A Hogwarts Overtale

Chapters

The Deep End
Synrium
Monster in the Classroom
In Plain Sight
A Troll in the Dungeon
The Alchemist's Lair
Old Faces, New Uniforms
Parallels
Liberty Unto Stasis
The Exile

The Deep End

The rest of the train ride to Hogwarts went much the same as the start of it. Hermione was persistently curious when it came to both Equestria and the Monster Kingdom, Luna chiming in occasionally with an odd comment or surprisingly thoughtful insight. Frisk, too, had questions for Sunset when she wasn’t busy trying to keep Flowey under control. When they started asking things even Sunset didn’t know the answer to, she gave them a few books on Equestria she had handy, Hermione nearly jumping for joy at the gesture.

In return, they had given her answers regarding human customs, technology, and politics the best they could. After all, Equestrian knowledge on this distant continent was somewhat scarce, so she didn’t exactly have much to study up on it before she arrived. Even afterwards, she only had a few days to tour before being whisked away to Hogwarts.

All in all, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience, even with Flowey’s occasional snark. While she was initially against the idea, perhaps there was room for her to make new friends here, and for them to include her among their own. Because of this, she made sure to stick by her new acquaintances once they arrived at the train platform near Hogwarts.

There, Sunset was surprised to see Equine Thestrals of all things. The strange, nightmarish creatures were pulling the various carriages that took people to the looming castle itself. She wasn’t necessarily confused about it because she had never seen death before, it was more because they had a reputation for only hanging around their mythical (to the humans, at least) humanoid cousins simply called Thestrals.

One of them didn’t seem to be happy about its current situation, either, as it was currently thrashing about, rocking the carriage it was latched to slightly. The very one that would be pulling Sunset and company.

‘Alright, time to put my Equestrian heritage to good use,’ she said to herself.

Her mere close proximity turned out to be all it took to calm the bony creature, as she found out when she walked up to it. Instead, both it and its partner nearby glanced at the girl curiously.

“That’s good. Easy there, you two,” Sunset said. Then, with a voice best described as a loud, echoing whisper, she spoke: “Tre su’at. Visheǎ.”

The creatures remained silent. However, she could tell her words had some influence, as their body language seemed to indicate they were in a state of trust.

“Um, Sunset, who are you… whispering at?” Frisk asked, walking up next to her and staring blankly at the spot where the horses stood.

“The Thestrals,” Luna explained. “Oh, I understand. You’ve never seen death before, have you?”

Frisk paused, standing completely still for a second, before shaking her head.

“Not in this timeline, anyway,” Flowey said, giving her what could only be described as a sinister wink.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Flowey and then at a clearly nervous-looking Frisk. Before she could ask what Flowey met, however, she was interrupted by Hermione.

“As Luna said, Thestrals have a rather unnerving quality of only being visible to people who have witnessed… a demise," Hermione explained, before clearing her throat and glancing at Sunset, seemingly eager to change that topic. “What did you say to it? You were speaking Equestrian, right?”

Sunset threw her an impressed glance. “How many Equestrian books did you get through on that train ride?”

“Oh, three our four,” Hermione said nonchalantly.

‘How fast can this girl read?!’ Sunset thought.

As they were speaking, the group boarded the carriage. Despite not having a driver, the Thestrals seemed to know when and where to go. They were soon off down a beautiful, moon-soaked gravel road towards Hogwarts.

“The part about your connection with horses was especially fascinating,” Hermione continued. “To actually be able to speak directly to them… it reminds me of Harry’s connection with snakes. Well, former connection.”

“We usually only have one-way conversations,” Sunset chuckled. “They can’t exactly speak back. But to answer your first question, loosely translated, I just told them to calm down and that they were among friends.”

“Remarkable,” Hermione said.

“If we learned Equestrian, could we talk to horses?” Frisk asked hopefully.

Sunset shook her head. “No, unfortunately. We’ve tried teaching other species Equestrian, but for some reason, horses just don’t understand them even if they’re speaking the language perfectly.”

Frisk frowned slightly. “Oh…”

“Pffft, why are you so upset?” Flowey groaned. “You barely used to talk to people. Why would you want to talk to beasts?”

Sunset shot him a glare. ‘They’re more than just beasts, you dick,’ she thought. She would have said it out loud, but she didn’t want to give him any more ammunition at the moment. He seemed to thrive on making other people angry.

“Because I want to tell them what a neigh-sayer you are,” Frisk joked in a sing-song tone.

“Oh god,” Flowey said, comically gripping his ‘neck’ with two leaves. “That’s it. If you’re going to start making puns, I’m going to end it all right here.”

Sunset gave him an evil smirk. “Not a fan of horsin’ around?”

Flowey shot her a glare. “And before I go, I’m taking you with me, Knife Ears.”

“I thought we already agreed you’d stop joking about the k-word, Flowey,” Frisk sighed.

“What, killing people?” he said. “Who said that was a joke?”

Sunset scratched her head. ‘How would that even work?’

"Anyway," Hermione interrupted. "Were you two sorted into your houses already? I'm curious how that works with older newcomers."

Sunset and Frisk looked at each other, then back at Hermione. In near unison, they asked:

"Houses?"

After a short, fifteen minute journey, they had finally arrived at the impressive castle turned school. From her limited knowledge of the Second Wizardry War, Sunset knew a decisive battle had taken place here not too many months prior. With its looming towers, battlements, and single long, stone bridge as its entryway (which they were currently crossing), it was no surprise the victory went to the defenders.

‘Equestria hasn’t built anything like this for a thousand years,’ Sunset thought. ‘And even the ones before then would definitely be outclassed. These humans really do have a long history of war, and they’ve gotten good at it. If only the Federation was more… proactive when it came to promoting democracy, it wouldn’t be all that hard for them to--’

“Sunset, did you hear me?” Hermione asked, snapping Sunset out of her sinister train of thought.

“Huh? Sorry,”she said. “Just um, lost in the view, I guess.”

“No worries, I get lost like that all the time,” Luna comforted.

“Yes, well, trust me, you don’t want to get lost in the bureaucracy,” Hermione said. “The school has had major renovations over the summer thanks to…” A haunted expression came over her once more. She looked away, gazing at nobody in particular. “Thanks to the war. There’s been staffing rearrangements, reconstruction, dealings with the Ministry of Magic, their own integration into the Federation, you name it. I just want to make sure everything is set with you. I believe Professor Flitwick is the new Deputy Headmaster, so we’ll need to--”

“Ah, Ms. Granger, there you are.”

As soon as they had reached the massive double doors to the castle’s entrance hall, they were greeted with the sight of a short, mustache’d man strutting towards them.

“I needed to speak to you as a Prefect before you got settled in,” he continued. “It turns out, on top of the first years, we’ll be having two more rather interesting students with us this year, and they are not starting out fresh. Rather unprecedented, if I do say so myself. We’re going to need to find them and...“

He blinked, gazing upwards at Sunset’s antlers, then downward at Frisk and Flowey, the latter with a prominent scowl. Realization quickly dawned on him. “Oh, you’re right here.”

“You figure that out by yourself, shortstack?” Flowey muttered, just audible enough for only the group to hear.

‘Even he knows not to mess with a potentially powerful wizard.’

“I mean, of course you’re right here!” he said, forcing his voice to be cheerier than a sunny sky. “Leave it to you, Ms. Granger, to be proactive.”

Hermione smiled at that. “Thank you, professor. Though we were actually just about to come to you. We don’t know what to do about the sorting situat--”

“Not to worry, not to worry,” he said briskly. “The war may have bruised us, but that is not going to get in the way of our usual diligence. Please, come with me. We’ve decided to sort the both of you before the first years arrive.”

“Headmistress McGonagall is, as usual, ‘on point,” Hermione smiled, her and the rest of the group following him inside. “As the Colonials say.”

“It was actually Professor Hagrid’s idea,” Flitwick spoke. “He said, and I quote, ‘it would be ruddy awkward otherwise’. Personally, I’m not sure if he’s correct, but Headmistress McGonagall says otherwise. Come now, come now. Again, there’s no time to waste.”

They followed him into the entrance hall, then into what Hermione had called the Great Hall itself.

Sunset couldn’t help but be impressed. Starlight shined from the ceiling above, which was apparently made semi-transparent to show the night sky. Candles upon candles floated on their own above four massive tables, all seating a hundred or more students. While the former took a lot of mana to cast, it wasn’t exactly a hard spell. The latter, however, was unknown to Sunset. While many Equestrian Elves could easily levitate objects, keeping them levitated on their own wasn’t something she had ever seen any Equestrian magic user do.

‘Did they… did they permanently change how they behave with the laws of physics?’ Sunset blinked.

Frisk, she noted, seemed to be even more in a state of wonder. Despite Monsters being creatures completely made of magic, as she had explained, they apparently didn’t use it for show all too often.

Flitwick guided them down the center of the hall, and it wasn’t long for people to begin noticing them. She had half-expected most of the attention to be on her and Flowey, but instead, she could overhear a variety of comments and cheers:

“Look, it’s Hermione! She’s come back!”

“Bloody war hero if there ever was one. I’m dead serious. Where’s her medal? She should be wearing a medal!”

“Who is she with? Is that an elf?”

“What, a house elf?”

“No, stupid, one of the tall ones. Vulcan, maybe.”

“Why is the young one carrying a flower around?”

“Might be emotional support or something.”

“Rumor says she’s the daughter of the goat lady.”

“Astral, you idiot.”

“They look older… wearing student robes. I didn’t even know we accepted transfers.”

“Guess we do now.”

Sunset glanced at Hermione, half expecting her to be bemused. But instead, her face once ago seemed to be laced with remorse as she glanced around the various tables.

“So many missing people,” she whispered to herself, her tone broken and sorrowful.

Sunset hadn’t noticed it before, but the tables did appear to be at only half-capacity.

‘Could this be because of the war?’ Sunset wondered. ‘Did it get so desperate they had to throw students on the front lines?’

“I need to take a seat,” Luna said, diverging from the group. “But I hope you both get into Ravenclaw. You’re just so… different.”

“Thanks,” Sunset blinked, watching her walk away. “I think?”

“I think she meant it as a compliment,” Frisk smiled.

At that moment, they reached their destination: directly in front of where the teachers sat. With everything else dividing her attention, Sunset hadn’t even looked too closely at them. Aside from a joyful, massive looking man who might as well have been half-giant, there were three other unusual people at the table. This included Frisk’s adoptive mother, who threw the former a loving smile, and two older, but still spritely-looking women with eyes as sharp as knives.

"Hello again, Ms. Granger," one of them said, nodding her way.

"Headmistress McGonagall," Hermione said, smiling brightly. Any sorrow in her tone seemed to have vanished. "It's so good to see you again! How are you doing?"

"The best I can," she said springly. "I see you've found our two new transfers. Sunset Shimmer and Frisk Dreemur, is it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Frisk replied politely.

"Please excuse the rather awkward circumstances," she said. "We aren't used to having transfer students. Not that it's ever been discouraged, mind you, it is simply a rare occurrence." She turned to Hermione. "Go ahead and have a seat. There are a few things we'll need to discuss later, but the Sorting Ceremony waits for no one."

“Thank you, headmistress,” Hermione said. She smiled towards Frisk and Sunset. “I hope we can talk again soon.”

After that, she took a seat, and McGonagall rose from her own. Immediately, all background chatter died. The headmistress, as it seemed, wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with.

“Attention everyone,” she said. “At any moment, a new set of first years will be arriving to be sorted. However, before then, we have another matter that requires attention. Professor Flitwick?”

“Frisk Dreemurr, please take a seat here and we will sort you into your house,” he said, gesturing towards a small stool. In his hands was a large, black hat. “After which, take a seat at your respective table.”

As the hall (in particular, the other older woman at the staff table) gazed at the scene with keen interest, Frisk looked at the stool warily. However, with an encouraging smile from Sunset, she seemed to find the drive to sit. Soon after, Flitwick set the hat upon her head, and to Sunset’s surprise, it quickly came to ‘life’, what looked like a face forming among its contours.

‘Some advanced form of animancy?’ Sunset pondered.

“Hmmm,” it spoke in a gravelly tone, ‘blinking’ a bit. “It’s been many moons since I’ve sorted someone already keen with magic. Most of whom I sit upon have not started their stories, but you, on the other hand, already have quite the tale to tell. Many tales, in fact, separate but coinciding. Some so dark they would chill my bones if I had any. Others with such warmth one could survive wrapped in them in the coldest winter.

I believe I will choose the latter as the most truthful representation of your inner self.

A forgotten people you mingled among, their features at first frightful. A journey fraught with peril, one you could have met with violence, but instead, met with kindness. Kindness, yes, great kindness. The choice of house is obvious: HUFFLEPUFF!”

There was a round of thunderous applause from that table. For a brief moment, Frisk didn’t seem to know how to react, but nonetheless quickly moved there to take a seat.

“Ms. Shimmer,” Flitwick said, nodding her way.

Sunset nodded back, moving to the stool. She didn’t feel much in the way of nervousness, as she would only be here two years. Would the house really matter much in terms of her academics?

Soon, she felt the hat sitting on her.

“Ah. Another sensation I haven't felt in centuries,” it said with great curiosity. “A non-human, eh? I can’t help but say I’m pleased. Before humans here went through a rather… xenophobic period, we used to count fairies, centaurs, and even goblins among our ranks.

You, however, are from distant shores. Shores unknown to us all until recently, the vastness of the world underestimated to the extreme. You have a love for that land, but avoid it with your mind’s eye. What could have driven you here? What could you want from us? What could we want from you?”

“I have many things to offer,” Sunset whispered defensively.

“Indeed. I sense magics within you that I’ve never sensed before. However, I am not here to judge your worth. With courage, ambition, cleverness, adaptability, empathy… and anger, you’re proving difficult to sort."

Sunset gazed up at it. "If I'm adaptable, any will be fine."

"Hah! Very well, then. I think I know just the house for you…"

It took a deep breath, as if for dramatic effect, and finally announced...

Synrium

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sunset couldn't help but be surprised.

From what Hermione had told her, she was almost certain she'd wind up in Ravenclaw or Slytherin. After all, ambition and wit were her strongest qualities… weren't they? Did the sorting hat know something about her even she didn't? The prime trait of Hufflepuffs seemed to be kindness, and though she didn't exactly consider herself to be a mean person, she never considered it to be her strongest quality.

'Well, not that it matters much, anyway, remember?'

As a hail of applause came her way, she walked over to her new house's table. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a disappointed look in Luna’s usually serene face, but Frisk’s look of joy quickly threw that out of her mind.

“Wow, this is awesome!” she said with glee. “Can’t say I wasn't hoping we'd be housemates."

“Pffft, that’s a nasty thing to wish,” Flowey said, his pot now sitting in front of Frisk on the table. “Hufflepuff… that hat really screwed you two over, you know that? It’s probably still laughing to itself.”

“Why would you say that?” Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.

“Cus I’ve heard others talking, Knife Ears,” Flowey said with a smirk. “Hufflepuff’s pretty much a joke, and its students the butt of it.”

The flower’s comments earned glares from the few Hufflepuff nearby who could hear him, but fortunately, before they could respond the door to the main hall swung open again.

Led by Flitwick, a large group of younger students who Sunset assumed were first years marched in. And to Sunset's surprise, and the surprise of others around her, not all of them were human. She noticed a few elves (though none were Equestrian), humanoid bird-like creatures she didn’t know the name of, a blue-skinned nymph of some kind, a centaur, and even what she assumed to be a dwarf. There weren’t many twelve year olds of most species who could grow a beard that draped down to the floor, after all.

‘The Federation has been on a roll bringing in new member states lately,’ Sunset remembered. ‘And the ones already living here they’re trying to give equal rights to. I guess it’s not that strange.’

"Welcome, welcome," Flitwick said, stopping them at the same spot he had left Frisk and Sunset. "Now, if you could stay put there a moment. When I call your name, please have a seat on this stool here…"

The ceremony lasted nearly a half hour, first year after first year filling up vacant seats at the various tables.

"Bones, Olivia…"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Pridemoure, Jaina…"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Despite it all, over forty seats still remained vacant. There was no time to mull over it, however, as McGonagall soon rose to her feet.

"Greetings, new and old," she announced. "Once again, a new year of magical education has arrived. And for the first time in many cycles, we may breathe easier during it. While there are many Death Eaters still at large, their leadership, including Lord Voldemort--"

A few students shuffled nervously.

"--can never say the same again. However, though we have triumphed over these dark forces, it did not come without a terrible price. For all the brave souls lost during the war, be them muggle or magical, I believe a moment of silence is in order."

Not a single person objected to this idea, and soon, everyone in the hall had joined together in bowing their heads. The only sounds that could be heard were a few, tearful sniffles, a particularly loud one coming from the half-giant teacher. Even Flowey, despite not bowing, still kept his mouth shut.

"Thank you," McGonagall announced after a moment. "Many changes have happened over the summer, both here and abroad. As most of you already know, our country has joined the Federation, and its Ministry of Magic has followed course, merging with the Federation's larger authority. It is with their help that we've rebuilt both our school and our nation in record time. And it is also with their help that we've begun making amends with almost all intelligent species who have lived alongside us."

There were a few murmurs of discontent at that, particularly coming from the Slytherin table. Sunset couldn't help but frown. It seemed in both Equestria and the Federation, despite poverty being nearly eradicated and the standard of living soaring, racism still reared its ugly head.

‘Starlight was wrong about everything coming down to class, I suppose,’ she pondered.

"All now share equal rights, including the right to attend Hogwarts. Needless to say, I expect all of you to treat your fellow students the same, no matter their species." She then turned towards the staffing table. "Next, you’ve undoubtedly noticed new faces at the staffing table. With the expulsion of a certain pair of last cycle’s teachers far below our standards, and the tragic loss of both Professor Snape and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore--" She paused slightly at the latter's name, a wave of sorrow washing over her face. "--we once again have seats to fill. Please welcome both Professor Toriel Dreemur, who will be taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts..."

"Go mom!" Fritz suddenly cheered, earning an equal amount of chuckles and glares.

McGonagall gave one of the latter.

"Yeah, I guess Hufflepuff really was the house for you," Flowey cackled.

McGonnagal continued. "...And Professor Missy Who, our Federation representative and new Transfiguration teacher."

Polite applause filled the hall.

"Thank you," McGonagall said, a hint of trepidation growing on her face. "Lastly, a small note from Professor Who: certain areas of the dungeon have been quartered off for Federation magical research. For your own safety, please avoid all marked areas."

She took a deep breath.

"And now, without further ado, as one of my predecessors would always say, 'Let the feast begin.'"

In an instant, the innumerable, tightly covered food trays covering the tables had those covers magically lifted, revealing a grand feast. It was one almost as impressive as the ones held at Celestia's palace, though with a bit more meat involved. Not that it bothered Sunset, as unlike most Equestrians, she wasn't a vegetarian. Quickly filling her plate, she began listening to the conversations around her.

"Not sure about all this 'Federation research' business," one of the nearby Hufflepuffs said. "My dad says they can't be trusted. 'Bunch of loons overly obsessed with 'progress''".

"Me mum says the same things," another chimed in. "She says all the favors they've been doing Lyonesse are just to keep us complaining about them stealing our magic secrets. Says once they have what they want, they'll kick us to the curb."

"I mean, they're not really stealing since Lyonesse is part of them now, though," another commented. "We're all technically Federation citizens, in fact."

"Come on, Niles, you know what I meant," the former grumbled, before turning to Frisk. "Sorry, I hope all of this isn't awkward for you. I'm Cadwallader, by the way. You're Frisk, right?"

"Yupper," she smiled. "Why would it be awkward, though?"

"Because you're from the Monster Kingdom, and they've been part of the Federation for years, you idiot," Flowey groaned.

"Monster Kingdom?" another asked, who happened to be one of the centaur first years. "Are you an Astral?"

"Nope," Frisk chuckled. "What's your name?"

"Me? I am called Saggitarius," he said.

"Can I call you Saggy?" Flowey said, grinning mischievously. For once, he earned a few suppressed chuckles.

The half-horse narrowed his eyes. "You may not."

"Don't mind Flowey," Frisk sighed. "He's like this with everyone."

"I can second that," Sunset said.

“My only fault is I have no filter,” the plant shrugged. “It’s not my fault you all suck.”

“By the stars,” Sagittarius said, slightly exasperated.. “What manner of foul creature is he? Is he an Astral?"

“Uh huh,” Frisk said. "And no, most Monsters-- er, Astrals aren't like him at all."

“Frisk is sort of…” Sunset paused, looking for the right words. “Rehabilitating him.”

Flowey stuck a leaf for a tongue out. “Hah, fat chance at that, Knife Ears!”

Sagittarius gave Frisk a look of pure pity. “If you succeed in this task, it will be worthy of many songs.”

Another round of chuckles came despite Flowey’s prominent scowl.

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. Frisk and Flowey enjoyed most of the attention, though Sunset had gained a bit herself. Despite this, she tried to remain a silent observer, absorbing as much information as she could about Hogwarts, the Federation, and even the Second Wizarding War as she could.

Their new centaur companion had proven to be of a particular curiosity. Centaurs were rare creatures in Equestria. The only prominent one Sunset knew of was an ancient enemy of Celestia’s, Lord Tirek. Despite the latter’s somewhat different appearance, she wondered if the centaurs here and the ones in Equestria were related. But if so, how? The oceans between their two lands were vast, and only modern maritime ships could cross them in one piece. It was yet another thing Sunset would need to research in the future.

As the night went on, she began to feel she wasn’t the only one doing silent studying, as she could have sworn she saw Professor Who staring at her with curious eyes once or twice. However, if the new ‘Federation representative’ wanted to speak with her, she never got the chance. At around midnight, all four houses were led by their various prefects (Luna being one of them, unsurprisingly) to their dormitories.

At this point, Sunset had grown so tired that she barely took a second to look around the particularly cozy Hufflepuff common room before entering the girl’s dorm, finding her marked bed, and collapsing on it.

Sleep came instantaneously.

A few stories beneath the sleeping students, on the deepest level of the Hogwarts dungeon, a number of Federation personnel, all wearing either lab coats or military uniforms instead of traditional, wizarding robes, circled an ominous sight. It was a pitch black orb, one hovering silently a few feet off the ground, and one which seemed to bend light around it. This created a curious image where you could almost make out something directly behind the orb even if its body was blocking it.

The sound of two pairs of high heels echoed across the cobble floor, grabbing the attention of the head researcher, a short, yellow lizard-like creature. They belonged to Professor MacGonagall and Professor Who, their black, gothic outfits contrasting starkly with the others.

“See? Nothing to worry about, my lovely,” the latter said cheerfully, as if picking up from where a previous conversation had left off. “The artefact had a mild reaction to Hogwarts magical energies, but as we anticipated, they were harmless. Well, harmless in the fact that the radiation burst was only thermal. But a few ‘sun’ burns never hurt anyone in the long term, right?”

“Your frivelty is not appreciated, nor is this… thing’s presence in my school,” McGonagall growled. “Lucky for you, Minister Shacklebolt was quite persuasive. If it were anyone but him--”

“Come now. You’re not the least bit curious about this experiment?” Missy interrupted, smiling whimsically her way. “What we could unlock by bringing it here?”

“The only thing I’m curious about is how long before this blows up in our faces,” McGonagall said. “We aren’t mixing a pot of soup here, we’re mixing multiple types of magical energies, one which we know little about. Do you even have any idea what this artefact is even supposed to do? What it’s made for? Aside from what a few millennia old texts mention, of course, because that’s certainly reassuring.”

“I trust those texts more than I trust the sky is blue,” Missy said plainly. “And so will you, my worrisome dear, once the Synrium Orb will gives us a window into the past we could never dream of…”

She paused for a second, before smiling wildly.

“And perhaps even a present hidden in plain sight."

Monster in the Classroom

"Is this why you won't let me learn master level spells?" Sunset spat, standing in Celestia’s throne room in Canterlot, glaring at her. "You think I'm planning on overthrowing you?!"

"No!" Celestia said defensively. "Believe me, Sunset, your political leanings and your magical studies are in completely different spheres."

"That’s the thing," Sunset said, narrowing her eyes. "I don't believe you. You've been pushing me more and more away recently, all because I dared to speak in public about putting power in the hands of the people."

Celestia closed her eyes. "While this has created a rather… awkward situation for me, I still stand by my words. It has nothing to do with your politics."

"Then what does it have to do with?"

Celestia remained silent.

"I'm waiting.”

"It's…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "What your politics are doing to you as a person."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Celestia sighed. "You are wise enough to know that magical education and a clouded disposition do not work well together. It can be quite dangerous. I've seen it many times before."

"Uh huh," Sunset said, folding her arms, and clearly not impressed. "You know what I think? You think it would be dangerous to you." She took a deep breath, composing herself. "But I am not planning on overthrowing you. Starlight may think you're beyond hope, but I--"

"You're still hanging around that radical, I see," Celestia said in a disappointed tone.

"She isn't nearly as radical as you think," Sunset said dismissively. "By world standards, she falls firmly in the moderate camp.” She began pacing in front of her teacher’s throne. “I guess I just don't understand why you're resisting the idea so much. Hasn't the Federation proven it can work? Not just on the local level, but on a grand scale?"

"It is not that I don't believe it can work," Celestia said calmly. "I quite admire it, to tell you the truth. However, as I've said before, now is not the time. There are mechanisms in motion far beyond any of our control. An age of danger once again approaches us, and though I believe it will be brief…"

"I know," Sunset grunted. "You don't think we can afford a large-scale political change at this time. But did you ever stop and think that maybe that's exactly what we need to prevent this 'age of danger'. That maybe collectively, the people can come up with better solutions than one person, immortal or not?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "I will not risk adding so many unknown variables into the mix."

"Of course you won't," Sunset said, her voice laced with defeat. "And I'm starting to wonder if you ever will."

"What do you mean by that?" Celestia said, clearly hurt.

"That maybe I really am wasting my time here," Sunset said sorrowfully. "That maybe Starlight was right. And that maybe I should take up Ambassador Spock’s offer."

Celestia's eyes widened. "Y-You don't mean… Sunset, please, I am going to need your help… My sister--"

"I've tried to help and you've rejected me at every turn!" Sunset snapped, ignoring the tears beginning to swell in Celestia's eyes. "There is nothing left for me here. It's time I went to a place where people can determine their own destinies… and not have them determined for them!"

Sunset awoke with a gasp, jutting up in her bed. She rubbed her eyes, breathing heavily. When she finally came fully to, she noticed the sun was already up, filling the dormitory with light.

"Sunset?" Frisk called, sitting up in her own bed. "Are you okay?"

She wiped a small bit of sweat off her brow. "Yeah… yeah, just a bad dream."

"You know, they say those are the sign of a guilty conscience," Flowey smirked, sitting in his pot on the nightstand next to Frisk's bed.

Sunset glanced away from him. For the first time, she didn't have a retort to his needling.

"What time is it, anyway?" Sunset asked, glancing around for a clock.

"Breakfast time," Frisk smiled, pointing at the cuckoo clock on the wall behind Sunset's bed. "Come on, let's get going before the others eat up the good stuff."

Sunset nodded back, returning Frisk's smile. Apparently, they were now friends, given Frisk had decided to wait for her. It was a nice thought. Though she was a few years younger than Sunset, Frisk had a maturity about her rare for her age. And so far, she didn’t seem to have a bad bone in her body. Putting the bad dream out of her head, she followed Frisk, determined to make the best out of her morning.

Sunset's first class turned out to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, something she was particularly looking forward to. Entering the classroom, she was surprised to see it incredibly well-lit and colorful. She was even more surprised to see both Hermione and Luna attending it, both of whom gave her a quick wave.

'I thought Hermione was a seventh year?' Sunset pondered. 'Though maybe they combined some seventh and sixth year classes for whatever reason.'

The two of them were sitting together, and Sunset assumed they wouldn't mind if she joined them.

"Hello again, Sunset," Luna said dreamily.

"Hey Luna," Sunset said, taking a seat. "How's it hanging?"

She blinked. "I don't remember hanging anything."

"Oh, I know that one," Hermione said eagerly. "It means 'How are you doing,' right?"

"Yeah," Sunset said. "Apparently, it's used both by the Colonials and Equestrians, which is a really weird coincidence. No more than both of us knowing Common, though, I suppose.”

"The Colonials were actually a, well, colony of Lyonesse," Hermione explained. "Their tongue came from us. Honestly, it may sound crazy, but the most obvious explanation is there was some form of pre-modern trans-oceanic contact.”

"It’s not crazy," Sunset said, not at all phased by her extensive vocabulary. "I was actually thinking the same thing yesterday. Only thing is there’s no evidence of it that I know of - at least not on our end."

Luna, who had been hazily observing the conservation, merely cocked her head. "I thought everyone knew true first contact came a thousand cycles ago when King Arthus saved Princess Celestia from The Lich after her ship ran off course."

"Wait…" Sunset blinked. "Wait, what?"

'Did she just make all that up on the spot?'

Before Sunset could ask for more information, the door to the class opened. In strutted Toriel, a look of calm, motherly cheerfulness on her furry face. It wasn’t exactly the kind of demeanor Sunset was expecting someone teaching this class, but then again, this woman was apparently an active Queen at one point. And Sunset had to grudgingly admit, if she was anything like Celestia, she must have known how to ‘throw down’ when needed.

After arriving at her podium, Toriel looked over her students for a brief moment and then spoke:

"Greetings, young ones. I am Toriel Dreemurr. Please address me in whatever way you're comfortable with."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow, noting quietly: "She's certainly laid back.”

‘Well, she is Frisk’s mother,’ Sunset thought.

Toriel continued. "From what I understand, you have had a somewhat… staggered education in this subject the last six years. And since Professor Carrow's teachings were not exactly in the spirit of this class, I will be continuing with what Professor Snape left you with." She smiled invitingly. “Now, before we begin our first lesson, are there any questions about myself you wish answered?”

A number of hands shot up near instantaneously.

Toriel blinked in surprise, though her smile quickly returned. “Well, okay then…” She pointed at a random raised hand. “How about you there, Mr...”

“Creevey, professor. Dennis Creevey,” the owner of it announced. “Is it true Monsters are completely made of magic? Like a Wil o’ Wisp?” He quickly flushed in embarrassment. “Oh, sorry, do you mind being called Monsters? Or do you prefer Astrals?”

“Yes, we are almost completely made of magical energies,” Toriel said kindly. “And no, I personally don’t mind. Neither do most Monsters. ‘Astral’ is a human term. However, I believe it is used with good intentions. ‘Monster’ typically has a negative connotation in many human cultures and it seems you simply did not wish to associate it with us.”

Dennis seemed to sigh in relief at that.

Toriel pointed at another hand, this one belonging to Hermione. “Ah, I recognize you. My daughter said you were very kind to her. Please, ask away, Ms. Granger.”

A few mocking ‘dawwws’, came from a cluster of Slytherins, but Hermione didn’t seem phased whatsoever.

“Thank you,” she said. “Frisk was nice enough to explain a bit about Astr-- Monsters. She says you’re naturals at a unique form of magic, SOUL magic. However, she didn’t go into details on what exactly that was.”

Toriel nodded. “SOUL magic involves the reading and manipulation of well, SOULs, both your own and others. And yes, given our nature, we Monsters know a few things about it. That being said, it’s not unique to us. It is difficult for most other species to learn, but not impossible. In fact, I hope to teach you a little of it sometime this cycle. There are many dark creatures and spells that can attack the SOUL directly, and it would benefit you to know how to defend yourselves.”

A few of Sunset’s classmates murmured in excitement. Luna and Hermione especially seemed taken with the idea.

‘Apparently, it isn’t just human magic I’m going to be learning’, Sunset said, smiling to herself.

“Are there any more questions?” Toriel asked, scanning the room. Apparently, most people had the same questions, as no more hands were raised. “Very well, then. Though if you think of any later, please don’t hesitate. Now, as for our first lesson...”

With a flick of her hand, her lesson planner began to cycle through its pages on its own.

“Huh,” Hermione whispered. “Wandless magic.”

“Is that rare for humans?” Sunset asked. Equestrians certainly didn’t use them that often. In fact, Sunset had only bought a wand since it was one of the requirements.

Hermione tilted her hand back and forth. “Somewhat. Lyonessian witches and wizards typically use them. Other human cultures use staffs, rods, what have you to channel it, though some don’t need any channelling device at all. From what I’ve read in the History of Magic, learning magic with a channelling device allows for more complex spells, though at the cost of convenience and speed, I suppose.”

Sunset shook her head incredulously. “How in the world aren’t you already a teacher? You’re really good at explaining this sort of thing.”

Hermione blushed. “Well, I… um...”

“Ah, here we are,” Toriel said, finally settling on a pair of pages in her planner. “My apologies for the delay. I’ve been asked by Headmistress McGonagall to cover a topic further along than what I originally planned, not that I don’t mind teaching it, of course.” She cleared her throat. “Who here can tell me what a dark artefact is?”

To the apparent surprise of no one, Hermione’s hand shot up faster than lightning. Sunset couldn’t help but feel a little envy. She, too, knew the answer, but her brain simply didn’t fire as quickly.

“Yes, Ms. Granger?” Toriel said.

“Usually, they’re objects that have been influenced by magic to behave in a negative or dangerous way,” Hermione explained.

“Nicely stated,” Toriel beamed. “Mmm, what is it they say to reward students? Oh yes, five points to Gryffindor.” She raised a furry finger. “However, can anyone tell me another way something can become dark artefact?”

This time, Sunset was the first to raise her hand. Out of the corner of her eyes, Hermione gave her a playfully rivalrous look. “Through animancy,” Sunset said. “Transfer a bad soul into an object and that object won’t be the friendliest.”

“Creating a…” Hermione winced. “A horocrux can do the equivalent.”

“You two are making quite the team,” Toriel smiled. “Five points to Hufflepuff and five more to Gryffindor.”

Hermione and Sunset looked at each other, smirking.

‘Oh, it’s so on.’

The rest of the lesson turned out to be a friendly competition between Hermione and Sunset, the rest of the class looking at it with both awe and bemusement. Luna in particular seemed especially thrilled by it, clapping her hands in excitement occasionally. While Sunset already respected Hermione for her vast knowledge, when she finally edged over Sunset in points at the end of the lesson, that respect was cemented.

All in all, despite losing their self-declared battle, it was the most fun Sunset had learning about magic in a long while. And given they would be working with hands-on stuff the next class, it was only bound to get better.

In Plain Sight

"Welcome, my lovely little dollops! Welcome!" Professor Who announced cheerfully, ushering in her Transfiguration class. "Who is ready for a year of magical fun!?"

As Sunset took a seat by Hermione and Luna, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. This Federation representative certainly wasn't without her eccentricities.

"Our first lesson begins in three, two, one… ding ding ding!" she grinned. "Uh oh. I'm afraid anyone not at their seats is now considered late. And unfortunately, as punishment, you're going to be today's… practice dummies. What would you say to us transfiguring you into cannonballs and shooting you into the lake?"

The entire class, including the non-late comers, gazed at her in horror.

"Pffft, oh wow," Professor Who said, breaking out into giggles. "You should have seen the looks on your faces. How about five points to… hmmm, eh, five points to all houses to make up for it."

The entire class seemed to be in a state of confusion, as if unsure whether to cheer or tell her that such a thing was meaningless.

In the meantime, Sunset and Hermione glanced at each other, baffled. "Is she insane?" Hermione whispered.

"I'm… not sure yet," Sunset gulped.

"Perhaps she is," Luna beamed, giggling along with their apparent mad woman for a teacher. "Insanely fun!"

Hermione deadpanned. "Right then."

“Alright, alright, that’s enough jocular jesting for now,” Professor Who smiled. “For those who weren’t paying attention at the Sorting Hat Ceremony, I’m Professor Missy Who, Deputy Minister of the Federation Board of Education, Receiver of the Federation Citation of Honor of 1923, yadda yadda, this probably means nothing to you, right?”

The class sat in stunned silence.

“Okididokity,” she smiled. “Now that formalities are out of the way, let’s talk about Transfiguration. As many of you already know, it is without a doubt one of the hardest magical subjects to master and to perform. Just one transfiguration spell can drain you of an entire day’s worth of mana. It’s why the Federation doesn’t tend to use it in industrial applications, and instead usually uses Amestrian Alchemy. However, transfiguration does have its advantages over that. Can anyone give me an example?”

This time, to the surprise of Hermione and Sunset, Luna’s hand shot up almost immediately. For the first time since Sunset had met her, she seemed to be eager to impress.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Amestrian Alchemy does not involve the transformation of energy into matter,” she explained. “Mass must be conserved in the process or transformed into energy. Transfiguration, however, allows magical energies to be converted into matter when need-be. Thus, it allows more flexibility.”

Hermione and Sunset gazed at her, wide-eyed. While Luna had never come off as dumb, she hadn’t shown that she might be the smartest person out of all of them until now.

‘Maybe she just didn’t want to show off?’

“You, my dear, are my new favorite,” Professor Who beamed. “Five points from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. That’s how that works, right?”

Hermione’s jaw dropped slightly.

The first half of the lesson went the same way, with Professor Who seemingly going out of her way to be as quirky as possible. She certainly knew her stuff, however, much more than someone of her demeanor let on. She was similar to Luna in that regard, which seemed to be why the two were bonding so quickly.

“Now then, time for something even more fun,” Missy beamed, midway through. “Wands are the primary channeling device used here, yes? Splendid. Take those out.”

Tepidly, Sunset just that. She had barely used her wand yet, as channelling magic through it instead of her hands felt as unnatural as breathing through one’s ears.

Still, the intricacies of wands fascinated her. Each was fairly unique, given they were made of a combination of woods and cores, with there being hundreds of types of each. Her's was made of vine, which she was told primarily suited those who sought higher purposes in life. And its core was a unicorn hair, and not just any unicorn hair, but one that belonged to her bonded unicorn, Solar Ray, back home.

‘I wonder how she’s doing?’ she said to herself, a hint of nostalgia flowing through her. ’Galloping through the shadow of Canterlot right now, I bet.’

“You’ll do fine,” Hermione said, noticing Sunset’s look of consternation. “Just follow the instructions exactly.”

Sunset nodded, giving her an appreciative smile.

“Now then,” Missy said, wielding an umbrella of all things. Apparently, she noticed the students giving her questioning looks, as she quickly followed with: “Yes, it’s a wandbrella. Don’t worry about that.”

“First Hagrid, now her,” Hermione muttered quietly.

“Hm?” Luna pondered.

“Nevermind.”

“I don’t want to drain your mana reserves so early into the day,” Missy said. “So we’ll be doing something relatively simple: the Silver Shield Spell.”

Hermione’s eyes widened at that. Sunset could see an odd mix of skepticism and delight in them. “That is not a simple spell,” she whispered.

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Sunset said. “I’ve never even heard of it.”

Apparently, the class agreed with Hermione, as there were numerous murmurs of discontent.

“Come now,” Professor Who laughed. “Many of you here are veterans of the Second Wizarding War. Surviving against an army of Death Eaters led by Voldemort himself should qualify you for anything.”

Though those words didn’t mean much to Sunset, they apparently did to Hermione and, to a slight extent, Luna as well. As soon as Missy had spoken them, their faces sank into a state of depression.

Sunset had the distinct impression neither of them wanted to be reminded of the war whatsoever.

Professor Who didn’t seem to notice or care. For she immediately continued with: “The Federation expects great things from all of its magical youth, and given your rather extreme life experience with it, I personally believe this school will be the vanguard in leading it into a new age of mystic discovery. Have faith in yourselves, because we have faith in you.”

She then cleared her throat. “Now then, you know the drill by now. I’ll do the spell several times. Pay close attention to my hand movements and the incantation.” With that, she twirled her wand and, in a loud tone, said: “Adhebete Clypeus!”

With a crackle of magic, a beautiful, shimmering, silver shield appeared before her wand. Semi-triangular in shape, it was complete with a strange symbol engraved in its center: a circle with what looked like a figure-eight within. As promised, Missy repeated the spell several times. Then, the class began to follow suit.

Unsurprisingly, nobody managed to cast it the first time, forcing Missy to repeat the process, disappointment laced on her.

What was surprising was who managed to cast it first: not Hermione, as expected, but one of the Ravenclaws Sunset didn’t know the name of. Luna was the second to cast it successfully, and Sunset managed to conjure it a little after (the symbol on it a blazing sun, the same as the marking on her shoulder).

It wasn’t until nearly half the class had managed to do it that Hermione finally had it down, a look of extreme frustration and distraction mixed with her earlier sorrow on her.

‘Something’s wrong,’ Sunset thought. ‘I saw her cast a difficult spell on the train ride, and everyone says she’s the most talented person here.’

By the end of the lesson, everyone looked exhausted. Despite Missy’s promise not to drain their mana too much, Sunset felt like her pool was almost completely gone, given how hungry, thirsty, and tired she suddenly felt. The professor did allow them to rest near the end of class, however, which gave Sunset a small amount of time to recuperate. Still, she wanted to curse to herself when Missy called for her as everyone else was leaving.

“Just a tick, Ms. Shimmer,” Missy asked. “A bit for your thoughts?”

“Er, sure,” Sunset said, before glancing at Luna and Hermione. “See you guys later?”

“Yeah,” Hermione said, sorrow still in her tone. “See you.”

And so, Sunset was left alone with the unusual professor. The latter quickly smiled, ushering her over to her desk. As Sunset approached, she heard her softly singing:

“Equestria, Equestria, pride of Celestia,
Three tribes, three races, bound in the light.”

Sunset blinked, unsure how to respond. ‘Why is she singing our anthem?’

“You’re probably wondering why I’m singing your anthem,” Missy beamed perkily.

‘My mind feels violated.’

“Truth is, I rather like it,” she said. “It’s catchy, unusually upbeat and fascinating. Wouldn't you agree?"

“Why is it so fascinating, professor?” Sunset asked, trying to hide the annoyance in her tone.

Missy’s eyes pierced her. “Because of what it implies: you don’t often find absolute monarchies with such genuinely devoted subjects. Most have to rule through fear, through scapegoating and diversion - the usual despot tactics - but all evidence suggests all three of Equestria’s races and their equine companions are treated equally. And all are devoted to their leader not out of fear, but love.” She then smiled invitingly. “Oh, and before I forget: please, call me Missy.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Sunset glanced away from her. Her irritation at not being able to leave for lunch was now replaced with an annoyance at what the professor was saying. It seemed she needed a lesson in what was really going on in Equestria. “But… I don’t think that’s entirely true. Most Equestrians do love Celestia, but not all of them want to be ruled by her.”

Missy raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”

“I mean that some would rather try… a different form of government,” Sunset explained.

“I see,” Missy nodded. Then, seemingly changing the subject, she continued with: “Tell me, Sunset, what do you think of the Federation so far?”

Sunset furrowed her brow, trying to read Missy’s expressions. ‘Why?’

“Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “I ask purely out of curiosity.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Well, I find it… exhilarating.” She looked directly into Missy’s eyes, a sudden passion flaring in her soul. “Everyone here seems to be truly free.”

“Truly free?”

“That’s right,” Sunset nodded. “Your people don’t just have the freedom to choose how they want to live or what career they want, but the freedom to choose everything, even their leadership.” Her hand balled into a fist. “Celestia doesn’t think it’s a big deal. That Equestrians are free to do what they want in life and that's enough. But how can anyone say they have their destiny in their own hands without democracy?”

Missy cocked her head slightly, smiling quizzically. “Democracy has its own drawbacks, you know. Some would say it makes a nation weak - that decisions take too long to be made, and that leaders are often chosen for their charisma instead of their competence.”

“The Federation certainly doesn’t seem weak,” Sunset pointed out. “You're doing so awesome nations are joining you left and right. You've proven everything that limits democracy can be solved through proper education and infrastructure.”

“You’ve given this quite a bit of thought,” Missy said.

“I’ve had to,” Sunset sighed. “I’ve tried every argument I can to make Celestia listen, and she’s turned me away at every turn.”

Missy tapped her chin. “Perhaps if enough Equestrians demand it…”

“Some are,” Sunset interrupted. “The Equestrian Democracy Movement has been gaining speed. But they’re still just too few.”

“Well, that’s truly a shame,” Missy said, frowning. “Keep this under your hat, but little birdies tell me that the Federation High Council has been seriously considering giving them an invite.”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “They… they what?”

“An invitation to join the Federation, silly,” Missy chuckled. “However, the fact that Equestria is still a monarchy has given them… mmm, cold feet, you could say. Tell me, if they were persuaded otherwise, do you think Celestia would accept?”

Sunset paused, thinking for a moment. While she quite admired the Federation, she wasn’t sure whether or not she should be giving away this crucial piece of information. Nonetheless, the opportunity was so inviting…

“Well, she keeps saying an ‘age of danger’ is upon us,” Sunset finally said. “I don’t know if she would be open to straight up joining, but closer ties? Maybe even an alliance? Tartarus, yes.”

“Intriguing,” Missy said, a twinkle in her eye. “Mind if I pass that along?”

“No, no not at all,” Sunset said, smiling slightly. For the first time since she had arrived, talking about her homeland wasn’t making her sad or angry, but excited.

“Good,” Missy said. “Well, before I hold you up for too long, I’ll let you go. Do try not to get yourself blown up in charms, okay?”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, forcing a chuckle. “But uh, could you let me know if anything happens with this?”

“You've made this party possible,” Missy grinned. “I’m not about to burn your invite.”

"Hey Sunset!" Frisk said, joining her at the Hufflepuff table an hour later for lunch and setting Flowey down next to her.

"Hey Frisk," Sunset said, gazing up from her salad. "How was Care For Magical Creatures?"

"It sucked," Flowey interjected. "That big oaf Hagrid needs to learn how to control his pets."

Frisk winced slightly. "One of Hagrid's Murtlaps might have sort of almost tried to make Flowey into a snack."

"I came this close to strangling the stupid thing," Flowey growled. "But Frisk and her bleeding heart stopped me."

Sunset blinked. 'Again, how does that work?'

"You're lucky I did," Frisk said. "Everyone says Hagrid really loves his pets. If you had hurt one, who knows what he might have done?"

"I'd take a bite outa his SOUL if he tried something," Flowey grinned wickedly. "Mess around and find out, sucka."

"You can do that sort of thing?" Sunset asked.

"I can do lotsa stuff," Flowey smirked. "Care for a demonstration, Knife Ears?"

"Yeah, no," Sunset said. "Keep your SOUL magic to yourself, Murtlap Bait."

"Hah!" Flowey grinned. "Not bad for a start. A few more cycles of practice and maybe you'd come up with a clever nickname."

"Wait, did mom talk about that?" Frisk said, seemingly eager to change the subject. "SOUL magic?"

Sunset nodded. "A little. Your mom's a good teacher, by the way. She seems to really love what she does."

"She's had a few years of experience," Frisk said with pride. "Back at the Monster Kingdom, that is. She was so good she pretty much built the entire school system there from the ground up. Anyways, did you have Transfiguration yet? Cus that’s my next class."

Sunset nodded.

"What was Professor Who like?"

"Really odd," Sunset admitted. "And her class was taxing. I don’t think she’s going to be the most popular teacher around. However, she’s also... really intelligent if you can look past that."

“Oh, I bet she is,” Flowey said, grinning wickedly. “She’d have to be.”

“I really don’t like the way you said that,” Sunset pointed out.

Frisk blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s something freaky about her,” Flowey said. “And her smarts are letting her cover it up.”

“How could you know this?” Sunset said somewhat defensively. “You haven’t even met her.”

“Because I read her SOUL, idiot,” Flowey sighed. “At the stupid sorting thing. I’m a Monster, remember? Something was up with it, particularly her Level of Violence. Like it was altered in some way, probably by her. Just like your pal Smiley Trashbag, Frisk, there’s more to her than you’d think. I’m just surprised you didn’t see that for yourself.”

“Flowey, I don’t just go around reading everyone’s SOULs,” Frisk sighed. “It’s kind of rude.”

“And you’re making a lot of assumptions here,” Sunset said, folding her arms.

“Whatever you wanna think, Knife Ears,” Flowey winked. “I’m just worried about…”

He paused, suddenly looking very displeased with himself. He seemed to be trying to avoid looking at Frisk.

“Worried about what?” Frisk asked, a hint of a knowing smile on her face. “Go on.”

“Ugh, piss off,” Flowey snapped, immediately tunnelling into his pot’s soil.

Sunset gazed at the pot, baffled, before looking back at Frisk. “Think he’s telling the truth?”

“I don’t know,” Firsk pondered. “He’s usually not serious about… well, anything. Buuuut maybe, just in case, we should talk to Hermione and Luna about it.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Sunset said, striking a thinking pose. ‘If anyone could help, it’d be those two, right?’

Sunset's next class, Charms went by somewhat slowly, as neither Hermione or Luna were attending it. She didn't exactly learn too many new things, either, save for a fairly intricate anti-warding spell - and one which required a wand. She was certain that if she hadn't already practiced with hers in Transfiguration, she would have humiliated herself. Fortunately, she didn't seem to do any worse, or better for that matter, than anyone else in the class.

'Just gotta keep treating my wand like an extension of my hand.'

Next was Herbology, a much more fascinating subject for Sunset. While magic may have had certain universal traits, nature was quite adamant in giving Equestrian and Terran flora innumerous unique characteristics, especially in relation to size. Plants on the Terran Continent in general were larger, and in certain areas, trees could grow to the size of skyscrapers (and produce a sap that could make a wicked growth potion).

Perhaps the constant weather control by the Averials and their pegasi in her homeland had limited floral size for whatever reason; everywhere but in the mysterious Everfree Forest, that is. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. Either way, maybe if Equestria and the Federation did grow closer, they could work together to figure it out.

Unlike Charms, at least one of her friends did join her for Herbology, Luna. Unfortunately, Professor Sprout didn’t give them much time to talk until the end class. Not only was she not able to voice her and Frisk’s concerns, but it made the last portion of the class go by much more slowly when the second subject came up; a subject that was truly the epitome of boredom.

At least for Sunset.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so fascinated by a Herbology lesson before,” Luna said as she walked with her away from the class’s greenhouse. “I never knew there were so many magical properties to a simple head of lettuce. Then again, it’s not the only vegetable that’s more than meets the eyes, is it?”

Sunset raised her eyebrows. “Is it?”

“Of course,” she said dreamily. “Daddy says that you can brew an elixir of immortality from turnips. We could all be living forever this very moment if not for Section 31.”

“Who?” Sunset blinked.

“The Federation’s secret, secret police,” Luna replied. “You see, the elixir has a very complicated formula, and they’ve since hidden the only copy away in one of their secret vaults.”

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle. “No offense, Luna, but the Federation doesn’t seem the type to have a secret police.”

“A secret, secret police,” Luna corrected.

“Maybe we can look into that later,” Sunset said, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “But I do need to talk with you and Hermione about something involving them.”

“Section 31?”

“No, the Federation,” Sunset said. “Specifically about Professor Who.”

Luna’s eyes widened in delight. “Professor Who?”

“You really like her, don’t you?” Sunset said, suddenly feeling regretful about the upcoming conversation.

“I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t,” Luna said matter of factly. “I wish she hadn't brought up the war, and she does have very high expectations, but her teaching style is clever. Abstract in a way that draws in your attention and holds it.”

Sunset blinked. “That’s actually a really good point. You think her… quirkiness is part of a teaching tactic?”

“It’s possible,“ Luna said. “But you said you needed to talk to me and Hermione about her?”

“Er, yes.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know where she is,” Luna said. “We were supposed to have Arithmancy together, but she missed the class. Professor Vector was very concerned.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. She hadn’t known Hermione for more than two days, but she certainly seemed like the last type to miss any classes. “Should… we be concerned? She did seem kind of shaken up after Transfiguration.”

“That is true,” Luna said ponderously. “It is possible that she may have…” She trailed off.

“May have what?” Sunset asked. “Does it have something to do with the war?”

“It is a… solemn topic.”

“Come on, Luna,” Sunset said. “I know it’s not a fun topic, but you know her better than I do. Is this normal for her?”

Luna paused, glancing at Sunset with a look she couldn’t place. “Before the Second Wizarding War, before I was even born, there was a much larger war: The Great War. The 'War to End All Wars'".

Sunset furrowed her brow, not sure why Luna had seemingly changed the topic. Nonetheless, she decided to humor her: "It was the one fought between the human nations on this continent. It's what led to the Federation."

"Yes," Luna said hazily. "My father had a dear friend - a muggle - who fought in it. He never talked about it, though. He was too busy being his kind self - always trying his best to cheer up everyone around him." She smiled warmly. “He was a good man.”

She then took a deep, shuddering breath. "However, deep down… deep down I wondered if he ever really left the battlefield. Whether he was still stuck in those trenches as spells and bombs blasted around him. It makes me wonder if sometimes, horrible moments in our past can become so burned into our memories that they can become our presents. Even I sometimes… sometimes..."

She closed her eyes, growing silent.

"Luna," Sunset stopped her, feeling quite unnerved. "Just how deep was Hermione into that war?"

"Let's just see if she's at dinner," she spoke, not looking at Sunset. "And go from there."

Sunset nodded slowly, and the two strode towards the Great Hall in silence. She was still contemplating the meaning of Luna's words when they arrived.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

A Troll in the Dungeon

"Frisk, have you seen Hermione anywhere?" Sunset asked, taking a seat next to her at the Hufflepuff dinner table, Luna sitting across from them.

"Huh?" Frisk said. "No. I haven't seen her since we got here yesterday. Why? Is everything okay?"

"We're not sure," Sunset said. "She wasn't in her afternoon classes."

"Hah!" Flowey cackled. "A know-it-all like her not showing up to show off? Yeah, I don't think so."

"Seriously?" Sunset said, shooting him a glare.

"He does have… somewhat of a point," Luna said. "Like I said, this is very unusual for her."

"Could she have gotten sick?" Frisk asked.

"She didn't look sick this morning," Sunset said, before letting out an embarrassed sigh. "Though… honestly, it could be that. Could be a bunch of different things. What if we’re worrying over nothing?"

"Do you have classes with her tomorrow?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, Potions," Sunset nodded. "What do you think, Luna? Should we call off the search until then?"

Before she could open her mouth, she was interrupted by Saggitarius of all people, just now coming to the dinner table. "My apologies for the intrusion. But are you speaking of the female Gryffindor prefect?"

"Well… yeah," Sunset blinked. "Have you seen her?"

"Indeed I have," he said. "She happened to be upon the same tower I had chosen for my nightly communion with the stars. Not that I minded the company, of course.”

“What was Hermione doing up there?” Frisk wondered.

“At first I thought she was stargazing,” Sagittarius continued. “But upon further inspection… no, I don’t believe so. Before she knew I was there, she held a morose posture, and appeared to be in deep contemplation. Since her gaze was downward, I don’t believe it involved the constellations.”

“What are you, a friggin’ poet?” Flowey groaned. “Or do all centaurs talk like that?”

“Many of us do, demon flower,” Sagittarius said, agitated. “But what was I saying again? Oh yes. Hermione. I... found the sight of her in such a state so poignant that I did not wish to interrupt it. However, she must have heard my hoof-falls when I turned to leave. And when she faced me…” He cleared his throat. “Mmm… it's possibly something she would like to remain private.”

“That’s alright, Sagittarius,” Luna consoled. “We just want to know where she went.”

“She never told me,” Saggatarius continued. "She simply said hello then left. It was quite… awkward. That being said, I do remember hearing her speak to someone at the base of the tower. Headmistress McGonnegal, I believe."

"About prefect stuff?" Frisk asked.

"No, Headmistress McGonnegal isn't the head of Gryffindor anymore," Luna said. "I don't know why they'd be talking about that."

"I'm not sure what the exact topic was," Saggitarius continued. "Though I remembered hearing the headmistress saying something about ‘not needing more eyes in the dungeon', and then Hermione saying something about, ‘using Harry’s cloak'." Saggitarius raised his eyebrows. "I wonder… was she referring to Harry Potter? He who brought the Dark Lord’s requiem?"

"Hey, didn't Hermione say you and her were close with him?" Frisk asked, looking to Luna.

Luna smiled warmly. "He was my first real friend. A wonderful soul all around. And he did own a cloak. A Cloak of Invisibility, in fact - one of the Deathly Hallows."

"What's a Deathly Hallow?" Frisk asked.

"Sounds like some kind of vampiric jazz band," Flowey snarked.

"It would take a while to explain," Luna said. "I'll have to find a copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard for you."

"But the main point is it can make you invisible, right?" Sunset asked.

"Mhm," Luna nodded. “And I’m sure he would have let Hermione use it if she asked.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. "Then it sounds like Hermione wanted to help spy on something in the dungeon.”

"Wasn't the Federation doing something down there?" Frisk asked. "Magical research or whatever?"

"That must be it," Sunset exclaimed. "Though why would Hermione want to spy on them?"

"Because she's obviously smarter than you idiots and doesn't trust the Federation," Flowey groaned. "Or their weirdo representative."

"Just because Professor Who is different doesn't make her a bad person," Luna said, her voice once more losing its dreamy quality.

"And the Federation hasn't done anything evil yet," Frisk said in a scolding tone. "You and I both know that, Flowey."

“That we know about,” Flowey said, rolling his beady little eyes. "And you just said earlier Professor Who might be worth looking into. Yet you're sticking up for her employers?"

"Well, I--"

"As always: great logic, Frisk," Flowey sighed. "Ten out of ten."

"Why would you think Professor Who should be looked into, Frisk?" Luna asked in a slightly hurt tone.

"She didn't exactly," Sunset said. "Mr. Talking Weed did."

"Oof," Flowey said in a mockingly hurt tone. "Trying hard but still haven't even hit the board, Knife Ears." He then looked at Luna with a wicked grin. "Yeah, I said your new idol's got something up with her. And I had a good reason…"

As he had earlier with Sunset, he explained Missy's soul had been altered, most likely by her herself.

After he finished, Luna gazed at him skeptically, her arms folded. "I may have an open mind most of the time, but considering the source of this…"

"Yeah, yeah, you don’t trust me, I get it," Flowey laughed. "Whatever. Who has no thumbs and doesn't give a crap? Flowey the Flower. How ya' doin'?"

"If you don't care what we think, why bother 'warning' us?" Sunset asked.

"I have my reasons," Flowey huffed, glancing at Frisk briefly. "One of them being you'll feel all the dumber when I'm proven right." He gave another wicked grin. "And by the way, if I am right, which I probably am, you better hope Missy doesn't do any SOUL magic when Hermione is spying on her or whatever. Cus invisible to the naked eye or not, there's no hiding from that.” In a sing song tone, he finished with: “She might just spot her."

"Oh come on,” Sunset said, rolling her eyes. “Now you’re just trying to scare us.”

Frisk, however, didn’t seem to agree. She gazed at Sunset warily. “I… I don’t know about that. I don’t know why Missy would be looking at SOULs all the time, but if the timing’s right...”

Sunset raised her eyebrows. “Then there is a chance she might be in trouble?”

“Uh huh,” Frisk nodded.

Sunset shuddered. Her and her friends could very easily go looking for Hermione and warn her. Frisk did know SOUL magic, and could spot her, after all. However, if they were caught trespassing in an area restricted by the Federation, with her being an unofficial representative of Equestria, it could jeopardize the relationship she had just gotten done starting to build between them.

‘But what would happen to Hermione if she was caught spying?’ Sunset asked herself. ‘If Missy is as bad as Flowey thinks, she could be capable of… anything.’

Swallowing hard, she looked towards Saggitarius. “How long ago did she leave the observation tower?”

“But a moment ago,” he said.

She then looked towards Frisk. “Alright, what’s say we go try to warn her?”

“An adventure into the dungeon?” Frisk said, smiling broadly. “I’m down!”

“Luna?” she asked.

“I don’t believe Professor Who would do anything bad to Hermione if she found her,” Luna said, as if reading Sunset’s previous thoughts. “Though I still wouldn’t want her to get in trouble.”

“Then it’s settled!” Frisk said enthusiastically, before lightly pounding her fists on the table. “Dungeon adventure! Dungeon adventure! Oh yeah!”

“I’m going to pretend I heard nothing of this,” Sagittarius said, turning away from them. “The Federation has been nothing but good to my people. We would not have equal rights with you humans without their support. I do not wish to trample on our relationship.”

“I sort of know how you feel, believe it or not,” Sunset said. “It’s alright. It’s not your ‘fight’, anyway.”

Sagittarius nodded. “Thank you. Though nonetheless, I wish you luck.”

“Thanks!” Frisk said, glancing down at Flowey. “Flowey, you wanna come?”

“Guess this is sort of my fault you’re going, not that I care,” he sighed loudly. “So fine, whatever. It’ll be funny to watch you all screw this up, anyway.”

Frisk gave a thumbs up. “That’s a yes, then! Come on, let’s go.”

With the help of Hogwarts’s famous moving staircases, it didn’t take them long to navigate to the twisting, stone corridors of the dungeons. While fairly dark and eerie, they were surprisingly clean and clear of what you’d expect from them: wall fungus and heavy humidity. Nonetheless, it didn’t take Flowey long to find a way to make them horrible.

“How many people do you think they used to torture down here back in the day?” Flowey asked. “I bet that Salazar Slytherin guy used to have a ball! Boilings and scalpings and stretchings, oh my!”

Sunset gave him a look, before gazing up at Frisk. “No offense, but did we really have to bring him?”

“If I had left him alone with Saggitarius, he might not have been there when I got back,” Frisk said.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Frisk gave her a prominent frown.

“Right, right,” Sunset sighed. “Sorry.”

“Pffft” Flowey chuckled. “You believe that crap? Frisk is just too stupid not to love me. That’s why I’m here.”

Luna gazed at Frisk pensively. “I do wonder how a kind person like yourself and Flowey became so close.”

“It’s… complicated,” Frisk said, taking a deep, solemn breath. “Let’s just say the story about how I ‘freed the monsters’ leaves out a lot of important parts…”

“Parts that are ours alone to know,” Flowey smirked.

“I can’t remember if I brought this up before,” Frisk continued, a haunted look across her. “But Flowey literally can’t sympathize with other people.”

“Wait, you’re saying he’s a straight-up sociopath?” Sunset asked. “I’m shocked. Shocked!”

Flowey raised his eyebrows as if to say, ‘Really?’

“Okay, not that shocked,” Sunset said.

“Yet sociopathy is more of a mental illness,” Luna said. “This is something different, isn’t it?”

Frisk gazed at her, surprised. “W-Well, yes, but just like with people with that sort of illness, it’s not really his fault.”

“Stop trying to make me pitiable, Frisk,” Flowey groaned, folding two of his leaves like a pair of arms. “I don’t want any of it.”

Frisk ignored him. “And none of that means he doesn’t have it in him to do good. I’ve seen him do it before! He just can’t… feel anything when he does it.”

“He doesn’t gain joy from it,” Luna said, understandingly. “There’s no ‘reward’.”

“Exactly,” Frisk said.

“Shut up, already,” Flowey moaned.

Frisk, again, ignored him. “But doesn’t that make him all the, well, gooder when he does do good? Since he has absolutely no reward for it?”

“Shut. Up!”

“That’s… a really good point, Frisk,” Sunset said. ‘I can’t believe I’m actually starting to feel… empathy for this thing.’

Frisk smiled. “That’s why I have faith in him. Everyone can be a good person, if they just try.”

“For all that is holy, shut up!” Flowey hissed, halting the conversation. “No matter what this idiot thinks, I’m not gonna be helping grannies across the street any time… ever. All of you would do well to get that through your thick skulls now.”

He glared up at Frisk. “And don’t look down on me, by the way. You’re not any better, Ms. ‘Where Are The Knives?’I know you don’t want to remember what happened, but I do. And I don’t care if Chara had a helping hand, I don’t care if those things technically ‘never really happened’. They were still real to both you and me and you know it.”

Frisk’s face sank faster than a rock into a deep pit.

“Frisk?” Sunset said, concerned. “What is he talking about? Who’s Chara?”

“The demon who comes when you call its name,” Luna answered darkly, gaining a look of shock from the group, particularly from Flowey and Frisk.

“How did you…” Frisk said, her mouth gaping open.

“What are you, some sort of freakin’ mind reader?!” Flowey snapped. “If that’s the case, you better get away from me. My mind isn’t a pleasant place to be.”

“I can’t read minds,” Luna said quietly. “She was from a story daddy and I heard.”

“Heard where?” Frisk asked.

“Remember when I said we visited Mt. Ebbott a few summers ago?” she explained. “A kindly old monster - Gerson, I think was his name - told it to us. He believed we’d ‘get a kick out of it’.”

Sunset raised her eyebrows. “A kick out of a story about some creepy demon?”

“We were asking around about local legends at the time,” Luna said. “Monsters, as it turns out, don’t have any less than any other culture. However, we had never heard any as fascinating as theirs. Speaking of which: Frisk, have you ever heard of someone called ‘Gaster?’”

Frisk and Flowey looked at each other, an odd, almost confused look in their eyes, then looked back at Luna.

“Sounds familiar, but… I can’t place my finger on it,” Frisk said.

Flowey merely grunted.

Luna sighed. “Oh well.”

Sunset, now slightly wary at what she had heard, decided to bring the conversation back on track. Just like something bad seemed to be haunting Hermione, something equally bad seemed to be haunting Frisk. “What did you hear about Chara, though?”

“I can’t remember much,” Luna said. “Just that she was, well, a demon, or something like a demon, that was drawn to people whose SOULs had turned sour. I think that’s what he meant by ‘she comes when you call her name’.”

“You… never encountered anyone like her in the Underground, did you, Frisk?” Sunset asked suspiciously.

The question seemed to turn her as pale as a ghost.

“Did you, Flowey?” Sunset asked.

Flowey looked at her coyly, before smiling wickedly. “That’s not my story to tell.”

“H-Hey!,” Frisk suddenly said, relief filling her tone as she pointed ahead. “Maybe we should talk about this some other time, huh? Look at that!”

“Huh…? Oh!” Sunset said, screeching to a halt.

Stretching across the hall ahead of them was a transparent, shimmering ‘wall’ of red energy. In the center of it was a series of churning, lightning-white text, spelling out: ‘Danger Ahead: United Federation of Species Magical Research Zone. Authorized Officials Only.’

Sunset had almost walked right into it.

“Hm,” Luna said, gazing at it ponderously. “Does anyone have a stick?”

The Alchemist's Lair

“Alright, game time,” Sunset said, confidently pounding a fist into her palm. “You’re up, Frisk. What can you see?”

Frisk concentrated, her eyes growing a slightly eerie, yet warm red. She glanced around the dungeon hall for a second, before shaking her head, her eyes returning to normal. "Sorry, not SOUL in sight. Save for ours, of course."

Sunset brought a hand to her chin. "So either she hasn't gotten here yet…"

"Or she found a way in already," Luna continued.

"Whelp, that was fun," Flowey said. "Can we go now?"

"You didn't have to come, you know," Sunset pointed out, before turning back to the shimmering barrier. "Hm. What kind of spell is this, anyway? It kind of reminds me of a barrier spell back home, but I can't be sure."

"What would happen if we tried to walk through it?" Frisk asked.

"Why don't you try it and find out?" Flowey cackled. "Just don't take me with you."

"If it is a barrier spell, it just wouldn't let us through," Sunset explained. "It would be like trying to walk through a solid wall. However, there are spells that look similar that can have… nastier effects. I'm starting to wish I had learned more about spell identification. That way we could--

She paused, raising her eyebrows as a crumpled piece of paper flew through it, coming from the direction of Luna. As it hit the floor on the other side, Sunset noted it didn’t seem damaged at all. A small ripple effect on the shield was the only evidence any interaction took place at all.

"Well, that works," Sunset shrugged.

"That's why I wanted a stick," Luna said happily.

“So what?” Flowey said, now a bit curious himself. “Is it just supposed to be an over the top ‘no trespass’ sign? Pffft, leave it to the Federation to be all flash, no substance--”

Just then, they heard the echo of voices from further beyond the barrier. Then came the thud of heavy boots coming their way.

"Uh oh," Sunset gulped.

"Huh, guess they’re not as terrible after all," Flowey laughed, before giving Luna a taunting look. "Nice job, Loony. Maybe try sharing with the group the next time you want to do something dumb?"

"Seems reasonable," was her only reply, and in the same dreamy tone she usually used.

Flowey gazed at her quizzically. “What, no attempt at a comeback? No retort?”

“Why would I?” Luna questioned.

“Hmmm,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You’re growing oddly resistant to my taunts. Or at least pretending to be.” His eyes narrowed further, to the point where they almost resembled Frisk’s. “This annoys me.”

"Uh, maybe save the banter for another time?" Sunset said, signalling the group duck into a nearby, unused classroom. “We need to hide!”

Everyone eagerly complied. Everyone except...

"Luna, what are you doing?!" Frisk called from within the classroom, the door still creaked open slightly.

"Stay there," she said, smiling slightly. "I have an idea."

Flowey face-ferned. "I'd say she's lost it, but that ship sailed a long time ago."

Sunset was about to call for her herself, and possibly physically drag her into the empty classroom, when she was forced to halt at the sound of echoing voices closing in. She barely had time to close the door before they were close enough to really understand.

"... Probably just another rodent," a woman said. "I swear, that alarm spell's as sensitive as my stomach is to human cheese. Second time it's activated in five minutes."

"I hear ya',” a second, a man said. “I don't get why they don't just send some more guards. Only need one more and we could cover the entry points. Wouldn't need this magic crap."

"I don’t know about that. No need to make others suffer. We're MACO for The Light's sake! We should be out on the frontier or fighting demons, not sitting at home guarding some science project."

"Heh, just don't tell the CO that. Her girlfriend is neck deep in this Synrium…"

They suddenly halted, and despite Sunset having closed the classroom door, she knew why.

"Hello, there!" she heard Luna say in a friendly tone.

"Uh, hi," the male MACO guard said. At this distance, Sunset could hear a slight bit of a flange to his voice. Whoever the guard was didn’t seem to be of species she knew of. "What are you doing here, kid? You weren’t messing around with the barrier, were you?"

“Huh? No,” Luna said innocently.

“Eh, she doesn’t look like the type, Tarquin,” the other said. “At least not the type to do it purposefully. If it was an accident, just say it so, young one. You won’t get in trouble.”

“I promise you, I didn’t touch it,” Luna said. “Though I do recall hearing a group of students near here a second ago.”

“Other students, huh?” Tarquin asked in a suspicious tone. “Were they those… Slythereens or whatever they’re called?”

“I’m not sure, though I did hear them giggling about something.”

“Hah, figures,” Tarquin said. “Maybe it hasn’t been critters after all, Sylvanas.”

“Wouldn’t doubt it,” Sylvanas said. “Their common room is nearby, too. Leave it to a group with their reputation to live in a dungeon. I said it during the briefing: that group still has an aura of darkness about it. After what their elders did, I’m surprised the entire house hasn’t been disbanded.”

“Fancy way of saying ‘they’re trouble’, but I hear ya’,” Tarquin replied. “Honestly? You up for a little preventative guarding?”

“Which means?”

“We go and bust them.”

Sylvanas laughed. “By that you mean we take our frustrations of our current posting out on a group of foolish children?”

“Yep.”

Slyvanus chuckled. “As the humans say, ‘I’m game’.”

“Nice,” Tarquin chuckled. “Have any idea where they went, kid?”

“That way would be the most likely,” Luna said.

Sunset could just imagine Luna innocently pointing them in a particular direction, and she couldn’t help but smile. She would be surprised that a somewhat shy, lovable oddball like Luna would have it in her to pull this sort of trick, but then again, she wasn’t exactly someone you could judge on a glance.

“Thanks,” Tarquin said. “Come on, Sylvanas. Let’s go head them off. The CO won’t mind. She kind of likes people taking the initiative.”

“Very well,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to study more of this castle, anyway. Arthurian-age architecture was quite advanced for its time. Relative to the rest of the Terran Continent, at least...”

Their voices quickly trailed off, which was good, because Sunset and Frisk could barely contain their laughter. Peaking out the classroom door, they beamed at Luna, who gave them her usual whimsical smile.

“Wow, Luna, that was super brave of you!” Frisk said, walking up to her with the rest of the group.

“I’ll say!” Sunset laughed. “How did you know they’d buy your story?”

“I didn’t,” Luna said plainly.

“So you just got super lucky, then,” Flowey smirked.

“Somewhat,” Luna shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ugh,” Flowey groaned. “I think I get it now: you’re just too weird to screw with, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Luna said flatly.

Flowey shot her a glare that could kill. Though like his taunts, it simply bounced off of her. This only seemed to make him angrier.

“Wow, Luna,” Frisk giggled. “I’ve never seen anyone get him in this kind of… tizzy.”

“Tizzy?!” Flowey said, his glare turning positively murderous. “That’s it! What comes above giga? Tera? Yeah, that’s it. Congratulations, I now teraloathe you both!”

“As much as I like seeing him annoyed,” Sunset said. “We should hurry up. We might not get another chance.”

“Whoops, right, sorry,” Frisk said guiltily.

“It’s okay,” Sunset said, before turning to Luna. “But yeah, the barrier’s pretty much harmless, right?”

"The guards walked right through it," Luna said. "From what they say, it isn’t anything more than a detection spell.”

“Probably linked to some object near their post.” Sunset nodded. "A bell would work. Makes sense, too: why would the Federation use really dangerous spells when there's kids running around?"

"Maybe they’re not as noble as you think," Flowey reminded her.

Sunset rolled her eyes, before taking a deep breath and walking right through the red barrier. Other than a slight tingly feeling, as if she were around a strong electromagnetic field, it didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Oh yeah," Sunset said, grinning at Flowey. "Totally feeling the evil here."

“Besides, it’s Missy we're worried about, not the Federation," Frisk sighed. "Come on, Flowey, now you're just trying to get under our skin."

“I didn’t choose the troll life,” he shrugged. “The troll life chose me, remember?”

“I don’t understand,” Luna said quietly. “What would a troll be in this context?”

“Someone who tries to make people angry,” Frisk explained. “It’s an Underground thing.”

“That’s right, and don’t you dare try to appropriate it,” Flowey chided.

“Quiet, everyone,” Sunset said, leading the group forward beyond the forcefield.

As it turned out, the area the Federation had sealed off was larger than expected. It was made up of numerous tunnels and corridors. Sunset estimated they must have equalled at least a couple thousand meters altogether.

Not that this was a totally bad thing. It gave them plenty of room to maneuver around anything that even remotely sounded like a guard. However, it also made finding Hermione, if she was even still there, difficult.

“Starting to think this was a complete waste of time,” Sunset grumbled. “As you humans say, we may have ‘jumped the gun’.”

“That is a Colonial Union saying, thank you very much,” Luna pointed out. “Lyonesse doesn’t have that sort of obsession with firearms. No offense, Frisk.”

“I’m actually originally from the NCR,” Frisk shrugged. “They broke off from the Colonial Union after the war. I’m a bear girl, not an eagle gal.”

“Also, she’s never shot a gun in her life,” Flowey cackled.

Before Sunset was able to indulge in her curiosity about the distant Terran nation, her elven ears perked up.

“Hey, your ears did a thing,” Frisk said. “Can you hear something?”

“Voices…” she said. “No bootsteps, though. I don’t think it’s anyone looking for us.”

“Did I ever mention I’d love to have a pair of those?” Luna said, gazing at her ears.

Sunset merely blinked.

“Should we check them out?” Frisk asked. “The voices. Maybe they’re who Hermione’s trying to spy on.”

“I don’t see why not,” Sunset said. “As long as we’re extra careful and extra quiet. Follow me - this way.”

She led the group to the right, down another long corridor adjacent to the last. Unfortunately, as they were half-way down, the voices faded.

“Damn, lost them,” Sunset grumbled. “I could have sworn I heard them coming from down this way, too.”

“Hm, at least we know where we are, though,,” Luna said ponderously, gazing at one door in particular. “This looks familiar.” Then, in a tone Sunset couldn’t entirely describe, she continued with: “Oh, yes, I remember. This used to be Professor Snape’s office.”

“Professor Snape?” Sunset asked. “I’ve heard the name before. But who--”

“The previous headmaster,” Luna explained. “Also the former Potion Master for the longest time.”

“Wait, I thought Dumbledore was the last headmaster?” Frisk asked.

“The last one officially recognized by everyone,” Luna said. “Unfortunately, many haven’t accepted Professor Snape’s true nature as of yet.”

“And what was his true nature?” Sunset asked.

Luna cocked her head in a peculiar way, then simply said: “Odd.”

Sunset raised her eyebrows. She had no intention of saying it out loud, but she couldn’t help but think: ‘If Luna thinks someone was odd, that means something.’

Before she could say more, her ears perked once again. This time, the voices were much closer, and she could hear them clearly. In fact, she was almost certain they were coming from behind Professor Snape’s door.

“... I-I need to stress that i-it simply may not have absorbed enough of the energies it needs as of yet,” a nervous sounding, female voice said.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Frisk’s own widen. Before Sunset could ask about it, another voice chimed in, most definitely Missy’s.

“No, that’s not it,” she sighed. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up, dearie, but the fact of the matter is, he simply doesn’t want to talk to me. There was a ring, but alas, no answer, and he’s always near the phone.”

“Then let me try again,” another female voice, this time gruff, said. “At least it’d make me feel a little useful down here.”

She looked over to Frisk again. It looked like she was literally bouncing in delight at this point. Did she know who those new voices belonged to?

“While your proficiency in SOUL magic is almost certainly greater than my own,” Missy began. “Remember what I said, sergeant?”

“Yeah, that you really have to want to try to contact someone for the Synrium Orb to work,” the ‘sergeant’ said. “I’ll just need to want harder.”

“Though I like your enthusiasm, I don’t believe tricking the orb is possible,” Missy said. “It has to be a genuine, honest want. And while I don’t doubt that you wish to fulfill this task, you simply don’t have the… personal investment that I do. Not to worry, however. Nothing good in life comes easy, you know. We’ll have to figure something else out.”

There was a pause, followed by words horrifying in their implication, but spoken completely nonchalantly: “Wouldn’t you say, Ms. Granger?”

There was an audible gasp, followed by the door swinging open. Nobody even had a moment to react before - “OOF!” - an invisible force ran right into Sunset, knocking her to the ground. By the time she realized it was likely an invisible Hermione, she was no longer so invisible. It turned out that she was indeed wearing the cloak, or at least was before it was pulled off her by an amused looking Missy, now standing above the two.

After that, another figure came running out of the room: a blue, fish-like humanoid with an eyepatch. She had a peculiar, military-like uniform on, with a word clearly printed across the front of it: ‘MACO’. Cowering behind her was another figure: a yellow, bespeckled humanoid lizard of some sort. She wore a lab coat with the words ‘FMRA’ on it.

While the blue humanoid was initially angry-looking, her eye quickly turned to a mix of shock and confusion.

Apparently, this was the same thing the rest of the group, minus Missy, was feeling. So much so it took nearly a lifetime before anyone spoke.

“S-Sunset?” Hermione gasped.

“Hermione!” Sunset cried.

“Frisk?” the blue fish said.

“F-Flowey?!” the lizard gulped.

“Undyne! Alphys!” Frisk cheered.

“Luna,” Luna said, glancing about and smiling whimsically.

“God damnit,” Flowey grumbled, looking at the lizard and fish lady. “If it isn’t Fish Face and Turbonerd. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.”

Before they could respond, Missy chimed in, now with a look of infinite curiosity on her. “This is indeed unexpected… though not unwelcome.”

Sunset’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “You mean… you’re not angry?”

Her smile widened. “Should I be?”

“Well, I, uh…”

She let out a bemused giggle. “I’ve never been one for being too presumptuous. Why don’t we chat a little?”

She narrowed her eyes with a smirk.

“Then I’ll decide if I should be angry.”

Old Faces, New Uniforms

Though Sunset was surprised at Missy’s casual tone at their trespassing, it didn’t mean they were out of the woods just yet. While she wasn’t exactly acting like it was an interrogation, that was almost certainly what she intended to do. Why else would she split up the group, leading both Hermione and Luna away into a vacant room, seemingly to question them in pairs?

‘Before we have a chance to make up some story together,’ Sunset thought.

This left Sunset, the eye-patch wearing aquatic lady known as Undyne, the scientific lizard called Alphys, and Frisk standing in the hallway, Flowey still firmly in the latter’s grasp. Despite the circumstance, Sunset was the only one apprehensive. To Frisk, this was apparently a reunion of some sort.

“I can’t believe you were stationed here and didn’t tell me!” Frisk pouted, though obviously not in an overly offended tone.

“Ha! We honestly didn’t even know you were here, kid,” Undyne smirked. “We knew Queen Toriel, er, Tory was going to be teaching at a magic school, and that you’d be going with her, but we didn’t have any idea it’d be Hogwarts.”

Alphys suddenly looked worried. “T-Toriel? H-Here?”

Undyne leaned down and gave her a comforting peck on the head. “Don’t worry, Boo. It’s a big castle. Should be plenty easy to avoid her.”

Alphys sighed in relief, nodding in agreement. “R-Right. True.” She then turned to Frisk, smiling brightly. “H-Hogwarts, though. I guess I should be surprised. This is the best magic school in the Federation, after all.”

“I knew this little punk had it in her,” Undyne grinned. “Anyone who could beat me should only accept the best.”

Sunset glanced between Undyne and Frisk, confused as ever. ‘Some sort of… magical sparring?’

“Heh, it wasn’t a big deal,” Frisk said humbly. “Mom probably pulled a few strings.”

“Nobody likes false humility, Frisk,” Flowey grumbled. “Especially not me.”

“I see you’re still hanging around that thing, though,” Undyne said, giving it a death glare. “Honestly, Frisk, there are better pets out there.”

“I’m nobody’s pet, bitch,” Flowey snapped, earning a smack on the ‘head’ from Frisk. “OUCH! Hey!”

Sunset was practically stunned. This was the first time she had ever seen Frisk get physical with the weed, let alone get this angry.

“That was not a nice thing to say at all, Flowey!” Frisk growled.

“She called me a pet!” Flowey argued, before noticing Alphys tepidly creeping up to him. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“H-Hello, Asriel,” she said shyly.

Sunset did a double take. ‘Asriel?’

“Who?” Flowey said, folding his two ferns for arms. “Never heard of them. Stupid name, though. Probably a stupid face, too. Most definitely stupid parents. After all, they hired you, didn’t they?”

Alphys swallowed hard, but managed to keep her composure.

“He uh,” Frisk coughed. “Still doesn’t like being called that.”

There was an awkward silence, and Sunset feared this reunion among friends might have just been ruined. ‘Gotta try to reroute this conversation... ‘

“Um, so,” Sunset began, gaining their attention. “Uh... hi there.”

‘Well, that could have gone better.’

“Oh, that was dumb of me,” Frisk bemoaned. “I should have introduced you. Alphys, Undyne, this is Sunset Shimmer of Equestria!”

“Hello, Sunset Shimmer of Equestria,” Undyne said, growing a smirk. “I’m Undyne of Ebbot.”

Sunset blinked, unsure how to respond.

“Hah, I’m just messin’ with you!” she grinned. “Unless you really do do the full title thing, which is fine by me. However, I’m cool with just ‘Undyne’.”

“'Sunset’s' fine as well,” Sunset replied, sighing in relief.

“And I’m Alphys,” the lizard said shyly, still shaken from her interaction with Flowey, perhaps. “I… um… never meant an elf with antlers before.”

“It’s an Equestrian Elf thing,” Sunset shrugged, chuckling politely. “Kind of a pain for walking through shorter doors with them, but they do make us look… um...”

“Mystical?” Frisk suggested.

“Yeah, that works,” she laughed. “But yeah, you said you’re both from the Underground?”

“Born and raised, you betcha,” Undyne grinned. “And guarded for the longest time as CAPTAIN! Well, til this little punk went and freed us all. Cost me the job!”

Sunset gave Frisk a joking look. “How could you, Frisk?”

She merely smiled innocently.

“Pffft, joke’s on her, though,” Undyne cackled. “I loved doing gym teaching on the surface. And I love MACO even more than that!”

“What’s MACO?” Sunset blinked.

“I’ll forgive you for that but only cus you’re from half a world away,” Undyne said. “Stands for Mobile Assault Command Operations. The Federation doesn’t like making enemies, but if trouble comes knocking, we’re the first one’s there. HOORAH! And that usually means demon incursions.” She sighed dreamily. “So nice to be able to kick the crap out of actually evil things and not just… you know… um, lost humans.”

She gave Frisk an apologetic look, to which she merely rolled her eyes at.

“Does… the Federation usually have problems with demons?” Sunset blinked.

“Ehehe,” Undyne said, scratching the back of her head. “Well, we didn’t always, but then there was a certain… incident involving a teleportation experiment. It’s the reason why those spells are illegal now. No apparating or anything like that anymore.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. Apparently, Equestria wasn’t the only nation that banned it. Celestia would never tell her exactly why, either. Just something about ‘not needing another Sombra’, whoever that was.

“Still,” Undyne shrugged. “Without em’, I’d have nothing to fight, so… go team twisted magic!” She then smiled down at Alphys. “Not that I don’t mind a… quieter mission or two once and a while, of course.”

‘Nice seeing the Federation embrace all kinds of progress’ Sunset thought cheerfully.

“Quieter mission?” Frisk said, raising her eyebrows. “So wait, is that why you’re here?”

“Yepper,” Undyne said. “Can’t believe I forgot to bring it up earlier, but Alphys here now officially works for the Federation Magical Research Administration.”

“Wait, you got the job?!” Frisk said happily, setting Flowey down and rushing over to hug the Astral, who blushed profusely. “That’s so awesome, Alphys! I knew you would!”

“H-Heh, I-I certainly didn’t,” Alphys said, patting her friend on the back before releasing the hug. “When I s-sent you the letter about it, I w-was almost sure I blew the interview.”

Sunset’s elven ears could barely pick up Flowey mumbling something, but she couldn’t make it out.

“Pffft,” Frisk said, making a dismissive motion with her hand. “Like the Federation would be dumb enough to to turn you down.”

“That’s what I told her!” Undyne said, shaking her head in exasperation. “Didn’t believe me, though.”

“Well, the w-way the interviewer was looking at me…”

“She was a Vulcan Elf, ya’ goof,” Undyne laughed. “They always look like they hate everyone, even when they’re talking to each other! I think it was the opposite, though; she wouldn’t have given you a crazy high stakes first assignment otherwise.”

“T-True…”

“And this isthat assignment?” Sunset asked.

“Mhm,” Alphys nodded. “W-We’ve actually been here since mid-Summer. The project’s been slow, but it kind of has to be for it to be safe.” She glanced at Flowey. “I… didn’t want to rush anything this time around.”

“We’ve also been pretty much cooped up down here, too,” Undyne said. “Been so focused on keeping this thing going smoothly that we didn’t even know students were coming back til like a few days ago!”

“Minister Who i-is sure we’re making progress, though,” Alphys said, before smiling slyly. “Though hopefully not too quickly now that you’re here.”

“Progress with what, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sunset asked.

“Ehhh, can’t talk about that too much,” Undyne said. “If I did I’d have to spear ya’. Kidding’ ,kidding.” She took a deep breath, her expression taking a sterner tone. “Though yeah, speaking of that, I really gotta ask… why did you guys sneak into the restricted zone to begin with?”

Frisk suddenly looked very guilty, glancing away from her. “We uh… we were just worried about our friend, is all.”

“Friend?” Undyne said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hermione,” Sunset said.

“T-The one with the cloak?” Alphys asked. “The invisibility cloak?”

“Mhm,” Frisk nodded solemnly. “We heard she was coming down here and didn’t want her to get in trouble.”

Undyne closed her eye. “That’s… that’s worrying. I mean, I really don’t want to accuse her of anything, but the invisibility thing kind of sort of makes it look like she was…”

“Spying,” Flowey spoke up.

“Flowey, not cool!” Frisk snapped.

“What, just finishing what she was saying,” he shrugged.

Undyne’s face turned even more sour. “Frisk… I’m not gonna ask you to rat out your friend. But if she was spying, she could be in deep trouble…”

“E-Especially if it was for another nation,” Alphys said. “That’s technically a… federal offense. That being… er…. treason.”

Frisk and Sunset’s eyes widened in horror.

“Hang on, hang on now,” Undyne said. “This is only if she was spying for another nation. And even then, the Federation isn’t gonna shoot her or anything. They’re pretty lax on punishment, so it’d be more like… jail time.” She lifted a finger. “Really comfortable jail time, though. This is if she’s an adult, of course.”

“Oh no!” Frisk squeaked. “They couldn’t do that to her! She’s a war hero!”

“A war hero?” Undyne blinked. “Which war? That Lyonessian Wizarding War thing?”

Frisk nodded frantically.

Sunset, however, kept her composure. “I really don’t think she was spying for another nation. That wouldn’t make any sense.”

“Look, before you say anything more, don’t tell me anything you know if it might make her look guilty,” Undyne said. “I’d have to report it. However, if you think there’s anything that might help her, just tell Minister Who. She’s crazy eccentric - like Asgore if he was hopped up on monster coffee - but she’s also pretty reasonable from what I’ve seen. Whatever you do, though, just don’t lie to her. She’ll know.”

“Oh dearest, no need to be so dramatic,” Professor Who said, walking out of the nearby room with a worried looking Hermione and a still serene Luna in tow. “I don’t bite that hard.” She turned back towards Luna and Hermione. “Thank you both for that enlightening conversation. Especially you, Ms. Lovegood.”

“You’re welcome,” Hermione grumbled.

“Do you really think we’ll find proof of Langoliers one day, professor?” Luna asked, obviously picking up a previous conversation. “Daddy says it would be difficult thanks to their incorporeal nature.”

“We may never,” Missy said whimsically. “By all accounts they’re a highly abstract entity - one that may forever be beyond our ability to provide scientific evidence for. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to. After all, we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

“Wandering by lone sea-breakers,” Luna continued for her. “And sitting by desolate streams.”

Flowey gazed at them blankly. Then, in a mocking Lyonessian accent said: “You what, mate?”

‘For once, I agree with him,’ Sunset said. ‘I’m not going to even bother asking what I missed, though.’

“This is getting out of hand,” Undyne chuckled, looking between Missy and Luna. “Now there are two of them.”

“I appreciate anyone with an open mind,” Missy beamed, before raising a finger. “Though that doesn’t mean anyone’s ‘off the hook’ just yet. Still, if after we’re done and everything’s clear… meet me in my regular office sometime tomorrow, Ms. Lovegood. I’d like to discuss the Toclafanes you mentioned… and another even more curious matter.”

“I would love to!” Luna said, more excitement in her tone than anything Sunset had heard yet. Thi was despite the fact Missy hadn’t drawn a conclusion about what they were doing just yet.

“Alrighty then,” Missy smiled, before turning towards Sunset. “Though now for more ambiguous matters. Ms. Shimmer, If you could grab that adorable little talking flower--”

“Piss off,” Flowey grunted.

“--and come with me, that would be fantastic, as my long lost boyfriend used to say.”

She turned and walked towards the vacant room.

And as Sunset picked up a grumpier than usual Flowey and began to follow her, she couldn't help but squint in confusion. 'Long lost boyfriend?'

Parallels

“It appears McGonagall is more distrusting of us than I originally believed,” Missy said, gazing intently at Sunset in the dark, single-torch lit room. “I suppose I can’t really blame her. The last ‘government’ representative to grace this castle wasn’t exactly the most… amicable."

Sunset shifted nervously.

Missy merely laughed. “Don’t worry, dearest, I’ve already deduced Hermione’s motives for this trespass. You don’t need to explain her actions to me.” She then cocked her head slightly. “Though do wonder as to your reasons for being down here.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “We were just worried about Hermione.”

“Now that is curious,” Missy smiled. “A lot to put on the line for someone you’ve only known for… what, a day? And why would you believe she’d be in such grave danger?”

‘Hoooo boy’, Sunset thought. ‘Should I tell her the truth? That we thought you might be some kind of monster? The bad kind, that is.’

Then, something happened Sunset wouldn’t have expected in a thousand years.

“That was actually my bad,” Flowey said, a hint of reluctance in his tone.

“‘Your bad’?” Missy blinked. “In what way?”

“I may have sort of convinced these idiots that the Federation was… a little evil,” Flowey said, smiling innocently. “You in particular.”

“I see,” Missy said. Sunset could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “So heeding your warning, they came down here to save Hermione from us. Is that it?”

“Yup,” Flowey said bluntly.

It took all of Sunset’s will to keep her jaw from hanging open. Was Flowey… actually keeping them out of trouble?

“How did you know she would even be in such horrible peril-” she giggled the last part. “-in the first place?”

“Cus…” Flowey said. “We… saw her go through the barrier.”

Missy’s face was drenched with skepticism. “You… ‘saw’ her?”

“She wasn’t wearing the cloak at the time,” Flowey said, managing to keep his voice fairly smooth.

Missy glanced at him pensively.

Flowey put on his best poker face.

Missy narrowed her eyes, raising a single eyebrow.

Flowey made a face practically screaming, 'Come at me, bro'.

…

Finally, Missy shrugged, and in a cheerful tone, said, “Whelp. Good enough for me.”

Sunset’s eyes widened to the point she was sure they were going to burst out of their sockets. “W-What? Really?”

"I see no need to press the matter further," she said pleasantly. "If anything, this may be my fault for not being more open with McGonagall when we first started. An error I will soon correct."

"So… Hermione isn't in trouble, either?" Sunset asked.

Missy chuckled heartily. "No, I don't believe that will be necessary. Though I don’t believe she was technically acting under McGonnagall’s orders, the influence the headmistress has on the young lady speaks for itself." She tapped her chin. "In fact, I’d almost like to thank her. This whole incident has presented a rather interesting opportunity."

She glanced at Flowey with a coy smirk. And for a brief second, her eyes flashed a brilliant shade of cyan.

"A very interesting opportunity."

For the first time since she had met the potted Monster, Flowey actually looked a little unnerved.

"Uh…" Sunset said, raising a finger.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so ominous," Missy giggled. "I just believe that Flowey, is it? Might be able to help with the experiment we've been conducting down here."

"Yeah, not happening," Flowey said stubbornly.

Missy then turned back to Sunset, seemingly ignoring him. "And perhaps you as well, Ms. Shimmer, if you can master the fine art of SOUL magic."

Sunset shot her a confused look. "What exactly is this 'experiment', if you don't mind me asking?" she asked. "And why do you need our help?"

"Flowey here, being a Monster, is a natural at SOUL magic, and we haven't yet had an Equestrian Elf try their hand at what we're trying to do," Missy explained. "Both I and Dr. Alphys would like to mix and match every variable possible within reason. However, until you're in a position to help, no offense, let's just consider further information an incentive."

Sunset glanced away from her. “I guess that’s fair.”

“I knew you would understand.” Missy then cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'm sure your friends will like to hear the good news. Why don't we let them know? Then, Sergeant Undyne can escort you back.”

Then, throwing Sunset off her guard even further, as she walked towards the door, she began to sing. The tune was somewhat… haunting.

“Come along with me,
And the butterflies and bees.
We can wander through the forest,
And do so as we please.”

Sunset shook her head in dismay, before Flowey cast her a glare. “Before we leave, Knife Ears: a word of warning.” He made a slitting action across his ‘throat’. “You tell anybody that I helped you out, especially Frisk, and you’ll wake up one day with vines wrapped around your neck. Got it?”

“You don’t want me telling them that you’re not actually a completely horrible person?” Sunset said, raising her eyebrows, and not phased at all by his threat.

“It’s a weakness, not a strength,” he spat. “Just remember what I told you, friendo.”

“Hah, I told you Director Who would go easy on you,” Undyne grinned, leading Sunset and her friends out of the Federation’s research zone. “She’s a little off her rocker, but there’s no genius without a little crazy, right?”

“You think she’s a genius?” Luna asked hopefully.

“Alphys does,” Undyne said. “And her word’s good enough for me with that kind of stuff.”

Luna smiled brightly at that. Everything that had happened seemed to only further develop Missy’s status as an idol in Luna’s eyes. Sunset couldn’t exactly blame her, either. She was just happy she hadn’t said ‘I told you so’ yet. Not that it was really in Luna’s character to do so, from what she’d seen so far.

When they finally got to the barrier, they quickly crossed it, and Undyne stood before the group, between them and it. “Alright, punks, end of the line. Just want to say I’m glad none of you got in trouble. Especially you, Frisk - your mom would kill me.”

“Can you please not tell her I was down here?” Frisk begged.

Undyne rolled her eye. “If I did, we’d be the ones getting an earful. She’s actually been on McGonagall’s side when it comes to this whole deal.”

“And what side are you on?” Hermione asked, a distrustful look on her.

“Nobody’s,” she shrugged. “I’m just following orders for now.”

Frisk raised her eyebrows.

“Not like that, kid,” Undyne sighed. “I’m not some brainwashed grunt with no sense of right or wrong. I’ve learned the hard way that that’s a stupid philosophy, and so has MACO. If I thought what we were doing wasn’t in our best interests or overly dangerous, I’d report it. It’s what we’re supposed to do. Alphys thinks it’s fine, though, and I’d trust her on anything.”

Frisk thought for a second, then smiled warmly. “Sorry. I know that’s how you roll now.”

“Darn right,” Undyne grinned. “Just don’t try this again, okay? Minister Who would probably give you detention or something. And believe me, that is just the worst. Writing crap on chalkboards, sitting still for long periods of time? Ugh!” She then glanced about. “Though speaking of ‘detention’… Where did Slyvanas and Tarquin go? We need to have a little…”

She paused. The two of them had just rounded the corner, and upon seeing Undyne, they paused like a deer confronted with a flare spell. This was despite one of them being a six foot tall High Elf and the other a rather intimidating bird-like being.

“Oh crap,” the latter muttered.

Undyne grinned wickedly. “... Talk.”

On the way out of the dungeon, the group walked in near silence for a few moments. Sunset knew this wouldn’t last long, however, as Hermione looked like she had something to say, but couldn’t seem to find the words for it.

Though eventually, with her apparently giving up on tact, they came forth with the force of a freight train.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t hold my tongue any longer,” Hermione cried. “Just what in the world were you all thinking?!”

“Implying they’re capable of that,” Flowey chuckled.

“Not now!” Hermione roared, actually leaving the monster stunned. “Entering a restricted Federation area? Risking getting expelled--” She nodded at Frisk and Luna, before turning to Sunset. “--Or even deported in your case! And all for what? My safety?”

“Yes,” Sunset nodded, trying to keep herself cool. Hermione meant well, but it was never fun being dressed down by anyone.

“Well, that’s just great!” Hermione snapped. “And nice job with it, by the way. A bloody perfect, ten out of ten rescue! How did you even know I’d be in danger in the first place?!”

“Because Missy knows SOUL magic!” Frisk blurted out.

…

A beat of silence.

“And what does that matter?” Hermione said, calming slightly but still folding her arms.

“We guessed she might be able to see you underneath even Harry’s cloak,” Luna said softly. “And we guessed right.”

Something shifted in Hermione’s eyes. She was quickly calming down, but there were certainly more questions she needed answers to. “But… how did you even know I’d be going to the dungeon in the first place? With the cloak, no less?”

“A friend told us,” Frisk said, before quickly adding: “Though they didn’t know we would go after you. We just wanted to know where you were.”

“Ironically, because we wanted to talk to you about Missy’s SOUL magic abilities in the first place,” Sunset said.

Hermione’s expression grew softer. Though via passing a torch, Sunset could see the barest hint of hastily wiped off mascara beneath her eyes.

‘Has she been crying recently?’ Sunset asked herself solemnly.

“That… that makes sense, I suppose,” Hermione nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up at you for this. You meant well, after all.” She smiled slightly, a warm look upon her. “In fact, to be honest, it reminds me of another time a few friends rescued me. In the very same dungeon, no less.”

“Er, attempted to rescue you in our case,” Sunset corrected.

Hermione laughed. “It’s the thought that counts, I suppose.”

“Was that when you, Harry, and Ron, fought the cave troll?” Luna asked.

“Fighting it would be giving us far too much credit,” Hermione chuckled. "We had the grace of a dancer with two left feet going up against it. Or as Headmistress McGonagall put it, ‘sheer dumb luck’."

“Then what happened?” Frisk asked eagerly.

“Woo, yeah, tell us,” Flowey said, mostly sarcastically, though with an undercurrent of genuine curiosity in his tone.

Hermione smiled warmly, and Sunset would soon find out why.

“Well, it all started on All Hallow’s Eve, almost a decade ago…”

Deep into the evening, much to the delight of the group (even Flowey to a certain extent), Hermione began regalling them with tales of the many adventures she had partaken in in her early years at Hogwarts. Everything from fighting the cave troll in her first year, to finding the legendary Chamber of Secrets in her second, to fending off a werewolf in her third. Despite the peril she was frequently put in, she recalled the tales in the same tone someone would talk about a happy childhood.

Though notably, she never spoke of anything beyond her third year. Apparently, that perilous though exuberant first start only went up to a certain point, and then the simpler times came to an end.

Sunset couldn’t help but think back to Hermione’s ability to see thestrals, the many students calling her a ‘war hero’, Luna’s speech on bad moments sticking with a person, and the caked mascara on Hermione’s face.

The poor girl was still hurting - badly - and it was likely due to her seeing people she cared about pass. Luna, too, was likely hurting as well - she just wasn’t showing it as much.

‘I’ll need to find out more about the war… and its casualties,’ Sunset noted.

After they parted, and Sunset walked the corridor to the Hufflepuff dormitory with Frisk, and her thoughts turned to her, memories flashing before her eyes.

“And the one holding him is Frisk, the Hero of the Underground.”

“I’m not sure if hero is the right word…”

***

“You’ve never seen death before, have you?”

“Not in this timeline, anyway.”

***

"…Most of whom I sit upon have not started their stories, but you, on the other hand, already have quite the tale to tell. Many tales, in fact, separate but coinciding. Some so dark they would chill my bones if I had any."

***

“And don’t look down on me, by the way. You’re not any better, Ms. ‘Where Are The Knives?’I know you don’t want to remember what happened, but I do. And I don’t care if Chara had a helping hand, I don’t care if those things technically ‘never really happened’. They were still real to both you and me and you know it.”

Something terrible had happened during her time in the Underground. Something that only she and Flowey knew about. Whatever haunted her wouldn’t be as easy to find out as Hermione’s, but that didn’t matter.

All that mattered is her new group of friends needed help. And though Sunset knew nothing about how to console someone who lost a loved one, or who went through a dark journey, a newfound determination had sparked inside her. A determination to do what she could for them, even if she didn’t know exactly how to go about it just yet.

'I guess I was wrong,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe there is more for me here than just an education, after all.'

Liberty Unto Stasis

While Sunset’s first day at Hogwarts was as slow time wise as it was eventful, the rest of the week was the exact opposite. As time drew on, the twisting maze of a castle became navigable, strangers became acquaintances, and the unfamiliar became the familiar. Even Transfiguration, which she had expected to start being much more awkward, was going by smoothly. Despite their trespass, Missy’s initial care-free demeanor didn’t seem to be a front. She didn’t seem to hold it against them whatsoever.

In fact, on Friday, she even called Sunset over to her desk at the end of class, hosting a friendly smile.

“I just wanted to let you know that you’ve seemed to have generated a new buzz of intrigue in the upper echelons of the Federation,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “My off-school phone has been ringing off the hook with updates, and owls have been dropping me off notes by the hour. I’ve never seen so many bureaucrats so excited. Well, not that we're capable of much emotions aside from 'mildly satisfied' or 'moderately displeased', but you get the point.” She then winked. “Oh, and not to worry: I never mentioned where my information on Equestria came from. While some may be smart enough to figure it out, don’t expect them to bother you.”

“W-Well, that’s good,” Sunset nodded. “And professor, about the other day--”

“Getting to that,” Missy said sweetly. “Things have taken a step forward from mere musings. The Federation High Council will be convening in two weeks, and I have under good authority that they’ll be agreeing on a diplomatic overture to Equestria - one involving an official offer of alliance.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in excitement. ‘An alliance?! Between the Federation and Equestria?!’

Being the former student of Equestria’s sole leader, she expected her word would have some weight, but this was going beyond her wildest dreams. Despite her new goal of helping her new friends through their woes, her old one of bringing democracy to Equestria was still fresh in her mind.

‘An alliance means Celestia will have to look at the Federation more closely. She might even visit herself. Seeing first-hand what they’ve managed to accomplish… There’s a good chance it’ll convince her to try to emulate it. The first federal elections could start up by next year!’

“If Princess Celestia agrees to it, this will be the first step towards a closer union between our two nations,” Missy explained. “But even it in and of itself will be a substantial move. An alliance of the type we have in mind would mean increased trade, joint military operations, dual-citizenship opportunities, increased cultural exchange…’

“Increased interaction in general,” Sunset smiled.

“Yes,” Missy said. “And the list goes on and on. Keep in mind that there are no telephone wires stretching across the ocean, and long distance radio is a no-go thanks to interference in the Arcturian Sea, buuuut we do have aircraft specifically for flying important parcels. Assuming the plane doesn’t crash or wind up as some eldritch sea monster’s dinner--”

Sunset gazed at her blankly.

“--Which is very unlikely, I assure you - we’ll likely have an answer back in a few weeks.”

“That’s awesome,” Sunset said, shaking her head in disbelief. “Truly awesome. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I figured you’d enjoy the news,” Missy grinned, though it soon faded. “Now, onto the other slightly more… volatile matter. I just want you to know that I actually admired what you did to a certain extent. That took quite a bit of moxy, all things considered. But still, there’s a reason that zone is marked off. The experiment we’re doing presents a physical danger to those around it. It’s not as much as the headmistress would like to think, but it’s there."

She lifted a finger. “However, that isn’t the most pressing concern. There is a very real threat that one of the Federation’s enemies - and believe me, we have them - could make use of what our operation finds. Do you ‘feel me’?”

Sunset nodded tepidly.

“Fortunately, Equestria is far from what we’d consider an enemy, so I didn’t need to execute you for espionage,” she continued cheerfully, earning another stunned look from Sunset. “I’m kidding… probably. But anyway, the sooner we ‘wrap things up’, so to speak, the better. That leads me back to you. Have you had any luck learning the intricacies of SOUL magic?”

Sunset, almost guiltily, shook her head. “Professor Dreemurr hasn’t covered it in class yet. I don’t think she’s planning on it any time soon.”

“Pity,” Missy pouted. “Luckily, you may not need to wait. Her daughter has taken a bit of a shining to you, hasn’t she?”

“Frisk?” Sunset blinked. “Well… yeah, but--”

“I know Frisk is a natural at it,” Missy interrupted. “Though an inherent talent doesn't mean an inherent ability to teach it. I'd say it's likely she may not know exactly how she does it, and therefore may not be able to help you herself. However, I doubt that’s the case with her mother. If Frisk were to ask her nicely enough for a private lesson or two…”

Sunset resisted squinting in confusion. Why couldn’t Missy just teach Sunset herself? Did she not know that she knew that she had the talent? And to ask Frisk for that kind of favor so soon after meeting her… it almost seemed like taking advantage of her friendship with her.

“I’ll uh… I’ll think about it,” Sunset said.

“Please do,” Missy smiled. “I’d hate to have to ask that wonderfully horrible little flower for help. While he might succeed where we have failed… giving someone like him a gun and expecting them not to shoot anyone makes both parties guilty when the inevitable happens. It would look quite bad on the ole’ resume."

Sunset furrowed her brow before folding her arms. While she was still elated by Missy’s news of the potential alliance, she was getting just about fed up with the professor's coy attitude about her ‘project’. "I don't understand. If it's that risky, why even consider it?"

Missy narrowed her eyes. "Because it could solve one of the greatest mysteries of the Federation. And perhaps return what we have lost." She then smiled widely. "I'll leave you to ponder that. A puzzle a day keeps brain fog away, yes? I'll see you Monday."

Lunch time has arrived once again, and Sunset joined her friends. And while she did, she noticed something interesting.

As Sunset was finding out, students of different houses sitting with each other at the same table wasn't the most common thing in the world. However, just like the integration of previously barred species to Hogwarts, it wasn't something they necessarily opposed.

Hermione, Frisk, Luna, and Sunset sitting together had garnered curious glances at first, though by the end of the week seemed to spark a new fad, even a sense of comradery among the young witches and wizards, because now everyone was doing it. Surprisingly, this even included a few Slytherins.

"Yeah, I know our house has a bad rep," Sunset overheard one of them say, chatting with the other houses. She sat near goblin looking at her with a surprising sense of affection. "And it's pretty well-earned, let me tell you. However, most of us aren't like that. Just look at the statistics. For every rotten apple that comes out of it there are ten of us who don't want anything to do with dark arts bogus."

"There really isn't anything inherently wrong with ambition, is there?" her goblin companion nodded. "Everyone has it, just some more than others. It's as natural as breathing."

"Exactly," the Slytherin said. "Now that we've pruned the bad apples, we can get back to what we do best: not the dark arts, but being all we can be!" She smirked, though unlike what Sunset would expect, it seemed to be more jovial than anything. “And that means beating you lot at Quidditch this season.”

This caused a stir of laughter and commotion, though out of the corner of her eyes, Sunset could have sworn she saw Hermione roll her own. Nonetheless, she held her tongue. Instead, it was Frisk who spoke first, his eyes laid upon a peculiar badge Hermione was wearing today.

"SPEW?" she blinked. "What's a SPEW?"

"I'm glad you asked," she smiled, as if hoping someone would do just that. "It stands for Society of the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

Sunset gave Hermione a confused look, wiggling her pointed ears slightly. "Er… Hermione. While we appreciate the concern, is that… really necessary?"

Hermione blushed slightly. "I have been considering changing the name lately. SPHEW does make it sound less like a joke."

"Yeah, sure," Flowey said, giving her a sarcastic look. "Definitely more respectable."

"Society for the Preservation of House Elfish Welfare?" Luna said.

"Thank you," Hermione said, shooting Flowey a glare, before looking back at Sunset. "Yes, it's specifically referring to House Elves."

"The little guys that work in the kitchen?" Sunset asked. "I thought the Federation already gave them equal rights?"

"You… don't know much about them, do you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, no…" Sunset admitted.

"They were essentially a slave race until the Federation ordered them all to be freed," Hermione said. "Honestly, I can't believe it had taken their intervention to do it. Such a barbaric practice."

Sunset raised her eyebrows. She had heard snippets about the House Elves. That Lyonessian witches and wizards had some kind of connection with them. But a master-slave relationship?

"It really makes the tendency for magic users to look down on muggles laughable, when you think about it," Hermione said. "Most Terran Continent nations outlawed that sort of practice centuries ago. But their magical communities didn't really care about that, did they? They either kept doing it in secret or found loopholes in the law."

She looked like she wanted to gag on her food at this point, and Sunset felt like doing the same. The concept of slavery was almost diametrically opposed to her beliefs.

"Well, viva la Federation then!" Frisk said, a flash of patriotism coming across her as she gestured to one of their banners hanging from one of the walls. "For setting things right."

“Viva la Federation,” Hermione smirked.

“Surprised you’re saying anything good about them,” Flowey grinned wickedly. “What with you spying on them and all.”

“Flowey,” Frisk grumbled. “She already said she doesn’t want to talk about that.”

“Not, really,” Hermione said bluntly. “But I will say this: what’s going on in the dungeons is only conducted by a small group of individuals. I won’t judge their entire government based on the actions of a few.”

She then cleared her throat, clearly wanting to change the topic. “Anyway, yes, the House Elves are all technically free now. The Federation made any owners sever their magical bonds under the threat of jail time. The problem is that they’ve been so indoctrinated into this mindset of servitude that they haven’t embraced that freedom. And the Federation… well, they aren’t doing enough to rehabilitate them in my mind.”

“And that’s why you’re still doing SPEW,” Luna said.

“Exactly,” Hermione said, nodding fiercely. “As the name implies, it was never just about emancipation. We need to build an infrastructure designed around allowing them to enjoy their newfound freedom. But right now the only support I have is… well, Ron, Harry and a few others. And with Dobby gone--”

A look of tremendous sadness suddenly flushed over her. Immediately, Luna moved to comfort her, gripping her in a hug.

“S-Sorry,” Hermione said, giving the group an apologetic look and taking a shuddered breath. “Here I thought SPEW would take my mind off things, but…”

“No need to apologize,” Sunset chimed in, trying to cheer her up. “And the whole thing sounds really awesome, by the way. Do you need any help with it?”

Hermione didn’t seem all that surprised at Sunset’s offer, though she still immediately brightened. “Well… yes. I’d definitely love to have you onboard.”

“I would also like to help,” Luna nodded, a rare look of determination in her eyes. "I've grown quite fond of House Elves in recent years."

“I’m game, too!” Frisk beamed.

“Seriously, this is what you all want to do with your free time?” Flowey groaned. “Helping a bunch of idiots who don’t want to even help themselves?” He then glanced at Sunset with a smirk. “Besides, don’t you have that thing you’re supposed to be doing?”

“What thing?” Hermione asked.

“It’s nothing,” Sunset said, glancing away from her. “Besides, I can multitask. I might even know someone who could help if we need funding or anything like that.”

“Funding is always helpful…” Hermione’s eyes then widened. “But w-wait, wait a minute. You’re not thinking about asking Princess Celestia, are you?”

“No, not her,” Sunset said, chuckling bitterly. “I have a friend who’s a… well, revolutionary, for lack of a better term. Starlight Glimmer."

“Seriously?” Flowey said. “‘Starlight Glimmer’. What’s with you Equestrians and weirdass names?”

“This coming from the flower named Flowey,” Sunset smirked.

Luna nodded. “She has a point, you know.”

Flowey made a dismissive huff. “Bleh, it’s not like it’s my--” He stopped med-sentence, an annoyed look on him. “Nevermind.”

"Anyway, Starlight's one of the elected leaders of Magitek Made Easy, a pretty big worker co-operative." Sunset explained. "I started dabbling in Magitek a few years back, and got to know her through it. Partially cus of her, the company’s grown pretty successful over the last year, and let's just say its workers frequently thank her for it."

"What, with gold?" Flowey laughed. "And now she's a rich Socialist? Oh woooooow!"

"She calls herself a Syndicalist," Sunset corrected. "And like I said, she’s more than just a leader at the company. She’s a big time activist, too. She uses the majority of her gold to promote whatever causes she finds worthy."

"You think she'd be willing to give to SPEW?" Hermione said, a hint of skepticism in her voice. "An organization an ocean away?"

"She's an internationalist," Sunset said. "’May the oppressed of the world unite’. So yes, if we ask nice enough..."

“I suppose I'll dare to dream,” Hermione beamed. “Thank you, Sunset. This could open up so many doors. First things first, though, we’ll need to schedule meeting times." She grinned widely. "Meeting times! Hah! Five years of doing this at Hogwarts and it’s the first time I’ll actually have help.”

“I thought you said Ron, Harry, and a few others were already helping?” Luna asked.

“First time at Hogwarts I’ll have help,” Hermione clarified. “Harry and Ron, especially, were never that interested during their time here. They only came around once… well…”

Once again, sorrow washed over her. Sunset searched for a way to distract her, but couldn't think of anything. Fortunately, one quickly provided itself for her. This being in the form of a number of owls swooping down from the ceiling to deliver various parcels.

"Finally!" Hermione said, apparently forgetting her woes for now. "Mail's here!"

Each member of the group got one, save for Flowey. Luna received a copy of The Quibbler. Frisk received something from someone called Sans labelled Only to Be Used in an Emergency...

“Seriously?” she giggled, opening a small box containing none other than…

A whoopie cushion.

“Haw haw it’s funny because it makes a fart sound,” Flowey grumbled. “Smiley Trashbag really is a one trick pony, I swear. There isn't a cliche he won't go out of his way to use."

"So?" Frisk shrugged. "He makes it work! I've laughed at a skeleton of his jokes."

"Do you want to die, Frisk?" Flowey said, narrowing his eyes. "Because you're acting like you do."

"You know you'd get bonely if I did!" Frisk giggled.

"STOP!"

… And Hermione and Sunset received a copy of The Daily Prophet and Equestria Daily newspapers, respectively.

“Huh?” Hermione said, reading the front page of it with a look of concern. “Another disappearance? This time someone named Ambassador Spock. I swear, this is like the third since summer began!"

Sunset’s eyes widened in shock. The same thing was on the front page of her own newspaper, along with a picture of a stoic looking Vulcan Elf at the podium of some sort of award’s ceremony. Not that Vulcan Elves had any other pose, of course.

“Did… did you know him, Sunset?” Frisk asked, noting her look.

“Yes,” Sunset said, still reeling in disbelief..

Though on the train ride to Hogwarts, she had seen a mention of prominent Federation officials disappearing without a trace. That being in Luna’s copy of The Quibbler. However, she never thought it would happen to someone she knew.

“He is… was the highest ranking Federation ambassador to Equestria,” Sunset explained. “The one who got me my ticket to Hogwarts.”

The Exile

Sky Trek Universe World Map and Glossary

In the early morning hours, far earlier than what Sunset was accustomed to recently, Sunset boarded the Hogwarts Express in Londinium. Packing light, she easily made her way down the train's main corridor, looking for the most empty compartment available. To her relief, she wasn’t getting much attention, despite the antlers jutting out of her forehead. She assumed it was because while she was the only Equestrian Elf aboard, she certainly wasn’t the only one in general. Despite this region of the Federation being mainly human dominant, the novelty of knife-like ears seemed to have waned, nonetheless.

It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for, either, and she quickly made her way inside. The compartment, like the rest of the train, was comfortable, but fairly spartan and ordinary.

‘Humans don’t seem to have the love for colorful aesthetics Equestrians do.’

She winced slightly, mentally kicking herself for making such a generalization.

‘Well, at least these particular humans.’

The last thing she, a stranger in a strange land, wanted to do was to start compartmentalizing the people she would be spending time with.

She sighed to herself, trying to get her mind off things by glancing out the window.

The train station was quite busy. Both non-magically inclined humans (or ‘muggles’ as they were called locally) and black-robed Hogwarts students were scurrying all about, the latter saying their goodbyes to their parents or guardians. Nothing to write home about for the most part, though there was someone curious among them that caught her eye.

One student, who otherwise appeared to be a normal, teenage human girl holding a flower pot, had a rather peculiar individual walking with her. She appeared to be some form of humanoid goat, white furred with long, floppy ears and a pair of tiny, white horns. Despite her somewhat intimidating appearance, she wore a kind look in her eyes as she knelt down to be face to face with the girl. Sunset could just barely hear their conversation through her open window.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do, my child?” she asked. “You could always come with me and the rest of the teachers.”

The ‘child’ blushed slightly. “Come on, mom, you know that would be embarrassing…”

Sunset raised her eyebrows. ‘Mom?’

“Yes, yes, you’re right,” the goat woman sighed. “To tell you the truth, I suppose I’m just a little nervous. I’ve… never been alone around this many humans before.”

The young teenager giggled at that. “Is that what this is about? You’re going to be fine. Great, even! If one talk isn’t all it takes for them to like you, it’s they who have the problem.”

The goat woman smiled warmly. “Even if I make too many bad jokes?”

“Especially if you make too many bad jokes!” the ‘child’ beamed.

“Ugh, for crying out loud!” a new, aggressive voice chimed in. “Can we get this disgusting lovefest out of the way already and get on the friggin’ train?”

Sunset’s eyes widened. The voice appeared to have come from the flower pot.

“Flowey, you promised you’d behave,” the child huffed.

“And you promised to keep this kind of garbage at a minimum, Frisk!” ‘Flowey’ grumbled.

Sunset shook her head, baffled. While she had seen some strange things during her brief time in the humans’ home continent (the self-driving carriages and flying machines were particularly curious), this had topped them all. Apparently, she wasn’t alone when it came to the human Federation’s foreign exchange program, and this included species she had previously had no idea about. The curious part of her - one of the parts that had driven her to pursue foreign magic to begin with - was taking over. She had to find out more information.

“Oh, interesting, an Astral,” a new voice suddenly stated, breaking her train of thought.

Sunset turned her head. Standing at the door to her car was a blonde-haired young human. While her voice held a hint of curiosity, she had a surprisingly casual quality about it, as if she had seen all this before. This didn’t change when she glanced Sunset’s way.

“And you’re an Equestrian,” the girl said. “One of the horse people.”

Sunset blinked, waiting a second for a follow-up sentence that never came. “Er…. yeah. That’s me.”

“The antlers gave it away,” the girl said dreamily. “Only an elf from Equestria would have them.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “As far as I know.”

Without another word, the girl took a seat, immediately burying into a magazine called ‘The Quibbler.’ On the front cover were a number of odd story titles:

Third Senior Federation Official Disappears: Coincidence or Section 31 Conspiracy?

Teleportation Ban Further Rattles Magical Community - Goblin Strike Imminent

Great War Veteran Regrows Entire Arm Via New, Experimental Vulzedian Potion

Another Bureaucratic Invasion of Hogwarts Begins!

MACO Forces Repel Demon Incursion Near Ground Zero - Or Have They?

Still, none were as odd as the girl herself. Sunset stared at her for a second, trying to comprehend her behavior. It certainly wasn’t like any she had seen from other humans.

Eventually, she simply shrugged her shoulders, laying back into her seat a little.

‘At least she’s quiet. Maybe I can catch up on some--’

“Oh, hey Luna! There you are!” another new voice chimed in, disappointingly destroying Sunset’s dreams of napdom.

At the doorway stood a girl who seemed slightly older than Sunset in appearance, and even older, perhaps, in experience, given the slightly haunted look in her eyes. Nonetheless, she gazed at the blonde girl, Luna, with a friendly expression, one which the latter returned as she peaked above her magazine.

“Hello, Hermione,” she said, a hint of warmth overcoming her previously ‘out there’ tone. “I’m not surprised you decided to come back.”

“Well, unlike some lazy individuals, I’ve decided life experience still can’t make up for a proper education,” she said. “I want to complete my NEWTs the right way.”

“Ron and Harry aren’t coming?” Luna asked, clearly disappointed.

“No, unfortunately,” Hermione sighed. “I suppose I can’t be too hard on them. We’ve all been through so much and it is a little strange having barely anyone from my class around."

“An absence of old faces makes room for new ones,” Luna said, as if quoting someone, and looking Sunset’s way for a split-second.

“Oh, sorry!” Hermione said, glancing guiltily Sunset’s way. She held out a hand. “I’m Hermione Granger. It’s nice to meet you…”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied, glancing at her outstretched hand curiously. “Um…”

“It’s a human custom,” Luna explained. “You shake hands as a form of greeting.”

“Oh, heh,” Sunset chuckled nervously, awkwardly accepting the shake. “Sorry.”

“No, completely my fault,” Hermione quickly said. “I should have realized, well…”

“She’s from Equestria,” Luna said. “Sunset Shimmer… what a beautiful name. Do all Equestrians have names like that?”

Again, Sunset found herself off balance. Nonetheless, she actually felt a little flattered. “If you mean names that sort of represent our, well, physical characteristics…” She gestured towards her natural red and orange hair. “It’s pretty common, yes.”

“Wondrous,” Luna whispered.

“Equestria…” Hermione said, stunned. “The nation the Federation just made contact with a few seasons ago, right?”

“That’s us,” Sunset said, a slither of sadness running through her.

“Sorry,” Hermione apologized, as if embarrassed for being so blunt. “I should have known. I’ve just been so busy lately with everything after the Second Wizarding War…”

“No time to look at the wider world?” Sunset said. “I can empathize. Life has a way of getting in the way of learning sometimes.”

“No truer words were spoken,” Hermione said, smiling. She gestured to the seat next to Sunset. “Mind if I?”

“Sure, no problem,” Sunset said, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone that she wouldn’t be napping.

"Have you seen Ginny yet?" Luna asked as Hermione sat next to Sunset. "I was looking for her earlier."

"Unfortunately, she won’t be coming by train,” Hermione said.

“Oh. Will she be coming by warpgate, then?” Luna asked curiously.

Hermione sighed slightly. “Luna, we’ve talked about this already: there is no such thing as a warpgates.” She shook her head. “And no, it turns out she broke her leg of all things practicing Quidditch moves with Harry. And because Skele-Gro potions are hard to come by these days - they really need better safety codes for skyship construction - they had to go to the hospital in Londonium."

'Skele-Gro?' Sunset thought, making a mental note to look into that later. If it did what its name implied, the Federation’s magical community knew a thing or two about potion making even her people didn't.

Luna frowned slightly. "So she won't be here for nearly a few days, then."

Hermione nodded. "Let's just say the doctors there are no Madam Pomfrey."

"We'll have to send her gifts," Luna said. "Maybe visit her if we can."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. She had quite clearly stumbled on a very close group of friends. Though she didn't exactly come here to form connections, she still felt a slight hint of sorrow in her gut.

'No, I didn’t come here for that,' she thought. “Everyone here has all the friends they need already, anywho.'

“Soooo… anyway, Sunset, what brings you here, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hermione asked, snapping her out of it.

Sunset glanced away from her. This was not a conversation she was particularly interested in. “Just uh… felt I needed a change. Heard about the cultural exchange program with your Federation. When they told me there was a spot at your premiere magic school open, I couldn't say ‘no’.”

“Pfffft, yeah, right,” a distinctly familiar voice cackled. “She’s probably just here to study you squishy humans for weaknesses.”

Sunset did a double take. She half-thought she might have been hallucinating earlier when she thought she heard a voice coming from the flower pot ‘Frisk’ was holding, but that was clearly untrue. For standing at the door to her compartment was none other than Frisk, still holding the pot, and a large, golden flower was stemming from it.

A golden flower with a wicked grin on its face.

‘Am I dreaming right now?’

Hermione, in the meantime, looked at Sunset with an expression that asked the same thing.

“Oh, so there’s two Astrals around,” Luna said, nonchalantly. Not really the pinch Sunset needed to confirm she was awake.

“Shoot, I’m so sorry!” Frisk groaned, glaring down at the talking plant. “Flowey, I swear if you don’t stop being rude to everyone I’m giving you to mom.”

‘Flowey?’ Hermione lipped to Sunset, who could only shake her head, baffled, in return.

“What? I’m just calling it as I see it,” Flowey said, a mischievous smirk on his face. “I’ve been reading up on the Equestrians. Not like I have anything else to do but die of boredom. But yeah, they have plenty of good magic schools on their home continent. So why else would one want to come here? To spy on everyone as part of an invasion, duh!”

‘A talking flower is accusing me of espionage,’ Sunset thought. ‘This is how my day is going.’

Hermione glanced at the flower, then back at Sunset. “Did a talking flower just accuse you of espionage?”

‘Huh.’

Hermione immediately started blushing. “Sorry, I suppose Ron’s bluntness has brushed off on me lately. Who, er… what are you?”

“Name’s Flowey. Flowey the Flower,” it said.

“Easy enough to remember,” Sunset noted.

“He’s an Astral,” Luna explained. “Or Monster, as they call themselves. And the one holding him is Frisk, the Hero of the Underground.”

Frisk shyly held up a finger. "I-Im not sure 'hero' is the right word--"

“Luna, how do you know all this?” Hermione asked, a hint of envy in her tone.

“Because my father knew about them,” Luna said. “He wrote about them in The Quibbler for years before they came to the surface. When they finally emerged, we went all the way to Turtle Island to study them.”

“So that’s where you were most of that summer,” Hermione said.

"Turtle Island?" Sunset asked.

"Western Terran Continent," Hermione explained.

"Ohhh," Sunset said in a thankful tone, before turning back to Luna. “Did your father also know about Equestrians? Before first contact, that is?”

Luna shook her head tersely. “Nope, that was just on the news.”

"Now that you mention it, we've… we've met before, haven't we?" Frisk said, glancing Luna over.

"Briefly," Luna said. "When we were both smaller." She cocked her head slightly. "I saw Queen Toriel with you."

"Not much of a Queen anymore," Flowey laughed. "She leaves most of the governing of the Monster Kingdom to her idiot ex. Kind of makes her an idiot by extension when you think about it."

"Not this again..." Frisk sighed, before looking the small group over. "Sorry, I know this isn't the best first impression, but could I - we - sit here? We’ve been getting some, er, awkward looks from everyone else."

Even though Sunset was sure this was the final nail in the coffin for her napping plans, she couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards Frisk. She, too, was a long way from home and with her own burdens to carry.

Her’s just seemed a bit more literal.

“I have no problem with it,” Sunset said invitingly.

“Me neither,” Hermione said.

Luna simply nodded.

With a slight smile, Frisk took a seat across from Luna. The latter bent down slightly, levelling her face with Flowey’s.

“I don’t remember seeing you at Mt. Ebbot,” Luna said, still looking at it with fascination.

“Likewise,” Flowey grunted. “And you’re definitely unforgettable. Unforgettably weird, that is.”

“Not nice!” Frisk hissed.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Luna said. “I’m used to being called names like that. People used to call me Loony Lovegood all the time.”

“That… that sucks,” Sunset said.

Luna merely shrugged, before gazing back at Flowey. “So, are you an Astral?”

“Yeah, I’m a Monster,” Flowey grumbled. “For God’s sakes will you humans stop using that stupid politically correct bullcrap already?”

“He was one of the last to leave the Underground,” Frisk explained.

“I wonder why?” Hermione said, earning a nasty look from the being.

Frisk sighed. “I know he’s a little rough around the edges, but… well, we’re kind of connected in a way. I couldn’t just leave him down there.”

“So you’re sort of his caretaker?” Sunset asked.

“Pffft, more like I’m taking care of Frisk, Knife Ears,” Flowey grunted. “This naive idiot would get herself killed if not for me.”

“He loves me,” Frisk said, giving it a grin.

“No, I just hate you less than everyone else,” Flowey growled.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Sounds like love with extra steps.”

“Screw you!” Flowey snapped.

“It really does, though,” Hermione chided.

“Screw all of you!” Flowey hissed. “I’m taking a nap, god damnit.”

And without another word, he retreated into the dirt of his pot. Everyone, including Luna, couldn’t help but giggle at that.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen him lost for words,” Frisk said over her giggles. “Thanks for that.”

“Our pleasure, really,” Sunset smiled.

“I heard that, Knife Ears!” a muffled voice came from the pot.

Sunset chuckled again, before giving Frisk a curious look. “So, you’re from out west?”

“Mm-hm,” Frisk nodded. “I never really expected to come to Hogwarts of all places, but, well, with mom volunteering to teach here--”

“To spread Astral cultural awareness,” Luna chimed in, earning a baffled look from Frisk.

“Er, yeah, exactly,” she stammered. “But yeah, with her teaching here and me ‘needing some formal magic education’, I thought I might as well.”

“You didn’t have any as a girl?” Hermione asked curiously.

“I didn’t even know I could do it until my time in the Underground,” Frisk said. “Guess it woke up something in me.”

“What year did they place you in?” Sunset asked curiously.

“Year three,” Frisk said, a hint of pride in her voice. “I already learned a lot of the basics from mom. What about you guys?”

“Year six,” Sunset said.

“Me as well,” Luna nodded.

“Seventh,” Hermione said, before raising her eyebrows at Sunset. “You must have already studied in Equestria, then?”

“Celestia’s School for Gifted Elves,” Sunset said, trying to hide the hint of bitterness in her tone. “Most of my childhood was spent there.”

“Celestia…” Hermione said in wonder. “Princess Celestia. She’s the ruler there, isn’t she?”

“For better or worse,” Sunset grumbled.

Hermione gazed at her apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “No, you’re fine. Let’s just say I’ve had some… differences of opinion with her, personally, and with monarchies in general.” She gazed at Princess(?) Frisk apologetically. "No offense."

"Go Team Democracy," Frisk giggled.

“Wait, you knew her personally?!” Hermione said, excitedly, before immediately wincing. “Sorry, sorry.”

“I’ll talk to you about it some other time, maybe,” Sunset sighed. “Though… if you want to learn about her, I do have some Equestrian history books you could borrow.”

“Really?” Hermione said, perking up. “I’d love to. Gosh, I have so much to catch up on. The Federation’s been discovering things so quickly lately.”

“The world grows wider by the day,” Luna said, her dreamy tone returning in earnest. "Even the Second Wizarding War couldn't stop that."

Frisk looks towards Sunset, then back at Luna. “Wizarding war?”

“It’s a long story, but I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it yet,” Hermione said. “Then again, people don’t really like to talk about it, I suppose. Too many bad memories.”

A wave of sadness washed over her, and her gaze seemed distant, as if in another time. Sunset wondered just how much involvement Hermione had with it.

"I've read up on it a tiny bit," Sunset said quietly to Frisk. "I'll tell you what I know later."

The girl nodded solemnly.

"Food cart's here," Luna announced, specifically towards Hermione as if trying to distract her. Immediately after there was a knock on the door.

"Huh?" she blinked. "Oh, good. I didn't even have a chance for breakfast. Sunset, could you--"

She was already ahead of her, sliding the door open. Like Hermione, she was apparently too busy to eat anything, either. Yet another parallel she found with the girl.

"Anything for you, dearies?" an older looking woman asked, a cart full of various goods in front of her.

The group chimed in in excited tones.

"Apple fritters and water, please."

"Coffee and three glazed doughnuts."

"Um, those every flavor bean things?"

"Fertilizer."

The group paused, looking at a now visible Flowey with bemusement.

"What?" he said, annoyed.

"You know what that stuff's made out of, right?" Sunset chuckled.

In response, he narrowed his eyes. "I hate you all so much I need to think of a new word to describe it." He paused for a second, then finally announced:

"I gigaloathe you all."