//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Friends Old And New // Story: Equestrian Vacation // by Dragonboy111 //------------------------------// When the two professors opted to leave, Harry and Twilight let go of the breath they had metaphorically been holding in. "Did we overdo it?" Harry asked. "I don't think so. We kept secret the fact that I foalnapped you, Equestria is in a parallel dimension, Celestia is an alicorn and I'm a unicorn, and the extent of my spell's time dilation," Twilight said. "So that's good. We played it safe," Harry replied. "But you also might have revealed Celestia is immortal and Discord, well, exists. So, six out of ten," Twilight deadpanned. "Ponyfeathers." Harry cursed. "I can't lie to save my life." "I prefer to think of it as an endearing quality," Twilight teased, her serious tone disappearing. She pushed Harry to the side to sit on the bed better. "I'm not much better. Besides, I'm just glad to be here, with you." "Thanks, Twilight. I don't think I tell you that enough." "You tell me plenty, I have a ton of letters to prove it. Speaking of, I believe we had one to write—" Twilight cut herself off, her head tilting slightly. It was a shame humans couldn't move their ears like ponies. "—Someone's coming." "Probably Ron and Hermione," Harry guessed. "You should leave. There might be some things Madame Pomfrey needs to tell you about being human," Harry suggested. The two waited until the footsteps reached the door; Twilight waved goodbye as she vanished in a ball of pink light. Well, time for a second round of lies. "Harry!" Ron and Hermione rushed themselves to the hospital wing as soon as they heard their friend had returned. After rushing up the marble staircase, they barged into the hospital wing as fast as possible. They saw Harry there alone, with Twilight out to discuss some important details about the human, and more so the female, anatomy. Not that they were aware of that last detail, of course. "We're so glad you're okay!" Hermione said. The two ran at Harry to envelop him in a crushing hug, only to trip and fall when he vanished in a flash of emerald light. The two looked panicked from the floor. "He's gone again! We need to tell the headmaster!" Ron shouted. Harry, who had just teleported behind them, audibly chuckled and twirled his wand. His hair and clothes might have looked like they were on the wrong end of a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but Harry didn't mind at the moment. He could teleport. "I'm right here, Ron. And I'm fine, it's just teleportation," Harry said. He sat down on a nearby bed as the two got up. "You mean apparition," Hermione tried to correct him. "Nope, teleportation. It's a surprisingly different and neat trick a friend taught me." "How does it work?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry frowned. "Maybe I'd tell you if you weren't stealing from me, Hermione." Hermione's head dropped in shame. "There were half a dozen different things you could have done, and yet you somehow chose the worst one of all. You stole from me, and you infringed on my and my friend's privacy. I know you were concerned, but I want you to trust me!" Harry glared down at his friends. "I thought it was a bad idea," said Ron. Harry quirked an eyebrow. "So you knew." It wasn't a question. "Not at first, she didn't tell me until Snape left the room when you vanished," Ron replied. "So Hermione went behind both of our backs for no reason, again?" Harry said in a harsh voice. "Hermione, you're making it hard to stay friends. The Firebolt was rude, but I will not tolerate my letters being intercepted, Dobby can attest to that." Harry turned away from Hermione. Seriously, who did she think she was? "I'm sorry Harry. It's just, well..." As Hermione fumbled for words, Ron stepped forward. "We hate not being able to help you. We can't do anything about this blasted tournament, we thought you might have been in trouble. Sorry." Harry sighed. These two were quite the class act, weren't they? In hindsight, Harry realized he should have been more selective with whom he associated, but not everyone has the luxury of choosing friends, did they? "I'm not mad at you Ron, just Hermione. She stole from me, that's not something I can forgive in a day. I just... I just need some time, alright? Magic of friendship or not, I need space," Harry said slowly. The two looked at him weirdly. "So, you're not mad at me?" Ron asked again. Harry facepalmed. What was he going to do with him? "Equestria's making me soft. Just try not to do that, Ron." "Oh, uh, good," Run stuttered. "Then- Well, I guess we'll head back to the common rooms. We were told to go back there for some reason, but we snuck away." "All of the students going to Hogsmeade have to wait another half hour," Hermione interjected. "So, we'll be back there waiting, if Pomfrey lets you out today, that is." "Alright, I'll see what happens," Harry said noncommittally. He waved, signaling that they had overstayed their welcome. Harry watched as the two left with a small hunch in their steps. He wanted nothing more than to open his arms for a hug and be reciprocated by his reconciled friends. He wished the three could be like that forever, bundled in friendship, but it wouldn't happen, not now anyway. Friendship had to be earned sometimes. When Hermione and Ron left the hospital wing, reassured yet disappointed, Harry let out another sigh of relief. "Okay, they're gone!" he said to the open air. A second later, a flash of pink magic signaled Twilight's reappearance in the hospital wing. She looked unreasonably smug. "Well, that went well," she said. "You were listening?" Harry asked. "Of course not. I'm making an educated guess. You're looking better," Twilight replied. "So, how did it go? Are you glad to see your friends?" Harry grimaced in response. "I think I just trashed my two best human friendships. Today has been... strange, tiring," Harry said, sitting back down. "Do you want to talk about it?" Twilight asked. She moved to sit next to Harry, shoulder to shoulder with the younger teen, placing a reassuring hand on his opposite arm. Harry leaned into Twilight's embrace, thinking. "This whole day is a mess, Twilight. I poured out a lot of emotions today. Equestria, the Dursleys, you, there's so much to go through," Harry confessed. Twilight had a bittersweet smile on her face. "Next time you visit, I'm dragging you to the nearest therapist. You need one. There's a nice one in Ponyville, and I will not take no for an answer." "You can't order me to therapy. You may be Celestia's most faithful student, but you're not a princess," Harry said flatly. "Then I'll ask Cadance to do it. I'm sure my dearest sister-in-law wouldn't mind writing an official order mandating your attendance," Twilight threatened. "Harry, what the Dursleys did is abuse, it's called neglect. Your needs were intentionally not met. Over nine years of that, you are going to therapy whether you want it or not." "No one else seems to care. You saw the professors, they were asking about Equestria, not my well-being." "Not to play Nightmare Moon's advocate, but Dumbledore was asking those questions. McGonagall thought I foalnapped you," Twilight countered. "The way you described the magical and non-magical people of this world being separate, a magical problem is more familiar to your teachers than non-magical human behavior." "That doesn't excuse it," Harry grumbled. Twilight nodded. "No, it doesn't. But, you admitted there's a problem that needs to be addressed." Twilight said. Harry realized she'd boxed him in. He hated that she could read him like one of her books sometimes. But, it meant she understood him. "Why is therapy such a big deal to you?" "Because I care, Harry." Her grip on him tightened, but nowhere near the point of discomfort. "I want to be here, to help." Harry let his head drop a bit. "I can't keep dragging you into my problems, Twilight. I got you dragged into my world. And until we get a letter to Celestia, you're stuck here." "You're deflecting from the problem—" "We got our work cut out for us," Harry finished speaking. Twilight took a deep breath, frowning slightly. "We will continue this later, Harry, make no mistake. But, I suppose there are other things to consider, like the age gap," Twilight added. Harry looked at her confused. "Age gap?" Harry asked. What did she mean by that? "Yeah, the age gap. I was talking to Madame Pomfrey about the human body, which is really weird by the way. Turns out, while I'm a full-grown pony in Equestria, I'm barely an adult here. Biologically, I'm younger in this world. I suspect the gap closes with age." "Huh, weird. You know what, I think we can safely ignore that for now," Harry said, not wanting to unpack that can of worms. "That issue aside, we should get out of here, somewhere less prone to distractions." He eyed the doors, almost expecting someone to come bursting through. "Alright then, have any ideas? I believe you promised me a tour. Maybe your common room?" Twilight asked, but Harry shook his head. "I'd rather not explain to the Gryffindors why I'm with a purple girl." Harry quipped. "Is purple an uncommon skin tone? Or is it like Zecora's coat, in that people don't have it?" She replied innocently. "Yeah, kind'a?" Harry said awkwardly. "Humans are rather... monochromatic." "Big word." Twilight teased. "Laugh it up." Harry playfully pushed her. "Anyways, humans don't have a varied array of colors compared to ponies. Purple is not a color humans naturally have. My skin tone here is the same as my fur in Equestria, and my mane's color became my hair's. The latter you don't have to worry about, some people dye hair with colors, like purple." Harry said, flicking a stray strand of Twilight's hair. "I'll find a proper disguise then." "How about my invisibility cloak?" Harry suggested. "I can't spend all day under that thing. A simple illusion spell should suffice." "Then I know the perfect place." Harry jumped off the bed, spinning around to face Twilight. "How about the library?" Twilight was off the bed quicker than Harry could blink, nearly nose-to-nose with the boy. "Library!? For Celestia's sake, yes! Why didn't you open with that?" Twilight said, practically vibrating with energy. She bolted to the doors. "Well, come on!" "Actually, we should avoid the hallways." Harry said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "I was hoping we could teleport there. I kind of like it." Twilight rolled her eyes. "You seem to like teleporting. Let me guess, you tried a line-of-sight teleport while I was gone?" She said with a roll of her eyes. "Going to the library from here is much more difficult. You've teleported, what, twice? You're a talented wizard, but you probably can't make it past the doors," Twilight lectured gently. Harry nodded. "Then how about an assisted teleport? Please?" Harry held his hand out to her, hopeful. "Fine, just this once. However, we will be walking everywhere else. Let's go." Twilight and Harry shared a smile before she held Harry's hand in her own. There was a shimmer of emerald and pink light as the two disappeared into the air. When Harry and Twilight appeared in the library, they were relieved to find it empty of all occupants. Thankfully, only a few Ravenclaws ever came here during the break. Twilight looked up and down the rows of thousands of books in awe. "That's a lot of books," Twilight said. She held out a hand, and several nearby books from a table floated up at her command. She flipped through the pages rapidly, swapping from book to book. She closed them after a moment. "Oh, good, I can read these. That would make its own host of problems. So, what would you recommend I read first?" Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully. Before the tournament, he hadn't spent much time here for anything but studying for his classes. "I think the reference section is a good place to start, unless you want to go to the invisibility section." Harry pointed in the general direction of the two sections. "You have a whole section on invisibility?" Twilight asked. "No, the section and all the books in it are invisible. It makes finding things easier, not that I use it," Harry explained. Harry felt weird, having to be the one doing the explaining. "Reference section it is." "This way." Harry led her toward a nearby row of shelves. "This is the reference—" "And who might you be?" a voice said. Harry turned to see the librarian, Madame Pince, standing behind the two. "More unruly students?" Her judging gaze landed on Twilight, who seemed relatively unfazed. "Twilight, this is Madame Pince, the librarian," Harry said. "We're here to read some books. This is a really cool library, lots of really good books," Twilight said excitedly, eying the books. Pince merely quirked an eyebrow. "I am the caretaker of these books, I will know if any of my books are damaged, stolen, or defaced," said Pince in a serious voice. "I wouldn't dream of it!" Twilight protested, shocked Pince could suggest such a thing. "I care about books, I really do. Where I live, I'm actually a librarian myself," she said proudly. She stretched out her hand and several books floated from their shelves to hover next to her. She checked the titles before putting them back on their shelves. "Harry suggested the reference section to start, so, here we are." Madame Pince raised an eyebrow. "If you're looking for a book on more wandless magic, it would do you well to know all books pertaining to the subject are in the restricted section." She pointed to the line separating said section from the rest of the library. "It is not a subject taught in class." "Wandless magic is a thing?" Harry asked. "I thought that was just one of Twilight's skills." "A rare and rather unused ability, few have the skill or patience to practice it," Pince corrected. "The invention of the wand made it obsolete in the eyes of most wizards. The school of Uagadou in Africa is the only school known for teaching it as an elective. If you wish to read about it, you will need my or a teacher's permission." "Well, I'll be sure to check it out later. I love learning for the sake of knowing," Twilight mused. "But we're looking for spells to put an illusion over this." She gestured to her skin. Madame Pince had the strangest reaction, a weird look on her face. She was smirking. "Then might I recommend Eye of the Beholder: Magic and Color? It might have what you are looking for." Madame Pince waved her wand, and a new book floated down. Its cover was an eye-bleeding technicolor rainbow and each page was a different color. "I will admit my eyes have trouble reading it, but it should suffice. And remember what I said about how you treat my books, it would be a shame to lose a fellow librarian." Madame Pince gave another cursory inspection of Twilight before she disappeared to return to her desk. "I think that went well. We found our book," said Twilight as she sat down with her book. "It was weird. She's never that helpful to us. She's always looking at us like we're going to eat her library or something," Harry said, sitting down. "Maybe she just requires an academic perspective?" Twilight guessed. "Favoritism, you're both librarians," Harry deduced. Twilight rolled her eyes as she started reading. "I'm recognizing some of the basics here, but a lot of the magic is foreign to me. Spike, could you fetch me a book on magical basics, spell construction, wandlore, and possibly a history of magic?" Twilight said as she stood up to browse the shelves. Harry raised an eyebrow, amused. "Twilight, it's me, Harry. We left Spike back home," he deadpanned. Twilight paused, mind catching up to her mouth. "I'm going to have to get used to that." "I'll help since your number one assistant can't." Harry got up and began browsing alongside his friend. "Standard Book of Spells?" Twilight plucked the book from Harry's hand. "Yes." "History of Spell Creation?" "Absolutely." "Rune Reading for the Illiterate?" "I'm sorry?" "That's the book title," Harry said. He dropped the last book down as Twilight read the rest, all sitting open in front of her. "What do you need all this for?" "I'm trying to figure out how to cast the spell. It's different than how we learn spells in Equestria," Twilight explained. "Do you remember the first time you visited, and I tried to teach you some magic? You asked for incantations and 'horn movements' of the spell." Thinking back, Harry distinctly remembered that event. He had spent what felt like hours trying to explain that spells needed incantations and wand movements, while she had insisted there was no such thing for unicorns. The whole day had been wasted on Harry unlearning to cast Wingardium Leviosa to make an object float. If Harry had to guess, Twilight was going through the opposite problem, trying to work around the need for a wand. "It's like trying to read in another language. I have to find out why the words and actions make the spell 'go'. When I get that figured out, I can isolate the magical properties of the spell, and replicate it with magic I'm familiar with." "So you're translating magic," Harry surmised Twilight's explanation. "You're probably one of the greatest magic users I've met, doing that. Only a few minutes of study, and you're practically inventing new magic." "Don't discount your achievements, Harry." Twilight looked up from her books to face him. "You've been translating magic subconsciously, using both this whole time. You can teleport, that's an Equestrian spell I taught you. You're basically bilingual in magic." Harry blushed at the compliment. "High praise from a student of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. You finish your studies, I'll find a quill." Harry stood up again while Twilight read further. He drifted from row to row, picking up a stray quill, some ink, and a spare roll of parchment along the way. When he returned, Twilight was knee-deep in study, books orbiting her as she read further into the nature of wizarding magic. Harry placed the spoils of his search on the table and sat down next to Twilight. "Hey, Twilight, I got us some parchment. We can send a letter back," he said proudly. "What do we tell them?" "The truth, I guess. We're in your world, safe and sound. I'll tell you to write instructions for sending Celestia the spell to bring us back." "Alright, how about this." Harry dipped his quill and wrote a quick message down. Dear Spike It's me, Harry. Twilight's here with me, we're both fine. Discord sent me back to my world, and Twilight got caught along for the ride. Twilight's a human now, but she is adjusting. We're at my school and, for now, everything is fine. There was a minor mix-up, someone thought Twilight foalnapped me because I've been missing for nearly two weeks in this world. Thank Celestia everything's cleared up now. We're doing well. "How's that?" Harry asked. "Good. Now we just need to tell him what's next. Write down exactly what I say." Twilight commanded. Harry wrote down her next words diligently. Spike, Twilight needs you to send her notes on the transport spell to Princess Celestia with this note attached. The notes are next to her bed in a small saddle bag. Take the notes that say 'Transport and Summoning' and tie them together. When that's done, place this letter on it and send it to the princess. Signed, Harry Potter and Twilight Sparkle. P.S. Princess Celestia, if you are reading this, please do not be alarmed. We are okay. I'm in Harry's world. I'm a human, but I still have my magic. I promise we will update you as often as you permit. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Harry put down the quill letting Twilight read over the letter. "Looks good. I think you can send it," she said. Harry held up the letter, wand in hand, and tapped the paper twice. The two watched it disappear as he cast the spell. "You know, that's the first spell I've seen you cast with your wand. Holly and Phoenix feather, right?" "Yes." "Curious," she said, to which Harry rolled his eyes. Luna have mercy if Twilight met Ollivander. The two fell into a cozy silence as Twilight returned to her books and spells. Harry leaned back in his seat, waiting for her research to finish. He suppressed the urge to yawn, tired from a trying day. I'll just rest my eyes until she's done. Harry's eyelids slowly drifted downward as wakefulness slipped away. He never noticed when his head rolled onto Twilight's shoulder, falling fast asleep.