Lyra pulled the door open just moments after she knocked. “Oh, Hermione! You’re early.”
She nodded. “I don’t like being late.”
“Even though ‘late’ doesn’t mean much for this class, unless it’s over half an hour late. But still, that’s a good attitude to have.” She shrugged. “Especially since it’s very highly recommended to show up to the classes you teach at least half an hour early- gives you time to go over your lesson plan with your partner… or come up with such a plan, if need be.”
She tilted her head. “Wouldn’t…?”
Lyra shook hers. “In accordance with Hogwarts tradition, every class mixes exactly two houses… and since we’re using two-instructor teams, that means we’ve used one instructor from each house per class- your instructor partner will not be in the same house. And, to help cover all the bases, we’ve also flipped the pairings- Flitwick teaches the Hufflepuffs with the Gryffindors, and the Ravenclaws with the Slytherins, but you’ll be teaching Gryffindors and Slytherins, alongside a Slytherin instructor partner.”
She blinked. “Then- But I teach just before lunch! If they’re not in the same class…?”
Lyra smiled. “Easy: All of our Slytherin and Ravenclaw Charms instructors had an early breakfast and already went through their cramming sessions. They’re in class with Flitwick right now.”
“Meaning…”
“Yeah, it’s tough. I am sorry about that, but we didn’t have much choice.” She shrugged. “Anyways, come on in.” She held the door wide.
Inside was a large, rectangular room, with three doors off one side. The first was labeled ‘Bathroom’, the second ‘Closet’, and the last one was unlabeled.
In the middle of the room, positioned a little towards the door, stood exactly twenty desks, lined up perfectly in rows four deep by five across, and facing the head of the room. The spacing between them struck Hermione as abnormally large, at a minimum of three feet.
At the head of the room, there was a podium in the middle, a larger ‘teacher’s desk’ sitting next to it. On the other side, in the corner, there was a set of five chairs, four of which were occupied… by people she didn’t recognize, all Equestrians.
And in the middle, a good ten feet directly behind the podium, stood a massive, circular… structure. It was glowing faintly, with five different colors- light gold, dark blue, purple, light teal, and turquoise, in equal parts. It had a wide, inward-pointing cone-like top and bottom, a cylindrical core, and something strange inside the transparent core.
“... Wow,” she muttered. It was quite breathtaking, with the concentric rings of colorful symbols floating in the air around it at several points.
Lyra glanced at it. “Yeah, it’s a sight to behold, isn’t it? That’s our TARDIS core, that makes the whole thing possible. Took all five of us to build it, and we’re the finest spellsmiths Equestria has seen since Starswirl the Bearded. Anyways, all the other student instructors for this session can be counted on to be exactly five minutes early, giving us around…” She glanced at her wristwatch- which, Hermione noticed, was a smartwatch. “Nine minutes to kill. Unless you want to go fetch something first, of course.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m ready.”
“Alright then.” She led her over towards those five seats. “We- that is, me and these four- will be teaching these instructor sessions. We’re also all student instructors ourselves, but…
“Anyways. Allow me to introduce you to…
“Starlight Glimmer.” She held her hand out to the first girl in line, a Slytherin with a teal stripe in her long purple hair. “She’s really the expert on both our unique Equestrian magics and time magic, making her experience crucial for the TARDIS core. She’s also one of very few to have managed self-levitation- an extremely tricky spell even I can’t manage.”
Starlight bowed her head, blushing lightly.
“Sunset Shimmer.” She held her hand out to the next girl, a Gryffindor with red and gold hair that reminded Hermione of a bonfire. “She studied directly under Princess Celestia for a while, then went on to her own research in another world. It was only recently we reconnected to her world, and found out how similar it was to this one. She’s very quickly become a social and legal expert here, even better than me- and her research has given her a very unique perspective that was… immensely useful in figuring this thing out.”
Sunset shrugged. “All in a day’s work.” Then she chuckled.
Lyra grinned. “Then of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The third girl was a Ravenclaw, with a twinned pink and purple stripe in her dark blue hair.
“Please don’t bow,” Twilight pleaded immediately, making all four of the others- including Lyra- chuckle.
The last one, a Slytherin with midnight blue hair, grinned amusedly. “Neither to me. I’m on vacation.”
Hermione blinked. “... Okay.”
Lyra chuckled again. “Anyways, she’s also studied directly under Princess Celestia, moved to my hometown to continue her studies, and very recently joined the elite ranks of the Equestrian royalty… as the Princess of Friendship, believe it or not. She’s really good at it- and while her experience is all with Equestrians, I’ve found most of those principles carry over to this world as well, and we’ve been working to figure out exactly how the two worlds differ. Her unparalleled magic research was crucial for the TARDIS core. And as a matter of fact, I get the feeling you would get along with her quite well.”
Twilight grinned. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
Lyra smiled, and indicated the last girl. “And Princess Luna, Princess Celestia’s sister and Diarch of Equestria. She’s well over a thousand years old- and nobody knows exactly how long, since both she and her sister lived through the Chaos Years. That, combined with her rather unique magical experiences over the last thousand years, gives her unparalleled experience with her rather unique perspective- also immensely useful in getting this thing working.”
Luna nodded calmly, wearing an amused smile. “My dear sister is older than me, but when she took over ruling duties and gave me a thousand years of free time on my Moon, I became better than she at… certain things.”
Lyra chuckled. “Yeah, I missed that, didn’t I? In Equestria, Princess Luna actually physically controls the Moon. Princess Celestia does the Sun.”
“... Ahh,” Hermione mutters, before turning to Lyra. “What about you?”
“Me? Oh. I’m just the one that opened the Gate.”
Starlight snorted. “Don’t sell yourself short, Lyra. You know as well as I do that you graduated second in class at Celestia’s School for Gifted U-Raeths.”
“And that your, ahh, unique advantage was instrumental in making the portal to Pedestria stay open indefinitely,” Sunset declared.
“And that the TARDIS core would have been impossible without that same advantage,” Twilight continued.
“And don’t forget you’re the only person in the entirety of Equestria that can penetrate Tia’s Vault undetected, even when she is in it and knows you’re coming,” Luna chimed in.
“Face it, Lyra,” Twilight stated. “Whether you like it or not, you’re one of Equestria’s elite as well. I’m actually a little amazed you haven’t ascended, with all the stuff you’ve been doing.”
Lyra sighed. “Not that it hasn’t tried,” she muttered.
“Exactly! Do you know of anypon-anyONE, sorry- else that can block harmony?”
“Wait, she blocked harmony?” Starlight asked.
“She stopped herself from ascending?” Sunset asked, before looking at Lyra. “Did you really?”
She nodded. “Fifty-six times, by now.”
“Wow,” Luna muttered.
“What?” Lyra asked. “I wouldn’t be that great of a Princess- and besides, we all know I’d hate it to the extreme.”
Sunset just stared. “You do know that was my dearest ambition for, like, thirty years, right?”
Lyra nodded. “Yeah. Not mine.”
She shook her head. “Whatever.”
“Besides, I’m clearly not one of the best. I was second in class at Celestia’s School.”
“Twilight was in your class,” Sunset countered instantly. “That was inevitable.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Hermione stepped back over to her seat, and sighed. She had passed their exam with flying colors on her first try- Lyra had even told her she’d designed it to be impossible to do as well as she’d done, but she’d done it anyways! After telling her that she’d scored a hundred and seventy-three percent on the practical exam, Lyra had shown her what was in the closet, and the third, unlabeled door.
The unlabeled door had hidden a small banquet hall. All the food in it was timelocked, but would unlock whenever she reached for it- meaning, it would always be fresh. The closet had contained a few supplies… and a bed.
Lyra told her to take what she needed, rest as long as she wanted to… then sit in her seat to return. She’d said something about the ‘layered timeline’ making it possible for her to take as long as she wanted without making anyone wait, or coming out any later than she would otherwise.
So she’d done that. She’d eaten a small lunch, had a good night’s sleep, and eaten breakfast.
She took a deep breath, looking around the room again. She’d put the bed away and everything, so the room was just as spotless as when Lyra had snapped her fingers and disappeared with the rest.
It still had only one desk in it: Hers. It was anchored to the floor, so it couldn’t be moved. After the instruction, Lyra had snapped her fingers, and all the others had disappeared. When asked, she’d said something about ‘multilayering the timeline’ to allow them each to have a one-on-one quiz-and-tutor session as long as they needed… without interfering with the others, or making them wait.
The TARDIS core, however, was not here. Instead, there was a large, empty wooden box bolted to the floor as a marker. Lyra had said that it had stayed behind in the “prime” room that they had done the main instruction in; sustaining all twenty-one additional layers.
Apparently, that twenty-first layer was for the five instructors to eat and rest in as necessary, before moving on to the next student.
She sighed, and sat down.
Immediately, nineteen other desks, with seats and occupants, faded rapidly into existence around her. She glanced around at them, taking in the startled looks of almost everyone in those seats, all looking wildly around- probably experiencing something similar.
At the same time, the five instructors faded into existence at the head of the room.
“Well, that happened,” Lyra began, once the initial confusion died off.
Starlight smiled. “Yes it did. This has been a good week and a half.” A twitch at the corner of her eye, that Hermione was close enough to see by virtue of her front-row seat, suggested that it was nothing of the sort.
“Anyone have any final questions?” Sunset asked the class.
The Hufflepuff that had sat next to Hermione at the beginning spoke up. “Why couldn’t this have been covered before we came here?”
The response was instant. Princess Luna regarded him coolly, but Twilight’s dagger-glare spoke volumes. Lyra sighed, turned her head, and facepalmed slowly. Sunset’s expression flattened into something Hermione recognized instantly as a poker face. Starlight’s hands clenched into fists as she closed her eyes and started into some silent breathing exercises.
“You know perfectly well why,” Luna began.
“Then you could have done it anyways!”
Hermione groaned. There was always someone like that.
Sunset looked sideways, at Lyra, Twilight, and Luna; Starlight was on her other side. “Echo?”
“Yes,” Starlight declared instantly.
“Yes, echo,” Twilight muttered.
“Agreed,” Lyra nodded, turning to look past Twilight at Luna.
Luna sighed. “Make it so.”
Lyra stepped forward. “Alright, Prince Blueblood. I’m really sorry to have to do this to you, but you asked for it.” She held out her hands, and moved one in a circle next to the other.
A massive, circular array of golden symbols whirled into existence in the air in front of her.
She then put her hands together, and pushed on the center.
It glowed brightly, almost like the sun… and a moment later, he was gone. She raised one hand, and snapped her fingers.
When she had first activated the TARDIS core, only a small portion of the symbols surrounding it had brightened. Now, all of them shone brightly, and the oscillating thing in the middle- it was moving up and down- accelerated suddenly.
There was a blinding flash of light, then the five of them were standing in a neat row once again… and the seat Lyra had just emptied was occupied again, though by someone else.
She also had a sudden wave of dizziness, and her head hurt a little- she could remember this girl being in that seat through the entire instruction segment, but she could also remember Blueblood being there. “Ow,” she muttered, putting her hands to her temples. She wasn’t the only one.
“Sorry about that,” Lyra sighed, “but that’s what it takes to remove a student instructor right now.”
The new girl- Cloudchaser- blinked. “So… So… Wait. I remember you asking me if I wanted to teach, and also not asking me.”
Lyra nodded. “Yes. We just created a grandfather paradox, then restabilized the timeline with a predestination paradox. That kind of thing will always give time travelers- which includes every one of us- headaches. Blueblood was just…” She shook her head. “He won’t remember this at all.” She grinned. “Though I’ll have to admit, it was immensely satisfying to incinerate him like that.”
“If only you could do that without immediately undoing it, eh?” the girl to Hermione’s right muttered. She hadn’t caught the girl’s name.
Sunset nodded sagely. “Fortunately, he’s the only one that bludgeoned his way onto the instructor teams- everyone else got here on pure merit, so that should be the only time we need to do that.”
“So,” Lyra announced cheerfully, slapping her fist into her opened hand. “Anyone have any last-minute questions?”
There was a general denial throughout the room… and Hermione suddenly remembered that there had only been girls in the room all along. Yet with Blueblood… No, that was the past that had never happened.
“Alright then,” Lyra smiled. “It would seem we’re done here.” She snapped her fingers.
The TARDIS engine behind her moved a couple times, made a single sliding noise, and emitted a distinct thunk, at the very moment that the door to the rest of the castle blinked back into existence.
10255208
It's a partial copy of Godric Griffindor's own mind.
10258670
... Yes, kinda, in my headcanon. Still a 'she', though.
For some strange reason, this chapter gave me a headache and I'd swear I read a version where Blueblood got incinerated multiple times.
I feel like I missed something with Blueblood... what was he asking and why did it anger them?
10258719
He's being himself. He's basically demanding they do it in whatever way is most convenient for him, regardless of anything or anyone else. His normal jackassery.
Cool chapter. I liked it, but...Blueblood as a Hufflepuff?
Sunset a Griffindor? Didn't expect it. Poor Hufflepuff, never seems to get a break
They'll likely be the house with less shenanigans though, so that's a big, big plus for them.
10258752
... True. He'd be a better fit for Slytherin.
... I guess that's just a little plothole. I needed someone to throw out, show off what their TARDIS spells could really do.
10258760
It fit my personality for her the best, once she reformed in the EQG world.
10258763
Yeah. The "incineration" bit was funny too, especially how everyone instantly agreed to it, even if it gave them all headaches.
Neat temporal mechanic, fixed termination variable duration parallel streams. Also, huzzah for temporary temporal elimination.
Celestia: If I had known being an alicorn mean I have to deal with all these paperwork and whining Nobles, I'd rather not ascend myself.
Bon bon: Despite how much I love that mare, I shudder to think what alicorn she would be or why Harmony think it is a good idea to ascend her.
10258872
Synchronization?
wait so blueblood died, but didn't?Im super confused right now.Time travel is weird
There's only so long they can keep that joke going, and it stopped being funny a long time ago.
Stabilizing a grandfather with a predestination...? Smart idea. Cloudchaser was always meant to be a student/instructor and was pushed out in the original timeline by Blueblood. Smart.
10259135
Yeah... he died in the past that never happened, because of those paradoxes they created.
Notice a lot of HP give like to bust up Dumbledore's chessmaster tendecices. I'd like to tell him to suck it up, a real Chessmaster has contingencies and a flexible plan, and above all can adapt on the fly. They change the plan and always look to improve things. Having more powerful allies to fight Voldemort is only a good thing, it makes victory more likely and those involved safer.
10258670
And Salazar. And Helga. And Rowena. They all put themselves into the hat.
10258763
He may be ambitious, but he is not cunning. Nor is he intelligent, nor is he brave. Helga was known to “take the lot” so she unfortunately got the leftovers too.
10259781
They... put themselves into the hat?
10259750
I always said reality was more like Double Cranko than Chess... so simple that only a child can play it. Emphasis on only.
Just a reminder, no matter how much thermal paste may look like frosting, it tastes horrible.
I had some leak out of one of those candles that play happy birthday once and mistook it for frosting. Not fun.
10259788
"No Plan Survives Contact with the enemy. " You never expect you plan to go as planned!
10258719
10258732
If I’m understanding this (and the briefing Hermione got last chapter) this was basically a time block to cram theory for four hours so they could not only learn charms but reliably teach it, followed by an exam.
On the outside it’s thirty minutes. Hermione finished in five hours (one cycle) ate, slept, and ate again. Maybe fifteen hours total.
The worst (my guess Blueblood) took a week and a half.
Blueblood wants to know why he can’t have private tutoring at the expense of those maintaining the time bubble, but only spending “thirty minutes” of his time.
10259781
The list of sorting hat songs for reference, The sorting hat describes it's own creation with Godric as the sole wizard to enchant it.
10259826
It says it was Godric’s hat, but all four enchanted It.
Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
The Founders as in all of them.
10259834
I read over that line SEVERAL times
guess I just went
10259805
... Basically. Except, it wasn't to learn Charms, it was to learn how to teach Charms... they would then go on to learn Charms under the school's professor, and pass it on when they taught with what they learned in these crash courses. As such, their exam was for how well they'd learned their teaching skills. No idea what form it would take, but they wanted to be certain they weren't getting substandard instructors past.
The reason for this quote is not that one took a week and a half, it's that that's the subjective time it was for them. Those five instructors spent 4 hours "teaching", then split the class into the parallel timestreams... and hopped between them. Entering at the beginning every time, minimum 1 hour apiece (for the exam), plus extra for any tutoring/reexamining necessary. That sums up 24 hours of work, minimum... which is what the 21st layer was for, that the instructors could hop to in order to rest whenever they needed to, and because the two timestreams aren't synchronized, pick right back up where they left off. Stretches minimum subjective time, for them, to about 2 days, assuming 12 hours/day.
Starlight is suggesting that the total, across everyone, was about a week and a half- 10 days. Her eye-twitch suggests that the last of the timestreams they visited for the test/tutor cycle held a particularly irritating student. Hermione did finish in one cycle- there was the four hours of study with everyone, then one hour of examination... then the instructors left her timestream, and she could have taken six years to sit in that chair if she wanted to, and nobody would know. With what she did, Hermione's subjective time was probably around 12-15 hours, yes, and represented one of the faster ones (though anyone that finished within their first couple of tries will have had a similar subjective time).
What Blueblood is asking, or demanding, really, is why they couldn't have made the material available for him to study at his leisure before he ever went to Hogwarts. In other words, he didn't like studying and testing for five (or more) hours, and wanted it to be easy.
Their reactions to his question suggest that he was a prime offender in arguing with their methods and course material (because that's who he is), requiring a large number of exam retakes, or both.
That "past that never happened" line reminded me of that common undertale fic chestnut.
Ooo how does one block harmony?
10262302
This is a very good question.
10263315
A small but powerful temporary mind geas to convince herself that whatever she just did was only for the purpose of ascending to alicornhood, thus turning the previous action into a selfish one instead of harmonious, and at the same time commiting the heinous act of brainwashing a pony (herself, but that is only a legal gray area) to deny their rightful ascendance.
I'm wondering Computerneek, if you've ever heard, or read the story?
"The Best Night Ever"
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/18087/the-best-night-ever
It is honestly one of my favorite stories.
10264732
Nope... Hmm, a Groundhog Day-style story? Those can go off the rails quickly, but depending on how they're done, they can last a good while. Definitely worth a look, thank you.
Nothing declares a level of badass like that endorsement. What is her "advantage," though? Just her magical reserves and memory, or is it something more esoteric?
I wonder how many people are cheering right now? Although I admit that if it were real life, at least his behavior at the gala episode may have had a reason behind it. I occasionally enjoy a story where he's not actually just a rude idiot, but I agree that using him as the butt monkey is fun too.
10259899
Also, thank you for explaining just what it was that Blueblood did, but I will add that it's not very clear without that comment. I'd further guess that he would try to cheat the test if it were given beforehoof? The reason for why he couldn't do that wasn't quite clear.
10265085
Best Night Ever is a very well-written Blueblood redemption story. This Platinum Crown (the sequel) is also good, but can be a bit long-winded, is incomplete, and hasn't updated in almost a year.
10258717
Funny, I swear I remember a time Lyra didn't immediately undo it and Twilight gave her the LOOK. Then a time Luna did it. Then a time there were two different people named Luna in the corner discussing Chaos Theory. Weird, no?
Smart watches are that popular, hah? Thought some people would think of them as gimmick.
I love seeing a Whovan who knows that the noise is bc the Doctor drives the TARDIS with the brake on.
10353263
That's the best way to drive the old girl! How dare you suggest anything else other than the probably 60+ percent chance of motionsickness/Awkward positioning and/or broken necks that comes with such a high level of badassery. I mean, have you seen the way he dances around his... Console.
Looks artistic, I tell ya.
and this is where I stop nice read and interesting world but this is where I feel the sue spoiling the story.
10593247
Well, sorry to see you go.
Well, this is delightfully batshit insane. I mean, I don't really care about Lyra, so the focus on her leaves me cold, but Equestria's finest magic nerds spit-roasting the space-time continuum is pretty great. And they got to murder Blueblood and get away with it!
I expect great things from Discord and Princess Luna as Slytherin.
Kicking out a student instructor.... cuz they asked a question. A question that's answer involved so much techno-babble I don't understand it...
That was way too harsh.
Blue Blood might be a jerk, outside the comics, but you still need to give an actual reason to kick him out.
10259899
I hate to say this... but that's a reasonable thing to ask, even coming from Blue Blood.
The ponies had months to educate their pony students. They didn't even need time spells. They could have easily taken aside the pony instructors and have them go over the material, in courses lasting a couple weeks.
I understand why the human students instructors didn't have time for that...
But this is a bit of a plot hole, where the fun of "incinerating Blue Blood" took priority over telling the story.
I hope the rest of the story doesn't do things like this.