//------------------------------// // Chapter 18- Invitation // Story: Of Heaven and Earth // by Garuda IV //------------------------------// One month has passed since Sol decided to stay in Ponyville. Since then, things have been rather quiet for him. As promised, when the dawn of the last day of the week rolled by, Sol returned to Canterlot to spend some time with Celestia and Luna. During his first time there, Sol withheld his affections for his mother and aunt until they were alone in their private dining room for breakfast. Once they'd settled down, Sol gave them their amulets to grant them access to the Underkingdom, and later asked Celestia about what Cadence had suggested. But, as it turned out, Cadence had beaten Sol to her, having made a pit stop on her way back to the Crystal Empire and told Celestia about Sol's current financial situation, claiming that it was Sol's idea for an allowance instead of hers. Feeling a little off-put with Cadence having turned it around on him like that, Sol swore to himself to get her back for this the next time they met. Of course, with Celestia and Luna not having thought of this before, they both agreed that it would be a good idea. Once breakfast was over for them, Sol and Celestia bid Luna a good sleep while the two went back to the throne room. While there, Celestia sat on the throne while Sol sat on the lower platform next to her. Pleased that Sol had finished reading through the book of laws with the help of Twilight, Celestia though that it would be a good idea for Sol to sit and join her so he could see how things worked in the throne room compared to when he would join her a thousand years ago. As the hours rolled by, Sol started to get an idea of how things ran. While he stayed silent and watched and listened for the most part, there were times where he found himself voicing his thoughts on a few matters that were brought up, once the pony who was seeing Celestia had left of course. There were even a few times where Celestia would ask for Sol's opinion, but it was more so to hear what his thoughts would be and judging him on where he stood on the possibly of him filling in for her if she and Luna were to be called away for a few days. By the time nightfall came around, Celestia was tired from listening and working with the ponies, though Sol had a bit of energy left. With Celestia giving Sol's cheek a peck and retiring for the night, Luna came over with a refreshed spring in her step. Now spending his time with Luna, Sol followed her as she went through her nightly routine. Though he couldn't do much in terms of watching over the Dream Realm, he did find it pleasantly calming as he helped Luna line the wall sconces with lavender. However, despite his willingness to stay awake for his aunt, Sol's body couldn't continue it for much longer as he soon started to wobble from side to side from exhaustion. Though she was happy for the effort that Sol tried putting in to staying awake for her, Luna told Sol to go off to sleep. After a moment of hesitation, he listened to her and left for the guest room that had been prepared for him. But, what Luna didn't tell him was the other reason for that. Once Luna sensed that Sol was asleep, she lit her horn and entered Sol's dream to spend some quality time with him. This also worked for Luna too as she could still keep an eye out on the other dreams while there. As time went on and they spent some one-on-one time together, Luna eventually pulled Celestia into the dream with them, allowing for them to all be together without worry of the truth being discovered. However, all good things must come to an end, and much to their reluctance, it was time for them to wake, and after that, for Sol to head back. Breakfast took longer than normal with Celestia and Luna wanting to spend as much time with Sol as they could before he left. By the time they did finally finish, Luna had nearly fallen asleep right at the table, and Celestia was coming close to being late. Of course, when Sol brought it up, Celestia chuckled and brought up an old saying that she, Luna, and Sol would privately share. "A princess is never late. Everypony else is just early." Chuckling at the old saying, Sol gave Celestia and Luna a goodbye kiss before he left them until next week. As soon as he left the castle and stood on the path leading to it, Sol burrowed underground and made his way to Ponyville, his magic reverting the ground behind him back to normal as though nothing had happened. Since then, whenever Sol wasn't spending time with his family, he would spend most of his time down in the Underkingdom, but he was usually not alone. Most of the time, whenever he would travel down there, Twilight and/or one of the others would come with, or he'd find one or some of them down there. While Twilight and Starlight came down to read the books in the library, and study the golems and gargoyles, the others mostly came down to explore and see what else was down there. Applejack took an immediate interest in the farms and went to inspect them, usually coming back to Sol with an idea or two on how they could be improved, or a suggestion that would help the trees provide a better harvest. Rarity and Spike spent a good deal of time exploring the Undercity and the castle, the former believing that she'd find something somewhere in there to help inspire her for a new line of clothing. Pinkie was perhaps the most unusual as she somehow ended up on top of one of the giant stone golems' heads and rode them just for the fun of it. Apart from Twilight and Starlight, the ones who were enjoying the place the most were Fluttershy and Rainbow. As they took a flight to see what kinds of animals there were, they didn't bother seeing where they were flying and soon lost track of where they were as they went into a vast forest past the Undercity. Flying high in the air to get a better view, the two looked around and saw a glint off in the distance, which they suspected was the Undercity. However, when they turned back around, both of them gasped when they saw a monstrous tree in the distance. Deciding to check it out, the two flew over the forest stretching out below them to the giant tree. After a ten minute flight, they finally came to the tree they saw, but it wasn't anything like they'd expected. They knew that the tree was big, but neither of them suspected that the trunk would be several hundred yards wide at the base... or for there to be a gaping hole carved out in the bottom of it, and what appeared to be windows scattered about the outside of the tree. Awed and more curious than ever, the two pegasi flew down into the hole were they entered the hollowed out inside of the tree. However, while hollow, the tree was far from dead. If anything, it reminded them of how the Golden Oak's Library that Twilight used to live in was like, only much, much bigger. While all of this was a lot to take in, they soon discovered that the entire tree had houses and other building-like places carved into it, essentially turning this titanic tree into its own village. Wanting to see more, they flew up the hollowed tree, ignoring using the stairs that connected each level, until they reached the canopy, which looked like it was all natural instead of carved into the village that it was. Unfortunately for them, as exciting as it was for both of them to see and explore this place, they had to head back before the sun set, but not without meeting up with Sol on their way out and asking him about the tree. Aside from his time spent down in the Underkingdom, during what time he did spend up on the surface, Sol had managed to acquire himself a few new friends. Thanks to Starlight, Sol was introduced to Trixie, a traveling magician and Starlight's first friend outside of Twilight's group. Though he found her talking in the third person to be somewhat strange, and her attitude slightly annoying, they got along. But, it was during a particular walk through Ponyville that Sol met another. While helping Starlight run an errand for Twilight, the two accidentally bumped into Pinkie's sister, Maud. After she and Sol were introduced by Starlight, the two hit it off very well, becoming friends almost immediately over their mutual like for rocks, much to Starlight's enjoyment. Of course, their newfound friendship was only further solidified after Maud witnessed Sol use his powers to change his coat into different types of rocks and minerals at will. Now closing in on the fifth week of him living in Ponyville, Sol woke up and looked over at the calendar in his room to see that fall would be coming up in a few weeks. He had made a bit of progress with the upgrades to the Underkingdom, but he still had many months of work left to do. However, after a little over a month of working on it, Celestia encouraged Sol to take a break for a while before he burnt himself out. While his magic had been recovering rather nicely, it was still going to be a while until it got to where his magic should be. Rolling out of bed, Sol washed himself up and made his way downstairs to eat with the others. Upon entering the kitchen, Sol found himself curious as he saw Twilight, Starlight, and Spike huddled around a scroll at the island counter. "Good morning." Hearing him, their heads popped up away from the scroll. And while they each had a pleased look on their faces, Twilight's and Starlight's were nowhere near as happy as what Spike's was. "Hey, Sol!" Spike beamed. Noting the unusually chipper tone in his voice, Sol paused in mid-step before he went over and joined them. "Did something happen?" "You could say that," Twilight answered him. "We've just received a letter from Ember. Turns out that she's got herself a few free days and has invited us to the Dragon Lands." "Oh... well, when is she expecting you?" "It says that her break will begin tomorrow, so we'll have to leave pretty soon." "From all the good things you and Spike have told me about her, I'm actually getting excited to finally get to meet Ember," Starlight said. "You're gonna love her," Spike smiled. "Ember's a fun, gorgeous, and an all-around great dragon to hang out with. And yeah, she may look and act a bit tough on the outside, but after she gets to know you and starts to open up a bit, she's actually really nice." Though Spike didn't now it, there was a small blush on his face. But, while Spike didn't notice it, Sol did. Looking at him with varying levels of curiosity, Sol wondered just how close Spike and Ember actually were, but withheld voicing his question for now. "So, who all is going then?" Sol asked instead. "Well, there's us," Twilight began answering, "and I'll also have to ask the girls if they want to come too. I'm sure Rarity would like to come and get to see Ember again, but Fluttershy probably won't." "I guess that I'll be watching over the castle while you're all gone then." "You could... or you can come with us?" Sol blinked. "What?" "Well, you did say that you were friends with Ember's dad, so I'm sure that you'd be more than welcome to come as well." "Yeah. Come on, Sol," Spike encouraged. He thought about it for a moment, but couldn't find any reason for him not to go. And while he did want to get the Underkingdom ready as quickly as he could despite his break, he also wanted to see the Dragon Lands and visit his old friend again. "You know what? That does sound like a good idea." Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Great! Now that that's settled, let's go tell the others and see who's coming." They each got up from their seats and were about to head on out, but stopped when they heard Twilight's stomach rumble. "... after we get something to eat." "You didn't eat already?" Sol questioned. "We were about to, but then we got a bit distracted by the letter." After grabbing themselves a quick bowl of cereal, they each split up to tell the others about Ember's invitation. Unfortunatly for them, almost all of their friends were busy. While Rainbow wanted to go, she promised Scootaloo to help her out with her flying. Fluttershy, understandably, didn't want to go because of her still-lingering fear of adult dragons. Pinkie was needed at Sugarcube Corner to watch over Pound and Pumpkin while Mr. and Mrs. Cake were out, and though the invitation did interest Applejack, she had to decline in favor of some personal time with her family and hear more stories about her parents, much to their understanding. Just as they were starting to think that it might just be the four of them, Spike returned with a smile. As it turned out, with how well her shops were doing, Rarity was actually available and accepted the invitation to visit Ember again. Now having an exact count of who all's coming, they each packed for the trip and by the time noon rolled around, they were all gathered around by Twilight's balloon. "Ehh, are you sure you need all of this, Rarity?" Starlight asked, looking at the large pile of luggage she packed. "Of course I do. One must be prepared for any emergency after all, fashion or otherwise." "But we're going to the Dragon Lands," Sol said, frowning at Rarity's luggage. "And unless it's somehow turned lush with green vegetation and became peaceful over the last thousand years, I don't think that this is a good idea." "Sorry, Rarity, but they're right," Twilight agreed, earning her a surprised look from Rarity. "What? But, Twilight-" "Besides," she continued, "we can't even fit all of it into the balloon basket. So I'm sorry to say this, Rarity, but you'll just have to settle with bringing three." "Three?! Just three?!" "I would allow for more, but I don't know if we'll be coming back with any souvenirs from our trip." Rarity's eyes darted desperately as she tried to find an excuse. "B-B-But Sol isn't brining anything! Maybe I could bring a few more to take his place?" Sure enough, Sol didn't pack anything for the trip, mainly because he didn't feel like he'd need anything. He did consider bringing his Bit pouch and cloak with him, but figured that it'd be pointless, seeing as how dragons didn't use Bits back then, and he didn't want his cloak to accidentally get burnt beyond repair. "Actually, Rarity, it's because Sol's not brining anything that I'm letting you bring that much. I would bring more as well, but I had to cut back as well." Though she disappointed with having to cut down on her luggage by so much, Rarity could tell that she wasn't going to win this debate. With a reluctant sigh, Rarity pouted as she quickly picked out what luggage she'd probably need the most, while Twilight helped teleport what she didn't need back to Rarity's home. As they were busy doing that, Sol's eyes traveled over to Twilight's bag sitting beside Spike's and Starlight's, and snorted in amusement. "Something funny, Sol?" Twilight asked, having heard him as she teleported the last of Rarity's unneeded luggage. "Sorry, Twilight," Sol chuckled, "but do you really call filling your saddlebag to the brim like that to be 'cutting back'?" Seeing her saddlebag that was practically overflowing with blank scrolls, quills, and ink pots, Twilight blinked and turned back to Sol. "... actually, yes. And if I'm perfectly honest, I doubt that this'll be enough of what I need. I'll more than likely end up running out, but this is as much as I could fit." Twilight frowned when Sol's chuckling grew into laughter. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you, mister. Like Rarity pointed out, you didn't even bother to pack anything." "That's because I don't need to bring anything. The Dragon Lands will have everything that I'll need." Sol smirked. "Unlike somepony who can't seem to go anywhere without a quill and parchment always by her side." "I don't always carry that on me!" "Really?" he teased. "Because every time I saw you in the Underkingdom, you'd always have a bunch of scrolls hovering around you or stuffed in your saddlebags. This doesn't include the aftermath of that research session you asked me to help you with where you left piles of parchment scattered across the library floor." "I was taking notes!" Twilight quickly defended with a blush. "Besides, this is different! Even with Ember's letters to us, we still don't know that much about dragon culture, so I was planning on asking her in person during our visit!" "Suuuurrreee." Twilight's cheeks puffed out in embarrassed frustration... but soon faded and was replaced with a mischievous smirk. "You know, Sol," she began, her once flustered voice now eerily calm, "if you keep this up, I could just write to Celestia and tell on you." Sol paused and blinked. "Why?" "Because you're teasing me." "... you're kidding. You wouldn't actually tell on me to mom just because of a little playful teasing, right?" Twilight's smirk grew as she lit her horn and levitated a quill and parchment over to her. "Am I? After all, it's not very nice for a colt to tease a filly like that." Sol's eyes drifted from Twilight to the others, who'd been watching them the whole time with amused looks, hoping to see if they could tell if she was bluffing. Despite having lived with her for a little over a month now, Sol couldn't tell with her expression if she was serious or not. Seeing no help coming from them, Sol turned back to Twilight, who's smirk remained as she began moving her quill along the parchment, her eyes never leaving Sol's. Now worried that she indeed wasn't bluffing, he held his claws up in surrender. "Okay, okay, you win!" he hastily said. "Now can you please stop writing to mother?" Smiling triumphantly, Twilight stopped and pulled the quill back. "Okay," she all too innocently said. "Oh, by the way..." Sol nervously gulped. "Yes?" Twilight flipped the parchment around, revealing that both sides were blank. "There wasn't any ink on the quill." "... so you were bluffing." "Yep," she giggled. Sol frowned, having seen this plenty of times before from somepony else. "You've been spending too much time around mother." Instead of a verbal reply, Twilight just gave Sol a smile and turned back to the others. "Alright, let's get everything loaded up and get going." Once all of their luggage was loaded and secured in the basket, they all jumped in and made themselves comfortable for the long ride. With everyone situated and ready to go, Twilight untied the rope anchoring the balloon to her castle and began their trip to the Dragon Lands.