//------------------------------//
// Chapter 39: Epilogue Of Fire 
// Story: Equestrian Vacation 
// by Dragonboy111 
//------------------------------//

When Harry and the rest separated, Celestia took her chance to get their attention by walking close to their group.

"I'm glad to see you are all happy, my little ponies, but I'm afraid there are a few small details I must discuss with Harry before I can send you back to Ponyville," she said gently.

"Details? What do we have left to do?" Harry asked.

"Well, first off you need a proper apology."

"Apology? From who?"

"Why, from me, of course," said a more unfamiliar voice. Everypony turned to see Discord appear in the room.

"Discord?" Harry said incredulously.

"Yes, me. You see, I have been informed that catapulting teenagers through multiversal barriers without their consent is a frowned upon practice. So... I'm sorry, I guess," Discord said quickly.

"Wow. Discord apologized. Didn't think I'd see the day," Applejack commented, looking as stunned as anypony else.

"It took a while to convince him," Fluttershy whispered.

"And, to make up for my apparent slight, I got you this, enjoy." Discord reached into his ear to draw out a clock.

It wasn't like any clock Harry had seen before. First off, it had a few extra hands. Second, the extra hands were moving in a manner that made no sense. One hand was spinning backward at speeds too fast to track, and another was slowly moving inward instead of rotating. Similar abnormalities were present throughout the device.

"Uh, thanks, I think?" Harry said. "Uh... what is it?"

"Why, it's a clock, couldn't you tell? One that tracks time in both this universe and your own! This whole multiversal fiasco was caused by your little time-dilation problem. Your world naturally experiences time faster than ours, but the relationship inverts while you're here, as you've spent time in both. This can help you tell time if you can read it!" Discord pushed the clock to rest next to Harry. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a- um- a golf game to catch!" Discord snapped his fingers and was dressed in golfing gear; another snap and he vanished completely.

"Well, that was..." Twilight started.

"Weird?" Rainbow guessed.

"Kooky?" Pinkie Pie said.

"Nice," Fluttershy declared quietly.

"Yeah, let's go with that," Harry said. He floated his "gift" over to his bags and put it away.

"Well, that's one of our topics of discussion taken care of," Celestia noted. "Why don't you girls go wait outside? I have a few last things to discuss with Harry before you return."

The mane six, plus Spike and Hedwig, exited the room, leaving Harry with Celestia. Twilight and Rarity took Harry's luggage with them. With just the two of them here, Harry shuffled his hooves awkwardly.

"Celestia, why did you do that? I know letting me visit Equestria isn't a big deal, but what you said about being a ward of the government? What does that mean, and why was all that necessary?" Harry asked.

The monarch took a deep breath before she smiled gently.

"It was necessary because I despise people like your family. Nothing should excuse child neglect. Making you a ward of Equestria permanently removes you from their reach. And, seeing as you have no safety net to care for you over here, I thought it was appropriate," Celestia explained. "Being a ward of the state places the government as your legal guardian, meaning it provides some stability for a time. There is some paperwork for you to read in Ponyville, but that can be done later."

"So, the government is acting like an orphanage for me?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, but that brings me to my second point of discussion," Celestia said. A piece of paper and a quill appeared between the two. "Though you have visited twice and are a ward of the government, you are not yet a citizen of Equestria. That is a detail we could rectify immediately. Normally, this would take longer, but with the recent population influx, I've been able to bend a few rules. By signing here, you accept a second nationality as a full-fledged citizen of Equestria, if you want to be."

Celestia held the paper out for Harry to read. Harry looked at the sheet of parchment hovering in front of him, not really paying attention to the words written. The question was a no-brainer. The unicorn didn't even think twice when he took the quill in his magic and scribbled his name on the dotted line.

"I'd be honored to be a part of Equestria," Harry said without hesitation.

Celestia smiled sweetly. The paper and quill vanished as quickly as they appeared.

"Than that covers almost everything we have to discuss for today."

"Today?"

"Yes, there are some important items to take care of, your scar being one such item," Celestia said. "Did you ever discover it's nature?"

"No," Harry grumbled. "I couldn't find anything, Dumbledore doesn't know or isn't telling me something, and Cadance's protection broke when Voldemort returned. It hasn't done anything yet."

"That is most unfortunate. May I see it?" she asked.

Harry walked forward so Celestia could pass her horn over his head. Her horn glowed gold as Harry's scar turned black. Celestia's face contorted as she concentrated.

"Cadance and Luna were right, there is something in here. I cannot believe I never sensed it before, it must have hidden its presence. There is a terrible darkness inside. It is full of malice, hatred, and an unwillingness to move on. This is more than a simple curse. It runs deep, it clings to your very soul. That is most concerning." Celestia withdrew her horn, serious contemplation written on her face.

"You know what it is?" Harry asked.

"Perhaps. Even in my many millennia of existence, I have encountered so very few that look anything like this. This thing is tied to you, mind, body, and soul. The soul is normally a very intangible construct contained in our bodies. Whatever is in you is made of similar stuff."

Harry felt a wave of revulsion.

"That thing is a soul?"

"Or something similar. I cannot be certain without a deeper study, but I will not risk hurting you by being hasty. However, there may be a solution I know of. It's ancient and takes time to prepare, but it may be able to remove this thing safely."

"You think so? How?" Harry asked.

"It is a long process, but it can separate this thing from you by channeling powerful alicorn magic. Thankfully, your scar is inactive." Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. "I won't tolerate one of my citizens being cursed. The next few weeks will be regrettably busy, but we can begin the process very soon. You could see Cadance during the Princess Summit."

Harry was stunned.

"I- I don't know what to say. Why are you doing so much for me?" Harry sniffed.

Celestia gently wrapped a wing around Harry. Even though she was a centuries-old monarch, the embrace felt personal and even motherly. Harry had never felt an embrace like this from an adult. It felt nice, this feeling of being cared for. Tears started to dot his eyes.

"I do this because I care," Celestia said softly. "You're one of us. A princess's ability to lead is only as good as her ability to serve. I want you to remember the ponies around you care and your friends won't hesitate to help you."

Harry separated from the Princess and wiped his eyes dry.

"Thank you for your help. These past few hours have been life-changing," Harry said, bowing his head.

"For the better, I'd hope," Celestia spoke. "For now, you may return home," she declared.

Harry bowed again and turned to leave the room with a smile on his face. Home. It felt weird, hearing the word home, and being happy about it. Harry liked that feeling. He liked it a lot. He was going to spend his summer somewhere nice, where he wasn't a freak of nature.

"One last thing," Celestia said suddenly. "I want to give you some advice. Twilight's life is going to change soon, and I want you to be there for her when it does," she said cryptically.

Harry nodded slowly, confused but accepting the request nonetheless. What does Celestia mean by changes? Harry pushed that thought away when he left the room. His friends were waiting for him.

"What did Celestia want?" Twilight asked.

"She made me a citizen of Equestria," Harry said. "I'll have to visit Cadance for a checkup on this," Harry tapped his scar, "but otherwise we can go back to Ponyville."

"But you're here to stay, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm here until school starts back up. When that is, I don't know, but we'll figure it out eventually," Harry said.

"All right!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Hey, maybe we can try to make that sport you play, Quidditch. That ought to be fun!" The pegasus flew a few circles around Harry excitedly.

"You two can get started tomorrow, we have a train to catch," Twilight said. "Today has been hectic enough."

They walked through Canterlot, idly chatting about their days. Everyone had been making the best out of their day at Canterlot. When they made it to the train station they loaded Harry's items and boarded the last train to Ponyville. Twilight sat next to Harry in their train car. Their train route had a few extra stops, so it would take longer than usual. Thankfully, that gave enough time for Harry to drift off to sleep as Celestia lowered the sun.





Harry was dreaming, again. Well, either that or Twilight had secretly relocated him from the train in his sleep and turned him into an alicorn. So yes, he was definitely dreaming. He was in a large building, given the extensive and ornate hallways, but this building was better cared for than the Riddle Manor had been. It was without dust or rot in sight.

Harry was trotting down the halls as quietly as he could, fearful of being discovered like last time. All the doors Harry passed were closed and locked, except for one at the end of the hallway. Taking this as a sign, Harry crept closer and peeked in. It was a dark room, but Harry's eyes adjusted easily enough.

Voldemort's spirit was there. A large mirror floated before him as the only item in the room. The Dark Lord's spirit was tracing symbols through the air, whispering words Harry couldn't hear, concentrating on something in the mirror. His snake, coiled on the ground and holding Voldemort's wand with her tail, was pressing different symbols on the mirror with Voldemort's wand in response to his commands.

"I may not have a body or its magic anymore, but I still have servants to do my bidding. Now, show me Harry Potter," Voldemort commanded the mirror.

Harry watched in a mix of fear and curiosity as the mirror's image turned cloudy. Something beneath the surface twisted as a new image replaced the fog. It was Harry's dream form, the alicorn, as though the viewer were standing right behind him. The background was muddled and unrecognizable, leaving Harry the sole subject of the mirror. Harry froze, his mirror image doing to same. Voldemort tilted his head.

"What is this...?" Voldemort whispered aloud. "An illusion to hide the boy? But why such a form?" Voldemort pondered.

The Dark Lord's spirit reached out, toward Harry's mirror image. His hand was a mere inch away from the mirror when the image of Harry in the mirror moved.

The pony in the mirror no longer had Harry's head, but Discord's with a golfing cap.

"Greatings, how are you?" Discord said with a wicked grin. There was a flash of light as Harry's image was replaced completely by Discord's. "I ask because you look dreadful."

Voldemort floated back in surprise. "Another illusion?" he said.

Discord shook his head and wagged a claw mockingly. The draconequus snapped his fingers and the mirror disappeared entirely. In its place stood a man in the middle to late age range. His eyes were yellow and red, the same as Discord's. His skin was a dark grey. He had white eyebrows and a beard to match, though his hair was black. He was dressed in a brown vest, the shirt underneath having mismatched sleeves. His pants were similarly mismatched, one leg green and another a light brown.

"Talking to disembodied voices is dull, so I can loan you a body for now." Discord snapped his fingers again, and Voldemort dropped to the ground, his phantasmic body suddenly solid again. The dark lord drew his wand from Nagini's coils, pointing it at Discord. Harry was beyond shocked Discord would do that.

"So, you're that wizard Harry's been making a fuss about. Moldywart or whatnot. Can't say I'm terribly impressed, but I wasn't expecting much," Discord said.

"I am Lord Voldemort," Voldemort corrected.

"Right, whatever. I can't remember names I don't care about. You may call me Discord, name, occupation, and title." Discord gave a mocking bow.

"I take it you are the one preventing me from finding Harry Potter?" Voldemort hissed.

"Well, more or less. You aren't going to find him anyway. It's not my fault you're looking in all the wrong places."

"Then you know where he is?" Voldemort demanded. "Tell me!"

"Oh, now where's the fun in-"

"Crucio!" Voldemort shouted.

Discord doubled over.

"Ah! Ah! Stop it! Stop! That tickles!" Discord said. He stopped laughing and stood up straight. "Okay, that was a lie. Try feathers next time," he said in a deadpan voice.

Voldemort took another step back, shocked. He looked down at his wand, still blackened from its duel with Harry's.

"How... How is my magic so weak? I am feared as the most dangerous wizard alive, how do you people resist me so?" Voldemort demanded.

Discord chuckled and shrugged. "I'm afraid we're just built differently. I suppose we should get onto business," Discord said. He snapped his fingers and reclined back on an ornate lopsided throne he conjured. "Anyways, I normally wouldn't care what you do; I'm reformed, not heroic. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you could not be stalking a minor during his summer break."

"What are you? Another one of Potter's friends?" Voldemort scowled.

"I wouldn't say friend, more like we share six mutual acquaintances," Discord said.

Six more Discords showed up, each one the color of one of the Element bearers. They looked at each other before vanishing.

"Those girls," Voldemort realized. "They chose Potter's side. They and their friends will die like the rest for standing in my way," he declared.

Discord closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"And you just had to suck the joy out of it," Discord said. "I try to have a little fun, but you're worse than old Sunbutt—"

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shouted.

A jet of green light blasted at Discord, striking him in the chest. Discord dramatically grasped his chest and crumpled to the ground. A second Discord walked into the room and looked at the first one, much to Voldemort's surprise.

"Glad I'm not that guy." Discord chuckled. "You know, I can't decide if you're boring or not. But if you want me to be serious, here are my terms and conditions."

Discord reverted to his draconequus form as he hovered off his throne. The room around them gave a great lurch as it started to tumble in circles. Voldemort and Harry were left floating weightless. Voldemort raised his wand, only to find he was holding a rubber chicken which squawked as he tried to cast a spell. Then the rubber chicken fell through Voldemort's hands, his body incorporeal again.

"Allow me to make one thing clear, Tom," said Discord in the most serious tone Harry had ever heard from him. "What you do or try to do to Harry during his school year is none of my business, I'm not particularly fond of him. But don't ever, ever, look for him or his friends during the summer. Find something else to do. Keep looking for him, and I will turn you into the largest jigsaw puzzle in this universe."

Discord and the room seemed the grow by several magnitudes until Harry and Voldemort were mere bugs by comparison. A large crystal ball appeared in Discord's avian claw, and a blue flame lit over his paw.

"But if you dare to hurt the first friend I've had in my eons of existence, prophecy or not, I will end your existence, personally!" Discord declared in a booming voice. The crystal ball in his claw was crushed into shards. Harry flapped his wings in an attempt to retreat. He had never seen Discord be anything other than nonchalant or mischievous. This was beyond terrifying.

And then Harry woke up.





Harry fell out of his seat with a shout, tumbling onto the train car floor. He picked himself up quickly, noticing everypony else was still asleep. Harry took a moment to breathe and calm down.

"Do you think I went overboard?" Discord's voice said.

Harry jumped and turned around, high on adrenaline. Discord was sitting in Harry's seat, a clipboard held in his paw.

"I'm giving myself a nine out of ten for presentation, but a seven out of ten for enjoyment. Does that seem fair?" The draconequus asked.

"That- that was scary," Harry stuttered.

"There's a box for that."

"Full marks. Please don't do whatever that was again," Harry said.

Discord shrugged and took a bite out of his clipboard.

"Well," Discord swallowed the clipboard in his mouth, "I was going to have some fun with him, turn his snake into a balloon animal, turn the room inside out, give him a nose, et cetera, et cetera. If I can pilfer a furby for a scavenger hunt, I'm sure I could have come up with something good."

"The rubber chicken was nice," Harry said awkwardly.

"Yes, it was. But he just had to go and ruin the fun—"

"When he threatened Fluttershy," Harry realized.

"Well, yes, there's that, I suppose."

"Thanks for that," Harry said. "I'm sure she'd be proud of you, I know I appreciated it."

Discord looked a little surprised at the praise.

"Oh- well- yes," Discord stuttered. "Well, it's not like I did much, it's unlikely he can do much to you here anyway."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

Discord vanished, reappearing with a large blackboard marked with mathematical jibber-jabber.

"Well, you see, your original letter made it through to our dimension around the time of Nightmare Moon's defeat and the awakening of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight repurposed the mailing spell for interdimensional communication, it's Equestrian magic by nature. And ever since you were brought here, both you and the passage between our words has been saturated with Equestrian magic. I find it highly unlikely your people could create a stable portal, the passage is so used to our world's magic, yours might not work," Discord explained.

"So Voldemort can't get to me?" Harry asked.

"He doesn't have the body to try it. And if he did, it's unlikely. He doesn't know you're in another universe. He's looking for the desert in a forest. You're so far removed from your own universe and its parallel timelines that almost nothing you do here can impact its universal balance."

"So I'm safe?"

"In a relative manner of speaking," Discord said with another smirk.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the other ponies in the train car, all asleep. Harry hadn't dragged his problems with him. But that meant his problems were still running loose in his old world. He couldn't rely on them alone.

"I should learn combative magic," Harry declared.

"A nice idea. Everypony needs a strong leader." Discord nodded along.

"Leader?" Harry asked.

Discord looked surprised, quickly checking something on his half-eaten clipboard.

"Ponyfeathers, wrong one. Bye!"

Discord vanished in a flash. Harry cocked his head to the side, confused. He shook it off as Discord being Discord and sat back in his seat.

"Okay? You know what, that probably wasn't important anyway."

He looked out the window to see that Ponyville was in sight. This was his new home, one with friends, magic, and care. He was going to love it here.