A bright light suddenly appeared as Celestia, Twilight, and Sol appeared in the foyer of Twilight's castle, along with Eris, who had been waiting for them at the Underkingdom's entrance plateau. Though surprised to see her there, Sol understood quickly how and why she was there after Twilight explained it to him.
"I gotta admit, Sol, when you told me you were working on a secret project, I wasn't expecting something like that," Eris said, floating alongside them as they traveled down the halls.
"What were you expecting, then?" Sol wondered.
"I don't know. Maybe a collection of marble sculptures or something. At least now I know why you were so secretive about it." Eris rolled her eyes. "Most ponies would do something simple for a hobby on their spare time, but no, instead you go and make a freaking country."
"You will keep this a secret, right?" Twilight asked. "Besides the four of us, my friends, Luna, Cadence, and Daring Do, no living creature knows that that place exists, and we would like to keep it that way."
Eris shrugged. "Sure. I guess can do that."
"Thank you, Eris," Celestia thanked, before turning her attention to Sol and Twilight. "So, what are you two planning on doing now?"
"Now," Twilight began, "we are going to have a quick talk with Discord."
Sol frowned. "... we are?"
"We are. Or, more specifically, you are... oh, don't give me that look, mister. You said it yourself that you owed him your thanks for saving us, so that's what you're going to do."
"Right now?"
"Yes. Better to do it now and get it over with, than to wait and put it off until later, right?"
Sol let out a huff of annoyance at the thought of having to actually thank Discord. Even after talking about it, the thought still didn't sit well with him... although, Twilight did have a good point. He would have to do it eventually, and if he did it now, it would spare him having to see him again anytime soon. That, and he wouldn't have to worry about Twilight getting on him for putting it off.
"... very well," he grumbled, not even bothering to hide his distain for it.
Not feeling dissuaded by his rather predictable attitude, Twilight smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. For the remainder of the trip, no one said a word, though Celestia kept her eye on Sol. Reaching the door to the lounge and opened them, they were greeted with their friends, Luna, and Discord. Gaining their attention, Discord adverted his eyes out of shame, while Luna approached Sol and began looking him over, much to the kirin's chagrin.
"Aunt Luna, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me," Sol said, feeling a tad embarrassed by her.
"I'm just making sure you are alright," Luna replied.
"I was in what is perhaps the safest place in the world. I'm perfectly alright." Sol paused when he saw the look that Twilight was giving him. "... well, physically I'm alright. It will still take me a while to fully process and accept everything."
"I would imagine so. I know that wasn't an easy thing for you to hear, Sol, but I do hope that you will at least give it a try."
"Actually, Luna, that's what we came here to do," Celestia said, motioning her head over to Discord.
"Ah. I see."
Understanding what Celestia was referring to, Luna let go of Sol. Now free from his aunt, Sol hesitantly, and begrudgingly, made his way over towards Discord. Though he didn't speak as he walked, everypony around him could see that he wasn't happy about this, evident by the scowl on his face as he approached. However, despite his silence and expression, Sol didn't show any signs of aggression, even when he came to a stop a few feet away from Discord.
As the two stared at one another, no one in the room made a sound. For a few moments this continued on until Sol opened his mouth to speak.
"... I'm sure I don't need to tell you my thoughts about you, do I?" Sol growled.
Discord shook his head. "No. You've already made that quite clear several times over, I would say."
"Good, because I don't want to repeat myself to you." Sol closed his eyes and breathed in a calming breath. "Twilight told me about what happened with Chrysalis."
"Oh. You mean how Chrysalis ponynapped Fluttershy, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Twilight, and the rest of their friends, and me, Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax had to form a team to infiltrate the Hive in what was easily the greatest infiltration mission in the history of Equestria to rescue them?"
"... yes... that."
"Alright. What about it?"
"I'm only going to say this once." Sol took a steadying breath and steeled himself for what he was about to say. "Thank you... for saving them."
After everything that had happened to day, a 'thank you' from Sol wasn't one of the things that Discord had expected. And so, Discord just stood there in surprise, shocked and unblinking.
"Uh... you're welcome?"
Having said what he needed to, Sol turned away from Discord to face his friends.
"I'm sorry for how I have behaved today," he apologized, his eyes targeting Fluttershy as she stepped forward.
"It's alright, we know that you were upset," she said. "... but, if it's alright, could you please do me a favor?"
"Of course, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy frowned. "Could you please not attack Discord anymore? I don't like seeing my friends fighting each other, and I like it even less when I see Discord getting hurt."
Sol briefly glanced over to Discord. "... I will try, but I can make no promises."
It wasn't quite the answer she wanted to hear, but it was still something in the right direction.
"I see. Baby steps, then?"
"Baby steps."
Giving an approving nod at his answer, Fluttershy walked past Sol over to Discord and nuzzled his paw.
"Okay, this drama is starting to make me hungry," Rainbow suddenly said, gaining everypony's attention. "Can we get something to eat now?"
"Yeah, I'm with Rainbow," Pinkie agreed. "We didn't exactly get to eat anything during our picnic... or after, even."
Knowing what was coming, Spike got up from his spot. "Sounds like that's my cue. I'll go cook something up for us to eat. And what about Princess Celestia and Luna? Are you two going to join us for dinner as well?"
"My apologies, Spike, but I must return to Canterlot to prepare for my nightly duties," Luna replied.
"I suppose I could stay if it's alright," Celestia said.
Spike smiled. "Sure you can. Okay, you all hang tight and I'll go fix us up something to eat."
"Actually, Spike," Sol spoke up, "I'm not really hungry. I think I'm going to skip dinner and head to bed."
Spike paused at the door and looked back. "You sure?"
"Yes. You go on ahead, and I'll see you in the morning."
"... if you're sure, dude. I'll save some for you in the fridge, just incase."
"Thank you." Sol turned to everypony else. "I'm sorry I will not be joining you all for dinner tonight."
"It's okay. We understand, Sol," Twilight said, walking over and draping a wing around him in a hug. "You've had a trying day. Go get some rest."
"Okay... and I'm sorry for ruining your picnic."
"Don't worry about it. It's fine," Pinkie waved off. "Besides, we can always have another one, and this time, we won't have to worry about Discord unexpectedly showing up and have you going on another near-earth-shattering rampage to try and get your revenge on him."
Sol stared blankly at Pinkie for a moment before saying his final goodnights to his friends and family, leaving for his room to sleep and finally put this day behind him.
A few hours had passed since Sol retired early for the night, and everypony had headed home for the night to sleep with full bellies thanks to Spike's cooking. With the insistence of Fluttershy, Eris agreed to stay at the pegasus' home with her and Discord. Though she did want a warm, safe home for Eris to stay in, Fluttershy had an ulterior motive for inviting her over, which was to use this time to hopefully get to know her better. After all, as embarrassing as it was, Eris did make a good point earlier. If her relationship with Discord were to progress further into marriage, then Eris would end up as her step-daughter. Actually, the more Fluttershy thought about it, the more appealing it sounded. It also helped her think that too with how she was cuddled against Discord's chest as they slept, his elongated body curing around her protectively in his sleep.
Over back in Twilight's castle, Sol was asleep in his bed. It took him a little while with the day's events still on his mind, but sleep eventually took claim over him. Luna even took some time to check in on him, making sure he was okay after everything that had happened.
As he continued to sleep, the door to his room slowly opened with the sound of hooves quietly clopping on the crystalline floor. Soon after, the door closed with a quiet yet hearable click, causing Sol's ear to flick at the sound. Awakened by the sound of the door closing and hooves coming closer, Sol rolled over on his side to see who it was that had entered his room. And there, standing in the light of Luna's moon, was Twilight.
"Mmm? Twilight?"
She froze as she heard his groggy voice. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"
"It's alright. Do you need something?"
Twilight walked over to the edge of Sol's bed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You did go to bed without anything to eat, after all."
"I'm fine. I just lost my appetite, so I wasn't hungry."
"Okay..."
"..."
"..."
"... are you okay, Twilight?"
"Hmm?"
"You're hesitating as though you have something is on your mind," Sol noted.
"I... I guess."
Sol sat up in his bed with a tired groan. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Well... it's not really so much as talking, as much as it is asking you something..."
"Well, you know you can ask me anything. What do you wish to ask me?"
Twilight's cheeks flushed as her eyes traced along the bed and over to Sol.
"Could I... stay with you tonight?"
"Hmm? You mean like we did after our date?"
"Yeah. Would it be okay?"
"Well, I'm not opposed to the idea, but what brought this on all of a sudden? And why so late at night?"
"Honestly? I'm still feeling a little bit shaken from earlier today. For a while there, I thought that we were going to break up. I was hoping I could stay with you tonight and hold you as I fall asleep."
Even if she didn't ask, Sol wouldn't be able to turn Twilight away, especially when she started giving him the puppy eyes that he had grown such a weakness to. Smiling, Sol scooted over in his bed, providing extra room for his fillyfriend to join him before he drew the covers back, granting her permission to climb on in.
Happy and eager to join him, Twilight hopped on Sol's bed and wasted no time in getting herself settled down beneath the covers. With Sol having shuffled back down in bed on his back, Twilight snuggled up to him and found herself a comfortable spot against Sol's side. With her head resting in the crook of his neck, and a foreleg draped over his chest, Twilight hummed tiredly as she cuddled Sol, who held her form close to him with one arm, while his free claw gently held Twilight's hoof.
As the two laid there, feeling the warmth of each other's body, Sol and Twilight started to feel themselves drifting off to sleep. Thanks to the comfort and safety of being in their lover's embrace, the familiar scent of their coats, and the sound of their breathing and heartbeats, all the problems and drama that the day had plagued them started to fade. But, before they could fall asleep, a small smile formed on Sol as he thought of something.
"... you know, this doesn't have to be just for tonight. We can do this again if you want to."
Twilight, teetering on the brink of sleep, smiled as she nuzzled Sol's neck.
"I think... I would... like... that..."
Seconds after her voice drifted off, Sol started to pick up on the sound of Twilight steadily breathing. Recognizing the soft breathing of Twilight sleeping from the morning after their date, Sol smiled affectionately and placed a gentle kiss on the top of Twilight's head.
"Yeah. Me too."
"That was sloppy. Very sloppy."
"Shut up."
The chained and battered pegasus stallion cowered before two of Equestria's oldest and greatest enemies. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to have been just a quick checkup with the Las Pegasus Captain. Instead, he had unknowingly walked into a city that had been infiltrated and occupied by not only Queen Chrysalis and her changelings, but Lord Tirek as well, and ended up getting jumped, beaten, captured, and dragged off to their Queen. However, the worst part was that nopony outside of the city seemed to even know about it.
"This complicates things," Tirek said displeased, pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Celestia will notice her guard missing, and when she does, she will suspect something to be up."
Chrysalis frowned. "And I can't send any of my changelings to replace him, either. The wards in the castle reveal a changeling's true form, and sending them back to Canterlot without having them reporting back to Celestia will only arouse suspicion.
Tirek nodded. "Then it would seem we have little choice left. We will have to proceed ahead of schedule with the plan before they find out and it all becomes undone."
Though she didn't like the idea of her carefully thought-out plans being forced to proceed so early, especially by such a small mistake as messing up a pony's signature, Chrysalis did agree that their time was now limited.
"Very well, then," she conceded. "I will have my changelings gather the ponies in Las Pegasus so you can begin draining them of their magic-"
"No."
Chrysalis paused and gave Tirek a glare. "What did you say?"
"I said no," he repeated, returning Chrysalis' glare with his own. "If I'm going to drain these ponies you've captured, then it must all be done at once."
"You can drain them when we-"
"I'm serious, Chrysalis. The last time I was free and started draining ponies to regain my strength, Discord found and captured me."
"And why is that?"
"Discord could sense whenever I would drain a pony of their magic. Last time I was careless and drained them one at a time, and that allowed Discord to track me down. But..."
Chrysalis nodded in recognition. "If we gather all of the ponies together and have you drain them at once, he won't have enough time to find you."
"Exactly. Yes, he will know that I've been freed, and will no doubt tell the princesses, but he won't know exactly where I am, only that I'm back somewhere in Equestria."
"Tell me. What are the odds that you or I could convince Discord to join our side?"
Tirek huffed. "After what happened last time, I wouldn't count on him ever join me again."
"... very well. I will have my changelings begin gathering the captured ponies together, but it will take a few days to move them all without bringing attention to themselves."
"And what about the rest of your changelings?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "We will have to move quickly after that happens, perhaps within a day. Will the rest of your changelings be ready and in position by the time we make our move?"
Chrysalis gave a dark chuckle. "Oh, don't you worry about them. My changeling are all already in position. All I need to do now is give them the order."
"Good."
As the two wrapped up their conversation, Chrysalis took a moment to pause and glance at the captured guard, along with the four changelings that had brought him to her.
"Put him in a cocoon with the others, and make sure his dreams are all pleasant. I don't him leaking anything he's seen to Luna. And believe me, if you fail this, your punishment will be slower and more excruciating than that failure laying broken in the jailhouse."