//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: Origin Of A Species // Story: Equestrian Vacation // by Dragonboy111 //------------------------------// Twilight hopped out of the portal from Harry's world with both a smile and a heavy heart. It was nice to see her friend if only she hadn't been burdened with such grim news. These unicorns needed her help. If what they said was true, many of the other animals had once been sapient. But now... Twilight shuddered to think about the idea of becoming less aware, less intelligent. It must have been a nightmare for these unicorns. And what was said about the others, pegasus, griffons, and whatever else had come to Harry's world, they were now on the edge of "regressing" to a state of lesser awareness. If Twilight couldn't convince Celestia to do something, they might be doomed to a terrible fate. "How was the meeting?" Celestia asked. Twilight nearly jumped to the ceiling. "You scared me!" Twilight exclaimed. "Sorry, my student. How did your meeting with these unicorns go?" Celestia asked again. Twilight rubbed her neck awkwardly. She took a deep breath and pulled out her notes on the unicorns from Harry's world. "Not as well as we'd hoped. It's bad news. Celestia, we need to talk," Twilight said. "Is there something wrong?" Celestia said with concern. She gestured at a nearby table. "Come, sit down. I've cleared the next few hours, I could tell this might take a while." "Thank you, Princess," Twilight said as she sat down. The next half-hour was spent reviewing everything about the unicorns, from biology and habitat to culture and mythology. Twilight might have let her nerd side take over regarding the former, but she was tempered by the sadder news of the latter. Twilight specifically chose to keep the mental state of the unicorns unsaid until the end. When Twilight was finished, her notes covered the table, and the Princess inspected each one with a keen eye. "These unicorns, they have it rough. To be recognized as lesser, they have nopony to help," Celestia noted. "But that's not the worst part, Celestia. They're degrading," Twilight said. "Degrading?" Celestia asked. "They believe other species came through to Harry's world, but they didn't transform like I do. Over the generations, everybody who went through this started to act more animal-like. From what Dusk told us, these unicorns might not retain sapience much longer," Twilight explained. Celestia was silent. Her expression was solemn and sad. If Twilight hadn't known the Princess for years, she wouldn't recognize Celestia was on the verge of crying. "How long have they been like this?" she finally asked. "Thousands of years. One of the other mares, Shine, said the unicorns, pegasus, and thestrals lost their magical abilities in the first few centuries. And only a fraction of griffons and hippogriffs have retained their sapience." "Such a fate is one worse than death. To think, these might have once been one of my little ponies," Celestia said remorsefully. "Who came from our world?" "Albedo said unicorns, pegasi, hippogriffs, griffons, centaurs, and thestrals came through. He also said the hippogriffs and griffons have started to lose their minds first, and something terrible is happening to the thestrals. The majority of those three have lost their sapience," Twilight admitted with a grave tone. "So only the unicorns and pegasi remain?" Celestia implored. "Yes, but the descendants of the pegasus tribe are fading faster. Dusk suspected they have two, maybe three generations left before the damage affects the majority." "And what of the centaurs?" "Surprisingly, they have retained their intelligence," Twilight revealed. "Harry told me about an encounter he had in his first year. Firenze, I think his name was. The centaurs live in isolated tribes from humans and despise their magic. They haven't degraded, at least mentally." Celestia hummed contemplatively. "Why do you think they have retained their sapience?" she eventually asked. "If I had to guess, it is because of the nature of the other world. Whenever Harry and I travel, we change our forms. Humans are the dominant species in that world, no animals are sapient and some have lessened sentience. The centaur's upper body is similar to humans, which may be why their minds are unchanged. Of course, this could explain the others' decline. They are being forced to follow the 'rules' of Harry's universe." "If that is the truth, then there is only one solution: to bring them back home," Celestia declared. Twilight stayed silent. That was the only course of action or at least the most obvious one. If the summoning spell could be used en masse, they might be able to drag everypony back to Equestria. The only issue was the logistics. Where would an entire nation's worth of unicorns and pegasi go? Twilight looked through her bag once more for any notes she might have forgotten about. An unfamiliar scroll fell out of her bag. "What's this?" Twilight wondered aloud. She opened the scroll and recoiled when the words were written in a collage of bright colors. "My eyes, it's like reading Eye of the Beholder!" she exclaimed. "May I see it?" Celestia asked. Twilight handed over the note. "To whom it may concern, He-Who-Makes-No-Sense. What?" There was a bright flash, and Equestria's one and only draconequus appeared. "You rang?" Discord asked, holding a little bell. "Discord! What are you doing here?!" Twilight demanded. "Why, I thought it'd be obvious." Discord chuckled. "You know about the unicorns," Celestia growled. Twilight had never heard her so upset. "You knew they were in Harry's world!" "Right on one count, wrong on the next!" Discord declared like he won a guessing game. "Yes, I did know about the disappearances, but I didn't quite know where they went. After all, it was so long ago." "Explain," Celestia demanded. "Well, it went a little something like this." Discord snapped his fingers. There was a flash of light, and the castle halls were transformed into a blinding void. Images were flashing by them in a rush. Most of them were of Discord during his time as the chaos bringer of Equestria. "What's going on?" Twilight asked. "Why, we're taking a trip down memory lane! It's been so long since I've done this trick, so keep all hooves, horns, and wings inside the vortex at all times. Side affects may include nausea, vomiting, and questioning your free will. Thank you for flying with Discord airlines." Discord giggled. There was a lurch, and the blinding vortex vanished. Twilight and Celestia looked around, noticing they were in the middle of grass fields and a large mountain nearby. It was familiar, but certainly nowhere Twilight had ever been. "Where- where are we?" Twilight asked. "I believe," Celestia sighed. "the question is when." "An astute observation." Discord's body posture went lax, and a large couch manifested beneath him. "Oh, can you feel that in the air!? All the chaos, almost makes me regret being reformed." He yawned. "Discord! Tell why you brought us here!" Twilight scolded. "Ugh, fine!" Discord said with a scowl. "Since you asked so nicely, we are few years shy of my original tour of Equestria. You know, the one where I was turned into a garden ornament. Follow me!" Discord said. Discord teleported a few feet away, holding a giant sign reading "tour guide". Princess Celestia and Twilight shared a wary glance before following him. Discord skipped along a dirt path into the forest separating them from the base of the mountain. Twilight followed along with a mix of curiosity and fear, whole Celestia looked resolute. "Princess, where are we?" Twilight asked. Celestia looked up at the mountain. "It has been a long time since I visited myself, but I believe we are at the edge of Equestria's borders. I recall something unusual happened here long ago, but my sister and I were unable to investigate immediately. Now, judging from Discord's upbeat mood, I regret not inspecting sooner," she said. They walked through the forest to the mouth of a cave hidden at the base of the mountain behind several vines. Discord brushed the plants away with an overdramatic bow and a childish grin. Celestia went in first, her student how far behind. They walked deeper into the cave, and Celestia lit her horn to show the path ahead. The path was well worn, obviously frequented by ponies. The walls and roof were covered in twinkling gems. Twilight couldn't help but stare as she walked through the cold mountain. "Did you know about these caves?" Twilight asked. "No. When I investigated this part of the mountain looked vastly different. I never suspected these tunnels were here," replied Celestia. "We're here," Discord called out from deeper in the cave. Twilight and Celestia walked out of the tunnel and into a large cavern. There was a ramp leading down to the bottom where several creatures were. A closer inspection revealed the creatures to be: a unicorn, a pegasus, a griffon, a hippogriff, and a centaur. They were standing around a large circle of runes inscribed on the stone floor. None of them seemed to notice Celestia's arrival. "I'm just saying, you're sure this'll work?" the female griffon spoke up. "Stop being such a drag, Gret," the male hippogriff said. "I'm sorry, dear brother," the griffon, Gret, spat back. "Hans, Gret, stop fighting! We have not come this far on chance alone!" the pegasus mare shouted. "Nimbus is right, we have been researching interdimensional travel for years now. We are ready to test the spell," the unicorn stallion spoke. "I know, I know. I just feel like one more look into Star Swirl the Bearded's notes would be beneficial," Gret confessed. "His theories are sound. I believe this portal will work. And besides, we need you and your adopted brother if we make contact with the other side," the centaur spoke with an impassive voice. "They're making a portal?" Twilight echoed. "These must have been the ones to come to Harry's universe. But why only these five?" "Why don't you ask?" Discord suggested. "Hey! Hello! Can you hear me?" Twilight shouted, but no one answered. She waved a hoof in front of the unicorn's face but was surprised to see no effect. Her ears flattened against her head when Discord chuckled from behind her. "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" "It was worth the laugh," the draconequus replied. "You can't affect anything here." "Stop bickering, all of you," a powerful voice demanded. Everypony turned back to see a pony emerge from a nearby tunnel. A pitch-black thestral walked into the cavern's center, just outside the circle of runes. "We have spent so long researching the fundamentals and holding control tests, we can't not be ready." The thestral walked over to the unicorn and centaur. "Orion, start the spell." "Yes sir, Night Chaser," The unicorn, Orion, sighed. With a nod, the centaur placed an odd crystal ball in the center of the circle and the rune lit up. "Let this be known as the day of the most important discovery in Equestria, or the day we sent it to ruin." Orion's horn glowed as magic vibrated in the air. Lightning sparked between the marks on the ground and the ground shook. The magic coalesced in a tiny spec above the crystal ball. "Hey, Orion, are we supposed to be doing this?" Gret asked. "Of course we are," he said dismissively. "No, I mean this!" Everypony looked up to see where Hans and Gret were standing. Or, rather, where the Hanss and Grets were standing. A male Griffon, almost identical to Gret, was standing next to the original. The opposite was true for Hans, a matching female next to him. "What in Celestia's name?!" Nimbus cried out. "This is wrong! Orion, shut it down!" "I- I can't! The portal is drawing magic from the other side!" Orion shouted. The cave shook violently, stalactites falling from the roof of the cavern. Celestia placed her wing over Twilight, shielding her. Twilight watched in abject terror as the afflictions of the hippogriff and griffon started to affect the centaur and thestral. Soon more copies of the affected species appeared, each one diverging farther from the original. The wind howled as the orb sucked in the surrounding atmosphere. Nimbus clung tighter to Orion as the two tried to back away from the portal, but found themselves going nowhere. "The portal is drawing us in!" Orion shouted over the raging wind. "Then I'll destroy it! Without the anchor the portal won't be able to hold itself together!" one of Night Chaser's copies, or maybe the original, shouted. The thestral ran at the portal and smashed his hoof on the crystal ball. He screamed with pain, and the cave exploded in light. Celestia erected a golden barrier around herself and her student as the shockwave hit them. Despite the barrier's strength, Twilight and Celestia were flung out of the cave. When they crossed the threshold, the cave and a substantial portion of the mountain collapsed. Twilight and Celestia picked themselves off the ground, thankfully no worse for wear. Twilight crouched and tried to wave the dust away. "What was that?" She coughed. "A spectacular light show, that's for sure!" Discord said from behind the two. He plucked off a pair of solar eclipse sunglasses before eating them. "I regret not watching this sooner. Had I known what they were doing, I would have performed my grand tour of Equestria sooner." "I take it that was the portal that brought my citizens to Earth?" Celestia asked Discord. "But how? There were only six of them, one for each species," Twilight said. "My, my, weren't you paying attention?" Discord said mockingly. He pulled out a scroll that unfurled to show a selfie of him in the cavern just before Night Chaser smashed the crystal. "Each one of those ponies were blasted into a gazillion pieces and rebuilt as several hundred unique individuals. Wasn't it obvious?" "No it wasn't!" Twilight shouted. "Twilight, calm down," Celestia insisted." Despite Discord's... methodology... we now know how those ponies came to be in Harry's universe. They were once one of us, I cannot abandon them now," she said, resolute. "But first, we must return to our own time." She looked up at Discord. "Yes, a wonderful suggestion," said Discord. He snapped his fingers and the terrain morphed into Canterlot Castle. Twilight took a moment to orientate herself and process the last few... hours? minutes? Whatever. If Celestia didn't intervene on their behalf, that could mean the end of a sapient species, forever. "So, what next?" Twilight asked. "First, we need to investigate the state of the other species. If the situation is the same for all of them, then we act. I should go to Harry's world and see these ponies for myself," Celestia decided. "Wonderful, yet I seem to have gotten a better idea. Why not just bring them all here? Of course, I suggest you find a place to put these refugees," Discord said. He pulled out a map several times his size and placed it on the ground. "There's a lovely little island just off the coast of Maretime Bay." Twilight looked over the map, seeing a crudely drawn island right where Discord had indicated. Wait, did Discord just create a whole new island for them? That's awfully... nice...? "Hey, wait a minute! You're never this nice!" Twilight accused. "Who, me? Why, I thought our lovely friend Fluttershy reformed me. Or am I mistaken?" Discord said. A wonky halo floated above him. "Much as I don't want to agree, this is very nice of you. What's your angle here?" Celestia demanded. "Well, if you insist I have an angle." Discord twisted his head ninety degrees. "The realm they're trapped in is utterly boring, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemies. So I'd be happy to help, I just want one small teeny-tiny itty-bitty little thing in return," he said, staring Twilight down. "What do you want? Because if you want my Element—" "Psh! Oh no, nothing like that! Fluttershy has already promised to withhold hers, two would be redundant." "Then what is it you want?" Celestia implored. Discord smirked. "Next time that either of you see Harry Potter, tell him he owes me. Auf wiedersehen!" Discord vanished. Dear Harry. Celestia and I figured out where the unicorn, pegasus, thestrals, and the rest came from. There was an experiment into portals thousands of years ago, but something went wrong. The ones involved got sucked in and split into multiple individuals. These six created the races from Equestria that live in your world. We also have a working theory on why they're degrading. The reason for their mental decline is that their bodies are not following the "rules" of your universe. Thankfully, we have a solution: we're going to move them all to Equestria. But to do that, we need information. Celestia is giving us a week so she can get things ready. Well, a week for us, I don't know how long that is for you. Regardless, if we want to help them, we need to talk with them. I know Hogwarts has a temporary pegasus population and several thestrals. If you have a free weekend or afternoon, I'd be glad to visit and help. I can't believe all this started with one little letter from a scared young boy. You've grown up so fast. You've gone from preteen to mid-teen, and I'm still a young adult. Just don't go getting old on me, and we'll see each other soon. With love, Twilight. "So, uh, why are we here, again?" Ron asked. Harry rolled his eyes. It was Saturday afternoon, a few days after Twilight's visit. Harry had replied to her letter and arranged to meet the pegasus and thestrals. Hermione insisted on coming, and Ron had nothing better to do. "Because, Ron, we need to know if the pegasus have sapience. If they don't, then saving them is a lost cause," Harry explained. "Okay, but why is she here?" Ron asked, gesturing to Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm here to represent Equestria. People know me over here, and I'm a better choice than somepony like prince Blueblood." "Prince Blueblood?" Hermione asked. "Are one of the Princesses married?" "Oh, Celestia, no! I don't think Celestia or Luna could spend the rest of his life with him. He's a bit self-absorbed for them," Twilight said. "Hey, look, the pegasus," Harry said. They had arrived at the paddock that held the pegasus from Beauxbaton. They were much larger up close. "Hello, can you understand me?" he announced. "Oh, look, another one," one of the pegasus said in a lofty voice. "Wants to pet the pretty pegasus." "Well, our coats are beautifully unblemished," another pegasus, a mare, said. "I mean, they're nice, but they're nothing special," Twilight said. The mare looked offended. "That was uncalled for— wait, you understand—" "Yup," Harry said. "Oh, well now I feel rather silly," she said. "Can someone please tell me what's going on!?" Hermione demanded. "Oh, the pegasus was just talking about her coat. nothing much," Twilight said. "How do you understand us?" one of the stallions asked. Twilight cleared her throat. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here of behalf of Princess Celestia of Equestria." From there on, the conversation was fairly straightforward. Twilight did most of the talking so Harry could translate for Hermione. The pegasus were surprised Equestria was real, much less interested in them. Twilight said Celestia wished to return all sapient species that originated from Equestria back to their rightful home. The Pegasus were slightly reluctant, saying they felt guilty leaving their jobs as the transport of the Beauxbaton students. But when Twilight told them Equestria could cure their species' mentality decline, they accepted the offer readily. One of the mares, Glint, believed the other pegasus populations would agree once told this. But with the dozen pegasus told of Celestia's plan, Harry and the others went to find the next group. Thestrals. They walked to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry could see black wings and led them until they were before a small herd of thestrals. "Here they are," Harry said. "I don't see anything," Twilight said, confused. "What do you mean? They're right here, can't you see?" Harry pointed at the thestrals. "Harry, there's nothing there," Hermione protested. "Do not blame them, it's not their fault we cannot be seen," a voice said. Harry turned around quickly, scanning the herd. "Who said that?" Harry demanded. "Who said what?" Ron asked. "Shh!" Harry shushed him. A thestral stallion walked through the group. This one was taller than the rest, less "skin and bones" than the rest of his kind. Harry looked up at him. "Why can't they see you?" Harry asked. "You can understand me? So unicorns were right, there is a human that can understand us. They have been saying many things recently," he mused. "But why can't they see you?" Harry demanded. "Harry?" Twilight asked. She placed a hand on his shoulder, but this went unnoticed by him. "Only those who have seen death may see us. Who did you lose?" the stallion asked. "One of the unicorns from my first year, during the attacks," Harry said absent-mindedly. "Humans don't usually see from the death of one they consider a beast." "My best friend is from Equestria, I know better." "Equestria? Yes, the unicorns were talking about that too. Is it true that she is from there?" he pointed at Twilight. "There's something really there, isn't there?" Twilight said, tightening her grip on Harry's shoulder. "A thestral?" "Yes." "Then talking by proxy will have to work." Twilight gave the same introduction as the pegasus. The thestrals were enthusiastic about returning to Equestria to be reunited with their kind. After all, humans had no love for creatures they considered to be omens of death. Twilight was deeply disturbed when the thestral mentioned an attempted genocide of his kind out of fear. "That just leaves the centaurs of the forest," Twilight noted. The thestral rose on his back legs, flinging dust into the air. "No! Do not see them! The centaurs do not care for human life! I will find a unicorn to go in your steed, they wouldn't dare to hurt one," the stallion warned. Harry repeated his words. "If you really think so, then we'll leave them alone. We just want to help," Twilight said. "And I thank you for that. Many would like to see our ancestral home once again. You have given us a gift beyond measure. Thank you." Harry again translated for his friends. Harry and Twilight looked at each other. This was going to be much more complicated than they thought. They had no griffons or hippogriffs to talk to, but this proved so far beyond any shadow of a doubt the dangers of Harry's world. But Celestia could fix this, Harry just knew it. She would help them, even if she had to do it with her bare hooves.