One by one the ponies, dragon, and kirin followed Twilight into the lounge and took a seat. Unfortunately, while everypony was surprised by Spike's sudden growth and most were quick to accept it, Fluttershy, unfortunately, didn't. She knew that this was Spike, and hated herself for feeling like this to her friend, but she couldn't help herself as her fears took over, prompting her to keep her distance and partially hide behind one of her friends.
While most of them had taken a chair or couch, Spike, seeing that his new body was making Fluttershy feel afraid of him, decided to give her some space and laid down on the floor away from her. This also worked out for him though, since there was also plenty of space for him to stretch out and relax. Of course, Rarity stuck by his side and sat down right beside him. When she did, she let out a startled yelp when Spike's longer body and tail started to curl around her in a manner similar to how a dragon would curl protectively around their hoard.
Calming down from this unexpected act, Rarity relaxed and leaned over to her side, propping herself up against Spike like a lounge chair. Soon afterwards, she was joined by Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, who found their own place around or on Spike, and hunkered down in to listen to what happened. Since they were more his age at the time before his change and had become close friends, Spike didn't mind their actions and instead chuckled at them.
Once everyone had gathered and were settled down with a slice of cake, much to Pinkie's insistence, Twilight began to tell everypony what happened during the trip she and the others took to the Dragon Lands, minus the part with her accidentally waking up in the arms of Sol on the ride there. She didn't feel comfortable about talking about it, and even if she did, she still wouldn't considering that Celestia and Luna were both there. Besides, Twilight wanted to think it over for a while, maybe research it if she could find anything relevant, but most importantly, ask Cadence for advice without revealing any names. She knew that it would be an awkward talk, especially since she and Sol were "cousins", but Twilight believed that she would be the best pony to go to.
Without leaving out anything besides that, when Twilight got to the part about Garble's plans for Ember, everypony became rightfully disgusted and/or angered. Of course, their reactions had shifted when Starlight took over for Twilight and began telling them about Spike's involvement in the Dragon Battle Royal, and then turned to horror upon hearing of how he almost died to Garble's sneaky, yet legal, attack. When she did, Rarity and Twilight flinched as the scene played back in their minds, along with Spike, who shuddered as the storytelling not only made him remember, but also brought back vivid memories of the pain that he felt too.
Finishing telling her story about the Battle Royal, Rarity took over as she told everypony what happened next. She first began with how she and Ember almost came to blows with each other, which immediately got everypony's attention as none of them would've ever expected Rarity to pick a fight with a dragon, let alone Ember. But, thanks to Twilight and Sol interfering and stopping them from possibly literally tearing each other apart, they managed to talk about their mutual feelings for Spike with each other, and come to the decision about the two of them sharing Spike.
When Rarity finished, there were a collection of gasps from those who weren't there with them, followed by a bombardment of questions. As soon as she got a chance to answer them and finish, she then went on to tell of how she and Ember asked Spike if he'd be willing to start a herd with them. Of course, seeing as how her sister and her friends were there, Rarity toned the story down a bit to keep it more foal-friendly.
Upon Rarity finishing, Spike held up the amulet Sol and Twilight made for them and told them about what it did, prompting the others to tell him to invite Ember over so they could all talk to her. Spike then went on to say that they had already planned on Ember coming over later that evening, which Pinkie took as an excuse to throw another party for them.
Over a month has passed since the trip to the Dragon Lands. Since then, Sol's spent his time working on creating the portals and getting them set up to various locations across Equestria. It took Sol a few weeks of him traveling around the country for him to find the best spots for a gateway and to discreetly carve the runes for the portal to work onto them. Though he would've preferred creating an arched gateway, he instead had to make do with using other, less-suspicious structures, such as the tower of a suspension bridge, or the mouth of a large tunnel entrance just to name a few. When Sol finally finished and returned to Ponyville, his next step was to create several actual gateways in the Underkingdom, one that would link to each portal he set up on the surface.
While that's been going on, practically all of Equestria became aware of Spike's relationship with Rarity and Ember. The news of their relationship and Spike's growth came to a surprise to everypony in Ponyville at first, but it wasn't long before all of it inhabitants became supportive of both, and had joined in Pinkie's second party for Spike and Rarity, but this time including Ember. Even Cadence, having been told by Celestia soon after she herself was told, had immediately came down to Ponyville with Shining and Flurry Heart to give them her blessing and congratulations. Of course, while the royals and all of Ponyville were supportive of their relationship, there were many who were not.
As expected, while they did have a few supporters apart from the townsfolk, their families, and friends such as Fancy Pants, Flur De Lis, Ra Ra, and of course Thorax to name a few, many of the nobles and Canterlot Elite were not fond of the idea of a pony like Rarity being in a relationship with a dragon, let alone two of them, even if they were Spike and Ember. Unfortunately, Rarity felt the weight of their disdain, which was starting to show in her work orders, or rather, the cancelations that she was receiving, all thanks to the nobles and Canterlot Elites. It didn't last for long, though, as Celestia and Luna quickly found out about the unreasonable blacklisting that had fallen upon Rarity for her relationship. But, while they and Twilight, all of whom were rightfully angered, had gotten everypony's attention, none shook the populace more than Cadence, who's unexpected fury came down and immediately put an end to it, along with calling their complaints "complete and utter horseapples". Even Celestia and Twilight, who've known Cadence for many years and have never seen her so mad before, felt a shiver of fear run up their spines.
Fall came around soon afterwards, and with it, the Running of the Leaves. Seeing as he was unfamiliar with the event, Sol went to Twilight about it where he was filled in on the details about the event that had been turned into a race due to a competition between Rainbow and Applejack, and later, became a festival. Twilight also told Sol that while he was gone, Celestia had planned on coming to the Running of the Leaves Festival to watch the race, which Twilight, though tempted to participate and was granted permission by Mayor Mare, chose not to join in this year.
And soon the Running of the Leavens came around, and with it, the festival. Traveling with his friends, Sol was introduced to an assortment of game booths and food stalls set up all around the outskirts of Ponyville. He took part in a few games out of curiosity, but mostly stayed back and watched his friends play instead, including Ember, who Spike convinced to come along.
As she said, Celestia did attend and was happy to have come, but Luna couldn't make it, seeing as the night before was more busy than usual and required her to sleep soundly all day in order to get a restful sleep. Still, though he was disappointed that she couldn't be there, Sol was still happy to have Celestia with them, even if they had to remain professional and not show any affection to each other while in public.
As for the race, as exciting as it was to watch, it ended in a tie between Applejack and Rainbow for first place, thus continuing their seemingly never-ending competition. With the end of the race, the Running of the Leaves had officially ended, and a few days later, the festival was packed up for the year. But this wasn't the end of the fun, as a certain holiday was just a few weeks away...
... a holiday, that put Sol in a precarious mood.
The sun had just set with Sol sitting down, looking outside his bedroom window at the town below. Throughout the town he saw foals laughing and running around in eager anticipation, while the adults helped finish setting up the decorations and games for this "new" holiday.
During the weeks leading up to this point, Sol had heard his friends talking about something called Nightmare Night, which was a holiday that was created after he was sealed away. While he was interested to hear of the creation of a new and apparently beloved holiday, those positive thoughts were immediately shattered the week before the event when he learned what, or rather, whom, the holiday revolved around. Upset by this revelation, Sol since then spent most of his time keeping himself busy in the Underkingdom in an attempt to help work through his frustrations, but in the end, it did little to help him.
Having lost track of time of how many days he'd spend working, when Sol returned to Ponyville, he saw that the entire town had been transformed, now littered with spooky-themed games and decorations, including banners picturing the silhouette of Nightmare Moon with a slitted, turquoise eye. Having enough of seeing the former dark creature that was his dear and beloved aunt, Sol burrowed underground towards his room in Twilight's castle, and shut himself in from what awaited outside.
Tearing his gaze away from the window, Sol sighed and closed the curtains, putting the outside world out of sight yet again, but not out of mind. Even after hours upon hours of thinking, he couldn't bring himself to understand why ponies would willingly celebrate a holiday dedicated to Nightmare Moon, or how his mother and aunt would even allow it. Still not wanting to go back outside with the holiday starting tomorrow, Sol crawled up on his bed and flopped on his back with a sigh.
I should've gone back to the Underkingdom.
*Knock-Knock-Knock*
"Sol? It's Twilight. Is it okay if I come in?"
Hearing her muffled voice through the door, Sol sat up and lit his horns to open the door for her. Granted entrance, Twilight peeked inside and saw Sol sitting on his bed with what she could easily tell was a forced smile.
"Hello, Twilight. Can I help you with something?"
Twilight let out a sigh and shook her head. "No, Sol. Actually, I'm her to ask if there's something I can help you with. I hope you didn't think that we didn't notice your behavior lately. It's like you've been avoiding everypony, and I have a pretty good idea why, but I want to hear it from you and know for sure."
Sol's smile fell into a frown and turned to face the covered window.
"I don't understand, Twilight," he heavily sighed. "I don't understand why anypony would want to create a holiday centered around scaring everypony and causing fear? And at the expense of Aunt Luna no less, an event that caused so much pain for her and mother that got her banished to the moon for a thousand years. I've tried to come up with a logical reason as to why ponies would do this, but I can't find a suitable answer."
Twilight figured that was the reason. After the second day of Sol's disappearance, she, Spike, and Starlight got together to figure out why he suddenly left. And thanks to Nightmare Night coming up and his relationship to Luna, it wasn't hard for them to figure out what was bothering him.
Knowing that this was probably going to be a difficult talk, Twilight crossed the room over to Sol's bed and took a seat on it alongside him.
"You know, Princess Luna struggled to accept it at first as well."
"I can imagine why," he sourly grumbled.
"But in the end, she was able to understand the meaning of Nightmare Night and enjoy it herself. Yes, it was a bit of a struggle for her to understand at first, and she did come dangerously close to canceling Nightmare Night altogether, but in the end, she was able to embrace it, and ever since then, she would return to Ponyville to take part in it." Twilight placed a hoof on Sol's shoulder. "I know you love Princess Luna and don't like to see her hurt in any way, but she's gotten past this and isn't bothered by it anymore. And if she can learn to understand and accept Nightmare Night for the fun holiday that it is, then I'm sure you can too."
"But surely not everypony enjoys it."
"The only pony that I know of who doesn't like it is Fluttershy, but it's not for the reasons you feel. She just doesn't like things that scare her. She did try it out one year, and while she did a spectacular job with the prank she pulled on my friends and I, in the end she decided that it just wasn't her thing."
"So Fluttershy won't be participating in Nightmare Night?" Sol asked, receiving a nod from Twilight. "In that case, maybe I should ask her if she would be alright with me coming over for a visit."
There was a flash of panic in Twilight's eyes. She knew that Discord would be over at Fluttershy's on Nightmare Night to keep her company, and she and her friends have done an excellent job so far in keeping Discord's freedom a secret from Sol. But if Sol were to go over there and the two met...
"That's... probably not a very good idea," she nervously said, earning her a curious look from Sol. "It's just that Fluttershy may have some... company over, so it'll be best if nopony bothers her... and him."
Though she didn't say it exactly, the blush on her face was all Sol needed to know.
"Oh... yeah, probably not a good idea then." Sol hummed to himself. "Huh. I never knew that Fluttershy had a coltfriend. When will I get a chance to meet him?"
"Probably not for a while. He'll only be here for Nightmare Night, then he's back to traveling across Equestria for sightseeing early the following morning."
It wasn't a lie either. Discord had been off all around Equestria and had come over to stay the night with Fluttershy, knowing that Nightmare Night was the night that scared Fluttershy the most.
"Oh... that's too bad."
"Yeah... you know, if you want to, you can come to Nightmare Night with me and our friends?" she offered.
Sol frowned. "Thank you, Twilight, but I'd rather-"
"Did I also mention that Princess Celestia's going to be there too?"
"... she is?"
Twilight, seeing her opportunity, smiled. "Mhmm. She'll be going incognito as Sunshine of course, but she sent a letter through Spike a few days ago informing us that she and Princess Luna will both be attending Nightmare Night in Ponyville this year."
"..."
"She also said that she'll be dressing up for Nightmare Night."
Sol blinked in surprise and turned to Twilight. "Mother's seriously going to be wearing a costume?"
"She is." Twilight paused for a moment to look over Sol's facial reaction. "... so...?"
"'So'?"
"So, are you going to join us?" she asked. "I know that you don't like it now, but if you give it a chance, you might come around to like it like Princess Luna does."
Sol opened his mouth with a reply already ready, but as soon as his eyes made contact with Twilight's and saw the nervousness and hopefulness in them, he found his answer die out before he could get it out.
"Please?"
And just like that, one word did him in.
"I... I-I..." Sol let out a defeated sigh. "I still don't like it... I suppose I could give it a-"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Twilight gleefully squealed, hugging Sol as she spoke. "I promise, you won't regret this."
Though not expecting it at first, Sol quickly relaxed and couldn't help but chuckle at Twilight's joy as he hugged her back. He would've found himself to be normally unsure of the gesture, but ever since their trip to the Dragon Lands, Sol and Twilight had become closer as friends to the point where gestures such as placing a reassuring hoof or claw on the other, or giving a hug, were starting to become more common. In fact, the more Sol thought about it, the more he realized that, apart from his mother and aunts, the only other female he let get this close to him was-
Careful, Sol, he mentally warned himself, subtly shaking his head clear of those particular past thoughts.
Believing that they've been like that long enough, Sol relinquished his hug as he pulled back from Twilight, who, Sol noticed, was sporting a small blush on her cheeks. Clearing his throat, Sol looked away to hide his own that was starting to form.
"So, what now?"
Twilight's ears perked up. "Now, I'll take you see what kind of costumes Rarity has. Hopefully she'll have one that you'll like."
"A costume? Really?"
"Really. If you're going to participate in Nightmare Night, even if a little bit, then you might as well do it right and dress for the occasion."
It was the night of Nightmare Night, and in the entrance hall of her castle, Twilight, Sol, Spike, Rarity, Starlight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack were all waiting for Celestia and Luna to show so they could start their Nightmare Night. As they waited, they looked over each others' costumes.
This year, Twilight decided that her costume would be Clover the Clever, who she based off of from, what Sol said, was an accurate picture from one of the old books she'd read in the Underkingdom. Spike's was a bit more difficult as he dressed as a knight with a full suit of armor that covered him from head to tail, with fake sword strapped to his belt, while Rarity played the other half of their paired set, and dressed as a princess in a pink dress. Starlight, with the help of a transmogrification spell that would last her a few hours, took a page from Spike's Nightmare Night costume book and decided to go as a dragon. Rainbow, having a bunch of mane and fur dye, was dressed up as Daring Do, which she found to be kinda freaky as she looked like a perfect doppelganger of the real Daring Do. Pinkie and Applejack's costumes were a bit easier for them to make, seeing as how Pinkie was wrapped in a giant wrapper, dressed up as taffy, and Applejack, continuing with her trend, was dressed as the Tin Mare from the Sorceress of Oz story. Lastly, but most ironic and unexpected of them all, was Sol's costume.
"I don't know what I was thinking," he muttered. "I look ridiculous."
"I wouldn't know about that, Sol," Rarity disagreed. "I think that you look rather fetching in that costume."
"I look like a fool."
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Sol here, Rarity," Rainbow snickered, doing her best at trying to keep herself from laughing. "I mean, the wig is just killing it."
"Well I think it works." Rarity turned to her knight. "Spike? What do you think?"
Spike closed his eyes and gave a single nod. "I agree with Rarity."
Sol's brow fell to a glare. Traitor.
He didn't expect it, but for his costume, Sol was dressed as, ironically, a prince, complete with light-blue overcoat styled in Medieval Equestrian, a fake golden crown, and to top it all off, a curly, white powdered wig. At first he thought that it was a nice look, but what he failed to do was try out the wig that apparently went with it, which Rarity brought with her upon her arrival.
"Rarity, as a prince I myself, I can assure you that neither I, nor any other royal that I've ever met, have ever worn such a piece even remotely as close to this wig."
"That's because that trend of fashion didn't appear until a few hundred years after you were sealed away, if my memory serves correct," Twilight replied for Rarity, which earned her a surprised look from her friends. "What?"
"... anyway, regardless of that bit of history, I'm still not sure about this. I should just take it off. I mean, what would mother and Aunt Luna think if they see me wearing this wig?"
"Well, we're about to find out."
As she said that, Pinkie bounced over to one of the castle doors and opened it up, revealing Luna with her hoof raised to knock, and Celestia, disguised as Sunshine, and in her own Nightmare Night costume, which took everyone in the castle by surprise.
"Uhh... mother?" Sol slowly spoke, unsure of what he was seeing. "Are you...?"
"Wearing a banana costume?" she sighed heavily, shooting a hard glare at a smirking Luna. "Yes, Sol. Yes I am."