//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty Six 
// Story: Sweetie Belle and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 
// by AnnonyMouse 
//------------------------------//

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Sweetie Belle and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 
26

Sweetie Belle knew she shouldn't do this, not on her own, but she was worried.
Not so much that her mirror seemed to be showing the interior of Twilight's castle.
More-so that she had felt Discord's magic.
As she was about to step though the mirror, the door to her room flew open and Ms. Mcgonagall burst in, looking around and looking quite panicked.  She then spotted Sweetie Belle standing right in front of the mirror, and an active portal.
“Sweetie Belle!  You step away from that portal right now.  I sensed something dangerous coming from this room.”  She strode over and stepped between the filly and the mirror.
“Yoink!”  A lion's paw suddenly reached out of the mirror and grabbed the tall woman, who had the most startled expression on her face one could imagine.
She was then pulled through the portal like a rag doll.
Sweetie Belle's eyes had gone wider than ever at seeing this.  A few moments later she rushed ahead through the portal.

…

Minerva was not one to scream like a little girl, but the moment she felt and saw the lion paw on her shoulder, and a grip she knew she'd never be able to break, the scream came out on its own.
A moment later, she landed on her back, staring up at the strangest looking creature ever.  Even she could not have imagined something that looked this... strange.	
The look on its face was not at all hostile, but rather highly amused.
“Why hello there Mini.”  The masculine voiced creature started to help Minerva to her hooves when a small white and fluffy filly came flying out of the mirror and landed on her belly.  “Oh, and hello too you too Sweetie Belle.  We were expecting you.” 
“What is the meaning of this?”  Mcgonagall rolled too her hooves after Sweetie Belle hopped off her.
“We're sorry about this.”  It was Princess Twilight who spoke, entering the room though the high arched doorway.  “But I had to send Discord though the mirror to rescue one of your students.”
Minerva was not pleased, but was also quite confused.  “What do you mean by that?  What was happening with one of my students?”
“Um...”  A new voice spoke from behind Twilight.  Emerging into view was a little Unicorn filly, with long brown mane and tail, green eyes, and a soft cream colored coat.  “Hello Headmistress.”
Minerva blinked.  She knew that voice.  “Zwei Gemini?”
“Yes...”  She hung her head and looked away, a look of shame on her face.
“Princess Twilight, I demand to know what is going on here.”  
Twilight nodded.  “Come along with me please, you too Sweetie Belle.  I'll explain what I know of this situation.”
Leading the small group through the halls, Twilight seemed to be gathering her thoughts.  Mcgonagall noticed this and kept quiet.  She was not pleased, but felt that the Princess had her reasons for doing what she'd done.
She also kept an eye on the creature named Discord, who simply floated along like it was the simplest thing in the universe, and chatted away with Sweetie Belle as she too floated alongside him.  She would giggle at his strange antics.
Oddly, the magic she could feel from him was the magic she'd felt back in Hogwarts.  Strange as this Discord looked, he radiated not a single hint of danger.  Sure, his presence and form confused her to no end, but there was no hostility or danger emanating from him at all.
Finally the small troupe entered a room with six thrones that were set around a crystal table.
Sitting on five of the thrones were some familiar ponies.
“Headmistress, please have a seat.”  Twilight offered the throne that sported her own cutie mark.
Feeling a little nervous, the earth pony sat down before looking at the assembled ponies (and chaos creature).  “Now will you please explain what is going on here?”
Twilight nodded.  “Last night Princess Luna felt despair and hatred coming from somewhere close to Sweetie Belle.  She entered the dreams of one of your students and discovered that this little one here...”  She gestured to Zwei, “She's been manipulated by one of your other students to cause harm to Sweetie Belle.  I would have sent you a missive, but there was no time.  We had to act immediately.”  She then gestured to Discord.  “This is Discord, the spirit of Chaos.  He's a friend and offered to go get the one who would have been the most hurt by the actions she was going to be forced to partake in.”
Minerva nodded.  She kept quiet as Twilight kept on with her explanation.  “There is at least one at Hogwarts who holds so much anger and hatred in his heart, and was directing it at Sweetie Belle.  He was forcing Zwei to do things she didn't want to do, by blackmailing her.”
This time the Headmistress spoke up.  “I can only assume it is Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.”  She sighed.  “I knew something like this might happen, and I had already taken steps to protect all my students from anything he might do.  It seems, however, I had not taken into account that he would have the audacity to force others to perform these deeds.”  She smiled at Zwei.  “It is alright Ms. Gemini.  You are not at fault.”
“Actually...”  She had a look that told of a deep shame.  “I sort of am at fault.  I mean, Scorpius discovered something about my family's past that we are all deeply ashamed of...  We are of the same bloodline as 'He Who's Name Must Never Be Spoken.'”
Mcgonagall nodded knowingly.  “The Ministy of Magic is already aware of that, and we know your branch of that family has nothing to do with 'Him' or any of his past actions.”  She smiled at the girl-turned-filly.  “I can only assume Scorpius was blackmailing you, threatening to let this be known to all, if you didn't do as he told.  Do not worry, I will have this taken care of immediately upon our return.”
Zwei shook her head.  “I... I don't want to go back there.”
“But...”  Minerva was stunned by this, but as she recovered, Twilight placed a hoof on Zwei's shoulder.
“Headmistress Mcgonagall.  I have a proposition.  Sweetie Belle is attending your school of magic, yes?  Would it be too much to ask that Zwei attend our school of magic here in Equestria?  A student exchange, as it were.”
Minerva blinked, and looked to be pondering this suggestion.  “I will have to take this up with the Ministry as well as her family.  I cannot say I am opposed to this idea in the least, but there are many factors that must be considered after all.”
The Princess beamed a bright smile as she spoke.  “I understand, and I will work with you to make this happen, and to help protect both Zwei and Sweetie Belle from this Scorpius.”  She then turned to Discord.  “And you, Discord... How exactly did you open the portal even though the moon isn't up?”
“That's a rule.”  Discord chuckled.  “And you KNOW how I feel about rules.”
Twilight facehooved, as did every other pony present, sans Minerva and Zwei.
“I should have seen that coming...”  Twilight muttered.  “Now, Headmistress...”
“Princess, you can call me Minerva.  Please go on now.”
“Yes, of course Minerva.”  Twilight smiled.  “I would also suggest, perhaps, trading a teacher as well.  If we are to have relations between our worlds, why can we not also help out with teaching?  I know Sweetie Belle has been telling you, the teachers and her fellow students about our magic, but she is hardly qualified to actually teach much about it.”
Sweetie Belle blushed and looked away innocently.
“Ah, yes, that is true.”  Minerva returned Twilight's smile.  “This is certainly a good idea.  And we can see about sending you a portfolio of potential teachers who can come to Equestria to teach witchcraft and wizardry.”
Fluttershy rose from her throne and approached the fillies.  “How about we go for a walk while Twilight and Minerva talk over the details.  This is going to be boring school and grown up stuff.”
Sweetie Belle's face nearly split in half from the massive smile on it.  She hugged Zwei.  “Come on Zwei!  There's so much I want to show you.”
Zwei didn't have a chance to refuse as she was led off by her pony friend.

…

“And finally, this is my old school.”  Sweetie Belle gestured to the red schoolhouse.
“It's so... small.”  Zwei commented.  So far, as much as she had been enjoying the tour, her own guilt for what she could have done was weighing down heavily on her heart.
Sweetie Belle giggled.  “Well yea, Ponyville isn't really that big.  Come on, let's go say hello to Miss Cheerilee and all my friends here.”  She then leaned over and whispered into Zwei's ear,  “Just keep away from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.  They're meanies.”
“Seems every school has at least one.”  Zwei commented, mostly to herself.
Behind the pair, Fluttershy walked along, keeping close, but still with enough distance that she was not crowding the pair.
So far, Zwei seemed to be trying to enjoy herself, but at the same time there was this look in her eyes that told of her sadness.  Fluttershy just wanted to wrap her wings around the filly and give her gentle hugs till all her sadness went away.
But Fluttershy knew that would be weird, especially since she hardly knew the pony.  So she just followed along, making sure they didn't get into any trouble.
The pair entered the schoolhouse and approached a door.  They could hear Miss Cheerilee teaching her students, but this didn't stop Sweetie Belle from knocking on the door.
A few moments later, it opened to reveal a startled looking mare.  “Sweetie Belle?  Welcome back.  Are you back to resume your schooling here in Ponyville?”
The filly shook her head.  “No Miss Cheerilee.  I'm just here for the day, and I brought a friend along with me to show around Ponyville.  I thought I should bring her here to show what our school is like.”
“I see.  Well, come on in and let's introduce your friend to the class, then you can take any available seats.”  Cheerilee spotted Fluttershy and smiled.  Fluttershy returned the smile before turning had heading back toward the castle.  She needed to know what was happening with the negotiations.
Zwei stood next to Sweetie Belle as said filly started speaking.  “This is Zwei Gemini.  She attends the same school of magic I am attending.  We had a bit of a rough start, but we quickly became good friends.”
A pink filly wearing a tiara lifted a hoof, but a glare from Cheerilee made her put it back down.  “If you have any questions for Zwei, please wait till recess or lunch break.  Now, feel free to take a seat.”
“Thank you Miss Cheerilee.”  Sweetie Belle smiled and headed into the class, followed by Zwei.
Sweetie Belle took a seat in the middle of the class while Zwei sat next to the filly who had raised her hoof earler.
And then the class resumed.
Zwei listened as Cheerilee explained various things concerning the history of Equestria.  While it was fascinating, it was difficult to concentrate with the pink filly casting glares at her.  If she had to guess, this was most likely that Diamond Tiara that Sweetie Belle had warned her about.  Doing her best to ignore her, Zwei focused on the lesson.
Recess break came pretty quickly, and Zwei found herself quickly being led outside into the schoolyard by Sweetie Belle, and moments later found herself surrounded by virtually the whole class.  She was asked plenty of questions about the magic school, and surprisingly those questions were not all thrown at her at once.  It seemed these young ponies were polite enough to ask their questions one at a time, taking turns as well.
Sweetie Belle offered Zwei what support she could, and even Scootaloo and Applebloom were there with them.  They didn't ask any questions, seeing as they knew the truth about where Sweetie Belle and Zwei's school was.
But then the small crowd parted as a pair of fillies approached.  The pink one and a silver and gray one.
“So, you think you're something special?  Attending a magic school?  You don't even have a cutie mark.”  Diamond Tiara scoffed.  “Just because you are a...”
“Stupify!”  Sweetie Belle growled and stunned the filly.  She then pointed her wand at Silver Spoon.  “Please don't make me zap you too.”
Silver Spoon blinked, looked at her friend, then at Sweetie Belle and that little stick that had just zapped said friend, then back at Diamond Tiara.  “Um, I don't have any questions.”  She quickly scooped the stunned filly onto her back and rushed back into the schoolhouse.