Of Heaven and Earth

by Garuda IV


Chapter 31- Hearth's Warming Eve Ball

The following days were busy for Sol as he assisted Celestia and Luna with preparations for the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball. For Sol, Celestia and Luna decided to start him off easy, seeing as this was his first event since his return that he'd be helping orchestrate. For the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball, he was given the job to see to the decorations for the ball room, arrange for an orchestral band to play for them, and arrange for the catering.

Thanks to Helping Hoof, who Celestia had assigned to assist Sol for the time being, he was able to get ahold of a recommended catering company that jumped at the opportunity to cater for a royal event. As much as he wanted to have the Cakes from Ponyville help with the catering, he also didn't want to take their Hearth's Warming time away from their foals either. The next thing that Sol took care of was the music. Thanks to his time spent in Ponyville, Sol was acquainted with Octavia Melody and Lyra Heartstrings, both of whom he remembered saying were apart of the same orchestra with Octavia as the head of their group. After sending her a letter requesting her orchestra at the ball, Sol received a reply letter the following day, stating that she and the others would be honored to provide the music for them.

With two of the three marked off on his list, Sol had only one thing left, and that was the decorations for the ball room. Wanting to have a sort of winter ice theme to it, Sol enlisted the help of several ice sculptors in creating what he envisioned. After showing them the plans and some pictures, Sol was pleased to see that they understood what he wanted, and they wasted no time in getting started.

While they were busy, Sol watched them work and offered to help them, which they turned him down, saying that they were fine and didn't want anypony else getting in their way. Though it didn't offend Sol, as he watched from a safe distance, his mind drifted to his petrified aunt, Aques, knowing that if she were here, she could have all of these ice sculptures finished in a matter of seconds if she wanted to.

Looking over the list one more time with Helping Hoof, they agreed that they had everything covered for his end of the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball. All that really remained were the enchantment for the ceiling of the ball room, but seeing as Sol had learned it beforehoof, he didn't see a reason to worry about it.

"Well, guess that's it then," Sol mused out loud.

"The ice sculptors said that it would take them two days to get everything done," Helping Hoof said. "That should give us an extra two days before the night of the ball."

Sol nodded. "Good. If something happens or they accidentally screw something up, then they'll have plenty of time to either fix it, or remake it."

"You really think they might?"

"They may be professionals, but accidents still do happen," he shrugged.

Helping Hoof nodded. "And the ice? Won't they start to melt?"

"I actually talked with them about that. They said that they enchanted the ice to resist heat, so they'll remain frozen from a few days up to a week, depending on how warm the room gets."

"Which shouldn't be much since the heat in that room has been turned off, and barely anypony besides the ice sculptors will be in there."

"Mhmm. We could even move them outside and use them as decorations when we're done with them in here. Now, all we have to worry about are the food and band getting here on time."

"I take it that it's all been taken care of?"

"It has. Mother has given me permission to allow the members of the orchestra to stay in the castle guest rooms leading up to the night of the ball so that they can practice here in preparation for it."

"I see... well, I suppose that everything's covered then."

"I suppose so," Sol agreed. "By the way, thank you again for all of your help these last few days, Miss Hoof."

"It was a pleasure, Prince Sol," she smiled. "To be honest, I actually enjoyed working with you. It made for a nice change of pace."

"What? Has working for mother become boring?" he joked, which Helping Hoof caught on to and chuckled.

"Never."


Only a few hours remained before the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball would begin. Dressed in a white dress suit and having his mane combed back, Sol gave one final look over the decorations and food. Nodding to himself in satisfaction of how everything turned out, he then made his way over to Octavia to check in on her and her orchestra, hoping that they were all ready and that none of them had suddenly fallen ill or otherwise couldn't attend. Thankfully, Octavia had nothing to report but good news to Sol, eliciting a sigh of relief from him, along with his thanks to her and her group for accepting this again.

With everything all set, Sol finished up his end of decorating the ball room by enchanting the ceiling to give it the illusion that there was no ceiling, and instead, showed all who entered the current night sky, along with the light snowfall they were currently experiencing. Now having finished everything on his end, Sol made his way over to the main entrance hall where Celestia and Luna awaited for him, the former wearing a red dress with green hems, while the latter wore the opposite, being green and red hems.

"Well? Are we ready?" Luna asked.

"Yes. Everything is ready," Sol reported. "The food is all set, decorations are up and holding, and the orchestra is ready to play."

Celestia gave a nod. "Then we may as well start allowing in the early arrivals."

With a motion from Celestia's hoof, the guards opened the castle doors to allow ponies to enter. As Celestia had figured, there were already ponies who had arrived early and immediately made their way inside. As the guests started to enter, however, Celestia noticed Sol moving away.

"Sol? Where are you going?"

Sol paused and looked back to his mother and aunt. "Just off to the side here."

"Not this time," Luna stated.

"But-"

"We know that we generally keep some distance while in public for the sake of appearances, but Tia and I would very much like it if you would stay here with us."

Sol looked between Luna and Celestia. "Are you two sure?"

"We are, Sol," Celestia smiled. "Now, come on over here."

Listening to his mother, Sol walked back over and took his spot beside Celestia. As the guests approached, Celestia and Luna greeted them, while Sol remained silent and observant, only speaking when a curious guest addressed him. When asked as to why he was there, he explained that since he was responsible for the ball that Celestia and Luna wanted him there with them, to which the two sisters confirmed upon being questioned.

Time rolled by as more and more guests showed, but none of them were the one that Sol was waiting for. It wasn't until the clock struck eight that he finally saw a familiar lavender alicorn make her way through the doors, along with Spike, Cadence, Shining with Flurry riding atop his back, and an older couple whom Sol figured, from the description that Celestia and Luna had given him, were Night Light and Twilight Velvet.

"Somepony is looking quite lovely tonight, isn't she?" Celestia whispered, smirking at her son's reaction.

Sol absentmindedly nodded as he gawked at Twilight. Looking her over, he saw the ice-blue dress that she wore which sparked as though it were covered in frost, along with the matching sleeves that covered her forelegs. As she got closer, Sol also took notice that her mane had been pulled up in a neat bun, that she wore a light application of pink eye shadow, the slippers she wore on her back hooves, and lastly, the blush that she was sporting as she and her family approached them.

Realizing that her eyes had been looking directly at his own during this whole time, Sol ceased his unintentional staring and hastily tried to right himself before Twilight and her family came to a stop before them.

"Sorry we took so long, Aunty Celestia, Aunty Luna," Cadence apologized. "We would've been here sooner, but a certain somepony was being fussy about her mane."

"I wasn't being fussy," Twilight grumbled.

"Actually, sweetie, you kinda were," Velvet chuckled.

"It's quite alright," Celestia said to Cadence before turning her attention to the older couple. "Night Light. Twilight Velvet. It's a pleasure to see you two again."

"It's an honor for you to invite us back to this year's Hearth's Warming Eve Ball, Princess," Night politely returned with a bow.

"We've been consistently hearing about how this year's ball was going to be the best one yet," Velvet added.

"Really now?" Celestia smirked. "And who was it that you heard this from?"

"From Twilight," Velvet answered with a chuckle. "She sounded really excited and couldn't seem to stop talking about it."

"I wonder why?" Luna asked knowingly, smirking as her eyes drifted between Twilight and Sol, who'd been off in their own world and had seemingly forgotten about everypony else.

While everypony else were talking and stealing glances at the two, Sol and Twilight found themselves in their own little world as they took in the sight of one another, both sporting a blush.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Hearing the sounds of giggling from beside him, Sol snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat before gently taking Twilight's hoof in his claw and bowing down to place a kiss on it.

"You look beautiful tonight, Twilight."

Though it wasn't the first time Sol had kissed her hoof like that, Twilight couldn't help but blush harder at the gesture. That, and the fact that Sol had told her that she was beautiful, which no male pony outside of her family had told her before without some less-than-pure ulterior motive behind it.

Recovering from rather welcoming show of flattery she was given, Twilight smiled as she was given her hoof back.

"T-Thank you, Sol," she stammered, unused to receiving such compliments. "You look rather handsome tonight as well."

Sol bowed. "Thank you, Twilight."

Hearing a small squee, Sol and Twilight looked over to see that both of their families were watching them. While Celestia, Cadence, and Velvet were doing their best to hold themselves back, Luna and Spike both smirked, and Shining and Night were both giving Sol and Twilight curious looks, while Flurry babbled innocently from her spot on Shining's back.

"Twilight... sweetheart... who is this?" Night cautiously asked as he eyed Sol over.

"Is this the young stallion that you were talking about before?" Velvet asked.

"Yes, mom," Twilight answered. "This is Sol, my... friend."

Though Twilight did think of him as a friend, with how close the two of them had grown, along with the night that they spent reading and falling asleep together just a week prior, Twilight was starting to believe that their friendship was perhaps becoming something more.

And... I wouldn't actually mind it, Twilight thought as she glanced over to Sol.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this moment," Luna spoke up, "but perhaps it would be best if this were to be taken elsewhere? The other ponies look like they're starting to get impatient."

Everyone looked back to see that the other guest ponies were all watching them, most of which bore annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Right. Sorry about that, Your Highnesses," Night apologized before he began leading his family down the hall towards the ball room.

That is, all except for Twilight, who looked between her family, and Sol and Cadence, the latter of the two having held back for her own reasons.

"Go on, Twilight. I'll meet you later," Sol said, sensing her conundrum.

"Actually, Sol, why don't you go on with them?" Celestia suggested.

Sol looked back to his mother. "Really? But I thought that you two wanted me to stay and-"

"We did, but you don't need to stay any longer now that your date has arrived," Luna said, putting extra emphasis on the word "date".

Seeing Celestia nod for him to go, Sol smiled at them before looking back to Twilight and bowing.

"Ready to go, Twilight?" he asked, holding a claw out.

Twilight placed her hoof his claw. "Yes. I am."

Hoof in claw, Twilight and Sol walked together out of the entrance hall towards the ball room, all the while ignoring the hushed whispers and stares that they were receiving, most of which were scornful and directed at Sol from numerous stallions, most of whom having had tried, and failed, in asking out Twilight in the past.

As the two turned around the corner, Cadence let out a restrained, gleeful squee.

"Those two are adorable!" she gushed before turning back to Celestia and Luna. "Did you two have something to do with this?"

"Surprisingly, we didn't," Celestia replied.

"This was all their own doing. We didn't meddle in anything regarding their current relationship," Luna added, earning her a curious look from Cadence.

"So this doesn't have to do with what you have planned, Aunty Celestia?"

"No. Although, it will make things a whole lot easier."

"I see." Cadence paused as Celestia and Luna greeted a few more guests. "So, do you know where this plan of yours will be taking place at?"

"I do, but I may need some help in convincing Twilight to bring Sol there."

"I can help with that easily enough. So, where should I be sending them?"

Celestia smirked as she brought her wings in to give them some privacy while she went over her plan.

"Oh, yes," Cadence grinned. "That'll work perfectly."

"So you can do it?" Celestia asked.

Cadence giggled as she turned to walk away. "Trust me, Aunty. It'll be a piece of cake."


The walk to the ball room was quiet for the two as Sol and Twilight were both feeling a bit nervous. Though it didn't help either that dozens of ponies were eyeing them as they passed by, their close proximity to one another and hoof/claw holding did make it a little better, knowing that they both had somepony right beside them who felt the same way. Of course, that nervousness was dampened when they entered the ball room. Despite there being a good number of ponies in there and more coming in, Twilight found herself more focused on everything else around them, particularly the ceiling.

"How did you do that?" she asked Sol.

"It's just an illusion spell," he shrugged.

"You mean like the one in the Underkingdom?"

"In a way I guess, but not nearly as strong. Unlike here where you can't feel the cold, the one in the Underkingdom allows you to feel the warmth of the sunlight on your coat."

"I see." Twilight looked around as she and Sol made their way further into the ball room "And those pillars?"

"Sculpted out of ice. I thought that it would be appropriate considering the winter theme."

"And the punch bowls? What are they made of?"

"Also made of ice."

"Okay, but why? I mean they do look great, but I'm just curious."

"I figured that the ice-sculpted punch bowls would help keep the drinks cool throughout the ball."

"... aren't you worried that they and the pillars might melt?"

"The ice sculptors cast a spell on them to resist heat, so they should be fine for tonight before they're moved out of the castle as decorations for everypony to see."

"Okay, but... hey, are those Hearth's Warming cookies?"

Sol looked over at the food table and smiled. "Yes they are."

Twilight looked up at him. "But how?"

"I made them with Mother and my aunt," he replied. "The ponies who I got to do the catering didn't do Hearth's Warming cookies, and I didn't want to bother the Cakes with the catering and take their time away from their foals, so we made them and set them out."

"Twilight! Sweetie! Over here!"

Hearing her name, Twilight looked over at the direction of the voice and saw her family sitting at one of the tables, minus Cadence. Seeing this as a good of a time as any, Twilight tightened her hold on Sol's claw.

"Come on. I want you to meet mom and dad."

Sol opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak, he found himself already being lead over to the table Twilight's family sat.

"So, Twilight, who is this young stallion?" Velvet asked once Twilight and Sol arrived at their table.

"Mom. Dad. This is Solar Rupture," Twilight introduced. "And yes, mom, this is the pony that I've mentioned to you before."

Standing from her chair, Velvet walked over to Sol and offered her hoof.

"Hello, dear. My name is Twilight Velvet."

Blinking at the name, Sol took Velvet's hoof and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. My name is Solar Rupture, or just Sol if you'd prefer."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," she said, looking Sol up and down. "So, you're the one that my daughter's been going on about. I can see why she likes you."

Twilight's face lit up as Velvet spoke. "Mooommm."

"What? Your stories about his looks and manners are just like you've described them." Velvet smirked as she decided to tease her daughter a little bit. "Although, you may have played up how handsome his is, if only just a tiny bit."

Twilight, figuring her face was red as a tomato by this point from the embarrassment, leaned towards Velvet.

"Please, mom, not in front of him," she quietly pleaded.

"Oh, alright."

Stepping back from her mom, Twilight risked looking back over to Sol who, while hadn't heard what she'd whispered, was still sporting a bright blush of his own thanks to Velvet's earlier comments.

"So, yeah. That's my mom," Twilight said with a nervous chuckle.

A second later, Night came around and walked up alongside Velvet.

"Night Light. Twilight's father," he said, glaring at Sol.

"Hello, sir," Sol said, making sure to hide the tone of caution he was feeling. "Solar Rupture."

The moment only lasted for a second or two before Velvet frowned at Night and nudged him.

"Nighty, be nice to him. Can't you see you're making the young stallion nervous?" Velvet chided him before turning to the two with a smile. "Come on you two. Have a seat."

While Velvet and Night made their way back to their seats, Sol went over and pulled out a seat for Twilight near her mom, before pushing her seat in and taking the empty one on the other side of her.

"Nice to see you again, Sol. It's been a while," Shining said from across the table, along with Flurry sitting on his lap.

"It's good to see you too, Shining," Sol returned.

"You two know each other?" Night questioned.

"Kinda. We met not long after Sol returned to Equestria," Shining answered.

"Ah, yes. Twilight told us something about you being sealed away."

Sol eyed Night. "Out of curiosity, just what about me have you been told?"

Night snorted. "Twilight's been rather vague about the details, but she's told me that you've been sealed away for over a thousand years." Night folded his hooves. "Which leads me to wonder exactly why you were sealed away for so long to begin with, and underground where nopony would easily find you."

"It was for his own safety, dad," Twilight quickly spoke up. She looked over at Sol, who nodded for her to continue. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sealed Sol away to keep him safe and hidden from some of their enemies who were out for him, such as Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek, just to name a few. "

"The original plan," Sol began, "was for me to remain sealed away until all of them were either gone or contained, and it was safe for me to return to Equestria."

"So why now?" Velvet wondered. "I mean, Tirek was sent back to Tartarus not too long ago by Twilight and her friends, but from what Twilight has told us, Queen Chrysalis is still somewhere out there."

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeahhh. That was kinda my fault. Princess Celestia accidentally sent me this book which contained a passage that led me and my friends to Sol. And thanks to my curiosity, we followed it and ended up finding him and freeing him on accident."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Sol pitched in. "If anything, I'm happy that you found me and freed me."

"Aren't you worried though?" Night questioned with a raised brow.

"Not really. From what I've been told, every enemy that I've made has either been sent back to Tartarus, blown up by the Crystal Heart, turned to stone, or, in the case of Chrysalis, has been overthrown and is on the run."

"But what about-"

Knowing who he was going to ask about, Twilight used her magic to clamp Shining's mouth shut before he could say any more.

"He's not here," she quickly said before turning to Sol. "Sorry about that."

"It's... okay...?" Sol slowly said, finding Twilight's sudden interruption to be strange, but didn't want to push it.

After answering a few more questions from Night and Velvet, their conversation drifted away from Sol, and over to Twilight's family. Several minutes later, Cadence walked in and joined them at the table, where Flurry flew over to her mother to sit with her. With everypony now there, they made their way over to the buffet table and filled their plates for the evening before making their way back to enjoy their meal.

Roughly a half-hour later after eating and enjoying the music provide by the Octavia's orchestral group, ponies started getting up and began to move to the center of the room to dance. Among those ponies were Night and Velvet, and Shining and Cadence... at least for the moment.

Once the current song had ended, Sol saw this as his chance to ask Twilight for a dance. Looking away from the ponies who'd just finish their dance, Sol turned to Twilight, who was giving him an expectant look.

"Would you care to dance, Twilight?" Sol asked, holding a claw out to her, which she gladly accepted.

"I would love to."

Taking her hoof in his claw, Sol led Twilight to the dance floor, leaving Spike at the table with Flurry.

"Too bad Rarity couldn't make it," Spike sighed.

A moment later, he felt a pair of tiny forelegs trying to wrap around his chest in a comforting hug. Looking down, he saw Flurry hugging him as best she could, while looking up at him with a worried expression on her face, as though she could tell how he was feeling and was trying to make him feel better.

"Thank you, Flurry, but I'm alright," he chuckled, patting the filly's head before placing a kiss on it that made her giggle. "I guess I'll just have to wait for next year."

Making it out to the dancefloor, the two faced each other before Sol gave Twilight a bow, and Twilight gave him a curtsy in return. Once the music began to play again, Sol and Twilight took their positions and began to slowly start dancing to the sound of the slow and soothing music.

As the two continued to dance, they unintentionally began to draw more and more ponies' attention towards them, including Night and Velvet, Shining and Cadence, and in the distance of the room, Celestia and Luna. Of course, thanks to their focus on one another, neither Twilight nor Sol took notice of any of them as they focused on each others' eyes whilst they danced.

"You're a really good dancer," Sol complimented Twilight, who's blush grew at the praise that she had received.

"You can thank Rarity for that," she shyly said. "After you left for Canterlot last week, I went over to her place and asked if she would give me some dance lessons."

"Really? You needed dance lessons?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe how bad of a dancer I was before. It was beyond horrible."

"Well then, she did a fantastic job of teaching you... or perhaps it was thanks to you being such a fast learner?"

"She was a good teacher, but it could be a bit of both."

Sol silently nodded in agreement as they continued to dance. As the minutes rolled by and the song continued to play, the two of them started to feel more comfortable and relaxed dancing with each other. Soon enough, the two were leaning comfortably against one another as they danced in mutual silence.

"Hey, Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for agreeing to this."

Twilight let out a content sigh and closed her eyes as she leaned against him.

"Thank you for asking me," she said, nuzzling his neck.

Though surprised by the sudden show of affection, Sol smiled and nuzzled her back.

Lost in their own little world, Sol and Twilight lost track of time as they continued to dance with each other. By the time they had brought themselves out of it, they noted that the song that they had originally danced to wasn't the one that was currently finishing. Agreeing to take a break, Sol and Twilight made their way off the dancefloor and back to their table, where Twilight's family had been watching them, except for Flurry Heart, who was happily munching away on a Hearth's Warming cookie. As the two approached, Cadence stood up from her seat and intercepted them before asking if she could borrow Twilight for a moment. With Twilight agreeing and telling Sol that she'd be right back, Sol went on ahead back to the table and retook his old seat.

"That was quite the dance you to had, Sol," Spike grinned. "Seriously. You two danced through five different songs without stopping."

Sol jerked his head back in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Spike's right, Sol," Shining agreed. "You two were dancing for nearly half an hour."

"We didn't mean for it to be that long. We just lost track of time."

"We know," Velvet said, smiling at Sol. "And we don't mind. Do we, Night."

The older stallion let out a sigh. "No. I suppose not."

"... and?"

Night let out a sigh. "And... I'm sorry."

Sol frowned suspiciously at Night. "For what?"

"For how I acted towards you before," he admitted. "With all of the stallions that have been after my daughter in the past, I tend to become suspicious of anypony who takes an interest in her. And after hearing that a stallion had shown up in her life like you did, and how close you two looked earlier... it took me by surprise, and I didn't handle it very well."

Sol let out a small sigh. "It's alright, sir... and suppose that I should apologize for how I acted too then," he said while maintaining his cautious gaze on Night. "I won't go into detail, but my last relationship ended thanks to my fillyfriend's father, so I apologize for my attitude, and hope that you'll forgive me if I seem to be a bit cautious of you as well, even though Twilight and I aren't together."

"I see," Night sighed before looking Sol in the eyes. "I'll be honest with you, Sol. I'm not really sure how I feel about my daughter being so close to a stallion that I know hardly anything about... that being said, from what little I have heard of you from her and Spike, it sounds a though Twilight's chosen a good pony."

"Also," Velvet began, "we cannot deny how happy Twilight looked while you two were dancing out there. Honestly, I don't believe that I've seen her look so happy being with another pony before."

Sol blushed at Velvet's words. "Well, I-"

"Okay, everypony, we're back," Cadence announced with Twilight standing alongside her.

Returning to her seat, Cadence sat down, while Twilight remained standing.

"Excuse me, Sol?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

Twilight avoided eye contact with Sol as she spoke. "Would you... would you come walk with me for a moment?"

Curious as to what Twilight was so nervous about, and curious as to what she wanted, Sol excused himself from the table and followed behind Twilight as she led him out of the ball room and down the hall. Once they were out of sight, Cadence looked over to where Celestia and Luna stood, who's eyes were on the area where the pair had left the room. Excusing herself, Cadence left the ball room and stalked after Sol and Twilight, along with Celestia and Luna, who'd teleported in and joined her moments after she left the ball room.

"So, Cadence? Did she go for it?"

"Like I said, it was a piece of cake."

"Quiet you two. We can't let them hear us."


Twilight walked down the halls with Sol following closely behind her as she led him to her destination. Though a bit embarrassed when Cadence told her how long she and Sol had been dancing for, it was soon forgotten when Cadence had suggested that she take Sol out towards the south balcony that overlooked Canterlot. After a few minutes had passed, they stepped on the balcony and were greeted with the sight of Canterlot glowing in its festive lights. Seeing a bench, the two sat down on it side-by-side. Once seated, Twilight began leaning up against Sol's side, relishing in the warmth his body was emanating, while in response, Sol draped an arm and wing around Twilight, hugging her close and keeping her shielded from the cool air.

"You know," Twilight began, "during the time that I've lived here in the castle, I never thought of coming out here to see the lights."

"It is quite a beautiful sight," Sol agreed. After a moment of silence passed, he turned to Twilight with a smile. "I really am happy that you freed me, Twilight."

Twilight looked away from Sol to hide her growing blush, but it only grew further when Sol gently took her hoof in his free claw as he continued.

"Thanks to you, I've got to meet a bunch of new ponies, made some new friends, was reunited with mother, Aunt Luna, and Torch, got to see how much Equestria has grown over the past thousand years, and was shown this wonderful view. But, perhaps best of all... I got to meet you."

Twilight's heart fluttered at Sol's admittance. Though it wasn't any sort of love confession, to Twilight, it felt darn close to it. Unable to down her fierce blushing, Twilight looked up at Sol to speak to him, but whatever words she had turned into a startled gasp from what she saw.

"Oh my..."

"Is something wrong, Twilight?" Sol asked, worried about her sudden change in behavior.

His confusion was only increased when Twilight pointed at something up above them. Looking up, Sol as quick to see a green plant hanging above them.

"Huh. That's a strange plant," Sol commented. "What is it? I've never seen it before. It doesn't look like a Heath's Warming wreath."

"I-It's..."

"It's what?"

Twilight gulped. "Mistletoe."

Sol gave her a curious look. "Mistle-what?"

Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, Twilight took a moment to calm herself down so she could explain.

"Technically, mistletoe is a parasitic plant that tends to grow on certain trees," she began. "However, when it comes to Hearth's Warming, there's a bit of a tradition behind it."

"Which is?"

Twilight nervously looked away, now having an idea of how Fluttershy felt as she wished that her mane was down for her to hide behind.

"The tradition is... whenever two ponies meet beneath a mistletoe, they're supposed to... supposed to..."

"Supposed to what, Twilight?"

Twilight looked back up at Sol before she whispered one word.

"Kiss."

Now understanding why Twilight was acting so strange, Sol found himself blushing much like Twilight was. However, while he thought that this might initially be some kind of joke at first, the look in Twilight's eyes told him that she wasn't.

"... you're serious."

Twilight slowly nodded.

"... do... ahh... want to?"

"Want to... wh-what?"

"Do you... want to kiss?"

Though she felt unbelievably nervous, Twilight couldn't help but shift around so she was facing Sol. Nor could she stop her hooves from wrapping around Sol.

"I... guess I wouldn't mind it."

Wrapping his arms around her, Sol held Twilight close. "Are you sure?"

Seeing Twilight nod, Sol took that as the go-ahead and slowly started to lean in, but stopped as soon as he saw Twilight flinch away.

"Twilight?"

Twilight frowned shamefully. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just that... this is my first kiss and... well..."

Sol brought a claw up and cupped Twilight's cheek, but instead of her pulling away from it, Sol felt Twilight lean into his claw.

"Twilight. If you don't want to do this, then tell me, and we can pretend that the plant isn't even there."

Hearing the sincerity in his voice and the soft look in his eyes, Twilight smiled and brought a hoof up over the claw on her cheek.

"Sorry. I know that I'm... well, I'm beyond nervous right now," she chuckled. "But if I'm to be honest... I wouldn't really mind... sharing my first kiss with you."

"Are you sure about this, Twilight? You only have one first kiss to give after all."

Twilight smiled at his concern and felt herself relax. "I am. I trust you, Sol, so go ahead."


Standing in the hallway to the balcony, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence each peeking their heads around the corner to see what was happening with Sol and Twilight. Having seen everything that had happened since the two of them went out there, Celestia felt herself swelling with pride for how Sol was treating Twilight, and could barely contain herself when Twilight said she wanted Sol to kiss her. Of course, Luna and Cadence were both having the same troubles as they too were finding it difficult to keep quiet, which became even more so when Sol started to lean down to Twilight, who instead of flinching away, was instead moving to meet Sol halfway.

"Oh my gosh, they're really going to do it!" Cadence quietly squealed, excitingly.

Celestia's eyes sparkled at what was about to happen. "Oh, I can't wait! First they'll kiss, then they'll have their first date, then they'll get married and Twilight will be my daughter-in-law, and finally, grandfoals!"

Though Luna was excited too, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at how her sister was acting.

"I'm looking forward to seeing all of that too, Tia, but you need to calm down."

Luna suddenly found her face between Celestia's hooves as she was brought face-to-face with her older sister, who wore a serious expression on her face.

"I have been a mother for over a thousand years, Luna. I want grandbabies."

"Shh! Look!"

Hushed by Cadence, Celestia and Luna returned to their spying, and smile widely when they saw that Sol's and Twilight's lips were almost touching.

"Come on, Twilight," Cadence quietly encouraged. "Just a little more and-"

"Twilight? Are you there?"

Hearing the new voice, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were drawn away from the almost-couple's first kiss, to the direction of the one who'd dared to interrupt this special moment. But, before any of them could go over to give the poor pony a verbal lashing, Celestia got ahold of herself and cast an invisibility spell on herself, Luna, and Cadence, hiding themselves before they could be found out.


Twilight was shaking in anticipation as she was about to share her first kiss with Sol. As it stood, this moment in Twilight's life felt like it was almost perfect, and the only thing to make it so was what was about to happen. Her eyes closed, Twilight leaned up and shivered as she felt Sol's breath upon her lips.

Just a little more and-

"Twilight? Are you there?"

Twilight froze in place as she heard the voice of her big brother calling out for her, along with Sol, who's eyes snapped open like hers before the two of them whipped their heads over to the direction of the balcony entrance.

Are you kidding me?! she mentally screamed before letting out a sigh of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Sol," Twilight grumbled. "Just... give me a moment and I'll see what my brother wants."

With great reluctance and annoyance, Twilight broke her hug with Sol and all but stomped out of the balcony and into the hall where she saw Shining just coming around the corner.

"There you are, Twilight," Shining said, turning the corner and finally finding his little sister. "Mom was wondering where you went off to, so she asked me to find you and tell you that she wanted to talk to you."

Twilight's eye twitched. "Sure. I'll be right there," she said, straining her voice through a forced smile.

"Good." Shining paused when he saw Sol peeking around the corner from the balcony. "Oh, good. I was hoping you'd be near by, Sol. Mom was wanting to talk to you too."

Though a bit annoyed for being interrupted as well, Sol silently nodded and walked up to Twilight before the two made their way to the ball room to see what Velvet wanted. However, once Sol and Twilight turned the corner, Shining felt an unnatural chill suddenly run up his spine.

"Hello, Shining Armor."

Spinning around at the sudden voice speaking from behind him, Shining was met with the faces of three very upset alicorns who'd just seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh. Hello, Cadence, Princesses. What are you all doing here?"

Without a word, Cadence pointed a hoof up towards the ceiling near the balcony. Following the direction of her hoof, Shining looked up and spotted the mistletoe that was hanging there and grinned.

"Come on now, Cadence," Shining cooed. "If you wanted to make out with me, all you had to do was say so. We don't need to use some mistletoe... unless you wanted to."

Cadence frowned at Shining and facehoofed, while Celestia and Luna shook their heads at his obliviousness.

"You're lucky it's Hearth's Warming Eve, Shiny, or else you'd be sleeping on the couch."

Having no clue as to what just happened, Shining stood motionless as he watched the three alicorns walk past him and around the corner, leaving him standing there all alone in the middle of the hallway.

"Did I say something wrong? ... Cadence? ... Princess Celestia? ... Princess Luna? ... anypony?"