Elements of Harmony
Chapter 27: The Great and Powerful
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HOGSMEADE, FOURTH EARTH
People used to avoid the Shrieking Shack because of what they thought was there. Given the creaking and howling noises that emitted from it about once a month, it was named the most haunted building in Britain and perceived as very dangerous. However, after the summer of 1998, people stayed away from the Shrieking Shack because of what they thought wasn't there. It had become public knowledge after the death of Remus Lupin, a known werewolf, that the noises in the Shack were caused by Lupin when he'd transformed into a wolf, as he would use the building to hide away from society and keep himself from harming others. Now that Lupin was gone, and sent off with a hero's funeral, the Shack was quiet, presumed empty. No one particularly wanted to buy it after its history, so it sat out at the edge of the wizarding village of Hogsmeade, unapproached, undisturbed.
But most certainly not empty.
It contained shame, primarily. When one has been suspected all one's life of having dallied with evil, when one has been responsible for unspeakable acts that were unfortunately necessary, when one becomes aware that the only way one will be celebrated is if one is dead…why would one ever come out of hiding?
After all, it didn't seem as though anyone was ever going to look.
HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH
"…and you'll be having Defense Against the Dark Arts," Luna told Twilight at the Ravenclaw breakfast table. "It's the most important class. It will teach you how to save yourself from mortal danger."
"That sounds useful," Twilight affirmed…to say the least.
A loud clearing of the throat caught Twilight's attention. She turned to see Applejack standing behind her.
"We need to have a meeting after all the classes are done," she told Twilight. "It's, uh…important. You have to come too, Luna."
"What's going on?" Twilight asked, suspicious.
"Clearing air," Applejack replied. "Seventh floor, left corridor, behind the tapestry of some guy dancing with trolls. Around six."
"The Room of Requirement?" Luna answered. "How did you know—"
"Because Hermione said. See you there?"
"Uh…yeah," Twilight said, and Luna nodded assent."
"Good." Applejack moved on to the Slytherin table to find Rarity. Across the room, Twilight spotted Rainbow Dash speaking to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
"I wonder what all that's about," Twilight muttered. "Well, I guess we'll find out at six."
Down in the dungeons, Hufflepuff first-years gathered for the first Potions class of the year. The professor, a corpulent man, stood at the front of the dank classroom, scowling.
"I will have you know that there will be no nonsense in this classroom," he told the students. "At the slightest note of fooling around, you will be given detention. I would also advise you to be careful with these potions, as they are quite dangerous in the wrong hands, and we wouldn't want any…accidents." After letting that sink in, his mouth split into a wide grin. "Only joking! But that was a pretty good impression, wasn't it? Oh, never mind, you're too young, you wouldn't have…in any case, this is Potions class. I, Professor Horace Slughorn, will have the opportunity to teach you this year."
"He really had me going!" Pinkie whispered—though not very quietly—to Fluttershy. "I thought he was some kinda serious meanie!"
"Ah, Fluttershy Posey and Pinkie Pie!" Slughorn said loudly, approaching the pair. "I've heard many things about you! You are quite special students indeed!"
"Um…what exactly…do you know?" Fluttershy asked.
"That you wield strange and arcane elements the likes of which haven't been heard of for centuries! I can't possibly even begin to divulge the truth of it, for this entire class would go mad from the revelation!"
Fluttershy and Pinkie realized at that point that Slughorn knew absolutely nothing about the Elements of Harmony.
"I certainly hope to see you at one of my little soirées," Slughorn said softly to them as an aside. He clapped his hands and moved to the front of the classroom. "Now! Let us begin by discussing the basic principles of the Draught of the Living Death! Which, unfortunately, we are not permitted to actually brew. Apparently, it could be used for 'evil purposes'…"
"Looks like you two are already in the Slug Club," a first-year boy whispered to Fluttershy and Pinkie.
"Huh?" Pinkie replied.
"I've heard about Slughorn," the boy continued. "He 'collects' important students. You should have seen him when Harry Potter was here. Anyway, given all the rules they broke to let you two in, you two HAVE to be important. He knows that."
"Should we be scared of him?" Fluttershy inquired.
"No," the boy said. "At least, I think not. The most he gets is annoying. He's harmless, but he just sees you as trophies to show off at his dinner parties. I hear the food is usually good at those, though."
"We're already famous!" Pinkie giggled.
"I'm not sure how I feel about that," Fluttershy whispered, extra softly.
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ricksmith began to his class of Ravenclaw first-years. "In this course, you will learn how to defend yourself from that which threatens you in the magical world. For every curse, there is a counter-curse. And for every dark spell, there is one of light."
At this, Twilight, remembering words that Rarity had carried to her from a certain keeper of shadows, put her hand right up.
"Yes, Miss Sparkle?" Ricksmith said.
"Will we get to learn any of the dark spells?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I know they're not all bad, and they could come in handy."
She knew immediately that she had crossed a line, one far more taboo than bringing up Fred Weasley to any of his siblings or Florean Fortescue to Caelan. The entire class went absolutely silent and still. No one turned a page or lifted a quill. Everyone just stared at Twilight.
Finally, Ricksmith found his voice. "Er…you see…there is a time and place for some dark spells, but they are usually VERY urgent circumstances. Admittedly, some charms like Incendio are technically rooted in darkness, but nowadays, the term has come to refer more to the use of magic than to its origin—"
"That doesn't seem fair," Twilight argued—since she'd broken the barrier irreparably, she might as well go all the way. "Why don't you just call spells what they are? And even the bad ones can be used for good. I once used a spell of fear to counteract a fear-inducing charm and unlock the hiding place of a sacred artifact in a fortress that belonged to a tyrant. Without it, my friends and I would have been lost."
"Even if that is so," Ricksmith said, "that would be one of those very urgent circumstances, and not likely to happen again. Such enchantments should probably be avoided in the future for your own sake. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt. Not that I believe that's your intention, but all the same…"
"I think I get it," Twilight said sourly.
She let Ricksmith continue, showing them the theory behind the Curse of the Bogies and then teaching the countercurse, then having the entire class practice the countercurse on empty air. Twilight thought briefly that such practice was useless without an actual Curse of the Bogies to repel—otherwise, how would one know if one had gotten the countercurse right? But mostly, her mind was occupied with the way the others stared at her. No one spoke to her, not even when class let out.
She feared her question, one she thought innocent, had made several enemies.
At the end of the day, the six Equestrians made their way to the designated meeting place. Rarity was the last to arrive, coming across the door she'd been told was the rendez-vous point. She opened it to find a spacious room filled with couches that happened to be arranged in a circle. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger were arranged on the seats there.
"Now, what is this about?" Rarity asked, closing the door and moving toward an empty seat.
"The truth," Applejack began.
"Ginny and I know all about you," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Beginning with the fact that you are actually all ponies from Equestria."
"Ponies?" Luna asked quizzically. "Equestria? What does this mean?"
"And how do you KNOW?" Twilight asked.
"I read about the Elements of Harmony in one book," Hermione explained. "A book about interdimensional magic. All that book said is that the Elements weren't from this world. After that…"
"After that," Rainbow Dash finished, "she told us she knew that, and we couldn't keep it a secret."
"We should catch up Luna," Applejack suggested.
"Okay!" Pinkie volunteered. She took in a great gasp before spouting in one breath: "We're actually all ponies who come from Equestria! Except that Twilight and Rarity are unicorns and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are pegasi! We have the Elements of Harmony, which are pieces of magic based on friendship, and they defeat evil! They defeated a lot of evil back home! Only we were told that we actually had to go on an adventure in the universe to stop a really bad future of chaos from happening, and we ran into this evil faerie named Maleficent who's ruining everything! And our Elements weren't strong enough to stop her! But Princess Celestia, who happens to have a sister named Luna just like you, told us that we could get stronger if we learned more about magic, so we came here, and THAT Luna talked with Professor McGonagall to make us first-years! And so we're here!"
"I see!" Luna smiled softly.
"But you have to keep it a secret!" Pinkie added.
"Of course," said Luna.
"The three of us have…experience dealing with things no one believed," Hermione said. "A lot of our adventures dealt with secrets this world wasn't ready for. I can only think of three other people who would be able to understand…and Harry, Ron, and Neville have all graduated by now."
"I can think of a fourth," Luna volunteered, "but Draco's also graduated."
"That stuck-up little brat?" Ginny wrinkled her nose. "He only knew about the rising of the dark forces because he was part of them. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him."
"The point is," Hermione said, "that we're probably the only three students here your secret is safe with. That being said, if you need help with anything, we'll be there for you."
"Thanks," Twilight replied. "It means a lot to have you on our side here. I can't think of anything I need help with right now, but…girls? Anything?"
There was silence until Fluttershy spoke up: "Should we be…afraid of Professor Slughorn?"
Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes before Ginny sighed, "No…but I wouldn't go telling him just anything. He'll try to make himself the mentor of anyone he thinks is powerful or special. And that means all of you. He isn't a very good mentor, either. But you don't need to fear him."
"What do we need to watch out for here?" Twilight asked. "In the last two worlds we visited…great evils came to try and ruin things."
"The greatest evil we had is gone," Hermione answered.
"About that," Twilight said. "We keep hearing about Voldemort and this war. What exactly…happened?"
"Voldemort was a dark wizard who was infamous for murdering those who weren't pure-blooded wizards," Hermione answered. "He'd found a way to make himself immortal by putting pieces of his soul into certain objects. Once he'd done that, he tried to attack our school."
"So he transferred himself into a phylactery," Twilight said.
"A what now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"A soul container," Twilight answered.
"Not quite," Hermione corrected. "A phylactery holds the whole soul, and I've never heard of any way to actually transfer the entire soul into another object before. It's supposedly impossible. Voldemort used Horcruxes, which means he split his soul."
"How do you split a soul?" Twilight asked.
"By killing," Hermione answered.
Twilight shuddered involuntarily.
"He'd accidentally transferred part of his soul into my friend Harry Potter when Harry was young," Hermione went on. "You see, Sybil Trelawney, the old Divination professor here, had prophesied that Harry would grow up to defeat Voldemort. And when they were bonded that way, it became so that one of them had to kill the other. To make a long story short, Harry, Ginny's brother Ron, and I found all the Horcruxes and destroyed them before the great battle for Hogwarts earlier this year. Once Voldemort was mortal, we were able to kill him. Ginny and Luna helped us all the way, and so did our friend Neville Longbottom, the wielder of the Sword of Gryffindor."
"Wow," Twilight replied. "That's…"
"So cool!" Rainbow Dash finished. "You must feel so awesome that you were able to beat the bad guy!"
"Well, it isn't without perks," Hermione admitted, "but it wasn't easy on any of us."
"We all still have bad memories," Luna said, "but then again, there's always the future to look forward to."
"There shouldn't be any more real trouble here," Hermione concluded. "Voldemort's followers were all rounded up, and most of them died. The Ministry of Magic is in hands that are on the side of the truth now. You should just be able to focus on learning."
"That's good to hear," Fluttershy sighed.
"Especially since we have a lot of studying to do for today's classes," Twilight pointed out. "Hey…you wouldn't want to have a group study session, would you?"
Hermione laughed. "Now that's something I wish I'd heard more often during the past six years! I'm open to studying together so long as classes don't get in the way."
"Is it just me," Applejack murmured to a giggling Rarity, "or have we found Twilight's long-lost twin studying sister?"
"Is the library here any good?" Twilight asked.
"You haven't been to the library!" Hermione gasped. "You…you won't even be able to believe it! We should go there right now."
"We'll have to get all our books first," Twilight said. "Well…everypony else will." She tapped the satchel at her side. "I already have mine!"
"So do I!" Hermione practically squealed.
"Yup," Applejack said with a nod. "Practically twins."
Over the first week of courses, the six Equestrians learned the oddity of their relationship to magic.
Twilight and Rarity were able to do all spells with ease—in no time, Twilight was levitating random objects around the Ravenclaw common room with Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm, and Rarity was doing the same soon after. However, the others seemed to have no aptitude for spells…at first.
"I…can't do it," Applejack sighed after trying to cast Wingardium Leviosa on the feather on her desk in Charms class.
"It's all right," professor Filius Flitwick, a dwarf with a white beard and a wide smile, reassured her. "You can study the theory." He then moved on.
"But I don't wanna study the theory," Applejack groaned. "This magic wand chose me for a reason, didn't it?" She sighed again. "Or maybe we ain't so magical after all. Maybe these wands made a mistake."
"A MISTAKE?" Rainbow Dash repeated. "No way! Luna—Princess Luna—said we could do this. And we can do this!"
"Have you tried to levitate anything?"
"Not yet."
"You won't be able to do it. Face it, Dash, we ain't unicorns—"
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"
Applejack's jaw dropped. At Rainbow Dash's command, the feather rose into the air. "But how—how'd you—"
"I just told it to," Rainbow Dash said with a proud smirk.
"Well, I can't get it," Applejack complained. "Maybe you just got more magic than me."
"I doubt that," Rainbow Dash said, lowering the feather.
"But you can do all that rainbow stuff—"
"Okay, yeah, but maybe the others can do it too! We should check."
"I can do it just fine," Fluttershy said, levitating a book up and down in the library. "But Pinkie Pie—"
"I can't!" Pinkie sobbed, rivers of tears bursting from her eyes. "I'm a failure! A lost cause!"
"No, you're not, Pinkie," Twilight said, patting her distressed friend on the back. "You're just—um, Fluttershy? Can I have that book back? I kinda need it to look up the Gargoyle Strike of 1911."
"Oh." Fluttershy lowered the book. "Sorry."
"Anyway," Twilight said, "we all have magic to some degree. I think it might vary just what kind we have. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, you two are really connected to air anyway. That might be why you can levitate things."
"And you think Pinkie and I have other talents?" Applejack asked.
"You never know," Twilight said. "And by that, I mean…I don't exactly know what's going on or why Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy even have some powers without all of them. It's…kind of strange. But it is what it is, I guess."
"Then we'll just study the theory until we find out what our powers are," Applejack resolved. She opened a book. "Except this whole Transfiguration theory just has me baffled."
"How?" Twilight asked. "See, you just take the body mass of the wizard, multiply it by the viciousness of the caster, take it to the exponent of the wand power, and divide by concentration while leaving a space for the fifth variable when you write it out. How is that confusing you?"
She was met with five blank stares.
"Well, Hermione thought it was simple…" Twilight groaned.
And so Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie contented themselves with mostly working on studies that didn't have to do with casting spells directly. They could observe the moons of Jupiter without trouble, take note of the properties of Dittany, and discover for themselves that as interesting as it sounded, the History of Magic was actually incredibly dull.
Then came the day that the Hufflepuff first-years were introduced to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Curse of the Bogies?" Pinkie Pie read from her book. She giggled. "That sounds funny!"
"Not to me," Fluttershy said. "It actually sounds awful. Who would want to curse someone with having a cold?"
"I dunno," Pinkie replied. "Maybe if somebody was being really mean, and you didn't want to hurt them exactly…or if somebody wanted to be out sick for class!"
"Let's just practice the countercurse," Fluttershy suggested. "Maybe we can do it." She flicked her wand eagerly.
"The incantation even sounds funny!" Pinkie laughed. She jokingly waved her wand, saying loudly and clearly, "Mucus ad Nauseum!"
Fluttershy screamed.
"OH NO!" Pinkie Pie cried; Fluttershy's nose was running profusely. Fluttershy gave a couple sneezes before dizzily gripping her desk.
"What…what have you done?" Ricksmith asked, rushing to Fluttershy.
"I don't know!" Pinkie cried worriedly. "I just kinda waved my wand as a joke, and then the Curse of the Bogies happened! I'm so sorry, Fluttershy!"
"Oh, I d'ow you didi'd bea'd id," Fluttershy replied through her stuffed nose.
"But there's no way you could have…it's highly advanced magic…" Ricksmith shook his head. "Never mind. Don't worry, Fluttershy, I'll have you fixed in—"
"Ca'd I d'ry?" Fluttershy asked?
"Well, erm, I don't see why not…"
Fluttershy turned her wand on herself, muttering the countercurse as best she could through her nasal congestion. Immediately, her sinuses cleared and she felt less dizzy. "I did it," she muttered in awe. "I…cured myself!"
"Well, good show!" Ricksmith congratulated.
When the class let out, murmurs rippled through the crowd: "All these centaurs want to do is learn dark magic…" "How soon before they turn on us?"
"I really didn't mean it," Pinkie muttered to Fluttershy, sounding on the verge of tears.
In response, Fluttershy quickly turned upon the next student she heard whispering. "Did you have something you wanted to say to my friend's FACE?"
"Er…no!" The student whimpered and then scurried off.
"Don't let them make you sad," Fluttershy told Pinkie. "You were only joking. And now we know what power you have."
"I wonder what Twilight would think of that," Pinkie thought out loud.
This time, Luna, Ginny, and Hermione were present for the study session.
"This really is rather odd," Hermione agreed. "I haven't heard of witches who can only do some spells and not others."
"At least I have a theory about why they were what they were," Twilight surmised. "Pinkie can do the Curse of the Bogies because, well, giving somebody a runny nose is kind of a crazy thing, and Pinkie's really random. And Fluttershy can counter it because that's healing, and we all know how good Fluttershy is at healing others."
"I do wonder what other spells will turn up in your repertoire," Rarity said.
"Well, those are all the spells you'll be learning this week," Ginny pointed out. "So you probably won't know until later."
"I'll be patient to find out mine, then," Applejack resolved.
QUADWRANGLE MANOR, THE FLUFFY HEAVY SLOW-MOTION UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD
It had taken a lot of work to get the house the way it was…floating midair above a world in flux between five dimensions, with each room disposed to giving over to a different dimension at any time. For Discord, it had involved a long and complex lie to a young child about being his uncle, a brief vacation in the Pocket Dimension adjacent to this interdimensional mess, a lot of unethically obtained chemicals, and several rewirings of a device that Discord had to admit had taken some inspiration from elsewhere—the concept of merging five parallel versions of the same house in dimensions with vastly differing physical properties had been his own, but the portable device used as the initial trigger, a right gauntlet wired with buttons leading to each dimension, was…reminiscent, Discord liked to say, of certain other magical artifacts he'd seen. At the end of the day, the poor pawn that had been manipulated into tweaking the final dimensional rift had ended up in the Pocket Dimension—safe, of course, as Discord knew that he could come in handy later, but Discord hadn't exactly told the truth when he'd sent a message across to the boy that he was "working on a way to get you out".
In any case, though it was nothing compared to the old citadel (though a step up from the time the Old Ones had all been roommates in that giant locked box), Discord had succeeded in making Quadwrangle Manor a decent substitute. Provided that he could carry all five dimensional auras, he wouldn't have said no to installing it among the old citadel (though the others would balk; the Manor was based on Euclidean geometry and would stick out like a sore thumb).
It was, however, rather large. Too large. Discord found himself rattling around the manor with only one Interdimensional Kinetic Entity, a catlike creature he referred to as "Ike", popping in and out of existence as he felt like it to provide company. Perhaps, Discord surmised, he should invite Mirage over. Not Chaos Jr…there was no way he was letting that little twerp in on his new crowning achievement. Not the Ethereal…she would try to judge it, and find it boring. Not Chrysalis…she wasn't ready. And Discord had no idea how many of the others there were still around, or who he should try to find first. Mirage would be good company, though, and she might appreciate the loftiness of the manor, as well as the randomness of the rooms that slowed down time, or flipped upside down, or became padded as cotton, or transformed into metal cells filled with weights.
As it was, Discord was alone, and trying to decide on his next path. He took a book down from the Great Hall bookshelf and opened it. It contained enchanted pictures that moved like television screens. On it, he was able to stream whatever he liked…and he chose to watch the studies of the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony as they progressed through their first week at Hogwarts.
A montage showed them trying and failing at some spells only to succeed at others. Applejack and Pinkie couldn't levitate the feather, but Rainbow Dash could. Pinkie cast the Curse of the Bogies on Fluttershy—Discord laughed out loud—and Fluttershy healed herself. And yet Pinkie was unable to produce the same countercurse—only the actual curse. They met in the library along with three seventh-year witches to discuss the oddity of this phenomenon.
Discord was taken aback. Then, slowly, he smiled.
"Ike," he began—the Entity was also sitting on the bookshelf. It couldn't talk, and Discord didn't know if it understood him, but that barely mattered. Discord would have spoken to the desk lamp in his absence. "Do you happen to know what you call a girl that has magical powers, but isn't a witch…at least not yet? No, let me rephrase that. What do you call the larval stage of becoming a witch? For those who aren't born into it the traditional way."
Ike let out a guttural purr.
"That's right!" Discord cried. "A Mahou Shoujo! A Magical Girl. And that so happens to be what our four poor little friends are. Enough magic to do certain things…snot attacks, healing spells, making books fly around…but not enough to be actual witches. And who do we know that knows EXACTLY what to do with Mahou Shoujo?"
Ike up and vanished.
"Party pooper," Discord accused. "Well, then. I think I know exactly who I have to look up now. Oh, I haven't seen him in ages! This should be fun."
With that, he left Quadwrangle Manor in a pop of light.
MITAKIHARA, 30TH EARTH
"That's the last of them," a fifteen-year-old girl with long, dark hair said as she tossed a chip of darkness at a most interesting creature. This creature was small, white, and fairly catlike, with a great red ellipse on his back in the shape of a zero. From within his two pointed ears sprouted two longer earlike appendages that faded from white to pink at the ends, and a gold ring encircled each one. His eyes were red as rubies. His mouth was frozen in a perpetual smile of satisfaction, and when he spoke, it never opened. He positioned himself so that the chip of darkness hit the center of the red ellipse on his back; it faded into his skin as though it was tossed into a garbage can.
"That will be enough for now," he assured the girl. "You've done a good job, Homura-chan. Probably better than the others tonight."
"That doesn't matter to me," Homura reminded him. "Just so long as the wraiths are gone. I'm going home now."
"Good night, Homura-chan!"
"…good night, Kyubey."
Homura walked away from the park bench, leaving Kyubey to sit there in the darkness. Kyubey remained, pondering the events of the day, thinking over the many wraiths that he'd watched Homura defeat—not to mention Mami and Kyoko. He doubted there was a single one left in Mitakihara that night. Of course, with the sunrise, there would come more. Such was the case with Echthroi like that.
Suddenly, Kyubey wasn't alone on the bench anymore. Siting next to him was an equally odd creature, one that had appeared out of thin air.
"Hello, Incubator," Discord greeted.
"Hello," Kyubey replied. "Do I know you?"
"Do you KNOW me?" Discord was taken aback. "Why, Incubator, we go way back! Don't you remember? It's me! Discord! Otherwise known as Q! And occasionally Agent Darkbootie. And that one time, Professor Quadwrangle. But I could go on all night. Now, I know we weren't always on the best of terms—your methods tended to ruin the fun of things for me when you focused on the ENERGY benefits rather than the fun—but you and I have caused loads of chaos together! Is that ringing any bells?"
"No," Kyubey answered. "I am a little surprised that you know my real name. And that I am working to fix the multiversal energy crisis. But I do not remember any of that."
"Really?" Discord continued. "Oh, but you and I had so much fun with the Mahou Shoujo! Don't you remember tricking them into their own destruction?"
"Why would I do that?" Kyubey asked calmly. "The Mahou Shoujo help me defeat the Echthroi that spawn from the negative emotions of this world. I take the remnants they leave behind and recycle them into energy."
"No, no, no!" Discord cried in frustration. "That's not how you do it! Remember what you told me, that humans are the only beings that create more energy as they grow? And when I told you that most races and species are like that, and that it's just your people who don't understand emotion? And then you got all mad at me for that."
"You are beginning to sound like Homura-chan when she tells me her fantasy stories," Kyubey informed Discord. "She keeps talking about the possibility of this world having once been a place where I exploited the Mahou Shoujo themselves for the energy. I will tell you what I told her: that would have been extremely efficient. But this way benefits us both."
"Hmm…" Discord held his chin in thought. "Well, something must have happened, then. What does this…Homura-chan say about why the world isn't like that?"
"She says it has something to do with the timeline being changed. And a girl she calls Madoka. Though I do not see how this can be."
"Tell me more," Discord said. This was the Incubator, all right…but things obviously were not the same as he remembered. For what he had planned, he needed the old Incubator—the old Kyubey—to be up to his tricks. And he needed to know how to get him back.
So he listened as Kyubey told him all of Homura's "fantasy stories". And as Kyubey went on into the night, Discord realized exactly what it was he had to do.
HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH
It soon became clear that there was one magical act that all six Equestrians had the capability to do no matter what: flying on a broomstick. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had all reported success; Gryffindor and Slytherin had Flying together, so the others were soon to find out.
The course was held outdoors beneath a gleaming afternoon sun; the instructor, Rolanda Hooch, was a slender witch with short silver hair. "Now, it is key that you follow my instructions to the letter," she commanded her students, "and, most importantly, that you do not show a lack of confidence. Brooms, much like animals, can tell whether you're frightened of them."
Several Hogwarts-issue brooms that had obviously seen better days were spread out across the grass. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity had lined up next to each other right away.
"To begin, put your hand out over the broom," Hooch instructed, "and command it, 'Up!'"
The air was filled with a chorus of the word "UP!" Many students' brooms lay on the ground sadly; some shivered or rolled. However, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity's brooms all leapt up into their hands—they were all confident in their speech, and were all to some degree comfortable with the thought of being in the air.
Once brooms were commanded, Hooch showed everyone how to board one. The three Equestrians found it difficult at first, but remembered that if their other friends could do it, so could they. Rarity eventually figured out how to grip the broom with all four legs, leaving her torso free of gripping the broom whatsoever. Rainbow Dash and Applejack copied her posture.
Then Hooch instructed the students to make slow laps around the pitch. The brooms all rose into the air, then began circling the pitch like skaters at an ice rink.
"Boooooriiiing," Rainbow Dash sighed. "I could go so much faster than this if I could use my actual wings. Rarity, you think you could modify this robe so I could use them?"
"As much as I think these robes need all kinds of improvements," Rarity replied, "there are benefits to actually following the standards. In other words, no."
"Then at the very least, I should be able to kick it up a bit on this thing," Rainbow Dash resolved.
"I wouldn't," Applejack warned.
But Rainbow Dash did. She sped up, leaving her friends behind. Then she passed flier after flier. Before she knew it, she had passed Applejack and Rarity again.
"Now let's see how this thing runs at MAX SPEED!" she cried. She gunned it; the broom flew round and round, knocking many off balance.
When she tired of the broom, Rainbow Dash landed. It wasn't as fast as her natural flight, but it had gotten pretty close. However, it was at this point that she realized that the entire time, she hadn't noticed Hooch snapping: "Miss Dash…Miss Dash…MISS DASH!"
Hooch stormed over to look Rainbow Dash in the eye. "Miss Dash," she said sternly, "Just because you are here under special circumstances does not give you the right to disobey in such a dangerous manner. Ten points will be subtracted from Gryffindor for your actions."
"But—" Rainbow Dash attempted. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry."
By now, the others had all landed, and the other Gryffindors minus Applejack were murmuring about how Rainbow Dash had lost them points. Rainbow Dash felt intense guilt; because of Twilight's questions about dark magic and Pinkie's accidental use of it, she and her friends were already on the fence with the others. She'd just added another nail to the coffin.
But then, a Slytherin girl walked up to her and said, "You've actually got some pretty sweet moves, Dash."
"Hey…thanks," Rainbow Dash replied. "Look, I didn't mean to try and hurt anyone—"
"I know," the girl said with a nod. "You wanted to see how fast you could get. And that was pretty darn fast. I thought it was awesome."
"It was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "What's your name, kid?"
"Stevie."
"Nice to meet ya."
After class, Stevie walked alongside Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. They passed Hestia Carrow, who stopped the four in the hallway.
"I heard about what happened during Flying class today," she told Rainbow Dash. "As a prefect, I should be telling you about how dangerous and disrespectful that was. But I also heard that you were able to push your broom to a practically unheard of speed and not actually cause serious damage. On paper, I don't approve, but…I wanted to give you a suggestion."
"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash replied, amazed that she'd caught the attention of the Slytherin prefect in such a way.
"Try out for Quidditch," Hestia said. "Do you have much experience with it?"
"What's Quidditch?" Rainbow Dash asked, answering Hestia's question.
"A wizarding sport played on broomsticks," Hestia said. "Each house has a team. Tryouts are next week. You'll have to rent out one of the school brooms, and don't expect to make Seeker. You may be good with a broom, but you're still no Harry Potter. However, if you'll pardon the horrendous pun, I think it might be your…speed."
"Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied. "I'll keep it in mind. Do you play?"
"No, but my sister Flora is trying for Slytherin Seeker. I'm sure she'd be up for a little friendly competition."
"I'm looking forward to it."
As Hestia parted ways with them, Rainbow Dash told Rarity and Stevie, "You know, you seem to be in the cool house."
"We know," Stevie replied with a grin.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Rarity added.
RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH
Had any wizard or witch in humanoid form tried to Apparate in Voldemort's bedchamber while he was sleeping, or even reach it by walking down the hallway, the posted guards—Rowle and Macnair—would have known and alerted him. If nothing else, Nagini, the snake familiar who kept her watch at the door, definitely would have made a fuss. However, no plan was made for animagi who could travel through vents.
The other snake slipped into the Dark Lord's chamber through the ventilation grate. She eyed Nagini at the door contemptouously, then, silently enough that Nagini's attention was not disturbed, the snake slithered up into the bed, clutching its precious, gleaming cargo.
She could have killed him. It would have been so easy. But she didn't want to do that. That would have gotten her nowhere. Instead, once the snake's head rested upon Voldemort's peacefully rising and falling chest—funny, how even the most terrifying of people look harmless when sleeping—she brought forward the gleaming silver syringe clutched in her coils. She manipulated it over to Voldemort's shoulder.
The needle stuck into the skin; the dark wizard flinched, but otherwise slept soundly. The snake pressed down upon the syringe's mechanism; black liquid seeped out of it, down into the vein. When it was empty, the syringe was removed.
Back into the grate, the snake carried the spent syringe, sliding out into a deserted hallway. She then morphed, changing shape entirely. Medusa stood to her full height, brushing off her nightgown—a simple black shift—for wrinkles.
She carried the empty syringe to her room to dispose of it. The deed was done. The experiment had begun.
Bellatrix walked out into the atrium to find Voldemort and Medusa there, listening to Horvath. She caught only the tail end of what he was saying: "…Morganians have thinned out quite a bit there, but I was still able to find information in Manehattan. I know exactly who we want and where she'll be."
"What's all this, then?" Bellatrix asked.
"Yet another failsafe," Voldemort informed her. "Someone it is imperative to add to the ranks of the Death Eaters."
"And is this person on our world?" Bellatrix asked.
"No," Horvath answered. "We were discussing the prospect of organizing a recruitment party."
"Count me in," Bellatrix said eagerly. "I'm not going to stay cooped up in this place all day."
"It would be good to have you at our side," Voldemort agreed. "Then it's settled. The four of us shall go—"
Horvath took note; Bellatrix's smile widened and her eyes sparkled.
"—as well as Quirinus."
Only Horvath saw it when Bellatrix scowled suddenly at the very mention.
PONYVILLE, FOURTH EQUESTRIA
It seemed just another idyllic day for the small village. Other than the absence of six prominent citizens, it was business as usual. Only two things threatened to interrupt daily routine.
First of all, a wagon wheeled into town…a wagon the citizens of Ponyville had seen twice before.
Second, five unicorns who were most certainly not native to the land appeared just outside the town borders, struggling to step out of robes that were clearly designed for a different species.
"What…" A light green unicorn with a dark frizzy mane and tail sputtered. "What happened? WHAT IS THIS?"
"Calm yourself, Bellatrix…" The one who had spoken was slightly taller, lankier, a darker shade of green. He had no mane or tail, and his head was strangely rounded, seeming to lack a snout. "We have conformed to this world's aura."
"So we've become horses," Bellatrix snapped at Voldemort.
"Indeed," replied a gold unicorn with a fine, dark mane and a fluffy tail. "There are certain worlds that can do such things." Horvath cast off the last of his garments save for his fedora. "Whatever species we must become to fit in…we become."
"It isn't ideal to me either," a black unicorn with a dark mane braided under her chin growled.
"It will pay off in the end, Medusa," Horvath assured her.
The fifth of their company, a purple unicorn with a short brown mane and cropped tail, attempted to walk forward, but got all four of his legs tangled up and tripped.
"And Quirrell's off to a great start," Bellatrix groaned as Medusa chuckled throatily.
"So…" Quirrell stood. "Does this mean we have unicorn's blood, then?"
"No," Voldemort replied. "The blood at our core is still that of humans. It will not provide the cursed immortality of unicorn blood to any of us. However, those that were born unicorns in this place…their blood does in fact have those properties."
"And as equines are the dominant species here," Horvath continued, "they can think and speak to us. Is the picture becoming clearer?"
"We're here to convince a unicorn to join us," Quirrell realized. "Even if he…or she…changes form on our world, it will still be the same blood, and if an accident should happen…"
"Then we can take her blood for our own lives," Medusa finished. "And we have exactly the unicorn selected, thanks to Horvath's skills in gathering information."
"Is she a Morganian?" Quirrell asked.
Horvath shook his head. "No. But sources have said she is quite powerful, a pure-blooded unicorn, and easily won over with the promise of more power."
"Then I've got just one question," Bellatrix said grumpily. "Why've I got the Dark Mark on my arse?"
Everyone else looked at her flank, where the Death Eaters' symbol of a snake curling out of the mouth of a skull was clearly there in black.
"It is something I have never understood about the equines on this world," Voldemort sighed. "Distinguishing marks on the flank."
Out of curiosity, peeks were taken at the other four flanks. Voldemort also had the Dark Mark. Quirrell's mark resembled a turban much like the one he'd worn to cover the face of Voldemort when the two had shared a body. Horvath's Cutie Mark was that of a silver, featureless container resembling a matryoshka doll. Medusa's was a bright green arrow.
"Let's not waste any more time," Medusa suggested, and the party of five set out for the village.
"It has been so long since I have tread this world," Voldemort thought out loud as Bellatrix sidled in next to him. "It was for quite a different purpose…and with quite a different unicorn at my side." For a moment, he imagined that in Bellatrix's place was the one he lost, his beloved Alexandra. Then the illusion was shattered. Alexandra would never have stood so annoyingly close.
"And what exactly did you come here for first time 'round?" Bellatrix asked.
"To eliminate an enemy," Voldemort said simply. He then stepped away from Bellatrix, making sure she got the message that she was too close.
As Bellatrix fell back, watching Voldemort choose to stand near Quirrell instead, Horvath moved in beside her. "Why's he get to be all close to the Dark Lord?" she growled.
"Perhaps there is more going on than you realize," Horvath suggested. "I don't see what was wrong with the way we were arranged. He should count himself lucky to have a soldier like you."
"That he should," Bellatrix grumbled.
The wagon had rolled into the center of town, unfolding into a stage. Everypony recognized it, especially when the fireworks were set off, and they rushed to see the show. Even after the times that the Great and Powerful Trixie had failed them, she had more than made up for her sins with apologies, and continued her traveling show simply to entertain.
And entertain she could. The blue unicorn clad in a purple, star-studded hat and cape called up volunteers from the audience, changing their manes to all colors. She charmed ropes and made them dance like snakes. She summoned clouds to make a show of lightning and rain followed by a miniature rainbow on the stage. And everypony watching cheered.
"Thank you, thank you!" Trixie bowed at the end of her show. "The Great and Powerful Trixie loves Ponyville just as much as Ponyville loves her! I am available to sign autographs!"
She stepped down into the crowd to put her hoofprint on papers for those who were fans of her stage magic. Among those who held out sheets for her to sign was a pony with a cream-colored coat and a curly mane of pink and navy blue.
"Your magic is so great," this pony gushed. "Almost as good as Twilight Sparkle's! You're the perfect pony to have around now that Twilight isn't here."
"BON BON!" The unicorn standing next to her, teal with a mint-and-white mane, gave Bon Bon a slight shove. "That's rude!"
"Oh…sorry," Bon Bon apologized.
"It is all right," Trixie responded. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is not offended! Trixie has long since come to terms with the fact that Twilight Sparkle is more powerful and more important to Ponyville! Trixie merely hopes you enjoyed her little show."
The audience eventually cleared away, and Trixie climbed onboard her wagon, moving backstage to the half that was a dressing room. There, before the mirror, she removed her hat, revealing a silver-white mane, and her cape. She hung them on a nearby rack via magic. She levitated a wet washcloth, wiping her face of the eyeliner she put on for shows.
"Why?" she asked the mirror. "Trixie is indeed great and powerful…Trixie is quite magical indeed. Trixie has even been told she is almost as good as Twilight Sparkle! And Trixie knows very well that she can never be as good as Twilight." She sighed deeply. "And yet…Trixie wishes not to be compared to Twilight Sparkle every day. It's…disheartening."
She finished washing her face. She folded the wagon back up, then walked out, intending to go to the market and buy essential supplies.
They were waiting for her. Five unicorns, two green, one black, one gold, one purple.
"Can the Great and Powerful Trixie help you?" Trixie asked them.
"So you are Trixie Lulamoon," Voldemort replied.
Trixie was taken aback. "How did you know Trixie's full name? Trixie does not tell that to just anyone! And Trixie certainly has never seen YOU before!"
"You're quite well known throughout Equestria," Medusa told her. "Ponies the world over talk about your skills in magic."
"And yet they say you are not satisfied," Horvath added.
"But how're you not satisfied?" Bellatrix asked slyly. "You seem to have got it all. Fame, fortune…"
"There isn't anything else you want," Quirrell asked, "is there?"
"Well…" Trixie blushed nervously. "There is nothing more Trixie needs, to be sure."
"I would expect that of the most powerful unicorn in Equestria outside of the royal family," Horvath said.
"Well, that isn't exactly the truth," Trixie admitted. "Trixie is second best to Twilight Sparkle, who she is sure you have heard of. She used to keep the library here in Ponyville. Lately, though, she's gone away on some important mission. She truly is the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!"
At the mention of the library, Voldemort smirked proudly. The last time he'd seen the Ponyville library, he'd been leaving it…and he had turned back only to cast a Dark Mark over it to signify what he had done there.
"So you're just a washout, then," Bellatrix accused.
"That is not true!" Trixie snapped. "There is a reason Trixie is known as the Great and Powerful!"
"Show us," Voldemort commanded.
"Well…Trixie will show you," Trixie resolved. "What is it you ask the Great and Powerful Trixie to do?"
"Can you do anything similar to this?" Medusa asked. Her horn glowed brightly green; she was heard to mutter the words, "Snake snake cobra cobra…" Then a burst of black lines ending in arrows emitted from the horn. The arrows writhed in the air, encircling each other and making an ominous hissing. Medusa then dismissed the arrows—or were they snakes?—calmly.
"That is…nothing," Trixie said. She called to her side several ropes. She raised them into the air, making them dance and writhe.
"Impressive," Medusa said.
"And…what about this?" Horvath conjured a small sphere of blue plasma—admittedly, he would have been able to make it much bigger had he remembered to bring his cane with him. He sent the plasma rocketing toward a display of flower pots in a window; the pots shattered, sending the plants to the ground.
"Very simple," Trixie countered. She blasted purple energy at the ground, leaving a small, deep crater in the road.
"She'll do," Bellatrix resolved.
"As you can see," Voldemort said, "we come from an order that is very powerful indeed. We have a scope of what you can do. We saw your little show."
"Really?" Trixie beamed. "What did you think?"
"We thought you were quite brilliant," Horvath said. "Though here and there, there was room for improvement."
"But that could be fixed easily," Medusa continued with a grin.
"Who exactly are you?" Trixie asked.
"Before we answer that," Voldemort replied, "I want to know where you think your Twilight Sparkle is."
"Erm…Fillydelphia, on royal business?" Trixie guessed.
"What if we told you she was no longer on this world, but on a different one entirely?" Horvath asked.
"What if we said, in fact," Voldemort continued, "that there are a great many worlds outside this one…and we come from three of them?"
"Trixie would…not know whether to call you liars…or believe you," Trixie admitted. "There is a lot we Equestrians do not know about the cosmos…"
"Whether or not you believe us," Voldemort said, "you will, at least, believe that we are powerful."
"Well, yes," Trixie admitted. "One of you did summon those…snake arrows, and one of you destroyed a whole row of flower pots."
"But that is nothing," Medusa said, "compared to what we can do at full power. We can teach you more…spells you never imagined."
"But there is a price," Bellatrix said.
"What kind of price?" Trixie asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Trixie is not interested in paying bits for a scam."
"It is not that kind of price," Voldemort told her.
"We just want to know," Quirrell posed, "if we could show you how to become more powerful than Twilight Sparkle…what would you do in order to become that powerful?"
"Well…Trixie would have to think about it," Trixie said. "There is not a lot that Trixie would not do…" She came to her conclusion. "You will show Trixie what kind of power you are talking about. Then, if Trixie is pleased, she will consider your price."
"That is fair," Voldemort agreed. "We will teach you and make you more powerful. Then…if you are not satisfied…you may walk away." All five knew exactly what that meant. If she took to the ways of the Death Eaters, if she was convinced to join their cause, she would be a valuable ally. If she balked, she would be allowed to turn and walk away…and the others would kill her as she tried to leave, gathering and bottling her blood.
"Then Trixie agrees to your deal," Trixie said with a smile.
"Then come with us," Bellatrix told her. "You'll have to touch one of us to do the Side-Along Apparition, but by the end, you should be able to Apparate at the speed of darkness too. Trust me…you won't believe what's waiting for you."
"Trixie is up for anything!" Trixie said, stepping toward the other five and putting a hoof up against Medusa's shoulder.
Lyra Heartstrings, the teal unicorn who had accompanied her wife Bon Bon to Trixie's performance, had been watching Trixie talk with the five mysterious unicorns from an alleyway. She'd merely been taking a shortcut from her house into town that way when she'd come across the scene, and she decided it was best to remain hidden with such shady-looking figures about. She didn't hear all they said, but had picked up on certain phrases—they discussed power. They asked Trixie what she was willing to do. And they talked of other worlds.
When they left, Lyra realized what she'd done wrong. She should have rushed forward, told Trixie to be careful…kept her from making strange deals with strangers. But then again, Trixie was an adult and knew what she was doing, was she not? And Trixie had made the decision to go along with them by herself. She had walked toward the black one and touched her shoulder.
Still, something strange was afoot, and Lyra knew it. She bolted back to the home she shared with Bon Bon.
"Lyra?" Bon Bon approached the entryway as soon as she heard Lyra slam the door and pant from running. "What's wrong?"
"Something very strange is happening," Lyra said. "Bon Bon…do you think maybe…there's more going on in Equestria…no, that there's just more going ON than we know?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I just saw Trixie talking with five unicorns I've never seen before, and…"
Chapter 27:
· So I have to explain something right off the bat. I'm sure that not all classes of first-years share the same courses. I'm pretty sure they're divided by house. I remember Ron saying once that "We have double Potions with Slytherin"—you know, that he had to SPECIFY what house Gryffindor had Potions with. But the Wiki for HP has only one first-year schedule up. So I had to fudge the course order a lot and not post specific days because I'm not sure how they're arranged for houses that aren't Gryffindor. If it turns out I'm wrong and all the first-years really do have the same classes…oops.
· Horace Slughorn is a troll. And I don't think he would see what's wrong with making fun of Snape that soon after his death.
· Twilight's reference to having used a "fear spell" is a reference to The Crystal Empire 2-parter, where she used what was CLEARLY dark magic to transform parts of the Crystal Palace into Sombra's version of it and to overcome the door that leads to one's worst fears. When that happened, by the way, I squealed that they were making Twilight's messing with dark forces canon.
· I'm not sure if "phylactery" is purely a D&D term (and I only know that from Wikipedia) or if it's accepted universally for something that holds a soul. I just know it's the term Wikipedia uses to describe the soul container for a lich.
· I'd known for a while I wanted to give the non-unicorns select powers. And that I wanted to call them Magical Girls. I mean…the spawning of the amulets at the end of the whole Nightmare Moon thing was DEFINITELY inspired by Magical Girl anime.
· Quadwrangle Manor is something that came to me within a week of starting this chapter. There's a first-person puzzle game called Quantum Conundrum that's like Portal, but instead of using a portal gun to complete tests, you're using a dimension-switching device to change your environment to get through the manor. The four dimensions available outside of the normal one are "fluffy" (everything is 10x lighter and made of pillows), "heavy" (everything is 10x heavier and made of metal), "time" (time slows down), and "gravity" (gravity is reversed and the furniture is on the ceiling). The story is that you're the nephew of an eccentric inventor uncle, Professor Quadwrangle (who kind of hates you), and you've come to his manor to visit, but he gets trapped in a Pocket Dimension because of one of his experiments and you have to use the dimension-switching gadget he invented (which IS a right-hander glove!) to manipulate the dimensions, solve puzzles, and power up the final dimension device to rescue him. The entire time, he talks to you (very condescendingly) from the Pocket Dimension. You never see him except in pictures and silhouette. In the end, it turns out that powering the dimension device sticks YOU in the Pocket Dimension and puts the entire world in flux between the dimensions. And that's where it ends. So what's relevant? Quadwrangle is voiced by John de Lancie. And it's my new headcanon that ALL John de Lancie characters are Discord/Q. So in this sort of AU thing, I'm saying that the player character wasn't his real nephew—just a pawn he recruited (you only know he's your uncle because HE tells you so). He shapeshifted just enough to give the player character those silhouettes, and either shapeshifted when he had the portraits painted or just had them painted of a fake face. His entire goal was to get the device messed with to put the world in flux between dimensions, and he succeeded. And so I'm having this be Discord's new lair. The name of the world is a combo of all the dimensions it's messed up in. I'm sure he'd want it that way.
· Ike is a character from Quantum Conundrum. He shows up at random and acts cute and/or creepy. He's a dimension traveling creature and a sort of sidekick to Quadwrangle. So I have him as Discord's housemate and sort-of pet.
· "The time all the Old Ones had been roommates in that giant locked box" = yes, Pandora's Box. What else?
· Mitakihara is from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as are the characters of Homura and the Incubator ("Kyubey" for short). Discord wants to enlist Kyubey's help from the way that world was before the events of PMMM, but since PMMM ends with the world changing because of an altered timeline, everything's different, and that's why Discord is confused. You're seeing a post-PMMM Mitakihara, where Magical Girls fight demons spawned of negative emotions (which happens to fit the definition of Echthroi that I'm using).
· Rainbow Dash. Quidditch. Yes. Also, the idea of being able to grip a broomstick with four legs was based on a banner I saw on Equestria Daily featuring a fanart that was a parody of Kiki's Delivery Service and had Twilight riding a broomstick, gripping it with all fours like a boss.
· Slytherin has seriously given me the most to work with. You know, since the Carrow twins are canon and I couldn't put Stevie in any other house.
· AND THE FIRST INSTANCE OF PONIFICATION BEGINS! This is the perk of having ponies become not-ponies when leaving Equestria: so I can have ponified versions of visitors to Equestria. Explanations of why: All manes are based on hairstyles. Voldemort just has an association with green, and the Dark Mark had to be the Cutie Mark, as it did on Bellatrix. Bellatrix…well, green just seems a standard color for the Death Eaters proper, so I went with it. Quirrell, I believe, is in purple robes in the first film, and I like to base coats on what the characters generally wear just to make it easier to pick coat colors. The turban is the Cutie Mark for obvious reasons. Horvath wears a lot of brown and is a classy guy, so I rationalized it out to gold. Medusa's coat is black because Arachne's dress is black, and she would still be wearing that after the possession. But since Cutie Marks are based on personality and "special talent", she gets her own Vector Arrow (her standard attack) instead of anything Arachne-related like a spider.
· Death Eater Trixie had ALWAYS been in the works. The timing of the ep "Magic Duel" was incredibly convenient, even if it does kind of mean I have to make her out as worse than she currently canonically is. I decided that no matter where you shift in the worlds, your blood stays the same type – so Voldemort has a source of unicorn blood nearby.
· The Trixie toy released by Hasbro is called "Lulamoon", so some fans have accepted that as Trixie's surname. I say, why not?
· Well, there's nothing to say that same-sex marriage ISN'T allowed in Equestria—the most they can do is just not bring it up at all—and it is a fantasy universe in a show about love and tolerance, so Lyra and Bon Bon are married now. Both of them are background ponies that have been given fanon names now widely accepted in the fan community (Lyra's real name in the Hasbro toy line is "Heartstrings", so fans have given her that as a last name; Bon Bon's was "Sweetie Drops" until recently, when Hasbro decided it actually WAS Bon Bon, so no one uses Sweetie Drops). Since they've been seen together in a couple scenes, it's become a popular ship, even though we know next to nothing about them. And again, why not? I think it's cute.
· There's also a universal fanon that Lyra is obsessed with the idea that humans exist somewhere and that she wants to have hands. This comes from an episode where in the background, she and Bon Bon are on a bench. Bon Bon is sitting with all fours tucked under her like a regular pony, but Lyra is sitting up like she's bipedal. Since then, other ponies have been seen sitting in that position, but since Lyra did it first, she gets to have the humans obsession.