Equestrian Vacation

by Dragonboy111

Chapter 13: The Alibi

All was unusually quiet in the hospital wing, empty for the holidays. That was until two rather troublesome teenagers teleported five feet above the floor.

"Well, that wasn't— whoa!" said Twilight as the two teens fell in a tumble on the ground. The two lay there on the cold ground for a moment, listening to their heartbeats slow. Twilight turned her head to face Harry, who was lying down next to her. "You know, for your first assisted teleport, that wasn't too bad."

Harry held a hand up to his hair, which was frazzled and sizzling, his clothing was also letting off some smoke. He let out a mirthless laugh. "Not bad?"

"For your first time under stress, yes. I provided the magic, you selected the location, we arrived." Twilight picked herself up and looked about the room. It had multiple beds with blue sheets. She dusted her clothes off. What a weird sensation, clothes. She wasn't unfamiliar with wearing them, but humans wore them all the time. "Where are we?"

"The hospital wing. Didn't think anyone would look for us here." Harry affixed his fallen glasses back over his eyes but stayed on the floor. "I'm sorry about how everyone reacted. I don't know why they did that."

"They said something about 'kidnapping', which is weird."

"They must have thought you kidnapped me when I disappeared. But why did they think it was you? You were bringing me back. And did you see McGonagall's face? She recognized your name, I saw it!" Harry exclaimed, before rubbing his head. "Ow..."

"How bad is it?" Twilight asked, kneeling next to Harry.

"I'm fine. Trust me, this is nothing next to the Crystal Empire incident."

"If you insist." Twilight reached down to pull Harry up to his feet, although she nearly got taken down in the process. "Does anyone else know about Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"No, they couldn't have. I never told anyone anything. All of your letters are hidden... except..."

"Except what?"

"Except for the last letter you sent me! I didn't have time to hide it, and it went missing from my bag when you summoned me. I think Hermione stole it before you cast the spell," Harry deduced. He was furious that Hermione would go behind his back like that again!

"But that doesn't explain the time," Twilight said. "The first time I summoned you, you were asleep in bed. You spent several more days in Equestria than this time. We even had time to visit Canterlot! When you returned, you were in bed on the same night. But now everyone's acting like you've been gone for a week! What's with that?" she pondered aloud.

Harry was silent for a moment. What was different between this time and last time? The time spent couldn't be inversely proportional, right? Discord was a distinct possibility. Harry had stayed as long as he could last time, before-

"The Goblet," he said, receiving an epiphany. "The first time, I returned as soon as I felt the Goblet trying to call me back. This time, when I tried to go back—"

"You were knocked out!" Twilight finished. Harry winced at her volume.

"Careful, concussion over here."

"Oh, sorry." Twilight's volume dropped a little. "Discord said something was trying to reach you. That must be the reason time is messed up, the magical contract!"

"Then we should get moving. If the Ministry arrests you, things will spiral out of control," Harry said.

"Celestia will come for me, I'm sure. But if they make assumptions about her, as they did for me, it will be a disaster." Twilight paced back and forth. "I have no doubt she's more powerful than any wizard here, and if she moves the sun or moon too much..." She trailed off.

"It might expose the wizarding world," Harry finished. "We need to figure something out."

"Like an alibi? Something to redirect suspicion?"

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed, before covering his ears. "Bloody headache."

"We can take care of that soon. We just need a story to tell..." Twilight thought to herself. "Foreign student?"

"Considering the other two schools here, it's believable, but it doesn't explain what happened," Harry countered. "What if you 'accidentally' summoned me?"

"Accidental foalnapping is still foalnapping."

"The word is kidnapped," Harry corrected.

"Same meaning. However, that still leaves me as the perpetrator. What if, instead, you were the one to cast the spell?"

Harry shook his head.

"Twilight, no one will believe that. I'm not that good at magic-"

"Hold your horses. Harry, you're plenty good at magic. Remember the Patronus? A hundred dementors and you repelled them, saving both your life and your godfather's. I've seen you practice your magic, you should be proud of yourself." Twilight placed her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"You really think I'm that good?" Harry smiled.

"I know you're that good. Besides, your transportation was an 'accident', wasn't it?" she said in a sly voice. Harry chuckled.

"Let's just hope we don't need that story. Now come on, let's go before Madame Pomfrey—"

The doors burst open.

"Goodness, what happened to you two?" came a voice from the hospital wing's entrance. Harry and Twilight turned and froze like deer in headlights. Madame Pomfrey, a kind but strict woman, walked into the room in a frenzy. "I step outside for thirty seconds, and already I have two new patients. What is the world coming to?" She inspected the two children. "Goodness, Harry, you're back! No wonder you're here! It's a miracle you haven't made yourself a permanent resident." She looked at Twilight. "My dear, you look horrendous. Did you get hit with one of those color jinxes? Honestly, the things they teach at this school." She grabbed the two by the arms and dragged them to adjacent beds.

"Hey, hands off! I'm fine, really! I'm pretty sure this is my normal color." Twilight protested.

"You're pretty sure? You're purple, dear, and clearly delirious. Now sit on the bed before I drag you to it." Came Madame Pomfrey's no-nonsense counter. Twilight reluctantly followed the nurse's instructions, sitting on the bed next to Harry's. Looked like their plans would have to wait.

"Now, let's see what can be done about that skin." Madame Pomfrey waved her wand over Twilight's skin, only to frown. "You said this was natural?" she asked. Twilight nodded. "I'll choose to believe you, for now. Now, Mr. Potter, are you aware of any injuries?"

"He has a concussion, and was out for nearly two days," Twilight said for him. Pomfrey nearly dropped the tray she was holding.

"A concussion! Why didn't you say so? Merlin's beard, you're gone for nearly two weeks, and you come back with a severe concussion!" She rushed off while her words sunk into the teens' minds.

"Two weeks!" they screeched. The last time Harry had been in Equestria, it had barely been a second later when he got back!

"That's why everyone was so on edge, what was four days for us was over a week for them! It must have been from me staying too long, that's why Discord sent us back!" Harry exclaimed.

"Hopefully we can get this whole 'kidnapping Harry Potter' cleared up. This has been one terrible misunderstanding after another," Twilight added.

Harry cringed. That was going to be very difficult to explain to Dumbledore.

"On that, we would agree." Harry and Twilight snapped to watch as Dumbledore burst through the hospital wing's doors, McGonagall close on his heels. "Hello again, my boy. And you must be Twilight Sparkle. Hopefully, we can start our talks on better terms this time, wouldn't you agree?" said the old man. "I see you've found yourself in the hospital wing, and Pomfrey has gotten a head start on her job." The aforementioned lady returned with a bottle of clear liquid.

"No thanks to you always bothering my patients. Potter, drink this, it'll help." She held out the vial, which Harry reluctantly gulped down. Thankfully, he noticed it lacked most of her medicine's unpleasant flavor, so he drank it down gladly. He still would have preferred a potion from Zecora, they at least tasted good. Almost immediately, the fog on Harry's head lifted.

"Now, Mr. Potter, I believe proper introductions and explanations are due," Dumbledore said as he walked up to the two teens. "I believe there's been a lapse of information. For the past week and a half, we've been under the impression you've been abducted."

"First off, I didn't 'abduct' Harry," corrected Twilight, climbing out of the bed. "We were planning a weekend visit, I just got the time wrong. He stayed because he wasn't in any condition to travel with a head injury. No foal- er- kidnapping, just a visit between friends." Dumbledore's left eyebrow raised.

McGonagall stepped forward.

"You must understand, Ms. Sparkle, that Harry's removal from Hogwarts in the midst of the Triwizard Tournament is a serious event. Especially as he left no note about his whereabouts."

"Sorry about that, professor. We thought no one would notice. We believed I would only be gone a second or two here, like last time," Harry apologized.

"Last time? So you've done this before? And no one noticed your disappearance? How does that work?" the old man inquired.

Harry realized he might have said a bit too much. Thankfully, Twilight decided to bail him out.

"We tried the summoning spell before the first task. He spent a few days with me and my friends, then I returned him. Turns out, for your... location... it was only a second or two. I believe the difference between the last time was Harry's concussion, which delayed his return. Between that and Discord, the time difference makes some sense."

"'Location'? Well, this is certainly interesting. Equestria, I'm guessing?" Harry's and Twilight's eyes opened wide. This was going to ruin their alibi!

"How did you—"

"It was the letter, Hermione stole it!" Harry yelled. It had to be her! His letter was missing, and Hermione was on the same side as the bag!

"Miss Granger had only the best intentions, I assure you. When you disappeared she brought it straight to me. The only ones who know its contents are myself and the heads of the houses."

"Considering Snape is included, I'm not relieved," deadpanned Harry.

"I get you trust him, but he hates Harry. It's unprofessional," Twilight added in a cold tone.

"As... unyielding as Snape may seem, he has sworn to keep this secret-"

"Like he did Lupin's lycanthropy?" Twilight rebutted. She had thrown quite a fit when she had learned Lupin's fate the year prior, something about 'judging by the cover of the book'. "Snape cost him his job, possibly ruined his life!"

"Yes, that was a rather unfortunate event. I promise this will be different. However, I currently find myself more interested in hearing the whole truth of the matter," Dumbledore deflected. "Such as: where you took my student, and how you and Harry met."

Harry and Twilight shared a look. This was a moment they had dreaded when they would have to risk the exposure of the (somewhat) peaceful land of Equestria to the chaotic human world. Both had preferred to avoid that topic at all costs, but now it appeared they had no choice.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Well, I guess it's best that we start at the beginning."

Author's Note:

Once again, Harry Potter can't stay out of trouble. Neither can Twilight, but I think Harry has the worse luck of the two. If I'm being honest, this is the closest thing I've written to a "filler" chapter, but there is still a lot of stuff between Harry and Twilight.
With the fate of Equestria at stake, Harry will have to be very careful. He now has to reveal the truth to Dumbledore, and hope all goes well. As this is a filler, expect a slightly earlier update next time.