“Kill him!”

Harry knew that voice, that cold, haunting voice that had shouted those words. He recognized where he was.

Past the Cerberus, down the trapdoor, deep beneath Hogwarts, through the traps and trials carefully placed by the Hogwarts staff, through the enchanted fire and into the room with the Mirror of Erised.

Face to face with the man who wanted him dead. Face to face with the man who first tried to help revive the most hated Dark Lord in recent memory.

Face to face with Quirinus Quirrell, the man with two faces, the man who was servant and host to the parasitic wraith of Lord Voldemort.

The same Dark Lord who had killed his parents, the same shade of a man who had tempted him with power, was after the Philosopher’s Stone. He was chasing immortality.

Harry struggled, fighting for air as he felt the man’s fingers tightening around his neck, cutting off his windpipe and reducing his vision to a hazy blur. Was this it? Was this how he’d die?

Was his life to end at eleven-years-old?

He could feel Quirrell’s free hand pinning down his shoulder, preventing him from even trying to lash out with an arm in desperation. This was no joke! Quirrell actually wanted him dead!

Suddenly, the grip on Harry’s neck was released, Quirrell began shrieking in pain, clutching his hand! Angry burns and blisters decorated the once clean skin, tears streamed down his face as unimaginable pain coursed through his body!

“What is this magic?” He screeched, eyes wide in horror as his skin began to char and peel back.

“Fool!” Voldemort yelled furiously, ignoring his host’s pain and anguish. “Get the stone! Kill him!”

Obediently, Quirrell reached forward again, aiming to strangle Harry and finish him once and for all! Harry thought quickly; somehow, Quirrell had been hurt by touching his skin! All he had to do was make sure Quirrell couldn’t get to his neck!

A burst of pain from his forehead caused his eyes to cross! Not now! Why now, of all times?

As Quirrell lunged, Harry used every bit of training that Wood had given him, relying on those “Seeker reflexes” to grasp the man’s wrist in one hand while placing the other on his face!

Voldemort’s host shrieked louder than before! His skin began to hiss, the smell of burning skin assaulted Harry’s nostrils as steam began to waft through the air!

With a desperate effort, Quirrell separated himself from the boy, holding his hands in front of him in despair! “Master, I cannot hold him!” He wailed. “My hands! My hands!”

The pain in Harry’s forehead grew, as if a hot lance was being pressed down into the center of his forehead! His vision blurred, Quirrell’s shrieks and Voldemort’s ranting seemed to come from far away! But he could still see them! They were still moving towards him! Trying one last-ditch effort to finish him off!

“Enough!” A stern, cultured voice ordered. From the shadows of the room, a burst of navy blue shot into Quirrell’s chest! The man began to glow, light poured from every part of his body; suddenly, he began to dissolve into nothing!

How in the world?

Harry turned his attention to the direction from which the shot had come, barely making out a dark blue figure moving towards him, hearing the clip clop of hooves on the cobblestone floor.

The figure approached him, stopping to stand over him and look down upon him. “A life so troubled and wrought with peril,” A feminine voice lamented. Whoever she was, she sounded concerned for him, almost as if she pitied him. “We shall watch thee as the coming days change thy life for the better, Harry Potter. For now, trust in thy friends and allow them to heal thy wounds, as we allowed them into our own heart. We shall soon meet face to face, Harry… Harry…”

“Harry! Wake up, Harry! Wake up!”

---

“Harry, wake up!”

The teen’s eyes snapped open, two blurry shapes filled his vision; one seemed a swirl of purple and green, the other purple with a bit of magenta.

Spike and Twilight? Why were they standing over him?

Harry groaned sleepily, feeling around blindly for his glasses, which he found lowered down onto his face by Twilight’s telekinetic field. Blinking rapidly to adjust to the sudden clarity of vision and morning sunlight, Harry faced the pair with no shortage of confusion. Why in the world were they looking at him like he was bleeding out?

Spike, ever the tactful one, spoke up first. “You okay?”

“I’m… fine,” Harry said slowly, his mind still not making the connection between their concern for him and, well, whatever had occurred before he’d rejoined the land of the living.

“You were screaming in your sleep,” Twilight retorted with a rather stern expression, similar to one an older sibling would give their younger one when they suspected they were being lied to. “And thrashing violently. We’ve been trying to wake you up for the last ten minutes!”

That was definitely not good! He thought quickly, trying to come up with some excuse, anything that might get him out of telling her that he was reliving the memory of nearly getting strangled to death!

“Just a nightmare.” Yeah, he had nothing. But, technically, that wasn’t entirely a lie.

It was more of an omission of the facts than anything. So, he wasn’t really guilty of anything.

The look on both purple muzzles told him that neither mare nor drake believed a word of that particular excuse. One problem with letting people get to know you, they tend to figure out your little ticks rather quickly.

A unified stern glare from the purple duo nearly made him shrink back. “A very bad one?” He offered weakly, wincing mentally as those glares didn’t abate in the least bit.

Apparently, Twilight and Spike weren’t going to let him off as easily as they had at breakfast yesterday morning, as was evident by the young drake crossing his arms and the sound of Twilight’s hoof pawing the ground in irritation.

“Fine,” he grumbled, settling on a version he was comfortable with. “I was having a dream about one of the most feared dark wizards in my world trying to kill me.”

The glares softened almost immediately, replaced by sympathetic looks from both Equestrians. Twilight in particular felt a bit guilty, she hadn’t even given thought that Harry’s world might have its own version of the Nightmare Moon story, which still haunted foal’s dreams to this day.

She absentmindedly wondered just how similar this tale could be to the story of Princess Luna’s fall from grace, or if the wizard in question could be redeemed as the Princess of the Night had.

Twilight gently placed a hoof on his shoulder in comfort. “I’m sorry,” she whispered soothingly. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to hide these things, Harry. I’m your friend, I want to help.”

The teen felt a bit guilty at the utter sincerity of her concerned expression, one that was closely mirrored by the young drake standing at the foot of his mattress. “Sorry, it’s not that big a deal,” he lied, feeling all the guiltier with each word. “It was just a dream, not like it can hurt me, right?”

Not like Quirrell could strangle him from beyond the grave, anyway.

The librarian offered him a supportive grin, but a bit of worry was still present in her mind. The screaming, the thrashing around as if trying to ward off an attacker, it all seemed a bit too real for her taste. She couldn’t necessarily say whether or not this wizard could inspire such fear, such abject terror.

Once again, she was getting the feeling that there was more to the story than Harry was telling, but just how much? Was he downplaying the terror? Or was he trying to hide his own fear in hopes that he not appear weak in her eyes?

He didn’t seem like a boy who really cared too much about his image; the state of his clothes, though the design was foreign to her, suggested that he didn’t give much thought to others’ opinions of him.

Either way, his screams seemed too real…

The mare shook herself from those thoughts. If Harry didn’t want to share right now, she wouldn’t push him. Twilight wanted to help, but she understood the value of waiting for somepony – grr, someone, in his case – to feel comfortable.

As much as she’d like to think they’d made progress with the young human, it seemed that he wasn’t quite ready. Perhaps she was making a miscalculation? Was she thinking too much along the lines of a traditional friendship between ponies? Did it take humans longer to develop that sort of trust?

Twilight’s conflicting feelings on the matter were giving her one hay of a headache! She wanted to learn as much as she could about human culture, physiology and the like, but Harry was her friend, not an experiment! And being a friend meant respecting boundaries!

Note to self: send Princess Celestia a friendship report about how respecting boundaries is imperative to maintaining a good relationship, but equally aggravating when said friend is trying to hide something that bothers them. Maybe she’d have some advice.

Twilight stepped back, giving Harry room to sit up without having to avoid bumping heads as he stretched his arms and back, working out the stiffness and wincing as he felt his left elbow pop; ruddy thing had been giving him trouble ever since that ponce had removed his bones in second year. Oh well.

With a mental shrug, Harry paused a moment as another thought hit him: when was the last time he’d bathed or showered? Lifting an arm and giving a cautious sniff, he blanched.

Too long.

“Is there a washroom I could use?” He asked, still a bit hesitant. Guest or not, he’d always hated to impose on others. “I need a shower in the worst possible way.”

Spike snorted good-naturedly. “Yeah, my nose was considering lodging a complaint.”

“Should I be worried that your body parts have become self-aware?”

“Downstairs and to the left, fuzzy top!” The drake grumbled, having lost this round.

The resident human smirked and lifted himself out of bed, grabbing his clothes from where he’d hung them on his bedpost and throwing them over his shoulder. “That’s Dash’s name for me, scale breath,” he teased. “Get your own material.”

As the human teen continued on his way, Spike and Twilight waited quietly for the sound of the bathroom door closing and the water turning on before turning to one another with matching looks of concern.

“So, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s telling half the story, right?” Spike asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the leg of the bed.

Twilight shook her head. “Not at all. Something’s up with him, and we’re gonna find out, one way or the other.”

“Good! ‘Cause, as cool as it is hanging out with him, every time he does that bit where he suddenly trails off and pretends it’s nothing feels like that time you went all loopy because you thought you were gonna be –“ He was cut short when a purple hoof covered his mouth.

“Don’t. Say. That. Word.” Twilight ground out, grimacing at the memory of that particular incident. Definitely not one of her crowning achievements.

“Fine, but you get my point! I feel like I should either bug him until he spills or write a letter to Princess Celestia and get her to – GACK!” Almost on cue, Spike belched forth a jet of green flames, which swirled and materialized into a scroll, bound in a red ribbon and the Seal of the Royal Sisters: the moon and sun, orbiting one another in harmony.

The poor drake deftly caught the scroll in his claw as he gasped for breath. “I… really… need to talk to her… about timing!” He declared between pants as he unfastened the ribbon and opened the scroll. “Let’s see. ‘My dear faithful student, Twilight Sparkle’, yadda yadda, all the usual stuff. And – Oh! Uh, Twilight, you’re gonna wanna see this.”

Seizing the scroll in her telekinetic grip, Twilight’s eyes scanned the page, wondering what the Princess had said to quiet Spike’s typically flippant version of her teacher’s greeting.

One particular sentence nearly made her heart stop; panicking, she looked over at the clock on the wall for the time, hoping that it wasn’t too late! Three hours! That was hardly any time at all!

Twilight downstairs and took a left, panting heavily with stress as she raced through the library. She didn’t have much time! Oh, why couldn’t the Princess have sent this letter last night, so she could’ve had everything ready?

---  

Harry knew he was no brain surgeon, but he liked to think that he was at least intelligent enough to figure out how to use shampoo and soap.

To be fair, there had to be some comedic value behind a teenager staring blankly at the two bottles resting on the table next to the tub, as if winning a staring competition with them would force them to reveal their secrets.

Hey, for all he knew, they might. He came into this world, literally falling arse over teakettle, by opening a door that hadn’t existed when he first walked down the corridor; so, who was he to assume otherwise?

Well, short of doing his best Severus Snape impersonation and demanding that an inanimate object reveal its secrets, he wasn’t going to figure it out without asking Twilight what the difference between the two was.

He really had no idea what to make of one shampoo being for manes and the other being for coats; well, he got the gist of it, but he had no idea what in the nine levels of hay that meant with respect to his hygienic needs.

Though this might give Spike way too much ammunition to tease him with, Harry would rather ask and look silly than… well, not ask and still look silly.

Either way, he’d look silly, so, really, there wasn’t much for him to lose. With a shrug, he turned towards the door, leaving his cloak hanging on the peg on the wall and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.

Just in time to be bowled over by his panicking librarian friend.

“Owwww…” Harry groaned, fixing Twilight with a rather annoyed look. “Isn’t this Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo’s gig?”

Twilight pushed herself off of him, her horn flashing as she picked him up in her telekinesis and lifted him into a standing position. “Sorry, but we don’t have time to dawdle! The Princesses just sent a letter saying they want to meet you today!”

“Wait – what?! Today? But –“

“I know, last minute notice, but we don’t have much of a choice. We’ve got to get you ready in time!”

“Alright, fine, jut let me wash up and I’ll – I don’t know use a cleaning charm on my clothes, or something.”

The look he received from the purple-coated mare spoke volumes of her opinion on that idea. “You aren’t meeting the Princesses in those clothes. I might not be Rarity, but a cleaning charm on clothes you’ve worn for the past three days isn’t going to cut it.”

“Fair enough,” he admitted. “But, still, I’ve nothing else to wear, so I don’t have too many options on that front.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said, allowing herself a satisfied smile. “If I know Rarity, she’s been up most of the night with one of her bouts of inspiration, most likely involving the prospect of making clothes for an entirely new species!”

“… You make it sound like I’m on display.”

“Oh, you know what I mean! She’s probably got at least one outfit ready! So you’ll just have to wear that one. Now, get ready and let’s go!”

“Fine, fine!” Harry said, shaking his head in resignation. “Let me just get my cloak and –“

“Leave the cloak!” She ordered. “We’re going now, so you might want to take a deep breath.”

“Why would I need to do that?” He asked naively, only realizing that something was amiss when he felt himself once again wrapped in the familiar grip of her magic. His eyes widened as his brain connected the dots between the feeling and her wording, coming to a rather uncomfortable conclusion. “Wait a minute, Twi –“

POP!

Pony and human vanished in a flash of magenta light.

---

One minute, Harry was trying to wrap his mind around whether or not Twilight looked at him like a little kid, the next, his mind felt like it had been put through a blender on high.

While Twilight’s arrival in front of the Carousel Boutique was quite graceful, Harry staggered, having to lean on his quadruped friend as his mind and body struggled to right themselves, the sensation of suddenly being yanked from one place to the other and his brain struggling to make sense of the immediate change of scenery.

He tried to speak, but all that came out was a rather odd sound that could only be described as “Bugwaaaaaah?!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” Twilight stammered, mentally scolding herself for forgetting that he wasn’t used to teleportation. “Teleportation tends to be rather disorienting for first-timers, I should have warned you.”

“’m fine,” he murmured groggily. “Just surprised.” Harry blinked rapidly, trying to clear his blurred vision and rid himself of the sudden dizzy spell. “Ugh, wonderful to know that I handle your magical transport as well as the ones from my world.”

“Oh?” The unicorn couldn’t help but perk up slightly at the admission. She knew that she shouldn’t be so relieved, but it did take a bit of a load off her mind, if only because it suggested that it wasn’t completely her fault. Also, more information on his world was more than welcome.

Come to think of it, she really needed to sit down and discuss his world’s culture. Today was out, due to obvious reasons, but it was on her to do list going forward.

“Yeah, we have something called a portkey. It’s basically a random item with a teleportation spell on it,” he began as the mental fog cleared. “If you touch it, it takes you to a predetermined place. If I touch one, I end up in the right place, but sprawled out on my back and wondering what planet I’m on.”

Twilight raised a hoof to her muzzle in thought, pondering his apparent ineptitude with magical travel. “Hmm, it could be that you’re not used to sudden changes in environment, a lack of coordination, or a bit of both.”

Harry smiled ruefully and nodded; lack of coordination? Yeah, that was him in a nutshell. The only time that the words ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘graceful’ should be anywhere near one another in a sentence would be when he was in the air.

Come to think of it, how would he, a wizard on a broom, compare against Rainbow Dash? He’d love to think that he could at least give her a decent run, but somehow he had the slightest inkling that a human holding a piece of wood between its legs wouldn’t score points in a competition against a pegasus, a race of pony biologically designed for flight.

He’d have to figure out a way to test that some other time. Like when he wasn’t about to endure a second round of Rarity’s “tender mercies”.

Twilight knocked, all but dashing any of Harry’s hopes of delaying his fate any further, and waited patiently as the faint sound of hoofsteps approached the door.

“Who is it?” Rarity sang from within.

“It’s Harry and Twilight!” The town librarian replied. “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”

Harry couldn’t help but feel a small tingle of worry at her description, something told him that was definitely not the way to mention his distinct lack of proper attire to the fashion designer. “Well, it’s not so much a problem as it is a slight inconvenience, really.” He stammered as the alabaster unicorn unlocked the door.

“You’re about to meet the rulers of our nation and you’ve got nothing to wear but the same clothes you’ve worn for the past two days,” she deadpanned. “No offense, but they’re starting to smell.”

“Well, if you say so, I could just use a quick cleaning charm and take care of this right now! So there’s really no need to –“

“Stop right there, Harry Potter!” The boy winced as his fears were realized. He turned back towards the door and was met by a furious Rarity; the young fashion designer had obviously heard his comment, and did not seem amused. “Did I hear correctly? You really want to meet the Princesses of Equestria in those… those filthy clothes?” She all but shrieked. Harry opened his mouth to retort, but she beat him to the punch. “No! No! A thousand times no! I simply will not allow it! I will not stand by and let you miss your chance to make an absolutely perfect first impression on our dear rulers pass you by!”

“But –“

“No!”

“But I could just –“ He stopped immediately as Rarity’s glare took a cold edge.

“Darling,” Harry winced, that was almost exactly the same tone she’d used to make him sit still and be fitted yesterday! “Get inside now, sit still and try on some decent clothes and I just might be willing to forget this little issue.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

---  

Fellow Hogwars students might call him weak for allowing himself to be pushed around, least of all by a fashion-designing pony of all things. Harry liked to think that allowing himself to be led around by the rather insistent mare was actually a well thought out idea.

After all, accepted by the townsfolk or not, he was still the alien here. In short, he was subject to their norms. For all he knew, refusing a pony’s generosity could be seen as an insult.

Based on the way Rarity reacted both times he tried to weasel his way out of her offers for “help”, Harry would bet that doing so was somewhat of a taboo, at least when Rarity was concerned.

Come to think of it, Twilight had reacted in a similar manner when he tried to refuse her offer to pull out a spare bed for him…

In any case, here he was, once again subjected to Rarity’s whims. No help would come from Twilight, who kept giving him stern looks every time he so much as looked as though he might consider making a break for it.

Even if he did, where would he hide? The library? Yeah, right, that would work so well.

He could possibly try Rainbow Dash or Applejack, they seemed like the type to sympathize with his aversion to dressing up. Though, Rainbow might actually take Rarity’s side, if only for a good laugh at his expense. AJ… well, the jury was out on what she would do.

Of course, Harry was only thinking in hypothetical terms; in reality, he might take two steps toward the door before one of the mares caught him in their telekinesis and floated him back into position, so there was really no point to even trying.

It was just nice to pretend that, in some alternative reality, he might have some semblance of the slightest, most miniscule, bit of hope of escaping this horror.

Oh? You think this is all a ridiculous exaggeration? Well, perhaps some context might help. Twilight’s frantic proclamation that the Princesses would be at Ponyville Library in a mere three hours? That was two and a half hours ago.

Granted, the fashion designer had first directed him to a washroom and, to his relief, seemed to have a bit of normal bar soap for him to use. He’d have to make a note to ask Twilight for some if he was going to be here for any extended period of time.

In any case, he didn’t mean to seem ungrateful, he really did appreciate her generosity, but his attention span was only so long, and he was rapidly approaching the point where he needed to do something either incredibly stupid, incredibly dangerous, or both.

Hmmm, maybe Pinkie was onto something when she claimed that stealing a muffin to incite a chase from Derpy was fun, if only because the wall-eyed mare somehow defied her physical handicap and gained flight skills that made put his own to shame. A dangerous venture? Most certainly, but it was undeniably entertaining for everyone – Derpy included, once she was finally reunited with her precious baked good.

Returning to the present, as far as Harry could tell with his limited knowledge of fashion, it seemed that Rarity was attempting to imitate wizard style clothing, but with a more modern flare.

Truth be told, the heavy cotton robes which made up the Hogwarts Dress Code, were outdated by a century or three, so Harry had to give her a point when she mentioned that he desperately needed an update.

Still, being shoved into a changing room and handed a neatly folded pile of clothing by the excitable mare and all but ordered to try them on was more than a bit unnecessary. At least, in his mind it was.

Harry shrugged and disrobed as the alabaster mistress of fashion commanded, setting his uniform aside in a relatively neat pile off to the side, leaving only his underpants and socks on, with his shoes in easy reach.

Rarity didn’t seem to have made him shoes, but that was hardly a surprise, she was a clothing designer and his feet were quite different from hooves. Hay, he was surprised that she’d been able to put this all together so quickly.

First of all, where to start? The material itself was soft to the touch, much more so than any clothing he’d ever worn. Rarity had managed to make what seemed to be something that Harry would’ve expected a mage straight out of a fantasy novel would wear.

There were no buttons or zippers on the pants or shirt. Both had a black base color with a single strip of red along the edge; apparently, Rarity had noticed that the main color of the Gryffindor badge on his robe and had paid homage to that. He’d have to make note of how much that little bit of a personal touch meant to him.

Both the shirt and pants seemed to be based on an Eastern Asian design, as far as he could tell. The pants were a bit loose around his legs, held together by a belt of braided fabric, and hung down around his ankles. As odd as they initially felt, Harry had to admit that they did allow for much better movement than those dress pants he was always wearing. The shirt was long sleeved and, as previously mentioned, had no buttons, which meant that it required something else to hold it closed. Well, unless he wanted to go open top and give all of Ponyville a nice view of his pale skinned chest.

To facilitate this, Rarity had taken a bit of golden fabric and made a sash. Again, this was something rather new to Harry, so it took him a couple of times to finally manage to tie the damnable thing on right, not to mention make sure that the top stay closed while he fought with the uncooperative piece of fabric!

Once he’d managed to put the full outfit on and give himself a once over in the mirror, Harry had to admit that Rarity had really outdone herself. She’d managed to make him look like he should be apprenticed to Merlin himself rather than struggling along through Hogwarts’ curriculum.

He didn’t know what to expect yesterday when she’d announced (more like proclaimed) that she was going to make him an entire wardrobe of ‘suitable clothes’, but he certainly hadn’t expected her to come up with something this extravagant, never mind something that actually fit a human, so quickly!

Wait a minute… How in the hay did she do all that in one night?

Quickly slipping on his shoes -and thanking the powers that be that black shoes went with everything, or he’d never hear the end of it – Harry stepped out of the changing room and posed the question, abruptly cutting off the mares’ conversation. “Rarity, this really is a wonderful outfit, but – if you don’t mind me asking – how exactly did you make this on such short notice?”

“Darling, I’m an artist!” She replied airily as she turned to appraise her work. “Oh, darling! That looks even better than I’d ever imagined!”

Twilight, while not having quite the eye for fashion that Rarity possessed, could appreciate both the hard work and innovation that went into the full ensemble. “Wow! You really put a lot of work into this one!” She exclaimed, earning a false ‘oh, stop’ gesture from the mare, who quite enjoyed the praise given.

“Yes,” Harry affirmed with slightly narrowed eyes, giving Rarity a rather suspicious look. The mare’s self-satisfied expression abruptly changed to one of guilt, her eyes shifting from side to side, refusing to meet his accusing gaze. “How did you say you managed to put this together so quickly?”

“W-Well, I might not be as skilled as Twilight in magic, but I’m more than capable of whipping up an outfit when the inspiration strikes me!” Rarity replied with a slight stammer.

“In a single night?”

“Harry, darling, if I can design six full scale dresses for an event as big as the Grand Galloping Gala, I can easily put together an ensemble for you in a shorter period of time.”

“Right,” he drawled, still looking anything but satisfied with her answer. “So, when did you sleep?”

Twilight had to resist giggling as the normally confident Rarity seemed to shift guiltily at the wizard’s accusations. To her, Rarity staying up all night to work when her muse presented her with an idea was nothing new. It was just as normal as Celestia raising the Sun and Luna raising the Moon; it just happened without fail.

Harry, however, hadn’t dealt with her long enough to realize that this was perfectly normal behavior. Even so, from what Twilight had seen, he had difficulty accepting help from others. Why? She wasn’t quite sure yet, and, initially, had been quite offended that he tried to refuse her offer during his first night in Ponyville.

It was a taboo that dated back to the earliest days of the Union of the Three Tribes: to refuse another pony’s offer for help was to say that either the problem was too big for them to handle or that it was beyond their capabilities.

If the messy-haired human before her - who had leveled a rather impressive imitation of her own stern glare at Rarity - was any indication, then humans evidently did not hold similar beliefs on the matter.

Under pressure of Harry’s disapproving gaze, Rarity finally relented. “Alright!” She cried dramatically, throwing a hoof over her forehead in over exaggerated despair. “I couldn’t sleep! I just had to make something! It was the chance of a lifetime! To make an entirely new ensemble for a new species and get you out of those dreadful, archaic robes! It just had to be done!”

Needless to say, Harry had no idea what to make of the mare’s rather dramatic claims. “I… I was just going to say that you really shouldn’t have stayed up all night just to put together one outfit for me,” he replied, but upon seeing the look of hurt cross her face, he continued hastily. “I appreciate it, really I love what you’ve given me, but I really wish you hadn’t lost a night’s sleep over something like this!”

“Something like – Harry, darling, your situation was a fashion emergency of the highest degree! And, really dear, an all nighter in the name of fashion is nothing to a mare like moi!” She proudly claimed, placing a hoof over her heart.

Harry made as if to continue protesting, but Twilight cut him off with a shake of her head. “Don’t bother arguing,” she said with no shortage of amusement. “Rarity takes anything she deems a fashion emergency rather seriously.”

“Oh, don’t be so smug, Twilight! After all, who is the mare that we all have to drag from her library more often than not?”

“Anyways!” Twilight said loudly, before her smirking friend could say any more. “Thank you so much for this, Rarity! But we really have to go! Only a half hour before the Princesses arrive and –“

Rarity let out what could only be described as a melodramatic gasp of horror. “The Princesses are coming to Ponyville?!”

“Oh? I thought I’d mentioned that! Yes, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are coming; they mentioned that they would’ve come sooner, but they wanted to make sure that Harry got settled in and at least somewhat acclimated with his surroundings first.”

“Twilight!” The fashion designer whined, stamping a hoof in frustration. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? If I’d known they were coming, I’d have finished Harry’s outfit before adjusting it and having him try it on! Now, the first impression he makes will be ruined! The Princesses will think him to be some kind of ruffian! It will be –“

“Don’t say it!” Twilight snapped, partially in dismay that her friend’s typical comment would ruin her feeble grasp on her anxiety, partially in annoyance at hearing this tired old declaration. “Don’t you dare say it!”

“The worst –“

“Rarity, I’m warning you!”

“Possible. Th –“ A magenta aura forced her mouth to shut with a snap before she could finish her typical reaction to such a crisis. Rarity gave her studious friend an annoyed glare, pointing a hoof at her mouth and giving a muffled order to release her.

“Calm. Down. Now!” Twilight commanded as she released her grip on Rarity’s muzzle.

The irony in Twilight telling somepony else to calm down about the upcoming visit of the Royal Sisters wasn’t lost on Harry, but, for his own personal safety, he chose not to comment on the matter.

Wait a minute. Did she just say that she hadn’t finished?

“What do you mean ‘would have finished’?” Harry asked, drawing their attention to him again. “This is the whole thing, right?”

“Oh, heavens no, dear!” Rarity exclaimed once Twilight had released her hold. “As much as your clothing yesterday was a bit out of date at best, I did draw heavily from that! Your cloak was made of such heavy material, but I still wanted to keep something like that in the mix, if that makes sense.”

“But… I thought you didn’t like human fashion…”

“Oh, Harry, whenever did I say something like that? I simply said that your outfit was far too out of date! All that was needed were some new materials and a bit of modern flair!”

“But –“

“No! I’ll hear none of it!” She interrupted, waving him off with a hoof while her horn lit with magic. “I’ll just have to do this a bit quicker than anticipated! Shouldn’t take long if I –“

A rather vexed Twilight stepped forward and roughly jerked the fabric away with a burst of her own telekinesis. “Rarity, stop!” She commanded. “I understand what you’re trying to do, and I do appreciate the help, but we just don’t have the time!”

“But Twilight!”

“I’m sorry,” the librarian said, giving a stern look to the pouting designer. “But you’ll just have to wait until later to finish!”

“But –“

“Rarity, your design is lovely, I’m sure it will make a wonderful impression on the Princesses as is! We don’t have enough time to wait for you to make a full length cloak, especially considering that you have to allow for time to refit it for him!”

“Oh, fine!” Rarity lamented dramatically. “If you insist, then I guess there’s no choice.”

Twilight smiled, thankful that she’d finally managed to get through to her friend. “I knew you’d understand!”

“Yes, yes, just give me a moment to fix my mane and –“

“What?” Both she and Harry deadpanned in unison.

“Well, you don’t expect me to sit here twiddling my hooves while the Princesses are in town, do you?”

---  

As it turns out, trying to convince Rarity that she didn’t need to close up shop to come sit in on the Princess’ visit to offer “moral support” was just as futile as refusing her offer to design clothing.

Not for lack of trying on Twilight’s part, mind you, as she wasn’t too keen on her friend losing precious hours of work (and, therefore, income). But the young socialite remained steadfast, proclaiming “I’m ahead on my other projects, so I can afford to take one day off for something as important as this. Especially if the Princesses want a second opinion!”

So, two became three, and off they went to the library, with Harry struggling to keep up with the mares’ rapid-fire advice for how to properly present himself and address the Royal Sisters.

In his opinion, it was far more likely that his head would explode in an overly comical fashion than he fully recall anything past “kneel and greet by title” and “always address by title”.

Hopefully, the unicorn duo were blowing this strict adherence to protocol out of proportion, otherwise he’d be treading some dangerous waters with no idea how to swim.

Well, with Princess Celestia’s personal student and Ponyville’s resident socialite by his side, at least he could use them as life lines as he attempted to navigate the mine field that speaking to, not one, but two members of the local royalty would likely be.

And furthermore… was that a whistling sound?

“Oh, bugger,” he muttered as he turned and was greeted by the sight of his prismatic maned friend speeding towards him with a mischievous smirk on her face.

There was no way he’d be able to dodge in time; she was coming in way to fast. At this rate, once she collided with him, the pair would be skidding back a few feet down the road. Yet again.

He truly hoped this wasn’t going to become her typical method of greeting him. Really, would a simple “Hi, Harry” or “What’s up, fuzzy top” be too much to ask? With a small sigh of resignation, Harry closed his eyes and braced for impact, idly wondering how many ribs she’d crack after hitting him at that velocity.

Of all the things he expected, the sound of what he assumed to be a pegasus smacking into something rather solid was not on his list.

Harry cracked open an eye, still a bit cautious in case it was just his ears playing tricks on him, but the sight of Rainbow Dash smashed up against a shimmering blue barrier.

The cyan mare groaned in pain as she slid down, her slow descent coming with the rather comedic sound of something sliding against wet rubber, which seemed to add insult to injury. Harry winced as Rainbow sat up and rubbed a rather sizeable bump on her head; while the prospect of being rammed into at such a high speed wasn’t exactly something he found pleasant, that didn’t mean that he wanted to see his friend smash into a barrier of solid magic.

Speaking of which, Twilight didn’t throw up a barrier, did she? A quick glance to the side confirmed that she hadn’t, which made sense, given that it was a light blue hue rather than her trademark magenta glow.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity raged, stomping forth and glaring down at her through sapphire eyes. “Do you have any idea what you nearly just did?!”

The speedster paused, shooting a look of pained annoyance at her friend. “Well, I thought I was gonna say hi to my friend until somepony apparently thought it would be a good time to show off that she’d learned a barrier spell!”

“I don’t recall you knowing that one either,” Twilight added as she approached, her horn alight with magic as she checked her pegasus friend over for injuries. Fortunately, she had none aside from the bump on her head and the headache she was likely experiencing. “It sure was impressive, but did you really have to throw up a barrier?”

“And let her tackle Harry to the ground and mess up his clothes just before a meeting with royalty? Twilight, I will most certainly not allow anypony to ruin Harry’s chances of making a good first impression. Least of all because of Rainbow’s antics!”

“Well, excuse me, Princess!” Rainbow snapped, immediately on her hooves and glaring right back into Rarity’s eyes. “I guess I didn’t realize that Harry was wearing the Holy Horseshoe and isn’t allowed to have any fun today!”

“Do you even listen? The Princesses are coming to meet Harry today and you want to tackle him in one of your uncouth wrestling matches!”

“Hey! I never said I was psychic! How was I supposed to know that the… wait, are you serious?” The athletic pegasus’ attitude underwent a rather abrupt shift, much to Harry’s relief and mild surprise. From what he’d seen of her, Rainbow Dash seemed to be a pony who loved to roughhouse, but had a very short temper. She was more of an ‘act now, question later’ type, not one to sit down and talk about a problem she had.

The fact that her ruby eyes showed nothing less than utmost seriousness as she glanced from Rarity to Twilight, seemingly holding a silent conversation, was something completely new. Sure, lecturing a foal who idolized her was one thing, but to see her taking a visit from royalty so seriously spoke volumes.

And, really, who could blame him when she’d pulled that stupid ‘sneak up with a thunder cloud and kick it’ prank on him three times at that party?

Twilight sighed, but smiled all the same. “Just make it quick,” she said, answering whatever silent question Rainbow had been asking.

“Oh, please,” she scoffed, flipping her mane in a cocky manner. “Am I ever anything but?” The cyan pegasus shot off into the sky like a speeding bullet, veering over Ponyville to a destination unknown to the confused human.

“What… just happened?” Harry asked hesitantly, feeling more than a bit left out of the conversation.

“Oh, don’t worry too much about it, darling!” Rarity assured him with a wave of her hoof. “Rainbow just went off to gather the rest of the girls and bring them to the library.”

The teen blinked once, trying to wrap his mind around this one. “Don’t they have other jobs?”

“Well, yes, but something like this normally takes priority over our day-to-day work.”

Before Harry could protest, Twilight cut in. “I’m sure they’d appreciate your concern, but this is how we tend to treat visits like this. You already heard Rarity’s reasons for coming, theirs will be similarly along those lines.”

“If you say so,” he muttered, still unsure.

“We do!” The mares chimed with matching grins. Harry rolled his eyes playfully and let it go, if they could keep him from somehow ending up in prison, more power to them.

Fortunately, as a quick survey of his surroundings told him, they didn’t have much time to wear those victorious grins, as they were already almost to the library.

All he needed now was to go inside, take a deep breath, and mentally prepare for what he was about to go through and just wait for the Royal Sisters – as he’d heard them referred to – to arrive.

Naturally, Harry’s old friend Murphy had other plans.

Plans in the form of a pair of regal looking chariots - one gold with a blue star, the other black with a silver star – standing in front of the library, surrounded by four pones, which Harry assumed to be Royal Guards.

The fact that they wore armor that matched each chariot was more than a bit of a hint, and also gave Harry that sudden sinking feeling. The one that any young teen has when they realize that the fun and games are over and that, suddenly, everything was real.

Suddenly, that fear of standing before the princesses, standing before royalty, all seemed so much more real. Suddenly, the thought that he was about to plead his case before a pair of near deities, one of whom was Twilight’s teacher, was that much more terrifying.

One princess who could raise the Sun, the other who moved the Moon? No rocket ship would be necessary to send his scrawny behind into the far reaches of the cosmos.

Having previous experience with plans going awry, Harry took a quick glance at the chariots and armor worn by the Guards, hoping that would provide him some sort of clue as to how each respective Princess would be.

He would go ahead and assume that the golden chariot was for Celestia, Princess of the Day, and that the obsidian one belonged to Luna, Princess of the Night, that much seemed a safe guess. Choice of color wasn’t too much of a surprise; he was more interested in the styles evident.

Celestia’s chariot seemed a bit more… welcoming, yes, that seemed like a nice word. The design was quite regal and showy, but it looked similar to paintings and various images of the chariots of benevolent rulers from Earth’s history. Polished metal, no rough edges, and the focal point being the shining blue star on proud display. The armor worn by two of the Royal Guards matched, their armor seemed a bit more conservative, almost similar to the armor worn in the stories of Camelot. These Guards had white coats and blue manes, and were most definitely pegasi. Their stoic expressions were almost exactly those one would find on the traditional Royal Guards for the British Royal Family; faces like stone, gaze unwavering.

As for that of the Princess of the Night… her choice of style was a bit concerning. Going to school in an ancient castle made Harry appreciate at least a bit of the Gothic style of architecture and art.

Luna took that and seemed to have decided that overkill was underrated. While her sister’s chariot seemed a bit more traditional, Luna’s was designed in a way that some might consider better suited for Halloween; rather sharp looking edges, a large spike in the middle, a style similar to that of her guards’ armor. In addition to how the style of their armor made them look, her guards had dark grey coats, sharp fangs that poked down over their lips, reptilian looking pupils, and, oddly enough, had batwings.

With aggressive looking smirks and a near predatory look in their eyes, Luna’s guards sent a clear message: don’t trifle with us, or the ruler of the night.

While Harry felt it hypocritical to make this call based on the stylistic choices of both Princesses, he couldn’t help but feel that he would have to take a bit more caution when speaking with Luna.

As much as Harry was stressing over the fact that they’d been beaten to the library, Twilight was going into a near nervous breakdown.

A fact that wasn’t lost on Harry or Rarity. “Oh dear,” Rarity whispered as her friend’s eye began to twitch madly. This was reminding her a bit too much of that tardy incident.

“The Princesses are here?” She shrieked. “B-But it’s too early! Harry’s not ready! Spike probably hasn’t even finished cleaning the library and – oh, the bookshelves will be a mess!”

“Twilight.”

“Oh, I don’t even want to know how many streamers Pinkie left and –“

“Twilight…”

“ – she used all that confetti when she fired off that crazy party cannon of hers!”

“Twilight!” The panicking mare snapped to attention as Rarity finally managed to bring her back to reality. “Relax, dear. Deep breaths, remember? We went over this after the last incident with a certain doll – “

Celestia’s student visibly winced at the reminder, looking down in shame. “You promised never to bring up Smarty Pants!” She whined.

“My point stands, dear. The Princesses are here early, so we’ll just have to make do. Harry,” the boy immediately gave the mare his full and undivided attention as soon as he caught a determined gleam in her eyes. “Keep in mind what we’ve told you: be courteous, don’t interrupt when spoken to, and do try to remember to address them properly.”

Though Harry’s history with ignoring good advice was well documented, now was definitely not the time for him to have another of his less-than-brilliant moments.

He knew that he already had his work cut out for him, but now that he’d at least been given an idea of what each Princess seemed to find likeable, he was growing more nervous by the second.

Between one who seemed to imitate the style of a legendary kingdom, and the other whose style was quite intimidating, Harry felt caught between divine judgment and a state tribunal.

He considered the prospects of coming up with a plan, but those never seemed to pan out for him whenever he’d tried in the past. It was probably best to keep it simple and stick with Rarity’s advice. In short, answer whatever questions they might have and don’t give the impression of lying.

At all.

Somehow, he had the distinct feeling that he was to be examined under a microscope. All that were missing were the lab coats and clipboards.

One of the golden-armored guards took notice of their approach and stepped forward to address them. “Miss Sparkle,” he greeted, throwing a salute. Well, to greet at least one of them.

“Lieutenant Thunder Wing,” she replied a bit nervously, shuffling a hoof in the dirt. “N-Nice to see you again. I-If you don’t mind my asking, but why are you all here so early? Princess Celestia clearly said noon in her letter.”

“My apologies for the early arrival, miss, but Princess Celestia had a sudden change of heart and decided to surprise you. Err, you know how she does love surprises.”

Twilight seemed to accept this explanation, albeit a bit grudgingly if her groan was any indication. Evidently, Princess Celestia liked to throw her student the proverbial curveball every once in a while.

Hopefully, curveballs meant that the Princess could be flexible when it came to new ideas or species.

Captain Thunder Wing turned and opened the door, stepping back to his post and gesturing the group in with a wave of his hoof. Harry gulped, trying to force down the lump that had somehow lodged itself in his throat and moved towards what could very well be the most important meeting in his life.

How was he supposed to do this again? Oh, sod it, he should’ve just had Rarity make some cue cards and had her hold them up behind the Princesses with her telekinesis whenever it looked like he was about to put his foot in his mouth.

Too late for that, he thought wryly as he entered and gazed upon the rulers of the realm for the first time.

They were sitting side by side at the table, idly sipping at tea and chatting with Spike as if they were old friends. Well, the taller, white-coated sister with the prismatic, ethereal mane was chatting a bit more animated; perhaps a sign of familiarity, which made sense, given that he was Twilight’s assistant and de facto little brother and she was, if the gold crown and accessories that matched the chariot outside so perfectly were anything to go by, her teacher. Her serene smile and calm voice were indicative of her many years upon the throne, though she spoke with a small hint of joy that seemed to show that her demeanor wasn’t at all insincere.

As for the smaller sister, the midnight blue one with an ethereal mane that seemed to shimmer with the stars of the night, she seemed a bit more subdued; not anti-social, but not nearly as animated in speaking with Spike. She didn’t ignore him, she spoke when he addressed her and smiled kindly as she spoke. However, while her sister’s voice was confident, hers seemed quieter, almost akin to that of a child ashamed of past wrongdoings. In fact, it was almost as if she were trying to be as quiet as possible, not unlike Fluttershy.

Celestia and Luna, the Royal Sisters, the Rulers of Equestria, sitting side by side, waiting to speak with and, ultimately, pass judgment on him.

Harry was stricken with the sudden urge to heave as the gravity of the situation hit him with the full force of Rainbow Dash bowling him over at top speed. It would be fine, he told himself, it would all turn out just fine.

If only he could convince that little voice in the back of his mind that was screaming in terror and telling him to put something rather solid between him and the Princesses.

The Princesses halted their conversation and turned to face him, smiling welcomingly and rising to their feet… err, hooves.

Damn, the novelty of that had already worn off.

Not wanting to seem rude, Harry bowed at the waist, while Twilight and Rarity kneeled down on their forelegs in their own form of respect to their rulers. The taller one, Celestia, if the image of the Sun displayed on her flank was any indication, chuckled lightly and spoke. “Rise, my little ponies… and human,” somehow, Harry felt a sneaking suspicion that she was a bit amused at having to amend her command to include another species. “Twilight, my dear student, I trust you’ve been well” she greeted as she stepped forward to embrace her student, exchanging a fond nuzzle with the young librarian.

“Oh, yes, Princess!” Her student chirped happily. “I’ve learned so many new things about magic and friendship since we visited the Crystal Empire!”

The Solar Princess’s smile brightened, making it similar to one a proud mother might wear when her child had accomplished something brilliant. “I look forward to hearing all about it, perhaps in your next friendship report?”

Harry knew he wasn’t exactly the most savvy of people when it came to social interactions, but he could recognize a dropped hint when he saw one.

“Oh, um, yes of course!” Twilight stammered, her cheeks flushing light red. “It has been a while since the last one, hasn’t it?”

“Our sister is merely teasing thee, Twilight Sparkle,” the blue-coated pony, Princess Luna, spoke up. “She, of all ponies, knows quite well that thou hath been quite busy due to… recent events.”

The sideways, appraising glance she directed at Harry didn’t go unseen by any of the room’s occupants.

Rather than shift immediately to serious matters, Celestia rolled her eyes playfully. “Oh, hush, Lulu, let an old mare have her fun!”

“Thou art an immortal alicorn princess, we would hardly call thee an ‘old mare’, Tia.”

“Details,” she scoffed, turning her attention to Rarity next. “I’ve heard some rather interesting things about your business, quite an increase in traffic from the upper crust of Equestrian society, hmm?”

Saying that Rarity’s grin was nearly as blinding as the Sun was only a bit of an exaggeration. But, to her credit, she managed to keep her rather obvious excitement in check. For the most part. “Oh, yes, well, meeting the right ponies, networking and all that jazz.”

If not for the little dance she was doing, practically prancing in place, Harry would’ve been quite impressed at her restraint. But far be it from him to deny her a sense of accomplishment in her craft, especially with praise coming from the highest authority in the land.

Almost on cue, the Solar Diarch turned her attention to Harry and finally addressed him. “And you must be the young Harry Potter we’ve heard so much about. My name is Celestia and this,” she nodded to her sister. “is my dear sister, Luna.”

Oh, right. He was the odd man out on this happy little reunion. In a rather literal sense, now that he thought about it.

How was he supposed to respond to her again? Oh, right, pay attention to titles, be respectful, try not to stammer and all that rot.

“Uh… Er… Yes! Yes, I’m Harry – er – Your Highness and – er – Your Highness?” The distinct sound of twin facehooves from just behind him, along with a matching facepalm from the young drake standing beside Princess Celestia, reinforced a fact that Harry knew the moment his mouth had opened.

He really sucked at this.

Harry made a quick mental note that a career in any form of politics or public relations was likely not in the card, but he might have something in comedic pratfalls if slapstick ever made a comeback.

Much to his relief – and incredulity – the Princesses didn’t look down their muzzles at him or scold him for his posture or manner of speaking.

“Steady thy nerves, young human,” Luna chided in an almost teasing manner. “We have come before thee to meet the colt – rather, the boy – that has taken residence in our land, not to visit harm upon thee.”

Celestia, on the other hand, kept up that serene smile. Idly, Harry wondered if anything could shake one who had ruled for millennia. “Indeed,” she affirmed. “My ever-faithful student hasn’t stopped talking about you in her letters, so, naturally, my curiosity was piqued.”

Turning his gaze to the resident librarian, Harry was met with a sheepish smile and light blush. “W-Well, I may have mentioned one or two things about your diet and physiology, and maybe a couple of things about what I’d learned from watching you levitate Spike along with what I saw of your temperament from your interactions with Rainbow and Applejack.”

He resisted the urge to make some sort of snarky, teasing remark, as it probably wasn’t the best idea to do so in front of his friend’s teacher. Not so much that the Princesses seemed too overly strict with him at the moment, given their assurances and acceptance of his botched greeting, but more for Twilight’s self-image.

Harry would admit, she probably felt the same way standing in front of Princess Celestia right now as he would standing in front of Professor Dumbledore had the roles been reversed: a powder keg of nerves and anxiety.

Not at all the best combination.

So, with her feelings in mind, Harry just shrugged and turned to face the Princesses again, waiting for them to decide where this conversation would go. Really, he was in their domain, so the ball was, quite literally, in their court.

Sensing his hesitation, the sisters returned to their seats, motioning for the others to join. “As I’m sure my student has informed you, my sister and I have been quite interested in you since you first stumbled into our land. Both due to the strange circumstances that brought you here and the absence of humans in our world for over a thousand years.”

“Yes, she’s, ah, she’s told me,” Harry began, as he tried to figure out how he should word this question. Might as well just go for blunt curiosity. “But I don’t understand… why?”

That managed to get a small chuckle out of both Princesses. “If your question is why you’ve become the object of our interest, there are a few reasons,” Celestia admitted. “The first is the stated fact that the last remnants of humanity in Equestria vanished during the reign of Discord, a product of his chaotic magic and several wars within the species. Which… prompts me to ask if this is similar in your world?”

“Entities capable of using chaos magic? I don’t believe so,” he answered. “Humans killing other humans? Yes. Very much yes.”

“We must wonder why thy race falls so easily to war,” Luna pondered aloud. “Granted, the three pony races have been at odds through various times in history, but still…”

Harry couldn’t help but shrug. “I’m sorry, Princess, but I can’t explain it any better than I can explain how I got here. Actually, how I got here would probably be easier.”

“Indeed, while we have seen war in years past, we doth find the logic for waging battle quite inconsequential when we count the lives lost. But, perhaps that is a conversation for another day. Returning to the topic at hoof,” Harry bit the inside of his cheek to avoid laughing. “We also found ourselves curious as to how it came to pass that thou were able to cross into our world.”

“But since the answer to that is a mystery to you,” Celestia picked up where her sister left off. “We can only discuss things from your perspective and try to piece together the cause. Until then, I’m afraid that all we can ask of you is to sit tight, as they say, and let us try to help.”

Harry nodded, accepting that he had no choice but to accept whatever help they could give him. He hadn’t the slightest idea as to why that strange door had shipped him to Equestria, let alone brought him to this tiny town. At this point, sitting and waiting was his best, and only, option.

Returning his nod with a smile of thanks, Luna continued. “Another area of interest was –“

Suddenly, the door burst open, and four mares all but tumbled into the room in a heap of limbs. Harry stared in a mix of disbelief and mild amusement as the girls apologized (Fluttershy), argued (Rainbow and Applejack) or giggled and gleefully cried “Do it again! Do it again!”

Well, Rainbow certainly had been quick in gathering the rest of the gang.

As amusing as the sight was, Princess Celestia cleared her throat, raising an eyebrow and smirking playfully at her little ponies, who froze in place immediately under the gaze of their benevolent rulers. The four mares quickly detangled and leapt to their hooves, brushing off dust and grinning sheepishly at their audience.

“Hello, Princesses!” They chimed in unison, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“Hello, my little ponies!” The Solar Diarch returned in kind, without missing a beat.

Luna, had a bit more difficult time restraining her mirth, but managed to steer things back in the appropriate direction. “Sooth! Our little ponies’ entrance is perfectly timed! Almost on cue, Tia!”

“Quite so, quite so. Actually, this ties into the next reason for our interest in you, Harry.”

Seeing the human’s confusion, Luna explained. “Thou hath done what the humans in our world failed to do, young Harry. These mares saw thee while thy world was ripped from thine eyes and replaced with another. And yet, they accepted thee and thou didst return the favor in kind. In short, an impossible situation brought thee to our world, and thou adapted and made friends rather than attacking or drawing back in fear.”

“You didn’t see him the first night, Princess,” Spike quipped, throwing the mood entirely as an opportunity to needle the newcomer presented itself. “He nearly jumped out of his skin when he found out we could talk!”

“Spike!” Twilight groaned.

Harry glared at the cheeky little reptile, eyes narrowing as the young drake stuck out a long, serpentine tongue at him and ignored Twilight’s scolding. “Funny,” he said. “I seem to recall you having the same reaction when I levitated you a few feet off the ground.”

“Hey! That totally doesn’t count! I’ve been dropped way too many times to be comfortable with that! Besides, you still flipped when everypony jumped out at the party last night!”

“SPIKE…” The drake’s mouth shut with an audible click as Twilight’s tone registered; it was the same tone she used whenever he was in trouble, from the day she’d hatched him, it had always been the same.

“Sorry, Twi,” he mumbled, shuffling his feet nervously.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, mister,” she scolded, pointing a hoof towards Harry.

Who, at this point, looked a bit guilty in his own right. “Twilight, really, it was just a bit of fun.”

“I understand ‘fun’ well enough, but both of you should know better.”

The boys winced at the cool manner she’d scolded them, each mumbling an apology to one another.

“Really, you two, there is such thing as a time and place,” Rarity added.

“Oh, give it a rest, Rares,” Dash scoffed. “It’s all in good fun, right Princess?”

Luna cleared her throat and leveled Rainbow with a stern look. “We agree that having fun with one’s friends is a wonderful thing, Rainbow Dash, but Rarity is correct in her assessment of there being a time and place for certain things. For instance, this is not the time or place for us to mention that Tia has been cheating on her diet –“

“Luna!”

“Oops,” she shrugged, smirking mischievously. “Slip of the tongue, Tia. Just a slip of the tongue.”

The Solar Diarch gave a deadpan expression, clearly indicating her feelings on her sister’s sincerity before resuming her calm expression and speaking up again. “Returning to our discussion,” she said rather forcefully, earning a light eye roll from Luna. “A couple of other things were brought to our attention as well. Namely, that your race is capable of wielding magic, but in a different manner than ours.”

“Yes, Twilight mentioned that when she saw,” he said with a nod as he pulled his wand out and held it for them to examine. “I have to channel magic through a wand to focus it, more for control really. Children in my world have a tendency to use magic accidentally without one.”

“Interesting,” Luna murmured as she leaned in for a closer look. “Thou speak of a phenomena similar to accidental magical bursts seen in unicorn foals, but since thy race lacked a natural means of channeling magic, they created one, correct?”

“Er, somewhat, I think. Sorry, but the history of wand lore isn’t my strong suit.”

“We understand, child. History of such an object is likely an area of rather intensive study. However, we are more interested in seeing a demonstration of thy abilities, if thou art willing.”

Giving another shrug and nod of acceptance, Harry thought a minute about what to do, something simple enough but giving a view of rudimentary magic.

He could always levitate Spike again, but, if he remembered correctly, the drake had mentioned something about that being quite basic for unicorn magic. Sure, it was simple enough, but still, it might be a bit too basic. Besides, he already did that once to show Twilight. He wanted to do something different this time.

Something that would show the Princesses what they wanted, but still something that would be a bit fun.

Maybe he could get one of the girls to volunteer. Probably not Fluttershy, she was just too timid and Harry really didn’t want to scare her. The fact that the town might actually come after him if he did anything to make her cry was only further incentive not to ask her.

Pinkie… was Pinkie. He wasn’t even going to go there. She’d already done things that seemed odd to him, a freaking wizard, so adding magic to the equation wasn’t something he was interested in at the moment.

Rainbow was certainly brave enough, from what he’d seen, as was Applejack. Hmm…

“Applejack, Rainbow,” he called. “Can I borrow you for this?”

“Sure, dude! Just don’t mess with the feathers! Or the mane! Definitely do not touch the mane!”

“Aw, shoot, Dash! Relax would ya!” The farm mare scolded with a roll of her eyes. “Harry, ignore her an’ just fire away. Ah trust ya.”

“Thanks girls,” he said giving them a rather odd smile. “Ready?”

“As Ah’ll ever be.”

“Go for it, dude!”

“Perfect. And you, Princesses?”

“We are ready and vigilant, young one.” Luna replied. “We have prepared a spell that will allow us to see the magic flow through thy body!”

“Good, there’s just one thing I have to say. More for Rainbow and Applejack.”

Rainbow snorted and flipped her multicolored locks. “Dude, if you’re gonna warn us to get ready, just relax, I was just kiddin’!”

“Oh, no, not that at all,” he shook his head. “I was just gonna say, laugh it up.”

The mares shared a look of confusion with one another before directing their attention to him again. “Er, laugh what up, Sugercube?”

“This: Rictosempra!” Harry flicked his wand and caught both of them with a burst of magic before they could react. It took them about a half a second to realize what spell he’d chosen to hit them with.

“PFFFFT – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU LI – HIHIHIHIHI – TTLE JE –HEHEHEHEHEHEHE – RK!” Rainbow shrieked, writhing on the floor and kicking her hooves in the air as she tried to escape the invisible feathers that tickled her most sensitive areas. Her sides, her stomach, the muscles on her back, even right beneath her wing joints. All her most ticklish spots were being attacked at once!

Dear Celestia, what in the hay had he done to her?

“AH – AHAHAHAHAHA – AH’LL GETCHA FER THIS YA LIL’ PARA –PFFF HAHAHA – SPRI – HIHIHIHI – TE! AH’M GONNA – HAHAHA OH NELLY! MAKE IT ST – AHAHAHA – OP!”

“Sorry, girls, but I owed you for yesterday!” He laughed as he stepped away from Rainbow’s hooves, avoiding her failed attempt to wrestle him to the floor and exact revenge.  “What do you think, Princess?”

“Quite interesting,” Celestia chuckled as she pondered what she’d seen. “It seems that magic flows through your body in a manner similar to that of a unicorn, but rather than being channeled through the horn, it flows through your fingertips, into the wand and outwards. Fascinating.”

“We agree,” Luna affirmed. “We are quite pleased to see that thy people’s magic and our own is similar in nature.” She paused a beat and broke into a rather mischievous grin. “And thy choice in spell and test subject were quite amusing. Turnabout is indeed fair play, is it not girls?”

“HAHAHA C’MON LU – HAHAHA – NA! MAKE HIM ST – AHAHAHAHA – OP IT!”

“Very well. Harry?”

“Yes, Princess. Finite Incantatum!” With a wave of his wand, Harry’s spell was broken. Applejack and Rainbow gasped in relief, greedily sucking in as much air as their lungs could hold, still fighting giggles as the tingling sensation slowly wore off. Harry turned from them, pointedly ignoring the pair’s looks of promised vengeance in favor of the more amused giggles from the rest of the girls.

Even Fluttershy was doing her very best to hide her smile behind a hoof as her body shook with hidden laughter. Rarity and Twilight, however, weren’t so restrained. The unicorn duo were openly laughing at their friends, fully aware that both had more than earned every bit of Harry’s punishment for them.

As for Pinkie…

Harry yelped as he was all but tackled to the ground by the bubbly pink mare. “Me next! Me next Me next!” She chanted gleefully, giggling as she pinned him down. “I wanna play the invisible tickle game!”

“ACK! Pinkie! Get off!” He grumbled. “It’s not a game, it’s a charm! A spell from my world!”

That, of course, did nothing to sway Pinkie. She stopped giggling and grinning, her expression changing to the same wide, teary-eyed pouting face that the Crusaders had used on him the day before.

Ok, this was getting out of hand.

“No, Pinkie,” he refused, trying to steer things back towards some semblance of seriousness, but the bubbly baker, ever the bastion of silliness, was not to be dissuaded. Her lower lip began to quiver, she sniffled and drew even closer, making sure that he couldn’t look away.

“Pinkie, really, we don’t have time for this.”

Still nothing, she just kept staring into his eyes.

“Oh, come on, Pinkie! You can’t possibly be serious right now!”

Those cerulean eyes seemed to bore deep into his soul, their owner refusing to do anything more than whimper, silently begging him to give in and let her join in the fun.

Damn it, were these bloody ponies genetically altered for that face to be near lethal or something?

Twilight cleared her throat, pulling Pinkie off with a quick bit of telekinesis. “Pinkie, you and Harry can play with magic later,” her statement only served to make her friend direct those watery eyes at her, but Twilight had an advantage over Harry.

She’d known Pinkie long enough to resist her demands to a certain degree; the presence of the Royal Sisters gave her just that much more motivation to cut off this journey into Pinkie’s world of silliness before it began.

“Fine,” Pinkie sighed, folding her hooves and giving Harry a rather surprisingly stern look. “But I expect magic tricks at the next party I throw, mister!”

… Yet another example of the truth behind Applejack’s statement from last night. Sometimes, it was best to just give in and give up on trying to understand the inner workings of Pinkie’s mind. So, he did the only thing that seemed sensible.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he with his best possible poker face. “I might have to brush up on my card tricks, but I can whip up a transfiguration or two.”

Harry pushed himself up to a seated position and was met with amused grins from the Princesses and most of his friends; evidently, Pinkie’s special brand of silliness had been expected the moment she’d entered the library.

“It seems that you’re a stallion in demand,” Celestia teased good-naturedly.

“Uh, yes, it would seem so… Though, I should say that grown males of my species are usually referred to as ‘men.’”

“Ah, yes, the linguistic differences that Twilight mentioned in another of her letters,” she muttered. “Interesting, but that is, perhaps, a discussion for another day. I am quite interested in something else, something that Twilight said that you’ve referenced occasionally over the course of the past couple of days.”

“What… What might that be?” Harry wracked his brain, wondering what he’d said that could’ve been worthy of such interest.

The crack about wishing he could get along with siblings? No, that was only once. Trying to refuse aid of various forms? Well, maybe, but that had been more of an area of minor cultural difference, if the mares’ offense whenever he’d tried said anything about that.

“Our sister is referring to when thou spoke of your kinsmen’s suspicion of thee,” Luna clarified. “In Twilight Sparkle’s letters, we found it rather odd that thy people would label thee a ‘cheater’ and stare at thee without reason. We were hoping that thou might shed some light on the subject.” Harry felt the breath hitch in his throat; he wasn’t expecting that at all. Those had just been passing remarks.

He gulped, trying to swallow the lump that seemed to have formed. This was a conversation he’d been hoping to avoid, he’d hoped that quickly changing the subject would make the girls forget what he’d said or at least make it seem like he was just being silly.

Evidently, Twilight was much more attentive than he gave her credit for. Perhaps a product of having Spike as her de facto younger sibling had given her a bit of experience detecting when someone close to her was trying to hide something.

He didn’t have much of a choice. If he told them, they might pity his situation, but he rather enjoyed being treated like a normal person. If he refused, he would give the impression that he was a cheater and a liar and that he’d tried to hide it from them.

Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

With a sigh, he steadied his nerves and resigned himself to recounting the strange circumstances that had led to his entry into the Triwizard Tournament and, subsequently, his arrival in Twilight’s loft.

“In my world,” he began hesitantly. “Humans capable of magic – wizards and witches, that is – are sent to schools to learn control and practice proper usage of magic. I attend a school called Hogwarts, located in the British Isles, my homeland. This year, an old tradition was revived: the Triwizard Tournament.

“The Triwizard Tournament involves three schools: Beauxbatons, located in a country called France, Durstrang, which is somewhere in Central or Eastern Europe, and Hogwarts. The schools are renowned as the three premier magical institutions of the world, due to their long histories of tradition and academic reputation. The Tournament was created for each school to showcase its best and brightest students, to challenge their courage, wit and application of magic. But, it was discontinued for nearly two hundred years.”

“Hold up a minute,” Rainbow interrupted. “If this thing was so big for these schools, why cancel it for so long?”

“Ah gotta go with Rainbow on this, sugercube. Ya made it sound like it was such a big deal to yer people and then say they got rid o’ it fer so long. It don’t add up.”

Harry grimaced, this was the part he really hadn’t looked forward to explaining. “They discontinued it due to the death toll.”

There was a beat of silence. Literally, a moment of nothing but blank stares from all parties.

“WHAT?!”

“It was common for at least one of the three champions selected to die,” he explained, much to their growing horror. “In the last one – before the revival, of course – all three were killed in the first task.”

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy whimpered as she tried to hide behind her long pink bangs.

Competitor though she may be, Rainbow Dash was absolutely stunned at this. “What the – Who in – What in – Why in Equestria would anypony –“

“Darling! I mean no offense to you, but what is wrong with your species?” Rarity shrieked.

“I don’t have an answer for that.”

“Why would anypony want to participate?” Twilight demanded, nearly frothing at the mouth. “What could possibly motivate somepony to sign up for such a thing?”

Harry shrugged. “A chance to win money, the opportunity for your name to be immortalized, and a few other nonsensical things that are, quite frankly, meaningless when it comes down to it.”

“That isn’t right,” Pinkie grumbled. “Tournaments are supposed to be fun, like parties. They’re supposed to have a happy ending! Your world is doing it wrong!”

“Believe me, I agree wholeheartedly.”

“Um, Harry. I really don’t want to sound rude, but your world seems scary,” Fluttershy admitted. “If you don’t mind me saying.”

Almost on cue, Rarity threw her piece in.“I agree entirely, dear, this whole ordeal just seems so… so ghastly!”

“Ah’ve half a mind to buck the idiot who came up with bringin’ this thing back in the face,” the farm pony growled, lowering the brim of her Stetson. “What yer talkin’ ‘bout is just stupid, on more levels than Ah care to count!”

“Ladies, please,” Celestia admonished, though she too seemed quite put off by the news. “This information is quite appalling, but let us not judge an entire species based on the actions of a few. I believe you all learned a similar lesson in meeting your friend, Zecora,” the mares nodded, though their looks of disgust remained. The Princess turned her focus back to the young human, looking a more than a bit confused. “Harry, forgive me if I seem a bit out of my depth, but I fail to see what this has to do with you. Based on the way you speak of this ‘Triwizard Tournament’, it seems like something you’d have nothing to do with.”

And there’s the rub.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “Well…” How exactly should he explain this one? “That’s the thing. I didn’t enter my name to be selected, but someone else did. On the night that the champions were selected, there were four chosen: three of which met the age requirements, one that didn’t. Me.”

If the silence after he informed them about the death toll was indicative of the indignation and horror felt by all present, this was almost tenfold.

“But they don’t expect you to compete, right?” Twilight asked shakily. “You said it, you don’t meet the requirements, so you can’t compete.”

“I wish. They use a very powerful magical artifact, called the Goblet of Fire, to select the champions for each school, one that creates a binding agreement that a champion consents to by writing their name on a slip of parchment and dropping it into the Goblet.”

“But you didn’t!” Rainbow protested, slamming her hooves on the table. “You didn’t put your name down! That’s… That voids the contract right?”

With a sigh, he shook his head. “I asked that as well, but no, it doesn’t. Supposedly, the magic binds itself to my name, which, depending on who you listen to, is very powerful magic.”

Before one of the girls could launch into another tirade, Celestia posed the question in a calm manner, almost similar to academic curiosity. “How powerful?”

“Again, it depends on who you listen to. Some scholars believe that you can visit horrible things upon another by using their name in an incantation, others say that names are only useful in oaths or, in this case, a magical contract.”

“Can thou not simply refuse to participate?” Luna threw in, her brow furrowing in concentration as she considered the likelihood of whether or not Harry could even survive a tournament that had claimed the lives of many before him, students with more knowledge and experience under their belts.

To their dismay, he shook his head. “No, that’s where the binding contract comes into play. In order to ensure that no one backs out, the Goblet punishes those who renege on their agreement once their name has been chosen.”

“And what punishments are there? Monetary reparations? Imprisonment?”

“That’s where it gets even more hedgy. No one has actually refused to participate in the tournament, so no one has ever seen what the Goblet of Fire does to someone who reneges. It could be something simple, yet humiliating, like impotency, it could render me unable to use magic, or it could kill me in a rather painful way.” As he finished, he noticed that the mood had shifted abruptly. It wasn’t horror or outrage that someone had entered him into what was, effectively, a death trap. It was the same fear he’d dealt with since his name came out.

The fear that he had no way out. His only option was how he suffered. He could endure unforeseeable pain in the tasks or he could spin his own personal wheel of fortune and see what the Goblet punished him with.

What happened next, Harry very well would’ve missed if he hadn’t felt it happen.

He blinked and, suddenly, Fluttershy had tackled him in a rib-cracking hug and was nuzzling his neck, tears streaming down her face as she seemingly tried to negate the magical contract via maternal affection.

“No!” She sobbed. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“Fluttershy – ACK! You’re crushing my ribs!” Ponyville’s animal caretaker loosened her grip slightly, but refused to let go of her new friend. She rocked back, pulling him back into a seated position, and wrapped her wings around him, just as she would do with one of her animal friends when they were hurt or sick.

Pinkie and Rarity took this as their cue to join in, each rapping their forelegs around him, silently holding him. Each had their own experiences with young foals – Rarity had comforted her little sister after she’d come home in tears from being laughed at for not having her Cutie Mark, and Pinkie from having dealt with rocking the Pumpkin and Pound Cake to sleep. All that mattered right now was holding on to their friend and letting him know that they were there for him.

But for three other mares, a simple hug just wasn’t sufficient.

“This is – this is all a bunch o’ horseapples!” Applejack spat venomously. “What idiot in their right mind puts somepony in a life or death tournament and then makes death a punishment for not wantin’ to compete? What if ya got injured or realized that ya’ll were out o’ yer league?”

Though normally the competitive thrill seeker, Rainbow Dash was right beside her earth pony friend, ready to summon a hurricane with pure fury. “Stupid doesn’t even begin to describe it! Hay, I do crazy stunts, but I know when to say no! This isn’t a test of skill, it’s a lose-lose scenario for you!”

Twilight, meanwhile, was in full problem solving mode, furiously wracking her brain in search of any information she might have about magical contracts and their penalties. Maybe, just maybe, Equestrian magical contracts had a way out.

If she could use that knowledge and somehow apply it to Harry’s situation, she just might be able to find a way to break it without harming him.

But it was rather hard to concentrate when two of her most vocal friends were in the midst of a rather heated rant against certain members of Harry’s species, one that involved a form of yoga that, Twilight was quite sure, would essentially turn their spines into pretzels.

Rainbow and Applejack could get quite creative when angry.

“Enough!” She barked, rubbing her temples with her hooves to fight off her oncoming headache. As cathartic as beating the idiots who organized this to a paste might seem, it wasn’t helping with the current problem. Turning her focus to the boy being cuddled by three mares, Twilight tried to take a more practical approach to the issue. “This contract you mentioned, is it possible that you could avoid its effects by staying here?”

Harry turned his head as best he could to look at Twilight, and shook his head in the negative. “I’m not sure, but I don’t really want to risk it. I mean, if I could come here on my own, it’s possible that the Goblet could use the same pathway or just make another.”

“What about ways to break the contract itself? Did you ask anypony in charge if there was a way out in your case?”

“Yes, that was actually the first thing I did after doing everything but swear a magical oath that I didn’t enter my name. The Ministry official, Barty Crouch was his name, said that there was no way. My school headmaster – who is arguably the most powerful wizard alive – even seemed to think so, he was more focused on finding whoever entered my name. He seems concerned with their motive for doing so.”

“A wise move,” Celestia interjected. “But that does nothing to solve the problem at hoof: you’ve been entered unwillingly into a tournament, there should be steps available for you to remove yourself from competition without fear of consequence.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “Indeed. We find it most troubling that one might be forced into an agreement without consent in thy world, young Harry.”

“There has to be a way out,” Twilight insisted. “Magic, at least in Equestria, is based heavily on intent; you didn’t intend for your name to be entered, so somepony writing your name on a scrap of parchment shouldn’t bind to you.”

Spike, having stayed quiet since throwing in a bit of teasing, chose to add in a bit of what he knew from years of being Twilight’s assistant. “The intent is verifiable magical theory, and I’m pretty sure we’ve read about contracts somewhere, Twilight.”

“Thanks, Spike. If you could, try to find some of those books, I’m going to need to refresh my memory on the properties of magical contracts,” Spike snapped a mock salute and ran over to the bookshelf, scouring the titles for anything that might contain information on their goal. “Contracts like that haven’t been used for centuries in Equestria, but, based on what we’ve seen of your magic, I should be able to apply some of the same theory.”

“If you could, that would be brilliant,” Harry said. “As far as the thing you mentioned about someone else writing my name down, the person could’ve used a class assignment to get my written name. All they would’ve had to do was make a copy and take the original, tear off the name and drop it in.”

“I doubt that would satisfy the intent need, but I won’t discount it until I read up. This is going to make it even more important to get you home, Harry. I’m probably going to need some books from your world on the subject, just to be safe.” He nodded in reply; very appreciative of the fact that she was treating this with the utmost care and importance. But, Twilight wasn’t done. “Also, some books on defensive and combat magic, bring those too.”

That drew a raised eyebrow from the young wizard. “Err, this might sound stupid of me; but why?”

“Because,” she began, her expression turning grim and determined. “If I can’t find a way to get you out of the contract, then I’m going to make sure you have everything you need to make it through each of the tasks alive.”