A Star Among Wizards

Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Silver Door
Chapter 2 - An Awkward Meeting
Chapter 3 - Disbelief
Chapter 4 - Enter Equestria
Chapter 5 - Lay of the Lands
Chapter 6 - Meeting Adjourned
Chapter 7 - Preparations

Chapter 1 - The Silver Door

Mr and Mrs Rich of Ponyville were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

At least, normal for Ponyville, anyway, which probably wasn’t saying very much.

Mr and Mrs Rich had a daughter, Diamond, and in their opinion… well, their opinions of their daughter actually differed somewhat. Mr Rich was increasingly proud of her, glad to see that she was rapidly becoming more approachable and making more friends. Mrs Rich was somewhat less happy with the ‘riff-raff’ her daughter was associating with, and even less impressed with how much more rebellious the filly was becoming, though she had to grudgingly admit that Diamond was slowly coming into her own.

In fact, the one thing both parents were particularly happy about was the fact that their daughter had, through a combination of luck and wit, managed to avoid getting involved in the worst instances of chaos and carnage that seemed to occur around Ponyville on a regular basis.

Until now…

Diamond Tiara couldn’t resist an excited grin as she followed her parents towards the Castle of Friendship. Princess Twilight was hosting an exhibition of artefacts acquired or created by the great Starswirl the Bearded, attended by the famous magician himself along with his fellow Pillars of Harmony, and was going to be opening it up to the general public in just a few days time. There were even rumours that some of the trophies picked up by the Element Bearers were going to be on show.

As thanks for helping to finance the exhibition, Filthy Rich and his family had been invited to an exclusive early viewing. Naturally, given who was organising the exhibition, Diamond had been permitted to bring a friend along, too.

“It’s a shame the Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn’t come,” Silver Spoon said quietly, keeping pace beside Diamond.

“Yeah,” Diamond agreed. “I did ask, and Princess Twilight said it was okay, but they were too busy. They’ve got a lot of clients to work through today.”

“I’m sure they do,” Filthy chuckled as he walked up the steps to the castle’s front door. “Alright then, here we are. Now, I know I don’t have to tell you, but I want the two of you to be on your best behaviour today.”

“Yes, daddy.”

“Yes, Mr Rich.”

Filthy gave a satisfied nod and rapped smartly on the door. A few moments later it opened and Princess Twilight popped her head out, smiling as she saw who was there, “Good morning! I’m so glad you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it, your highness. An event like this isn’t something you see every day, even in Ponyville,” Filthy replied. He swept a foreleg out to encompass his family, “Allow me to formally introduce my wife, Spoiled, my daughter, Diamond Tiara, and her friend, Silver Spoon.”

Diamond and Silver both bowed in sync, while Spoiled gave a perfect curtsey and spoke in her most refined voice, “It’s an honour to be formally introduced, your highness.”

Twilight sighed softly, “Please, we’ve known each other for years. You can just call me Twilight.”

“Of course, your high- er, Twilight,” Filthy replied, quickly correcting himself.

Twilight smiled once more and stood aside, holding the door open wide, “Come on in, I’ll give you the guided tour.”

Diamond eagerly trotted inside after her parents. Normally, she’d find an exhibition such as this far too lame for words, but this particular one was different. After all, it wasn’t often somepony would be able to see things such as Princess Celestia and Luna’s old regalia or the Storm King’s crown up close and personal.

“Pardon my curiosity, but how are you finding the running of Equestria?” Filthy asked as Twilight took the lead.

Twilight tilted her head noncommittally, “It’s stressful, but it is rewarding in its own way. I’m just glad I managed to get a week free to host this exhibition. It took me forever to finish the schedule of what needs to be done while I’m away. Anyway, the first exhibits are just through here.”

The little group followed their eager guide through the castle, listening intently as Twilight described each exhibit and display they passed. The most powerful or dangerous artefacts were kept behind extremely potent security measures, but many of the items were able to be seen or even handled. Some, such as Starswirl’s ancient tomes, were only of passing interest to the family, but others were far more intriguing.

Filthy was particularly taken by a large tapestry depicting one of Rockhoof’s ancient achievements. Spoiled, unsurprisingly, found herself enthralled by every shiny object or article of clothing that looked like it once belonged to the nobility. Diamond and Silver, after promising to take exceptional care and under the close watchful eye of Twilight, were even allowed to try on the replicas of the Elements of Harmony that the princess and her friends once bore.

“Well, that’s most of the exhibits we have so far,” Twilight said when they left the last room. “There’s just one thing left for you to see.”

Filthy gave her an easy smile, “Well from what I’ve seen so far, I’m positive that this exhibition will be a success, your High- er, Twilight.”

“I certainly hope so, Mr Rich, especially since Starswirl himself is coming to see it.” Twilight said earnestly. “Still, at least I can be confident that he’ll be interested in seeing what I have in this last room.” She paused and gestured to a door on the left.

Inside was a large library. Crystal shelves filled with books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, but the group’s attention was immediately drawn to three curious objects in the middle of the room.

The first was a large machine, a bizarre construct of wood, brass and piping built around an ornate standing mirror. The second was a large and ancient tome perched on a crumbling pedestal. The third was a huge tree stump. Almost twice the height of an adult pony, it somehow had a sheet of shimmering silver integrated into a door-shaped recess on the one side.

“This is the portal library,” Twilight said impressively, stepping aside and allowing the others to enter.

“The portal library?” Diamond asked, trotting up to the great machine.

Twilight nodded and joined Diamond in front of the odd contraption, “This mirror is actually a magical artefact. When it’s switched on, it opens a portal to a world wholly separate from our own. There’s no magic there, at least, not native magic, and anycreature that travels through the portal finds themselves transformed into a completely different form for as long as they’re there.”

“Is something like that really safe to have around foals?” Spoiled asked. “N-not that I doubt your judgement of course, your highness,” she added quickly.

Twilight smiled and shook her head, “I understand where you’re coming from, but you don’t have to worry. The portal only opens on it’s own once every thirty moons. There is a way to open it at other times, but I’ve removed crucial components of the activation system, so right now the portal is nothing more than a fancy mirror.”

“How do you activate it?” Diamond asked eagerly.

Twilight gave her an amused look. “Nice try, Diamond.”

Diamond just shrugged. She hadn’t really planned on trying to actually go through the portal anyway. Way too risky.

“Princess Twilight, what’s this?” Silver Spoon asked, gesturing to the tome on its pedestal.

“I’m glad you asked.” Twilight trotted over to her, gently picking up the tome in her magic and bringing it down to Silver’s eye level. “This is one of Starswirl the Bearded’s old books. It contains all of his notes, research, and hypotheses on the subject of alternate worlds and realities. He was kind enough to let me borrow it for this exhibition.”

“Well, that’s mighty generous of him,” Filthy put in.

While the two idly discussed Starswirl and his mouldy old book, Diamond trotted over to the tree stump. Something seemed off about it. Inspecting it from every angle, she finally realised what was wrong when she took a closer look at the silver. Somehow, despite the burnished shine of it, the silver didn’t reflect anything in the room at all, not even when Diamond’s muzzle was mere inches from its surface.

“What’s that?” Silver asked as she walked over to join her.

Diamond bit back the initial urge to say something sarcastic and shrugged instead, “No idea.”

“Whatever it is, you shouldn’t be so close,” Spoiled scolded, appearing besides the two. “Goodness knows what will happen if you manage to break it somehow.”

“It’s alright, Spoiled,” Twilight supplied, looking over at them. “If Rockhoof couldn’t even scratch it when he accidentally kicked it, I don’t think there’s anything that could actually harm it.”

Filthy threw the stump an incredulous look, “That thing survived Rockhoof?!”

Twilight couldn’t restrain a giggle, “It sure did. It’s much tougher than it looks.”

Diamond looked at the stump with renewed interest. “But… what is it?”

Placing Starswirl’s journal back on its pedestal, Twilight opened it with her magic and flicked through until she found the page she was looking for. “Here it is, the Silver Door. Nopony knows how it was made or what it does, or even if it does anything. It was originally discovered by a Breezie clan, who feared it as a portal to the netherworld, and left offerings to the spirits that were said to reside inside in the hopes that they would leave them alone. When Starswirl happened upon the clan, they begged him to take the Silver Door away.”

“Spirits?” Silver repeated, eyeing the Silver Door warily.

Twilight nodded. “Every now and again, strange voices can be heard emanating from the Door, muffled and distorted as if they’re coming from underwater. Legend has it that a Breezie once managed to open the door, and returned bringing tales of giant creatures that spoke with voices of thunder.”

“How did the Breezie open it?” Diamond asked.

“Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that any Breezie ever did open it,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head. “Starswirl tried everything he could think of to try and open it, but nothing ever worked. The only reason we even call it the Silver Door is because that’s what the Breezie’s called it.”

“Did he ever try knocking?” Silver asked sardonically.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, frowning and rubbing her chin with a hoof as she thought. “Hmmm, I don’t know. If he did, it certainly isn’t recorded in the book.”

Diamond looked back at the Silver Door and, without really thinking about what she was doing, rapped a hoof on the silver three times. The instant the third knock landed there was a bright flash and Diamond was suddenly yanked forward by an invisible force, and plunged straight through the newly glowing Door.

A kaleidoscope of colours flashed across Diamond’s vision for several uncomfortable seconds before she found herself shunted out the other side and dumped unceremoniously onto a hard stone floor.

Groaning softly, Diamond attempted to push herself to all fours, then stopped when she realised that something was wrong with her fore-hooves. In fact, her fore-hooves were gone entirely, replaced with a pair of odd fleshy appendages that resembled Spike’s claws. “What the-?” Looking down, she saw that the Door had, for whatever reason, outfitted her with a set of clothes, but they didn’t quite hide the fact that her body had somehow drastically changed shape. Panic gripped Diamond, but before she could work herself up to a good scream something heavy fell on top of her with a thump, knocking her sprawling.

“Ow! Diamond? Is that you?”

“Silver?!” Diamond barked, surprise jolting her out of her panic. “What are you d-oof!”

Both fillies had the breath knocked out of them as something else popped through the Door and landed on top of them. “Whoa! Er, sorry, girls,” Princess Twilight said breathlessly.

Diamond groaned as Twilight clambered off the pair of them, then there was an undignified grunt as Silver rolled off her too. Looking to the side, where her friend had rolled to, Diamond spotted a very odd looking creature. It was roughly the shape of a young dragon minus the wings, with a pair of very pony-like ears sticking up out of its hair. Its skin and hair were the same colour as Silver’s, and it was wearing the exact same glasses, but it had a far flatter face and shorter neck than any pony, and it had the same funny appendages that Diamond now did. “Silver?! Is that you?!”

“Diamond?! But you- wait, do I…?” Silver tried to plant a hoof to her muzzle, noticing her new claw-like digits just as Diamond checked for her own lack of muzzle. The two glanced at each other, their own bodies, then back at each other, then tilted their heads back to scream in unison, but before they could even work up a good screech they were cut off as something was clamped over their mouths.

“Girls! It’s okay,” Twilight said firmly but gently. “Just take a deep breath and try to relax. You don’t need to be afraid, I’ve seen this kind of thing before.”

Diamond looked up at the princess as she removed her claw-things from her mouth and straightened up. Like the fillies, Twilight had also been transformed into a bizarre non-pony creature. Unlike the fillies, she was also sporting a large pair of wings, and she seemed to be completely and utterly unfazed by her transformation.

“Princess? W-where are we? And what’s happened to us?” Silver asked.

Twilight hummed as she thought. “It looks like we’re in the human world, but…”

“The… huh?” Diamond blinked in confusion for a second before comprehension struck. “Do you mean the world that the other portal connects to?”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve never had my wings or pony ears when I’ve gone through the other portal, though. I wonder if it’s a quirk of the Silver Door?” She frowned and looked around, turning her attention and that of the fillies to their surroundings.

They were in a huge circular area filled with trees. Soft, warm sunlight seemed to emanate from the clear blue sky above, and dressed stone walls were just about visible through the thick foliage. The middle of the area, where the girls were, was a clear lawn of lush green grass ringed by bright mushrooms and toadstools of every colour. Right in the centre was a great oak tree, with a shimmering doorway glowing in the base much like that of the Silver Door.

“Whoa,” Diamond murmured appreciatively.

“Something about this place feels… different. It certainly doesn’t look like any part of the human world I’ve ever seen, not that I’ve really seen that much of it, but at least it looks like the portal is still active.” Twilight straightened up and stood easily on two legs, much like Spike and Smolder do, and gestured to the fillies. “Come on, let’s get you home before it closes.”

Torn between justifiable concern and intense curiosity, Diamond hesitated. As much as she wanted to explore, however, the fact remained that her parents were probably worried sick back in the castle. In fact, she supposed, the only reason they, or rather Filthy, hadn’t come charging through the Door themselves was probably because Twilight had told them to stay put before she dove through after the fillies. Her decision made, Diamond was about to reluctantly clamber to all fours when a female voice called out from among the trees.

“P-please, don’t go yet!”

Rhiannon could hardly believe the way her day was going.

First she’d managed to wake up late, a ridiculous situation for an Unspeakable to find herself in, then the lift had decided to hit every single floor in the Ministry before finally dropping her off at the Department of Mysteries just in time to run in to her supervisor. After a thorough tongue-lashing, Rhiannon had burned through her morning’s paperwork as quickly as she could before finally getting a chance to check in on her charges in the Annwn Room.

On most days the tranquil little indoor woodland, with it’s ceiling enchanted to show a perpetually perfect day, was a haven for the young Unspeakable. She’d check on the trees and plants to make sure they were healthy, make sure that there were no changes with the Faerie Ring or the Gate-Tree of Annwn, then sit and continue her research on the ancient magics of the trees in peace and quiet.

Taking a moment to tie back her dark-brown hair and push her wide-rimmed glasses back up the bridge of her nose, Rhiannon set about her usual routine.

The trees that made up the wood were perfectly healthy; one of the Ley’s Whitebeams was blooming a little more than expected, but not enough that it was a cause for concern. The grass was fine, and the many small flowers that dotted the area were all coming through nicely with no signs of damage or disease. Satisfied that everything was as it should be with the woods, Rhiannon turned her attention to the Faerie Ring.

Checking the Faerie Ring was always a laborious process. It consisted of well over a thousand individual stalks made up of over three hundred different species of fungi, each of which had to be examined in minute detail before moving on to the next. Rolling up her sleeves, Rhiannon was about to begin when the mushrooms suddenly started to glow faintly, followed by an odd humming sound coming from the Gate-Tree. Bewildered by the strange turn of events, she looked over at the lone tree in the centre of the room.

As far as anyone knew it was little more than a particularly ancient oak tree. It had an abnormally high quantity of magic flowing through its boughs, but the tree itself had never displayed even the slightest hint that it was something out of the ordinary. Right now, however, the branches of the tree were swaying in a non-existent wind, and what was normally a perfectly ordinary crevasse at the base of the tree was expanding until it was roughly in the shape of a doorway.

Even as Rhiannon watched, the glow of the mushrooms faded and the door blazed with silvery light. A heartbeat later a figure was flung out of the light and collapsed into a heap on the floor, startling the young Unspeakable who instinctively darted out of sight behind the nearest tree.

Peeking out meekly through low-hanging branches, she could see what appeared to be a young girl with pink skin and two-toned purple and white striped hair. The girl was dressed as a muggle and, strangest of all, had a pair of pink animal-like ears poking up out of her hair, with a glittering tiara nestled snugly between them. The girl examined her own body for a moment, looking almost horrified, but before she could make a sound she was flattened by a second girl getting flung from the door, swiftly followed by a third.

Rhiannon watched with rapt fascination as the three clambered off each other and talked amongst themselves. She couldn’t help but notice that the smaller two beings seemed to look to the larger one, the one with the wings, as some sort of leader, a feeling that was confirmed when one of them referred to her as ‘Princess’. The fact that there was apparently another portal didn’t slip past her notice either.

The Unspeakable held her breath and ducked further behind the tree as the three looked around the room, but they didn’t spot her. She couldn’t quite decide whether that was a good thing or not. There had long been tales that the Gate-Tree was a gateway to Annwn, the fabled Otherworld of Celtic lore, and, so the legends said, home to a very rare, intelligent, and reclusive race of fairies.

Centuries of examination and experiments had shown that the wood of the tree definitely had some mildly unusual magical properties when removed and processed, but the sudden appearance of three brightly-coloured human-sized youths was far beyond anything that had ever been recorded before.

Rhiannon was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t notice when the Princess mentioned heading back through the portal. This put Rhiannon in quite a quandary. Did she hide until the fae were gone and wait until they returned, making her own preparations for a proper greeting in the meantime, or did she try and speak to them now, rather than risk missing the chance if they decided not to come back?

In the end, the choice was easy. This was potentially the first time wizard-kind would have contact with the inhabitants of Annwn since the time of Merlin himself; she could not allow this opportunity to slip away.

Hoping that the legends of the fae’s animosity towards humans were simply tall tales, Rhiannon emerged from behind the tree and called out to the girls, “P-please, don’t go yet!” The three turned to stare at her in surprise. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to, uh…” Deciding that it probably wasn't the best to tell them that she’d been spying on them, she tried to think of something, anything, else to say. “M-my name’s Rhiannon. Um, wh-who are you?” She mentally chastised herself the moment she said it, but, thankfully, the Princess just smiled at her.

“It’s, uh, nice to meet you. My name’s Twilight Sparkle.” Rhiannon blinked at hearing such an odd name. “Er, sorry to intrude like this, we didn’t really plan on coming here. It was sort of an accident.”

“Oh, er, that’s… that’s okay,” Rhiannon replied with a shake of her head. “Um… pardon me for asking, but… are you from Annwn?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow curiously, as did the two girls who were still on the floor. “Um… no?”

Rhiannon frowned at her. “But… you came out of the tree?”

“Oh, right, that.” Twilight chuckled nervously. “This may sound a little strange, but… would you believe me if I said it was magic?”

Rhiannon just gave her a blank stare. “Well… of course I would. What else would it be?”

The Princess tilted her head curiously. "You're… not surprised?"

"Why would I be surprised by magic?" Rhiannon asked. "Oh, hang on, I'm not a muggle, if that's what you're worried about."

"A what?" Twilight asked.

"A muggle," Rhiannon replied. "You know, a non-magical human."

The two girls on the floor both looked up at the Princess. "I thought you said this world didn't have any magic, Princess?" the pink one asked.

"I didn't think it did. Not native magic, anyway." Twilight frowned curiously. "Do you mean some humans have learned how to use Equestrian magic safely? I thought that only- I mean, I didn't think anyone had managed it yet?"

The Princess' quick self-correction didn't escape Rhiannon's notice, but she couldn't quite figure out what to make of it. "I… I'm not sure what you mean by 'Equestrian' magic, but humans have been using magic safely for, well, millenia." She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it away, wordlessly conjuring a floating sphere of pristine water. "See?"

Twilight's jaw dropped open. "That's…" Before she could say anything else the ring of mushrooms suddenly started to glow and the portal in the tree flared brightly. "The portal! Quick, get back through before it closes!"

"Wait!" Rhiannon stepped forward and held out a hand as if to stop them, but the two youngest girls ignored her, instead awkwardly hurrying through the portal on all fours. "Please! Will you at least let me know how I can contact you?"

Twilight paused next to the portal and looked back over her shoulder. "If I can't come back through myself, I'll try and send somepony else as soon as I possibly can. I promise." Having said that, she stepped through the portal and disappeared. Barely a couple of seconds later the glow faded away to nothing and the Gate-Tree returned to normal, leaving the young Unspeakable alone in her indoor woodland.

Rhiannon stared blankly at the Gate-Tree for several long seconds, her mind racing as she digested everything that had happened over the last few minutes, then she turned and sprinted back to the door, wrenched it open and yelled out into the corridor, "Wibble! Wibble, get your arse over here, now!"

A surprised yelp echoed down the corridor, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. A few moments later a familiar wizard appeared around a corner and scurried up to her.

"Wh-what's going on, Rhi?" Wibble asked breathlessly. A fellow Unspeakable, he was particularly thin with messy brown hair with a vaguely owlish look. "I was just about to check on the statues of Draggle and Ree-"

"I need you to go and fetch the Minister for Magic for me," Rhiannon interrupted, "something huge just happened!"

Wibble gave her a wide-eyed look. "The Minister? B-but he's in a meeting with Professor Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore's here?! Perfect! Bring them both!" Rhiannon insisted.

"B-both of them?" Wibble repeated.

Rhiannon nodded vigorously. "Both of them. Trust me, they'll want to hear about this!"

The world span as Twilight rolled out of the portal back in Equestria, finally coming to rest in the middle of the room. She shook her head to clear it, then sighed with relief when she spotted Diamond and Silver being fussed over by Spoiled and Filthy; embarrassed but looking no worse for wear given their interdimensional journey.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Filthy asked.

Twilight nodded and got to her hooves. "I'm fine, thanks. It's nothing I haven't been through before. How are Diamond and Silver?"

"We're fine," Diamond replied quickly. "What was that place, Princess?"

"Was it really the human world?" Silver asked.

Twilight shook her head and levitated a certain tome off one the shelves. "I'm not sure, I'll have to do some research." She glanced at Filthy and Spoiled. "I'm sorry about what happened, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cut things short."

Filthy held up a hoof to forestall her. "We understand perfectly, Twilight. We'll let you get to figuring out whatever that thing is. Thank you for bringing these two back safely."

"Of course." Twilight escorted the family out of the castle, waving cheerily as they left. The instant the door was closed behind them, however, she ripped open the tome and started scribbling madly in it, calling for Spike as she did so.

The plucky little dragon came flapping towards her just as she finished writing. "Hey, Twilight, what's wrong?"

"I need you to get Starlight for me, tell her I need to speak to her as soon as possible." Twilight paused for a second as the tome glowed, then grinned at the response that was magically appearing on the pages. "I think Diamond and Silver just stumbled across a second human world."

Chapter 2 - An Awkward Meeting

Twilight paced impatiently in front of the newly reactivated Mirror Portal. A good friend of hers was due to arrive any moment, but every second that passed seemed to take an eternity.

A sudden flash of light snapped Twilight's attention to the portal just in time to see an amber unicorn get launched out of it like a cannonball. Fortunately, Twilight managed to catch the flying pony with her magic just before she crashed into a bookcase.

"Hey, Sunset!" Twilight said brightly as she set the unicorn back on her hooves.

"Hi, Twilight! Thanks for the catch," Sunset replied, checking to make sure her saddlebags were okay. "So, about this other world…"

Twilight nodded, eager to get right to business. "I assume you're aware of the artefact Starswirl the Bearded retrieved from the Breezies known as the Silver Door?"

"I thought it was less of an artefact and more of a weird tree-stump, but yeah, I've heard of it," Sunset replied. She raised an eyebrow curiously. "Wait, you mean you figured out how it works?"

"Actually, one of the local fillies did." Twilight opened her mouth to tell her what had happened during the tour, but was interrupted as the door to the library was slammed open.

"I'm here!" Starlight cried as she barged into the library.

Twilight smiled at her former student, though that smile slipped slightly as Trixie trotted through the door a second later. "Starlight! I wasn't expecting you to come over that quickly. And with… a friend..."

"Are you kidding?" Starlight asked incredulously. "A chance to visit a brand new human world? There's no way I'd miss this!"

"Right, right." Twilight glanced at Trixie. "And, er…"

Starlight couldn't quite meet her eyes. "I may have promised Trixie that I would take her through the mirror portal at some point." The slow arching of her former mentor's eyebrow compelled her to add, "I know I should probably have spoken to you about it first, but she'll be on her absolute best behaviour, right Trixie?"

"When is Trixie not on her best behaviour?" The flat looks the other three gave her prompted Trixie to sigh and hold up a hoof. "Fine. I promise I'll be on my absolute best behaviour."

Twilight frowned at her for a moment longer, but finally relented with a sigh. "I suppose it can't hurt too much. What about the school?"

"I've already got it covered," Starlight told her. "I make sure to keep a shortlist of support teachers on standby in case of situations like this."

"As expected of my former pupil," Twilight said proudly. "Alright, here's what we've learned about the Silver Door."

The others listened intently as Twilight explained everything that had happened since the tour started. When she got to the part about the woman pulling out a wand and casting a spell, Starlight looked over at Sunset questioningly. "Hang on, I thought that humans don't have magic of their own?.

"Not in the world I know," Sunset replied, "but if this is a whole other human world, then I guess anything is possible."

Twilight nodded. "Exactly, which is why I'm asking the two of you, er, three of you, if you're willing to go to this new world and learn what you can about it."

"We'll do it!" Starlight practically yelled. Blushing slightly, she cleared her throat and smiled self-consciously. "Er, I mean, of course I'll help."

"Why aren't you coming too?" Sunset asked.

Twilight sighed sadly. "I wish I could, but I need to speak to Starswirl when he gets here. Not to mention I can't just leave Spike to handle the Exhibition and any correspondence from Canterlot on his own. I'd ask the others for help but they're already busy."

The others shared an awkward glance, then Starlight stepped forward and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Don't worry, Twi, we've got this."

"One quick question," Trixie put in, "is this a formal diplomatic thingy or… what?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If this was a real diplomatic mission she'd send Rarity and Fluttershy or Pinkie. All three of whom are busy at the moment…" Starlight's grin faltered as she realised what she was saying. "Uh… Twilight? Is this an official diplomatic mission?"

Twilight hummed and tapped her chin with a hoof thoughtfully, much to the concern of the others, but she soon shook her head. "Not really. You're just going to meet one person in a woodland and have a chat about magic and interdimensional portals. If her world does wish to start official diplomatic relations, then I'll be more than happy to arrange a more formal meeting."

"Sounds good to me!" Sunset looked around at Starlight and Trixie. "Okay, should we get going?"

Rhiannon paced nervously back and forth in front of the Gate-Tree. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, no matter how much she struggled to try and calm herself down. Over half an hour had passed since the Princess and the two girls had left and there had been no sign of them returning since.

At the moment, Rhiannon was desperately clinging to the hope that the Princess would actually send someone along soon, and hadn't just been lying to head her off. She was so lost in her worry that she didn't even notice the glow coming from the mushrooms once again, not until the Gate-Tree started humming.

Rhiannon paused in her tracks and whipped around just in time to see the portal in the tree opening up. Excitement welled up within her as a young woman shot out of the portal. She stumbled slightly as she arrived, but managed to stay on her feet.

This girl had amber skin and two-tone red and yellow hair, and was wearing a purple skirt, an off-the-shoulder orange top with a stylised sun emblazoned on it, a leather waistcoat with a spiked collar over the top and matching leather boots. She had a simple tote bag slung over one shoulder.

"Hey, you must be... Rhiannon, was it?" The girl asked as she stepped away from the tree. "My name's Sunset Shimmer. Princess Twilight sent me."

Rhiannon opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as another person suddenly shot out of the portal and fell sprawling on her face. This new girl had pale purple skin with two-tone purple and aquamarine hair, and was wearing jeans, a green t-shirt with a black waistcoat and a purple beanie. The girl tried to push herself up onto her hands and knees, but before she could rise a third person rocketed out of the portal and landed on top of her, flattening her and prompting Sunset to slap a hand to her forehead.

The third arrival had pale blue skin and white hair with stripes that matched her skin, and was wearing a vivid blue cloak and witch's hat both decorated with bright stars, worn over a simple blue skirt and white top.

"Er, one second." Sunset stepped over to help the two girls disentangle themselves. She helped the girl with the beanie to her feet first, quietly checking if she was alright. "Okay, this is Starlight Glimmer."

"Hey, er, hi," Starlight said with an awkward smile.

"And this-" Sunset's introduction was cut off as the third girl, after inspecting her hands and body, let out a shrill, piercing scream. Sunset quickly crouched next to her and clamped a hand over her mouth. "It's okay, Trixie. We told you that this would happen, remember?"

The girl took a few moments to get her breathing under control before nodding. Sunset sighed, removed her hand, and carefully helped Trixie to her feet. She seemed almost surprised for a moment when Trixie stood easily, but her expression quickly smoothed over and she turned back to Rhiannon. "As I was saying, this is Trixie Lulamoon."

"Rhiannon ferch Gwynedd," Rhiannon replied automatically. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." She shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. "Um, can I get you a drink or something?"

"Uh, we're fine, thanks." Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Look, I… don't really know how this kind of thing usually goes, so…"

Rhiannon let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Merlin, me neither."

Starlight snorted. "Yeah, we're all doing a great job as ambassadors," she shot sarcastically.

"I, uh, I'm not actually an ambassador," Rhiannon said quietly.

"Don't worry, we're aren't either," Starlight told her. "In fact I think the only reason Twilight sent us along is because we're the only other ponies who know how to walk like humans." She glanced sidelong at Trixie. "Though I don't get how you are managing this so easily."

Trixie let out an indignant huff. "The Great and Powerful Trixie strikes dramatic poses like this all the time as part of her amazing shows!" She glanced shiftily from side to side and deflated slightly as she added, "I, uh, just don't know how to actually walk like this. Mind giving me a helping hoof?"

"Hoof?" Rhiannon watched them carefully. All of this talk of walking like humans and hooves was throwing her off. "Are… are you not faeries?"

"Faeries?" Sunset raised a curious eyebrow. "What are faeries?"

"Faeries, fey folk, Tylwyth Teg, Sidhe, any of those ringing any bells?" Rhiannon's confusion grew as the girls just shook their heads blankly. "You know, like little people but with wings?"

"Do you mean Breezies?" Starlight asked.

"Maybe we should just introduce ourselves properly, before we get too sidetracked," Sunset suggested. "As I was saying, I'm Sunset Shimmer, this is Starlight Glimmer, and this is Trixie Lulamoon. We're here on behalf of Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria."

Rhiannon gathered her wits and decided to just go with the flow until Wibble got back, preferably with Dumbledore and the Minister for Magic in tow. "My name's Rhiannon ferch Gwynedd, I'm an Unspeakable working here in the Department of Mysteries for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic." She gestured vaguely towards the door. "I've, uh, already sent someone to go and fetch the Minister for Magic, er, and maybe Dumbledore as well with any luck. Ah, except you won't know who Dumbledore is, will you?"

Sunset shook her head. "I'm assuming he's an important figure here in this world?"

"You could say that," Rhiannon replied. "Um, so... Equestria? That's where you're from?"

"Yeah. This portal is a link between two worlds, or realities, if you want to get technical," Sunset explained.

"So you're from a completely different plane of existence?" Rhiannon asked.

Sunset nodded. "That's one way of looking at it."

"Oh, wow. Okay, this opens up a fair few questions." Rhiannon briefly pondered what she should ask first. "Is Equestria the name of your world, or...?"

"We refer to it like that sometimes, for convenience, but it's really just one nation out of many," Sunset replied.

Starlight looked around at the trees curiously, raising an eyebrow. "You said this was the Department of Mysteries, right? Do you have an office somewhere where we can sit down, or is it all outside?"

"Outside?" Rhiannon cocked her head to the side, confused, until she realized what the girl was talking about. "Oh, we're not outside! This is actually a room in the sub-levels of the Ministry of Magic, it's just enchanted to look like a woodland grove."

Pulling her wand out, Rhiannon gave it a quick flick and a sparkling green outline of the UK appeared in midair. "This is the United Kingdom, it's the nation we live in. It's made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland." The borders of each country glared as she named them. She flicked her wand again and a bright green dot appeared where London would be. "This is England's capital city, London, and the site of the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry is in charge of the United Kingdom's wizarding population."

The three girls listened with rapt expressions. "And the Department of Mysteries is part of the Ministry?" Sunset asked.

Rhiannon nodded. "That's right. This particular room is called the Annwn Room. It's where I research and study ancient druidic and Celtic magic, particularly rituals related to the Gate-Tree and the Faerie Ring." She shook her head slowly. "I never thought I would actually meet someone through the Tree, though. Is everyone like you through there? With the ears and the bright colours?"

The girls shared a surprised look. Starlight was the one who replied, "Uh, we've all got different colours of fur and hair, or, well, I guess it's skin in the human world, but I don't know what the ears are about?"

"I've been wondering about that, too." Sunset glanced down at her belt buckle: a red stone with a stylised sun on it. The buckle flashed amber, and Sunset's animal ears immediately disappeared. "Huh, I thought so! The portal ponies us up for some reason." She looked around at the other two. "Just pull your magic in, they should go away."

Trixie and Starlight looked at each other, shrugged, then frowned as they focused. A heartbeat later, their ears disappeared in a flash of light. "That was easy," Starlight muttered.

Rhiannon opened her mouth to ask about how magic worked in Equestria, but she was interrupted as someone knocked loudly on the door.

"One second, that should be the Minister and Dumbledore!" Rhiannon turned and hurried back through the trees, grateful for the opportunity to try and gather her thoughts. She paused by the door to straighten her glasses and run a hand through her hair, before calmly opening it. Relief washed through her as her salvation stood on the other side of the door.

"Good morning, Miss Gwynedd. I hear you've had quite an exciting morning," Dumbledore said brightly.

Chapter 3 - Disbelief

Sunset watched as Rhiannon hurried away in response to what sounded curiously like someone knocking on a door. "Why do I get the feeling this is about to get a lot bigger than we expected?" She asked warily.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Starlight said as she folded her arms. "Who do you think this Dumbledore person is?"

"Hopefully no-one too important. I only came here to make friends and learn a little about a new world, not establish diplomatic relations," Sunset replied.

"Is there really a difference?" Starlight asked.

Sunset nodded. "One's more official, and has a lot more riding on it."

Trixie waved a hand dismissively. "Oh please, we'll be fine as long as we don't accidentally start a war or something."

Sunset gave her a flat glare, but held her tongue as Rhiannon reappeared with two men in tow. The first was a portly man wearing a pinstriped suit and a lime green bowler hat. The second was a tall, thin, elderly man with long silver hair and an equally long silver beard, wearing long robes, a long purple cloak, and a set of half-moon glasses. Both of them stared in surprise at the girls.

"Merlin's beard! What happened here? Has someone been messing around with Transfiguration?" The man in the bowler hat exclaimed loudly.

Rhiannon winced and shook her head. "Er, no. Minister, Professor, these are Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie Lulamoon. Uh, girls, these are the Minister for Magic and Professor Dumbledore." She gestured to each person as she introduced them.

"Uh, hi," Sunset said awkwardly, giving them a small wave.

The Minister looked utterly perplexed, but Dumbledore just nodded, his expression shining with curiosity. "Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Am I to assume that these young ladies are the reason you didn't want to speak in the corridor, Miss Gwynedd?"

"Yes, Professor," Rhiannon replied. "They came through the Gate-Tree of Annwn."

Dumbledore's eyes widened, intense curiosity practically radiating from him, but the Minister gave Rhiannon a blank look as he asked flatly, "They what?"

Sunset and Starlight glanced at each other, each hoping the other would speak up first. Seeing this, Trixie huffed and threw an arm out towards the tree. "The tree has a magic portal in it that connects to another portal in our world. We went into our portal, and now we're here."

"Trixie!" Starlight hissed.

"A simple and succinct explanation," Dumbledore said brightly. "As far as I am aware, however, the Gate-Tree of Annwn has been inert for centuries. If you don't mind me asking, how did you open the portal?"

"It was actually an accident. The portal on our side opens through an old tree stump that used to sit in a Breezy village. They called it the Silver Door," Sunset explained. "Princess Twilight was showing a family around her castle, and when their daughter heard what the stump was called she tried knocking on it. That was what opened the portal."

Dumbledore let out an amused chuckle. "How deceptively simple. I don't believe anyone has ever actually tried knocking on the Gate-Tree, have they, Miss Gwynedd?"

Rhiannon shook her head, but the Minister chose that moment to interject, "Hold on a moment, Annwn? You're not seriously suggesting that these girls are that hidden race of fairies mentioned in the old legends about Merlin?! They're a myth!"

"Actually, it seems that what we know as faeries are called Breezies in their world," Rhiannon told him.

"The Breezies gave the Silver Door to Equestria over a thousand years ago," Sunset put in.

"Equestria?" Dumbledore gave her a piercing look over the top of his glasses.

Sunset nodded. "That's where we're from. It's another world, one without any native humans."

The Minister scoffed. "Preposterous! I'm sure this is a very well thought out prank, Miss Gwynedd, and I can applaud your efforts given how boring it must get in this section of the Department of Mysteries, but in future kindly avoid wasting my time, and that of Professor Dumbledore, won't you?"

"It's not a prank, I swear," Sunset insisted, but the Minister just shook his head.

"You know, we could prove that we're telling the truth pretty easily," Starlight said. "Let's just open the portal back up and show him."

Dumbledore looked at the tree eagerly. *A marvelous idea. Shall we go, Minister?"

"You can't tell me you actually believe any of this, Dumbledore?" The Minister asked incredulously.

"I don't see why not," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "In any case, if this truly is a prank, I'd hate to waste all the effort and preparation that must have gone into it."

The Minister sighed and shook his head. "This is ridiculous." Sighing again, he gestured half-heartedly to the Gate-Tree. "Very well, let's see this farce through to the end."

Sunset rolled her eyes and slipped her bag off her shoulder. "Alright, I'll warn Princess Twilight that we're coming."

"Why not make it a surprise?" Starlight asked with an evil grin. "It'll make it more fun that way."

Caught between the eager smiles of Starlight and Trixie, Sunset sighed and picked her bag back up. Personally, she was just glad of the opportunity to hand over the job of dealing with a head of state to another head of state. "Fine. Just remember this is your idea."

"Will do!" Turning on her heel, Starlight strode up to the Gate-Tree and knocked three times on its trunk. The ring of mushrooms flashed, and the portal glowed as it opened up again. "Okay, I'm really glad that worked," Starlight said happily. "We haven't actually opened the portal from this side before." She glanced back at the others and smiled. "See you on the other side!"

Chapter 4 - Enter Equestria

Princess Twilight couldn't help but fret as she walked slowly back towards the Silver Door's room. Starswirl still hadn't arrived yet, and Spike had the preparations for the exhibition thoroughly under control, so she had decided to wait around just in case Sunset or Starlight wanted her help with something.

At least, that was how she justified it to Spike. Truth be told, Twilight was just desperate for any scraps of information about the new human world she could get her hooves on, and was willing to sit with her nose pressed against the Door for as long as physically possible if it meant learning something new just a fraction of a second sooner.

What Twilight wasn't expecting was to enter the room just in time to see Starlight get launched out of the Silver Door like a lavender cannonball. She caught the mare in her magic on pure reflex, setting her down gently.

"Thanks, Twilight!" Starlight grinned at her.

"Why are you back already?" Twilight asked. She glanced around as Sunset stepped out of the Silver Door on her rear hooves, but the unicorn just shook her head and dropped to all fours and stepped away from the door.

"This is Starlight's idea," Sunset said ominously.

Twilight slowly turned her gaze back to Starlight, whose grin widened, a little too wide for it to be natural. "What's going on?"

The three ignored the arrival of Trixie, who rolled out of the Door like a bowling ball and barrelled into a bookcase. "So, you know how you were saying that you'd arrange a proper diplomatic meeting if the humans wanted it?" Starlight's eyes flicked to the Silver Door. "Well, we've kinda done that for you. It's happening now. Right now."

"What?!" Twilight opened her mouth to stammer out a refusal, or maybe just yell at her, but she was interrupted by the Silver Door firing someone else into the air.

Twilight caught the new arrival in her magic just before they could crash into another bookshelf. The unexpected visitor was a unicorn, with a grey coat, a very long silver mane with a matching beard, and a set of flowing red robes and a long purple cloak. He looked around with an air of amusement and curiosity, his half-moon spectacles twinkling as he took in the room and its occupants.

The unicorn noticed the purple aura surrounding Twilight's horn, glanced at the same aura surrounding his body, and inclined his head to her. "Good morning! Thank you for preventing me from interacting with a bookshelf at a less than pleasant velocity. If, as I presume, the Silver Door has a habit of ejecting people at such a pace, would you be so kind as to catch the people following after me?"

"O-of course," Twilight spluttered in reply, setting the unicorn down carefully. Just in time, too, as another unicorn was catapulted out of the Silver Door a heartbeat later.

This one had bottle-green fur, a grey mane and tail, was wearing a distinctive pinstriped cloak with a lime-green bowler hat, and squawked as he shot through the air. He let out a loud 'oof' as Twilight deftly caught him. She set him down gently, but he immediately tried to stand on his back legs and flubbed it, ending up sprawled on the floor in a blustering heap.

"There's still one more." Starlight ignited her horn just as the Silver Door flashed and spat out yet another pony. This one was an earth pony mare with soft green fur, a white mane and tail, and a set of wide-rimmed glasses. Her cutie mark was an elaborate red knotwork. "Got her. I think that's everyone."

The Silver Door apparently thought so, too, as the shimmering portal rippled and faded out of existence.

Plonking the earth pony on the floor, Starlight smiled innocently at Twilight. "Okay, here we are! One diplomatic meeting all ready and waiting for you."

Twilight glared at her, but was distracted by the green unicorn huffing loudly as he finally managed to get to his hooves. "What in Merlin's name is going on here?! What have you done to us?!"

"I imagine that Miss Gwynedd and these charming young ladies were telling the truth about the portal," the old unicorn said cheerily. He smiled and dipped his head towards Twilight. "Good morning. I apologise for dropping in on you unannounced like this but, as you may have deduced, there was some misplaced doubt as to whether our new friends were telling the truth about the Gate-Tree, and Miss Lulamoon had the most excellent idea for proving her sincerity."

"That's, er, that's alright," Twilight replied, a little taken back by hearing 'Trixie' and 'excellent idea' in the same sentence. Gathering her wits, Twilight drew herself up and placed a hoof on her chest. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. Please allow me to formally welcome you to Equestria."

The unicorn nodded deferentially. "It is an honour and a pleasure, your Highness. My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. It is my very great privilege to call myself the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He gestured to the green unicorn, who was torn between inspecting himself and listening to the discussion. "Please allow me to introduce Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, and elected leader of the British Ministry of Magic."

Fudge glanced from Dumbledore to Twilight. "Yes, of course, er… how do you do?"

"And this is Rhiannon ferch Gwynedd, the keeper of the portal the Silver Door connects to," Dumbledore said as he indicated the earth pony.

"We've met." Twilight smiled and nodded at Rhiannon, who blinked in surprise and gave her a little wave in return.

"Now, wait just a moment," Fudge said loudly. "This .. this really isn't a prank, is it?"

"No, Minister, it isn't," Starlight replied with a roll of her eyes.

Dumbledore turned his gaze on Fudge. "It seems, Cornelius, that we are being given the incredibly rare and wonderful opportunity to greet an entirely new race, and indeed an entirely new world that our community has never had contact with before. Let's try and start off on the right foot, or in this case hoof, shall we?"

"Right, yes, er…" Fudge dithered for a moment, clearly out of his element. He seemed more than a little scatter-brained to Twilight, though given the circumstances she could hardly blame him, especially when she was all too aware of her own neuroses.

Deciding to make things a little easier for the new arrivals, Twilight opened the library door with her magic. "Why don't we all sit down somewhere more suitable and have some refreshments?"

"A marvelous idea," Dumbledore said brightly.

"Perfect. Please, follow me." Twilight made to lead the way out of the room, then paused as she remembered something. "Er, will you be alright walking on four legs?"

Dumbledore hummed and inspected his hooves. "Let's find out." He promptly stood on all fours and took a few measured steps. "It seems simple enough. Not quite like crawling, but not entirely unlike it either. It's certainly comforting having four limbs for balance, though."

"Yeah, it's not so bad," Rhiannon said, walking up to stand alongside him.

Fudge examined his forehooves with distaste, then sighed and stood up. "Very well. Please, lead on, Miss, er, Princess."

Chapter 5 - Lay of the Lands

Rhiannon looked around in awe as she followed the others. They were in some kind of building that appeared to be constructed entirely from blue and purple crystal. Pillars lined the walls; some made of intricately shaped gemstones, others from uncut crystal. She had never seen anything like it.

Long hallways twisted and turned, with dozens of doors on either side leading to who-knows what. It reminded Rhiannon of the Department of Mysteries, though it was nowhere near as dark and cramped, and the illumination came from glowing gems set in the ceiling instead of torches in iron brackets.

Twilight paused in front of a huge set of double doors. "This is the throne room." Her horn ignited and a purple aura gently opened the doors, the hinges barely making a sound as the doors slowly swung open. Rhiannon gasped at the incredible sight before her.

A large hall waited on the other side of the doors. Watching eyes were immediately drawn upwards to a grand gem-studded chandelier that appeared to be made from the roots of a mighty oak tree. Beneath the chandelier sat a large round table surrounded by six ornate thrones, with a smaller throne to the right of one of them. Each throne had a symbol engraved into the backrest, while throne and table alike were carved from the same bright crystal.

"Please, take a seat wherever you'd like," Twilight said, hopping up on the one with the miniature throne next to it. The engraving on the throne matched the symbol on her flanks perfectly. "Starlight, could you bring us an extra chair, and send a message to Spike, please?"

"Way ahead of you." Starlight's horn glowed, and a squashy armchair appeared next to Twilight's throne with a loud pop, which Starlight helped herself to. A second later a quill and sheet of parchment appeared next to her, both encased in a faint green aura. The quill scribbled something down on the parchment, disappeared with another pop, then the parchment rolled itself up and turned into a wisp of golden most, which floated swiftly out of the door.

Rhiannon looked around to see Dumbledore hopping up on a throne decorated with a cloud and a rainbow-coloured lightning bolt, while Fudge chose one decorated with three diamonds. Realizing that she was the only visitor still standing around like an idiot, Rhiannon jumped up on a throne engraved with three apples.

Twilight waited for Sunset and Trixie to take the remaining thrones before taking a deep breath and looking around at her guests. "That's better." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry about the, er, disorganised nature of our welcome."

"Not at all," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hoof. "You've done well to be so accommodating on such short notice." He pressed his forehooves together on the table, as if attempting to steeple his fingers. "So, if I may, where exactly are we?"

Rhiannon perked up at the question, noticing Fudge straightening up as well. Seeing that she had everyone's attention, Twilight ignited her horn and shot a thin purple beam at the table, which instantly shone with a bright light. The light quickly coalesced, shifting and warping until it settled into the shape of a huge three-dimensional map. With another flash of her horn she summoned another quill and sheet of parchment.

"This is the land of Equestria," Twilight began, the quill scribbling away as she spoke. She pointed to a huge, crystalline, tree-like castle near a small settlement. "Right now, we're here, in the Castle of Friendship."

"That sounds like an auspicious place to have our initial meeting," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

Twilight chuckled. "I sure hope so."

"Remarkable," Fudge said quietly, eyeing the map with interest. "And you are the leader of Equestria, correct?"

"That's right, though that's actually a recent development," Twilight admitted shyly. "The previous rulers only stepped down a few months ago. Before that, this castle was actually my home."

Fudge raised an eyebrow and glanced sidelong at her. "So this, er, Castle of Friendship is not the seat of authority in Equestria?"

Twilight shook her head and pointed to a magnificent marble city built on and around a mountain. "That would be Canterlot, here. The Silver Door is usually kept there, we only brought it here as part of an exhibition about the achievements and discoveries of one of Equestria's most accomplished wizards."

"Ah, a tradition our cultures share." Fudge smiled, and for a moment Rhiannon thought he was getting into his stride, until he said, "I assume all of the residents of Equestria are in such strange horse-like forms as this?"

Dumbledore winced slightly, and the host unicorns all frowned at the Minister's bluntness, but, thankfully, Twilight didn't seem too offended. "We call ourselves ponies, and yes, most of the residents of Equestria are either unicorns, pegasi, or earth ponies, plus a very small number of alicorns, like me," She flared her wings and gestured to her horn for emphasis. "Though we also have sizable populations of donkeys, mules, and thestrals."

"Thestrals?" Fudge looked around worriedly, as if expecting one to pop out of the walls, and even Dumbledore raised a curious eyebrow.

"Do you have thestrals in your world?" Sunset asked, noticing their recognition.

Dumbledore nodded. "We do, though I imagine that the thestrals of this realm are slightly different from the ones in ours, much like the unicorns are."

"You have unicorns and humans in your world?" Twilight asked in surprise. "How is that possible?"

"It's probably the same way there are both horses and humans at CHS," Sunset suggested. She glanced at Dumbledore. "I'm guessing that the unicorns and thestrals in your world are pretty much just animals? Sentient, but not sapient?"

"Essentially, yes," Dumbledore replied. "They are certainly intelligent, but not to what we would call a true level of sapience."

"Thestrals in particular are… dangerous," Fudge said with a grimace.

Rhiannon wanted to disagree with that. She had seen a few thestrals over the years and, while certainly creepy, the beasts were no more dangerous than your average puppy, and actually less so than your average horse. Still, she kept her mouth shut for the time being.

"Well, our thestrals aren't any more dangerous than anypony else in Equestria," Twilight assured them. "Princess Luna, one of our former rulers, actually kept several on retainer as members of her personal guard. I folded them into my own when I took over as ruler"

"How fascinating. Do thestrals and donkeys have home countries of their own, or are they a minority community native to Equestria?" Dumbledore asked.

Twilight tapped her chin in thought. "There used to be separate lands for each of us, but where their original homelands used to be is unknown today. I've read that there is a donkey republic somewhere in the world, but if so Equestria hasn't had any real contact with them in a long time. The only countries we have regular contact with are our closest neighbours."

"What about your world?" Starlight cut in. "You said that you were from a land called the United Kingdom?"

"That's right," Fudge replied. "As Minister for Magic, it's my job to preside over the Wizarding population of Britain."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Wizarding population?"

Dumbledore coughed delicately. "Our world is separated between those who have magic, and those who don't."

"Really?" Starlight gave him a quizzical look. "Why is that?"

"The two populations have never really gotten along," Fudge replied. "Several hundred years ago, the wizards and witches of the world got together and agreed that our people were better off apart from the muggles, the non-magical people, so we went into hiding, and things have been that way ever since."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, evidently sensing that he was oversimplifying things, or maybe just disagreeing with the idea of segregation, but she let it slide. "So, your country has two separate leaders?"

"Technically it's four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland," Rhiannon put in. "Altogether they make up the United Kingdom."

"The muggles are ruled by a queen and their Houses of Parliament, while the wizarding population is led by the Minister for Magic," Dumbledore explained. He had apparently noticed Twilight's expression as well, as he added, "The nature of our separation means that the muggles are largely unaware of the existence of the magical world, and have been so for many centuries. Some have suggested rejoining muggle society but, at this point, making the world aware of our existence would cause absolute chaos among the muggles. It's too dangerous."

"I understand," Twilight said sombrely, though Rhiannon caught the subtle, shifty looks that Trixie and Starlight shared.

Fudge smiled genially. "Not to worry, Princess. I assure you, by and large, the muggles aren't worth bothering with. Equestria stands to gain far more from associating with the Ministry of Magic."

Rhiannon and Dumbledore both winced as Twilight turned a cold look on the Minister for Magic. "Equestria doesn't choose its friends based purely on what they can do for us."

"No, of course not," Fudge said with an airy wave of a hoof. "We all like to do our part for those less fortunate."

Rhiannon felt herself dying inside, and even Dumbledore looked like he was resisting the urge to slap a hoof to his face with great difficulty. Thankfully, the sticky moment was swiftly disrupted as someone opened the door.

"Hey, guys!" A chipper voice called out. "Sorry I took so long, I had to wash a bunch of dishes first. You really need to do your washing up more often, Starlight."

Rhiannon's mouth dropped open as the new arrival strolled into the room carrying a tray laden with cups and plates full of finger foods. A quick glance showed that Dumbledore was leaning forward and scrutinizing the visitor with incredible intensity, while Fudge looked like he was torn between disbelief and the onset of a cardiac event.

The little visitor was short, barely reaching a pony's shoulder despite waddling around on two legs. It had purple scales, a green frill on his head, leathery wings sprouting from it's back and, just to throw a little extra insanity into the mix, a cute and frilly little apron decorated with hearts.

"Thank you, Spike," Twilight said happily as the visitor placed the tray on the table next to her, flattening the image of a small village before hopping up on the little throne next to Twilight's. Unaware of the effect the new arrival was having on her guests, Twilight turned back to the wizards. "Everyone, this is Spike. My number one assistant."

Chapter 6 - Meeting Adjourned

"That's a dragon," Fudge said flatly.

"He is a dragon," Twilight corrected firmly.

"Please, forgive the Minister for his surprise," Dumbledore said quickly. "In our world, dragons are ferocious, and dangerous in the extreme. They are certainly nowhere near as civilised as this young gentleman."

Twilight resisted the urge to counter that surprise was no excuse for rudeness, but she bit her tongue, especially as Spike was clearly not bothered beyond rolling his eyes. In fact, going by his smirk, she was fairly certain that Spike was just happy to be compared to ferocious and dangerous monsters.

So far, Twilight wasn't really sure how the meeting was going. Dumbledore certainly seemed to be the most competent of the visiting trio, and the most socially conscious, while Fudge was… complicated. Twilight felt that he meant well, but he was a little too blunt and quietly superior for her to feel comfortable around him. Rhiannon, though nice enough so far, had been too quiet for Twilight to really form an opinion.

"Are there many dragons in Equestria?" Dumbledore asked, sounding nothing but mildly curious.

"Not really, not as permanent residents, anyway," Twilight replied. "There are a handful, like Spike, and there are a few who stay here on a temporary basis, but most of them are content to stay in the Dragonlands. That is slowly changing, but I think it's going to be a while before we see any significant immigration."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "So, the dragons have their own homeland." He hummed thoughtfully and glanced subtly at Fudge, who was looking more than a little discomfited at the thought of there being an entire nation of dragons. "If you don't mind me asking, what other races have countries of their own, other than the Dragonlands and Equestria? It will hopefully save some further awkwardness should we ever meet them in person."

Twilight found herself suddenly torn between horror and amusement at the thought of seeing what a meeting between Prince Rutherford and Fudge would turn out like. Keeping her expression neutral, she nodded and ignited her horn, teleporting in another quill and piece of parchment. "First there's Equestria and the Crystal Empire, which are inhabited mostly by ponies, and the Dragonlands, which are self explanatory. Next there's Griffinstone, inhabited by Griffins, Yakyakistan, home of the Yaks, the Changeling Kingdom, obviously the home of the Changelings, and Mount Eris and Seaquestria, which are both ruled by the Hippogryphs."

Each of the visitors reacted differently to Twilight's explanation. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with obvious curiosity, Rhiannon looked excited and enthralled at the idea of so many different creatures, and Fudge just stared at Twilight with a blank expression. "Did you say yaks?"

"Yes, yaks," Twilight replied tersely. "There are also small groups of Minotaurs, Kirin, Sea Serpents, Sirens, Abyssinians, Storm Guard, Zebras, and all sorts of other intelligent beings living among and wandering between the different nations." She gave Fudge a cold look. "I trust that won't be a problem?"

"Of course not," Dumbledore said quickly, giving Fudge a pointed stare.

"No, no problem at all!" Fudge waved a hoof, his tone implying that the very idea of it being a problem was preposterous, though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Starlight cleared her throat loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. "If you want to see more than just us ponies, why not visit the School of Friendship?"

Twilight considered for a moment. "That's… probably not a good idea right now."

Dumbledore nodded. "Speaking as an educator, I would be absolutely delighted to visit such a school, but I agree that the timing isn't quite right. For now, perhaps, it would be best if we return to our world. This has been an enlightening visit, but we should arrange for a more formal meeting between our governments."

"That seems like a good plan," Twilight agreed, wondering if Fudge would make a better second impression than first. "It'll take me a little while to arrange everything on this end, so shall we set a date for, say…" She quickly ran over her plans in her mind. "Three days from now?"

"Three days should be perfect," Dumbledore replied. "Do you agree, Minister?"

Fudge nodded. "Yes, three days will be fine."

"Excellent. We can, of course, always correspond through representatives until then to set exact times and numbers," Dumbledore added.

"It's settled, then." Twilight stood a moment after everyone else. "This meeting is adjourned. I'll escort you to the Silver Door."

A look of relief flashed across Fudge's face, though he quickly smoothed it over. Twilight pretended not to notice. Hopefully, with a little more time to prepare and the benefit of hindsight, Fudge would make a better impression the second time around.

"I guess nopony was hungry," Spike grumbled, staring at the ignored tray he had brought in.

Dumbledore chuckled. "My apologies, but I must confess that I'm uncertain as to the correct table etiquette in this situation. I didn't want to make a faux pa by eating something in a way I shouldn't."

"Oh, that's easy!" Twilight levitated a cupcake, caught it on a hoof, and took a big bite out of it to demonstrate. "I know horns take some getting used to, so you can just munch them like this. Here." She levitated another cupcake over to Dumbledore, who promptly caught it on a hoof and took a big bite.

"Mmph! Exquisite!" Dumbledore said brightly after he'd swallowed.

Twilight couldn't hold back a giggle. "They were made by a close friend of mine. She'll be delighted to know that you like them."

Dumbledore beamed at her. "I'd be grateful if you could pass on my complements."

"Of course." Twilight gestured for the others to follow. "I'll open the Silver Door for you. This way, please."

The three visitors followed obediently as Twilight led the way back to the Silver Door, Dumbledore contentedly munching the cupcake as he walked. Sunset, Starlight, Trixie, and Spike brought up the rear. Three sharp knocks on a tree stump later, and the Silver Door was once again open.

Fudge looked visibly relieved at the sight of it. "Excellent. Well, Your Highness, it has been a true pleasure meeting you. I shall make arrangements for a reliable form of correspondence post haste."

"Thank you, Minister. It was interesting meeting you, too," Twilight replied, choosing her words carefully. Fudge's expression remained genial, but she got the impression that he had registered her choice of reply. He tried to doff his hat to her, fumbled it a couple of times thanks to his unfamiliarity with hooves, then just gave up and nodded. He didn't look back as he disappeared through the Silver Door.

Dumbledore finished his cupcake before nodding politely to the ponies. "If it's alright, I shall do my utmost to have a representative sent here to facilitate communication tonight."

"Actually, I have an idea that should work," Twilight replied, thinking about the linked books that she and Sunset shared. "I'll get to work on enchanting them as soon as possible, and I'll send either Sunset or Starlight along with them as soon as they're done."

"Very well. In that case, I eagerly await your correspondence." Dumbledore dipped her head to Rhiannon and gestured to the Silver Door. "After you, Miss Gwynedd."

Rhiannon flinched and scampered awkwardly towards the Silver Door. She paused just before she went through it and looked back over her shoulder. "It was a pleasure meeting you, er, Your Highness."

"And you, Rhiannon," Twilight replied with a genuine smile.

The young woman-turned-pony smiled back and stepped through the Door, leaving Dumbledore as the last visitor.

"I would like to apologize for Fudge again," Dumbledore said quietly. "He is a good man, but he is rather set in his ways. I shall do my utmost to ensure that he doesn't jeopardize what I believe can be a rather beautiful friendship between our peoples."

"I hope so," Twilight replied. "I'll do what I can on our end, too."

Dumbledore nodded curtly and left, disappearing through the Silver Door. A few seconds later the magic faded away as the portal closed.

"Well that was two steps short of a disaster," Starlight said flatly.

"It seemed fine to me?" Spike looked around at the gathered ponies curiously. "What did I miss?"

Twilight sighed and turned away, leading the way back to the map room. "Nothing major. It was our first meeting, after all. We should give them the benefit of the doubt. First things first, let's finish our food, then I'll see about enchanting another pair of books for our new friends."

Dumbledore braced himself as he was flung out of the Gate-Tree. The instant he touched the floor he tucked and rolled smoothly to his feet, catching shocked looks from Rhiannon and the Minister. Dumbledore did enjoy occasionally surprising others with his agility, though, he had to admit, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the protests of his own joints with each passing year. "Well, that was certainly an illuminating experience," he said brightly.

"It's brilliant!" Rhiannon chimed in.

"I'm still not sure I believe it," Fudge added, staring with some concern at the Gate-Tree as its portal faded away. "How have we never found this portal before?"

Rhiannon shrugged. "Most of the legends of the Otherworld were passed down through Celtic writings, the Mabinogion and such. I guess the way to open the portal must have been lost during the literary adjustments after the Statute of Secrecy came into effect."

"A lamentable loss," Dumbledore said gravely. "However, this affords us an incredible opportunity. The chance to forge a connection with an entirely new race, with entirely new magic, is something the wizarding world hasn't had in centuries."

"Yes, good point." Fudge absently checked that his bowler hat was still safely on his head. "Well now, this is going to be quite a bit of work. I suppose the first thing to do is inform the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Beasts."

Dumbledore gave the Minister a piercing look over the rim of his glasses. "I think the Department of International Cooperation might be a better fit for this situation," he said with only a hint of reproach.

Fudge conceded with a nod. "I suppose we should probably let both departments know. Miss Gwynedd, please stay here and keep an eye on things in case those, er, ponies try to contact us again."

Chapter 7 - Preparations

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