“Here we are, my little light.” Mother said “Welcome to Ponyville.”
The carriage landed in a small rustic looking town. It reminded me a lot of medieval buildings you saw in textbooks. Timber frames with wattle and daub walls, topped with hay ceilings. Keeping with the medieval style of building I had seen in Canterlot. I made a promise to myself, once I learned how to walk and fly I would explore all of the cities in Equestria and learn what I could about them. The only time I truly paid attention in classrooms back in my old life was during Humanities. Learning about different cultures was incredibly interesting for me and now I was in a new world with more cities to see, ponies to meet and landmarks to visit. Everybody (or Everypony I mentally amended) needed a hobby and exploration could be one of mine.
The guards opened the door and mother stepped out with me on her back. There were many ponies running around, getting things prepared. I remembered that today was apparently a special holiday for Equestria so clearly last minute preparations were going on and it was evident that the stress of this event was getting to the residents. I couldn’t blame them, during special events at my store chain everyone worked themselves ragged to get ready for special events and holiday deals.
As mother walked, I noticed a huge crystal tree with a castle sitting on top of it. It looked a little jarring to see a crystalline structure like this in the middle of a rustic town such as this, so I wondered why it was there.
“That, Mythic Light, is Auntie Twilight’s castle.” Mother said “If we have time before the celebration today, I’ll show you it.”
Auntie Twilight lives there? I thought. That’s pretty cool, I wonder what kind of stuff she deals with. Mother has the day court so what does Twilight do?
Mother kept walking until she reached a multi-coloured tent-like building. There was a sign on top of it with the buildings name, The Carousel Boutique. Inside the boutique, the interior was almost entirely pink with touches of yellow, orange and white throughout. There was private changing rooms of to the side, a centre stage flanked by three mirrors and various mannequins wearing beautiful dresses and suits lined the room. In the middle of the room, placing some materials on a table with her magic, was Rarity. She noticed us entering and immediately bowed to us.
“Welcome to my boutique, your majesty.” Rarity said
“It’s good to see you again, Rarity.” Mother said “Thank you for taking this on short notice.”
“To make an outfit for the sweet little prince for his first summer sun celebration? It would be my honour to do this.” Rarity replied.
So this holiday is called Summer sun celebration? I thought
“A prince of the sun born in the summer months, just before this glorious day.” Mother said, looking down at me fondly “It feels quite poetic. Anyway, my foal and I are ready, where do you need us?”
“Just over to the stage please, I need to take the prince’s measurements.” Rarity said, guiding us over to her mirrored stage. “Can the prince stand on his own power yet?”
“Only for a few seconds or so.” Celestia responded “He tries hard but he just isn’t strong enough yet.”
I blushed heavily under both mares cooing gaze. If it was one thing I wasn’t looking forward to with this rebirth was all the cooing from parental figures and other adults. Unlike last time where I was indeed too young to remember any of it, with my previous life’s adult brain and memory intact, it would be something I would be enduring for years.
One of the prices of I have to pay I supposed. I was the one who asked for this so I can’t complain.
“That’s fine. All I need is just a minute or so.” Rarity replied, lighting up her horn and bringing forth a tape measure. “If you could just please hold him still so I can take his measurements.”
Celestia nodded and light her horn. I was levitated from mothers back to a standing position on the stage. Mother didn’t let her magic go, holding me in that stand position. As Rarity’s tape measure circled me, measuring everything from my body length and leg length to both of my wings length and my complete wingspan. While their magic to them must have been unimpressive or just mundane, I was completely enraptured by it. The greatest magicians in my old world could only dream of doing this. What truly made it special though was that this was not a trick, no Harry Houdini illusions, no Apollo Robbins sleight of hand, just honest to goodness magic. Soon I would get the chance to learn it as well.
“Ok, that’s everything.” Rarity said, jotting down the last measurements.“Once again you honour me with this request, your highness. To be the first designer to create an outfit for the prince and the first male alicorn, it’s a tremendous honour you grant me.”
“You are welcome, Rarity.” Mother said “I have seen your inspired works on numerous occasions and felt it was right for you to design this outfit for Mythic.”
I beamed up at Rarity but their last couple sentences made me think.
I’m the first male alicorn? I thought Let’s see. There’s Mum, Auntie Luna, Auntie Twilight and Auntie Cadance, oh and Faust as well. All alicorns and all female. Uncle Shining doesn’t have wings, nor does Cousin Blueballs and nor did Dad. Guess that means I am the first, that’s cool.
Rarity laid a cushion down and mother placed me on it and placed a blanket over me. Mother lent down next to me.
“I am very proud of you, my little light.” She said “You were so well behaved. Now just relax and get some rest, you’ll need to be up late tonight.”
She lay her wing over me and gently kissed the back of my head. I was looking forward to this Summer sun celebration so I allowed myself to slip into slumber, wondering what this kind of celebration would entail.
I didn’t know how long I slept for, but when I woke up I saw mother and Rarity over a sewing machine, presumably making the outfit I would be wearing. Lacking anything else to do I decided to look at the other dresses I could see in the store. Even though I barely cared about fashion in my previous life, it was very clear to me that Rarity was extremely talented. I could imagine nobles like Duchess Fleur de Lis wearing these dresses to formal parties and such. While I pondered on all of this, there was a knock on the door.
“That must be Sweetie Belle and her friends.” Rarity said. “Since you are here, your highness, they will probably want to meet the little prince if that’s alright.”
Noticing that I was awake, mother lay down next to me. “That’s fine Rarity, I think it would be nice for Mythic to meet them.”
Rarity lights up her horn and the door opened with three young fillies ran in. One was a unicorn with a white coat and two-toned pink and purple hair, one was a earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane, tied by a large pink bow and the other was a pegasus with a orange coat and a purple mane. As they ran in, I noticed their cutie marks were all virtually identical, a three-toned shield with a individual mark in the centre. They noticed who was in the boutique and immediately bowed to mother.
“It good to see you three again. Congratulations on your cutie marks.” Mother said, to which the three fillies blushed. “Now, allow me to introduce my child, Mythic Light. Mythic, this is Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
The trio slowly approached me, as if they were about to take on a feat of daring. They then slowly broke out into smiles and said in unision:
“SO CUTE!”
“Glad to meet you, Prince Mythic! My sister said you were cute as a button!” Applebloom said, in a southern drawl that made me immediately think of Applejack.
So they’re sisters. That’s cool. I thought
“I wonder what his cutie mark is going to be?” Sweetie belle said
“I bet it’s gonna be awesome and we should help him find out!” Scootaloo replied to which mother chuckled
“I think Mythic Light is a little young to be thinking about that.” Mother said “But once he’s older, I see no problem with having the Cutie Mark Crusaders help him find out.”
That made me think. What would my cutie mark be? Obviously I was going to get one because every other pony I had seen did but it’s shape and meaning were complete unknowns. From what I remembered, mother said that it would reflect my true talent. Well the goddess brought me here because of leadership talents but how do you represent leadership as a mark? Not to mention, the other Alicorns were leaders but did not have marks representing symbols that would assume leadership positions so why should I assume mine would be?
“Pardon me.” Rarity said “I just finished the Mythic’s outfit.”
“Thank you Rarity.” Mother said “Let’s see it.”
Rarity lit her horn and there was a bright flash of light. When my vision was restored I felt like I was wearing something and a mirror was brought over for me to see. I was wearing what I could only describe as a prince’s suit, the kind worn by princes in fairy tales and royal weddings. The main colour was blue with a white sash. The sleeves and collar were golden with Equestria’s symbol on the collar. The CMC immediately went into a round of “awws” while mother held me close.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, my little light. Just missing one thing.” she said before bringing out my crown and placing it upon my head. The topaz inset began to glow once again. “There, now you are ready for the celebration.”
This is really me? I thought, looking myself up and down in the mirror.
“Thank you once again Rarity for handling this.” Mother said before placing me on her back. “Mythic and myself have a few things to do before tonight comes, so we must get to that.”
“Of course, your highness.” Rarity said before coming over “It was wonderful meeting you again, Prince Mythic. I will see you tonight.”
I blushed under her kind words before mother headed out of the boutique
***
A few hours later, I was on Auntie Twilight’s back, waiting for mother to begin the celebration. Mother had taken me to Twilight’s palace where the other heroes were and, after another round of cooing over me in my suit, I was allowed to rest until late. It was nighttime and everypony was up, including other foals. According to what I heard, everypony stayed up on this one night of the year to watch mother raise the sun. I remembered when mother showed me how she raised the sun before, so I wondered what made this particular night so special.
“Watch closely, Mythic.” Twilight said, clearly very excited “This is going to be amazing.”
I smiled back at her. We were all outside Twilight’s palace and there was a genuine buzz of excitement going through the gathered crowd and it was hard not to join the crowd. Then a older looking mare with a grey mane and a light brown coat walked in front of the palace.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts.” she said, in a loud voice “As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my esteemed honour to announce the beginning of the summer sun celebration. In just a few moments, we'll begin our celebrations of this, the longest day of the year.”
So, this is Summer solstice? I thought Geez, the people of the old world usually didn’t care about these sort of things. Maybe ponies do something different I haven’t seen yet, will be cool to find out.
“...and now, it is my pleasure to introduce to you...” the mayor said “The co-rulers of our land and the princesses of sunlight and moonlight, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
A massive cheer rang out from the crowd as mother and Auntie Luna appeared in front of the palace. Over my brief life, I had gained a lot of respect for mother as a ruler. It wasn’t just her stature though, it was the way she carried herself. No matter where she was, hers was a presence to be felt and respected. There was no doubt in my mind, she was a ultimate package for a leader.
Mother and Auntie Luna lit their horn and slowly unfurled their wings and started flying upwards. As they rose, the moon lowered and the sun rose with her and when she reached the height of the star at the top of the castle, the sun rose beyond the castle and bathed the land in its glorious light. The crowd roared with applause and I can clapped my hooves. As mother descended, I couldn’t be prouder to call myself her son.
Now this is how you start a holiday.