31 - Solstice
Chapter Thirty-One
Solstice
With the sort of calm only experience could bring, Harry let the golden flames wash over him and suddenly found the phoenix, the three owls, the fifteen other ponies and himself on another rooftop. At first glance, it didn't seem too different from the one they had just left. To his new, sharp eyes, however, there were distinct differences in the architectural style. The roads were wider, the houses closer together, and in the distance, through gaps in the rows of taller buildings, he could see the green-tinted bronze of a familiar statue.
What happened next seemed distinctly familiar. Use the elevator to get to the lobby, retrieve room keys with a reservation Sunset pulled out of her mane ... somehow, get rooms, grab lunch and then go out to tour the city under Sunset's guidance.
That was when things started to go differently. Sunset's style of presentation was as informative as ever, but the sights themselves, obviously, were different ones. He repeatedly had to suppress chuckles upon hearing names such as 'Bridleway', 'Saddle Row', 'Bronclyn', and 'the Crystaller Building'.
He was impressed to learn that Manehattan, unlike any other city in Equestria, had an underground railway system, the Maneway. He was more than a little surprised to learn that it was not, as he had suspected, powered by magic, but, in fact, just like the rest of Equestria's trains, steam powered. He was even more surprised when Hermione pointed out that the London Underground had been steam powered in its early years as well. He hadn't known that.
To think that he would learn such an interesting bit of trivia about his own homeland, by going to another dimension of all things. Life really was odd at times.
Riding the Maneway was a far cry from the calm ride on the Tube he was familiar with, but it was also nowhere near as harrowing as the insanity of the carts at Gringotts.
When he went for an evening flight high above the city, he was amused to notice that he could actually track the trains on their journeys beneath the earth, by looking for the streams of smoke from the smokestacks that periodically rose between the buildings to keep the air in the tunnels at least somewhat clean. He suspected there was magic at work in that at least.
After a relaxed glide in the evening twilight, he landed back on the roof of the Manefair Hotel and took the elevator to the room he was once more sharing with Ron and the girls.
The next morning was relatively normal, at least as far as waking up in a hotel room as a member of a species that isn't your own could be considered normal, but things quickly changed from there. There was an almost palpable air of nervous excitement in the air, that only seemed to grow stronger as the day progressed.
Thanks to Sunset's explanations, the visiting humans knew that they would not only witness the Summer Sun Celebration, but also a peculiarity in the Equestrian calendar that came with it. A day that wasn't part of any week.
The Equestrian year was, as Sunset had explained to them back at the Burrow when the Professors had visited, split into four seasons that were, in turn, split into three months, two of thirty-three days and one of thirty-four. Thus it came to a total of one-hundred days to a season and four-hundred to a year.
The Equestrian week, as was common on earth as well, was seven days long. As it happened, four-hundred didn't evenly divide by seven. However, three-hundred-and-ninety-nine did. As such, an Equestrian year, had fifty-seven weeks and the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. The current week would end today, and the next would start the day after tomorrow.
It was an odd concept, but it made a surprising amount of sense. Every day of every year would always fall on the same weekday as it had the year before, and would again the year after. Hearth's Warming Eve, which Sunset had described as something similar to Christmas only with a bit of the fourth of July celebrations of the Americans mixed in, for example, would always fall on a Wednesday, with Hearth's Warming Day coming on the Thursday that followed.
The ponies of Manehattan found that aspect to be entirely uninteresting, they were too preoccupied with hosting the official celebration. The Summer Sun Celebration was, of course, celebrated in every city, town and hamlet up and down the land, but there was always an official celebration. The one Princess Celestia would be attending and raising the sun from. This year, it would be happening in Manehattan.
The day was unusually calm, being a Sunday, everypony was relaxing if they weren't somehow preparing for the celebration.
After waking up late, the group only left the hotel in the late afternoon to see the preparations for themselves. There was a large stage in a park in Bronclyn, unused for a few years, but still in decent shape. It was where the Princess would take position. Sunset also showed the group to the roof of a nearby highrise that would serve as their vantage point. It was also where she had arranged to meet with Twilight half an hour before sunrise.
While Sunset was somehow able to stay awake and perky throughout the entire night, some of the other younger ones seemed to have more trouble with that. Harry was a bit tired, but he managed. Ron and Ginny were struggling the most, barely holding on to wakefulness by the time dawn was approaching. Luna and her father were, of course, utterly unfazed by the long night. Hermione, used to late night reading, managed nearly as well as Sunset. The older Weasleys managed fine, especially the twins who were just as perky as Sunset, the three of them seemingly both feeding off and feeding back into the excitement that was electrifying the air. Now more than ever.
In a flash of teal, roughly two thirds of the group appeared atop the roof, brought there by Sunset. Moments later, Hermione brought the rest with her in her own flash of pale green. They only waited a few seconds before a flash of magenta heralded Twilight's arrival, having noticed them from where she'd been waiting on the opposite end of the roof.
With a jump, she leapt into Sunset's forelegs, hugging the younger filly whom she had already formed a rather strong bond with, surprising herself. They had talked for a few minutes before Twilight had fallen asleep when they were waiting for the princess. Despite being older, Twilight was fully aware that Sunset was far better trained and more mature than she was. In a way, she was treating Twilight a lot like Shining Armor did. Twilight got the feeling that Sunset genuinely cared for her.
It wasn't much of a surprise for Twilight when Hermione, Ginny and Luna quickly joined into the hug. None of them had spoken a word yet, but they didn't need to. The message was clear. Thinking back to the foalnapping, Twilight wondered why she had ever been scared at all. With friends like them, she'd be fine either way. That they had a means to find her wherever she might be taken, didn't exactly hurt either.
In that moment she realized that, even after they went back home, literally to another dimension, these fillies – girls – would care for her and, if she needed them, come for her at any time. At the same time, she realized that she would gladly do the same for them. She didn't entirely understand why that revelation was meaningful, but it just felt important somehow.
When the five of them separated, Twilight wordlessly waved the group over to the edge of the roof, where the royal guard had cordoned off a VIP area. Several of the guests smirked when they realized what the P stood for in this case. The view was fantastic, allowing them to look over the entire park and clearly see the, thus far vacant, stage.
It was still a few minutes before the procedures would begin, and the group spent them in quiet conversation, the girls were catching up with Twilight while the rest of them were quietly muttering about what to expect from the ceremony.
Before long, a crackle of static rang through the speakers set up all around the plaza, and a stallion in a suit stepped out onto the stage below. The mayor of Manehattan. "Good morning fillies and gentlecolts," he began, earning several quiet snickers and eye rolls from the human guests, "I welcome all of you to the nine-hundred-and-ninety-fifth Summer Sun Celebration. It is our great honor to host the official proceedings here in Manehattan this year.
"Now without further ado, I present to you the one you are all waiting for. The great, the wise, the bringer of light and harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"
He stepped aside and, with a fanfare, the curtains over the stage parted, revealing the familiar form of a white alicorn.
She didn't step up to the microphone, but she lit her horn, and when she spoke, her voice carried clearly to everypony in the assembled crowd. "Good morning, everypony. It is time again, to celebrate the longest day of the year, and to begin a new year in turn. May it be as successful and prosperous as the last."
With that, the princess of the Sun, the ancient, immortal ruler of Equestria, spread her wings, rising into the air with powerful flaps until she was hovering above the stage. She spread her wings wide, floating in mid-air in spite of gravity, and lit her horn.
All ponies present, including the humans, could feel the raw power of her magic. Behind them, the moon slipped beneath the horizon, throwing the world into darkness, then the Sun began to rise behind the Princess, quickly ascending to stand behind her, framing her as a glowing shadow against its radiance.
They could only assume that Celestia had placed a weak enchantment on the crowd as even Luna and Xenofilius weren't blinded by the sudden brightness. The crowd broke out into cheers when the princess landed back on the stage. The guests from earth were just as impressed, cheering just as much as the rest of the spectators, only Sunset and Twilight watched the matter quietly, having seen all of this many times before.
Twilight leaned over to Sunset, speaking quietly. "Y'know, It was seeing the Celebration in Canterlot a few years back that first inspired me to study magic. Even now, it still impresses me every time."
Sunset chuckled quietly. "I think this is the kind of thing that never gets old."
The group spent the morning talking back in the lobby of the hotel, Twilight had told them that the princess would see them off personally, but, as both she and Sunset knew, Princess Celestia would be caught up talking to the guests at the Celebration for several hours. It was always a chance for her to talk with her little ponies without the nobility hogging her time.
Some of them used the opportunity to take a bit of a nap as well, especially the younger ones were happy to take one of the larger cushions in a corner of the lobby and cuddle together for a nap there. Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry dozed away quickly, Twilight and Sunset were a bit tired, but were too caught up in their conversation to sleep. Luna was, of course, still wide awake, but happy to cuddle around her friends anyway.
It only took a few moments before Sunset pulled a small, golden perch from her mane, and placed it on the ground, a minute later, Philomena was sleeping on it.
The adults, meanwhile were discussing quietly among themselves, Xenofilius and the two elder Weasleys were discussing the implications of the sheer power they had felt radiating from Princess Celestia. She could easily overpower any human wizard they had ever seen if she so chose. Even He-who-must-not-be-named would have had a difficult time against her sheer power and experience. He was far older than any of them, but to her he was as much a child as they were. To them he was a mortal threat to the very stability of the world, to her he would have been little more than a foal throwing a temper tantrum. The very concept was difficult to comprehend.
Emma and Dan meanwhile were listening to Bill and Charlie, telling them stories of the things they had seen on their jobs abroad. Percy was caught up in his own thoughts and the twins were quietly talking to one another, prompting their mother to occasionally cast them wary glances.
Finally, three hours later, Princess Celestia appeared with a gentle wavering of the air. She waved the bowing hotel staff off with a hoof and turned to the group. "I hope you enjoyed your stay in Equestria?"
After receiving several affirmatives, she smiled widely. "It's been a pleasure to have you all visit and I hope you will return at some point, but I think for now it is time you returned to your own world."
Nodding, Sunset blinked out of existence, returning a moment later with a slightly dazed looking Hedwig and a terribly dazed looking Errol perched on her back. Hermes was flapping above her head and quickly perched himself on Percy's back. With a smirk, Sunset pulled a slightly struggling Scabbers out of her mane and hoofed him over to Ron, who quickly deposited him in his own mane, having long since stopped questioning exactly how manes of all things were so useful for storage. "I think we have everything. We should be ready."
The adults nodded while the older children walked over and the younger ones were still being herded over by Luna, Twilight took position beside Princess Celestia, trying to hide her yawn. The princess' sly grin indicated that she had been unsuccessful. A golden aura lifted her onto the Princess back where she laid down and watched the group from her high vantage point.
After a few more goodbyes and a hug for Sunset from the princess, the group gathered together and with a proud trill and a flash of flames, they vanished, returning to the world they had come from.
Four sets of wings fluttered through the air as a highly amused phoenix watched the three startled owls that tried to take off after their quadrupedal perches suddenly weren't quadrupedal anymore. Mrs. Weasley took Errol and Percy let Hermes land back on his shoulder. Harry, meanwhile, let Hedwig land on his shoulder while he pulled her shrunken cage from his pocket. "Finite." Tapping the cage with his finger, not bothering to use his wand, he canceled the shrinking spell and opened the door. Hedwig graciously took up the perch inside. Mrs. Weasley took Errol inside as soon as her husband unlocked the house with a wave of his wand.
Philomena perched herself on Luna's shoulder before taking the girl and her father back to their own home. She soon returned to do the same for Bill and Charlie. Meanwhile Sunset brought Hermione, Emma and Dan home, After staying up the entire night and half a day, as well as the entire day before, they were all more or less spent. Their trunks for Hogwarts had been packed long ago and all they had to do was be at King's Cross on time tomorrow.
When Philomena returned several minutes later, she found her perch back in its usual place on Sunset's desk, the girl sound asleep in the nearby bed. With a quiet, satisfied trill, Philomena landed and buried her own head under a wing. She wouldn't mind catching a bit more sleep herself.
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Loved the update, keep up the great work!
9613156
Most likely he would have ended up sitting on Ron's head...
You know, I was halfway expecting Nightmare Moon to make an early appearance. You have a summer sun celebration, a group of powerful youngsters forging the bonds of friendship (with foreshadowing that it "feels important, somehow") and a protagonist who has yet to start a real challenge. Seemed like the perfect setup. Just handwave away the few years discrepancy with something about all the transdimensional travel weakening the bonds that tethered her to the moon or something. Then her release is also Sunset's fault and she has to deal with that.
9613673
Considering that only one of those four isn't decades older than she is I don't think you have to worry about that.
9613714
There exists a story on fanfiction.net that ships harry with Snape, Dumbledore, and Riddle all at once, and from what I can tell played it straight. I agree with you of course, but that doesn't mean everyone does.
9613156
This reminds me of an event in a Naruto fanfic, where a character was traumatized by accidentally being sucked into an experimental storage scroll, and being exposed to “storage space”.
9613919
Fixed, thank you kindly.
9613881
How did they handwave away the cant store living things in scrolls that is in universe continuity?
9614001
If she fell short for any reason...
The safety on her spell would trip, and she wouldn't go anywhere. That's already been developed.
9614061
True enough ... but does Sunset know that?
9613048
Oh my god you’re the worst kind of person. Did you not read? LAUREN FAUST said they have magic!
Why’d we randomly switch to Harry’s POV and skip back a little? That seems completely unnecessary seeing as the only insight we got from his POV was how everything looked different but similar, which is a given and would be the same in literally every single POV in the group, even Sunset’s.
Celestia worded her goodbye as if she was telling them or forcing them or asking them to leave, yet it was said at the very start of this completely unnecessary vacation how long they would stay. The fact that she said it like that is just weird.
I’m not a fan of how you’re making every mane and tail equivalent to hammer space. I mean, the only canon example we have of that is Pinkie Pie. Some other characters stored items in their mane, but only small ones and it was only ever one or two items.
We’re finally back. Will you make another completely unnecessary sidetrack? Or will we finally be seeing Hogwarts. So far we’ve seen basically nothing in the Harry Potter universe.
It irks me a little that you don’t mention where Harry goes. I mean yes, it can be assumed that he stayed with the Weasleys, but still.
9614781
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'skip back'. We didn't skip back. Their arrival in Manehattan may share some similarities to their arrival in Fillidelphia (Which, by the way, was why I told it from a different POV. We allready had one from Sunset's) but it definitely happened after.
9614119
I believe that they explained that it's not that living things can't go into scrolls; it's more than they don't remain living for long. I think it was an air supply issue (as in atmosphere), or maybe a lack of warmth issue. It might have been a fanfic from before the series finished… I have read a few of those, which tend to make up more stuff to fill in missing pieces in the world. I can't remember exactly what it was specifically, that was traumatizing about storage space; it might have been sensory deprivation, or it could have been warped geometry, or simply exposure to a void of nothingness, like something that only a Time Lord from Doctor Who would survive looking into. I vaguely remember it being treated like a running gag, where the character would get spooked by storage scrolls and sealing in general.
9614762
What Faust intended isn't the same thing as actual canon only what's actually stated in the show matters.
I forgot which Luna you were talking about for a moment.
9615187
Just wait until the two meet.
9614969
I once had this kind of an argument with someone else and it revolved around Tank the turtles being named after the war machine rather than an actual like water tank.
Sometimes the source material isn't always explicit about these kinds of details. Sometimes because it may be just assumed so why say anything about it?
9614969
I mean, I don't consider Lauren Faust's word as canon, but I definitely consider it to have more weight than a random guy on the internet throwing a fit because they didn't want the other races to have magic.
Have you actually given any evidence to the contrary? Pegasus magic was explicit. They said that only pegasi can walk on clouds and control weather.
And while you could argue that they never actually said the word "magic" when Tirek absorbed it from the earth ponies, Tirek's power was described only as "absorbing magic." I don't know what else you want.
And besides, even if it wasn't as clear cut, a lot of things, especially in recent seasons, are rather uncertain. Things can contradict themselves, or be very vague. Just because someone has a different opinion than you does not mean that they are automatically wrong. These things are called headcanon for a reason.
And besides, why are you so adamant about this? Practically everything is magic in Equestria. It's been recently proven that you don't even need the Elements of Harmony to produce the magic that has been so OP. Friendship is literally magic. So why are you so determined to say that "only unicorns have magic?"
9685168
Because that's how it's portrayed in the show. Unicorns have magic, Earth Ponies are strong and Pegasi fly and move clouds around. I like the idea of each pony having unique magic too but the fact is the show has never called what they do magic just look at the season 8 finale when Earth Ponies and Pegasi weren't affected by the loss of magic or the movie where Twilight could still fly after having her magic drained. Even the season 4 finale doesn't call what they do magic they even make a point of mentioning that he couldn't steal Earth Pony strength or Pegasus flight until he had taken enough unicorn magic.
Frankly, I'm amazed how adamant people are in their belief that a popular fanon idea actually is canon even though the show has never once stated it or even hinted it to be the case.
Probably the first fanfic I've read where Scabbers didn't immediately transform on arriving in Equestria.
9685191
Wrong they all have magic It was proven by cosy glow
9685191
9849290
And Tirek. Draining magic of every pony, regardless of tribe, was kind of his thing after all.
While what unicorns do could be more accurately called spellcasting to separate it from the other, more passive magics, it's really hard to argue that the other pony tribes don't have magic.
9870305
Here here
9874379
Don't forget cutie marks.
Also I'm pretty sure this
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/1/16/525773__safe_bulk+biceps_rainbow+falls_animated_flying_solo.gif
isn't possible without magic
9849290
Um I haven't seen the Cozy Glow finale yet but I thought she specifically stole Unicorn magic. I remember seeing a clip of the magic being returned and it only had to come back to Twilight and Rarity with Pinkie having a ball of Unicorn magic return to her while winking at the camera.
Personally I agree that all the races have their own form of magic but I thought Cozy Glow's plot was one of the main reasons people suddenly thought otherwise. While Tirek's plot was proof that all the ponies have magic.
9878135
Nope, that finale proved that all tribes had magic and even expanded on earth pony magic. A short gag involved Pinkie Pie experiencing food spoilage for the first time, the hard way. Apparently earth pony magic causes the food they grow and/or cook to have virtually infinite shelf life, and no need for special storage to preserve it.
10123916
I'm not entirely certain that's why Pinkie's cupcake went rotten. It could be the saddlebags she had lost some kind of unicorn enchantment. After all, Earth Pony magic wasn't supposed to have failed at the point in time that Pinkie pulled out that cupcake.
10347603
While Pinkie may be recognized as an Earthpony, based on lacking horn and wings;
but we all know she is not exactly confined by the limitations of what is expected out of Earthponies.
This is repeatedly demonstrated, throughout the entire series ...
Per Point of No Return, 13 months of 28 days.