house?"
"Oh him? His name is Nathaniel, but his friends just call him Nate."
He bowed deeply to the snake as per tradition. He did not have a snake of his own, at least not a physical one, so he pointed his wand at the ground and whispered, "Expecto Patronum". His own Krait, made of gossamer strands of ephemeral silk, emerged from his wand and approached its physical counterpart.
"Greetings, Nathaniel," Draco moved his eyes up to his owner. "And what house does he serve?"
She had followed all the customs up until this point. Maybe this was a test? Maybe she would only reveal her true identity to someone well-versed in the ancient customs in the ancient ways. She cocked her head, and Draco eagerly awaited her response.
"Oh, my name is Fluttershy."
"Uh... what?" Draco was thoroughly nonplussed and replied without thinking.
"Fluttershy," she said, only slightly louder. "It's lovely to meet you. Your snake is so beautiful. I think he and Nate will make great friends. Isn't that right Nate?" In a thoroughly undignified manner, she got down on her knees and held her arms outstretched, at which point the Blue Krait quickly slithered over and snuggled up in her arms. She stroked his head, made some cooing noises and spoke to it in English, "You're just a shy little guy, aren't you? It was so brave of you to leave your lever and go meet a stranger. You're a brave little one, yes you are!"
That… That was not according to the tradition. That was not… That wasn't anything at all. What was that, even?
She turned to him. "It's very nice to meet you Draco Malfoy. Was there anything I could help you with?" She asked in an eager voice.
If Draco had not been thoroughly on edge, he would actually think that she sounded… Sincere. What was she playing at? What was her angle?
"I was… Well, I had heard some rumors… About a certain incident in the hallway involving an older student… And a younger student…"
She looked up, as if in thought, and then it struck her. "Oh yes, I remember that. There was an older girl who was being very unfriendly."
"And… What did you do?"
"Oh, I just talked to her."
"You just… Talked to her. That's it."
She gave him a soft nod, and let out a quiet "Mh hmm," in affirmation.
"I don't mean to pry, but… Reese Belka hasn't been the same since you 'just talked to her'. Are you sure that's all you did?"
She smiled, serenely. "Oh yes. My friend said that I can be very… Persuasive, when I want to be."
She looked at his eyes when she spoke, and on the word "persuasive", her voice took on an ever so slight, almost undetectable edge to it. But what startled Draco more was the brief flash across her eyes; he had seen that look, before. It was the look Harry had when he went to his dark place. It lasted but for a fraction of a second, and disappeared.
I can only handle one Potter. Draco thought to himself.
He was spared the dilemma of how to respond to her remark by the sudden din of noise from the hallways. Millicent Bulstrode came charging gamely from the Slytherin common room shouting, "DOOMED! We are doomed, we're all doomed!"
Draco stepped out of Fluttershy's room briefly to look at the source of the commotion. He could hear her clearly from where he stood. "It's Professor Quirrell!"
A sudden air of attentiveness, as of long-standing disputes about to be settled. "Well, finally," someone said, as Millicent tried to catch her breath. "He's only got, what, a few days left to go bad?"
"Two days," said the seventh-year who was running the betting pool.
"He's gotten a lot better suddenly and he's going to summon the first-years for our Defense final! By surprise! In fifty minutes! "
Blaise Zabini rolled her eyes and went back to his reading. "Exams are over. We already got our marks back,"
"He got special dispensation from the Ministry to give a final exam late!"
"A Defense final?" Pansy said blankly. "But Professor Quirrell doesn't give exams."
"It's a battle!"
Zabini was suddenly interested, again. "But, what about Miss Granger?"
"Granger? Who cares about that Mudbloo-" Pansy's words were cut off by a percussive smack to the back of her head, delivered by Reese Belka, who looked paler than usual.
"Have respect, Parkinson!"
Draco was already slowly backing out of Fluttershy's room, and was about to break into a run before he turned back to the pink haired girl and quickly said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Madame Shy, but I must be going, now."