Chapter 2: Good Morning, Ponyville!

“Wake up, Harry!” The young wizard stirred in his sleep as a familiar voice called out to him, pulling Harry out of his dream world. Sure, it was a weird dream, some strange dream about talking unicorns and snarky, baby dragons, but it was nice to dream about something other than his imminent death for once. He groaned and stubbornly turned over on his side, earning a round of giggles from whoever was trying to make him leave the comfort of his nice, soft bed and begin the day. “Come on, sleepy! You can’t stay in bed all day!”

At this point, Harry’s mind finally managed to piece together that it was a girl trying to rouse him out of his sleep; with his luck, it was Hermione, the one person in this bloody castle who was more stubborn than he.

“Leave me alone, Hermione,” he mumbled into his pillow. “I’m tired!”

A momentary pause gave Harry a bit of hope; perhaps she was feeling merciful today! Maybe, for once in the hectic mess he called a life, he’d actually get to just relax and sleep in like a normal teen.

Obviously, Harry needed a reminder of who he was.

“Harry… It’s Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, remember?” Twilight? Who in Merlin’s name was Twilight? Wasn’t that the same name of that talking unicorn in his dream?

…

Harry’s eyes snapped open, he began searching around for his glasses, frantically reaching with his hands and trying to make out the blurry shape of his old, black frames. To his surprise, his vision suddenly cleared up as his glasses were set in place by some strange magenta tinged energy field.

With his vision now clear, Harry turned to face the source of the voice and was met with the sight of the same purple unicorn he’d seen in his dreams…

Or was it a dream? She was here, standing before him and giving him a rather amused look as he struggled to comprehend her presence. No, she was no dream, no figment of his imagination; Twilight Sparkle was quite real.

Harry struggled to vocalize his thoughts, working his mouth wordlessly before finally rediscovering how to speak. “You’re… real?”

To her credit, Twilight just rolled her eyes and laughed, not in the least bit offended that he was still struggling to come to terms with her existence. “Yes, I’m quite real! “Remember? We talked about this last night and then you tried to argue that I didn’t have to pull out this bed for you… “ The mare trailed off and gestured for him to finish with her hoof and gave him an expecting look.

“And you made me sleep in it instead of the floor,” he finished, before adding an afterthought. “And then you boasted about it only taking ten seconds.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that was the most important detail, but yes, I suppose I did!” Twilight paused a moment to think, covering her lips with a hoof to restrain a giggle. “Just don’t tell Rainbow Dash that I borrowed her line or she’ll try to convert me!”

“Rainbow what now?”

“Oh, right! You haven’t met her yet! She’s a pegasus, one of my best friends; I’ll introduce you to her sometime today!”

“R – Right. A pegasus,” he stuttered uneasily as he sat up and tossed the covers off. He snatched his shirt off the bedpost and threw it over his shoulders, fastening the buttons carefully, so he didn’t end up mismatching them.

“Does your species always wear clothes?” Twilight asked curiously. “Sorry, but I haven’t seen anypony wearing them so often, even Rarity only wears dresses for special occasions.”

“All the time,” he replied, cheeks heating up a bit. “Who is Rarity, exactly?”

“Oh, sorry. That’s another of my friends you’ll have to meet. But first,” she trailed off to look over at the slumbering form of her draconic assistant and giggled as he drooled into his pillow. “It’s time for a certain baby dragon to wake up.”

Spike slept on, unaware that he was about to be roused from his dream world by his big sister figure. Harry sighed and rolled out of bed and began putting his clothes back on, watching with no shortage of amusement as Twilight prodded Spike with a hoof.

“Time to wake up,” she whispered softly. Spike groaned and turned over in his bed.

“Five more minutes, mommy,” he muttered sleepily.

She stifled a laugh and continued poking him with her hoof, but he didn’t move. “Being difficult this morning, are we?” She asked teasingly. “Alright, then, I guess I’ll just have to take this!”

Twilight’s horn flashed magenta with magic and the little dragon’s blanket was ripped from his grasp and into the air, just out of his reach. She gave a wink to Harry, fully expecting her little assistant to leap to his feet and demand she give his precious blanket back and let him, a poor, innocent baby dragon, sleep.

Spike had other plans. He was used to Twilight’s attempts to wake him up after years of dealing with her in the morning. Sure, he knew that she’d keep at it until she got her way, but today he was feeling lucky. Today, he was sleeping in, even if he had to curl up into a little ball to keep warm.

After living with Twilight for literally his entire life, he should’ve known better than to think such an idea would actually work.

Instead of prodding him again, Twilight placed her hoof on his stomach and slowly moved it about in a circle, lightly teasing his scales with the sensation. Spike tried to flinch away from her, only managing to push his body up against the side of her bedpost.

“You’d better get up, Spike,” she warned as she gave him a quick poke to the ribs, eliciting a squeak from her assistant. Seeing that he still wouldn’t get up, Twilight decided to punish his defiance with a full-scale assault.

Spike was helpless! He squirmed and fought against it, but couldn’t escape Twilight’s teasing hoof. The tiny dragon sputtered and laughed, pulled from his blissful sleep by his traitorous body’s ticklishness.

“C-CUT IT OUT!” He cried through his laughter. “T-TWILIGHT!”

“You should’ve gotten up when I first called,” she teased, moving her hoof to the center of his belly and quickly brushing it along his scales. Spike gasped in surprise, letting loose a bout of giggles as the torture continued.

Harry shook his head as he watched Twilight assault her ticklish little assistant; he threw his robe over his shoulders and pulled his arms through the sleeves. Truth be told, he lied when he told Twilight that he’d come to terms with it, that he’d accepted that he was an only child.

He wasn’t. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of pain in his chest, the pain of loneliness. This sort of interaction was something he craved when he was younger.

Something he was denied.

Yet, at the same time, Harry felt a bit happy for them. These two didn’t have to know the same feeling he did, they were innocent in that matter. Twilight and Spike were different species, but they got along better than most human siblings.

More than he could say for the way the wizards in his world treated other magical creatures; those who were classified as having “near human” intelligence by several of the Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks, as if suggesting that humans were superior in nature.

True, humans had made significant advancements in technology and ideology, but they were by no means the strongest or fastest creature on Earth, their edge lay in their intelligence.

Here, that wasn’t true. In this new world of Equestria, ponies and dragons were, if the pair before him was any indication, capable of rational and intelligent thought.

Turning his attention back to his current source of entertainment, Harry found that Spike, in a moment of brilliance, had managed to roll himself out of bed and to his feet, escaping from Twilight’s hooves and managing to put some distance between himself and the giggling librarian.

Spike leveled a light glare at Twilight and grumbled. “For once, just once, I wish you’d let me sleep in!”

“And I wish that for once, just once, that you’d get up without me having to drag you out of bed,” Twilight retorted. “But, then you wouldn’t be you, I suppose.”

Evidently, this was a common occurrence in the living quarters above the Ponyville Library.

Harry just watched as the two bantered, awkwardly rubbing his arm and looking around, trying to look as if he weren’t just staring at the scene before him. As he surveyed the room around him, he had the feeling that he was wrong last night when he noticed just a base similarity between Twilight’s personality and Hermione’s.

The obscenely large bookshelf, stacked to the brim with thick texts, served to affirm that this was the room of Hermione’s equine counterpart. From the towering bookcase to the stacks of books sitting next to the neatly organized desk, it truly seemed as though this were a place that she would’ve loved to visit.

Hell, even the way Twilight had organized the desk spoke of an almost obsessive attention to detail, not a pen nor scrap of paper was out of place!

Just as he took notice of the almost identical obsessive attention to detail, Harry’s heart sank. As obvious as it should have been when he woke up face to snout with a unicorn, as much as he should have felt this cold, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as soon as that realization hit him, only now did the full weight of his situation come crashing down upon him.

He was alone in a strange world. No friends, no Hedwig, no human contact. Here, he was the intruder. He was the alien.

How long would it take for this new land, Equestria, to become like the Wizarding World in that regard? Would they gawk at him like some sort of animal on display for a little while because he was different? How long before that curiosity became suspicion? How long before he became the scapegoat?

How long before he had to hide himself from disapproving glares again?

Harry shook himself from that line of thought; that wasn’t something he wanted to think about right now. Besides, pegging an entire race as being judgmental when he’d been trying to escape just that was quite hypocritical of him. Still, it was a bit difficult to go against what his own experiences had taught him...

A low growl from his stomach brought the happy scene before him to a halt, much to Harry’s embarrassment. “Sorry,” he chuckled sheepishly. “I haven’t eaten anything since midday yesterday.”

“This guy’s speaking my language!” Spike cried with a grin, leaping to his feet and running downstairs.

“You don’t even know what he wants, Spike!” Twilight called after him, facehoofing in annoyance as the tiny dragon continued on his way. “Honestly! Sometimes I wonder if that dragon thinks with his stomach!”

“I have a friend just like him,” Harry chuckled. “He practically dives face first into his food. We’re all afraid that we’ll lose a limb if we reach for something.”

“I guess there’s always one,” she sighed. “Well, come on, the kitchen is downstairs. What do you eat, Harry? Hayfries? Dandelion sandwiches?”

Harry did his very best not to blanch at the mention of Equestrian delicacies. Hay? Weeds? What in Merlin’s name was with these ponies?

Then again, horses in his world were herbivores, so it really shouldn’t surprise him. But still… Yuck!

“Er… no,” he said hesitantly, carefully choosing his words. “Humans don’t really eat hay or dandelions.”

“Well, what do you eat then?”

“Do you have bacon and eggs?” He asked, instinctively thinking of a typical English style breakfast.

Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion at the unfamiliar term. “Bacon? I could bake you some eggs, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Harry resisted the urge to slap himself. Ponies were herbivores; he’d already covered this. They would never think of cannibalizing another species. The idea was probably horrifying to them. “Never mind. How about toast? Or English muffins?”

“There should be some bread in the pantry, I could have Spike toast it with a bit of dragon fire.”

“I’ll have that then. Just stick with something a bit basic for now.”

“That would probably be a safe bet,” she admitted. “Food in your world is different, right?”

He chuckled. “Very.”

“Well, what kinds of foods do you eat?” Twilight asked, summoning a quill and notepad with a quick burst of telekinesis. “I’d love to learn about your culture! It’s not every day I get to study a new species!”

“Err, right,” he stammered hesitantly. Her intense look, that same excited look he’d seen on Hermione’s face whenever a new topic for her to research came up, made him fit a bit uneasy.

The portion of Princess Celestia’s message about studying him finally made sense; Twilight wasn’t just a student in magic, she was a researcher, a scientist, as well.

And he was the research subject. Somehow, he had a feeling that things were going to get a bit… awkward. There were just too many odd questions that the studious mare could bring up, probably more than he could even imagine. And, if she were as similar to Hermione as he thought, Twilight wouldn’t let up until she’d pulled enough information out of him to write her own book on the subject.

With that in mind, Harry decided that it would be best to submit to her whims and answer. Better to get this over with than to suffer through whatever interrogative methods she might have.

Harry really didn’t want to be on the wrong end of that horn…

“Well, we don’t eat weeds or flowers. Mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts and… err…” Oops.

“Vegetables, fruits and nuts,” Twilight muttered as she furiously wrote down his every word. “Not vegetation. And what else?”

How exactly do you explain eating meat to a herbivore?

Trick question. You don’t.

“Uh, sweets!” He cried, trying desperately to cover his slipup. “We eat loads of sweets! Baked goods and everything!”

Fortunately for Harry, Twilight was too preoccupied with writing down every word his said to catch his mistake. “Sounds like you’d get along with my friend, Pinkie,” she noted happily. “She works in a bakery in town.”

“I’ll have to visit sometime,” he agreed, sticking to his story as he descended the stairs and followed her to the kitchen. As soon as he reached the bottom, Harry stopped short, staring in slight awe at the sheer number of books that lined the circular bookshelves of Golden Oaks Library.

Hogwarts might have had the most extensive magical library in Europe, but it lacked the near obsessive, compulsive organization and upkeep of this, Twilight’s pride and joy.

Golden Oaks Library was much smaller, but its dedicated librarian had more than made up for the lack of size in the way she maintained it. Not a book was out of place, not a shelf left undusted or properly stacked, it was, for lack of better term, immaculate.

“Wow,” he muttered, unable to think of anything else, all words failed him at this point. Even he had to marvel at the sheer number of books that lined the walls, that surrounded the entire room, reaching up to the ceiling, that made up the dominion of the unicorn and her draconic assistant.

Twilight, of course, assumed that he was simply impressed and surprised with the extensiveness of her collection, thinking that she’d found a kindred spirit in her love for studying. “It really is a sight, isn’t it?” she asked wistfully. “When I first came from Canterlot, I couldn’t believe that this library in such a tiny town was so well stocked with so many interesting books.”

“Right,” he shakily agreed. “How exactly do the two of you maintain it so well? I mean it’s only you two!”

“Oh, it’s really quite easy with my magic and Spike’s help! He’s my number one assistant for a reason, you know!”

“I guess, but…”

“Don’t overthink it,” she laughed. “I know it seems like a lot for just the two of us to take care of, but he’s a very capable dragon, even if he is a baby –“

“You mean the same baby who’s making your breakfast?” A familiar voice called out from one of the doorway arches. Spike poked his purple-scaled head out and gave his surrogate sister a mock annoyed look. “The same one who could easily let his claws slip and throw a few peppers on your sandwich?”

Twilight simply quirked an eyebrow and smirked, a fresh retort already on her tongue. “Yes, the very same baby dragon who’s gong to be quite upset if he messes with my sandwich… once he realizes that his ‘secret stash’ of gems has been misplaced.”

Spike’s eyes widened in horror as he shut his mouth with an audible ‘click’; evidently, his collection of gems was quite important to him, a fact that Twilight had exploited with a thinly veiled threat the likes of which only an older sister used to show their misguided younger brother that she had far more ammunition to unload.

Big sister: one. Little brother: zero.

“I’ll be good!” Spike squeaked, ducking back into the kitchen to escape Twilight’s almighty smirk-raised eyebrow combo.

Twilight raised a hoof to stifle a bout of giggles, shooting Harry a wink. “Works every time!”

Harry didn’t want to pry, but he just couldn’t help asking. His curiosity demanded an explanation. “Why does he have a gem stash?”

“He eats them,” she said casually, much in the same tone one would use to describe the weather.

“He what?!”

“Oh! Do dragons in your world not eat gems?”

“Er… no,” he said awkwardly. “They only eat… meat in my world.”

Twilight thought for a moment before giving her reply. “Well, most dragons are carnivores in Equestria, but they do eat gems as well. Spike’s a bit different; his diet is mostly vegetarian with the occasional gem to go with a meal.”

Even if he wasn’t as obsessed with learning as Hermione, Harry had to admit that was quite interesting. Of all the things he didn’t expect, finding out that dragons ate gems was definitely among them.

Though, to be quite honest, it did reassure him that he didn’t have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night with a hungry drake standing over him.

Harry had so many questions to ask, so little of this made any sense to him, but he just sighed and decided to roll with the punches, so to speak. He was in another world, one in which ponies and dragons spoke, unicorns used magic and, apparently, dragons ate priceless stones.

At this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answers. Perhaps it was best if he waited until he was more accustomed to all of… this... before delving any deeper.

Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face to get his attention. “Harry!” She called. “Equestria to Harry!”

“Huh?” He mumbled, blinking rapidly as his train of thought was cut off. “What?”

“You drifted off a bit,” she said with a small grin. “You’re not going to make a habit of that every time we tell you something new, are you?”

The teen could only rub the side of his arm in embarrassment. “Hopefully not,” he replied sheepishly.

“See to it that it doesn’t, mister,” Twilight said, adopting a mock stern expression. “I can be quite creative in my methods of getting a pony’s – well, in your case human’s – attention.

“I believe it,” he mumbled, her rather unique method of waking Spike up still fresh in his mind. Somehow, he didn’t relish the prospect of being subjected to her version of a wakeup call.

Her grin widened at the look of discomfort on her new friend’s face. Twilight was a nice pony, typically more concerned with studying than acting the part of a little foal, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t get in on some of the shenanigans that her friends came up with.

A certain hat with a multicolored umbrella mounted on top showed clear dedication to the mystical alarm system that was the “Pinkie Sense”.

Besides, this all served a very important purpose: a bit of fun might distract Harry from his worries and allow him to relax and adjust himself to his new life in Equestria, even if it were only to be a temporary one.

The fact that she wanted to study human reactions to a bit of mild teasing had nothing to do with it. Nothing. At all.

Ok, maybe a little.

With her goal in mind, Twilight flashed a rather mischievous smirk at Harry. “You got a pass this morning, but next time I won’t be so forgiving if you oversleep.”

She had to stifle a laugh at the way his face paled as he considered the endless possibilities of ways she could wake him, each of them more unpleasant than the last.

Sometimes, even Twilight Sparkle couldn’t resist poking a bit of fun at her friends.

Harry gave a weak grin, stuttering assurances that it wouldn’t happen again, that he’d make sure he didn’t sleep in or space out in the middle of a conversation; really, it only served to further the mare’s amusement and cement the fact that he was just too easy to tease.

Her friends would have a field day with Ponyville’s newest resident.

With one final amused shake over her head, Twilight lead the nervous boy into the kitchen, where Spike had already finished preparing a dandelion sandwich and a small bowl of gemstones.

“How many slices do you want, Harry?” the young drake called over his shoulder as he pulled a third plate down from the cupboard.

Harry stifled a laugh at the sight of the tiny dragon balancing himself on a stool, trying to reach a plate. Really, this wasn’t something he’d expect to find a dragon doing in any world. Taking pity on his scaly friend, Harry muttered a quick levitating charm to carefully lift a single plate out of the cupboard and lower it into Spike’s waiting claws.

“I’ll just have one, thank you,” he said politely.

His comment earned him twin looks of disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?” Spike deadpanned. “That’s not even enough for me!” Even though she disapproved of her de facto brother’s bluntness, Twilight gave a nod of agreement. A single slice of toast was most certainly not a healthy breakfast.

Despite their protests, Harry just shrugged. “When I get nervous, I tend to eat very little, if anything at all.”

Grudgingly, the duo had to admit that his excuse did make some sense. Harry might be a bit more comfortable with the two of them; he was still coming to terms with his predicament. He wasn’t just in a new town, he was a in a completely different world! He’d been ripped from everything he knew, everything he was comfortable with, and been dropped in the middle of a world that was practically the polar opposite of everything he’d encountered.

Nervous probably didn’t even begin to cover how he was feeling.

Spike shared a look with Twilight, who sighed in defeat and motioned for him to give into their guest’s request. He grumbled something about the lack of proper nutrition and poor diet, a habit he’d picked up from living with a studious sister his entire life, and grabbed a slice of bread to make toast.

A quick burst of dragon fire, unintentionally hotter than normal due to his dissatisfaction with Harry’s diet, was all it took to toast the fluffy, white bread to a crisp.

If anything, Spike would take solace in the fact that Twilight wouldn’t let this become commonplace for the duration of Harry’s stay. Oh no. He knew full well that Twilight had only given in today because she didn’t want to push Harry too much on his first full day in Ponyville. If he tried this again tomorrow, he’d be in for a big surprise.

And he planned to back his sister in all but blood on this issue. Harry was new, but that didn’t make him any less of a guest and friend.

Spike might be young, but he didn’t let his friends down, even if he had to go against their wishes to help. It was part of his Dragon Code, his own set of rules he lived by. It might be a petty issue, but he wasn’t going to let one of his friends become unhealthy because of some poor eating habits.

He’d read enough health science books with Twilight to know the value of proper nutrition.

Fixing a smile in place, he placed the toasted slice on a plate and held it out to the messy haired human, who accepted it gratefully, returning the drake’s smile with an awkward grin of his own. “Do you have any jam?” he asked meekly.

“Sure, what kind do you want? Grape or strawberry?”

“Either works, I’m not picky.” Eleven years of eating only the minimal amount acceptable had essentially made Harry take a rather simple mindset towards food: if it was edible, he ate it. Being picky just meant he had less food to eat.

Of course, Spike had no idea about this portion of Harry’s past, so he just assumed that the boy didn’t have much of a preference between the two. He shrugged and handed over a jar of strawberry jam before grabbing his bowl and claiming his seat at the table.

As he munched on a small gemstone, Spike watched as Harry quickly spread some jam over his toast and wolfed it down, as if he hadn’t eaten in days. The tiny drake raised a brow and shot a look at Twilight, who seemed to share his own thoughts if her narrowed eyes were anything to go by.

In terms of draconic growth, Spike was only a baby, but he was no idiot. Harry’s actions directly contradicted his claim; the boy was obviously very hungry, but felt uncomfortable asking for more than his meager share.

Something wasn’t adding up. Spike hated it when things didn’t add up; it was another peeve he picked up from Twilight. Based on the single nod he received from his sister, Spike could tell that she wasn’t planning to let this go. Harry might get a pass from a bit of questioning now, but she obviously intended to find out more about their mysterious guest.

Harry, oblivious to the silent conversation taking place just across the table, spoke up after swallowing the last bit of his toast. “So, how are we going to go about dealing with… well, me being here?”

Twilight sighed. “Honestly? I’m not exactly sure myself. I don’t want to cause mass panic, but we can’t just hide you in here! This is a public library –“

“Even if nopony else really comes here!” Spike chipped in cheekily. His teasing grin turned into a squeak of fear at the glare he received, shrinking back into his seat as if he somehow hoped he could press himself through the wood to escape his sister’s heated gaze.

“Like I was saying,” Twilight ground out. “Hiding here won’t work.”

“Well, I can’t exactly waltz out into town, can I? You said it yourself, we don’t want to cause mass panic!”

“No, but it’ll only get worse if I try to hide you… especially if my friends come calling.”

Here, Harry quirked a brow at the way the unicorn before him shifted when mentioning her friends. “Can’t keep a secret from them?” He asked, smiling knowingly.

“You have no idea!” She groaned, lightly bumping her head down on the table. “I’m horrible at lying to them as is! And don’t even get me started on Pinkie Pie!”

“Especially if it’s something involving a new pony – err, human – in town who she can throw a surprise ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” Spike added.

That did nothing to help her mood. “Oh, great! She’s probably already gotten the twitchy tail, or whatever ridiculous signal her ‘Pinkie Sense’ gives her that means ‘time to throw a party’!”

“Well, we could always just take him into town and get it over with, you know? If he’s with us, it won’t be as bad as Zecora or Princess Luna on Nightmare Night!”

‘Nightmare Night’? Now that sounded interesting. What was that supposed to be, the equine version of Halloween? Of course, with Harry’s luck, his near traditional annual disaster would still persist, falling on Nightmare Night instead of Halloween.

That is, if he was stuck here long enough.

“Well, what about just taking him to Mayor Mare? Maybe she can help!” Spike’s voice cut through his momentary lapse in focus. All other thoughts stopped in their tracks as he his mind caught up with what he’d just heard.

Mayor Mare?! No. No way. There was just no way…

Badly suppressing a snicker, Harry cut in. “I’m sorry, did you just say ‘Mayor Mare’?”

The boy bit his lip, his cheeks puffed out with the laughter he only just barely was able to withhold. First, Canterlot instead of Camelot and now Mayor bloody Mare!

Too easy. It was just too easy.

“Harry?” Twilight called, a bit concerned with how red his face was turning and the way his shoulders seemed to be shaking, as though he were having trouble containing himself. “Are you alright?”

He nodded, a small snort of laughter escaped as he tried desperately to regain control of himself before he opened his mouth. “I’m… fine!” He let out. “Just… fine!”

His unicorn friend wasn’t fully convinced. “Are you sure? Did you swallow a bite too big or something?”

Perfect! “Y-Yes,” he ground out, straining to disguise his chortles as coughs. Maybe this wouldn’t be so easy, after all. “Just… just ate a bit too fast! It’ll… It’ll pass!”

To add to the effect, Harry pounded a fist to his chest, giving the appearance of trying to dislodge whatever was stopping him from breathing properly. Thankfully, Twilight and Spike were rather trusting and truly believed that he’d just eaten too fast and swallowed down the wrong pipe, so to speak.

If their earlier banter was anything to go by, Harry didn’t think they’d react too badly to him having a bit of a laugh at the cultural differences, but he didn’t want to test those waters too early.

As annoyed as the students from France and Bulgaria were at the miscommunications and unintended cultural slights, despite the fact that the Hogwarts staff and tournament officials had tried to adapt to their visitors, Harry could just feel that he was going to have to watch what he said or did lest he step on some toes…

Well, hooves, actually.

Heh.

Once he’d managed to get himself back under control, Harry took a deep, calming breath, and turned his gaze back on the pair before him. “You were saying?”

Spike quirked an eyebrow at him, but answered nonetheless. “Mayor Mare, we could take you to see her or bring her here to see you and figure out a way to introduce you to the town without causing panic.”

“Would it really be that bad?”

“Yes,” Both Twilight and Spike replied in unison, the memory of Zecora’s treatment prior to her formal introduction fresh in their minds.

“Really? So bad that you have to alert the highest authority in town? Don’t you think putting the Princesses on high alert last night was enough?”  

Twilight smiled and shook her head. His innocence on the matter was actually quite endearing. In his mind, they’d already alerted the highest of high authorities, anything else was only inconveniencing those around him.

Somehow, she was certain that this was going to become a pattern with the raven-haired human.

“Normally, yes,” she admitted. “But the citizens of Ponyville can be a bit… skittish around things they aren’t familiar with.” A confused look from her friend urged her to explain in more detail. “You have to understand, ponies are normally very tolerant of other races, but Ponyville is a very small town, very old fashioned in many ways. Sometimes, they can be a bit superstitious and fearful.”

Now, that was familiar. “Say no more!” He surrendered. “I know exactly what you mean!” Hopefully, that superstition didn’t also come with a tendency to make scapegoats. “So… the Mayor, then?”

“If she’s available, yes,” the mare replied as she rose from her seat. “Spike, do you mind -?”

Spike waved her off, hopping down from his chair and making his way to the sink. “I’ll take care of the library for the day, you give the crazy, magical human the grand tour.”

“Remember that when I’ve stuck you to the ceiling,” Harry called over his shoulder as he followed Twilight out the door. “Try not to burn this place down!”

“Try not to fall out of any closets!”

Damn. Baby dragon: one. Teenage human: zero.

“Knock it off, you two,” Twilight chided as she summoned a book. “Harry, just give me a minute to find an anti-detection spell and we’ll be off.”

Even though he wasn’t as studious as the mare before him, Harry’s interest was peaked. “How exactly does an anti-detection spell work?”

“Well, it’s supposed to make it so ponies don’t notice you. Princess Celestia once described it to me as perception filtering; the mind doesn’t see you as long as you don’t draw attention to yourself.”

Interesting. “So, as long as I don’t start shouting and waving my arms, no one will notice me?”

“No pony,” she corrected absentmindedly. “Will notice you.”

Had Twilight turned to face him, she would’ve caught the poor attempt to hide a goofy smile behind the palm of his hand and the way his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter as he turned his back on her and made his way over to what he presumed was the front door of the Library.

He was really going to have to get used to the blatant horse puns or he’d die laughing.

Harry stopped short and leaned against the wall as he watched Twilight search through the book, muttering and shaking her head every now and again, with a look of utmost concentration etched across her face.

“Color changing spell… levitation… silencing… cleaning… teleportation… Darn! Not in this book!” she sighed, floating the book in question back to its spot on the shelf and summoning another. “Let’s see, shape shifting? Probably not, we want him inconspicuous, not a teapot…”

A look of utter horror worked its way across Harry’s face! Yes, hopefully she’d find that anti-detection, perception filter spell before she gave up and resorted to turning him into a pair of bloody horseshoes and wearing him around town.

Through the haze of racing thoughts and embarrassing scenarios, Harry heard someone… err… somepony knock at the door.

Before we continue, it’s important to observe Harry’s train of thought at this point: there was none. His mind was still coming to grips with the mere possibility of becoming a bit of transfigured… something! That being said, this momentary lapse in focus, this ever so brief moment of brain dead stupidity, might explain this next course of action.  

More out of habit, a product of living with the Dursleys and being their personal maid in all but name, Harry absentmindedly turned to open the door and greet whoever had come to call on the rather distracted librarian.

Of all the ponies he could’ve come face to face with, this was quite possibly the absolute last pony Twilight would’ve wanted him to meet had she been paying full attention. Not due to any sort of personal aversion, but simply for the sake discretion.

Emerald green eyes met sky blue, both sets blinking in surprise as the shock registered with their minds. One’s owner grew excited, the other’s only grew more surprised and confused.

Pink. That was all Harry could really think of at this point in time. Pink. Other than its eyes, this pony was, from perky tail to fluffy, curly mane, pink. Her coat was, admittedly, a slightly lighter shade than her tail or mane, but the point remained.

This pony so completely pink that Harry could practically feel a sugar rush coming on just by looking at her.

As Harry returned his gaze to her face, he noticed that her mouth, which had opened in shock, was beginning to twitch upwards, curving into a face-splitting grin.

Figuring that she was here to visit Twilight, Harry passed it off as her being happy that someone answered and greeted her. “Er, hi,” he said lamely. “Here to see Twilight?”

Almost instantly after he finished speaking, the pony let out a loud, exaggerated gasp and leapt into the air, before suddenly turning tail and galloping away as fast as her legs could carry her!

“No! Wait!” Harry cried, reaching out as if to somehow grab the mare, who was now no more than a slowly receding dot and a trail of dust. “Damn it!” he cursed angrily. So much for discretion.

Before he could further verbalize his displeasure, Harry felt the now familiar sensation of Twilight’s magic wrapping around him as she telekinetically jerked him back inside and slammed the door shut. “Harry! The whole point of this spell is for you to stay unnoticed until we talk to the Mayor!” she chided.

He let his shoulders drop, heaving a sigh of resignation as he did so. “There’s no point now,” he grumbled. “Somepony already saw me.”

Harry never saw her move; he didn’t even see so much as a muscle on her body twitch. One moment, Twilight was giving him a stern look, all four hooves were on the ground, the next, his face was being held mere inches from her own by her forehooves, her eyes widened in panic.

“Which pony?” she demanded. “Give me a description!”

“P-pink!” He stammered, quite startled by the sudden shift in his friend’s demeanor. “Her coat, tail and mane were all pink! Sort of fluffy and perky looking! She had blue eyes!”

Twilight groaned and released the human teen, who was suddenly reacquainted with gravity as he dropped face first to the floor. “Of all the ponies, it just had to be her!”

Muttering curses under his breath and rubbing his forehead, Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position, giving the panicking unicorn a look of confusion. “What’s wrong? Do you not get along with her or something?”

“Quite the opposite,” she sighed as she massaged her temples with her hooves. “That was my friend, Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie Pie?” He deadpanned. “Her parents named her Pinkie?”

“Well, yes, that’s actually common,” she said, still not fully catching the tone of disbelief in his voice. “You’ll find that many ponies’ names have something to do with their appearance, jobs or talents.”

“Right. Of course.” I guess that makes me ‘Scruffy Hair’ then, he noted sardonically. “So, what exactly is the problem with Pinkie Pie knowing about me?”

With a sigh, Twilight closed her books, telekinetically reorganizing and replacing them back onto their appropriate shelves. “It’s not so much a problem as it is a change in the plan. If Pinkie knows you’re here, subtlety is pretty much a waste of time; everypony will know that you’re here, that you’re vastly different from us.”

Harry couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed with this information. Talking to a mayor, even if she had a ridiculous, blatant pun for a name, and trying to calmly come up with a solution to his inexplicable presence was much more appealing to him than some pink ball of energy galloping through town, shouting at the top of her lungs about the strange new creature that had taken up residence in the local library.

“So, I’m sunk then,” he grumbled.

“Not necessarily,” his head snapped up as he gazed in confusion at the mare before him, who now sported a rather sheepish look. “I should explain: Pinkie might be a bit… excitable, but I seriously doubt she went running into town to whip everypony into a mob. Actually, it’s the opposite. Remember what Spike and I said about her at breakfast?”

Thinking back, Harry did, vaguely, recall her mentioning somepony (this was going to take some getting used to) having a “Pinkie Sense” and something about it being time to… No.

“You’re joking.”

The look Twilight gave him was one of utmost seriousness. “Harry, if there’s one thing that Pinkie takes seriously, it’s parties. And, since you’re new to Ponyville, even if you’re human, you’re going to be the guest of honor at your very own ‘Welcome to Ponyville' surprise party.”

-------------

Harry barely registered Twilight pushing him out the door and into the open air of Ponyville, he barely heard her exchange goodbyes with Spike, only absentmindedly mumbling his own farewell to the laughing dragon as he allowed himself to be pushed (and even prodded once with the horn to wake him from his stupor) along the path and into town.

This didn’t make any sense whatsoever. By all rights, that pony, Pinkie Pie, or whatever he name was, should’ve gone screaming into town about him. There should be an angry mob assembled on Twilight’s front lawn, demanding that she bring him so they could either turn him in to the guards or lynch him.

Not that he had any complaints about the lack of mob, guards or noose. No, that he could do without.

But still, a party? For him? This just didn’t seem right at all. Pinkie didn’t even know what he was, let alone know anything about him! That, however, was irrelevant, according to Twilight; if there was a newcomer in town, Pinkie took it upon herself to make sure that pony – or, in this case, human – was welcomed with the party to end all parties.

To Harry Potter, it just didn’t compute. He was used to people blatantly staring, whispering rumors and such as he walked past them in the halls, each one more outlandish than the last.

When he finally rejoined Twilight in reality, Harry discovered two things.

The first was that Ponyville appeared to be a small, old world town, very rustic in its charm, with the influence of nature and tradition made plainly obvious, even to a newcomer such as him. To see a race living together in such a manner, interacting, greeting one another by name, it was a beautiful thing. The natural beauty of his surroundings was captivating as well; lush green grass, clear blue sky, and tall, mighty trees looming in the distance.

The second was the sight of a bunch of multicolored ponies, the very same ones who’d been happily going about their day, stopping abruptly and staring at him. But this wasn’t the typical staring he was used to, there wasn’t much suspicion or hero worship evident in the eyes of the population of Ponyville.

Their stares seemed to be a mix of surprise, slight uncertainty and interest. One or two of them even tried giving an uneasy smile, waving with their hooves in an attempt to at least seem somewhat neighborly. Harry returned the gesture, raising a hand and giving his own wave, waggling his fingers as he did so, much to the shock and interest of everypony present.

Whatever spell of silence had been cast upon the area was broken, as each pony began openly whispering to one another.

“Is that what Pinkie was talking about?”

“Obviously! He’s the only other two legged thing in Ponyville besides Spike!”

“What in Celestia’s name are those things he waved with?”

“How in the hay should I know? Oh, Bon Bon! Where’s that roommate of yours when we need her?”

“Out of town, Berry! She won’t be back until next week!”

“Ha! Figures that Lyra would be missing when she finally got proven right! Sure sucks to be her!”

“Vinyl! Must you be so rude?”

“Hmm, I wonder if he likes muffins… “

Harry simply watched in shock; these ponies, they weren’t all that different from humans at all! Perhaps they were a bit more peaceful, and certainly reacted better to him than humans would to them, but still, the similarities were evident.

“Well, this is something I’m used to,” he muttered, more to himself than anything. Looks like he’d be the subject of staring after all.

Twilight, however, managed to catch part of it. “Used to what?”

Oops. “The stares and whispers,” Harry grudgingly admitted. “I get that a lot where I’m from.” A raised brow from his equine companion prompted a bit of explanation. “I’m… different, even among my people, so I get a lot of unwanted attention.”

“I see,” Twilight said after a moment’s pause. “Does it bother you? All of this?” She jerked her head to her right, indicating a grey coated, wall eyed pegasus mare, who had turned to her brown coated friend and started an in depth discussion about how something ‘human shaped’ could possibly be in a universe with the form was clearly ‘pony shaped’.

Even to for a world full of talking ponies, that was strange.

As his mind finally rejoined his body, he was met with the sight of Twilight giving him a rather expecting look, her brow arched higher and hoof tapping against the ground, indicating her impatience. He gave an uneasy laugh as the familiar quill and notepad floated into view; she was still carrying them around?

“I hate being stared at, the people where I’m from think they’re being subtle, but they’re not. The ponies here aren’t as bad,” he added hastily, as he took note of the look of panic that flashed across her face, revealing her worry that he’d been offended. “They actually have a good reason to stare. But… where I’m from, I get stared at for simple stupid things like who I am or some ridiculous rumor. It’s a bit upsetting.”

Twilight stopped abruptly, turning to lay a comforting hoof on his shoulder again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you out yet,” she mumbled with regret. “I didn’t –“

“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, they have a reason to stare.” Celestia’s student felt her regret wash away as a bit of the familiar warmth of reassurance and friendship. “I’d rather they stare and speculate what I am than for –“

“WATCH OUT, TWILIGHT!”

They froze and made to turn around, searching for the source of the three young voices, the voices of three young fillies, cut through the peaceful atmosphere and halted all conversation. Twilight’s eyes widened as her brain kicked in and realized what was about to come next; she knew all too well who these young fillies were. She threw herself to the ground, covering her head with her hooves and called out a warning. “Harry! Duck!”

Too late! Instinctively, Harry turned around to fully face the source of the disturbance. He didn’t have time to yell, he didn’t have time to leap out of the way, he didn’t even have time for his eyes to widen in shock…

By the time his brain had caught up, his vision was filled with orange and purple, his ears split by the shrieks of fear. Harry felt something blunt impact with his forehead, stars exploded behind his eyes and a rush of pain erupted from his forehead.

His world faded to blissful darkness as panicked voices cried out from far away…