Chapter 5: The Thief
"Stop! Thief!"
The sound of shouting jolted Harry out of his peaceful sleep harshly. He tumbled out of bed and rushed for the door. He opened it just in time to see a cloaked figure dash across his vision.
"She's stolen my crown!" Twilight shouted.
Harry bolted out the door, chasing this mysterious thief. The others weren't far behind him, and the guards were rushing to arrive. Twilight teleported behind a corner as Harry galloped to keep up. As he rounded the corner, he saw the thief rush at Twilight before teleporting behind the Princess in a flash of cyan, blinding her with her cloak. It was then that everypony got a good look at the thief. She was a yellow mare with yellow and red hair and cyan eyes. A twisted smirk was painted on her face.
Everypony chased after her again, Twilight still the closest. When Twilight was close enough she jumped on the thief, tumbling through a nearby door. Amid their scramble, Twilight's crown was sent flying. Harry teleported into the center of the room, watching the crown bounce around.
"I got it!" he shouted. Harry dove for the crown as it flew at a mirror, but was unable to correct for one important detail: the mirror wasn't solid.
The crown passed through the mirror's surface, which rippled like water. Harry wasn't too far behind the wayward Element. The moment he touched the mirror, he felt like he was stuck in a swirling vortex, blinding him with flashes of light. He didn't get any time to look back as he vanished within this mysterious mirror.
Harry felt he was being stretched and pulled like dough or clay. He could only wait for the sensation of eternal falling to cease.
Harry was catapulted out of the blinding lights and into relative darkness. He collapsed on the warm pavement. Harry could feel his glasses digging into his face. He lifted a hand to—
Hands?
Harry's eyes shot open and were met with five human fingers. Harry picked himself up and looked at his body. He was his regular human self, albeit with a slightly more saturated skin tone. The oddest part was that he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing when he entered Equestria, clothes he knew were back at the library. Said clothes were jeans, a pale blue shirt, and a black jacket, but even those seemed too perfect, too new to be the old clothes the Dursleys gave him. Maybe Twilight was right with one of her theories, and the portals constructed clothes based on the new world's requirements.
Harry felt something in one of his pockets and drew out his wand. Strange, did he have that on him when he went through the portal?
"Alright, I got clothes, that's good. But where am I?" Harry asked himself.
He was in an open area, a human city by the looks of it. There was a large building in front of him, a school perhaps. There was a statue behind him, and beyond that was a road and neighborhood. Harry inspected the statue. If the mirror was the portal, maybe the statue was on the other side of the portal. He reached a hand out and the base of the statue shimmered as his hand passed through. Harry retracted his hand quickly.
"Woah. A portal. Then, is this my world?" Harry wondered aloud. He stepped back and looked up at the buildings around him. Harry fought a wave of vertigo, a migraine starting to form. "Something doesn't feel right. Maybe I'm in a different universe?"
Harry's musings were cut off as the portal shimmered. A girl with bright yellow and red hair and yellow skin jumped through the portal. She looked about the age of Twilight's human form. She didn't look like any human Harry had ever met, she must have been the thief from the castle!
"Stop!" Harry shouted, raising his wand at the girl, less than a few inches from her face.
She seemed rather surprised.
"Oh, I see you've adapted quickly. Getting used to walking should've taken longer," she noted offhandedly.
"I have experience. Now where's Twilight's crown?" he demanded.
The thief had a contemplative look on her face. "Experience. An odd word choice. Let me guess, you're from another world?" she guessed correctly. "But as for the Element? I don't know, but I'll find it before you." The thief chuckled. "Even with your 'experience'."
"I'm not letting you get the Element. Stupefy!" Harry shouted.
But nothing happened. There was no light from his wand, no shield conjured by his opponent. Harry flicked the wand once more, commanding the same spell again, verbally and silently. But just like the time before, there was no spell. Harry reached within himself, expecting to feel the buzz of magic he had been sensing since his first visit to Equestria, but there was nothing there.
There was no magic.
"Oh, would you look at that? No magic. Must sting," the thief laughed.
Taking advantage of Harry's surprise, she swatted his wand away and planted her elbow in Harry's gut, robbing him of his breath. She followed this up by swinging Harry over her shoulder, right at the portal. Harry's body hit it and started to be sucked in. Thinking quickly, he managed to grasp the edges of the portal. The girl approached him mockingly.
"Sorry it had to be this way, kid. But when you get back, tell the new princess her predecessor says hello," she taunted.
"Don't think we'll let you get away with stealing from Twilight!" Harry exclaimed.
"I already have."
With her part said, she reached out and pushed Harry's head into the portal and Harry lost his grip on the edge. He went back into the blinding vortex of colors. And when he emerged, he was too slow to react when his head harshly crashed on the ground. Darkness took his mind.
When Harry and the thief vanished into the mirror, the only thing stopping Twilight from barging through the thing was all five of her friends holding her back. They shouted her down, demanding she stay calm and not do anything foolish. When they were certain she wasn't going to dive for the mirror, Twilight demanded the guards to fetch the Princesses. The guards were understandably wary of waking any of the Princesses but relented the moment Twilight made it an order. From there, very little time passed before the three other Princesses arrived in the room.
"Twilight, what happened?" Celestia demanded.
"Somepony stole my crown! I woke up and she was running away with my crown! Then it fell through the mirror," Twilight pointed at the said item, "then Harry went through the portal by accident!"
"The mirror?" Celestia echoed softly. "Harry went through it?"
"Yes, but he hasn't come back yet. I'm getting worried about him, he—"
Twilight nearly jumped to the ceiling as the mirror glowed again. The others readied themselves for the thief to come out with the Element, but were shocked when Harry shot out of it. The younger colt slid on the ground face down and didn't rise.
"Harry!"
"Oh my goodness!"
"Is he alright?!"
Everypony crowded around the colt, checking his condition. She put her ear near his mouth, listening to his breath, just to be sure. Twilight gently shook his shoulders, trying to rouse him from his unconscious state.
"He is having a dream, a vivid one," Princess Luna said. "It would be wiser to it pass."
Harry was walking down Privet Drive. The whole street was dark, the lampposts much dimmer than they should've been. The clip-clop of hooves was enough to tell Harry he was a pony, and the weight on his shoulders told him he was an alicorn, again. So, obviously, this was a dream.
He trotted along until he walked past 4 Privet Drive, the Dursley family home. Harry should have walked past it, he wanted to walk past it, but his hooves had a mind of their own as Harry was marched up the front door of the home. The door opened of its own volition. The inside was filled with darkness, Harry could barely see more than a meter inside. Harry reached out and was surprised when a barrier met his hoof. A black cloth-like barrier stood between him and the interior. Harry brushed the magical fabric that separated him from the inside. This wasn't here before.
Harry's next movements happened by instinct alone. His horn glowed green and he swung his head down. There was a terrible ripping noise, and the barrier tore from top to bottom, the edges burning like parchment. The ground shook, rumbling and growling in a mockery of a hungered animal. Harry stepped inside. Before he made it in more than a few paces, the door to Harry's first room, the cupboard under the stairs, trembled as a pounding noise emanated from within.
Harry jumped back.
"Who's there?" he demanded. When no one replied, Harry stepped closer to the cupboard. The pounding got louder, faster. "Hello?" he asked.
When Harry was within reach of the door he stopped. The pounding of the door was reaching a fever pitch, and Harry could've sworn he heard muffled screams from behind the door. He hesitated, unsure if the door should be opened. What if it's dangerous? Harry couldn't help but wonder if that might be true. But, at the same time, he had once been trapped in there, this was cruelty. He needed to open the door. Harry grasped the handle in one hoof and pulled.
Darkness.
The cupboard's inside was a black void. There was nothing, no scared little boy, no desperate teen, nothing. Just a black void with nothing but...
Two red eyes. Two red eyes, pinpricks in size, were looking at him. When they looked at each other, the eyes widened and rushed at him. They grew larger am larger as they tried to escape the black abyss Harry had unwittingly freed it from. Harry couldn't move. He couldn't scream or shout. There was nothing to do as these horrifying eyes bared down on him.
"You cannot hide from me!" a high voice screeched.
That seemed to snap Harry into action if only to fall back in fear. He scrambled to gallop away as the eyes caught up to him. He bolted out of the home, running down the street as fast as he could. As the eyes followed him, the rest of the street turned as dark as the void they came from.
"You cannot escape!"
The ground beneath Harry gave way and his wings failed to guide him away from the monster behind him. He fell into darkness.
A few seconds later, Harry's eyes shot open. Twilight sighed in relief.
"Harry! Ya gave us all a mighty fright there!" Applejack said.
Harry shakily rose to his hooves, rubbing his forehead.
"Ugh, my head. What- what happened?" he asked.
"You went through the mirror, don't you remember?" Twilight asked.
What if his memory is damaged, or he has amnesia?! I mean, the summoning was always safe, but what if this portal is unstable? Twilight couldn't keep her intrusive thoughts in line. Harry had done something very foolish, not that it was his fault.
"The mirror..." Harry looked back at the glass. "Yes, I remember the mirror. It's a portal, a portal to some sort of..."
"Parallel world," Celestia finished his sentence. Everypony looked at the princess in surprise. "The mirror leads to another world. There is much to discuss," she said. Celestia turned to the guards to issue a few orders and commanded another to wake the prince and princess.
The six mares looked between Harry and the mirror.
"Who was that?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, but this had better be as crazy as it looks, I'm too tired for anything less," Harry mumbled.
"Right with you," Spike agreed.
Twilight shook her head, glad Harry's sense of humor was intact.
It was a few minutes before Cadance and Shining Armor were rushing into the room, the latter's appearance miraculously well put together for being summoned in the dead of night. When She entered the room, Celestia turned to address everypony in the room.
"That was Sunset Shimmer: a former student of mine," Celestia said. "She began her studies with me not long before Twilight. But when she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest. I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path. One that has sadly led to her stealing your crown," Celestia said, remorse in her voice.
"She replaced Twilight's with this one," Spike held out a fake crown, a very fake crown. Celestia barely spared it a glance.
"I suppose Sunset Shimmer thought you wouldn't notice right away that this was not yours. And by the time you did, it would be too late to go after your crown and Element of Harmony."
"But I don't understand. Where did she go? Where did she take the crown?" Twilight asked. Sure, that was a portal, but where it led was a complete mystery.
"You'll soon know more about this place than even I do," Celestia replied.
"As you now know, this is no ordinary mirror," Luna revealed. "It is a gateway to another world. A gateway that opens once every thirty moons."
"Sparkly!" Pinkie Pie said, dipping her hoof in the mirror. Luna gently moved the excitable mare back.
"Is it a portal to Harry's world?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No, it can't be," Harry replied, shaking his head. "I'm human over there, but something about the other side was different. My magic wasn't working, I couldn't cast any spells. Sunset knew this, magic doesn't exist there. Wherever it goes is completely different from Equestria or Earth."
"Which was why it has always been kept in the throne room of Canterlot Castle," Luna explained. "But when Princess Cadance took over the Crystal Empire, we sent it here for her to watch over."
"I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would someday use it to return, to come back to Equestria seeking my guidance," Celestia said. "Obviously, this is not what has happened."
"Twilight, you must use the mirror to go into this other world and retrieve your crown," Cadance said. "Without it, the other Elements of Harmony have no power and Equestria is left without one of its most important means of defense."
The others looked at each other nervously.
"Your crown does not belong in the place Sunset Shimmer now calls home," Luna said gravely. "And in her possession, your Element of Harmony will no doubt be used to bring harm to the inhabitants of this other realm. They will not have the power to defend themselves."
Celestia placed a bag on Twilight's back.
"You understand the importance of your task?" Celestia asked.
"Of course," Twilight said with a nod.
"Good. Then you must go at once," Celestia commanded.
Twilight sighed and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She took a step toward the portal but was stopped when Rainbow Dash appeared in front of her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! She's going, we're going with her," The pegasus declared. The others lined up beside her. "Right, girls?" she said.
"Oooh! I'm so 'nervicited'!" Pinkie squealed.
"You do realize that's not a real word, right?" Applejack asked.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go," Celestia said.
"What?! Why not?!" Rainbow demanded, stomping a hoof. Celestia retained her calm and wise exterior.
"Sending all of you could upset the balance of this alternate world, creating havoc that would make it impossible for Twilight to get the crown back from Sunset Shimmer. This is something Princess Twilight must do alone."
"Then, could I go?" Harry asked. "I'm not from this universe, maybe I can go along."
"I'm afraid even that is a risk, for you and for others," said Celestia.
"But I know more about being human than any of you!" protested Harry.
"And I know more about other worlds than you, Harry," said Celestia in a firm tone. "Your world is not the first we have encountered. There is a delicate balance between worlds, and interactions can cause unnatural occurrences in both. I have allowed contact between our worlds because of the history they unintentionally share. While you are from a universe that is vastly different from our own, that may make the balance worse, like an invasive species outside of its habitat. I know you want to go with Twilight, but I cannot allow it, and for that I'm sorry."
Harry's shoulders sagged and irritation flared in him. It wasn't fair, he knew more about being human! If Twilight was going to go somewhere without magic, he should have been allowed to go!
Luna stepped forward. "And there's another reason," she added. "You said the mirror world has none of your kind's magic. We don't know if the amulet was completely effective. That is to say nothing of your dream."
"My dream?" Harry asked. "What about it?"
"Do not be coy with me, I saw the dream you had," the Princess of the Night said. "Whether it is a vision or not, I do not know. But it's for the best you stay here, just as a precaution."
Harry's anger simmered but stayed contained. Luna is right. I might pose a danger to Twilight there, I can't risk that yet. That doesn't mean I have to like it.
"Time is of the essence," Luna announced with urgency. "On the third day, when the moon reaches its peak in the night sky, the gateway will close. And once it does, it will be another thirty moons before you will be able to use it to return."
Twilight stepped towards the portal, and everypony gave her their best wishes and encouragement. Her brother was the last pony to stand between her and the mirror.
"Be careful over there. Please?" Shining Armor pleaded in a whisper.
"I promise," was all she said.
Knowing that was the best he would get, the prince stepped out of Twilight's way. The young princess walked through a portal, the mirror rippling as she disappeared. It was not a second later that Spike ran after her at full speed.
"Spike, NO!" Everypony shouted. It did nothing as Spike ran through the mirror after Twilight.
"Ponyfeathers, what are we going to do about that?" Harry demanded, not even realizing he cursed in front of the princesses.
"Nothing," Celestia said. "If Twilight commands it, she will send Spike back through the portal. What happens on the other side of the portal is her mission now."
"So... we just wait here for however long it's going to take?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"For three days," Harry added. "If I weren't so sure of her abilities I'd jump in there after her. I still want to."
"Right with ya, Harry. I don't like the feeling of this either. We've always been stronger together," Applejack said.
"She's probably super lonely over there," Fluttershy said.
"Are you kidding? She's probably going to make a buncha new friends!" Pinkie Pie declared.
"I'm not leaving 'til she gets back!" Rainbow Dash declared.
"Me neither!" Rarity said. "Well, until I need to get some rest, Twilight wouldn't want us to tear ourselves apart worrying."
"Much as I don't like the idea, I have to agree. I want to sleep off this bloody headache," Harry said with a yawn.
"That might be for the best," Celestia said. "Twilight's mission may take longer. I will have guards posted outside immediately, just in case."
"We could do the same if you all wouldn't mind," Fluttershy said. "No pony has to stay or leave if they don't want to."
"If that's the case, I'll stay here for a while," Harry said.
"I think we all will," Luna said.
Harry sat himself down in front of the mirror, wishing Twilight would come out of it. But, despite his desire for vigilance, the drowsiness from the night's fitful sleep dragged Harry's mind under. And Harry dreamt again.
"You cannot escape!"
"Harry!"
Harry's eyes shot open. It was that same stupid nightmare again! He was still in the same room as before. Somepony was standing over him.
"Harry, are you alright?" Princess Luna asked. She was the pony standing above him.
"I'm fine, just a bad dream," Harry said, brushing her off.
"I am the Princess of the Night, I know better," she corrected.
"Cadance, do you know where Shining Armor is? I think I'll go talk to him," Harry said.
"Just below the palace, but—"
Harry rushed outside the room before she could finish. Luna looked at her older sister. Celestia nodded.
Harry walked through the halls of the palace, distracted. That was not a normal dream, but that wasn't like any of his visions of Voldemort. Whatever it was gave him more problems on top of Twilight's mission. Why did he have to have such bad—
"I have been looking for you. You should know it is rude to walk out on a Princess," Luna said. Harry stopped to look at her.
"Sorry, your highness, I was—"
"All is forgiven. You were stressed by your dream," Luna said. "I saw the phantasm you're afraid of."
Luna walked by Harry, and the stallion trotted along to match her pace as she guided them through the palace.
"Princess Luna, do you know why that happened? Celestia removed my scar's soul fragment, why does it haunt me?" Harry asked.
Luna was silent, thinking. Her next words were careful, measured.
"Let's assume the best-case scenario. You've had this thing for so long that the imprint is slow to fade, like a hoofprint in the sand. The entity within you has been exorcized, it cannot harm you, you only have to heal."
Harry felt hope bubbling up in him.
"If that's true, do you think Celestia would—"
"No," Luna declared. "It is for the best. You should say here while your mind recovers. Just promise—"
"Stay away from dark magic, changelings, magic draining items, et cetra, Cadance told me," Harry said. "Your majesty," he added quickly, seeing some displeasure on Luna's face after he interrupted her again.
"At least you understand the concept of safety. Now, you were looking for Shining Armor?" Luna asked.
"Yes. I can't stand not being able to help, so I want to learn combat magic."
Luna stopped in her tracks.
"I redact my previous declaration."
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Are we at least going to see Twilights perspective? Regardless of whether Harry is there or not, things are going to change significantly in the EQG world.
I don't really have a problem with skipping the EqG arc. I'm probably in the minority, but it's always the low point of this kind of story imo.
Tiaaa, Starswirl did not practice what he was putting into other heads, after all how else could he maintain his lone privilage of using a freaking PLANAR BRIDGE as a cosmic dumpster for dangerous and/or embarasing stuff that he was too busy and/or lazy to deal with
.
Little shame that Celestia and Luna took this too much at face value but ignoring his less than stellar character Starswirl was pioneer of space/time magics so there is reason why his idiotic (in my personal opinion) restrictions are still in use.
Why do I think that Twilight will be more ... forcefull with purifying Sunset for beating Harry , that was assault no matter the details .
Harry wants to learn more combat magic , good for him but I would recommend more physical approach if he wants second round with Sunny before she gets her head straight ... or maybe visiting armory to check if Sombra left something therapeutic like ... I don't know spiked mace or flail made of sharp crystals
? 
.
Heard that concussions can be quite therapheutic when delivered to too much ambitious craniums
Can't wait for Sunset getting earful from Twi for damaging her not-coltfriend ... preferably earful of shouts instead of survival knife
Stay away from magic draining items.
And he just went to a whole Magic Draining World.
Oh dear. voldemorts contamination is going to be attracted to every source of magic there like a neutron star to a black hole.
I don't mind not showing the adventure in the human world. If events in that world are going to be 100% adherence to the movie then it's best to skip it and just watch the movie if anyone wants to know what happens there.
Change it to "Luna is right, he thought"; perhaps put his thoughts in quotes. As it is now, its the voice of the narrator, but the rest of the chapter has a non-character narrator.
I agree -- if Twilight/spike are doing the "same thing", skip that part of the story. Focus on Harry here.
"I redact my previous declaration" -- ohh, this is interesting. So "heal, take it easy, be safe ... oh, you want to fight? Never mind". This ought to be interesting.
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Thanks for telling me. I rearranged half this chapter last night and rewrote some more, so... thanks.
Good on Harry for learning more combat magic. He'll make a great teacher for Dumbledore's Army next book.
So Equestria girls is going to follow canon?
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I can't say what's going to happen next, but I can say this. The hardest part of writing this is Sunset Shimmer, my favorite character. She rejected Celestia guiding her toward friendship. Her redemption was only because it was Twilight, with the magic of friendship, who beat her. Should Harry (or even Celestia) defeat her, Sunset would just see it as what's rightfully hers being withheld, rather than a moment of remorse.
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I took some lore from the comics. I took Celestia's and mirror world Sombra's relationship as one reason for this fear. In the reflections comic arc (which happens after the movie) we see the consequences of two worlds becoming too close. Star Swirl is a genius but not the best role model, that much is true, but he is a genius regardless.
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I cannot describe how much I wanted these two to interact more in my story. Harry needs a positive male influence and magical combat lessons. And Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, needs scenes where he isn't tied at the waist to his family (no offense to them).
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Hopefully he'll do more than expelliarmus this time around. I don't understand why he uses it more than stupefy, and don't get me started on him using Impedimenta on a band of murders. There's a reason he ain't in Ravenclaw. I'll let Shining Armor do his thing.
I've just been binge-reading this story on Fanfiction, I'm enjoying it very much.
Let's be real here, how many of us are buying it, that Harry won't eventually join Twilight in the EQG universe?
You named this story Equestria Vacation and didn’t make this a crossover between any of the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies?! Smh
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Remember, Hermione pointed out that being expelled is worse than death, so, he has learned the expelliarmus spell to counter a.k.
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Small misconception: Expelliarmus normally doesn't counter Avada Kedavra. When Harry blocked in in GoF, that was the twin wand cores. In DH, it was Harry having the Elder Wand's loyalty. He also blocked it with a shield charm, but we don't know if it was the wand or the sacrificial protection. The three unforgivable curses are "unblockable" by magic under most circumstances, Harry notwithstanding. That trick only works in the films.
TL;DR, J.K's rules for AK are consistent-ish around everyone except Harry.