I had to wonder how we got to this.
It had been two weeks since the battle which had ended the Enclave’s control of the sky over Ponston. In that time, over in the Western areas of the Wasteland, the rather famous Stable Dweller had breached the defenses of Neighvarro and taken up residence, and control, of the Neighvarro SPP tower. And she opened the skies for good, revealing the lies of the Enclave to it’s citizens.
Things didn’t quite quiet down, there were still Enclave remnants clinging to the delusion that they had done nothing wrong. There were also Raiders, Slavers and all kinds of monsters around the Wasteland. The Ponston Chapter of the Applejack’s Rangers, as they had declared their allegiance to the faction formed by the late Paladin Steel Hooves, was a great relief as they had taken up outposts around the Ponston Wasteland.
I hadn’t even known Ponies played Baseball before the end of the war, much less that some had built a city inside of a Baseball Stadium. Said stadium was now known as Sparkle City, the largest settlement in the area and home to thousands of ponies.
Anyway, what was today was a visit. From the New Canterlot Republic.
Never heard of them? Who are they? Why are they coming here? Well, to make it simple, they’re a coalition of settlements in the West, founded by the companions of the Stable Dweller and chapters of the Applejack’s Rangers. They were trying to reestablish a government, this time a democracy, in the Wasteland. It was still only a small faction all things considered, by DJ-Pon3’s statements only four settlements strong, including Junction Town, which was their capital and an old railway junction.
As for why they had come here, by Dragon no less… Oh, yeah they have a friendly dragon, the guardian of the Megaspell Gardens of Equestria. A Terraforming spell. Yes that’s ridiculous, I know. Though Lyra and Bon-Bon were very happy to see him again. His name was Spike and he was just as happy to see them in turn since they were all from back before the Last Day.
Anyway, the delegation, consisting of Spike, the Dashite Deadshot Calamity, Griffon Mercenary Leader Gawdyna Grimmfeathers and Stable 2 Unicorn dweller Velvet Remedy, had come to ask us to join them. Yeah, they wanted Hogwarts to join them as a city.
I bet you’re asking “But Hogwarts isn’t a city, is it?” Well, to that I must say you’re not quite right. You remember that trade station-turned-town south of the castle? Yeah, it had gotten a bit big by now. Apparently when you have the biggest piece of safe real estate in the area, most people pack up and turn up at your place. A small city was forming down there with 1042 inhabitants so far, not counting any of the students.
Additionally, after the battle around 200 Pegasi had moved clouds down to be within the safe zone of the school’s bubble, making a sort of secondary settlement above ground. They still weren’t at the point of trusting Wastelanders but that was fine with most, many didn’t trust them either since, well, they were from the Enclave and all that.
Anyway, I didn’t know why but I was roped into being the representative of the student body, Lyra was the same but for the Stable 111 survivors, and Paladin Danse had also joined as a representative of the Applejack Rangers chapter. Professor Dumbledore was here as a faculty representative while I was introduced to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, as he had come for the Ministry of Magic.
Why was he here? Well, Hogwarts was still technically part of Magical Brittain, though not by any stretch of the imagination on it’s territory, even if I had found that the Ministry having territory was debatable. Strictly speaking there was one purely magical village under Ministry control. Wizarding communities were mostly hidden places and locations among Muggle cities such as Diagon Alley.
Everything else? Brittish Muggle territory.
And, well, things weren’t getting better. “Wait you want to accept? Albus I understand that you can’t leave but Hogwarts is part of Magical Brittain!” Argued Minister Fudge, sounding quite distressed about it all since the professor had stated interest in agreeing.
“Cornelius, you realize that we’re not exactly in a position where this statement holds true, right?” Asked Professor Dumbledore, looking at the man across her still very much used half-moon glasses. I was half expecting they were for show, if my eyesight was corrected in this form, why not her own?
“Minister Fudge? I know I’m not an expert but I think also think it would be better.” I spoke up, which drew attention to me. I was used to attention by this point, Hogwarts had a lot of staring in it. “I’m not too familiar with the way the ministry works, but as I understand it, the ministry has no standing military, only a small military police called Aurors who are trained in subduing or defeating wizards and witches.” I stated and got nods of confirmation from the professors, as well as smiles of encouragement.
“But we’re not in Brittain, this is the Equestrian Wasteland and ponies don’t work by the same rules. I’ve been out there, I’ve fought against Raiders, Enclave soldiers and monsters. Nobody knows what may happen, the shield is strong but we can’t make sure that nobody gets through who may be hostile to us.” I stated, in particular the Institute come to mind in that regard.
“Dear child you’re overstating the danger, Aurors are some of the strongest wizards around.” Argued back Fudge, and I asked myself, is he seriously convinced of this propaganda?
“Sir, with all due respect. By all accounts there are more Raiders in the Ponston area alone, than there are magic capable humans in the UK. And besides, I know there are laws that would hurt all of us.” I stated and that made him reel back but I wasn’t going to halt there.
“Minister, sir, everyone who was within the boundaries of Hogwarts, every single one of us? We were transfigured into ponies. Or, as I was told by someone, we had a permanent True Polymorph spell applied to us. The change is irreversible, we may revert to human-like forms when on Earth, but none of us pass for human.” I explained taking a breath as everyone was transfixed on me.
“I can’t keep awake in History of Magic Class, but I don’t need to in order to figure out that there is a severe Anti Non-Human sentiment. Between blatant racism and the number of times the Goblins decided they had to fight for their freedom, I have no doubt that we would be treated poorly if we didn’t have a way to defend ourselves or allowed the Ministry to govern us when we can’t have representation as we are.
“I’m sorry to say that, but we can’t afford to deny the offer, not only because it means we can be free from laws that are unfair to us as we are, but because we’ve been surviving on trade in this world for months now. And honestly? If a 12 years old kid has to explain to you why it makes sense for us to join the NCR, then you need to burrow some books from the library. Or ask Hermione.” I got some chuckles for that one, at least from those who knew my friend.
“Well Cornelius, I believe you have been schooled.” Added the professor as the minister looked abashed at the idea of having been defeated in a political debate by a preteen. I could tell right there, he had no more arguments to throw at us.
With that, Hogwarts and it’s surrounding settlements joined the NCR, the first of the Ponston Area cities but not the last.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
Kellog hammered his head into the shield, again.
He had come back to try again but found that the shield was closed, AGAIN. A sign painted on the side of the thing said that a diplomatic meeting was being held at the time and therefore all trade was halted for the time being.
“This fucking shield is mocking me.” He muttered to himself before turning around and going back. He may as well search the anomaly instead. He hadn’t had any luck on that front but at least there was no shield keeping him from even attempting to do it! He had even been forced to feed on Raiders with falsely induced love. It wasn’t optimal but on the other hoof, he didn’t have results yet.
With that Kellog left the premises, hoping he could find whatever he needed soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days after the political meeting I was asked by the Steel Rangers to head up to the shipyards in the cloud city above Ponston, the former home of the SPP tower..
“Elder Maxson? You wanted to see me?” I asked as I come spotted her near an observation window in shipyard drydock #9. Yeah, they weren’t very good at naming things around here.
The ship itself was visible through the window, it was huge, far larger than the Raptor-class vessels I had seen before with an adjacent Raptor reinforcing that notion. The ship itself appeared to be finished and had even been repainted in Applejack’s Ragers colors of gunmetal gray with apple-red lines and accents. Prominently, the Enclave insignia had been painted over sloppily so it could still be somewhat seen, but over it was now, on an orange background, the insignia of the Applejack’s Rangers.
“Holy shit, she’s beautiful.” I whispered, getting up on my hindlegs to see it well. And yeah, the ship was beautiful in my eyes, probably in part due to not being restrained by a need for aerodynamics or Hydrodynamics with weapons on both ventral and dorsal sides of the ship.
“Indeed she is, the engineers who designed this class were quite skilled in their trade.” Stated Elder Maxson, I could see her smiling at the giant ship that was scheduled to become her chapter’s new mobile base.
“So, what did you need me for ma’am?” I asked, I had kind of gotten into this habit of treating her like a superior, I had technically worked for the Rangers for quite a few things by now, even going on a few missions with their Scribes from time to time.
“It’s nothing too complicated, but one of the reasons why the Enclave never tried to finish this ship was that the reactors on her need a special kind of ignition spark to start working. This spark can only be created by one kind of creature and until recently, natural members of that species were extinct.” I blinked owlishly at her for that, because, well, it was kind of obvious.
“So, you need a car key and I happen to be close enough in model to work?” I asked and the mare chortled at that, seeing my joke for what it was.
“So we’re hoping. We had already tried with the artificial Alicorns, which we suspect was the plan for the Enclave as well when they tried to negotiate with the Goddess, but their magic is incompatible.” Explained Maxson and I nodded in understanding, they were basically just mutated Unicorns, they had the wings and physique, but artificial Alicorns likely lacked much of what the princesses as proper Alicorns had.
“Alright, let’s do this!” I declared, why did I agree you ask? Well, for one I like the Rangers, they’ve been our allies for quite a while and had joined hands with us in an alliance not long after our first contact. They were also the ones who had provided us with an incredibly valuable artifact which allowed us to reach beyond time and space to Earth.
And lastly, for a more pragmatic reason, the Applejack’s Rangers were likely the strongest force who could oppose the Institute, they had the technology to help the Wasteland recover all that it had lost, and for all that, they also had the discipline to pull it off. So, quite frankly, helping them meant helping the whole Wasteland.
Anyway, the Elder of the Applejack’s Rangers chapter led me to an airlock which led to the ship itself. As she was a Unicorn she couldn’t fly over but the enchantments on her hooves meant that she could walk across the cloud bridge of the ship just fine.
I was led to the heart of the ship where a Ministry of Wartime Technologies mega reactor sat, something which I was told, could basically run the equivalent of Nuclear Fusion on magical energy. After it got jumpstarted that is. And this was why I was here.
“Alright, let’s do this.” I muttered, channeling magic into my horn, forming a ball of it before using Telekinesis to take a hold of the ball of energy and inserting it into the machine.
The VROOM of the generator coming to life was beautiful beyond compare.
“Well, Rose Evans, I believe that is about all we needed in preparation. Would you mind staying for the launch ceremony?” Asked Artoria, smiling broadly at the sight.
“I’d love to.” I responded, smiling myself, after all: I had just secured our side one of the most powerful flying warships in existence.
I just felt like there was nobody who had a bad day today!
Kellog growled as he left the premises of Hogwarts, his left eye twitching.
“I finally get in, and then I find out, all the Alicorns are gone! Luna Fuck me with the Moon!” He cursed as he stomped away.
Third Time’s the Charm, yeah, good joke.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Riddle sighed, sitting on the throne she had taken.
The Alicorn who had led her here hadn’t mentioned that all the ponies here were “Raiders”, which made them fairly insane murderers and bandits. Even though, whatever had made her into this made her a lot more conscious of her own actions, she felt that these ponies were worse than her at her worst.
Lord Voldemort had been methodical, he had a mission and a vision. Sure, he had been opposed by those who disagreed, but he had fought for an ideal. These ponies? These Raiders? They were no better than wild animals lashing out. Hell, she knew wild animals not this bad. A wild animal could have compassion, could show mercy. These Raiders were just monsters who enjoyed inflicting suffering for no reason!
But, she had taken command by force, and was working to drive them into shape. And as they say, if you have nothing but a hammer, everything looks like a nail. For this reason she had basically used her magic to torture them into shape, basically. She didn’t give a fuck if that was ethical or whatever.
So yeah, she killed the Raider Boss here, subdued his subordinates and went on a small war of her own against nearby Raider Gangs. The Alicorn, whom she had given the name Marine for simplicity’s sake, had stayed with him. She had lost her connection to her sisters and had decided to stay with the last order she had, namely guiding her.
Being here had other benefits too, though also some disadvantages. For starters, she couldn’t use her name to intimidate others. She was also hard pressed to fight here since the locals used so much magically enhanced weaponry. To add salt to the injury, a few of the nearby gangs had salvaged Power Armor, magically enhanced armor that let them carry heavier weapons and which had been in circulation for ages.
As for advantages, for starters this world had no widely spread government, settlements were at best in loose coalitions and traded. This was all thanks to a war that had devastated the land in a manner similar to Nuclear war, a war against a shamanic ZEBRA nation no less.
Naturally, there were problems.
“What do you mean these Applejack’s Rangers got a giant airship?” She asked, tensely as she glared at the single Pegasus Raider under her command. One “Dashite” who had become a Raider in his time. How ridiculous was that?
“It’s as I said! They managed to get that unfinished Thunderhead-class Cloud Ship going, They’re far superior to the more common Raptor-class Cloudships but it’s engine couldn’t be started without a proper Alicorn.” Exoplained Savage Tornado, not his birth name, Riddle knew that. But then, what man wanted to be known as Shiny Prosperity of all names?
Yeah, she felt for her most civilized Raider underling. “Well, I hate to say this but it doesn’t appear as if we’ll be able to hold our position. Savage Tornado, go and spread this order: Everyone is to pack up their belongings and meet at the Northern Highway. We’re leaving for the Northern province.” Stated the small Necromantic Alicorn as she stood up.
“We’re fleeing?” Asked one of the Raiders present, not the brightest lad around.
“No, we’re retreating you fool. As it is, we do not possess the strength to take on what we’re facing.” Stated Riddle. It was galling to her, but she had to make sure she didn’t have to start from scratch, so migrating to an area they wouldn’t pay attention to was her best bet.
“We must ask of thee, have thou chosen thy new name?” Asked Marine as she walked up to her lady and master who looked at her, a grin on her face.
“Yes I have, this world has a very strange nomenclature standard but it suits me.” She explained while walking down the elevated platform of her throne. “Lord Voldemort was my title before, but it was also a fool’s title, I have outgrown it.” She stated, her eyes, crimson in color, watched the Raiders moving about, doing as ordered.
“I am Nightmare Cesar, the future ruler of this world!”
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
“So… this is Hogwarts?” These were the words which Fred Weasley heard when he was on patrol and spotted a small caravan had come through the nearby Eastern gate.
“Hi there, what brings you to our little neck of the Wasteland?” He greeted them, seeing in particular that they had an escort of Applejack’s Rangers with the insignia of the NCR as escorts. Particularly, these appeared to be Western Rangers due to the insignia on the armor.
“We’re here for trade, miss Fluttershy was hoping that the rumors of powerful potions was true.” Spoke up one of the caravan po- no correction, it was a Zebra stallion, surprisingly enough. He was referring to a middle-aged Pegasus Mare with a yellow coat and pink mane. She looked incredibly stressed and worried.
“Well, while as a Gryffindor I can’t say I like the Potions Master here at Hogwarts, Severus Snape is most definitely the guy you want to talk to about potions, no doubt about it. I mean, he has the personality of rotten milk but… yeah.” He stated, only half-jokingly which got some chuckles from the ponies that were part of the caravan.
“We’re searching in particular for a potion that can reverse petrification.” Spoke up the Zebra again and one of the ponies pulled aside the tarp over the wagon, showing what may have been mistaken for the statue of a bunny.
“Ah, right. You want Mandrake Restoration Draught then, that’s a potion that reverses magical transfiguration effects, so as long as the petrified subject isn’t dead yet on the inside it will be able to restore your friend there.” Stated Fred, he had read about that potion in a Potions lexicon a while back, it wasn’t a cure for Lycanthropy, sadly speaking, but it was useful in many other circumstances and was something he and George would need in order to work their experiments.
“D- do you have s- some?” Asked Fluttershy at that, sounding nervous. She had the posture of someone who wanted to hide under a rock or who had suffered greatly.
“Sorry, not right now. As the name suggests the stuff needs Mandrakes to be made. Adult ones at that. Hogwarts doesn’t’ usually have life specimens and around this time of year, they would be infantile at best.” Stated Fred and got some weird looks for it.
“Mandrak Roots are kind of Anthropomorphic, as in, they look like human babies. They also scream when taken out of the Earth with adult ones being able to kill. I’ll go ask one of the professors if they stocked up on any Mandrakes for Herbology or something, I’ll be right back.” Stated Fred before spreading his wings and flying to Hogwarts while some others took over guiding the caravan to the town.
He loved being a Pegasus.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
I yawned as we headed for the market.
Lyra and Bon-Bon wanted to see if there was anything new to buy today since a few caravans had come in the morning, but honestly? I was kind of more interested in what I was learning at the Rangers. You see, after I had basically played spark plug, I had been granted access to tutors from the Rangers. They had one of the largest surviving archives of arcane knowledge in the Wasteland.
Yesterday I had been undergoing lessons on Talisman creation as well as magical pattern theory. To be honest I was contemplating to ask if I could take the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classes one year early, the idea was just so interesting and I had seen what could be done with either side, so what if I did it with both?
And when I was good enough, I could use that to help in such matters or even make goods to sell out in the Wasteland, many would probably kill for some of the magical items I had seen around the school and which I may be able to replicate. I mean, self-repairing weapons alone would be great. A enchantment to replicate on trigger the ammunition in your weapon, that sort of thing.
Was I nerding out at all the ideas I had? Maybe. Hailing told me that I sounded like Scribe material with how much I was looking forward to the ability to make items that could be helpful for other ponies and create what was in a way, components in Arcano-tech devices. Hell, I was looking forward to next week’s lesson on Pip-Bucks! Hermione, when I last wrote to her, had asked who I was and what had done to myself because I was sounding like her.
To be fair, I did.
In any case, as we walked something caught my eye, it was a semi-rectangular device that, on closer inspection, had a screen on it and was on a stand with a number of Earth items. The owner of the shop was an Earth Pony mare wearing visitor bardings, her coat was teal colored with a blue mane.
“Howdy there, would ‘ya like some of ma wares? Fresh outta da Muggle Markets.” Spoke up the mare and I blinked, realizing that she stood on two legs, a Half-blood then. Looking to Lyra she nodded to me as permission, so I trotted over and got upright to look at the items more closely. “Oh? Y’er a student of da school?” Asked the Mare and I nodded.
“Yes ma’am, Rose Evans, I’m gonna attend my second year when school starts again.” I stated, though I had to wonder why what sounded like an American witch, had come here.
“Ya look mighty young fer that, but I guess yer one of ta Aligirlies?” Asked the mare and I blinked, a bit taken aback by that wording.
“Erm, it’s Alicorn, actually, but yes? Is that a problem?” I asked, not sure what to think about her.
“Not at all, yah see I ain’t a witch but a wizard maself, so a know ‘ow it is ta be turned into a girl.” Explained the apparently wizard-turned-mare.
“Well, for you it’s temporary, the Philosopher’s Stone that brought us here exploded in my face.” I responded and got a chuckle for that.
“Then y’er dat ‘arry Potter kid eh?” She asked and I nodded, a bit surprised that I wasn’t getting the usual response to that, I wasn’t a fan of the fame and all that, but on the other hoof, I wasn’t used to this kind of tone when I met someone for the first time, at least among those who were part of the magical community.
“Um, yeah? Sorry I’m not that used to wizards being this… well, neutral about me. It’s nice not to be looked at like I should be Jesus or whatever, but it’s kind of odd.” I admitted and got a chuckle from the as of yet unnamed American wizard.
“No problem kiddo, ya a big name da UK but ova in da US we don’t see da big deal. If ah ‘ad ma way with dat Voldi fella, I would’ve pumped ‘im full of lead. First Amendment and all dat. Oh, and by da way, name’s John Johnston.” I actually laughed, both with the name and the way he called Voldemort.
“Okay, anyway, what’s this?” I asked, deciding to get to business, pointing to the device which, on closer inspection, was made of plastic largely.
“Oh, dat? Dat’s a Game Boy Light, it’s a fairly recent design from da Japs.” Explained John as she pushed the rectangular device to me and I cocked my head to the side.
“What does it do?” I asked, I wasn’t sure, maybe Dudley had gotten something like this?
“It’s a Game Console kid, itta play da games of Nintendo.” She explained and got out another package with a number of large rectanges of plastic in it. “Never had a basic Game Boy?” She asked, looking at me quizzically and I shook my head.
“No, I didn’t have a good home until I come here and was adopted.” I explained, smiling a bit at the memory that, yeah, I now had a family.
“Ya know what?” She asked and I looked up, seeing a smile on her face. “I wanted ta sell in Galleons but ya look like ya need it, so let’s trade with da Caps.” She stated and I blinked, surprised, but it made me smile.
I hadn’t gotten any new wizarding money since my visit to Diagon Alley over a year ago, so this was good for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
When I found Lyra and Bon-Bon again my saddle bags had a few new contents, charmed to indestructibility. For one I had two consoles, the Game Boy Light and a Game Boy Mini, which was a slightly older model without backlight.
I also had a “Link Cable” to connect them to one another as well as few games, those being Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow and Super Mario Bros. I had bartered them down to 422 caps total with a Spark Battery for John to study for his own use. I was interested if I could convert one into something that could be used by the Game Boys, otherwise I had to buy new ones from Earth every now and then, though John did sell me 20 spare batteries.
What I hadn’t expected as seeing my moms hugging, and crying into the shoulder of, a Pegasus mare. She was yellow, with long, flowing pink hair and wore glasses. She also wore old looking traveling bardings and saddlebags.
“Who’s that Pony?” I asked, confused as I stopped next to what I thought may be a Zebra, though I wasn’t sure how those looked here in Equestria, for all I knew the mare was just weirdly colored.
“You’re from around here I take it? That is Fluttershy, the Ministry of Peace Mare and former holder of the Element of Kindness.” Stated the mare and I took a moment to absorb that info.
“Wait, wouldn’t that make her, like, over 200 years old?” I asked, she didn’t look anywhere near that old to me!
“She was trapped in the form of a tree since The Last Day after she was teleported out of the Canterlot Ministry of Peace by Rarity, the mare in charge of the Ministry of Image. She was then transformed by Killing Joke plants but we were able to restore her to normal.” Stated the gray and white mare and I was a bit surprised to hear that, this was a pretty convoluted situation but…
“That explains why Lyra and Bon-Bon are so happy to see her, being frozen in Stable 111 for 200 years means they haven’t seen any of their old friends since then.” I stated, smiling at knowing that, which I noticed surprised the mare.
“So that’s how they’re alive huh? Say what do you have to do with them anyway filly? And I thought the minimum age here was 11 years old, not 8.” She asked, frowning as I turned to her.
“Erm, in order? They adopted me, but I’m from Earth, that’s the world all this come from. As for my age, everyone got turned younger, I’m actually 12 years old. I just happen to be among the six who got turned back the most to eight years old. And, one of the six who got turned from male to female.” I explained, waiting for the reunion to end.
“So you’re one of the kids that got turned into Alicorns?” Asked the mare, raising an eyebrow and looking to my back where my wings were, naturally, visible.
“Yup, Rose Evans, formerly Harry Potter. And you are miss…?” I wasn’t the best at this kind of conversation, I wasn’t even sure if I was talking to an Earth Pony with stripes or a Zebra.
“My name is Xenith, why are you looking at me like that? Never seen a Zebra?” She asked and I blinked, taken aback a bit by that.
“Ah, no? Not in this world at least. Sorry it’s just a bit odd since, well, Zebra were at war with the ponies 200 years ago, right?” I asked, a bit curious on how that worked.
“My Grandparents were survivors of Stable 3 near Zebra Town. It had equal numbers of Equestrian Zebra and ponies in it but failed ultimately.” Explained Xenith as she eyed me, I wasn’t sure what she thought about me to be honest.
“So, Equestria still kept at least one Stable to try and save the Zebra that lived within their borders?” I asked, the stories I had heard painted most pre-apocalypse ponies as highly racist against Zebra, though to be fair, Pink Cloud.
“Well, I suppose that is true. It didn’t work out but yeah, it saved them. I assume you’re also the filly Velvet was talking about, the one who gave that “Minister Fudge” a good dressing down during the negotiations for Hogwarts to join the NCR?” Asked Xenith and I stopped for a moment, blinking in surprise at her saying that. I knew who she was talking about, naturally.
“You know miss Remedy?” I asked, surprised and got a snort of laughter out of the Zebra.
“Yes, we were traveling companions with Littlepip and Velvet’s Coltfriend Calamity.” She stated and I blinked, then it clicked.
“Wait you’re a companion of the Stable Dweller?!” I exclaimed in surprise but nopony paid us any attention as they were watching the reunion between the three pre-war mares. I would do so too but Xenith kind of grabbed my attention like that python I had accidentally released from it’s enclosure at the Zoo, last year during Dudley’s 11th birthday.
Not that the snake had done anything except leaving the zoo to try and reach Brazil.
“Yes, we were her companions. Littlepip is still staying at the SPP tower and refuses to leave so we’ve been going around doing our best to help.” Stated Xenith and I nodded, I remembered the news on DJ-Pon3’s radio show after it had come online properly again.
“It’s kind of weird, I- usually I’m the one drawing in hero attention but now I meet someone who helped with saving way more than even the most ridiculous claims about me.” I stated, grinning as, well, it made me quite happy to actually meet someone I saw as a hero, contrary to myself as I was just a survivor.
“You’re famous?” Asked Xenith, I could tell she wanted to change the topic to avoid me, well being a fangirl but hey! I had a good reason!
“Kinda, when I was a year old a evil wizard named Voldemort killed my parents and vaporized himself trying to kill me too. I still don’t know what caused that, and I had too much on my mind after the Philosopher’s Stone exploded in my face to ask anyone.” I explained, shaking my head at the inciting incident for the transportatation.
“Sure sounds like you have your own fair share of hardships. Though, if you were adopted by those two only after coming here, where did you live before that?” Asked Xenith, sounding a bit too inquisitive for my own tastes but, honestly? I had no reason not to tell her.
“Number Four Privet Drive, Little Surrey, which is London Suburbs, United Kingdom of Great Brittain an island off the North-Eastern coast of the European Continent. I was… raised by my maternal aunt, Petunia Dursley nee Evans, and her husband, Vernon Dursley. They’re the biggest Magi-Phobes I’ve ever seen.” I stated, sighing as I remembered that time.
“Sounds nasty, I take it you can’t go back to them anyway like this?” Asked Xenith, I noticed a hint of disgust, which I thought my imply that she may be a mother herself.
“Nope, Half-Bloods like myself turn into Anthropomorphic forms, like what Muggle-born are on this side. Muggle-born meanwhile look like normal humans with pony ears, tails and, in relevant cases, wings or horns. “Purebloods” so people with very distant Muggle relatives, turn into humans fully but their skin and hair matches their pony form.” I explained, shaking my head.
“And with the fact that getting here with the school means this is permanent, and nothing anyone tried so far has worked to reverse it. Or the being a girl bit for that matter. And given Hogwarts boasts some of the greatest experts of it’s fields of study, including Albus-Motherbucking-Dumbledore, yeah. Irreversible.” I stated, not even stopping at my use of coloquial swearing.
“What’s so special about this Dumbledore fellow?” Asked Xenith and I had to remind myself she didn’t know about the professor.
“Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Association of Magic, holds the honor of Order of Merlin First Class and discovered a dozen different uses for dragon blood while working with is friend, the Alchemist Nicholas Flamel who is the only person to ever create a fully functional Philosopher’s Stone.” I stated and Xenith stopped for a moment, mulling that over.
“Wait, so you weren’t joking when you mentioned a Philosopher’s Stone exploding? Are you sure that was a real, functioning Philosopher’s Stone, the pinnacle of Alchemy all Zebra Alchemists have been trying to make for centuries, that kind of stone?” She asked and I blinked, then remembered that it had been mentioned before that Zebra not only practiced alchemy but also had tried to make that thing.
“Well, about as sure as the disembodied wraith of Voldemort was when he tried stealing it from one of the most secure vaults in one of the most die-hard security obsessed banks on Earth which includes literal guard dragons on it’s lower floors.” I stated and Xenith’s mouth hung open. “If you want we could go up and ask professor Dumbledore if mister Flamel is still alive and would be willing to talk to you? I kind of shattered the stone by accident though...” Admitted and… yeah it’s funny every time when I watch a pony’s jaw dislocating and hitting the floor.
“You broke a Philosopher’s Stone?! WHY?!” She screamed enraged, catching the attention of those around us for good reason.
“I was being choked by an adult man, and the mirror it was hidden in decided depositing it in my pocket was a smart move.” I explained, my ears nailed to my skull at the volume.
“Ah- is, is everything alright?” Asked a voice and as we turned around, I saw that miss Fluttershy had come over, with Lyra and Bon-Bon glaring at miss Xenith for screaming at me.
“Yeah, it’s alright I, well, I kinda messed up in a bad situation. Um, I’m Rose Evans, miss Fluttershy, nice to meet you.” I said, extending my hoof as Xenith muttered under her breath something about retarded fillies or something.
“Nice to meet you, and please, just call me Fluttershy. Lyra and Bon-Bon told me already some what happened, and I thank you for helping all the ponies from Stable 111.” Responded Fluttershy in a soft tone, sounding rather meek.
“It’s alright, I think they did more for me than theo ther way around heh. Ah, hey, ah, okay if I leave? I think I owe miss Xenith a visit to the headmaster, I kind of upset her because of smashing the Philosopher’s Stone. Maybe he can arrange something with the Flamels?” I suggested and saw Xenith perk up at that idea.
“Alright, but Bon-Bon, you go with them just in case the Zebra tries anything.” Stated Lyra, glaring at the mare who flinched at the reminder of the, admittedly not unfounded, hostility the two wartime mares still had. And yelling at me hadn’t made them friendlier to her.
Well, at least we could try mending some fences, or how that saying goes.
Right?
~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~
“Finally! This thing is working!” Declared Draco Malfoy as she held up the device she had been building the last few weeks.
She had talked to Free Life and the mare had taken some convincing, but had agreed to give Draco some lessons on what she knew of Talisman creation and the fabrication of machines on basis of those.
Draco just finished her homework on this discipline: Building from individual parts a Laser Musket, with some basic construction instructions patterns, but the work had been all her own. She had done some of her own research and integrated some part of her own, such as a metal casing, heatsinks and an extension “Barrel” with focus lenses.
She hadn’t thought that the nearby village with the Muggle library would ever be useful, but as it turned out in her testing, Laser Muskets are still lasers. So books on lasers were quite useful there. She did wonder if her mom would be missing that gem she had taken from her collection to try and make the thing better. It seemed to channel energy a lot better than the one she had been given with the assignment.
“I really hope I don’t get in trouble.” She muttered, shaking her head before putting away the gun to her bag. If Potter could make himself a strong hero, then Draco Malfoy could too.
If only his mother would quit wanting to dress him up like a girl!