In less than a year, Ponyville had dramatically changed. The population must have doubled, at least, to the colt and fillies’ surprised eyes. They spent the weekend just exploring the expanded town.
The Portal Exclusion Area now had an entire battalion of six hundred Guards assigned to it, a huge number considering the size of Ponyville. Three additional platoons, sixty-six Guards, had been directly posted to live at his mum’s castle’s new barracks. They were her personal Guards, to her dismay. She had told them to assist the local law enforcement.
The train depot had been expanded — there were now trains arriving and leaving almost every hour. Improvements included three separate sets of tracks. One was for cargo shipping, of which there appeared to be quite a bit. The second was for passengers embarking and disembarking, sometimes on two different trains at the same time. The third went to the Portal Entry Building beside Sweet Apple Acres. Harry had heard two ponies in the train station talking about something called a Roundhouse being built.
The train-station building itself had been enlarged. It now featured a spacious transfer room with five floos; two for outgoing and three for incoming travellers. There was a ticket booth, with lift gates to control access, between the two outgoing floos. The prices for the various destinations were clearly posted.
The building also had an enlarged waiting room with comfortable seating, and an all day and night luncheon counter.
Harry doubted that floo-travel to individuals’ homes and businesses would be as wide-spread as it was in wizarding England. Installing six million floos would be a massive undertaking. At a thousand installations a day, it would still take sixteen plus years. Just training enough ponies in the installation and control procedures would take years. It was far easier to set up depots. Maybe in fifty years he would start to see most businesses and homes with floos. But not now.
The cargo shipping yard was more of a huge warehouse with multiple tracks on each side. Products from England were unpacked from their inside-enlarged, pony-wagon-sized boxes and repacked into either inside-enlarged saddle-bags or into train-cars for transport elsewhere. And the reverse was done for products from Equestria to England. The train cars themselves were not expanded to prevent problems with conflicting enchantments.
New apartment buildings dotted the outside edges of Ponyville on new streets, as well as new restaurants and stores.
And a new Quidditch stadium took up one corner of the town. It was in almost constant use by pegasi teams. Some were organized, some were ad hoc.
Ponyville was no longer the sleepy little town it used to be. It was a bustling, growing boomtown, now that trade rules and commerce had entered into full swing.
۸-_-۸
It was a week later that the Weasleys were due to arrive for their three-week holiday in Equestria. Sirius, Harry, and the fillies waited impatiently just outside the Portal Dome. His mum was inside, by the Portal Tree, and with the attendant.
They all watched
Scootaloo sighed. “What’s taking so long? They said they’d be here by ten!” she groused.
Sirius laughed and shrugged. “The Weasleys are almost always arriving at the last minute. It’s nice to see some things haven’t changed in the last ten years.”
“But it’s almost ten, now!”
“Look!” Apple Bloom said excitedly, bouncing up and down as she pointed into the Dome, “thar’s Mrs. Weasley!” It was true. Harry could see a pegasus with dark red mane and tail exiting the portal, behind a blue-maned business unicorn with large saddlebags. The steady stream of ponies exiting the portal were a bit less than two-ponies apart, a celestial. Outgoing ponies were already queuing up at the rotating door beside Harry and the fillies, waiting for their turn for the next hour.
Each arriving pony stepped to the side to take off their robe and put it on a hook for an outgoing pony to use. “Oh, there’s Percy . . . Fred . . . George . . . Ginny . . . Does anyone know who that is?” Harry said. A unicorn he didn’t recognize, except for a Weasley-red mane and tail, was behind Ginny. Had one of her brothers come through? The Weasleys were all grouping together to one side, waiting for their entire family.
The blue-maned unicorn, now revealed as having a blue-green coat, and a printing-press cutie mark, was already halfway around the tree.
“And there’s Ron . . . .” Harry was astonished to see a grey unicorn with wheat blonde mane and tail collapse on top of Ron as he came through the Portal. Ron said something they couldn’t hear through the Dome and the grey unicorn tried to scramble upright. The other Weasleys surged forward to help Ron.
Immediately, nearly a dozen ponies jumped into action. The Weasleys were quickly surrounded. The ponies in the remote stations on the Dome clearly unlocked their weapons and swung them to point directly at the Weasleys. There was much shouting going on, both inside and outside the Dome. From what Harry could hear, someone had tried to sneak through the Portal, somehow. A red light was blinking on the Dome’s Entrance and the rotating door had stopped. It trapped two people and three ponies inside the two quarters that weren’t open. The travelling ponies inside the dome all stopped where they were as they were surrounded by guards.
Guards ran from the partition wall behind Harry and the fillies, and quickly took formation around the Portal Dome entrance/exit. Harry and his friends were being watched closely by two squads of three ponies.
No more ponies came through the portal to follow Ron, so there must be a way of communicating back and forth.
“What’s happening? What’s happening?” No pony answered them.
Sirius was as puzzled as they were. Harry and the fillies bounced from hoof to hoof anxiously. After about half an hour, Harry and the fillies were escorted to a locked room in the Partition Wall with a large window that looked out into a corridor. Sirius was guided into a different room. They saw that the Weasleys were similarly being escorted, as was the grey unicorn. The single unicorn had almost a dozen Guards flying and walking around him, at various distances that left him no chances of escaping.
In fact, everyone still inside the Dome, including the two people trapped by the door, were escorted to separate rooms in the Partition Wall.
His mum showed up a few minutes after they had been placed in the room.
“What’s happening? What’s happening?” they demanded, worried and crowding close to her.
She smiled, and shifted nervously. “It seems Ron had a passenger. His pet rat Scabbers?” She looked at them to make sure they were listening and understood.
“Yes?” Harry said as he nodded.
She sighed. “Turns out Scabbers was really a wizard in hiding.”
They all shrank back, their eyes wide at that statement.
His mum nodded. “We’re still checking the facts. And it’ll be a couple of days before we’re sure. But it seems that Peter Pettigrew has been hiding with the Weasleys, as a normal rat for the last ten years and some months.”
They just stared at her in disbelief. They had all seen the rat, even played with him a little bit. The thought that it really had been a wizard in hiding . . . was disgusting. Although it did explain the rat’s rather extraordinarily clean habits.
“Scabbers’s been rather anxious the last few days, after they started planning to come here. He’s tried to escape a couple of times, so they’ve been keeping him in his cage. He was in his cage, hooked to Ron’s rucksack, when they went through the portal.”
She sat down. “Unfortunately, the Weasleys are all caught up in this and are being interviewed to clear them of deliberate involvement. It’s rather clear they knew nothing about this wizard hiding with them, but we want to make sure no one can accuse them of collaboration.” She smiled. “On the other hoof, there is quite a large reward for the capture of Peter. Oh! And Sirius is being questioned to verify that this wizard really is Peter Pettigrew.”
The princess stood back up. “In the meantime, I’m afraid we need to give you interviews, as well. Not that anypony thinks you’ve done anything wrong, mind you.” She stopped and stared at Harry and the fillies, and then blinked. “Well, not anything regarding Peter, that is.” She smiled gently. “I’ve sent for Rarity, Applejack, Holiday, and Lofty. Because you’re all still in school, an adult relative must be present during the interview.” She turned to Harry.
“And since I am here already, let’s start with Harry.” She smiled reassuringly. “It’s nothing bad, I promise, merely tedious.” She turned and headed for the door. Harry followed her. Just as she was about to close the door behind them, she said to the fillies. “Do try to remember as much as you can about Scabbers, but don’t discuss your stories with each other. If the stories you tell are too much alike, the interviewer will suspect you are trying to hide something when you aren’t.”
As his mum had promised, the questioning was tedious in the extreme and took most of the afternoon, with a brief break for lunch. “When did you first see Scabbers? Did he do anything unusual for a rat? Did he ever do anything to indicate he might be more than a rat? Were you ever suspicious of him? Tell me about every time you saw him.” Yeah. Really tedious. And they frequently repeated the questions in slightly different forms. Didn’t they understand him the first time? It’s not like what he said in answer would change all that much.
Still, his mum was right beside him the entire time. After it was over, she took him to a new room, where he found the fillies and Ginny waiting. Also in the room were two unicorns he had never met, although both had the Weasley-red mane and tail. One had a soft brown coat and the other pale-yellow.
Ginny was rather teary-eyed. The two stallions were consoling their sister.
“Princess Sparkle,” Ginny said, straightening. “This is my oldest brother, Bill Weasley,” she pointed to the pale-yellow stallion. “He works at Gringotts as a Curse-breaker.” Harry noted he had an earring that was a fang and wasn’t quite as scrawny as Harry had expected from someone just turned into a pony by the portal. The earring would gather him some notoriety quite quickly, here in Equestria, Harry knew. In fact, Harry was surprised the Guards had released him so soon, despite the fang!
She pointed with a wing to the brown-coated pony, who had a long shiny burn mark on one foreleg. “And this is my second-oldest brother, Charlie Weasley, who works at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.” Charlie’s muscles stood out from a thin frame. Harry wondered how he would react upon seeing Spike.
“And this is Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said, bowing.
Both Weasleys performed awkward bows, and stumbled a bit. “Sorry,” mumbled Charlie. “Not used to having four legs.”
“I am pleased to meet you both,” Twilight said. “And you needn’t be formal with me.” She scrunched up her face. “I hate all that formality stuff.” She smirked. “As for four legs, I’m sure the twins will be happy to give you all the exercise you need to become comfortable.” She glanced sideways at Harry. “And Harry tells me the quickest way is to stop thinking about it.”
“Ah,” said Bill, nodding. “And this?” He crossed his eyes looking up at his new horn.
What followed was a lesson in using your horn to do magic that admirably kept everypony occupied as the afternoon progressed. At regular intervals, the other members of the Weasley family showed up. By dinner time, everyone was finished. Sirius was the last, as he knew the most about what Peter had been like, and the things they should ask that no one but Peter would be able to answer. He would have to come back over the next few days to assist them in their questioning Peter.
Peter was still being grilled about every facet of his life. And the interrogation would continue tonight, by Princess Luna, while the wizard slept, Harry knew. By the time they were finished, they would have a complete picture of what the Death Eater organization had done in the past, and who the existing members might be. And Peter’s involvement.
When brewed with the proper ingredients, the Seeds of Truth had become invaluable in questioning anyone accused of a crime. It was magic itself, via the blooming flowers in the flower tray in the middle of the table, that judged if a person was truthful. Lying, except by omission, was flat out impossible.
“In addition,” Twilight explained after they were all together, “on the promise that we wouldn’t return him to the wizarding world, he has promised to tell the truth.” She snickered. “Apparently, from overhearing conversations at The Burrow and at Hogwarts, he knows that if he showed his face anywhere, he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban.”
Based on what Harry had heard of both the Canterlot Dungeons and Azkaban, the former was much preferable to the later. From what his mum had told him, at least the Canterlot dungeons would give him a lifestyle not all that different from what he had been living at the Weasley Burrow. That is, lazing around, eating, and sleeping.
They were all pretty tired by the time they returned to the Castle, so it was a quiet, “Welcome to Equestria,” dinner at the Castle that evening, at first.
Charlie and Bill had focused on Spike as he set the table and brought out their meal. Watching their eyes bulge out the first time he came out of the kitchen with a platter had be immensely amusing. Watching their jaws drop when he greeted Twilight was equally comical. Sirius kept glancing between them and chortling at their expressions.
They had barely started dinner when Twilight apologized to the Weasleys for inconveniencing them at the Portal. Mr. Weasley had immediately apologized for causing the problem in the first place.
After several rounds of apologies, Rarity stood up and politely declared the matter settled. She then suggested, “Why not partake of the Ponyville Day Spa, tomorrow? You can join me, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash at our regular appointment. You can relax and restore your peace of mind. And it would give you all a new appreciation of just how fine the pony form is. It’ll be my treat to welcome you to Equestria!” She glanced at Ginny and Molly, “And I’m sure you would enjoy having a professional show you how to preen your feathers.”
“Oh yes, that’s a marvellous idea,” declared Myrtle. “Can I go, too?” she aimed her question at Twilight. The former ghost clearly remembered what her trip to the spa during Christmas break had been like. And after the sparse facilities of Hogwarts, she was more than willing to be pampered! Twilight nodded, smiling.
Harry watched as Mr. and Mrs, Weasley looked uncertainly at each other. “Go on,” Myrtle urged. “You’ll definitely find it worth it.” And then regaled them with how wonderful an experience it was, something they should definitely do while here in Equestria.
“I would go, too, if I weren’t involved with a certain . . . rat,” Sirius said calmly, gritting his teeth when he said ‘rat.’ “I can tell you it is quite relaxing.”
The two Weasleys looked at each other and made faces until Mr. Weasley turned and said, “All right. We’ll give it a try.”
It took a bit more to convince the older three Weasley boys.
The twins, it turned out, had an appointment the next morning with Filthy Rich. It was regarding their earnings, so far. Plus, they had some new ideas they wanted to share. And some improvements on their Gender Gingers.
Harry didn’t bother fussing. He knew that as soon as the fillies had decided to go, that he was going to be brought along. And that protesting wouldn’t work. Not that he was really bothered, anyway.
For some reason, Sirius smiled and chuckled whenever he looked at Harry and the fillies, when they were together.
In the end, even Ron decided to join them, although for him it was the realization that his parents wouldn’t let him stay alone at the palace if everyone else was going. And he didn’t trust his brothers enough to stay with them.
۸-~-۸
The Spa trip in the morning was off to a fairly early start. They were almost late for the appointment, as was usual for the Weasleys, according to Sirius.
Harry decided, as he relaxed into the hot tub, that a quiet morning after yesterday’s excitement was just perfect. He couldn’t help but sigh as he overheard Applejack whisper to Twilight, “Just like a colt, fights against a bath until he’s in it, then you can’t get him out!” They both giggled.
At first, it had been embarrassing, though. Ron had asked what Harry and the fillies had been doing this past week. That had led to his mum telling them how, on Tuesday morning, the Cutie Mark Crusaders — unfairly, in their opinion — had been officially banned from the Ponyville Shipping Depot and Warehouse, and its environs.
“Hay!” Sweetie Belle had objected. “We apologized! And nothing was permanently destroyed or ruined, either. And we promised not to rearrange any switching and transport systems to make them more efficient.”
That had then led to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom explaining how their Monday had gone. And how five train-cars ended up in Appleloosa, and seven others in Manehattan. And that the cars had managed to make the trips without train engines — or the correct cargo. The cargo part was, admittedly, a mistake.
“Hay! I thought that switch read ‘W’ for West. I didn’t know I was reading it upside down and it was supposed to mean Manehattan!” had objected Scootaloo. “And if that switch was west, then the other must have been east, right?”
Plus, another train car had burst into flames part-way to Fillydelphia, also without a train engine. Or cargo. An alert pegasus had seen it and put the fire out before any real damage had occurred. No one was sure exactly how that had happened, or how the car had made it that far without anypony noticing it.
“It escaped its corral all on its own because it wanted to be free,” Apple Bloom had claimed in defence. “They couldn’t prove we had anything to do with that car, but they decided to blame us, anyway.” She pouted and glared at her sister.
That grounding, at least, had been only for two days. Nothing had been damaged — at least nothing that couldn’t be easily repaired with the new reparo charm now being taught to everypony with a wand. Which was mostly the Guard, at this point.
“The simple utility of that spell guarantees that wands are going to be in every pony’s hoof,” Twilight explained. “We already have a several decades backlog.”
Harry did feel that the numerous Keep Out posters that featured their likenesses were a bit over the top. The train-station ponies were posting one every pony-length on the new chain-link fence being built around the warehouse depot.
Harry had spent the days exploring the castle, and discovering that it now had a secret passage from the entry hall to the tallest tower. And a slide from the same location to the pool. Plus, he could practice magic without anyone complaining. It hadn’t been much of a grounding, in his opinion. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Their attempt at helping out at the train station Thursday afternoon, as porters, had been quickly stopped mere minutes after they had started. The Station Manager’s brother worked as one of the managers at the Warehouse Depot. And he had been watching for the colt and four fillies. He had allowed them to help for about an hour under his, and all five of the porters, direct and close supervision. For some reason, only new ponies to Ponyville allowed them to touch their luggage.
One frail, long-time resident, Chelsea Porcelain, when she had seen them headed for her trunk — that had to weigh as much as she did, from its size — had left her walker, run to the luggage car, picked up the trunk, and ran home without looking back.
Harry hoped she hadn’t hurt herself.
And only one car had been de-railed!
Naturally, none of the four had gained a Cutie Mark to show for their efforts in any of that.
One interesting thing they did learn that week was that there was now a long, split-rail fence guarding the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Oh, yes,” his mum explained to the Weasleys as they soaked in their mud bath, “there are so many new ponies in town that we’re afraid some might wander into it, not having been told of its danger.” She sighed, “If you go there, you’ll notice the fences is about a hundred celestials away from the forest. We had to concede some space to make up for what we took away with the Portal Exclusion Zone. The fence extends for quite a distance in both directions, making it obvious that we’re giving up that land to the Forest. We’ve already seen signs that the forest has started expanding to the fence.”
All the Weasleys present looked at her as if she were mad.
She shrugged. “It’s Harmony. We took what was the Forest’s for the Portal. For balance, to maintain Harmony, we must trade what isn’t, to it.” She looked at their shocked expressions. “We must provide an outlet, otherwise we might have some unpleasant creatures making excursions into Ponyville.”
“Truly?” said Bill, shifting to look intently at her curiously.
She smiled sadly at him. “The region was created a thousand years ago in a great magical battle that laid waste to the area that makes up most of the Everfree. Incredible quantities of both good and bad magic were released, and settled into the very land. It took a while for us to notice, but when this area was created, other places calmed down and became friendlier to us.” She glanced around the room.
“Experience over the last thousand years indicates it is more than just a forest, it is an expression of wild magic. And balances all the tamed magic we ponies created. If we were to . . . completely eradicate it, hundreds of smaller versions would appear all over Equestria.”
She sipped her cup of complimentary tea. “Harmony is the balance of good and bad, not the elimination of one or the other.”
The Weasleys all sat back in contemplation.
It was nearly noon when they left the Spa, so they decided a leisurely lunch at Sugarcube Corner was an excellent idea. The building was much larger, now, and featured an outdoor dining area. Pinkie Pie was no longer the only employee.
They were worried they might not find an available table because the outside area was simply packed with customers. What was the inside like?
Pinkie popped up beside Twilight, as they dithered in the street, making everyone except the Ponyville ponies jump in shock. “Go right in!” she said gleefully. “I’ve got your table all prepared!” Twilight gave the hyper pony a quick hug and a warm smile.
“Thanks!” she said.
Then the pink pony zipped back inside.
A few minutes later, inside the café, the Weasleys were amazed to see Pinkie Pie standing beside a table roped off in one corner, with exactly the number of seats they needed.
Mr. Weasley turned to Twilight. “Did you send a message?”
She shook her head. “Nope. It’s just Pinkie Pie. Don’t think about it.”
They had no sooner arranged themselves around the table, than Pinkie returned with a tray. She began setting out muffins, slices of cake, and cider juices while dancing around the table.
“How did she know what to bring us? And so quickly, too,” Mrs. Weasley said, nibbling cautiously at a muffin. Her eyes grew wide. She leaned back and looked at the muffin. “This is delicious!” she declared.
“Pinkie’s cooking usually is.” Applejack said, with a blissful look as she ate her apple-chunk muffin. “Almost as good as Granny’s.”
It was quiet for a few minutes as everyone tucked into their meal. Almost as fast as they finished one muffin, cake-slice, or juice, Pinkie slid another in its place before they even knew she wasn’t still in the kitchen.
“Was it difficult for you to get time off from your jobs?” Twilight looked at Charlie and Bill.
The two exchanged sheepish looks, and shrugged.
“Truthfully?” said Charlie, arching his eyebrows. “When I asked my boss at the Reserve for time off to visit with my family at Princess Twilight’s Castle in Equestria, he said, ‘no,’ quite emphatically. I’m actually on payroll with orders to foster good relations with the Equestrian government and to learn what I can about the Dragons. I’m supposed to ask if I can see some of the dragons here, to assess how different they are from our dragons. And if you might know of any spells we don’t, or techniques for handling them.”
Spike fell off his chair. “Really?” he said incredulously.
Charlie smirked awkwardly. “Uh yeah. For example, you look a lot like an immature Romanian Longhorn, only purple instead of green. Most of our dragons reach maturity in three or four years, so it’s difficult to believe you’re almost eleven years old and still not grown.” He shook his head. “And I can say, so far, if you’re typical, mentally, that comparing you with our dragons is like comparing a mermaid to a bullfrog.”
Spike looked confused for a moment.
Harry put in, “Think seapony, like in your comics.”
“Oooh!” said Spike, nodding as he figured it out. “And I’m still a baby. Wait until you meet a grown-up!” He scowled. “I wouldn’t bother with the teenagers,” he muttered. He glanced out the window into the distance, obviously thinking of PeeWee.
“That is one of the things I planned to do later, ask you who I needed to talk with to secure permission,” Charlie said as he looked at Twilight hopefully.
She nodded. “I’ll have to check with Princess Celestia. I don’t know who among the dragons would be approachable. Did you bring any tribute for them?”
“Tribute?” He tilted his head questioningly.
“Oh, yes, you can’t just go up to a dragon without offering something to their hoard. They’d dismiss you out hoof,” she said.
Spike nodded. “That’s not a problem if you didn’t,” he said helpfully. “There’s plenty of gems around. I’ll show you which ones are particularly tasty.”
Charlie gave him a look that suggested he wasn’t sure if the little dragon was joking or not.
“Okaaayyyy,” Charlie said unsurely.
“We’ll discuss this more, later,” said Harry’s mum, and looked at Bill.
He ducked his head slightly and smirked. “Yeah, the same thing happened with me.” He straightened. “When I asked my boss at the current worksite, he almost threw a portkey at me to return home, with orders to tell that to the Head Goblin.” He chuckled. “The Goblins want to establish trade with Equestria, and want to send a trade delegation. I’m a scout, to see just what might be of interest and to arrange an itinerary.” He looked at Spike, then back at Twilight. “They are especially interested in the enchantable gems.”
Twilight studied him carefully, then nodded. “We will discuss that later, as well.”
They spent almost an hour at the bakery, before heading back. Just as Twilight reached the door to leave, Pinkie appeared beside her. “The surprise party for newcomers is tomorrow,” she stage-whispered.
۸-~-۸
Well thanks peter, spending the day locked in a room with paranoid TSA agents is just how everyone wanted to start their vacation.
Honestly, letting Peter stay, even as a prisoner seems kinda insane. That grotesque bastard has been living in the company of other peoples children, and who knows what moments of intimacy within that entire family he has been privy to. To speak nothing of the murders he's committed himself or assisted with. If anything he ought to go to Tartarus, but he seems like he's just too 'small time' for that. Send the rat back to Britain in a cage. Anyway, excellent chapter.
9652519
It's only paranoia if there are no shape-shifting wizards and changelings! The nice black buggy alicorn told me so!
Oh, one of Voldy's most loyal agents is now a prisoner of Equestria. Hmmm this will makes things difficult for him. Though Crouch Jr. is still out there, so we'll see what lengths they'll have to go to now that Petter is in custody.
Oh well, this take one of the last screw loose, he won't be able to find Voldemort if he is imprisoned in Equestria, a place he knows nothing about, and where he is safe living as he was living before, and voldy is trapped, and nobody knows about it, perhaps that an agent of him attack Hogwarts and died, so nobody is rescuing him from the fidelius enchanted box of Dumbledore, so voldy could perhaps scape, anyway; now Malfoy should bring the diary, but he may be targeted by other death eaters, but, how many followers tom have left? considering everybody knows now about tom being a mix blood, and that he lied to everybody, even his followers, if the malfoys give it in secrecy, that would be better, that and the coup would seal the deal, so the story will go for starlight, as the new villain, temporary though, some accident will release voldemor and start a new, anyway, books 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 are done, they are not necessary, book four could happen, but in a different way, though we need to wait 2 years for them.
9652582
Totally agree that Peter deserves far worse, but it probably would be the best option. He's not a full bloodthursty psycho or muggle hater (from what we know), nor does he have ample political and financial power like Lucious. He became a death eater because he is an absolute coward. Offering him life imprisionment in equestia as opose to Azkaban and the dementors kiss is a sure fire way to not only milk him for any and all information he has, but also confess to framing Sirius completly exonerating him. Remember, in the book GoF, they had Crouch Jr in custody, but fudge order him kissed before they were able to get anything useful out of him.
great chapter, as always...
9652612
I wonder which half of that problem will unnerve ponies more? The fact that junior loves Voldemort's agenda with a downright religious fervor, or that the elder is perfectly willing to drown his own son in compulsion spells and keep him as an invisible prisoner in his house. That mess is downright twisted.
Ponders how if the Dark mark shows up on Wizards and Witches crossing in Equestria
Well, not only is Prisoner of Azkahban out the window, so to is the ending for Goblet of Fire. Although, I can conceive of some alternate means by which those instances still occur…
9652582
I agree it does seem ridiculous to let him get off so easily but then again they also allowed Discord to walk free after his actions in helping Tirek lead to the deaths of 1% of the population.
9652661
As someone who generally likes Discord, yeah even I think that was a bit much. But given what all he's demonstrated to be able to do here, I'm not sure they can really police him in any meaningful way. Even if they subdue him again, he's been shown to be able to escape eventually. Gently guiding him to their way of thinking might realistically be the smartest move in the long run.
9652668
They don't need to police him, if he's serious about reforming he would abide by any punishment they give him.
9652678
Who is to say he is? Even in the context of this story, I don't believe he is truly malevolent. But I think Harry's assessment of him early on is close to correct. Discord is pretty damn mercurial even in the show, and I don't think he sees most ponies as his equals in this fic. Friends, certainly. But you can be friends with your 'lessers'. I tend to imagine this portrayal of Discord as regarding ponies as pets in the distant past, and perhaps children most recently. You don't let children make the big decisions unless you're humoring or testing them.
Well who wouldn’t want to spend their time in a cell where they get three meals a day and the guards can be pleasant rather then where the guards are soul sucking leaches that can devour your soul?
Shouldn't Harry be using the word "holiday" here instead of "vacation"? After all while Harry is now more Equestrian then British culturally, he still speaks using British English albeit a ponified version of it.
AS to letting Peter 'go' and giving him a cushy life. This no worse than many governments do today with making deals in return for information on other criminals. Though Peter isn't going to be allowed to roam free without anyone knowing what he did nor will he be able to lie or keep information back from those interested in it.
9652718
thanks.
9652582
It's not insane when you consider that all of the Equestrian government's experience is that the Wizarding World's government is highly corrupt and highly incompetent. They're not granting Peter sanctuary, they're not extraditing their prisoner to those dimwits.
Awww Ponyville is losing its small town vibe its kept all the way up to season 9 that makes me sad though Apple Jack probably appreciates the increased commerce.
Amusing to see Charlie and Bill getting told no leave well pay you to make good relations with them.
Be interesting to see their reaction the gems and the elder dragons.
Also there goes Scabbers.
Forget to mention in my last post I wonder if Tkepner is having the Everfree expand to the fence or using the comic deer kingdom inside it?
Y'know...I'm not quite sure where it happened, but somewhere along the way, this story kinda...flubbed once to many.
I wouldn't say it's a bad story, per se, the first 50-70 chapters were certainly quite fun, but somewhere along the way I lost my interest and eventually stopped reading it.
From what I recall, the two biggest problems were:
1. Too much wizard bashing (you had signs that the ponies had problems of their own but it didn't feel like you were actually doing anything with them...related note, you handled the dumbledore situation better than the fic you based this on, but still not as well as maybe you should've)
2. Too many things that are usually best left to out and out crackfics (like excessive amounts of discord shennanigans), which did not quite fit the tone you seemed to be going for (which was a mostly serious adventure/political story). Most of them you handled alright, it's just the sheer number of them added up...
9652932
Soo . . . if you stopped reading it 50 chaps ago, why did you read this one?
9652625
Or that the elder also went along with the wife's plan to take her son's place in Azkaban. While semi-admirable on her part, Crouch Sr. still went along with helping a dangerous prisoner escape and condemning his wife to a slow death in insanity and misery, even if she might have been near death when she went in.
yep, just a typical Thursday in Ponyville for you. is it weird that Ponyville's CMC and Townsville's daily monster attacks could switch places and noone would bat an eyelash?
9653047
So true . . . .
9652616
9652778
Yes, I suppose so. But the fact that Twilight is letting Peter stay in what he considers to be a much cushier prison just kinda rankles me a bit. But I suppose having him rat out as many of his associates as he can is a... tolerable trade off. And honestly, Azkaban is pretty goddamned barbaric when you get right down to it. It's essentially a state-run torture dungeon.
9652588
what? oh. *stares into distance before discretely pressing the implosion button on my anti wizards disguised as rats machine* don't mind me. just drinking a smoothie. nothing to see here.
9652625
yeah, it's almost as if they don't fanatically follow a semi powerful being from whom's buttocks sun literally shines. *discretely hides alicorn slaying dagger while you all think of that*
9652969
I didn't. I forgot to take this story off of tracked stories.
9653147
I'm wondering if he might not be going to guide them to the dirarh/locket?
666 guards? ;3
Well sh*t. That got resolved fast.
9653147
I also think that he should get punishment of some kind for the death of Harry's parent. But then, there are criminal negotiation and prosecutors have to hold up their part of the deal. Plus with Sirius oversaw the process, he should make sure something is done right.
9653533
Not sure if he know the locations of the Horcrux. Voldemort naturally didn't trust anyone, so it is likely that he didn't tell anyone about it. Except the diary one he (perhaps) gave to Malfoy.
9653157
Get out of here Mehrunes, your kind of "help" they don't need.
9653043
Oh, right, I forgot about that.
Candace is going to have quite the thousand-yard stare before all this is said and done.
Is there any MLP story when the humans find the portal to Equestria. similar to if wishes were ponies But in reverse. minus the Harry Potter references
9653789
Oh, you misunderstand. That isn't there to be used. I like Luna and Cadance is funny sometimes. That is there in case Sun butt goes the way of Sombra.
8 upvotes before it's new chapter time! (look at the ratings graph under statistics)
This has become my favorite story.
Nobody lays a finger on my -better- butterfinger.
9653675
I think there's a problem with ponies prosecuting Peter for crimes committed in Wizarding Britain as it undermines GB's own rule of Law. Which is why there is extradition and deportation. However, Equestria can pin him for illegal entry into their world and incarcerate him on those grounds. Given his confessions of dangerous criminal activities and history they might be inclined to long term incarceration for safety.
9652969
I see his criticisms and understand where he is coming from. You've done such an excellent job on writing the serious bits and setting the stage and mood that getting near 1000 words about a week of tree sap tropes does great work in padding but doesn't much else contribute to the story and feels like a loss.
Said this those moments have been few and far between. Diamond Tiara and Pipsqueak should start running for class president soon right? Tirek blew up the school playground and replacing that equipment was one of the campaigning platforms.
9655358
Isn’t that what the whole slice-of-life is about, though? And if I eliminated that, people would complain I was ignoring the CMC and Harry’s interactions.
9655480
Hmm? Oh im not saying slice it out, not at all. its just at times placed in a weird spot whereby you've lost pacing such as having a major setting development or background thing then, without segway, "cmc borderline fence erectors yay" the everfree grew three sizes that day and a new treesap commodity was born due to unprecedented surplus.
This chapter does not suffer that affliction.
My excitement pies in their coming of age is fast approaching.
9655358
They could also nail Pettigrew on being a member of a terrorist organization whose leader is bent on killing an Equestrian Prince, the fact that he is also the one who is ultimately responsible for the deaths of said Prince's biological parents would not give him much sympathy from any jury who could easily be late him a threat to Equestria to be locked away in Tartarus forever. This would be especially easy if Celestia and Luna had anticipated this type of situation and had at some point previously made membership in the Death Eaters illegal within Equestria. So there are many ways Equestria could hold that rat prisoner for the rest of his life.
On top of that while there may be some treaties between Equestria and Muggle Britain at this point there doesn't appear to be any between Equestria and the MoM, so Equestria has absolutely no requirement to return him or any other prisoner to the wizards, plus while the Dementors guard Azkaban and the "kiss" remains a legal punishment I seriously doubt that Equestria would ever be willing to hand over any criminal to the wizards regardless of circumstances. So I don't think the possibility of extraditing Pettigrew back to Earth was ever on the table and Equestria is simply using it as an empty threat to secure as much information from him as possible.
Despite that I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore and Amelia Bones get invited to attend Peter's trial, though admittingly Dumbledore as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix would likely be required to be there as a witness, that is assuming criminal courts work in a similar way in Equestria as they do in the U.S. and the U.K.
9655534
Given the ample opportunities to do so at the school and at The Burrow basically shuts down any assumption of an anticipated assassination attempt. Any competent defence attorney would immediately point this out and would mark any assumptions along such lines as conjecture given the rats long isolation in the possession of the Weasley families.
The Equestrian courts cannot hold Peter in violation of their laws for instances or events which occurred extra-nationally in ex post facto of Harry's crowning or citizenship.
All they (the ponies) have on him (Peter) is illegal entry into their borders. They could extradite him to the muggles for his violations of muggle law and he could face muggle justice. That would endanger the statute of secrecy. They could turn him over to the MOM, and as was pointed out risk incompetence or sympathy. Then there is the factor they know he would be placed in Azkaban. Given the ponies' distaste for the place perhaps instead of turning over a living being to that, in exchange turn over his testimony to the MOM and grant him asylum from the Death Eaters for his betrayal to their organization.
Granted holding him from prosecution by the MOM may make things fall in disfavor for the ponies, but exchanging the testimony and anything Peter can give them would make for a trade.
Granted, his Asylum may just be a dungeon cell or something else. He would have to be a pony in either case.
Remember to think outside in the meta.
Haven't commented in a while, feel like saying mostly this.
I hope that either Year Two gets a New story of it's own, or that we see more generalizations, summaries, and less cases of following things day by day. I hope that Year Two for Harry we finally, FINALLY FUCKING FINALLY, get some Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celesita, Luna, or Cadence POV's, or at least SOMEPONY involved higher up in Equestrian politics and the military.
Because this story still badly needs those points of view, or to be split so that this story continues to focus on Harry and the CMC, while a second story focuses on the more Geo-Political things.
9655606
You are forgetting that Equestria as a sovereign state is perfectly capable of making it's own laws completely separate from our own and many of them may work very differently and could at least in theory have laws that would allow them to hold him accountable for his past crimes and like I said if the Death Eaters (whose leader has recently made an attempt on Harry's life) have been made illegal in Equestria at some point in the past then they could nail him for being a member of an illegal terrorist organization, and even if his more specific crimes can't be held against him they still won't get him any sympathy from a jury.
It's actually not unheard of for countries to assert their authority over foreign crimes in certain special cases and since Harry is not just an Equestrian citizen but a prince it wouldn't be unreasonable for the royal family to consider this one such case. Depending on how much political power the Princesses actually have they could easily declare that any crime committed against Harry prior to his arrival in Equestria to be a crime against Equestria retroactively or even declare that as far as they are, plus they could just declare the whole issue to be a family matter and deal with Pettigrew personally. We know this is actually possible as we actually have cases of the Princesses acting as the judge, jury, jailer and even executioner of villains in the past. Nightmare Moon who was banished to the moon for a millennium, Discord who was petrified (twice) but then reformed and pardoned (also twice) even Sunset Shimmer was technically banished for a time given that Twilight left her behind in the human world with no way to return to Equestria until the portal reopened. We also have no idea if a Judicial System outside of the Princesses even exists in Equestria, and even if one does like I said they could just simply override it if they chose.
I actually considered the possibility of extradition to the Muggle World but then should the wizards ever hear about it Pettigrew would almost currently be spirited and subjected to the Dementor's Kiss, again I highly doubt that Equestria would ever allow one of their prisoners regardless of their crime to ever be subjected to those monsters even if there was only a chance of it happening and personally I would think that the Muggle Government would agree that it would be best for Equestria to not extradite anyone to the wizards so long as the Dementors have a role in magical law enforcement. Again there is no treaty between the Wizarding World and Equestria and even most extradition treaties allow countries to refuse an extradition request, so Equestria has absolutely no reason whatsoever to even want to return the rat to Earth and no responsibility to do so.
Peter has not been granted asylum he's been given a plea deal where he has been promised no extradition in exchange for information when extradition was likely not even on the table as far as Equestria was concerned. Your whole argument would be mute anyway if Equestria can convince Madam Bones to allow Equestria to try and convict Peter for his crimes instead of the Wizengamot which considering the total control Equestria has over the situation and their ability to expose wizards it is actually quite likely that the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would agree to those turns just so justice can he carried out one way or another.
Another thing to consider is just how citizenship laws actually work in Equestria, for all we know Harry's citizenship may be retroactive and that as far as Equestria is concerned he has always been a citizen of Equestria. I would also like to poi t out that it is all but stated that if it wasn't for Equestria being focused on the Embassy and the fact that they were already in custody (not to mention the role Dumbledore's spells played) they would have taken the Dursleys' to Equestria and charge them with child abuse under Equestria's laws.
My point is that things like this are never cut and dry, they are always very complicated with many things that need to be considered, and this is especially true when dealing with a fictional nation like Equestria who's government is substantially different from that of modern western nations, yes in the western world Peter could probably only be charged with entering the country illegally but we are not dealing with a western nation we are dealing with Equestria where we know the princesses have a substantial amount of judicial power, if they want to lock Pettigrew up forever for all we know they can and even if they can't they could probably find a reason to do so (and they almost certainly want to do so) even if it takes say... a 1200 year old nearly forgotten antiquated law that nopony remembered to take off the books.
Personally I think that the Princesses are absolute monarchs technically able to do what they want but distribute certain responsibilities to various associations (the EEA for example) run by experts to ease the burden on themselves and to help things run smoothly and that the Princesses only abide by the rules set by the experts as a courtesy and to avoid abuse of power but as absolute monarchs they are not actually bound by them, hence why Twilight was able to reopen her school without the approval of the EEA, she simply didn't need it. But that is just my theory, let's just ask the author.
Hey tkepner how much political power do the Princesses actually have within Equestria in this story?
binge read this for the past 3 weeks and have finally caught up. this is by far one of the best fics I've ever read.
9655768
I see what youre saying, I disagree with some bits.
Equestria isn't that kind of place. Ponies understand kindness as a core value. Peter never once attempted or supported an attack on Prince Harry.
Theres no point in further arguments as we are echoing our own argument at this juncture.