The following week went by pretty well for Sol, despite the sad goodbye he and his mother and aunt shared. After the sun rose the next morning, Sol joined Twilight and the others for breakfast, during which plans were made for the next few day.
As promised, after morning came and he finished eating with everypony, Sol went straight to work on making Daring her amulet. However, he wasn't alone as Twilight was practically breathing down his neck as she watched him at work, taking notes as she saw him making the runes. Just as he thought, it took Sol roughly an hour for him to make the first runic amulet. With it now complete and having prepared several other amulets to be carved with the runes, Twilight cast her mimicry spell on the runes that Sol had carved and perfectly copied them onto the others, saving Sol almost an entire day's worth of work.
With the amulets now complete, Sol handed them out to Twilight, her friends and family, and Daring. He also kept a pair to give to Celestia and Luna for when he would go and visit them at the end of the week. Now that she had her amulet, Daring gave Twilight her thanks for letting her stay the night, and Sol for the amulet, before she bid everypony goodbye until the next time they meet.
After that, the rest of the day went by rather quickly and calmly. With nothing much to do at the time, Cadence asked if Twilight could watch over Flurry for the afternoon while she and Shining spent some time together. Happy that Twilight accepted, she and Shining left to spend an afternoon and evening together. As Cadence had promised, she returned to the Ponyville Spa with Shining in tow. Despite him being reluctant to do so at first, he eventually caved and quickly found himself melting in bliss at the feel of the spa ponies' hooves massaging his back and legs.
While they were off doing their own thing, Sol figured that he'd take this time to continue with his reading up on Equestrian laws. Bringing it up with Twilight, she showed him to her library and plucked a copy of the book from one of the enormous shelves lining the walls. For the rest of the day, Sol had his face buried in the book with the intent of wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. The only time he did stop was when he was called to dinner, which included him, Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and Flurry, Cadence and Shining having decided to go out for a romantic dinner.
With the dawn of the next day having arrived, Spike approached Sol with his concerns over his reading habits, having been reminded of Twilight and her own reading binges. Though Sol wanted to get it over with, he admitted that Spike had a point and decided to take a break as he wanted to get to know his cousin better. Talking to Cadence about it at breakfast, she agreed that she wouldn't mind spending the morning together with him while Shining and Twilight watched over Flurry. During that time, the two cousins sat down in the living room and asked each other questions about one another. As time passed, their questions began to drift over to sharing stories about themselves and with Celestia and Luna. As their day of bonding continued, it eventually led them to heading out for lunch at a café that Twilight had recommended to them. Having enjoyed spending the morning and lunch hours getting to know each other, they soon began their return to the castle.
"Twilight was right, that was a good place to eat," Cadence said.
"I agree," Sol nodded. "I wouldn't mind going back there again."
Cadence hummed in agreement as they turned the corner and Twilight's castle came into view.
"So, what plans do you have now?"
"Well, I still have to finish getting up to date with today's current laws, so there's that," he sighed. "I still have a ways to go before I'm finished with it. Afterwards, I'll be heading down to the Underkingdom and start getting to work on installing the new plumbing system that's used in today's buildings."
"Just as long as you don't run yourself ragged with your reading like how Twilight sometimes still tends to," Cadence chuckled. "As for your project in the Underkingdom, how long do you think that will take?"
"Who knows? Depending on how focused on it I am, and how well it goes, it may take me somewhere around the end of winter to mid-summer."
"And what about the building materials? I haven't seen it yet, but from what you've described of it during lunch, it sounds massive, so the materials you'll need will be incredibly huge."
Sol shrugged and held the door open for them to enter as they finally reached the castle.
"I've recovered enough magic that with my powers over the earth, I can just make what I need myself from the raw materials in the ground, so I shouldn't need to buy any of the pipes or anything else that I'll need."
Cadence nodded. "So does that mean that you can use your powers over the earth to make anything?"
"As long as it has some form of earthen elements like rocks, metals, and plants, then yes."
"... does that include Bits and gemstones?"
Sol frowned. "It does, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to start making them. If I did, then I could easily and accidentally disrupt Equestria's economy with the sudden influx of currency. Why?"
"It's just that I noticed that you used the last of your Bits at the café was all, and was curious as to how you planned on getting more."
"I have my own backup stash locked away in the Underkingdom, so I'll have to go pick some up when I head back down there."
"Really? Then why didn't you go back down there after you returned to Equestria's surface?"
"Probably because I was too emotionally distracted and shocked from seeing my old home in ruins to think about it."
Cadence winced. "Oh... right... sorry about that. Well, what about asking Celestia for an allowance?"
"You mean like a stipend? I haven't really thought of that. Thanks for the idea," he thanked, a mischievous smirk soon following. "But just so you know, when I bring it up to them, I'm gonna tell them that it was your idea."
Cadence playfully rolled her eyes at Sol, seeing that he'd inherited the same mischievous look on his face that she'd seen on Celestia so many times growing up with her. Continuing down the halls, she soon smiled when she heard the sounds of joyous laughter echoing off of the crystalline walls.
"Sounds like somepony's having fun," she giggled.
Following the sounds, they soon came to the living room doors where Twilight was seen playing with Flurry as the former chased after the latter in a game of tag.
"I'm gonna get you," Twilight playfully said, eliciting an excited giggle from Flurry.
Down below, Cadence watched contently as they played, not wanting to interrupt their playtime. It wasn't until Flurry spotted her and flew down to her that she decided to approach.
"Where's Shining Armor?" Cadence wondered, noticing her husband wasn't there.
"Oh, he's off playing Ogres and Oubliettes with Spike," Twilight replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
"Of course he is."
"What are they playing?" Sol asked.
"Oh, right. I guess you wouldn't know about it, huh?" Twilight chuckled. "It's a game that Spike used to play with Shining back when we lived in Canterlot, but he now tends to play it here with some of his guy friends whenever me and the girls are out. You should give it a try someday. You might actually like it."
"I'll think about it, but for now, I should probably get back to finishing that book on Equestrian laws... again."
"How far into it are you?"
"I'm just about two-thirds of the way done, so I've still got about three to five more days of straight reading left." Sol sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wish I could just finish it and be done with it already. I feel like I've spent more than enough time reading it."
Twilight hummed as she thought of a way to help. "If you'd like, I can teach you a spell that'll let you read faster?"
"Really? How much faster are you talking?"
"As in you can finish the rest of it in under an hour. It's how I'm able to read so fast and get through books as quickly as I do."
"... if it'll help me get through it faster, then I'm happy to try. Thank you, Twili-"
"Great!" Beaming, Twilight grabbed ahold of Sol's right claw with her magic and began to drag him off to the library. "Let's get started then."
"Okay! Okay! I'm coming! Can you please let go of me?"
Coming down from her eagerness, Twilight released her hold on Sol with an embarrassed chuckle. Hobbling to regain his balance, Sol got back on all fours and followed after Twilight, but not without waving Cadence and Flurry an impromptu goodbye.
Seeing Twilight drag Sol off like that, Cadence shook her head with a small smile.
"Guess I should've seen that coming," she sighed. "So, Flurry, did you have a fun time with your Aunty Twily?"
It took Sol a while for him to get it right, but after a few hours of practice, Sol finally managed to get Twilight's spell down. Now having the means to finish the book before nightfall in a few hours, Sol decided to go outside and read instead of inside the castle.
Tossing the book on his back, Sol went out and took a walk through Ponyville as he decided on a place to read. Along the way, Sol spotted a zebra mare over by one of the stands. Not remembering having seen her before at his party, Sol went over to her and introduced himself. To his surprise, she didn't appear to be very startled by his appearance. On the contrary, she seemed to be perfectly fine with him, and surprised him even further by knowing that he was a kirin, despite this being their first meeting. She soon returned the curtesy and introduced herself as Zecora, Ponyville's one and only zebra. Though Sol was concerned when she said that she lives alone in the Everfree Forest, Zecora assured him that she was perfectly fine living there, and had been doing so since she first moved there years ago.
Despite still feeling a little unsure about it, Sol figured that if Zecora had indeed been living there alone for so long, then she'd probably be alright just as she said. After a little while more of talking, they parted ways with Zecora heading back to the Everfree Forest, while Sol followed the road to Sweet Apple Acres. While he did indeed enjoy Zecora's company, he did find it odd that she spoke in rhymes, but didn't say anything as he didn't want to accidentally offend her after such a good first impression.
Passing by the white picket fence, Sol found himself in the apple orchard and turned off the road directly into the rows of tress. With the road out of sight and seeing nothing but trees all around him, Sol once again felt the calming and pleasant feeling from the trees and sighed on content. Settling himself down beneath one of the apple trees, Sol opened the book, cast the spell Twilight taught him, and began to finish off the rest of the book.
Because this was his first time casting the spell and he wasn't used to it, while it did allow for him to read faster, it wasn't quite as fast as what Twilight said it would be, but Sol didn't mind too much. After about two hours of reading, Sol had finished the book and slammed it shut.
"Finally," Sol sighed in relief as he flopped over onto his back. "Over a week of reading it and I'm finally done."
Tired from the reading, Sol laid there in the grass against the tree as he relaxed and rested. It didn't last for long, though, as he soon saw the sun starting to set. Groaning, Sol rolled over to his hooves and claws, picked the book up in his aura, and flew off into the sky back to Twilight's castle.
Though he hadn't used them in a while, Sol felt great as he beat his wings and glided through the air. Wanting to enjoy it for a little longer, he took a little flight over Ponyville before he eventually decided to come in for a landing in front of the castle doors, just as the sun had disappeared over the horizon.
Feeling good from flying again and from finishing the book, Sol made his way down the halls with a small spring in his step. Finding the door to the library, Sol entered and returned the book to its original spot on the shelf. Being officially done with it, Sol spun around and went to the dining room where he was sure that Twilight and the others would be eating right about now. As if to confirm his suspicions, as he neared it, he could smell the scent of food wafting from its direction.
"Flurry! Hold still!"
Hearing Twilight, Sol paused at the door for a brief moment before opening it. However, as soon as he did, he was met with a face-full of something green, wet, and sticky. Yelping in surprise, Sol stumbled back on his rump and began wiping the food off of his face. While temporarily blinded, he didn't see the shocked faces on everypony, minus Flurry, who found it funny and started giggling.
"What the heck happened?" Sol asked, wiping the last of the food off of his face.
"I'm so sorry, Sol," Twilight apologized. "I was trying to feed Flurry her mashed peas, but she's being a bit stubborn and decided to fling the spoonful of it at the door instead."
At least it was just the peas and not the spoon. "It's fine. Does anypony have a napkin or something?"
"Sure. Here you go," Cadence said, levitating a napkin over to him to clean his face off with.
"Thanks."
Finishing cleaning himself off, Sol thanked Cadence again and took his seat, while Twilight and Cadence began to lightly scold Flurry. After that, Flurry ate her food without any complaint, now saddened and upset from the scolding she'd gotten.
"So, Sol, did you finish that book?" Twilight asked.
"I did. It took a bit longer than I expected, but I'm glad to say that I'm finally done with it and am now up to date with today's laws."
"That's great, but it doesn't really explain why it took you so long to get back after reading it. Did it really take that long with the spell?"
"Not really," Sol shrugged. "I actually met Zecora while on my way to find a nice reading spot and we got to talking for a little bit. After that, I went over to Sweet Apple Acres and decided to read it in the orchard. And while the spell you taught me did help immensely, it still took me a few hours to finish it. After I did, I took a moment to lay back and relax against one of the trees for a while."
"Oh... okay."
Digging into his food, Sol quietly ate for a while as he watched and listened as the others talked, or in Twilight's case, feed Flurry. Finding a clear pause between their talking, Sol swallowed his food.
"So, Cadence, Shining, how much longer do we get to have you two around?" Sol asked.
"Sorry, Sol," Shining apologized, "but we'll be heading back to the Crystal Empire tomorrow."
Sol frowned. "Well that's too bad. I got to spend time with Cadence and Flurry, but I didn't really seem to spend any with you."
"Yeah. Perhaps next time we will have a chance to hang out. Maybe we could go grab a drink or something?"
"I guess. Haven't had a good drink in a while... and now I'm curious as to what they're like in this time era."
"Well, we do have some old liquor that we found when the Crystal Empire returned, so we could try that some day."
There was a glint in Sol's eyes. "... is there any Crystal Berry Ale?"
Shining gave a knowing smirk. "Maybe."
"I didn't take you for a drinking stallion, Sol," Cadence voiced.
"I'm really not," he said. "But since my body is half-draconic, it takes a lot more alcohol for me to get drunk, or even tipsy. Thanks to that, I've tried out a few different drinks and found the Crystal Empire's Crystal Berry Ale to be my favorite."
Twilight chuckled. "Don't let Rainbow Dash her you say that."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because she'll argue with you that Applejack's hard apple cider is the better of the two."
Sol blinked. "Applejack makes cider?"
"Yep. Soft and hard cider, both of which are really good, though I prefer the non-alcoholic stuff."
"Hmm. I'll have to ask her about it."
"In that case, you'll have to wait until next year for Cider Season for the non-alcoholic."
"Trust me, it's worth it," Spike added. "They make and sell it only one week a year, and it's super popular that they tend to run out early each year, but you won't find any better cider."
"... if it's so popular that they're running out, then why don't they extend it?"
Spike shrugged. "I'm not very clear on the details myself. You'll have to ask Applejack or one of the other Apples."
Considering it, Sol nodded and went back to his dinner. After a good ten minutes or so of eating and talking later, everyone helped clean up and spent the rest of the evening together in the living room until it was time for them to call it a night.
The new morning brought with it a mix of emotions. While Sol felt relieved that he no longer had to worry about getting through that ridiculous and unnecessarily long book, he was feeling a little disappointed that Cadence, Shining, and Flurry were leaving on the morning train. Having grown to like them as members of his extended family, Sol quickly made himself presentable for the day and went down to spend what little time there was left with them.
Finding them helping with breakfast, Sol joined them and they soon had everything ready. Once everyone had woken up and sat down, they ate and enjoyed each other's company. It didn't last long as time quickly flew by, and before they knew it, it was time for Cadence's family to leave.
Walking with them to the train station to see them off, Sol, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike watched as Shining returned with his family's train tickets.
"I wish you all could stay longer," Twilight said as she hugged her brother.
"I know, Twily, but we need to return to the Crystal Empire."
Twilight sighed and reluctantly let go of him, but found herself distracted when she felt a familiar presence land on her back and begin hugging the back of her neck. Smiling, Twilight levitated Flurry off of her back and proceeded to nuzzle her.
"Don't think that I've forgotten about you," Twilight softly said. "I'm gonna miss you, Flurry."
Gurgling, Flurry reached forward and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's face in a hug. While they were doing that, Sol and Cadence were saying their own goodbyes.
"I know I've said it before, but I'm really glad that I got to know you better, Cadence," Sol said before grimacing. "Unlike a certain other cousin of ours."
Cadence frowned briefly in agreement, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.
"I know what you mean, and I'm glad that I got to know you as well, Sol. Even if it was just for a short time."
Sol was about to add onto that, but before he could, Cadence wrapped a foreleg around him and gave him a goodbye hug. Though taken by surprise by the unexpected hug, Sol smiled and returned the gesture, hugging his favorite cousin back for a moment before they went to finish saying their goodbyes.
Not long after they were done, they heard a familiar rumbling quickly approaching them. Seeing the train coming, they stood back and waited for it to pull in to a stop. Giving them one last goodbye, Sol, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike watched Cadence's family board the train, and remained as it pull out of the train station and out of sight.
No longer seeing the train, the group left the station and began making their way back to Twilight's castle. As they walked back, Sol looked to the north, thinking about how happy he was to meet his extended family, and silently hoping that he'd to see them soon again.