In the world of Equestria, people are unaware of the many wizards and witches that hide beneath the surface of society.
Equestria, a rich, beautiful country defined as being full of harmony and friendship.
However, beneath the surface of the cities and small towns, rainbows, and the many celebrations of the country’s rich history, you would find something much more interesting.
Equestria, a rich, beautiful country defined as being full of harmony and friendship.
However, beneath the surface of the cities and small towns, rainbows, and the many celebrations of the country’s rich history, you would find something much more interesting.
A world of magic.
It was late in the morning at Canterlot Crown Train Station. It was an oddly busy morning, more than usual. Those that weren’t fully engrossed in their own thoughts would notice the large amount of people in robes and pushing trolleys full of trunks and animal crates.
Among the throng of robed individuals was a couple, walking alongside their daughter who was pushing a trolley along like the other children in robes.
"You know, I doubt our appearance will help us blend in with all the Muggles." The father, an older man with blue hair that was neatly swept back. It was a lighter shade of blue than his robes which bore two crescent moons (one smaller and a different shade than the other) on the part that covered his thigh. He gestured to the people who weren’t wearing robes, but attire that was suitable for whatever it was for them to go about doing.
"Calling them Muggles doesn't help much, either." His wife responded, although her voice didn't betray the warmth in her eyes when she looked at him. She had light purple hair, already streaked gray. She was shorter than her husband by several inches, but it wasn’t a huge difference.
Between the two of them was a small girl with a lanky frame and evenly trimmed purple (a deeper purple than her mother’s) hair that boasted a streak of hot pink. She was bouncing as she walked, eyes wide as she took in the surroundings. The Muggles that stepped onto trains to continue on with the lives she didn’t understand but wished she did.
The girl was pushing a cart that had a large trunk that was double her size and had a small metal cage perched on the top, with a large fluff of brown-beige feathers sitting inside.
"There, Platform nine and three-quarters. We're close. Come on, Twilight. Shining's already on board and waiting." The man pointed in the direction of the sign and then pointed to another that read 'Platform Ten.' There was only a large brick barrier between the two signs, surrounded by several other people wearing robes.
"Now, Now. Go on Flutters. No need to be worried." A sweet voice came from a short woman that was standing by the barrier, a man of only an inch taller standing beside her. Her hands were settled on the back of a young girl that was a few inches taller than Twilight and had much longer, pink hair. The woman seemed to be trying to usher the young girl forward towards the barrier, but she simply clutched the handle of her trolley tighter.
"Yeah, Fluttershy. Come on!" Another girl, who sounded far more confident, was pushing her cart ahead of Fluttershy. Her hair was streaked with all the colors of the rainbow, like the man who stood next to her. He was a broad-shouldered man with a more muscular build than any other man Twilight had seen in the station. The girl was wearing Muggle clothes, but she clearly wasn’t one of them if the animal cage and trunk in her trolley were anything to go off.
Twilight and her parents stopped near them, Twilight peering around her cart to get a better view.
"W-What if I stumble, or-or bump into someone and knock their things over!?" Fluttershy squeaked, not seeming to notice the rainbow-haired one frown.
"C'mon Fluttershy, look, we're starting to hold up a line."
This remark caused the other to whip around, her extremely long hair whipping around her and her wide blue eyes looked full of fear. "O-Oh no! I'm- I am so, so sorry!"
"It's alright. We're not in any particular rush." Twilight’s mother reassured, smiling in a way that seemed to calm down Fluttershy a little.
"Well, we will have to be if we don't get on that train soon!" The rainbow-haired girl responded, turning and starting to push her cart at ahead of her while going at a running pace. Twilight, let out a small gasp as she sped towards the barrier.
Twilight half expected the girl to crash directly into the wall, but she didn’t. The girl, cart and all, phased right through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there.
"See Flutters? It's perfectly safe." Fluttershy's mother reassured, brushing back some of her own large, magenta curls and gently pushing her daughter towards the wall.
"H-How about those others go?" Fluttershy whispered hurriedly, glancing towards Twilight briefly.
"All right." Fluttershy pulled her cart out of Twilight's way. Twilight nodded her thanks to Fluttershy before pushing forward, trying to push down her growing feeling of worry as the wall grew closer and closer.
At the last moment, right before her cart reached the barrier, Twilight squeezed her eyes shut
When she didn't feel her body slamming into her cart as it smashed into the wall, she started to slow and hesitantly opened her eyes.
She immediately spotted a large scarlet steam engine, which was currently resting alongside the platform which was packed with many other kids with carts and trunks, being kissed or hugged by friends and relatives before boarding the train.
Twilight saw many different animals in this space as well. Cats striding around, somehow avoiding the mass of moving people that were currently ignoring the smoke that drifted over their heads from the engine, owls loudly hooting from their cages, rats squealing as their cages were jostled about.
Twilight turned to look behind her, seeing a wide crystal archway that opened up to Canterlot Crown Train Station behind her. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was spelled out in gold above it.
Twilight's gaze however, was not kept to the archway, and instead shifted to the rainbow-haired girl from before who was being flanked by her father as they approached the crowd around the steam engine.
Twilight began to push her cart towards the large train, watching as the students waved out of windows and their trunks were loaded onto the train. Twilight was stopped when her parents ran up behind her, wrapping their arms around her and beginning to remind her about things.
"Now, you better obey all the rules and not cause any trouble, you hear me?" Her mother said firmly and Twilight nodded.
"And don't forget to write, okay?" Her father’s voice was softer and a little shaky, but before Twilight could respond, her mother had pulled out her watch,
"Oh! You need to get on the train now, sweetheart!"
Twilight did not object to escaping the rather loud environment, watching her mother levitate her trunk out of her trolley and into the train carriage.
Twilight’s father picked her up, setting her down on the top step and ushering her inside before he stepped back onto the platform. Twilight held out her arms as her mother placed Owlicious’ cage into her arms.
Her parents started shouting goodbyes as the carriage door slid shut and Twilight stepped back further into the carriage, placing a hand on her trunk. There were a couple older students still milling about near one of the compartments ahead of her.
Ignoring them, Twilight began to shove her trunk down the train carriage, pausing next to each compartment to peer inside and see if there were any other first years inside. So far, all she saw were older students, and so she took one of the very last compartments, which happened to be completely empty.
She shoved her trunk into the compartment, frowning at the overhead storage shelves that were far too high for her to reach, let alone put her trunk in. She was glad when she noticed there was space underneath the seats which was where she wedged her trunk before taking a seat, setting Owlicious’ cage down beside her. The owl cooed softly and Twilight smiled at him before leaning against the wall and staring out the window at the platform next to the train. It took Twilight a brief moment to notice that the train was beginning to move and that the crowd on the platform was entirely adults and some extremely small children that hadn’t received their Hogwarts letter. Some of them started running as the train picked up speed until it completely vanished into the tunnel.
Twilight was silent, watching the houses of Canterlot blur past, her focus now on the new destination as her finger gently stroked the feathered ball in the cage, only to be jerked back to full awareness by the opening of the compartment door.
"Hey, mind if ah' sit here? I can't find a seat anywhere else."
"Not at all." Twilight replied, looking at the girl who shoved her trunk under the seats as well before sitting down across from Twilight. Her blonde hair was lazily tied towards the end with a red ribbon, and her tanned skin was covered in freckles. She was bigger than Twilight, her arms seeming much thicker than Twilight’s.
She smiled as she adjusted her over-sized stetson hat and then held out her hand in an offered handshake. Twilight took it, now noticing how the stranger’s hands were bigger than hers.
"Name's Apple Jack, but you can call me AJ. What's 'yers?"
"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
"Nice ta' meet ya, Twilight. What'cha got there?"
Twilight looked down at the cage by her side, the creature inside it looking curiously at Apple Jack.
"Oh, this is Owlicious." Twilight pulled the cage onto her lap.
"Aw, he's a cute lil' guy. I have a cat, her name's Winona."
As if on cue, a cat crawled onto Apple Jack's lap (seemingly from nowhere), purring. The cat was mostly brown with large white patches.
"She's very cute." Twilight paused when she noticed the cat was wagging her tail like a dog. Apple Jack frowned when she noticed where Twilight’s gaze was focused.
"Can ya' keep a secret?" Apple Jack leaned forward, her voice a low whisper.
"... Yes?"
"Winona ain't a cat. She's a dog. My Gran used a spell on 'er 'cause I could'n bare the thought of takin' an owl or a toad over Winona." Apple Jack stroked the cat’s head and it leaned into it.
Twilight was quiet as she stared at the cat, slowly thinking over the information.
It was so strange to her. She ran over all the rules that she had read over in her head, trying to figure out if turning a dog into a cat was against Hogwarts’ rules, but she could only remember a rule about not being allowed to transfigure yourself or another person. Nothing about transfiguring a favorite pet.
Not that any average first year would know how to properly perform a transfiguration spell of that level of complexity.
"Aye! Winona!" Twilight was pulled out of her mind as Applejack started yelling, grabbing at her dog-turned-cat who was now sniffing at a very uneasy Owlicious. The owl’s feathers were ruffled and fluffed up as he attempted to get as far away from the other animal as possible, which was a fairly difficult task considering he was still in a cage.
Twilight lifted Owlicious' cage over her head, watching as Winona intensely stared at the cage, before her dark eyes turned to Twilight’s. Before a staring contest could break out, Apple Jack pulled her pet into her lap by the scruff of Winona's neck and began to scold her.
"Excuse me? Is this full?" Apple Jack stopped, looking over to the compartment door which had been opened by a few inches.
Twilight looked up as well when a girl peered through the opening, half of her face hidden behind long pink bangs. Only to duck away as a familiar girl swung the compartment door open and entered the room. Twilight set Owlicious’ cage down next to her.
"The train's been goin' for a while now. Why are you just now findin' a seat?"
"We had a seat but some knucklehead kids took them when I went to change into my robes."
"I-I'm sorry Rainbow-" Fluttershy started but her friend stopped her.
"Fluttershy, stop apologizing. You tried, and that's fine." The rainbow haired girl's voice had shifted to a gentler tone but it vanished when she looked back to the others.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Fluttershy whispered and Applejack nodded to the two empty seats beside her and the two shuffled into the booth. Fluttershy was holding a small fluff ball in her hands. Due to Owlicious' sudden interest in the small creature, Twilight was sure it must be a rodent of some sort.
Winona crept over to Fluttershy sniffing at the fluff ball in her hands. Fluttershy's eyes turned to her. "No, No. You can't eat him." She whispered and Apple Jack snapped her fingers.
"Winona, come 'ere." Apple Jack’s tone was firm.
Fluttershy and Rainbow looked at Apple Jack as though she had just tried to summon a broomstick, but the cat didn't notice, it simply leaped over to Apple Jack's side and leaned against her. Apple Jack scratched her head and smiled at the purring animal.
"Isn't that how you call for a dog?"
Apple Jack looked up from her cat and stared at Rainbow for a long moment. However, before she could make up a reason (or tell the truth, Twilight wasn't sure which) a plump woman appeared, pushing a cart, at the now fully opened compartment door.
"Would you like something off the cart?"
Twilight fished around in her pockets, pulling out a small bag full of coins before looking up and noticing that Rainbow had abandoned her seat to grab some of the food. Twilight got up and followed her into the corridor, The two got as much food as they could get. Rainbow had already started to cram some of the candy into her mouth while Twilight uttered a quick ‘thank you’ and shut the compartment door.
Twilight dumped her candy onto the empty space next to her seat. Rainbow was fishing around and eating some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as she handed a pumpkin pastry to Fluttershy who offered some to her rat who was more than happy to have some.
Twilight noticed how Apple Jack didn’t have anything to eat, so she offered her one of the cauldron cakes she had bought.
“Thanks!” She snatched the cake out of Twilight’s open hand and quickly started eating. Winona sniffed at it but Apple Jack scolded her, telling the cat that a cauldron cake would probably make her sick.
"Hey, do you have a Luna Celnis?" Rainbow Dash muttered, swallowing a mouthful of what Twilight assumed was a Chocolate Frog, due to the headless chocolate body that she was holding.
"Ya'. Do ya have a Celestia Celnis?" Apple Jack rifled through her pockets before she held up a card and Rainbow Dash nodded.
"I had three, but then I gave one to Fluttershy. So I only have two now. I'll gladly give you one."
"Thanks." She said as the two swapped the cards.
"So.. Do you have any relatives in Hogwarts?" Rainbow asked, swallowing the last of her chocolate frog and wiping her hands on her jeans beneath her robes.
"'Ah have plenty." Apple Jack replied, Winona trying to lick the crumbs of the cauldron cake from Apple Jack’s hands. "Cousins, nieces, nephews. It's in mah' family to go to Hogwarts. Mah' older brother, Macintosh, is here though, starting his fifth year."
"Wow.. My brother is here, he's starting his third year.." FlutterShy whispered, immediately finding her rat much more interesting when the others looked her way. Rainbow decided to pick up on the dropped off sentence.
"His name is Zephyr Breeze... And he's a lazy-"
"Rainbow." Fluttershy hissed, not appreciating the insult to her brother.
"Well, my brother is actually here. He's starting his fifth year. He's a prefect too-" Twilight started, wondering if her brother would come looking for her during the train ride.
"Your brother's a prefect?" Rainbow sounded very interested by that information.
"Yup!" Twilight was rather proud of her brother/
"Wow. My dad hopes I make Captain of the Quidditch team. I honestly hope so too." Rainbow slumped back in her seat, ruffling her hair for some odd reason.
"You know you can't try out for Quidditch if you're a first year?" Twilight asked and Rainbow let out an annoyed groan, her face pulling a pout.
"Yeah. It really sucks."
The compartment fell into silence as the others snacked on food and watched the countryside fly by. It was a long time and Twilight had begun to doze off when someone slid open the compartment door.
"Excuse me? Has anyone seen a toad?"
Everyone turned to the door, and a girl with vibrant pink curls was standing in the doorway.
"Pinkie, Dear. I doubt they would have found your toad. Gummy can't have possibly made it all the way back here." The voice was light with a prominent accent, one that sounded a little familiar to Twilight.
Another girl stood behind Pinkie, her purple hair was so curled and well done, that it was unlikely to naturally look that way. She also wore blue eyeshadow and crimson lipstick that made her look much older than an eleven year old usually would. Twilight had never seen such a young girl wear that much makeup before, outside of pictures of little girl pageants that wound up in the newspaper.
"Oh! We haven't met! Hi! I'm Pinkie!" The girl spoke so quickly that it was nearly unintelligible. Twilight stared wide-eyed as the girl seemed to Apparate in front of her, shaking everyone's hand, upsetting Fluttershy’s rat in the process.
Winona seemed to be the only pet that wanted anything to do with the girl, leaping to her paws and meowing at Pinkie.
“Aw, you’re adorable!” She cooed, scratching Winona’s head and chin. The cat seemed particularly happy about it.
"Well, since we're here, my name's Rarity. Rarity Belle." Rarity stepped into the compartment, not nearly as enthusiastic as Pinkie was. She looked at each girl in the compartment in turn before looking directly at Apple Jack and pursing her lips.
"Oh, are you... An Apple?" The way she said it implied being an Apple wasn’t a particularly good thing, which Twilight didn’t quite get.
"Yes. Mah' name's Apple Jack. How’d you know?”
"Well, I overheard someone talking about the Apples. Said something about them being everywhere an-"
"Slytherin," Rainbow hissed, earning a confused (and slightly started) look from Rarity.
"What?" Her voice was very smooth.
"I'll bet you five Knuts those are Slytherins." Rainbow said harshly crossing her arms.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy scolded, receiving a small look of surprise from Twilight and Rarity. That had been the firmest her voice had gotten since Twilight had met her. Rainbow only frowned, not answering as she slumped down in her seat.
"Can I have some? I ate the last of my beans and frogs about twenty minutes ago." Twilight nearly leaped out of her seat, having not realized Pinkie was standing incredibly close and looking at the small mound of candy in the seat next to Twilight.
"Sure." Honestly, Twilight felt like this girl didn't need any more sugar than what was already in her system but Twilight definitely wouldn’t be able to finish all of this on her own and she couldn’t say no without looking greedy. Pinkie took the seat on the other side of the candy mound, snatching up a pastry and wolfing it down.
"Me and my sister, Marble, are starting our first year! I hope that I get Hufflepuff like my sister Maud!" Pinkie began to speak in between mouthfuls, and Twilight took the time to play a small game with Owlicious using some of his treats which she kept in her pocket.
Rarity sat down beside Pinkie, attempting to get the hyperactive girl to use her manners while she also started talking to Twilight in between the lapses of silence that came from Pinkie stuffing her mouth full of Twilight’s sweets.
Through their conversation, Twilight learned that Rarity was the first daughter of a pure blood witch and a (non-pure blood) wizard and that she had a younger sister (Apple Jack pointed out that she also had a younger sister, but that was the most she really said to Rarity.) As well as a cat named Opalescence, whom she had left in another compartment. The entire time, Rainbow watched her with a faint scowl.
Eventually Rarity had gone silent after she ran out of things to say about herself and her attempts to talk about fashion had failed to hold their conversation.
Only when Apple Jack extended an invitation to conversation about pets (“what kind of cat do you have?”) did Rarity speak again, joined in by Rainbow who started talking about her pet toad, although Twilight was more occupied on trying to understand whatever it was Pinkie was talking about.
Pinkie had eaten a little over half of Twilight’s snacks when Rarity decided to pull her off the seat and push her out of the compartment. Before she shut the compartment behind her, she made a short promise to talk to them again soon. A promise that Rainbow Dash criticised under her breath in a rather crude manner.
"So... What house do you guys think you'd be in?" Twilight eventually asked after finishing off a pumpkin pastry. The group had not encountered the subject, and now that Twilight could see the faint outline of the castle among the steep hills of northern Equestria, she was starting to wonder.
"Well, most've my family is Hufflepuff. There've been a couple Gryffindor over the generations though." Apple Jack was stroking Winona, gazing out the window at the silhouette of the castle.
"I hope I'm a Gryffindor. My dad was a Gryffindor and he's says I'm a lot like him, so I bet I'll be parading about with the Captain badge for Gryffindor in a couple years!" Rainbow sat up, puffing out her chest proudly. Now that Rarity was gone, she seemed a lot less grumpy.
"I don't know if I would fit in at Gryffindor... Maybe Hufflepuff..." Fluttershy murmured softly, stroking her rat (Angel, she had said his name was).
"That does sound like it fits you, Fluttershy." Twilight murmured, pondering over her own future house while she stared out the window at the passing forests and rivers among the hills. Owlicious softly cooed from his spot next to Twilight.
"What house is your brother from?" Rainbow looked up from her book (She had pulled it out a little bit ago) which Twilight could not see the cover of.
"Gryffindor. Do you think I'd be a Gryffindor?" Rainbow shrugged at Twilight’s question.
"You could fool me."
Twilight was quiet, wondering if that was a compliment or not.
"I do know, for a fact, that I wouldn't wanna be a Slytherin." Rainbow was scowling at her book, as though something offensive had appeared on the page.
"Why not?" Apple Jack had turned her attention to Rainbow, frowning.
"You know the saying. 'There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin.'" Twilight had never heard such a saying before, but Rainbow said it in a way that seemed to imply she heard it quite often and firmly believed it.
"Well that ain't a very nice saying!"
"Well it's true!" Rainbow raised her voice, causing Fluttershy to slightly curl inwards.
"Rainbow, that ain't true and we all know it! There've been bad wizards from every house and there must be at least one good Slytherin in that castle."
Rainbow snorted, "You just don't see it yet. You will... Just you wait." and abandoned the argument, which Twilight and Fluttershy were both grateful for.
The silence didn't last long, as Rarity appeared once again at the compartment door, only she was wearing dark robes and her makeup seemed to have been touched up a bit.
"You lot should get ready. We'll be at Hogwarts soon."
Without much more than a polite wave, Rarity slid the door shut and her silhouette slipped away. Rainbow snapped her book shut, sitting up.
"We will arrive at Hogwarts in about five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately."
Apple Jack's eyes widened as she looked at Winona, who was happily dozing on her lap.
"I can't jus' leave Winona 'ere. They'r-" Apple Jack was about to say more, but realized the other two were unaware of her pet's situation, so she quickly shut up. Rainbow cast her an odd look.
"I can't leave Angel! He'll be terrified!" Fluttershy clutched the rat closer to her chest, causing it to squeak loudly.
Twilight sighed, noticing the scenery outside had begun to slow down. She nudged Owlicious’s cage and pushed a small treat between the cage. "Be good, Owlicious. I'll see you soon."
She turned to look at the two girls who were arguing about their pets, Rainbow trying to squeeze past them.
It seemed she would need to convince them to leave their pets on the train.
Twilight did her best to run, trying not to trip over her robes as she did. The other three were close behind her, Rainbow taking up the rear as though the other two would spin around and try to grab the pets they had left on the train.
They stopped near the back of a large crowd which had swarmed around the front door as the train stopped and the crowd made their way out to the platform.
Twilight's body shuddered as the temperature made a dramatic drop, matching the dark and cold tones of the sky above them. Everyone gave a collective murmur of joy as a towering man walked over, holding a brightly lit lamp.
"First years! First years over here!" He began to wave around until the crowd had split in two. When it had, the man turned and began to lead the first years off the platform, repeatedly warning them to watch their step as they walked down was a very narrow pathway, which they could not see very far past due to the darkness.
All Twilight could hear were the footsteps and the short comments about the cold and the pathway.
"A little further." The man called as they turned a bend. The man stopped, lowering his lantern as the group of first years all gaped at the sight before them.
The path opened to the edge of a lake, which looked nothing more than a lake sized pit mirror of the night sky. Atop a mountain on the other side witch shining windows, perched a castle.
Everyone approached the boats at the edge of the rickety dog, pushing and shoving to try and get there first.
"No pushing! I don't want to have to haul any of you out of the lake and I doubt you wanna get in trouble on your first night at Hogwarts for hurting somebody. AND ONLY FOUR PER BOAT!"
Twilight smiled, watching a large group of chattering kids who had rethought the idea of all piling into one boat and upsetting the man.
Twilight saw Apple Jack waving from a boat which was already mostly full with Rainbow and Fluttershy, and she jumped in before someone else took her place.
"Everybody ready? Alright, off we go!"
The boats began to move towards the castle, as if they all were attached to invisible strings that pulled them forward. The lake rippled beneath them, the stars shifting along. Twilight watched, eyes wide with a smile.
The only sound were the hushed whispers of some of the students and the crickets that hid in the dark foliage around the lake. Twilight was quite pleased with the silence, staring up and studying the large silhouette of the castle itself, some details showing up in the moonlight, although most were drowned out by the shadows cast by it.
"Heads down!"
Twilight ducked as they approached the cliff, having momentarily been caught up in the sight. She felt Apple Jack shiver beside her as ivy, which was draped over a large gap in the cliff face, brushed the top of their heads. One kid squealed, the voice echoing and unpleasantly loud in the previously undisturbed silence.
Thee boats continued down a dark tunnel, the man’s lantern shimmering on the stones, until they eventually reached something resembling a harbor. Or as close as it could get. There were a couple rickety-looking, moss-riden posts, the bases of which were buried in the shore.
Twilight followed as Rainbow and Apple Jack climbed out of, their feet shifting rocks and pebbles as they climbed up the shore. The man quickly took to tying the boats to the posts, setting his lantern down on one of them.
"Yeah, he was hiding in my bag when I found him!" Twilight turned to see Pinkie Pie, happily talking to some young boy with wild brown hair that she had never seen, his hair in a similar hairstyle to Pinkie. Of course, that hairstyle being wild curls.
"Gummy is a sly little toad, he is."
Twilight spun around as someone grabbed her arm, her posture relaxing when she saw it was Apple Jack. She stumbled as Apple Jack began to pull her in the direction that everyone was heading, which was a passageway that the man had revealed with his lamp after he had finished tying the boats to the posts.
“Alright, everyone, this way! No shoving!” The man called as he entered it, climbing up while his lantern reflected off the old stones and the hair of the first-years as they followed up. It was cramped, Twilight nearly falling onto the steps only to be saved by the firm grip on her forearm.
She took in a deep breath of the cold night air as passageway opened up to a large patch of damp grass, glistening in the light of the lantern. It was the only light source in the big shadow cast by the grand castle that was so much bigger now than it had seemed before. Apple Jack released her hold on Twilight’s arm.
The man beckoned to the first years and led them up a stone stairway. There weren’t any walls around it, so Twilight didn’t feel as nearly cramped in with the other students as she had been before in the passageway.
The group stopped in front of an enormous oak door, covered in engravings that were either runes or purely decorations, Twilight couldn’t tell. The man that had been guiding the first years took a quick look around, counting the young students.
When none of the students appeared to be missing, he turned back around and knocked on the big wooden door.
The big oak door swung open. A tall witch in dark blue robes stood waiting, her hands were folded behind her back. Dark blue hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders. Her expression was stoic, bordering on statue-esque.
"The first years have arrived, Professor Luna." The man said, gesturing to the collection of students that were clustered around the doorway.
"Thank you, Whooves. We shall take it from here." Luna nodded to Whooves in dismissal. He gave a half bow, hanging the lantern on a hook hanging by the door, before running past the witch.
Twilight attempted to peer around the other students, but she couldn’t see the man vanish.
Professor Luna looked over the students before stepping aside, gesturing with one arm for the students to walk past her. They slowly filtered past her and into the comforting warmth of the castle.
Twilight looked around the grand entrance hall with wide eyes. She was absolutely sure it was wide enough to put at least half of the Hogwarts Express inside. The stone walls were illuminated by torches that Twilight was sure were magic, and no matter how hard she looked, Twilight could not see the ceiling. Ahead of them was an elegant marble staircase leading up to the next floor.
The oak door slammed shut, the sound startling several students and echoing through the hall. Professor Luna didn’t seem to care that it startled anyone, walking ahead of the group of students. “Follow me,” without looking back, the woman led the students towards the staircase.
Twilight looked around at her fellow first-years as they followed Professor Luna across the flagged stone floor. The bottoms of Professor Luna’s shoes clicked on the floor, echoing above the low continuous sound of the students’ shoes. No student dared to speak.
One student had silver hair in a mohawk style, another had evenly trimmed bluish-gray hair that covered half of her face. Pinkie walked alongside her, bouncing with each step and smiling ear-to-ear. Apple Jack walked right ahead of Twilight, Rainbow a step or two ahead of her. A few stray leaves of ivy were entangled in her rainbow hair.
Fluttershy was nearby, looking over to Rainbow every few moments.
Twilight noticed a gradual escalation of noise that wasn’t the footsteps, a drone of voices, hundreds of voices, which came from behind a large set of doors. The rest of the students were likely already inside, but Professor Luna was still leading the crowd ahead, eventually guiding them into an empty chamber.
The first-years crowded together, looking around uneasily while Professor Luna simply turned to face them after she shut the door.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but you will not take your seats in the Great Hall until you have been sorted in your houses," Luna paused, raking over the students with her sharp gaze once more before continuing. "The Sorting is a highly important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be your family within Hogwarts. You will share classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitories, and spend plenty of time in your house common room."
Twilight wasn't expecting such an emphasis on your house being like your family. Now she was beginning to wonder if anyone she had met so far would be in the same house as her at all, or if she’d get in the same one as her brother.
"There are four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. These houses have their own noble histories and many outstanding wizards have come from them."
Rainbow let out a small snort, instantly going stiff when Luna turned her gaze on Rainbow with a faint frown before she continued on again.
"While at Hogwarts, your good deeds will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, whichever house has the most points shall be awarded with the house cup. A grand honor. We hope each and every one of you will be a credit to whichever house you become a part of."
"In a few moments, the Sorting Ceremony shall begin and will take place in front of the school. We suggest preparing yourself as well as possible while you wait. We shall return when the ceremony is ready. Please do be quiet while you wait."
Professor Luna turned on her heel and opened the door just enough for her to slip past before she shut it behind her. The sound was nearly as loud as when Professor Luna had shut the oak doors earlier.
"So how do ya assume they sort us?" Apple Jack asked, trying to smooth down her frizzy hair as well as adjusting her stetson. Seemingly satisfied with that (although Rarity, who was in the corner of Twilight’s vision, clearly wasn’t), Apple Jack tugged on the collar of her robes.
"Zephyr said it was some sort of test." Fluttershy whispered, nervously twirling her long pink hair around her hand. She had gotten closer to Twilight when the first years had been brought into the chamber.
"He also said something about it being very extreme, but I don’t believe him." Rainbow turned to Twilight and Apple Jack, arms crossed, and her hair looking as wild as it did on the train. Fluttershy timidly informed her of the ivy leaves clinging to her hair and Rainbow quickly tried to comb it out of her hair with her hands.
Twilight suddenly felt her stomach knot up. She tried to busy herself by adjusting her robes, ensuring they looked right.
She was going to be performing a test in front of all those people. A large, judging crowd. So many concerns started to fill her head that she didn’t realize her hands were shaking.
What if I fail and they send me back home!?
What if I mess up and they all laugh at me!?
"Twilight?" Apple Jack placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder, startling her. Twilight stared down at her shoes instead of looking up at Apple Jack’s face.
"You nervous?"
Twilight nodded and Apple Jack chuckled.
"It'll be fine. I wish i'd asked Mac how the sortin' went."
Twilight looked around, noticing everyone looked slightly nervous, even Pinkie looked slightly nervous (shifting from foot to foot, twining and un-twining her fingers) while Rarity was whispering something that sounded like a list of incantations and Twilight forced herself to pay attention to something different. She stared at the door. Any second now. Any second now...
The chamber suddenly filled with several screams, causing Twilight to nearly leap out of her skin as she spun around in panic. "What on eart-" Apple Jack stopped mid-sentence, eyes going wide at the sight before her.
A stream of transparent, pearly white people had come through the back wall, gliding past the first years as if they did not exist.
Ghosts. One ghost seemed to be having a disagreement with another, saying something that was probably quite rude judging from the other ghost’s offended expression, adjusting his monocle as he went before suddenly taking notice of the first years.
"Why, what are you all doing here? Sir, do you know why they're here?" He turned to the ghost behind him. The ghost in front of him (the one that was offended) continued forward, scowling.
"Why, Fancy Pants, these are new students! About to be sorted, are you?"
Several students nodded, seeming to have lost their voices in the presence of the ghosts. Fluttershy was cowering behind Rainbow.
"Move along. The Sorting Ceremony is about to commence." The students turned to see Professor Luna standing in the now-opened doorway to the chamber. She glared at the ghosts until they had, one by one, left the chamber. When the last ghost was out of sight, Professor Luna took a quick look at the first years.
"Form a line and follow us, please." Twilight, feeling like her feet had gone numb, got behind Apple Jack. Fluttershy still hung behind Rainbow, who was in front of Apple Jack. When the line formed, the Professor nodded and led them out of the chamber.
The first years followed Professor Luna back through the hall and through a pair of double doors that opened into what Twilight assumed was the Great Hall. Several students gasped, one or two muttered vulgar words in their awe, but most just stared in amazed silence.
The Hall was illuminated by hundreds of floating candles, floating above four long, wooden dinner tables where all the other students were currently sitting. Each table had table runners in their respective house colors. Golden plates and goblets were spread out over the table, the candle light glittering on them.
At the furthest end of the hall from where Twilight stood, was another table, where several adults sat. It was set vertical to the House tables which were parallel to each other.
Professor Luna led the first years towards it, guiding the group around one end of the hall. She stopped them right in front of the Professors’ table, which was on an elevated part of the floor. The first years turned to face the tables of students, the teachers simply observing without speaking.
The hundreds of students were all staring at the new arrivals, the candle light making their faces look more warm than Twilight believed they were. Twilight could see the silver-white of the ghosts among the students, glaringly obvious among the deep and warm colors of the living students.
Twilight felt like her legs would turn to jelly if she kept staring at the students who continued to stare back, so she looked upwards at the ceiling and was met with a sight of an clear black-blue sky. However, Twilight was sure that it was not the actual sky. Not a single cold breeze seemed to enter the Hall.
"Macintosh tol’ me that it was bewitched ta' look like the sky." Apple Jack whispered, her accent suddenly a tad stronger, and Twilight stole a quick glance at her before looking back towards the tables of students, looking for the familiar blue hair that her brother had. It proved difficult as several of the students had that color of hair. None of them had the faces of Shining Armor.
Twilight looked back to her first years, who were watching Professor Luna walk over. They watched as Professor Luna placed a stool in front of the group and set a tattered wizard's hat on top of it. Everyone stared at the hat, the entire hall in absolute silence aside from the few whispers of the students.
Then the hat twitched and a rip widened like a mouth near the brim. Then it began to sing. Twilight couldn't make out most of the first part, but she did begin to understand it after a bit.
"You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on, don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap. For it is I, the Sorting Hat!"
The hat went still once the song ended and everyone applauded the performance, only quieting down once Professor Luna had stepped forward with a long stretch of parchment.
"We shall call your names, and you are to sit on the stool and be sorted by the Sorting Hat," Luna paused to look at the list. "Griph, Gilda!"
Gilda had long silver hair, the tips a slight purple color. She sat down quietly, looking rather uninterested as Professor Luna set the hat atop her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The students at the table with the red and gold table runner burst into applause as Professor Luna took the hat and Gilda ran to the table, throwing out high fives to those at the table even though she likely didn’t really know any of them.
"Lane, Thunder!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat proclaimed.
The boy shot off, joining in on the high fives being shared at the Gryffindor table.
"Dancer, Moon."
"RAVENCLAW!"
Another table burst into applause as their new member slowly walked in their direction. She looked relatively reserved, which those in her house seemed to understand.
"Burst, Sun!"
“RAVENCLAW!" Sun Burst looked much more anxious as he approached his house table than Moon Dancer.
"Lulamoon, Trixie!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Rainbow's crude remarks were drowned out by Slytherin's applause as their new member joined them, head held high.
Twilight looked around for her brother once more, only half listening to the names and where the owner of those names went.
A set of twin boys with white streaks in their red hair went to Slytherin… "Derpy Hooves" went to Hufflepuff… A 'Little Strongheart' went to Hufflepuff... Not too many now... A cousin of Apple Jack's went to Gryffindor...
"Dash, Rainbow!"
Rainbow tried to keep a proud look to her as she sat down and Professor Luna placed the Sorting Hat upon her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Rainbow pulled off the hat, handed it to Professor Luna, and ran to her table, cheering and high-fiving everyone until she found a seat. Professor Luna watched her leave with a faint frown.
"Belle, Rarity."
Rarity stiffly walked over, looking rather nervous as if the hat would bite her when she put it on. However, she seemed to be murmuring something to herself in an attempt to relax. Her posture was relaxed but proper.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Rarity's eyes narrowed at Rarity, before turning and listening to the mutters from Gilda, who was sitting beside her. The two turned and looked to be glaring at Rarity who had not moved and was now gripping the stool so hard her knuckles were turning whiter than her natural color.
Professor Luna took the hat off and gently nudged Rarity’s upper back. She slowly slid of the stool, took a deep breath to compose herself, and walked with a proud stance over to the table.
The Slytherin table seemed happy for the new member and began to applaud her, which made her smile.
"Pie, Pinkamena!"
Pinkie bounced up to the hat, sitting down with a smile, waving at Rainbow and Rarity. Rarity returned her wave and Rainbow did as well, although much bolder.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Pinkie cheered, let Professor Luna take off the hat, and then bounced in the direction of the Hufflepuff table. Someone patted her on the shoulder.
"Pie, Marble."
The girl that approached the hat looked nothing like Pinkie. She had much more toned down colors and she looked like she would like to curl up rather than sit in front of the entire school.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Marble was very quick to run to her sister's side and Pinkie wrapped her in a hug.
"Jack, Apple!"
Apple Jack looked much more at ease than any of the others, walking casually up to the stool and adjusting her stetson, and Twilight could see Fluttershy desperately trying to hide behind her bangs as she and Twilight were one of the last few first years to be sorted.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Shy, Flutter."
Fluttershy stared at the floor as she quickly sat down on the stool, distracting herself with her hair as Professor Luna placed the Sorting Hat on her head. As she sat there with the hat, Fluttershy stopped messing with her hair. She looked briefly startled before relaxing a little bit.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Fluttershy gently took the hat off and handed it to Luna before running to the Hufflepuff table, Pinkie Pie giving her a hug once she had sat down. She smiled at that and the gentle pat on the shoulder from someone else among the Hufflepuff table that Twilight couldn’t recognize.
"Sparkle, Twilight!"
At her name, Twilight began to slowly approach the hat, feeling like her insides were squirming. Once she sat down, Professor Luna set the hat on her head. Twilight was startled when the hat dropped over her eyes.
"Hmm... Interesting." A voice whispered in her ear. "You are very brave... But you have wit... You are also very eager to be the greatest..... Hmm." Twilight couldn’t think of anything to say back to the hat and her tongue was sticking to the top of her mouth anyway.
Twilight tried to think of what house she would prefer as the hat continued to mumble. Some small part of her hoped against Slytherin, but she wasn’t sure why. If anything, it made her feel a little bad.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Twilight was quiet as Professor Luna pulled the hat off her head. She walked over to the applauding Gryffindor table, still fully comprehending the situation and taking it in.
"TWILY!"
Twilight was scooped up in a hug, which was from none other than Shining Armor. After about several long moments of this, he set her back down. He put his hands on her shoulders, smiling down at her.
"I couldn't see you when I arrived." Twilight said as Shining gestured to a seat across from Apple Jack and her cousin from earlier. Twilight sat down next to her.
"Maybe I was just too far back." Shining replied, looking up at the Sorting Hat and the few who were still waiting to be sorted.
Now, Twilight could see the Professors’ table much better than before. The man who had guided the first years to the castle - Whooves - was sitting near the end of the table. He wore a red bowtie, for some odd reason. Perhaps for the occasion.
The woman sitting next to him didn't exactly look like she belonged there. She was wearing a light pink shirt with sleeves that were greatly over sized, and her hair (which was a rosy color with streaks of orange) was full of dreadlocks which were half covered by an orange, floral patterned bandana. She wasn’t wearing robes like some of the other Professors.
Next to that woman, sat a tall, thin looking man with short black hair, a white goatee, bushy eyebrows, and what looked like a snag-tooth. He wore robes that were split into two colors. Light purple and light blue.
On the other side of the table sat a woman who was wearing many golden bracelets, bangles, (and an odd golden necklace that hid most of her neck) and huge golden ring earrings. Her long hair was streaked black and white, and a zebra hide cloak was pinned to the shoulders of her black robes.
Next to her sat another woman. Her hair was differing shades of light pink, a couple freckles dotted her cheeks ,and she wore a necklace with three flower charms on top of her dark magenta robes.
The third woman had curled, dark brown hair and she sported large blue ball earrings that matched the color of her eyes. She wore a white Victorian color over her black robes. The seat next to her was empty, but the seat after that (it was much more ornate than the rest of the chairs) sat a very beautiful looking woman.
She had flowing, multi-color hair that drifted down out of Twilight's line of sight and a pointed, gold trimmed, pointed witch hat sat on top of her head. Her robes were white with beautiful golden patterns and small purple gemstones. Twilight knew exactly who she was.
Celestia Celnis, Headmistress of Hogwarts.
"Pommel, Coco." Twilight looked up as a clearly nervous girl sat on the stool, fidgeting her hands in her lap.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Rainbow let out a small shout of enthusiasm as the new Hufflepuff walked to the table of cheering students. As she walked to the table, Professor Luna rolled up the list and pulled out her wand, giving it a quick wave. The list, stool, and the Sorting Hat vanished. Small sounds of awe came from the now-sorted first years.
Twilight heard a small growling come from Apple Jack's stomach. She suddenly realized how hungry she was, herself.
Celestia stood up, holding out her arms and smiling. Her robe sleeves were wider towards the end, revealing her pale wrists wrapped in golden, jewel studded bracelets. She wore far more jewelry than the average wizard, as far as Twilight had seen.
"Welcome, everyone, to a wonderful new year at Hogwarts! Now before our banquet begins, I have a few words to say: Neightwit! Flank! Odcur! Thank you!"
Twilight stared at Celestia, mouth opened slightly as if to ask a question. That wasn't a spell that Twilight ever read or head of before. Perhaps Shining Armor would understand. Celestia nodded her head and sat back down as the school cheered and applauded her, excluding the confused first-years.
"Is she mad or-?" Apple Jack went silent as the table before them suddenly filled with food, practically hiding the table runner completely. Twilight gaped at it for a long moment, while Rainbow and Apple Jack stacked their plates high with things like roast beef, chicken, pork chops, steak, roasted and boiled potatoes, pudding, and stewed vegetables.
Twilight began to take a little bit of everything, the hall being filled with the sound of silverware meeting plates as everyone started to eat. No one was really talking for the first few minutes of the banquet, as they were too busy stuffing their faces.
"That looks delightful."
Twilight looked up, dropping her fork as a ghost drifted up through the table. Apple Jack swallowed a bite of roasted potatoes and looked up at the ghost. Twilight could recognize him, as one of the ghosts from before the Sorting.
"You can-?"
"I haven't eaten for hundreds years, sadly. Very unfortunate. I -of course- don't have to eat but one begins to miss it after a while." The ghost looked slightly sad for a moment, and Twilight could tell that Apple Jack regretted asking.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I? Apologies. My name is Sir Fancy De Haris Pants, Resident Gryffindor ghost."
"My brother told me 'bout you. You're Fancy Pants, right?" Apple Jack asked, going for another bite of roast beef.
"I prefer Sir Fancy De Harris Pants, thank you." The ghost snapped irritably before clearing his throat and looking at the other first years. "New Gryffindors! I hope you'll help Gryffindor win the house championship this year. I can't recall the last time Gryffindor went so long without winning. Slytherin has had the cup for almost seven years straight, now! Honestly, Stinkin' Rich has become unbearable."
Twilight noticed Rainbow was glaring at the mentioned table. "Stinkin' Rich is the Slytherin ghost," Shining Armor explained quickly, turning back to his plate.
After a while, and everyone had finished their plates, the plates suddenly were clean of all food remnants. They were sparkling like they were when before the Sorting. Twilight's eyes widened as desserts suddenly appeared in place of the food that had previously sat there.
Ice cream in every flavor possible, several different type of pies, treacle tarts, all kinds of jam doughnuts, trifles arranged neatly on a revolving platform, pudding, and strawberries.
Apple Jack grabbed a large portion of apple pie, clearly happy to eat something apple flavored while Rainbow and Gilda tried to see who could eat the most doughnuts before getting sick.
Twilight took a few trifles to eat, listening as the conversation around her turned to family and relatives.
"My dad's a wizard, but my mom's a squib, so she was worried me and my brother wouldn't be able to do magic. Boy, did she cry when we got our letters." Thunder Lane was talking to a rather muscular, blonde third year with an ear piercing who was quietly eating a treacle tart as he listened.
"I was pretty shocked when I got my letter, I have to admit. Turns out my great grandparents weren't muggles and my dad never told me 'cause he thought I wouldn't be able to do magic. My parents are pretty chill about it, though." A third year was saying to Apple Jack's cousin, Braeburn.
Twilight turned her head, listening to a couple Gryffindors talking about the lessons and what they were looking forward too.
"Transfiguration sounds pretty great. But it also sounds pretty hard..."
"It is, but we start out pretty easy. You’ll be fine."
Twilight stopped listening, looking over to the teachers. Whooves was talking to the woman who wore the zebra cloak. Meanwhile, Professor Celestia seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Professor Luna and the tall man with the long tooth.
Of course, Twilight didn't watch long, as the vanishing of the deserts (and the small moan from Rainbow who had crammed one more doughnut than Gilda into her mouth) caught her attention.
Professor Celestia got to her feet and the hall went silent to listen to their headmistress. "Now, there are a few more words I have to say, now that we have all been fed. A few start-of-term notices for you all."
Professor Celestia cleared her throat before continuing.
"For all the first years, please take notice that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students, and our older students are right to remember that. Mr. Doodle, the caretaker, has requested that I make sure to remind you all should not be using magic in the corridors between classes. Professor Breeze will be holding Quidditch trials during the second week of the term and that anyone who is interested in playing for their house Quidditch team should contact her."
Rainbow lifted her head from the table at the mention of the sport, reminding Twilight of her several mentions about it on the train.
"And at last, it is mandatory I tell you that for this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is restricted to everyone who is not willing to die a most painful death."
Shining Armor looked rather surprised at this information.
"You think she'd at least tell the prefects why we can't go up there, at the very least." He muttered, although Professor Celestia continued.
"Now that we have gotten all of those announcements done and over-with, off to bed you go!"
The Gryffindor first years followed Shining Armor past the loud crowds of the other houses, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Twilight legs felt heavy and her eyes were starting to somewhat ache. Taking a quick look around her, the other Gryffindor students looked tired as well.
The group passed by dozens of paintings as they walked down the corridors, the subjects inhabiting them waving and giving greetings. Shining guided them past tapestries, up staircases, and past doorways behind sliding panels. He was constantly checking over his shoulder as if one of the students would drop asleep any moment. Which, seemed rather likely with how slow they walked and how much they were yawning.
The group ended up coming across a rather displeased looking female ghost with long pale hair.
"More first years, hmm?" She asked with an accent similar to Fancy Pants’.
Shining simply guided the group around the ghost, telling her to get lost or go find Fancy Pants. The ghost remained there, pouting as she watched Shining lead the group to a portrait of a woman with dark gray hair, wearing a pink bowtie. A violin was in the background of her painting, the setting seeming to be an empty ballroom with marble floors.
"Password?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Shining.
"Clumsy Draconequus," Shining said and the portrait swung forward like a sideways trapdoor, revealing a passageway that was well concealed behind it. He ushered the first years in first. When they climbed through, they found themselves in a cozy, round room full of comfortable looking red armchairs and gold tassel ended rugs and curtains.
"This is the Gryffindor Common Room," Shining gestured to two stairways, directing the girls into one, and boys towards the other.
At the top of the staircase was a collection of four poster beds hung with red velvet curtains which were probably meant to give a feeling of privacy. There were more stairs that likely led to more beds upstairs. There was one big, tall window at the far end of the room.
The first years’ trunks had already been brought up and were now sat at the end of the beds. Owlicious' cage sat on top of Twilight's trunk, but it was empty.
They must have let him out to get some fresh air.
Twilight walked over and set the cage down beside her bed, opening the trunk and rooting through it to get to the pajamas she had packed at the bottom. Rainbow took the bed across from Twilight while Apple Jack took the bed next to her. Gilda took the remaining bed next to Rainbow.
AJ set her stetson on top of her trunk after pulling out some pajamas and slipped into her bed, changing behind the privacy of the curtain.
Rainbow did the same, throwing her robes over her trunk without much of a care when she had changed and curling up under the blankets with a content sigh.
Gilda did the same as Rainbow, only her robes quickly dropped off the edge of her trunk and onto the floor. Not that she seemed to care. It did bother Twilight, though.
She neatly folded her robes and put them on top of the other things in her trunk, but not before sneaking out an old stuffed animal when she was sure no one else was watching.
The bed was extremely comfortable and in her tired state, she compared it to the fantastical idea of sleeping on a cloud. She held the stuffed animal close to her chest as she reached out to pull the curtains shut. She took one long look at the moon, its light streaming through the big window and onto the floor. It was muffled by the magic wall torches that cast a warm orange-red glow on everything.
Twilight liked that her bed was so close to the window. She enjoyed the stars, a lot of the books she kept in her room were about stars and planets. She remembered an old muggle book she had read through that was about the stars.
Twilight suppressed a yawn as she shut her curtains, enclosing her in darkness aside from the small beam of moonlight that peeked through a small gap.
Twilight rolled over and snuggled under the covers, hugging Smarty Pants close to her chest as she quickly drifted into a deep sleep.
Twilight was awoken the next morning by loud snores, which, after a quick peak past her curtains, showed that it was Gilda, who clearly did not care or was too tired the night before, to pull her curtains shut.
Twilight pulled her curtains out of her way as she slipped out of her rather comfortable bed and walked over to her trunk, feeling rather surprised when she saw Owlicious, perched inside his cage. A small animal skeleton was scattered about in the bottom of his cage. Twilight hoped it didn't belong to the pet of a Hogwarts student.
Twilight gently lifted the cage off her trunk, setting it on the floor next to her as she pulled out a piece of parchment, an ink well and a quill. She turned her head as Owlicious stirred, before turning back to her parchment and opening her inkwell.
She wrote down as much as she could, which included her new friends, her house, and how nice it was at Hogwarts, ignoring Owlicious as he took notice that his master was now awake and changed his perch to the foot of Twilight's bed as she continued to write her letter.
Once Twilight had signed the parchment, she rolled it up, binding it with a ribbon and then tying it to Owlicious' foot before handing him a small treat and nudging him out the window.
By the time Owlicious had vanished into the sky, the other students had begun to wake up and get dressed. Twilight went back to her trunk, packing her ink well and quill back inside and pulling out her black robes and pulling them on.
Apple Jack had woken up at relatively the same time as Twilight, and had been stroking Winona while Twilight wrote her letter. She had given Winona a large chunk of beef that she had saved from the banquet before heading down to the common room and was probably waiting to send a letter to her family as well.
Once Rainbow had woken up and changed into her robes and then gotten Gilda to do the same, the four of them made their way to the Great Hall by following Big Macintosh (they couldn't find Shining Armor) who didn't say anything the entire walk.
When the group arrived at the Great Hall, they found Shining Armor (and most of the other Gryffindor boys), already at the Gryffindor table, with a stack of schedules.
"These are the first-year course schedules," Shining passed a couple of the papers to the first years that now sat at the table. "The second-year course schedules... The third-year course schedules, the fourth-year schedules.." Shining began to pass out the rest of the schedules.
Rainbow grabbed a heaping portion of eggs, sausage, pancakes and a cup of marmalade. Gilda did the same, only she was already eating half of her sausages as she kept piling more eggs and pancakes on her plate, her schedule sitting ignored by her plate.
Once Rainbow had stacked enough on her plate to be sure of a stomach ache later, she began to eat, forcing food into her mouth with one hand, and holding up her schedule at eye-level with her other hand.
Apple Jack was very slow to put food on her plate looking at Twilight who had not even begun to put food on her plate, and was instead studying her schedule.
"We have potions first." Twilight looked to Apple Jack who didn't really seem to care.
"Ya' should worry about eatin' your food before your classes, Twilight." She muttered before beginning to eat the food she had piled onto her plate.
"Ugh, we have to deal with the Slytherins, don't we?" Apple Jack shot Rainbow Dash a look.
"Rarity is in Slytherin, Rainbow." Apple Jack gave Rainbow a reproachful look.
"So? She's probably gonna turn out bad, like all the other Slytherins." Apple Jack slammed her hand on the table, causing Rainbow to stop stuffing her face with eggs.
"Apple Jack!" Twilight looked at her, slightly panicked at the sudden show of aggression. Before Apple Jack could speak, she was distracted by something towards the ceiling and Twilight followed her gaze.
Owls were pouring in through hatches in the ceiling, circling over the tables, searching for their owners.
"There's the mail." Shining watched as a barn owl landed in front of him, and he untied the letter from its leg.
Twilight quietly piled food onto her plate, listening to the chatter around her as she ate.
"We should hurry up and get ready for potions, shouldn't we?" Shining had finished off the last of his breakfast and was already out of the Great Hall by the time Twilight had rushed through the last of her eggs.
"Twilight, I'm sure you'll be sick later if ya keep eatin' that fast." Apple Jack set down her fork, watching as Twilight started rushing her sausage into her mouth. Rainbow snorted as Gilda told her something rather hilarious, accidentally spitting up some of the marmalade she had been drinking.
However, Twilight paid Apple Jack's advice no mind, and had left the Great Hall the moment she finished the food on her plate.
The hallways that led down to the potions grew gradually more and more dismal. The Gryffindors seemed to feel the effect, and gradually their conversation died down as they walked. Apple Jack was very intent on checking on Rarity, and Twilight (although she wouldn't admit it) was also slightly worried how their friend was getting along in her new house. Her shocked face from when she was sorted into Slytherin the night before was strong in their memory.
"Rarity! Ey!"
Apple Jack sped up her pace, waving one hand as to catch the attention of the new Slytherin. At the sound of her name, Rarity turned towards Apple Jack's direction, and the two Slytherins whom had been having a conversation with her simply nodded and sped ahead, leaving Rarity to her two friends.
"Hello, Apple Jack, Twilight." Rarity sounded rather happy, compared to her expression the previous night.
"Hey, Rarity. How are ya?" Apple Jack took up the pace at Rarity's right side, and Twilight followed at her left.
"I'm rather well, why do you ask?" Rarity had slowed her pace.
"Well, ya looked rather shocked last night, and I was wonderin' if ya were okay?"
"Well, the Slytherin dungeon is rather gloomy, but I've met some lovely people there... Speaking of lovely people, have you spoken to Fluttershy or Pinkie yet?"
"No. Haven't had the chance." Apple Jack looked slightly saddened at the news that Rarity hadn't seen or spoken to the two either. "But I'm sure I'll get to talk to 'em soon."
"Well, we have Herbology with them tomorrow." Twilight hoped this information would reassure them. It seemed to do that, at least slightly.
"Maybe we'll be able to see them after Defense Against the Dark arts." Twilight mumbled hopefully, although neither of them seemed to listen, and were now talking about the conditions of the Slytherin dungeon. (Or rather, Rarity was complaining about it while Apple Jack simply listened.)
Eventually, the group reached the doors to the Potions dungeon, where the woman with the dozens of golden rings and her white streaked hair was standing, zebra cloak draped over her shoulders and upper arms.
The teacher gestured to the door and the students filed into the dungeon classroom. They were not expecting the decorations inside.
Vines dangled from the top of the dungeon ceiling, their ends tightened around clay bottles or just dangling limply in the air. The walls were decorated here and there with strange masks as well as shelves that were crammed full of potion bottles. The dozen or so tables that stretched towards the walls had vines climbing up the legs as though they had sprung up right beneath them.
The students slowly filed into their seats, observing the strange decor while the teacher simply stood at the door, watching in patient silence. Once the students had settled down in their seats with their supplies, the teacher began to speak.
"Greetings, students, I am Professor Zecora, your potions master." Professor Zecora pulled off her cloak as she walked towards her desk, and hung it up on a peg. Her footsteps echoed through the quiet dungeon as she stepped behind her desk.
"Now, this may not seem like magic to you young ones, and I don't expect you to understand the beauty of potion brewing at first. But, if you are patient, you will learn many things from me. The power of potions is a grand, and a very beautiful thing to know how to work. I'm hoping you will learn what I have to offer."
Silence followed her words before Professor Zecora waved her hand, the golden bracelets clinking together in a slightly musical tone.
"Today, we shall learn to brew a cure for boils. Surely you have the ingredients necessary?"
Professor Zecora sorted the students into pairs, leaving Apple Jack with Twilight and Rainbow with Gilda and set them to work on brewing a cure for boils. She walked in between the desks, checking in on those who seemed to be having trouble.
She ended up having to break up Rarity and another Slytherin, whom were on the verge of a physical fight. When the two started to get into an argument for the third time, Professor Zecora had stalked over to the front of their desk and was glaring at them through narrowed eyes.
"If you do not cease bickering with one another, you will both lose points because of the other."
The two were rather quiet for the rest of the class. Unlike Gilda and Rainbow, whom were more interested in goofing around, and hardly payed attention to the details of their instructions, instead talking about Quidditch and how unfair it was that they wouldn't be allowed to join until second-year.
They were interrupted from their conversation about broomsticks when their cauldron began to melt and their potion began to spill over the stone floor and burn holes into their shoes. The two went into a panicked attempt at cleaning up the mess, only for their hands and fore arms to be covered in gross, red boils.
Professor Zecora pulled her wand from her cloak and gave it a quick wave which cleared up the mess instantly. "Head to the hospital wing." She demanded, following the two towards the door as they let out small whimpers of pain.
Once the door closed, Professor Zecora turned to the students, who were all staring (and some snickering) at what had just unfolded. Professor Zecora waved her hand.
"Please finish up the rest of your boil cure and we will discuss what is to be worked on."
Most of the class seemed rather pleased when Professor Zecora only asked them to read up on Forgetfulness Potion in Magical Drafts and Potions for homework that night.
The next class was History of Magic and was taught by Professor Doodle, who Twilight had seen during the Start-of-Term Feast wearing the same Victorian collar that she wore in class.
Twilight immediately found this class to be far less interesting than the first. It wasn't that Matilda wasn't a good teacher, but her constantly cheery voice grew very annoying about halfway through her lecture, especially when every single word sounded like it was very important and although Twilight was sure not even half of the things she talked about were important, she still wrote it down in notes.
Apple Jack pointed out that Rainbow and Gilda had not turned up for the class as Twilight began to fall into a sort of daze halfway through a talk about the history of the Ministry Castle in Canterlot.
"It's probably for the best. They would have fallen asleep fifteen minutes in."
"Wrong," Twilight turned to stare at Apple Jack." They would'a fallen asleep five minutes in."
Sufficed to say, not much else happened in the class, and Twilight was surprised when Apple Jack appeared wide awake the entire time.
When she asked her about it in the corridor on their way to lunch, Apple Jack pulled up one of her sleeves to reveal a small blot of ink which stuck out among her freckles. "'Kept pokin' myself with my quill. Rarity told me she overheard it from a couple second-years. Although, Imma be honest, I doubt I'm gonna be able to recall anythin' to write that essay."
"Trust me, you won't be alone." Twilight replied, trying to remember the name of the man who named Canterlot.
Rainbow and Gilda did not reappear at the Gryffindor table when Twilight and Apple Jack arrived for lunch, and they were sure the two were probably not going to reappear until dinner, at least.
"What do you think about Hogwarts so far?" Shining asked as he began to eat what Twilight was sure was his fourth treacle tart.
"Well, your letters didn't do it justice." Twilight began to butter a slice of bread while Apple Jack gnawed on an apple slice, reading her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
"Say, wheres Rainbow and Gilda? I didn't see them in the halls."
Apple Jack looked up and she joined Twilight in recounting what had occurred in the Potions dungeon. A nearby third year had looked rather interested in the conversation, although Apple Jack seemed ignorant to him.
"They 'aught to be alright," Big Macintosh reassured, much to the surprise of the first years at his seemingly sudden ability to speak."Miss Redheart'll have 'em back on their feet by supper."
Apple Jack smiled, finishing off her treacle tart before looking at Twilight, "What? Ya think that Big Mac was mute?"
Twilight didn't reply, and went back to eating, her mind now focused upon their next class, Charms.
When the students arrived at the Charms classroom, the teacher was already standing behind his desk, a roll of parchment stretched out over his desk, and his wand sitting beside it.
"Hello, students. I am your Charms teacher, Professor Whooves," He introduced as the students filed into their seats. When none of them spoke, he cleared his throat and held up the roll of parchment and began to call out the names of his students before rolling it up and continuing his introduction. "Today, we shall simply discuss charms and the proper way to cast one." He shot a look at some of the students who had begun to moan about how they weren't going to learn what they wanted. This shut them up.
However, the rest of the class wasn't as boring as History Of Magic. Professor Whooves repeatedly used different charms on objects in the classroom in order to demonstrate how to properly cast the charms they had landed on discussing, like making a stack of books start to float upward, making his ink well appear and reappear, and casting a charm on a gloomy looking student whom became happy almost instantly. Twilight had made sure that her notes held every detail that Professor Whooves pointed out during these demonstrations.
His homework was to write a six-inch essay (or twelve-inch if they were feeling ambitious) about one of the charms they hoped to learn. Apple Jack was sure that Rainbow and Gilda were not going to be happy about all the homework they were bound to have by the end of the day, even if they weren't going to be present in class when it was given out.
Their next class was Transfiguration.
However, when the Gryffindor first-years reached the classroom, their teacher was not there.
Only when the students had all made their way to their seats, did their teacher finally appear.
A large cloud of smoke billowed out of the top of the desk with a loud crack and a tall man (whom Twilight recognized) waved away the smoke cloud that he had seemingly appeared in.
"Hello, new students! I am your transfiguration teacher, Professor Discord!" The man gave an exaggerated bow, holding out his wand in one hand. "I am here to teach you the most complex and dangerous magic you will ever learn here at dear old Hogwarts! And there better not be too much messing around, or you will have to leave my class, and you won't come back. I assure you."
His sudden change of tone sent chills up Twilight's spine, and from Apple Jack giving a small shudder beside her, she was sure that it had the same affect on her as well. However, this was forgotten when Professor Discord gave a quick tap to his head with his wand, and two horns sprouted out the side of his head, causing most of the students to stare in awe. Twilight included.
Of course, the class discovered that they would not be transfiguring horns onto their heads any time soon, as Professor Discord tapped the horns with his wand and they vanished before he went into a small lecture about transfiguration (while making rather hilarious side remarks and transfiguring items in the classroom) and watched as the students took down notes.
Once that was done with, Professor Discord held up his wand and waved it about, causing matches to appear in front of the students.
"You see those matches? Give you wand a good try and turn them into needles! Go on, then!"
However, despite Professor Discord's rather 'reassuring' words, none of the students made much of a difference to their matches by the time the class ended. His homework was to just keep practicing with the matches and write down what they got wrong and right.
"I'm sure mine was turnin' all pointy and shiny!" Apple Jack was muttering as they walked down the hall, only she ceased her muttering when a familiar face appeared around the corner.
"Rainbow! There you are! I was thinkin' you wouldn't be here til' supper!" Apple Jack smiled as Rainbow ran over and Twilight noticed how parts of her hands had faded red blotches, which was probably where the boils had been removed, likely by some sort of magic tonic.
"Me neither! Turns out that Gilda got the worst of it. The boils spread to her face!"
Apple Jack and Twilight began to run over the classes and the homework and Rainbow was very unhappy about having to do the work that she wasn't even in class for.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was the class that Rainbow was looking forward to that day, as she stated repeatedly on their way to find and climb up the stairwell.
The classroom itself looked much like the rest, other than the many different representations of the solar system which hung from the ceiling and slowly spiraled high above the students' heads.
The teacher, Twilight quickly realized, was Professor Luna. The only difference was that her robes were a slightly lighter blue and had silver crescent moons decorating the sides.
"Greetings, students. We are Professor Luna, your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." The students made their way to their seats, looking at the many different models of the planets which hung above them, which Luna took notice of.
"We were previously the astronomy teacher, but our sister, Headmaster Celestia, suggested we take the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. However, one cannot turn their back on the beauty of the night sky." Luna gently shook her head before continuing,"Please open your copies of The Dark Forces and start reading."
Professor Luna was very strict, glaring at any students who began to whisper. More than twice, Rainbow was the recipient of these frightening glares.
"Miss Dash. We would suggest you keep your remarks to yourself. We are sure that your parents would not approve of you receiving detention on your first day."
When Professor Luna finally ended their reading, she asked the students what they had just read, and then assigned homework, which was two chapters of reading, and then a foot of parchment with details about the creatures depicted in those chapters which was due Wednesday.
Rainbow let out all her annoyances about having too much work to do once they had left the classroom and were out of earshot of Professor Luna. Apple Jack and Twilight quietly agreed. Twilight was thinking over the amount of reading and writing she would have to do that night.
"Hey, Twilight. Do ya wonder why we didn't see Fluttershy or Pinkie in the hallways? I just noticed we hardly saw anyone we knew all day." Apple Jack muttered from one of the squashy armchairs by the fireplace, her book open in her lap.
Twilight looked up from her scroll of parchment which she had spread over a small table that she had moved over from the corner of the room and into the light of the fire Her seat being a rather fat cushion that was of the same material as the armchairs, which were all full of other students whom were working on homework. Or in the case of a third year and Big Mac, playing a small game of wizard's chess in the corner.
"I didn't think about that... Maybe they just had extremely different classes then us.. Or maybe they were too busy or got lost? I don't know. We'll surely see them at dinner."
Twilight, Apple Jack and Rainbow had returned to the Gryffindor Common Room after using a good half hour of their break hunting for their Hufflepuff friends so that they could at least finish some of the homework they had been given that day.
Even Apple Jack, who had been looking forward to her free time to find Pinkie and Fluttershy, admitted defeat in their search when they got trapped in a broom closet and had to be found by a sixth year, Spit Fire, who was also Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Rainbow's ears had turned pink when Spit Fire found them and told them to"Try not to get yourselves stuck in any more closets, alright?"
"Well... At least we'll get to talk to 'em soon. I wanna know how Fluttershy and Pinkie are doin'. Rarity, too." Apple Jack didn't seem to notice Rainbow looking at her from over her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions.
Twilight nodded and she went back to writing her essay about the Floating Charm, one that she had picked out of her list of charms she was most keen to learn.
After around two hours, Apple Jack put away her book and left the Common Room.
"I'm gonna go and try to find Fluttershy and Pinkie. See ya'll at dinner."
Twilight didn't pay much attention as Apple Jack left and continued working on her History essay about Canterlot and the Ministry of Magic, repeatedly checking her copy of History of Magic which sat open at the top of her roll of parchment.
Rainbow had long since given up on her History essay, and was now reading her copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Twilight couldn't blame her. The history of Canterlot was extremely boring and the way it was written seemed to make even the smaller sentences impossible to process until Twilight read them for the third time.
The two were thankful when dinner-time came around, and they made sure to stick close to Shining Armor. They were not keen on reliving the embarrassment of being discovered stuck in a small room.
Just as Apple Jack said when she left the common room, she was at the Great Hall, talking to Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy near the entryway. When she caught sight of her two friends, she waved for Twilight and Rainbow to come in her direction and they obliged.
The group was rather happy to be reunited, and Fluttershy was very adamant about how nice Hufflepuff was, Pinkie adding on to every other sentence.
"I was worried about you after Potions, Rainbow Dash. How is Gilda doing?" Rarity turned the subject and Rainbow was quiet before stepping away and pointing over her shoulder towards the students who were now crowding towards their tables.
"I ought to go find her. See ya!" Rainbow was gone before anyone else could object.
Pinkie began to bounce up and down, waving to someone else towards the Hufflepuff table.
"Oh! There's Cheese Sandwich! Maybe he has a new joke! See ya, girls!" Pinkie skipped off in the direction of her table and Fluttershy nervously twirled her hair before waving and shuffling over to the table, leaving Rarity, Apple Jack and Twilight.
"Well, it was good to talk to you again, darlings. See you!" Rarity waved and walked off to her table.
"We aught to get to our table, too."
"Yeah, you're right."
Dinner that night was similar to the Start-Of-Term feast, other than the fact that the meal wasn't as extravagant as the feast and that desert was much more limited.
Gilda had been at the table by the time Twilight and Apple Jack reached it, and she was having a lively conversation with Rainbow who was speaking around a mouthful of roasted potato.
As the first years changed into their pajamas later that night, Apple Jack fed Winona some beef that she had taken from the Great Hall and for a moment Twilight was panicked that she had forgotten to feed Owlicious, but then she remembered the school had an owlery and that Owlicious was bound to have eaten up there.
Twilight picked up her rolls of parchment and set them beside her books on the lid of her trunk after she had changed into her pajamas. When she checked over her homework in her head, she felt satisfied and fell asleep almost immediately once she had slipped under the covers.