//------------------------------//
// Chapter 30- A Family's Reassurance 
// Story: Of Heaven and Earth 
// by Garuda IV 
//------------------------------//

It was early afternoon when Sol stepped off of the train in Canterlot Station. Levitating his full saddlebag up and setting it on his back, Sol left the station where he looked around and smiled at the festive Hearth's Warming decorations covering the city. Feeling his good mood heightened by the festive decorations and atmosphere, Sol walked down the sidewalk with an extra spring in his step as he made his way into the city.

After a bit of walking filled with greetings to and from merry ponies, Sol came to his first destination. Stopping in front of the establishment, Sol took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the freshly-baked pastries that were emanating from inside. Licking his lips, Sol pushed open the door and made his way over to the counter, where a familiar face greeted him.

"Sol! Good to see you back," Joe called, happy to see one of his favorite repeat customers.

Ever since Sol had been introduced to Doughnut Joe's doughnuts, he'd made it a priority to stop by every time he was up in Canterlot to grab some.

"Thanks, Joe," Sol thanked as he tried to keep himself from drooling from the aroma.

"So, you here for the usual?"

"Actually, could you make it a triple?"

Joe blinked. "You sure about that? I'm not going to argue, but that might be a bit much for you to eat alone."

"I'll be sharing it with my family, so I'm not worried."

"You mean with your mom and aunt?" he asked, getting a nod from Sol. "Okay then. If you say so."

Sol didn't have to wait long before Joe returned with three boxes of a dozen mixed doughnuts, which Sol reached into his Bit pouch and paid for, plus a little extra for a tip.

"By the way," Joe began, "when will I get to see your family? You've talked to me about them a lot, but besides mentioning that your mom and aunt are ponies, and that your dad was a dragon, you've never really gave me any names, told me who they are, or what they do. I don't even know if I've ever seen them in my shop before."

Trust me, you've seen them, Sol mentally chuckled. "All in good time, my friend."

Joe shrugged. "Alright, fine. I suppose I'll just have to wait then. Anyway, is there anything else that I can get you?"

"No thank you. I need to get these home before they get too cold."

"Alright. Happy Hearth's Warming then, and I'll see you next time."

"Yep. Happy Hearth's Warming, Joe, and thank you."

With one last wave, Sol left the establishment and made his way towards the castle, but not before setting the three boxes on his back and casting a spell on them to help protect them from the winter cold. Continuing back down the cleared sidewalk, Sol looked around at the houses and stores that were covered in lights, reefs, and the occasional giant plastic candy cane planted in front of them. Along the way, he heard the sound of foals laughing and smiled as he saw them running around, playing in the snow and making snowponies. and later began humming to himself with a slight bob of his head as he heard the sound of carolers singing.

Coming upon the castle walls, Sol walked up to the gate and gave the two guards a polite nod as he passed them by. Entering the castle proper, Sol paused as he saw the castle's staff ponies making their way around with decorations held in either their magic, hooves, or their mouths, as they decorated the castle for Hearth's Warming. Trying to stay out of the way, Sol stuck to the wall and made his way down the halls towards the throne room, where he was sure that his mother would be.

Coming to the throne room doors, Sol's pace slowed when he saw a line of over a dozen ponies waiting for their turn, to which he rolled his eyes at. Even after over a thousand years, nobles hadn't changed, save for a very rare few, as they always wanted something to improve their standing in society. And from Sol's memory, it was even worse closer towards this time of year, since they believed that in the spirit of Hearth's Warming, Celestia would be more open and willing to give in to their requests. Of course, Sol knew that his mother knew that, and that she'd never fall for it. At least, unless it was for something actually worth the request.

As he continued towards the doors, the guards, having been told by Celestia and Luna that Sol had free access to the entire castle, caught sight of Sol and his path to the throne room. Without a word from Sol, the guards opened the door for him and let him inside, which garnered him looks of disdain from the group of nobles that were still waiting their turn.

Ignoring the looks he knew were on him, Sol walked into the throne room and smiled when he saw Celestia sitting on her throne with a bored expression on her face from having to deal with nobles again. Standing there near her at the foot of the throne's dais was a white mare with a brown mane, tail, and eyes, and a cutie mark of a quill writing on a piece of parchment. Immediately, Sol recalled that this mare was Celestia's assistant, Helping Hoof, who he remembered to be the third of her generation to serve as Celestia's assistant, right after her mother, Raven, and her grandmother, Writing Desk.

Seeing the door close behind Sol after having entered the throne room, Celestia's bored expression morphed to one of joy. Standing from her throne, Celestia walked down and met Sol with an embrace.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Sol," Celestia said with a broad smile. "You don't know how happy I am to finally have you here for Hearth's Warming."

"Thank you, mother. It feels good to be back too," Sol returned, affectionately nuzzling Celestia.

While Sol would normally be more cautious with showing affection to his mother and aunt in front of others, that wasn't the case with Helping Hoof. Since she'd already been informed about him by Celestia, and that she was a pony that they could trust with this secret, Sol trusted his mother's words and went along with it. Of course, even after Sol told her that she didn't have to, Helping Hoof couldn't help but address him as the royal that he was, mainly out of force of habit.

Breaking their hug, Sol looked past Celestia to Helping Hoof. "It's good to see you, Miss Hoof."

"Thank you, Your Highness. It's a pleasure to have you back," she said with a bow.

Sol smiled and gave a polite nod before looking back up at Celestia, who was eyeing the three boxed stacked on his back.

"What do you have there?"

Chuckling, Sol lifted one up and levitated it to Celestia.

"I made a stop at Doughnut Joe's on my way here and brought a box for you and Aunt Luna. I was hoping we could sit down together and eat."

Celestia smiled and kissed Sol's head. "That was very thoughtful of you, sweetie, but I'm afraid that I'm a bit busy with court."

"Yeah. I noticed from all of the nobles standing out there," he frowned.

Seeing his disappointment, Celestia placed her box of doughnuts back with the others.

"Don't look so glum about it. Once I'm finished with them, you and I will sit down with Luna and have ourselves a snack. Speaking of, you better take mine with you, otherwise I'll probably eat them all beforehoof and have to suffer watching you and Luna eat yours."

Sol chuckled. "Okay."

"Good. In the meantime, why don't you go and unpack? Your saddlebags look like they're heavy, and about to burst at the seams. Why did you stuff it so full anyway?"

"I thought that I could just pack all of my things inside it without having to carry three different pieces of luggage."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "I see. But still, you should go before it tears open."

"Alright." Sol gave Celestia a hug and kiss on her cheek before making his way back to the doors. "Wait, what about the preparations for the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball?"

"We can go over them later," she chuckled. "For now, just take this time to relax and get settled in."

"Alright, mother. See you in a bit."

With that, Sol left the throne room and made his way through the castle towards the hallway that held the royal bedrooms. Coming to a stop in front of a pair of brown, oaken double-doors, Sol sighed and opened them, revealing his room that had been customized for him, reminding him of his room down in the Underkingdom.

The bed sitting against the wall to his left wasn't anything too extravagant, being a king-size with a brown comforter and darker brown bedsheets, along with a pair of nightstands on either side of the headboard, and a dresser cabinet for his more fancy clothing. On the wall across from where he stood in the door was a large window that led out to a small balcony. However, what stood out the most about the bedroom was what resided on the right-half of the bedroom.

While the entire right side was covered in grass with patches of flowers scattered about, both enchanted to prevent them from growing and spreading out of control, the most noticeable thing about it was the living cherry blossom tree that was planted. Being fully-grown, it was just shy of touching the ceiling, its branches reaching out just beyond the border of grass, and was enchanted so that it would keep its fully-bloomed petals throughout the seasons without them ever falling, or wilting from the cold. As different and bizarre as it is to see a tree in a bedroom like this, when it came to Sol, whenever he felt like relaxing or wanting to read a book in his room, he would more often than not find himself laying on this patch of grass, or leaning up against the tree.

Taking in the scent that the grass, flowers, and cherry blossoms brought, Sol let out a pleasant sigh and closed the doors behind him. After dropping off the boxes of doughnuts on his dresser, Sol looked around and made sure that he was alone before casting a spell to prevent ponies from looking in on him from the outside. Knowing that his room was now safe from any prying eyes, he dug into his saddlebags and pulled out a pair of Hearth Warming presents that he promptly hid away.





A few hours had passed when Sol heard a knock on his door. Groaning from the small nap he took beneath his tree, he stretched is limbs and went to open the door, where a guard informed him that Celestia had just finished court and was about to make her way to their personal dining room. Happy that she was finally finished with court, Sol thanked the guard and grabbed the doughnut boxes before being escorted by the guard.

After a few minutes of walking down the halls, they stopped in front of the doors to the dining room where the guard gave Sol a quick salute before making his way back to his post. Opening the door, Sol let himself in and smiled when he saw that the room was already decorated for the holiday.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Sol," Luna said, grabbing his attention before he found himself enveloped in her hug.

"It's good to be back, Aunt Luna," Sol smiled, hugging her back.

Smiling, Luna took a few niffs and pulled back. "I see that you've been to Doughnut Joe's again."

Sol chuckled. "Yes, and I've brought some for you and mother."

"Then let us not waste anymore time."

Grabbing the boxed from him, Luna levitated them over to their places on table. Just as she and Sol sat themselves down, the doors opened up to Celestia, who smiled and subtly licked her lips in anticipation.

"You two didn't start without me, did you?" she asked.

"Nay, sister. We just sat ourselves down when you arrived."

"Very good."

As Celestia made her way over to her seat, she paused for a moment to share a nuzzle with Sol.

"Now then, let's see what we have here."

Once Celestia sat herself down, the two sisters opened their boxes of doughnuts to see what was inside, while Sol, already knowing what was inside, didn't waste any time in digging in. Soon enough, the three were munching away at their food with the occasional hum of delight.

"These are good as always," Luna commented. "Hey, Tia?"

"Hmm?" Celestia replied, her cheeks stuffed with doughnuts.

"Why haven't we asked Joe to come work for us here at the castle?"

Celestia took a moment to gulp down her food before answering, "I already did, actually, but he turned down my offer. He said that while he was honored by the offer, he was perfectly happy with running his shop and wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I see. It's rare to find a stallion who knows exactly what he wants in life and then pursue it. While it is a shame that he doesn't want to work for us, I do commend his devotion to what he loves."

Celestia smirked mischievously. "You know, Luna, last I heard, Doughnut Joe is still single."

Luna was ready to bite into another doughnut when her eyes darted and locked onto Celestia.

"I'm not so sure that would be wise, sister," Luna frowned.

"Aww, but why not? Just imagine all of the free doughnuts you could have."

Luna snorted. "While I do enjoy these pastries he makes, I'm not going to court him just for that sole reason. Besides, I can find myself a stallion on my own thank you very much."

"And how has that gone so far?" Celestia teased, earning her a glare from Luna.

Quietly taking a bite of her doughnut while maintain her glare, Luna decided to redirect their conversation.

"So, Sol, is there anything new going on with you since we last spoke?"

Celestia knew that Luna was deliberately trying to avoid the subject, but while she did feel like messing with her further, she was curious about Sol, so she decided to go along with it... for now.

"Nothing much," he replied, biting and swallowing the last piece of his current doughnut. "I'm just looking forward to the ball and spending Hearth's Warming with you two."

"We are looking forward to it as well," Celestia smiled.

"Indeed," Luna agreed... before propping her forelegs up onto the table and resting her head on her folded hooves. "So, you say that you are looking forward to the ball?"

"I am," he smiled.

"Any reason why?"

Sol opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he remembered the events the night prior, and of that morning. Blushing at the memory of him basically asking Twilight out to the ball, Sol was quick to put on a neutral face to hide it, but it was too late.

"Sol? What are you trying to hide from us?" Celestia slowly asked, grinning in anticipation.

"Umm... well..."

"Yeeesssss?" Luna urged with a glint in her eyes.

Sol bit his lip. "I may have asked somepony... to the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball-"

Sol winced as his ears were assaulted by the sound of Celestia squeezing in joy.

"This is wonderful!" Celestia giddily exclaimed. "Come on, Sol. Tell us. Who's the lucky mare?"

"It's... uh..."

"Yes?"

"... it's Princess Twilight-"

Once again, Sol's ears were assaulted by another squee of joy, but this time it was much louder as Celestia started to accidentally use the Royal Canterlot Voice. At this point, Sol was pretty sure that everypony in the castle could hear it. As he recoiled from the Royal Canterlot Squee, Sol found himself enveloped as he was hugged by his mother, who at this point was squeeing near his ear.

However, as glad as Sol was to see his mother so happy for him, despite the ringing in his ears, for the sake of his hearing and the room, Luna decided to end it.

"Control yourself, sister! Everypony can hear you and you're destroying the room!"

Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice piercing through the squeeing, Celestia immediately stopped. Not because of Luna's outburst, but because she was right, and because of the damage that had been sustained. Nearly all of the windows in the room were heavily cracked, their doughnuts were blown away by the power of her voice and splattered against the walls, along with most of the furniture in the room, and the doors to the room were thrown open and barely hanging on their hinges.

Realizing their mistake, Celestia lit her horn to repair the damage she had caused, and set everything back to the way it was prior, including the doughnuts.

"There, that's better," Celestia said before clearing her throat and retaking her seat with her joyful smile still intact.

This is perfect! she mentally screamed. This will make my plan go so much smoother, and best of all, I don't have to feel so guilty for meddling in their relationship. Of course, once Cadence hears about this, I have little doubt that she'll be eager to help us as well.

While Celestia was busy thinking, Luna, let out a sigh for her sister's outburst.

"So, you have asked Twilight Sparkle to the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball," Celestia calmly continued. "I must admit, Sol, that I'm a little surprised that you asked her... and that she accepted, knowing her history."

Sol nodded. "Twilight told me about how other tried asking her before, and have failed. She said that she agreed to dance because I wasn't like all the others."

"She accepted your offer because you respect her for the pony she is," she smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you've remembered what I've taught you so long ago."

"I would hope so," Luna smirked. "Remember the last time you didn't listen, Sol?"

Sol's body visibly shuddered. "That was the one and only time I've ever went against mother's wisdom when it came to mares."

"Although, to be fair, that mare was being really rude to you."

"Getting back on topic," Celestia redirected, "I'm surprised that you asked her to dance with you, Sol. But I have to admit that if I were to ever chose a pony for you, it would be her."

Sol looked away with a small blush. "She is something special," he muttered. "But, there is something that I've been wondering about, and I was hoping that you two could help answer it for me?"

"Of course, Sol. What is it you wish to know?" Luna wondered.

"... it's about Twilight's parents..."

Celestia and Luna shared a knowing look.

"I suppose we should have seen this coming," Luna sighed.

Celestia quietly nodded in agreement. "You are still worried about having a repeat like with E-"

"Yes, mother," he loudly sighed, still feeing a bit touchy about the subject.

Seeing his reaction and how much it still bothered him, Celestia made her way over to Sol and wrapped a comforting wing around him.

"Then allow me to put your mind at ease, my son," she soothingly spoke. "Twilight's parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, are both wonderful ponies. They were both good and respectable ponies back before they were married. Both of them are kind and caring to others, and while I can't speak for Shining Armor, I'm sure that Night Light would be perfectly fine with you."

"I agree," Luna said before slowly added, "Although, I'm not so sure what to think about Twilight Velvet. Now don't get me wrong, she is a wonderful mare, and I'm sure that she would approve of you as well, but I do question her actions at times."

Sol looked at Luna curiously. "Why? What's so bad about Twilight's mother?"

"Nothing, really. It's just that she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Do you know how many times I've caught her base jumping off of the side of Canterlot in the middle of the night when she thought nopony was watching? And don't get me started on spelunking that she does in the crystal mines beneath the city."

"Now that you mention it," Celestia slowly spoke, "I think I remember her bungee jumping off of Canterlot during her late teenage years."

Sol looked between the two. "... so I have nothing to worry about from them then?"

"Sol, I have known those two for a very long time, and I can assure you that if you and Twilight end up becoming more than just friends, that you'll have nothing to worry about with them. If anything, I'm sure that they'll both be happy and give you nothing but their support."

Feeling reassured by his mother, Sol sighed and relaxed in her embrace.

"Of course," she continued, "Shining Armor might be a bit more reluctant, but that's just because he loves his little sister and is looking out for her."

"I doubt we'll have to worry about him, anyway," Luna dismissed. "If he does have an issue with them, then we could always get Cadence to set him back in line."

Chuckling, Celestia shook her head. "Yes. I suppose we could."