You're Being Hugged, Harry

by David Silver

22 - Into Snow

Arnavon returned with a saddle that wrapped around his midsection and provided a clear spot to sit. "Ta da!" He looked quite proud of this bit of fashion. "It should be more comfortable now."

Ron tapped at the hard leather, just to discover it wasn't leather at all. He had wondered why ponies and other animals would want to use leather. It was more like plastic, even if it had a leathery finish to it. They could make plastic? That only raised more questions. He put those aside and hopped up on the willing rabbit ride. "How far away is this place?"

"Half an hour." Arnavon didn't give time for more chat after that, springing forward through the halls in shorter bounces that became larger the moment they were outside. With the ceiling removed, he could propel himself up into the sky, wind whistling past them both on his journey. "Better?"

Ron had something to grab that wasn't Arnavon. The horn of the saddle worked nicely for the purpose, and his legs had somewhere specific to be with straps even. "This is way better than the first time." Sure, he was still bouncing up and down, but he had a proper place to sit while doing it.

Harry caught up with them, glowing with his magic. "I forget how fast Arnie can be when he wants to be."

"Sorry! Should I slow down?" Arnavon looked properly appalled at the idea that he might have messed up.

Harry waved a hoof quickly. "No, just surprised me." He swam forward a little against Arnavon's speed. "It's good practice, really. Making me go up and down to keep with you while keeping up the speed. Couldn't ask for much better."

Ron watched Harry, who seemed stable. Truthfully, the unicorn wizard was lifting and lowering alongside them, matching their pace well enough that he looked like he wasn't moving much at all. "You're getting better at this..."

"Thanks." And he almost crashed into the snow, pulling up just in time. "Still needs a little practice!"

"Bet ah could tan your hide at videogames though." That fantasy realm seemed to not have many consoles to practice on, an easy threat!

Harry frowned with thought even as he heaved for breath. Starlight made it look so very easy, but zipping around took effort. He was casting a long spell that had no end until he returned to the ground, or let gravity take back over. Either way, it was a lot of work. Riding a broom was a lot less of it! There were advantages either way... "Think... you'd be right, since I'm not sure what you even mean."

"Knew it." Ron snapped his fingers in a brief gesture before grabbing the saddle firmly. "Muggle game thing. Almost magic itself, with how fancy they get. Do you even have muggles? Don't reckon you do. Everything around here knows about magic and all."

Harry laughed at that. "Actually... If you call anything that doesn't use magic a muggle, than we got tons of them. Most of the crystal ponies don't know the start of how to magic. They know about it, and they live with it, but they don't do it themselves."

"Huh..." Ron learned something new, but pulled back as Arnavon landed. "We here?" He didn't see a lot of here to be.

Arnavon pointed down into a deep pit. "Here!" He leaned in over the hole, peering into its depths. "Tsuki city, right below us. Ready?" He wriggled his body like a cat lining up its shot. "This may be scary." Not for him and his big smile. "Just hold on."

Harry floated over the hole and started down at a less hurried rate. "See you at the bottom!"

"Ready!" Arnavon apparently decided Harry's going was cue enough. He jumped into the middle of the hole and gravity handled the rest, the wind whistling in his ears. No, not just the wind. Some of that was Ron screaming with terror as the world fell away and they plunged into the inky darkness. "It's alright," shouted Arnavon, hoping to help his friend. "Made this jump lots of times." Did that help? He hoped so.

He hit the first platform. Only the bravest, and perhaps foolish, of tsuki tried to descend the entire hole in one motion. His tendons and muscles stretched taught as he flumped to the ground, collecting all that energy safely. He could feel Ron thumping against this back. Humans were not nearly as good at landing, but it didn't feel too rough. Arnavon released some of that energy into a bounce, but not all of it. He didn't want to fly right back up where he started. No, he let the rest go when he was in the air, kicking at the air just to get rid of that power. He'd have another fall to cushion, and having his legs already bunched up wouldn't help with that.

From platform to platform, he thumped and fell in a controlled way. He could see other tsuki ascending in careful bounding jumps. "Hi!" There wasn't a lot of time to talk as they soared past each other, barely time to wave or just smile. They were all happy to see each other, but they were also going very quickly up or down, so that would just have to do.

Arnavon arrived at the bottom long before Harry could, largely falling at the rate that gravity allowed. He twisted back to look at Ron. "Are you alright?"

"No." Ron promptly fell off Arnavon with a grunt, smacking onto the stone floor next to the large rabbit creature. "That was... amazing, and terrible all at the same time."

Arnavon quickly gathered Ron up, cradling him in warm fur. "Are you hurt? Did I do it wrong?"

Harry descended from the black sky. "Hey," he called out to both of them. "Everything alright?"

"That's what I'm asking." Arnavon nuzzled Ron. A good warm nuzzle fixed things, right? "We're done. You're safe now, promise."

Ron pawed at the attacking fuzzy snout. "Relax! Relax, I'm alright." He managed to shove Arnavon with both hands, getting that snout back. "So... we're here?"

Harry landed gently, glow fading as he clopped to the ground. "I think so? Arnie?"

Arnavon carefully set Ron to the ground. "Yes. Welcome!" He reared up, throwing his hands wide in either direction. "Welcome!"

"Welcome!" echoed another tsuki with a big smile, which prompted another, and another. Soon half the cave was filled with fuzzy happy faces closing in to see who it was they were greeting.

One, a female with a twitching nose, recognized who it was. "The little pony!" She rushed in and grabbed Harry up in a firm hug. "Good see back." She was of the older generation, speaking in simpler sentences. "Good see back."

Others closed with her. Hugging season had been officially declared, which meant hugs were the order of the day. Harry was passed from tsuki to tsuki to warmly greet with firm hugs, a call back to their instinctual combats for dominance. To embrace ready for battle, but not fight, that was the sign of love and affection, and they had a lot of love to show to the little pony they had found so long ago, returned and healthy.

"What is this," came a boom, causing the crowd to immediately disperse. "I look away for one moment." There stood a unicorn with a scowl under his crown. "Arnavon, you return. Explain this." He directed a hoof at the two confused wizards, one human and one pony.

Aranavon dipped his head at the taller pony. "Hello, King Sombra. This is Harry Potter, son of Cadance. That is Ronald Weasely, friend of Harry Potter, and me. They wanted to ask you a question, sir."

The wizards tensed. Before them was the pony dark wizard. He had that look of badness, and his eyes wafted with dark power. It wasn't hard to see that the truth had been told. Ronald raised a hand though. "Sorry to drop in."

Sombra snorted softly. "I doubt Arnavon gave you much choice. The tsuki never do, especially for the first visit." Perhaps he could remember the first time he got a ride down that hole. "You." He fixed Harry with a dark stare. "I sent you away, but you continue to bring me trouble. You are quite the nuisance."

Harry got his hooves properly under him, recovering from the avalanche of hugs. "Sir? You know about--"

"--I can only assume you've become aware." Sombra raised a brow high. "Another shadow, encoraching on my domain! They aren't even the right species..." He turned his glare on Ron. "You. You smell of them. Tell the others of your kind to stay in their own lane. That is what the children say these days, isn't it?"

Not a fact Arnavon was willing to argue. "He's only visiting, sir. To see Harry. They are friends." As if that part had already been forgotten. "You know about the creepy thing that attacked us?"

Sombra's frown grew two sizes that day. "It attacked you as well, my subject. Mine? I was right to despise it... They pry and prod, trying to gain access to this world. It's your fault," he thundered at Ron. "That damnable train is a breach in the barrier, allowing him a way in..." His frown turned to a calculating smile. "If I wasn't here... Cadance owes me again." This fact brought undisguised pleasure to him. "They think their darkness is so vast. They have no idea."

Harry inclined his head forward. "Sir. Do you know how to deal with them?"

"If they dare to actually appear before me." Sombra rubbed his hooves together with a feral grin. "You won't have to... but I don't plan to give them that option. He is a human problem, for humans to deal with." His gaze returned to Ron. "Why haven't you taken care of him?"

Ron swallowed audibly. "We came to learn how, from, you know, the expert?"

Sombra swelled with pride. "You came to the right place, at least... Still, you're nothing but foals, pony or human. You have no chance, none at all..." His gaze flicked to Arnavon. "If I asked you to simply walk away?"

Arnavon angled his head, one ear hanging down. Tsuki ears were not very perky. "I prefer to hop, sir. But I won't leave Harry. I'm his owl, sir."

"What?" Sombra squinted at his subject that was clearly not an owl. "Are you being forced? You have but to hint it, and I will see it ends, now." His threatening anger grew with each word, dark energy spilling readily from his eyes.

"No sir!" Arnavon grabbed Harry, hugging him firmly. "We are very good friends, and I want him to learn more. I'm learning too, sir. I'll be able to learn magic soon."

Sombra's eyes shone with a new light. "Truly? Now my attention is gained. Tsuki can cast spells? Learn this! Learn it and bring back its secret to the others. I will have this power." He crossed his arms. "It was enough they could deflect and change magic that unicorns cast, but if they can make some of their own... The power. I want it. This is now your mission."

Ron waved at Harry. "If Arnie gets hurt and doesn't get to finish learning magic because that jerk gets in the way..."

"You have a point." He didn't sound happy at that, grumbling at the thought. "He would probably enjoy getting one over on me, denying me this... Very well... For my own sake, I will give you a little gift, a treat. A protective measure... You are safe here, anywhere my shadow touches. He cannot approach your home, the crystal keeps him at bay. Shadow creatures find it quite... painful." That was something he could say from experience. "So you are only vulnerable while you are away from both. Ask your dam. She will sacrifice a small shard of the crystal for you. Keep it close, it should be enough, for a time."

Author's Note:

Sombra doesn't like competition very much. Stupid humans... But is he speaking sense?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

If Harry gets a Crystal Shard, a Wandmaker might be able to blend it with mane of Hippogriff and Sea Pearl for a most intresting power up?

[tsaukpaetra]

Ron has a nice rock, seems only fair Harry get one too!