//------------------------------// // Chapter 30: Harmony Arrives // Story: Equestrian Vacation // by Dragonboy111 //------------------------------// Lord Voldemort's appearance was more monster than a man's. He looked like a person had transfigured himself to take the features of a snake, particularly in the face. Harry couldn't help but wonder, was this the price of cheating death? Voldemort slipped his hand into a deep pocket and retrieved a bone-white wand. He used it to pick Wormtail up and throw him against another headstone, a sadistic smirk twisting his face. "Ah, how good it feels to have a proper body once more. After so long, and so many... complications... I am restored," Voldemort spoke in his cold high voice. Harry's anger boiled over. Complications!? "Accio!" Harry's wand flew up from the ground to his hand. As soon as it did he swung his hand up, cutting the ropes binding him with a quick cast of Dififndo. He pointed his wand at Voldemort's new body, foregoing his translated spells. Just burn! The same sunfire spell triggered with plenty more bravado. A burst of energy magnitudes larger than Voldemort spewed out from Harry's wand. Voldemort simply waved his wand, and Harry's attack passed over him to disintegrate a nearby tree. The Dark Lord's eyebrow, or what passed for one, raised in mild fascination. With a flick of his wrist, several tendrils of stone grasped Harry's wrists in a crushing grip, causing him to drop his wand. Another gesture brought Harry down to his knees, immobilized. A moment later his mouth was clamped shut. The Dark Lord held a finger up in a mocking "shush" motion. He once again inspected his arms and wand as though it were the first time he had seen them. "It is so nice of you to provide me a chance to test my magic. Though, not much of a challenge," Voldemort said in a mocking tone. He drifted to stand next to Harry and Wormtail, a sick grin on his face. He laughed, cold and mirthless. "My Lord.." Wormtail choked out on the ground, grasping at his bleeding stump of an arm. "My Lord... you promised... promised..." Voldemort commanded his servant with a smirk. "Hold out your arm." "Thank you, master." Wormtail extended the stump, but Voldemort only laughed. "The other arm, Wormtail." "Please, no..." Voldemort reached down and pulled up the sleeve of Wormtail's clothes. Harry could see a mark there, the same one at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort pressed down on it with his finger, and Harry could feel his scar throb in response. Wormtail howled in pain, and Harry guessed everyone who had that mark must be in similar pain. The mark was now jet black and a similar one formed in the sky. Voldemort stood up, a cruel grin on his face as he looked about the graveyard, as though expecting guests. "I wonder, what will my so-called faithful followers do now? Run, or face their fate?" Voldemort said absent-mindedly, turning to face Harry "Nonetheless, it will be worth it as they watch me kill you, Harry Potter. As you are now, you can't possibly pose a threat to me. Your muggle-born mother isn't here to die for you this time, no friends to protect you, no Dumbledore to play the guardian angel, no one left but you and me." A sinking feeling filled Harry. This was getting worse with each moment. Surely if Cedric had returned he would have told the teachers, and someone had to be coming to help... Harry thought about Cedric for a moment. They had been so close, the cup was right there, within their grasp. Both of them could have escaped. The plan had been Harry's, and so was its failure. "And soon, my audience to witness your demise will join us," Voldemort mused. There had to be someone coming, right? Twilight was keeping an eye on me, she had to know! She needs to get here soon. I have to buy time. Harry looked down at his wand, sitting just in front of his knee. Harry tried to summon the wand again but was only rewarded with it rocking back and forth. Come on, just a little more... "Trying to escape again, I see." Harry's focus was drawn up to Voldemort, who was looking down at Harry's wand with a look mixing distaste and morbid curiosity. "Wandless magic. A feat few wizards can claim. It would seem you have slightly more than witless luck on your side, not that it matters anymore." A long finger hovered over Harry's head. "For you see, Harry Potter, there was a reason I chose you to provide blood. I could have chosen anyone else, but I wanted you. Your blood holds the power that could return me to full strength. And that power was from your filthy muggle-born mother; she left the traces of her pathetic sacrifice upon you... This was old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it... but it matters not now. I have overcome such weak magic, for I can touch you now." Voldemort stabbed at Harry's scar, and for the first time in a long while, agony radiated from his scar. That feeling of raw pain made Harry grit his teeth to prevent himself from crying out, refusing to give Voldemort the satisfaction of hearing him scream. Harry could feel something within him shouting, pushing against this foreign invader. Voldemort chuckled darkly, watching Harry squirming in pain, an evil grin stretching across his snake-like face. He pressed down harder, and Harry could feel like something inside him was about to snap. "Heh heh, what a pitiful protection, love. I have conquered it, just as I have conquered death," Voldemort gloated. He pressed with more of his body weight. Something was happening to Harry's magic. It hurt so bad. "And you, Harry Potter, have nothing— Agh!" Voldemort flung himself backward with a shout of pain. Harry pulled his eyes open. Voldemort was on his knees, clutching his left hand like it was falling off. Harry took a closer look at the hand to see what had caused such pain. Voldemort's hand was smoking. The skin looked sunburned and dry. It reminded Harry of the first year when he tried to steal the stone. Voldemort clutched his hand as the skin slowly started to regain its previous color. When he had recovered fully, Voldemort stood back up. He approached Harry again, cautiously. His hand hovered over Harry's scar before he pressed on Harry's head again. There was still plenty of pain this time, but Voldemort was quick to retract his hand. His finger looked significantly less burned than his hand had been, but there was an effect. Voldemort scowled. "It burns, still. Not as bad as before, true, it cannot kill me like last time. But it burns me all the same. All I have done, and yet your filthy mudblood mother's protections still persist. I chose your blood to take that power into myself, how does it still deny me?" Voldemort hissed. The stones covering Harry's mouth dropped, allowing him to stare down the Dark Lord. "Explain," the Dark Lord demanded. Harry glared back at Voldemort. Harry himself wasn't sure what was going on, but pieces were falling in place. Cadance had protected him from his scar with her magic, her love, which had empowered his mother's charm. Voldemort had used Harry's blood to counter his mother's protection, but maybe it still lingered. Cadance's magic wasn't bound to Harry's blood, unlike his mother's charm. Perhaps that was the key. "It's not just my mother's protection," Harry said, gaining confidence. Voldemort recoiled. "It's a power greater than all your magic and schemes." "What, what is it?" demanded Voldemort. His hand grasped Harry's face, both ignoring the burning sensation. "What power out there is greater than I, one who can not die?" Despite the ongoing pain, Harry felt his lips turn upwards. His eyelids drooped down further as he fought to keep a defiant gaze turned to the Dark Lord. "What power? What else, but love? Love, friendship, and Harmony. I don't expect you to understand," Harry snarked. He stared weakly but defiantly up at Voldemort, each one glaring at the other, waiting to see whose pain would give out. It was Voldemort who was the first to give, stepping away from Harry. Harry could barely keep his eyes open anymore. Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry's face. "I was planning to kill you before my followers, but I will skip the pleasantries and kill you here and now. Farewell, Harry Potter." Harry panicked. There had to be something Harry could do, anything! Harry reached out with his mind, searching. Maybe he could get his wand? Or maybe some wandless magic? Harry focused his senses on magic alone. The graveyard was full of darkness, there was no magic around but that which the Dark Lord had conjured. His wand wobbled feebly. Darkness. "Avada—!" Light. Harry's eyes opened. The Dark Mark which hung hauntingly over the graveyard was torn asunder, and an array of light poured out of its remains. A pillar of rainbow light burst through the clouds, slamming into the ground with enough force to throw Voldemort and Wormtail up and away; Harry's crumbling restraints barely held him in place. He looked at the orb of rainbow light in front of him, smiling. He knew this magic. Harmony. The light faded, and six girls stood in its place. Harry didn't stop the tears of relief falling from his eyes. "Harry!" Twilight yelled. Instantly, Harry's restraints fell away and he was pulled into a crushing hug by the unicorn. "You're okay!" she said in relief as the two sunk to their knees. Her hug tightened, desperate but relieved. "When you disappeared, I was so scared, I thought you were gone." The other five engulfed Harry in a similar hug. Harry looked up at his friends. They looked... different; their human features had been blended with more equine ones. A transformation, likely triggered by the Elements of Harmony. It looked good on them. "You're all here," Harry said, his mind slowly catching up to his surroundings. "You're here! You shouldn't be here, it's not safe!" he warned. "Harry, what in tarnation happened to you?" Applejack placed a hand on his shoulder, pleading for answers. "It's Vold—" "Crucio!" Pain as he had never experienced laced through Harry. He collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain. It felt like a thousand needles were stabbing his skin. This was different than how his scar burned, this was a pain he couldn't fall unconscious to escape. Harry could hear his friends screaming in fear. He focused on them, it was all he could do to stay aware. "Stop it!" someone shouted. An iridescent bubble covered Harry's prone form. The pain cut off abruptly, but Harry was left shaking uncontrollably, muscles spasming in phantom pain. He looked up to see Twilight standing over him protectively, placing herself between Harry and Voldemort. The Dark Lord stalked toward Harry and his friends. Behind him, a small number of Death Eaters were apparating into the graveyard, surrounding the younger group. Voldemort's face showed a mix of disgust and fascination. "And what might you be?" Voldemort hissed at the Equestrians. "Harry Potter's rescuers?" he said mockingly. "Yes. We're getting him away from you, and we're not going to let you stop us!" Twilight shouted. Voldemort laughed, high and cold. The Death Eaters behind him followed suit. "You? A small band of girls, against me? Harry Potter has made poor choices in allies." "We're his friends," Rainbow Dash growled. "Even better!" Voldemort shouted. He turned to address his followers. "Look how the great Harry Potter cowers behind his friends, as though they are a substitute for real power!" The Death Eaters laughed again. "Look at them, they hardly seem to be of wizarding blood. Nuisances!" The Death Eaters sneered. "Kill them!" one yelled. "They are hardly worth the effort of the Dark Lord!" Voldemort proclaimed. One of the Death Eaters stepped forward. "Then allow me to rid us of these... mongrels... so you alone may have the boy." said the Death Eater. Voldemort waved his hand dismissively. "That will not be necessary, Lucius. If they wish to fight with Harry Potter, then they will die with Harry Potter, by my hand," said Voldemort. "You don't scare us," Applejack said. Her ears flattened against her head as she glowered at him. "Your first mistake," Voldemort chuckled. "We won't let you touch him," Twilight said. Her Crown and the other Elements glowed a little bit brighter. Purple energy crackled at her fingertips, and her body was coated in a translucent rainbow. Harry wasn't sure if the Death Eaters could feel it, but sensing The Elements' magic felt like looking into the very sun. This felt like a power that could shape mountains. "We won't abandon our friends. Harry is under our protection!" "Your second mistake," Voldemort mocked. He drifted away from his followers. "And such a pity, too. I can see much magical potential in you. It is wasted with the likes of him," he said, gesturing to Harry. "The other magical creatures align themselves with us, even the brutish giants see the truth of our cause. Harry Potter is not worth your kind's aid," he said. Harry realized Voldemort thought his friends weren't human but some other race or breed. "Not happening," Rainbow Dash stood firm. "Your last mistake. You are a waste of my energy," Voldemort scoffed. "Barely worth my time." "Friends don't abandon each other. Now, step away before you get hurt," Twilight threatened. Voldemort scowled before raising his wand at Twilight Sparkle. "Avada Kedavra!" Harry watched, frozen, as that jet of green lightning flooded out of Voldemort's wand. The same light that almost killed Cedric, that killed Harry's parents, and murdered anyone who got in the Dark Lord's way. Harry couldn't move as it struck Twilight in the heart. He couldn't see her face— didn't want to see her face. He didn't want to see what happened to her, what he couldn't stop. She was dead, because of him. The Death Eaters cheered as their master displayed his power. Voldemort cackled aloud. And Twilight... Twilight... "Is that all you got?" What? The laughter stopped, and Harry blinked the tears from his eyes. Voldemort and his followers were dead silent. "I said," Twilight Sparkle spoke, alive and well, "is that all you got?"