26 - Canterlot
Chapter Twenty-Six
Canterlot
After untangling the pile of ponies, Sunset and Twilight, knowing the palace the best, led the group to the dining hall where Princess Celestia was waiting for them at the breakfast table.
"Good morning. Did all of you sleep well?" After seeing several hesitant nods, she sighed. "Please, relax, all of you. I did not invite you so you could be uncomfortable around me for fear of offending me. I am over a thousand years old, in that time I have seen many things that were far worse than anything you could do."
Despite some initial hesitation, the group managed to get past their fears and treat Princess Celestia like any other of their number. The fact that she had forgone her crown for breakfast was quite helpful in that, the fact that she was about twice as tall as the tallest of them, however, was not.
Emma was quietly eating her breakfast. The only noticeable difference from what she usually had, aside from the expected increase in quality – this was a royal palace, after all – was the obvious absence of any meat. Interestingly, however, there was some fish. Sunset had quickly explained that some ponies, especially pegasi and thestrals, occasionally ate fish.
She was enjoying the food, some of the cereal, she discovered, included whole grains, she found that her current herbivore teeth made quick work of them. The prolific amount of sugary treats on the table did not escape her trained eye. All of it was delicious. If only her headache would stop bothering her.
Sunset had said it would pass soon, but thus far it had only gotten worse. Sunset had whispered a few words to Twilight after they had collected the Weasleys and then again to the princess when they arrived in the dining hall, ever since, both of them were occasionally glancing at her as though they expected her to do something.
She looked over the table and saw a boiled egg on a platter not far from her. She could go for one of those right now. As it happened the platter was just slightly out of reach. Suddenly one of the eggs began glowing a faint cerise and floating over to her. Her stunned expression was mirrored all around the table, only Sunset, Twilight and the Princess looked at her with proud smiles.
It took her a moment to make the connection from the cerise glow around the egg, to that on the tip of the horn that had been poking into the top of her field of view since arriving in Equestria. It took her another moment to notice that her headache was gone.
"It seems Sunset's estimates were accurate." Emma looked back over to the princess. "Your arrival in Equestria's more powerful ambient magic field has expedited the final stages of your treatment. My congratulations Emma Granger, your magic has awoken."
Among the Weasleys and Lovegoods several jaws hit the table. Literally in some cases. "But! That's impossible!" Arthur finally managed.
Sunset giggled. "Not at all. I've been treating Emma and Dan for quite a while now. Dan's magic should awake a few hours from now, early tomorrow at the latest."
"Okay just to make sure I didn't miss anything." Ron pointed a wingtip in Sunset's direction. "Did you just turn a muggle into a witch?"
"Effectively, yes."
"Remarkable," Mr. Lovegood breathed. "Entirely unprecedented." His eyes suddenly widened. "My goodness, the purebloods are going to have a meltdown once they find out."
"Likely." Arthur nodded. "I feel like we'll need a bit more information on this."
Over the rest of breakfast, Sunset and Princess Celestia explained the matter to the guests.
After the morning's shock had worn off, Twilight and the Princess joined the visiting group in getting most of them started on the path to the ability of switching forms at will. The four fillies, of course, had already completed that step and Dan wouldn't be able to get started on it until his magic awoke.
It wasn't much of a surprise when the adults, save Emma, found the path first and without much instruction, but the children, with some guidance from Sunset, the princess and Hermione, whom Sunset had taught how to do it as well, weren't far behind.
When they had all completed the necessary preparations and gotten Luna and Ginny, who had taken the opportunity to continue their work towards managing the transformation, they looked to the lone unicorn leaning against a wall. Dan wasn't paying any attention to them, looking instead into a corner of the room. Following his gaze they saw what had captured his attention.
Princess Celestia was lying in a corner of the room, her head resting in Sunset's lap as the girl, currently in human form, was gently stroking her ears with one hand, while applying the same treatment to Twilight with the other. Hermione was leaning against the wall nearby, watching the scene with mild bemusement.
Once Celestia had recovered her senses, which she managed with admirable speed, she headed off, saying she had duties to attend to and asking Twilight to keep an eye on the group while they were in Canterlot. The group then split up, with the unicorns, save Sunset, staying indoors to give Emma a basic introduction to magic. Dan couldn't participate yet, but, assuming the oncoming headache he felt was any indication, that would change before long.
Meanwhile the rest of the group, consisting of Sunset and all the pegasi and thestrals, went outside to give all the new winged ponies an introduction to flying. Certain differences quickly became obvious. Harry and Charlie were easily the most talented fliers of the group, though they had very different natural styles. Charlie flew mostly as one would expect from a pegasus, hovering or flying at any altitude, quickly accelerating or stopping however it might be necessary. Harry, on the other hand, or hoof as the case may be, preferred to calmly cruise at high altitude, gliding most of the time and only occasionally flapping his wings to maintain momentum. From his vantage point he could clearly observe the rest of the group practicing.
Whenever one of them seemed to have trouble staying in the air, he would drop into a dive, quickly bleeding off altitude in exchange for speed and swoop in to catch them before they could hit the ground. Once they regained their wits, they usually spread their wings again and he let them go into a glide while flapping a few times to pull up away from them. He found the quick dives to be highly enjoyable.
After a quick explanation from the twins, Sunset was happy to conjure the four balls used in Quidditch for the group of pegasi. Once informed of the possibility, the group simply formed three rings out of clouds and used those as goals.
It wasn't long before Sunset and Harry as well as Luna and her Father were standing in mid-air, on a platform Sunset had conjured, and watching the Weasleys play an impromptu game of Quidditch. Unable to form two full teams, they had instead elected to have Fred, Bill, Ginny, Charlie and Mrs. Weasley on offense and Ron and George on defense. Both Ginny and Mrs. Weasley turned out to be talented chasers. Charlie was already a famously known seeker. Fred and George split up so each team would have a beater and Ron played the role of the keeper, guarding the three goals.
Sunset was watching the game with interest. This was the first time she had seen it played with anything close to resembling a full team. After a while she decided to make the game a little more interesting and quietly lit her horn.
It only took the players a few minutes to notice the goal rings slowly drifting upwards.
And thus, High Altitude Quidditch was born.
Emma, Dan, Percy and Mr. Weasley followed Twilight into the park surrounding the castle. The filly looked around in mild confusion. "Strange, Sunset said they'd be here."
"Well," Arthur pointed out, "they did say they would fly." He looked up, just in time to see a dark purple colt racing down from the sky on a collision course. He instinctively ducked, missing the colt leveling out just inches above their heads before banking into a wide turn to bleed off speed and landing gently on the grass before them. "My goodness Harry, don't startle me like that."
"Sorry Mister Weasley," Harry looked back up into the sky. "If you're looking for your family, they're having a Quidditch game up there. Your wife and daughter are giving Ron a bit of a hard time."
"How so?"
Harry grinned as he continued to watch the distant game, now well over a kilometer above the ground. "Turns out they're both really talented chasers and Ron keeps drifting sideways when he's watching them."
Arthur followed his gaze, frowning a little. "Quidditch isn't usually played so high up."
Emma snickered slightly. "The players usually don't have wings either, do they?"
Arthur chuckled lightly. "Touche."
Twilight frowned a bit. "Still, it's almost lunch time."
Harry waved a hoof, inwardly marveling at how natural the gesture felt already. "Don't worry, I'll go fetch them." With that he spread his wings and pushed off, catapulting himself up into the air. It took him a minute to reach the game and relay the message, but then he dove down, the entire team following moments later.
As the last of them were landing, Sunset, Luna and Xenofilius easily stepped off the platform Sunset had conjured, the construct dispersing behind them. Sunset turned to Twilight. "Do you know if the Princess has something planned for lunch?"
"No, she's busy with court."
Sunset smirked at her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Joe's?"
"Joe's."
Half an hour later, the group followed the two unicorns through the door of a cafe on one of the plazas in upper Canterlot. The guests had spent most of the trip marveling at the marble architecture.
After a quick headcount, Sunset walked up to the stallion behind the counter. The moment he saw her, a wide smile broke out across his face. "Well here's a face I haven't seen in a while. Miss Shimmer, where've you been?" The moment he noticed the group behind her his smile grew even wider as he addressed them. "And Miss Twilight, coming by again, eh? And you brought by some new customers as well. Greetings, a pleasure to meet all of you. Doughnut Joe at your service."
"We'll have seventeen for now, Joe," Sunset stated, "We'll see if somepony needs seconds."
"Coming right up. Which one of your tabs should I put it on?"
Sunset and Twilight shared a glance and shrugged. "Well, they do both go to the palace anyway," Twilight pointed out, "so just pick one, I suppose."
The group spread themselves out across multiple tables as the cafe didn't have one that would seventeen ponies. Before long, Doughnut Joe levitated their platters over, to Mrs. Weasley's immense surprise. "Hold on, that's a dessert. This isn't a suitable lunch."
Sunset smirked. "It is for ponies, Mrs. Weasley."
While Molly sputtered, Arthur placed a calming hoof on her back and Dan raised an eyebrow. "Really? We're in a world of tiny, magical, candy-coloured horses, and the fact that they eat desserts instead of normal food is what gets you?"
"Well, I suppose." Molly still seemed a little put out, but the moment she got the first taste of her doughnut, that problem resolved itself.
As it turned out, all of the Weasleys involved in the Quidditch game and Harry, got seconds. Ron got thirds as well. They were nearly done when a voice rang through the cafe.
"Sunset?"
The unicorn in question turned to see another unicorn, a few years older than she was, standing not far from her. "Vinyl!"
"It is you. Sunny, it's been ages! Where've you been?"
With a wide smile, Sunset got up and trotted over to greet the new arrival. Watching, the group saw that the new arrival was the same pearly white as Ginny, but with a two-tone electric blue mane, not too far off from the streaks in Harry's mane. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of purple tinted shades. Sunset grinned as she enclosed the unicorn in a hug, careful not to squeeze the pair of headphones hanging around her neck.
"Oh, y'know. Living in another dimension, learning new forms of magic, experiencing life as a different species, teaching people magic ... The usual."
The stranger's glasses slipped to the tip of her snout, revealing wide, cerise eyes. "You've got an odd definition of 'usual', you know that, Sunny?"
"Maybe ..."
The unicorn rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Well anyway. You wanna introduce me to your friends?"
"Oh, right. Of course. These are the Weasley family. There are the Parents, Molly and Arthur. And their kids. There's Bill, that's Charlie, Ron, Ginny, Percy, and those over there are Fred and George. Good luck figuring out which one's which." The twins grinned mischievously as Sunset continued, "that over there is Harry, that over there is Hermione and her parents, Emma and Dan. And over here we have Luna and her Father Xenofilius. And this is Twilight Sparkle. My successor as Student of the Sun. Guys, this is Vinyl Scratch, basically the inventor of modern, Equestrian electronic music and the best DJ this side of the frozen north."
"Oh, stop your flattery."
"It's not flattery," Sunset smirked. "Nothing but the truth."
Vinyl blushed a little, but did her best to ignore it. "Say, Sunny, when you said another dimension ..."
Sunset nodded. "Yup, everyone here, save Twilight is just visiting from another dimension. Myself included."
"Cool, can I come visit at some point?"
"Hey," Twilight called from the table. "Me too."
Sunset giggled. "We'll see what we can arrange. Don't be surprised when a letter appears in a gout of flame, that's just me sending you a message through Philomena." The bird perched atop her head trilled proudly.
After they finished their lunch, the group returned to the castle. Not far from the main entrance, a guard waved Sunset over. "Per the princess' request, here are the supplies as ordered. The craftsponies are also standing by."
Sunset nodded. "Thank you, sir." With a nod of his own, the guard walked off, while Sunset waved the group over. "Alright, the stuff is here. We're good to go. I'll come with. I wouldn't want to miss your first reaction. Then I'll teleport back here and get the tents sorted for us."
Many of the younger members of the group seemed startled. "Wait. We're not staying here?"
Emma smirked. "No Ron, we're not. Sunset is taking us on a round trip of Equestria."
"Oh, have fun with that," Twilight called from the edge of the group. "Where are you going next?"
Sunset smiled coyly. "I hear Winsome falls in nice this time of year." She then smiled more openly at Twilight. "On our last day here, we're visiting Manehattan for the Summer Sun Celebration. Will you be there too?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course. That is where this year's official celebration happens."
"Good. See you there then." Sunset turned to the bird on her shoulder. "Philomena?"
With a proud trill, Philomena spread her wings and the group vanished. Smiling happily, Twilight left for her afternoon lesson, leaving the room empty once again.
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Heh speaking of quidditch I’d love to see how rainbow would do at the game this fix or otherwise
how old is twilight are we going to see Arch-mage Sunset Shimmer vs Nightmare Moon
Keep up the good work! Another awesome chapter
jaws
Good chapter.
It wasn't much of a surprise when the adults found the path without much instructions and were the first to transform.
This paragraph is one big run on sentence.
save Sunset
nice work.
9604325
Twilight is twelve at this point and no, we won't. The elements are the only thing that can stop her and Sunset can't wield them.
9604363
Thanks for pointing those out.
9604467
You are entirely correct that that wouldn't normally be possible, but you forget one crucial detail. Canterlot sits atop a mountain and you can see further when you're higher up. (The statue is also elevated on a pedestal but that isn't really relevant at those distances.)
9604530
sorry just thinking of how sunset would react to her "mother" getting kidnapped her storming through the ever-free setting it ablaze with holy fire burning all in her wake crashing through the walls of the castle and trying to burn her in cleansing flames FOR THE EMPEROR... sorry wrong universe for the princess
i also dont think that the only thing that can stop nightmare moon is the elements, i think the only way to save Luna is with the elements if you are willing to kill them both she most likely could be stopped
9604530
Perhaps, but is Canterlot facing Manehattan? I'm not sure if the geography lines up to be able to see Manehattan from Canterlot, but it is hard to determine geography based on visuals alone. The map of Equestria we've seen is, after all, a flat representation of where things are in relevance to each other and I thought Manehattan was on the opposite side of Canterlot, making a great big honking part of the mountain blocking the view directly towards the city if that is the case.
Naturally I could be wrong about that, but it is something to consider after all.
9604637
As far as this story is concerned, the official map of Equestria can be used to figure out loosely where the cities are located and what shape the continents are. And for absolutely nothing else. I mean just look at the railway lines. They make no sense. At all. Not to mention that, assuming Canterlot is on the side of the Canterhorn the map suggests it is on (namely, the west) the sun should rise behind the mountain (which it doesn't). So unless the sun rises in the west in Equestria (in which case it should set in the east and thus behind the mountain, which it also doesn't) the position of the city itself is questionable to say the least.
Personally, I consider Canterlot to be split into a lower, middle, upper and royal district, each on a separate platform and wrapped around the mountain. With the royal district being in the far north of the mountain, making both east and west viewable from there. (and thus from the palace)
Still, ponies have demonstrated that they are terrible at geography. (see the episode Magic Duel in which neither Trixie nor Twilight nor anypony else seems to figure out that 'from beyond the Everfree forest' just translates to 'from Filidelphia')
Kind of surprised that Celestia hasn't noticed the cursed scar, Harry has. Kind of been expecting it to make an appearance especially when Sunset was the first to notice that Harry was abused, and when both learned his history, I would of thought that Sunset would scan him just out of simple curiosity. And I have even a tougher time believing that Celestia hasn't picked up on it. Not sure how much longer my suspicion of disbelief is going to last.
Eh, she turned a muggle born squib into a witch, but they don't know that, heck Sunset doesn't know that either.
Hey by any chance did you notice that chapter 25 and 26 have the exact same amount of words
9605086
And exactly how do you know that? Exactly what indicates that Emma was a squib?
THE POWER OF SCRITCHES COMPELS YOU!!!
Am I the only one that believes, nay, knows that Celestia will send a pony to earth with the strict purpose of learning human form for Royal Scritches? No? Good
9605252
Unless every "muggle" on Earth has the same condition she and her husband do, it makes far more sense that they both were squibs and Hermione got lucky that their magic recessive trait both made it to her.
Their condition seems to have made them squibs in the first place. So unless everyone in the human world can become a wizard so long as a pony shows up and helps them, the Grangers being muggle born Squibs giving Hermione a 50/50 shot of being a witch or one as well makes the most logical sense to me.
Because if everyone can be magical, that is a bombshell that is going to rock the world, but hard.
9605445
Well ... if that is what you wish to assume ...
9605425
Neigh! it's gonna be a whole cadre of spa ponies. Don't forget that she has wings as well.
9604672
Orbital mechanics are not a thing in Equestria. The sun rises and sets in whatever direction Celestia damn well pleases, and for both that direction seems to typically be in whichever direction it is her balcony faces.
9608409
True