Child of Two Worlds

by Silent Wing

First published

After discovering the Mirror nerhegeb and accidently activating one of his hidden features, Draco Malfoy ends up in Equestria..

The mirror Nerhegeb is known to be dangerous, for he is able to shows us, what our heart desires the most. But unknown to everyone, he is capable to so much more. With most of his hidden features forgotten over time, it shouldn’t surprise anyone, when one of them is activated by accident.

One of those would be his ability to change into a portal to a place where your wishes could be fulfilled, should you ever get scared, while looking into it. But this portal opens only, if your wishes are innocent in nature.

This is exactly what happens, not long after Draco discovered the mirror in an abandoned classroom.

Rated T just to be sure
Nametags will change as the story continues

Made it into the Featured box for the first time on 29.11.2020.
Honestly, I never expected this to happen so thank you, all of you. :twilightsmile:

Once more big thanks to rikithemonk for his great help with editing this story until Ch.09.
Big thanks also go to Javarod who took over edditing from ch. 10 onwards.


Cover art done by the amazing Mix-up. You can also check out his art on Deviantart and on Youtube.

01 Through the mirror

View Online

Most kids would hate the situation I find myself in, but most kids don’t have a family like mine. So, it is very relaxing to be alone in the Slytherin common room, knowing that no one will keep an eye on me for the next two weeks. I am finally able to do what I want, regardless if it’s befitting of my status as heir to one of the most prestigious pureblood families.

Knowing that none of his spies are able to tell him about me right now, I lay back into my recliner, open the muggle newspaper, and skip straight ahead to the sports section. Reading everything I can about my favourite team and I shout in joy when I read that Arsenal is on a good way to repeat last year's triumph.

Sadly, there isn’t a lot of other things that I am interested in and after a half-hour I begin to get bored. With nothing else to do, I leave the common room, wandering the Castle and just enjoying the silence.

While wandering I can’t stop thinking about how it would be to have a real family. A family that doesn’t care about status, that doesn’t want to force their view of the world on you. Honestly, I never understood why my father and all his friends hate muggles and everyone that isn’t a pureblood so much.

After all, the best day of my life was when my family went to London for business and I got separated from them. Somehow, I ended up in the Highbury Stadium seeing a soccer match for the first time in my life.

When my parents found me hours later and I told them what had happened, they had been furious with me. Even more so, when I told them how awesome this sport is. That evening, I found out what the cruciatus curse does to someone, the hard way.

I banish these thoughts when my stomach reminds me that I skipped lunch today and dinnertime is approaching fast. I come to a halt, when I realize that I’m in a part of the Castle I have never been to before.

I panic for a moment, but I manage to calm down as fast as the panic came over me. I take a look around, this time focusing more on the details, hoping that they may give me a clue about my position in the Castle.

But the only thing I find is a lonely door, which I assume leads to one of the many classrooms. A bit hesitantly I open the door and step into it, in the hope of finding any clues about where I am.

Sadly, my luck has run out and there is nothing that could give me any indication about my whereabouts. No window to look through, nothing that gives an idea about which subject is taught in here, no, only a large mirror in the middle of the room.

A mirror? Why in hell would someone find it necessary to hide a mirror in an unused classroom? Now after my curiosity has been peaked, I walk up to it, inspecting it carefully. At first, I don’t notice anything special, but after a few minutes, I spot an inscription on it.

My attempts to decipher it fail horribly and with nothing else to do, I come to the conclusion that a short peek into the mirror won’t hurt. I position myself directly in front, not expecting to see anything else than a reflection of myself.

To my utter astonishment, when I not only see a reflection of myself, but also two adults pressing myself to them. In shock I sit down, believing that this can’t be real.

I close my eyes for a brief moment, thinking that my eyes played a trick on me, but this proves to be wrong when I open them again. Now, the reflection shows us sitting just like I am. I don’t understand why, and I don’t care at the moment, I just sit there starring into the reflection for several minutes.

It takes some time for me to notice but the image has by now started to change, showing
various different creatures. But the scenario is always the same. One smaller creature accompanied by two larger ones, holding the smaller one in a way, that I assume is a comforting embrace.

I enjoy these visions, with my hunger long forgotten and not noticing just how fast the time is passing. I am so engrossed by the scene in front of me, that I don’t notice when the door opens and someone approaches me, stopping a few meters behind me.

To my shock, I hear a voice from behind me calling my name, and in fear of being discovered doing something forbidden and getting in trouble, I hastily try to get up.

Too late, I realize that I’ve been clumsy when I step on the hem of my cloak and stumble towards the mirror. While falling towards it, I turn my head around and get a good look at just who scared me. The last thing I see before everything goes dark is a shocked Professor Dumbledore.


When I open my eyes again, I am surrounded by darkness, before the environment changes to a large open field with plenty of beautiful flowers on it. I enjoy the view for a while, wondering where I ended up when I hear a soft feminine voice talking to me. “Fear not little one, I am here to help you.”

I turn to my left, towards the voice, spotting a large white winged unicorn approaching me. I take a step back, surprised by the sight in front of me, since I have never seen a creature like that before, nonetheless I let her come closer.

I wait for a few moments to calm down from all the shocking events that happened shortly before now. “What are you, who are you, and where are we?” I ask her the three most important questions from all the thousands going through my mind.

“I am an Alicorn and as for who I am, all my little ponies simply call me the mother, and you can do so too if you want.” This answer isn’t exactly what I had hoped for, but it is at least something. Both of us wait for a few moments before she speaks up again. “As for where we are, that is a bit more difficult to explain. You could say that we are in a place between different worlds, think of it like a crossroad.”

The environment changes slightly and I find myself now standing on a gravel path at the said crossroad, which is still surrounded by the many different flowers. The gravel path splits into two directions, directly in front of me.

“The path behind you leads back from where you came.” Indeed, only around fifty meters behind me, I see Professor Dumbledore frozen in time. He still has the horrified look on his face from when I fell through the mirror. “The path to your left leads into the world of the dead.” I turn around and take a short look into said direction, before I turn my gaze to the path to my right, wondering to where it would lead me. “The final path however brings you to a different world, where you could start anew and have a second chance at life. Now, which one of those three paths do you want to travel on?”

I take some time, thinking about all the different options and what consequences they would hold. The path to my left is abandoned quickly, then even if my life till now hasn’t been a pleasant one, I don’t want to die just yet.

This leaves me with only two options and as much as it pains me to see that look on his face, I don’t feel like going back either. With one last glance at Dumbledore, I turn around and decide to take the path to my right, before I begin to walk towards its end. “Thank you, mother,” I say to the pony in question, just before I get incredibly tired and lay down for a quick nap.

02 Found

View Online

It is night in Equestria, calm, quiet and peaceful, just like it always should be. Thestrals are patrolling the streets of every city in the nation, to make sure everypony is safe and can sleep in peace.

Their mistress may be gone for almost a millennium now, but that doesn’t stop them from doing their sacred duty. Protecting Equestria from all the dangers that only come out in the dark.

Everywhere they are doing their job proud and with great dedication. Everywhere except for one place. A place they avoid as much as a cat avoids water. The Castle in Equestrias new capital city of Canterlot. The one place no bat ever goes as long as their beloved Princess hasn’t returned.

If it wasn’t for a pony that is unable to fall asleep, nopony would have noticed the alarm going off there. The alarm that let’s everypony know, that there is an intruder in a part of the Royal Treasury, solemnly dedicated to keeping unique and possible dangerous magical artifacts safe.

But even if there was anypony else awake, they couldn’t have done anything since this part of the treasury is in a place that only one pony has access to. The sun princess herself!

The moment she realizes just what the meaning of the alarm is, she gasps in shock before preparing a teleportation spell to bring her as close to the intruder as possible. She is greatly displeased that this place is so well protected against teleportation that even she can’t breach the wards without using a great deal of her own magic. However, nopony except herself is to blame for this, so instead of teleporting right into the room in question, she can only teleport to the entrance.

As Princess Celestia appears directly in front of the unremarkable door, she is a bit surprised by the fact that it isn’t broken open and that all warding spells are still intact. In her eyes this only leaves two possible options, one as unlikely as the other.

The possibility of a false alarm is quickly tossed aside and the same happens to the idea of a strong magic user skilled enough to bypass the wards without setting off the countless
traps. Surely she would know, if somepony like that existed. But even then, there is no chance that a magic-user able to accomplish such a feat would overlook a simple scanning spell that is looking for every living thing larger than a rat.

She passes the door and while she slowly begins to stroll through the area, searching for the intruder, thinks even harder about the potential cause. True, there are some things hidden that contain possible dangerous creatures, but if one of those would have broken out, there would have been a different kind of alarm going off.

But if you rule out intruders from the outside as well as creatures breaking out of their prisons, this only leaves one option. It takes a moment for the realization to hit home before the mare breaks out into a mad gallop trying to reach the portal storage before it’s too late and some kind of dangerous creature makes its way into the city.

She slows down into a silent trot, careful to not give her position away once she is close to her target. She does one quick scanning spell to calm her fears, and is surprised to find that there is only one creature nearby.

Now much more confident to handle the situation alone, she doesn’t bother to hide her presence anymore. With a knockout spell at the ready, she rounds the last corner towards the one portal she sees as the most dangerous of them all. After all, her old mentor used it to banish the Sirens to another dimension and their return could be disastrous.

However, nothing in Equestria could have prepared her for the sight in front of her.
The sight before her is so incredible that her jaw hits the floor. “How?” Is all she can think of, having trouble accepting what she is seeing as real.

There, only a foot or two away from the portal lies a very young colt. From the looks of it, the little foal can’t be older than a week, maybe two. She sits down on her haunches and carefully picks up the little one as not to disturb his sleep.

“Where did you come from?” She asks more to herself, knowing that even if he wanted, he wouldn’t be able to answer her question. She looks past him to the portal, wondering if he came out of it.

Since this portal is connected to many different places, some of which are only accessible from the other side, the colt was somewhat of a mystery. While it's not impossible that the colt came through the portal, it was very unlikely.

She turns her attention back to the little colt in her hooves only now beginning to realize that he almost looks like a tiny version of herself. His coat has the exact same coloration, his tiny wings are folded to his side, but his mane is very different. Where she has four different colors, he has only three and none of them matches her own. She has two different shades of light blue, a light green and something similar to pink, his mane colors however are golden, purple, and pink.

She almost missed the small white nub on his forehead hidden by his mane, but once she does, she makes a decision that will definitely change the world. If for good or bad she doesn’t know yet, but she will do her best to make sure it won’t be the second.

“I wish your aunt Luna could be with us now.” Is the only thought she dares to voice out loud knowing that she would be able to count on her sister's support, were it not for the tragedy that happened almost a millennium ago. A tragedy she isn’t without blame for.

She levitates the little colt on her back, using her magic to hold him in place before she makes her way out of the Royal Treasury. On her way out she checks once more for intruders, but all her scanning spells come back empty.

It is a long and quiet journey back into the main part of the castle, the silence only broken by soft snoring from the little colt on her back. However she doesn’t immediately go back to her room, no, instead she makes her way to the hospital wing.

The fact that everypony is asleep expect one nurse, doesn’t come as a surprise to her. The nurse however is surprised by the princess’s late/early appearance, but she recovers quickly and leaves to get a doctor.

When the grey unicorn shows up, he isn’t very happy about the disturbance at this hour, but he is bright enough not to ask princess Celestia if she could come back later. Since he didn’t see the foal on the solar princess back at first, he gasps in shock as soon as he catches sight of the little alicorn colt.

She carefully places the little one on an examination table and no words are needed for the doctor to start his examination. The doctor however is unable to find anything wrong with the foal and so there is only one thing troubling him. “Why didn’t you tell anypony, that you are pregnant Princess?”

For a short moment, it looks like the princess's eyes are about to fall out of their sockets before she gets herself back under control. Silence dominates the room for a few minutes before she replies in a serious voice. “I can assure you doctor, if I were pregnant again I would have sought your assistance as soona s I found out!”

“Then can you explain how you can bring an alicorn foal to me, that isn’t older than a few hours, a day at most!” He replies upset and clearly not buying what he is being told and correcting the solar’s monarch assumption from earlier.

any normal pony would have been shocked by how doctor Fine Suture spoke to the monarch, but not Celestia herself. While she is a bit surprised by it, she does understand where the doctor is coming from.

After a short moment of hesitation she decides to tell him the truth, knowing that he is bound to stay silent due to his medical confidentiality anyway. “I found him in a restricted part of the royal treasury, laying directly in front of a known portal.”

“Do you intend to keep the colt or shalI I bring him into the local Orphanage?” He asks after some thought and decided to not question the princess any further. As unbelievable as her words sound, he is certain that she told him the truth. Besides, if she truly wanted to mislead him, she easily could have come up with a much more believable excuse.

“My little prince will stay with me doctor, why do you ask anyway?” She wants to know, slightly surprised that he asked the question at all.

Instead of giving her an answer, the horn of the grey unicorn lights up, taking the princess completely off guard when he casts a spell on her. “Just a little something to make sure the little prince won’t starve.” He explains once he sees the perplexed look on her face.

“Thank you doctor. We will be taking our leave now.” Princess Celestia replies grateful, gently placing the colt on her back again, leaving a very tired doctor behind. She walks down the corridors in silence, while trying to come up with a good name for her son.

03 News and decisions

View Online

Lucius Malfoy was furious, his wife Narzisa was devastated and the reason for this lay right in front of him on the dining table. It may just be a letter, but the information it contained was far from pleasant.


Lucius and Narzissa Malfoy,

With great dread I have to inform you that your son, Draco Malfoy, had been involved in an unfortunate incident. Please visit me at your earliest notice.

With great sorrow

Albus Dumbledore


Normally he would be upset about the tone Dumbledore was using, but at the moment he is too focused on his son, and how this put all his plans for the unruly child in grave danger.

As much as a disappointment Draco has been in the last half year, he can’t stop himself from worrying. But unimportant what has happened, one thing is for sure. That old fool would pay, should the worst case scenario be true.


I slowly wake up as something under me moves in a steady rhythm, and I get the impression that I am carried to a different place. I want to get up and protest that I can walk on my own, but whatever I am laying on is so soft and comfortable that this thought doesn’t last long.

I open my eyes and am immediately assaulted by something colorful, that is waving right in front of me. As I lift my head, it touches my nose slightly and I can’t restrain myself from giggling slightly as it tickles me there.

The wavy thing in front of me begins to move even more and after a few moments it is replaced by the immensely large face of a pony. “So did my little Colt finally decide to wake up now?” She asks me lovingly and I want to reply that I am not so little, but only gibberish comes out of my mouth, causing her to chuckle slightly in amusement.

“Of course, I'll show you our home later in the day,” she replies enthusiastically before turning her head around and continuing to walk down a long corridor. I look in amazement at my surroundings, wondering just how rich this pony is, that is until something else picks my curiosity.

I want to ask her why there are so many identical statues placed along this corridor, but once again, I am unable to say anything understandable. Nonetheless, it at least get’s her attention. I point with one of my hooves at one of the statues, silently asking for clarification.

She follows the direction of where I am pointing to, she looks a bit surprised by this, but still gives me an unexpected answer. “This brave pony here is one of our Guards,” she explains to me and I can only wonder why exactly we would need so many Guards, should every of the statues we passed be a living pony instead.

She continues for a few meters, before we reach a large golden double door, with a large sun on it. The door is opened by two Guards and before entering the room she addresses one of the two ponies. “Please inform Raven to cancel all my morning appointments and to meet me here at nine, corporal Shimmer.”

“Of course Princess.” He replies instantly, answering my question from just a few moments ago, before she steps into the room and the door is closed behind us. A golden glow surrounds me and I find myself hoovering towards a large bed and being carefully placed on the mattress.

The mare that brought me here lays down directly next to me, nudging me closer to her with her muzzle. Soon, I find myself facing her teats and I have a good guess about what she wants from me. I turn my head and look her in the eyes, silently asking her if she is serious with that. “Go ahead, I know that you are hungry, little one.”

As on comand my stomach rumbles loudly, proving her that she is right and I sigh inwardly, when I begin to suckle on her teat. I know that the mother offered me a new life, but I hadn’t expected her to mean it quite literally. At least, from what I heard this mare saying, I know that I am still male.

It doesn’t take me long to finish my meal, only for her to pick me up and making me burp, before placing me once more gently next to her. When I begin to shiver a bit from the cold, she immediately places one of her massive wings over me, and I begin to warm up again. My eyelids begin to feel heavy and it doesn’t take long for me to fall back asleep.


A few hours later, there is a series of knocks at the door and shortly after I told her to “come in” Raven steps into the room, not looking very pleased. “Princess, you can’t just cancel...” She begins to complain, before I cut her off.

“Shh Raven, not so loud.” I reprimand her without raising my voice. I mention for her to continue, so she can get her justified complaints out of her now. I calmly listen to all her complaints, why I just can’t cancel all my appointments out of a whim.

“Why are we whispering anyway,” she asks me at the end and I gesture for her to step closer before I lift my wing for a short moment, covering my son up again only moments later, to keep him warm. “He is so cute, Princess.”

“Does he have a name yet?”

“I was thinking about Passionate Heart, Raven.” I reply, telling her the best I could come up with.

“I like that Princess, but if you don’t mind me asking, how? I am sure that I would have noticed if you were Pregnant.” With a bit of hesitation, I tell her exactly what happened last night and why I decided to take the little one in as my own.

Raven is silent for quite some time after this, but what she says next surprises me greatly. “I will clear your schedule then for the next few days and arrange a press conference in let’s say three days from now on?”

I think about her words for a bit but am unable to find something I don’t agree with. Yes, I have to refile the existence of my son to Equestria at some point, but doing that too soon could be as fatal as waiting too long with this. Besides, I don’t mind taking it slow for a few days, since this gives me time to catch up with my paperwork and most importantly, it allows me to spend more time with my little colt.

But I still get the feeling that both of us forgot something important. I look around the room, seeing all the different stacks of papers I still haven’t done yet and that is the moment it hits me, like a poy that just ran into a wall. I need somepony to look after my son for when I am unable to do so. Somepony I trust, but that also has enough time to spare and there is only one pony that fits the description. “Raven, I need you to take a message to Cloudsdale.”

04 friends?

View Online

Three days later:


Mom and I are laying in a large garden, which is part of the enormous place I now call home, recovering from what happened earlier. To say that I was shocked by seeing so many ponies at once, would be a grave understatement.

The times I had been awake in the past days, have either been spent with me playing on my own, while she works or playing with her. Sometimes other ponies came to have discussions with her about a press conference, which had been changed into something else entirely.

Earlier that day a huge crowd of ponies had formed under one of the balconies of our home, which I now know to be Canterlot Castle. She talked a lot about why she had been unavailable for the last few days and how something amazing happened to her before she turned the focus onto me.

All the time she had been talking, I had been on her back, but nopony had been able to see me since she had an illusion cast upon me. She truly wanted to surprise everypony and them being unable to see me at first, made sure of it.

She dispelled the illusion and levitated me onto a small platform on the railing of the balcony. I looked back to mom for a short moment, but her encouraging smile banished all my doubts.

I got up on all four hooves and looked down at the crowd, while she introduced me as Prince Passionate Heart, heir to the solar throne.

I don’t know if it had been the words of my mother or me waving with one hoof at the crowd below at the same time, that caused it, but everypony down there broke out into cheers. WE stayed there for a bit longer before heading back inside and going to the place we are now.

“Who the buck do you think you are, not telling me first about this outstanding news?” A very upset sounding pony from behind us yells at us, closing the distance with every passing moment.

I am quick to crawl under mom's wing, while she turns her attention towards the approaching Pony. “Stormy, please let me explain.” Mom replies pleadingly, but her request falls upon death ears.

“Don’t you dare Stormy, me!” She replies upset for some reason that I am not sure of, only for her rant to be cut short, instead mommy speaks up once more.

“Now Stormy, you will calm down and promise to lower your voice to an acceptable level before I release your muzzle.” A few moments pass in silence before she adds one detail that confuses me a bit. “You are scaring the little ones.”

Did she just say little ones, as in more than one? I wonder how that can be, when I find myself muzzle to muzzle with a brilliant golden foal, having a two-toned orange mane and slightly darker eyes.

I squeak in surprise at the sudden appearance of the other foal in front of me, before I shuffle closer to mom’s side, never taking my eyes off of her. Unsure of what to make out of this unexpected situation, I wait for something to happen.

I don’t have to wait long as mom turns her head towards a Pegasus mare with similar coloration to the fillies, as she steps in front of me. “Hello Passion, I am Stormy Flare and I see that you have already met my daughter Spitfire.” She introduces herself with a wide smile.

I turn my attention from the two mares back to her filly, which is still close to me, and curiously look her over. Only to be surprised when she sticks her tongue out at me, turns around, and flys off.

Wait a moment, flys off? It takes a moment for the realization to hit me, only now remembering that I have wings of my own now. I crawl out under mom’s wing and take a look at the wings on my sides. “It can’t be that difficult right?” I think before I try my hardest and soon give chase, unwilling to let her get away with such behavior.


“I didn’t see that coming,” the larger of the two mares says, looking at the two flying foals, not having expected her young one to start flying for at least another day or two. She calls out to the nearest Guards, “You two, make sure nothing happens to them.”

“Of course Princess.” They reply in sync, before following and trying to keep up with the two very little ponies.

Both mares watch in silence for a while as the foals decide to stop chasing each other and decide that playing dodge the Guard is way more fun, before turning their attention back to each other.

“Now Tia, mind telling me why you didn’t inform me about your pregnancy?” The annoyed Pegasus mare asks her old friend and former mentor,* getting almost the same explanation as Princess Celestia’s aid, Raven Inkwell.

“... and when I saw him lying there, I just couldn’t help myself. You know that I always wanted a foal, but after that miscariage I couldn’t convince myself to try again, out of fear it would repeat itself.” The solar Princess ends the tale, tears in the corner of her eyes, showing a very rare display of her true emotions.

Soon, Princess Celestia finds herself embraced by her old friend when the tears slowly start to dry. “Tia, I know these times were hard for you, but you have to look forward now.“ She reminds the pony in question, in a successful attempt to cheer her up.

“Stormy, you are right.” The white alicorn replies after some time passes in silence. “There is a lucky colt that needs us.”

Slightly surprised and a bit confused, the fiery mare asks her former mentor what she means with “us,” but the answer to this question isn’t as unexpected as you would think. “Well, I am still looking for someone that could keep an eye on my son, when I am unable to do so and I really hoped that you would be willing to help me with that.”

“You know that Wind Rider would use this chance to get back in the main rooster, should I take a longer break from the Bolts.” Stormy replies after some time of thought, giving Princess Celestia not exactly the answer she hoped for. At least, she didn’t turn her down immediately, which still gives her a chance to convince her.

“You know that this wouldn’t be an issue, had you just accepted the promotion when it was offered.” Princess Celestia points out, reminding her of the time she turned it down and causing her friend to flinch slightly.

“And you should know why I turned you down. I had to earn my place in the bolts, not become it hoofed over on a silver platter, otherwise, they would have never accepted me as one of their own.”

“We could talk for quite some time about that part of my past, but that wouldn’t help in any way.” Stormy Flare drops the subject and begins to focus more on the issue at hoof. “So, what exactly did you have in mind when you asked me to become the Royal foalsitter?”

The two mares then start to talk about the details and after Princess Celestia finally convinces her, she decides that Stormy and Spitfire will stay in a room directly next to her own. Celestia however insists, that even if she already covers all expenses for the Castles new occupants, that Stormy Flare has to accept a “small” stipend as well.

Shortly after this discussion, the two exhausted Guards from earlier bring the equally tired foals back to their respective mothers. Seeing in what shape they are, Princess Celestia decides to give them the rest of their shift off and tells them that, if anypony should complain about it, they should send them to her.

05 Of questions and answers

View Online

Professor Dumbledor was usually a very relaxed man. True, all his duties kept him quite busy, but that was never a problem for him. At least not when everything went according to plan, which it usually does. Occasionally he had to give someone a slight push in the right direction, but that was the most that he usually had to interfere.

Sadly, all of this changed yesterday when he found Draco Malfoy staring into the mirror Nerhegeb. After all, he expected to find Harry there, just like he arranged, but for whatever reason, young Malfoy beat him to it.

That in itself wasn’t what was concerning him, no that would be what happened afterward and the consequences it implies. It still is a mystery to him why the young Malfoy was swallowed by the mirror, but he is sure that it's a mystery that can be solved with enough research.

Until now even he believed that the mirror was only able to show someone his heart's greatest desire, but this was obviously wrong. To him it looks like there is much more about this ancient artifact and he can’t help but wonder about how much more the mirror is capable of and how much knowledge had been lost to time.

He is ripped out of his musings when he hears someone knocking at the door to his office. He allows them to enter and isn’t surprised in the slightest when Professor Mc Gonagall leads Draco’s parents into his office.

He dreaded the conversation that was about to take place now and he would have preferred if he had more time to prepare himself, but it looks like his luck had finally run out.

“Where is my son?” Lucius demanded to know from him, causing Minerva to frown in confusion, either from the man's unusual bluntness or the fact that she hadn’t been informed about last night's events.

“I think it would be better if I just show you all rather than trying to explain something even I don’t understand fully.” He replied to everyone’s surprise, walking over to his pensieve that he had been unable to store at its usual spot till now.

Professor McGonagall turns to leave the room when she is stopped by the headmaster's voice. “Minerva, I think this is something you should see as well.”

The deputy headmistress stops halfway to the door and turns around, looking as surprised as the Malfoys about that statement. “I hope you know what you are doing, Albus.” She replies on her way over to the Pensieve where everyone is already waiting for her.

“So do I.” He responds shortly before entering the Pensieve on his own, followed by the others.

Soon everyone finds themselves following a second Professor Dumbledore down, a large and empty corridor. The few windows they pass lets everyone know that it’s late at night. Even if they are surprised by this, it’s ignored for now, focusing their attention on Dumbledore unwilling to miss anything that could be important.

It doesn’t take long for him to stop in front of a door, and while the Malfoys have no idea why this particular door, Professor Mcgonagll already gets a sinking suspicion about what could have happened

When Professor Dumbledor enters the room, she is only partly surprised by what she sees. While she already knew that the mirror Nerhegeb would be there, she is as surprised as the Malfoys, when she spots Draco sitting directly in front of it with one hand laid on its surface.

When Draco is called by name, he flinches before hastily trying to get up and trips over the hem of his cloak. No one is surprised when he stumbles forward, but that changes as he falls right on the mirror only to disappear into it.

Mere moments after this, everyone gets ejected out of the memory and finds themselves back in Professor Dumbledors office. “I have watched this memory a few times after this happened yesterday in an attempt to understand what caused this.” He says quickly, not giving anyone the chance to voice their opinion first. “Sadly, without success.”

“Did you examine the mirror itself, or have you focused purely on the memory till now?” Narzsissa Malfoy asks, concerned about her son. Unlike her husband, she sees more in Draco than just a tool to achieve her goals.

“I wanted to wait until the department of mysteries sends a team to help with that.” He replies as calmly as ever, not expecting that everyone is looking at him in disbelief, once he finishes his sentence.

“Lead the way,” all three reply in unison, making him feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Without a second thought he walks towards his door and does as requested, unwilling to find out what would happen should he refuse to cooperate.


Disappointment, that's all this visit is till now. Yes, we got some answers, but none of them was anywhere close to what we had hoped. Truly, that old fool didn’t really expect to find any answers, except the obvious ones in that memory.

One glance in it was enough for me to get all of the possible answers out of it. Honestly, what else did he hope to learn from it, except the fact that he startled my Draco when he tried to get his attention?

The time he wasted in that memory would have been better used if he had just examined this mirror. Truly, there must be something Dumbledore could have learned from it if he would just have used his brain for once.

Something changes as we step into the room Professor Dumbledore leads us too, not physically mind you, no it’s more like a feeling. I let go of my husband's hand and walk past him and the two others, directly towards the mirror.

“Narzissa, STOP!” I hear Lucius calling out to me but it’s already too late, as I reach the mirror. Whatever this feeling is, it calls out for me to step into the glass and after a very brief moment of consideration, I give in to it.

I don’t know what I expected to happen but certainly not finding myself in the living room of my parents mansion at Grimmauld Place. It only takes me a moment to spot the woman sitting in the recliner chair, next to the burning fireplace. She gestures for me to sit down in a similar chair opposite to her. “Why am I here?”

“After Draco passed through here, I thought it best to talk with you. Do not worry, he is fine.” She answers my question and the one I wanted to voice next without hesitation. Somewhat surprised I think for a moment what to ask next, but again, the mysterious woman is faster than me. “A lot of things changed when he passed through here and I know that unlike your husband, you care deeply for that colt.”

“Will I ever see him again?” I ask the strange woman the most important question of all that comes to my mind.

“Perhaps, but I need your help to make that possible.”

“What do I have to do?” I ask without hesitation, wanting nothing more than to hold my little boy in my arms again.


Barely five minutes had passed since they arrived in the empty classroom and Mrs. Malfoy walked straight into the mirror. Everyone is wondering how that is even possible when the mirror suddenly begins to glow and much to everyone's surprise, Narzissa Malfoy walks out of it again.

Professor Dumbledore is the first to recover from the shock from her sudden reappearance. “Mrs. Malfoy, can you tell us what happened to you?” He asks curiously, never having seen anything like this before.

“No,” she replies coldly, all eyes in the room focused on her. “But I have a message for you.” The headmaster raises an eyebrow in confusion, but does nothing else, except waiting for her to continue.

“You shall continue with your plan for now. And don’t bother to study the mirror, she already closed the Portal and none of us will be able to recreate the circumstances that opened it in the first place.”

“And what about Draco?” Lucius asks her slightly worried, but everyone present knows that he isn’t worried about the child's wellbeing, instead, he is worried about the plans he had for the boy.

“He is gone.” She replies saddened, making everyone believe this to be true. She knows that this isn’t the case, but she can’t say the truth, at least not in the company of her husband.

The Malfoys have a quick discussion between themselves, but when the topic becomes too emotional, Lucius decides that this isn’t the proper place and that they instead should continue their talk at home. They quickly say their goodbyes, leaving two slightly surprised Professors behind. After all, it isn’t everyday that you witness a noble family arguing in front of you.

Quite some time passes until both of the Professors are able to comprehend what they just witnessed, before they turn their attention back to their own concerns. “You know that she lied about Draco as much as I do, right?” Professor McGonagall speaks up, wondering if Lucius saw through his wife's game.

“Yes and I can only wonder why, but that isn’t what worries me.” He replies with a frown on his face, wondering about the creature Mrs Malfoy was talking about and what her intentions are. A new player had appeared and made it very clear that it wants to interfere with his plans and he can only hope that whoever it may be doesn’t intend to work against him.

“But I fear that this is something only time will tell.” He ends his statement, before he decides to go back to his office. After all, there is much he has to think of now.

06 I hate naming Chapters, but I still try

View Online

I was napping peacefully when something woke me, something really annoying. Drowsily I open my eyes and what I spot is something I learned to dislike from the first time I met her.

Mamas Phoenix Philomena, is sitting directly in front of me. I don’t know how she manages to pull it off, but he somehow manages to look smug, and immediately it’s crystal clear to me that this bird is up to no good.

When she raises her wings I know that I am doomed, as only moments later she starts to tickle me furiously. I can’t help but laugh at the feeling of being tickled, ruining the chances of going back to sleep.

When she is done, I need a few moments to get my laughter back under control. If looks could kill that annoying bird would have burst into flames the moment I laid my eyes on it.

Philomena is quick to realize that she bucked up and within a second, she takes to the air and flies out of the room. Unwilling to let her get away with such insolence I take to the air myself, giving chase.

I hear a surprised yelp as I fly past Stormy, startalling her as we fly out of the door and down a long hallway. I hear my nanny shouting for me to come back but I ignore her, taking the corner, Philomena had just vanished behind.

I have trouble keeping up, cutting corners as close as possible, but I still only gain slightly on her. The chase continues for a while, startling more than one Guard by our sudden appearance, and more than one of the decorative vases break into pieces as we accidentally push them from the column they are resting on.

After a while, Philomena makes a big mistake and ends up at a dead end. I see my chance to finally return the favor, charge at her to catch her, but she manages to dodge me at the last moment.

Toa late I realize my mistake and I mentally prepare for the pain that is going to come when I will crash headlong into the wall. I hit something, but to my great surprise isn’t doesn’t feel like the marble surface I am expecting. No, it feels much colder but it is still as unforgiving as a stone wall.

A loud CLANK is heard as I collide with it and find myself unwillingly doing a few loopings before I crash muzzle first into the floor. Where I would usually scream in pain before I start to cry, I just skip the first part and go right to the second.

Only a few moments pass before somepony picks me up and hugs me tightly. “Mommy is here my darling, mommy is here.” I hear the loving, but saddened voice of the mare that took me in.

She orders somepony to look after Corporal Ironheart and I look up from mommy’s chest where I had buried my face, only to see an unconscious Guard laying directly in front of a wall. It looks like I somehow managed to throw logic away and pass right through the wall, to crash into him.

Feeling bad about having hurt another pony, even if it was unintentionally, I once more bury my face in her soft chest ashamed about what I did. I hear mommy canceling court for the rest of the day, but I can’t convince myself to care about that, and cry even more into her soft fur.

I don’t know how long I cried, but it is quite some time before my tears finally stop flowing. “Better now,” She asks me, sounding very concerned. “Then let’s go and see doctor Suture, your muzzle doesn’t look very good,” mommy proclaims her plans for the immediate future after I answered her question with a shy nod.

When she places me on her back and starts towards the hospital wing, an important question comes to mind. “Just when did I start to think of her as mommy instead of mom or mother? Did she really grow that fast on me?”

I consider this thought for a while and decide that it doesn't matter what I call her. She often showed me just how much she cares for me in the past few weeks. More care than I can remember getting from my old mother. I know that she loves me for just being there and that is more than I could ask from anyone.

Shortly after this we run into Stormy who tries to apologize that she let this happen in the first place, but mommy dismisses her without a second thought. “Stormy I don’t think that you could have done anything to prevent this, but do you have any idea what could have caused this?”

“Well, she was chasing Philomena, but I can’t tell you why.” The fiery mare replies after a short consideration and not looking very happy about this.

“I told her to stop annoying Spitfire and Passion, but she never listens when somepony wants to stop her from having fun.” Mommy replies with a sigh, obviously guessing correctly what happened. The two mares continue to talk for a bit, but each part separate ways once we reach the infirmary.

Doctor Suture is quick to pick me up from mommy’s back with his magic and places me on an examination table, before he takes a very close look at my muzzle. “Have you already cast anything on him, Princess?”

“Only a simple spell to stop his pain.”

The doctor nods in understanding, before I see his horn lighting up “Luckily, this is easy enough to fix.”

His magic feels somehow funny to me, similar to when Philomena was tickling me, only with the difference that this isn’t at my stomach or just along my muzzle, but it’s also inside of my nostrils and I begin to sneeze without any warning. Shocked gasps are heard after the first one, and if my ears aren’t tricking me, it sounds almost like bodies are hitting the floor.

I know that something went wrong, but I can only stop sneezing when I stop feeling the touch of doctor Sutures magic. I look around confused for a moment until I see the wall directly in front of me. If I didn't know any better, I could have got the idea that somepony used swish cheese to build it, simply by the number of holes in it.

“I think it stopped,” somepony says from below me and I realize that I indeed had heard bodies hit the floor earlier. Both mommy and doctor Suture get up and take a look at the wall before they turn their attention to me.

“Just like your aunt Luna, she used to blow holes into everything too, when we were young.” She tells me in excitement and I couldn’t believe she was actually happy that I destroyed the wall. In the old Manor it would have earned me a quite harsh punishment.

“Could you finish your spell, or do we have to blow up another wall, Doctor Suture?” She asks surprisingly chipper, only increasing my confusion and I almost can’t believe her reaction when Doctor Suture confirms that he is done. “Pitty.”

She asks how Corporal Ironheart is doing before she picks me back up again. “I know exactly what we are doing now.” Is all the warning I get before she teleports us into a small library.

She walks down the isles looking for something and it doesn’t take her long to find it. She walks back and sits down on a very comfortable looking bean bag, placing me in her lap, and then floats the thick tome directly in front of her.

I can’t read what is written on it, but I know immediately that this book must be very important to her when she opens it. The first picture is of a light blue unicorn foal with a slightly brighter mane. “This is your aunt Luna shortly after she was born.” Mommy says, before turning the page.

As soon as I see the next photo I burst out into amused giggles. There is the body of the same foal, only where her neck and head should be, there is an overturned porcelain jar.


Somewhere on the moon a dark blue alicorn leaps up from her sleep and says grumpily, “I can feel it, Tia is having fun at my expense again,” before rolling over and drifting back off to sleep again.


Together we look through the photo album for a while until something important changes. The next picture isn’t of aunt Luna, instead, it shows a white alicorn with pink mane and tail that looks like she had just landed face-first from a flight, if the position of the wings is anything to go by.

It looks a bit painful, but the pony in the picture looks more annoyed than hurt, so I don’t feel any regret when I start laughing. “Yes, that day I learned to NOT perform any aerial tricks, when you are too close to the ground.”

I look at her confused, having trouble comprehending what I just heard, since there are a few things wrong with this statement. For one, the size difference is extremely large, but this could be explained by simply growing up. Besides that, the mane is all wrong. While the pony in the picture has a nice pink, yet ordinarily mane, while mommy’s has four different colors and is all wavy.

“Yes, this is really me,” mommy says, once she sees the questioning look on my face. I think about it for some time and come to the conclusion that maybe she just got bored of that particular manestyle and tried something new in the time between then and now.


After she showed her little colt the image of the embarrassing crash, right in front of a large segment of the Castles staff, she is only able to show a few more pictures from her and Luna’s youth before he falls asleep.

I carefully pick him up with my magic, as not to wake him up, before I get up myself. I walk back in silence to my room, where I place him carefully in his crib. This afternoon may have been fun for both of us, but seeing all those images of my sister just reminds me of how much I miss her.

Since she can’t be with us currently, there is only one thing left to do. I take the photo I made earlier and put it in the small, but steadily growing album I started on our first day together.

“Passionate Hearts first major magic surge,” I write down under it, looking at the ruined wall for a few more moments before I close the book again and go to bed myself.

07 Nightly wanderings.

View Online

It’s the middle of the night, the moon is high in the sky and almost everypony is sleeping peacefully. If it goes like my mother wants, I would be in bed too but I am hungry. This isn’t the first time this happened and normally I would just grab something out of the snack bowl, but it’s empty.

With a problem like that there is only one possible solution, find the way into the kitchen and get something to eat. Carefully, as not to wake my mother who is sleeping nearby, I make my way out of my bedroom and into the living room.

The soft glow coming from the smoldering fireplace is enough for me to find what I am looking for. I make my way over to one of the many bookshelves lining the wall and pull out a special book, engaging the switch, causing a nearby portrait to swing forward and relieving a dimly lit corridor.

When the door opens to its fullest, I push the book back, well knowing that I now have 30 seconds until the door closes again before I make my way over and step into the corridor.

Small glowing crystals are lining the walls of the long straight corridor. I walk it down until I stumble upon a crossroad. After a moment of consideration, I turn left only to end up in a room full of cleaning supplies, and a stack of dirty laundry.

Disappointed, I turn around already thinking that I should have just gone in a straight line or maybe turned right. I am almost back at the crossroad when I hear hoofsteps approaching. Without much thought I retreat a bit, but much to my dismay it sounds like whoever this pony is, wants to go into the same room I was in moments earlier.

I walk back as stealthy as possible and find myself in a bit of a predicament. When I arrive back at the room I discover it has a complete lack of possible hiding spots. With no other options available, I hide in the dirty laundry, placing as much as possible above me, hoping that whoever comes isn't here for that.

Many moments pass in silence before the other pony finally arrives and I hear her sighing before she says. “So this is where Lemon Scent and her team dropped off the uniforms after their shift ended. I have to come back later for this.”

I hear her dumping a few items in a bucket before the clip-clopping sound of retreating hoofsteps reaches my ear. I wait for a bit longer, before making my way out of the pile of used uniforms, and walk back to the crossroad.

A short look around the corner reveals the maid walking down the corridor towards mom’s and my rooms, allowing me safely to go straight ahead. This corridor however comes soon to an end too, but unlike the one I had been just a minute ago, it isn’t a dead end.

Carefully I open the door, only to find myself in the now empty throne room with not even a Guard present. I can’t believe my luck and am quick to rush over towards the large double doors.

Fully aware that I would never be able to open them, I go a different way. I take one of the doors for the public gallery, never having been so glad before that mommy holds public court. A set of stairs and I find myself in the main corridor.

When I look down I realize two things. One, the next passages leading directly down into the kitchen is only fifteen meters away. Two, there is still a pair of Guards present. I know that they would detect me easily, if there wasn’t something off about them. Their eyes are closed!

I doubt that this is just a coincidence, but any doubt about this is pushed out of my mind when my tummy reminds me of just why I am not in my bed. Without any further thought, I walk past the Guards and make my way into the next passage.

From then on it doesn’t take me long to reach my destination, the kitchen and it takes me only a second to find what I am looking for. A regular door, at least that’s what everypony is supposed to think. In truth, behind this door lies probably one of the most important parts of the castle. The Royal Bakery!

I make my way into it and pause for a moment, never having been at Strawberry Tart’s place of work alone before. Knowing exactly what I want, I walk directly over towards the large fridge, also known as the Royal Cake storage.

I pull the door open and the sight that greets my eyes is just divine. There on many shelves are all kinds of different cakes, including my absolute favorite. Without a second thought, I grab a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting, heavily decorated with strawberries, and am about to turn around when I hear an all too familiar pop from directly behind me.

A few moments pass in silence before the pony behind me speaks up and I know instantly that I am screwed. “Don’t you think it’s a bit late for cake Passion?”

Still shocked from being found out, I turn around to face my mother. “You are one to talk.” I reply annoyed after I spotted some frosting on her muzzle that she forgot to clean away.

She snickers slightly at my reply before she picks the cake I was so focused on up in her magic. “Come Passion, let’s go somewhere more comfortable for our little snack.”

08 Meeting the second sun

View Online

At first, I had been excited that mommy thought I was old enough to do some assignments on my own, but as I learned that this entailed a long and boring day spent at the library, I calmed down visibly.

True, I know that it’s important to understand our own history, but what the buck could possibly be so important about the last Equestrian-Minotaur war 350 years ago that I have to study it? I just don’t see any use in information like this. Still, mommy gave me this task and I don’t plan to disappoint her.

It’s with a distinct lack of enthusiasm that I enter the Royal Library, only for my eyes to go wide in shock at the sheer size of it. A low whimper escapes my lips when I remember how a servant once told me that the public part is almost a quarter of the Castle's size, making my task seem impossible to me.

“Are you alright, your highness?”

“No, how shall I find anything in this labyrinth?” I reply annoyed, seeing my chances to get done with my assignment in time dwindling. Even if there was currently a pony at the reception, it would be useless to me, since I am not allowed to ask for help in any way.

Aimlessly, I wander around for a bit until I find something useful. A plan of the library that shows all of the five floors, giving a short indication of where I have to go. My bit of hope that I may still get done in time gets crushed when I discover that one entire floor is dedicated to equestrian military history and another one for foreign relations. Since both of these could apply to the topic I have to research, it reduces my search area down to “only” 40% of this place.

I think for a moment about where to go first, before I decide to head up to the department for equestrian military history on the third floor, hoping that there would be something that tells me something about the curse of the war. Normally I would have looked for the reasons and consequences of the war first, but with the upcoming visit of a Minotaur delegation, there is a high possibility that one of the descendants of important commanders is part of the delegation. It never hurts to know something of a creature's background.

Seeing that the stairs are a fair distance away and that there are small balconies on every floor giving great views on the entrance area, I decide to take a shortcut and fly straight up to one of the balconies.


“Did he just?” One of the Guards asks the other, unwilling to believe what he just saw, shortly after the young prince landed on the third floor.

“That’s it, I am going to learn to teleport!” The other Guard replies upset that this isn’t the first time the young prince left them behind.

“Good luck with that, but for now you are stuck running with me.” His earth pony companion responds before taking off into a mad gallop, quickly followed by the other Guard.


After around ten minutes of walking through multiple corridors, I finally found what I had been looking for, an entire section dedicated to the era in question. What looked promising in the first place, changed to desperation once I realize just how large this section is. Nonetheless I start my work, unwilling to waste any more time by whining about how impossible it seems.

Time passes quickly for me, but the progress in my studies is slow and barely visible. At one point I just plop down to the ground and rest my head on another book that looked promising at first, but turned out to be nothing more than another disappointment.

I question if I should just give up for now or just grab the next book from the pile I carefully selected earlier when I hear the sound of approaching hoofsteps. “Can I help you?” A kind voice asks me at the very same moment I decided to take a short nap.

I open my eyes and turn my head around in slow motion, hopefully making it clear that I am not all too happy about this disturbance before I inspect the young mare in front of me. Her coat is a brilliant amber and so are the stripes in the vivid crimson mane and tail of hers, and a horn rests directly above her beautiful eyes.

“You can’t, I am not allowed to ask for help from anypony.” I reply unhappily, once I can form coherent thoughts again, having completely been lost in the beauty of the mare in front of me.

“But you didn’t. I am offering you my help and that’s completely different.” She replies with a cheeky grin. Both of us are fully aware that it still means that I would get help, even if I am not supposed to, but seeing that it is often the small details that make the biggest difference, I decide to take her up on her offer

In short, I explain what I am searching for to the mare who introduced herself as Sunset Shimmer before we go to work. My enthusiasm returns a short while later when we discover that the books I picked actually aren’t that bad and one of them indeed contains the information I had been looking for.

While she is strict and extremely focused on our work, she does prove to be a great help and over the course of the next hour, I make good progress. “Hey Silver, can you please get us some hot chocolate?” I ask one of my two Guards, which are still a bit miffed about my “escape” earlier, but nonetheless he does as requested.

"What?" I ask Sunset as I see the look of utter disbelief on her face, not having any idea about the cause in the slightest.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” I ask in confusion, having no idea what she could mean.

“Being nice to your servants. Why ask them to do something if you could just order them around?” She clarifies to me, not sounding like the kind mare I spent the last hour with anymore, but more like the emotionless monster from my dreams.

I push that to the back of my mind, trying not to think about it but this is easier said than done. "First off, Corporal Silver Shield isn't a servant, he is a Royal Guard and so much more!" I reply upset that anypony could ever think like this about one of the few ponies that had been there for me since the very beginning.

“And second, why should I be rude to others if they don’t give me a good reason?” I ask annoyed, still not understanding her point, and wondering why she thinks like that. Too tired to deal with her anymore, I just get up from the cold ground and leave the corridor I had spent so many hours in and walk into the direction Silver went. Definitely having had enough from this mare for today. “Is she always like that, Star?”

“You mean Sunset Shimmer?” He replies surprised, having not expected me to talk for a while, as usual when something upsets me. “Sadly, yes. I am honestly surprised that she could keep that act up for that long.” He pauses to arrange his thoughts, once I confirmed to him, that I want to know more about that mare.

“I honestly don’t know why your mother decided to take her in as her student. True, she has very powerful magic, but besides that? I honestly don’t know.”

Star said this as we reach one of the small balconies overlooking the entrance hall, in which small reading areas are arranged, and I lay down on one of the comfortable cushions placed around a small coffee table.

“Thanks, you two.” I say to both of them once Silver finds us carrying a plate with three mugs of hot chocolate on his back. I place the scroll I had been reviewing on the pile of books and other things Star brought along, before grabbing one of the mugs with my hooves.

True, I could have used my magic to do the same, but I don’t have that much fine control over my magic yet, and I really don’t want to spill an entire mug of hot chocolate over me again. That wasn’t a pleasant experience and I am in no hurry to repeat it.

We talk for a bit more about her and how others think about Sunset Shimmer over our drinks before I give up the hard fight against my sleepiness. I close my eyes, deciding that now would be a good time to take my long overdue nap.


“What the buck just happened?” Were the exact thoughts of Sunset Shimmer after something hit her hard and she found herself lying on her back, with something clinging to her neck.

It took her a few moments to get her bearings back under control. Once she found out that Prince Passionate Heart himself was that something clinging to her neck, her confusion only grew.

“Thank you for your help yesterday Sunny, mommy was really proud of our work.” The bundle of unrestrained energy tells her after he let go of her and they both got up, sounding extremely happy.

She tries to come up with a good reply to this, only to notice that his demeanor changes completely and he suddenly finds the tiles of the marble floor far more interesting. “And I am sorry for yesterday, I really shouldn’t have left like that.”

“It’s okay, no harm done.” She replies out of reflex, having seen others doing this countless times when somepony apologized, thinking that this would be the best course of action, even if she doesn’t understand why.

After the colt is gone she is still wondering why everything happened the way it did. She wanted to use the colt as a stepping stone to rise in Princess Celestia's goodwill, accidentally showing her true nature. However, she isn't foolish enough to think that he didn't realize it by now and so she can only wonder what the young prince is up to.

09 Snippets of the past

View Online

“I am sorry father. Please, I didn’t know that they were muggles!” I scream at the tall man in front of me, wand raised at the ready and pointing it directly at me.

“That’s exactly what you said the last time, when you played with those worthless creatures.” He replies coldly, but a small smile spreads on his face and I know exactly what he is about to do before he casts the spell, having seen this look on his face more often than I dare to remember. “Crucio.”

I scream in pain twitching uncontrollably from the feeling that every single nerve in my body is set on fire. This lasts for many painful moments, until he cuts the spell off, obviously having had his fun for now.

"I-I won’t do it again, father!” I reply scared of him more than ever before.

“I know you won’t.” He responds calmly, “but let’s make sure of it.” He adds with a sadistic grin before he casts the spell anew with far more intensity than ever before. After only a few moments my vision goes black.

I wake up with a scream, cold sweat all over my body, and completely tangled in my bedsheets. I tremble in fear from the horrible dream I just had, believing that it isn’t just a simple nightmare like most ponies would think.

Deep down I know that this really happened to me, that this is indeed a memory, just like a few others, that occasionally shows up in my dreams. There are some things I don’t know, what muggles are would be one of them, but one thing I know for sure. I don’t want to be alone tonight.

It is a bit of a fight until I freed myself from the blanket I trapped myself in before I jump down to the ground and silently walk to the door leading to my mothers bedroom. Quietly I make my way into it and move over towards her bed.

After a moment of hesitation, I jump on her bed and squeeze myself in the small space between one of her wings and her barrel. I begin to feel better instantly, knowing that I am at the safest place in all of Equestria now, futilely hoping that I didn’t wake her by accident.

“Another of those dreams?” She asks worriedly without receiving an answer from me. Instead, I just shuffle even closer to her barrel, making it clear that I don’t want to talk about it right now.

She however isn’t having any of it and readjusts my position so that both of us can look into each other's eyes. “I know it won’t be easy, but you can trust me when I say that you will feel better once you told me what’s troubling you.”

I wait for a bit, not feeling comfortable at all with the idea to go through what just happened once again, but I still give in, having never been able to push her guiding hoof away. “Can you hold me, please?”

The words barely left my muzzle when I feel her forelegs wrapping around me, pushing me tightly into her chest, giving me the feeling of comfort and safety I need, should I decide to go through with this. “Always Passion.”

Hearing those comforting words is all I need, I lean back slightly and look up towards her before the dam breaks. “Those dreams, I think they aren’t just dreams, it feels more like memories.”

“There are few different ones, but in all of them it seems like I am some young ape-like creature if the size difference is anything to go by.” I pause for a short moment, catching my breath before I am willing to continue.

“One of them is pretty large, around two times my size there and having a blonde mane that goes past his shoulders.” A cold shudder runs down my spine, just from describing this horrible creature and I just want to get it over with now. “He always hurts me in those dreams.”

“Do you have any idea why he does it?” Mommy asks me in her serene voice, and while I know that she is there for me, it doesn’t really make things easier for me.

“To punish me for playing with others that don’t have magic. He always tells me that wizards shouldn’t interact with that magicless scum and how he waits for a new savior to rise.” I finally tell mommy what I was able to learn about his motives, knowing that neither of us agree with his opinion of the magicless.

“What does he mean by a savior?”

“I don’t know mommy, he never said anything specific, but I don’t believe that it would be anything good.” I reply in earnest, feeling more uncomfortable than ever.

“Passion, I would like to cast a spell on you that allows me to monitor your dreams, if you are comfortable with that.”

“Why?" I ask her, as I look at her in bewilderment, having no idea what good could possibly come from that.

“To learn as much as possible about that creature, so I have less trouble in making sure that you are safe from that being.”

“Okay,” I reply weakly, not 100% convince by her words that this would be the only thing she hopes to achieve.


I patiently wait until Passion is asleep again, never loosening the embrace I have him in, before I cast the spell that allows me to enter his mind. I feel slightly bad for not telling him all I plan to examine, but I doubt that I can find all the answers I need in his dreams alone.

I begin my search of his memories before I find myself suddenly pulled away. True I expected to be pulled into a dream at some point, but not so soon and in such an unpleasant way.

Too late I realize that something entirely different happened and I find myself in front of a very unhappy alicorn. “You aren’t supposed to be here, Celestia.”

“Mother, I can explain.” I reply hastily, not feeling very comfortable to find myself in front of the one pony that is able to scare me without effort.

“You mean like when you neglected your sister and your complete unwillingness to listen to her or offer help and comfort drove her insane? I highly doubt that!” She says through gritted teeth, reminding me of my biggest failures.

“Now you listen young miss and you do exactly as you are told or you are the next one to spend a millennium or two in the time-out corner. Did I make myself clear?” The alicorn in front of me replies upset, driving all resistance out of me.

“Yes, mother.” I reply weakly before she shares a lot of information with me, explaining to me what has to happen and what is at risk, should I interfere in any way. “What is with this Lucius Malfoy?” I ask finally, when she comes to an end, worried about my beloved son’s safety.

“He will be dealt with accordingly in the near future.” She replies in a voice that sends cold shivers down my spine, making me once more feel pity for those fools that got mother’s ire.

“Will you ever be able to come back home to us mom?” I ask hopefully, knowing that our time is almost up, not really expecting an answer from her

“I don’t know Celly, I really don’t know.” She replies saddened, taking me in a tight embrace all of a sudden, her anger gone just as fast as it rose earlier.

Several moments pass in silence before the older of the two alicorns lets go of the other. “I have to go now. The mess your uncle made a long time ago doesn’t clean itself up.”

Are the last words I hear her say before I find myself back in my son's mind, leaving it immediately as she wanted me to do. Once I am back in the living world I cast a spell on him that makes it impossible for any other creature to enter his mind against his will.

Now, with the first of my many newly assigned tasks completed, I wait for my son to wake up and go to his lessons so that I can go down into the Royal Treasury and improve the security measures for a very special artifact.


Somewhere far away in a different dimension, the business meeting between two creatures that couldn’t be more different finally comes to a conclusion, after they had been negotiating the entire night.

“...A ⅓ of what is currently in your vault, if we make sure that he has a very unfortunate incident?”

“That is correct.” The woman facing the goblin replies coldly.

“It is a pleasure to make business with you, mam.”

10 Cadence

View Online

Since the day I met Sunset for the first time, we have spent more and more time with each other. Mostly, she was helping me with my magic lessons whether she likes it or not.

Today I may have taken it a bit too far, but at least I can now cast the color changing spell with ease. And I learned that she doesn’t likes having a pink coat. The same goes for blue, white, green, black or whatever other color I tested on her.

Never was I more glad to be able to fly, which allowed me to hide on a cloud, until she had hopefully calmed down. While I spent most of the afternoon up there, unsure if it was a wise idea to go back down, I will have to go down there pretty soon, since dinner time is approaching fast and I don’t want to miss the surprise mom promised me.

While I was annoyed that she flew off this morning on such short notice, cancelling our plans for the day, I know that whatever she has in store for me, will make up for the missed opportunity to see Spitsy’s mom in action.

I’m a bit reluctant when I fly down from my cloud and walk back to my room, only to freeze in shock at the sight of the very colorful pony standing right in front of the door, looking pissed as Tartarus.

“Took you long enough to come down coward,” she greets me while lighting her horn in preparation for a spell. Without a second thought I turn around and run as fast as my hooves can carry me, zigzagging as much as I can.

Three spells are being fired at me before I can duck around a corner, where I stop for a short moment, just long enough to take a quick glance at where her last spell hit before I dart off again. It may only have been a quick glance at the results of her spell, but it was long enough for me to learn that Sunset wants to return the favor.

In quick succession we ran through the castle until we made it all the way back out into the garden, leaving marks of misfired spells everywhere. I am quick to realize that here is far too much open space, so I immediately begin to make my way to the hedge maze, hoping that I would be able to lose her in it.

However, this never happens when all of a sudden a certain alicorn lands in front of me. “There you are Passion, dinner is getting cold.” She greets me, and I can avoid a crash with her by merely an inch or two before I come to a stop. Still, I don’t stay there for long, fully aware that a certain unicorn is out for revenge.

After a short moment of consideration I turn around and make it seem like I want to charge Sunset head on, only to jump to the side directly after she sent another spell into my direction. It misses me barely as I turn once more and continue my escape attempt, heading for the hedge maze once more, trying to get some distance between the two of us again.

But this proves to be my undoing, with my back turned to her I don’t see her casting a paralyzing spell. It’s only a few feet before the maze that I come to a stop and Sunset teleports right in front of me and lights her horn with a very big grin on her face. When I see the results of her spell, I scream in horror at the sight of my now hot pink coat.
“Can you teach me that paralyzing spell,” I ask Sunset once I had sufficiently calmed down and am finally able to move again, ignoring the laughter coming from behind me.

“I would be more interested to know why a good part of the castle blazes in so many new colors,” an icy cold voice asks from behind, belonging to the same pony that had been laughing at my doom only moments before. I turn around and against my better judgement I fall to the ground laughing at the sight of not only one, but two pink alicorns.

Wait! Two pink alicorns? I ask myself confused, taking a good look at the ponies in front of me, once I am able to do so again. “Sorry mom, we had just been practicing the spell you taught me yesterday,” I replied honestly, withholding the information how it escalated like that.

“Do I guess correctly, that at some point you got bored and decided to use Sunset for target practice again?” She questions me with a slightly raised eyebrow, turning her gaze to Sunset, obviously not satisfied with maybe as my answer.

While Sunset recounts today's events for mom in surprising detail, I focus more on the second alicorn, which looks surprisingly similar to me. I almost would think of her as a twin, at least with my current coat color, wouldn’t it be for the fact that she looks twice, maybe even thrice as old as I am.

“Hi, I am Passion, who are you?” I introduced myself to her, curious where this new alicorn is coming from and why mom brought her here.

“Oh, hi, I am Cadence.” She replies slightly surprised, still watching the exchange between mom and Sunset, for which I can’t really blame her. “Is it always that interesting around here?”

“Only when mom isn’t home.” I reply with a smug grin, trying to hide how uncomfortable I am with the current situation. “Sorry for hitting you with one of the spells by the way,” I apologize, assuming that pink isn’t her regular coat color.

She looks confused for a moment before she reassures me that this isn’t the case and that her natural coat color is indeed light pink. And much to my annoyance, says that I look much better with a hot pot pink coat then with a white one.

Upon that is said, both of us are silent for several moments until I can’t keep my curiosity anymore. “How come you are an alicorn, I thought mom and I were the only ones around.”

"We used to be, but that changed recently." Mom answers from behind me before she scoops me up with her hooves and takes me in a brief hug. “You know, would today not be such a great day, there would be much more severe punishment for you, but I don’t think that won’t be necessary.”

“What punishment? I don't remember being punished at all," I reply confused, already regretting my words directly after I spoke them.

"Is that so? Then we better correct that oversight, don't we?" She pauses for a short moment, making it look like she has to think carefully about it, but from the look on her face, I can tell that she is merely enjoying the moment. "I refuse to turn your coat color back to normal until you have learned to behave yourself. This means you mustn't cause any trouble for three months."

"And what if I fail," I ask worriedly, already having a bad feeling about this.

"Should you fail, the three months start anew." I gulp in shock upon her words, already having feared something like that would be coming. While it doesn’t sound that hard, I have the feeling that I will have a pink coat for a much longer time then three months.

“Sunset, you have to get a better control of your temper if you ever want to succeed,” she addresses my tutor, sounding as pleased with her as she is with me. While Sunset and I may have not gotten off on the best hoof at our first encounter, I actually started to take a liking to the unicorn. True, her attitude towards other ponies is still a bit stuck-up, but it got far better since our first encounter two and a half years ago, and now, I feel really sorry that I got this good looking unicorn into trouble again.

Wait. Good looking unicorn? When did that happen? “Passion, are you there,” mom asks surprisingly, ripping me out of my thoughts and my face turns bright red when I realize just where my eyes had been resting on.

I am quick to turn around and focus on my mother, trying to force the blush back but the giggling coming from Cadence, who is staying right next to her, makes me believe that it isn’t working. “Sorry mom, what did I miss?”

“I asked you if you could give Cadence a tour of the castle tomorrow while I prepare everything for a public announcement.”

“Sure, but where will she stay?” I ask in return, taking a good look at the new alicorn.

“I had thought to renovate some of the unused rooms in the east wing for her, but until that is done, I honestly don’t know.”

“She can sleep in my room for now,” I reply without a second thought, knowing very well what is coming next and how I can take advantage of this situation..

“That’s very kind of you Passion, but this would leave you without a bed.”

“I could move back in with you, mom. That is if you are okay with it,” I reply, glad that this conversation is progressing the way I want it.

“I really miss being snuggled under your wing,” I add in afterthought. While I didn’t expect anypony to hear this, I am surprised to be picked up for yet another hug.

“Oh Passion, you don’t need an excuse like that to sleep with mommy, my door is always open for you,” she whispers into my ear before putting me down again. “Now, with that out of the way, why don’t we go back into the castle and my new daughter tells us over dinner, how she managed to become an alicorn?”

“NEW DAUGHTER?????" Cadence, Sunset, and I yell in unison, taken completely off guarded by this realization. True, there must be an explanation why mom brought Cadence with her back home, but I expected it more to be based on her being on her status as an alicorn, and not because she adopted her.

“How, why,” are the two most understandable questions out of everything that is voiced by Sunset, Cadence, and me.

“When Cadence became an alicorn, I planned to take her back home so I can better teach her about her new magic, and all the consequences of ascension. Surprisingly, the orphanage she used to live in didn't budge when I tried to pull rank on them and they said that I have to adopt her, if I want to take her with me to Canterlot.”

While her explanation is reasonable, it is the breaking point for me. Too shocked from everything that happened in the last hour I finally black out.

11 Just a normal day

View Online

Two wizards at the Leaky Cauldron were sitting at a table, one just laying down his copy of the Daily Prophet. He stares at the picture of a giant dragon before he looks at his companion. “Do you believe this to be true?”

Said companion lays down the spoon she just had been using to eat her soup before taking a look at the newspaper herself. “If so, I don’t think that anyone will be truly saddened by this unfortunate incident.”

“How can you say something like that about such an upstanding citizen. Just think how horrible his wife must feel. First she lost her son and now her husband.” The one to first speak up shouts back, obviously enraged by the words of Professor McGonagall.

Minerva however ignores his complaints and picks up the newspaper herself deciding to read the article that shocked the entirety of wizarding Britain once more. It reads:

Tragic incident at Gringotts

Around five thirty on Friday the seventeenth, August 1992 one of the dragons guarding the high security vaults at the goblin run bank broke free and made its way towards the rails of the minecarts used to travel between the entrance hall and the vaults.

Much to their dismay, it arrived there shortly after family Malfoy, escorted by a pair of goblin guards, arrived there. While Mister and Misses Malfoy managed to dodge the dragon's fire breath, their two guards were not so lucky.

In a bold move to protect his wife, Mister Malfoy chose to face the dragon, allowing her to escape.

An hour later a team of dragon handlers arrived and quickly subdued the beast. However it was far too late by then and the only thing they were able to find were pieces of Mister Malfoy’s cane.

The unharmed Miss Malfoy on the other hand was later found in a different part of the bank, wandering around delusional. When a team of wizards harvested the dragon for potion ingredients as wand material, they also cut open the beast’s stomach. With nothing indicating that Mister Malfoy was eaten by this foul creature, it is suspected that he died a fiery death as well.

Rita Skeeter

Professor McGonagal doesn’t believe it. There is just no way that a duellist as good as Lucius Malfoy would get caught so off guard. Neither is the proclamation that he tried to protect his wife, if the rumors about how he treated his family are to be believed.

No, the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy is still out there, probably planning his revenge against whoever arranged this.

She is more worried about the timing, is there a reason that it happened only a few days after Mister Potter faced Professor Quirrell in the catacombs below the school, or is it simply a coincidence.

Regardless what the real reason behind this is, It certainly gives her a lot to think about.


“So, what are we doing today, mom,” I ask curiously, surprised to find myself with mom, Cadence, and Sunny, all at the same time. That has never happened before.

“Sunset, You will start with teaching Cadence and Passion how to teleport. I expect to hear about the first results when we meet for lunch later. However, what we will do in the afternoon is something I’ll keep to myself for now.”

“And what are you doing until lunch,” I ask curiously, wondering what mom will do that she doesn’t want us around.

“I have to meet with Minister Bean Counter.” Already having met this pony before, I am glad that she doesn’t want us to attend as well. I can think of a lot of better things to do then being locked in the same room with him for hours, talking about finances.

“Even if I barely got to know you, I will always remember you fondly, sis,” I reply in mock sorrow when Cadence asks mom if she can join her, curious about who this pony is and what they will be talking about.

It comes to no surprise that mom agrees to this, sporting a devious grin for only a short moment. Unlike Cadence, Sunset and I notice it, fully aware of just how much of a troll mom can be, our eyes meet for a short moment. Knowing that Cadence just made a terrible mistake.

“I never thought you could be so mean to other ponies, Passion.” Sunset says with a smile once Cadence and mom have left.

“I learned from a true master,” I reply grinning wildly, already feeling sorry for Cadence. “You’ll think they will go easy on Cadence?”

“Nope,” she replies after a short pause before the two of us break out into laughter. If I'm right, mom will just sit back and watch how Bean Counter introduces her to the Equestrian tax code. At least that is how my first encounter with him went, when I made the exact same mistake. Hopefully, I won’t have my second encounter with him for a very long time. “Now, let’s go into the garden. It’s probably the best place for practice. Now what do you already know about teleporting?”

“Mom told me that it becomes harder, the further your destination is away, with the easiest being some place you can see.”

“Very good. Anything else?”

“She also mentioned that it isn’t just one spell matrix, but a multitude with the most important one being the one that ensures you aren't ending up stuck in a wall or halfway merged with another pony.” While teleporting can be very helpful, this is one of the reasons many ponies reconsider learning this spell, after taking a first look at the description in the books. The second reason being the simple lack of magical strength.

Once more, Sunset asks if I know anymore, but this time I have to deny. Still, she says that I already know more about it than most ponies. After that, she spends a whole hour informing me about further risks and dangers I wasn’t already aware of. In the second hour she teaches me spells to ensure a safe teleport before she quizzes me at the end of it. Repeating the entire lesson of the safety measures in the next hour, not satisfied with my answers.

After casting a spell that allows her to see the magical patterns I am forming in my mind on herself, she corrects me whenever I do something wrong. Only when I do this to perfection, she teaches me the actual teleportation matrix repeating the same process from earlier.

It’s almost noon when she is satisfied with the spell matrix I am forming and she allows me to use the spell to teleport two meters forward. While I am already used to being dragged along whenever mom teleports, this feels completely different. Without any bucket, potted plants, trashcans, or bushes nearby, the reminders of my breakfast soon lies in front of me again.

“That’s enough for today,” Sunset proclaims loudly once I recovered from my first teleport under my own power, but I don't agree with her.

“Please Sunset, let me try it once more.” I reply, confident in my abilities.

“No! That one time took more out of you then you realize.”

“You know that she is right,” mom’s voice comes from behind me, backing up Sunset’s argument. While I have proven Sunset wrong on more than one occasion, I don’t dare to act against mom. Not when it comes to magic, where she is much more experienced than the two of us combined.

“Still, I am proud of you. Both of you.” Mom adds with a smile, looking at me first before turning her attention on Sunset. “Now, how about we go to Hayburger for lunch and send the nobles into a frenzy.”

"What about Cadence, isn’t she joining us," I ask her once I realize that she isn't around.

"She will join us once she got something to help with her headache from Doctor Fine Suture."

"Why didn't you take care of that for her," Sunset deadpants, asking exactly what's going through my mind.

"She ran off before I got the chance to do anything for her, saying that she will be waiting for us at the gates in ten minutes."

"Shouldn't we be going then? I don't want her to wait longer than necessary after what she had to endure."

"You may be right," mom replies before the three of us walk off. Once we meet up with a very grumpy Cadence, we make our way into the city, talking about various topics, like the last Wonderbolts show, or the approaching Grand Galloping Gala for example.

“What can we do for you Princess Celestia,” the stallion behind the counter of the Hayburger asks, visibly surprised to see the entire Royal Family in front of him.

“We would like to have eight hayburgers, four extra large hayfries and four large sodas please.” It takes a moment for the realization to sink in that Princess Celestia of all ponies just ordered something from him before he rushes off to prepare everything, unwilling to let the princess wait longer than necessary.

The order is quickly taken care of and the family sits down near the window, making sure that they are seen by every passing pony. As expected, it doesn’t take long for one of the many nobles to enter the restaurant, quickly approaching them. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing at such a horrendous place?”

As if the noble pony wasn’t already shocked, mom’s reply certainly does the job. “Having my best lunch in over a century, why don’t you try some?”

“I am sorry to decline Princess but I already had lunch with my family.” The formerly red stallion responds, trying and failing to hide his disgust over the sheer thought to try such common food.

“Nonsense Lord Silver Forge, there is always room for a little snack.”

“Here, take mine;” I say before he even can protest, basically shoving him my second burger into his open muzzle. Even if I am the youngest of us four, I am still Prince and he sees himself unable to refuse this ‘gift’.

“It isn’t as bad as I expected it to be,” he judges the food before excusing himself, mumbling something about an important appointment he can’t miss. His reaction however gives me quite the idea for a massive prank.

“Hey mom, why don’t we turn my next birthday into a formal dinner with hayburgers and hayfries for the main course?” The massive grin on her face is all the confirmation I need. Only imagining the shocked faces of all those noble ponies when they find out what is served, brings pure joy to both of us.

“That’s a marvelous idea. I'll start with the preparations tomorrow. Now, how about we spend the rest of the day in this new open air bath?”

“You mean that one with the many slides,” I ask excitedly. After all, I had been planning to go there for weeks already but never had the chance to. Needless to say that the rest of the day had been tons of fun and we all were very exhausted after it.

12 The calm

View Online

Harry was in the middle of his detention with Professor Lockhart, that arrogant self obsessed fool, when he heard someone talking. Whoever this was, he spoke about killing, but when brought this to the professor's attention, he told Harry that he hadn’t heard anything.

After a quick look at his watch, Professor Lockhart sent Harry on his way back to the common room, shocked about how late it was. On his way back, he heard the same voice again and when it voiced its desire to kill again, the young boy's blood froze for a short moment.

When he got his bearings back under control, he followed the voice, trying to stop its owner from commiting the horrible deed. Or what would be even better, to find a professor and warn them about this monster hiding, so they could take care of it.

Sadly his attempts were for naught. When he turned yet another corner he was quick to realize that it was already too late. There, hanging by her tail from a torch holder was Filch's cat, motionless.

He was taking a closer look at her, trying to figure out what happened here, when hordes of students turned around the corner. At first he didn’t notice them, so shocked was he by the sight in front of him, but only when Mister Filch accused him of murdering the annoying cat, he snapped out of his stupor, denying everything.

It was then that one of the Slytherins, Pansy Parkinson to be more precise, noticed a message on the wall, reading it out loud for everyone to hear. The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware.”

“Five Galleons one of the Weasley blood traitors is next,” one of the Slytherin first years in the corridor shouted out, only to hear another one offering his own opinion who it could be. “No, it’s the Mudblood Granger.” From then on it became quite chaotic as every Slytherin tried to make his opinion known.

All Slytherins were shocked when roughly two months later Lucian Bole, a well known pureblood, was attacked and turned to stone.


I was in the garden, laying flat on my stomach with my head resting on my crossed forelegs, staring at the statue in front of me. I was trying to forget what happened last week when Cadence asked for somepony to test that new spell mom taught her upon, but for some reason I was unable to.

I had been eager to make up for the last prank I pulled on her and so I foolishly volunteered for it. True, she told me that it increases the affection you feel towards others, but never could I have expected it to be that extreme.

I was stuck thinking about Sunny and Spitsy until mom cancelled it, which was three days later. The really bad part of this is that I couldn’t resist showing them just how much I liked them during that time by raising my tail, or similar indecent things IN PUBLIC, where everypony could see them. It truly was the most embarrassing week of my life.

With my thoughts stuck on that topic, I didn't notice for a long time that I was not as alone as I thought I was, which only changed when somepony laid down next to me and began to nuzzle my neck.

After enjoying the sensation for a bit, I raise my head and look to my left, finding my sister laying there. "What do you want Cadence," I asked in annoyance, not having expected her to approach me for a few more days, after I let her know how I thought of this whole debacle.

It's with a heavy sigh that she stops, and instead, just like I, stares at the statue in front of us. "I am sorry about what happened, Passion. I never should have accepted your offer."

"That's not what I am upset about," I reply truthfully, turning my gaze away. "You told me what the spell would do and I still went through with it."

"Then what is it," she asks, sounding confused, and I can only wonder if this is true or if she is simply too embarrassed about her mistake to admit it.

"THAT IT TOOK YOU THREE BUCKING DAYS TO ASK MOM FOR HELP SO THE SPELL COULD BE CANCELLED!!!" I yell at her in the Royal Canterlot Voice, not caring who might overhear us as long as she gets the message.

She flinches visibly at my outburst, but doesn't do anything else for several minutes, in which both of us just lay there thinking. "You are right, I could have handled that much better."

"Yes you could have."

Once more, silence dominates the area for quite some time, until she speaks up again. "Do you think you can ever forgive me?"

"Cadence, I already did that, but you owe me one."

"I am not helping you to prank mom," she responds immediately, guessing correctly what I had in mind.

"Blueblood?"

"No."

"Lord Bubblewater?"

"No."

"General Night Mist?"

"No."

"Captain Shimmering Shield?"

"For the love of Celestia, I am not helping you to prank anypony."

"Zebras?"

"What? Zebras aren't ponies and you only said you aren't helping me to prank any pony," I reply at the disapproving glare she is giving me, causing her to groan in annoyance.

"How about we discuss the favor I own you later and instead head out into town and get us some ice cream?"

"With whipped cream," I ask hopefully, rarely having been allowed this luxury by mom.

“Yes, with whipped cream,” she agrees much to my surprise as both of us get up and make our way towards the castle gates.

“Now, what has mom been teaching you today,” I want to know, taking more and more interest in the lessons she gets. Even if it’s just so I know what to look out for.

“There is this one spell that sends a mare into heat for a week out of season. Of course, she taught me the counterspell as well. We certainly don’t want a repeat of what happened to you.”

“Hey, I thought we were done with that!” I responded annoyed, not really appealed by her reminding me of this. “Also, what is heat?”

“I would tell you, but I can only do so, if you already know where foals come from,” Cadence replies after a long moment of thought, not really comfortable with my question. However, much to her surprise, I gave her a highly detailed explanation on this subject, forcing her to answer my question in return.

She only finishes her explanation when we arrive at the ice cream parlor, leaving me with a lot to think about. And while Cadence orders a double strawberry, I go for a double lemon with whipped cream.

After ordering our frozen treats, the two of us fall into a peaceful silence when we sit down in one of the booths a good distance away from the entrance, to enjoy our frozen treat. Much to my horror, our quiet moment only lasts until Cadence spots one of her friends. “Fleur, over here.”

“Don't you think you made me suffer enough already,” I comment, not pleased by the enthusiasm she makes herself known to her fashion obsessed friend, who actually comes over smiling as soon as she spots us..

"What do you mean?" I refuse to answer to this stupid question and instead focus back on my ice-cream, blending out there conversation. Once I am done with it, I get up planning to take my leave when Cadence halts in her conversation for the first time, turning her focus on me. “Where do you think you are going?”

“Home. I don’t want to get bored to death when you two talk even more about your obsession.” With these words spoken I turn around and leave the ice-cream parlor, not even giving her the chance to say anything in reply.

Knowing that it wouldn’t take her long to rush after me, to ensure I stay safe and force me to go through with everything they are doing, I do the exact opposite of what I told her. I wander deeper into town to get as far away from her as possible. Thinking about why she always dumps me in favor of her friends, when we are out of the castle, I don’t watch where I am going, only starting to pay attention again when it becomes cold and I stop feeling the warmth of the sun on my back.

A quick look around makes me realize that I had wandered into a cave. How this is even possible is beyond me since I actually knew Canterlot and its surroundings very well, thanks to the flight training Spitsy’s mom put the three of us through.

When the exhaustion of the obviously long walk catches up with me, I lay down, deciding that a short rest would do me wonders before I start searching for the exit. Sadly it takes only a few moments until my thoughts drift back to what happened earlier and all the other times she “accidently” met one of her friends. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if all of these encounters had been set up in one way or the other, and if all the time she came to look after me, it was simply because mom ordered her to.

It doesn't take long until the first tears escape my eyes and I quickly began to cry, wondering if she cares about me at all. Only when I finally calmed down, I noticed just how tired I am and with every passing moment it gets harder to keep my eyelids open. The last thing before I fall asleep is the sound of something approaching.


"Hey guys, get up, the sun is finally down and we can continue our journey," I shouted in the direction of where my comrades wandered off yesternight, when we realized that we won't make it back home in one go. True, we could have continued our journey in the light of the sun, but so close to the forbidden city, none of us was willing to risk an encounter with the day dwellers.

When there is no immediate answer, I look down from my hidden vantage point overlooking the valley this cave is located in, immediately noticing something that shouldn’t be there. In the valley below him is a trail of hooves leading into another cave. A cave every pony avoids due to who lives in it.

Without a second thought I run back into our cave, and literally throw my comrades out of their “beds,” more worried about the pony that went into the other cave than their reaction. After a short explanation, all their anger towards me is replaced with worry and we quickly rush down to find the pony, praying to Luna that it isn’t too late.

As we follow the hoofprints, we find the exact one thing we desperately hoped not to. At the place this pony decided to rest starts a trail of footprints leading further down into the cave. A closer inspection of this place let us come to two conclusions. For one, the absence of traces indicating a fight, all of us came to the conclusion that whoever this pony is, it got captured in its sleep.

While this is worrisome, the other thing is simply shocking to us. with the size of the shape, indicating its resting place, we come to the conclusion that the victim is only a foal. “You two scout the area carefully, I go and inform the warchief. This time the dogs went too far.”

“Fly swift, Blade Dancer. I don’t want the same thing to happen to whoever this is, than what happened to us.”

“I will,” I reply swiftly, taking one last look at the place where Fireflies horn used to be before dashing off into the night air, flying as fast as I can to Hollow Shades.

13 Rescued

View Online

We all know that passions part in ch. 12 ended with him passing out in a cave, after hearing something approaching him. As in the final part of the chapter already hinted, he got captured by a pack of diamond dogs and taken to their home.

While I could have written about everything that happened there, I decided against it for two reasons. The major one is that it wouldn't be appropriate for a T-rated story, due to it being far too messy. The other reason is that I don't want this story to focus on that part too long. With that said, I hope you have fun with the chapter.


I flinch in pain as the whip comes down on me for the third time in this shift, not daring to scream, fully aware that this would make it only worse. This is motivation enough for me to lean into the reins again, trying to pull the mine cart to its destination. It is heavy and the reins are cutting badly into my coat, causing me almost as much pain as a strike from the whip.

Finally, after two more trips between the mines and the storage room, work is done for this shift. Me and five others get escorted back to the cell they are sharing. Once there, I immediately collapse on the pile of hay that serves as our bed.

After a minute or two of recovery, I pulled out the scroll that appeared earlier in front of me, wondering what it meant. When it showed out of nowhere, I knew instantly that it is somewhat important and that those creatures can't know about it, so I hid it under my wing. Now relatively alone, I unroll the scroll only for a small crystal to fall out of it.

While I am curious what is so special about this crystal, I turn my focus on the letter first. My eyes lighten up in joy as I recognize mom's hornwritting.

Passion,

I am sorry that we couldn't free you yet, but you should know that we aren't too far away anymore. We recently broke through their main defensive line,

At this point I stop for a moment as understanding dawns upon me why our guards began looking concerned a few days ago. With that in mind I continue reading wondering what else the letter says.

and were able to loot a detailed map of their kingdom. I enchanted this crystal with a tracking spell which shows us your exact position on the map. Please make sure to carry the crystal with you all the time.

The letter ends after this and I look with worry at the crystal, wondering where I could hide it. I certainly couldn't hold it under my wing the entire time and carrying it around openly would be foolish. The dogs would probably think I want to steal some of their gems and I definitely don't want to face the punishment for that.

Not after seeing what happened to the last pony that got accused of this. I won't get the image of a unicorn's horn getting sawn off out of my mind anytime soon. With all this in mind, I swallow the crystal, hoping that all of us can get out here soon.

Almost another week has passed since I received mom's first letter. The second came a day later and told me that they are digging their own tunnel directly to our cells. Taking us to safety from there on. After that, she and some warchief she told me about in an earlier message, plan to send troops to corner those dogs between two fronts.

A while ago I got another letter, telling us that they are about to break through the wall and we should get ready to leave. That was a little over two hours ago and I got even more nervous with every passing moment when they didn't show up.

Normally it wouldn't be a big deal to me if somepony is late, but if they don't hurry up the dogs will be back to take us to another work shift in the mines. I was about to give up hope that they would arrive in time to avoid that, when I heard commotion a bit down the corridor.

When I hear the sound of steel striking steel, I jump up from my sitting position and race to the front of our cell. I tried to find out what's going down there, but I couldn't see much through the small hole in the wall.

Maybe five, maximum ten minutes the sound ramps up. Two minutes later at least fifty ponies wearing purple armor, mostly thestral's, are racing past us. Surprised by this I step away from the hole and walk over to my newest friend to lay down next to him. "You were right when you said that the Night Guard would be part of the ponies coming to save us, Firefly."

He doesn't need to say anything, the smug grin on his face is more than enough. Both of us ignore the commotion outside of our cell and wait in silence until the door is finally unlocked and a pair of Night Guard enter our dark room. They take a quick look around and after a mumbled conversation, one of them leaves again.

I just sigh in relief when I realize that it is finally over and I lay my head down on the ground as the exhaustion of the last two months finally catches up with me. While I would love nothing more than to fall asleep right away, I need to get out of here first.

Ignoring everything that screams at me to stay down and just let sleep overcome me, I force myself up again, driven by the desire to get out of here. "Are you coming, Fly," I ask my friend, fully aware that he isn't in any better shape than I.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," comes the expected reply.

I let one of the guards who opened the cell guide us out of here, through the tunnel they dug and into a massive military camp. "Where do I find mom?"

"Princess Celestia’s command tent is in the middle of the camp, you can't miss it, Your Highness." I thank the guard for his help so far and dismiss him, confident that we can find her place without his help.

Firefly and I walk in silence through the camp, both of us too tired to talk much, with only one goal in mind. As we approach my mother’s tent, I feel the eyes of many ponies looking at me, especially my back. Yes, the sight of it isn't pretty, but it could have been much worse.

That some of them start talking when they see me, doesn't escape my notice either, but I couldn't care less. No,the only thing that matters right now is for me to find a soft bed and I know exactly where to find one.

Ignoring everything around us, including the guards that are trying to approach us, we make our way to our destination. Around five minutes later we find ourselves in front of a tent that looks very promising. I walk to the guards at its entrance, intending to go past them and check for myself if this is indeed our destination.

"I am sorry young one but Princess Celestia is in a meeting with the commanders and doesn't wish to be disturbed." One of the two guards informs me while blocking my path.

While this at least confirms that this is indeed mom's tent, it also makes me wonder why this guard is blocking my way. Too tired to deal with this and to think about an appropriate course of action, I simply tell him to move.

When five seconds pass without him budging even an inch, I use my magic for the first time in over two months for more than making a simple light. I grab him with my magic and toss him to the side, not in the slightest caring where he lands.

A quick look at the second guard makes me smile, as he is already holding the flap of the tent open and allows me to enter, probably having gotten the message. I step into it and have a quick look around.

While I see that there are a few ponies standing around a table, I ignore them. My gaze fully focused on the alicorn sized bed at the far left end of the tent. Mobilizing the last bit of my strength, I run over to the bed and jump on it, making myself comfortable in the middle of it.

I look over to the entrance from where Firefly is slowly approaching. I watch him until he climbs on the bed and lays down behind me, and only when I feel his muzzle resting on my neck, I close my eyes, willing to embrace. "Fly, can you wake me in a week?"

"I try, Pas. Not sure if I am already up then again," he replies jokingly and we share a quick laugh before I drift off into Aunty Luna's realm.


I look up from the map and turn my gaze to the tent's entrance as I hear a commotion outside of it. As quick as it started, it ends with the sound of somepony crashing into something wooden, probably a barrel.

Commander Everfree's report about the diamond dogs counterattack is long forgotten when two ponies enter the tent. One of those ponies, even if he looks terrible, she recognizes him immediately.

"Gentlecolts, I think it is better if we continue our meeting later," I address the commanders of the army, including the two ponies of the Night Guard, knowing that I won't be able to focus on the discussion for a while. After all, something far more important just came up.

"Of course, Princess. If the dogs launch another attack, we will instead ask Warchief Bloody Hoofprints for orders." I give my approval to this before I turn my attention back to the two ponies that just entered the tent, surprised that they are already on my bed.

While I am a bit miffed that these two ignore me, I think that I can understand why they went directly to bed. Once everypony left, I walked over there and lay down on the bed as well, sandwiching Passion between his friend and myself. After the two of us watched each other for a minute, I take it upon myself to break the silence. "You know, that is usually my spot."

"We could switch positions if you truly want Princess, but I don't think this is what's really bothering you, isn't it?"

"You are correct my little pony," I reply honestly before switching to the matter at hoof. "What happened to you down there, mister?"

"Firefly, Princess." He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath before he tells me their tale, taking several breaks. It is clearly troubling to him, and I wouldn't have blamed him if he had stopped at some point, but he continues nonetheless.

Thinking about what all these poor ponies had to go through sickens me to the core and I swear to myself that I will bring an end to this inequine practices. I am shocked to learn that there are at least five more of these communities all being part of their own kingdom. It is by sheer luck that we currently have their capital under siege.

On the other hoof, if our enemy had managed to get word out, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of those cities sends reinforcement. Let's hope this didn't happen. The fight is already hard enough without them. But all of that can wait. For now I am just happy to have my son back.


"What were you three thinking playing with such a dangerous potion," Madam Pomfrey asks the three children who came to her in need of help. What she at first thought to be the usual bruises from a rough bludger, or wounds from the recently reintroduced dueling club turned out to be something far more challenging.

"We weren't," the supposedly brightest of these three students admits, fully aware she is to blame for what happened. If she hadn't suggested to use this potion to spy upon the Slytherin's, her friend wouldn't be in his current predicament.

"Damn right you are. Now go and get Professor Snape. If we want to have a chance to reverse these changes then I will need his help."

Once Hermione returned with Professor Snape, she went back to Myrtle's toilet to provide him with a sample of the potion. Much to his surprise, it was perfectly brewed. While he was surprised that the girl was able to brew a potion like that perfectly, it doesn't make things easier for him.

With side effects of an incorrectly brewed potion, Mr. Weasly's predicament would be easily explained. However, somehow the boy managed to alter the potion after putting a girl's hair into his share of it. While the former isn’t an issue, the second one is. Sadly, there is nothing left of Mr. Weasleys share of the potion, making it impossible for him to find out how the potion had been altered.

With his conclusion made, he turns his focus on the blonde girl laying in bed. It is for the first time in his life that he actually feels pity towards a Gryfindor. "I am afraid to say this Mrs. Weasly, but there is nothing I can do."

“As we speak, the house-elves are already moving your belongings to the girls dorms." The following shriek shatters every window in the castle and sends a cold shiver down on most creatures in the forbidden forest.

14 Consequences

View Online

"So, this is the place I asked you to find Fly?" I asked the one pony accompanying me, aside from my new guards of course, as we stop in front of an unremarkable store. And while this is probably the exact thing I asked him to find for me, I still can't believe that I am doing this by myself.

Until yesterday, when I finally decided to leave my room for the first time again, I always refused to wear any kind of clothes. Now, I am even wearing a dress, something I never would do, but sadly, my options are very limited and I need to change that.

Getting this in the first place was difficult, but luckily I know most of the hidden passages in the castle, and somehow, I got my hooves on a copy of Cadence’s schedule. While I knew where she kept her old clothes, I was too worried about getting caught, so I simply just grabbed the first five outfits before I rushed back to my room.

Only then I took a look at my loot, eyes going wide in horror at the sight in front of me. Somehow, I ended up grabbing some of the worst outfits imaginable. Of course this was only the beginning of the day and my luck decided to stay in bed.

When I picked up the worst of the outfits in my magic to have a closer look at it, wondering how somepony could wear those things willingly, mom just had to enter the room. "I think that dress would look amazing on you." She told me after a few moments standing there motionless, as surprised by the sight in front of her, as I was from being discovered like that.

Too shocked by being caught like that, I didn't even resist when she helped me into the dress and sent me on my way. Only when I entered the grounds of mom's school, I woke up from my apathy and realized what happened.

For a brief moment I considered running back home, hiding from all the unusual attention, but I didn't. I just went on with my day as usual. That is until lunch, when I ran into Cadence. She was furious, but not because I borrowed some of her old clothes, but because I didn't ask her for help in finding the right outfit.

The day went on like that and in one of the rare unsupervised moments I tasked Firefly to find a good, rising dressmaker that isn't widely known, who has their shop outside of the Canterlot main shopping district.

That is exactly why I am now standing in front of the entrance to this shop. A heavy sigh escapes me before I turn my focus on the two Guards who are with me and Firefly, saying something to them that I never thought possible. "You guys stay here and make sure that nopony, not even my mother, enters this shop."

"Yes, your highness," they reply in unison, not pleased that I want to leave them behind, even if this is the only entrance to the building.

With that being made clear, I enter the shop, quickly followed by Firefly, who immediately closes the door behind us. I look around in wonder, having never been in one of these before, taking in all the sights. Which isn't exactly much. There are a few ponyquines with different dresses on them, two large mirrors and two sets of doors leading out of the room.

One of said doors opens and in walks a light grayish olive unicorn, her moderate persian blue eyes go wide in shock as she spots me and immediately falls down into a deep bow. "Please get up." I say with a hint of annoyance, never having been fond of others bowing to me. "I am in need of your service, and I doubt you are able to do your work from down there, miss?" I say, only stopping when I realize that she hasn't introduced herself yet.

"Upper Crust, your highness," she answers as she gets up again, smiling wildly. She stands there silently for a few more moments, obviously being nervous of being so close to royalty before she asks the most important question. "How can I help you?"

I hesitate for a moment before I answer, having last second doubts if this is really the right decision, but sadly there are no other reasonable options. "Let's start with five simple saddles, and two, maybe three dresses of the same kind. Those would be for everyday wear and it is of utmost importance that they completely cover my back from here," I explain, holding a hoof at a special place on my back before I continue, "till directly above my tail."

"Once those are done, I also need two elegant but simple dresses for formal events, which includes the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala." I finish, having said everything I had planned out earlier before one last, but extremely important point comes to mind. "And stay away from the color pink for any of those."

While she looks at me in confusion, obviously having found out about yesterday's events, she doesn't question it further. Instead she does something that is, at least to me, far worse. "My Prince, can you please undress so I can take your measurements?"

"You can't just, you know, take them like this," I ask sheepishly, feeling far from comfortable having anypony, except mom and a few selected servants, seeing my uncovered back.

"I am afraid this isn't possible, at least not if you want the outfits to fit you perfectly." She answers me, confusion evident on her face upon my unusual request.

I glance for a short moment at Fly, who understands immediately and begins to close the curtains of every window in the room. With that taken care of, I focus completely on the mare in front of me. "What you will see now, you will never tell any creature!" I say, voice as firm as possible, only beginning to disrobe once I am certain that she got the message.

As expected, she gasps in horror at the sight of my back, which has barely any fur left on it, due to the many scars. Luckily she refuses to ask any questions and just does the task at hoof. I honestly don't think I could have explained why the scars aren't simply removed, without breaking down into tears.

For some reason, even the best healers mom invited from Zebrica failed at the task to remove the scars. And for the icing on the cake, for some odd reason, no magic works on the injured part of my back. Every illusion cast on it fails within less than ten minutes, leaving me only one option to cover the scars there.

I try to push these thoughts to the back of my mind, instead focusing on Miss Upper Crust, following her every move. When this proves to be not enough of a distraction, I ask her if she already has some ideas. Luckily, she has some and once she is about done with her work, I ask her the most important question. "How soon can you have the first things ready?"

"I could have one of the casual dresses ready by tomorrow evening, and at least one, if not two saddles a day later." She replies after some time of thought. Earning a smile from me once I realized that this is much faster than I expected.

"Good, I’ll make sure somepony escorts you to the castle at five pm the day after tomorrow." With that said, I dress myself again before Firefly and I leave her boutique, allowing the mare to get started on my order.


"Obliviate," Professor Lockhart cried, choosing Harry as the first target of his spell. However, it didn't go as he intended. Instead of sending a single beam of magic at the young boy, the power of the spell proved to be too much for the heavily damaged wand.

While the spell was still cast, most of it fired back at Lockhart himself, with only a small part of it hitting Harry. Both of them were sent flying back and while Harry flew several meters into the corridor, landing on the ground, Professor Lockhart was sent crashing into the wall.

However, this isn't everything that happened. No, the pressure of the explosion was too much for the ceiling and parts of it collapsed, effectively separating Harry from the two others. "Harry, are you alright," Ronja asked, barely audible to Harry.

"I am okay," he shouts back, ensuring that his friend hears him before adding. "I just have this massive headache."

"Go, save Ginny, I will try to move some of the rocks," Ronja shouts back, on one hand relieved that Harry seemed to be (mostly) fine, but worried about his little sister’s wellbeing on the other. Nothing else is said and Ronja begins to clear a path, while Harry goes to face the basilisk.

Both of them are unaware that Lockhart's spell did more than just give Harry a simple headache. No, the headache is simply a sign of something being wrong with his head. What exactly, they will find out when it is far too late.

15 Still need a name for that...

View Online

New management at Hogwarts

As a consequence of recent events, Albus Dumbledore steps down as headmaster. If this is a forced move by the Board of Governors, or a decision of his own, is nothing this reporter knows.

However, fact is that in the last two years, there were many tragedies at the prestigious school, including but not limited to:

The disappearance (presumed death) of a student. (see more on page 7)
The grave injury of a student due to unknown circumstances. (see more on page 8)
The grave injury of a student due to a potion accident. (see more on page 9)
The petrification of multiple students due to an unknown attacker. (see more on page 13)
The grave injury of a professor and a yet to be named student due to unknown circumstances. (see more on page 15)

Professor Minerva McGonagall, former deputy headmistress and Head of House Gryffindor, will take over the empty position as headmaster.

It is presumed that Professor Severus Snape will take up the vacant position of deputy headmaster.

Having read enough from the old hag, I lay down my copy of the Daily Prophet, unwilling to read all those wild speculations from Miss Kimmkorn. It is just absolutely disappointing to see how much the Daily Prophet has fallen from the day this woman started writing for it.

Anyhow, I push those thoughts back into the darkest parts of my mind, and instead focus on my patients. Well patient would be more accurate since Mister Lockhart was send to St. Mungus yesterday, his injuries far above anything I could treat.

However, the case with Mister Potter is something completely different. Compared to Mister Lockhardt, he got hit with only a fraction of the spell’s power. This acted beneficial and made us able to counter the spell before it could cause any serious harm. If our calculations are correct, Mister Potter should have only lost two or three days of his memories, a week at most.

Checking the clock, I realize that the sleeping potion should wear off relatively soon, so I get up from my chair and leave for Professor Dumbledore's new office. After all, he wanted to be there when Mister Potter wakes up and I see nothing wrong with that. Maybe I should get Minerva too?


As I slowly begin to wake up, I notice a distant lack of noise. No Aunt Petunia demanding that I make breakfast. No Uncle Vernon complaining about some stuff on the TV. No Dudley taunting me. Only silence.

Did something happen to them? If yes, what does this mean for me? While there is a sliver of hope that I ended up somewhere else, that is very unlikely. Not with how bad the Dursleys always made me look to others.

It is a bit reluctantly that I open my eyes, fearful of what I will see. Unsurprisingly I am not in my cupboard but in a spacious room, furnished like one of the hospital rooms I saw in a TV show. True, I wasn't supposed to watch TV myself, but I was able to take one or two glances when the Dursleys had been distracted.

Still, it doesn't add up. There are not only too many beds, but the walls are completely different as well. Instead of those boring white walls from the TV show, the walls look more like they belong in a medieval fortress with their grey stones.

Once it settled in that the Dursleys aren't anywhere nearby, I allowed myself to relax slightly before I let go of my breath, only now realizing that I had been holding it.

A more thorough look around, much to my relief, tells me that I am alone right now. This allows me to think about how I could have ended up here, but unimportant how hard I try, my mind comes up empty.

Just as I am about to give up and close my eyes so I can get some more sleep, the door to the room opens and three people enter the room. All of them heading in my direction.

One of them I assume to be some kind of nurse, while I have no idea about the others. However, the fact that they are all headed in my direction fills me with concern. I have no idea what they could possibly want from me, but I highly doubt that they have good news for me.

"Hello Harry, it is good to see you awake again," the only male of them addresses me and I can only wonder how he knows my name. I certainly haven't met this man with his ridiculous long beard before. "How are you feeling?

"A bit tired," I reply truthfully, not seeing anything wrong with that. However, there is one thing bugging me. One thing I want to find out immediately. "Who are you guys?"

The eyes of all those three people go wide, making it obvious to me that they definitely didn't expect this question. However, the favor gets returned only moments after I asked them this. "Harry, can you please tell us the last thing you remember?"

While I am reluctant to do so, not understanding how this could be relevant in the current situation, I am curious how they will react. Also, while I ended up in trouble from this, it certainly is quite the funny story. "We were in the zoo when the glass of a terrarium vanished, Dudley fell into it, and the Boa trapped in it got set free."

"I am sorry to say this Harry, but that happened over two years ago," the old man with the silly beard replies, shocking me beyond what I thought possible, and I can only wonder just how much of an impact this will have on my life.


"My Prince, it is a pleasure to see that you finally started to dress like a proper colt." The next noblepony in line says, repeating those words for the thousandth time this evening. When the mare in question turns her focus on mom, I am able to take a glance at the seemingly endless line of ponies. Why again did I believe that attending the Grand Galloping Gala with mom was a good idea?

It takes only one or two more minutes for the mare to finish before she steps aside and allows the next pony to approach us. Or two ponies in this case. Two ponies I actually like, even if one of them can be quite harsh. At least when it comes to flying and she finds out I had been slagging in my training again. "Ah, Captain Stormy Flare, I am quite surprised to see you here. Normally you avoid gatherings like this."

"True, but my little Wonderbolt here really wanted to see the Young Prince," Stormy replies, looking down at her daughter who, unusual for her, is wearing a navy blue dress, which gives a fine contrast against her golden coat and the fiery mane. "Surprisingly," it just happens to be an exact copy of my own dress.

Upon hearing these words, the cheeks of the finely dressed filly turn a slight pink, making her look rather cute. Fully aware that I would break quite a lot of social norms, since it is supposed to be the other way around, I can't restrain myself from asking. "Would you grant me the honor of having the next dance?"

Unsurprisingly, this sends the next few ponies waiting for an audience with mom and me into quite the frenzy. Spitsy's cheeks however turn even a darker red, but this doesn't stop her from accepting my offer. "It would be a pleasure, My Prince," she replies before we make a hasty retreat, ignoring the protest of the other ponies nearby.

Once we are on the other side of the room, far away from the noisiest of ponies, we finally drop the act. "Thanks for saving me back there Spitsy. I don't know how much longer I could have managed to play the nice pony act."

"No problem, Passion. I am just happy to finally see you again."

"It was too long, wasn't it?" I replied smiling, feeling exactly the same. Once more I am unable to restrain myself, giving her a soft nuzzle, making it clear just how much I missed her. "Spitsy, do you know just how great you look?"

"Not as great as you do, Pas. That dress really suits you." And now it's my turn to blush, having not expected to hear that from her. After all, it's not exactly one of the special things I ordered, just one of the first.

"Shall we," I ask my best friend when a new song starts, who, while not exactly eager, still heads my request. To say that I am horrible at it would be an understatement and so we stop after two songs.

Now, after having made the excuse from earlier believable, I am quick to leave the ballroom, swiftly followed by Spitfire. We go out into the garden, passing many ponies as we head to the hedge maze. We walk into it and through a hidden passage before sitting down on a bench from where we can look over the entire city of Canterlot. "It's beautiful here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, how did you know of this place," Spitsy asks me in reply, "and how did I never notice it when we flew over the maze?"

"When mom showed me this place last week, she said that it is hidden by mighty illusions, when I asked her the exact same question."

The two of us sit there for quite some time, in which I did not only shuffle closer to her, but also, at some point, rested my head on her shoulder, simply enjoying each other's company. "Spitsy, why did you decide to wear a dress as well? I thought this would be far too coltish for you."

"No, it isn’t. Besides, when I learned that you will make your first public appearance since you know what happened, I thought it would make you feel better if you aren't the only pony wearing something unusual."

"You know that this is my new normal, right," I ask in reply, thankful for what she did just to make me feel better.

I know that this must also be a big blow to her reputation, ensuring that a lot of ponies assume that she is getting soft. However, I know that this isn't true, and that everypony that underestimates her will be in for a bad wake up call. No matter what others say, she is the toughest filly in all of Equestria after all.

"Yes, but unlike most ponies, I know why you are doing this," my favorite filly replies in understanding, not even once thinking that this will change anything between us. Once more, there is silence between us for several moments before she asks me something she really should know the answer to. "So, you will still join the race in Manehatten next week?"

"No," I reply much to her shock, giving her some moments to let this information sink in before continuing with a smug grin on my face. "I will win it of course."

"Keep on dreaming. We both know that you stand no chance against me."

"You know, imagination is still a form of education." (Honestly, that joke is far more funny in German, but I simply couldn't resist here.) I reply sarcastically before we both burst out laughing, having missed those little squabbles far too much.


It is with a smile that Princess Celestia watched the two foals having fun, relieved that despite everything that happened, the friendship between those two still stays strong.

Unwilling to ruin the moment, she restrains herself from approaching them, and decides to simply watch them have fun. After all, she still can bring them to bed when they have tired themselves out.

16 Bird of fire x2

View Online

"What do you mean that this one is out of reach and now you want us to borrow Dumbledore's Phoenix to do the job," the house-elf asked the owls that just came back from what should be a routine job.

Why the owls couldn't reach that child is beyond him, but he knows better than to question them. Too well-known are the tales of what happened to the last house-elf who made this mistake.

Hoping that the former headmaster is in a better mood than the last few days, he makes his way to the old man's office.


"Philo, I am not in the mood for your usual games, go bother somepony else," the alicorn foal shouts out, annoyed by the fact that the ocursed bird interrupted yet another of his games.

When the bird doesn't stop following the annoyed colt, it almost gets hit by a bolt of magic shot in its direction. He manages to dodge three more spells, all of them being launched faster than the one before. However, try as he might, the fourth tickle curse hits him right into the chest.

Having never experienced something like this before, said bird loses control of his flight, dropping to the ground. Just as he is about to hit the ground, he feels a pair of hooves catching him, being settled on the ground only moments later.

"That's what you get for not heeding my warning and continuing being a pain in my flank." The bird only looks confused at the creature, never having seen it's kind before, desperately hoping that it shows mercy and ends the curse soon.

Still, as much as this creature is making him upset, he could make out something important. Something that may bring his search to an end. That creature knows another of his kind, even a female if he understood it right.

Finally, after five more minutes, the curse comes to an end and he is finally able to control his body again. He is quick to get up again and stand in front of the one that cursed him, stretching out his leg so that it can remove the letter.

"Is that for me," Passion asks after spotting the letter, to which the phoenix nods in reply. "Follow me, Mom definitely wants to have a look at it before I do so much as touch it."

Not having expected this, Phawks simply jumps on the creature's back, unwilling to fly along. Besides that is the easiest way to get back at it for cursing him earlier. "I am sure you want to know why I want to give this letter to my mother first," it asks him before continuing. "Let's just say somepony didn't take it well when I refused to accept the marriage contract that would have basically made me the slave of her three daughters."

It takes them only five minutes to reach his mother's study, where Princess Celestia is currently buried in a stack of forms she has to approve. Spitfire, who caught up with them, is the one to draw her attention away from her work by using one of her feathers to tickle her at the ear. Which is a very sensitive spot of everypony. "Gaaaah," the princess screams in shock, accidently toppling over the stack before turning around, spotting her attacker immediately.

Not getting rid of the evidence soon enough, Spitfire is quickly tackled to the ground. Holding the filly in place, she raises her wings threateningly before going to work.

Both Phawks and his ride watch the unfolding events in amusement, trying and failing not to laugh at what's happening right in front of them. Once Princess Celestia has stopped her attack, she allows the filly to get up before addressing the two foals. "Now, what brings you two troublemakers to me?"

This causes Phawks to fly forwards, stretching out the leg with the letter attached to it, desperate to get this over with. "Phillomena is in my room, just down the hallway. I am certain she would like it, if you put in a visit," she explains while removing the letter, remembering that her phoenix didn't look all too happy recently.

"Hm, it doesn't look like the letter is enchanted in any way," the solar alicorn explains after a thorough examination of it before hoofing it over to her son.


Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Prince Passionate Heart,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, please find an enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September, we await your owl no later than 31 July.

Yours Sincerely,

Severus Snape

Deputy Headmaster


"Mom, I think you want to read this," he replies before hoofing it back to her, surprised by the sheer concept of it. Why in Tartarus should he go to a school he has never heard of before? He already goes to the best school in the world, and to top it all, with his mother, Sunset, and Stormy, he already has the best private tutors possible.

"You think I could go there too," Spitfire, who read the letter over Passion's shoulder asks curiously, wanting to stay close to her best friend. True, there are a few other ponies, like Soarin, or Fleetfoot for example, but her feelings for them are just not the same.

"Would definitely be cool," is said in reply, both foals agreeing on this point. While they are friends since either of them can remember, the opportunities to have fun together are sparse, with Spitfire being in Cloudsdale far too often. Perhaps this could change that.

While reading this, Princess Celestia realizes that the school's seal resembles something she saw in a vision. With only one way to ensure that her guess is correct, she leads the foals into her statue garden, coming to a halt in front of the statue that was the first in her collection. In fact, she only started to collect statues to hide this specific one. "Drop the act Discord, I know you could have freed yourself two or three decades ago."

They wait for a few minutes, but when nothing happens, Princess Celestia threatens the statue with something she never would pull off. If it's because of her morals, or some other reason is something you don't want to find out. "Maybe it's about time I bring your statue in the null stone room of the Royal Treasury, so you may never get the chance to free yourself."

Slowly, small cracks become visible, growing larger with every passing moment. Soon, small parts of stone are falling to the ground, increasing in size and number rapidly until all the stone is on the ground and a creature like no other stands before them. "You would never have done that to me, right? You aren't that cruel." Discord says after freeing himself, his attention fully focused on the pony he used to be friends with so many moons ago.

"No, but I knew that you wouldn't want to find out the hard way if I am bluffing or not." Celestia replies smiling, glad that he seems to be interested in whatever they came to do down here.

Both stay silent for a moment, letting each other's words sink in before Discord speaks up. "Now Celly, what is it you need from me? It must be something very important. If not, you would have never approached me."

Wordlessly Celestia hoofs the Hogwarts letter over to Discord, who himself has a quick look at it before a burning candle appears over his head. A lone drop of wax lands on his head as he snaps his claws.

With a loud pop, a woman similar in height to Princess Celestia, wearing dark green robs and a pointed head appears. While her left hand is empty, she holds a wooden stick in her right. "Headmistress McGonagall, it's so nice of you to join us," Discord addresses the perplexed creature that just appeared out of nowhere.

"Where am I,'' it asks, her attention focused on Discord and Princess Celestia since the two foals are standing only a short distance behind the professor.

"The statue garden of Canterlot Castle, Capital of Equestria in dimension 274ε," Discord replies instantly, sounding extremely bored doing so.

"Are you trying to convince me that I just traveled between dimensions," the headmistress asks skeptically." When Discord confirms this with a simple nod, she can't stop herself from bursting out. "But that goes against every law of magic."

"Oh, it seems I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Discord, Lord of Chaos. Getting around such laws is as easy for me as deducting house points from a misbehaving student for you. Does anypony want some chocolate milk?"

"I do," the two foals, unseen by the human headmaster reply in unison before racing past her, eager to enjoy such a treat

Not wasting any time, Discord is quick to summon two large glasses and a pink cloud. When he squeezes the cloud, brown liquid comes out of it, quickly filling the glasses to the brim. Once he gave those to the foals, he turns his focus back to the woman. "Are you sure that you don't want any?"

"I don't think chocolate milk will cut it anymore," she replies, desperately wishing for some Firewhisky.

"One bottle of griffin vodka coming right up," he replies before snapping his claws again and giving her a bottle of said drink. "Be careful, it has quite the kick."

"I will keep that in mind," she replies before using her wand to conjure up a shot glass, doubting that drinking directly from the bottle would be a wise choice. She fills and empties the glass in quick succession before addressing the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos himself. "Now, do you mind telling me why you brought me here? I was in the middle of a job interview."

"Don't worry, that guy wouldn't have lasted a week," Discord reassures her before giving her an envelope. "This one however should at least last for the year."

"I am sorry for the inconvenience Professor McGonagall, but I have a few questions for you," the solar alicorn apologizes, not having expected Discord to act that quickly. In retrospect, she definitely should have seen that one coming. "But first we should go somewhere more private."

"You mean like this," Discord offers as he snaps his claw once more, making the five of them appear in the middle of Princess Celestia's private quarters.

"Maybe a bit too private," Passion offers after a short glance towards the fireplace.

Following his gaze, everypony gasped in surprise when they realized just what he meant. There, in the middle of the fireplace are two phoenixes, one pressing the other to the ground. It is safe to say that everyone knows what these two creatures had been up to. The fact that they somehow manage to blush only enforces what everyone thinks. Finally, after an entire minute it fell to Professor McGonagall to break the awkward silence. "I better inform Albus that Phawks won't be back for a while."

"Nope, I won't stay here any longer," the young prince adds before trotting off towards the closest door, leading them into his room. While it may be a bit smaller than the one they just left, it is still large enough to fit everyone comfortably in.

After she entered the room, Professor McGonagall takes a quick look around, her gaze not managing to go further than 90° as her eyes come to rest on something interesting. A second door. However it isn't the door that is so interesting to her, but the dart board. Or to be more precise, the person whose image is the center of it. "Why is there an image of Lucius Malfoy on the dart board?"

"Spitfire, Passion, I think it is better if you two let me talk with Professor McGonagall, and Discord alone. Why don't you two foalnap Cadence and prank some nobles," Princess Celestia interjects, not giving her son the opportunity to answer.

It takes her a bit more to convince him and Spitfire to leave his room, but once this is done, she focuses on the others left. In quick words she explains to them the reason behind this, including how she found him more than eleven years ago. When she comes to the visions and what she assumes, Professor McGonagall simply has to stop her. "Princess Celestia, this can't be true. Draco Malfoy vanished only one and a half years ago."

"Actually, it can easily," Discord interrupts them, not allowing the solar alicorn to answer. "The timeliness of these two dimensions haven't been in sync for quite some time. Luckily, this won't be the case for much longer."

Seeing the worry in the human's face, Discord is quick to stop her from complaining. "Currently your dimension only moves faster by a factor of 1.127. Or to put it simply, in Hogwarts only ten more minutes have passed since I brought you here."

"That's a relief. Having missed a few days wouldn't be a good start in my new position. Especially at this time of the year." Professor McGonagall pauses for a moment, switching focus from the draconequus to Princess Celestia. "Now, since you have answered my questions it's only fair that I answer those questions you brought me here for."

That is exactly what is done for the next two hours. The topics range from the general questions about the school, over housing, security, to a permanent mode of travel between Equestria and Hogwarts. In the end it is agreed that with Discord’s help, a portal from Canterlot to the shrieking shack will be established.

While Professor McGonagall agrees to accept a few additional students from Equestria including a few guards, she vehemently refuses to accept an entire division of Royal Guards to be stationed at Hogwarts as "additional safety measures." In the end, she allows her to send a few younger guards to learn new magic, a few older to teach combat magic, being of the opinion that it's better to allow her this, then risk her smuggling some in.


Princess Celestia was looking over the carnage the three ponies and one draconequus had caused. Freeing Discord and then in his presence sending somepony to prank nobles. How could she not have seen that one coming? At least this explains why Discord seemed so distracted.

It is at that moment that she decides that not only her son, Spitfire, and some other ponies will go to Hogwarts, but Discord as well.