> Harry Potter and the Six Odd Witches > by Rainbow Sparkle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a grassy hill outside the large town of Ponyville, six mares stood around a statue, eyeing it warily. Their expressions and thoughts ranged from uncertainty, confusion, irritation and pessimism about the task they had just been given. None of them were particularly thrilled about what they were about to do, but well, an order from the Princess was an order. “I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Rainbow Dash remarked as she looked up at the state of the mismatched entity Princess Celestia had just delivered to them. Rarity glanced to RD as she said, “Darling, that’s the fifth time you’ve said that.” “And? It's still true.” “And repeating it isn’t going to change anything.”  Applejack sat down with a sigh, fixing her hat as she said, “I can’t blame her any though. This is like being told to let an angry bull back into the tea shop he just stampeded through.” Even Pinkie Pie nodded. “The only reason I’m for trying this is because the Princess has faith in Fluttershy, and because if this works Discord can give me chocolate filled cotton candy rain clouds anytime I want!” Twilight smiled but shook her head as the rest gave Pinkie Pie a look of ‘really?’. She felt a hoof on her shoulder though and looked to her left as she saw Fluttershy, who was glancing off to the statue of Discord every so often. “A-Are you sure t-this is a good idea?” Sighing, Twilight shook her head. “To be honest, I have no idea. The Princess obviously has a reason for this but… I can’t say I fully understand it.” She smiled though as she said, “But I do think that if anyone can reform Discord… it would have to be you. You said it yourself after we defeated him, he had to brute force you to act like you did.” Fluttershy nodded, though she did look at the ground as she said, “Y-Yeah, b-but we have seen I can be like that on my own.” “True, but if the Princess has faith in you… then so do I.” Twilight said… even as her own mind was trying to think of alternatives. This was Discord they were dealing with after all. Fluttershy could only nod, though she looked as uncertain as she had the moment Celestia had left. Twilight looked back to the statue, hoping to herself that she and her friends weren’t about to make a big mistake. “Well girls, lets go ahead and get this over with. And lets all keep our Elements on at all times. We don’t want any surprises after all.” She called out, getting the attention of the others. Each of the girls nodded and got back into position. Twilight started focusing on her element, and felt it begin to pulse and flow with magic. She felt it reaching out to each of the Elements, connecting and forming a ring of rainbow light that washed over the statue.  Lines of light began to crack and splinter all along the stone work, and bit by bit, several sections blasted off before finally… “Graaaaoooooooh~!” Discord cried out as the last bit of stone was sent flying away, dissolving as the magic that created it faded away. He then stretched a bit and wriggled all about, making some strange noises and otherwise ignoring the six mares glaring at him. “Mhm, you have no idea how uncomfortable being a statue can be!” He finally said as he finished, glancing down at all of them as he smirked. “Mhm, such frosty expressions, you’d think I was some monster that had turned your town upside-down or some such…” “You certainly tried!” Applejack exclaimed, meeting Discord’s gaze with her own as she added, “And don’t think that we’ve forgotten what you did to each of our heads.” Discord chuckled as he placed a hand to his chest. “Why would I think that, when I haven’t forgotten either Honest Applejack? It was some of the best fun I’ve had in a millennium.” “Well, if you don’t want to be turned back into a tacky lawn ornament, you’re going to be forced to find a new way to amuse yourself.” Rarity commented dryly, Twilight nodding her head as she stepped forward. “Discord, you have been released because-” Twilight had been about to explain why Discord was able to walk freely, but before she could get more than a few words out, she yelped as she felt herself lifted up off the ground and pulled up in front of Discord. The rest of her friends were also quickly gripped in a golden aura of magic and floated up in front of the smirking Draconequus. “Oh, I already know all about Celestia’s little plan to reform me. And I know that most of you think this isn’t going to work, that I’m irredeemable, just a monster, a powerful magic user who sees everyone and everything as little more than toys to play with til I get bored.” Discord replied as he put his hands on his hips and bent down, looming over them, his face mere inches from their own as his red and gold eyes seemed to blaze with malevolent intent. “You wouldn’t be too off the mark there, but well, getting turned to stone a second time tends to teach a powerful and almighty spirit like me a rather important and rather critical lesson! And quite a good one that I’m sure you’ll all be happy to hear!” Twilight and the others blinked at this. Twilight could see thanks to her being slightly above the rest that all save Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were giving Discord doubtful looks. She herself didn’t believe it, but thus far, all Discord was doing was holding them in his magic. Which was actually far more tame than she’d expected. Tentatively, she asked, “And that lesson is?” Discord surprised them again as he suddenly pulled them all into a fierce hug, squeezing them almost like one would squeeze a beloved plushie as he said, “That Friendship really is magic, and that I’d be a fool to resist it!” All the ponies’ jaws dropped at this. For one thing, they were getting hugged by Discord. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. But for another… this was better than they could have imagined. In fact… It was too good to be true. There was no way he was being serious. The dark, almost malevolent chuckle that began to bubble up from within him clinched it. “That being said, just because I’ve learned that, doesn’t mean I don’t have something dirty up my sleeve~” The six looked up to his smirking face, his tail raising up behind him a bit but within their view. They felt the magical grip on all of them tighten as his eyes flashed dangerously, while the tuft of fur began to wave at them as if it was a third hand. “I’m afraid I have to cut this reunion a bit short, as all of you have an unplanned vacation from destiny somewhere far away from here. Toodles~!” Before any of them could react, the tuft of fur made a snapping motion, and in a flash of light, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony vanished from sight. Slapping his hands together as if he was cleaning them of dust, Discord chuckled to himself as he said, “Well, that’ll bring plenty of chaos in not one, but two worlds~ Think it is time I pay a visit to dear old Celly and let her know she has nothing else to worry about from the likes of me~” With that, he was about to snap his fingers, when he stopped at the sight of a small and shaking piece of shrubbery nearby. He peered at it, then smirked as he gathered some magic into his hand, and lifted out a terrified and shaking purple and green dragon. “Ohohoho, how could I forget about you Spikey wikey.” “H-Hey D-Discord… I-I uh… I-I’m not scared of you…” Spike replied as he nervously opened his eyes and looked Discord up and down. He gulped as he was brought closer, Discord grinning as he studied the dragon closely. “Mhm, you don’t need to lie. None of your friends are here… besides, they were scared of me too, for good reason.” Discord remarked, before setting Spike spinning as he floated in the air before him. “However, right now, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact… I think you’ll thank me the next time we meet.” Spike stopped spinning, and as he wobbled in the air, he tried to open his mouth. Perhaps to ask what the Spirit of Chaos meant by that. But instead, Discord simply poked his little dragon snout, and in a flash of light, Spike was sent off to join his friends. “That takes care of that. I do believe that’s everyone.” Discord said as he scanned the area. Seeing and sensing no one else, he nodded to himself before he grabbed at a bit of air as if it was a doorknob.  With a slight tug, reality opened up and Discord vanished from sight as he walked into a square of chaotically shifting light, leaving nothing to show where he had gone or what had happened to the six heroines of Equestria and their draconic friend. > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harry gulped as he slowly approached the mirror. His eyes focused more on Quirrell as he made his way down the steps, though once he passed the dark wizard his gaze shifted towards the Mirror of Erised. As much as he didn’t want to step in front of it, he didn’t at the moment see much choice.  And more importantly, he was still grappling with all that he had just learned. About Snape and his father, the very fact that it was Quirrell who was working with Lord Voldemort and not the former Death Eater. And the realization that he actually hadn’t had much of a plan beyond “Confront Snape”. “Tell me… what do you see?” Harry didn’t break his eyes away from the mirror, where he and Quirrell’s reflections stared back at them. Not surprising. He half expected to see his parents again, but they did not appear. Instead, he saw his reflection start to smirk as he reached into his pocket… and pulled out a strange red stone. The reflection’s smirk widened, winked, and put the stone back in its pocket… whereupon Harry felt a weight in his right pocket that had not been there before. It made his eyes widen and his body stiffen once he confirmed that indeed, the Philosopher’s stone was now in his pocket. Quirrell noticed. “What is it?” Even though he had a feeling Quirrell wasn’t going to believe him, Harry had to think quickly. Scooting back a bit, he stammered out, “I-I see myself… holding the House cup. D-Dumbledore is besides me… I’ve won it for Gryffindor.” “HE LIES!” A raspy voice rang out, echoing around the chamber. It made Harry flinch and take a few more steps back. Something about the voice also made his head hurt, which wasn’t helped when Quirrell nearly screamed into his ears. Harry shook his head, and Quirrell began to reach for something… but then, he paused as the voice spoke again. “The turban… remove it. I wish… to see the boy.” Taking several steps back, but finding himself unable to just book it, Harry watched as Quirrell began to undo his turban. Something seemed to almost be keeping Harry rooted to the spot, and all he could do was watch as the last bit of cloth was removed… And the horror that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had been hiding all this year. “Hello Harry… it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” It was the face of Lord Voldemort. The face of the person who had killed his parents and left the scar on his head. The very dark lord after the artifact in his pocket. He should have been terrified. He should have been horrified. And well, he was, but not for long. Because as soon as Quirrell was letting go of the line of cloth, there was a flash of light above him… and six teenage girls with unnaturally colorful hair screamed as they crashed down upon him. If Harry hadn’t been prepared for such, Quirrel and Voldemort were even less so. Quirrell only had time to look up and try to get out of the way. He stumbled on the very cloth he had dropped, and was then knocked forward. His head smacked the stairs hard, a grunt being the only sound he made as Voldemort’s face went silent and Quirrell laid still. Harry stared, blinking and unmoving as the six girls who had appeared from out of nowhere groaned and struggled to get up. They all looked exceptionally tired, and five of them were wearing strange necklaces that had a decent sized gem in them. One of them was wearing a tiara with a gem that was slightly bigger. All the gemstones were blinking, and with each blink, the gems grew dimmer. The one with the tiara said something, though to Harry’s ears it sounded like she was singing something at him. She looked towards him, confusion shining as brightly as the gems had but a moment ago and mirrored in that of the other five.  She tried to say something else, but instead, she drooped down and passed out. The other five quickly followed suit, leaving Harry alone with an all powerful magical artifact in his pocket and six strange girls passed out atop an unconscious dark wizard who seemed to have the darkest wizard Britain had seen residing in him. “B-Bloody hell…” There was no way this day could get any stranger. Another flash, same spot, and a small purple and green dragon appeared and flailed in the air before landing atop the pile of people with an ‘oomph’. It swayed on the spot a bit before looking down and around, before finally seeing Harry standing nearby. Whereupon, it gave Harry a shy wave and sang something to him as well before looking at the strange girls with concern shining in its eyes. Harry could only shake his head in disbelief, before the weight of the stone in his pocket reminded him of why he and his friends had come down here. Glancing from his pocket to the talking dragon and the pile of people, Harry bit his lower lip as he tried to figure out what to do. Quirrell was unconscious, but who knew if he’d get back up. And well, it didn’t feel right to just leave these strangers here in the same room as a dark wizard... The sound of footsteps coming from the stairway thankfully gave him an answer, and he felt a smile spread across his face. They were a bit late, but the cavalry had arrived. -*- To say that the last twenty-four hours had been stressful for the head of Hogwarts would be a bit of an understatement.  Even ignoring the diversion in London that had taken up some of his time, the knowledge that Quirrell was making his way through the traps guarding the Philosopher’s stone and being pursued by several Gryffindor students had left him quite worried about what he might find once he reached the final chamber. He had worried he would find Harry mortally injured, or otherwise in serious danger. That Quirrell might try to hold Harry hostage in return for the stone. Or that by some small chance with the assistance of Lord Voldemort, Quirrell would have found a way to retrieve the stone so that the Dark Lord could once more bring terror to Britain. What he found, instead, was Harry Potter. Alive if a bit battered, and Professor Quirrell with a nasty looking gash on his head underneath a pile of several teenage girls and a young, unfamiliar species of dragon sitting atop them. The latter sets of whom, so he had been told by Harry, simply appeared in a flash of light. While the event was fortuitous in that it had incapcitated Quirrell, their appearance only brought more questions. Thus why he was on his way to the infirmary to check on their guests and get some of those answers. Arriving there, he saw that it was Rolanda who was taking a turn standing guard over where Quirrell was being kept. Madam Pomfrey had already informed him that it was only luck that Quirrell wasn’t already dead, as he had cracked his skull when he hit the steps as he had. Given who he was carrying with him, and the fate that was in store for him once the Auror’s arrived… he was not so sure the word he would use would be ‘lucky’. Nearby was also where Ron Weasley was recovering, and Dumbledore was quite pleased to see that both Harry and Hermione were there checking up on him. All three of them seemed to be in high spirits, though Dumbledore noticed that Harry kept glancing towards the other end of the infirmary, where the strange girls were all currently resting, the small dragon watching over them. Which in of itself only earned more questions in Dumbledore’s mind. Harry and his friend’s presence reminded Dumbledore that he longed to pause and speak with the three courageous young students. First Years, and already they were throwing themselves into the fight against Voldemort. But the patronus that Poppy had sent just after he finished speaking with Madame Bones suggested what she had found in her examinations of their guests would be of great interest to him. Striding over to Pomfrey’s office, he pushed the door open gently and smiled as he saw the Healer shaking her head over the roll of parchment she had in her hands. She lowered it when she saw him entering, and gave a tired smile. “Didn’t expect you so soon Albus. Figured you’d be talking to the Ministry still about our former Professor.” “It didn’t take much to reassure Madam Bones that it was of the utmost importance she send a few Auror’s over here to take Professor Quirrel into custody. Even without the mention of Voldemort, he was trying to steal an exceptionally powerful artifact.” Pomfrey shivered a bit at the use of the Dark Lord’s name, but quickly replied, “And you were of course curious and worried about our new guests. Well, they’re an interesting bunch, that much I can tell you.” “Your patronus mentioned as much.” Albus said with a nod. “So, just how interesting are they?” At that, Pomfrey sighed and passed him the scroll. “Where do you want me to start? The strange markings on four of them, two shaped like wings on the shoulder blades and two like unicorn horns on the forehead? The weird magic they seem to have around them? The fact that they aren’t human?” Albus took the scroll from her, noting it was a detailed transcript from a diagnosis spell. He lowered it to look at her when she mentioned that last bit. She shrugged and pointed through the door where they could see two of them through the crack. “They may look human, but they aren’t. Granted, I would have found that out anyways, seeing as that baby dragon there seemed to poke one of them a bit too hard and drew blood. Black blood I might add. Almost mistook it for ink.” “Most intriguing.” Dumbledore murmured, glancing back down to the scroll. The spell Pomfrey had used was normally used to find maladies or injuries that weren’t obvious to the eye, the magical equivalent to some of the tests muggles used. In this case however, it had recorded the fact that all six of them seemed to have silver based blood, and strange magical anomalies for each of them.  “Were any of them hurt?” He asked as he pulled his wand out, making a copy of the parchment to look at in more detail later. Pomfrey shrugged. “Well aside from being tired and drained, they seem otherwise fine. One of them woke up briefly but just looked around in confusion before slipping back under. The diagnosis spell suggests they might be fatigued.” Dumbledore nodded at that. “What about the Dragon?” “Hmmph. You’d be better off asking Hagrid or Professor Kettleburn.” Pomfrey said with a snort. She did however frown a bit as she said, “He’s certainly… talkative, though not so much since he pricked one of them. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was actually talking, or, well…” “Singing?” Dumbledore offered, earning a curious nod from the healer. “I heard it sing something when I first arrived. And Harry says it waved and sang something to him as well. I suspect that it was in fact talking to us… but not in a language we can understand.” Pomfrey hummed at that, then frowned sadly. “No wonder then that I felt so sorry for him when he got upset at pricking one of them.” “A musical sounding language is likely to do that. As an old saying goes, if one hears a song of mourning from the merpeople, even the coldest of hearts will be touched.” Dumbledore said with a soft smile, before glancing out the door. “Tell me Poppy, do you think you would be able to wake them? I’d like to try and see if I can communicate with them.” Standing up, Pomfrey fetched her wand from her table as she said, “I don’t see why not. The spell I used to heal the claw prick worked without issue.” “Then I’d like you to try.” Dumbledore replied, letting her go first as they moved back into the infirmary proper.  Madam Pomfrey slowly waved her wand over the face of each of the girls as Dumbledore brought his wand up to his glasses and gave them a few taps. The charm that let him see magic itself kicked into gear, allowing him to see the magic these girls possessed which was unique but similar to that of most wizards and witches. It also allowed him to note remnants of two other magics. One was centered inside the gems of the golden jewelry they had arrived with. It was faint, but reminded him of magic that was powered often by feelings of love or strong bonds between friends. The other however was… something else. There wasn’t much of it around them, but it seemed… chaotic. Disconcerting to look at. Dumbledore even got the sneaking suspicion he might go mad if he tried to study that magic for too long. His attention was drawn back to the girls themselves however as they began to stir. The first to awaken was the one wearing the crown, and her eyes shot open after she started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The amount of shock she displayed as she shrieked in confusion and moved her hands away from her caught everyone’s attention, including the other girls who didn’t seem to respond much better as they looked over themselves.  Dumbledore listened for a moment as each spoke, noting that just as he had thought, their language seemed to have a musical element to it. It also seemed to be quite empathic, as their panicked state was quickly starting to get to Pomfrey as well as Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, though the latter three were trying to keep from being noticed. It was quite interesting to Dumbledore that the dragon, who seemed the most calm of the bunch, had waddled onto the bed and seemed to be trying to calm the one with the crown and the dark blue hair as she started hyperventilating. She tried to say something, but she said it so fast Dumbledore was sure even if he knew her language that he wouldn’t have understood. With a hum and a light bob of his wand, there was a loud pop that got the strange girls attention, drawing their eyes to him and seeming to put their various states of freaking out on pause. He gave them all a kindly smile and a nod, then started to draw some simple illusions in the air before them. They were, in essence, nothing more than magical stick figures, but they would suit the purpose he had in mind. Again, he made a point of watching the strangers as they in turn watched him. The one with the crown seemed particularly interested in every little movement of his wand, while the others seemed to be focusing more on trying to compare themselves to him. There was a great deal of intelligence in the eyes of the crown bearing girl… he had a feeling she was studying him as much as he was trying to study her and her companions. Speaking slowly and using simple words, Dumbledore proceeded to explain where they were and why. He was actually quite glad that Harry was present, as he was able to point to him and see the barest flicker of recognition. Likely from when they had first arrived in the Mirror chamber. He strongly suspected that the words wouldn’t be understood, but the tone was what mattered more. Calming and reassuring them was key if he wished to get some answers. Dumbledore finished by introducing himself, saying his name slowly before pointing inclining his head towards her. And much to his delight, she seemed to grasp it.  “Dum...ble...dore.” She said, pointing to him. He gave a nod and a smile, and she clapped her hands and giggled excitedly. “” the girl replied, then tried to do… something. She blinked, and looked quite confused. Dumbledore took a moment to try and repeat what she had said, but from the way the dragon started giggling, he had a feeling he mangled it. In fact, when the one with the rather curly and poofy pink hair started giggling, followed by smiles on the others faces, he was sure of it. The girl didn’t seem to mind though, having closed her eyes in concentration. The reason of which became quite clear a moment later as the horn mark on her forehead began to glow. Dumbledore watched her hands grip the sheets around her as she started to sweat, but after a moment, cruder, almost child-like stick figures began to form in the air in front of her. What followed was a similar demonstration by the girl with her own magic, though it was clear she was having difficulty. Given the fact that her figures were all shaped like ponies, with two resembling unicorns and two resembling pegasi, something told Dumbledore that Pomfrey’s conclusion they were not human was likely far more on the nose then appearance would suggest. There were also several pauses, and not alot was actually made clear as the girl tried to tell their side of things. The look of confusion on her face and that of the others at times made Pomfrey lean in as she said, “I’ve seen looks like this before… folks who’ve had memory charms cast at them, on purpose or by accident.” “It's possible whatever brought them here interfered with their memory… though I have a feeling they’re from further afield then we imagine.” Dumbledore agreed as the girl finally seemed to give up, sweating and looking exceptionally apologetic. Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic look, coming around the bed to give her a reassuring pat to her shoulder. She seemed to recognize the gesture for what it was, and gave an appreciative smile, though it quickly fell as she reached up and looked the crown over, eyes growing distant before she looked to her friends. That seemed to remind them of the necklaces the others bore, which they each took off and began to examine. Just as Pomfrey had suggested, they seemed to hold them as if they knew they were important, but they looked at the pieces of jewelry as if this was the first time seeing them. Very curious… curious indeed. Dumbledore thought to himself. Turning, he walked up to Pomfrey and said, “For the moment, don’t let them out of the infirmary. Get them something to eat and make sure they are kept comfortable.” “That shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t think these seven are in any particular hurry to go anywhere anyways. I presume you’re going to try to find a way to make talking easier?” “That would be much more useful in getting the answers we seek. And besides… I would like to be able to actually say our guests names, be it in our tongue or theirs.” Dumbledore remarked as he made his way for the door. He gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a small nod, and quickly added, “I would like a chance to speak with you all about what happened later. For now, just try to relax and recuperate.” With that, Dumbledore headed on out of the infirmary. His first impression of their strange guests was that they were lost in a strange place and with little idea how they got there… perhaps even less idea of who they were if his and Madam Pomfrey’s instincts were on the mark. There were still many questions… fewer answers. But, perhaps if he could find a translation charm or other spell that could help them understand one another… He could have the answers he wished for. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around everything, and was having some difficulty doing so. Given her head seemed to be missing some things, namely memories, that was certainly understandable, but nevertheless annoying. For a start, she herself could remember her name, remember she was a unicorn, and she could remember her friends' names and what kind of Ponies they’d been. She also knew that a short time ago, they hadn’t been… whatever they were now. But a great many things were lost to her. She knew only the vaguest of details about each of her friends, and she couldn’t recall what it was they’d been doing before they were… wherever here was.  That long bearded stallion had used that piece of wood, she wanted to call it a twig, to communicate things to them, and she’d gotten a general gist. They were in a castle, and had just ‘appeared’ there out of nowhere, prompting the stallion and another, the foal off to the side with the glasses, to bring them to what Twilight could only assume was a place of healing.  The strange old stallion, whom they had learned was called “Dumble Dore”, had then left, leaving the older mare and three foals in the room while she and her friends looked over the strange pieces of jewelry they had each been wearing. Something told her it was very important… that it was almost like a part of her very being. And that the gemstone set in the top being dull and dim wasn’t a good thing. But she couldn’t figure out why she felt that way. And the fact she couldn’t figure it out was so… so intensely frustrating! Maddening even! “Twilight?” Spike asked as he reached over and gently petted at her arm. “You gonna be okay?” “Huh?” Twilight asked, looking down to Spike and smiling at him as she reached up with her… arm? Yes, arm, not a fore-leg, and used her… hand to pet the baby dragon. The fact he was a dragon still brought her some comfort, even if something in her mind said he looked a little different. “I don’t know Spike. But I do know that I’m glad I have you and my friends here with me.” She glanced up to the others, meeting each of their eyes as they looked towards her. “I might not remember much, but I know that with all of you here with me, we’ll get through this.” “Darn tootin we will!” Applejack said with a smile, only to frown as she asked, “Though uh, what exactly is ‘this’?” “I believe Twilight is referring to us being here, like this, and not what we are supposed to be.” Rarity remarked, putting her necklace back on before looking down at her form again. “Hmm, was I wearing this before I got here?” Fluttershy looked to her own outfit, then over to Rarity. “Uhm… I’m not sure? I… I think we were wearing these accessories…” “And such beautiful accessories they are, even if the gemstones could use some work!” Rarity interjected, earning a soft smile and a nod from Fluttershy. “Y~Yes, they are very pretty. But uh, I don’t think they’re just accessories.” Fluttershy continued as she picked hers up and started looking at it from every angle. “They’ve got to be something more than just accessories. I’m not the kind of mare to wear lots of jewelry.” Rainbow Dash remarked, before tapping the gem on hers as she said, “Or well, any for that matter.” “Heeeey, I got an idea~!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she stood up on her bed, rocking back and forth on her feet. “Maybe these things brought us to wherever here is!” “” The older mare called out, frowning and shooting Pinkie Pie a bit of a glare. Pinkie Pie blinked, then gave a shy smile and sat back down on the bed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. The older mare rolled her eyes, muttered something, then moved to shoo away the two foals standing over a red headed one. The girls all snickered a bit at that, Spike joining in a bit before he looked to all of them. “Uh, so did any of you understand what she said? I mean, didn’t really need to understand what she was saying, but you know…” Everypony shook their heads. Spike sighed, looking to Twilight as he asked, “So uh, how are we going to communicate with these uh, people?” “W-Well, uh, those magic images Twilight conjured seemed to work a bit…” Fluttershy remarked. Twilight nodded her head, but sighed all the same as she said, “Yes, but that’ll only work for some things. And I had trouble doing that. If I still had my horn…”  She brought a hand up to her head, rubbing at it, then blinked as she felt something there. “Huh? What’s this?” She murmured softly, moving her hair aside and glancing up, but that accomplished all of… well, nothing. Spike seemed to notice though, and came around in front of her to take a look. “Hey Twi, there’s a mark that looks like a horn on your head!” Twilight frowned at that, rubbing at the slightly raised marking. She focused some magic into it, and felt the tingle of it against her finger as the mark began to glow softly. “Well… that explains why it felt so hard to use my magic…” The girls were watching this, and after a moment Rarity felt around her forehead. “I have one as well… feels quite strange, now that I’m aware of it.” “Yeah…” Twilight murmured. “Now that I know it's there, I can feel the magical pathways. It's like I do, and don’t have a horn. Kind of feels like my horn is still there if I focus on it, but if I stop… it's almost as if it's not there.” That got Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash curious. They had already noticed they didn’t seem to have their wings, which was part of their original freakout. But, as they both closed their eyes and focused on where their wings normally were… “” Twilight, who had been focusing on the marking that was all she seemed to have left of her horn in this form, blinked at the surprised shout from the foal a few beds down from them. Then she heard the awed gasps of AJ, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike, and looked up. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had both slid out of their beds, and were now looking at the pairs of magically conjured wings they were both sporting. Rainbow’s cyan hued wings had a soft chromatic aura surrounding them, while Fluttershy’s own yellow ones had a gentle pink one. Twilight watched as they both stretched them out a bit revealing they were just a bit longer than their fore-arms. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, your wings… they look absolutely beautiful!” Rarity remarked finally, earning nods from the others. Rainbow Dash grinned at that, then squirmed as she looked behind her shoulder to see where they seemed to have appeared from. “Hehe, yeah, they do look pretty awesome… though uh, man this feels weird.”  Fluttershy nodded. “I-I can see them… b-but it kind of feels like they’re not there.” She ran a hand over one, shivering a bit. “Kind of tingles to touch them, but not like when I’d preen my wings at home.” “Wonder if they still work.” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud, only to hear AJ clearing her throat. “Can understand the desire Rainbow, but uh, how about doing so when we get a chance to be outside? And won’t accidentally make a mess iffin ya find that you’re gonna need to get used to using them again?” Rainbow Dash glanced over towards where the two people, the older mare and the foal, were watching them. A wary look was on the mare’s face, even as the foal was now more awed by the sight of their wings then surprised. “Oh yeah… right. That’s a good idea.” Rainbow Dash said, the wings folding back behind her and then vanishing after a moment. “D-Do uh, do ya think it’ll take long to get used to all these changes?” Fluttershy asked as she did the same, settling back down on the bed. Twilight spent a moment thinking about that. She thought about the ease Pinkie had stood up, the same as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy not a moment before. Now curious, she swung her legs over the bed and slowly got to her feet. Even though she knew she’d always walked on four legs before… standing here like this felt surprisingly natural. She took a few experimental steps, and nearly stumbled on the fifth as she thought about how she had walked before she woke up with this body. Thankfully, she caught the edge of the bed and just sat back down, sighing as she said,  “Well, as long as I didn’t think about walking on all fours, it seems I’m fine.” She shrugged a bit as she kicked her legs a bit, glancing at them as she admitted, “Not sure how easy it’ll be to not think like that.” “Shouldn’t be too hard sugarcube.”AJ remarked, sitting up a bit more in her bed as she looked at the boots she was sporting at the end of her legs. “I don’t remember much from before we woke up here, but I do remember working on a farm. And sometimes we had to do stuff while standing on our hind legs. Just takes some getting used to.” “A-And these b-bodies do seem built for walking on two legs…” Fluttershy noted, glancing towards the other two people who were sending glances their way every so often. “T-They don’t have any trouble with it.” “Darling, they’ve probably been doing it their whole lives.” Rarity commented drly, earning a soft squeak from the shy pegasus. Pinkie Pie skipped over from her bed, wrapping Fluttershy in a big hug before flashing the rest of them a wide smile. “Hey hey hey, we’ll figure it out one way or another! We’ll figure out how to walk the walk, talk the talk, magic the magic and whatever else there is so we can figure out how we got here and what we were doing before we got here!” Rainbow Dash pumped a fist in the air at that, a cocky smile spreading across her face as Pinkie’s cheer proved quite infectious. “Heck yeah we will! Long as we’ve got each other, nothing can stop us.” Twilight felt the fires of hope and friendship rising in her heart, even as she took hold of the crown she’d woken up wearing and gazed at the dull, dead gem in its center. When she’d first looked at it, she’d almost felt like a part of her had been lost, yet she didn’t know why. She still got that impression looking at it now. But, for a small moment, she thought she saw a brief flicker of light in it as she too felt her mouth shifting into a soft smile. Pinkie’s right. As long as we’re together, no challenge is impossible. Strange bodies and missing memory won’t keep us from figuring out how and why we’re here… and it won’t keep us from figuring out how to get back home. As she glanced up, she found herself looking at the foal who was lying in the bed nearby. He smiled and gave a wave, which made Twilight return both as she added to her thoughts, And if I have anything to say about it, neither will this language barrier. -*- As it would turn out, Twilight was not the only one contemplating the matter of language. In fact, aside from the floo call to the Ministry to speak with Madame Bones, it had been what Dumbledore had devoted the rest of the day towards. It was the reason he had five books open and two scrolls unfurrowed across his desk. His eyes scanned over three of them while he let his magic sift through the lines of text in the other four, giving him a soft nudge anytime it found something that might be useful. He had two promising leads, but they were both short term and one of them was… clunky, to say the least. Still, if he couldn’t manage to find anything else, one of them would certainly work and offer a starting point from which to build upon. There was a spark from the fireplace, and a moment later the flames turned green. A familiar voice called out, “Headmaster? May I come through?” Dumbledore looked up from the books, and smiled. That hadn’t taken as long as he had been told it would. “Yes Amelia, you may. I hope my summons didn’t interrupt anything important.” The fireplace blazed with green flame as an older witch strolled on out of it. She whisked away the bit of soot clinging to her robes and turned to face Dumbledore. “I was told there was a matter here at the school that required my attention as soon as possible. What’s going on Albus?” Sparing a final glance at one of the books as he stood up, Dumbledore came around to stand by her. He glanced towards the door as he said, “It is a bit of a story. Would you prefer to hear it all here, or along the way to the Infirmary where we have Professor Quirrell under guard?” Her eyebrows shot up at that. After a moment to consider, she asked, “Is there any rush? I’d prefer to know what I’m walking into, even if your staff have things in hand at the moment.” “Well then, take a seat and I shall explain. Would you care for any tea?” At the shake of her head, Dumbledore nodded and began to pace about slightly as he told her of how his friend Nicholas Flamel had contacted him. About the fear that someone was after the Philosopher’s Stone and wished to use it for dark ends…  Of how he had come to suspect that Lord Voldemort was the one seeking the stone so that he could return, and that after some time he had reason to believe Quirrell was the one working on Voldemort’s behalf. And then, of course, of the attempt to steal it the previous night. Amelia was holding her head in her hands, skin pale as she gazed at nothing for a long moment after he finished. Finally, she said, “That’s… a lot to take in Albus.” “If you need a moment…” Dumbledore offers as he moves back behind his desk, giving the books and scrolls a brief glance. “I’d prefer we hurry and retrieve Quirrel before anything else happens, but we can spare a moment.” Amelia shook her head. “No, if it’s true… if it is, then we need to move quickly.” She sat up, straightened her robe, and then said, “I’ll need to confirm it before I bring in more Auror’s.” Dumbledore was saddened by that, but not surprised. Few would wish to believe after all this time that the Dark Lord still existed. He wasn’t quite sure ‘alive’ or ‘living’ worked as descriptors for Voldemort at this time. Nevertheless, he nodded and made for the door, gesturing to Amelia. “Of course. Then to the infirmary we go.” Amelia nodded and the pair headed off. They were silent as they walked through the halls, Amelia looking off into the distance while Dumbledore went over the spell he had memorized before leaving the office. Since he would be back in the infirmary, there was no reason not to go ahead and make use of it to get some answers to the newer mystery. Arriving at the Infirmary, Dumbledore spared a quick glance towards the occupied beds. He noticed the bed with the youngest of the Weasleys was no longer occupied… the boy must have been given a clean bill of health. Nearby, the strange guests were awake and softly chattering to each other, now gathered together on the edge of two of the infirmary beds. He was not surprised that Amelia noticed them. Given the practical rainbow of colors their hair possessed, it would be rather difficult to not notice them. And the lyrical nature of their language, even hushed as it had been, would have drawn anyone’s ears to them. They were too absorbed into their own conversation to notice their arrival, so Dumbledore simply tapped Amelia on the arm as he pointed to the door where Snape was now standing guard outside. “He’s being held in here. I’ve had a professor guarding both inside and outside since he was subdued.” She nodded, turning her attention back to the reason they were here. “Good. I wouldn’t expect anything less if what you have said is-” Madame Bones didn’t get to finish that statement. There was suddenly a scream of agony from behind the door, and the door was flung open, nearly smacking into Snape as Professor McGonagall stuck her head out. The screaming continued as a she gestured to them “Headmaster! Severus! Hurry!” Dumbledore swept forward, wand out and ready, Snape doing just the same as they all rushed into the room. A sickening feeling was forming in Dumbledore’s gut, a suspicion that he knew what was happening even before he saw it. That suspicion was confirmed as he saw the writhing body of Quirrell on the bed, struggling against the magical bindings they had placed upon him as his body began to turn an ashen color and crack. Dumbledore held his hands out, holding the others at bay, though from the looks of shock and how they seemed frozen in place… “Quirinus…” Quirrell’s eyes shot open, locking briefly with Dumbledore’s. There was pain, anger, fury, fear, a maelstrom of emotions flashing by at lightning speed. No sign however, of regret for the choices he had made that was leading to this consequence… A screech of fury and torment was loosed, but then it was cut off as Quirrell’s entire body began to crumble before their very eyes. And rising out from it was a smoke like, ghostly image of Voldemort’s very own visage. The four of them watched as the ghostly visage of the Dark Lord screeched and writhed in the air, before rushing for one of the windows. It phased through the glass and raced off into the distance, quickly fading from sight. They were silent for a full minute, staring at the pile of ash and now empty clothes where Quirrell had lain. It was only when the sound of rushing footsteps, and Madame Pomfrey exclaiming, “What in bloody hell’s going on?! What was that screaming?” That roused them from their stupor, and Dumbledore sighed. He rubbed at his forehead briefly as he remarked, “Quirrell has… expired. And our foe has withdrawn.” “Expired!?” Pomfrey squeaked, pushing past the others and then stopping two steps past the Headmaster once Quirrell’s bed came into view. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, lips soon pursing before she managed to get anything out. “Oh… ooohh… yes, well then.” Shaking his head, Dumbledore turned to his professors and said, “Thank you for helping to keep him under a watchful eye Severus, Minerva. There is no longer a need to do so. Madame Bones…” He sighed as he looked to Amelia, whose face was even more pale now as she stared out the windows.  She didn’t seem to hear him, so Dumbledore reached over and gave her shoulder a soft shake. “Amelia?” “T-This… this is bad.” She finally said, shivering a bit before managing to pull her gaze from the window. “I… I need to speak with the Minister immediately.” Dumbledore was not entirely sure if that was the best course of action yet… he needed to take a moment to ponder it. For the time being… “Relax a moment Madame Bones… Minerva, will you take her back to my office? I should be there before too long.” McGonagall nodded, coming over and gesturing for Amelia to follow her. It took a moment of prodding before Amelia went along. Pomfrey sighed and shook her head, looking to the Headmaster as she asked, “I’ll give you time to… study the remains. I’ll clean the mess up that’s been left behind once you’re done.” “That won’t be necessary.” Dumbledore remarked. “I do not think I will be able to determine much now that Voldemort’s spirit has left him.” He waved his wand, the ashes vanishing away, as did the robes. He then glanced at Snape and added, “We can discuss our next steps tomorrow morning, Severus.” Snape gave a curt nod, “Of course Headmaster.” before turning and striding out. Pomfrey shook her head, and then headed back into the infirmary, calling out,  “Our guests seem to be a bit disturbed from what just happened, Headmaster. Might need your help calming them down.” Dumbledore felt the ghost of a smile returning to his face. “Coming Poppy.” He said as he turned and strode out of the room. This turn of events may have been unfortunate… but perhaps with the spell he had found, he could get some answers from their guests. -*- “C’mon, let me go see what's going on in there!” “Rainbow Dash, sit down.” AJ replied, pulling the pegasus down and back onto the ground. Rainbow squirmed and struggled a bit, while Rarity worked to console Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie seemed a bit more mellow than usual, her hair not quite as poofy as it had been as she looked towards the door where that scream had come from. And Twilight herself was up on her feet, a sharp frown stretched across her face as she stared at the door with a mixture of curiosity and worry in equal measure. “I sensed some kind of magic from that room… but the nature of it…” She mumbled aloud, shivering to herself. She wasn’t sure what precisely had happened, but something very dark and malevolent had sprouted into being… and then left.  I… I feel like I’ve felt magic similar to that before… but where? When? And why? Twilight pondered, torn as she had no way at current to get any answers. If only there was a way they could communicate with these people… Her thoughts were interrupted when a pair of older mares left the room from whence the screams had come. Both wore robes, but one, the one they’d seen swap with a rather short stallion earlier, was leading the other along as they left. They were followed a moment later by the stern faced stallion who gave them all merely a passing glance before he strode purposely out after them. The last two to leave the room were the older mare who seemed to be watching over them, and the older stallion, Dumble Dore, who had used magic to try and bridge the language barrier, with some success but not nearly as much as Twilight would have preferred.  Especially given all the questions she wanted to ask. She watched the Dumble Dore exchange some words with the mare, who returned to what was either her room or an office perhaps. Then Dumble Dore made his way over to them as he offered a kind, reassuring smile. He had that stick in his hands again, and with a simple wave of it, he made a simple wooden stool appear next to where they were gathered. Once more, rather than speaking, Dumble Dore began to wave the stick about. Simple images appeared in the air. One of him, the other of them. The image of him mimed speaking, with what she could only assume were letters coming from his mouth. She didn’t recognize them, but the letters arranged themselves into what she could clearly tell were words. This was repeated with the image of her and the girls. She noticed that all the letters were the same as what the stallions image used… but rearranged in a random order. It took her only a few seconds to grasp the meaning, so she gave a nod to him. Dumble Dore smiled wider, and had his image take its own stick, tap it to its forehead, then slowly pulled it towards the image of Twilight, a line soon connecting them. An image of an hourglass appeared and poured a small amount of sand down into the lower half before disappearing and the line between both images following suit. The display was finished with both images speaking once more to each other. But this time, the order of letters for both was the same. AJ, who had managed to get Rainbow Dash to settle back down on the bed, looked from the images to Twilight as she asked, “Is uh, is he suggesting what I think he is?” Twilight hummed, tapping her chin as she mumbled to herself. If she was grasping it correctly… this Dumble Dore was wishing to use magic to share his language with her. Thinking about everything she could remember when it came to magic, there was no reason it couldn’t work… But will it work? That’s the most important question. She couldn’t recall learning any translation spells herself, but whether that was because she’d simply never needed to, or simply couldn’t remember… “Yes… yes I think he is.” She said, looking to AJ and the others. “I don’t know if it’ll necessarily work, but well, it’d certainly be faster than trying to learn their language the old fashioned way.” “And I’m sure this stallion has as many questions as we do.” Rarity remarked, a gentle smile on her face even as her eyes glinted with a hint of mischief. “Or at least, as many as Twilight has.” Twilight blushed at that, then considered the display once more as the stallion watched them patiently. She eyed the hourglass carefully, then said, “I think this spell’s going to take a short bit to be done. I’d wager… fifteen minutes or so?” She finally guessed. “So it’ll take a bit before we know if it works.” The girls all nodded, though Pinkie Pie asked, “Uhm, what kind of things could it do if it doesn’t work?” Twilight frowned at that. She considered all she could remember about mental magic. It wasn’t as much as she felt it should be, meaning some had been lost to her. Hopefully not for good. At any rate, she shrugged and said, “It depends on the sort of spell it is. And I can’t find that out without being able to communicate. It's risky… but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” “C-Couldn’t one of us take it instead?” Fluttershy asked, prompting nods from the others, with Rainbow’s being the most vigorous. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that as she looked to her friends, but she quickly shook her head. “I’ll go first. I’ve the most knowledge of magic amongst us… and I’ve cast spells and had spells cast at me.” Or at least I can remember that much she thought silently to herself. “I’ll be able to know better if the spell is going to do something bad, or if it's not going to work and be able to end it before it can have any lasting effect.” That seemed to reassure her friends, who didn’t raise any other objections, though she could see the concern in their eyes. She gave them a smile of her own to reassure them, then turned to Dumble Dore and pointed to the image, pointed to him and his twig, and nodded. Beaming, the stallion motioned for her to sit at the edge of one of the beds. After she did so, he moved a bit closer, then placed the tip of his own wand to his forehead. He murmured a series of words she couldn’t understand, but she could sense the magic gathering at the tip of his twig. She watched as slowly, he began to pull it away, and a line of silver energy began to stretch from the tip.  The strange piece of wood, acting much like a unicorn horn would, was brought closer to her own forehead, and she braced herself for whatever might follow. When the magical string of light reached her, she winced as she felt a slight sting in her mind… but the sensation quickly faded as she felt the spell getting to work. If this had been back home, in her normal form, she had a feeling she might have been able to take more time to truly study the spell being conducted on her. It’s intricacies and mechanics, the way it flowed or ticked, and so much more. Instead, she was a bit busy absorbing the knowledge of a language she had never spoken before, while constantly trying to remain focused enough to be ready to try and stop the spell should anything go awry.  Assuming of course, that she could even pull such off. Time slowly ticked by, with her friends doubtless watching the two. It was hard to tell, as her eyes were closed while she concentrated and focused on what was pouring into her mind. Every so often she could feel her mouth moving, forming a word here and there silently, guided more by magic than innate, true understanding.  The flow of the words at times was slow, like a softly bubbling stream. Other times it was rapid and almost headache inducing as it crashed and thundered into her mind with the raging force of a thunderstorm. But as the minutes passed, the stream of magic given knowledge slowed down to a trickle, and then finally, it came to a stop and she felt the stick being removed from her head.  In a split second, her mind came up with a new word for it, or rather, a word that the magic in her head was telling her suited the object in question. A wand, though the magic also told her that the term wasn’t for all sticks or twigs, but for specially prepared ones to be used for spellwork, almost like an artificial horn. “... am most curious if the spell has worked, for I must confess that it is the first time that I have cast one such as this.” The voice was that of Dumble Dore, but what made her eyes snap open in an instant and look at him was that she could understand what he was saying. No longer did she hear words that she had no understanding of what they meant. Now she could grasp them as if she’d spent all her life speaking… English, as the spell quickly supplied for her.  “Such a fascinating spell!” Twilight blurted out, eyes shining in excitement, her mouth moving nearly as fast as her mind. “It hasn’t just taught me the words… it's giving me the context, grammar, definitions… all I have to do is think it and the spell tells me what to say~!” She clapped her hands, then stopped when she heard the chuckles of not only her friends, but also of the old man. Man, not stallion. She’d have to try and remember that… something told her the spell might slip up if she wasn’t careful. “Well, seeing as I understood every word of that, and since I can see in your eyes that my words carry meaning to you now… perhaps we could try introductions once again?” His own eyes twinkled with mischief as he added, “I would very much prefer to call you by your proper name, rather than whatever my earlier mangling might have meant. Unless of course, you’d prefer such…?” Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that. Somehow, she got the feeling she’d get along with this Dumble Dore person. For some reason, he was reminding her somewhat of someone else… a teacher or mentor perhaps? She couldn’t recall at the moment. “Hehe, I uh, think I’d prefer you to call me Twilight Sparkle, rather than Twinkle-Toe Sparkle.” Her smile widened however as she pointed to each of her friends in kind, introducing them to him as they each tried to say their names in English, with mixed results. Smiling and nodding to each of them, and paying special attention she noted to Spike, Dumble Dore looked back to her as he stood back up, vanishing the stool with a wave of his wand. “Well Twilight Sparkle, and each of you. Allow me to share mine with you again.” “I am Albus Dumbledore. And I welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the Fat Lady’s portrait swung out and let Ron into the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Hermione were distracting themselves rather poorly with a game of wizard’s chess. Both of them brightened considerably as soon as they saw him, and they rushed over to give him a hug. “‘Ey now, gently. Just cause I’m outta the infirmary doesn’t mean I’m not supposed to take it easy.” “We know.” Harry said with a smile, giving Ron’s hand a soft squeeze as he led him over to where they’d been sitting. Ron let out a contented sigh as he sank into the couch, smiling as he said,  “Much better. So, you two heard anything else from the Headmaster?” Hermione shook her head. “The Headmaster did say he would like to talk with us later, but well….” She paused and glanced around. There were a few other students, though none of them seemed to be paying them any mind. Nevertheless, she leaned in, her voice lowered as she said, “Well, considering he’s also got to figure out how those six girls and dragon showed up as they did, and deal with Quirrell…” Ron perked up at the mention of the strange girls, grinning a bit as he said, “That reminds me, I got to see something even stranger about those girls before I left. Wanna hear?” “Stranger than popping out of nowhere inside a chamber Dumbledore himself set up as a trap?” Hermione asked, while Harry ruffled his head and remarked, “Or stranger than that song language of theirs? Or those pictures, the ones the girl with the purple hair conjured?” Ron smirked and gave a firm nod to both of them. “Stranger than all of that.” Now it was Ron’s turn to lean in all conspiratorial as he whispered to them what he had seen. Harry and Hermione both let out exclamations of, “Really?” with Harry’s being somewhat envious, while Hermione sounded incredulous. Ron frowned at them both as he made shushing motions, the pair flushing just a bit when they saw a few of the other students that were present glancing their way now. “Sorry.” Harry muttered. Hermione nodded and Ron just let out a sigh. “It’s okay. Knowing how things are with this school, it won’t take long for most to hear something about them anyways.” Ron smirked a bit as he added, “Still though, it was bloody amazing seeing it. If Madame Pomfrey had let ya stay a bit longer you would have gotten to see them with your own eyes.” “Personally, hearing that just makes me wonder even more about what they are.” Hermione said, sighing a bit as she said, “I know you two overheard the Headmaster and Madame Pomfrey just as I did.” “You’d think they’d remember they weren’t alone.” Ron muttered at that, while Harry shrugged. “What’s the big deal about what they are? They may have just saved my life.” Both Ron and Hermione gave him a surprised look, but then Ron rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as it dawned on him. “Oh, right, you wouldn’t know about that kind of thing.” “I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t read through a few wizarding history books already.” Hermione remarked, before looking to Harry and explaining. “Non-humans don’t have as many rights amongst the Wizarding community. They might get classified as ‘beings’ like wizards and muggles are, but that doesn’t mean they’re treated like wizards, or humans.” Harry didn’t like the sound of that, but that didn’t clear much up for him. Ron stepped in as he said, “Some of the folks in the school, or their git parents, might not be too happy if those girls stick around in the school for long. Might cause some trouble for the Headmaster.” “Sounds like those sorts would get along with the Dursleys.” Harry commented rather dryly, earning sympathetic looks from his friends. Hermione sighed and said, “Hopefully word doesn’t spread too quickly. Dumbledore doesn’t come across as the sort who’d let such bother him, but still.” “Might not matter if they don’t stick around.” Ron commented idly. Harry however had a strange feeling that wasn’t going to be the case. He wasn’t sure what it was that was giving him the impression. Was it instinct? Magic? A bit of both perhaps? Whichever it was, he was about to voice the thought all the same to his friends, only to stop as he heard someone call out his name. Turning, he saw Oliver Wood hurrying over to him, a grin on his face. “There you are, I was wanting to let ya know. We’re going to be doing some practice in an hour. The match with Ravenclaw is tomorrow, and we’ve got some time to burn, so let’s hurry and get over to the field.” “Alright, I’ll be down shortly.” Harry said, Oliver patting him on the shoulder before heading over to grab the other members of the team. He looked to Ron and Hermione, who smiled and shrugged respectively. “Try not to get hurt out there. I don’t think it’d be all that fun to spend the last days of your first year in the infirmary.” Hermione said, giving a small smile. “We’ll be rooting for ya tomorrow.” “Especially since if ya win it, we might be able to win the House Cup! Would make a great comeback after those points we lost for helping Hagrid.” Harry winced, recalling how much of the rest of the House had reacted to them afterwards. Still, he nodded as he got up and made for the boys dormitory. Better to get changed into his Quidditch uniform sooner rather than later… And well, some flying would be nice after the harrowing events they’d all gone through. It’d be a good way to unwind, and not think about how close he may have come to death at the hands of the Dark Lord. -*- As the clock struck midnight, a long, drawn-out sigh left the lips of Albus Dumbledore as he dropped into a recliner and slowly rubbed his head, the book he had brought with him resting rather heavily in his lap. More so than it ever had before.  The last few hours had been draining, to say the least. After using the charm that ensured that he could communicate with at least one of their strange guests, he had been able to get some answers from the one called Twilight Sparkle. Answers she herself provided to him, and answers that he was able to achieve peering into her mind. He had enjoyed the former a great deal, given that it wasn’t hard to see that she had quite the keen and intelligent mind.  The latter… Well, it was not something he enjoyed doing at times, but sometimes it was still necessary. And it had proved exceptionally useful in this instance. His first attempt, when he had tried communicating with them via images, had of course failed. Even accounting for possible differences between the mind of a new non-human person and a human, with no understanding of their language, it was difficult if not impossible to piece images together into one coherent picture. It was akin to trying to use a kaleidoscope to see something far away. After the charm though, it was much easier to peer into her mind, see her thoughts and peruse some of her memories. It had allowed him to confirm what she had told him- of how they had been ponies before they woke up here, and that they were from a place called Equestria. That none of them had heard of humans, Britain, or Earth. And that they, or at least she, had no idea how they had arrived here at Hogwarts. It also allowed him to more fully confirm that some kind of memory magic had been used on her. Something much more advanced than the kinds of charms the Ministry used in some of its work. General, basic knowledge it seemed was for the most part, accessible. But many specifics and even details that would possibly be trivial were blocked or seemed to be missing. What he was able to piece together suggested that, at minimum, the six girls and their dragon were not native to Earth, and were exceptionally lost and possessing no means of returning home. Which left the question of how, precisely, they had wound up here. As she had told him, and the impression he got from her memories gave him no reason not to believe her, “Only something or somepony with a great deal of magical power could have done this.” And she didn’t think it was something the six of them had sought to do purposely. Which meant that either it had been an accident, or that someone had purposely sent them. That, all on its own, might have been troubling, but not immediately so. A mystery still all the same, but one he could take his time considering and working at. The possibility, after all, of making contact with another world, and one of so much magic as some of Twilight's memories seemed to imply, was the kind of once in a lifetime opportunity that one simply couldn’t ignore. That he was also now trying to deal with how to prepare the Ministry for the continued existence of Lord Voldemort, and the visit he received from Professor Trelawney just moments after Madame Bones left, meant that he had a great deal more on his plate than he might have preferred. It had taken some time for Amelia to calm down from seeing Quirrell’s death and the escape of Voldemort’s spirit. Once she had though, she’d asked dozens of questions, only some of which Dumbledore could easily answer. The chief two of course being, “What to tell the public/Minister” and, “How to deal with someone who cheated death”. As much as a part of him did wish for the public to know, he knew it would create panic. However, like Amelia, he was not sure how well Cornelius Fudge would take being told that the Dark Lord still lived. Though now that a high ranking member of the Ministry knew the truth, it would be foolish not to share such so that the Ministry could start to prepare. As for the latter… well, that Dumbledore needed to do additional research for. He had an idea of how Voldemort may have sought to avoid his end, but he needed more proof before he could fully create a countermeasure.  He had told Amelia to go ahead and head back to the Ministry, and that they’d work out a time to speak with the Minister and to brainstorm their next move. Dumbledore had been working on some contingencies, but they had been built around relying purely on a network of friends, confidants, and old allies from the days of the Order to deal with Voldemort’s return. He had considered the likelihood of the Ministry to accept Voldemort still living to be… well, low enough that including them in any plans at the time seemed to be a waste of time. Just seconds after Amelia had left, there had been a knock at the door. He had suspected it might be Minerva or Severus, but instead, Professor Trelawney had been the one to step in. A visit from the reclusive Divinations teacher was in itself a surprise, but something about the way she had carried herself gave Dumbledore further pause. And he knew why as soon as she had spoken. “And so as the first steps for the return of the Dark Lord are taken, a new player joins the game. He who Masters Chaos and Lords over Madness takes hold of two boards and gives them a spin. Pieces are changed, rules remade. The way to victory shrouded in fog and mist. Undone shall be the plans of many, the fated tapestries unraveled at the seams as a new course is made. Six shall be the key, Six in one but not in the other, how now shall the games be played? Is all lost, or saved? Only time will tell.” It had been in the same tone as her first prophecy. The same one that had foretold the defeat of the Dark Lord. Once she had finished, she had collapsed, spurring Dumbledore to rush over to her side to make sure she was fine. It had taken a moment to rouse her, and when she came to she was initially confused why she was in his office.  Then she smiled at him and got back up, telling him she had had a vision of something most extraordinary. She babbled a bit about how she had been trying, once again, to foresee which student was set to meet a terrible fate in the new school year, only to be surprised when her crystal ball showed her six strange, unusual new students. Dumbledore might have been inclined to ignore her rambling, but the inclusion of the number six gave him pause. An inquiry into the description of each of the students only served to make his unease grow. Shaking his head, he looked down to the Book of Admissions currently sitting in his lap. He opened it up again, going to the last page. There, just as it had been after Trelawney had left, were six names glowing in golden ink, something that to his knowledge had never occurred in the entirety of Hogwarts history. He read the names aloud to himself once more, almost as if he expected doing so might change them, or cause them to vanish from the page. “Twilight Sparkle, Applejack of the Apple Clan, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Rarity Belle, Rainbow Dash.” The names remained where they were. And just as when he had first read them, he could almost swear that he heard some ominous cackling echo about the room. He still couldn’t pick up anyone or anything intruding in his quarters or office though, so he simply sighed and shook his head. The meeting with Minister Fudge is going to be… problematic to say the least. He thought to himself, even as the ghost of a small smile slowly formed on his face. “I suppose I only have myself to blame,” he remarked as he closed the book and set it on the table next to him. “I did, after all, tell the staff that Harry’s arrival would make things much more interesting around here.” “I only wish I’d known just how interesting it was going to become.” -*- Rainbow Dash was bored. It was the fourth day of them being in this strange castle, in a world not their own. They’d spent the first and a fair bit of the second asleep, unconscious after they’d landed atop some bad guy, so she hadn’t had to worry about the fact they were stuck in a medical wing with little to do. Now however, they were all awake. And thanks to whatever magic that old man with the big beard had used on Twilight made it so she could talk with the people here. Which ensured she was quite busy playing both translator and chatterbox as she asked all kinds of questions for the healer, Pomfrey if she’d heard Twilight say it right. The others had also been a bit bored, leading Twilight to ask if there was anything they could do to help. The healer lady hadn’t been up for it at first, but when it was pointed out they had nothing to do (except for Twilight to bombard her with questions) she relented. Course, there was a problem. Namely that she didn’t really need help from all seven of them at once. As it had been for the last few hours, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the ones helping her, with Twilight reading from a list and checking the names of things as they sorted out medical supplies. Rarity was occupying herself practicing levitating a pillow, a cup, and a napping Spike, while Applejack was helping make the beds. Herself? Rainbow Dash was busy hovering near the top of one of the windows and looking out at the grounds. “Guhhhh, do we really have to be stuck here? Can’t we like, go explore the rest of this castle? Or at least just go outside?” Rainbow grumbled aloud, her arcane wings twitching a bit as they gently swayed, keeping her aloft. “I’m sure we’ll get a chance to do both of those things soon Rainbow Dash.” Rarity remarked as she let the objects drift down, settling on the sheets. “And a little boredom never hurt anyone.” Rainbow crossed her arms, pouting as she turned to face Rarity. “Soon could be the next five minutes, or it could be next week. And I don’t think an opportunity is going to just pop out of nowhere in the next few minutes.” “You could go watch the Quidditch match thing Madame Pomfrey went to!” Pinkie Pie declared as she bounced up to where Rainbow Dash was hovering, her arm pointing out the window and towards some wooden towers in the distance.  For a brief moment, Rainbow thought it was because Pinkie was bouncing on one of the beds again, but no, it was because she was using a trampoline she’d gotten from… somewhere. Shaking her head at her friend’s antics, Rainbow asked, “Uh, Quid Ditch? What the heck is Quid Ditch? And we can’t leave, remember?” Pinkie giggled, poking Rainbow’s chest as she said, “It’s a sport silly, one where the people here fly on magical broomsticks and try to score points! Madame Pomefrey left to go assist with any injuries, weren’t ya paying attention?” “She probably wasn’t, seeing as she’s been staring out the window for half an hour.” Applejack called out as she finished with the last infirmary bed. “Still doesn’t fix the other problem though Pinkie. We can’t leave.” “Applejack’s right.” Twilight said, sticking her head out from a supply closet nearby. “Dumbledore asked us to stay here til he could arrange some rooms for us.” “Acccttuuuuuaaaaallllllyyyy~” Pinkie Pie said as she faced the others. “You told us he asked us, ‘to stay here in the infirmary for as long as we are able, while he works on arranging accommodations for however long we might be here.” She poked Rainbow Dash’s chest again, earning a slight blush from the Pegasus as she concluded, “And seeing as Rainbow Dash here is going to go stir crazy if she has nothing to dooo…” “Pinkie Pie, darling, that wouldn’t really be following the spirit of the Headmaster’s request, would it?” Rarity inquired, while Twilight nodded. “That’d be breaking the spirit of our own answer. That we said-” “That we’d do our best!” Pinkie Pie retorted, smiling as she said, “And Rainbow Dash hasn’t been able to properly fly since we woke up. She’s not hurt, her wings clearly work, and she’s a Pegasus! Being able to stretch her wings and get out there will do her much more good than being cooped up in here.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide at that, and then she grinned. “Hehe, heck yeah, that’s my kind of thinking Pinkie Pie!” She gave her friend a high five as she bounced back up, smirking a bit as she said, “A game where ya fly on brooms huh. Sounds like something worth seeing. Well then Pinkie, think ya can help me open the windows?” Twilight let out a groan, smacking her head as she said, “C’mon Rainbow Dash, if you really want something to do, you can always tag out with one of us!” “Nah. I like Pinkie’s idea a lot more! And besides, it’s not like I’m gonna get caught,” she said, pushing the window open with some help from Pinkie. She let out a sigh as she felt the cool summer breeze washing over her. She turned just enough and gave a salute to the others, who were now all staring wide mouthed at her and Pinkie as she said, “See ya in a bit~!” Before anyone could think of stopping her, Rainbow Dash leapt out the window, letting out a joyous shout as she spread her wings and within a moment was soaring through the air. Exhilaration filled her entire being as she stretched out her arms and legs and let out a delight-filled cry as she spun in mid air and dipped, swerved, rose and dived. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to lie to herself… there’d been a part of her worried, for a fraction of a second, that she’d have trouble the instant she took flight. This wasn’t the form she was used to flying in after all. But, while it certainly did feel different, she still remembered all the things she’d learned when it came to flying. And her wings, magical, glowy, and semi-see though they were now, still worked just as her old wings did. “Gonna have to spend some time adjusting some moves… probably weigh differently, winds gonna move around me and mess some moves up…” she muttered aloud as she sprialled up into the air, just for the moment rushing by, around, and through the many towers of Hogwarts. After a few minutes of getting reacquainted with flying, she circled back around. She made for the highest tower, and then cast her gaze off in the direction of those wooden towers. It didn’t take long to find them, and with a wide grin on her face, she shot off like a rocket. She’d gotten to fly around a bit. Stretched her wings, got some fresh air… “Never knew of anyone without wings flying… and on broomsticks of all things,” Rainbow murmured as she drew ever closer. “So this is going to be so awesome!!” The only trick was going to be keeping from being seen, since it wasn’t like she wanted to get herself or her friends in trouble…. As she got within a couple hundred yards of the stadium, she arced up into the sky, whipping around a bit as she focused on the wind blowing around her. The best place to watch would be from a cloud, but today most of the clouds were a bit too far up. As keen as her eyes were, she wanted a good spot to watch from. And while she could probably just grab a bit of cloud from up high… right now she’d prefer not testing just how far she could take these wings of hers. Just because they were magical, didn’t mean they didn’t have limits. So, she’d make do with her own cloud. The process took… a bit longer than she could remember it taking. Or at least she thought it did. The sound of the people down below cheering or crying out as the game played out was certainly a bit distracting, so that might have played a part. But soon enough, she had a nice, comfy cozy cloud for one to sit upon. Laying down upon it and peering over the edge, she rested her head atop her hands and smiled. Time to enjoy the game~! -*- For the last game of the school year, so far, things hadn’t been too exciting or interesting. At least, not from Harry’s perspective. Before the match, Oliver had pulled him aside and told him that a friend of his had overheard the Ravenclaws discussing their strategy for the match at dinner the previous evening. It seemed that in an effort to try and catch up or even surpass the other houses, they were going to try and drag out the match. So odds were good they weren’t going to be trying to go after the snitch too hard. Any other time, Oliver might have desired to use this as an opportunity to try and end the match quickly. But with Gryffindor still hurting from the loss of points they took helping Hagrid with Norbert, there was a desire to try and ratchet up the score as high as they could as well. Make sure they got ahead of Slytherin so they could finally win the house cup.  So, at least til they got to around a hundred to a hundred and fifty points, Harry’s only real goal was to keep in the air and keep the Ravenclaws from grabbing the snitch if they changed their mind. So far, about fifteen minutes into the match, he’d been doing just that. Circling the field, ducking some bludgers and occasionally the other players. All the while keeping an eye both on the score, and for the snitch. He’d already caught sight of it three times now, and briefly gone after it to distract the Ravenclaws a bit, but otherwise he’d been playing more of an observing role in the match. So far, his own presence didn’t seem to be doing much. The Gryffindor’s were making goals, but it was more like for every one goal they got, Ravenclaw was getting two, three, or even four. It seemed the Ravenclaw team had spent quite a bit of time getting ready for this last match. He wondered, idly, if he should try to hunt for the snitch soon. If they didn’t end this soon, this could become a rather lopsided defeat even if he did catch the snitch. But Oliver hadn’t given him the signal yet so… wait it was. As he circled around the stadium again, he cast his gaze about… and then did a double take. Was... was that a cloud, just parked about a hundred yards above the stadium? And… No, he wasn’t seeing things, there was a rainbow draping over it. Wait, no, that was hair. Rainbow colored hair. He’d seen that hair before. Was that one of those strange girls that saved him from Quirrell? What was she doing out here? And… was she on a cloud? The rainbow haired girl blinked, then smiled and waved at him, before making a shush motion and giving him a thumbs up. Harry wasn’t sure what to make of that, so simply opted for a soft wave back. Only to blink as her eyes suddenly went wide and she clung to the edge of her cloud. What could that possibly… Harry began to think, only for his broom to swerve to the side as a glint of gold and the Ravenclaw seeker went rushing by him. In an instant, Harry was gripping his broom and launching after the opposing seeker. Thanks to his Nimbus 2000, it didn’t take long for him to catch up, but then the Snitch started to duck, weave, and dance this way and that as it went ever higher. Harry’s broom had speed and maneuverability, but his opponent had more experience. Each time the Snitch changed direction, he overshot a bit and had to slow down to compensate as he changed direction, catching back up or passing by a bit the Ravenclaw seeker. However, that advantage in skill began to fade as they kept rising higher. Bit by bit, Harry noticed how the Ravenclaw’s seeker had to struggle more and more to push their broom higher. Harry was feeling some struggle from his own broom as well, but the Ravenclaw’s broom was practically quaking. Another minute of the two dancing and weaving around each other as they ascended ever higher, Harry’s opponent had to call it quits as a section of their broom splintered. With a curse, they turned and banked, heading downwards and back towards the stadium. That left the question of what Harry should do. The snitch wasn’t making any effort to swing on back down. In fact, at the moment, it seemed to be taunting Harry as it flitted further above him. The game wouldn’t end til the snitch was caught. But who knew if it would come back down anytime soon. Or that, even if it did, if it wouldn’t just drift back up this high. I’ve got a feeling I might regret this… Harry thought to himself as he pressed himself tighter to his broom. “You’ve got this Harry… it's not the craziest thing you’ve done this year.” Leaning forward, he urged the broom upwards, giving chase as the sounds of the crowd faded away and he just heard the rush of wind flying by him, and the soft buzzing of the Snitch as he drew ever closer. The Nimbus 2000 was a magnificent broom. Faster than any other out there, for the moment at least, and able to go higher than all but a few specialty brooms. But even it had its limits. And Harry’s chase was pushing it ever closer to them. -*- For much of the game, Rainbow Dash had lain upon her cloud and watched it unfold. She’d bit by bit managed to pick up the basic idea of the game. All she’d really been left to ponder had been the strange winged, tiny, golden ball flitting here and there. And how two of the players, one of whom she recognized, seemed to just be circling the field and doing nothing else. She had gotten her answer just a few minutes ago, and joined the crowd in watching the seekers for a moment as they raced against each other, trying to get that strange little gold ball with wings. However, as they’d kept climbing, most returned their focus to the rest of the game as the team in red and gold tried to rally and break the growing stack of goals the blue and silver team were notching up. Rainbow Dash, however, had kept watching the pair. And had seen the blue team one pull away even as the red team one kept going. She’d noticed the way their broom had started to quake, a few of the bristles even coming loose and being picked up gently by the breeze. “I don’t know much about flying brooms… or uh, humans or wizards and all that. But I know a lot about flying.” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. “And uh, kids got guts to still be going up after that little thing, but uh… that seems pretty risky.” As she watched the kid rise, she winced when her eyes caught sight of his broom starting to quake. She sat up, her wings reappearing as they unfolded. She positioned herself as she watched the kid’s hand reaching out, nearly flailing about for that little orb. “C’mon kid, grab it and turn around… or just turn around...” The kid was within arms reach, and the strange gold ball seemed to be growing tired of the chase. It was slowing down with each attempt to grab it that the kid made and- He got it! Rainbow Dash pumped a fist in the air and cheered as she saw his fingers close around the troublesome orb and… She froze. She didn’t hear the broom snap, but she saw the moment it stopped quaking. And she watched, almost as if time was slowing down, the front half of it slipping out from beneath him, racing towards the ground far below. And then, so was the boy. Her wings flared and she kicked off, just as someone in the stadium below cried out. Someone else must have been watching the kid as well, or maybe someone just spotted her. She didn’t know, and she didn’t particularly care. The wind rushed by her as she raced towards the kid, who was flailing about as the rest of his broom went flying off. His eyes widened as he saw her, but she just smirked as he drew closer, spreading her arms out to catch him. It was only seconds before he landed in her arms that she had no real clue how much the kid weighed. Or if he was falling fast enough that she couldn’t catch him. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry or think about that. While he did knock some of the wind from her and pulled her down a bit, she was able to catch him without trouble. “Hehe, you should be more careful in the future, kid. There’s not always going to be a friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash to catch ya.” The kid just stared at her in surprise for a moment, before nodding. She was pretty sure he hadn’t understood her… but it probably wasn’t too hard to make a guess for what she’d meant. They both turned when they heard a shout from below, and they saw that the other players had all landed and that some of the teachers were coming out onto the field, their heads tilted up to see them. Among them was the long bearded guy, Dumbledore, whose expression she couldn’t really read. Rainbow Dash winced, recalling what she’d told her friends before she left. Something told her they weren’t going to let her live that down for a while. Shaking her head, she could only shrug and grip the kid tighter as she angled down and started making for Dumbledore and the small crowd of humans now filling the field. “Hang on kid, let’s get ya back to where ya belong, on solid ground.” > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I am so, so, sooooo sorry Headmaster!” Dumbledore watched as Twilight Sparkle bowed, giving a few more sorry’s as her friends stood around her. A few of them were giving Rainbow Dash the sort of look he had seen on a number of students' faces before. To her credit, Rainbow Dash was meeting their gazes a bit evenly, as she did admittedly have good reason to do so. He offered her a soft smile as he said, “There is no need to apologize, Miss Sparkle. No harm was done, and in fact it is possible your friend’s presence may have saved young Potter’s life.” True, the chances of him actually getting fatally harmed were slim. Madam Hooch was a skilled flier and referee, and would likely have been able to get to Harry in time. And he as well as several of the teachers would likely have reacted before he could smack into the ground at high speed. But saying that would have underscored Rainbow Dash’s quick action. And the simple truth that most of them had been a bit more focused on the rest of the match. “Besides, I am at least partially to blame. It should have occurred to me that boredom, and sheer curiosity, may have caused at least one of you to seek to explore or see what is beyond the infirmary. I know that if I were transported to another world, I would find it hard to keep myself confined to a single chamber.” Rainbow Dash smirked a bit and spoke to her friends, though the scathing retort from Rarity and Rainbow’s wince told him plenty, even if he couldn’t understand. Minerva, who was standing nearby with the other Heads of House, couldn’t help but mirror the slight smirk that formed on his own face. Some things it seems, are universal, Dumbledore thought to himself as Twilight remarked, “Still, we did promise that we’d do our best to remain in the infirmary. I’m sure you had your reasons for not letting us wander freely about the castle.” She wasn’t wrong, and given that there was a strong chance they’d be here for a while, there was no reason not to share it. “You are also correct. Hogwarts is full of magical passages and secret routes that lead to all kinds of rooms. Most are benign, a few are not as they are meant to help deal with intruders. It is also easy for those who don’t know their way to get rather lost. On top of that, with the student body not yet being aware of your presence, I did not wish for them to think there were intruders in the school.” Twilight blinked a bit at that, tilting her head as she asked, “Couldn’t you have told the students we were here?” “Yes, but I wasn’t sure if it would be necessary. This term is nearly over, and in two days the students will be heading home.” Dumbledore remarked, before glancing over to Minverva, Severus, Pomona and Filius. He let out a curious hum as he looked to the six girls, and said, “And of course, I had no way of knowing how long you may be here. That is no longer the case.” That got the attention of everyone in the room. Even Twilight’s friends seemed to perk up, as if sensing he was about to bring up something important even if they didn’t understand him… Sans Rainbow Dash, whom he had likewise cast the translation spell upon after she had set Harry back on the ground. Casting it a second time had been, surprisingly, less difficult than the first had been. Pulling his thoughts back to the matter at hand, Dumbledore raised a hand and a book from a stand nearby slowly levitated over towards him. “Last night, I was visited by our Divinations Professor, Sybill Trelawney. That in and of itself was impressive, given she rarely leaves her tower. She insisted that I check the Book of Admissions, as she claimed to have had a vision for the coming year. That we would have some very interesting new students coming to study here.” As the book landed on his desk, he shot the other professors a small smirk before looking back to Twilight and her friends. “Considering that the norm for Trelawney is to predict the death of a student, this was a curious departure from the norm.” This drew some mixed expressions from their guests after Twilight and Rainbow translated, so Dumbledore decided to forgo further explanation and simply continued. “Sybill was quite insistent, and while I do admit her abilities as a Seer are nowhere near as great as her ancestor, I decided to indulge her after she described all six of the students she saw in her vision.” Everyone’s attention was on him now. Especially the Heads of House. He’d already discussed a bit of the situation with all of them, though Minerva and Severus had heard the most. Except for Severus, they each bore an expression of trepidation. Severus remained as nearly impassive as ever, but his gaze had become more intense. Opening the book, he reached the last page and used his wand to point six names written in golden ink. “Miss Sparkle, Miss Dash? Could you both step closer and read these names for all of us? The translation spell should have enabled you to read English as well as understand and speak it.” Slowly, they both gave a nod and approached the desk. Both looked down, and read aloud the names, first in English, then in Equestrian. The look of surprise on their faces was, really, all that Dumbledore needed. Nonetheless... “They are your names, and the names of your friends, correct?” Twilight nodded. “I don’t quite understand… you said yesterday that this was a school for magical humans… we aren’t human though, even if uh, we look like it right now. So why are our names in it?” “Indeed. Which is an important fact, given that by the laws of Britain’s Ministry of Magic, non-human magical beings aren’t allowed to learn wand magic. At the same time however, the very nature of this book here means that barring myself and a majority of the staff and the Board of Governors being in agreement, it can only register the names of human witches and wizards.” Dumbledore remarked, a smile spreading on his face as he added, “And I can assure you that I have not inquired about such with any of the staff, nor have the Board of Governors agreed to such.” Minerva snorted at that. “Given who is on the board, even bothering to ask would be pointless.” Rainbow Dash glanced back to the teachers, and her equally confused friends, before looking to Dumbledore. “So uh, what does this mean exactly?” Dumbledore steepled his fingers for a moment. He had been giving this a fair bit of thought since he woke. “I have come to at least three conclusions, the most likely ones at least given what little we both know so far. The first of course, is tied to the last, but is essentially that you being here is an accident. But this here, makes me think the chances of that are unlikely now.” “The second hypothesis is that you were sent here with the explicit goal being to make contact with magical beings of another world, and to share knowledge of your world while learning about ours, and that something went a bit wrong en route. That the fates are still inclined to see your mission through though, and have ensured you can do so by having you enroll here at Hogwarts.” “Which you described to us as one of the most prestigious magical schools of the world.” Twilight noted, earning a nod from Dumbledore. “And the alternative is…” Twilight chose to finish for him as she said, “That someone sent us here, reasons unknown, and figures that doing something like this will keep us here for a while.” Dumbledore nodded sagely. “There are other possibilities, but without more information, I believe I can safely say those aren’t likely enough to be worth mentioning. As it is, at the moment, I have no reason to deny you and us this opportunity. If you wish to take it, that is.” He stood up, closing the book as he continued.  “Even if your being brought here was purely an accident, the magic of the school seems to believe the six of you are witches, or that you are worthy of being students here. And as you regain your memory, you would be able to share much with us as we share with you. Beyond that, learning about the magic here may have practical value both in helping to find a way for you to return home, and may be something you could bring back to your world.” Twilight frowned, going deep in thought while Rainbow simplified the discussion for the others. Rarity seemed to ask a question, and Rainbow quickly translated it. Minerva stepped in to answer while Dumbledore paid close attention to Twilight and the others. “Yes, there are costs for books, equipment, and so forth. The school does have a fund for assisting those who do not have much in the way of resources of course…” “And I have, on occasion, dipped into my own wealth to assist incoming students as well.” Dumbledore added, smiling softly. “And given the circumstances, I would not mind doing so. As I said, this could be a learning experience for us as well. This is the first contact we have had with magical beings from another world, or dimension of existence, after all.” “Will this cause you any trouble?” Twilight asks, and Dumbledore considers it for a moment. “It will ruffle some feathers and cause some outcry among some. But I believe once it's made clear the circumstances are special, things will settle down. In any case, since you would be spending the vast majority of your time here at the castle, you likely would not have to deal with most of it.” He adds, almost as an afterthought, “Assuming, of course, you chose to enroll here.” The six girls looked at each other for a moment, their expressions ranging from uncertainty to excitement and at times shifting here and there amongst themselves. “Is there… someplace we could discuss this amongst ourselves?” Twilight finally asked, earning a nod from Dumbledore. He waved his hand, and the door to his quarters opened up. “Feel free to take as long as you need in there.” They all nodded, and made their way in, Twilight’s magic gripping the door and closing it behind them. Dumbledore was quick to cast a spell upon the door so they could have some privacy, and so he could discuss with his staff the prophecy that Trelawney had shared the previous evening. Their reactions were about as he expected. “So, as if we didn’t need further evidence for it, we know that the Dark Lord seeks to return, but that some powerful entity has decided to involve themselves, and these girls, in some ‘game’ as he sees it, with Fate itself,” Pomona inquired, with Filius quick to interject. “And on top of that, in some way, these girls may just wind up playing a role. And that their absence from their own world shall also change things.” Dumbledore nodded. “Before, I had pondered the possibility that their arrival here was accidental. This new prophecy however, removes any chance of such. And the fact their names appear to have been added to the book itself…” Filius perked up at this. “So, their names didn’t just appear there?” Dumbledore could only shake his head, while Severus spoke up. “Professor McGonagall and I double checked it. The ink that their names are written in is imbued with magic unfamiliar to us, and of a nature that I feel attempting to remove them might have unforeseen consequences.” He looked to Dumbledore and added, “It is why, even if I am leery of playing into the hands of some unknown entity, I am giving my full backing to the Headmaster’s decision.” “You back this Severus?” Pomona asked with a raised eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have expected you to support this.” “I am no fool Professor Sprout. It is clear someone or something wishes them to be here, refusing to give them the choice may have consequences difficult to deal with. And I suspect that, given their own circumstances, they shall accept the offer, if for no other reason than to secure a place to stay.” Severus replied.  There was the barest hint of a glare from him as he added, “Obviously they should be held to higher standards and expectations if they do accept, as not only are they older than the typical student to first come here, but they are not human. And should they come to pose a threat to the safety of the school or the students, through this prophecy or other means, they should be handled swiftly and accordingly.” Pomona could harrumph as she said, “I stand corrected.” Minerva however pursed her lips and asked, “Do you really think the Board, not to mention the Ministry, are going to accept this Albus?” Dumbledore could only shrug. “I believe once I explain the situation to my allies among the board, even Lucius will not be able to do much. And I am confident that Minister Fudge can be convinced to support the move as well. What I am most worried about is just what this prophecy entails.” Filius snorted a bit, chuckling as he said, “I for one look forward to how the papers will view things.” Minerva and Pomona both groaned at that, while Dumbledore simply smirked as he remarked, “This of course presumes that they do decide to take the offer. Though I must admit, I wonder what houses they would all wind up in.” He peered at the four of them, a mischievous glimmer flashing in his eye as he inquired, “Do you think any of them would wind up in your House, Severus?” Severus didn’t even bat an eye. “I have absolutely no idea, Headmaster.” He glanced at the door nearby, before adding, “We will just have to wait and see.” -*- Twilight closed the door with her magic as the last of her friends followed in. There was temptation to explore the quarters of the Headmaster of a magical school, but they decided against it. They were in here after all, to discuss their answer to the question that had been posed to them. She looked at each of her friends, and then asked, “Well girls, what do you think?” “I totally think we should like, totally accept it!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she bounced into the center of the group. “I mean, I know for sure you definitively wanna say yes yes yes yes! After all, magic is your special talent and learning about magic from another world seems like something you’d absolutely want to do!” Twilight blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her head. “Y~You’re not wrong there Pinkie, but well, why-” Twilight let out a squeak as Pinkie gave the horn marking on her forehead a light poke. “I know what you’re about to ask, and for me at least, well, I've got lots of reasons I can think of! But one of them is cause we could all use those pretty sticks-” “Wands,” Twilight interjected, rubbing softly at her forehead. “Right, wands! If we had those, we’d all be able to do the kind of magic you and Rarity can do!” “That would be pretty awesome. I can’t remember all the stuff I’ve seen ya do Twilight, but I know you’ve done some amazing stuff with your magic.” Rainbow Dash remarked. “And what is my magic, chopped dandelions?” Rarity inquired, earning a sheepish look from Rainbow. “I know I don’t have anywhere near as many spells as Twilight, but I can do a fair bit more than you know.” She paused for a moment to tap her chin, frowning as she added, “Or well, it feels like I do at least.” “I~I wonder if they have any magic that’d be useful for helping to take care of animals,” Fluttershy pondered aloud, while Applejack offered her own two bits. “I reckon there’s not much of an option for us, is there?” Twilight tilted her head a bit at that, while Pinkie Pie popped up next to her and asked, “What’s wrong Applejack, don’t like the idea of getting to use magic like a unicorn?” Applejack seemed ready to deny such, but after a moment and a brief glimmer in her eyes she sighed and admitted, “I am a bit leery of it I admit. I’m used to doing a lot of things the old Earth Pony way, which means hard work and sweat. Not that Unicorns don’t do hard work themselves, but magic does make it loads easier.” “Applejack, Earth Ponies use magic too you know, just different magic.” Twilight commented, working to recall the differences between the magic of the three tribes and having some luck… though she was sure she was forgetting some things. “I know. But... Well, when you’re raised to often see unicorn magic as a bit of a shortcut, it's hard to let it go. It's why I got upset at ya last Winter Wrap Up.” For a brief moment, Twilight didn’t recollect what Applejack meant. Then there was a glimmer in her mind and she was able to remember it in crystal clear clarity. She blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her head, giggling a bit as she said, “Hehehe, I got overeager to help, especially after all the rest of my luck that day.” Applejack smiled, coming over and giving Twilight’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “And once I found out later, we talked about it some and I promised to try not to be so hard on magic in the future.” Twilight smiled softly, giving Applejack a nuzzle. “And you have… I think.” “Yeah, kind of hard to remember right now isn’t it?” The other girls nodded, and Applejack sighed again. “But I think we’re getting a bit sidetracked. We’re here, basically alone and on our own. I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t have any bits on me, so we don’t really have much in the way of money so-” “I’ve got some!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, fishing around in her dress pockets, reaching in between the collar of her shirt, which for some reason made the other girls blush just slightly. She pulled off a boot, turned it upside down, and then shook her curly, poofy hair about as a few more golden bits rained out.  Gathering them all up, she smiled and said, “We’ve got thirty bits! That’s five for each of us!” Applejack blinked and opened and closed her mouth a few times, before shaking her head as she said, “Right, so we got 30 bits, still not gonna do much more than maybe get us a bushel or two of apples. We don’t know much of anything about this world, and right now only two of us can even speak with the locals.” After getting some more nods from the girls, Applejack carried on. “And right now, we have no way of getting back home that we know of. We don’t even really know what those pieces of jewelry we showed up with are or what they do. We only know each of them belongs to us and that they're important.” “I think I see where you’re going with this.” Rarity interrupted. “You’re basically saying that we need to say yes to this offer, even if we didn’t think this was a good idea.” Applejack nodded, then added with a bit of a snark, “And besides, even ignoring all that… if we don’t accept the offer, what exactly would we be spending our time doing anyways? Anypony have any ideas?” There was silence at that. While it probably wouldn’t be hard to find things to do even if they said no, there was no guarantee anything they tried on their own would help them figure out a way back home. And even if they did try to learn the magic of this place on their own… it’d be slower, take more time, and they’d be liable to face more trouble without the help of someone important. Like the Head of the realm’s foremost magical school. “So then, are we in agreement on this?” Twilight asked as she looked at each of her friends. She waited til she got a nod from them, then moved to open the door. She paused however as she asked, “Anypony have any questions Rainbow or I need to ask when we walk back in?” The only real question anypony seemed to have was what the plan was for them learning the local language. The translation spell seemed rather useful, but Twilight had shared with them that it supposedly only lasted a week or so. Unless the spell was able to permanently impart some understanding, recasting it over and over would become tedious and or potentially problematic. Otherwise, the consensus was that any other questions or things they’d need to deal with would either possibly be answered (or asked) by the humans themselves, or would come to the forefront when something relevant to them rose up to be a problem. With such sorted, Twilight went ahead and opened the door so they could head back into the Headmaster’s office. She caught the tail end of a conversation, one that seemed to be centered on which of the four houses they thought the six of them might wind up in. Bit presumptuous to be thinking that isn’t it? Twilight thought to herself, but then shook the thought off. If they’d reached the conclusion that they didn’t have much other options but to accept the offer, chances were good the humans had done so as well. And she’d be lying if she herself wasn’t a bit curious, the thought having been lurking in her mind since her first exchange of information with the Headmaster. She looked to Dumbledore, who had turned his gaze towards them as they filed back in. She looked to the other teachers who were watching her and her friends intently, and gave a nod. “With no place of our own here, and no way of knowing how to get home right now, we need as much help as we can get. So, we’ve decided to accept your offer to become students here at Hogwarts.” “Excellent!” Dumbledore remarked, beaming at them as he said, “I am sure it will be quite an informative education for all of us.” The older teacher, McGonagall, if Twilight remembered the name correctly, said, “There are still a few things we will need to sort out before we go any further, but first, is there anything else you would like to ask us?” “Yeah, actually, we got a big one.” Rainbow Dash jumped in, glancing at the other four before asking, “Are any of you good at teaching English?” -*- The rest of the day was spent discussing a number of things that they’d be dealing with in the coming days and weeks before the start of next term. How to introduce themselves to the students, how much to share, discussions about what trouble they were likely to face from the Ministry and or the Board of Governors, among many other things. The good news, at least for the moment, was that they would have lodging for the summer and the school year at least, and that the school did in fact have a teacher who specialized in teaching more mundane things such as language and grammar. So as long as they worked hard, they should be able to manage to learn enough English to not need the translation spell. There was some lingering worry amongst the girls, and that was to be expected. After they’d accepted, Dumbledore had informed them that due to the fact they were non-human, others would be more likely to judge them unfairly. And that many would be watching and hoping they didn’t do well in their time there, eager for anything that would give them reason to push for them to be removed from the school. Dumbledore however did his best to reassure them, letting them know that even if it did wind up that they had to leave the school, he would do his best to continue to help them in their efforts to both restore their memories and find a way home. Twilight got the strong impression that the Headmaster (and head of the British magical parliament they learned) saw their presence and this turn of events as possibly a boon for opening some minds amongst the magical population.  And even if most hearts and minds remained closed off, making contact with another world of magic would still in of itself be a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself, and open the doors to many other possibilities for both worlds. They were a bit surprised to learn that one possible complication would be Spike, who had been fetched from the Infirmary where he’d been napping to be brought up to speed. His being a dragon meant he was supposed to be a carefully regulated creature according to the laws of the Ministry. But given his being sapient, that threw his status into a bit of an odd gray area, given that (as far as anyone knew) dragons were nothing more than powerful, dangerous beasts. But that would likely be sorted after they got introduced to the Minister, which would happen after Dumbledore brought him up to speed in the next few days.  But first would come their introduction to the students, which after some discussion between them and the teachers, it was decided would be conducted the following evening during the End of Term Feast. They would also be honest and forthright about what they were, that they weren’t from here, and that they were lost. There had been some disagreement on this, but Applejack had made two rather convincing points. One, withholding the truth would just hurt them in the long run. It’d make people think they had something to hide, and thus more reason to distrust them. Two, it was likely going to get out eventually anyways. So best to get it out in the open and out of the way sooner rather than later. There was a worry that this could make things more difficult for Dumbledore’s own efforts to smooth things over with the Board and Ministry, but Professors McGonagall and Snape both rightly pointed out that things were doubtless going to be rocky regardless. With such things settled and sorted, or as sorted as they could be for the time being, Dumbledore informed them their temporary quarters had been arranged. He led them through the castle, the group not bumping into anyone besides a grumpy man the Headmaster informed them was caretaker for the school, Mr. Filch. They arrived in one of the school’s many extra classrooms, which had been converted temporarily into an apartment of sorts for the six of them. Divided between a communal living area and sleeping area, it would serve as their home for the next two months. He did request that, at least until the students had left, the seven of them stick to their quarters, and that they hold off on explorations of the castle for after the students had left for the summer holidays. This time, Twilight made sure they were all quite clear on the promise they made. She didn’t want them to wind up giving the impression they were going to be trying to wriggle their way out of their word.  This of course prompted Pinkie Pie to poof up considerably as she suggested they do a Pinkie promise, which they all quickly agreed to. The level of seriousness that suddenly filled the room as they conducted the motions Pinkie Pie instructed them to make gave Dumbledore the sincere impression that they’d practically made a magical contract with their friend and left the Headmaster pondering just how different some of their magic might be… He informed them Professor McGonagall would come to fetch them the next evening for the End of Term Feast and their introduction to the students, and that before the end of the night a Professor Yelik Levance would be coming by get to know them and give them the books they’d be using to learn English. Excusing himself, noting he needed to get started on getting in contact with the Governors and with the Minister, the seven of them started getting settled into the room. Each of them couldn’t help but wonder if they had made the right choice in accepting the offer, and just how much difficulty they’d face in the days ahead. Not for the first time, the question of just how long it would take to regain their memories, and how long it’d be till they could return home, flitted through their minds. Not willing to see such heavy thoughts weigh down her friends, Pinkie got them to play a bit of a guessing and memory game. She figured if they did it every few days and kept track of their score for it, they could see if they were making progress on recollecting their past and putting the pieces together. It served as a good distraction, at least until Professor Levance arrived a few hours later. The lightly tanned, thin man with slightly curly hair didn’t waste any time moving past introductions and getting straight to work explaining the work they’d be doing.  The groan Rainbow Dash let out when he mentioned he’d be assigning them homework as well earned her a light punch from Applejack, who assured her she’d be making sure she didn’t spend most of the summer napping when they had a language to learn.  They spent a little bit going over the books that Professor Levance had brought along, then noted that if they thought it would make things easier, they could work to try and teach him Equestrian along the way. Considering he already knew several languages, adding another was not a difficult prospect for him. They at least were all able to share a chuckle at the concerned look that crossed the Professor’s face as Twilight eyes went wide and her smile began to stretch almost unnaturally across her face. And the nervous look he got once Twilight bounced over and started hopping in a circle around him as she squealed and repeated, “Yes yes yesyesyesyesyes!!!” excitedly. Levance left just around the time some House Elves popped in and brought them their dinner. A mixture of dishes that were quite popular across the British Isles, or so the Elves claimed. It had come as a surprise to Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore that they were capable of, and alright, with eating meat. Equestrians were omnivores after all as far as they could remember, even if on average their memories gave the impression that most preferred a primarily vegetarian diet. It was still something several of them were adjusting to, though the one handling it most easily was Fluttershy.  Which, given she recalled her job involved tending to and caring for all kinds of animals, wasn’t that surprising. Once they finished, they thanked the House Elves profusely, to which they bowed and expressed their happiness to serve before vanishing away. But not before informing them they also had a small bathroom attached to the room. Which was nice, since they hadn’t really had a chance to bathe since getting here.  After a quick group shower, Spike included much to his embarrassment, they all started getting situated for bed. It was a bit early, but they wanted to go ahead and make sure they got plenty of rest for tomorrow. There were still unknowns about tomorrow, and each of them was feeling at least some level of anxiety. Even Pinkie Pie! Wishing each other good night, the six girls and one dragon nestled into the soft and comfy mattresses slowly drifted off to sleep. Each of them hoped that their introduction to the students went smoothly, and that there wouldn’t be too much backlash to their presence in the school.