28: True to Chaos

HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH

Gryffindor Quidditch captain Ginny Weasley looked up and down the line of those wishing to try out to fill the three open positions on the team. She would have to choose one Chaser, one Keeper, and one Seeker out of the throng of students gathered before her. All were unfamiliar with the exception of Rainbow Dash—a sight not to be missed in the lineup—but one first-year boy had traces in his face of someone Ginny might have known; perhaps he had a relative who had attended classes with her.

"We're going to need to fill three positions this year," she announced. "You all know what you're trying out for?"

Most nodded shyly; Rainbow Dash and the boy with the face that rang a bell in Ginny's mind cried "Yeah!"

The curiosity was driving Ginny crazy. She approached the young boy. "What position are you trying for?" she asked him.

"Seeker," he replied.

"That's not a position a lot of first-years get," Ginny told him sternly. "You know Harry Potter was the youngest in our history, and he was your age."

"I know. I still think I can do it. I'm good."

"What's your name?"

"Ty Dunbar."

Ginny realized where she'd seen the boy's face before. "Fay Dunbar's brother?"

"Yeah!"

Fay Dunbar was perhaps the one student who should have been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team during her attendance, but never was. She had constantly wanted the position of Beater and never achieved it. Ginny saw no reason why her younger brother shouldn't have the same aspirations.

"And you?" Ginny asked Rainbow Dash.

"That's easy," Rainbow Dash responded. "Chaser."

"Not Seeker?"

"Listen. I've read your rules. Your Seeker has to slow down and look at things in order to find the Snitch. And I'm not interested in going slow. Your Chaser needs to be somepony fast, somepony who can keep the Quaffle safe from everypony on the other team. And that's where I come in. And if that doesn't sell you, think about this: if the Seeker gets the Snitch, that team gets over two hundred points. Over two hundred! But if you get a good enough bunch of Chasers, we can score FOUR hundred points before the other team's Seeker even gets a chance to see that Snitch! When you look at it that way, the Keepers are the most important!"

"I like the way you think, Rainbow Dash," Ginny replied. "Well, let's get under way!"

She tested student after student. Many crashed into the ground. A few were sent to the infirmary. Only one student, a third-year called Ellie Gray, was able to block even a single shot into the goal post—she was appointed Keeper. Of all those who tried for Chaser, Rainbow Dash was definitely the best. Ginny, at first, felt leery about letting her on the team—she had an obvious age advantage. However, her teammates—Ritchie Coote, Jimmy Peakes, and Demelza Robins—convinced her to let Rainbow Dash stay. After all, gripping a broom with hooves was enough of a handicap to balance it, and this was Rainbow's first year working with an actual broomstick. (Well, they believed it to be her first year flying. Only Ginny knew about all the time Rainbow Dash had spent in the air back home.) When Rainbow Dash landed and griped about how the Hogwarts-owned broomstick didn't handle smoothly at all—something Ginny didn't even take into account, she had flown so smoothly—Ginny was sold, and Rainbow Dash appointed Chaser.

"YES!" Rainbow Dash cried, hoisting her rented broomstick in the air.

There was then the matter of Seeker to attend to, and only one stood out. Ty Dunbar flew quickly as a bullet, and he was able to catch and throw while on a broomstick without any trouble whatsoever. Although, compared to the rest of the potential Seekers, Ginny was about ready to award the position to whomever didn't break a bone.

Ginny informed Rainbow Dash, Ellie, and Ty of practice schedules, then dismissed tryouts.

Rainbow Dash galloped excitedly from the Quidditch pitch, whooping at her victory. On her way, she almost knocked over a fellow student. Stopping to apologize, she recognized that student as Flora Carrow.

"Hey," she said. "Did you get it? Seeker, I mean."

"Yes," Flora replied. "I was going to see how the Gryffindor team had fared. In all honesty, I want to size up the competition."

"Well, we got a first-year Seeker, which is apparently really weird. You'll have to watch out for someone called Ty Dunbar. But he's pretty fast. I'm not sure you stand a chance."

"Oh? Well, we shall have to see about that. Your first match is against Slytherin, you know."

"Well, then, bring it on!"

Flora grinned. "We'll see how your Dunbar fares against me. In the meantime, what position do you have?"

"I'm a Chaser. Which means you'll have to worry about me racking up so many points that you can't catch the snitch."

"I'll catch it before you can."

"Wanna bet?"

The two then broke into laughter. "Well, we'll find out at the first match," Flora resolved.

---

Twilight had memorized the route from one classroom to another well enough that she had become careless, choosing to read as she walked, her hoof memory taking her where she needed to go as her eyes fixated on the text. It was because of this that she crashed headlong into a pair that rounded the corner of the hallway she tread.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, looking up and taking a few steps back. "I'm so sorry!" She got a good look at the two she'd crashed into. She'd never seen either before, at least not enough to actually take notice and remember. One was a human woman dressed in layer upon layer of glittering shawls, with beads in her hair and a pair of oversized spectacles taking up the majority of her face. The other was a male centaur, draped in a cloak; his auburn hair was tied back in a flowing ponytail.

"Oh, my dear!" the woman gasped, reaching forward and grasping Twilight's right wrist, pulling forth her palm and turning it over. "It is just as I feared when I first saw you! Indeed, the very aura of dread surrounds you! You walk in the steps of doom, and by the year's end, doom will have fallen upon you!"

"GAAAAH!" Twilight screamed, wrenching her arm away, terrified.

The centaur chuckled. "Pay Ms. Trelawney no mind, Miss Sparkle. Everyone she meets walks in the steps of doom."

"How can you possibly speak against my predictions?" Trelawney barked. "Failure to take heed will lead you to your own destruction!"

"I will take my chances," the centaur replied. "So…you are the famous Twilight Sparkle."

"Um…yes?" Twilight replied.

"I am Firenze, professor of Divination," the centaur introduced. "This is Sybil Trelawney, former professor of Divination and honorary faculty member of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Nice to meet you," Twilight said, though her first impression of Trelawney was less than nice.

"I had actually been hoping to run into you," Firenze said. "Do you have a moment?"

"Well, I was trying to get to my class half an hour early so I'd have time to prepare…but I guess I can spare some time."

"I'm glad. Sybil, may we speak in private?"

"If you must," Trelawney huffed. She then continued down the hallway alone.

Firenze gestured for Twilight to follow him into an empty classroom. She obliged; he closed the door all but a crack.

"Do not be intimidated by Ms. Trelawney's predictions," he began. "She remains at Hogwarts for her loyal service, and she is indeed a great seer who has predicted many a turning point in the history of this world. However, her visions do not, as she claims, come at her beck and call. She tends to shun the most reliable forms of divination in favor of more…shocking predictions. Needless to say, the majority of her 'premonitions' do not come true."

"It's okay," Twilight replied. "I'm kind of one of those ponies that doom follows around anyway."

"You would not be the first like that to walk within these walls, for sure," Firenze said. "Now, what I had meant to discuss with you is…rather a delicate subject. It is, after all, a two-edged affair, to catch someone in a lie. It is best not to be deceived…and yet those who lie often have crucial reasons, especially those who are otherwise ethically sound."

Twilight swallowed hard, suspecting what was coming.

"You already know how unusual it is for centaurs to attend school alongside human witches and wizards," Firenze went on. "When I first took a position at this school, my herd excommunicated me for a time because it was not acceptable for us to do business with humans. They have since accepted me again, but I find it somewhat unbelievable that relations have suddenly improved so dramatically that six young centaurs are accepted as students. Furthermore, the common story seems to be that you and your five friends have come from the Forbidden Forest… The herd that lives there is my herd. It should be obvious to you that I have never seen you or any of your friends before this year."

"I…" Twilight cast her eyes to the floor. "I guess I can't hide that. We aren't from the Forbidden Forest."

"Yet even Professor McGonagall seems intent on protecting that story. Which gives me reason to think that your lie is essential to keep."

"I'd like to tell you the truth, but…" Twilight could think of nothing to say but what was on her mind: "I don't know how you'd react to it. I'm sorry if that offends you."

"It does not, Miss Sparkle. Though I have my suspicions about your origins. You have no doubt noticed that you and I are quite different."

Twilight had to admit that. For one, Firenze was much taller; his back came up to about the same level as those on the horses from Galifem. Twilight was much shorter, betraying that she was more pony than true horse. Firenze's hair seemed to be within the natural spectrum for humanoids on this world, and when the hem of his cloak brushed aside, Twilight could see that his coat was also auburn. Her cloak also brushed aside, and her purple legs were clearly visible, but already, her hair gave her away as something unnatural—even those who colored their hair like Ebony or Stevie did not pick such dramatic colors, and those were quite obviously false colorations anyway. She bet that Firenze didn't have a Cutie Mark and was glad he couldn't see hers.

"We observe the stars to see the future," Firenze continued. "A method of divination that is vague at best, but far more reliable than reading palms, using cards, or making shapes out of tea leaves. The stars have recently arranged themselves in a way not seen for years, not since before the rise of Voldemort. Great changes are to come to this world. There were some patterns we could not even make sense of at all…an indication, perhaps, that unfamiliar things are to come. Things we have never seen. There have even been signs that there is a doom to come upon us…something I would not willingly admit to Ms. Trelawney, of course. Who knows what she would do with that news… There is a distinct possibility that we are wrong, but great things are to come, and I believe you are part of it."

"From what I know, that's true," Twilight said, "though I thought we'd only come here to learn. I was kind of hoping that for once, we wouldn't have to deal with any of the other problems. But we can handle them. Hang on…" Something sank in about Firenze's words. "Who's 'we'?"

"Those of us who live in the Forbidden Forest," Firenze answered. "My herd. That is what I wished to speak with you about. Whether it is to be able to keep up your lie with accurate information or to learn what we have to share with you, I think it best that you enter the Forest and meet with my herd sometime. There are, of course, many reasons that the Forest is forbidden, but I will give my herd advance knowledge of you, and they should be able to prevent any misfortunes from happening to you. Also, do not worry…they will accept you as fellow centaurs. You will not have to worry as a human would upon entering their company. I think you would find what they have to say quite relevant."

"Thank you," said Twilight. "That's really kind of you. I don't know that we'll be able to get there right away, with the Forest being out of bounds to us students and all, but…"

"Do not worry about that," Firenze replied. "I will put in a word with the groundskeeper about your ability to pass the borders."

"You know, back home, we also have a dangerous forest. We've learned to navigate it pretty well. I think we should be able to handle it."

"I have no doubt. I should not keep you from your coursework anymore, Miss Sparkle. However, do keep my words in mind."

"I will. Thank you, Firenze."

Firenze reopened the door, and Twilight resumed her route to class.

---

Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna sat around their favorite large table in the library, reading over the homework of the day.

"Well, I guess I found one I can finally do," Applejack announced proudly.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "She cast a perfect Flipendo Knockback Jinx! She knocked the stack of target pillows right over!"

"Fluttershy and I also found one we can do!" Pinkie added. "Wanna show 'em, Fluttershy?"

"Well…all right…" Fluttershy gave in.

The two held their wands over the table and quietly—or at least, in Pinkie's case, as quietly as was manageable—said, "Lumos!" Both wands glowed with a soft but bright light. They were dismissed with a "Nox" before Fluttershy went back to reading about the Cure for Boils potion.

"Very intriguing," Rarity said. "Anypony had any luck with Transfiguration yet?"

"No," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Nopony can even understand that theory anyway."

"I thought it was simple," Rarity replied, laying a match on the table. With a quick flick of the wrist and a short incantation, the match became a silver needle.

"How did you do that?" Ginny asked, dumbfounded. "No one in our year could get that after the first lesson."

"I was able to," Hermione pointed out, "but I'm probably not the best example…"

"Well," Rarity said, almost blushing, "I was a little fascinated by the idea of Transfiguration when I was younger. Turning one thing into another and all."

"I never knew that," Fluttershy told her innocuously.

"Well…it was a passing interest!" Rarity defended. "I only studied it for a while! Of course, my real strength lay in fashion and beautification spells."

"O-kaaaayyyy…" Rainbow Dash set down her History of Magic textbook. "I don't think I wanna study any more about the Soap Blizzard of 1378."

"What's wrong with it?" Luna asked.

"Too familiar," Rainbow Dash answered. "I had to live through the simultaneous chocolate blizzard and soapy road incident of Equestria, after all."

Fluttershy gave a pronounced shudder, and Pinkie Pie protectively put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder upon noticing this.

"Twilight?" Luna turned to her fellow Ravenclaw. "You've been awfully quiet. Usually you have so much to say."

"Huh?" Twilight looked up from her textbooks. "Oh. Sorry. I've just been a little distracted thinking about something. Something I should actually tell you all about."

"Huh?" Everyone leaned in to look at her.

"I ran into Firenze today," she said. "He's a centaur too, but he's…different from the six of us. Turns out we kinda stand out, even in these bodies. He figured out that there was something about me that didn't belong. And he lives in the Forbidden Forest. He knows everypony in there. Which means he knows we're not from there."

"How did he react?" Hermione inquired.

"He didn't ask where we were really from," Twilight answered, "but at the same time…he told us about things that the centaurs in the Forest read in the stars. Apparently, he can sort of read the future that way, or parts of it. He doesn't know exactly what's going to happen, but it's going to be big. He said he knew I was involved with it somehow. Well, first of all, that means our time here is probably going to be spent doing a little more than just studying."

"Another disaster?" Pinkie asked.

"Maleficent?" Rarity theorized.

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "Anyway, Firenze also said it would be a good thing if we, meaning the six Kentaurides here at this table, met up with the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. That they had things to say to us and we should listen. At the very least, it would help us keep our cover story. I think he's going to talk to Hagrid about us being able to leave the grounds."

"You should definitely go!" Hermione practically cried, remembering at the last second to keep her tone down in the library. "No human Hogwarts student has ever REALLY learned anything about the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest! Well, Harry and Ron and I spoke to them on several occasions, but there was still tension, of course."

"When centaurs see things in the stars," Ginny added, "they're usually right. Who knows what Firenze was referring to…"

"Do you think we can just do it?" Twilight asked. "Just walk out into the Forest? I mean, it can't be any worse than the Everfree Forest, can it?"

"You'll probably have to ask Hagrid to make sure," Hermione advised. "He's been around the Forest many times. In fact…I think Fluttershy would get along really well with him."

"Really?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hagrid teaches Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione explained. "He's taken care of all sorts of animals. Most of them incredibly dangerous, of course. But you two still do have the same interest."

"Wonder if he's taken care of any manticores," Twilight said with a wink at Fluttershy.

"Okay," Fluttershy resolved. "I'll talk to him. Um…what should I say to start?"

"Just go out to his hut on the grounds and tell him Hermione sent you," Hermione answered. "He's usually very open to visitors. And I have a feeling you two will get on quite well besides just talking about business."

Fluttershy still worried over what to say. Even after all this time, she still felt slightly timid toward meeting strangers.

---

RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH

Voldemort's eyes were fixed upon the fire in the hearth, but his mind was elsewhere, the flames not registering within his vision. Memories cycled through his brain, welcome and unwelcome at the same time.

They said he'd never understood love or friendship…and for the most part, they were right, all of them. Yet there was still the one…the one who had been close. The one who had ignited his lust as a young boy. The girl in his house, in his year.

Now he saw her face again and again. Why hadn't the draconequus let him have her back? Because of this, he'd set Rodolphus Lestrange and Rosier on a special mission to collect information on parallel worlds. Somewhere, there had to be a version of her.

Dark, flowing hair. A look of apathy; dull eyes, pursed lips.

---

HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH

FIFTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

The young boy, Tom Riddle, had exited his bed at midnight, quietly slinking out to the Slytherin common room. There she waited, staring at the wall that would open up to lead them out.

Alexandra Russo.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tom asked teasingly. "If your mum and dad knew, they just might kill you."

"More like the other way around," Alexandra replied. "Come on, Tom."

They opened the door, slunk out into the hallway.

"So you decided on the giant?" Alexandra asked.

"Of course," Tom replied as they made their way up and up. "Fortunately for us, he happens to have acquired a rather unusual pet. The alibi will be flawless. And I have you to thank for suggesting he be the scapegoat in the first place."

"No one likes him anyway," Alexandra pointed out. "All that lumbering around and breaking things. And it's not like he's a REAL wizard."

They stopped before the door to the girls' bathroom on the second floor. "You were serious?" Alexandra remarked. "It's in a bathroom?"

"Salazar would have known that no one would expect that."

"I almost wish we could tell someone what we were doing just so I could tell them you were in the girls' room."

They entered; Tom searched the tap of every sink until he found what he wanted. The faucet was carved with the emblem of a snake. "It's here."

"So open it already."

Tom stepped back, facing the sink. What he said was, technically, "Open." However, the sound was completely different, a thick hiss—Parseltongue, the tongue of the snakes.

At Tom's command, the sink dropped away, leaving a circular tunnel that led down into darkness.

"Ew," Alexandra said, looking it over. "We have to slide down that?"

"It isn't preferable, but it is the only way."

"This had better be worth it."

"I agree…but I'm sure we won't be disappointed."

Tom took the initiative, practically vaulting into the tunnel and sliding down in a manner that he thought most ungraceful. Could Salazar Slytherin not have devised a more flattering way to enter his chamber? After what seemed an eternity of sliding and sliding—quite uncomfortable on the body, to be sliding against stone for that long—Tom was dumped with a crunch onto a pile of human bones in a dungeon antechamber. He stood, dusting himself off, not caring about the bones.

A second crunch signaled that Alexandra had made it down the slide. "That was officially the grossest thing I've ever done," she complained. "That was…slimy."

"If you're going to be disgusted, don't look down."

"Oh, that?" She stomped, giving another crunch. "Just so long as it doesn't get my clothes dirty, I'm good. After all, these probably belong to friends who are together in death or some sappy crap like that."

"A fate I'd rather avoid," Tom said coldly. "I'd rather we be together in life."

"You going soft?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm just teasing you. You're not very fun to tease, you know."

"Is that so? Then I'm rather pleased with myself. Save your jokes for the others."

They pressed onward down a dank tunnel, reaching an imposing stone gate carved with snakes. Tom told it again to "open" in Parseltongue, and the gate obliged, allowing both him and Alexandra to pass through.

"Shield your eyes when I tell you," he warned. "I'm going to tell it to leave you alone, but even I can't be certain it won't…"

"I get it. Just say when."

They entered a lofty chamber…this, the infamous Chamber of Secrets. The pathway was lined with stone snake heads that stared down at the wizards who dared tread the way, judging them to see if they were worthy. To either side of the walkway was shallow water…either clever decoration on Salazar Slytherin's part, or runoff from the bathroom. When the walkway ended, opening out into a great stone expanse, Tom and Alexandra stood at two great stone feet. They looked up. The ceiling was so high, it was invisible, merely appearing as darkness. However, the top of the statue at whose base they stood was clear, even in the dim light. Head to toe, it was a likeness of Salazar Slytherin. His cold eyes stared out and forward. Tom knew that inside that stone body, real life did writhe, hoping for the chance to awaken, to be set free of the stone skin.

He spoke, all in Parseltongue: "It is I, the heir of Slytherin. Son of Merope Gaunt. I am Tom Marvolo Riddle."

He could almost feel the shuddering from within the statue. The beast within was listening.

"It is time to fulfill what Salazar Slytherin had always wished," Tom continued. "To purge the school of those who do not belong. The filthy…the Mudbloods."

He felt a chill. Perhaps the thing was calling him a hypocrite from within.

"I know my heritage, and it matters not to me," Tom hastily explained. "No…that is wrong. It does matter. I am not proud. In fact, I am disgusted. If ever I found my father…I would slay him for making me what I am. No…I do not want to be considered a half-blood. I am not like the others."

Maybe it had accepted that. It was, after all, the truth.

"Come forth," Tom encouraged it. "I wish for you to leave me alone…and to refrain from attacking those I choose." He named a few of his close allies, finishing with, "…and, of course, Alexandra Russo. However, the rest of them…"

And for the first time, the beast answered back:

"RIP THEM. TEAR THEM. KILL THEM."

"Yes," Tom agreed.

He heard the sliding of a great stone hinge far above. "Now," he told Alexandra in English. "Shield your eyes."

"Okay then." She closed them. Tom didn't even know if that would be effective…if one could stave off the deadly stare simply by not looking back, or if the eyes would destroy what they beheld no matter what.

The Slytherin statue's mouth opened. A massive serpent, a basilisk, slithered down from it, crawling down the length of Slytherin's body. When its head touched ground, Tom could see that it didn't matter what Alexandra did to hide from it. Its eyes were closed. It was respecting its master…the one chosen to command it by bloodline.

"IS IT TIME TO KILL?" the basilisk asked Tom.

"Yes," Tom told it. "Kill."

---

After the basilisk had disappeared into the darkness, choosing the route of the school plumbing to travel through the castle walls, Tom and Alexandra returned to the Slytherin Common Room as soldiers celebrating a great victory.

---

RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH

PRESENT TIMELINE

Perhaps that, Voldemort thought, was when he first knew deep within that he felt something for her. He hadn't admitted it to himself for years and years. She had grown up with him, standing beside him as he claimed the honors for "catching" the student who'd released the monster of Chamber of Secrets. She matured into a woman of nearly unmatched beauty…Bellatrix could try, but only fail. She became a Death Eater. A prime warrior in the First Wizarding War. So many corpses lay under the glow of her wand…including the bodies of her parents and her brothers. Nothing was sacred to her…except for Voldemort himself. She being one of the few privy to the change of his name.

Voldemort let his mind wander to another memory. A moment of weakness. Were not even the strong allowed those? He hated himself for it, but it had been such a beautiful forbidden pleasure.

---

PONYVILLE, FOURTH EQUESTRIA

TWENTY-EIGHT FOURTH EARTH YEARS AGO

THREE FOURTH EQUESTRIAN YEARS AGO

It had been the first time that he had secured his safety from the Elements of Harmony, or so he thought. Knowing of the power, he and Alexandra tread the ground of Ponyville in Fourth Equestria on the night before the Summer Sun Celebration. So the little one thought she could hide…it was altogether unfortunate that she had not known, or so Voldemort thought, about the Morganian underground of gossip. Her location was betrayed. Soon she would be dead.

Alexandra had been tall and stately, with a crimson coat, a flowing black mane and tail, and a Cutie Mark shaped like a skull—not the Dark Mark, but a simple skull on its own. A striking symbol of independence that still coincided with Voldemort's ideal.

They approached the great tree that held the library. A simple Alohomora charm opened it. There was the pegasus—a green mare with a shaggy green mane and a Cutie Mark representing a stack of books. She lay on a pile of pillows on the floor, reading calmly.

She looked up. She faced them bravely. Voldemort knew she knew. It unnerved him.

"I was expecting you," she said to him. "Or someone. I'm ready."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The pegasus lay stretched across the floor. The life was gone from her. And so was the Element. At least, Voldemort had thought so. He hadn't known for sure that she'd actually had a failsafe in place, one that would assure the passing of the Element to safety…one that Princess Celestia would never mention unless absolutely necessary. As far as anypony would know, the Element of Generosity had always safely belonged to her and nopony else. Even without knowing all this, Voldemort suspected something was off beause of the mare's calm demeanor.

"Does it strike you as odd," he said, "that she expected us, and that she faced us without fear?"

"Who cares?" Alexandra replied. "Generosity's dead and gone. Laughter's all on her lonesome now. And she doesn't have much to laugh about anymore. Man…this one was an egghead anyway. We might have actually done a good thing getting rid of the town nerd."

That was when, and that was probably why, he kissed her.

When his lips left hers, she asked, "Okay, what was that?"

Already he was furious with himself. "Meaningless."

"I don't think it was." She was smiling. That was a rare feat, Alexandra smiling. "I didn't mind it."

"I minded it."

"But you were the one that did it."

"It isn't what I want. Lust stands in the way of power."

"All right, then."

He vowed never to do such a reckless thing again.

---

RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH

PRESENT TIMELINE

Perhaps that was why he felt resentment still that Horvath had abandoned Morgana for what seemed to be similar lust. It got in the way of power. Morgana was gone because Horvath's heart had faltered.

There wasn't much more to the tale of Alexandra Russo. At the end of the First Wizarding War, she was killed. And that was the end of it. The loss was of a valuable soldier and, Voldemort claimed, nothing more.

But he did want her ruthlessness and her skills back. That was why he'd sent the search party.

And they returned before him. "There is good news," Rosier announced, "and bad news."

"Then begin with the good," Voldemort commanded.

"There is another Alexandra. On another world. One where our endeavors have actually been…quite successful."

"And the bad?"

"You see," Rodolphus Lestrange picked up, "it is a PARALLEL world. One shaped by choices and changes. It is definitely Alexandra, but not the same as you knew her."

"Is she any less ruthless or skilled?"

"No…she is in fact quite loyal to you. But she is much younger. Sixteen. She is also American. And, perhaps worst of all…she is a half-blood."

That came as a stunning surprise. "It cannot be," Voldemort whispered to himself. "She…cannot…"

"Abandon her, my lord," Rosier begged.

"No," Rodolphus countered. "Take her. She is valuable to us."

"I must at least see her," Voldemort resolved. "Tell me where I can find her."

Rodolphus gave the details; Voldemort left the room.

"What was that?" Rosier asked. "That one is worthless to us."

"All the same," Rodolphus said, "I wouldn't mind having some form of Alexandra with us again. I was never sure of his relationship to her. If it was lust, then this will most certainly not work. She's too young and too wrong. But if our dark lord told us the truth for all those years, that she was merely a close ally for her skill…it would be most beneficial for us to have her back."

"What does it matter to you?"

"She might become his right-hand. And that will mean my wife has no more reason to be close to him."

---

HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH

"Jus' a minute, jus' a minute!" Rubeus Hagrid made his way to the door of his hut, where someone was knocking…very softly, as it had taken him a while to figure out anyone was even making a noise to get his attention.

He swung open the door to look down upon a familiar face, one that flinched. "Fluttershy?" he asked.

"Um…that's me…" Fluttershy replied softly. "You're…Hagrid?"

"Right yeh are! An' what brings you down here today? Oh, does this have anythin' to do with what Firenze told me?"

"Um…maybe…"

"Well, yeh don't have to worry about that," Hagrid assured Fluttershy. "It's all worked out. You an' yer friends can come an' go as yeh please. Though that shouldn't be a problem anyway, seein' as it's yer home."

Fluttershy had nothing to say to that but a squeak.

"What brings yeh down here, anyway?" Hagrid asked. "Yer kind of a shy one to send about it, if yeh ask me."

"Well…you see…" Fluttershy squeaked out. "We needed to make sure it was clear with staff, so I wanted to ask…but also…I've heard that you teach a class on all sorts of magical animals."

"An' lemme guess." Hagrid's face broke out in a wide smile. "That's right up yer alley."

"Um…maybe a little…"

"Tell yeh what. Let's go out to the station in the forest where I'll be supervisin' yer comin' and goin' so no one asks questions. We can talk about when you want to make yer first outing. An' even though yeh don' have the class, I'll show you some of the creatures I'm thinkin' of teachin' about this year. Sound fair?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Well, c'mon, then," Hagrid said, leaving the hut and closing the door. He made his way toward the edge of the forest on campus, Fluttershy following closely.

"Here'd be the entrance point," Hagrid said, walking into a specific area of forest. "This's where most of the Care of Magical Creatures classes go on. When were yeh thinkin' of goin' out to the Forest first?"

"I don't know. Maybe…this Thursday?"

"Sounds good. I'll be out here 'round ten."

"We'll be there."

Hagrid led her deeper into the forest until a small wooden shack came into view. "Now, this is where I'm keepin' this year's coursework," Hagrid said, "an' I gotta say, I nearly can't wait to see what the student reaction is to these." He moved to the door of the shack, opening it wide so Fluttershy could see what was inside. "Careful. The front ends are harmless, but you'll want to avoid the back."

Fluttershy gasped. Giant tortoises with gilded, jeweled shells roamed about inside the shack. One of them moved toward the door, interested in the newcomer.

"Fire-crabs!" Fluttershy squealed with glee. "I've only ever read about them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!" She knelt to stroke the head of the fire-crab that had moved forward to look at her. She let her hand hover over it, waiting for it to feel comfortable enough to press its forehead into her palm. "There you go…you're a good fire-crab. I can tell."

"Yeh know," Hagrid said, "a lot of people have been sayin' that I pick animals that are too dangerous to study for these classes. But really, most of 'em are just big softies on the inside once you get to know 'em."

"I believe you," Fluttershy said, still petting the fire-crab. "These might be a little fiery, but they just want to be loved like anything else."

"Here," Hagrid said, kneeling by Fluttershy and handing her half a head of lettuce that he'd produced from his voluminous coat. "You can feed 'im if yeh like."

"Thank you!" Fluttershy offered the vegetables to the fire-crab, which ate with gusto. Fluttershy then took a moment to look around the shack. She couldn't divine the purpose for which it had been constructed. It seemed to just be a large, roomy building, perhaps for holding fire-crabs…but Fluttershy noticed the debris in the corners. Jagged pieces of thin stone, curved…eggshells?

When the fire-crab was done eating, Fluttershy stood. "We should let them get their rest," she said.

Hagrid closed the door, then turned around, only for his breath to catch. Fluttershy couldn't understand what he was staring at. His eyes seemed fixed on an empty patch of forest.

"Shhh," he said hushedly. "Yeh don't want to scare her…"

"I don't see anything," Fluttershy admitted.

"Oh," Hagrid realized. "'Course yeh wouldn't…she's a thestral."

"I don't remember those from my book. Are they invisible?"

"Yeah…unless…well, it ain't a pretty subject."

"What?"

"Yeh can see one if yeh see someone die."

"Oh."

Hagrid tentatively walked forward. He could see it plainly: the gaunt, horselike creature with gray skin and batlike wings. It didn't move when he approached.

"Come closer," Hagrid told Fluttershy.

Fluttershy obeyed, walking up to the same general area gingerly. Hagrid reached out, putting his hand on what looked to Fluttershy to be empty air. "Righ' here," he said.

Fluttershy put up her own hand and was surprised to feel the touch of leathery skin. From what she could feel, she cradled an equine snout, a mouth. The thestral leaned into her touch the same way the fire-crab had.

"Now I know you're there," Fluttershy said with a smile. "It's okay. I don't have to see you to know."

She heard a low noise like a whinny…but one more ethereal, one that chilled Fluttershy to the bone. And she didn't mind that.

"What year can we sign up for Care of Magical Creatures again?" she asked Hagrid.

"Third year," he replied.

---

Back at the hut, a quaint place if overcrowded with furniture, Hagrid and Fluttershy sat at the kitchen table having a cup of tea. Fang, Hagrid's loyal boarhound, had taken an immediate liking to Fluttershy's gentle ways, drooling all over her.

"…and ever since then," Fluttershy said, "I've been visiting that manticore. He really likes being cuddled." She was careful to edit her story so that it contained no mention of Equestria, Everfree, or the fact that she was a pony…but all the same, she told the story of her favorite manticore friend. "Do you teach about manticores?"

"No," Hagrid admitted, "but I'd like to. Misunderstood creatures, they are. An'…as much as I want to show everyone the truth about creatures like that, I've…kind of been forbidden from certain animals."

"Oh?"

"Well, a couple years back, a student got badly hurt because of a hippogriff in my class. Buckbeak never meant to hurt anyone—"

"Oh, I think I can guess. Was that student being mean to him?"

"Exactly. Yeh gotta treat hippogriffs with a certain amount of respect. Yeh can't just walk up to 'em an' insult 'em to their faces. Proud beings, hippogriffs are. But the fact remains I can't bring 'em back to the school ever since that. The fire-crabs are a bit of a replacement study."

"That's too bad. I'm sorry."

"'S all right."

"Can I ask you a question?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure thing!"

"That place where you kept the fire-crabs. It had sort of…eggshells…in it. What used to live there?"

"Oh, that! Well…maybe yeh've heard, but things used to be a little different back when I was at Hogwarts. A lot more…well, I'm not quite at liberty to say exactly what."

Fluttershy could guess. Otherworldly things.

"Anyway…" Hagrid went on. "There're a lot of things left around here from back then. Like the Wiggentree out in the forest. The bark's used to make Wiggenweld healing potion. Hogwarts used to export it…out. Trade stopped after You-Know-Who came into power. The shack is actually from way before that. Used to be that a clan of real gargoyles, not just the statues, lived up at the castle. Y'know about real gargoyles? Ain't many left on this planet."

"I've heard about them," Fluttershy said, recalling Angela.

"And yer a first-year…yeh'll have heard of the Gargoyle Strike of 1911. They all walked out. Left us behind. We never saw 'em again. I wasn't there, so I don't know, but I'm guessin' it's the same case as with the hippogriff, only worse. Humans not treatin' them with respect just 'cause they're different. Only unlike a hippogriff, gargoyles've got brains like humans. An' like giants, fer that matter."

Fluttershy could both believe and revile the fact that humans would lash out at Angela because she had wings and talons.

"So, t'answer yer question," Hagrid finished, "that place out their was their hatchery. Where the Hogwarts clan kept their eggs. Gargoyles raise eggs communally, y'know. Entire generations are hatched outta the collective nest, an' they don't keep track of who's the parent of who. Doesn't matter to them. They're all family. Fascinatin' culture." He stopped. "Sorry if this is bringin' up bad memories."

"Of what?"

"Y'know. Of humans an' how they react to…"

"Oh." Fluttershy realized what he was getting at: the conflict between humans and centaurs. Though she had never experienced it, she was beginning to understand it. "It's all right. I try not to hold grudges. Against anyone, I mean. Sometimes people can be mean, but a lot of times, they have reasons. Maybe they don't know better. Sometimes it isn't worth it to try too hard to be friends, because some people will just hurt you, but a lot of times, if you just try to give someone kindness, you can open up a new door."

"Well. Yer quite different from any centaur I've ever met."

"I guess I am. Kindness is…well, it's sort of in my destiny."

"An' yeh never held any grudges toward anyone?"

"Well…I can think of at least one time that it was really, really hard." She swallowed hard. "There was someone once…who ruined things for me and my friends. But then I had a chance to talk to him, really talk to him…and we became friends for a while. We even had a deal that we wouldn't hurt each other. But then things went wrong. I guess…if he wasn't doing things the way he wanted, he wasn't being himself, and I wouldn't want him to suffer for that. But it came down to a point where he broke his half of the promise…and I had to break mine." She remembered very well when she and her friends had to seal Discord in the statue once more, though she had told him so long ago that she would never use her Element of Harmony against him. Once a painful memory…not so much anymore. "The thing is, though it hurt that he broke his promise, I realized I'd rather not make him pretend to be something he's not. Even if that something ended up meaning that we needed to…keep everyone else safe from him. I know he would rather have had it that way. And I don't think it's impossible that we could be friends again. It might be hard, but you just never know. I'm not angry at him for that in particular anymore. And I'm not sad about that either. There is…something, though."

"What's that?"

"He caused a lot of problems for us. Big ones. He nearly turned us to ruin just for fun. We thought we were done with all of that, but…there have been rumors that he's back, and that he's doing things like that again. Now, I'm still not mad at him for what happened between us…but that doesn't mean I won't be mad if he starts ruining things again…and it doesn't mean I'm not a little afraid, and that I hope it isn't really true."

"That's tough," Hagrid agreed. "The last time that happened around here, it was the rumors of You-Know-Who. The Ministry tried to deny that he was alive, but…we all figured out far too late that he was. Even I didn't want to believe it, but the person who told me…is one of the people I trust more than anyone else in the world. For your sake, I hope this isn't like that."

"Thank you. As it is, we already have a lot of problems to think about…oh, but it isn't anything we won't be able to eventually handle. I'm sure of it!"

"Make sure you bring some of this up to Firenze, Bane, and Ronan in the Forest. They know a lot of things, after all."

"Do they know," Fluttershy inquired, "about the way things used to be? About what it was like here before Voldemort—" She observed that Hagrid flinched when she said the name "—showed up?"

"I'm sure they do. An' I'm sure they could tell you about all sorts of things I never even knew about."

"So…what was it like for you to go to Hogwarts? It seems like a wonderful place to be a student."

"Well…" Hagrid shifted in his seat. "I wasn't one of the most popular students. To say the least. Didn't have many friends in school. One transfer student, once…a visitor. Eskarina, her name was, but preferred we all called her Esk. But after my second year, she went back where she came from, an'…there ain't any way right now to get communication to 'er. I was actually expelled, third year."

"Oh my goodness, that's awful! I can't imagine that you would have done anything so bad intentionally."

"Well…I don' want yeh to think I'm just lookin' for pity."

"I don't think you are. If you want to talk about it…"

"Well, I had my love for magical creatures even back then, y'know?" Hagrid explained. "That was the year that I was raisin' an acromantula on the sly. Y'know acromantulas?"

"Yes. I've read all about them in my books. They seem scary, but I'm sure they're very nice once you get to know them."

"His name was Aragog. Probably my best friend after Esk left. That was the year that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was let loose, though, and before anyone knew it was a basilisk. A girl called Myrtle ended up dead because of that thing, an'…they thought it was Aragog, an' that I'd put 'im up to it. That I was controllin' 'im to kill people. The one who really was directin' the basilisk called it off after they expelled me to make it look like I did it."

"That's terrible! I don't really know much about this Chamber of Secrets, but I'm guessing that it was something very bad. And I already don't have a very good opinion of the student that got you expelled!"

"Yeh shouldn't. It was…You-Know-Who."

"You went to SCHOOL with Volde—I mean, You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah. He was a student like the rest of us in the beginning." Hagrid's demeanor then changed; he smiled slightly. "No, things weren't good in the past, but Albus Dumbledore—he was Headmaster before yeh ever got here—never thought I was the killer."

"I should hope. You just don't seem like the type to me."

"Well, thank yeh, Fluttershy. Anyway, he let me stay on as the groundskeeper, an' it was in these past few years that I made most of my real friends. Professor McGonagall. Harry Potter. Ron Weasley. Hermione Granger—oh, but y'know Hermione."

"She's very kind and very smart," Fluttershy confirmed.

"So in the end, I haven't really had it so bad. I like to think more on the present than the past."

"That's good. Oh, and I don't want to be presumptuous, but…"

"What is it?"

"Well," Fluttershy admitted, "I was just thinking that I'd like to be on that list. I want to be your friend. They weren't wrong when they said we had a lot in common."

"Heh, it's been a long time since I've known anyone else who had the same way with animals. Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still scared of things like manticores. An' you seem like a sweet person. Don't be afraid to drop by for tea anytime, y'hear?"

"Oh, I definitely won't!"

---

MANHATTAN, 26TH EARTH

Voldemort was in disbelief. Even though he'd been warned of all the things that were…wrong…with the parallel Alexandra, he still found it off-putting that he was standing outside a sub sandwich shop in downtown Manhattan. He certainly hoped Rodolphus and Rosier hadn't made a mistake—for their sakes.

He'd gone alone this time, leaving behind Bellatrix, Horvath, Medusa, and even Quirrell. They had their hands full instructing Trixie in any case. This was something the Dark Lord had to do alone.

He entered the sub shop, prepared to be disgusted.

She was there. Exactly as he remembered her from when they were young—the spitting image of the girl who had helped him, as Tom Riddle, to release the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets. She was wiping down a counter, scowling as she tackled the stickier stains. The same mouth, not used to smiles. The same derision in her eyes. She was the only one in the room—no patrons, no staff.

She looked up; when Voldemort had entered, a bell had signaled the arrival of a customer. When she saw who it was, she nearly dropped her rag in shock. "Lord Voldemort!"

Voldemort was suddenly incredibly curious. "Have we met?"

"No," Alexandra said, "but I've seen you all over the news and in the papers and everything."

"You have?" Voldemort replied.

"Um…yeah? Duh. You're the leader of the entire wizarding community? The one who enforced the one-wizarding-child-per-family law? Did you hit your head or something?" Another possibility occurred to her. "Or are you just one of those really convincing costume nerds? What do they call 'em, 'cosplayers'?"

It took a while for Voldemort to register what she'd said; he was thrown by the fact that she was speaking in an American accent. Then it sank in: on 26th Earth, the Death Eaters had won. Voldemort was the ruler of the entire wizarding community. Harry Potter was dead, or had never existed. And there was a new law…one that reduced wizarding children.

"Prove to me that you are not lying," he commanded.

"O…kay…" Alexandra reached under the counter to bring out a wizarding newspaper, which she slid across the counter. Voldemort walked forward to pick it up. There, on the front page, was a story detailing an address he'd given from his headquarters at the Ministry of Magic in Great Britain. She'd not been wrong.

"So what's your problem?" Alexandra asked.

"It is a most interesting thing," Voldemort replied. "I presume you have heard of the concept of parallel worlds." He couldn't help but notice that his powers did seem limited to this world…well, the powers that belonged to the him here. Obviously, this version of him did not have as much ambition.

"Wait." Alexandra did a double take. "Are you trying to tell me that you're some kind of parallel Voldemort from another world?"

"That would be correct indeed. A world where I have not been quite so successful."

"A world without Voldemort in charge?" Alexandra was now scrubbing out glasses. "That must suck."

Though her dialogue was riddled with slang, this was most certainly the same Alexandra, Voldemort knew. "And your view is…?"

"Hey, you're kinda my hero. I've actually done a lot of stuff to help your cause. I knew this wizard once who was trying to change things so that all wizarding children got to keep their powers no matter what, and they were going to storm the government. So I stood up to her, and I stopped her. Aaaaand I might have accidentally killed her…but that's just the way the cookie crumbles." She shrugged.

"Would you kill more," Voldemort asked, "for my cause?"

"Well, the first one was no big deal, so…" Another shrug. "It's not like she didn't have it coming and everything."
"Alexandra…"

"It's Alex. And how did you know my name anyway?"

"Alex…? Let me just say that in my world, in my timeline, things were different. Very different indeed. You meant something great to the Death Eaters. And you still can mean something great."

"Alex?" A rather stout man descended the stairway that led from the upper apartment to the sub shop. "How are those glasses—LORD VOLDEMORT!" He froze in shock. "I'm sorry, your excellency, but I didn't know you were…there was NOTHING on the news…!"

"I had hardly anticipated this visit myself," Voldemort admitted. "You…are Alexandra's father, yes?"

"Alex?" Mr. Russo scowled down at his daughter. "What did you do to offend Lord Voldemort?"

"On the contrary," Voldemort countered. "She has not offended me. Quite the opposite. Might I speak with the entire family?"

"Well…I guess…"

---

Voldemort was granted a table in the sandwich shop and offered anything, everything he wanted off the menu, on the house. The five Russos gathered around the table, staring expectantly at him. So strange, he thought, to see the parents and the two brothers alive again. It was probably only a matter of time before that was no longer the case. And the woman…this must have been the Muggle. She even tried to defend it:

"I know that marriages between wizards and non-wizards aren't exactly looked upon well," she sputtered, "but it was an odd circumstance. And I've raised our children to follow your ideals as best as I could…though SOMETIMES they insist on being rebels."

"I do not mind a little rebelliousness in this case," Voldemort admitted. "You see, I have a proposition for Alexa—for…Alex. I am indeed Lord Voldemort, but I am not the one you know. I come from a world where the Death Eaters never established power."

"Never?" The older brother looked stunned.

"There were unfortunate circumstances standing in my way," Voldemort said. "It was a world where history differed greatly from the way it is here. The Alex of my world was born in my generation, and she was one of those closest to me in battle. She is now lost to me. Assuming that the Alex of this world is just as powerful…I should like to take her in as my apprentice."

"Just as powerful?" Alex snorted. "I could probably kick your Alex's butt. You have no idea the kind of spells I can do."

"Alex!" Mr. Russo cautioned. "Don't speak out of turn!" He cleared his throat embarrassedly. "Though she does have a point. She's very proficient at her lessons…when she actually puts her mind to finishing them."

"And what, may I ask," Voldemort inquired, "gets in the way of her putting her mind to finishing them?"

"I dunno." Alex shrugged. "Sometimes I just wanna do what I want instead."

"ALEX!" Her parents gasped.

But this was exactly what Voldemort wanted to hear. His own Alexandra had often shirked her studies to do "whatever she wanted". Her disrespect for her elders had probably contributed to the hardening of her conscience and led to her ability to kill with only a shrug of reaction when questioned about it later.

"My offer still stands," he said.

"Well…I guess I wouldn't be against it," Mr. Russo said.

"I feel a little weird about sending my baby to other universes," Ms. Russo moaned.

"But she'll be with THE Dark Lord!" Mr. Russo argued. "She'll be fine!"

"Alex?" Voldemort posed the question directly to the girl.

She flashed him one of her rare smiles as she said, "Why not?"

---

She followed him out of the sandwich shop. He was glad to have her amongst his forces again, but he also felt assured that he would not fall prey to the lust that had bothered him. She was too young. Even entertaining the notion about her disgusted him—even in ways that killing, for all that it split the soul, never had. And this was good. Whatever had prompted that kiss in the Ponyville Library…he was confident that it would never happen again.

"I must ask," he said. "Are you bothered that you are a half-blood?"

"Should it matter?" she replied. "Well, actually, yeah, it does matter in a way. It bugs me. Why couldn't Dad have picked a real wizard to marry instead of…? Well, what can you do, anyway? I'd rather leave it all behind. Thanks for springing me from that prison of a sandwich shop, anyway."

Yes, Voldemort thought, he had made the right choice. He brought her into the Side-Along Apparition.

---

RIDDLE HOUSE, FOURTH EARTH

Voldemort and Alex appeared in the dining room in the midst of an argument. "Well," Rodolphus yelled at Bellatrix Lestrange, "if that's what you really insist, I don't HAVE to hold you back anymore!"

"Get out," Bellatrix told Rodolphus coldly.

Rodolphus stormed from the room.

"What has happened?" Voldemort asked.

"I just lost two hundred pounds of dead weight," Bellatrix replied calmly. "Besides, death already did us part. Not like I had any obligation to stay with—IS THAT ALEXANDRA?" She stepped backward in shock.

"A parallel version," Voldemort answered. "Different in a few ways, but still quite powerful."

"Nice digs," Alex complimented. "So, what's next?"

"You will undergo the rest of your training alongside Trixie Lulamoon," Voldemort answered. "Bellatrix, how is our little centaur doing?"

"Not shabby. She's picking up magic very well, and we got her to do the Imperius curse on Rosier. She had a few reservations about some of our philosophy, but…we managed to talk her into thinking it over. Turns out that deep down, there's a part of her, always thought there were just some people meant to be better than others."

Voldemort nodded. "I had a feeling Quirrell would be able to reach her in that regard."

Bellatrix made a face. Yes, Quirrell had been the one to finally break through to Trixie and convince her that there was merit in devaluing others, starting her on the road to becoming a killer. No, she hadn't wanted Voldemort to know that. Quirrell seemed to get too much credit from him already. "So. Does this little brat have what it takes?"

"Chillax," Alex replied. "I have more than what it takes for you guys."

"I mean," Bellatrix asserted, "when push comes to shove, what're you going to do when you run into Mudbloods that won't get out of your way?"

Alex showed no sign of conscience when she replied, "Well, I'd get them out of my way."

---

HOGWARTS, FOURTH EARTH

At ten o'clock sharp, six shapes slipped across the darkened fields of Hogwarts grounds.

"It still feels like we're breaking the rules," Twilight voiced worriedly.

"Don't be such a drama queen," Rarity replied. "Everything's squared away with Hagrid and Firenze."

They approached the tree line of the forest, where Hagrid awaited. "Right on time!" he called out. "I'll take you most of the way, but at a certain point, yeh are on yer own."

The seven walked into the thick of the dark woods. Fluttershy recognized the path they'd taken on the way to the fire-crab enclosure—the old gargoyle hatchery—but after sundown it seemed completely different, as though every tree was menacing, as though every shadow was alive.

"Just remember, girls," Twilight said, trying to keep up morale. "If things get scary, we initiate the usual plan and Giggle at the Ghostly."

That lightened the mood considerably.

"Here's where I'll be droppin' yeh off," Hagrid said at last. "Jus' keep goin' in the same direction. Yeh should be fine, but if anythin' goes wrong, send up red sparks like a signal flare, an' I'll come runnin'. I can handle mos' everything in this forest."

"Thank you," Fluttershy said. "We'll see you later, all right?"

Hagrid turned to go back down the path from which they'd come; the six pressed on. They passed through the trees that practically formed dark abyss, wondering when they were to reach their destination. At last, moonlight broke the canopy of trees; a circular clearing was visible. The six stepped out into it before they noticed the centaurs waiting in the shadows at the clearing's edge.

Firenze stepped forward into the moonlight. "I'm glad you have come," he said. One by one, the other centaurs came forward.

"H-hi, everypony," Twilight greeted. "Um…I'm Twilight Sparkle, and—"

"We know who you are," a dark-haired centaur said gruffly.

"There's no need to be curt with them, Bane," another centaur, with lighter hair, reprimanded. "They are quite similar to us, after all." He turned his attention to the six Equestrians. "I am Ronan. Firenze has told us about you."

"He also told us a little bit about you," Twilight said. "But just a little."

"So you are the ones," Bane said coldly.

"What ones?" Pinkie asked sincerely.

"The signs have been read," Bane announced. "Our eyes have been on the stars, and for the first time in many years, we could not make sense of everything we saw."

"I heard," Twilight replied.

"Then you know that what is to come is not of this world," Bane went on. "In fact, I do not believe you are of this world. It is the only explanation for so many things."

"Do not feel you have to disclose every detail," Ronan said. "Your origin is your business. What we consider our business is that you are here."

"So now you know too," Applejack reiterated. "I'm startin' to wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to tell everypony the truth about where we're from. Everypony we met so far is takin' it well."

"That will not always be the case," Firenze cautioned. "You have made a few friends here who are tolerant, but there are also those who would be frightened. May the heavens forbid that Sybil Trelawney know that you are not of this world."

"The point is, your arrival has happened at the same time that the stars have predicted for us several things," Ronan pointed out. "They have spoken to us of a great darkness and also of a great chaos blooming from the cosmos. But they have also spoken of a ray of harmony."

"Between what I have seen of you on campus and the way Minerva McGonagall has treated you," Firenze said, "I believe you six may just be that ray of harmony. If you are not, then your arrival is certainly relevant to the changes that are to come. The patterns in the stars have aligned in a way not seen since before the rise of Voldemort, after all. We believe this to mean that you are not going to be the only otherworldly force to touch this land. Your coming here is a sort of…bridge."

"Firenze is convinced that you are a bridge between many things," Bane huffed. "Between humans and centaurs, for one, given your status on campus. I do not see it, myself, but he has faith."

"A bridge," Twilight repeated softly.

"And that is why we wished to speak to you," Ronan said. "If you are, as Ronan said, a bridge…perhaps you can help to guide this land toward its eventual destiny. And because it will be so similar to what has happened in the past…there are things we know about Hogwarts that have become lost among propaganda. Perhaps you should be the ones to uncover them."

"Hagrid did say you knew about Hogwarts' secrets," Fluttershy recalled. "I'm guessing that some of it has to do with a witch named Eskarina."

"Eskarina Smith was one of many otherworldly visitors," Ronan said. "She came from another school of magic on another world. You see, Hogwarts was founded on the principle that knowledge offered the greatest power of all, and so many came to its gates to take part in the knowledge shared there. Vampires and werewolves. Elves and dwarves. The light and the dark. Masters of the elements. Each left marks on the school. If you can find these marks, they will help you to understand what is going on."

"And in the meantime," Bane sighed, "it would admittedly be beneficial for you to learn OUR ways as well as the humans'. The humans do not know the only way."

"I think I speak for all of us," Twilight said, "when I say we'd LOVE to learn from you!" The other five nodded.

"Is Thursday night convenient?" Firenze asked.

After the six exchanged glances, Rainbow Dash replied, "I think we can swing it."

"In the meantime," Ronan said, "I want to trust you with this first piece of information. Witchcraft has been both revered and reviled by those who associate with light. Hogwarts has offered those closest to the light a place to have sanctuary and worship, but out of bigoted desires, they ultimately shunned the castle. Their sanctuary was one of the many areas closed over. Should you wish to find the Luminary Hall, you need only to cast Lumos in the Eastmost hall of the ninth floor."

"Luminary Hall," Twilight repeated.

"You had best return to the grounds before Hagrid worries," Firenze advised. "We will see you again this time next week."

"Of course," Rarity agreed.

"Thank you for telling us all this," Twilight said. "I promise we won't let you down. I'm kind of surprised you trust us with all this."

"You have the stars on your side," Firenze reminded her. "Your name, as well, Miss Sparkle. The twilight is the area between two opposing points. Between humanity and centaurs, between light seekers and witches, between wizards and Muggles. Perhaps I am giving you too much of a burden to bear, but I believe you have the strength to bear such a name. Not alone, of course. No one could, alone. That is why you all have each other."

---

The six passed Hagrid on their way out, nodding to him as they moved back toward the castle in the dark.

"Just one thing bothers me," Twilight said. "They mentioned a great darkness. And I bet that's Maleficent. But they ALSO mentioned a great chaos. You don't think—"

"Hagrid said that the last time he heard rumors that an enemy was around, they turned out to be true," Fluttershy said.

"Didn't Hermione, Ginny, or Luna say the same thing?" Applejack recalled.

"I'm just thinking that we might have to deal with some old faces from our past," Twilight thought out loud. "I hoped not, but…well. No use in worrying over things that haven't happened…right?" Her eye twitched even as she said that.

"Hey, Rainbow!" Pinkie said suddenly. "What's wrong? You're real quiet!"

"It's nothing," Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"What is it, dear?" Rarity prodded.

"I don't wanna say," Rainbow Dash replied.

"You know you can trust us with anything," Applejack reminded her.

"But I don't want to be rude," Rainbow Dash shot back.

"Just say it," Twilight commanded.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Firenze made such a big deal out of YOU and YOUR name, okay? And he made it sound like we were all just your sidekicks. But I guess it's always been that way. Even the Elements gave you the big crown thingy before they were fixed into our necklaces. I know I shouldn't be mad. I just…I kind of like being important, okay? That should be kind of obvious by now. I'd rather be your friend than have the chance to be better than you, Twilight, and I'm with you to the end, but sometimes I just want a little recognition, okay?"

"I understand," Twilight replied. "I'm not the most important, all right? The Elements worked that way because my Element was the sixth. It couldn't have existed without the other five, remember? And while Firenze was right about my name, he left a lot out. For one, a name doesn't define a pony. Maybe I can live up to that name. Maybe not. But for another, 'Twilight' isn't the only name that has a big meaning. I mean, have you ever thought about 'Rainbow'? A rainbow is when all colors come together. They don't even have to be bridged by the twilight. They exist in peace, though each color is different. And everypony admires how awesome they are. Kinda like how everypony admires you once they see what you can do. You're not my sidekick. None of you are. We're probably going to end up being heroes together…but I wouldn't even be surprised if you ended up being the one to save us all, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash smiled at that. "Thanks, Twilight."

"And hey," Applejack added, "you are the only one of us who has a starring role in the big Quidditch match against Slytherin."

"Right!" Rainbow Dash remembered. "You're all going to be there, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Applejack asserted, and the others nodded assent.

"It will be hard having to cheer against my home team, especially with my dear friend Flora playing Seeker," Rarity admitted, "but in all honesty, I hope you beat Slytherin so quickly, they won't have the first clue as to what happened!"

---

BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

For Charon, it was just another day at work. A thankless job, he had to ferry in the majority of new souls. However, they were all simply going to be dumped unceremoniously into the Styx, unless Hades (or his new assistant, the one who sat on the throne that had once belonged to Queen Persephone) was feeling particularly angry, happy, or creative…or any strong emotion at all, really…and came up with a good punishment for the souls in Tartarus. The only way anyone got into Elysium, Valhalla, or any of the other afterlives was through trickery. Thankfully, there was enough of that to go around. Osiris and Hel were both major partakers in the smuggling of souls, and Hecate was glad to lend a hand wherever it would hurt Hades (not that she actually cared what happened to the souls of the dead, but whatever angered Hades made her happy). Ever since Persephone had gone, Charon lamented, and Hades had…changed, everything had gone downhill for Charon. All he had to do was take the dead up to the dumpster, where Hades would just tally them up and chuck them in without a word to the ferryman. At least he'd gotten used to the routine. All the sights, all the boring steps.

Which was why, as Charon rowed his vessel down the Styx to the central palace of Bardo—the neutral space in the Underworld from which Hades directed operations—he had to stop and adjust the sunglasses that covered his eyes, each of which was made up of a miniature mouth lined with several fangs. Despite this, his vision was perfect, but even he had doubts when he saw the draconequus speed past him in a motorboat and wave gleefully.

If Charon had been the drinking type, he would have dumped all his alcohol into the Styx then and there.

Discord steered right up the bank of the palace at Bardo, ramming the boat into the rocky shore so hard it dented. He'd figured out what was "wrong" with Kyubey and how his world was different. The way to get the old Kyubey and his old ways back lay here, in Bardo. A fun little hurdle Discord had to jump over.

He strode toward the stairs to walk up into the central rooms. However, his path was immediately blocked when two small demons ran down the stairs. Discord had to put a paw over his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. One of the demons was a squat, magenta thing, while the other was teal and rail-thin. Neither was over a foot tall. And these were the guard dogs of Hades?

"HALT!" the magenta one cried. "You're not allowed up there!"

"Oh, did I forget to make a reservation?" Discord replied dramatically. "Well, that is most certainly my mistake!"

"Th-th-there aren't reservations," the teal one said with a reptilian flicker of the tongue. "You aren't part of the Underworld! So…you can't go up there!"

"And who says?" Discord wondered out loud.

"Pain!" the magenta one answered.

"Aaaand Panic!" the teal one chimed in.

"Pain and Panic?" Discord repeated. "Well, those are two things I like. Now, if only I happened to be a force that was equal to both of them, or stronger…oh, wait! I'm DISCORD!"

"YOU'RE DISCORD?" the pair of demons replied before clutching each other in terror.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Discord giggled. "I'm guessing you aren't REALLY incarnations of pain and panic. In fact, you're new. When I was down here last, you weren't around. Did Hades drive up security? Oh, well, no matter. I'll just take what I came for and—"

He attempted to step around the quivering demons, but Pain leapt out in front of him, shifting into a swaying serpent that met him at eye level. "I don't care if you're Discord, Doubt, or Diarrhea! NOBODY gets into Lord Hades' palace without his permission!"

"Oh, please." Discord snapped his fingers, and the fangs protruding from Pain's mouth all fell out. He pushed Pain aside with a burst of strength not found in mortals. He then strode up the stairs.

"Ohhhhh no you don't!" Panic also became a snake, rushing up the stairs. The next thing he knew, Discord was twirling him about by the end of the tail, yelling "WHEEEEE!" before letting Panic fly and plunge into the Styx some distance away.

"PANIC!" Pain rushed toward his fallen comrade while Discord continued up the stairs.

Pain stood at the bank to fish Panic out of the waters when he floated up; both were again in their demon forms. "Oh man!" Panic moaned. "What are we gonna do? That guy's gonna—"

"What guy?"

Pain and Panic let out twin squeals at the sight of Hades' assistant, the one who filled in for Persephone. The tall, thin man looked down upon them with a mixture of preemptive anger and curiosity.

The two of them answered by pointing up the stairs and yelling "DISCORD!"

He started on his own way up the stairs. Behind him, he heard Pain calling out, "Be careful! He's one of the Old Ones!"

"Oh, I know about Old Ones," he muttered in return, though the demons couldn't hear them. "It'll be more than a pleasure to catch up with old friends."

---

THE FORBIDDEN MOUNTAINS, THE ENCHANTED DOMINION

"Angel of Darkness?" Hades asked Maleficent. "Isn't that, you know, a little pretentious?"

"Not for the one to whom all the cosmos will bow," Maleficent answered calmly. "However, my curiosity is peaked. Did you leave those two bumbling fools called Pain and Panic in charge of the Underworld while you came here, or did you pass the keys on to one of your subordinates?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Hades put up his hands. "I did NOT leave the Underworld in the hands of any of those idiots. You would not BELIEVE the stroke of luck I've had! Okay, so get this. You know the Loa? The Old Ones that make all the voodoo deals with mortals? Well, apparently they made a deal with this guy that made them SO angry, they actually brought him BACK in time in the Underworld to drop him off at my door so he'd have MORE eternity to be punished. Like eternity gets any longer if you just send him in at 1920 A.D.! And apparently they also did the usual torture to him, you know, the soul-splitting agony they put deal-breakers through in the first place, but they want me to give him an EXTRA sentence. You just have to wonder what the HECK this guy did!

"Anyway, this soul gets dumped on my doorstep, and I, y'know, I haven't been having that bad of a day for once, so I start thinking about what I can do to this guy. I mean, if the Loa wanted him punished THAT BADLY, it doesn't seem fair to just drop him in the Styx with the others. So I start thinking about what I can give this guy in Tartarus. Strap him to a wheel of fire? The rolling-the-rock-up-the-mountain bit? Put him in a pool of water that dries up whenever he tries to drink it? But those all just seem so overdone by now. And I don't want anyone to think I'm getting predictable.

"While I'm thinking, this guy tries to talk me out of it. Calls me his friend, starts kissing up to me, blah blah blah, the whole schpiel, when he gets to the story of how he actually turned up there and suddenly, I'm listening. I mean, this guy, he's actually got a brain in his head. And an ambition. I like that.

"So I start thinking. Because I am actually starting to like this guy. And I figure out EXACTLY where I want him. Now, the Loa might think I went soft on him, but what's that they say? Haters gonna hate? Anyway, as you very well remember, due to unfortunate circumstances, the throne of the queen of the Underworld has been rather disappointingly EMPTY. So basically, I'm not just doing the worst job in the cosmos, I am doing the worst TWO-GOD job in the cosmos as a one-god gig. The late great Persephone's life wasn't all moonshine and asphodel, though. There's order to keep. Lists to maintain. Tallies. Punishment records. Paperwork. Sure, the job comes with a cozy title and a few perks, but it is a JOB.

"Now, I know what you're thinking. It's just a job, really. I have no intention of marrying this guy or anything. He doesn't even have to be called 'Queen'. We're still working out the title details. Back in the mortal world, he tended to like 'Doctor', but I'm not sure that's entirely appropriate for this gig. Anyway, I decide not to punish the guy in Tartarus or the Styx, but to split up the responsibility of the Underworld with him. And he starts doing the job with flying colors. I even hand him a few godlike abilities so he can keep the escapees in check. You should see him fry the ones that try to pull a runner! And that's who's looking after things right now. The only person I can actually trust with that job."

"So basically," Gothel reiterated, "you made one of the souls you were supposed to punish into the second highest ranking entity in the Underworld because he talked you into it?"

"And you have a problem with this?" Hades raised an eyebrow at Gothel.

"No," Gothel admitted. "Just making sure I'm following along. This gets complicated, after all."

---

BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

A pair of midnight-blue doors parted, and Discord peered down the corridor. The far walls of the wide hallway were lined with alcoves containing various items of divine value—Lethe river water, a gleaming helmet that appeared transparent from some angles, glistening pomegranates. However, Discord's attention was drawn to the centerpiece at the end of the hallway. The small glass vial was suspended in a beam of light at the center of a column made of the bones and skulls of the dead.

Discord walked up to the column, looking at the vial. Small and unassuming, it contained a bubbling pink liquid and was capped with a skull-shaped stopper. This was, Discord knew, the potion that Hades had used to turn Hercules from a god into a mortal—in this timeline, anyway. And that was if you accepted the validity of the boy's "godhood" in the first place. In any case, Discord knew that once a potion that powerful was used, the great Lord of the Dead wouldn't waste any time replacing his supply in case he needed it again. It was this potion that Discord had come for.

He grasped it, tossing it up and down. He clenched it in his fist until it disappeared into his personal Hammerspace, unseen until he wanted it back. Then he turned to leave only to find that the doors were closed.

Between Discord and the doors stood a human man, rail-thin, with dark skin, a few visible curls of ebony hair beneath his top hat, and eyes that stared with intent. Discord had to suppress a laugh. The purple and black suit this man wore reminded him of the god known as Baron Samedi, who this human most certainly was not. In addition to that, the man clutched a long cane, though he didn't seem to need it for walking.

"So," the human remarked. "Thought you could get away with stealing Hades' things."

"Oh, well, I would have asked," Discord said with a shrug, "but Hades seems to have stepped out. Then again, I would have taken it even if he HAD said no, but asking only seemed polite. And who exactly are you to care?"

"The one who watches over this base of operations when Hades is away," the man replied. "You could call me the second-in-command Lord of the Dead. 'Shadow Man' is also fine."

"So you're the new Persephone?" Discord asked. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around. Whatever DID become of her?"

"That would be none of your business. Now, we can do this the easy way, and you can put that vial back where you found it. Or we can—"

"EXCUSE me?" Now Discord laughed. "Do you even KNOW who you're talking to? I'm Discord. Spirit of chaos."

"Never heard of you," the man replied, "but I know what kind of things you can do. I only ended up down here because I crossed the wrong Old Ones. But lucky for me, Hades gave me a bit of an upgrade in power to make sure this kind of thing didn't happen."

"Oh, whatever, New Persephone."

"If we're gonna be on real-name terms, DISCORD, you're going to call me Dr. Facilier."

"Somehow I doubt you have a medical license."

"ENOUGH!" Facilier, angered, lifted his cane into the air. The sphere at the top crackled with blue plasma. "You're still in my world, not yours! And I don't need help from ANYONE to take on the likes of you!"

He used the cane to blast a wave of blue fire at Discord. Discord's eyes widened as he took in the magnitude of the attack Facilier had peformed; he hadn't been exaggerating about getting an upgrade from Hades. He didn't have time to dodge the flames.

Facilier smirked proudly as the fire engulfed Discord…and then the smile faded when he realized that Discord was just standing there, on fire, not damaged at all.

"I suppose I should thank you," Discord teased. "After all, it was starting to get drafty in here."

Facilier responded by planting the cane on the floor, drawing dark energy toward it. Once he'd built up enough, he sent it out toward Discord in tendrils.

Discord tied the curls of darkness into knots before they could strangle him. "I think it's time we get rid of that," he said, raising his claw and clenching it. The cane, surrounded by the red aura of Discord's energy, flew out of Facilier's hands and into Discord's.

Discord flinched; the removal of Facilier's preferred conduit didn't dull his powers. The self-proclaimed Shadow Man was then engulfed in flame himself, a manifestation of his anger. "Now you'll learn NOT to disrespect me!" he yelled, rushing Discord and striking out at him. His fist connected with Discord's jaw, and this time, Discord could actually feel the pain from the burning fire.

Discord ducked, attempting to slide around Facilier and make a beeline for the doors, but found himself unable to move from the spot where he stood. He felt a pressure on his throat. Turning to look, he saw Facilier, still aflame, proudly standing over Discord's shadow, on the area of the neck. In this way, he kept Discord pinned in place. Had Discord known Faciler's history, he might have known that this was a power that had been stripped from him by the Loa and given back to him by Hades.

"Well, this is unfortunate," Discord lamented.

Then came the rain of flames. Fireball after fireball, Facilier threw them at Discord, and Discord felt blasts of searing pain with each one.

Then they stopped. Confused, Facilier looked at his hands. They were covered in fuzzy pink mittens that blocked the flames. Discord burst into laughter.

"I designed them myself!" Discord guffawed.

Facilier removed the mittens, throwing them to the ground. Discord snapped his fingers. Gravity reversed; he and Facilier were thrown to the ceiling. This broke Facilier's hold on Discord's shadow; Discord made for the door with a cry of "Learn the meaning of 'chaos'!"

As Discord wrenched the doors open, Facilier ran along the ceiling, leaping toward the rogue draconequus. He threw a jet of bright blue flame, and it sank into Discord's shadow, causing Discord to temporarily contort in shock.

"I've had just about enough of this game," Discord sighed. He drew a bubble wand from seemingly nowhere, blowing into it to send a hail of soap bubbles into the air.

Facilier found that gravity had been restored to normal, at some whim of Discord's, and he strode angrily toward his new enemy, attempting to say, "I will NOT be DEMEANED—"

He touched the first bubble. Whatever it was made of, it certainly wasn't soap. It exploded violently, causing the rest of the bubbles to go off in a chain reaction. Facilier was thrown into the now empty skeleton column by the impact.

Discord couldn't stop laughing as he forced the doors open and left the corridor.

Facilier rushed after him, only to see his tail flicker around the edge of the doorway out of the throne room of the palace of Bardo. Instead of giving chase—he knew he would lose—Facilier ran to the window. It was time to call in the soul that was trained for this.

"DAN!" he barked.

From the swirling of the Styx, a single soul emerged: a muscular man dressed in a black-and-white suit like that of a superhero, with a white "D" emblazoned on his chest and a flowing cape attached to his shoulders. He also wore bronze epaulets on his shoulders—gifts from Hades. His skin was a teal color that contrasted with his blazing white flame of hair and his blood-red eyes.

"An Old One just made off with one of Hades' potions," Facilier told him. "He's on his way to the exit right now."

The red-eyed man smiled, revealing fangs. "I'll handle him."

Then this spirit, known to most as "Dark Danny," sped off in flight on a path that would intercept with Discord's.

---

THE FORBIDDEN MOUNTAIN, THE ENCHANTED DOMINION

"…but as if that wasn't good enough," Hades continued, "you would NOT believe what happened to me in the same week that Facilier turned up. Okay, so apparently, in some lost timeline, some weird stuff went on, two guys that were half ghost fused their ghost halves, the result was an abomination of a ghost that wanted to destroy everything and created a temporal paradox to make sure of his existence, yada yada yada, the point is, this ghost, Dark Danny, has a bloodthirst like nothing I have EVER seen. Anyway, he was so much of a threat that everyone's favorite timekeeper ghost, Clockwork—" Hades rolled his eyes "—locked him up outside the main space-time continuum so he wouldn't hurt anybody. But, as it turns out, one of Death's little death-lings ended up creating an even more powerful monster that almost destroyed the entire cosmos. And who would've thought? So Clockwork let Dark Danny go in order to kill that thing. And it worked.

"So, multiverse spared from the giant monster Death's kid made, Dark Danny had nowhere to go. And given that he and I see timelines more as guidelines than actual rules, our paths crossed. After proving that I am in fact a god and he shouldn't try to mess with me if he doesn't want a one-way trip to the bowels of Tartarus, I offered Dark Danny a job as captain of my guard. Imagine that! A second in command ruler AND a captain of the guard in the same week!"

---

BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

The motorboat pealed out of the vicinity of the palace, speeding down the Styx at top speed. Discord leaned back, steering the boat with his feet.

Dark Danny landed on the front of the boat hard enough that it almost tipped forward, nearly spilling Discord into the Styx. "This is as far as you go," Dark Danny warned.

"Oh, really?" Discord raised an eyebrow.

Dark Danny smiled, showing his fangs. "Really."

Discord didn't expect the shockwave that came next. He was thrown out of the boat, plunged into the Styx several yards away. He bobbed up to the surface, spitting green water. Souls clutched at him, tearing at his skin, begging him to release them from their prison.

Dark Danny floated above Discord. "It looks like even the Old Ones are weak against the Ghostly Wail," he remarked.

"You know," Discord said, annoyed, "I could have just Apparated out of here as soon as I got my potion. But I didn't. Do you want to know why?"

"Humor me, draconequus."

"Because the journey is just too much fun. And that includes THIS!"

Discord pumped his wings, flying up out of the water to face Dark Danny at eye level. He snapped his fingers. A tidal wave roared up from the river of souls, sweeping over Dark Danny and driving him down into the waters.

Discord made for the exit once more, flying over the motorboat—he would just leave that there for Charon to clean up—and sailing toward the portal that led from the Underworld up to the realm of mortals. He was suddenly tackled from behind by Dark Danny, who put him in a headlock in midair. The momentum of the pair's flight and their struggle turned them head over feet again and again as Discord squirmed and Danny attempted to get a good enough grip that he could just lay a beatdown on his rogue opponent.

Then the spinning became faster and faster. Dark Danny became disoriented, and he realized far too late that Discord was speeding up their momentum. He let go. That was the wrong choice.

Dark Danny was flung back toward the palace at incredible speed, and Discord was free to head for the exit.

"Well, that was fun," Discord remarked before starting on the climb up to the realm of mortals.

Back in the throne room, Dark Danny stormed in to where Facilier was checking over records while sitting on Persephone's old throne. "It had better be good news," Facilier growled.

"He bested me," Dark Danny replied with equal venom in his voice, "but it will not happen again. We need to mobilize every spare soul. If that draconequus tries to come down here again…we'll stuff his skin and set him up in the dining hall."

"And I suppose you want me to be the one to tell Lord Hades."

"There's a greater chance he won't incinerate you. He likes you. Look at where you're sitting, after all."

"And you'd let him believe you were afraid, even of him?"

"At this point, I can't afford to make an enemy of him." Dark Danny shrugged. "He's still the Lord of the Dead, and I am still the dead. But you know he won't make an enemy of you." That last remark said seethingly.

"Fine," Facilier resolved, throwing down the scrolls he looked over. "Either way, that 'Discord' has just made some very powerful enemies."

---

THE SPACE BETWEEN

Madoka wasn't like other goddesses. She did not call any of the usual territories home—not Olympus, not Asgard, not Bardo. Instead, she contented herself to flow amongst the fabric of the universe, feeling its expanse. It was, for her, a beautiful existence, with no need to worry, no need to eat or drink or feel pain…only the ability to watch the cosmos and to absorb the pain of those she had become the patron of. True, there was still much sorrow in the multiverse…but she had taken away the pain of many with her choice to ascend to godhood. She had given hope.

She had no idea that such hope could be taken away as easily as floating through a pink mist.

She still retained somewhat of a definable form, even as she floated on the higher plane. This form passed through the mist and mixed with it. Suddenly, a great pull, as though a drain had been opened and Madoka's soul was rushing down like water…

---

MITAKIHARA, 30TH EARTH

Madoka lay on the grass of the riverbank, looking up into the midnight sky. She hadn't touched earthly ground since her last wish. The sensation of physical feeling terrified her.

She sat up. She was small…the size of a fourteen-year-old girl. Her skin felt the pressure of the ground upon which she lay and the chill of the air. She looked down at herself to find that she wore a school uniform. She reached up; her pink hair was bound into two pigtails by purple ribbons. She was, in fact, a fourteen-year-old girl.

"NO!" she cried out.

"Really?" a voice asked. "I would've thought you would be happy."

Madoka stood and turned to see a strange creature—part dragon, part equine, part many other animals—standing beside her on the bank.

"After all," Discord said, "I've given you your old life back. Your family remembers you, and it's as if they never forgot. Walpurgisnacht is defeated, and everyone remembers it as a passing storm. Your old friends Homura, Mami, and Kyoko are all here. Oh, and I have one more little gift for you. You should be thanking me."

Madoka looked down at her right hand, where she saw a familiar ring encircling her index finger—a ring with a pink stone implanted in it. At the very sight of it, she began to cry. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why…am I alive?"

"Oh, yes, that," Discord remarked. "That was for my own benefit. You see, with you out there absorbing all the energy from the Mahou Shoujo that forged contracts with Kyubey in this timeline, not to mention the other ones, you were getting in the way of having some fun with some Mahou Shoujo of my own choice. Now things can go back to the way I liked them. The Mahou Shoujo, the witches, and good riddance to that ugly timeline where everything was…HAPPY." Discord stuck out his tongue.

"But how could you?" Madoka bawled. "You've ruined everything! Now Kyoko and Mami and Homura will have to suffer and die!"

"You don't know that. This is, after all, after Walpurgisnacht. We'll see how things go. Either way, it should be entertaining to watch."

"THAT'S WHY YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL?" Madoka screamed. "BECAUSE IT ENTERTAINS YOU?"

"No," Discord corrected. "I've pitted you against potential doom because it entertains me. There's a difference. You might lose…again. You might win…again. Anyway, now that Kyubey is the Kyubey I know and love, I have business with him. But before I go, I should give you my last gift. After all, the game is more fun when there are more players." He held out the Resurrection Stone. "Do you know what this is?"

"Is that…your soul gem?"

"Silly Madoka. I don't need one of those. This is the Resurrection Stone. With a few adjustments, I made it able to bring anyone I wanted back from the dead, so long as they died in the traditional way. If I recall, you had a best friend who died tragically after causing a lot of delicious chaos."

"Are you…are you saying…"

Discord stepped aside. Madoka stared into the face of another girl, the same age as herself and wearing the same uniform. Her soft blue hair stood out against her pale skin. She, too, wore the ring on her finger, but with a blue stone inset.

"Sayaka…?" Madoka asked, not sure if she was seeing reality or an illusion.

"Madoka!" Sayaka cried. "I don't understand! I was dead! I became…and then you…"

"I'll leave you two to catch up," Discord said. "Have fun with your new lives!"

He vanished, leaving Madoka and Sayaka to lament the fate that had been brought upon their world.

---

HOGSMEADE, FOURTH EARTH

After hopping from place to place, Lucius Malfoy had settled upon a place in which to hide. Narcissa and Draco made him swear that this would be the last move. "After all," as Draco had pointed out, "they weren't able to find us in any of the last ten places we hid. When will you stop being paranoid?"

"When I am sure we are safe," Lucius answered, matter-of-fact.

So they appeared within the Shrieking Shack. "No one would think to look for us here," Narcissa remarked. "Not after all that's happened…"

"We can't keep running like cowards," Draco snapped at his father, failing to notice the hypocrisy in his own words. "Sooner or later, we'll need to turn around and give these assassins a taste of their own medicine."

Before Lucius could make another rebuttal, there was a creak from upstairs.

"We may not be alone," Lucius whispered.

On feet as light as a dancer's, Lucius crept toward the room from whence he'd heard the noise. He eased the door open. He looked, beholding what was beyond.

From downstairs, Narcissa and Draco heard him cry out, "Bloody HELL!"

---

Chapter 28:

· There's a slight imbalance here in that the villains are having great multicrossover adventures while the heroes are trying out for sports and doing homework. I have no excuse for this.

· There were only three open Quidditch positions after Deathly Hallows. One was Chaser, which I see Dash as. One is Keeper. Ellie Gray is my OC. Not that I plan to develop her actual character or anything. One is Seeker, of course, and this was the most important. Ty Dunbar is my OC, but he's based on an existing HP concept. Apparently, there was a girl in Harry's year (this is canon) by the name of Faye Dunbar who wanted desperately to be a Beater on the Quidditch team but never even got to try out. I thought I'd make that up to her by giving the most important spot to a family member of hers that I invented. And yes, they have the kind of brother-sister relationship where it ISN'T a slap in the face for Ty to get the spot Faye never got. I'm calling this now.

· Trelawney wears glitter shawls because I went as her for Halloween once and wore every piece of glitter clothing I owned. Firenze is cloaked because I couldn't remember if he wore one on faculty business or not. I'm sure McGonagall didn't want the students to be distracted by his shirtlessness anymore…anyway, the way it works: Trelawney teaches NOTHING and still lives at the castle because she's like family to the staff. Firenze may have been accepted back into his herd, but he still teaches Divination at Hogwarts during the school year. Though this wasn't stated explicitly, I feel like this is how Rowling would have wanted it.

· I hate the centaur design from the HP movies. I apologize if that's Fantastic Racism on my part. But I don't see the point in making their human halves actually look more like some type of elf. In fact, I feel like that conscious decision by the filmmakers alienates them even more from humanity. Though I'm sure that wasn't the intent. In my HPverse, centaurs look like half humans and half horses, like I'm sure you all pictured when you first read the books (if you read them before the movies, and I'm not judging you if you didn't). Oh, and I picked all the centaurs' hair colors at random because I don't think they were described. If they were, and I'm wrong, my bad.

· I drop a lot of "Wait for it…"s in this chapter. See Rarity admitting nervously that she had an interest in Transfiguration when she was a foal? REMEMBER THAT.

· Soap Blizzard of 1378 = canon in HP. Look it up if you don't believe me!

· So I finally explain how WOWP fits into this. In my headcanon, Wizards of Waverly Place is a Harry Potter AU where Harry was killed as a young'un and Voldemort rules the world. Why else are there stupid laws like only one child with powers per wizarding family? (I know that doesn't match his ideals, but it just seems a nasty thing to do and Voldemort is known for nasty, so yeah.) Why else would someone like ALEX be considered the GOOD end of the moral spectrum and someone like STEVIE be EVIL?

· In fact, young Tom Riddle x Alex is one of my favorite ships. So what happened is that in the HPverse (Fourth Earth), Alex was Tom's girlfriend and part of the original Death Eaters. In WOWP, she wasn't born at that time, and was born waaaay later, to an American family of mixed wizard/Muggle marriage. I'm not sure what event to pin the butterfly effect on for the WOWP world, but that's how I want it to go.

· The saddest part is, I can actually believe Selena Gomez saying all that stuff about killing people.

· The first flashback is when Tom released the Basilisk for the first time, if that wasn't clear. And the statue of Slytherin is full-body, not just a face, because that's what I pictured when I read the books. The rest of the chamber is like in the movie because I do like the snake-hall design.

· The second flashback, with the Ponyville Library? REMEMBER THIS. It's going to be part of an important backstory that I'll get to when it becomes relevant. The green pegasus is my OC (one I actually care about developing) and was the previous librarian before Twilight (the murder takes place the DAY before Twilight turned up in Ponyville, and this explains why the library was empty when she got there…).

· I knew from the start…like, when I was even tossing around the idea of doing this story overall…that I wanted Fluttershy and Hagrid to be great friends.

· Pretty sure Fluttershy hasn't seen anyone die. I don't even think I killed anyone in this fic. (Too busy bringing back people who shouldn't even be alive.) So thestrals are invisible to her.

· Fluttershy's manticore story is a reference to the very first MLPFIM two-parter episode, where she tames a manticore so the six can progress through the woods to find Nightmare Moon.

· And more of my crossovery Hogwarts backstory is revealed. The shed was actually inspired by something in one of the HP licensed games. There was a gargoyle in it. So I thought…why not have there be a Hogwarts Clan, Gargoyles-style? And the Strike is a canon event in the HPverse (though we don't know the details of it). I find it believable that they left for other worlds because humans were being jerks to them. Not to say that all humans are jerks. Anyway, it's canon in Gargoyles that clans work that way—entire generations hatch together and no parental claims are made. They live as a giant family.

· The Wiggentree is also from the licensed games, as is Wiggenweld healing potion. And you guessed it…in this canon, all unnamed "potions" in RPGs are, in this universe, Wiggenweld, and they originally were all exported out from Fourth Earth.

· Eskarina Smith is from the Discworld books (particularly "Equal Rites"; she was also in "I Shall Wear Midnight", but I haven't read that one yet). She studied at the Unseen University, the wizarding school in that universe. She was initially denied access because she was a woman, but she was actually given at birth the designated "wizard" powers that are supposed to go to men on the Disc instead of getting "witch" powers. I see her and Hagrid as getting along really well.

· For now, this is all I have planned to see of the WOWP world itself. I'm not saying no to there EVER being an arc with it, but there are roughly 2000 other works I'd rather do stories about first, and it would have to be a story centered around Alex being a death eater and why things on that world just don't WORK.

· I actually think pedophilia is across Voldemort's Moral Event Horizon. He wouldn't do it. And I needed an excuse to both do and sink the Tom/Alex ship anyway. BTW, just because he says he'll never be weak to lust/love again doesn't mean that it won't happen. Or that the person he'll fall for isn't IN HIS FACTION ALREADY.

· I know, I know. A child conceived of a love potion shouldn't be able to love. I'm just retconning that right out because I didn't actually remember/know that when I wrote this arc, and I don't want to kill the development I have for Voldy ship-wise.

· So I remembered that Bellatrix's last name is Lestrange because she's married…I just divorced her and Rodolphus.

· So in the licensed games, there are a lot of hidden chambers, like obstacle courses, you have to go through to learn spells. They always had so much intricate decoration that looked meaningful to me. So I'm taking the chance to use them to make my crossovery backstory for Hogwarts even more complicated by making them actually mean something. Luminary Hall will be the first.

· I wanted to draw that parallel to Twilight's name for a looooong time. But at the same time, I don't want it to be all like TWILIGHT IS THE MAIN CHARACTER AND EVERYONE ELSE IS JUST SIDEKICKS. Because all six ARE important. Yes, Twilight's destiny is a little more…complicated…than the others', but I have things I want to do with all of them. All six are important.

· "Bardo" is a Buddhist term for the in-between of the afterlife. It basically means a neutral state. I'm using it to house "administrative" places in the Underworld that aren't part of actual afterlives.

· This design of Charon, with the teeth in his eyes, is from The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica.

· Hades is my king of Underworld gods here, but the other Underworld gods work for him. Osiris, Hel, Anubis, etc. And Hecate lives down there.

· Where did Persephone go? Spoilers. Anyway, I'm using it as a backstory for Hades' motivations—that losing someone you thought was your immortal companion can make you kind of not care about hurting the immortal souls you're supposed to be taking care of. So Hades either chucks them in the Styx or puts them in Tartarus. Souls DO still get to Elysium, Valhalla, etc. by other means. Most of which mean routing Hades.

· I said some weird stuff about Hercules, this timeline, and godhood. REMEMBER IT.

· The motorboat was partially inspired by a YouTube video entitled "Discord Found a Motorboat," where Discord is riding a motorboat pulled by Steven Magnet (the flamboyant water dragon from the first 2-part ep of MLPFIM) as "In the Navy" plays. It was also inspired by my desire to just see someone drive a motorboat down the Styx.

· Discord and Hades know each other from olden days, but Pain and Panic were hired after Discord was first turned to stone in his timeline. (Note: not everything Discord did before petrification was in the past. He time danced. See: anything to do with the starship Enterprise.)

· Pain and Panic are in name only and NOT incarnations of either.

· Enter Dr. Facilier. I knew I wanted him with Hades for a long time. Actually, this goes all the way back to when I first watched Princess and the Frog. I figure that if the Loa (a certain faction of voodoo gods) are going to take you anywhere for punishment, you'll be dropped in the Underworld from Hercules. Such is the Disneyverse in my head. So I added in a bit that the Loa did torment Facilier on their own before putting him in Hades' timeline because otherwise, he just wouldn't have met any consequences for his actions, pretty much. I mean, I knew I wanted him and Hades in close quarters. I thought about Hades punishing Facilier by making him a servant, but that seemed to have Unfortunate Implications (Hades may not be white, but he isn't black either). But here's the thing: I SHIP HADES/FACILIER LIKE CRAZY. So Hades basically gave Facilier Persephone's old position and the responsibilities she had as queen of the dead. It's "punishment" because ruling an Underworld is hard work. But really, Facilier gets to live in the palace of Bardo and not suffer the torment of Tartarus or the Styx. And he and Hades are friends. So he's got a sweet deal.

· Decided the Loa are Old Ones.

· I'll flesh out the concept of Hammerspace later. It's a term used among gamers to explain where the weapons of RPG characters go when not in use. Or their inventory, which is huge despite the fact that you don't see them lugging around giant suitcases.

· I had to give Facilier an entirely new skill set because the Loa (again, they were never called that in the movie—I figured out the term through my own research) would have taken away his shadow powers. His new powers are based on Hades' own because that's what Hades would have given him—fire and darkness. (The darkness can be credited in part to Maleficent.) And some shadow power, because Hades and I thought he needed a little bit of it back. Oh, and it's canon that Facilier's outfit is based on Baron Samedi. (Discord thinks it's hilarious when humans try to act like they're gods.)

· Dark Danny. This was admittedly a more recent idea I had based on a friend's suggestion once of Dark Danny and Hades as a ship. Dark Danny is the most powerful villain in Danny Phantom. He's made up of the ghost halves of protagonist Danny and antagonist Vlad. His power, the "Ghostly Wail", is basically a sonic boom that messes everything up. He loves violence so much, I had to make him into Hades' captain of the guard. It works too well. He and Hades also have similar hairdos.

· He would actually have quarters on land in Bardo, but I couldn't resist the imagery of him rising from the Styx. I also almost gave him a spear, but then I realized Dark Danny wouldn't need or even want one.

· I'm going to be using a lot of Grim Tales from Down Below and Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi as canon here because they're so popular and well put together. In canon, Dark Danny was sealed away in time. In the webcomic "Grim Tales from Down Below", Dark Danny was released by Clockwork because he was needed to destroy a hell-monster that almost destroyed existence. After that, he was free to do what he wanted. I'm taking that as canon here. (And yes. He did have an affair with the adult version of Mandy from Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.)

· You probably thought I was going to keep relations between the Overtakers and Discord okay since they teamed up in Corona. Well, so did I, at first. Politics between villains are complicated. Some alliances are certain while others are not.

· Puella Magi Madoka Magica ends with Madoka solving the problems and reversing the system of Magical Girls by becoming a goddess and changing the fate of Magical Girls. I'm going to keep that fate under wraps because if you don't know it, it WILL make a more surprising reveal for this story. Anyway, the timeline where Discord first entered Mitakihara depends on Madoka being a goddess and absorbing the Magical Girls' fates. That's why he took the potion from Hades, which we know turns gods into mortals. Turning her back reversed the timeline.

· Walpurgisnacht was the final enemy in PMMM. Basically, we're now in the old timeline of PMMM as though Walpurgisnacht were defeated and all the Magical Girls lived, though their fates are…still doomed.

· It seems like Discord did a good deed by bringing Madoka and Sayaka back. Trust me. The ramifications of that on the PMMM world are TERRIBLE. And we'll get there.

· He brought back Sayaka because…well, my explanation is that he liked how much chaos she caused in PMMM and thought she'd be fun. My real reason? It's not a complete set without Sayaka. I couldn't stand to have her stay dead. (Note: the Resurrection Stone routs Hades completely. He doesn't have any control over who Discord pulls through the modification he did on that thing.)