//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29: New Life 
// Story: Harry Potter and the Prancing of Ponies 
// by The Guy Who Writes 
//------------------------------//

One moment, he had been in the middle of feeling the dip, the bite to his life and magic. Intuition, or Mr. Book's memory, had been about to tell him that the life and magic he'd given just then would never come back.

And then, before he could finish that thought, he not only felt new life and magic flowing into him, he also found himself standing somewhere else entirely.

Somewhere he recognised.

Somewhere that, if he really was standing there, should have killed him.

He didn't panic too much. That the void of outer space hasn't killed him yet means he isn't really there. He has experience being surrounded by stars. Was Mr. Book responsible for this change in scenery?

But Mr. Book's attention had seemed rather occupied. And didn't his spell of starlight take time to set up? Not to mention his connection to the pioneer probe, along with all his other horcruxes, was supposed to be severed, so he shouldn't have access to this image anymore. Unless he already sent a new horcrux into space...

Silver paused, thinking back.

Mr. Book had never actually answered that question.

Was the connection actually severed?

Has he been pretending to be trapped this whole time?

"My," said a recognisable voice. "I was not expecting a new ascension so soon. Please speak, so that I may find you. It is usually much brighter here."

Silver, surprised but steady, didn't reply.

You'd think it would be an easy choice, a no-brainer, to trust Princess Celestia. Twilight trusted her and Mr. Book didn't, and Silver could recognize patterns well enough to see that this was just like how Hermione trusted Dumbledore and Draco didn't. But he knew nopony was perfect, and he was already on high alert, so he didn't speak.

"Are you a mute? If I made an unfulfillable request, I apologize. One moment."

And a bright ball of light appeared, distant in space. Not bright enough to be a sun or star, but bright enough to illuminate him.

Celestia's eyes found him, and she smiled. "Ah. I thought those were not stars." She teleported directly in front of him. "Silver Wing. I expected you might come here someday, though not so soon. It seems Philomena was right to call you to action."

The bird on her back let out a triumphant chirp.

"I'm sorry, dear," she said to her familiar. "I should not have doubted you."

Thanks to this, Silver was able to conclude that (a) Mr. Book isn't responsible for whatever's happening, and (b) the earlier logic was wrong. Mr. Book is actually trapped in Equestria. Probably. 

"Though I wonder why a new phoenix did not seek you out," Celestia said speculatively.

"I already knew about the choice," Silver answered. "I sent my own phoenix away the first time, and then I was told what it meant."

Celestia seemed like she wanted to inquire, but-

"Why were you expecting me?"

-there were more important things to talk about.

"Ah... excellent question." Celestia walked forward on nonexistent ground. "Look at your cutie mark."

He did, and saw that it had changed once again, far more significantly than last time.

The Vitruvian pony had grown a horn, four additional legs (for a total of twelve), and really did seem to be magically glowing now. That is, it seemed to have its own light source, if faint. It wasn't just an artistic rendition. And the image was in colour now, no longer greyscale.





[A/N: Once again, you'll have to use your imagination to overlay the two. You'll also have to imagine the wings and the additional four legs. I originally planned to have it start with four, go to eight, end with twelve, but as stated before, I'm not an artist, or a photoshopper. What you see on the right is the original, unedited version, except that the colors are inverted. I can remove a horn and filter colors, but that's about it.]

"First," said Celestia, drawing his eyes from the depicted alicorn to the real alicorn. "I should mention that very few ponies ever experience a change to their cutie marks. Fewer than thirty over the past thousand years, that I know about. Starswirl the Bearded. Swift Flight the Swift Thinker. Certain others who did not quite make it into the history books. The most prominent examples in my memory, and the reason I expected to find you here one day, are myself and my sister."

"O...kay..." said Silver. "And now you tell me where here is and what's going on, right?"

"Correct. This is your astral plane, and we are here because-"

A bright flash, brighter than the artificial luminance provided by Celestia, interrupted her speech and drew their attention to his immediate left, where a chestnut-coloured alicorn filly with a mane of golden sunlight had just materialised.







"Two in one day?" she heard a female voice ask. "In the same plane? Remarkable."

Hermione, who had just had the extremely unpleasant experience of being chased by a troll, having her legs eaten, and dying (though not alone), slowly blinked her eyes open.

She looked around herself.

Her setting, outer space.

Her company, two ponies, a phoenix riding one of them, both with hairstyles as beautiful as they were magical and outlandish.

Her self, a pony.

She frowned.

"Mr. Potter," she said in a firm, slightly impatient voice, "wherever you are, I know you're responsible for this. Please get someone to un-confund me."

"Um..." said the white horned-pegasus. She was pretty sure she recognized the voice. "Sorry memory. It's a very long, very dumb story. This might be confusing, but you're not confunded. This situation is... probably around one point seven times as weird as that time I helped S.P.H.E.W. And remember, it's Mr. Silver now."

She gave Harry her best stern look.

"I didn't want it to happen! Honest!"

"Whyever not?" asked the taller pony. "Earning your body, wings, and horn is to be celebrated, not feared. Ascendancy to alicorn status is a joyous moment."

"Alicorn is the term for a unicorn's horn," said Hermione, with no small amount of acerbity. "I asked Mr. Hagrid directly after one too many Ravenclaw girls insisted I was wrong even when I was quoting the textbook. Mr. Hagrid specifically said it does not mean a unicorn with wings. And he should know."

"Ms. Sunshine," said Harry, "I've never asked this before, and I'll never ask it again, but for the next fifteen minutes can you please shut up?"

This was asked in desperation, not insult. Harry using language like that signaled to Hermione that things were actually serious. It was hard to tell, what with the pony face and all, but he was either very hungry or very pleading. She suddenly realised that she might get him and herself in a good deal of trouble if she kept talking.

What did he call himself, just now?

"Fine... Mr. Silver. But you swear you'll tell me what's going on?"

"As soon as I can. Welcome back, by the way."

And the full weight of being alive seemed to hit her, then. "Thank you." She lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. "I mean it. Thank you."

"I don't deserve all the thanks," said Harry sheepishly. "My mentor helped."

"Which one?"

"The... one you don't like."

"Oh."

"Can I have permission to hug you now?"

It was such a Harry thing, to ask that question. And it had the typical effect of leaving the target speechless. She nodded, unsure what else to do.

He leaned down and wrapped his neck around hers.

"You two seem to have a wonderful friendship," beamed the tall, white, horned pegasus. "But young filly, if you are going to be a princess, you shall have to learn certain things. I fear your parents and teachers might have fallen prey to tribal superstitions. Winged unicorns are indeed called alicorns, and we are earth ponies as well. Since you have just become one, you should know."

"Um... okay," she whispered quietly.







"Follow me," said Celestia. She turned to walk in a seemingly random direction. 

Silver realised another potential problem. Namely, these were going to be Hermione's first few minutes trying to learn how to walk.

Unless he did something about it.

"Do we have to walk on this 'astral plane', or is there some way we can float around? It's hard to see where to put my hooves."

"Simply will yourself to move, and you shall move."

Silver floated up, then gave a significant glance at Hermione, who was having trouble standing. "It'll be easier than walking on your hooves. Trust me. Remember that class you weren't the best at? It's like that."

Translation: it's like riding a broomstick. Which Hermione wasn't very good at, but it would be better than trying to learn a whole new kind of ambling in less than a minute.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, then floated upward.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Celestia smiled. "On a trip down memory lane."

"Um..." said Silver. "How literal a trip are we talking about here?"

"We shall be passing by your memories," said the princess. "The most formative moments of your life. We'll see all the ponies you've helped, and the challenges you've overcome along the way."

"Crap."

Oh. Woops.

The princess stopped walking. "Silver Wing," she said, and her voice might have been stern. "It is not a bad thing to relive those memories."

Shouldn't have said that out loud. Philomena isn't on his back anymore, and the fact that he'd been awake for the past few weeks was finally catching up to him. Starting with a lack of a filter. Not thinking before he spoke.

Time to focus.

"No, I know, it's just, a lot of my memories are private and, well, it's not that I'm against reliving them, but..." his train of excuses trailed off. He searched for something to say that would be honest, but wouldn't betray the truth. Eventually, he realised he did have an honest reason, and he spoke it. "I've promised to keep a bunch of things secret, and I don't want to break those promises. Do you have to watch them with us?"

The princess looked at him a long moment. Then she sighed. "You may adjust your own astral plane as you wish. Conceive of the memories as hidden, but labeled. That way you can tell them apart. I do wish to see some of them. I cannot imagine all your memories are private."

Silver breathed a sigh of relief. "No. I have a few good recent ones, of ponies I helped. Those aren't private." He glanced at Hermione. "But..."

"But I think all of mine are," said Hermione.

Silver thanked Merlin and Azathoth that she figured it out without him saying anything.

"Young filly," Celestia rebuked. "I simply cannot believe you wish to keep everything to yourself. Please explain."

"I... well, it's not that I want to keep them to myself," she said after a pause, "but I'm pretty sure I have to. Plus, I don't think I even belong here. You said this is where we earn our wings and horn, but I haven't done anything in..." she glanced at Silver, "...a while. I just woke up here."

Celestia frowned thoughtfully. She turned to face Silver. "Do you feel the same way?"

"Um... no," said Silver. "Pretty sure I just did something that counts as a major accomplishment. I don't know how earning wings and a horn plays into it, but... yeah."

Celestia made a hmming noise.

"Alicorn status," she said after short silence, "is earned after a pony discovers an entirely new branch of magic. Not when the discovery is first made, but when that gift is shared with others. I discovered the magic of light, my sister discovered the magic of dark, and Princess Cadence discovered the magic of love. But we did not become alicorns until we shared our gifts with our loved ones, and eventually, the world." She looked upon both new alicorns. "If you are here, you must have done the same. There is no doubt in my mind. Memory Sunshine, I am unfamiliar with your case, but I suspect you could tell me in a heartbeat what you have shared with others. Silver Wing, I am familiar with your case. You have learned about pegasus magic, and I take it you have just succeeded in teaching it to your friends."

"Actually," said Silver, "I'm pretty sure I'm not here because of that. It's probably because of the magic of life, or something along those lines. And Ms. Memory..." he trailed off. "You know, I think she has earned the right to be here. She's helped many, many... um, fellow students. With their homework. You might say she's in tune with the magic of learning. Or maybe the magic of knowledge. I think she's just surprised it happened out of nowhere, unlike mine."

Celestia nodded firmly. "Young filly, it is sometimes difficult for a good pony to recognize her own virtues. That is why it is good that you have such a good friend. It might not seem significant to you, but to others it could mean the world. In many ways, our friends know ourselves better than we do."

"I guess..." Hermione said unsurely.

"But just like me," Silver emphasised, "a lot of her memories are private. Sort of. If a certain something ever happens, and it's possible to come back later, I think we'd be more willing. But until then... could we skip the memory lane part?"

"It cannot be skipped," said Celestia. "You cannot become true alicorns otherwise."

"Then can we do this some other time? Can we come back and become true alicorns later? Or is this our only chance?"

Celestia paused. "Once you have arrived for the first time, you can always return to your own astral plane."

"Then I think that's what I'd like to do."

"Me too," said Hermione.

Celestia looked upon them both. She sighed sadly. "If that is what you wish, I cannot stop you. Just know that you will not become truly in tune with yourselves until you return."

"What does that entail?" Silver asked. "Practically speaking, I mean. Will we lose our new horns?"

"No, nor shall you lose your earth pony strength. But you shall always feel like something is off. Like you are not living up to your true potential."

"I feel that way almost every day," said Silver. "I think I can live with the feeling for a while longer. Self-actualisation is an ongoing process, not an end goal."

"I am surprised you know that phrase at your age."

"Is there anything else that won't happen until we come back?"

"Your hair shall revert to normal until you do self-actualize. Though it may come out in moments of fulfillment."

He glanced back at his own hair with raised eyebrows. It was silver and wispy, like Patronus mist. It probably was Patronus mist.

"I'm fine with that," he nodded.

"I'd prefer that," said Hermione, looking at her own mane of sunshine.

"Very well," said Equestria's ruler. "Before you go, you should note that it is custom for new royalty to adopt new names. Unlike myself and my sister, you may think long and hard on what you wish to be called for the rest of your lives. You shall be alicorn, but not prince, nor princess. Not until you are ready." She smiled. "You both have shown much humility in your restraint this day. More than any who have come before. I expect great things."







And they appeared in a setting almost as dark as the one whence they'd come – a crystal cave. She landed on some sort of raised platform, surrounded by six creepy obelisks, and Harry stood just below and in front of her.

"Okay, first thing's first," said Harry, not sounding bothered at all. "Security." He looked around, seemed to spot something, said the word "Emergus", was suddenly grasping a wand (which he could somehow hold in a hoof), and began casting several charms she recognized from Paranoid Plinsky's 27 Precautions. He only cast thirteen of them, but that much was startling enough.

"You're able to use fourth year charms," she said when Harry stopped casting. She didn't try standing yet. "Just how long was I out?"

"Eight months and change. I lost count of the days in the home stretch. Magic is more powerful here. Or maybe our pony bodies are more magical. That's why I can cast fourth year spells, not the time gap."

"Where is here?"

"Good question," said Harry. "Mr. Book and I weren't thrilled about it, but I'm sure you'll be plenty happy for as long as it takes us to leave. We are in Equestria, a land of friendship, magic, and, oh yes, magical, friendly ponies."

"You mean like in My Little Pony?" she asked. "But I thought it was called Ponyland."

There was a pause in the cavern.

"What?" asked Harry. "What's my little pony?"

"It's a TV show my parents sometimes showed me on the tele. I liked it a lot, and I wanted to go there as a little girl, even though I knew I never could. Is it a real place after all?"

There was another pause.

"Okay," said Harry, "I think I know why we're here now. And no, it's not a real place. Or at least, it wasn't until six months ago. It was made. Magically. I think."

"I didn't know magic could do that."

"It usually can't. So, long story short, this world is like a parallel of ours, except... ponies. I'm even being watched over by an adult pony version of you. Not literally. Once the two of you know each other, there's going to be a singularity of bookworminess."

"Harry, can you please take this seriously?"

"Sorry. Been awake for a long time. Running on empty. Now that Philomena's not here anymore, I'm probably going to sleep for three days straight. I think I can last another fifteen minutes, so you're right, we should get the important stuff out of the way. We're trapped in a magic mirror that can create other universes and we're trying to get out. Don't worry about it, I'll explain when I wake up. You're a pony now. Walking is hard. You're also a pegasus. Flying is hard. It's easyish once you figure it out. Again, I'll help when I wake up. You're an alicorn. I'm an alicorn. Until today I thought alicorns were essentially gods. Now I'm not so sure. Either way you'll attract a lot of attention if ponies see you have wings and a horn, so wear this."

He drew a cloak from what looked like a combination of a saddle and a backpack, which she hadn't noticed sitting on the ground until he walked over to it. He slung it over his back and offered her the fabric.

"It's a normal cloak that can cover your wings. Don't have anything for the horn, so just pretend you're a unicorn. And take this."

He picked up a bracelet from the ground and tossed it to her, then put the others on his own legs.

"It's a portkey. It activates by saying the phrase 'activate town portkey', but only when you're touching it. You can also snap it, but then Mr. Book would have to repair it, and I want to avoid that, so please try to remember the phrase. Maybe spend some time in the cave practicing your trotting before you use it. That way you won't attract attention for not being able to walk. When you do use it, go to the library, which is a big treehouse, and tell Twilight Sparkle that you're my friend, I told you to go there, and to prove it, tell her I'm asleep in my room. Which I will be. Tell her not to wake me up, because I've been awake since I left. Remember that my name is Silver Wing, your name is Memory Sunshine, and you can't change it because we already used it in front of Celestia. Sorry. But I guess we'll be coming up with new names, so it all works out. Don't say anything about our past. Be careful, there's a pony named Applejack that can always tell if you're lying. And Princess Luna can do it too. I think that's it. Any questions?"

Hermione's mind was, indeed, a whirlwind of questions.

"Well, even if you have any, I think I'm about to pass out. I'm really sorry. I'll explain as much as I can when I wake up."

And he Apparated- he Apparated- away.

She was left alone, in a dark cave, on a spooky altar, given a set of instructions she'd comprehended and memorized but didn't understand in the slightest.

If this wasn't textbook Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, she didn't know what was.