Putting the unpleasant subject behind them for now, the group finished eating their food in silence before everyone, with the exception of Spike, chipped in for the meal on their way out. With the lunch rush now over with, the streets of Canterlot were a little less crowded now, which Sol was rather pleased with since it meant less ponies around to notice him. Of course, with him being surrounded by seven heroines, Spike, and a famous author, there were still plenty who's attention they'd caught. This became increasingly so when they went further into the city where the nobles lived, along with their next destination.
"Thank goodness we're here," Rarity said with a sigh of relief. "Now I can finally get to throw out that rag and get you into something more appropriate."
Opening the door, Rarity led the group inside of what Sol found out to be a clothing store, or more specifically, Rarity's Canterlot Boutique.
"One moment please, I'll be right out to help you," a voice called from further within.
"Sassy? It's me, Rarity."
A few seconds later, a tall light-blue unicorn with a two-toned orange and yellow mane walked out from the back room with a smile.
"Ah, hello, Rarity, everypony," Sassy welcomed them.
"Hello, Sassy," Rarity returned as she approached her and shared a quick hug. "So, how have things been here at the store?"
"Today's been rather quiet, but other than that, I have a few orders that I was currently working on," she reported. "But I could use a break from that for a moment. So then, what can I do for you?"
Rarity motioned for Sol to come forward. As he did, Sassy's face scrunched up as she saw what he was wearing.
"Sol, this is Sassy Saddles," Rarity introduced. "She works here at the Canterlot Boutique and runs it while I'm not here."
"Hello, Miss Saddles," Sol greeted with a bow.
"Sassy, this is Solar Rupture, or just Sol for short."
"Hello," Sassy unsurely said.
"We were on our way to see Princess Celestia," Rarity continued, "but as you can see here, Sol is in dire need of a new cloak."
Sassy recoiled as she looked at Rarity in shock. "You mean to tell me that you were about to meet with the Princess with him wearing that?!"
"Oh, believe me, as soon as I saw what he was wearing, I wanted nothing more than to drag him back to my boutique in Ponyville to do something about it. But unfortunately, the train had arrived before I could do anything. And that's why we're here, to get rid of this abomination of a cloak and replace it with a new one."
"... I feel like I should be offended by that," Sol muttered. "And yet, she isn't wrong either."
"In that case, let's get to work right away," Sassy said. "After all, if you're planning on seeing the Princess, then we can't have you keeping her waiting."
"Exactly." Rarity turned back to the others. "You all go on ahead and make yourselves comfortable. We might be a while."
While Rarity and Sassy escorted Sol to the back to be fitted for his cloak, Fluttershy walked over to look at some of the dresses, while the rest of them took a seat on some of the couches scattered across the room. After almost a half-hour of waiting and hearing the occasional yelp from Sol getting poked in the next room over, Daring got up and stretched her wings.
"Welp, I'm sorry to have to ditch you all, but I better get going," she announced.
"Awww. Already?" Rainbow whined.
"But aren't you going to stay with us and meet Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked.
"Nah, I'm good," Daring said before pulling out a familiar glass jar from under her cloak. "Besides, I have to get somepony to analyze this for me."
"Are those the shavings you took from that dragon's statue in the Undercity's castle courtyard?"
"Yep. I know of a few ponies who might be able to do something about this."
"You mean safely free them from their petrification?"
"Yeah, but I make no promises."
"But what if they refuse?" Starlight questioned.
Daring smirked and tucked the jar away. "They owe me a few favors that I can call in if they don't. Besides, after I tell them that it came from an ancient petrified dragon, I highly doubt that either of them will refuse me."
"Well then, it was nice working with you again," Twilight said, sharing a hoofshake with Daring. "We'll be sure to tell Sol what you're doing, as well as tell Princess Celestia about your major role in helping us find him."
"Thank you, Princess," Daring smiled. "Well, I guess I'll see you all later."
Waving goodbye to them, Daring started to leave, but slowed her pace down when she saw Rainbow land beside her with a nervous smile.
"Soooo... are we gonna be seeing you at the next Daring Do Convention?" she asked.
"Sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I only did that last time because I needed the extra security for the key, and to hide from Doctor Caballeron." Daring pushed the door open, but paused and looked back with a smirk to a sulking Rainbow. "But who knows? A Daring Do 'cosplayer' might just bump into you. Would be nice to actually see the convention without having to worry about fans hounding me for once."
With that, Daring left the boutique, not even bothering to look back at the excited smile that she knew was plastered on Rainbow's face. With something to look forward to, Rainbow internally squeed giddily as she made her way back to the spot on the couch she'd been sitting on.
"You doin' alright there, Rainbow?" Applejack questioned with a small smirk. "Ya look like you're about ready ta burst."
"Nah, I'm good," Rainbow nonchalantly dismissed, though she was anything but on the inside.
Spike looked from Rainbow and the others to the room in the back. "So, how much longer do you think-"
"I must admit, I'm glad that we went with your choices for the color scheme, Sol."
"-never mind."
"I agree, Sassy," Rarity said as she walked out from the back room. "Although I do like the thought of using royal-purple, the white does compliment the gold just as nicely."
Stepping out from the back room behind Rarity and Sassy, they saw Sol wearing a new white hooded-cloak with gold borders. The cloak also came with a pair of slits on the back for his wings if he chose to use them, which where both hidden by a flap that blended in with the cloth.
"This is a really nice piece of work you two have made," Sol complimented them, the hood of his new cloak pulled back over his head just enough to hide his horns.
"Thank you, Sol," Rarity thanked.
"Now, you must come back to the boutique later whenever you can," Sassy said. "By looking at the measurements that Rarity took, you seem to have quite the unique figure."
"No wonder they took so long back there," Rainbow grumbled before blinking as a thought came to her. "Wait a sec, did Sassy see Sol?"
"No, she didn't," Rarity replied. "Sol is still quite adamant on not revealing himself to anypony outside of us, so I had to take all of his measurements behind a drawn curtain."
"I understand that some ponies prefer some privacy," Sassy said, "but I don't quite understand why he only wanted Rarity for this. Also, and please don't take offense to this, Sol, but what happened to your eyes?"
Rarity placed a hoof on Sassy's shoulder. "Let's just say that both his eyes and situation are unique, Sassy, and leave it at that."
"Very well," she sighed. "Now then, is there anything else I can help you with, Rarity?"
"Thank you, darling, but now that we got Sol his new cloak, we really should be heading off to see the Princess."
Sassy nodded. "In that case, I better get back to work on those orders. I'll see you next time, Rarity, everypony."
With Sassy waving them goodbye, they exited the boutique and began down the sidewalk again.
"So, is there anything anypony else wants to do?" Twilight asked, getting a round of headshakes in response. "In that case, we're off to the castle!"
As the group made their way through the city, Sol looked around them and saw that somepony was missing.
"I think we forgot about A.K. back there," he voiced.
"Actually, Sol, she already left," Twilight informed him. "She said that she was going to take some samples that she took from one of the petrified Scaleless Dragons over to some ponies to see if they can safely free them from their current state."
Sol blinked in surprise. "Is that even possible?" he skeptically asked. "The Princesses, Starswirl, and myself looked into it, but none of us were able to find a way to free them."
"True, but remember that that was over one thousand years ago. Equestria's technology and magic has progressed throughout the years, so they might know of a spell or something to safely free them."
"And if her ponies can't find it?"
Twilight shrugged. "Then we can try to find one ourselves. And if there isn't one, then we'll just have to try and make one."
A feeling of reassurance washed over Sol as he thought this over further. While he, Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl did all try their best to find a way to safely free his father and the others, they were limited with the resources that they had to work with. But now with it being a thousand years into the future, and with the points that Twilight made, Sol was starting to regain hope that perhaps a solution could be found.
Feeling a bit happier with that thought in mind, Sol turned the next corner with the others, only to find his happiness replaced with an increasing sense of nervousness and hesitation. Gulping, Sol's eyes wandered up to the wall just ahead of them, and just beyond that, Canterlot Castle towering high above. Feeling more uneasy with each step closer he took, Sol pulled his hood down to completely shroud his face before they came upon the gate.
"Ya doing alright there, Sol?" Applejack asked, having noticed him pulling his hood completely over his face and moving a little bit slower.
Sol shivered as they passed through the castle wall gate. "Maybe?"
"Worried about seein' Princess Celestia?"
"... yes," he sighed. "I know that it's felt like just a few days to me since I last saw her, but for her, it's been over a thousand years. Not to mention her ruling Equestria all alone by herself, and everything else that's happened to her during that time." Sol's eyes started to nervously dart around as they entered the castle and walked down the entrance hall. "M-Maybe this is a bad idea. I should probably stay back here and let you all go on ahead."
And this guy is supposed to be a king? Rainbow thought before speaking, "But you're the whole reason why we're all here in the first place."
"Besides, we can't turn back now. We're already here," Pinkie said as the doors to the throne room came into view.
Seeing the large doors, Sol's eyes widened fully while his body froze up on him, causing Applejack to bump into him. Walking over up in front of him, Applejack ducked down and look up Sol's hood to see his fear-frozen face. Sighing at how this was turning out, she walked back behind Sol and started pushing him, which in turn caused his frozen body to slide over the carpet beneath them. A few moments later, Applejack gave one last grunt as she finished pushing him up to the others in front of the large pair of doors.
Lighting her horn, Twilight was ready to open them and lead them in when she saw Sol's condition.
"Easy, Sol," she eased. "Everything is going to be fine."
After taking a few moments to try and calm himself, Sol nodded for Twilight to continue. With him now calmed down enough for the moment, Twilight turned back forward, opened the doors to the throne room, and led them in. After they were all in and she'd closed the doors behind them, Twilight looked back and saw that Sol had lowered himself to the ground in an attempt to try hiding himself behind her, Spike, and Starlight from the pony sitting at the far side of the room.
Approaching the throne, they all saw Celestia sitting upon it with a stack of papers and a quill held up in front of her face in her golden aura. Hearing her muttering to herself, Twilight politely cleared her throat to gain her attention. A second later, Celestia lowered her papers and quill and smiled upon seeing her favorite group of ponies and baby dragon.
"Well, hello, everypony," she warmly welcomed them, sitting her stuff down off to the side and getting up to meet them. "This is quite a surprise, Twilight. Normally I would have received a letter from you informing me that you would be coming, or at least set up a time for us to meet."
"I know, Princess, but something unexpected happened last night and we thought that we'd show you with a surprise visit," Twilight explained. "That, and I figured that it would take a while for you to find a way to make room in your schedule for us."
"My dear Twilight, you know that I'll always have time for you."
While they were talking, Sol slowly lowered himself further to the floor until he could start to feel the carpet touching his coat. However, as subtle of an act as it was, it didn't go unnoticed by Celestia.
"So, am I to believe that this pony is what, or rather who, you wanted to show me, Twilight?" Celestia asked with a smile.
"He is."
"Oh? 'He'?"
With a nod, Twilight stood off to the side, exposing Sol as he shivered beneath his cloak while facing down, hiding his face completely beneath his hood from Celestia's sight.
"He seems like quite the shy one," Celestia said with a giggle.
"He's just a bit nervous of meeting you."
Feeling a gentle nudge from Twilight, Sol stepped forward, making sure to take small steps to prevent his claws from reaching beyond the cover of his cloak. It took him a few moments, but soon enough, Sol stood before Celestia. Fighting his nerves, Sol lowered his head in a bow, and soon silently gasped when he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"There's no need to be so nervous, my little pony," Celestia said in a soothing tone. "Tell me, what is your name?"
Sol looked up just enough to see Celestia's golden horseshoes.
"I-I... I-I'm..."
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you please speak a little louder?"
Slowly tilting his head up until his hood slid down and exposed a part of his muzzle, Sol soon saw Celestia's face wearing the same warm and patient smile that he remembered her always giving her subjects. While still shaking a little bit, seeing her soft expression put a small sense ease on his nervousness. And so, with an audible gulp, Sol spoke.
"I'm... I-It's me, P-Princess."
Celestia's hoof recoiled at hearing his voice. Despite it having been a very, very long time since she'd heard it, she immediately recalled the one who's voice it belonged to. Hoping that she wasn't wrong about this, Celestia reached her hoof back out and gently pulled the hood off of its owner's head. Seeing the familiar face, nervous-looking, violet draconic eyes, and two golden draconic horns, Celestia's breath caught in her lungs while her eyes widened and pupils shrank in shock. For the next few moments, Celestia silently stared at the young stallion before her.
"... Sol?" Seeing him give a small nod, Celestia recalled her surroundings and kept her composure in check while motioning a pair of her royal guards over to her side. "Find my assistant, Helping Hoof, and tell her that something important has just come up, and for her to clear my schedule for the rest of the day. Also, while one of you are doing that, I want the other to wake my sister and tell her to meet me in my chambers."
"Yes, Your Highness," they said with a salute before running off to carry out her orders.
With those taken care of, Celestia looked back down to Sol and the others. Doing her best to control her emotions, she held a stoic face and walked past them.
"Come with me."
Pulling his hood back over his head to hide his horns, Sol followed after Celestia and the others as she led them out of the throne room and into the hallway. One corridor after another, they followed Celestia in silence. Several long minutes and a flight of stairs later, they came to a pair of guarded oaken doors with a depiction of the sunrise painted on them.
Opening the doors, Celestia revealed her personal bed chambers. On one end of the two story room laid a grand bed, easily large enough to accommodate several ponies with ease. On the far wall was a large window reaching up to the ceiling that led out to a balcony. And on the side opposite of the bed was a fireplace with several lounging pillows spread about, along with bookshelves covering most of the open spaces of the walls.
Once she was sure that they were all inside, Celestia closed and locked the doors behind. Taking one last precaution, Celestia lit up her horn again and cast a soundproof barrier over her room to prevent anypony from listening in on them. With all of the cautionary steps taken care of, Celestia let out a loud sigh as she stepped away from the group and began to take off her royal regalia one piece at a time. Once her gilded horseshoes, chest piece, and crown were all sitting safely on a nearby bench, Celestia turned around, faced her guests with tears swelling in her eyes, and sat down with her forelegs extending outward.
Having seen this only twice before while growing up as her student, Twilight took a step forward to Celestia's waiting embrace, only to stop when a white blur darted past her and into Celestia's waiting hooves. Blinking at what just happened, Twilight stood alongside her friends in confusion as Celestia tightly hugged Sol and affectionately nuzzled his head.
"I missed you so much," Celestia happily sniffled.
"I missed you too, mother."
"MOTHER?!"
While they were all understandably stunned by this, Twilight was quick to recover.
"Well, it does make sense," she began to rationalize. "I mean, she did pretty much adopt him right after his mother died."
Celestia's head rose up to look at Sol with a hint of confusion. "You didn't tell them?"
"No, I didn't," Sol said, nuzzling into Celestia's chest as he hugged her.
"Wait. Tell us what?" Twilight asked.
Celestia looked up to Twilight and the others. "That Sol is my actual son, not adopted."
Twilight slowly blinked. "... but Sol told us that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him."
"That was a cover story that Luna and I created to keep everypony, and by extent, every villain and other threat, from knowing the truth about Sol."
Everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped in realization. "But then... that would mean..."
A bright and teary smile formed on Celestia's lips.
"Everypony, may I introduce to you Solar Rupture, First Prince of Equestria, and my only child."