//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34- Surprise Visit and a Royal Request 
// Story: Of Heaven and Earth 
// by Garuda IV 
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News of the Golden Oak Library's return spread across Ponyville like wildfire. Within half an hour, the entire town had heard about its return, and most of the ponies had come to see it for themselves. Of course, once Pinkie heard of it and saw it in person, she didn't waste any time in delving into one of her emergency party caches and setting up a party in front of the treehouse in honor of its return.

While the rest of the town had come over and had their own reactions, it was Spike who had the biggest reaction of them all. Though he did feel like he was getting a bit teary-eyed from it, for the sake of his appearance in front of Rarity and Ember, Spike didn't allow for himself to cry in front of either of them. However, with him being the one who returned the tree to them, Spike didn't feel such need for restraint with Sol as he tightly hugged him to the point where a few audible pops were heard from Sol's back.

Once they and the rest of their friends were in the library, minus Pinkie, they were quick to notice how close Sol and Twilight were, which caused Rarity to look upon them with a glint in her eyes. With Twilight leaning up against Sol's side with a bashful and happy smile, and with Sol's arm wrapped around her with a matching expression, it was easy for them to see what had happened. Of course, it wasn't until Rarity closed the door to the library and coming out to inquiring about their closeness that Sol and Twilight confirmed it, albeit hesitantly.

In a rush of cheering and squeeing, Sol and Twilight found themselves stampeded as their friends rushed them, including Spike, though Ember was more calm and collective about it as she approached. As the girls continued to bombard them with questions, their talking eventually drifted more towards Twilight, allowing for Spike and Sol to step away for a moment.

"So, this is what you had planned," Spike grinned, subtly wiping an eye with a claw as he was still recovering from the shock of having his old home back.

"Indeed."

Sitting off to the side, Sol and Spike watched from the living room of the library as Twilight and their friends stood over talking by the door.

"You don't know how much this means to her, Sol," Spike spoke. "She would never admit it to me or anypony else, but during the first few weeks after Tirek destroyed this place, I would occasionally hear Twilight crying in her room."

Sol gave a small nod. "I knew that this place meant a lot to her, and to you of course, but I guess I didn't know just how much until now."

"Yeah. Before the Tree of Harmony gave Twilight her castle, this place was our home. Of course, we did have our place in the castle back in Canterlot, but this place just held more so much more for us." Spike let out a long sigh. "So, what's gonna happen now?"

"Well, Twilight's really eager to get this place back up and running like it used to, so we'll have to do a bit of shopping," Sol began answering. "We'll have to refurnish the place for starters, get some furniture moved in as well as kitchen and bathroom appliances, and we'll need to order some books to fill the library's shelves."

"I bet Twilight is already thinking of that," Spike chuckled before smirking at Sol. "So..."

"So?"

Spike gave Sol a playful punch in the shoulder. "It's about time you asked out my big sis. I was actually starting to worry that you might not ask her. So, how much you wanna bet that Pinkie's gonna throw a party for you two?"

Sol glanced over to Twilight for a brief second. "Knowing her, she probably will. But, since this is Twilight's first time in a relationship, she's a bit shy about it, so we're going to try and keep it just between family and close friends for the time being."

Spike nodded in understanding. "Gotcha... speaking of family, what about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

Sol blushed at the reminder of having to tell his mom and aunt about him and Twilight.

"... well... I'll think of something. With how close mother and Twilight already were, I know that she'll approve of her, as well as Aunt Luna. I mean, mother did say she would after all."

"That I did."

Startled by the new voice, everyone in the room turned around towards the kitchen entrance where Celestia stood, her face beaming with happiness as she practically glowed. Having not expected for her to suddenly appear there, everyone but Sol yelped in surprise.

"Princess Celestia?!"

"How did you get there?" Starlight wondered.

Celestia giggled. "I teleported, of course. But I didn't come alone."

Walking out of the kitchen entryway and standing off to the side, Celestia revealed that with her were Luna, Cadence, and Twilight's parents.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Twilight yelped. "What are you two doing here?! N-Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything."

Laughing lightly, Cadence walked up to Twilight and wrapped a foreleg around her in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but that would be my fault," she apologized. "When I found out, I couldn't think to keep them in the dark."

"Found out about what?" Twilight nervously asked.

With a smirk, Cadence let go of Twilight and turned to the side to gesture at her cutie mark.

"You didn't honestly think that I wouldn't notice, did you, Twilight? I am the Princess of Love after all, so it's easy for me to pick up on when these kinds of things happen. Especially when it comes to ponies as close as family."

Knowing what Cadence meant, Twilight's face started to redden. "And.. Shiny?"

"He's still processing this," she said before giggling. "The poor guy couldn't believe it when I told him, so he decided to stay behind in the Crystal Empire with Flurry Heart so he could to come to terms with it."

Twilight's ears wilted. "Does that mean that he doesn't-"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Cadence quickly interrupted, frantically waving her hooves. "Shining Armor's perfectly alright with it. He was just surprised to hear that his little sister had found herself her own special somepony is all."

"Well I'm not." Without warning, Velvet rushed up to Twilight and tightly hugged. her. "I'm so happy for you, sweetie."

Though she was embarrassed, Twilight retuned the hug nonetheless.

"Thanks, mom."

"Hey, maybe you two can come with Night and I on a white-water rafting trip? We could make it a double-date."

Twilight blushed. "Um... we'll think about it?"

Taking what she could get, Velvet gave Twilight a small squeeze and a peck on the cheek before she let go of her and made her way over to Sol with a smile.

"I had a feeling that something like this might happen from all the stuff Twilight's told us about you."

To Sol's surprise, when Velvet walked up to him, she hugged him just as she did with Twilight.

"I know that you'll be good to my little filly."

"Well I don't."

With heavy hoofsteps, Night walked up to Sol with a disapproving frown, eliciting an eye-roll from Velvet.

"Come now, Night. Let the young stallion be, already."

Night snorted. "Not until I get some straight and honest answers," he argued, planting himself in front of Sol and glaring at him. "Sol, the stories you've told us don't add up to what I've heard. And until you start being completely honest with us, I not going to stand by and let my only daughter fall for some lying colt with, as far as I now, is a possibly shady background."

With all eyes on him, nopony saw Celestia slowly glaring at Night, save for Sol, who saw behind him and could practically see his mother's fuse growing shorter by the second. Using what his mother had taught him, Sol managed to hide what would've been a sharp edge in his tone of voice as he spoke, while straightened his posture to match that of Celestia when she would have to be stern and put up with a stubborn noble.

"And what, exactly, did I lie to you about?" Sol asked.

"I want to know who you really are, and where you actually came from. You claimed that you were sealed underground for over a thousand years, and Twilight, Spike, and their friends have confirmed that." Night's glare hardened. "But Twilight also told me about what happened here during this last Nightmare Night. She said that your mom, who she'd described to be a white unicorn with a pink mane, and went by the name of Sunshine, came over to spend the night with you and Twilight. Now, tell me, how can a pony who claimed to be your mom still be alive after over a thousand years? Because last I recalled, alicorns were the only ponies who could live for that long, not unicorns."

As Sol opened his mouth to speak, Night pointed a hoof at him.

"And don't you think about lying to me again. I've already looked through the records, and I have found nopony by the name of Sunshine having ever been born. And believe me when I say that I've checked. I even went back over a hundred and fifty years of records and didn't find a single. Matching. Name."

Sol withheld a growl as he frowned. "And how do you know that you didn't miss it? And where did you even go to look?"

Night snorted again. "The Canterlot Archives hold a wide variety of documents beyond that of just spells. And I know I didn't miss it because I'm the one who organized it. Just who did you think Twilight inherited her sense for organizing from?"

"Enough!"

There was silence following Celestia's outburst before she and Luna walked past Night and sat down on either side of Sol, both glaring harshly at Night while Celestia wrapped a wing around Sol.

"You will listen to me, Night Light, and you will listen very carefully," Celestia said, her calm yet furious voice causing Night to shudder before her. "I can personally tell you, with absolute certainty, that all that you have claimed to be lies are in fact truth. Sol was sealed in crystal over a thousand years ago by me to keep him safe from those who would do him harm, and was released by Twilight and her friends last year. Sol also did have his mother come and spend Nightmare Night with him in Ponyville. And the reason why you can't find any records of Sunshine is because I didn't believe that somepony would actually mange to both find out about her, and try to look her up and fail."

"Which we shall rectify as soon as we return home, sister," Luna added. "I'd rather we fix this problem before the nobles decide to finally get smart and try digging around there as well."

Night looked between the three before him. "But why? If what you say is really true, Princess, then why go through all of the trouble of hiding-"

Night paused and blinked as his eyes moved between Sol and Celestia. Now that he got a good, close look at them side-by-side like this, he was starting to notice the close resemblances between the two. It started with their white coats, followed by their eye-colors, and thanks to how often he and Velvet had seen Celestia thanks to her having taken in Twilight, Night also began to see that the posture that Sol and Celestia sat with were eerily similar. And while they didn't have the same mane colors, he did mentally note that Sol's mane colors were, coincidentally enough, practically the opposite of Celestia's.

With those similarities in mind, along with the confirmed Sol's story by Celestia behind him being sealed in crystal, how Celestia's wing was draped protectively around Sol, and how she and Luna seemed so intent on concealing Sol's past and family, a theory began to form in Night's mind, one that made his eyes slowly go wide in fear as they darted back and forth between Celestia and Sol.

"It seems as thought he has figured it out," Luna voiced, giving Night a curious look. "Tell us, Night Light, would you believe if I were to tell you that Sol is in fact my nephew?"

Velvet blinked. "But wouldn't that make Sol-"

"Princess Celestia's son," Twilight finished with a nod as she approached Celestia and Sol. "Her biological son, to be exact."

Her mood lightening a little bit by the sight of her approach, Celestia opened her wing to let Twilight sit down beside Sol. As she did, Celestia giggled internally when she saw Twilight trying her best to hide her nervousness from her, before she draped both wings around her and Sol.

"Dad, you know that I'll always love you no matter what," Twilight began, "but you need to lay off of Sol and trust me to make my own decisions. I know that you're just trying to look out for me, and I am very grateful for that, but it's my choice on who I decide to fall in love with, and to be honest, I don't think that I could've picked a better stallion than Sol."

While Night was frozen in place trying to mentally process this new information, Velvet nodded in agreement with Twilight's words and walked over to them. After giving a questioning look at Celestia and Luna, who nodded to confirm Twilight's words, Velvet looked down to Twilight and Sol, and slowly blinked.

"Well, this is unexpected," Velvet said.

Twilight gave a sheepish grin. "I know this news about Princess Celestia being Sol's mom is a bit surprising, and hard to believe, mom, but-"

"I mean, first Shining Armor, and now you? Maybe Night and I should have another foal, see if we can go three-for-three?"

Twilight looked at Velvet in appall and yelled, "Mom!"

Having not expected the sudden comment from Velvet, Luna suddenly found herself bursting out in laughter, followed shortly by most of the others in the room, minus Twilight, Sol, and Night, the last still trying to process what he was told. Still, though, thanks to her well-timed comment, Velvet had successfully, and unintentionally, relieved the growing tension in the room.

Having joined in their laughter, mostly because of Twilight's reaction, Velvet brought up a hoof to stifle her own laughter.

"I'm kidding, Twilight, I'm kidding." Well... mostly kidding.

Recovering from her own laughing fit, Celestia sighed and smiled. "Thank you for that, Mrs. Velvet," she thanked before returning her attention to Night, albeit with a softer, more calm look. "Night Light, if you still have any lingering questions or doubts about Sol, then I would be more than pleased to talk to you about them."

Night nervously gulped. "Eh, thank you, Your Highness, b-but I think I'm good now."

Celestia gave an understanding nod. She knew that Night was more than a little nervous at the moment, and would need time to calm down, but she was sure that he did indeed have a few more questions about Sol that he would like answered.

"Now that that's out of the way," Luna began, "if I'm not mistaken, judging by her lack of presence, I would like to believe that Pinkie Pie is somewhere preparing a party?"

"She is," Twilight spoke up. "As soon as she saw that the library was returned, she ran off to prepare a party for its return."

"I see, but doesn't that mean then that she is unaware of your relationship with Sol?"

Twilight blushed. "That would be correct. Pinkie doesn't know about us yet."

Celestia chuckled. "Then I have a feeling that she will be throwing a second party today."

Sol smiled and nuzzled Twilight. "While Twilight and I would be honored by it, for the time being, we would prefer that our relationship be disclosed to just our family and closest friends."

Ember raised a claw. "So what about me? Am I allowed to know about this as well?"

"I did say 'close friends', and since Torch is my closest and oldest friend, as his daughter, you get a free pass."

"Alright. That's cool."

"That, and you were already here when we told everypony."

Ember shrugged. "Yeah. Kinda hard to forget that."

"I could always use a spell to wipe her memory of it if we needed to," Starlight joked, only to earn her a frown from everypony there.

"Yeeeaahhh. That's never gonna happen," Spike said, shaking his head.

Everypony in the room voiced their agreement with Spike before Cadence clapped her hooves.

"Well, I don't know about everypony else, but I'd like to see if Pinkie Pie's finished with her party setup yet."

"Knowin' her, she's probably had it done a while ago," Applejack chuckled.

"Then let's get out there and party!" Rainbow eagerly shouted.

"Actually, before we do." Everypony froze from Celestia's words as she and Luna walked over and stood before Twilight and Sol. "Sol? Twilight? Would you two mind staying behind for a moment? There is something that Luna and I wish to talk to you two about."

The new couple shared a concerned look as the others left the library, albeit slowly and with looks ranging from uncertainty to mischief. Once their friends and family had left the library, Celestia closed the door behind them and looked back to Sol and Twilight, who had a look of unease upon them.

"There is no need to look so worried," Luna diffused. "It is nothing that you two need fret over."

"Well... maybe a little," Celestia added, gaining their undisputed attention.

Luna shot her sister a sidelong glare. "Not helping, Tia."

"Is something the matter, mother?" Sol asked before nervously gulping as an embarrassing thought came to mind. "You're not going to start telling Twilight stories about my foalhood again, are you?"

Celestia chuckled at the thought, mostly because she had considered it before she and Luna left the castle.

"No, Sol, I'm not. Well, not right now, anyway. I will later, of course, but now is not the time for that. And, no, nothing's wrong," she replied. "In fact, the reason why Luna and I asked for you two in private is because we would like to ask you two for a favor."

Twilight tilted her head. "Ask us a favor? You two?"

"Indeed, Twilight," Luna nodded. "You see, after over a thousand plus years of ruling, my sister and I have come to an agreement that we are long overdue for a relaxing vacation. We hope to leave Canterlot and begin our vacation by the middle of next week."

Sol and Twilight both stared wide-eyed a the two with a look of surprise.

"But, Aunt Luna, mother, you two can't leave," Sol objected. "You two rule Equestria, so if you're not there to govern the nation, then who will?"

"And you can't exactly trust the nobles of the court to take over for you," Twilight voiced. "As soon as you two leave, about half of them will probably try to put into motion a law that would force you two to abdicate the throne upon your return."

"Exactly. And that is what we wished to talk to you two about, Twilight, Sol," Celestia smiled. "While Luna and I are away on vacation, we were hoping that the two of you would be willing to watch over Equestria in our stead."

Sol and Twilight silently gawked at Celestia's request.

"And you need not worry about the rising and lowering of the sun and moon. While Sol is capable of doing it, as well as yourself, Twilight, albeit with some assistance, Tia and I will continue to take care of them from our end," Luna quickly added. "Plus, we shall leave Miss Helping Hoof to help assist and provide council for you two, should you require it. Of course, if you do not believe that you can handle this and wish to decline our proposal, then Tia and I will simply cancel our plans and remain in Canterlot."

Sol and Twilight shared an uneasy look before the latter of the two spoke up.

"This is such a huge responsibility. Do you really believe that we are ready for this?"

Luna gave a single nod. "If we didn't believe you were, then we wouldn't have asked."

"Indeed," Celestia agreed. "So, Sol, Twilight, what do you say? Would you be willing to rule Equestria together for a week while we're gone?"