//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Seekers of the Lost Part 3 
// Story: Fallout: Equestria – The Hogwarts Chronicles 
// by Fanficwriter1994 
//------------------------------//

Paladin Danse certainly knew his way around these parts. I would give him that.

The city was a complete urban ruin, while Concord had been devastated by the Megaspell fallout, Mareington seemed to have been a lot closer to the actual explosion. The city had large portions of it blocked by rubble, buildings were inaccessible and streets were made into kill zones by the residents.

And by residents, I mean Raiders. I won’t lie and say I didn’t kill, again, but when the alternative was to let those with me die? I couldn’t exactly stop it. At least I made their deaths fairly swift, using the Laser Musket instead of a normal kinetic weapon, or if at long-range, using headshots that were instant death.

I was dry heaving by the third ambush and I could tell the two Steel Rangers were worried.

“I sometimes forget that not everyone has foals as early as nine years old go on field missions.” Muttered Hailing as I finally drank a potion on Ruby’s insistence which would have the effect of keeping me calm, to make sure I could function without breaking down from that experience.

“To be fair, in our world you can’t join the military until you’re 18 years old and in most of the developed world armies have been largely delegated to home territory protection.” Stated Ruby, while rubbing my back. “Back when You- I mean, Voldemort was terrorizing us, I was in the thick of it despite being banned from using magic after I got framed for the Heir of Slytherin incident 50 years ago. My ma being a Giantess kind of helped there.” Explained Ruby, we were currently resting in one of the more stable buildings, nice cover and time to stay calm.

“So you were an old man before becoming an Alicorn? And wait, you were a half-giant? As in, you were half a gigantic pony?” Asked Hailing, raising an eyebrow at the smallest filly of our group.

“Not a pony, giants are a race of human-like magical beings that can get up to 10 meters tall, that is around 30 feet if you use the Imperical system. I have actually a half-brother. But anyway, yeah. I was a half-giant though I can’t say I’m that sad about no longer having that form.” Explained Ruby, patting her own horn as a way of telling them the reason.

“Since we’re resting for now, what is this Heir of Slytherin incident you just mentioned?” Asked Danse, keeping an eye out for possible trouble.

“Oh, right. 50 years ago, when I was 13, during my third year at Hogwarts, someone opened the “Chamber of Secrets” which had been built by one of the Hogwarts Founders, Salazar Slytherin, and unleashed a monster inside. A lot of Muggle-born students were petrified but only one died from it, Myrtel Warrens.” Explained Ruby, looking to the ceiling with a sigh.

“You mean your friend, the same filly with the extremely pale coloration?” Asked Hailing, sounding surprised by that revelation.

“Eyup, when a witch or wizard dies an imprint of their consciousness may be left behind in areas with strong connections to magic or places that are very old and had importance to them. Myrtel was one such Ghost. She and the other Hogwarts Ghosts got all reincarnated as ponies when we got here.” Explained Ruby and that certainly surprised them.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Myrtel was the only fatality of the incident but one of the Prefects, those are senior students who help the faculty keep order among the students, Tom Riddle, found me with my pet Acromantula Aragog. Even though Aragog was just a baby I was convicted as a scapegoat and the whole incident ended at that time too.” Explained Ruby, a frown on her face.

“I still say that Riddle guy was probably the culprit.” Muttered Rainy with a scowl on her face.

“Ahem, anyway, because the ministry determined I was the culprit, they broke my wand and put me in Azkabanm the high security prison used by wizards like us. At least until professor Dumbledore managed to bail me out. I’ve been helping out around the school since then, working as the keeper of keys and grounds. At least until we come here and I was permitted back into being a student.” Explained Ruby, smiling at the memory.

“I see, one question, what is a Acromantula and would it have been able as an adult to do that?” Asked Danse, there was something about his tone that made me think he wasn’t liking the implications.

“Not at all! I know others consider them dangerous but Acromantula are just cute big spiders! They can’t petrify you and sure, as babies they’re around half my size and so was Aragog, but their venom can’t hurt anyone and Aragog is well behaved!” Explained Ruby, not at all seeing the flinch from Hailing or the thinning of the Paladin’s lips at the idea of a giant spider.

“Please don’t remind me about the fact we got a whole nest of the things in the forest.” Muttered Rainy, shuddering and visibly repressing her own gagging.

“So, a non-lethal, baby giant spider, with no ability to petrify while an adult, was blamed on petrifying a student? Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to have been a Cockatrice or Basilisk?” Asked Hailing, looking puzzled at the idea.

“They didn’t really care if it made sense, they wanted a culprit and I was delivered to them as such. Wizards don’t do logic very often.” Responded Ruby with a sigh.

“Wait, what is a Cockatrice? Or a Basilisk for that matter?” I asked, deciding to turn the conversation around to what this was about.

“They’re magical beasts found in Equestria, both able to petrify with their gaze. Both also hatch from a snake egg that had been incubated by a cock. The main difference is their morphology. A Cockatrice takes an avian appearance with serpentine aspects such as a snake’s tail while a Basilisk is a type of giant snake.” Explained Hailing and I frowned.

“That sounds nasty, but those Basilisks would fit Slytherin for sure, the house’s coat of arms shows a snake.” I stated with a frown, it did definitely sound like something that could be “Slytherin’s Monster”. Much better than a spider.

“But do they exist in your homeworld?” Asked Danse, his interest was seemingly earned in this conversation. He wasn’t the most talkative pony I had met to be honest. Well, we all turned to Ruby, who was the magical creatures expert outside of the school’s professor for that one elective class.

“Sure do, it’s highly illegal to breed them though. Then again, Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago.” Stated Ruby and yeah, that about summed up the chances of this not being the case at all.

“So, we have a super murderous snake monster under the school somewhere, and a whole nest of giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest, and that’s not even mentioning the tribe of isolationist centaurs in said forest, the giant squid and merfolk, along with other nasty water creatures, in the Black Lake, and then we have Fluffy at your hut too.” Stated Rainy, shuddering.

“Wait, what is this Fluffy?” Asked Hailing, sounding somewhat concerned why a name like that was thrown in with various monsters.

“Three-Headed Giant Dog.” Chorused Rainy and myself, both of us remembering that Rotweiler-looking pet of Ruby.

“Wait, you have a pet Cerberus?” Asked Hailing in disbelieve, and made the rest of us pause.

“Ah, Hailing? I don’t think we talk about the same thing? Three-Headed Dogs are a rare breed of magical canines. The term “Cerberus” in our world refers only to one specific example from mythology.” I asked, not liking the idea of what may be these Cerberi of the Wasteland. Fluffy was plenty scary, dangerous, Scary Dangerous and dangerously Scary.

“They’re a type of Hellhound, who are descendants of Diamond Dogs. They mutated to have three heads instead of one and grow to about twice the size of their cousins.” Stated Danse and I shuddered, remembering the monster I had killed in Concord.

“Great, wasn’t like the decaying thing from Concord was ripping apart ponies with ease already.” I muttered, shaking mildly at the memory.

“You fought a Ghoulified Hellhound?” Asked Danse, sounding impressed and I shrugged my wing.

“More or less. I don’t think there are a lot of ground-bound targets without weapons or magic that can hurt me. And I had a Laser Musket with all the time in the world to take aim so...” I left the statement hanging at that point but it was clear they understood.

“A sound strategy there, regular Hellhounds are already deadly combatants but a Ghoul is probably a hundred times worse.” He stated, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t really thinking, I just wanted it gone so it wouldn’t hurt anyone.” I responded with a sigh, trying to keep out the image of that half-melted face and mutated body. It looked so much like one of the zombies in Dudley’s many movies, but somehow worse because it was real!

“That’s about as good a reason to get tunnel vision as you can get, protecting others that is. And considering you kept the greatest advantage you have in mind while doing so I can’t find much a fault there. Celestia knows, I lost too many Scribes and knights who thought they were tougher shit than a Hellhound.” Stated Danse, shaking his head at the memory and I could appreciate his attempts to reassure me.

“I just hope we get through here before we have to rest for the night, I don’t think I can sleep without...” I didn’t continue, it just felt… so strange. I couldn’t feel safe, couldn’t feel fine enough to sleep without Lyra and Bon-Bon with me. It was so weird compared to the years of solitude.

“I see.” Muttered Danse, as if he could read my thoughts. He sighed regardless and stood up. “We should get going again, make sure your weapons are in condition to fight and double-check those shields. Understood?” He asked and we nodded, standing up and doing as he wanted.

Soon after we moved out again, with Danse ordering us three to fly up and keep watch from an elevated position rather than on the ground with him and Hailing. I did spin up my Musket, it made things easier if I didn’t have some physical body to look at after the fact even if the disintegration of the body was gruesome in it’s own right.

It was almost an hour after we resumed the march that we reached one of the access tunnels of the factory, namely a pipe leading into it. There were hostiles ahead which is why we were stopping for now. “You alright Rose? You look kind of pale, well, more than just with the fur.” Asked Hailing, sounding concerned as I shuddered.

“Y- yes. Just give me a moment? Gods, I- I don’t like killing.” I muttered, sitting down and just trying to calm down. Getting shot at and being pumped full of adrenaline meant I could ignore the whole thing even if only for a moment, but when it faded? Yeah, not fun.

“You know, it is good that you take no pleasure in taking lifes.” Spoke up Danse and I looked up to the Stallion in powerarmor, he had taken off his helmet to look me in the eye apparently. “The pony who enjoys to take another’s life is one who is approaching the status of Raider. Remember this disgust Rose Evans, for it is proof of the kindness still nestled within your heart.” He stated, he sounded somehow much older than he looked, I would’ve guessed him being maybe in his 20s if I compared him to how the Teachers now looked.

“T- thank you.” I muttered, lying down to calm my nerves easier. I really needed to get control of this, I didn’t want to be a burden to the others because I couldn’t stomach this. But at the same time, he was right. Feeling disgust, discomfort and all the other feelings about killing? That was the right feeling, wasn’t it? Enjoying to take a life was being like that murderer, like all those Raiders who killed for fun.

Maybe I would be able to put my feelings aside one day and overcome this, but I swore I wouldn’t devolve into someone who could kill in cold blood for no reason.

I refused to become like him.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

Paladin Danse watched the filly as she lay there, her breathing still desperately trying to come under her control.

While he knew that it was weakness to become so vulnerable from simply killing scum like Raiders, he also knew that it was only healthy for a child to feel that way. She wasn’t a Steel Rangers Scribe, Innitiate or even a mercenary. She was a child who had volunteered to help and was doing her best to accomplish this goal.

“Paladin Danse?” He turned his attention to Hailing as she trotted over, her horn glowing as she set up a privacy spell.

“What is it Scribe?” He asked, the fact she put up a privacy field indicated that it was something the fillies weren’t meant to hear.

“I have been running the scans you ordered, the unidentified magical field you remember?” She asked and he nodded. His suit’s systems had detected it around Rose Evans from the start, thus why he had accepted the three coming along as a way to earn their way into the MAS Hub.

“Do you have results?” He asked, curiosity overcoming his caution.

“Yes sir, it appears to be a Type-L9 field, a Willing Sacrifice Ward.” He stopped at that and turned his head to the resting filly, still shuddering as she fought through her emotions.

“So her parents gave their lives to protect her?” He asked, he knew of these wards. They weren’t common, few ponies these days were willing to do this for their children. But it wasn’t unheard of or something he hadn’t seen before.

It most commonly occurred in Ghouls. Even Feral Ghouls could retain their parental instincts, either protecting their Ghoulified foals, themselves feral or not, or protecting foals they had, in their mindlessness, adopted, mistaking them for a lost foal. When killed in their pursuit of protecting these children a Type-L9 forcefield was generated, which protected the foal from any magical threats.

Love was, in a way, one of the strongest magical forces known to ponykind. There were stories of foals coming out of iradiated places, speaking of their parents shielding them against the Megaspells and never Ghoulifying. The sacrifice of these ponies saved their foals, granting them the strongest magical shield known. Heroics like that, a sacrifice of love, was perhaps the greatest show of character.

He took a breath, he shouldn’t get emotionally attached. These three were for all intents and purposes mercenaries hired by him. They would depart after they were done. However, he had a feeling things wouldn’t quite end there. Senior Scribe Static Shock had expressed interest in this field, so if this information leaked she may be pressured into staying.

“Hailing, keep the information quiet for now. We will see about further details later.” He ordered and the unicorn mare nodded, dropping the field and trotting over to Rose to try and help the process along. Innocence was, in a way, something that had to be protected more than dusty technology. The irony of a Steel Ranger Paladin thinking that wasn’t lost on Danse one bit but then again, he wasn’t part of those fanatics like Cottage Cheese and his chapter.

“Thank Celestia for the Elder’s more level headed decisions.” He muttered under his breath before putting his helmet back on to run some diagnostics on his armor.

No need to have reloading be a problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

Albus Dumbledore sighed as she sat in the infirmary, she hadn’t felt all that well lately, feeling quite bloated too.

She wasn’t the only one, she had seen a number of other of the ones who had turned into young mares, so faculty and the female ghosts, suffering similarly to herself. Only the mares though and none of the students. It was quite odd in her opinion, children tended to get sick much easier than adults after all. Though maybe it was one of those mutated diseases from the Wasteland. There was no telling what diseases were out there.

Poppy Pomfrey had been dealing with these kinds of illnesses for a few days now so Dumbledore was quite confident that the school nurse knew what she was talking about when she told her that the potion she was going to ingest was going to identify what was inside of her. A strange way of saying it would identify the kind of disease, but Poppy Pomfrey was the medical expert at Hogwarts.

“Here you go dear, just drink it and we’ll see.” Stated Poppy, handing the vial to the young mare and watched as Dumbledore did as instructed. Moments later, thick, pink clouds come out of her ears and nose, surprising her. “Well Albus, congratulations. It’s a filly.” Stated Poppy and, with a giggle, watched the gears come to a screeching halt inside the pregnant mare’s mind, before she feinted.

Sighing the nurse picked the unconscious pony up and placed her in a bed in the hospital wing before grabbing some parchment and a quill. On it was a list of all the mare names in Hogwarts that were adults and from Hogwarts to begin with, with most having a box next to it which had a Y, X or a box filled out with black next to them.

“Thank god I take potions to suppress my menstrual cycle, who knew that pony heat would kickstart our population growth?” Muttered Poppy with a shake of her head. Earlier that month everyone had been getting restless as the mares had gotten into heat and, well, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that a lack of experience with these extra strong instincts would lead to something.

“Hmm… who may be the father this time? Severus is out, he is baking with Minerva, the Bloody Baron? No miss Ravenclaw has his foal and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t letting him out of there during that period… Maybe…” She chuckled, feeling quite youthful with how she was trying to figure out who had slept with who exactly. Didn’t help that for a good while of the first month they had no clothes, though she had yet to see any of the Muggle-born teachers and ghosts reveal it.

Down in the Teacher’s Lounge, Filius Flitwick sneezed and had the sudden feeling he had fucked something up. And it involved the headmaster’s… quite fine ass he was quite sure of that.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

Down in the Slytherin dorms Draco Malfoy was having a bad day.

First, she got scared off by Harry Potter. When that freak got so mad at her that her mane turned into magical fire, Draco’s Flight or Fight Reflex kicked in. And Flight kicked Fight so hard in the nuts, her Fight instinct’s a girl now. It was a primal fear, before a being so far higher up the magical food chain that everything in Draco’s body screamed for her to get out of that situation.

Let the Alicorn cool her heels, that was the closest to a coherent thought that had went through Draco’s mind at the time. And she did. No need to start a fight when the opponent has easy access to magic, can fly and is heavily armed, right? At least, Draco would tell anyone who asked that was the reason.

However, if Draco Lucius Malfoy was honest, she was scared. Scared shitless.

Draco wanted to rage, wanted to pick a fight. But she couldn’t. When Potter went out again with her group, now accompanied by the two mares who had adopted her, Draco refused to come along, too scared of triggering her year long rival again. Too scared to allow herself to confront her about the whole ordeal. Then, when they returned not even a day later, again, Draco wanted to mock her again, for fainting. But when she overheard the reason, her mind went blank.

Harry Potter had killed. Not just one, not two, but five ponies lay dead in Concord because of Harry Potter. Not only that, but an undead creature known as a Hellhound had been killed by her as well. The description drove all bravado out of Draco. And then, the “Minutemare” Free Life had decided to hold a demonstration on guns and how dangerous they were.

As a demonstration Professor McGonnagal has transfigured a ball of hay into a cow. Which got vaporized on the spot with the Laser Musket Free Life had on her. Then she systematically took apart another transfigured cow using normal guns.

Needless to say, Draco Malfoy wasn’t stupid enough to want to go out there. Protective magical shield or not, she didn’t want anything to do with the outside world of the Wasteland ever again. And knowing that Potter was now running around with that same Laser Musket wasn’t putting any more bravery into Draco Malfoy at all.

Then there was Snape, for some reason he had been acting weird around McGonnagal for a few days now, being rather pale and nervous around her. He had acted similarly weird around her a few weeks into their stay which was also around the time that the majority of teachers had gone weird, as did many ghosts.

It didn’t take a genius to guess what it meant. Menstrual cycle probably, making it quite clear what had happened. As well as what this meant for the current situation. It only got worse when Draco saw Professor Dumbledore, during last lunch, walking to Professor Flitwick, whisper something, and him fainting instantly at her hooves.

This didn’t bode well for Draco. If one male-turned-female individual could become pregnant, then so could any of them. Naturally, being a filly had, in this regard, a benefit as she was too young for it apparently. But while Harry Potter and her group were reduced eight years old, therefore it would take maybe half a decade before they were to endure this if this ran along with the norms for humans, Draco was only a few years away from possibly becoming sexually active.

And that prospect? Becoming the mare to carry a stallions foal? Becoming pregnant? This she feared above all else. It was a horrible feeling to be this vulnerable, to fear the future that had yet to come. She would need potions, potions that could suppress this, potions to induce sterility for the duration if she couldn’t stop it from happening in the first place.

“Oh god, why do I have to suffer this way?” She asked herself, burying her face in her pillow as she tried to banish the thoughts of her possible future from her mind. Draco Malfoy was a male! He was the heir of the Malfoy family! He was meant to impregnate woman when he grew up, not be the woman to be impregnated, much less by a horse!

But, there was no denying what was between her legs now, and she knew it. “Damn that Potter, damn her to hell! If not for that meddling blood traitor we wouldn’t be here!” Cursed Draco angrily, trying to find some fleck of light but failing to. The only thing she had that she could do was to try and find a way home and, hopefully, restore herself to being a male.

But the origin of this entire problem was also already on the case of solving it. So what could she do? She didn’t have the courage to go out there and face that world. To face a world filled with monsters, necromantic magical radiation and psychopaths wanting to kill everyone they saw.

So all she had left was to distract herself, and there was something that had come up during lunch after Flitwick had fainted.

“If I can’t solve the problem myself, I will just learn what I can about how this world makes magic so readily available.” She muttered as she stood up and headed outside.

Her target? Free Life the Minutemare, her and her class on Talisman creation.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

“AGH!” Screamed a figure as it emerged.

The figure was at first a skeleton made of mismatched bones, but soon flesh began to manifest around it as it continued to howl in agony. The process continued after the muscles and flesh had finished, skin following them and finally black fur covered the body, white feathers the wings, and a blue mane with red stripes emerged from the scalp and the figure’s tail, finishing the formation of a pony.

“FUCK! What in the hell happened? I thought drawing magic into myself, as easy as it is here, would be enough with that blood sample from Potter to give me a body! But I didn’t think it would be this painful!” Exclaimed the filly, then stopped after a moment, after hearing her own voice.

“Why am I, Lord Voldemort, a girl?!” Exclaimed one Tom Marvolo Riddle Junior as she realized the form she had taken.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

I sighed, finally we had gotten through the Raiders in the factory, after dealing with their basement of pony Ghouls I may add, and had found what the Paladin wanted.

It was a powerful, industrial scale energy Talisman which would apparently help to power the MAS hub. We were allowed to scavenge the area for anything else we wanted, a favor from Danse. It did help to distract me from all the death. Again.

I was searching the filing cabinets when I found something. It was a small booklet titled “Thaumaturgy and You”, it was a medical journal it seemed, about healing spells and even patterns for healing Talismans. I won’t lie and pretend I didn’t take it simply to have something that would distract me.

After this we left the building and made our way back to Ponevac, where we arrived only after sunset, luckily we didn’t encounter any more trouble along the way. And, I admit, I was glad nobody was commenting on my keeping myself occupied with the book. Not looking up, not paying attention. Just… distracting myself with anything but the fact I had to kill, again.

I was honestly turning into Hermione I think. Ears deep in a book and all that. Maybe she would find it interesting? It was educational after all.

As soon as we were in Ponevac the Paladin led us directly to the Hub along with the rest of our team. We were ushered in and given quarters, and told Scribes would be reviewing any item on hand over night and we may be able to check it in the morning.

I was… I was actually thankful. I was given a room alongside my moms and… Huh, I started calling them that. That’s… a bit weird.

But, it meant in any case that I could sleep. A lot more at peace than I would’ve been alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

As the visitors laid in their assigned quarters, Star Paladin Danse made his way to the office that was the Elder’s quarters.

“Danse, report.” Ordered the elder of the Ponston Chapter, Elder Artoria Maxson as the Unicorn Mare turned her attention to him.

“The mission at the MWT factory was a success ma’am, no fatalities to report. However, also no contact with Synths. They appear to not have been interested.” He reported, kneeling before his superior who sighed.

“I see. Were the contractors you hired a hindrance?” She asked, naturally she had received a report from Rising Tensions. He had been against the idea after all.

“While one of them did take the need to kill rather poorly in spite of her apparent reflexive urge to help others and stop Raiders, they were definitely more of an asset. I have intel that their teachers can possibly alleviate our teleportation issues with their own form of magic in fact, among others.” He explained and the Elder frowned in contemplation.

“And you deem this intel believable?” She asked, leaning forward on her desk.

“Scribe Hailing was monitoring the conversation, as far as they were concerned all that they said was true. We also have an example of their own armor style, heavily enchanted I may add but at least on par with minor models of power armor on it’s own due to a force field and a Radiation repelling field.” Explained Danse and he could literally see interest turn to full on attention.

“I see, I assume none of the fillies can implement these on their own?” She asked, naturally the idea of recruiting someone like that would naturally appeal to her.

“I am sorry but no. Three of them were students that just finished their first year at the school when they were transported, another had no magical abilities before coming here and the remaining two fillies, while having more years of training, haven’t performed magic for 50 years. My full report on the situation will be provided in the morning.” He stated and Maxson nodded in return.

“And all they want in exchange is finding something that can either transport them back or may connect to their world?” Asked Maxson, contemplative.

“Yes Ma’am, their only request in exchange for their aid was the permission to search our stores for such an item. I have assigned Hailing and a number of other scribes under my command to that task.” Explained Danse and Maxson nodded.

“Good thinking then. Anything else to report?” She asked, and Danse paused for a moment then nodded.

“Yes, the leader of the group the filly calling herself Rose Evans, has been bonded to a Type-L9 field. From conversation it appears that her parents died trying to protect her from a Raider-like wizard named Voldemort who died when his spell was reflected back at him while he tried to kill the one years old foal.” He explained, it sounded so absurd to his ears to go to such lengths to kill one child but…

“I see, I will leave actions regarding our… guests, up to you, Paladin. Do not disapoint me.” Stated Maxson and this was as clear a dismissal as Danse would likely be getting so he nodded and left the office after a short bow.

The Steel Rangers Elder on the other hand sighed, turning around in her chair as she looked out over the small town that her predecessor had decided to protect while also taking the hub for the chapter as their base.

“Things are getting interesting, aren’t they, Elder Lyons?” She asked, sighing as she turned back around as her eyes met a photograph, of a young filly with an elderly Earth Pony Stallion. It made her smile just a bit, but the job of the Elder involved a fight against a opponent with endless troops.

Paperwork.

~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning come almost too soon for my tastes, but I suppose in a military complex, early mornings are to be expected.

We were escorted to large storage facility after being given a basic breakfast, and boy was I glad for the rad scrubbing force field. My Pip-Buck told me there was quite a bit, though nowhere near lethal, doses of radiation in those rations. Not surprising considering the state of the world. Luckily those Rads were removed by my suit’s Anti-Radiation field as soon as I grabbed it.

I did notice Scribe Hailing nearby marveling at the Rad-Purged food she was now consuming, still wearing the bardings we had given her.

Anyway, back to the storage space, am I right? You don’t want to know what they serve in their cafeteria compared to Hogwarts.

In the storage facility we found five items. All of them ornate mirrors in their own right. “These are the best guesses on our part to what you need, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences was working on these mirrors to create portals into another world in case evacuation was needed. As you may guess, this didn’t work out for them.” Explained a Unicorn Stallion nearby, Head Scribe Belonging Wisdom.

“Each of these mirrors is missing some sort of coordinate, we believe it may be sufficient to use your magic as an anchor but we can’t tell for sure.” Stated the scribe, looking down on his own Pip-Buck which was probably displaying notes or something.

“That’s amazing. Thank you sir.” I stated, I was quite happy even if it was still only a portal, if we could establish a connection to Earth… Well I wouldn’t go back through, but it would be good for everyone.

“I still can’t guarantee for it to work, but yes, this is the best we were able to find so far.” Stated the scribe and I nodded, smiling. I was just glad that we had a chance at all.

Walking to the central mirror I followed instructions to place my horn to the right-hoof gemstone and to channel some magical energy into it. This energized the mirror and…

“What was that?! Who is there?! Show yourself or I will hex the whole room!” Exclaimed a voice from behind the mirror and I blinked in surprise at that.

“Wait, Mad-Eye Moody? Is that you?” Asked Ruby at that point, trotting over in surprise as I gave her room to come.

“Who is asking? If this is some sort of prank brat I will find you and I will put you in Azkaban if I don’t like your answer!” Declared the man and… wow, just wow.

“It’s me, Rubeus Hagrid! Ah, what was my order code again, ah… Right! Order ID Charlie Charlie Foxtrot Alpha Beta Beta Charlie Foxtrot!” She declared and a long pause followed while everyone stared at her for that one. Order?

“What the- Hagrid, you better have a good explanation for this! The whole damn school vanished over a month ago and now you sound like a little girl and are inside the this mirror in the confiscated items storage of the Unspeakables?” Asked the voice and I blinked. Wow, that was… that was surprising.

“Ah, alright but I think the professor would be better at explaining this Moody, it’s quite a tale but the short version is that the whole school got transported to another world. And it also transformed everyone when that happened, myself, Argus Filch, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Draco Malfoy and professor Dumbledore all got our genders turned over and us, plus Hermione Granger and a revived Myrtel Warren, but minus the professor and the Malfoy boy-turned-girl, got turned into little ponies with wings and a horn. And everyone else is a pony one variety or another with wings, a horn or neither but enhanced physical strength.” Ruby was talking fast there, and hadn’t taken a breath until she was finished.

A pause followed this, then… “You know what? Get me Dumbledore. Or the thing you’re talking through to him, her or whatever.” Ordered the man before the sound of steps could be heard as he walked away from the mirror, apparently deciding he needed a break.

“Well, it appears our part of the deal has been fulfilled.” Stated Head Scribe Wisdom as he watched. “I have been informed to tell you that, if this worked, to take a second mirror with you, after we have connected it to another. The Elder wishes to have an easier way to communicate and trade with your school.” Informed the man and, well, I didn’t have anything that I could say contrary to that.

With that said, we loaded up both of the mirrors and, to our surprise, were also given an old “Sky Carriage” modified so that a cart attached to it would benefit from it’s enchantments. These enchantments would allow the magic of a pegasus, or in our case a Alicorn, to flow through them and let them fly.

Or in other words, we had a new mode of transportation. I hadn’t expected that.