Equestrian Vacation

by Dragonboy111

Chapter 3: The Spell

"Harry, wait!" Hermione cried out. She and Ron ran to catch up to Harry.

Harry had been avoiding them both all day long. He refused to talk during charms, transfiguration, and care of magical creatures. He was still upset over their accusations. Twilight was a great friend, she cared about him, even when he had confessed to wanting to kill Sirius Black. She had always been there with advice to help him. But she wouldn't want him to stay mad at his few human friends. Harry turned around to talk but tripped halfway through. Luckily, Ron and Hermione caught him before he could fall. He supposed there was some subtle message about friendship in that.

"You okay Harry?" Ron asked as they pulled him back up to his feet. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about snapping at you two, I know you were only trying to help," Harry said. A month ago he wouldn't have forgiven them so easily, but living in Equestria could also make a person quite... sappy.

"It's all good. Come on, let's get to potions before Snape docks more points." Ron and Harry turned to continue their walk to the dungeons, with Hermione trailing behind.

Neither one noticed the letter in Hermione's hands.

---

In the land of Equestria, a young unicorn was making her final preparations. Twilight Sparkle read over the summoning ritual one last time, then looked out at the setting sun.

"Alright, Harry should be done with school by now, and the spell is ready." She looked at her assistant Spike, a young purple and green dragon. "We got everything else?" she asked.

The small dragon pulled out a checklist in return.

"Let's see... Spell preparation? Check. Friends alerted? Check. Unicorn Magic 101 is set out to teach Harry? Check. Ice cream supply restocked? Double check." He briefly wilted under Twilight's gaze after listing the final entry. "What? I'm hungry," he said. Twilight chuckled.

"Alright then. Here we go." Twilight closed her eyes as her horn lit up. A gentle breeze drifted through the library. She began to recite the incantation. "One so far away. Tired and worn..."

---

"Today you will show what little you have bothered to learn this semester," drawled Professor Snape. A long list of instructions was scrawled out on the blackboard behind him, the instructions for their final potion. "This test is a rather substantial portion of your grade, so do not think you can slack off." Small, panicked whispers ran through the class. Snape had sprung a surprise final on them!

"Is he trying to sink our grades to the ocean floor?" Ron grumbled under his breath.

"Tell me about it," Harry replied. He set his bag down, only to pause a moment later. The letter! It wasn't in his bag! Harry quickly dug through his bag's insides, looking for his letter. Normally he hid them in a secret compartment in his luggage bag, but he didn't get a chance to while Ron was looking this morning. He made it a personal mission that the letters were never seen by anyone. Harry began thinking back to his day. He had his letter during the previous classes, so he didn't misplace it then. The only time he hadn't checked was...

When he tripped in the hallway.

Hermione had been on the same side as his bag. Had she stolen the letter? But why? Didn't she trust him? Ron had forgiven him for the whole thing. Then again, this wouldn't have been the first time Hermione had done this. She reported the Firebolt to Mcgonagall during the fourth year. Was she going to—?

"Potter. If you're going to spend the whole class shifting through your bag, you should just ask for a zero on this test," Snape scolded from behind Harry. Surprised, the boy startled, nearly dropping his bag.

"Professor, I was looking for—"

"Your notes, no doubt. Five points from Gryffindor for looking up notes on a test. Anything else to say?" Snape sneered.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do so, the boy started to glow. A pink, vibrant light surrounded the boy, and before anyone could say anything, the light disappeared.

And Harry was nowhere to be seen.

---

"I'm not cheating— Whoa!" Harry found himself floating in space upside-down, before falling headfirst onto a hardwood floor.

"Oh no, Harry! Are you okay?!" The voice of a girl reached his ears; a voice remembered well.

"Twilight?" Harry opened his eyes to see Twilight's library. He was in Equestria again! He locked eyes with the unicorn. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but I thought I said this afternoon," Harry said dryly, rubbing his hand-er-hoof against his head. Oh, right, I'm a unicorn over here.

"It is the afternoon Harry," Twilight said sheepishly. "Look outside." She gestured with a hoof towards the window. The sun, still plenty visible, was about halfway between noon and sunset. The young unicorn rubbed her chin. "Of course, there could have been some time dilation between your world and mine. Should have thought about that earlier." Harry blinked up at her as she was lost in thought. She looked exactly the same as when he left. A grin crept across his face.

"Well, I wasn't missing much anyways." Harry stood up, or, he tried to.

"Wait, you're on four—!" There was a resounding crash as Harry tripped over his front legs, bumping into a bookshelf and burying him with books. "—legs." A few books fell down the pile, revealing Harry's head. Twilight giggled. "I guess some things don't change."

"Laugh it up," Harry huffed good-naturedly. He shook the books off of his flanks, then stood up on all fours. It took him only a few moments to recall how Twilight had taught him to walk. "See? It's much easier the second time." He said as he slowly trotted about.

"Hey, Harry! It's great to see you again!" Spike said, waving. Harry waved back at the dragon. He turned to face Twilight.

"I missed you," she said. She reached out to envelop him in a big hug, which he reciprocated.

"Thanks for letting me visit," Harry said as they separated.

"When I said you could come anytime, I meant it. So, what'd I interrupt at Hogwarts?" A gleam sparked in her eyes.

"Oh, just a surprise potions final. Nothing important, really—"

Twilight's hooves grabbed his muzzle so she could glare directly into his eyes.

"'Not important'!? Harry, your schoolwork is important! What if you fail your final!?"

"I don't think Snape was going to let me get a good grade anyways. Besides, I'd rather spend time here." Harry looked out at the sun. "So, what did you have planned for today?"

"Well, I thought it would take a bit longer for you to get walking again, but afterward I thought of getting some dinner. I know a good place with some dishes I think you'll like."

"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way, Miss Sparkle," Harry said, bowing dramatically.

"Follow me, Mister Trotter," Twilight said in an equally posh voice. Harry's ears drooped.

"That nickname is never going away, is it?" he mumbled as he followed Twilight out, to which she giggled. He stopped to glance around at Ponyville.

It is good to be back.

Author's Note:

Yeah, here's chapter 3. I'll probably be posting once or twice a day, until I'm all caught up on the story.

Comments

[keybounce]

Just posting to let you know, people are reading this.

[Hobbestc]

Yeah I just started reading this, but it looks fun so far.