• Published 12th Mar 2021
  • 2,185 Views, 194 Comments

You're Being Hugged, Harry - David Silver



A foal is found lost in the snow, the tsuki, warm-hearted rabbit folk, take him in just long enough to realize he may belong to the ponies nearby. His name is Harry, and his fate was knocked a little off course.

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1 - He Arrives

A tsuki, great rabbit being of the snow, landed after a great leap, snow kicking up around it from the impact. It had seen something. A glimmer? A movement? The tsuki wasn't sure, but it was curious, and it looked around, certain it was close to whatever it was. The cold wind ruffled its fur, but was helpless to penetrate the deep mass that kept the tsuki safe.

But that wasn't true of what it found, laying there. A pony! A little pony, barely a foal. Maybe a yearling? Either way, the tsuki gathered it up without a moment of delay. Ponies didn't come built with winter jackets like tsuki did, and the idea of a pony being harmed, especially such a young one, no no no. The tsuki wouldn't allow it. They bounded for home with their curious package. "Where come from?"

There was no immediate answer, but this white unicorn did have a scar over their eye. Had they been hurt, trying to find safety? No time to consider that. They didn't stop until they were back in the warmer caves of the warren.

Rising from the shadows, one of their leaders formed, Sombra peering at what all the tsuki were gathering around. "Step aside." They were quick to do so, allowing him to see the small pony. It wasn't one of his. He only had one pony aside himself, and that one was an adult, and missing a leg.

That little pony would be a huge distraction to his people, and they'd get almost nothing done, wondering about it, or fussing over it. No, keeping it would have been a huge waste of resources...

But, he knew a way. The foal couldn't be turned out. The image would be terrible, and the impact on morale would be even worse. However... Thanks to the power of friendship, he knew the ponies of the Crystal Empire would be powerless to deny him if he presented the young one to them to take care of instead. They would do his bidding, or be forced to admit they were inferior in the art of friendship to him.

And so it was that a tsuki stood before Cadance. She knew him, and he her. "Good to see." He moved as if to embrace her, but paused, looking down at the package in his hands, wrapped up tightly. "This first." He presented the young little pony. "Pony." As if that wasn't clear.

"It is good to see you, Toby." She nodded firmly. "Your ambassador mentioned you were coming." She leaned in to peer at the yearling. "Oh, what a cutie." She reached up to gently rub the cheek of the young little yearling. "And you just found him?"

"Found in the snow," assured Toby, bobbing his head vigorously. "Take care? Good with ponies."

She felt sure she knew more about raising a pony than the tsuki did... or Sombra... "Maybe they belong to somepony in the city. I will check, but even if we don't find their parents, I will not leave them stranded."

Toby grinned brightly. "Good princess," he crooned in compliment. "Sombra right. He said you would do good."

Cadance inclined her head. "Did he?" She wasn't sure what angle Sombra had spoke it in, though it was clear Toby had taken it innocently. "Well, in this, he is right. I will not abandon a foal." She leaned in, nuzzling the foal as he blinked open his eyes, reaching for her in return. She laughed, soon joined by him as hooves and nose came together, the two bonding quickly. "I will take good care of him," she assured.

No mother stepped forward, claiming the foal as her own. No father spoke up of a missing child. That youth was hers to do with as she pleased, so she kept him, finders keepers. "Harry," she called. "Flurry?" But neither foal was visible.

That didn't make the little giggle any less audible. Cadance rolled her eyes with a little smile, figuring out what was going on. "Auntie Twilie is here for her special lessons, but if you don't want them, I can send her on her way."

Harry scampered into view, Flurry moments behind, more motivated by his motion than the specific bait Cadance had used. "There you two are." She sat and reached out her hooves, getting two foals to hug warmly. "Wonderful. Now, Harry--" She gently patted her colt where he had arrived with that curious jagged scar. "Twilight says you have a knack for this."

Harry's long ears twitched faintly. "I do?"

"She would know," stated Cadance with reverence. "She's a pro at magic, and learning, and this is both. If she thinks you have a knack, well, you do. And she's your aunt and she loves you, so she would never lie to you."

Harry smiled at that. "Where is she?"

Flurry stuck out her tongue. "Am I learning too?"

Both her lovely children were tweens, that awkward stage of life. "You know you have a good deal of magic, Flurry. You have to learn how to control it."

Harry crossed his arms, hooves dangling. "I don't have princess magic," he pouted at Flurry. "Lucky!"

Flurry looked smugly satisfied with his admitted jealousy. "Bet I'll learn the next spell before you!"

"You're on!" The two foals rushed from the room, racing to Twilight to prove their arcane skills. Cadance let them go, watching with a content smile. Such wonderful children she had, even if one of them was not hers by blood. It hardly mattered, in the end. They were both her precious children.

Twilight was there to greet them. "All the way from Equestria," she reminded, being the princess of there. "But for my nephews and nieces, I make the time." She nodded with self-satisfaction, glancing at her schedule. Everything was going according to plan. "Before we begin, I'd like to see how you two have been doing while I was away." It wasn't as if Twilight could come every day. She lived and worked far too far away for that.

"Aberto," called Harry, his horn glowing as a door nearby glowed in sympathy, opening for him. "Ta da!"

Twilight inclined her head. She had never taught Harry such incantations. Nopony had, so far she could find, but his magic came easier when he did them, and it seemed just a part of the strange talent he had. "Very good. Flurry Heart?"

Flurry Heart stuck out her tongue, her horn glowing without strange words as all the doors leading into their room flew open on all sides, wood clapping against crystal in her display. "Easy."

A soft thump was heard outside the window just before it swung inward, revealing a young adult Tsuki with a big smile, as they tended to have. "Twilight, there you are!" Unlike many, he spoke clear Ponish, taught from a young age.

"Arnavon," called Twilight with pleasure. "I read your latest, quite a page turner."

Arnavon blushed at the praise. "My muse had a really good story. Um, I have news. We saw an owl headed this way."

Twilight blinked softly. Owls were not common in the frozen north. "While fascinating, why did you come rushing to tell me that?"

"This one has a letter." He hopped down into the room. "Hey Harry, Flurry."

Both of the foals gave a friendly wave. Flurry looked past him, to the window. "I never saw an owl before."

"I used to have one... A very dear friend." Twilight thought back to her separated companion. "I hope he's alright." Her ears suddenly perked. "Do you think?!"

Her eyes lifted to the open window just in time for an owl to burst in, but it was not Owlowiscious. Silently, it landed on the edge of a desk, a letter attached to its leg. Tawny feathers ruffled smooth as it regarded each pony there specifically, waiting still.

Harry and Flurry both shrank back, startled and perhaps a little scared by the sudden bird's appearance. Arnavon's ears pricked up a moment, watching it with fascination. Twilight was the first to actually move. "Hello there. Why... you're a wonderful owl." Not her precious one, but still a magnificent owl, and clearly very well trained and loved, to carry a letter like that. "May I have that?" Her magic wrapped around the letter and the owl didn't resist as the plucked it free.

The moment it came free of the owl, it spread its wings and vanished the way it came, flying off into the unknown it had come from. "That was very... interesting." Her eyes fell to the letter, where everyone else had begun to watch, all wondering what it was. "I don't think we're going to get any magic done until I take a peek." She flipped it open, or tried.

The letter had a seal with a lion, snake, badger and eagle surrounding an H. She broke it after showing it to the others. "I don't recognize that seal," she shared, her curiosity building. Her lips moved as she mouthed the words she read from the letter. Her expression brightened, a smile growing wider as she went. "How exciting!"

"What is it?" burst Harry. "What's it say?"

"It's about you." She pointed at Harry. "You've been accepted to a school of magic! One I never heard of before." She clopped a hoof against her cheek. "I don't know how I managed to miss a magic school, but this is still amazing! There's a list of your classes and supplies and everything!"

Flurry scowled at that. "How does he get to go to a fancy school? I'm way better than him."

Arnavon tilted his head. "That's very exciting. Where is it?"

Twilight had flipped the letter over. "What interesting equipment they want you to have... There isn't an address, I'm afraid." She floated the letter towards Harry to read. "This is amazing news! I must tell Cadance." She bounced to her hooves and galloped from the room in a tizzy.

Arnavon leaned over to see the letter too. "It feels like you're about to go on an adventure."

Harry couldn't fight the smile on his face. A school, of magic?! He could become a real and proper wizard, like Twilight or Star Swirl! "It really does. I'm a little scared, I'll admit."

Arnavon threw an arm around Harry, hugging him around the neck. "You have friends."

"I can't take them all with me," he noted with worry.

"Well, I'm magic." Arnavon pointed at himself with a paw. "Maybe they could help with my tsuki magic."

"I'm even more magic," reminded Flurry, clearly displeased at how things were going. "Why can't I go? Why are you even considering Arnavon? He's a publisher, not a wizard!" She threw up her hooves, wings spread in frustration.

But there was a technicality that Harry saw with his clever tween eyes. "Arnavon, do you promise to always deliver my mail whenever I have any?"

Arnavon blinked at that. "Huh? Sure." He hiked a thumb at his own chest. "I can get anywhere you need to go, fast! You can count on me!"

"I knew I could." He returned the one-armed hug given to him to the fluffy tsuki. "Which means you're my owl."

Arnavon blinked softly. "I don't look like an owl."

"Because you're a special tsuki owl, but you're mine, and they're expecting an owl from me anyway, so if I send you with my letter back, they'll have to let you in with the letter," reasoned Harry, feeling like he had won a logic game against the entire world. He had won the system.

Arnavon frowned with thought, but he couldn't see anything immediately wrong with the idea. "I'll try to be a good owl." He clapped his hands together with a big smile. "Will they get upset if your owl talks?"

"If they do, they must be new to the magic thing," reasoned Harry. "You're the best!" He hugged Arnavon with both arms, the two embracing in a fond hug of friendship before he snagged Flurry over. "And stop looking sour! This just gives me a chance to catch up with you."

"Good luck with that," she teased, tongue poking free. "I'm gonna get better!"

Hogwarts was not expecting Mister Potter to arrive on four hooves and with a swishing tail.

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