Chapter 2
Dear Hogwarts Staff,
As you may have noticed, a large number of invitations from your school seem to have reached a new land, titled Equestria. We believe this is most fortunate; however, this may also prove to be unfortunate.
Roughly three nights ago, we opened a permanent gateway between our worlds.
Yes, you read that correctly. Equestria exists in an entirely different universe from your school. We’re not entirely sure how you managed to address so many letters so accurately, but it happened- and all of these invitations may be the perfect chance to introduce our worlds to each other, perhaps begin exchanging knowledge.
This is also where it may become unfortunate. We have explored the local area to our gateway, and the civilization we witnessed bears little to no resemblance to our civilization. We are not sure, as of yet, if there will be a culture clash; we hope there won’t be. Our kind are generally very accepting, and should adapt very quickly to your school.
And yes, you read ‘Our kind’ correctly as well. Our people look completely different from yours; however, our gate will automatically transform us to match as we pass. We’ve already confirmed; while we’re most definitely not human on our side, we do transform- and quite convincingly, I might add- into humans when we pass through. Our hair colors do appear to be unusual when we do that, though we have confirmed even our biology is converted accurately, and completely reversibly.
This gate also poses a fairly major problem for the arrangements with your school. This gate is shielded against possible intrusion; at this time, non-Equestrian humans are magically barred entry, and we keep it under lock and key on our side as well. However, this can be easily worked around; we have observed the formation of magical bonds upon accepting attendance, and these bonds can be traced, so we intend to handle the logistics side of things, getting our people to where they need to be to acquire materials or reach the school for term.
However, we are not yet aware of where any of these required materials might be acquired. As such, we will be sending a few of our known attendees through the gate, to wait at the park in Little Winging, Surrey, starting at exactly eleven AM on July Twentieth. If you could have staff, or some other official, come to meet them- look for the blue-and-white-striped hair, her name is Lyra Heartstrings- to guide them to these locations, we would appreciate that very much.
Since our currency likely bears little or no similarity to yours, these students are also being sent in the capacity of official representatives of our nation. If it is not a significant bother to you, we would appreciate your also guiding them to whoever they need to meet to negotiate and set up an exchange rate for our currency. If this is not possible, we have already identified at least one means of exchange, though it is perhaps the most cumbersome method there is, especially with quantity.
In any case, once these few students return with the knowledge of where to acquire these materials, they will share that knowledge with our team- and we will handle the logistics of getting the rest of the Equestrian students to the shops and back, in an attempt to mitigate the rush. We don’t yet know how many Equestrians will be going to your school, nor what numbers are normal for the shops in question, and hope to minimize any potential disasters if the numbers are different from what we expect.
In that same vein, though, we have noticed there is nothing in any of your offer letters to indicate how we might reach the school on September First, beyond the train tickets for an unlikely platform number. Please ensure this is covered with our initial students as well; we would like to minimize any potential delays with reaching the school.
We would like to request, though, that any and all communications intended for any Equestrian entity other than a student be directed first to Agent Sweetie Drops or Agent Candy Stripes. These two Agents will confirm the destination of the communication, which may include redirecting it to the actually intended recipient, if it were misdirected. This will most likely be the case for many communications that may be intended for the parent or family of a student; we are aware that many of the Equestrian students either no longer live with their parents or family, or have no family to live with. Our networks are vast enough to identify these situations, and tell who the missive should properly be headed to; unfortunately, yours will not be, and some students may try to mislead, to deliberately get it to go to the wrong place.
Sincerely,
Agent Candy Stripes
Royal Equestrian Secret Service
Professor McGonagall lets out a relieved sigh.
Professor Snape notices. “What is it?” he asks. All the professors in the school have been battling with the mountain of letters, hashing out who is coming and who isn’t- and trying to figure out how to reach most of the ones that are saying they are coming. Professors Vector and Sprout have departed for the normal muggleborn-introduction sequence.
“They know it’s an unexpected load,” she answers. “And they want to work with us. According to this, they come from another world- and they’re trying to smooth over the sudden addition of their students to our pool, by using their own people to help their students to acquire supplies. Only, they don’t know where to go.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Seems they can trace the agreements just like we do with muggle-born.”
“How will they know where to go?” Dumbledore asks.
She sighs. “That’s where we come in. Once. And they’ve specified a time and a place.”
“Excellent! Where is it?”
“A park,” she answers. “They want to meet in a park, at… eleven, on the twentieth?”
Dumbledore checks his wristwatch. “That was ten minutes ago.”
She sets the letter down firmly, releasing her breath through a tightened jaw. “Alright,” she states. “Who’s going?”
“Why don’t you?” Dumbledore asks. “You’ve already read what they want. We’ll take care of the rest of this while you’re at it.” He waves his hand at the letters still littering the table.
She sighs, rising. “Alright.”
Reaching the park in a hurry without drawing muggle attention was difficult, at best. It took her a few minutes to change into muggle clothing, then a few more to leave the limits of Hogwarts’ wards; after that, she aparated to the gap between a few houses in the area, hid her wand, and marched quickly out, and down the block to the park. Overall, it took her almost twenty five minutes to reach the park specified, from the moment she got up from that table.
Now, she stops at the entrance of the park, and looks around.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t see the specified hair colors anywhere.
But it’s a big park, so she hopes they’ve merely gone to another part of the park, rather than giving up and going home already.
Some five minutes pass, before she spots something strange in one of the sports fields. She’s not familiar with most muggle sports, but she does recognize it, from the times she’s had muggleborn students that wouldn’t stop talking about it; it’s the one with the four bases and the pitcher’s mound. There are two people on the field, both first-year age. One of them is at the home base, holding a bat, while the other is at what she’s pretty sure is second base, rather than the pitcher’s mound.
As she watches, the one on second base- two-tone pink and dark blue hair- throws a white ball at the home base so hard it positively screams as it travels, almost perfectly straight.
The bat seems to move even faster. It swings around to smash into the ball with a crack like a thunderbolt, before swinging right back to its prior position while the ball screams right back to where it came from, slamming into the pitching girl’s bare hand as if she did it all the time.
That had to have hurt… Though, if that one on the home plate was one of the new students, she figures that student would make a great beater for the Quidditch team. The thrower, probably a chaser.
She steps closer as the ball rips back and forth across the field once again, squinting in the sunlight. Ahh, yes, the batter has that blue-and-white-striped hair.
She clears her throat. “Lyra?” she calls.
“Mm?” the batter asks, looking up at her.
The thrower lobs the ball at the batter again- but the bat snaps around in the nick of time, deflecting the ball directly upwards… and not with very much speed. Lyra then spins in place, hitting the ball so hard it disappears completely… then she throws the bat at the pitcher, who catches it as if it were the ball, before both girls come trotting closer.
“You called?” Lyra asks.
“You’re, ah, Lyra Heartstrings, correct?”
“Yep!” the blue-haired girl declares, pulling a folded piece of parchment out of her pocket and gesturing towards the thrower. “And this is my good friend Bonbon. You’re here for Hogwarts?”
She blinks. “Ah, yes. You’re the ones from Equestria?”
“That would be a yes as well,” Bonbon states, showing up to hand the bat to Lyra.
She notices that the metal bat has several large dents in it, including one ball-sized hole near the tip, the ball just visible inside. She might be too good for the Quidditch team.
“Right,” she states. “I am Professor McGonagall.”
“Ahh,” Bonbon states, nodding as they both bow briefly. “Deputy headmistress. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Right. Do you have your lists?”
“Yep!” Bonbon draws her list out of her pocket as well.
Lyra starts reading hers aloud, having already had it out, then stops to snicker.
Bonbon glances at her friend. “Uh, yeah. Sorry for throwing you for a loop there, Professor. We’re kinda… Well, good at it.”
“Alright,” she states slowly. “Shall we get going, then?”
“Sure,” Lyra states. “These trees over here should hide an outbound teleport just fine.”
She raises an eyebrow. “You know how to aparate?”
Her answer is a confused look. “What’s ‘aparate’?”
“You know, disappear in one place, and appear in another?”
“So, like a teleport. Though, my kind of teleport is one that you probably wouldn’t be capable of.”
“... What?”
“Yeah. Magic compatibility. Thing is… my magic is structured differently from your magic. So while I should be able to do just about anything you can, the reverse won’t be true. And arcane phase theory happens to fall into that gap.” She blinks. “Don’t worry, that can be fixed with a little training.”
“I see we have a lot to learn,” she states. “Well then, girls. How about we get going?”
“We may have to adjust our curriculum,” Snape mutters, setting a very long scroll down on the table.
Several teachers turn to him to raise their eyebrows. “Oh?”
He grins tiredly and tilts it for them to see the tightly-packed writing. “This Twilight Sparkle took a six-foot missive to say ‘yes I’m coming’.”
“Oh.”
“We might want to get into the practice of specifying maximum length as well on homework,” Professor Flitwick states. “I’d hate to ask for a one-foot essay and be stuck reading one essay all week!”
“And I do believe she will be in your house, Filius,” Snape mutters.
“We are going to have a busy year,” the Charms professor states.
Crack!
Lyra reaches out her hand, bracing herself against a stone wall, and rubbing her forehead. “Ow,” she mumbles.
Bonbon puts her hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”
She nods. “Yeah… But I never want to do that again. That’s some nasty turbulence you have in that apparition spell- could be dangerous. Like, really dangerous.”
“How-?” Professor McGonagall begins, seeming confused.
“Sorry,” she states, pushing off of the wall. “I was curious, so I opened my thaumic senses for the jump. That spell’s a disaster waiting to happen.” She shakes the last of the pain out of her head. “Right then. You were taking us somewhere?”
“You were curious?” Bonbon asks.
“Yeah,” she mutters.
Professor McGonagall sighs. “This way,” she states, leading them out of the alleyway. “Right here, the Leaky Cauldron.”
Bonbon nods and starts walking towards it, but Lyra notices something and starts looking around, at the little pub and the buildings around. Bonbon stops. “What is it, Lyra?”
“Interesting,” Lyra mutters, before looking back down at Bonbon. “The building’s covered in a foldspace spell that only works against those who have absolutely no magical capability whatsoever.”
“What?”
“Yeah. So let’s get inside already, I’d like to start shopping.”
Professor McGonagall raises an eyebrow at her antics, but otherwise ignores it, leading them inside.
It’s a nice little pub, Lyra decides. Even on the inside, it carries that shady pub appearance- but she knows how to look deeper than that and, when she does, it’s actually a nice little place. Judging by the smells floating through the air, she guesstimates it to be a four- or five-star joint. She finishes her surveyance, and looks back up at the professor, eyebrow raised.
“You have something you want to say?” Professor McGonagall asks her.
She shrugs. “Nice pub?”
She raises an eyebrow, and resumes walking. “This way.”
“Roger, coming right up,” both girls say in tandem, following.
Professor McGonagall leads the two out the other side of the pub, to a little courtyard with a trash can and a few weeds. “Now remember,” she states, drawing out her wand. “Three up, two across.” She taps the named brick with her wand.
“Oooh,” Lyra mutters, as the archway forms. “That’s some creative spellwork. And all ambient-powered- pretty impressive.”
Bonbon looks at her. “How long do you think it’ll occupy Twilight?”
Lyra tilts her head, gazing at the bricks for a second. “Eh, a week.” Then she smiles back at Bonbon as they walk through. “If we let her.”
Bonbon snorts. “Yeah. I’m thinking it’ll be better to take her straight here- no, straight to the Leaky Cauldron. Letting her see that bookstore next to it on the other side would be a capital Bad Idea- but we’ll still want her to know how to get through that wall.” She looks up and down the street. “Nice. Where is this?”
Professor McGonagall huffs slightly. “Welcome to Diagon Alley.”
“Diagonally. Interesting.” Bonbon then looks at Lyra. “What do you suppose Spike will call it?”
Lyra chuckles. “Remember, he’s been associating with Twilight. He’ll call it by its proper name- and unlike Twilight, he only stands a fifty-fifty chance of using the same inflections as we do when we tell him.”
The professor blinks. “Unlike Twilight?”
“Yeah. She is almost certainly going to mimic the inflections, tone, and everything else of the first time she heard the name, at least a dozen times. If it wasn’t so diagonal of a name, she wouldn’t do that.”
“Really?”
“Really. I’m planning on pranking her by whispering it the first time.”
“Oooh,” Bonbon nods. “Good idea.” Then she glances up and down the street again. “So, where are we headed first?”
“Gringotts,” Professor McGonagall states. “Wizard’s bank. They’ll handle the exchange. You did bring… money, right?”
Bonbon chuckles. “Yeah, we brought some. Ready to negotiate a fair rate, Lyra?”
“Yeah. Professor? How’s the local currency break down, and what’s its value?”
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Really enjoying how this is going so far. I like that you're playing it straighter than other stories.
9578175
Straighter?
I'm afraid you're going to have to explain the term to me.
9578188
Basically the characters are taking things seriously rather than constantly building up to the next punchline. Sure there are jokes but not at the cost of the main plot.
9578203
That is true, yes.
I'm excited to see where the story goes from here, and I assume Spike will also be attending?
9578347
Very possibly, yes.
I mean, Pinkie's sure Twilight's coming, and we know Spike "got mail" too...
Huh, the portal's playing silly games, I'm fairly certain Lyra and Bon Bon are older than that
9627397
Yes, yes it is. It’s a quirk I’m using to give me quite so many Equestrians to hit Hogwarts with.
How many baseball fields does one expect to find in Surrey?
9627446
That is true. Considering the park I'm referring to is referred to in later books (as in, the ones it actually appears in) as a "playpark" and it's within city limits, chances are there won't be any sports fields in it... But eh, AU. I dumped it there as an early warning to McGonagall as to exactly what she's dealing with... Whether she saw it as that or not, well...
After years of dealing with the Marauders she has been desensitized. Between Twilight, Pinkie, and the CMC she will regret it.
9629850
Yeah, that she will. There's also a few other ponies that may drive up her regret levels as well, but those'll be some of the primary ones.
9627463
She certainly got some idea.
Followed by the teachers wondering if they've just invited a race of Shoggoths or something, I'm sure. They might not even be completely wrong, considering Pinkie's great-great-grand-uncle Tsathoggua (who just gives the best hugs).
(The last part was shamelessly cribbed (aside from the name and actual relation, since I forget specifics) from a quip in one of Lord of Dorkness' stories. It needs to be a part of everyone's headcanon.)
Huh. I guess the teachers are going to be learning at least as much as the students. I wonder if there'll be anything about how advanced magic is so apparently rare? For the story, the kids go around seemingly far more competently solving problems that the adults could not (could be corruption, to be fair), and magic seems fairly backward. Isn't there a lot of lost arcana too? Most spells seem to be more specialized or not capable of the sorts of things that were done in the past (Merlin, Hogwarts itself...). Also, isn't it normally spelled "apparate"?
Twilight and Hermione MUST meet. Much as I eventually came to dislike a certain other HP cross on this site, the heartsong about books is too funny to pass up.
This looks like a good start of an interesting story.
Wait a minute...that's where Harry is! Careful, Celestia; you might find an unloved and constantly-bullied orphan trying to stick with you - which might actually be beneficial, since he'll be away from his decade-long tormentors and the machinations and manipulations of a century-old information-hoarder of a wizard, one who was practically responsible for two dark wizards gaining power and influence.
I remember that Lyra was in Twilight's group together with Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Moondancer and Twinkleshine. I guess she thinks she knows Twilight well (and by extension Spike) because of that? But her mane isn't white and blue, hmm...
Im not the only one that's terrified that pinkie got a letter am i? * whimper *
10023912
I'm not that terrified I'm more terrified of sweetie Belle getting into a potions class with Snape the implications from that would give anyone nightmares 😅
that shielding is nothing when facing the magical owl fleets.
i'd thinks that hogwarts has superior magical security than anything in equestria. seeing that every magical artifact in the show can be use by villains without unlocking spell.
only one exception is the element of harmony, and that's a artifact of divine origin.