A Star Among Wizards

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."