I sighed.
Ponston, we have a problem.
You ask why? Well, we accomplished one of our goals, sure, we established contact with the Ministry and thus Earth.
However, treking back to Hogwarts, even through the air, took a full day and with that marking day 39 of our stay here, and the reconnection with Earth, it was decided to halt exploration for the time being to prepare for school. Strangely, my moms were fine with it too.
What was more surprising was when people were coming through the portal. First Alastor Moody who had been described as a nasty old Auror, magical police basically, with way too much paranoia for the modern times. In Equestria he become a gray unicorn stallion with wild, brown hair. And aside from not aging down he was also tall.
Like, from hoof to horn he was easily 5,4 feet tall. Or 164.59 centimeters. And he was built like a Earth Pony stallion from the Steel Rangers.
He, Dumbledore and McGonnagal all exchanged various code phrases and codes, often so fast nobody knew what either said, but he was able to confirm their identities. At which point others got the green light to come through.
First was miss Weasley, who instantly hugged her sons, and daughter, and fussed over them. When Rainy pointed me out she come over and checked me for injuries. Being that she was a Earth Pony mare and quite strongly built herself, that said a lot.
“Oh dear you certainly got into some trouble didn’t you Harry?” Asked Miss Weasley finally and I blushed a bit but nodded.
“Yeah, I guess so miss Weasley. Also, thanks again for showing me to the train back then.” I said, smiling a bit and she smiled back.
“Quite alright dear. I must say you do look quite adorable though.” She stated and I blushed.
“You must be miss Weasley, Rainy’s mother.” Spoke up Lyra, catching the woman’s attention as my adopted mothers trotted over. “Sorry, I wanted us to introduce ourselves. I am Lyra Heartstrings and this is my wife Bon-Bon. Rose and Rainy have spoken quite well of you, as brief as our adopted daughter’s interaction with you was.” Stated Lyra and Molly blinked, then turned to me, then to them.
“Oh my! You were adopted? I’m so glad, when I heard Albus left you at the Dursleys of all people I swear I could’ve thrown him out a window! But you got a new mother, no, two of them!” I was quite surprised at the outburst as Miss Weasley hugged me, continuing to express her happiness that I found a family.
Yeah, it was a bit strange but I won’t lie, it felt nice too.
More and more parents filtered into the school after that, siblings too. Apparently the mirror had been set up at the Leaky Cauldron for this purpose with a guard of four Aurors around it. Even Tom, the bartender, showed up to see what form Hagrid had taken and laughed himself into a coma at the sight of the tiniest pony in the whole school.
Then he woke up to find Professor Flitwick over him and when informed who he was, promptly did it again. Admittedly the irony was quite funny but you get used to it after a day or two with this. It also turned out that Professors Dumbledore, McGonnagal, Hooch, Professor Sinistra and The Grey Lady or more appropriately, Helena Ravenclaw, couldn’t pass through the mirror at all. None of them could and it took Madam Pomfrey a good minute of laughing to reveal why.
“Albus Dumbledore is pregnant.” Miss Weasley fell on her rump after hearing that declaration though she wasn’t the only one shocked silent by the revelation. It also meant I’d be susceptible to become pregnant when I grew up which was… disconcerting to be honest.
“I’m more freaked out by the Slytherin and Ravenclaw House Ghosts having a foal.” Admitted Mister Weasley, Ron’s dad who was named Arthur Weasley, rubbing his wife’s back to help her get over the shock.
“To be fair, I’m a little girl horse now mom so… I’m not sure how high on the list of Oh Crap’s this goes. And you haven’t even seen the Wasteland.” Admitted Rainy and promptly caused the mare to faint.
“I wonder what made her faint, the reminder her youngest son is now her oldest daughter, or the fact we’ve been gallavanting around a post-nuclear wasteland.” I commented to Hermione who looked around us.
“Ah, Mister Moody? Do you know if my parents are also coming?” Asked Hermione after a moment, walking over to the scarred stallion with the artificial eye.
“Y’er a Muggle-born?” He asked, eyeing the distinctly human-like appearance that he had already been informed to mean she was mostly Muggle blooded.
“Yes sir, but they know about magic, they were with me when we bought my school supplies but I think they may not be able to find the Cauldron if they had been informed.” Explained Hermione and the Auror nodded with a frown.
“Fine, I send someone to check for the parents of Muggle-born, can’t be that hard to spot.” He muttered before going back through the mirror. I wondered if he kept his clothes in the other form. Nobody would want to see an old man naked I imagine.
When Moody come back he did so with numerous more parents, all of them turning into the Muggle-born variety of our pony forms. Luckily, whatever turns us into ponies seems to ignore the clothes on Muggle-born and family, though it did indicate they all had one thing in common: Magical ancestry of some variety.
I did notice a single mare with white fur and blonde mane with Draco, she was a unicorn notably. I suspect that was her mom but where her dad was, I didn’t know.
After all this was settled we were herded through the mirror to Diagon Alley and a new surprise awaited me. “I can’t see!” I exclaimed, I hadn’t had problems with my eyes since coming to Equestria and I also realized that I was no longer on all fours, I rarely stood on two legs since, well, my front hooves were kind of useless for the most part. Especially compared to just using magic.
Speaking of, I had hands.
“Rose here, what’s wrong?” I heard Hermione and as I turned it took me a moment to see her due to, well, I was shortsighted again.
“You don’t have fur anymore.” I finally blurted out, surprised as Hermione seemed to have reverted to being human except for retaining her pony ears from what I could see but was otherwise free of fur.
“Yeah, and you look like we Muggle-born do in the Wasteland, I think that whatever is changing us between worlds is getting a bit confused. But anyway, you can still see, right?” She asked and I strached my head, my still equine head.
“A bit? I think my eyes got turned back to what they were before all this.” I explained and she sighed before pulling out something from her bag and handing it to me.
“I was kind of afraid of that when we heard how the return back is turning people back to normal. Though apparently only the ones not in the blast radius.” She stated and I knew she meant our initial transit.
Putting on my glasses I saw two woman step out of the mirror, both of them with the colors of Bon-Bon and Lyra respectively and followed by a young girl with the colors of Rainy. As in, skin color and hair color. “Huh? So that’s what it’s like to be bipedal?” Asked Lyra interested, looking down on her new hands as Rainy walked over to us.
“So, any idea why I changed the same way as those two?” Asked Ron, looking to the pair of ponies-turned-human. I was kind of glad that all of our bardings were made to conform to whatever bodyshape we had to avoid needing exact meassurements, we weren’t naked for that reason alone.
“I think the mirror is interpreting you as just a pony? I mean, Purebloods seem to have the most pure pony form so maybe you’re just far enough removed from Muggle ancestry?” I suggested as more and more students come through.
While most of them come here to go home or at least have something to do outside the Wasteland, I was here with Lyra and Bon-Bon to formalize my adoption in the Ministry of Magic. It was on insistence of professor Dumbledore since the magical connection to the Dursleys was otherwise impenetrable. Yeah, turned out that part of the reason the Dursleys had me was that Dumbledore had set up a magical ward on that house to keep Voldemort and his followers away from me.
But with my now residing in the Wasteland, as living among Muggles was right out with my new form, there was no reason to keep it up. So, we were going to cut my familiar ties with the Dursleys and make my adoption into the family of Bon-Bon and Lyra official. This also come with the benefit that there would be no adoption war once that all come out since it was a family from outside the ministry adopting me.
Well, we got a lot of weird looks on the street for sure, considering I was a little horse girl, accompanied by weirdly skinned woman. Oh, and escorted by Aurors. We were led to a ministry administered shop where we were led to a chimney.
“Have any of you ever used the Floo Network?” Asked mister Moody, he looked even more severely scarred as a human, did you know that?
“No, I’m not familiar with any magic of that name from our world and we’re new to this one so… Rose, did you…?” Lyra was asking and I shook my head.
“No, I was raised by Muggles, remember? The only means of magical transportation I went through were that mirror and the barrier to the Hogwarts Express.” I responded, noting the other Auror, a young woman with pink hair, making a weird choking sound.
“Trainee Tonks, what is so funny?” Asked Moody with a snarl and the apparent trainee Auror come to attention on reflex. I had to wonder how strict he was.
“I’m sorry sir, it’s just, she’s Harry Potter right? I didn’t think she wouldn’t know about the Floo Network since, well, you know? All those stories?” Responded miss Tonks and that brought me up short. Stories?
“Don’t believe everything you read in a children’s book, or do you really believe this kid tamed a dragon?” He asked in return and I had to hold back a choke at the idea of that kind of story. I had handled a dragon, sure, a baby dragon. Who bit Rainy. And we barely made it through until her brother’s friends could pick Norbert up.
“Sorry Sir, I will be more mindful from now on.” She apologized like a chastised child. Admittedly she looked like she had just graduated the year before I got enrolled in Hogwarts so… She was young.
“See that you do. Now, how this works is simple, throw the damn powder in and step into the fire when it turns green. Then say, loud and clear, where you want to go. In this case it’s the “Ministry of Magic, Office for Magical Adoptions”, got that?” He explained and we nodded. It sounded fairly useful though I had my doubts we could help set that up in the Wasteland, who knew what sort of BS the radiation could play on it.
A quick go through of the Floo later we arrived at the office and I sat down on a bench, waiting for my moms to finish the paperwork with Moody.
“So, how is the other side?” I blinked as Tonks sat down next to me, looking very interes-
“Wait wasn’t your hair pink just now?” I asked, staring at her now neon green hair which then shifted to dark blue instead.
“It can be whatever I want, I’m what we call a “Metamorphmagus”, meaning I can change my appearance at will. Though I doubt I can match the change you underwent.” She explained, a grin on her face and I giggled. She had a point. “So, how about my question? I heard some people talk about a Wasteland?” She asked and I blinked, she hadn’t gotten the details?
“Well, it is called the Equestrian Wasteland overall, though it seems to be sub-divided into places like Canterlot area, the Hoofington Wasteland, and Hogwarts got dropped into the Ponston Wasteland.” I explained which just got her more interested it seems.
“Why do they call it that though?” She asked, prodding for information much?
“Some 200 years ago the kingdom of Equestria under Princess Luna was at war with a nation called Zebrica, which was an empire under Zebra rule. Equestria was close to winning since they were in the process of completing several big projects and pushing the Zebras back, but the Zebras used reverse-engineered Arcano-tech called “Megaspells” to create missiles that could deliver a super strong version of the Zebra “Balefire” spell which normally is pretty small, but the Balefire Bombs created were like literal nuclear bombs.” I explained and noticed her swallowing nervously.
“You’re a Halfblood miss Tonks?” I asked, realizing the implication of her being nervous about that word.
“Ah, just Tonks, alright? And yeah, my dad’s a Muggle-Born. Got my mom disowned from the family. So, nuclear war? In a world of magic horses?” She asked, apparently already having heard about what the locals looked like on the other side.
“Ponies, but yeah. The sky’s constantly cloudy because the Pegasi, who are a type of pony with wings, covered it all up to divide themselves from those on the ground. No idea what they tell themselves about the surface though. Also, from what I’ve heard on the radio from comments of the DJ, the old capital of Equestria, Canterlot, is covered by some gas weapon known as Pink Cloud and the remains of princess Luna were found there. She and her older sister princess Celestia, were Alicorns like me.” I explained to her, indicating my wings and horn.
“Huh, so… winged unicorns then?” She asked and I couldn’t stop the giggle.
“More or less, apparently an Alicorn is a pony with all the powers of the three races, so I’m a Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth Pony, all at once. That’s why Ruby, ah, she was Rubeus Hagrid before the whole transition thing, can punch someone twice her size through a solid castle wall, casually.” I told her and… got a wide-eyed stare.
“Wait, Rubeus Hagrid? That big teddy bear of who I could swear was half giant? How small did he get? And, wait, did you say she? Rubeus Hagrid’s a little girl pony now?” Tonks, at that point, devolved into loud laughter as she apparently decided that the idea was hilarious. It was, don’t get me wrong, but it left Ruby with a bit of a size problem I could empathize with.
“Hey, it’s not nice to laugh at her while she isn’t here. Also she’s the smallest in the school, I mean, myself, Hermione, Ron, or Rainy, Argus Filch, Myrtel and Hagrid all got turned into Alicorns, and female ones, of around eight years old. But Ruby is also very small compared to us.” I explained, and giggled as Tonks just kept laughing at the image.
“Tonks, I believe I told you to watch the girl, not nearly knock yourself out from laughing.” And cue Alastor Moody ruining the, well, mood.
“S- Sorry sir! I was just trying to make idle conversation since, well, what better way to distract a child?” Well, given even that child could tell that’s a completely made up line, nope.
I stood up, seeing as my moms were back now and apparently had paperwork with them? I stopped for a moment because, well, it still feels weird how easily this come to me at that point. I guess I was clinging to this after what I had to do in the Wasteland, and maybe also at the Dursleys.
Did I mention that I was relying on them against the nightmares? Because holy shit, I was relying on them for the helping me against those nightmares.
“So, we still need to get to Gringotts to get this notarized, not that access to the vault would help in the Wasteland since I doubt there is a pile of Sparkle Cola caps in that vault.” Noted Lyra with some amusement while me and Tonks walked over to them.
“Cola Caps? Why would those be useful?” Asked Tonks as we headed back to the Floo access area.
“Bottlecaps of the Sparkle Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla brands are used as a currency, since after the Megaspells no more are being produced. So there is a finite number of those Bottlecaps around even if you can find more. At one point traders decided to use caps as a currency, that spread around the Wasteland through them, then give it 200 years to stir and you end up with an economy based on them.” I explained, shrugging. It was something we had been learning from the caravans that come through Hogwarts.
“Okay? So, did you ever drink this Sparkle Cola thing?” Asked Tonks, while we had arrived in the Floo Hub, for a lack of a better term, there was currently a line to the floo entrance to Diagon Alley from the ministry.
“Yup, got a carotty aftertaste, you’d be surprised how good that tastes when you’re a pony. There are also other flavors I heard, but if there is any left, well, you’re asking the wrong girl for that.” I explained shrugging. “Admittedly I’ve only gotten as far as Ponevac and it’s Ministry of Arcane Sciences tower so I’m no expert.” I admitted further and that, in turn, led to a rather lengthy explanation of the MAS Hub and what the locals were like.
The fact I had only known very little of the settlement and mostly knew of the town’s protecting chapter of Steel Rangers was hampering that, though it did interest Tonks to hear about Paladin Danse and Scribe Hailing, not to mention what little I knew of their command structure.
I mean, wasn’t really all that interesting.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, that was concerning.” Muttered Kingsley Shacklebolt as he sat across from Alastor Moody in his office.
He has been assigned as the task force leader concerning the Hogwarts situation. The school was impossible to recover and fully humanity was, seemingly, impossible to restore to those who had been ripped away with it.
What was concerning was a recording made by Nymphadora Tonks while she had been talking with Rose Evans, aka Harry Potter, about the child’s experiences in the other world. Aside from a large amount of talk about flying without a broom and how freeing that was, what concerned him were the Steel Rangers.
The chapter, meaning a subset of the organization, in the local area of Hogwarts, the Ponston Chapter, appeared to be reasonable, but her talking about what others said about chapters from elsewhere painted a stark divide. There were those like the Ponston Chapter who sought to restore Equestria to it’s pre-war glory and protect the ponies, basically holding onto their pre-apocalypse mission, and then there were those who instead sought to protect technology and hoard it.
And apparently, the latter outnumbered the former. On top of that, while Hogwarts was amazingly well protected thanks to the wards coincidentally including ones that repelled necrotic magic as well as a strong magical shield, the world outside justified well why the students were now wearing a uniform more in line with armor and meant to protect them.
“Hmph, I think it’s a good idea to have those Wastelanders teach some things, the brats need to learn how to defend themselves or else they won’t be ready for the real deal!” Stated Moody with a growl and Shacklebolt sighed, obviously the old warhawk would say that.
“What do you think of these new classes Dumbledore has decided to implement? They seem to be meant in case students decide to go out into that Wasteland. I mean, gun safety, Talisman Manufacturing, Combat Tactics, Survival Training.” He asked, looking at the list of new classes which, according to the data, would be mandatory on a Bi-Weekly basis.
“To be frank? Best fucking idea the old goat had in years. Though I guess she isn’t old anymore is she. Pregnant with a foal of all things, from Flitwick.” Muttered Moody with a frown and Shacklebolt flinched mildly at that. He had head about that. The fact that Dumbledore would continue working as headmaster instead of, well, waiting out the pregnancy was mainly because the projected duration was 10 to 11 months.
“Well, there isn’t a whole lot we can do to stop it, given that we’re dealing with a school full of children, the chances of none of them wandering off into the Wasteland at some point, especially when some of them can literally fly on their own, teaching them how to survive is a good idea.” Admitted Shacklebolt as he leaned back sighed.
“You still don’t like it, do you? You’ve gotten soft then, there are way too many Death Eaters still out there and these kids could get into another war any time. And I’m not talking about a war in that other world.” Stated Moody, scoffing at the idea of sheltering the children from the need to defend themselves. For all that he had no patience to be a teacher, he’d sooner take up that DADA job than let those morons baby them into being helpless.
He didn’t fight that war so that some pussy paper pusher could ruin the future he had fought for. “You know that a lot of the Ministry officials will be up in arms over teaching those children how to use what are literally Muggle weapons made for ponies, right?” Asked Shacklebolt, and naturally he was just as aware of those morons as Moody himself.
“Tzk, I’d love to see them try and enforce that, last I checked all Hogwarts has to do to stop someone coming through is break a mirror or keep a well armed guard there. And apparently they’re getting a trade deal with a military organization in Powered Magic Armor.” Countered Moody, taking a sip from his canteen as, honestly? He needed a drink.
“Not gonna lie, if I hear that pink toad in a woman’s costume try to grab for more power one more time? I’m gonna take that gun I took off of Potter and shoot her myself.” Stated Moody, holding up a small handgun even though it had a strangely shaped grip.
“Wait, when did you grab that? And didn’t she notice?” Asked Shacklebolt, blinking as he stared at what he thought may be a 10mm pistol.
“Kid wasn’t paying attention to those bags she was carrying, nor did anyone else. She had 14 of these things, 12 shotguns, 14 Sub-Machine-Guns, 3 high-caliber sniper rifles, and some sort of handmade energy weapon. All in one bag and I didn’t check the other.” He stated and, not for the first time, Kingsley Shacklebolt was reminded why Alastor Moody was the one Auror, who made Unspeakables spill the beans.
“So, the Boy-Who-Lived, who is now a pony, was carrying a small militia’s worth of firearms on her person. Good lord how did you infect her with your Hyper Vigilance this quickly?” Asked Kingsley, shaking his head, then he saw something scarier than a raging mother dragon with you between her and her eggs: A grinning Alastor Moody.
“Who said I checked after we got here?”
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
Solid Matter sighed in relief as she passed through the gate that marked the entry to the Hogwarts Grounds.
This marked her third visit to the lush green land of this castle and it was each time quite reinvigorating when the wards washed out the radiation in her body and barding. Not to mention her goods.
“Good to see you again miss Solid Matter, it’s been a while.” Greeted a colt who come to her, she recognized him as Percy Weasley, the older brother of Ron, or more accurately now, Rainy. He was a Pegasus notably and like all his siblings, Quad-Bound.
“Quite so Percy. How have things been here?” She asked with a smile as Trot Alot urged the two Brahmin along while she spoke with the colt.
“Quite good actually, Rose and her group have come back with a sort of portal mirror they found in the hands of a group called the Steel Rangers and were able to establish a connection to Earth. Though I must admit that I am a bit disapointed with the professors as they have revealed that a lot of them let their hormones drive them into intercourse, leading to quite a few of them pregnant.” Explained Percy as he led them to the market town that had grown around the school.
“For real? Who are the lucky Foaling mares?” Asked Solid Matter brightly, quite excited to hear that the school was having foals. Within the Wasteland, any healthy foals were welcome and for the small population of Hogwarts, healthy foals were practically guaranteed.
Percy naturally didn’t quite understand that, though he did answer. “Professors Dumbledore, McGonnagal, Hooch, Sinistra and the former House Ghost of Ravenclaw, the “Grey Lady” or Helena Ravenclaw, as her full name is. Fathers are, in order, Professors Flitwick, Snape, who is responsible for both professor McGonnagal and Madam Hooch, Peeves our former Poltergeist and finally the Bloody Baron. Who has yet to give his name. I swear to god, that man is more in love with that title than the poor lady Ravenclaw.” Muttered Percy and that surprised Solid Matter, but it made sense in a way.
“Don’t worry too much, first time heat is always the hardest to resist and in the later stages of puberty it gets even worse. I am pretty sure this all happened because of their not being accustomed to these kinds of natural instincts.” Reassured Solid Matter the young colt with a chuckle.
“Just wait until your fillyfriend goes into heat, you won’t have trouble understanding them after that.” She added and laughed as the colt’s face turned a glowing red color. She found it cute if she was honest but he was also way too young for her tastes. “Anyway, I am glad to hear them foaling, in the Wasteland any new life is treassured by us civilized pony folk as it is the only future for which we can hope.” She explained to the young Weasley as they reached the town and he excused himself while Solid Matter, Trot Alot and their hired guards began unloading their wares.
She did notice Soaring Hopes of the Crimson Caravan had already put up her own store. It was surprising how easy trading with them was when they met in such neutral territory like Hogwarts. Sure, the Crimson Caravan was cut-throat but she had come to respect her fellow Caravaneer for her dedication to the clients they now shared. Hogwarts was, after all, a small community with all the needs in the world.
In all seriousness, Solid Matter hadn’t had to carry every imaginable good she could think of to one single location, knowing she’d leave without what she come but tons of what she didn’t have and could sell elsewhere, anywhere else.
Hogwarts was a unique market of trade. And Trade they did.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
“Kellog, I have a mission for you.” Kellog raised his eyes as he watched one of the doctors enter his living accomodations.
“What’s the matter doc? In need of some more “Test Subjects”? Or do I need to get someone to be replaced?” Asked Kellog, standing up as he did, watching the scientific pony take out a clipboard and handing it to him, it showed an area he knew as the Sanctuary Hills Ruins.
“Reports have come in that over a month ago, a castle surrounded by lush fields has appeared and replaced the ruins in this area. I want you to infiltrate the area if possible and capture one of the reported Alicorn fillies.” Stated the doctor as Kellog flipped one of the pages, seeing six images, four being of fillies and another two of… unique physique.
“I see, though why? I thought you gave up on that project.” Asked the mercenary and got a scoff in return.
“Restoring the lab? Yes, we have given up on reproducing the IMP experiments any further. However these are Alicorns, not just artificial ones. We may be able to utilize them in our Synth project. Besides, you get your pay, we’re willing to pay double if you capture one and still full if you can at least place a beacon there. We hope that it can help us bypass their Anti-Teleportation field.” Stated the doctor, using a hoof to push up his glasses as he did.
“Well, haven’t been to that place in a long time, but sure.” Kellog grinned as he said that, blue, bug-like eyes giving the doctor the chills. “Just remember to prepare the food too.” Stated the Changeling as he changed into a Pegasus.
“Good, and before you leave, there has been a disturbance in the corpse disposal unit, radiation was sucked into a single point but we weren’t able to ascertain it’s nature. If you find anything unusual and necromantic, try to capture it or at least report it. We want it alive.” Stated the doctor before leaving as Kellog chuckled.
“It is getting quite interesting around here it seems.” Muttered Kellog before leaving his quarters for the armory.
He had a hunt to go on.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Riddle was having one of the worst days of his, or her, existence to date.
Given her original state as an interwar orphan in a shitty orphanage, that was an achievement to be proud of. Problem was that her troubles come from more of these equine creatures, much like what she had become but much larger.
“Thy Resistance will crumble, before the Goddess you shall kneel!” Declared three voices, from those damn green winged Unicorn things as they continued blasting at her own shield and cover.
“For fuck’s sake, I swear to god if I get out of here I will blast this whole place.” Growled Tom as she tried thinking of something to do.
Then, when a stray blast hit a building nearby, rattling it, something fell down. It was a Muggle looking gun and while Tom Riddle was loathe to admit it, the residual energy of death, the same type as the Killing Curse, and which these things were absorbing, meant that she couldn’t rely on what should be the unblockable curse. Fiendfyre was right out too, the stuff just made them bigger!
Grabbing the gun with her magic, thank magic for Locomotor, Tom was thankful for a single thing about growing up in the Muggle world: Being drafted into the army even if only shortly, and learning how to fire a gun from there. Shooting into the air she took aim at the left-most of the creatures and as they turned their eyes up, shot.
Now, normally the shot from a simple Hunter’s Rifle wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the shield of three Alicorns. However, what Riddle didn’t realize was the special ammunition loaded into it, 5 bullets of Star Metal. Five bullets that could punch through magical shields as if they weren’t there.
And as the bullet passed through the skull of the first Alicorn, the horror dawned on the other two before a fourth appeared, this time purple. Seeing as this one may very well have a different ability, Riddle shot her too but while it avoided the headshot, with the bullet still hitting the horn, all three vanished in what Riddle was sure was apparition.
She landed after that, breathing a sigh as she saw this. Then she turned to her back.
“Wait, these things work?”
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
I yawned as we passed through the mirror once again and I fell onto all fours.
It was midnight by the time we had gotten through all this stuff with Gringott’s and fighting through the celebrations for the renewed contact to Hogwarts, and I just wanted to sleep.
Luckily for me, I found myself lifted onto the back of a taller pony and, after a moment, just fell asleep. I was so done with the day I didn’t really care for whose back I was sleeping on as she trotted with me somewhere. I just enjoyed the sensation and fell asleep.
To my surprise, while my dream started off as usual with the faceless Ghoul ponies that were a strange amalgam of, well, Ghouls and the growing number of Raiders I had killed, they soon vanished with the factory, the same that I had helped Paladin Danse capture, replaced by a starry nightsky.
“Well, this was quite a horrible nightmare, even we haven’t visited one so horrible in our lifetime.” Spoke up a voice and as I turned I saw a tall mare, a Alicorn Mare, with a midnight blue coat and flowing, starry nightsky like mane, had appeared behind me. She wore jewelry notably and had a mark on her flank, a Cutie Mark, of a black background with a crescent moon on it.
I recognized her, even if only from descriptions. “Princess Luna? I thought you were dead, DJ-Pon3 said so.” I asked, confused as I was certain that the ruler of Equestria had been reported positively dead.
“Our life has ended indeed young one, but our soul is still lingering within Equestria like many others. Thy nightterrors have been as a beacon to our senses and and we wished to see to thy safety. Imagine our surprise as thy identity is that of a Alicorn filly.” Stated the mare and I had to parse that through, she spoke in a weirdly accented English, like an amateurs interpretation of Old English.
“Okay? So, I’m being visited in my dream, by the ghost of another Alicorn who died 200 years ago. Stranger things have happened. Erm, are you alright though? I… didn’t hear much good of how you died.” I asked, and a chuckle escaped the mare’s mouth at that.
“Thy kindness is appreciated, by our well being is of little concern. We must apologize for taking so long, thyne nightmare has held on long enough.” Stated Luna, smiling at me and I blushed.
“N- no it’s alright, I’m honored you would come to me when, well, you should find a final rest? Or something like that? Sorry I’m not good at this.” I muttered, feeling awkward at this whole ordeal.
“It is fine, though we may not rest yet we have come also to free thyself of a dark presence.” Spoke Luna and I blinked, what did she mean? “Turn around young one and behold thy Nightmare Moon.” Stated Luna and I shuddered at how dramatic that sounded. But as I turned around, horror gripped me.
Standing behind me was a another filly, a Alicorn too but her body was nearly entirely decomposed. Where black fur still persisted was patchy and her wings had taken the shape of batwings. What was most horrific was the empty, glassy eyes and half decomposed flesh that exposed bone in some places.
“W- wait, what is that?” I asked, stepping back in horror at this creature as it salivated.
“A foul piece of necromancy that latched onto thy scar, a piece of another’s soul we shall exorcise as it has been feeding on thy suffering.” Stated Luna and, as I turned to her, I saw it. Her horn come aglow, a symbol like a crescent moon appearing before her before blasting the apparition which screeched in pain. Then it desintegrated.
A moment of silence followed as I blinked away spots but felt her nuzzle me. “Are thou alright young one? We hope thy mind did not take damage.” Spoke Luna and I giggled.
“Y- yeah I’m alright. Thanks princess Luna. But, what now? How did that thing get into me anyway?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“This we cannot tell, but for now we believe thou has earned a good rest. Sleep well little star, for as our moon has waned, we hope thine sun may yet rise.” Spoke Luna and… faded. I did feel a strange sensation, but after that point, my dream transitioned to something else, I can’t remember quite what it was though.
Maybe, just maybe, that was for the best though.