//------------------------------//
// 126 — Disclosure 
// Story: If Wishes were Ponies . . . . 
// by tkepner 
//------------------------------//

They returned to the castle to find the twins sitting in main sitting room, and alternately staring at a stack of gold coins and a small booklet.

“What’s that?”

One of them looked up, dazed, at Harry’s question. “Our share of the income from the Gender Gingers,” one of them said.

“When you brought us that sample made by Zecora, Mr. Rich contacted us.”

“We licensed it for a percentage of the profits.”

“We make less profit per unit, she makes a little, and we don’t have to deal with making and distributing them.”

“He set up a manufacturing centre here.”

They returned to staring at the booklet.

“And is that it?” Ron said, wonderingly, as he pointed at the coins stacked all over the table. He knew that a bit was about the same as galleon. He was staring at a fabulous amount of wealth on the table.

The rest crowded forward. They had never seen so much gold in one place.

One of the twins looked up. “That,” he said distractedly, glancing at the glittering pile of coins. “Is what Mr. Rich calls pocket money. It’s a thousand bits.”

They all gasped.

His brother shook his head. “That’s nothing. Look at this. It’s our bank account.” 

“Mr Rich set it up for us to simplify things, he said.”

“Bottom number.”

“He said it was easier than carting around several wagons of bits.”

Applejack whistled, and pushed back her hat.

Rarity fainted. On the fainting couch that suddenly appeared.

Rainbow landed with a thud.

The others all stared, gobsmacked.

“Apparently,” one of the twins said, “In a society where the girls outnumber the boys, changing genders to equalize the numbers in the bedroom is quite popular.”

“He has difficulty keeping up with demand.”

“Imagine that.”

Twilight chuckled, even as she blushed beet-red at the topic. “Yes, imagine that.”

Harry noticed that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were blushing as well, and pointedly not looking at each other. Applejack was studying the floor quite intently and Dash was staring out a window whistling. And their blushes deepened each time they did glance at each other.

“And he hasn’t even started on marketing the Dragon Sneeze Sticks, Rhyming Reeds, Hiccup Hot-mints, Farting Fudges, or Butterscotch Hearts.”

The Weasley parents were exchanging wide-eyed looks.

“ ’Cor,” Ron whispered, staring wide-eyed. “You can buy the Chudley Cannons for less than that. You’ll never have to work!” His eyes glazed over. “Your own Quidditch team.” He started to drool.

That jolted the twins. “Oh, no!” said one.

“That won’t do at all,” said the other.

“We have so many other ideas!”

“And Mr. Rich liked the improved Gender Gingers we showed him.”

The two stared at each other, grins slowly growing larger.

“On the other hand, a Quidditch team would be good advertising.”

“The pegasi seemed quite taken with the game.”

“We could have two, one here and one there.”

“I’m sure some of the retired players would be delighted to teach ponies how to play the game.”

“And we could open a store in both that specializes in our stuff!”

Then they both turned to Sweetie Belle.

“Don’t’ forget, Sweetie Belle . . .”

“. . . you’re our partner in all this!”

“One third is yours!”

Sweetie Belle stared at the two twins, then at the booklet still suspended in front of the fillies. Then she imitated her sister. A lot less dramatic, no hoof to the forehead, and no swaying in place on her back two legs before tumbling gracefully onto a fainting couch. Her eyes simply rolled up and she went straight down in a faint.

The adult Weasleys looked almost ready to do the same.

Sirius started laughing, sat, then fell over sideways, and continued laughing hysterically. 

Twilight just looked around, puzzled. Harry just sighed. To her, he knew, they were just bits, right?


۸-_-۸


During the week before the Grangers arrived, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, plus Ron and Ginny, discovered that you cannot make maple syrup in the summer from a walnut tree. While using a suction bellows did speed up filling the cauldron, there tended to be quite a few drips on the way. And letting go of the handle tended to squirt the accumulated sap at whomever happened to have the misfortune of standing near the spout. Which happened a good deal more frequently than any of them wanted.

Harry figured they got maybe half the collected sap into the tray. They ended up wearing most of the remainder.

And using a bigger bellows to heat the fire and boil the sap quicker did more to blow the sap out of the tray than anything else. It took two days for the non-unicorns just to get the sap out of their coats. And sap in your feathers is a real mess — even with two of them helping each pegasus. 

Not to mention how it threw off their flying.

Sweetie Belle did not seem relieved that she could so easily ditch the sap by teleporting. Instead, she seemed a bit jealous of the time Harry spent helping preen Ginny and Scootaloo. The sap did have a slight sugary taste to it, so there was that, at least. The pegasi didn’t seem to mind the sap so much after the first hour.

And they only  burned down a small storage shed — which the adults didn’t find out about, fortunately, or they would have been grounded. It took several casts of the reparo spell to rebuild, and left them all too exhausted to do more than soak in the Castle swimming pool the next day, and try to remove the sap.

After dinner that night, just as Harry left the dining room, he overheard Sirius say to his mum “He really is clueless, isn’t he?” Then the wizard turned pony almost barked out a laugh.

“Yes, he is,” she said.

“You know,” he said quietly — Harry turned to listen, just down the hall and out of sight.

“. . . those rings he gave the girls?”

Harry had to strain his ears. He could imagine his mum tilting her head questioningly

“In the old traditions, those rings would be considered betrothal rings.”

He heard his mum gasp. Which, fortunately, also covered his gasp of shock.

“Only a suitor would be so concerned about a witch’s safety as to give her such protection.”

Then, surprisingly, he heard his mum laugh!

“Well, they are herd-mates.” He could hear the mirth in her voice.

Sirius appeared just as amused. “Giving rings to more than one witch would normally be quite the scandal in England, you know.”

Harry’s mouth dropped open in shock. And he could almost see Sirius’ smirk.

“But the fillies have been telling anyone who asks that you Equestrians practice polygamy, herding, as you call it.”

Harry heard him shift his position.

“And Harry is their hero, so his supporters are more than willing to give him a bit of leeway. And it is legal, by your laws.” He laughed, again. “I’m sure some of the old farts are going to be jealous that he gets so many wives, out in the open, while they have to sneak around with their mistresses. Not to mention the mistresses being jealous of being able to be with their wizard in public without censure.” He sighed, contentedly. “James would be so proud of Harry!”

Harry heard him stomp his hoof. 

“Not even out of First Year and he’s already proposed to five witches. And they’ve all said, ‘yes’! And they haven’t killed him for asking the others to join them — they like being in a . . . herd! He is going to be soo hen-pecked!”

He laughed again. “From what I’ve seen, it’s a good thing Hogwarts requires separate dorms for the boys and girls or they’d already be sleeping in one big bed!”

His mum snickered. “They do enough of that here!”

“And Harry doesn’t even realize!” Sirius started to laugh again. “Oblivious! Completely oblivious! Lily would rap him upside the head for being so oblivious.”

“I do hope that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in them,” his mum said worriedly. “It would break all their hearts.”

“Nah, I’ve seen the way he looks at them when he thinks they aren’t looking. He’s got it bad, he just doesn’t realize what he’s feeling.”

“True, but I still worry.”

“Bloody Dursleys!” the mercurial wizard spat out angrily. “With them as examples, he wouldn’t know a girl liked him if she walked up to him and said so!”

Harry could hear him shifting around. Harry began slowly walking down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible. He had a lot to think over.

They liked him like that? They weren’t just being friendly? When he thought about it, he could clearly tell the difference between the way the Cutie Mark Crusaders acted around him at Hogwarts and the way other witches did. The same was true here. The fillies, Hermione, and Ginny, all acted differently than the other fillies, not merely like just friends.

And he didn’t have to choose one he liked over the others? How had he never realized that? Especially knowing that multiple-partner marriages were common. How could he be so stupid?

Did Hermione and Ginny really feel that way, too? He shook his head, befuddled. This would take some time to get sorted.

He looked back at the dining room door as he turned the corner. For a moment, he thought he saw somepony ducking back. He stopped and stared. No pony walked out. It must have been his imagination. He shook his head and headed for his room.


۸-_-۸


“You have got to be kidding me!” Harry proclaimed on seeing Big McIntosh trying to disguise himself as Apple Bloom’s fake female cousin Orchard Blossom at the Sisterhooves Social competition. Scootaloo was in hysterics. As were Ginny and Ron when Sweetie Belle clued them in. Harry and the other girls were all at the competition to support their herd-mate. Which Harry was still unsure if he should mention anything about that subject.

Big Mac had decided to masquerade as Orchard Blossom because, unfortunately, Rarity and Applejack had been called to Manehattan by the Cutie Map. Apple Bloom had been looking forward to the competition as time with her sister. And now she couldn’t participate. Hence, Big Mac’s dubious decision.

Trying to keep a straight face at Big Mac’s, no, Orchard Blossom’s mis-cues and mistakes was highly entertaining, and cringe-worthy. Still, it was good to see Big Mac and Apple Bloom laughing together at the end of it. He’d been worried her feelings had been hurt.


۸-_-۸


A week before the Weasleys were to return to England, Spike coughed up a missive during breakfast.

Catching it expertly from the air, Twilight started to read. “It’s from Princess Celestia,” Twilight said. She began to dance on her hooves. “She wants us all to come to a meeting in Canterlot this afternoon.” Her eyes grew wide and she began breathing heavily. “Why would she want to see me? Is it the Portal? Is it Hogwarts? What’s gone wrong?” She ran around the table, and stared around frantically. Her saddlebags flew in the door and plopped into place on her back. “I have to hurry!” She started out the door, only to be tackled by Harry. 

“Calm down!” he ordered, as Rarity and Applejack had taught him. He started to pet her head with his magic while he clung to her side. He blocked her wings and prevented her from flying out of the room in alarm. She turned her head to look at him.

“Deep breaths!” he ordered, taking several himself to prompt her.

She blinked her eyes and stopped trying to charge out of the room.

He cautiously let go of her and started the mantra Rarity had taught him. Spike imitated him in front of her. “Breath in.” He held his hoof in front of his chest and brought it in slowly, as he took a deep breath. “Breath out,” he instructed, slowly pulling his hoof away as he exhaled. She stared at him for a moment, then sat down.

It took a few repetitions, but finally she looked up, a bit apologetically, at everypony’s surprised and puzzled expressions. “Sorry,” she said. “Sometimes I get a bit excited when Princess Celestia summons me.” She hoofed at the floor awkwardly. “It usually means there’s an emergency of some kind.”

Sirius looked around the table. “It can’t be that much of an emergency if she wants all of us. And she did say this afternoon and not as soon as possible.”

“Or even immediately,” put in Charlie.

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yes, plenty of time.” She chewed her lower lip a moment, staring out the room’s window. “We could either go now through a floo, and then wait around in Canterlot for the afternoon, or wait around here, then take the floo after lunch,” she tentatively suggested. They could tell which one she preferred.

The Grangers and adult Weasleys exchanged glances. “Maybe we could take in the sights in Canterlot while we wait?” suggested Bill.

“Oh, oh!” said Ginny, “Can we see the castle?” Myrtle and Hermione looked just as excited. The last time Myrtle had been here they had been too involved with the ball to really act like tourists.

So it was that they arrived at Canterlot’s floo-station, beside the train station, barely fifteen minutes later. They had to hold Twilight back from immediately running to the castle.

“Simmer down, thar,” Applejack said. “The princess said this afternoon! She probly has something else she’s doin’ now an’ you’d just be gittin’ in her way!”

After the obligatory security check that she really was Princess Twilight, and they were ponies, a Guard was sent ahead  with word that they would be at the palace at noon. 

They then spent the time until lunch seeing the sights. Harry and the fillies had already seen them before, but it was fun watching newcomers’ reactions to the many beautiful things around the city. And the city itself.

Ponyville had accustomed them to seeing crowds of ponies, but there was no preparing them for the actual numbers they now saw. The adults knew that only the World Quidditch matches back home could compare in numbers, and that was for only a few days. This was an entire, permanent city of magical and cute ponies that clearly out-numbered all of England’s wizards and witches. And it was built into the side of a mountain!

Even the Grangers were amazed at the sight.

The castle left the newcomers speechless. While the Ministry was opulently appointed, it couldn’t hold a candle to Castle Canterlot, marble gleaming in the bright sun, with its huge hallways, stained-glass windows, and bustling, happy workers. The Guards posted everywhere were also an eye-catcher. As were the random security checks.

They had barely entered when the major domo, and a palace aide, trotted up and bowed.

“Princess Sparkle, Prince Harry, Princesses Celestia and Luna request you attend them in the Royal Family Dining Room for lunch,” the major domo said. “Sharp Ear,” he glanced sideways at his companion, “will show your guests to the Green Dining Room. The meeting will take place in the Green Reception Room afterwards, at one.” 

Sharp Ear straightened and started down the hall, with a glance to make sure the others were following him. 

“I hope you enjoy the cuisine. It’s made by the best chefs in the country,” the major domo said proudly as Myrtle, Sirius, the Grangers, and the Weasleys passed him. “If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask Sharp Ear.”

A few minutes later, led by their guide, Harry and his mum walked into the dining room to find Princess Celestia already seated. And, to their surprise, so was Princess Luna.

“It is good to see you, my most faithful student,” Princess Celestia said warmly, and smiled broadly. Princess Luna nodded her agreement as she put back her cup of tea. Or was it coffee?

Whatever the emergency was, if there was an emergency, Harry knew it couldn’t be all that serious. Except, if it wasn’t an emergency, why was Princess Luna here?

“What’s wrong?” his mum said anxiously, prancing to the table. “Is it the Portal? Has somepony else tried to sneak through? Are the Griffons upset that we waited so long to notify them? Are the dragons upset with Charlie Weasley’s questions?”

Harry nervously followed more slowly in her wake. He’d rather be with the fillies and the others than in here. He eyed the two princesses cautiously.

“Nothing of the sort, my dear Twilight,” Celestia said soothingly. “We actually wanted to speak with Harry.” She looked over at him, exuding calm and warmth, and her sister copied her.

Harry almost bolted from the room, shrinking back a little on his rear hooves, and crouching slightly for better traction in a sprinting start, futile thought it might be.

Celestia smirked. “You have done nothing wrong, little colt. We wanted to thank you for what you have done for Us this last year at Hogwarts. Your attendance at that school has taught us a great deal about the world on the other side of the portal. If you had stayed in Ponyville, We fear We, and the rest of Equestria, would have found Ourselves at a severe disadvantage when the witches and wizards revealed themselves to Us. There is much of importance that they have hidden from the non-magicals.”

“We would have blundered into a situation that was very dangerous,” Luna stated bluntly.

“When you and Twilight first went through the portal, all We knew about these witches was that they had a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, headed by an individual named Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as I’m sure you remember.” Celestia continued. “He, apparently, based on the letter, was also a member of the Order of Merlin, a First Class, a Grand Sorcerer, a Chief Warlock, a Supreme Mugwump, and International Confederation of Wizards. No idea what any of those really meant, at the time.”

She sipped from her cup as Twilight and Harry slowly took places at the table. Harry made sure his mum was between him and the Princesses.

“However, the mention of an International Confederation implied at least some type of organization. That it is international means there is a national government. What it did and how it worked was unknown,” Luna said, before taking a bite of her dandelion sandwich.

“All of this conjecture was based on a single letter delivered by an owl. An owl!” Celestia shook her head as his mum nodded.

“On the other hoof, We knew quite a lot about the non-magical humans and how they conducted their governmental affairs, trade, and society in general — thanks to you and your World Almanac.” Celestia nodded to Harry and smiled gratefully. “The book was a tremendous help in that respect. And, we noted, it made no mention of a magically-oriented society.” 

“That was Our first warning,” Luna interjected.

“The humans are a lot like Griffons — predators, as We could see from the crime statistics and numerous wars reported in the almanac. Which seem to mirror the Griffonstone society to some degree. Only the humans are more socially organized and less aggressive individually. 

“The humans have hundreds of nations, and every type of government possible. Some We had never imagined!” she said admiringly. “Fortunately, the nation in which the Portal resides, England, appeared a peaceful one and seemed friendly to outsiders — by their standards. So We were cautiously optimistic.

“We wished to explore the possibilities of trade with the humans. Their telephone, television, computer, transportation, and manufacturing industries were true eye-openers. And their advancements in physics, math, and chemistry were well worth examining. All leading to possible innovations in our own world.”

Harry frowned, listening closely. “But what about the other portal, the one Twilight went through when that mare stole her crown?”

The princess shook her head. “It opens only for three days every two and a half years, our time, and once every ten months for three days, their time. Far too long a gap to establish reliable trade with their world. Plus, the time differential would be a major problem. Just ordering and getting books would take longer than three days. And that would have to wait until after we had exchanged our bits for their currency, which, itself would take at least a day or two.”

“Plus, it would take years just to get the local authorities and experts to believe that it wasn’t all an elaborate hoax. And We could not, in good conscience, order Our little ponies into a situation where they had no backup for such long periods of time while separating them from their loved ones. Or giving the locals the appearance of an invasion.” She sighed. “And the last time we looked through the portal, three hundred and fifty years ago, our technologies were comparable.” She shook her head.

“Setting that aside, We decided to keep the existence of this Portal, and Equestria, a secret from these witches and wizards until We understood a bit more about them and their place in the world you came from.” She gave Harry a steady look, then turned to her meal. After a moment, she continued. “That there was virtually no mention of a society of magic users, even as fables, in the non-magical human books We had imported and read in those first few days, made Us even more cautious. Would they be a threat to you, Harry, or Us?

“Fortunately, Minerva McGonagall showed up in reply to the letter you and Twilight sent. The Ministry of Magic, from what she said, governs the English witchkind, and is primarily interested in protecting their secrecy from the ‘muggles,’ those without magic. You may not realize it, but practically everything the Ministry does is aimed at that goal. Their primary laws and regulations are all framed with the goal to keep their society a secret — not international relations or actually governing their people.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“They have developed many spells to facilitate that goal. They treat the non-magicals as annoying and bumbling beasts. Some witches even go as far as to completely ignore the non-magicals, and consider them of little consequence, as if they were mere animals.” 

Luna snorted and shook her head. “It is never a good idea to ignore a potential threat, or underestimate a potential foe. And the whole reason for their hiding was fear of how they would be destroyed if they weren’t hidden for these . . . inconsequential . . . creatures.”

“This was amply illustrated by Twilight and her friends visiting the Weasley family home, at Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore’s behest. That family’s ignorance of the simplest non-magical tools nearly matched the Granger’s ignorance of magic. And their condescending attitude toward non-witchkind was clearly visible.

“Chief Warlock Dumbledore knew of Our non-English origins. His reactions were quite informative. That he did not follow-up on that first meeting with Princess Sparkle with more was puzzling. It was very interesting that he failed to contact anyone else in his government for them to contact Us. Or, if he did, they made no attempt to continue any communications.”

“That was Our second warning,” put in Luna. 

“Based on what We learned from the Weasleys’, and others, in our first weeks of contact, mainly their attitudes towards non-magical beings and non-humans, We were very wary. Until We learned more of these witches, We did not want to reveal Our true origins, or the portal. They might decide we were not worthy of being treated as equals.”

Luna nodded. And picked up the explanation so her sister could eat. “Ignoring the non-magicals and trading only with witchkind, about whom We knew very little at the time, would make Us negligent in Our duties. Especially as the witches seemed stuck at least a hundred years behind in societal and technical development compared to the non-magicals. It made far more sense to contact the non-magicals, as they seemed to have more to offer in the way of trade goods and knowledge.

“We decided to continue our plans for an Embassy with the non-magical government of the United Kingdom. And, in view of the magicals’ desire for secrecy, officially, We would simply pretend that there were no witches or wizards. If anyone were to see any signs of magic being used, they could assume it as being ours. We could do no less while obeying the strictures of their International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. By claiming it as Ours, We honoured their law and protected them from exposure while still pursuing Our own goals without impediment.

“Furthermore, unlike the non-magicals, the witches and wizards have no office for Us to contact as a nation. From what We could gather, after reading many of their books on the subject, the only department to deal with non-English witchkind is the Department of International Magical Cooperation. It works with the magical governments of other countries to set standards for international trade, interpret international magical laws, and work with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. All these departments work directly with their counterparts in the other nations.

“While We wanted to explore trade with witchkind, at this juncture We were still learning what they had to offer and what they might want from Us. Trying to establish standards before We even knew what Our little ponies wanted to trade was silly. Sports was also an interesting area to explore, but We were definitely not at a level where We wanted to send sports teams back and forth through the portal, so that office, too, could not help Us.

“There simply isn’t a way to actually meet with the Ministry of Magic in an official capacity outside of those areas.

“Attempts by our wizard solicitor at direct communication with the Minister of Magic were rebuffed, just as they were in the non-magical government. Having no official standing or powerful sponsors meant they dismissed Our requests for a meeting. The humans are quite like dragons in that respect. Both governments did offer to set an appointment in the next year, with the proviso that it might be cancelled should something more important show up. However, unlike the non-magicals, the witches in the Ministry of Magic gave heavy hints that anything would be more important.”

“That Chief Warlock Dumbledore did not step forward and offer his assistance was Our Third Warning,” Luna said dryly.

“The International Confederation of Wizards was also problematic — one had to already have a contact with the ICW to approach it! If you weren’t invited, you couldn’t even find them!

“But the books we acquired were quite emphatic about how insular witchkind is. And based on the various Dark Lords that We read about, we decided to withhold information until We had a better understanding of the current political climate. Which we discovered was not very friendly towards non-English, non-magical, non-human beings. If they treated half-humans so coldly, how would they treat us, as complete aliens?” She snorted in disgust.

“In fact, We worried that when witchkind learned of our goals, they might react violently,” said Celestia.

“Which they did when Miss Skeeter announced her visit to Equestria in their newspaper,” Luna said dryly. “Fortunately, Prince Blueblood was able to forestall any actual bloodshed, although a few spells were tossed around. Witchkind’s very arrogance prevented any real conflict. They simply could not conceive that anyone would actually be able to resist them.”

She looked at Harry significantly. “With your help, we were able to prepare the battlefield adequately beforehand.” 

Harry stared at the two rulers, appalled, his mouth hanging open. There had been a magical battle between Equestria and the Ministry?


۸-_-۸