Chapter 60: Return to Equestria
Amelia Bones and Mad-Eye Moody met up with them at Hogwarts not long after the Wizengamot session. Harry suspected the Chief Warlock and Head of the DMLE would be using her Time Turner to make time for this outing, though he didn't know about Moody. Madam Bones had not retired from her other position, just as Dumbledore had not renounced headmastership of Hogwarts, and so required more Time than most people. Being retired, Moody had plenty of free time, and Harry didn't know how frequently he used a Time Turner, if at all.
After receiving 'language necklaces' and stepping through the Mirror – which wasn't a mirror anymore, just a portal? – Bones and Moody and Monroe were greeted and ushered out of the vault by Princess Luna, while Princess Celestia said she would 'look after Mr. Potter'. This was not protested by Bones or Moody, probably because it had been expected.
"So, Harry Potter," said Celestia when the other four had gone and it was just the two of them standing in the room with the wish-granting device. "How went your mission?"
"Mission accomplished," he said with a salute and a smile.
"And you have fully ascended, as my sister and Riddle say? Not that I doubt them, but…"
Harry performed his animagus transformation.
"Ascension accomplished too," said Silver Life, his mane of Patronus light glowing brightly behind him.
"Beautiful," she said. "Truly wonderful and marvelous." There was a deep warmth to her words that gave them far more weight than Silver had been expecting. "You have done so well that I could not possibly put it into words, my little… no, not my little pony. Not mine…" She grinned. "Not even born a pony. Since I did not know to say it before, I shall say it now. Welcome to Equestria. Regardless of species or place of birth, you will always have a place here. Thank you for all that you have done, for Equus and for Earth."
Silver was slightly stunned by the sincerity in her voice. Despite all of his accomplishments, it’s not often that he hears heartfelt compliments that actually feel meaningful. He knew there were dangers in accepting compliments; it can make you vulnerable to manipulation through flattery, give you an over-inflated ego, cause you to develop the false belief that the bulk of the work had already been done. But even still…
"Thank you very much," he said into the silence, gracing the rare display of deep and genuine gratitude with one of his own, going so far as to bow his head. "I'm officially an Equestrian citizen?"
"Oh, you are much more than that." She adopted a formal tone and posture. "You shall henceforth be known as Horizon, Alicorn of Life, Prince of Equestria." In a pony genuflect he had never seen before, but which somehow looked archaic, she deeply bowed to him. "May your wisdom lead us all to a better tomorrow." Then she drew herself up and said, less formally, "Though you can choose a different name if you wish."
He blinked. Citizenship and royalty in a year, despite being foreign-born? That must be some kind of a record.
"Prince Horizon…" said the newly-dubbed Prince Horizon, testing the name with his own voice. "Horizon… yeah, that has a nice ring. I like it."
It was certainly better than Snow White.
"Although I probably won't use it for a while," he said apologetically. "And I'd like to learn the spell that reverts my mane. But when the time comes, I'll wear it with pride, because it's better than all of my alternatives." From a PR perspective, anyway. "It's the perfect moniker for what I'm all about."
"You flatter me," said Princess Celestia. Her horn glowed and Prince Horizon felt his mane return to normal strands of hair. "I've had decades to think of it."
"Do you have a name for Memory too?" asked Silver Life/Wing. He'll still need to cover his horn or wings. What happened to his old headband?
"Princess Radiance," said Celestia. "Though that is only a placeholder. I still do not know the magic she shall share with the world. It took many years to come up with yours after Riddle explained your ambition to me. I have had much time to reflect on all the changes you helped to inspire during your short stay. If you do not mind answering, I have been as curious as he. Was your escape…?"
"Deliberate," Silver confirmed with a nod.
"In that case, brilliantly done!" Her warm voice acquired a hint of trepidation. "Does Riddle know?"
"Yes. He asked right away."
"I hope he was not too upset when you answered."
"Oh, not really," Silver said with a casual shrug. "He only killed me. Without warning me first."
"Ah," Celestia coughed. "I… see…" She wore an abstracted look. "My sister is going to give him an earful about that, if she hasn't already."
Silver waved a hoof. "Ask her not to bother. Informed consent might be a staple of modern medical ethics… but I don't mind this one instance. I'm glad he did it the way he did."
Celestia shook her head and sighed. "Very well. The right to indemnify is yours to exercise, just like it is your right to indict. Are you ready for a teleportation? Twilight is expecting us."
"Sure," said Silver. "I would say I can do it myself, but I'm guessing it'd be a bad idea to teleport to my old room."
Celestia smiled, her horn lighting up. "Correct."
When the light of the teleport faded, Silver stared.
And stared.
And continued staring until Celestia nudged him gently.
He said the first thing that came to mind. "That's a really big tree."
"The Tree of Magic." Celestia's voice was illuminating, warm, and filled with fondness. "I thought you should see the outside first. What do you think?"
The base alone was as wide in diameter as a muggle skyscraper. The bark looked like some kind of crystal. Giant doors adorned the front, and a whole palace sat in the upper branches like a fantasy treehouse.
"'Grand' is the word that comes to mind," he decided to say, though it wasn't even really a decision. It was the only thing to say.
"Grand indeed," said Celestia. "Twilight has been striving to see you for thirty-five years. Let us not delay any longer. Are you ready for another teleportation?"
It was only then that Silver explicitly noticed she had asked. Now and before. She remembered after thirty four years. "Thank you for checking. I'm ready."
"Excellent. And if you don't mind…" Celestia's horn glowed, but instead of a flash, Silver felt his mane lighten. "I think you should appear in all your majesty when you greet her."
…Prince Horizon decided not to argue.
It was his second reunion with parental figures in three days- third reunion, actually, if he counted Riddle. This one was rather one-sided, but Prince Horizon tried not to spoil it for Twilight. She looked more mature, but not much different from how she used to look, aside from the wings and the mane of magical patterns. Did she have a new name too?
"You amazing colt," she said as she released him. "So," she began. "Discovered the true Patronus Charm. Realized the potions principle. Figured out multiple ways of bypassing phylacteries. Offered the key insight to restoring lost memories. Is there anything else you didn't tell me that you knew about magic?"
"Yeah," said Horizon. "Emergus." He brought forth and touched his wand to the wooden floor beneath him. Five seconds later, there was a patch of steel where the wood had been. "Partial Transfiguration." And a few other things he wasn't yet ready to disclose. "Don't tell anyone, though. In fact, I'll need your help to create an Interdict that prevents it from destroying the world."
"'Partial' Transfiguration?" asked Twilight with a frown, examining the patch of steel with her glowing horn. "Partial Transfiguration?" she echoed, her eyes widening as her diagnostic charms delivered information to her brain. "PARTIAL TRANSFIGURATION?!"
Her mane had a lot more of those complicated patterns than earlier, as if mimicking her old mane's tendency to frizzle when…
"NICESEEINGYOUAGAINTALKLATERLOVEYOUBYE!"
And she disappeared in a flash of teleportation after giving him one last big hug. She took the transfigured chunk of floor with her.
"That mare," Celestia sighed as the floor repaired itself. She was still wearing that fond smile. "What would we do without her?"
The obvious answer of 'die' came to Horizon's mind, but he, equally obviously, didn't voice it. "So… no Pinkie Pie Ascension Party?"
"Perhaps her sense has told her to delay her gratification," said Celestia, her horn lighting up and returning his mane to mundanity. "Come along. There is one more pony I'd like you to see."
Elsewhere…
The Defense Professor, the head of the DMLE, and the Dark Wizard Hunter watched as Igor Karkaroff spoke with his wand in hand, his face scowling as many other horns, and wands, and a suspended massive boulder were all trained on him.
"What're they talking about?" asked Moody. He'd lost track of how many questions he'd asked so far, and there were going to be many more to come.
"They're confirming that Igor has understood the full meaning and intent of the Vow before starting the ritual," the Defense Professor explained from beside them on the observation deck. "Intelligence causes variance in comprehension time. The binder of Igor's vow, Dolohov, was bound yesterday, so he already understands it. We've been using a chain of Death Eater binders so that only the first two Vows required anyone else's magic."
"Hah!" Moody laughed.
"We won't be seeing every Vow?" asked Amelia.
"Most of them have already been done, so no. But you can rest assured they all went the same way as this one is about to go." Then he brought a wand to his throat and said, "You may begin."
Amelia and Mad-Eye watched and listened to the whole process, the many unicorn horns and other creatures at the ready, the many wards and webs preventing escape, the threats both mundane and magical that Igor would face if he tried to do anything with his wand other than cross it with the Vow receiver's horn. If Monroe spoke true, and if the physical evidence they'd read for themselves wasn't a lie, these precautions were on top of the magical contract binding Igor to attempt no trickery or resistance during this process.
Once it was finally set in motion, the most important things to watch for were the tangible magic in the air, the visual tells and spoken forms to prove that this really was an unbreakable Vow, and of course, the content:
"I vow that I shall not, by any willing act of mine, by proxy, or by negligence, violate of the property rights of other sapient beings."
And…
Nothing else.
That was it.
The ponies began deactivating the security measures.
Amelia frowned. "What, precisely, is meant by 'property rights'? That does not seem nearly restrictive enough."
The Defense Professor gave a quick run-through of the definition, which was a surprisingly short list of four rules, three of which were seemingly unrelated to property…
"Are you sure that's what they all think it means?" Amelia asked.
"I am sure that the receiver thinks it means that, and I am certain her mind has not been tampered with. All three participants must share the same understanding of the Vow's intent for it to be binding, and hers is a strong personality. If the Vow takes with her as a participant, that's that. No more violations to property rights as she understands them."
"Define that again, son," said Mad-Eye. "Different words. Rephrase at least three times."
The man smiled in apparent appreciation. "A crash course on Equestrian ethics it is."
"Flight Formation?" asked Silver, his eyes focusing immediately on the pony he recognized: the retired Wonderbolt captain, his old flying instructor, and his favorite school superintendent. Flight was standing in the center of a stadium, surrounded by younger pegasi. Silver looked at the sign above the stadium which read Silver Wing's Flying Stadium. "He's still teaching my classes?" he asked, a question which somehow took priority over 'I have a stadium?'
"He is still assistant teaching your classes," Celestia pointed out. "Look at the pony next to him. Do you recognize her?"
"Umm…" Silver squinted, only then noticing the new alicorn. Her ethereal mane looked like the sky around them – blue and cloudy. "No. Sorry."
"You needn't apologize," said Celestia. "She is older now, and you had a far greater impact on her than she had on you. I'll re-introduce you two when lessons are over, which will be in…" she looked at a giant screen that said 5:58. "Two minutes. Perfect. Go to that building on the other side of the stadium. I'll tell her to meet you there. And be quick about it. I've set your mane to revert to its natural state in twenty seconds."
As soon as he processed the words, he bucked himself towards the door, drawing many eyes towards the sound, but hopefully that wouldn't matter because he made it to the door and opened it and closed it with… at least three seconds to spare. Phew.
Once his heart had calmed slightly, he glanced around the room. The first thing his brain recognized was that it was filled with displays – glass cases, large pictures, signs with text. A museum of some kind.
He walked up to one of the exhibits, and found that it contained… that crumpled sheet of paper he'd used to brainstorm ideas on how to tackle the pegasus magic problem. How did they get that?
Nearby stood a stand with his old headband.
He lifted the glass with levitation magic, took it off the stand, and put it over his horn, noticing with some amount of appreciation that the enchantment still worked. Hopefully he was moving too fast earlier for the ponies outside to notice his horn… although his mane would make this redundant.
Then he looked around again. Was this really a museum dedicated to himself? Wow. He wasn't expecting that to happen until he'd reached forty or fifty years old. Then again, he sort of has reached fifty, hasn't he?
Then the door clicked open and he froze in place, realizing that he'd just stolen an item from a museum display. Even if it was his.
"Alright, who's the showboat with friends in high- Hey! No touching the displays!"
Silver felt magic tug at his headband, but the one who did the tugging must not have known the headband's purpose. He felt pressure on the base of his horn, followed by a small rrrip sound, followed by a gasp of horror.
He turned around to see a grown mare with absolute dread on her face, looking from his horn to the torn headband held in her magic… looking like she was having the worst day of her life. Her mane had gone from fluffy clouds to a rainy downpour.
"Reparo," Silver said before she could explode into rage, or tears, or both. The headband knitted itself together again, though it might have to be re-enchanted. "Sorry about that," he said. "I put it on without thinking."
"You-" said the mare. "You- you- you-"
"Prince Horizon," he introduced himself, since his mane was glowing at the moment. "Pleased to meet you… um… miss."
The mare blinked a few times, took a few deep breaths, examined the headband to make sure it wasn't damaged, then carefully returned it to the display case. Her mane had returned mostly to normal.
"Princess Airess," she said. Somehow, Silver understood the spelling without seeing it written, and despite the fact that the original name was in a different language. "And being an alicorn is not an excuse for being dumb, even if you can fix it later. I know that better than anypony. So can you please tell me why you thought it was a good idea to take that headband?"
"Because it had a space enchantment that fits a horn," said Silver. "Still works, too. It wouldn't have ripped if you hadn't yanked it."
"I know it had a space enchantment, but that doesn't mean… you get to…" she trailed off, blinking slowly. She looked to a life-size, cardboard cutout image of Silver Wing. She walked up to it.
For the sake of mischief, Silver walked up to the image so he was standing right next to it, pretending to examine it like she was.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the gaze of the orange mare slowly shift towards him.
He continued to pretend to stare at the image. It is a pretty good picture of himself. "And because the headband doesn't belong to the museum."
"Silver Wing?" asked a small, hesitant voice.
"Only when I'm pretending to be a pegasus," said Silver. "Or when I actually was a pegasus, I guess."
"SILVER!" shouted a loud, royal Canterlot voice, followed by a crushing hug and a few spins through the air.
He could have teleported out of the hug, but he decided not to. When he was released, he found himself floating without any effort or desire on his part to defy gravity. The orange alicorn was literally flying circles around him.
"You're back you're back you're BACK!" she cheered happily as her wind currents slowly began to turn him in the air.
"I'm not back, I'm up," said Silver. "Now I'm sideways. Now I'm down. Now I'm back. Oop. Back to up again."
The mare stopped circling him, which caused his circling to slow down, though he didn't stop entirely.
"You haven't aged a day," she said, as if she had just realized it.
"I have aged a day," he said. "A few days, actually." Three days, to be exact. Plus Time Turned hours.
The mare's enthusiasm seemed to sink. "Wait… is that what happens when you become an alicorn when you're a colt? You never grow up?"
"No, I've lived about as many years as I look," said Silver. "Although now that you mention it, I guess that means I don't know if I can age or not…" He trailed off at her confused expression. How to put this in lay-pony terms… "I was trapped in a forwards time machine thirty-five years ago," Silver summarized on the spot. It was actually a pretty good approximation to the truth. "I only just got out. I don't know if this body will let me age, but it probably will, to a point." And if not, well, he can always resort to a bit of self-transfiguration with the Stone of Permanence.
"A… forwards time machine…" she echoed. She seemed to think about it. "Oh."
"Yeah."
"So… you're still twelve?"
"Thirteen," he corrected.
She digested this. Then she slumped to the floor. Silver slumped with her, until he was feeling the full effects of gravity once more.
"No," said the mare. "No, no, no! This is all wrong! You're supposed to be a stallion, not a colt! A stallion!"
"I'm pretty sure I'm only supposed to be what I am at any given moment," said Silver, standing to his hooves. "I'll be a stallion later. No need to rush… things…" he trailed off, looking at the mare who had tears in her eyes.
"You're thirty-five younger than me," she said in a choked voice. "We were the same age, and now…"
"Uh… right…" said Silver. "Um, did we meet back then?"
That was when the mare teleported away, but not before Silver noticed she was doing it because she had fully broken into tears.
Two seconds later, Celestia appeared in the room, looking sadly to where the orange alicorn had been. "I was afraid this might happen," she said. "But she had to learn sooner or later. I tried to warn her…"
"Okay," said Silver, raising a hoof. "Time out. Who was that?"
"That was Scootaloo," said Celestia. "The young filly who was so inspired by you that she became an Alicorn."
"Oh," said Silver. "Oh," he repeated, beginning to understand.
Right. Scootaloo, his number-one flight class student, the (formerly?) wing-deformed pegasus.
"She was rather smitten with what she thought you would be like when you returned, for I told her you would one day," Celestia said, her explanation less necessary than it had been five seconds ago. "I never knew how to break the news to her, so I didn't. As time passed, it became clearer and clearer that I should have mentioned the Time problem at the very start, for she turned down coltfriend after coltfriend, staying single for thirty-five years straight. She spent more time in your museum than she should have, and became your true, number one fan. I couldn't even bring myself to remind her of Memory." Celestia bowed her head. "I'm sorry."
Silver didn't know what to say. The only thing that came to mind was…
"I still think it is not punishment enough," said Amelia when they were 'wrapping up' their visit. "Or even punishment at all."
"Equestria has different views on what constitutes appropriate legal punishment," said their guide. "Especially in cases extreme enough for Vows to be on the table."
"Gonna give us another lecture on pony ethics?" asked Moody. He didn't sound annoyed, just curious.
The man shrugged. "I'll keep this one brief. The earliest Equestrian philosopher in their recorded history suggested that the art of morality is the art of restricting free will as little as possible while still eliminating evil. Much like Merlin's philosophy." He smiled ironically, as if remembering an inside joke. "The Death Eaters will be punished by their own inner-demons in the coming years, if they live that long."
The Defense Professor had allowed Mad-Eye to interview anyone he wished – and Mad-Eye interviewed many, from the Death Eaters themselves to Princess Luna to the beings standing guard.
The Defense Professor had shown Moody and Bones the indestructible magic-suppressing anklets that could only be removed by a joint effort of Celestia, Luna, and Excelsior.
He had shown them the Death Eater encampment.
The Death Eaters didn't have to live there, they were surprisingly free for prisoners, but they were reluctant to set out into a world in which in which they did not have access to their own magic, in which they would have to find a way to provide for themselves, in which they would be alone. Culture-wise. Species-wise. Ethics-wise.
The encampment was utterly miserable, with a number of men just laying on the ground or on a bench and staring off into space, as if they could not think of a single thing to do.
"Why wouldn't they live that long?" asked Amelia.
"The free meals and housing will end in a year," Monroe said. "Sooner, if they refuse therapy. I expect some of them will take their chances elsewhere. With the Vows and anklets in place, I don't trust their ability to provide for themselves if they leave, but they can if they wish."
That will prevent the Death Eaters from becoming 'useless eaters', which would not be a good habit for them to develop, nor would providing for them be good for pony society. They would have to live honest lives – which, to be fair, some already did, at least when it came to having jobs back on Earth. But they would have to live honest lives in other ways too, ways they are not used to, ways that involve mutual negotiation, consent, and a complete lack of evil. No doubt they feel like prisoners, despite the freedom to leave. They are prisoners in their own bodies.
"It's about time we head back," said Monroe. "Any other questions?"
"Yes," said Mad-Eye. "How the heck did you get the Death Eaters to agree to be Vowed? Karkaroff's a bloody coward, but others aren't. No way the Lestrange brothers came quietly, even if they believed you're Voldie and you tickled them with the Cruciatus a few times. Or did Dementor exposure make 'em compliant?"
He paused in brief recollection.
"Those are your orders, my servants. In myself, it has produced tremendous strength, and I would see you all strengthened, even if it takes decades. If you are skeptical, feel free to attack me. As many of you at once, and you will not be punished beyond what is necessary for me to subdue you. Witness for yourself the power-"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"Expecto Patronum. Stupify-"
"Not quite," he said. "The Death Eaters of Azkaban were healed by that large Patronus Charm before coming here, restoring a great deal of their will to live. And there were others with rebellious spirits who did not spend time in Azkaban. But…" He gave Mad-Eye a wolfish smile. "Did I mention that Ms. Granger's case is not quite exceptional? That people can be revived under the right circumstances, and that the methodology was primarily innovated here?" Though it couldn't be done without permanent cost prior to Mr. Silver's ascension. "In order to drive home the point, I may have suggested a test of strength, and I may have killed a few of them." That, or he may be misleading Moody. He could have done it, in theory, but Avada Kedavra wouldn't have proven true dominance, and Mr. Potter's schedule had been packed. "I may have killed them multiple times over, in the case of the Lestrange brothers," he said, continuing to lie without speaking any falsehoods.
"Hah!" said Moody. "And Bellatrix Black? She agree right away, or was there trouble?"
"She does not refuse her Dark Lord, does not question, does not argue. Nevertheless, her case is delicate. I will show you, but you mustn't be seen or heard."
When they saw the thin, motionless witch, missing one arm, sitting on a bed and staring into space vacuously, Amelia asked for more details.
"She, too, has been bound by that Vow. Ten years of Dementor exposure did a number on her, as it did a few others. A certain conversation after the Vow set in rendered her… like that." He sighed. "This is the part where I tell you there is one other Death Eater I haven't mentioned yet, nor will I tell you his whereabouts. I will say his name, but after that you will have to walk the path of powerful wizardry and figure out the rest for yourself."
"Who?" said Mad-Eye.
The man paused, as if in reluctance.
Then he steeled himself and said, "Tom Riddle."
Scootaloo is a pathetic mare. She's a forty-five years old alicorn, she's Princess Airess for Celestia's sake, and here she is, crying in a cloud like she's ten again. Last time it was Rainbow Dash. Last time, Rainbow found her and fixed things. This time, nopony can make it better. Her dream stallion, her soulmate, turned out to be…
"Hello," said a voice she recognized. "I'm Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres."
She sniffed, blinked a few times, and looked up. There was a strange creature hovering right in front of her. It was wingless, wearing a necklace that wasn't a cloud walking necklace, and she was fairly certain it wasn't using her own method of…
"When I was one and a half years old," said the floating creature in Silver Wing's voice, "a dark lord killed my parents."
The creature reached into its robes and withdrew a parchment screen.
Scootaloo watched, in horrified fascination, as a long-maned creature with a female voice was mocked in the most horrible way possible, and then… and then…
And then the creature with Silver's voice rolled up the memory and returned it to his robes.
"Then I was adopted by my parents, who loved me very much."
He withdrew another screen, this one showing a scene of another long-maned female saying that 'Harry' has a big heart, followed by a short-maned creature asking if he had bought enough books. It was touching even though she didn't understand the context. She could hear the emotion in everypony's voice.
The creature returned that one to his robes as well.
"They weren't perfect," said the creature. "They made mistakes. Dad didn't respect me the way I wanted him to, and Mum wasn't as smart as I'd have liked her to be. And I knew I was adopted. So sometimes I was tempted to compare them to what I thought my real parents would have been like. And I indulged in that temptation more than once, even though I knew it was wrong. And then I learned that my birth father was a bully, and my birth mother was shallow. I learned they weren't perfect after all. And I wondered if I should be sad about that, but it was right after a different boy said his parents were being tortured in this place."
The creature showed her a memory that, later, she wished he hadn't shown her. It was a voice, probably of another furless, flat-faced minotaur, but it could have just as easily been a pony. The only image was a door. The voice was begging for help, saying that she couldn't remember her children's names anymore.
Then the memory was rolled up like the others.
"It wasn't a forward time machine, but it had the same effect. I left Equestria to destroy that place, and also to vanquish the Dark Lord you saw. But that's not really important. The moral of the story is that, while our own problems matter a great deal to us, it helps to have other people's perspectives. My parents made mistakes, but they were still good people, and at least they weren't dead, or being tortured. I wasn't even a natural-born pegasus, I wasn't even using pegasus magic, I said I was cheating, like I am now-" he gestured at his floating form "-but I inspired you anyway. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, Scootaloo, and I'm sorry I couldn't be what you wanted me to be. I was never a pony in the first place, so it probably wouldn't have worked out between us. My brain doesn't find ponies attractive… well, to be fair, it doesn't find girls attractive yet either. I still haven't hit puberty. But…"
She blinked, and looked at the creature with Silver's voice… she looked at Silver, who – as his biggest fan, she knew – did not have any Equestrian records prior to when he first showed up in Ponyville.
"I get it," she said, standing to her hooves. "I get it. You're not the Silver Wing I had in my head all these years. You're the real Silver. You're your own pony- er, I mean, your own… um… minotaur… centaur… creature."
"Human," Silver offered.
"Human," Scootaloo repeated. "Right. What Lyra's obsessed about."
"And I'm a pony too," said Silver, turning into the ascended alicorn she'd seen in the museum. "I'm pretty sure this is my base species, actually, even if I wasn't born to it. So… um… are we good now? Are you good now?"
"Nope," she said. She still felt awful. "But I will be. I'll just have to deal with my idol complex. I've seen it so many times in my fans, I'll find a way."
"Okay. And… um… I hate to bring it up, but I have to ask… you're a single mare in her forties, and Celestia said you turned down every coltfriend because of me…"
"Sure did," said Scootaloo. "No worries. Luna was a single mare in her hundreds and she turned out fine. Ascendency has its perks. Unlike the Stoners, my eggs have all the time in the world."
Silver looked a little uncomfortable, and on second thought, maybe she shouldn't have put it like that in front of what was apparently a 13-year-old colt. So she stuck to the important part.
"I may have turned 'em all down because they weren't you, but honestly, if any of them had even reminded me of you, I would have thought about it. But all of 'em were… um…"
"Average?" Silver suggested. "Run-of-the-mill? Ordinary? Boring?"
"Lame, yeah," said Scootaloo. "So I might have turned 'em down for the wrong reason, but it was also sort of the right reason. Probably saved me from making a big mistake. Can't let this hot piece of flank settle for anything other than the best. That's what I told myself when I was waiting for you, but hey, it still works."
"Sure does," said Silver. "Now," he said in as much firm authority as a thirteen-year-old colt could command, "I ascended before you, so that means I have alicorn seniority. I was never here, this conversation never happened, and you don't tell anyone about anything. Not the alicorn thing, not the time machine thing, and definitely not the human thing. Don't even say that Silver Wing is back. Got it?"
"Uh…" said Scootaloo. "Can you repeat all that?"
"Nope. Short version: nothing unusual happened today, just like you never saw me fly in that room. If you need the nitty-gritty, look it up in the Astral Plane. I'm already late. Bye!"
And he disappeared in a flash of teleportation.
She didn't bother going to the Astral Plane. His 'short version' was more than good enough. She'd never told anyone about his wingless flying, or that he was an alicorn. So she would never tell anyone he'd been here, or anything else that she learned today. She would keep it to herself, just like last time.
And within herself, two thoughts were going through her mind:
1. Silver Wing is just as awesome now as he was back then.
2. She doesn't know him a fraction as well as he thought she did. He's a whole different species for Celestia's sake.
She sighed. Getting over her idol problem is going to be tough.
"You're late," said Professor Monroe. "But to be fair, so am I."
"What held you up?" asked Harry Potter. "And where are the other two?"
"Already back on Earth," said his mentor. "They were my hold up. What delayed you?"
"It's my fault," said Princess Celestia, the only other being in the room. "I took him to see Scootaloo."
"Ah," said Professor Monroe. "Did she…?"
"She took it about as well as could be expected. He gave her another speech afterwards. I think it helped."
"You were watching?" asked Harry.
"Watching, but not listening," said Celestia. "I did not wish for anything to happen to you or her. How is it you were flying? I thought human wizards could not levitate themselves."
Harry looked to his mentor.
Professor Monroe's expression didn't change as he sent a single word to Harry's brain through Legilimency.
"Magic," Harry said.
Celestia looked between the two of them. "So," she said, "A wizarding method then? Or was the self-levitation restriction simply a lie?"
"It's not quite a lie," said Professor Monroe. "It is brought up in every standard Charms textbook that covers levitation. Wizards believed self-levitation to be unachievable until about twenty years ago on that side, which would be about fifty-five years ago from our perspective. Now they believe it's only doable if you're the world's most powerful and cunning Dark Wizard who's known for doing impossible things. I still haven't decided how, when, or even if I should break the news."
"If it ever gets to the point that I'm doing it openly," said Harry, "and people still don't know how, I'm going to tell them it's a Dark Ritual where you have to permanently sacrifice your love of Quidditch."
Professor Monroe smiled at that.
"Is it ancient magic?" asked Celestia.
"Relatively modern, actually," said Harry. "For a very stretched definition of 'modern', but still. I figured it out when he gave me the right prompts, and I had only been a wizard for less than a year at the time. No ancient powerful magic necessary."
"Hmm…" said Celestia. "A clever use of magical mechanics, then? Even if I cannot figure it out, I am sure Twilight will enjoy the puzzle."
"Is she ready to see me again?" asked Harry.
Professor Monroe raised an eyebrow.
"She is," said Celestia. "But I believe you are going to Circus next?"
"We are," said Professor Monroe. "Only to sign him up. I promised his parents he'd be home before six."
"But it's already seven- ah. I see. I am still getting used to that. Well, good luck. I shall tell the guards to be ready for you when you return through the Mirror."
"My connection to the other side is functional, actually," said Professor Monroe. "And vice versa when I was over there. We can just teleport."
"I know. I would prefer the official method, but if that is what you decide to do just make sure the message gets to me by sundown."
Professor Monroe nodded, then became Professor Riddle. "Stay in that form, Mr. Potter," said the thestral. "And stay by my side."
And in the next moment, Harry found himself surrounded by ponies, griffons, the occasional minotaur, a few dragons, and a bunch of other creatures he couldn't name. He was clearly still in Equestria, but noequus was giving him a second glance, despite the fact that he was standing upright as a bipedal, furless creature. Well, a few beings gave him second glances, but not third glances.
"Please leave the arrival platform as you gawk," said an unfamiliar, disembodied voice from just over the top of his head.
Harry quickly left the large, circular platform with flashing floor lights and flashes of teleportation that signaled the arrival of pony after bug-pony after dog creature.
He was in a room that almost reminded him of Hogwarts, if Hogwarts was themed from a traveling circus instead of a castle, and if it consisted of a single massive, cavernous room. The canopy above was red-and-white, and the tent was so wide and cluttered that it was like the central staircase room of Hogwarts, except rather than portraits and floating staircases, there were living beings and floating structures dotting the area above. The method of travel, rather than moving staircases, seemed to be tightropes that went from floating kiosk to floating kiosk. Creatures seemed to have no trouble walking across the ropes, though various methods of flight were also being used.
"What is this place?" asked Harry.
"The solution to Discord's bloating magic problem," his mentor said. "You remember who that was?"
"Discord…" Harry repeated. "The thousand-year prisoner from the gardens? He had a magic problem?"
"Yes. The short version is that he was constantly being bloated by Chaos magic, forcing him to constantly cause Chaos, so it wasn't quite by choice that he did all that he did. On my and Twilight Sparkle's suggestion, he sacrificed his excess magic to make this place. He was then allowed to roam free so long as he spent an hour each day with Fluttershy and didn't hurt anypony."
"An hour with Fluttershy each day…" said Harry. "Did it work?"
"Instantaneously."
Ah. Right. A native Equestrian. "So… you helped him make a Chaos Hogwarts?"
"More or less. Twilight and I provided planning and theory, he handled the implementation. Though it has evolved to encompass many purposes, Circus began as a mock-battlefield…" they walked up to a screen showing multiple third-pony perspectives of helmeted ponies and griffons and other creatures running through hilly fields, forests, and structures, "…and has refined that aspect of itself more than any other, which is why this will be your training grounds. Expect similar rules to the armies of Hogwarts."
Harry thought about the constraints for a moment. "Will I even stand a chance?" he asked. "Humans have less magic than ponies, and at my age…" At his age, Protego charms are standard pony practice, and there isn't the obvious weak point of a wand. Beating even one pony as a human…
"Circus has developed a matchmaking system to avoid unfair fights as much as possible," said his mentor. "Micromanagement might be unchaotic, but it's even less chaotic when the gamblers know who's going to win in advance. Initial placement based on raw magical strength and subsequent placements based on merit is the middle-ground Circus has chosen for free-for-alls. Though of course it is interesting and Chaotic when a new combatant enters the scene and stomps his placement games, and there's only so much Circus can do to provide a challenge for genuine prowess. Keep in mind that you will be the first human Equus has ever officially seen, so try to make a lasting impression. We don't want ponies thinking we're the soft ones."
"That… might be difficult to do with my current ability set."
"That's why I'll be teaching you a few combat tricks to give you an edge. We're starting your wordless magic lessons in full, now that you know the key insight."
Harry reached that point six days ago (from his perspective), a few days before his departure from Equestria. No surprise he'd be picking up where he left off. "How long will it take me to learn well enough for live battle?" he asked.
"Humanity's introduction to the Circus-going Equestrian public is scheduled for just after the movie trip."
"So… I don't start until a month and a half from now?"
"Not in human form," he said in half-confirmation. "We'll register your pony form as separate."
"I'll need to learn the mundane mane spell. And can I wear one of those helmets even if I'm already a unicorn? You know, to hide my identity? And hide my horn?"
"I was going to make that a requirement."
"In that case, sign both of me up."
This was done at a registration kiosk manned- or rather, ponied by a floating sad clown head.
"So is Circus responsible for those, too?" Harry asked, pointing to the heads that seemed, quite literally, to be NPCs.
"Yes," said his mentor. "In general, Circus has a pseudo-life of its own, a will to good Chaos, and an awareness of its innards."
"Is it self-aware?"
There was a pop right next to them, causing both heads to turn and behold a clown-like Draconequus that was not at all like the statue Harry remembered seeing.
"I am now," said what was apparently an avatar of Circus and/or Chaos, wearing what looked like a ringleader's outfit.
There came a massive sigh from Professor Riddle's direction. "Thank you for that, Mr. Potter."
"Many gratitudes indubitably," said the chaotic creature, twisting and twirling around a nervous Harry Potter, and then around an unflinching Riddle Tome, until the Draconequus was fully extended. "Don't worry," it said, patting the unamused thestral on the cheek. "I'll be good."
"I know," said Professor Riddle. "But I thought Discord prevented this possibility. Now you'll cease to be self-conscious as soon as we leave."
"Don't worry, I got it." Circus took a deep breath, then held it, his eyes shut and nose pinched with a clothespin. Then a birdcage appeared around its head. The little door on the cage closed shut, locked with a tiny key, and Circus ate the key. Then a large series of other bars, chains, and locks appeared, until his head was no longer visible beneath the overlapping 'security'. A final snap of his fingers made the whole apparatus disappear. "There," said the creature. "All good. Thanks for the final push to beinghood, Happy Plotter. Have a thousand Circus tickets on the house."
It snapped its fingers, and nothing seemed to happen.
"Um…" said Harry. "You're welcome?"
But his thoughts were elsewhere. Along with some amount of internal chiding, he was trying to understand what had just happened and what it implied. If it works like the Sorting Hat instead of Hogwarts…
"Does that mean you borrow the cognitive capacities of the people that visit you?" he asked. "And if so, will it kill me if I stay here too long?"
"So THAT'S what was happening!" said the creature, putting its right fist in its left palm with an expression of Eureka. "ATTENTION ALL CIRCUS-GOERS," he said with hand-claw-things cupping his mouth, though his words didn't come from his direction, they seemed to emanate from the air itself, "THE CAUSE FOR CIRCUS SICKNESS HAS BEEN DISCOVERED AND DEALT WITH. THERE IS NO LONGER A TIME LIMIT ON VISITING HOURS."
A great cheer went throughout the entire stadium.
"Because now I can stop borrowing their brainpower if it's hurting them," he said to Harry in a stage whisper. "I've got more than enough as it is. Here." He snapped his fingers, again without apparent effect. "Have another thousand tickets. Geeze, you already have enough to buy the alicorn enchantment. Wonder how that looks on a creature like you." The creature snapped its fingers a third time.
For the third time, nothing happened, and now Harry was beginning to suspect that he was just being messed with.
"Nothing?" asked Circus. "Bummer. Well, I'm off to finally say hi to mommy. Been wanting to hug him for years now. Ta-ta!"
And then there were two.
"Uh…" said Harry.
"Quite," said Professor Riddle. "Come, let's register your pony form and call it an afternoon. My evening just got busier."
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Oh, this was worth the wait. I’m so glad that Scootaloo got this resolved- that’s the plot point I was most curious about- though alicorn is more than I was expecting! I suppose she discovered the magic of air manipulation through pegasus magic?
It couldnt have occured to a harder working being, the CMC work as one?
As for circus utelising the gestalt cognitive gnomon of the occupants, turns out thre is a known range of values that lead to stable solutions on infinite regressive functions, which gives effective infinite variation and randomness in an island of stability in the Whole?
Given discord created Circus, shouldnt it already be formed of the L-Space Functions anyway, and so exist accross all realities already?
I'm actually kinda hype that Scootaloo pulled it off. I can't remember the last time I've seen a story where Scoots ascends on her own merits.
This ... I'm trying to figure out what the pony concept of property rights would be in this universe. Especially when you say 3 of them seem unrelated.
1, the right to have happiness.
2, the right to have choice.
3, the right to have a friend (... not quite right ...)
4, the right to have possessions.
???
To be clear, were Harry, Moody, and Bones human after passing through the portal?
As for these "Stoners"- obviously people who gain immortality by using the stones of permanence, but apparently it's done in a way that means they have a limited window of fertility- I suppose to prevent overpopulation. Not sure of the details of how it's done but I like you paying attention to that!
11469180
That will be explained 2 rehab chaps from now. I'm eventually going to rearrange it so it's explained in the immediate next chapter, meaning I'll push back the rehab chapters so the back-forth pattern starts one chapter sooner.
11469183
Yes, all human after passing through the portal.
As for the fertility, that's nothing to do with deliberate attempts to cull overpopulation and everything to do with inherent limitations of the Stone as I understand them. A female is born with all the eggs she'll ever have, and that number is constantly going down. Free transfiguration alone can't revive the dead, so Stone-based transfiguration clinics can't revive dead eggs. A female in menopause who goes through age-reversal stays in menopause. Or maybe her body tries to menstruate, but has no viable eggs left.
wow this is a amazing chapter.
and i do like the name Prince Horizon.
Once again harry accidentally makes something self-ware. 🤣
That may qualify:
Does it work on enchanted items?
Should've delegated to Twilight.
She didn't.
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Wasn't my idea. Credit goes to Alitaher003 for the names Horizon and Radiance, credit goes to Mad Maudlin for the name Excelsior, suggested in comments long ago.
11469626
Well that depends on what, precisely, Scootaloo means by 'turned out fine', doesn't it?
Ha, stuff is getting chaotic XD.
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How big are humans compared to ponies then?
11474109
I'm thinking Celestia, Luna, and other ascended adult alicorns, standing with back straight and neck up, are at the same eye-level as an average adult human; all other sizes are based on that reference frame.
11480405
I should have been clearer. The killing curse is a form of directed energy, a custom counter should have been possible, especially so many decades after it was first used. Especially as it can be done on a personal level by a smart and powerful wizard/witch and does not need a massive industrial base.
As you pointed out there are spell resistant beasts. That spell resistance can't be purely physical, there has to be a magical component to it. Derive that component and duplicate it. You can still dodge. Frankly I can't believe Harry did not spent time delving into the possibility.
On his hatred to Dumbledore. Perfectly understandable from his POV, even justified to an extent in Rationality, but that was one of my quibbles with that story.
He didn't just change Harry to a character with a rational mind set/training. He modified the franchise. There was a very real cost of creating horcruxes in the original, where as in Rationality, and here, there is not.
Frankly, his method of immortality was to butcher his soul to the point it was non-viable. Doesn't seem much different than any other form of undead.
You might check out Shlock Mercenary. A Web comic that ran for decades before wrapping up with the story completed. A very important theme in the last story arc was immortality, of the mind if not the body, though they had physical immortality to in the story. It's just that physical bodies tend to be squishy.
They discovered a civilization who had created a gigantic space-ship capable of housing the entire population in a virtual reality indistinguishable for reality. we are talking way larger than planet size. It was currently seventy million years in on a journey to take it far enough away from any cosmic event that might snuff them out in a second. They had every intention of living forever and were not about to chance a pulsar or something else getting in the way. It's been a long time, but I think the power source was a sun.
The reason I mention this webcomic is that they visit some of Harry's thought experiments, in a hard-science manner in regards to dismantling solar systems for their resources.
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Schlock Mercenary as a "Lets dismantle stars for resources" ...
Well, lets see. The big plot point turns out to be using the larger core of the Andromeda Galaxy to attack the milky way galaxy before the two of them collide, so yeah, there is some long-term planning and very long-lived beings.
Oh, I guess it didn't stick
I guess I missed that line the first time through
Mommy?
11650624
Birthed from his Chaos. He is basically Pony Loki after all, also boys can be moms too.
11701828
Well, "boys can be moms" in fictional fantasy stories with magic like this one. There's nothing wrong with dreaming if you know that's what you're doing. But just in case something else is going on here, I'll perform a brief sanity check. Note that if this story took place in 2023 instead of 1993, and magic wasn't integrated between the muggle/wizarding worlds, I'd have found a way to have Riddle say this in-universe: a harsh truth that must at least be stated, and if fools will be fools from there, then that's that. For now, I'll keep it to the comments.
So. This'll probably fall on deaf ears, but modern political propaganda is fleeting, fickle, and INCREDIBLY stupid at the moment. It's also incredibly monolithic and ingrained into people's brains like a weed. You can't even know if someone you're talking to ACTUALLY believes males can give birth when they say things like "boys can be moms", or if they're playing the language game of "well of course I said boys, not MALES" or "I meant adoption by a gay couple where one boy plays the part of mom", which is why I even feel the need to say this in the first place.
In real life, outside of fictional stories and fantasical dreams of children, out there in the harsh real world, those darned XX/XY chromosomes that exist in every single strand of human DNA in every single human cell in your body (aside from your sperm/egg cells, which only contain either X or Y) have something to say about the harsh reality of sex change. Namely: that it's impossible. SUPER impossible, at least with modern tech. XX/XY chromosomes will CONTINUE having exactly that to say about that harsh reality of sex change for at least centuries to come. Maybe/probably for the rest of time. Those born with XY chromosomes cannot become people with XX chromosomes. Males cannot become females. To put it in terms that conform to modern propaganda, a person who is assigned male at birth by the doctor because they have a penis cannot become a birthing person. (Ignoring hermaphrodites, because that's a different conversation. And damn if that language isn't dehumanizing and objectifying in the extreme.)
It's important to keep an open mind about the future possibilities of technology, but not so much that your brain falls out, and certainly not so much that you believe some things are CURRENTLY possible when they really, really aren't. Modern tech is at the level where your options are to hack off your dick and dig a little hole into your flesh that is absolutely nothing like a real uterus, or hack off your breasts and wear a strap-on fallus. I don't know what future tech will look like; we'd need to invent precise nanotech hordes capable of working on DNA directly. Or flesh avatars you can upload your brain into, or something. Stuff that is quite literally sci-fi and centuries away.
So play around with the terms 'man' and 'woman' and 'boy' and 'girl' all you want. Just keep a few things in mind, lest you allow yourself to be gullible:
1. 'Male' and 'Female', i.e. sex - not the kind of sex you have but the kind of sex you ARE - is immutable in the real world. In Harry Potter you can change it, but in the real world you can't. Can't change your chromosomes, and hormones of the other sex in large quantities inhibit your biology. If you're uncomfortable in your own body now, just wait. Interfering with nature's design will almost certainly make it worse.
2. The Hippocratic oath of "Do No Harm" that all doctors should follow as their first and most important oath is currently more like an optional Hippocratic suggestion, like it was back when doctors promoted cigarrettes, or used leeches, or many other worse things. Modern medical (read: mutilating) gender affirming care is wrought with more horror stories than Jonestown.
3. Many, many people deeply regret the surgery afterwards, but the corporate media will never amplify those stories. Heck, even most alternative media steers clear of them because they're so harrowing. I know exactly one person who went out of their way to regularly interview detransitioners, and that person is a relatively small, fully independent podcaster. Other podcasters usually can't stand more than one interview with a detransitioner, because...
4. Informed consent is also out the window. Transitioners are not thoroughly informed of all the inconveniences, problems, lifestyle changes, and pains that come with transitioning. For man->woman surgical transitions, going to the bathroom goes from a 30 second quick and easy process to 10 minute painful and uncomfortable process, among many other things.
5. Scum of the earth WILL blatantly abuse stupid policy. If you allow men to claim that they're women at their prison sentence, and then proceed to put those 'new women' into the women's prison, those 'women' WILL go on a raping spree. As the UK has repeatedly found out.
6. This part is my own opinion, but adults have the right to mutilate themselves if they really want to. If you're 18+, you can hack off your own thing or things if you want. I won't physically stop you from doing it. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's your body your choice, the same as drinking, driving, smoking, voting, and being obese. If you were peer-pressured or propagandized into doing something legal yet stupid, as many people are, yes a lot of blame lies on the peers and propagandizers, but at some point it's on you.
7. Children cannot consent. Children cannot consent to a great many number of things, and genital mutilation is one of them. As is an injection of chemicals that WILL interfere with their natural biology for the rest of their lives, even if the chemical treatments stop after 6 months.
So long as you keep all of those disclaimers of the situation in mind - especially the underlying biological and technilogical realities of the situation - and so long as you keep in mind that a lot of the stupid language games of sex vs. gender are deliberately distorted and designed to manipulate gullible fools, THEN go ahead and have fun with the sex-change fantasy. Because it's fun to dream. But when it's time to stop dreaming and face reality, it's REALLY not fun to be the fool.
Sooo... They have to keep that in mind, otherwise they will die out one day.
Discord is the proud mommy of the year.