//------------------------------//
// Ch. 19 — Unforeseen Consequences 
// Story: The Triwizard Pony 
// by tkepner 
//------------------------------//




Ch. 19 — Unforeseen Consequences




Harry had just started moving the gold from his second trip to the mountain when Dean walked into the dorm before dinner. The wizard boy stopped and stared, wide-eyed. Both trunks were open and there was an arc of gold rocks flying from one to the other.

Dean slowly walked into the room. “Harry,” he said calmly. “What are you doing?”

“Moving stuff?” Harry rubbed the back of his neck with the hoof with his wand and looked sheepishly at the floor as the last rock of the arc vanished into his new trunk.

Dean walked over to the two trunks and craned his head to see inside. The first trunk was open to the closet section. It was about half-full of tiny gold rocks. 

Harry had hefted rocks as big as himself onto the switching rune, this time. Then broke them into smaller, fist-sized pieces, and reduced them to less than half that size with the reducio charm to fit better in the space he had. He spent most of his time, easily ninety-nine percent, doing stuff other than waiting for the nearly instant switching of the rock for gold on the rune.

Today, he estimated, he had collected five tonnes. That gave him eight, total. He thought he’d need twelve for all four dragons — three tonnes each should make them happy. So, one more trip should be more sufficient. 

He could even use an engorgio to make the gold look bigger than it really was. Just a little, though. Maybe ten percent. Any more and that would raise the dragons’ suspicions. Only a weight charm would reveal the truth. But maybe he shouldn’t do that, because when they did notice — and he had an uncomfortable feeling they would notice — they would think he had been trying to fool them. 

No, better not do that.

Dean had interrupted him partway through transferring the contents of the closet-trunk to his apartment trunk. They all had a new-to-them, old, second trunk, so they hadn’t noticed that he had been using both. 

Dean had seen the apartment trunk when Harry had first found it, so he knew it that in addition to the drawers and closet features, it had a small room that was perhaps four yards on a side. It had a kitchenette in one corner with a full bathroom behind a door beside it. There was now a huge pile of gold in the opposite corner, as well as the gold Harry had salvaged from the Room of Requirement. It spilled out over half the floor space. 

Dean turned wide eyes to Harry.

Harry shrugged. “It takes a lot of gold to make a dragon happy.”

Dean swallowed. “That’s real gold?” he squeaked. 

Harry nodded, and kicked the floor with a hoof.

Dean cleared his throat. “Where did you get it all?” he asked incredulously.

Harry nodded his head in the direction of the window. “From the mountains.”

The wizard looked from the two trunks to the mountains visible through the window, and back.

“How?” he whispered wonderingly.

“Oh, it wasn’t that hard. Time consuming, yes,” Harry said. “Gold is usually scattered in tiny amounts throughout entire mountain ranges, here. So, you might find a thimble-full in an area the size of this room.” He waved a hoof. “Not worth the effort of digging, unless you happen to find an especially rich spot.” He smirked. “But a switching spell combined with Rarity’s gold-finding spell, then that doesn’t matter, does it? Her spell finds the exact location of a bit of gold, then the other spell switches the two out. Add in directional, charge, and power runes for the magic you need?” He nodded his head happily. “Then Bob’s your uncle!” He grinned. “The hardest part was carving the runes into the stone, and then carting around the stones.” The pony sighed. “I spent most of my time doing that. I had to take a lot of rest breaks. Moving tonnes of stones is hard work!”

Dean sat heavily on his bed, shaking his head. “You’re a genius,” he said.

Harry stared at him, nonplussed. “No, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” he said. “Isn’t that how wizards get their gold?”

Dean shook his head and gave a soft, curt, “No.” After a moment, he firmly said, “Right!” slapped his hands on his knees, and stood. “Could you show me the runes you used?” He went to his desk and pulled out a scroll.

Harry shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

He drew the rune-matrices carefully — parts of each rune on one sheet, then the other part on a second. Periodically, he held them together in front of a very bright light from Dean’s wand, to see the whole runes. That way he didn’t accidentally invoke any magic or make any mistakes.

“There you go,” he said, handing the finished instructions to the boy. “Put a blank sheet between them, just to be careful.”

Dean reverently placed the sheets in his trunk.

“Wanna come with tomorrow?” Harry said. “You could help me gather rocks.”

“Oh, yes!” he said excitedly.

“Okay.” Harry turned back to his two trunks and started the transfer again.

It must be his typical luck kicking in, was his thought, as he was almost finished when Seamus, Ron, and Neville came in. He sighed as they stared awestruck down into his apartment trunk a moment later.

Soon enough, they all had copies of his “portable gold mine,” as Seamus called it.

“You know, we should keep this a secret,” said Dean.

The others looked at him curiously.

“If everyone finds out, there will be a huge rush for gold,” he explained.

Seamus’s eyes went wide, “’Cor! And if everyone has tonnes of gold, no one will want to work. And then prices would go way up, because why would you work for a few galleons an hour when you’ve got a million in your vault? 

“Blimey!” Ron said, “They’d have to pay me a stonking lot before I’d consider working as a saleswizard. And even more to do something like an obliviator or metal charmer. Or,” he shuddered, “work in the ministry!”

“And that would drive the price for everything right through the roof,” concluded Dean.
 
“But what about my family?” Ron said, “I can’t keep this a secret from the twins. They’d discover I had a secret and would never stop pranking me until I told them!” he complained.

“Make the runes and explanation a family secret, it can never be disclosed in any manner to anyone not in your family,” Neville suggested with a shrug.

It took a lot of arguing, but they finally worked out a solution that protected the secret. They ended up with a parchment that read:


۸-_-۸


 

Before you may disclose the gold mining rune-spells and their explanations, you must cast silencing, hiding, and invisibility charms over both of you, as strong as you can manage, and make sure the two of you are alone and there are no recording or listening charms of any kind in your vicinity. The one you are about to disclose this to must be a member of your family by your last name. They are to say:
 
“I swear on my magic that I can only disclose this secret to a member of my family with my last name. That my magic shall seal this knowledge in my mind where none may find it by any mind magics, including, but not limited to, the imperius, legilimency, confundus, possession, or anything similar, or by the use of potions. If absolutely necessary to maintain the secret, my magic will erase it from my memory before it is found or disclosed. Should I surrender my last name for a different last name, I shall forget this secret and never remember having it, unless the family of the last name I am taking already know this secret. I may not, in any manner whatsoever, hint what this secret may be; nor what makes up the secret, itself, to any others. Should I be questioned about anything to do with this secret, I may say I came by it with skill, luck, inheritance, and/or by a similar vague excuse that reveals no details. Should I decide to share this secret with a family member, I will cast silencing, hiding, and invisibility charms over both of us, as strong as I can manage, and make sure the two of us are alone and there are no recording or listening charms of any kind in our vicinity. I will have them recite this swearing exactly as I have heard it before I reveal the secret, and any other details. So mote it be.”
 
Once they have sworn, you may explain the gold collecting rune-spell matrices, as well as any other information about the secret that you deem necessary, such as where or when you have used the spell, and whom else knows about it.
 
This parchment is to be kept with the gold collecting rune-spell parchments, separated by filler sheets that you may use to serve as a distraction.
 
The only families that know this secret are: Longbottom, Weasley, Thomas, Finnigan, Potter, Sparkle, Granger, and Lovegood.


۸-_-۸


 

The parchments were charmed so that anyone who didn’t have those last names and weren’t privy to the secret would see only blanks. Or whatever had been written on them as camouflage. While the wizards all swore the oath, Harry insisted he had to wait to include his three witch friends, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. The three of them would do it together, later.

The pony and boys would eventually discover that they had, inadvertently, created a variant to the little remembered fidelius charm. It did everything except steal the knowledge from those who already knew it.

They arrived, afterwards, in the Great Hall barely in time for dinner.

Ron had a grin that threatened to split his face in half. The other boys were nearly as clearly pleased.

And the other Gryffindors at their table were curious.


۸-_-۸


 

Naturally, because things hadn’t gone that badly in the first task, and things in general weren’t going to tartarus in a handbasket, the roof fell in at dinner.

Despite their late arrival, the Gryffindor boys had managed a decent meal. They were just finishing their desserts when, with a giant ripping sound, a hole in space appeared over their table.

Half the people in the Great Hall stared in disbelief at the jagged tear that floated over the Gryffindor table. From one side it couldn’t be seen and those students were left wondering what was going on. From the other side, everyone could clearly see into what looked like a typical dorm room with a bed, window into a city, and posters on the wall. The keen-eyed, and those close enough and not too distracted by what was happening, noticed that the posters all featured ponies. And that of the four creatures visible, three were clearly ponies, as well. The fourth, brief glimpse though it was, provoked many arguments as they tried to describe, later, just what they had seen. And everyone had focused on something different, at the time.

Harry dimly realized that the professors at the Head table were all on their feet and had drawn their wands. He was too gobsmacked at what he saw. He stared in disbelief as he looked up and into Sweetie Belle’s dormitory room in Canterlot. It was easy to recognize by the posters on the wall of various famous bands and performers. The towers of the Canterlot Palace/Castle were distinctive presences in the window behind those in the opening. And he could see all three of his fiancées looked terrified as they slid towards the opening. What worried him the most was the voice he heard in the background of the room as it said, «See? Harry’s right there.»

A clawed arm pointed out of the opening and at Harry. Which definitively confirmed whose voice he heard.

«Whhaatt!» shouted Scootaloo as she started to pass through the hole in space. «Wait!»

«Oh, you’re right! You need to know the language.» He snapped his claws.

The impromptu gate was barely above the table. Scootaloo’s hooves hit the edge of the hole and she tripped as she went over the edge. She ended up face-first in a bowl of pudding with her rear in the air and wings spread wide.

Next came Apple Bloom, as she clearly tried to dig her hooves into the floor, and failed. “Wait! Wait! Wait!” she shouted. She, too, tripped over the edge.

She collided with Scootaloo, who had barely lifted her face out of the bowl. Scootaloo was dunked for a second time into the pudding as Apple Bloom flailed behind her and ended up sitting on a cake before her hooves slipped on the desserts and she fell sideways.

«Ah! Good thought, Apple Bloom, you all need to blend in!» There was a second loud snap from the other side of the opening

“No! No! No!” yelled Sweetie Belle as she shot through the opening, last. “Wait!”

Sweetie Belle landed on top of the other two, and knocked them down again.

«No need to thank me, fillies!» the Draconequus said, and laughed happily. «And, of course, you’ll need funds!» He poked his head and one arm through the hole and dropped a large sack beside the three girls on the table. «And don’t worry, I’ll tell your relatives for you!»

The four looked up at him a panic and chorused, “DISCORD!”

He poked his head out of the tear and waved to a very alarmed Harry, «Hi, Harry! You’re doing a great job! Keep up the good work!»

He glanced across the hall and waved magnanimously. “Ta ta, for now!” he said cheerily and closed the hole in the universe.

Harry stood on his bench, still staring in disbelief. His three herdmates were in a pile in front of him. He hadn’t expected to see them until his mum had shown up, and even then only briefly as he couldn’t return home until after the tournament was over. And yet, here they were. And his mum was nowhere in sight. Which meant, they, too, were stuck here.

They were not ponies anymore.

They were covered in food.

They didn’t have clothes.

This, was a disaster.

Or, maybe not.


۸-ꞈ-۸


 

The Attendance Office at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was closed for the weekend, so there was no one to notice as a paper floated down into the “IN” basket on one pony’s desk. It said, in far too many legalese words, that Sweetie Belle was to be excused from classes for the foreseeable future while she dealt with a family issue in Trotland. 

Simultaneously, a letter appeared in Derpy Hooves mailbag at the Ponyville Post office, for delivery Monday morning. From Sweetie Belle, it said that she had been unexpectedly transferred to a school in Trotland to assist at a school for a few months as part of her magical training. And not to be too worried if she didn’t send too many letters, mail delivery from there was rather erratic. And it sounded to be very busy, too, but the school had every confidence that she would do her best!

In Cloudsdale, a paper found its way into the Assignments Office while the pony assigned for that weekend was “resting his eyes,” with his head was down on the desktop, drooling. It declared, in dense bureaucratese, that Trainee First Class Scootaloo had been transferred to Trotland for special training in cloud management. Mail, and her wages, were to be held until her return. Trotland would be responsible for her wages until she returned, except for the advance she had been given for the trip. She would have to pay that back when she returned.

A letter appeared on Scootaloo’s supervisor’s desk in Canterlot stating that she had been transferred to Cloudsdale until further notice.

A letter flew in the window at Sweet Apple Acres, from “Apple Bloom,” to land on the kitchen table. It said she had received an urgent letter from a Pear cousin in Trotland asking for a bit of extra help and would she mind pitching in for a few months? So, she had headed out. She’d try to remember to write, but things sounded hectic and so she might be pretty busy, so they shouldn’t worry. And that she had hired a replacement for the store in Canterlot. The letter had barely settled onto the table when an errant breeze from the open window blew it to the floor, and then under the cold box, not to be discovered for another week by Granny Smith Apple, read, placed in a drawer, and forgotten until Applejack began to fuss about where that filly had gotten off to.

And in Canterlot, a young pegasus mare, Fast Add, found herself hired at the first place she walked into looking for a job. She had just arrived on the train that evening and had decided to start job-hunting before she had even found a place to stay. Not that there were that many places still open, except restaurants and bars. And a few playhouses. And those were all too busy for a manger to speak to her. However, this simple grocery store with apples and pears, had caught her eye as the odd store out.

The pony behind the counter was wearing a fake moustache, and a bright red bow in her hair. She immediately hired Fast Add, almost before the newcomer could ask. The yellow pony behind the counter said she could stay in a shared apartment that had just lost the previous employee due to a transfer to somewhere in Trotland, with the month’s rent already paid.

It was, the new-hire thought, incredible good luck. The pegasus was given a short instruction in what was expected, and given a book on how to run the business. In the distance, a train whistle could be heard. The yellow pony then rushed out, declaring, “Ah! Ah’m going to be late!” Fast Add was left in charge for the remainder of the evening.

And everyone at home had thought she’d find it hard to survive in the big city full of cantankerous unicorns! Ha! Although it was odd, now that she looked, that the posted store hours showed that store should be closed at this hour. So, after straightening the store up a bit, she headed out to see what her apartment looked like, or if it was just a boarding room.


۸-_-۸


 

Three fillies turned their gazes from the space formerly occupied by the spatial opening and realized that Harry was right beside them. They cried, “Harry!” and scrambled across the table to hug him fiercely. Which, naturally, knocked him off the bench and they ended up in a pile against the Great Hall wall which ran beside the Gryffindor table. At first, Harry was too happy to see them to care for the circumstances, but then he heard the Headmaster.

“I take it you know these young ladies, Mr. Sparkle?”

“Move. move, move,” he said quickly, and struggled from the bottom of the pile. They quickly stood and looked back at the Headmaster and Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Moody, in the aisle with them. “Yes, sir, Headmaster Dumbledore,” Harry said. “I’d like to introduce to you my herdmates.” He turned towards the girl with the long red hair, “This is Apple Bloom.”

She politely nodded at the Headmaster, murmuring, “Hello.”

He turned to his other side and waved his hoof at the girl with the long two-tone purple hair, “This is Sweetie Belle.”

She, too, nodded, and murmured, “Pleased to meet you.”

He pointed his hoof at the third girl, with long dark-pink hair, “And this is Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo mimicked the other two.

“Mares, this is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore,” who nodded and stroked his beard, as Harry went on to introduce the three professors.

During this, Professor McGonagall was staring at them, gobsmacked. At first Harry didn’t understand, but glancing at his herdmates he realized, again, that the herdmates weren’t ponies anymore. And as such, their lack of clothing in public was an issue. And while Apple Bloom had a magnificent bow in her hair, it didn’t exactly hide anything considered important. 

The people who staring were staring because of the girls’ nudity, and not just because of their bizarre method of entry.

He looked at the Headmaster and professors. “Excuse us a moment, sirs,” he said politely. Then put up a shield around himself and the girls that was fogged with black. Fortunately, there was a torch behind them that provided them with additional light.

“Fillies,” he said, “we’ve got several issues here. First, you must wear clothes at all times, Going without is considered taboo.” They glanced at each other, then their jaws dropped as they got a good look at how they had been changed. “Second, you’re not ponies anymore. You’re in my original form. Sweetie Belle, you can still do magic, even without a horn, so don’t panic.”

She grabbed at her forehead with a shocked expression. “It’s gone!” she whispered.

“But you can still do magic with a wand! Here!” He handed her his wand. “Make it light up!”

A moment later it did, to her relieved sigh. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you the magic here.”

He turned to Scootaloo, who had turned her neck to look over her back, and had started to panic. “My wings?” she said frantically, “Where are my wings?” She groped ineffectually with her hands.

“You don’t have wings,” he said bluntly, “But I can use the wings spell to get them back.” He suited action to words, and cast the wings spell. The look of relief on her face more than made up for the additional weakness he felt.

He looked at them. “First, we need to get cleaned up. I’m going to cast a spell, but it’s going to sting a bit, and feels like ants crawling on you. But it’ll do for now, okay?”

They yelped as he cast the scougify spell on all four of them.

“Is everything all right?” he heard Professor McGonagall say. The shield was only visual, he hadn’t wanted the professors to misunderstand anything.

“Yes, Professor, just getting cleaned up and explaining a few things.”

“I have three transfigured robes for the girls,” she said, “They’ll last until we get some proper robes.”

“Thank you Professor, just hand them through the shield, it’s only sight that’s blocked.” 

A second later, three robes floated through the fogged shield.

As soon as the three were robed, he dropped the shield.

He bowed to Professor McGonagall. “Thank you for your assistance.”

The three girls awkwardly followed suit, almost falling in the endeavour.

“Well,” Dumbledore gently, “I think we should adjourn to my office to discuss what just happened, and determine our next course of action.”

Harry nodded. “Yes, I think we should.”

The Headmaster waved his arm in the direction of the doors for them to lead, which made sense because the four professors were behind the four students in that respect.

“I would like Hermione, Ginny, and Luna to accompany us.”

The three mentioned gasped and looked at each other, surprised. The other students watched and listened.

The Headmaster gave him an inquisitive look. Professor Snape rolled his eyes, but said nothing. The other two just watched.

Harry shrugged. “They’re girls. My herdmates will need guidance when Professor McGonagall is not available. Such as when it is time to use the toilets and shower. And I’ll tell them everything anyway.”

The three girls in question, acutely aware of their new forms, blushed. The three students looked puzzled, but excited at being included.

“Hum, yes,” said the Headmaster, “Perhaps it would be for the best.”

The group exiting had everyone’s attention, and Harry could hear the students in the hall break into excited chatter the moment they left it.

“So,” the Headmaster said as they walked down the corridor — well they walked, Scootaloo hovered — “You are from Equestria, I believe?”

“Yes,” said Harry. “They were in Canterlot, the capital. I recognized Sweetie Belle’s room.”

He nodded. “And you, Miss Scootaloo, you are a pegasus, there?” he said, stroking his beard.

“Yes, sir,” she said, “I’m a trainee in weather management in Canterlot.”

The professors gave her a sharp look. “Weather management?” said Professor Snape.

She looked at them — she was flying backwards, facing them, now — “Yes, sir. You know, clearing clouds, gathering clouds, making sure it rains on time and stops when it should.”

They gave her disbelieving stares. “Indeed,” the Headmaster said at last.

Harry smirked. “Why don’t you see if you can do it here?” he said.

Scootaloo looked at him, then her hands. She shrugged, frowned, and started moving her arms as if she were gathering something. Slowly, as a small cloud started to form, she began to smile. At first it was light and fluffy, then as she continued to move her arms and packed it tighter and tighter, it began to turn dark. After another few moments it was about a yard across, as dark as a thunderstorm, and little flashes could be seen inside it. She looked at Harry and grinned, who grinned right back. The other two had relieved smiles of their own.

They had stopped to watch her work. The four adults and three witches were staring, gobsmacked and slack-jawed.

She hovered up over the miniature cloud. “Heeeyahh,” she said suddenly, startling the wizards and witches, and kicked the cloud with her feet. The resulting thunderclap made the others all jump as a bright bolt of lightning flashed to the floor and the cloud began to rain. Several seconds later the cloud was gone and the only evidence it had ever existed was the scorch mark from the lightning, and the large wet spot, on the floor.

“Like that,” she said smugly. Harry and Scootaloo grinned proudly at her success while the other two fillies rolled their eyes. Thanks to Rainbow Dash, they had seen that particular party trick more times than they could count.

“Hm, yes,” said the Headmaster, as they resumed walking. After a few steps, he said, “And you, Miss Belle, you are a unicorn, correct?”

“Yes, sir. But I don’t know what I can do without a horn,” she said forlornly. “I was studying to be an artificer at school.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Harry said happily, “We can get you a wand, like we did me, right Headmaster Dumbledore? And don’t let her fool you, she’s got a wonderful singing voice.”

She blushed.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Dumbledore said quietly, eyes twinkling. He looked to the last member of the three. “And you Miss Bloom? What is your . . . ,” he glanced at Harry, “tribe?”

“Ahm an Earth pony! Ah can do almost anything with plants!” she said proudly.

“She can clear an entire apple tree with just one kick!” Harry said proudly. “And she can build most anything when she wants.”

Apple Bloom blushed while the wizards and witches looked unsure of how to take that.

“It sounds as if all three of you can do magic,” Professor McGonagall said slowly.

“Oh, yes,” Harry said, “Of course. My mum showed me the studies that prove that the pegasi and earth ponies can all do magic even though they don’t have horns. The pegasi channel magic through their wings and hooves, allowing them to manipulate the weather, fly, and cloud-walk. The earth ponies channel their magic though their hooves, making them super strong and able to manipulate plants. They just can’t cast magic, like unicorns, because they don’t have horns.

They had reached the entrance to Dumbledore’s office, and continued up the stairs.

“Very interesting,” said the Headmaster as he gestured them to sit in the chairs he had conjured. “Can you tell us how you managed to get here?” He gave them a kindly smile. “It appeared that you weren’t exactly planning on it.”

After they had finished explaining, Harry wryly said, “And that’s why I said calling on the God of Chaos was not something you do lightly. He won’t necessarily hurt you, but what he does do is totally unpredictable. And someponies say the cure is worse than the complaint.”

The wizards and witches looked very disturbed at the story.

“And this . . . God of Chaos . . . just . . . opened . . . a portal between our worlds?” the Headmaster asked, just to verify what they had said.

“Oh, yes,” said Sweetie Belle. “we’ve seen him do stuff like that before.”

“And he didn’t take Harry back because that would . . . not be chaotic enough?” 

The three fillies nodded. “And that Harry would die in six months if he did. He didn’t say why,” said Scootaloo.

“But he did say he had nothing to do with Harry either coming to or leaving Equestria,” said Sweetie Belle.


۸- ̫ -۸