Chapter 16- Return to Ponyville
Despite accidentally straining the wound on his chest from the party last night, Sol was feeling pretty good this morning as he made his way over to breakfast. Having been surrounded with his family and new friends, even for just a single week, Sol was feeling like he was home, already forgetting that he was a thousand years out of place. Coming to a stop at the doors, Sol, still feeling the sting on his chest, lit his horns and used his magic to open the doors before him.
“Good morning, Sol.”
Smiling at the warm greeting from Celestia, Sol closed the door behind him and walked over to her.
“Good morning, mother,” he said, kissing her cheek and nuzzling her.
“How are you feeling this morning? Is your chest still hurting?”
“Just a little, but it’s fine.”
“We did warn you about how rowdy Flurry Heart could be while playing,” Luna smirked.
“I know, Aunt Luna,” Sol said with a playful roll of his eyes. “I just didn’t think that she’d tackle my chest like that.”
Leaving Celestia’s side, Sol went over to Luna to give her a kiss and nuzzle on her cheek as well. With both of them now having their good morning kisses, Sol took his seat over near Celestia where a plate of food sat for him.
“Are the others going to be joining us?”
“They will,” Celestia answered him. “There’s just one little thing that they need to take care of before they do.”
Choosing to wait for them like Celestia and Luna, Sol sat in his seat and waited for the others to join them. After about ten minutes of talking had passed, the doors finally opened to the others as they walked in with a morning greeting. While they each walked over to a chair that Celestia had set for them, Twilight, who Flurry Heart had been clinging to from her back, first had to put her in her booster seat before she took her own seat. With everyone finally seated, they wasted no more time in diving into the spread set out before them.
“So, Sol, how are you feeling?” Cadence asked with an apologetic tone.
“Alright for the most part,” he shrugged.
“That’s good to hear. I still feel kinda bad for last night.”
“It’s alright. Everypony warned me about how Flurry Heart could be, but I wasn’t careful enough.”
Pausing from his eating, Sol looked over to see Flurry Heart happily giggling as she was being fed. While it did hurt how she barreled into his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to be even remotely upset with the little filly.
“So, Princess Celestia, quick question,” Pinkie said with a raised hoof.
“Yes, Pinkie?” Celestia smiled.
“When can Sol come back to Ponyville?”
Having been asked a question that was on their minds, everyone’s eyes were on Celestia as she quietly sat in thought. While she was perfectly alright with Sol going back to Ponyville, she had hoped that he would stay in Canterlot with herself and Luna for a while longer to make up for lost times. Of course, she knew that if Sol chose to go to Ponyville that he’d be in good hooves, and Ponyville is only a quick teleportation spell away for her and Luna, so they could easily see him whenever.
Then again, it may just be a short visit, so he may not actually choose stay there.
“That would be up for Sol to decide,” she finally answered.
All eyes were on Sol now. “Are you sure? I still have much to do here.”
“I am. Ponyville is easily one of the friendliest and most accepting towns in Equestria, so it would be a good place for you to start familiarizing yourself with this time era if you so choose to.”
“Besides,” Pinkie cut in, “I still have to throw you your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party.”
Sol gave a chuckle. “Well, it would be nice to take the time and see the town without having a deadline to worry about. It looked like a very nice place already when we were just walking to the train station.”
“Sounds like it’s decided then,” Celestia said. “After we’re all done eating, we’ll get ready to go to Ponyville.”
Twilight blinked. “Wait. You’re coming too?”
“I am.”
“But Canterlot-”
“Can deal without me for a single day I think,” Celestia smirked.
“As well as I,” Luna added. “Besides, it has been a while since I’ve seen Ponyville... and now that I think about it, I don’t believe that I’ve ever had an actual tour of it.”
“And what about me?” Daring asked from her spot at the table. “Will I be coming as well, or can I start getting myself ready for my next expedition?”
“You may come if you wish to, Daring Do,” Celestia told her.
“Besides,” Sol added, “I still need to make for you that carved amulet so you can access the Underkingdom.”
Daring blinked before giving a nod. “Okay, that settles it. I’m coming with you guys.”
Once everyone was done with their breakfast, they each returned to their rooms to pack whatever they brought with them, or in Sol’s case, to bring what he might need, which included his belt and Bit pouch, his necklace, and his cloak. Having everything that he’d need, Sol met up with the others in the entrance hall where they then left on their way from the castle to the train station... or so Sol thought. Instead, waiting for them out in front of the castle were four pegasus chariots waiting for them. After deciding who would be sharing, they boarded the chariots and were off to Ponyville.
The ride there didn’t take very long. Within a half-hour, they were coming close to the town’s borders. Having a view of it from up above, Sol looked down as he got his first actual look at it. It was a little on the small side to him, but it had already more than made up for it with how peaceful and friendly it looked during his very short time there.
Smiling at the town, he soon felt the chariot starting to descend in front of Twilight’s castle. Once they’d landed, Twilight offered some rooms for Celestia, Luna, Daring, and her family to use if they chose to stay the night, which Shining, Cadence, and Daring accepted. Celestia and Luna would have as well, but they could only leave the throne unoccupied for so long, and being gone all day like this was their limit without somepony trustworthy to take over for them.
Before they left to begin the tour, Daring decided to don her A.K. Yearling disguise, while Celestia and Luna quickly cast an illusion spell on themselves to shrink down to that of a normal mare and change some of their colors. Celestia becoming a white unicorn with a pink mane and a cutie mark of the sun parting the clouds, and Luna changing her coat and mane to a lighter shade of blue, where as her cutie mark was now that of a full moon.
"There we are," Celestia said pleasantly.
"Wow, Princess, I haven't seen you as Sunshine in a long time," Twilight commented, earning her a confused look from Sol.
"Who?"
"She means this look of mine," Celestia began explaining. "Whenever I would sneak out of the castle for some personal time, I would take on this form and assume the name Sunshine. I also hope that while I am like this that everypony here will address and treat me like a normal pony."
“And while I am like this, you may call me Moonshine,” Luna added, earning her a snort from Celestia. “What?”
“You do know what moonshine is, right, sister?” Celestia snickered.
“No, I do not. Why? What is it?”
She waved Luna off before turning back to everyone. “Like I was saying, you can call me Sunshine, and Luna,” Celestia snorted in amusement again at the name, “Moonshine.”
With their disguises hiding who they really are, Pinkie took the lead as she led them to begin the tour, leaving a pair of guards to watch over the chariots while the others were directed to return back to Canterlot Castle. The tour started with Rarity’s boutique there in Ponyville, which Rarity herself took over. The tour of it was quick and within just ten minutes, they followed Pinkie out as she led them to the next place, which turned out to be the Ponyville Spa. Liking what they were seeing and hearing from Rarity, Cadence decided to make it a point to come back the next day and try it, while Sunshine and Moonshine made plans on coming back to try it at a later date.
With two of the locations down, they went further into town until they heard somepony’s stomach rumbling. Turning their heads to the source, they were all surprised to hear that it came from an embarrassed and flustered Sunshine.
“Sorry,” she apologized, to which her sister rolled her eyes.
“Haven’t had your daily fill of cake yet, sister?” Moonshine smirked.
“Oh, quiet you.”
Moonshine was about to retort when her own stomach rumbled, causing Sunshine to smugly smirk at a now embarrassed Moonshine.
“... perhaps we should break for lunch?”
“Ooh! That’s a good idea!” Pinkie exclaimed. “As a matter of fact, Sugarcube Corner is next on our stops to make. We can eat there.”
Following after Pinkie, Sol was soon brought to what looked to be a giant gingerbread house. He’d passed by it on the way to the train station with Twilight, Starlight, and Spike, but he never knew what it was until now. As they got close enough, the smell of treats flooded his senses, but it was nothing compared to when he held the door open for the others, at which point the smell was close to making him drool a little.
Once everyone was inside, Sol followed in and looked around at the comfortable and welcoming atmosphere that the place provided. Another thing that Sol noted was the fact that there were a pair of foals playing over by the counter where a pudgy blue mare with a pink mane stood.
“Hi, Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie waved.
Hearing Pinkie call here, Mrs. Cake looked up from her tray of cookies, along with the two foals, who giggled happily as they ran up and latched onto Pinkie.
“Oh, hello, dearie,” Mrs. Cake warmly said. “I thought you said that you were going to be gone until later today?”
“Me too, but there was a change in plans, and some ponies that I wanted to show around Ponyville.”
“So I see.” Mrs. Cake gave the others a welcoming smile. “Hello, everypony. Please, go on ahead and sit wherever you want. I’ll get right to you in a moment.”
Listening to her, they each went over and huddled around a large circular table towards the back. Seating themselves down, the two foal that had latched themselves onto Pinkie sat on her lap.
“Oh, did you two miss your Aunt Pinkie Pie?” she asked the foals, who in turn giggled and started to affectionately hug and nuzzle Pinkie. “These two are Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s kids. This young pegasus colt is Pound Cake, and this cute little unicorn filly is Pumpkin Cake.”
“Aww. They’re cute,” Sol said.
Hearing the new voice, Pound and Pumpkin looked curiously at Sol. Growing bored of him a few moments later, their eyes roamed the others gathered until they settled upon Flurry. Seeing the young alicorn filly again, the twins leaped off of Pinkie’s lap and went around the table, wanting to play with her.
Feeling Flurry squirm in her hold, Cadence looked down to see her wanting down to play with them. Smiling, she let her go and watched as she and the twins ran over to a small pile of toys.
“It’s good to see that they’ve forgiven her for breaking their toy,” Cadence said watching them play.
“In Flurry Heart’s defense, she wouldn’t have done that if I had been paying attention to her,” Twilight said. “Besides, I think that the reason why she broke it in the first place was because Spike said that Pound and Pumpkin were fighting over it, and that Flurry Heart thought that by breaking it in two, they could play with it together.”
Mrs. Cake then came over and took their orders before heading off to get them, along with Pinkie who, despite still being on break, decided to help her anyway. Once the food arrived, Flurry was brought back so that she could eat with the rest of them.
“So, how do you plan on making this amulet?” Starlight asked Sol curiously after downing a freshly-baked cookie.
“Hmm? Oh, I’ll just carve a seal on a piece of wood and imbue a small portion of my magic into it. That way it’ll act as a sort of key for Daring to come in and out as she pleases.” Sol tapped his chin in thought. “Actually, now that I think about it, I should probably make one for everypony else here as well, seeing as how Twilight is the only one here besides me who can actually enter and leave the Underkingdom on their own.”
“How long do you think that it’ll take you to make it?” Daring wondered. “Not that I’m in any rush or anything. I’m just curious is all.”
“For each of you, if I start on it tomorrow morning, can have it done by that afternoon... ish.”
“Is it really that difficult that it would take that long to make?” Starlight asked.
“The hardest part is carving the seal. When creating any sort of rune or seal, the carving of each symbol must be precise, otherwise you’ll end up with a useless object with a bunch of fancy carvings on it.” Sol sighed and took another bite of his muffin. “Of course, it would be easier and quicker if I knew a duplicating spell that I could use on the rune carvings.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “Actually, I think I can help you with that.”
“Hmm?”
“I actually know of a spell like you've described.”
Sol smiled. “In that case, with your help, Twilight, I can be done after an hour of carving out the first one.”
Happy to help and possibly watch, Twilight returned to her meal with everyone else. Twenty minutes later, they’d finished and paid for the food before leaving with the promise of bringing Flurry back to play with the Cake Twins.
Continuing with the tour, Applejack took over as she led them over to her family’s apple orchard. Entering the orchard and traveling down the dirt path, Sol paused and walked over to one of the trees and placed a claw on it. Using his powers over the earth, he could tell what the tree was feeling and was very pleased from what he could sense from it. Feeling the tree’s happiness for how well it and the others were treated, Sol felt a small urge to just curl up beneath them and relax. However, a call out to him reminded him that that would have to come later as he returned to the group.
While there, Applejack introduced Granny Smith and Big Mac to the new arrivals, the latter of which looked Sol at eye-level with an uncertain look. While Big Mac had never seen another pony quite as big as him minus Celestia and Luna, he'd also never seen a pony with eyes or horns like Sol's either, causing him to be slightly wary of Sol in the meantime, but by no means rude or offending.
They stayed and chatted with them for a little while. As they talked, Applejack mentioned to Sol about her younger sister, Apple Bloom, who was in school at the moment. This also brought Rarity to tell him of her own sister, Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow of her honorary sister, Scootaloo.
Though Sol was enjoying his time at the farm and would’ve like to have stayed longer, they’d also accidentally lost track of time. Having spent a few hours there, they finally left onto their next destination, one which led them to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Fluttershy was quick to go through what she did and introduced her animal friends, though a certain white bunny rabbit didn’t take too kindly to Sol. Moving their attention away from her cottage, Fluttershy led the group over to her animal sanctuary where she beamed with pride and happiness upon seeing it and the animals making themselves at home.
“You made this?” Sol asked, finding the sanctuary interesting.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t have possibly done this on my own, so I asked my friends and another of my friends, who’s an expert in animals and building, to help me.”
“Well, I’d say that you all did a very good job.”
Happy for the compliment, Fluttershy watched as Sol, Cadence and her family, and Daring walked over to take a closer look. As they did, Fluttershy saw Sunshine walk up beside her with a pleased smile.
“It really does look wonderful, Fluttershy,” she complimented.
“Oh. Thank you, Princess-”
She raised a hoof. “Please, Fluttershy, call me Sunshine.”
“Oh... sorry. Kind of a habit. Thank you, Sunshine,” Fluttershy corrected.
Though happy she went along, Sunshine’s features quickly turned to a look of concern as she leaned closer to whisper in Fluttershy’s ear.
“On another matter, have you seen Discord around lately?” she cautiously asked. “I had half-expected him to show up by now.”
“Sorry, Prin- I mean, Sunshine, but Discord isn’t around right now. He said something about doing some fall trashing at his house in his dimension.”
Moonshine frowned. “Don’t you mean to say ‘spring cleaning’? And even so, it’s summer.”
“I know. I don’t quite understand it either,” Fluttershy said with a sigh. “But, that’s Discord for you.”
Sunshine nodded in understanding. “Alright. In that case, could you do Luna and I a favor, Fluttershy?”
“Of course. What can I do for you?”
“I know that it’s a lot to ask of you, but could you try to keep Discord away from Sol?”
“Is it about their bad history?” Fluttershy sighed upon the sisters nodding in confirmation. “Sol told us that he doesn’t like Discord, so I suppose I could try.”
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Moonshine thanked.
“But perhaps I could try to ease Sol into liking Discord?” she suggested. “I mean, I was able to reform Discord and make him change his mind about friendship, so maybe I can get Sol to come to terms with whatever it is he has with Discord and change his mind about him?”
The two sisters shared an uncertain look with one another before Sunshine addressed Fluttershy.
“If you believe that you can, then we will support you, Fluttershy. Just make sure to go slow and easy with him, and please be careful.”
Fluttershy smiled. “I will, and thank you.”
Their business with Fluttershy concluded, Sunshine and Moonshine went over to get a closer look at Fluttershy’s animal sanctuary with the others. During their time there, they began to interact and play with some of the animals that were residing. It wasn’t until they lost track of time again and Sunshine realized that she would be needing to lower the sun in a bit that they said goodbye to the animals and began their trek back to Twilight’s castle. After a good fifteen minute walk to town in the now moonlit sky, they came to the doors of the castle.
“Well, I suppose that you two will be heading back to Canterlot,” Twilight said to Sunshine and Moonshine with a bit of disappointment.
“But they can’t go yet, Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed. “They didn’t even get to join in the party!”
“What party?”
“Uh, Sol’s Welcome to Ponyville party.”
“What? When did you have time to organize a party?” Sol wondered.
“I had it planned before we came up to Canterlot yesterday. And speaking of the party, Twilight, I hope you don’t mind that I’m using your castle as the party place.”
“Wait. You are?”
Instead of answering, Pinkie opened one of the doors and motioned for them to come inside. As they did, they were met with total darkness as not one light was lit. However, that quickly changed when Pinkie closed the door behind them and the lights suddenly turned on, along with a large crowd of ponies and Pinkie shouting “surprise”.
Indeed surprised, Sol had to take a moment to look over all of the ponies that had gathered just in the entrance hall alone, which not only housed the dozens of ponies there, but also had tables lining the walls with an assortment of goodies and non-alcoholic punch. But, probably the funniest thing that he noticed was that the two guards, maintaining their stoic posture, were both wearing a party hat on top of their helmets.
“Now that everypony’s here, let’s get this party started!” Pinkie announced, earning a cheer from the gathered ponies.
While Twilight, her friends and family, and Daring went further in, Sol found himself a little more hesitant. That was, until he found himself being pushed from behind by Pinkie.
“Well? Come on. This is you’re welcome party after all,” she told him.
Glancing back over her, Sol saw his mother and aunt wave him off with fake smiles before they went off to eat and mingle. Now finding himself in the middle of the party, Sol soon became surrounded by the townsponies wanting to get to know him, some of which he recognized during his short time in Ponyville. As he talked about himself and answered their questions without revealing who he truly was, Applejack came up to him with a trio of fillies in tow.
“Hey, Sol,” she waved. “How’re ya enjoyin’ the party?”
“Not quite used to parties this big while I’m still like this, but I’m doing alright,” he said. “So, who are these three?”
“This is my sister, Apple Bloom, and her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They're also known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
Sol took a moment to look them over and quickly spotted the resemblance with Apple Bloom and Applejack, and Sweetie Belle with Rarity.
“Hello, fillies,” Sol said to them.
“Hello,” they each returned.
“Wow. You’re really tall,” Apple Bloom commented.
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle nodded. "He could maybe even be as tall as Big Mac."
“Are you really a dragon?” Scootaloo asked, earning her a look from everypony who heard her. “What?”
“... where did you hear that from?” Sol cautiously asked.
“From Rainbow Dash. She told me about this dragon that she and her friends found, and from the way she described him, you look a lot like him. That, and you have those cool eyes and horns.”
Sol remained silent as he looked over everypony's reactions, debating with himself whether he should just confirm it and remove his cloak, or play it off. As he thought it over, off to the side nearby, Sunshine watched as she'd been one of the ones who heard Scootaloo. While revealing Sol to her ponies as a kirin was what she wanted, she was also a little worried that this might not work and end up backfiring. However, since he was called out, she decided that they might as well get it over with and walked up to Sol.
"It's alright, Sol. Go ahead," she told him.
Though comforted having his mother by his side, Sol was still a bit nervous. Looking from her to the other ponies looking at him expectantly, he then looked back down to see the three fillies looking up at him curiously. Letting out a sigh, Sol undid the clasp of his cloak with his magic and pulled it off. As expected, everypony apart from Sol's friends and family gasped as they now had a clear view of his entire body, including his still-bandaged chest and left forearm. Aware of the looks he was getting and the hushed whispers, Sol was starting to feel a bit anxious, but it soon came under control again when he felt Sunshine nuzzle him assuredly.
"You are partially right," Sol said, directing his attention back to the three fillies who were staring wide-eyed at him. "I am what's called a kirin, and as you've noticed, I am part-dragon, but I'm also part-pony."
Curious, Apple Bloom stepped closer. "So does that mean that one of your parents was a dragon?"
Sol nodded. "Yes. My father was a dragon, and my mother..."
"Is me," Sunshine spoke up, now earning her everypony's attention. "Hello, my name is Sunshine, and Sol is indeed my son."
"So you're really Sol's mom?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes, I am."
"... you're really pretty."
Though unexpected, Sunshine chuckled at how cute she found it. "Why, thank you. You're really pretty too."
"Thank you," Sweetie Belle blushed.
"So you're really a dragon?!" Scootaloo excitingly asked, getting a nod from Sol. "That's so awesome! Can you breath fire and stuff?"
Chuckling, Sol took in a small breath and breathed out a very small, very short stream fire to demonstrate for them. Awed by this, as soon as Sol was done, Scootaloo, along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, began to bombard Sol with questions. Thanks to the actions of the Crusaders making Sol seem less threatening, everypony watching began to relax a little with him. Some of the mares even gathered around Sunshine and pulled her off to the side as they were curious about how she managed to get together with a dragon... and what it was like.
While everypony was getting back into the party, Moonshine let out a sigh of relief as she'd watched what had happened from near the punch table.
"That could've ended quite badly," she commented to herself before smiling and sipping her cup of punch. "But I'm really glad that it didn't."
"I think we all are," Twilight said, having heard her and walk up alongside her. "I'm really glad for Sol. He said that he'd already liked Ponyville, so it's good to see that this party didn't ruin that."
"Indeed." Moonshine looked into her cup and let out a sigh. "Twilight, may I ask something of you?"
"Of course you can."
"... my sister and I believe that Sol may decide to stay here in Ponyville while he does his work on the Underkingdom. And while we are both willing to support his decision, we are also worried for him."
Twilight nodded. "You're worried that something might happen to him and you two won't be around to be there for him."
"Yes... which is why my sister and I would like to ask that you, and by extension, your friends, look after Sol, since we will not be there to do so."
Twilight didn't wait even a second before she came to a decision. While this was a direct request from the Royal Sisters and she didn't want to disappoint them, she also viewed Sol as a friend who she'd be willing to help anyway. Of course, she also had her own reasons for helping him.
"I would be happy to help, Princess," Twilight said, briefly forgetting to not address her by that.
"Thank you." Moonshine looked over to Sunshine and rolled her eyes, seeing that she was giggling along with almost a dozen blushing mares. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get my sister before she starts talking anymore about her sexploits with Fissure."
Cringing at the thought, Twilight walked with her and got Sunshine away from the gathered mares. They then went over to Sol and informed him that it was time for them to leave. However, as they'd expected, Sol requested that he stay there in Ponyville.
"We'll miss you while you're gone," Sunshine sadly said as she hugged Sol tightly.
"I know, but I'll still be nearby," Sol reminded her, hugging her back. "Besides, I won't be that far away. You can even see Ponyville from Canterlot Castle."
"I know, but I'll still miss you not being around."
Feeling sad, Sol kissed his mother's cheek. "Would it help if I promised to make weekly trips at the end of each week to see you and Aunt Luna?"
"Yes. I would like that very much."
"As would I," Moonshine added, walking up and hugging Sol with her sister. "There is still much that we need to catch up on."
"I know," Sol sighed, now using his wings to hug both his mother and aunt.
For a few minutes they remained, neither mare wanting to let Sol go after what felt like such a short amount of time together. However, they were needed back in Canterlot. So, the two reluctantly pulled away from Sol and they all began making their way out of the castle. Upon reaching the chariots with nopony but themselves and the two guards around, the two sisters removed their disguises and each kissed Sol's cheek as they said their goodbyes. And while Celestia and Luna were both a little saddened that they were parting with Sol so soon, they also felt a sense of comfort knowing that Sol would make it a point to come up and see them every week.
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You've referenced something here, and I can't remember what, and it's driving me crazy!!
8225686
It's a reference to mlp season 7 episode 3.
Excellent as always. Yet I predict things will go sideways rather soon.
Gg on the chapter bro. Good as always, tho i did spot a typo or two.
8225810
Oh... Well... I feel like an idiot! Thank you for telling me that.
8226279
Thanks for telling me. Went back and found/fixed them.
8227350
Np bro. Happy to help
Wimp, Let'er scar 'em for life.
So realted in amy way to flame and shadow? Or same core world but not same world (as one does not connect to another
8231402 Same core but different worlds... for now.
8232154
Ok
Should be borders, boarders are pony' s getting on a train or boat.
At least that's all I found so far. Good story though.
8238449
Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
8226579
Also kind of a reference to King Solomon who offered to cut a baby in half for two women who each were claiming it as their own.