Chapter Text
The morning in Equestia was peaceful. Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun took a deep, easy breath of the sweet air of a morning off. No court. No foreign visitors. Just a simple day in the gardens with her young student, and her adopted niece. One fringe benefit of having taken Twilight Sparkle as her personal student meant she had a ready-made excuse to leave the nobles hanging for a day every-so-often to instruct the filly. It wasn’t the primary reason she had taken on the young pony, nor did it sit in the top ten reasons…but it was there. Somewhere off to the side, Twilight’s elder brother stood ready, the newly-minted Captain of the Guard Shining Armor keeping a diligent eye on both Princesses and the young filly.
A small smile stretched across Celestia’s face at the sight of Twilight following Cadance around the gardens like an excited puppy, while her foalsitter patiently gave her a lesson on the various flowers and their meanings. With Love as her domain, Princess Cadance knew a thing or two regarding flower arranging and the special meanings and messages that could be conveyed through a simple bouquet of flowers. Perhaps not as academically-centered a lesson as Twilight was more inclined toward, but still she hung on the younger Princess’s every word. The Sun Princess giggled at the antics of the two, happy to see Twilight open up to somepony, though she’d have preferred the filly to make friends her own age. She strolled up behind the two and contentedly listened in as Princess Cadance continued the impromptu floral lesson.
It really was a great day for it. The Pegasi in the Weather Corps had scheduled a cloudless day, and combined with her sun in the sky, the gardens were warm, fragrant, and inviting. Holding Twilight’s lessons outside had been the correct call today. Celestia cared for Twilight almost as though she were family, but if the unicorn filly had her way, she’d lock herself in the Library all her days, and take the two Princesses – and the dragon hatchling she’d named Spike – with her to spend all their days in with the dusty old books. Celestia’s smile developed a subtle melancholy as a phantasmal image of another unicorn seemed to shimmer into view next to Twilight. One with an amber coat and mane of red and yellow. But as soon as she’d appeared she was gone from Celestia’s vision with a simple blink. Sunset was just a very recent failure in a long line of failures she kept mentally tallied for herself. But she swore she wouldn’t make the same mistakes with Twilight Sparkle.
The little filly was so eager to learn, to know, and to prove herself to her elders and mentors. It was up to Celestia to ensure that she managed to balance that thirst for knowledge with time for play, or even simply trick the purple unicorn with simpler lessons that were, for lack of a better term, more frivolous in nature, or more culturally-inclined. Lessons such as the flower-arranging that Cadance was more than happy to distract her charge with for the moment.
Truthfully, though it wasn’t well known to those outside her small circle of friends, Princess Cadance was quite the academic herself. She was also what the more physically-minded ponies commonly referred to as a ‘Nerd,’ in fact. Rumor was that she was a frequent attendee at Shining Armor’s bi-weekly game-nights, currently deep into an Oubliettes and Ogres campaign. Celestia had been beyond relieved when those two had finally gotten together. Besides the fact that she’d won a fairly substantial bet regarding them, the last pony Cadance had gone on a date with before Shining Armor had been insufferable to the point where Celestia’s only advice to the younger Princess was to ditch the stallion the very first chance she got. It was nice to see Shining and her getting along well in a relationship though. Especially with the subtle efforts the Sun Princess had put in to nudge the two closer. She needed to do something to pass the time after all, and playing matchmaker was a time-honored tradition for older mares – which despite herself she couldn’t deny she absolutely was – and if she couldn’t have that kind of happiness herself, then it was only fair that somepony else might.
“I believe it’s about time to wrap things up, Princess Cadance,” she admonished in a slightly teasing tone. “We’ll have a light lunch down by the pond, and then it will be time for me to take back my student.”
Somehow, despite the hue of her coat already being pink, an embarrassed blush showed through on Cadance’s face. “Sorry, Auntie,” she acknowledged. “I guess I kind of got on a roll there and lost track of time.” Celestia simply smiled down at her adopted niece and shook her head.
“It’s quite alright. It’s important that young Twilight have an education in cultural practices as well as magic,” she replied gently. “And I think it’s wonderful to hear you speak so confidently and passionately about your interests. Now, however, it’s time for this young filly to have lunch or her afternoon studies will be interrupted every few moments by the angry creature that is her stomach.” On cue, a furious groan could indeed be heard emanating from the small unicorn’s stomach, signaling her own turn to blush in embarrassment as her mentor didn’t even bother to suppress a giggle.
It was promptly turned around on herself when her own stomach gave a grumble of its own, and the three soon made their way down to the small fish-pond in the garden, where a table had already been set up with a platter of daffodil and daisy sandwiches, a large bowl containing a garden salad, and Celestia was pleased to also spot a tiered stand bearing a variety of cupcakes.
The three made light conversation while they ate, ranging from Twilight’s other studies within Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, how the young Filly’s parents were, plans for an upcoming appearance by Princess Celestia at a festival in Cloudsdale…It was a wonderful bit of normalcy that Celestia longed for in her day-to-day life. Unfortunately, as she was helping herself to another cupcake – she insisted on referring to it as merely ‘seconds’ despite a smirking Cadance distinctly having counted at least five of the frosted mini-cakes get shoveled down her Aunt's throat – that moment of normal pony interaction came to a grinding halt.
There was an extremely loud sound like a crack, followed by the strangled yelp of a small voice before something crashed into the pond. The resulting splash rendered Twilight, who was sitting closest to the water, completely drenched. The two Princesses fared a bit better, though Celestia felt a pang of disappointment that the remaining cupcakes were now soaked in pond-water. The three were too shocked to actually do anything for a few moments before gathering their wits and peering into the thrashing and disturbed water. Celestia almost without thought managed to grip the thing in her magic and pull it out of the pond, laying the small creature down on the grass.
“It looks like a hairless monkey,” Twilight said after coming out of her stunned silence, gazing at it through her water-logged mane. “And it’s wearing clothes.” Celestia vaguely detected the quickly approaching presence of Shining Armor, who had heard the commotion and galloped over.
“A human?” Celestia whispered, staring at the tiny form laid out in front of her in bewildered contemplation. None of the others heard her quiet musing as the small human jerked and coughed out a lungful of water, before curling up into himself with a pathetic whimper. The white Alicorn narrowed her eyes as she instinctively began inspecting the child. For that was certainly what the creature was. Having experienced travel to other realms through portals and other means, she knew of humans, and the one before her was very clearly one of their male children. And he sported a large gash on his cheek, the beginnings of a black eye, and based on his position and whimpers of pain, probably a dislocated shoulder.
She felt a small tingle travel over her and raised a brow in surprise. The area was becoming awash in magic, something that decidedly was not a common trait in humans. With the tingling settled in a foreboding sense of dread. “Princess…” her gaze shifted to little Twilight, who was beginning to look unwell, and the area around her horn began to shimmer as though shrouded by a heat-haze. “I don’t feel so good.” Needing to hear no more, Celestia flared her magic again. She gently but firmly pushed Twilight back, her eyes darting around, glowing slightly as she tried to get a read on the magic of the human child.
Magic was generally fairly neutral as far as energy went. For the most part, controlling it was a matter of will. However, Magic could also be imbued with the intent or emotions of its user, and act on its own, independent of any control. This was usually seen in foals when they were scared, or tantruming, or experiencing other heightened emotions. These reactions mostly ceased by the time a pony reached maturity. It appeared as though human children – those few with magic, at least – experienced the same issue. The boy curled up on the ground before them was outputting an incredible amount of magic. It would have been impressive even if he’d been a unicorn. The problem in this situation however, was that the boy was clearly scared and in pain, and that was imbuing a very specific intent into the magic. It was trying to defend him, and that meant it would likely lash out at those close by.
“Captain,” she addressed Shining Armor, her tone letting him know that all levity from the day had left her and he was being addressed by the absolute ruler of the kingdom he had sworn to protect and obey. For a moment, he thought he saw her horn beginning to spark as though electrified. “I want your strongest shield placed around me and this child. Nopony and nothing in or out.” No sooner had he followed her orders and cast a thick dome over the two, than a great blast of magic like a bolt of lightning seemed to arc out from the boy, crashing into the Princess’s horn like it was a lightning rod. The three pony’s outside the shield looked on, amazed as their Princess actually seemed affected by the magical bolt. It seemed to take actual effort for her not to be knocked back by the loosed energy. However, they’d seen her diffuse worse situations before – such as Twilight’s own entrance exam to attend her school – and made no move to intervene.
Without having to worry about the other three, Celestia began to realize she didn’t actually have a plan. As another bolt of magic arcked into her horn, she could practically taste the child’s distress in the charged air. “Listen to me,” she spoke, calmly in tone but loud enough to be heard by the tiny thing. She wondered for a moment how old he might have been, for a human his size to possess such powerful levels of magic. “You need to calm down. Nopony is going to harm you.” The boy whimpered again, his eyes held tightly closed as he pulled himself further into a ball.
“It hurts,” he wheezed out, and now Celestia’s mind flew into panic mode. His magic wasn’t just lashing out externally. She cursed herself for not realizing that this boy must have forced out so much magic – and it had to have been a substantial amount if he’d crossed into Equestria by himself, without a stable portal – that his own body couldn’t handle its own output anymore. And now that it was flowing, rolling off him in violent waves, he wouldn’t be able to leash it. Even if she just knocked him out, his magic was acting on its own now, and those actions were causing massive harm to the child. Another bolt ripped into and down her horn, several other branching bolts lashing against Shining Armor’s shield, and ripping apart the well maintained grass beneath them.
Not knowing just how much damage had already been done and not willing to wait things out, Princess Celestia made the choice to, in this instance, act on instinct. She flared her own magic, and did the first thing she could think to do. She saturated the area within the dome with her own magic. And in doing so, wrenched control of the panic-infused magic away from the child. Through this act of sheer will, the Princess overpowered the terrified emotions suffusing the magic and instead forcibly infused a sense of warmth and calm into the energy. She then gently pulsed the magic, pushing it back into the child. She heard another whimper, but noticed his tensed form relaxed just a hair.
She decided to take that as a sign that what she did was working, so she began to gather more magic, infuse it with her own intent and emotion, and then eased it back into the curled form. She repeated the process a couple more times, while simultaneously giving instructions to the other guards who had arrived shortly after Shining Armor had raised his shield. The boy was going to need a hospital the moment his magic was calm and stabilized, and she made it abundantly clear that if there was any delay, the pony responsible would be answering directly to her. They would find themselves lucky to merely be stripped of their rank if the human child was harmed any further because her Guard didn’t take swift enough action.
A child being harmed – pony or otherwise – was a surefire way to bring out the fury of the Sun Princess. And nopony wanted to be on the wrong end of an Alicorn’s wrath.
“It hurts,” the little human rasped out again as Celestia, now having dissipated most of the panic infused within the magic, slowly moved closer, leaning down to gently nuzzle the poor thing.
“I know,” she whispered softly into his ear, doing all in her power to maintain a level of calm. She pushed the last of the magic back to the child as he opened splotchy-red, unfocussed eyes to stare up at her. “I know it does. I need you to be very brave for me for just a bit longer.” The eyes closed again and his breathing slowed as the young human passed out.
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Harry Potter knew not to struggle. There was no point. His Uncle Vernon’s grip was like iron, and the small-for-his-age eight-year-old knew he had zero chance to break away from the absolute whale of a man that was his Uncle. Harry had really done it this time, he knew. Granted, he had no idea how he had done what he’d done. One minute he’d been fleeing from his cousin Dudley and his gang, who had been engaging in their favorite activity. Harry Hunting. The next minute, he’d found himself somehow on the roof of the school. Frankly, he’d rather be there still. There were many places he’d rather be than in the grip of Vernon, being dragged roughly from his Uncle’s car, into the house, and roughly thrown into his cupboard.
He yelped as he felt a terrible sensation in his shoulder, overshadowing the pain blooming across his face as it had smacked against the wooden underside of the stairs. He vaguely heard the door of the cupboard slam shut, and much more distinctly felt it smack the back of his head as it did so. Tears were now pouring down his face as he heard his Uncle lock him in.
“You are going to stay there, boy, until I figure out precisely what your proper punishment will be,” Vernon practically hissed. “Your Aunt and I have done our best to try and squash this freakishness out of you, but clearly we need to try harder.” Harry whimpered in response, and his Uncle kicked the door. “AND YOU WILL NOT MAKE A PEEP IN THE MEANTIME!” He shouted back. Harry curled up into a ball on his tiny mattress as he heard Uncle Vernon stomp away.
Whatever his Aunt and Uncle came up with for Punishment, he knew it was going to be the most unbearable thing he’d ever endure. While the two would insist that their treatment of their nephew was just firm discipline — and somehow most of the people Harry tried to explain his situation to agreed — a small and defiant part of the young boy’s soul screamed that he didn’t deserve such abuse. Surely he wasn’t to blame for these random, almost magical happenings, right? If he could disappear from one place and reappear in another as he had today, surely Vernon and Petunia could see that he’d have used such a power to run away ages ago? But clearly they didn’t see it, and that made the young boy think. If he really were responsible for the strange things that happened around them, then maybe he should try and do them on purpose. He’d be punished as though he had either way, so he really had no reason not to try.
Especially now that Uncle Vernon was talking about stepping-up his ‘discipline.’ Harry didn’t know how he might escalate from the leather belt and withheld meals, but he felt a distinct sense of dread toward what was coming.
Half-panicked by the thoughts of what punishment his guardians would concoct, he desperately tried to focus. Somehow he’d gotten up to the school roof. For some reason, his Aunt and Uncle were convinced he’d somehow done it himself. And if he could do it once, he could do it again. He tried to think of what he’d been feeling earlier while trying to escape from Dudley. He needed someplace to hide. Needed someplace quiet to sit and catch his breath. He needed to get away. He most certainly needed that now. There was a pressure upon him for an instant and he heard the door of the cupboard rattle as though struck by a wave of some invisible force. Harry, however, remained laying in the dark, dusty, spider-infested space.
“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET!” His Uncle bellowed from somewhere in the house. The kitchen, if Harry had to guess. Well good, that at least meant that he hadn’t imagined it. Something had happened. Some sort of force or shift. Harry mustered his focus and tried again. If he could just get somewhere out of the house, he could hunker-down and hide somewhere, and when the coast was clear, he’d run as far away as he could. Anywhere, he was sure, would be better than staying at Number 4, Privet Drive. There was another intense feeling of pressure with a deep twisting feeling in his gut and the door and stairs rattled violently. Sweat was now pouring down Harry’s bleeding face, and he felt as though he’d run a marathon.
“POTTER!” Now he could hear the elephant-like steps of his Uncle Vernon coming back to Harry’s cupboard. Harry’s eyes snapped open in pure terror as he heard the man fumbling with the door lock. He needed to be somewhere else — anywhere else — and he needed to be there right now! And somewhere within that mess of panic and desperation, he felt something within him snap and suddenly there was pain. Light blinded him and he yelled as now atop the pain he was still feeling, there was a sensation of falling, before he belly-flopped messily into a pool of some kind.
Water filled his lungs as he flailed uselessly. He’d never been taught to swim, and with as much agony as he was in currently, he couldn't focus enough to make an attempt. It was as if something was trying to rip its way out of his skin. As his struggling petered out, he felt a moment of relief as a strange warmth enveloped him, dulling the pain and somehow lifting him from the water.
The warmth faded and the pain resumed as he felt himself being placed down on solid ground, and with a spasm, a torrent of water flooded back out up his throat and was coughed out into the grass. He whimpered as the pain and pressure began to ramp up even higher, even the old scar on his forehead seemed to be affected as a searing pain threatened to rip his head open.
He heard a few muffled voices, but his ears were still ringing. Something spiked inside him and he desperately tried to curl up into himself. He had been so very wrong. This was worse than anything the Dusley’s might have punished him with. He heard a voice again. He couldn’t make out the words exactly, but they were speaking in a distinctly soothing tone. So definitely not Vernon or Petunia. Wracked with another spike of force that seemed to rip through every nerve, he whimpered again as he spasmed.
“It Hurts!” he choked out, spasming again and feeling very much like he was being torn apart from inside. And then suddenly the pain began to fade. Harry had no experience with hugs, but he could only imagine that what he felt in that moment was what someone might feel when being enveloped in the most loving of hugs imaginable. It was warm and gentle and dulled the hurt. He moaned in response, but he felt himself reflexively try to open up to that feeling.
Wave after wave of calming warmth gently crashed into him, ebbing away the pain. It was still there, but it had been dulled down to at least bearable levels. As a small level of clarity returned, he sensed more than heard the sound of something coming closer. “It hurts,” he groaned again, and felt something or someone rub up against him.
“I know.” He heard the voice through water-plugged ears and felt another wave of relief wash over him. He opened his stinging eyes to the bright light of day and beheld a great white horse of some-kind. “I know it does.” Somehow the horse was the one speaking to him, and Harry knew he must be delirious from pain and hallucinating. “I need you to be very brave for me for just a bit longer.” Rather than even try to reply, Harry let exhaustion take him and all went dark.
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Waiting for news regarding the apparently magical human that had crash-landed in the gardens, Celestia had gone to her personal library, and began rooting through her notes regarding realm-travel. She wasn’t a stranger to the concept, and in fact had quite a bit of experience with portals and other worlds. However, she was more than a little rusty, even with Sunset Shimmer running away through a portal still relatively recent and all too fresh in her mind. She had notes regarding the creation of portals, as well as tips she’d learned regarding how to blend in on the other sides. The beauty of passing through a proper portal was in the fact that you’d enter the new world in whichever form was accepted as normal within that realm. But you’d still need documentation, a proper backstory, and some money.
This human child, however, didn’t come through a portal. Or at the very least not a stable portal. Very few beings were capable of free realm-travel. Celestia herself could accomplish the feat on a good day, but it would knock her out of commission for a day or two while she recovered. She had little doubt that the Spirit of Chaos, Discord, had such power, and could probably pop back and forth to his shriveled heart’s content. The draconequus was currently still frozen in stone however, and so was thankfully going nowhere. That a small child had apparently managed it meant he was either extraordinarily powerful, incredibly desperate, or both. Likely the latter, based on what she’d seen of him. The magic which had been crashing into her had genuinely surprised her with how forceful it had been. And the damage it was doing to his own body would indicate that he’d tried to force too much at once and couldn’t handle the strain, but once it was unleashed he couldn’t re-contain it. Combined with the pure terror that had saturated his magic, Celestia could only come to the conclusion that the young human had been attempting to flee from something, and was desperate enough for his magic to violently respond to his great need.
That didn’t bode well for what his particular realm was like, or for his living conditions there. She frowned as she went over her own notes — written down centuries prior — and realized she’d never encountered a human naturally having magic before. Oh, there’d been a few who had managed it through the use of artifacts and bargains with magical beings, but a human being born magical was new to her. Did all humans in his world possess such power? Was he just an oddity in the multiverse? As more and more questions flew through her mind, she became aware of a knocking at her study door. Bidding the pony entrance, she looked up to see Cadance slip into the room.
“That was certainly an interesting lunch,” the younger Princess stated after a few moments, breaking the silence. “Do you have any idea what any of that was?” Celestia just sighed wearily, magically replacing one journal in front of her with another.
“That was a human. A young one.” That news seemed to take Cadance by surprise as she pulled back a bit with a raised brow.
“I thought Humans were just old Pony-tales,” she replied. “And none of them mention magic like that that I’m aware of.” It took just a moment more to process her adopted-aunt’s second sentence. “Wait, are you saying a foal was putting out magic like that?” Celestia only nodded absently, continuing to flip through old notes while she spoke to the other Princess.
“I doubt he’s normally as powerful as he demonstrated today in the gardens,” she said, looking up for a moment to meet Cadance’s stare. “I think he may have broken through his natural limits in a moment of real need. It’s a phenomenon that’s happened before in ponies. And you know what magic a startled or angry foal can unleash.” Cadance nodded, moving over to glance at the notes Celestia had scattered around
“Are you looking for anything in particular?” She asked her Aunt, levitating a couple pages in front of her face. Even without complete context, some of Princess Celestia’s written observations were beyond fascinating.
“Any notes I have regarding humans that could be of use to the ponies at the hospital.” Celestia floated several pages into a folder as she replied. “I’ve come across humans before, a long time ago. To my knowledge I’ve never met any that naturally possessed magic like this one, but hopefully something here will be of use. Where is Twilight?”
“Home,” replied Cadance. “I figured since she probably wouldn’t get any further lessons today, that she may as well spend the rest of the day with her parents. I just got back from walking her home.” Celestia nodded, agreeing with the Love Princess. Besides, while she loved and appreciated Twilight’s natural curiosity, now wasn’t the moment to have a little filly badgering doctors and nurses with questions when they needed to be working. She quickly placed a few more pages into the folder, before snapping it closed.
“Well, let’s get this over to the hospital quickly then, and make certain that the child is improving.” She shuffled over to the pink Alicorn and with a quick teleportation spell, the two appeared just outside Canterlot Hospital. Two ponies of the Royal Guard snapped to attention as their ruler appeared out of thin air in front of them. She gave them both a nod of acknowledgment as the two Princesses entered the building. As they did, Shining Armor — ordered to stay at the hospital and monitor the situation — fell into lockstep with them.
The place was in a particular uproar, given the visit by two princesses and a non-pony patient. Since the ‘hairless ape’ was sent to them on Princess Celestia’s orders, however, nopony had been willing to question whether or not to send the poor creature to a veterinarian instead. Shining Armor in particular made it quite clear that anyone who had such a problem was to take it up directly with the Sun Alicorn. Since then, all complaints were shelved, yet at the same time, it was almost impossible to get quality information about the human. The Captain of the Guard relayed exactly this as they approached the room the child was recovering in. His Unicorn healer was standing outside the room, fidgeting almost nervously as they approached. All three narrowed their eyes. A nervous Doctor was not a good sign.
The Healer bowed low to the approaching Royals before beginning. “Your highness,” he welcomed Celestia. “I’m Doctor Sweet Relief, and I’m currently the pony looking after this poor creature.”
“That creature is a Human, Doctor,” Celestia replied, levitating the folder over to the unicorn. “I’ve taken the liberty of going through my notes on them to hopefully aid you in seeing to his recovery.” As the doctor took the file in his own magic, he shuffled through it nervously, and chuckled.
“Well, um, this was quite unexpected, and I’m sure these notes would have been very helpful earlier, but…”
“But?” Celestia raised a brow, not certain where this was going and not certain if she wanted to. The doctor sighed, and snapped the folder closed, before looking to the Princesses.
“Perhaps it might be best if you take a look, Your Highness,” he announced, before opening the door and beckoning the group inside.
The human — laying on his side and still curled up into a ball — was still soundly sleeping, and didn’t stir as the four ponies filed inside. Celestia immediately was aware of a change in the boy. His skin, which had before been a fairly pale tan, was now taking on an ashen gray hue. Upon further examination, she noted that it wasn’t his skin changing color. He was growing a fine coat of fur across his entire body. His hair, long and mangy before, had also begun to increase in length. His hands were almost half-way toward becoming hooves, and she was almost certain that his legs and feet were likewise reconfiguring.
“Is he…turning into a pony?” Cadance asked quietly. The doctor nodded.
“It certainly seems that way.” He flipped up the shaggy mane the boy was still growing to showcase the bonelike nub of a horn sprouting up in the middle of his forehead.
“Perhaps he came through a portal after all…albeit an unstable one,” Celestia mused. “Most portals transform the one traveling through them into a form more compatible with the realm they are entering.” Sweet Relief shook his head with another sigh.
“I don’t know anything about portals, but I don’t think that’s the case, Your Highness.” At her look, he continued. “Could you perhaps explain to me what it was you did to contain this…colt’s magic?” Celestia quirked a brow and nodded. As she relayed the information, Doctor Sweet occasionally nodded, and offered a short “ah” or “I see.”
During the exchange, Cadance and Shining Armor both watched the human-turned-colt’s horn grow out even further, and his face begin to elongate into more of a muzzle. But something beyond that was capturing the pink Alicorn’s interest and she couldn’t quite figure out what. Looking at him more closely, Cadance’s eyes began to glow slightly as she began examining his magic and she gasped in shock. An aura, invisible to the naked eye, surrounded the tiny thing in the hospital bed. Not that unusual, except Cadance was the Princess of Love, and this aura seemed to consist entirely of magic dripping with Love. It would have been beautiful if not for the small mass of shadow — emanating from the colt’s lightning-bolt scar — marring the image before her.
“There’s some sort of Love aura surrounding him,” she announced, feeling mildly embarrassed at being stared at for gasping as she had. Seeing as Love was her domain, nobody decided to question the Princess. “But there’s also something dark. There’s some sort of absolutely foul magic latched onto that scar on his forehead, and it’s like this Love aura is keeping it blocked in.” The Doctor nodded.
“We weren’t quite certain what the Aura was, but we definitely found the…thing infecting his scar. Whatever it is, it has completely resisted our efforts to remove it. Every time we try, we hurt the colt. It’s like they’re tied together, and we have neither the knowledge or power currently to undo that tether.” Doctor Sweet shook his head. “That the Aura surrounding him is Love based and is keeping the thing quashed down is a blessing. And I’d like to meet the pony who could create a protection like this…”
Turning back to Celestia, he once again stressed that it wasn’t the nature of his arrival which had led to his still shifting form. “Your Highness, when you took in his magic and used your own to calm it, I believe you…well, I believe you imprinted your magic onto his, for lack of a better word. His magic was lashing out in distress, and yours calmed it. It recognized a calming, safe presence, and is responding by matching itself to yours.”
“An…interesting theory,” the Sun Princess said after a moment had passed. “But as I said, beings shifting forms when Realm-traveling is common. What makes you think I’ve “imprinted” on the child? Could it not be that he’s simply changing to match his new surroundings?” Doctor Sweet’s horn glowed with his magical aura, and the half-transformed pony on the bed was gently rolled over, the blanket slipping away and revealing the two nubby wings currently sprouting from the child’s back.
“I’d call it an educated guess, Princess.” The other three ponies in the room could only stare, mouths agape, at what the Doctor was showing them. An Alicorn. The human was turning into an Alicorn. Even with his magical display earlier, Celestia would never even have entertained the thought that such a thing was even possible. But then she stole a glance toward Princess Cadance, realizing that if she could ascend from being a Pegasus, the idea of a human doing so was technically possible. But had her own magic been responsible for the child’s transformation?
“How is this possible?” Cadance asked, seeing her adoptive-aunt genuinely struggling to speak. “I mean, if Ponies could imprint their magic on each other like this, wouldn’t we see a lot more ponies changing their tribes? I mean, would a Unicorn with sufficient power and strength-of-will be able to turn a Pegasus into a Unicorn?”
“I think it has to do more with his condition on arrival,” Celestia said slowly, working at finding her words. “He was clearly injured, not even taking into consideration the damage his out-of-control magic was doing to him. His crossing realms too could be a contributing factor as well and you have a situation where his body itself was as unstable as his magic. If Doctor Sweet is correct, my magic may indeed have given his a template to stabilize itself around.” The Doctor nodded his confirmation.
“That’s my best theory based on what I know. Now, given the rate his transformation is going, I’d estimate he’ll be completely Alicorn by sunset, and likely healed fully at that point too. There were several old scars across his back that healed and faded away as his coat was coming in, so his magic seems to now be at work fixing damage rather than causing it.” Doctor Sweet turned again to Princess Celestia as he rolled the half-pony back to his side and slid the blanket back up to cover him. “We’ll keep him asleep until tomorrow, and then hopefully we can get some answers. I don’t know about humans, but this one looked plenty young, and I can’t begin to speculate on age because our initial scans detected signs of severe malnourishment as well.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes. Injuries, both old and new, as well as signs the child wasn’t being fed. Turning, she moved toward the door. “Notify me immediately when you plan to wake him. I’d like to be here when you do.”
“Probably a good idea,” Doctor Sweet agreed. “With any luck, he’ll recognize your presence or voice and we won’t have to deal with a young, panicked Alicorn.” Celestia nodded.
“Thank you, Doctor Sweet. I know this has been an unusual patient for you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done to help him heal and remain comfortable.” Turning to Shining Armor, she continued. “Maintain a guard presence outside the room. And I suggest keeping all this to ourselves, at least until we figure out how to proceed. I can imagine the nobles will be in an uproar over a third Alicorn in Canterlot.”
Shining noticed his Marefriend grimace at that sentiment and nodded. He remembered watching — from afar, mind you since they weren’t a couple back then — how the nobles tried to get into Princess Cadance’s good graces then. Using their children, either getting them to wiggle into her circle of friends, or to outright try and set them up romantically. Shining still felt a swell of joy knowing that Cadance chose him of all ponies. But he couldn’t imagine what a small colt in that position may have to go through.
Nodding back in acknowledgment, Celestia quickly left the hospital room and teleported back to her study. While looking for her notes on Humans, she’d also made sure to pull out her journal detailing the creation of portals. She flipped through it with gusto, a dark look crossing her eyes. Somepony had been abusing a foal. She didn’t care that that somepony wasn’t a pony, nor did she care that they were not her subjects and thus not hers to punish. She really did not care at the moment at all. She would get a stable portal built. She would key in on the world this poor creature had escaped from. And then she would be having words with whomever his caretakers were supposed to be.
Harsh words. Among other things.