The Prince Returnsby Spooky GhostChaptersOnce a Prince. Always a PrinceThe ChaseA New DayAttentionDecisionRevealThe PlanA Normal WalkFinding your pathProvenHome Sweet HomeThe Warrior PrinceOnce a Prince. Always a PrinceAuthor's Note Please Read First After talking to some who read my story and finding flaws, I changed the first chapter slightly. Not much was changed but I added more to the story. Also, this will be the last chapter of this story for a little while. I am going to focus on the other 2 for the next few days Once a Prince. Always a Prince It took some time but Sol finally made it back to his house. He had to walk for a good distance before he felt like he could fly the rest of the way and while he felt his wing get slightly better to the point he could fly, he was still slow while flying. When he got back he realised he had to hide his house as they might send out a search party so he looked around and found some boulders and moved them into the cave before using a basic ice spell to freeze them before he picked up more, placed them on top of the other ones and froze them too. When it was over he looked at it and it looked just like the rest of the mountain. He did leave a small hole to use to get into the cave so he entered that small hole before he moved another boulder over the front of it. "That should do it." He thought back to the Alicorn who was chasing him. That Alicorn wasn't his older sister Celestia or his Twin Sister Luna. Not his parents or anyone he knew, so how was she an Alicorn? What did she do to earn it, or was she a natural born Alicorn? "How much has society changed? It's like it's upside down and inside out." He rubbed his injured wing as he made his way into his home. He needed to calm down and think this over so he got more wood and placed it under the tub but then he remembered he needed ice and to empty it. He levitated the tub along with him as he went back outside before he emptied it over the edge only to see it turn to ice and smash upon hitting the rocks below. He took another piece of ice and headed in, carrying both of them with his magic. He placed the tub back down and the ice in it before he set the wood on fire and waited. As he waited a thought entered his head, making his heart sink. Could that Alicorn he met mean that there were new Alicorns? Was Celestia still around or was she overthrown? Was Luna still on the moon? He felt panic enter him as he worried for Celestia. "Celestia..." He didn't know what to say as that thought haunted him. Was she overthrown and killed? Did she die thinking he ran away because he didn't love her. "That's not true!" He screamed to the air. His body was twitching in his panic as now that he has seen society and how alien it was he worried about so much more stuff. "I need to go. I need to make sure she's ok and get this off of my conscience." It felt like it took an eternity for the ice to melt and he did what he did before. He threw the wood in the fireplace to start a fire but this time he added some coal he kept off to the side to the fire. He picked up the towel and headed to clean himself up. Cadence had just arrived back at the Crystal empire and Shining ran up to her when he saw the look on her face. She looked terrified and was hyperventilating. "Honey, what happened!? Where's Blaze!?" All the crystal ponies around the area looked at her for an answer. "I...I lost him." All the ponies heard that and gasped, causing gossip to start spreading throughout the crowd. "You lost him? How?" "I have no clue. I searched the cave I chased him into but I couldn't find him at all." Shining armour looked worried when he heard her explanation. "Should we organise a search party?" Cadence nodded her head. "Yes. We need to find him. The poor dear's probably terrified and hungry." Shining ran to the guard barracks to get a squad together. Cadence was determined to find this stallion and find out what was wrong with him so she went to pack supplies for a long search. Shining later returned with 20 guards. 17 mares and 3 stallions. 7 unicorns. 9 pegusi and 4 earth ponies. "Good going honey. Now let's find this stallion." All of them started to head to the crystal mountains. The unicorns teleported the earth ponies and the rest just flew up to the mountains. But Cadence ended up stopping when she saw a very familiar unicorn, who was now an Alicorn and 5 others also going up the mountain. "Twilight!" She shouted and flew down to her. "Cadence!" Twilight shouted and as they went up to each other they did their dance. "Sunshine, Sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake." They both resited in unison Both fell on the ground laughing after they did their dance and the rest of them just watched. "What are you doing in the crystal mountains Twilight?" Cadence asked. "My new castle. Remember the map I found out about. Well it wanted all of us to come to these mountains for...something." Twilight looked around and saw a few guards and her brother. "Shining!" "Twily!" They ran up and hugged each other. "BBBFF. What are you and Cadence doing here?" "We are looking for a lost stallion. Cadence chased him, but he managed to get away." All 5 of her friends looked upset when they heard that. "A stallion out here? Alone? I can't believe it!" Twilight looked more curious than upset. "There's no way that the map would send us if it was just a stallion that a few guards could find. There must be some other reason. Who was this stallion?" "Winter Blaze." Cadence told her and this just made Twilight even more confused. Sol was pacing back and forth in his living room, the thoughts he had before his bath still haunting him. He was still at war with himself as to if he should go to Canterlot as he wanted to but part of him didn't cause of how society was like at the empire. "I can't...I'm going. I need to make sure my big sis is alright." He tested out his wing and he was happy to see it was getting better. It would take him a while to reach Canterlot at the speed he would fly at and he's certain he would need to stop for a rest along the way so he looked back on his map for a location that wasn't the Crystal empire. He saw a place called Neighgra Falls that was a little south of the Crystal empire and foal mountain which was close to Canterlot. Smiling, he put the map in a bag and placed the bag on his back. He put a few fruits in the bag for the trip there and the trip back. He put out the fire and left his towel on the rack before putting his coat back on and a hat to cover his horn. Then he shrunk himself to pass off as a normal pegasus pony and left. He moved the boulder that was covering the exit and slipped out before covering it over again. He stood at the edge and took a deep breath and with a smile he spread his wings and took flight. He flew upwards until he was in the clouds and rested his wings to the side before he let himself fall, using his wings to glide for a while. He smiled as he felt the wind on his face and flowing through his hair that his hat didn't cover, making sure to keep it secure. It was a pleasant feeling that he had never gotten tired of in all his years of traveling. He beat his wings to take flight once more before he almost hit the ground but as he flew he made sure to stay away from cities and roads and only travel over forests and mountains. As he did that he found himself slowing down to take in the scenery around him but saw a sign in the distance. It read. "Welcome to Neighgra Falls" He stopped flying and decided he might as well check this place out while he rests so he walked in the direction the sign was pointing. When he turned the corner he saw a huge waterfall that must have been bigger than even Canterlot castle and as it fell it reflected the sun's light, giving off a shine like a diamond. "I...can't believe I've never been here before." He walked up to the edge of the lake at the bottom of the waterfall and looked across it to see a multitude of fishes swimming in the water. Looking up at the top of the waterfall, Sol decided he wanted to see what it was like at the top so he took flight and made it to the top. The view at the top was spectacular not just with the view of the surrounding land but also the large river at the top that went over the edge. "Wow. This place was made naturally? No interference from pony kind?" He didn't realise that there was a security guard close by who saw him and walked up to him. "Excuse me." Sol turned to face the security guard to see it was mare with an orange mane and a brown coat. "Yes Miss, Can I help you?" He asked with a smile. "Are you...alone?" He nodded. "Where's your mare?" He lost his smile when he heard that. This was a repeat of what happened earlier in the crystal empire. "Not again. You too? I thought I told that pink cotton candy pony Cadence that I don't need a mare. Never have and I'm not looking for one." He realise he raised his voice a little and the mare backed away slightly so he sighed and decided to apologize. "Sorry about that outburst. Just stop asking me if I have a mare. I'm sick of it." "But...Stallions have mares with them all the time." This caught his attention. "Wait...what?" "Because there is so few stallions compared to mares, we mares have a social duty to accompany and protect our stallions, at least until this gender imbalance is fixed. I mean sure there is no law that says a stallion can't be alone but it's become so common in society that it's mostly just done subconsciously." He decided to try and get as much information as he could from her. "I've been living alone. I have never really been to a town as I was taught how to self sustain at a young age so...can you tell me how things work?" He asked and she looked a little shocked. "Sure. Have you heard of the great species war?" He nodded. "Well in that war almost 70% of the stallion population was lost. As a result when this happened Society slowly changed. Mares took jobs that stallions usually did and because we had so few stallions, we started to do things to keep them safe such as think that stallions should always have a mare. This caused some mares to become upset because the odds of finding a lone stallion were so small, so herds were made where many mares shared one stallion. This kept the mares happy and it made stallions more protected." " Wait, so what is the stallion percentage now? What do stallions do in society?" "As I said, there is no law stopping them from doing anything a mare does but they are expected to be part of a herd and populate as much as possible, and as well as protect and raise the kids. It's our duty as mares to keep them happy. As for what their percentage is now, sadly they are less than 10%." He was shocked to hear this. He knew stallions were very few after the war but to hear they had dropped in number even more was scary. "How did that happen? How did they get so low?" He asked. "There were a few reasons. After they war, many stallions either stayed in the military or didn't settle down to have kids cause of the trauma they got in the war. Before the war, the birth rate in Equestria was stagnant. Some years there was an increase in births, some years there was a drop. This in a way, stopped over population but the balance had been greatly shifted thanks to that war." Sold nodded to show he understood her." "Right. Keep going." The mare told him the rest. "Birth rates went into the negative and have been like that for a while. Then some mares who were in the government suggested that Stallions stay out of work to get the population up again. They protested by not doing what the government said, so they kept doing their work and not what they suggested. This resulted in the biggest decline in birth rates ever seen and this was around 300 years after the war." "But how? Stallions and mares had an almost 50/50 birth rate." "That's just the thing. None of us. Not even Equestia's top scientists and magicians know what is causing this gender imbalance. Now the birth rate is around 15% for stallions and 85% for mares. But some places are worse than others. For instance, the town that has the worse imbalance is ponyville. Where there is 1 stallion for every 20 mares." "But...Stallions can still do everything a mare can. Right?" "Oh yes. There is no less rights or less opportunities for stallions out there than there is for mares. Most just stay with the current culture. If you never knew this then it likely comes as a surprise. Sure Celestia has a spell that allows for mares to have children. But the one born will also be always a mare. The reason this spell isn't used is for 2 main reasons. The first off is with the decline in stallions, mares started to see them the possibility of them not exiting anymore and they didn't like that idea. So they started to form groups to protect the few ones that were still around and even the government started to support families much more. Guess that's why we are so protective of Stallions. We don't want them go extinct. As for the 2nd reason...well, last time we tried to let magic take over something that Nature itself controls, it ended in total disaster." "I see. Thanks." He said with a sigh but then he remembered something. He was finally talking to somepony and getting answers so he could get one he's looking for. "Celestia? A white Alicorn with a multicoloured mane? That ring any bells?" Sol wanted to make sure that she was talking about his older sister Celestia and not a pony who took her name after dethroning her but when he asked that she burst out laughing and fell to the floor. "Ring a bell? She's our Princess and rules from Canterlot with her sister Luna who returned from her banishment only a few years ago." His head jumped up when he heard this. Luna was back, his sister and the one who understood him the most. "Luna's back?" She looked at him bewilderedly. "Yeah, she is. How could you not have known when it was the biggest news in...forever?" She asked. "I told you. I live separated from social interaction." She now looked upset and sorry for him. "How have you lasted so long without any interaction with others?" "I like to explore." He left it at that. The mare was looking over him without him knowing. She looked at his face and neck then at his front hooves and back hooves. As she looked over him she started to blush at his frame. He looked well kept and strong, not lazy and she didn't see any scars but his coat did look a little ruffled. He stood there in silence, looking over the falls as the mare behind him didn't move. He then heard her gasp and looked back at her and saw her looking at his flank. "You don't have a cutie mark?" He looked at his flank and he shook his head. "No, I don't. Wait...why were you looking at my flank?" She blushed deeply and giggled when he asked that but he just looked away, not wanting to know. The mare walked up and sat beside him and looked over the falls with him. "Nice view. Isn't it? I remember when my mother brought me here as a filly. This place was a newly opened attraction and it just recently got improved." Sol looked around and saw the walkways were still made of metal that was unstained. Not dirty in the slightest. "It gives a nice sense of peace." He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "Sure does. You said you isolated yourself from society. But you're here so you are no longer isolated. Is this the first place you have decided to visit?" He shook his head. "I visited that Crystal Empire not far from here but I got strange looks, so I ran away. By the way, thanks." "For what?" She asked. "For not trying to take me away. Just talking is nice enough for me." Sol told her. "You're welcome." He sat there for a few more minutes with the mare. He felt mentally prepared to go to Canterlot now. "Anyway. I should get going. I need to be in Canterlot soon." He stood up and said goodbye before he took off. As he looked back he saw her staring at him but she soon waved and turned around and walked away. Twilight and Cadence had been looking for hours but they still couldn't find the stallion they're looking for. Twilight was getting a little worried for said stallion but also couldn't help but wonder why the map would send them to the mountains just to find one stallion. "Where could he be!?" Twilight asked in frustration and turned to look at Fluttershy who was listening to some birds in a nearby birds nest. "So Nothing? Alright, Thank you for your time." Fluttershy flew back to them. "They said they haven't seen any pony come up this mountain today." Cadence groaned in annoyance before she sighed "How did I lose him? I don't get it. He went into a cave and just...vanished." Cadence sat down and rubbed her forehead. While this was annoying her, she had to make sure not to give up for this stallion's sake. "Come on. We will look until dark." They all set out to go further up the mountain. Sol kept flying towards Canterlot. He was determined to make sure that Celestia was alright as even hearing it was not enough. He needed to see she was alright for himself. He was almost at Canterlot and thought about what to do as he landed on a tree to think. "Alright. If I go in alone I will likely attract attention. If I fly then the guards will likely see me, and this technically isn't my home as my old home was the old castle so breaking into the house of my sisters wont be good in terms of family matters." He peeked his head out and looked around for something to use and his eyes landed on a stand that was selling clothes. Mostly self made costumes but one caught his attention that would be perfect for hiding him. It was a cloak with a hood but the colour was awful. It was a greyish colour but it wasn't the worse in the pile. "Wait a moment." He reached into his coat pocket and felt some gold coins. Pulling them out of the pocket he saw he had 5 coins but one he remembered he had in his pocket since he ran away. While the other 4 he found on roads as he wondered around Equestria and some locations beyond it. He saw the price was 3. But he didn't know what 3 it was talking about. 3 Silvers? 3 Golds? What was this currency called? He wondered if he should approach her and ask for the cloak as he didn't want another mare asking him about 'where his mare was' He decided to try something he never has before and cast a spell on his throat. "Hello." His voice sounded like a smoker so he tried again "Hello." It sounded deeper so he tried again "Hello." His voice sounded just like a mare so he flew over her and landed in a bush behind her. "Excuse me." The mare selling the clothes jumped in surprise. "Hello? Is somepony there?" She asked as she approached the bush. "Yes. I was wondering. How much is it for that cloak." He levitated a bit over to it and circled the cloak with it. "It's worth 3 bits." The mare was confused as to why the customer was hiding but he then levitated 3 bits in front of her. "Is this enough?" She nodded but he added a 4th bit before he took the cloak. The seller was about to ask why but Sol beat her to the punch. "Why did I give you 4? If anypony asks. You saw nothing." He walked out of the bush wearing the cloak and he felt happy as the shadow cast on his face from the shade concealed his identity. He walked into Canterlot castle and looked around. This place was much more fancy than the previous castle they had and they usually didn't have many visitors but as he looked around he saw a lot of ponies looking at different artefacts and pictures of ponies he didn't know. One of these pictures was one ladled 'Wonderbolts' and it was a bunch of pegasi in uniforms lined up and saluting. As he looked at it he started to wonder where Celestia was so he walked further in. There were a few normal ponies and guard ponies around but it was somewhat empty. He wanted to make sure Celestia was here so he changed his voice and talked to a mare guard. "Excuse me. Do you know where Princess Celestia is?" The guard looked at him. "She's out making appearances right now but should be back very soon. However Luna is awake if you want to speak with her." His heart jumped for joy when he heard Luna was back and he thanked her before he moved on. He entered what he thought was a dining hall decorated with large windows, a stage, a statue and tables. Needless to say he thought this place was impressive but it was almost too much for him. He wanted to see Celestia and head back home. As he wondered the castle there were a few off limits areas that he just had to leave. The only places that were accessible were the first and 2nd floors and the dining room so he waited at a table for awhile and just looked around the room. He was offered some tea for no charge so he accepted and took some. As he closed his eyes his mind wandered to the times he decided to live alone. Celestia had just banished Luna to the moon and when he saw that happen he ran into the Everfree forest. He mostly survived off of what little fruit he could find and even what little edible plants he could find. He got sick a few times but he also recovered quickly. He had no clue how long he was in there for until he came across a stallion in the forest. This was back when stallions weren't like they were today and this stallion was a farmer who lived off of the land by himself. His name was Grand Harvest, a Earth pony with a brown coat and green hair and with a cutie make that was 2 tomatoes next to each other. He was caught by harvest when he tried to take a few tomatoes from his garden but harvest stopped when he saw he was an Alicorn and let him have the tomatoes he took. He spent years with Grand Harvest, the two of them became best friends but they also never left to visit any towns or cities since everything they needed to live was all supplied by the land. He died around 40 years after they met and Harvest left him his home. Sol buried him behind the house and lived in that house for a further 120 years. He had to move out when the elements wore it down to the point that just stepping on the upstairs flooring broke it. It was then that he spent a few years trying to repair it. He wondered the Everfree and used his magic to rip trees out the ground and used his magic to cut it, which resulted in large chunks of burnt wood that were not pretty to look at. For a while after that, he trained with the spells he knew to try and improve them to not have burnt wood and try to get a clean cut, but it didn't turn out so well. It must have been at least 3 years after that when he was out exploring that he saw a road bellow with a cart getting pulled and as it hit a bump an axe fell out, which he later took and used to cut trees down to repair his house. This cycle of cutting and repairing happened 2 more times and he lost count of the years that passed. It was after the 3rd time it happened that a storm unlike any other passed over the Everfree and his house caught fire. He was asleep at the time and woke up to find the house in a blaze. He couldn't save his house but he did his best to stop the fire from spreading by using a basic ice spell on the fire that blew off his house and onto other trees. When that was over he was tired and drenched so he did the best thing he could think of and that was fly to the closest mountain and sleep in a safe spot. This is when he felt something. The loss of his house meant he needed another and he had a whole world to explore. In a way this caused him to feel happy. So far the only exploring he had done was in the Everfree but now he could go further, so he flew and flew. He went wherever his heart took him and after 5 or so years of having no specific home he found a cave in a mountain region that had a great view. This would become the home he currently had and it took him around 2 years to make. Mostly from burning and removing rock to make more room and from trial and error in making his home. Over the years he repaired his home a lot of times but it was mostly from fires as spells backfired when he was trying to better the spells he knew. It was the same routine, Go out and explore. Come back. and train every few days and repair it every few years. While he didn't interact with others, he did watch from a distance sometimes and the biggest shock to him was one that happened not that long ago when he saw a giant crystal tower appear and some strange dark fog going over it until a light seemed to destroy it. A few months passed and he got curious by the cheering in the empire and went to check it. Now he was here, wanting to see his big sister Celestia. "The Princess is back!" He heard a guard shout and he looked to the entrance and his eyes fell on Celestia. She was taller than he remembered and her hair was longer but other than that she was just how she was 1000 years ago. As he looked at her he couldn't help but smile and he wanted to speak to her, but doing that so suddenly could be bad so he just sat at his table and took a sip of his tea. "Hello all my wonderful subjects. I trust you're all enjoying your time visiting Canterlot Castle?" She looked around at them and as Sol saw her gaze going over to him he ducked under the table. He had a feeling she would see through his disguise. He waited there for a few moments before he heard a voice that made him happy. "Sister." The voice was clearly Luna's and he looked out from under the table and saw her. "Welcome back. How was your trip?" "Wonderful, Luna. But why are you awake right now? It's earlier then your usual time." She asked and Sol slowly crawled out from under the table and tried to get to the entrance. It was at this moment a scroll appeared and fell between them. "From Twilight?" Celestia read it. The scroll was Twilight explaining their situation of looking for a stallion in the crystal mountains and she is asking her if she was aware of any town up in the mountains. "Not from what I can recall. The crystal mountains have always been a dangerous place, so nopony would be living there." She whispered the next part to Luna. "But apparently there is a stallion lost in the mountains." Luna's eyes widened and Celestia didn't overlook this. "Luna? Do you know of this?" She nodded. "Yes. I saw a dream north of the crystal empires dreams. Somepony is living there." Celestia looked worried when she heard that but her attention was caught by a mare shouting. "Careful!" Celestia, Luna and all the other ponies turned to look at the cause of the noise. They saw a pony in a cloak had almost been hit by moving furniture so both of them went to the incident in the hallway. "What happened?" "My bad Princess. I'm not use to carrying heavy furniture." One of the Castle maids said to them. Sol was worried more than ever at the moment. He feared Celestia would see through his disguise so he kept walking slowly to the exit but the moment Celestia's gaze landed on him she felt something that she couldn't put her hoof on. "Excuse me. You, wearing the cloak." He stopped and started to sweat. What was he to do? Fly? Run? Play fool? He didn't want to face Celestia and explain why he didn't come back after all this time. Sure he could say he had a lifestyle he liked and he was upset but he was so cut off from her that he didn't even know when Luna came back. "Yes? Can I help you?" He made his voice mare like and didn't turn around. "If you don't mind me asking my little pony, who are you?" He felt his legs start to shake, not sure how to answer. He looked behind him and saw a crowd of ponies in the room and looked back at the entrance and saw another crowd looking at him from there too. If he revealed himself here he had no clue what the repercussions would be. "I'm...i'm...snow white." He used the first name from before. "Snow white. Can you pull your hood down so I may see your face?" He realised now that he had 2 choices. Reveal himself, or run. There was no way to talk this out, if there was then he didn't know how. He sighed and turned around, looking at Celestia through the darkness that the hood produce to cover his face. "I'm sorry." He whispered so only they could hear it, he then spread his wings and took flight as quickly as he could. Flying over the crowds. The ChaseSol zoomed out of there as fast as he could. Not looking back at all. As he flew he heard Celestia shout for the guards to catch him. He soon looked back and saw around 30 guards following him in the air alone but more were scattered across the ground. As he flew he was soon blinded by a flash of light and when he moved his hoof away from his eyes he saw Celestia had teleported and Luna followed suit. He looked around him and saw guards with their spears pointed towards him. He heard a zooming sound and as he looked at Celestia he saw the same ponies he saw in the picture from before. The 'Wonderbolts' were flying next to his sisters and ready to zoom if he made a move. "Snow white. Why are you running away from us?" Celestia's voice was a mixture of concern and suspicion but also seriousness. "I should be able to get away if I teleport. But I'm already flying so that's a no. I need to get out of sight before I teleport." Sol flapped his wings hard and flew upwards to the clouds, as he did the wonder bolts soon followed. "You're not getting away!" The one he assumed was the leader shouted. "Go and get her Spitfire!" Another one cheered. This Spitfire was fast and he started to feel a little afraid he wouldn't lose her without going back to his normal size. Sol decided to take a gamble so he kept flying higher and higher and so did Spitfire. When he was high enough to the point the clouds looked to be a good distance away he played his gamble. "What are you doing? Running away like this? How will Celestia feel when she finds out she's chasing you?" This thought popped into Sol's mind and it bothered him greatly. "You think you can get away from me by going higher? You need to do better than that." Spitfire said with a smile and Sol tucked his wings to his sides and curled his hooves into his stomach as he started to fall. "YOU'RE CRAZY!" Spitfire followed him but he soon changed so he was falling face first downwards and he was falling faster than Spitfire flew after him. "You're running away from your Big Sister and your Twin. How do you think this makes them feel?" He felt his heart tighten when that entered his mind. It caused his body to tensed up and he almost opened his wings. Sol timed this carefully as he changed the direction of his fall to the castle. He opened his wings before he hit the ground and with great speed he flew into the castle and grinded to a halt on the floor. He was happy to see the guards were still outside as the crowd was trying to move aside and let them in but the crowd and guards ended up falling over each other. He took this opportunity to run into the Canterlot gardens and hide behind a statue, where he started to charge up a teleportation spell. "Are you going to keep running? She will find out eventually, unless your plan is to never let her know you're alive and stay isolated." He hit his head with his hooves and the spell he had building up faded. These thoughts were starting to really hurt him and he felt a pull to just tell Celestia who he was to end it. Celestia and Luna arrived just moments later and so did Spitfire. "She's somewhere in the gardens. Spitfire. Fly up and watch from the sky." Spitfire did just that and Sol knew he needed to get away quickly. "Luna. I need you to get Twilight and the others. I have a feeling there is more to Snow White that what we can see." "Leave it to us sister." Luna Teleported and Celestia spoke. Sol knew he couldn't teleport now. If he did then since Celestia knew the location of his teleportation then she could follow him. "Snow White. As a Princess of Equestria I order you to show yourself. If you comply and do so peacefully, I will be merciful to you." Sol desperately wanted to shout out at her. This reminded of him of when him and Celestia played hide and seek at a young age. She would say 'I order you to show yourself' and he would say. 'I'm a prince. Your order is nullified.' He smiled at that memory. "We're back sister." He looked out from his hiding spot and saw more ponies. 2 Earth ponies, 2 Pegusi, 2 unicorns and 2 more Alicorns. The same Alicorn from the Crystal empire. "What's wrong Celestia?" The Purple Alicorn asked. "There is a Pegasus pony called Snow White hiding here. When I approached her she started to run and I feel like there is more to her than what her cloak shows." They all looked around the garden for him. "THERE YOU ARE!" Spitfire zoomed down from the sky towards him and he jumped out of the way. He was now standing out in the open and all the ponies around him had their gaze on him. The guards who were watching over the guests now had their attention focused on him after they finally got through. "Snow white. Who are you and why did you run from me?" "Do you plan to abandon Celestia forever? How do you think she would feel if her own little brother did that to her? She's done so much for you." An imaged flashed in his head when he thought of that. He saw Celestia on a chair and looking at a family portrait and a picture of him as a little colt. Wondering where everything went wrong. He almost teared up from that. These thoughts he was having were speaking the truth, he couldn't keep hiding forever and if he did then it would devastate both his sisters. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted, not realizing he forgot to change his voice until he already spoke. "That voice...Winter Blaze!?" "The Stallion you were looking for?" Celestia asked Cadence and she nodded. "How did he manage to fly so far?" Luna narrowed her eyes at him and started to walk forwards but as she did Cadence called out to her. "Luna. He's likely scared. Don't get so close to him. You're only scare him more." Luna didn't listen to her and kept walking to him. Sol quickly looked around and saw an opening. He dashed as fast as he could and got passed the guards but was soon stopped by a rainbow Pegasus and the Purple Alicorn who teleported infront of him. "Nice try buddy." Sol was starting to get worried now. He had no clue what to do about the situation he was in. He wanted to get away but he feared he would have to use magic to do so. He was then tacked to the ground by an earth pony with a cowboy hat who was trying to tie him up with rope. "Gotcha now." Sol didn't want to hurt anyone but he was left with no choice. He moved his front hoof and knocked Applejack off him. This seemed to surprise all the ponies in the area but the Earth pony got back up and rubbed where she was hit. "A fighter? I like you." She said and looked ready to charge at him again as he took a battle stance. "Just end it. There's no need to hide anymore. Sure society has changed and is now crazy but is that a good reason to abandon your family?" Another image flashed in his mind. This one was of Celestia looking directly at him and she asked 'Do you still love me?' but she said it with concern and fear in her voice. He shook his head to get that thought out of his mind. He looked around at them all but as he did he was soon face to face with...a cannon? Confetti exploded in his face and it even knocked his hood back. As it did this he remembered he stored the hat he was wearing previously in a pocket in the cloak so he quickly put his head down and pull the hat out and put it on. The confetti was enough to conceal him for a moment as he slipped it on. "Winter Blaze? It is you!" Cadance shouted but Luna and Celestia were looking at him more curiously than before. While he did run away as a teen and while his appearance did change over the past 1000 years, Celestia and Luna would likely know who he is very soon from seeing him like this. "How many more? How many nights do you think Celestia has had crying herself to sleep, worried about you cause you haven't so much as sent her a letter, letting her know you're alive and alright? Or nights where she cant even sleep?" Another image flashed in his head. Celestia was in his room and holding the teddy bear he use to love playing with as a colt and crying into it as she nuzzled it. He felt like he was on the verge of breaking down. All these thoughts were telling the truth but the next one got him and almost broke his heart. "You ran away after Luna was banished. She lost both her little brother and little sister on the same night. You could have been there for her in her time of hardship. But you weren't. You ran away into a dangerous forest. How do you think they would feel if you died in there?" He felt this side of him winning the battle in his heart and he couldn't take it anymore and let go. He looked at them sadly. "He's giving up? Did that hurt him?" A yellow Pegasus said and started to walk up to him but stopped when the earth pony who tried to tie him up before laughed. "Him? Give up? Unlikely, from the way he hit me. That's the energy and fury of a fighter." "Luna. Celestia. I'm Sorry." He opened his wings and zoomed off once again. But this wasn't to try and get away from them. But to get them away from the crowd. "Wait. I didn't mean for that to hurt you!" The pink one shouted as they chased him. He had to keep flying and knock the rainbow one out of the way once more as he stopped and landed in the bushes. Away from the gaze of the crowd. When they were all out of sight he decide to not hide any longer. "Celestia. Luna." He looked at them as he sat in place on the grass and shed a single tear. "I'm sorry. You must be worried sick about me." He lifted his hooved to his hat and as he took it off and as it still covered his face he used his magic to return himself to normal size, so he was now a little taller than Luna but still a bit smaller than Celestia. He then moved his hat away and let them see his face and his horn. He also spread his wing to show he was an Alicorn. All the others there were in shock but Celestia and Luna soon lost the look of shock on their faces which was soon replace with tears of happiness. "Sol...is that you." Luna asked and walked towards him. He smiled at her. "Yes Luna." Luna's expression soon changed and she now looked at him doubtfully. "Wait...if you really are Sol then answer these 2 questions. What nickname did I give you?" He chuckled. "You called me Solly as a kid but also Blue flame because my coat was like Celestia and my hair was like yours." Celestia spoke next. "As a Princess of Equestria I order you to show yourself." He grinned when she said that and said what he wanted to back in the garden. "I'm a prince. Your order is nullified." Both of them lost their serious expression and ran towards him happily and tackled him to the ground causing him to chuckle as they did that. "SOL!" "SOL!" He soon had both Luna and Celestia holding him tightly, their earth pony strength showing as he had a little difficulty breathing. They soon stood back up but Celestia didn't stop hugging him. They didn't want to left him go as they even wrapped their wings around him. "Luna. Celestia. You may want to let go. I think we've hugged enough." They let go of him and he saw the happiness and joy in their eyes as tears were flowing down their face like rivers. "Where have you been all this time?" Celestia asked. "I know I have no good excuse for being away so long but to answer your question. For the past 500 or so years I have been living in the crystal mountains. I should have sent you a letter to at least let you know I was still alive." Sol looked behind them at the approaching crowd. "Here comes the crowd." Celestia looked back at them and back at Sol. She made a quick decision to not reveal Sol just yet. He needed to know what has happened while he has been away. "Sol. Turn back to Snow White. We'll chat in the castle." Celestia cleaned the tears from her face and put on a different face. Luna and the others did the same and the walked out of the bushes with Sol wearing his cloak again and back to the size of a normal pony. The pony he met before who was called Spitfire has seen the whole thing happen and Celestia looked at her stirringly. "Not a word Spitfire. Understand?" She saluted and went back to her squad. The crowd walked out to the garden and the guards surrounded Sol but Celestia ordered them to stand down. "It's been settle. Snow White misunderstood something and ran from us in fear. I will take questions later. For now I need to talk to her. Follow me Snow White." The guards separated the crowd to let them pass. Only Sol, Celestia and Luna went together as the rest of the Elements of harmony and Cadence and Shining armour all stayed in the hall. They went up to the top level where he looking from side to side, seeing the decorations and the paintings and portraits of famous leaders from diplomats to generals. They soon entered a room at the top of a large tower and he took off his cloak and turned back to normal. He looks around the room and smelt the air which smelt like flowers. Celestia and Luna turned to face him and he then realised the others from before weren't here with them. "They're waiting in the main hall. I assume your looking for the ones who were with us?" He nodded. "What's happened since I left?" Celestia chuckled and put a hoof on his back. "A lot. After the war and Luna's...banishment." She was clearly uneasy even mentioning that. "After that, with so many stallion dead in the war it caused things to shift. Mares would end up dominating work and stallions would eventually be placed into work positions that wouldn't endanger them as much if they were in one before." Sol sighed and rubbed his head. He knew the war killed almost half of the pony population but he didn't expect this to happen cause of it. "We were hoping the population would be back to normal in a few years. About 200 years at max. Until we learned that Discord played a prank by messing up the birth rates." "What about now? You said 'would' so it has already happened." Celestia continued to explain as much as she could to him in the best detail she could. "After more time they started to see mares as expendable because of their large numbers so even the military became mare dominant. But as time went on they realised with stallions in work and still in the military, the population wouldn't do very well and stallions were still dying faster than they were being born. So they were encouraged to focus on populating rather than working. The progress was slow and caused trouble as a lot of mares fought over what few stallions there were, so a law was passed that allowed 1 stallion to be with many mares rather than just a single. This ended up being a huge success as the stallion population has increased from 7.3% to 9.5% in the past 25 years while before that it was either stagnant or declining." Sol rubbed his forehead. He now knew why the mares were acting to strangely when they saw him alone and acted like he was fragile. "So...what does that mean for me?" Celestia smiled and threw her hooves around him. She knew he felt really out of place as besides blueblood and Shining armour, he was one of the very few royal stallions in Equestria and the only Alicorn stallion as his older brother was in another continent, ruling his own kingdom. "Well, how about for now you lay low. Get use to the castle and get to know the staff. Don't worry, i'll make sure they don't try anything." He got a little grumpy when he heard that. Sure he knew Celestia was only looking out for him but he also wasn't a foal anymore. He had lived by himself for over 950 years. Only about 35 of those years did he live with his friend Grand Harvest. "I can take care of myself." "I knew you can. But for a while, let me take care of things. Alright?" He sighed, knowing he couldn't really argue with her. "Fine." "There we go. Now, Sol. Come to the throne room in 3 hours. The guards and maids need to know who you are and what will happen if they try anything with you." Celestia left the room and now he was left with Luna. "So...Luna." He didn't really know what to say to her but he saw her smiling at him. "You want to play some games while we wait?" He nodded. "Sure. What you got in mind?" Luna levitated something infront of him. It was plastic and had some buttons on it. This is when Luna saw his coat was not very clean. If he was going to be shown to the staff then he needed to look presentable. "Well first we have to get you cleaned up. After that's done...I assume you don't know what a NeighStation is?" Her face now had a grin on it. 3 hours later It was now midnight and the castle was closed to all but the staff, the wonderbolt leader Spitfire, Cadance and shining armour and the Elements of harmony wielders. Celestia even called back the staff who had days off or were on vacation for this important meeting. Celestia was currently sitting on her throne and the room was completely full of guards and maids. Spitfire was close to the throne and Cadence, Shining armour and the elemental bearers were all on the throne just one step under Celestia. There was a lot of chatter amongst the crowd that was gathered in the throne room. Mainly about what was so important that they all had to be called but some were friends who were catching up on times missed. As Celestia cleared her throat the entire throne room went silent and all eyes were on her. "All of you are probably wondering what is so important that I had to call all of you here and even interrupt some of you on vacation. Before I tell you I need you all to understand something, what I am about to tell you never leaves this room. Understand!?" She said firmly which caused some to become a little fearful. At this point Sol walked in with Luna but he was covered in a cloak that hid him completely. Both of them walked up to the throne and stood beside Celestia with Luna on the left and Sol on the right. "Good. Now as to why I called you all here. There is a part of my life that I want to share with you and this part of it is now going to relevant to your work. You all know about how I had to banish Luna to the moon, but what you likely don't know is that on the day Luna was banished, I didn't lose just a sister. I lost 2 brothers too." The crowds eyes widened when they heard her say that and some even started talking again. Some shouting questions to her and some trying to talk over others but they were soon silenced when Celestia's mane started to catch fire. "You would be wise to remain silent and listen." Luna informed them. "I lost my younger brother Flare Solis that day as he ran away. He and Luna were the best of siblings so her banishment took a toll on him. After he ran away my twin brother went after him. He couldn't find him and eventually he ended up ruling his own kingdom on another continent. My little brother has been lost for over 1000 years. Until today." Celestia nodded and Sol took off his cloak, allowing it to fall to the floor. His coat was just as clean as Celestias was now and his blue hair was no longer ruffled. The entire crowd looked at him in disbelief and some mares were trying not to eye him up infront of Celestia. "It will be a while until my little brother here will be publically revealed and until then he will be wearing a disguise during the day. When he is in it, he will be addressed as 'Snow white' but as night time when the castle is closed he will not be wearing it. Treat him with the same respect you do me and my sister, and also to all the mares here. Don't try to herd him at all. If any mare here tries to do that or anything else on him...well then you will see what I'm like on a bad day. Now, are there any questions?" A good amount of hooves got raised when she asked that and she picked one out at random. "Where will his quarters be?" A maid asked. "He will be in the reservation room that is one level under mine. Yes, that room was made for him in case he returned which is why it has never been used." Another mare asked a question that made Celestia laugh. "Who will be assigned to him." The crowd was a little confused to see Celestia laugh about that question and even Luna laughed. "Assigned? He's a stallion of old so he's more than capable of defending himself. Now, I will answer only 1 more question." More hooves shot up and she picked one at random. "Does he already have a mare?" Celestia looked at Sol and he shook his head. She then went up to him and sniffed him. "He has no other scent on him, so no he doesn't." "Wait. Scent?" He asked in confusion. "Oh. You didn't know?" Luna nudged him and told him what it meant. "When a stallion gets a mare or several then put their scents over their stallion so other mares know he's taken. This way of any other mare tries something, then their own scents can be used to identify her. This also helps and lost stallion find his way back to his herd if he should be separated from them." Sol rubbed his head in annoyance. If this was how much society had changed, he would decided to stay single forever. "Dismissed." All the ponies in the room left after Celestia said that A New DaySol was perfectly happy where he was and he had no intention of moving. The bed in his chambers which was just under Celestia's room was the most comfy bed he had ever rested on. Even the bed his had back in the old castle couldn't compare to it at all. But all good things had to come to an end as he heard his bedroom door getting chapped and he remembered what Celestia had told him. He would need to get into a proper sleep schedule now that he had returned so for the first few weeks she would wake him up around the time she woke up. This would let him be himself for a while before he needed to put on the Snow white disguise for the doors opening so no pony besides the staff knew who he was. "Sol. Little Bro. Time to wake up." He heard Celestia say and with a groan, he slowly rose from the sheets. "But I'm so comfy." She giggled at his reaction and his hair. It was a complete bushy mess. "Come on. You need to wash up." Sol got out of his bed and used his magic to put it back to normal. "Luna did tell you how to use a shower. Right?" Sol walked into his bathroom and fount it more open than he expected. There was a shower in the far right corner and a plastic chair in the far left with towels stacked on it. Where he was standing at the door there was a sink and a mirror cabinet full of supplies to his right and a strange stand on his left. Celestia saw he had stopped and was looking to his left. "Oh that. That's where you put clothes or royal gear." She pressed a small button at the side and the stand had metal poles raise from its side before they connected with magic. Making a sort of magic box. "You set what you're going to wear in there so it's ready for when you come out. "Wait...will I have any royal gear?" "I am having a smith make a set for you." She then smiled with a laugh. "I don't think your old attire fits you anymore." She levitated a small crown, chest piece and shoes infront of him and they were indeed what he wore as a teen. He shoes were almost half his hoof size and the crown was to small for his head. "You kept them?" With a sly grin and sticking her tongue out while looking at the ceiling, she answered. "Problem with that?" "Never change." He said with a smile. Knowing Celestia still hadn't changed after all these years. "I will be waiting outside your room. I know you can take care of yourself." With that said, she left his room and let him shower in peace. As Sol showered he relaxed. The hot water running down his back and in-between the feathers of his wing was very calming, to the point he almost felt back asleep as he sat in the shower so he picked himself up and started to wash himself. He used the bottle that Luna told him to use which contained shampoo, or something like that to clean his hair, coat and wings. As he looked at the label he saw it was sold to mares. But then he remembered that society standard had changed in the time he was away so while he was a stallion, he likely wouldn't act like one in todays standers. Moments later he was fully cleaned up and dried. He made sure to check himself over in the mirror to see if he was like Celestia and he was happy to see his coat was and so what his hair, minus the flowing style. "Alright Sis. I'm ready." Celestia opened the door and smiled at him. "Alright. Follow me. You should have your new royal attire by the end of today." Celestia started walking down the hall and he followed her. As he walked with her he saw there was quite a lot of guards and maids cleaning up and changing their posts from night guards to day guards. One thing he did notice was that he must have seen over 100 mares and only 5 stallions and only 2 of them were guards while the other 3 were butlers. As he walked behind Celestia he couldn't help but hear mares whispering and giggling at him. A few time he looked at the ones who were giggling only to see them wiggling their eyebrows at him. He chose to forget it and followed Celestia all the way to the dining room. "By the way Sol. I made you your favourite breakfast." Celestia levitated a pancake over to him, decorated with cream and blueberries which made his stomach growl. He looked back at Celestia who was stiffening a laugh as he face was scrunched up but her chin was quivering. "Thanks Sis." He took it with his magic and went to the table where he found others sitting. He recognized them as the mares and stallion he saw yesterday but the orange and yellow one who was wearing a blue suit wasn't there. Instead in her place was a small purple dragon. When he walked in the room they all turned and looked at him. This is when he saw the 2 other Alicorns from before, the pink one and the Purple one. The only other guy was a white unicorn who had a shield as his cutie mark. Before he could say anything he was face to face with a pink face with a wide smile. "Hi. I'm Pinkie Pie. Is it true you're Princes Celestia's younger brother? Where is your older Brother? Do you like parties?" The pink one was lifted by Celestia and put back on her seat. "I appreciate you want to be friends with him Pinkie. But this is his first day back so perhaps you should let him get use to it first before throwing questions his way." This is when Sol's head jumped in remembrance of something from before. "Wait...Sis. Why did you remove me and my bro from history?" She looked surprised to hear he knew. "You know about that?" He nodded. "On my way here I stopped at some falls and spoke to a mare while I was in disguise and she told me a lot. The birth rates, what happened socially and even about Discord and Sombra." She sighed. "I was worried. If others knew you were out there then the wrong kind might send out a search party for you and even other species like the griffons could have hunted you. I did tell the truth about you and your older brother only to those I trusted over the generations. Believe it or not. On the first few days that you ran away, when the effects of the realisation of how rare stallions were was just starting to be realised, I heard some mares place...bets. Some saying the first one to find you gets to marry you and other bets. At one point most of the castle staff were almost always talking about you or your older brother. So to stop the wrong kind from finding you, I let you pass off as a legend." Sol understood why she did what she did and smiled. "Thanks." This is when the doors they entered a moment ago were flung open and a very tired Luna walked up to the table. "Morning Luna." She didn't look happy as she just walked up to the food, took some grapes and eat them all in a few bites, along with the branch that held them. "Ehh...Sis?" Celestia looked annoyed. "She's always like this in the morning." When Luna saw Sol and lost her grumpy expression and smiled but she still looked very tired. As Luna left the dining room to catch some sleep, Sol sat down on a empty seat at the edge of the table and Celestia sat right at the end, opposite of the Purple Alicorn and next to him. Looking back at his pancakes, he smiled and started to use the knife and fork he was provided. He did feel a little uncomfortable as he felt like all eyes in the room were on him but he just accepted it. He knew Celestia would be protective of him for at least the next few weeks and with him being the only male Alicorn they have likely seen, it would be understandable for him to be something of attention. "Sol. I know you have just came back, but you are still a prince. So there are things you need to know. But what order you do them in, is your choice. You can join me and see the work I do during the day or you can go with Twilight and her friends and get to know your subjects more. But for now, remember what I asked. That you stay in your disguise." Sol stopped eating for a moment and thought about what she said. He did want to get out and see more of this world and what has changed, but he didn't like how mares treated him as fragile. The flirting was a little annoying if they did it often but he didn't mind it that much. "Alright Sis. I guess I'll go around and see what's changed. By the way, who are they? Also, last I recall. Only me, you, Luna and my older bro were alicorns." He tried to not sound like he was accusing them. "The Alicorn is Twilight. My Prized pupil and the other one is Cadance the Princess of love. The stallion is her husband, Prince Shining armour. Brother of Twilight and Captain of the royal guard. The rest are the new wielders of the Elements of harmony." To hear their was new bearers was a little surprising as last he remembered, the elements were hidden away. "New Elements? What happened?" He asked as he almost chocked on a piece of pancake. Celestia went on to talk about Luna returning to Discord being set free but later reformed and then about Sombra's return, the wedding that was crashed by changelings and Twilight's ascension to being a princess. "That's...a lot to take in." He said as he finished his breakfast "Twilight. I trust you and the others to show Sol around the place. Preferable around Canterlot and then take him to ponyville to see if he can make any new friends." Twilight smiled at the chance to show Sol around the castle and then around ponyville. She would teach him the history of this castle and show him a few areas and then one of her friends would show his a different area. "You can count on us Princess." They all finished their pancakes and Sol put on his cloak and turned himself to a normal pony's size. "Alright Sol. Follow me and I'll show you around the castle. The rest of you, stay here. We'll be back soon and while we're gone you can plan out where you want to show him around." Sol followed Twilight out the room as he heard the doors to the from of the castle open and there was already a small crowd waiting to get in. "You probably don't know this castle very well, but don't worry. By the end of today you will." Twilight lead him through the castle and as she did he got a few strange looks from the visitors in the castle but the guards knew who he was. "So where are we going first?" Sol asked. "Well you will likely want to study up on history. Ever since Luna's banishment, Equestria has changed in it's geography quite a bit. We are a little more that double the size we were back then." Sol's eyes widened when he heard this. He knew ponies were becoming larger in total population over the years but he expected Equestria to change or fall and be renamed a few times, but in 1000 they have not only remained one nation, but grown. "Where are the history records kept?" "In the library, which is where I was taking you." As Sol walked with her he couldn't help but notice her character. She fit a librarian perfectly but also a scientist role. She seemed to jump for joy when they were in the library and expressed her love to learn. She was shown to be very smart and knew a lot about chemicals and computers along with history and magic. He found her company pleasant and to an extent, funny. Seeing a princess jump around like a little filly when she got excited. When Sol got to the library he decided to look at a map of the world and he was amazed to how much it had grown compared to the last time he looked at an up to date map. There was Equestria that he knew but it extended much further that Canterlot which was a good bit away from the old castle he was raised in. To the north was the Crystal Empire and from there, Stalliongrad was to the east and a place called Yak-something-stan to the north. West word there was the changeling lands and south-west of that was the deer kingdom. North of Yak-stan was the penguin union and to the west of that, just before the changeling land was the Polar bear kingdom. The only residents inside Equestria was some buffalo tribe to the south-west which was a small land locked nation next to a place called apple-loosa and to the south east there was the Dragon tribe which was on a island not far off the coast. He looked at the other side of the world and saw a land that was almost just as big as Equestria, called The Griffon Empire. When Twilight looked at what he was looking at she decided to speak. "It's larger than that." She walked next to Sol and pointed to 5 other countries. "Skyward kingdom, lowland republic, the Frozen norther army, the workers union of the blue mountains and united the tribes of sealand. All of them are, what you would call puppet states. They answer to the Griffon Empire. So the empire is actually 17% larger that Equestria." Sol looked to the south and it looked like a muddles mess. There was so many countries and they had the strangest boarders. "The Griffins have many cultures and they are constantly fighting. They believe their clan is the best so this pride had divided them. The griffon empire seeks to unite them all under 1 rule. If that happens, they will be almost twice the size of Equestria and their resources will be more that triple what we have." "Wait. How so?" He asked. Wondering why the griffons didn't use the lands minerals to improve their own country. "They believe in tradition. Iron, steel wood and stone are the only resources the tribes use for battle. They see using only that as a fair fight and do it to prove their skill. Saying if all the weapons are the same then it's down to skill and nothing else. It's a honour system they have." Sol looked to the east of the Griffon empire and saw another country. Much bigger than the rest but not as large as the empire. It was called The Griffon liberation army. "What about this." "The Griffon Liberation army. These are griffons who have put their clan traditions aside for now to unite against the empire. Seeing it as a threat to who their culture." "I see." Sol sat down and rubbed his head. Taking all this in. "It gets even more confusing. Before you returned, the emperor of the empire died and he had no hair to his throne and so far, no will pointing to a successor has been found. It's currently in a crisis. Some saying to democratically elect a new leader. Some saying the highest in the military should take the throne. Some wanting to abolish the monarch all together." "A civil war." He said and Twilight nodded. "Very likely it will come to that and the puppet states might also gain their independence." She sat down next to him as he was taking all this information in while looking at the map of the world. Twilight was very interested in getting to know Sol more as she knew Celestia and Luna but not him and sometime in the future she also hopped to meet his older brother. To her it was a strange feeling. Seeing a not only a Alicorn stallion but a stallion who doesn't act fragile. She never once needed to stay next to him while walking or hold his hoof when he was stressed. She knew he was different from the way he hit Applejack who was the most physically strongest mare she knew. He was defiantly different and she liked that. "Twilight. Why are you looking at me like that?" She realised she was staring at him and tried to think of an excuse. "Sorry. I am still surprised Celestia had a little brother." She whispered that part as there was other ponies using the library. He nodded and decided to find a history book to see what he had missed. A few hours later, Sol was heading back to the throne room after he had been given a tour with each of the elemental bearers. He had read a few books and got a basic understanding of the main events that have happened since he left such as Tirek and the Changeling invasion. While he did hear about it before he got a little more information on what happened from the book and Twilight. Such as Twilight being trapped in a cave with the real Cadance. "We're back." Dash called to her friends. "So Sol, what do you think of your new home?" He sighed and chuckled. "It's going to take some getting use to." They saw the doors to the castle close after a crowd left so Sol returned to normal and took off his cloak before stretching his wings. Each tour with each bearer was an enjoyment for him. Fluttershy was one of the most kind ponies he had ever met and she was very sensitive as when she was passing the garden and the animals didn't go to her she almost cried. That stopped soon after he let her hug him. Dash took him to see the wonderbolt academy where he got to meet the captain Spitfire again. She was cocky and energetic but this in a way is what made her likeable rather than annoying. She had a little big of an ego problem but it wasn't something he minded. Applejack showed him around the outside of canterlot and along the fields so he knew what lay outside the city. She was like Dash in that she was proud and had a lot of energy but what stood out about Applejack was her love of work and feeling the satisfaction of a job done well. Pinkie Pie was a strange one as she did thinks that he never could figure out how she did them. Like that time she showed him a bakery and somehow got in a cake without damaging the outside of it. Pinkie showed him around the city and while she mentioned different things like parks or theatres, she was mainly focused on the food areas like bakeries and cafes. She was energetic like Dash and Applejack but she was much more free spirited than them as she loved to make other happy and found satisfaction in that rather than the actual work itself. Rarity was very regal and she was also really generous which fit her element as she bought him lunch during their tour and paid for it all. She showed him around the high class areas of the city where most nobles lived and while it was a lovely area, the ponies themselves could have been nicer. "So how was your day Sol?" Celestia asked as she walked down from her throne. She was clearly tired as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "It was great. But you...you look awful." Celestia activated a spell and she was able to open her eyes fully but she still looked awful. As Sol looked around he notice the place was decorated with lavender and it smelt very nice. Looking down passed Celestia he saw Luna was putting the lavender up and when she was done she walked over to him. "Good night Luna. Did you sleep well." "Yes I did, and how about you? How was your day?" She asked. "Pleasant. The bearers are really nice and I'm still trying to wrap my head about all this. Hey...what are you two up to?" He saw both of them were grinning at each other. "So you had a pleasant time with that, did you?" "Shut it." He said to them and they all laughed as his response. Even Celestia was almost on the ground. "You're still to easy to tease." Celestias eyes widened when she said that, as she remembered something. "Speaking of teasing. Sol, I have something for you." She levitated a present over to him and as he opened it he was surprised when he opened it. It was his old PJs but they were now his size. "Don't you think I'm a little old for these?" "Well I thought you would have wanted them. You never slept without them in the old castle." She sighed, a little annoyed. It was true and he does remember he liked the way they felt on him so he decided he might as well wear them. It would be better than wearing nothing. "Now...your royal gear is ready for you to wear. Try them out tomorrow and see of they fit. I am still wondering how we will introduce you to all of Equestria and not make it look strange or have it be something that is too much for you to deal with." Her eyes started to drop again so she walked down off her throne and headed to her room. As Sol looked at the main 6 he saw they were also leaving so it was just him and Luna. "Go and catch some sleep. I will visit you in your dream." He smiled at her before he headed to him room. When he got to his room he pulled out the PJs he had been given and smiled. It was his old onesie that was lined with different coloured and glowing fibbers which made his PJs look like the norther lights were on them. He stopped and looked at his flank, seeing he was still blank and he had yet to figure out what his talent was. Sighing, he put his onesie on and hopped into his bed and sank into it, not long after he drifted off to sleep. Author's Note My editor is going through some things so it will be a while for this to be fully edited. But I tried my best to proofread it. Also, do you think Sol should remain single or not? Who should he fall for, or who should fall for him? AttentionAs Sol slept in his new bed happily, he was woken up by the sunlight which shined through his window. It's warmth being a pleasant awakening. As he rose from the covered and out of the bed he stretched his wings and the rest of his body for the day ahead. He didn't know what Celestia had planned for him today, but he was eager to know. As he was about to take a shower he heard his door chap. "I'm up Sis." He said with a smiled as Celestia opened the door. "Nice to see I didn't have to get you up this time." She was smiling with a teasing grin. "I'm not a foal, neither am I a weak stallion." Celestia levitated a scroll out that was hidden in her mane. "I know that. But who says I can't mess with my little bro. Besides, you have been hiding for a long time." Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, Sol headed to the shower to make sure he was clean for the day ahead. As he closed the door over he left it open a little bit and Celestia started to tell him about what his option were today from his room. "Today you can head to ponyville which is where Princess Twilight lives and interact with your future subjects but you can also stay here and I can teach you the ropes of being a prince in this day and age, not to mention I want to test how strong your magic is. So there is no sleeping in today." She said that last part jokingly. "Oh haha sis. How far is ponyville?" "You can see it from my room so not too far. Just a little south of Canterlot." Sol finished up and left the shower before drying himself off. "I also have your royal gear ready, if you want to try it on." Sol left the bathroom with his mane still wet and looked at the next set that had been made for him. It was like Celestias but with a small crown rather than a tiara and the rest was all in the same colour as Celestias gear but they were smaller than hers. "Come on, let me see you in them." She said with a smile and he rolled his eyes with a smile. He had a feeling she would tease him as she normally loved to do. "Fine." He put on the armour and it fit wonderfully well. Their was no discomforts or tightness. "This isn't actually half bad." To him while they were comfy to wear, since he hadn't worn such things in a long time a part of his mind was still having a little trouble processing that he had them on. Thinking it was just a dream. "Feels strange to wear it after so long. Doesn't it?" It was then that 2 stallions wearing butler outfits entered the room with new sheets and cleaning equipment and they almost freaked out when they saw them. "Princess! Sorry, I thought this room would be empty right now." "We were just leaving. Let's go Sol." Both Sol and Celestia left the room and walked to the hall for dinner. He got a few more looks from different mares, some flirting with him by commenting on how he looked. Celestia gave them a few glares as a warning to back off and the continued. "So have you decided what you want to do?" She asked. "I guess I will head to ponyville. It will get me out and about more." "Twilight will be thrilled to hear that." They arrived at the dinner hall and Sol took his seat and not long after he did he saw Luna enter the hall. She looked tired like yesterday but she had a smile on her face and walked up to him before hugging him. "Morning Sol." "Morning Lulu." He grinned as he used her child name which he knew slightly annoyed her but she didn't loose her smile. "Want to stay for dinner?" "Can't. Too tired." Luna took a cupcake and ate it alone with its wrapping before she started to leave the hall. Sol didn't like seeing her like this and wanted to spend more time with her, but he knew she was princess of the night and needed to watch over the dreams of their subjects. "So how will I get to ponyville?" "I'll teleport you there. Twilight and the rest of her friends returned their after they gave you a tour. But before you go I would like to test your magic." He almost coughed on the juice he was drinking when she said that. While Celestia did duel him when he was younger he mainly duelled Luna as Celestia was too strong for him. "What? Really?" "Yes. I want to see how strong you really are. Put it this way, if you cant beat me then I'll have to assign guards to you." She said with a grin. He didn't know if she was joking or if she was laughing at how annoyed he would be with mares always guarding him. "You haven't changed. You might be taller and with insanely longer hair, but you are still that annoying older sister I remember." "I'm your older sister. Keeping you safe but annoying you too is my job." Sol finished up his food and followed Celestia to her room. He was a little worried about this test of hers. Sure he had practiced some magic when he was living alone but the practice he had was few and far between. Perhaps 3 times a year at most. "What do I have to do?" "Just put up a shield and black simple magic blasts. After than you attack me." Her horn lit up and when Sol saw this he put up a shield, ready for her attack. As the blast impacted his shield, he barely managed to hold it together but was able to block her attack. Putting more magic into her horn, her laser became stronger and Sol pushed harder to get more magic out to keep his shield up. She soon stopped and smiled. "Struggling?" "A bit." He answered back a little nervously. "Well now you try and break my shield." Smiling, she put a shield around her and he powered up his horn to fire a blast at her. The result was less then pleasant as Celestia barely broke a sweat holding up her defences and Sol soon stopped when he couldn't add more power to his magic attack. "Your magic is lacking. I guess I need to add a training schedule to my daily duties. But we aren't done, I have 2 more tests." The 2 extra tests were a fitness test for him, which he passed with flying colours and even done much better than Celestia did. He joked around about her sitting around all day which earned him a smack with a pillow from her. The last one was a combat test. They both fought with magically made swords as she tested out what he know about defence. Sol did much better than the magic test but still didn't beat Celestia. "So...how did I do?" With a smile and after sending a letter ahead of him to inform Twilight of his arrival, she answered. "Well you passed 2 of my 3 tests so you don't need guards to follow you around." "Wait...you were serious?" He thought Celestia was joking but to hear this coming from her in a serious voice was something else. "Yes. Sol, you might not like the idea of guards but you have to understand. Because of the war and thanks to Discords prank, Stallions who are not taken are almost unheard of and you are one such. Not taken and also an Alicorn. If the public knew about you then goodness knows what mares will be after you. I trust Twilight and her friends not to do anything but I am still weary of something bad happening to you. You don't know the customs of the current age so some might use that to manipulate you." "I...understand." He looked at he ground in defeat but Celestia lifted his face up to look at her. "Hey, cheer up. You're back with us and have a lot to look forward to. Not to mention you might find a mare you like." Sol blushed when he heard that. "Wait. You said..." He was cut off. "I said that is any mare tries to herd you then they will be in trouble. But if you go after one you like then I will respect your choice." Sol didn't think he didn't have to worry about that as thanks to him being an Alicorn, the only one he could be happy with would be another Alicorn as he wouldn't have to watch the once he loves pass away. "I...think I will stay single." "Well, that's your choice. Now come on, let's get you in your disguise and on your way." Sol put on his cloak and put his hood up before Celestia got ready to teleport him. "I want to hear about your time with Twilight when you're back. Have fun." A moment later Sol found himself in a crystal room and looking around he counted 6 doors around his as he stood in a circular room. The floor had a 6 sided star on it and each side pointed to a door but it was strangely quiet. "Hello?" He said as it echoed through the hall. "Sol?" He recognized that voice that belonged to Twilight and heard trotting and hooves hit off the crystal floor but there were multiple sets of hooves hitting off the floor, likely the rest of her friends. He waited in place until they arrived in the room he was in and he was happy to see all 6 of them and the small dragon he heard was called Spike. "Hi Twilight." He said with a smile. "You choose to come here?" "I was never an inside pony. I always preferred to be out and about." He took his hood down and walked up to them. "I'm here to get to know the ropes of society and Celestia even suggested I make friends." "So you will be hanging out around here more often?" Spike asked with a smile. "I guess I will." "Finally, another guy to hang out with." Sol chuckled when he heard that. It must be hard for stallions or even dragons to find some friends of the same gender in such a society. "What made you choose to visit us first? Was it because you remembered how awesome I was?" Dash asked as she did a pose in the air and Sol answered with a smile. "Besides the castle staff. You're the only ones who know who I am. And Sis trust you so I guess I can to." Twilight smiled and asked him to follow her and they soon arrived in a room with a crystal table where Twilight sat down. Each one of them took their seat while Sol took one that he found in another room. "So Sol, what do you want to do?" "I was thinking you could show me around ponyville. It would be nice to see how things have changed first hand. The crystal empire gave me a rough idea but I want to walk around and have a proper look." Sol looked at the map in the centre of the room that showed all of Equestria and a small part of what he remembered was Stalliongrad. "Amazing, isn't it. This map seems to know when there is a problem and who is needed to sort it out." Twilight told him and she happily looked over it. "We might have more problems in the future since we didn't get Starlight." The all went silent when Rainbow mentioned that. "Who?" "A unicorn mare who tried to remove all the cutie marks in her village. Beside her own." Pinkie came back in the room with some treats and Rarity was a little bit behind with some tea. "But enough about that. We will gladly show you around after a quick snack." Sol didn't need to wait very long as they finished their snacks and were with him at the from door in less than 10 minutes. He was happy to be able to go outside and explore again but now that he knew how this society saw him and how he would need to stay with the element bearers really put a damper on his excitement. "Well...you all can show me around." He didn't know this town so he had no idea what it had to explore, so he thought it would be best if they showed him around. After a quick discussion between them they decided to show him the key locations around Ponyville and clouds dale. "Alright then. Let's go." Sol put his hood up as they left the castle. As they left the castle with Sol standing between them he got a few looks from mares as they walked through the town. They seemed more surprised that he was with the element bearers than anything else and some giggled when they saw them. Some mares who were alone were glaring at them and him with jealousy. "What about that Stallion has caught their eye?" He heard some of them whisper. "I have no clue, but he is really cute." He blushed when he heard that. Being called 'Cute' while clearly an adult was a strange feeling. Sol looked around and even some stallions who were with their own mare or mares were looking at him with a grin. One thing Sol was wondering is how Twilight was taking this so casually, as she was a princess but these ponies thinking she herded him didn't seem to phase her. "This way. We'll arrive at Sweet Apple achers soon. This is when they heard somepony shout in a panicked voice. "Watch Out!" Looking to the side Sol saw something heading his way at a fast speed. He didn't have much time to react as something impacted him in the chest, but he remained standing and just slightly staggered. Looking at what hit him he saw it was a Scooter and a small Pegasus filly was on it, wearing a helmet and she looked worried about something. "Are you alright?" Sol asked her but she remained unmoving. "Scootaloo!" Another voice called and 2 more fillies ran over to her. "Sorry about that mister, you're not hurt, are you?" Sol smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine. It didn't hurt...much. Who might you be?" "Applebloom." The small one with a bow told him before she was pushed out the way. "Sweetiebelle." The filly called Scootaloo then parked her scooter infront of Sweetiebelle. "Scootaloo. We're." They all huddled up beside each other. "The Cutiemark Crusaders!" Sol's smile disappeared when he realized he still didn't have his Cutie mark and it made him start to wonder if he would be treated like a kid without one. Being treated like a fragile doll was bad enough but also a child. He would probably explode with anger if he had to put up with that. "Well it's nice to meet you. Play safe now." He turned to the rest of them but before he could continue walking a voice spoke out from the crowd. "Why didn't you push him out of the way?" All of them turned to see a mare looking at the element bearers with disgust. "I can take care of my-" He tried to tell her but she cut him off. "Sweetie, this isn't about taking care of yourself. It's about them not doing their job. They should have shielded you from that." Twilight stepped forward. "Sol is capable of handling himself. Plus we aren't his herd so we don't have any duty to him." Multiple ponies hd their eyes like dinner plates when they heard that. "Wait. You're not his herd? Then why are you-" This time Twilight cut her off. "All you need to know is I am following something Celestia requested, and I don't intend to disobey her." This time the mare smiled and so did a few more. "Well if he's not with you, perhaps we can take him off your hooves." Their eyes were half closed and they were smiling. Sol saw this and his anger rose to a point he almost snapped. "Just try it and you will regret it." He was able to prevent himself from shouting, but he gave her a warning. "Oh, he's a fiery one. I like it when a stallion has some bravery, it's really cute." He was getting irritated from her advances but thankfully, Twilight stepped between him and her. "He is under our watch, so get lost." "You couldn't even stop a scooter from hitting him, how would you stop anything else from potentially harming him?" The mare and Twilight were not almost in each others face and Sol looked on with wide eyes, wondering if this would get bloody. If the gender roles have switched in the past 1000 years then mare fights might be like the stallion fights of old. With somepony going home bruised, beaten and bloodied. In a way he wanted to see the battle but at the same time he had a feeling Twilight would win with not much effort, so to save the annoying mare a trip to the infirmary he stood between them. "Stop this. It will only end with one of you in the hospital." The mare approached him and put a hoof on his chest. "This is between me and her. You best stay out of this babe." Being called that caused him to blush as he was not expecting it but never the less, he kept trying to break them up so he moved her hoof off his chest. "And I am telling you to stand down. You don't need to fight." When Sol said that he remembered that Stallions would fight to impress mares in the old times, so this fight might be their way of trying to impress him, but as he looked at Twilight he saw she wasn't trying to impress him. She was just following Celestia's orders. "I really don't want you to get hurt in the crossfire." Two more mares appeared at her side and tried to move him away. "Just go with them. When I'm done with her, I'll show you how a real mare treats a stallion." She said with a seductive grin. With how he was being treated it caused Sol to snap as he slammed his hoof into the ground which caused all the ponies around him to feel it as visible cracks appeared where he stomped down and a shiny blue aura surrounded him. Proving he wasn't a weak stallion and that he himself was more than capable of being a threat. "Get away from me!" The whole crowd went silent and their gaze didn't leave Sol and after a moment he calmed down and his aura died down. Even the 2 mares who were trying to move him out of the way backed off in fear. "I am not interested in a herd and I am not someone who needs to be protected. So back off and end this before it gets out of hoof." Turning to Twilight, she looked back at the mare that gave them trouble with a massive smug grin on her face. "What did I say. He can take care of himself. Now let's go Sol, we have a lot show you." He turned back to her with a smile. "Lead the way." The crowed parted quickly as he followed Twilight away to the outskirts of the town. As they walked to Applejack home they heard Rainbow Dash laughing. "Did you see the look on her face? If Luna doesn't need to visit her in her sleep tonight, I will be impressed." "Well it was her fault. She didn't act very marelike." Rarity commented and Sol listened to them and they chatted along the way to their destination. As they walked, Sol count help but think back to the little fillies in that group called 'The CutieMark Crusaders'. The yellow one and white one to be exact. One looked and talked like Applejack while the other was similar to Rarity so he figured they were related. "Those Fillies back there. I hope none of you take this the wrong way but were any of them related to any of you?" "Sure are. Applebloom is mah little sister." After Applejack, Rarity spoke next. "Sweetie Belle is my little sister too." When Sol heard that his smile disappeared and he couldn't help but think back to the early days of his life. He remembered his older brother and Celestia's Twin who might not ever know he is back in Equestria. Sol Stopped in his tracks and stared at the ground as the memories of hanging out with his older brother flashed in his eyes. He really missed him and he would more than likely want to see him too, he just needed to contact him. Even if Celestia has already contacted him, he needed to make some room in his schedule to plan out a visit. "Sol? Are you alright?" He was snapped out of his mind and saw Twilight and the others looking at him. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking. Anyway. Let's get going." The rest of the trip to Sweet apple archers was uneventful. DecisionSol moved along until he was at Sweet Apple acers and he finally felt like he could take his hood down. "What was that all about?" Twilight sighed. "Sorry you had to go through that. It's to do with..." Sol interrupted her. "The cultural change. I know." Sol didn't want to keep doing this. Being treated like a child was getting annoying and he was just barely able to hold himself together back there. "How would the Nation react to knowing I was a prince?" He asked Twilight. He wanted to know if he was known in Equestria as Celestia's younger brother, then if the Mares would leave him alone. "Well...you would likely always have guards with you. Some mares might be terrified of you and stay away while others might see you as 'The ultimate catch' and try to get your attention. But the worst you might have to deal with is marriage requests from other Nations." That last one really caught his attention. If he had to deal with that then he is basically at a catch 22. He wanted to go home and ask Celestia if he could just go back to the mountains he use to live in but knowing her, she didn't was him to leave again after last time. "Are you thinking of letting Equestria know who you really are?" Sol took a few moments to think on that and decided he would wait a bit longer. In the meantime he was shown around the farm and what Applejack does. This is when he met Big Mac who was also a single stallion. "Big Mac, this here's Sol." "Applejack. You ain't got him as a mate, have ya?" He asked. "No. We are watching over him. Celestia's orders." Big Mac looked over to Sol but the hood still hid his face in the shade. "Hey Sol. Ya hungry?" Applejack asked and got his answer as he shacked his head. He didn't have that much to eat beforehand and it was coming up to lunch time. Applejack went into her house and Sol went to sit down with the others. "Sol?" Mac asked. "It's a short nickname I was given." He wasn't surprised that Mac didn't know who he was or even slightly recognized his name, but that's how he wanted it. The only ones who needed to know was the castle staff and the elemental bearers. "Why has Celestia ordered you to watch over him?" Mac asked as he looked over to Applejack. "That's confidential." Twilight spoke so Applejack wouldn't be distracted. Applejack soon brought an Apple pie over and Mac sat with them for his break. The pie was probably the sweetiest thing Sol ever tasted. So much so he almost couldn't eat it. "Like it?" Applejack asked with a smile. "You bet." Sol continued to eat it until he was done. He couldn't help but look at the mares around him who were all staring at him. He figured it was because he acted differently to how stallions normally do or perhaps because he was the only male alicorn they had seen. "It's not polite to stare, you know." "I'm just wondering, what will you do with how much your world has changed? You aren't going to stay in Canterlot forever. That wouldn't be good for you psychologically." Sighing, he looked to the side at the trees and knew what she meant. If he wanted to know what he was to expect then he needed to see other stallions to know how they behaved. So far he has seen Big mac and another one called Shining Armour who both seemed to be doing well but he needed to know more. Looking back over to the mares who were with him he decided to trust them to accompany him while he learned all about what had changed. "Alright. I want to look around and see what exactly it is stallions do and what is expected of them in life." All the girls smiled at him. "Take your time. Best not rush it." Rarity said as she finished her tea which Sol didn't recognize she had. They finished up their food and started to walk back into the town. Sol wanted to see how the other Stallions acted so the girls would walk around with him for a bit so he got a grasp on the lifestyle that was expected of them. Walking around the town he saw that most jobs were indeed mare dominant but he did see Stallions mostly working the garden of the house they lived in with their herd or they were in assistant roles as he saw Mr Cake helping Mrs Cake with their business. While they did run the business together it was clear Mr Cake was doing things that would be more of an assistants role. "Not much. It's strange to see how much things have changed. If this was the same when I was young these stallions would be a laughing stock." One thing that Sol did notice is that the stallions had a lot of kids. So far he has seen 2 of them out with their herds of about 4 to 5 mare and in both of them there has been more than 7 foals with them. While he didn't like the idea of being babied like they were being, looking at them he saw they were genuinely happy. It almost wished he could start a family and with all the years he spent in isolation, he was starting to warm up to the idea of friends and family. But he was an Alicorn and he knew a family would only be bad for him in the long run. "So the Stallions that work are in assistant roles?" He asked randomly as he needed to get his mind off the idea of a family. "Mostly. In most businesses Stallions are commonly in assistant roles with a few rare acceptions. With one of the rare acceptations being my big brother Shining Armour, Captain of the royal guard." Twilight was certainly happy about that as she had a hoof on her chest as she said it. "How does raising a family work?" "Stallions will usually stay and watch the kids with 1 or 2 mares with him. Depending on the size of the herd while the rest of the mares work." Sol still had one last thing he wanted to know from them. "How does marriage work out?" He heard Rarity chuckle when he asked that. "Oh darling. It works out wonderfully. When a Mare or mares find a stallion that like and want to marry then they all get a combined gift for the stallion. This is most commonly jewellery like a necklace or bracelet. If the stallion accepts then the they plan the wedding." Sol now knew what he needed to look out for if mares start to give him gifts. "Hold on a moment. That mare back there. Was she not aware that Twilight is a princess? The way she was speaking would have her thrown in the dungeon." "It's not a crime to speak your mind. Yes what she said to Twilight was insulting but it wasn't a crime. Ponies have the freedom to express themselves as long as it doesn't result in violent action." Dash was circling over them as she said that. The best thing Sol thought he could do is hear from the stallions of the town about what they think of how they are treated and then he would make his decision if he should reveal himself. Walking through ponyville he got a few looks from the mares around him thanks to what he did before but they quickly looked away and went back to their business. Looking around he didn't see many stallions who he could talk to but one that was sitting on a bench with 2 mares around him seemed like the safest one to have a conversation with. "Hey girls. Mind if I talk with that stallion alone for a moment?" "Sure. We will wait for you." Sol went over to the Stallion on the bench and when he was close he heard one of the mares talk to him. "Hey Little guy. You lost?" He shook his head. "No. My...mares are over there." Sol cringed when he had to call them 'His mares' but he needed to not draw to much suspicion to himself. "Can I speak to...your stallion for a moment. I just want to ask him a few things?" He tried to play innocently. If the mares saw him as a child who needed taking care of then he felt like he needed to start playing dumb and clueless. "Sure thing Cutie. Just don't be to long. He doesn't like being away from us for long." The mares walked to the sides and stayed close by to keep and eye on them but far enough he felt like he could talk freely. "Hey. Mind if I ask you some things?" "Sure thing." The stallion asked as he looked to the sides, unsure why the mares left him. "How are your mares treating you?" He asked with a smile. The stallion looked at him uneasily and Sol realised it was because his hood was still up and covering his face. Taking it down he let his blue mane fall and the stallion started to seem more calm than before. "They are wonderful. They have given me a lot of foals and do the hard tasks for me so I can rest but they stay with me as often as they can." He said with a smile and looked over to one, only for her to wink back which caused him to chuckle with a hoof over his mouth. "What do you do besides raising your kids?" "Well I tend to my garden, clean the house and read." Sol was starting to feel sorry for him but if he was happy then who was he to judge? "Alright. Last question. Do you hang out with other stallions often?" "Yeah. We gather together at a bar every weekend. But it's open all week." Sol felt a smile on his face appear when he said that as he was happy to see something that Stallions use to love doing is still happening, even with the massive culture change. "Alright. Thanks. That's all." Sol put his hood back up and walked back to the element bearers. "Alright. Done." "You get what you wanted?" "Sort of. There are somethings I want to know but am afraid to ask." They all looked at him curiously. Wondering what such a thing could be. "Are you alright discussing it with us?" He shook his head. "Perhaps another time. But in the mean time you still want to show me around more?" Twilight looked over to Rarity and nodded. "Well then it's off to my boutique. I have a few ideas for some outfits that might suit you Sol." Sol spent the last of the day with them as they showed him their homes and what they did around ponyville. Rarity offered to make him a suit that he could wear in public that would look casual. She was hoping to make one that he could wear if he was to reveal himself to Equestria, but after he reminded her that such a time would likely be a while away, she settled for a casual outfit. Pinkie Pie was perhaps the best baker he had ever had the pleasure of meeting as her cupcakes were to die for. She also had some really strange habits, like doing things that wouldn't be physically possible or talking to walls or the sky or something off in the distance like she was on a stage when there was nothing there. She was peculiar but in a pleasant way. Fluttershy's house was filled with animal, most of them common and there was little to no rare ones but they all seemed to listen to her like children. Even a giant bear had made friends with her which was impressive to say the least. She often didn't talk at a normal volume but he didn't mind that. Twilight showed him where she lived and he was impressed to see that she lived in a crystal castle but when he asked how it was made, she just said 'It's a long story.' He also learned that she got the title of princess of 'Friendship' which was a peculiar thing to be a princess of to him. It took some time to see Cloudsdale as Twilight had to cast a spell on some of her friends so they could walk on the clouds. The city had grown much larger than last time Sol saw it as it was 4 times the size he remembered. Perhaps even more. Dash showed him her training and her desire to be a wonderbolt which he smiled at when he saw how determined she was. Out of all of them the one mare who was catching his eye was Twilight. Mostly because she was the only other Alicorn there but her personality reminded him of a fusion of the old mares and current ones. She was sweet and very smart but she was also strong and determined. Trait he found likeable about her but he choose to quickly forget about it. He had a lot to go through and a big decision to make that he didn't know the full consequences of. "So...how was your day." Twilight asked. Eger to hear his answer. "It was...eye opening. To say the least. But enjoyable. Thanks. But I should probably get back to Canterlot." He lost his smile as he said that. "Come back and visit." Looking over at Rarity he answered. "I defiantly will." Sol just got up as Celestia teleported into her castle. Looking over the bearers and her gaze landing on him. "How was your day Sol?" She asked. "As I said to them. An eye opener but enjoyable." Sol walked up to her and stood by her side. "Thank you for showing him around. All of you." She said with a smile before teleporting him and herself back to Canterlot. Sol took his cloak off and stretched out his wings out as he turned to Celestia. "How was your day?" She sighed and lost her smile. "Stressful and annoying. You know how much I hate discussing with the upper class." Sol chuckled to himself. Even after all these years, Celestia really hasn't changed in the slightest. "Well you are done with them. At least for tonight." Sol walked alongside Celestia as they headed for their dinner before they would turn in for the night. "So have you made up your mind?" She asked as they walked. "About if I want Equestria to know about me?" Celestia nodded. "Well...I guess I might as well. If I can show them what I am like and through me, stallions of old then I could perhaps get things back to normal if mares took me seriously. But I will say this. I want no marriage requests." Celestia got a smile on her face that was half smile and half smirk. "That's my younger brother. Never liked being treated like a baby. Even when you were." They sat down for a while and after their dinner he followed Celestia to her room to write out a letter to Twilight, letting her know he had made a decision and that it would be announced in a few days. "The look on their faces will be hilarious." Celestia was grinning at the thought. "By the way...what about my older brother?" Celestia had a feeling she knew what he meant. "He has his own kingdom as you already know. He got married a few years after he left to search for you. While it is true that his wife makes most public appearances, all the laws and regulations of his kingdom were made by him. So he has not become like other stallions have. He has even trained his wife to do battle like a captain." "So wait. Another Alicorn?" Celestia shook her head. "No. Eternal youth spell. She is still a normal unicorn." That spell was only in its prototype stages when he was younger, but Sol just smiled as it sounded just like his brother to get it done. "I see." Sighing. He headed off to his room to turn in for then night. Sol had a lot on his mind and he needed to think it over alone. "Oh and before I forget. I have some good news." He turned back to Celestia and waited for her to tell him. "Your older is coming for a visit in a few days." Hearing that made Sol's heart skip a beat. Mostly cause he was wondering if he has changed and wouldn't be the same. With him being married that only reinforced that fear and if he has then would that effect their relationship? "Thanks for letting me know." Sol said as he left the room and headed to his own. He headed for a shower the moment he went in as he felt like that would help him think more clearly so he took off his gear and sat them down in his wardrobe before taking a shower. As he let the hot water run down his back and mane his mind drifted to what his brother might say to him when they meet. Would he be angry with him? Would he bring his wife for a visit? Does he have a kid, so a new member to the family? The possibilities were scaring him more than he would have liked them to and the fact that he would be announced to Equestria in a few days isn't helping. Sure it was his choice but this only added things to worry about. Not to mention what if his brother arrived for a visit just after he was announced? Would he have to get his picture taken? How would the public react to this? He remembered Luna talks about something called the 'Paparazzi' or something like that and how they likely wouldn't leave him alone and because he is their long lost brother, he would be pestered by them more. Sol got the bottle of mares shampoo and put it over his mane and coat. He still hated how this had become a smell of 'Power' when it smelt like old perfume. Not to mention the bottle itself. It was blue and had a cloud in the shape of a hoof punching the sky with the word 'New kick' on the front of it with the word 'Power' being punched by the hoof. Putting it back he choose to forget about it. He had two, perhaps 3 more days before he was announced so this shampoo would help hide him under his cloak. He turned off the shower and dried himself off. He decided that when he would meet his brother he would treat him like he would last time they spoke...1003 years ago or something close to that. He didn't waste any time as he collapsed into his bed and fell asleep within moments of his head touching the pillow. RevealSol got his nerves in check. He wanted to make sure that this all went well as he will soon reveal himself to all of Equestria, Celestia had already made the nessassary arrangements and informed all their subjects about an upcoming announcement. It had been 2 weeks since he made his choice and his older brother mentioned he had some delays as he still had yet to visit but he would be along almost any day. Sol got ready as Celestia was set to make the announcement that she had a younger brother and that he had returned. That he was to be treated like a mare and not a stallion. He was both happy and terrified as with the difference in Culture then how will things turn out diplomatically. He sighed and left that worry alone for now as he stood next to Luna in the throne room. "Nervious?" "Well my Culture has changed and males have become almost like kids who need constant pampering. I feel like i am on an alternate world from the one i originally was born and raised on and i have no idea how my gender will effect the diplomacy in the future and I al don't have my cutie mark yet. So yeah. More than a little." Luna rubbed his head. "One step at a time Sol. One day at a time." "Thanks LuLu. You always knew how to cheer me up." She chuckled as the name he used. "We are no longer kids so we might need different names to call each other." She lost her smile and looked asked something that had been on her mind for so long. "Sol. I know you liked to be alone and despite being mostly related to my sister who is the day, you like the cold so I was just wondering. What did you do for 1000 years?" "Well if you must know the first 3 or 4 years I spend alone. Mostly in one area with a lot of fruit trees and I spent my time learning how to make traps. It was after this that I met a Stallion called Grand Harvest. He lived alone as he too didn't really like big cities. I lived with him his whole life and he taught me how to work off the land. How you can tell what soil is the best for crop growth and even how to live independently. I was almost an adult at that time. About 1 year away from legally being one. I asked him not to tell anyone I was an Alicorn and he promised it. He even took it to his grave 80 years later at the age of 105. I must have spend...200 years or something like that in his house as by the time I left it the roof had a lot of holes, the wooden floor was weak and it lost all it's colour, becoming as grey as the forest. So I spent the first 5 years after that finding and making a new house and about 3 years marking down all roads and trails ponies used for camping, hiking. All of that stuff." Luna listened intently to his story. "What about magic? Did you train in it while you were away?" "Yes I did when I didn't have anything to do. I choose to live in the crystal empires ice mountains as I just had to get some ice and I could melt in if some fire to clean myself. It was much more relaxing that just taking a dip in a stream or lake. I would spend my time wondering the roads in a cloak and picking up anything that was dropped along the road. I once even picked up a sword that fell off a military wagon. Yes at times it was boring but I liked being alone. I felt like my mind was at peace and while I did miss you and Celestia I just didn't feel like returning to a life of royalty." "What did you take up to keep yourself occupied?" "I studies plants. Animals and even magic. But I did try and take up some cooking and smiting after I found the sword on the road. I also took up reading. I didn't have total isolation as I did every now and then if I found enough bits on the road I would head into a town to see if I could find a bookstore or if I had something on the road that I didn't need or any food I grew that I didn't need I would sell it." "You must have noticed the change in the culture around that time. Did you not?" Sol thought about it and remembered that around 600 years ago the mares did start acting strange towards him. Some of them even asked if they wanted them to take him back to his house which he almost laughed at as it was more than 30 miles away from the town. "Yeah they did. Around 300 years ago, one of them asked who my 'Head mare....or was it herd matron? I cant remember. They asked who she was and even a few of them gave me sad looks. Like I was a lost kid or something. It was then that I decided to isolate myself for a long time so I went back and got everything I could carry and after 3 trips to the town I got as much books as I could. I made sure they were the largest possible so I could read them for longer and for the last 300 years I just didn't go to the town." "Even I was shocked to see how much it changed when it came back. Discord messed up the birth ratio it as a prank but thanks to that war that happened. Male were becoming few in number which caused mares to start to fight among them about who gets the stallion. Slowly things were put in place to make sure the death rate for them went down." "I know. After a while they lost what made them a stallion. They lost the determination and the desire to be successful. The bravery to fight and be the provider. To face danger head on and be ready to learn and try the most insane things possible and see what sticks." Luna chuckled. "You have no idea how happy we...I am to see you are still you." She said nuzzling her head into him. "I am not going to change. I am back and now that you are too I wont be leaving again." Luna then grinned. "I also heard from my sister you have your eyes on a certain six mares." "What are you..." He then realised she was talking about Twilight and her friends. "No...not in that way." He groaned in annoyance. "Not you too. Celestia was bad enough." "Oh come on. I'm just teasing you." There were some mare guards standing around them that were hearing all of this but because Luna was there and because he isn't like normal stallions, they didn't try anything. Sol waited for a little longer and then he heard Celestia announce to the crowed. He sighed as he felt his chest tighten as there was no backing out now. Putting on the best stony face he could he slowly walked up next to Celestia. The crowed was huge, to the point that some even had to stand outside canterlot with Celestia walking into a blue orb which was used as a projector to put her image and voice around the fields. "As you may know, Luna wasn't that well know during her banishment and when she returned you have likely heard some theories or rumors going about that i have other family members that are not that wel known. Well i am here to tell you today that those theories are true as today i would like to introduce to Equestria, my younger brother, Flare Solis." Celestia moved to the side as Sol stood on the ledge, letting all the mares and stallions of Equestria see him. There was 1 or 2 griffins and some others like donkeys amount the thousands of ponies that he saw. All these eyes that were on him, looking him over with wonder made him feel really uncomfortable. He wasn't use to large crowds, even in the olden days when Stallions were warriors. He saw some flashed in the distance and even some pegusi that were flying close by, closer than normal with some press passes were photographing him. He looked back at Celestia and without needing to say anything, she knew what he wanted her to do as the crowd probably wouldn't take him seriously. Even if he is royalty and if they do, not as much as Celestia. She walked up next to Sol and Luna stood at the other side. "Now I am sure you have some questions about Flare Solis, so for the next 1 hour the throne room will be open for the press to ask some questions, but Solis wont be there, and don't think about trying to sneak away to find him." She said the last part seriously. "I always hated crowds." She said as he took off his crown and placed it to the side. "I know you do. That's why I will be answering the questions from the press, unless you want to be there with me." She offered. To him it might be a good thing to show up as it would show fearlessness to that which is new. Or it could show cowardness because he is close to Celestia. How much this culture has changed meant he had no idea what he should do. Looking over to Luna as she smiled at him he agreed to come along to the throne room with Celestia and Luna would be with him. Following Celestia and Luna to the throne room he hesitated to enter when he heard the amount of talking in the throne room. The moment Celestia entered there was a shower of camera flashes and questions being fired, trying to get theirs answered first. "I know you hate crowds. It's not to late. You can still choose to not do this." He decided to listen into the crowd and what they were asking Celestia. "When did he Return?" "What is he going to be doing?" "Wouldn't this job of ruling be too stressful for a stallion?" Sadly Sol did read up on it and while Shining Armour did rule with Cadence, it was mainly just the guard he done. Almost everything else was run by her. Sol was starting to get enraged with how much had changed in the time of his leaving and returning. There had been a few times he just wanted to hide back in his old home and wait for another 1000 years to see if things get back to normal. Sighing he listend into what Celestia would say in response. "Around 2 weeks ago." "Not much. He needs to learn how things have changed." "Not at all. He done it before." Smiling at those answers he turned to Luna who now walked into the throne room and instantly was showere by flashes from cameras. Dispite the anger he had for the press not leaving them alone, one thing they said did get him. 'What will he be doing?' Sol still had yet to find out what his Cutie mark was and he didn't know anything to try to find out. But if he was to show he was not like other stallions by a show of skill then how could he prove it? He could battle Celestia infront of them but they would likely think she was going easy on him or that him challenging her was 'Cute' in some way. Perhaps a spar with a guard or two. He needed to remember that he was going to be trasted as a fragile child if he doesnt prove himself which is hard considering the cultural changes. Sighing he left the throne room and went to his room to think. He needed to think of a way to prove to this society that he was just as strong as them and then perhaps more stallions will see that and try to be like him. "I will be in my room if you need me." He tells Luna as he does his best to remain unseen as he heads up to his room. The maids giving him a few looks as they see him in his new royal get up. It was a strange feeling as he remembered that guys used to try and pick up mares but now they were trying to do that to him. It was weird but he would be lying if he said he didnt somewhat like it. He at least was happy that they wernt angry or disgusted by him. As he approtched his room he saw a mare waiting at the door, holing what looked like a sword. "Oh. Your majesty. Princess Celestia sent me. She told me to give you this. Said that it belonged to you." She held out the sword which was still in it sheeth and when Sol saw it he was taken aback. It was his old sword that she commissioned for him so long ago. Before he ran away. Taking it and pulling the sword out, he was delighted to see it wasnt rusy and didn't look worn down at all. It was still the same as he remembered it. The helt was long and golden with a blue jewel at the bottom on it and it went upwards into a circular area where the sword sproured out from. The ending of the sword split into 2 blades for the last 25% of the way to the tip and he still saw the metal was reflective. "Thanks." He said to her and she then asked him. "Please let me put it away. A stallion shouldnt be holding such a dangerious thing." He sighed and tried not to let his anger sound in his voice. "Please understand. I am no normal stallion. I will take it." The maid knew she had to listen to him. Her duity was to the royal family and he was part of that. Meaning she had to listen to him. "Very well." She bowed and left, looking at at him before she left the hall as he put the sword back in the sheeth. Entering his room he placed his sword in a display case which was at the far side of his room and headed to take a shower. As he thought on about what to do he decided that hiding away wouldn't be a good idea. He needed to face his problems head on so he decided after he made himself look presentable and put his royal gear back on he headed to the door of the throne room but stopped just as his hoof was at the door handle. To say he was nervious would be an understatement. This was a large crowd. Perhaps the largest he would ever be in and they even had those 'Cameras' as they were called which were almost blinding. Closing his eyes, he tensed up as he made his choice and went into the the throne room. "Let's get this over with." He said under his voice. Author's Note I am so sorry for not updating this. I compleatly lost track of time with it. This is just a short chapter. I will try and make this into something you would like to read but i am a little low on ideas for it. Also if you like this story, you might like the other one i am mainly focused on. This is the 2nd most focused on i am doing. My most focused is TOWTH. (The one with the heart) The Plan"Sister. Are you sure Sol can handle all that attention and duties? He still has yet to get his cutie make." Celestia smiled at her but Luna could tell it was a forced one. She was deep in thought as she was so happy to have Sol back that she forgot it would impact her plans. "Sol is a tough one, like you. I have little doubt he will adapt to his new position and the attention quickly. But there is still the matter of Twilight. You know the plan was to make her a princess and step down for her to take over. Sol might want to stay with us but..." "But?" Luna asked "I asked Cadence and she sees a future with him and and Twilight together. So he might end up ruling with her." "I see." Luna said as she looked to the side. She was hoping they could fool around like they use to when they were foals or have a friendly battle like they did as teens. But they were both adults now and she needed to learn to leave the past in the past. "But as you know Sol will never admit that he likes anyone." Celestia said with a sigh and a smile. "Just like you when you were a teenager." Both of them shared a laugh before the door opened and they saw Sol enter, looking annoyed. "Oh my. What happened to you?" "I tried one of those spells that made me look different. But it didn't work." "A percention alteration spell?" Sol rubbed his horn. The tip burning from extensive usage of attemting the spell. "Yeah. That one. I am getting sick of staying in the castle. Your stall also don't help. Sol was still getting some looks and Celestia could see the 2 mare guards in her throne room checking him out, even if they kept a stone face on them. "Guards. Leave us." The 2 mares looked at Celestia and then left the room. They didn't bare look back as they felt her glaring at them even while not seeing it. "You want to get out and see the city?" Sol nodded as Celestia asked him that. "You never change. I will teach you the spell but remember to be back before the evening. You're older bother is coming to visit you." Sol's eyes widened as he forgot about that. The attention he had gotten since he was revealed to Equestria was more than he expected. He had seen a few mares looking at him as he passed by the windows where they saw him. A small crowd usually formed. "But you must remember. If you take on the apperence of a mare the you need to know how to change your voice or not speak at all. If you stay a stallion then you might need somepony to accompany you so you don't draw attention." Celestia said with a smile. "I prefer to stay a stallion." He said bluntly. "Fine. Then who will show you around?" She asked, mostly to herself. "I will sister. He would feel more comfy if i was with him and not some mare he doesn't know." Luna got up and started to walk down. "Or...we could get...you know who." Celestia said grinning. "Tia. Don't play matchmaker. Remember the last time you did that before Cadence took over? When you were sleepy?" Celestia went bright red when Luna mentioned that. "Should i know about this or not?" This caught his attention. Tia usually was the one who done the teasing when they were younger. So a chance to get her back was too good to pass up. "After a hard day of work. My sister wanted to calm down and relax so after she sat down at a fire and read a book. She heard two ponies outside, fighting. She tried to fix it with a love spell....but...." Luna giggled, almost laughing. "As she cast the spell on the stallion, he also turned around and since he was looking at a planet when the spell hit him. He fell in love with it. He called it 'George' or something." "And the mare?" "She saw him starting to kiss the plant and freaked out. That's when Tia decided to relieve some of her duties, such as watching over love. So she got cadence to inherate that power." Sol chuckled at this. It was quite the funny little story. "I still find it hard to live with the roles being reversed. Honestly, the staff treat me like i am a kid." She said sighing "You're lucky you're with us. If you were a normal stallion you would probably have been in a herd right now. Assuming you would even allow it." She chuckled and then looked sad. "What's wrong?" "You should know this. Since stallions are becoming more and more rare. Some mares...in positions of power are wanting to...put things in place for Stallions to spend more time reproducing." "Like what?" He asked cautiosly. "Like a stallion of age must be in a herd of at least 5 mares. This is a popular one being put forward right now as there is a lot of mares fighting over stallions. Some mares support it and some are against it. I fear if it passed then it might get worse down the road." Sol knew what Luna meant. He hated the idea of needing to be with mares and being pampered constantly. It was less out of love and more out of needing to do what is needed to keep the species going. "What about me?" He asked. "You will be an acception. So far you are the only male alicorn in Equestria. While your older brother is elsewear. You won't need a herd." There was still more he wanted to ask "Are stallions required to have kids?" He asked. "No. They are not required, but with the large amount of mares around its hard to find a stallion who isn't an adult and taken. It's almost unheard of...until you came along. But if you are worried about stallions losing rights, don't be. Me and my sister will make sure that doesn't happen." "Well is there anything weird or anything that has changed?" Luna thought for a moment before she blushed deeply. "I...you best find out about that yourself." It was unusual to see Luna become this flustered. Meaning it was perhaps something sexual. Luna only ever blushed like this 2 times. Sexual stuff, even just speaking about it. And when she was caught playing dressup as a filly. "I will get things ready to tell him. Luna. Change your apperance and take him out for a while." Celestia taught Sol how to properly alter the perception of those around him and soon he looked like a basic unicorn with a Yellow coat colour. Luna walked along side with him outside the castle and into the city. "So where to first?" Luna asked with a smile "Well what new things is there since i...we left?" "Tia told me of this thing called a 'Theater'. I have been meaning to check it out." He followed Luna to a large building that said 'Showing Now. Lord of the Horseshoes.' "What's that?" Sol asked. "It's suppose to be a movie with mythical creatures in olden times. I heard my sister say it was a good movie." As Luna walked up to the counter to get the tickets the mare at the counter looked at Sol. "How can i help you?" "2 to see Lord of the Horseshoes." Luna tried to not act like she normally does, with authority but tried to act casually. It was a little funny to see as she normally doesnt act like this around her subjects...but then again she is usually also not in disguise. "Are you sure? That's likely too violent for a Stallion." Luna narrowed her eyes at the mare which caused a shiver to run up her spine. "Did i stutter?" Luna asked firmly. "No." The mare said quickly and handed over 2 tickets to see the movie. Sol and Luna entered the viewing room, only for him to get a worried look from a lot of the mares there. He figured it was for the same reason as the one at the entrance got worried. The movie lasted for around 3 hours and he enjoyed it greatly. It was dark and quite bloody, but Sol was use to seeing that as he had gotten more than a few cuts when he lived alone. A tree even once fell on his front leg and a broke branch almost stabbed through his leg. "It'z been a while since we had time to ourselves." "It was like old days. Nice to have you back Lu." She looked at him with a warm smile as he finished his soda. "Same here." They headed back to the Castle and when Sol arrive he didnt expect to see a face he hadn't seen in a long time. Entering the throne room and saw a Black alicorn with a white mane. He stood as tall as Celestia and both were talking away happily. He froze up when he saw him, it was his older brother. "Eclipse." He said and he turned to face him. Smiling he ran up to Sol. "Little Bro! I missed you so much!" He almost tackled him into a hug. "I missed you to." Sol said with some diffeculty breathing from the bearhug he was getting. "Where were you all these years?" Letting him go, Sol fell to the floor and gasped a few times before getting back up. "In the Crystal mountains. I took up home there for a few hundered years. The first few i spent in the everfree. What about you?" Sol asked as he looked at Celestia. "Where's your wife? I heard you were married." "Yeah. I sure did. I found a mare about 50 years after you ran away. Plus i could tell how the culture was changing so i kinda also wanted to get out of here. I would have offered you to come with me so we could rule our own kingdom like Celestia and Luna do." Looking over his older brother, Sol saw Eclipse's Cutie mark. It was a full moon that was shining through dark clouds but the clouds were in the shape of claws that seemed to be trying to grab the moon and darken the light. "Like it? I got it a while after making a kingdom and having to protect it shortly after. It represents light in the darkness. Or hope." Sol sighed as he was now the only one in their family that didn't have a cutie mark. "I think you are overwhelming him." Celestia said as she walked up to them. "Sorry. I'm just so happy to see you again. I thought for sure that you were dead. I mean if any mare found an Alicorn male in this day and age they would likely keep him. You're quite the catch since you're single." While Sol hated that idea, it did raise the question if he wanted to be single for the rest of his life, but Celestia is still single and so is Luna. "I still can't belive Discord done that. Some kind of sick joke." He said as he tried to change the subject. His love life wasnt something he liked to talk about. "So i heard. Changing the gender ratio. As much as i hate to say it, this herding tatic that Equestria made has only stagnated that male population." His older brother looked annoyed when he mentioned Discord. "Wait. But it has increased. Right?" He asked with a little worry and Celestia spoke next. "Yes, but not in the way you think. The pony population has...tripled since you vanished and most are mares. So yes while there is more stallions than before, there is many, many more mares. So overall the stallions are going down in how much they make towards the total population percentage even if their numbers are slowly increasing." "So Sol. Do you have any mare that catches your eye?" He asked with a smirk and Celestia held back a laugh as she saw Sol blushing. "No. I don't." He said bluntly. "You can tell us if you do." Sol walked to the side and looked out the window, at the streets below. There must have been around 200 mares and he saw only 3 stallions out with them. "No i don't. I'm still taking in all of this." "I know it's a lot. But you will adapt. I know you. This is something you will find a way around. But just be careful. If you act threatening to assert your independance, the mares might see it as cute instead of something to be taken serious. Which means you will have to prove yourself." "What about marrage? Has that changed?" Eclipse chuckled. "You will have to ask Celestia that. She knows her kingdom more." Eclipse left the throne room and headed to his room to rest up and help Luna with her upcoming night shift while Sol went over to Celestia. "Celestia. What has changed?" Celestia turned around and pulled a book out from under her throne. "Here. Read this. You will understand that some mares will try to do and how they now see Stallions." The book she handed to him had the title 'Stallion herding, scent marking and caring for their needs. A book for newly adult mares.' The front of it showed 2 mares. One White and the other grey. The white one had sunglasses on and the gray one was wearing a bowtie. Both of them were looking at him with half closed, seductive eyes and biting their bottom lips. "Is this a-" He was cut off. "No...it's not 'that' kind of book. As i said, this is what most mares will do to you and how they will treat you." Sol took it to his room. Unsure if he should even give it a read as the cover alone was diffecult to look at. "And this." She handed him one more and this one showed a cream coloured mare with a cutie mark that was a heart and baby bottle. A colt was hugging into her and sleeping happily. The title read 'Raising a colt into a stallion. By Cream Heart.' Sol didn't really like the idea of reading these or much less being seen with them, but if it helped him then he knew it would be best if he did. As he left the throne room, Celestia chuckled to herself. "Oh Sol. Never change." A Normal WalkSol had finished reading the books and to say he was shocked would be an understatement with how the mares and Stallions are now so different. But to him that didn't matter as he had no plans to get married, at least not anytime soon. What was more important was today and the event's it was going to bring as word about him has now all around Equestria and there was more than a few odd reactions from multiple empires as Discords 'Prank' was global and not just limited to Equestria. A Mare or multiple as harems were common, would rub themselves all over their lover as a way of marking them with their scent which others could easily smell, indicating he was taken. But to him that didn't matter as he wasn't planning on getting married. Mostly because his Alicorn immortality would only make love with anyone not like him a painful thing. Cadence likely has thought about that with her partner and is dreading the day he passes. Sol decided to get himself ready for today so he went to take a shower before putting on the same royal wear he always wore. Celestia more or less had the same kind made for him but had them separated and marked one for each day of the week. And a backup. So he had around 14 sets of the same, all in one place. Putting a hoof to his head, he sighed. It was almost comical they way they were all the same. But he quickly took the set that had the label for today and left his room. As he walked the halls he saw the maids cleaning and some flirted with him as they had a habit of doing, but he learned to block it out and focus on today. As he made his way to the throne room he saw a 3rd throne that Celestia had ordered to be constructed for him. Smiling, he approached it and sat down and was delighted to feel how soft it was. "No Sol. Focus. You are a prince. Hold yourself like such and act like an adult." He told himself as he fixed his back and sat upright. "Well look who's ready for duty." Celestia appeared from behind the throne which made Sol jump. "Tia! Don't do that!" He said as he managed to stop his Fight response and stopped himself from potentially giving her a bloodied nose or eye. Putting a hoof on his chest he managed to calm himself down. "Sorry. But i couldn't help it." She said with a big grin on her face as she took her seat next to him. "So how did you sleep?" She asked happily. "Quite well. I still find it hard to think i am back after all these years. To be honest, i kind of forgot i was a prince with all those years i lived alone." Sol wasn't going to lie. He was already starting to miss his old house and his old life. But he also remembered that Grand Harvest told him that if he ever did decide to go back, he should spend time with his family as he sadly lost his in a timber wolf attack. Sol's first taste of immortality came when he was living with Grand harvest. When he was getting taught how to work the land and how to take care of it. Over time he saw Harvest get more grey and weaker. One time which was 4 years before his passing he collapsed in the garden and Sol rushed over to him. By that time Sol hadn't aged in appearance since the day he ran away, but as he looked at Harvest he knew he wouldn't be around for much longer. Sol spent the last 3 years of Harvest's life as the one who attended the garden. 1 year before his passing he lost his sight and 6 months later he didn't ever remember who Sol was. He was starting to sleep all the time. Only waking up for food, which Sol had to feed him and tell him he was his 'Caretaker'. It was one of the toughest times for Sol as every passing day he would wake up and check on Harvest. Making sure he was still alive. Around 1 week before he passed he stayed awake more often but he was talking to the air. Taking to those he once knew like they were in front of him and he would also talk into the early hours of the morning. Sol would never forget the day that he passed away. He was trying to get to sleep but couldn't as Harvest was still talking to the air. But as it reached around 2 in the morning, he heard a chuckle from Harvest and then he went silent. Looking back on that moment he realised he likely passed just before he himself managed to get to sleep. That was around the first time he felt starvation in a long time as he failed to keep the garden healthy by spending time indoors, trying to get over the fact that Harvest was gone. Thankfully he did manage to ration the food he did have until the summer and by that time he was almost skeletal in appearance. About 10 years after that he decided to move to a more remote place. "Sol?" He snapped out of it and looked up at Celestia. "Sorry Sis. Just thinking." He didn't realise that Luna too had arrived and was standing next to him. He only realised when he looked to the side to see her smiling at him. "You still daydream?" She asked jokingly. "Yeah i do. So what?" Both giggled and took their seats with him. With that the day begun and Sol watch on as Celestia and Luna delt with their work. Sol still didn't have much to do as he was still learning about what's changed and how he will now deal with the new culture. He could challenge Celestia to a duel to prove to others that he was capable of taking care of himself as a Stallion of old. But they would likely say 'She let him win to be a 'Gentlemare' or some crap like that. Not only that but the attention he got from being royalty was starting to get annoying. Thankfully Celestia was there to tell them all to leave him alone and that he could do things himself. He thought about running away again but he didn't want to hurt Celestia who had waited so long to see him or Luna who looks like she wasn't even back for 5 years. Sighing, he got up from his throne and went to the garden. Saying to Celestia and Luna 'I need to take a walk' as he left. Walking in the gardens was something he usually did to clear his head or calm down. As he went into the gardens he was approached by a mare who asked to be his escort. "I can take care of myself. I am not like 'Your' stallions." He said with a hint of disgust which caused her to take a single step back. "I didn't mean to offend you." She said as she looked upset. Sol sighed and rubbed his head. "I'm just tired of being treated like a kid after i was raised to show no emotion and follow logic since i would be a leader. It's not your fault. Return to your duties." He said and left as he entered the garden. As he walked in the garden it wasn't long until he saw that Discords statue was gone. This made him panic a little as he couldn't really remember much about Discord other than he was not a nice guy. The only memory he has of him was a seemingly 3 second memory of him sitting on a throne, laughing and a strong feeling of fear. "Guard!" He called in a voice that sounded more concerned that fearful. The mare from before ran up to him. "Sir?" "Where's Discord?" He asked as he pointed to the empty place his statue use to be. "Oh. He's reformed. He's now living with Fluttershy." She said so casually. "Really? Him? Reformed?" She nodded. "I...see. Thanks. You say resume your duties." He told her as he walked further into the gardens, only to soon be blocked by...a wall of bubbles? "Oh my, how much you have grown." A familiar voice said from all around. "Discord?" He asked as he looked around and as he did, the bubbles took shape into the Discord he remembered in his memory. "Well look who's back. The Prince. Where have you been all these years?" He asked as he then put in a hat and smoked a pipe while looking through documents that he made appear. "Cause i couldn't seem to find you at all when i got out. You were none existent." He then made them all vanish. "I was away. In my own little adventure." "1003 years? Some adventure. You must have a lot of stories." He didn't reply to that. "What? Don't tell me you lived in isolation for a long time?" Sol did the same and didn't respond. "Oh...introverts. No fun at all. Why keep it all in? Show the true you." He said as he flicked a finger against his head and one of these smiling masks you see in Drama signs fell to the ground. With a look of amusement on his face, he looked right at Discord. "Oh fine. I get it you want to be alone. But you will come around eventually. Especially in a world like this. Where stallions only make up less than 10% of the overall population." He said with a smirk and vanished. Sol shook his head with rolling eyes. "No. I'm happy as i am." He said with a hint if pain in his chest. "Get lost!" He said to himself and steeled himself against the feeling. He knew he was an alicorn and as a result, anyone who wanted to marry would pass away. He would have to eventually bury his grand-foals and all others down the line. What kind of life is it where the elder has to bury and outlive the young? No. He would remain single. He would avoid the pain. One thing he did wonder was what else changed or what happened besides the culture change and he knew just the place to head to check on that. The throne room. Heading back to the throne room he looked at the glass windows which Celestia said she was saving for 'Something Special' previously and had a habit of putting up images of stories. One glass window caught his eye. One that he had walked by a few times but up until now had never stopped and looked at it. It was a picture of him...flying down with snow covered mountains in the background and both Luna and Celestia looking up in delight at him. "When was this installed?" He asked himself. "On the very day you returned while you were sleeping." Celestia said behind him with a smile. Sol looked over the others. One of them depicting an invasion of some kind. "That's the invasion of Canterlot. It happened recently, about 2 months age." Canterlot was invaded and he never heard about it? He really was living under a rock for 1000 years. "It was invaded and i didn't even know about it." He said in shock. "Everything turned out well. Thankfully." She said with a smile. "Why didn't you fight back?" He asked her. "You have the power of the Sun. A star. Why not fight back?" He asked almost angrily. "Why do you think? The collateral damage would be too devastating. I challenged the queen and was winning, but then i felt my power boil up...i felt...her speaking into my ear and i lowered my power." "Her?" He asked with confusion but Celestia looked shocked. "Oh did i say her haha? I mean...the queen was trying to get into my mind. Yeah." Celestia was clearly nervous about something. "Sorry Sol but i have to go. IHaveCakeLeftOverIfYouWantSomeOkBye." She said in a panic before teleportating away. All he got from that was something about cake. Sol was left there stunned. Celestia had never acted like that before and it made him concerned for her. But what could he do? He decided he would head to the door to the council chambers and listen into what they were talking about. He had nothing to do so he went there and as he had come to expect, it was all mares. The rest of the day went slow. Most things that normally happened didn't take place that day and even Luna saw that it was a much slower day than normal. "So how was your Day?" "Besides a shock seeing Discord again. Uneventful." "I know. Strange." Sol had a feeling it was because of him. The days were getting more easier with less mares showing up and when they did they were more...formal and sharply dressed. Perhaps they were trying to catch his eye. "Oh Luna. I was speaking to Tia today and she acted strange." "What happened?" "Tia mentioned...her. Do you know who shes talking about?" "Her? As in just that with no name?" Sol nodded and Luna shook her head. "Sorry. But i have no clue. I don't think shes talking about mum so i have no idea." Luna smiled at him before it turned to a grin. "Hey Sol. How about we have a bet?" "What are you implying?" "We go out disguised and see who can drink the most before giving up. None alcoholic of course." "The stakes?" He asked with a grin "If i win. You have to wear a suit and greet mares who arrive tomorrow." He narrowed his eyes at her as she grin evilly. "You never know. You might like somepony." She said in an almost singing like way. "And if i win?" She lost her smile. "What do you want to happen?" After thinking on it for a moment he looked at her with a grin. "For Nightmare night you will have to wear 'That' suit." He said as he hinted to something with a grin and Luna's eyes widened with fear. "Why?" She asked but he just put up a hoof. "Deal or no deal?" After a few moments she took it and shook. "Fine." With that, both of them disguised themselves and went out. Author's Note I am thinking of Cancelling the FNAF story and making a new SCP crossover story called 'Son Of Scarlet' as i have totally forgot what the story of the FNAF one even was. Also to those who are reading this one. I am mainly focused on my other story TOWTH. Finding your pathSol had spent some time going over recent events and he was surprised to see Celestia hadn't been there to deal with the problems at hand. However she did mention something about something called 'Her' but that's all she said about it. He did ask her before but she pushed the subject away. She seemed to be fearful of her power. Like she would lose control if she used too much or went too far. She had fought Nightmare moon to a standstill before and while she wasn't strong enough to stop discord alone, she could still give him some trouble if she really tried. So she wasn't weak, it seemed like there was something hiding her back mentally. Something she feared. Sol did have a theory however. She lose her younger sister who was just suffering from rejection and acting out of sadness. Her younger brother who ran off and was never found for over 1000 years and her twin brother who ran off to search from the younger but ended up ruling his own kingdom. She lose half her family in one night and was left alone to rule a whole empire by herself. Such an event would drive even the most loving individuals crazy and with the massive power and responsibility she suddenly had, she probably done a few things she, at the time, thought were good and helpful but looking back at them she realised they were bad. Her eyes must have been opened after a time and she realised what the power and emotional trauma done to her so she does her best to not let the power get to her, unless she wanted her bad side to come out again. It was only a theory but he couldn't have imagined how much pressure the past 1000 years were on her mentally after half her family was gone and the last one she had moved away from her. Sol did like to be alone but he wasn't beyond being with others if they needed the help. Realising his own mistake now he regretted that he ever ran away. If he was still with her then things might have turned out better. But like Luna, he reacted out of emotion too but he chose to run away. It had to wait however as he had to prepare for today. While he didn't really have any duties he still needed to keep up appearances and needed to hold himself to the title he had. Last night he did have a dream that he didn't know if it was his mind giving him a solution to the problem he had or Luna somehow influenced it. But he had an idea how he would try to prove himself. He needed to not challenge Celestia first. He could head to the guard training ground and prove himself by challenging the guards and work his way up. Sure he was an alicorn so he had some advantages but for the most part it seemed that the culture changed to believe the stallions had low mental capacity rather than physical. Even if physical was part of the culture change the most change seemed to be mentally so if he could prove himself against even the toughest guards by showing them he had the mindset of a leader then he could eventually challenge Celestia. Sol then remembered he hasn't really used a weapon in a long time so he might be rusty and if the guards even know the battle tactics he did as he was over 1000 years old. Heading out of his room he made his way to the armoury where he saw around 4 blacksmith mares working and sweating in the intense heat. One of them saw him and froze up. "Oh. P-Prince." She said with shock in her voice and the other 3 turned to face him. "At ease. I'm just here to request weapon." He told them but this only seemed to shock them. To hear a prince request a weapon to them was unheard of. While only a small fraction of the stallions out there joined the guard, they were often made to be lookouts or other jobs that kept them at a distance. They had no idea how to react to this. "Any weapon specifically?" Was all one could asked as her mind went black at the situation they were in. Sol thought about it for a moment and he decided on a sword. This was a weapon to challenge Celestia when the time was right and the guards likely used wooden sword to train. Unless they had developed some kind of magically created swords in the time he was away. "A sword." That made the blacksmiths jump. A sword. Up close and personal and not something like a bow to attack at a distance. All of them were frozen for a few moments. "Sir. Are you sure? Stallions don't normal-" He cut he off by raising a hoof. "I am not like those of today. I am over 1000 years old. I was raised and trained to fight by Celestia and i survived in the woods, away from society and from the protection that my sisters have for over 1000 years. Remember? Please don't make me order you to give me a blade." Sol hated giving orders to others. "Y-yes sir." They couldn't argue with him. He was in the same position of authority as Luna. So really the only one who had the power to overrule his word was Celestia and that wasn't cause her title was more than his, it was cause she was older as if a prince or princess ever had a disagreement then the oldest usually got priority. So if he and Princess Twilight had an argument, since he was the older of the 2, he would take priority. "Keep it here and i will get it at the end of today or tomorrow." He said as he left and went to the barracks. He was going to start proving himself to the guards and to the whole of Equestria that he wasn't some cuddly prince. There was only 2 mares in the Barracks and when they saw him they froze in shock. "S...Sir?" One said with shock. "At ease soldier. I am just here to observe. You're training starts soon, doesn't it?" He asked them with a tone of voice that hinted that he was there for a purpose and was going to see it through. "Yes. It's in the yard. But why would you be intere-" He held up a hoof to her. "I have my reasons." He walked passed them and looked out into the field and saw the mares training. there was 2 stallions there training with crossbows. When one mare saw him, she silently motioned to the rest who once they saw him started to train harder. If this was a way of attempting to get his attention or because they were putting on a display for royalty, he didn't know. Sol watched a few matches and saw their techniques. Needless to say he was aware of most of them. There was some that were done differently as a way of improvement but for the majority of the fighting styles. Not much seemed to have changed when Celestia trained him. They looked back often to him to see if his expression changed and for the most part he maintained his blank poker face. He was now sure they were trying to catch his eye, but they would have to try harder as he was not all that impressed. After the 8th spar he said to the mares beside him without even turning to look at them. "I'm joining." He said bluntly and he heard one of the mares drop her ice cream at his comment. Sol grabbed a wooden sword and walked into the ring as the last two mares who battled were leaving. Needless to say they all looked horrified at him standing in the middle of the sparing ring. "Listen up. I am sick of you all thinking i'm some kind of sensitive creature that needs to be cared for. So i am now challenging any and all of you to a sparing match. Step forwards." He waited for a response but it was so quiet the onlt thing he heard was the wind. "You're majesty-" One tried to speak as she stepped into the ring. Sol turned around more quickly than they could react too and pointed the wooden sword at her. Which caused her to back up. On a balcony, Celestia was looking down as she took her midday break and smiled as she saw Sol in the middle of the fighting ring. "You still have that fire in you. Don't you?" She giggled to herself. "Take another step and i will consider you my opponent." Sol warned the mare who was now a frozen statue. This caused a commotion which caused the 2 stallions who were training with crossbows to enter the ring to try and get him out of it. Sol's eyes turned to looked at them and he glared at them which caused the 2 of them to back off. One of them tried to be brave and took a step into the ring. "Take one more step and we battle for real." The stallion thought he was joking but as he took another step he found himself on the ground with a burning pain on his side. The audience gasped loudly as the stallion back up and held the area he was struck at. "I'm not joking around! If you want me to leave, then you will have to beat me in a spar!" He announced to the crowd of mares. "Fine then." One of them stepped forwards. Sol turned around to her and smiled. "A mare with a spine to fight me." He said as a joke since to them it was not seen as right to fight him since he was a stallion. But he didn't care. He was about to battle. The mare charged at him blindingly. Not tactics put into her attack. She must have thought he was bluffing so with a simple block, a smack to the side and a stronger smack to the other side, she was out. "Anyone else?" Sol said as he took her down with no effort. It took some time but slowly the mares started to attack him one by one at first and then some tried to team up. Thanks to his training, fitness and speed he was easily able to avoid and counter them and soon he found himself standing amount a crowd of injured mares. "Is that all you have? The training i went through 1000 years ago was much more brutal than this at basic level. This is when he heard something behind him that put a smile on his face as it reminded him of the times before Luna vanished. All the mares around him were looking behind him. Wide eyed and fearful. A Few minutes ago. Luna and Celestia both looked at Sol as he took down the guards in a sparing ring. Each guard lasting no more than 10 seconds against him before being knocked out or thrown out of the ring. The tactics he used was the basic training he went through more than 1000 years ago and some more that they assume he picked up while surviving in the wild for years on end. "Sol is still the warrior he was trained to be." Luna said with a smile. "I think the mares are getting a little frustrated." Celestia chuckled as some mares who were injured were watching him with pouts on their faces. "More like jealous. We simply must join in, for old times sake." Luna said. "Luna. I'm not sure that wo-" Luna had already vanished and returned with her old battle gear. "Sol wants to show he is a stallion of old and not like the ones today. So a real battle would show that." Celestia sighed and a few moments later it turned to a smile. "Very well. Go on ahead. I will be along soon." With that, Luna flew down to the sparing ring. Present time "Indeed it was." Luna walked up to Sol covered head to hoof in a black and blue armour and Sol greeted her with a smile as he turned to face her. "Luna. You want to challenge me?" All the mares were wide mouthed and watching with great interest. "Indeed we do dear brother. For you have proven yourself by handling our guards but how will tho last again me?" She grinned and put the hatch on her helmet down before tossing Sol a real sword which he caught with his magic. Luna pulled out her battle-axe and got into a battle stance. Celestia herself was standing at the side from a distance as she watched them prepared to battle. A memory flashed in her mind of a younger Luna and Sol with stone swords in the garden of the old castle battling each other. Blades hitting each other until one sword broke. They usually had a few bruised and some cuts after the battle but they each were happy afterwards. "I have a feeling Sol will win." She told herself as she still didn't know what he picked up from the years of living alone so how he will fight would be unpredictable. Proven"So Sister. Do you expect to beat me? Remember the times you tried before?" Sol said in a joking way. A smirk largely visible on his head. To him he didn't care if she had Armor on as this would work in his favour. He already had a battle plan to beat Luna. "Why Dear Brother. You will find we are no longer the inexperienced fighter we once were." Luna raised her Axe and pointed it at him. "We challenge you." "Challenge Accepted." He said with a grin. Waiting for Luna to make the first move, he was greeted with her rushing forwards and bringing the axe down. Sol easily blocked it with his blade but as he felt the impact he realised it was a light impact. Looking back at Luna, he saw her smile and then with her 2nd swing, the axe hit him with more force than before. This is when Sol realised she was testing him. "Why Sister? Do you think I'm not capable of handling you?" He said mockingly as Sol moved his blade forwards and blocked at the handle before moving his blade up to the head of the axe. Hooking it and throwing it to the side. But Luna's grip on it was stronger than he thought so both of them put all the strength they had into their weapons. It was at that moment that Sol's blade broke in half and he looked at the hilt which only had about a quarter of the actual blade part left. "Don't underestimate us Brother." Luna said pridefully. Sol smiled as he was about to burst that ego she had. "Well same goes for you. This is all i need." He said as he held the broken sword with his magic. Luna was unsure if he was serious but she believed him as he was a very strong fighter. So with her trust in him that he could still fight with that broken blade, she attacked him and he avoided her easily. There was one incident which was close to him getting hurt as Luna swept her axe across and for a moment Sol lost his balance as he didn't expect to land on a rock so he moved back, the axe seeming to barely miss his cheek as it did so. Luna saw that and did her best to slow it down and did barely managed to as he lost his balance after she launched the swing so stopping it was not happening, all she could do was slow it down. Sol did manage to avoid it and she was relieved she done no serious harm to him. Swinging her axe she did all she could to hit Sol. Putting all her effort into speed as she was still aware he wasn't wearing anything heavy so she needed to not put in a lot of power to her attacks. Not because he was a Stallion but because it was common sense to not do something that could potentially kill your sparing partner. Needless to say she was amazed at how quick Sol was as he avoided every attack she threw at him. A downwards hit would make him step back. A slash would make him drop and duck. A sweep would make him jump. He was a pro at avoiding her attacks. Sol knew that Luna would soon catch on to what his tactic was so he needed to distract her and he knew just how to do that. With his blade bud he tried to go for her head. While he didn't plan to actual land a hit, he needed to make it look like he was trying, at least for a while. "Sol. Why do you not get a new blade or an heavy weapon like us?" She asked, more out of concern for her brother. It was then that Luna felt the sweat coming off her forehead. "Why Luna...or LuLu..." He said with a chuckle as he knew that got under her skin and the angry pout she made confirmed that nickname still did annoy her. "Surely you realise what I am planning by now?" He did a fake sneak attack as he tried to make his attack take her by surprise, which it did, even with him not trying to hurt her. Just make sure she was focused on attacking him. "What are you planning." Sol grinned. All the time he spend in the woods alone made his body grow stronger and his stamina improve greatly. Avoiding her was quite easy and he wasn't starting to sweat. All he needed to do was wait till Luna tired out thanks to her heavy Armor and his bulky weapon. "You will see." Sol grinned. Celestia was watching from the side and saw what Sol was doing and understood his tactic. Luna was a talented fighter and knew how to take a beating but Sol was quick and struck where it counted. Luna was getting tired and the heat she was feeling inside the Armor she wore didn't help in the slightest. As she saw Luna pull her Axe back she was sweating and breathing heavily. Sol had shown her his speed to make her realise that power wouldn't do and to throw around that Axe with her magic at such a speed and to keep track of his movements along with how heavy the Armor she wore was all working against her and Sol knew it "Sol has won." Celestia said and her mare guards looked at her in surprise. "Wait. Really your highness?" Celestia nodded. "Look at Luna and then at Sol." Not to mention Sol had also changed his fighting style. He never waited for his opponent to tire out when he spared with Luna before. Previously he would always avoided their attacks before striking and aiming for important points or use the environment to his advantage. So it was similar but different too. It was clear to anyone at this point that Luna was tired while Sol still had stamina to spare. Luna's armor was also weak at the joints and that seemed to be where Sol was aiming his fake attacks which caused Luna to be unable to ignore them. He had Luna in a net and it was slowly closing over more and more. Sol decided to go on the offensive now and charged at Luna with the intent of tiring her out more. He launched fake attacks at important points in her like her joints but was either blocked or he slowed himself down to the point that Luna was able to block him. He pretended to be frustrated which was hard as the grin wasn't easy to get rid off since everything was going to plan. Time after time again Luna would block him and grin, but she was gradually getting slower and slower. The moment Sol saw her magic stagger he knew it was time to finish this. He done one more fake strike and when it was blocked he moved his blade upwards so when Luna's axe followed he lost his fake expression and the grin returned. Sol moved forwards and when Luna saw this she brought the axe down. More like let it drop. Sol stepped back and then when the axe was in the ground he jumped into the handle as her magic lifted it again and with one more jump he landed on Luna's back. This caused her to collapse and as she tried to move she felt something at her neck. She looked down and saw Sol's broken blade with that sharp point at her neck. Ready to slit it open in a moment. Looking up all she saw was Sol looking down at her with a huge grin on his face as he held the broken blade to her neck. "I win LuLu." He said as he got off her and took the broken blade away from her neck. As he stood up and looked around he saw all the mares were wide eyed and their jaws were hanging to the ground. "Next?" He said smugly and all the mares backed off. Even the stallions from before were beyond shocked at how he defeated Luna and it was clear she was trying to actually hit him as the large amount of holes in the ground, how much she was sweating and the fact they saw a steel blade get snapped infront of them. They knew she wasn't holding back or decided to just let him win to be nice. He won a real duel against the princess of the moon. Some ponies were even watching from the castle interior and upper levels as mares and stallions alike were leaning over edges and looking down from widows to watch their battle. Luna stood up and took off her helmet. Cleaning her forehead of sweat, she looked to Sol with a smile. "You fought well Brother. We're impressed." Sol helped her up and she took off her Armor before putting her royal clothing and crown. "Sol is the winner!" Celestia announced from the side with a large smile on her face. "I knew you would do it Sol. You were normally the most experienced fighter and had the most fire when it came to battling." Celestia narrowed her eyes in a way that someone would do when looking at something they were trying to understand. With a hoof she wiped his cheek and smiled. "Well now mares will know you're not a doll with that." She had a smile on her face. Sol decided to prove himself once more, so in the sight of all the ponies around him he pointed to Celestia. "Celestia. I challenge you to a duel next week." He was somewhat tired from all the dodging he had to do with Luna so some time to recover would help him. This would have 3 things working in his benefit. First would also let word spread of him challenging Celestia. The 2nd would be the word of him beating Luna also spreading and lastle while he had proven himself in physical power he needed to now prove himself mentally. So taking down Celestia or holding his own against her with a solid plan would show mares that he doesn't have a low mentality for his age and that other stallions could too and that stallions can return to the way they use to be. "And I accept your challenge younger brother." She said in her normal calm in collected tone. "We will meet in the Canterlot theatre 1 week. Rest up and prepare yourself." "One thing more." He narrowed his eyes to her. "What might that be?" "No holding back on me." This caused the mares and even the stallions that were there to almost start sweating and one stallion even fainted. Sol had half a mind to kick him to wake him up but choose not to as he was here to prove himself and that Stallion could be like him, not to be cruel. "I accept your request." Celestia said with a smile and casually walked back to the Castle. Sol knew he needed a new plan. Celestia and his older brother were trained and completed the training their parents gave them while his and Luna' were incomplete as she disappeared before they finished theirs. Plus she also saw the way he took down Luna and would be aware of it so he decided to head in and make up a new plan. On his way to his room the mare guard were looking at her nervously and not with flirty eyes like they were before. He smile as he knew that was a good sign that they weren't going to treat him like he needed care anymore. Arriving back in his room he smiled at his success today as he got ready to have a shower. He more or less had nothing else to do for the remainder of the day. It had been a few days since he had taken up his title or prince again and he still didn't have much to do as Celestia was normally the one who was most busy. Heading into the shower room he turned it on and started to clean himself. What caught his attention soon after was a stinging sensation on his cheek, where Celestia had touched him. However he decided to leave it for now and get washed. The shower itself wasn't too hard for him to understand when he returned as there was times he got lost in the woods and bathed under a waterfall. A shower was more or less the same besides a off and on switch and a dial that controlled the temperature. He did hear that Luna had trouble with it and by the time Celestia returned to see how Luna was doing it looked like the whole bathroom had gotten washed and forgotten to have been dried. One thing that did still somewhat bother him was his lack of a certain mark. To him the way his society operated, even before the gender ratio change was strange. For example how was it that the mark that ponies got was always tied to their name in someway when their name is what they got at birth? Not matter what their names were they almost always seemed to get a mark later on in life that reflected that in some way so was it really based on their 'Special talent' or was their talent somehow linked to their name that their parents gave them? "It's probably magic. That seems to be the the answer to a lot of stuff like that here." The mayor of ponyville was called 'Mayor Mare' but is that a title or her name? Was she just called 'Mare' before being elected? If not then was was her name? If it was 'Mayor mare' at birth then her parents knew she her talent would be related to politics somehow. Sol shook his head to get these thoughts out of his mind. It wasn't worth getting a headache over. This is when he saw the clock that showed he had already been in there for 15 minutes while he felt like he just got into the shower. "I got to stop thinking about these theoretical stuff when getting washed." Sol told himself as he rubbed his forehead. He got cleaned and as he was getting dried he saw in the mirror what the stinging was. He had a cut on his cheek. "Well that will probably be a scar. Not that I am complaining." He said with a chuckle and decided to stay up and read some book before heading to his bed. Calling it a day. Home Sweet Home"Twilight. A letter from Celestia just arrived." Spike ran over to her with a scroll in his claw. The purple Alicorn, Twilight Sparkle who had just recently received her crystal castle was still looking over the map she was making of the castle. "Hold on..." She drew out another room on the parchment she held in her magic before turning to him. "What did you say Spike?" He frowned as he held out the letter, showing it was from Celestia and without a moment's hesitation she took it and read it. "Dear Princess Twilight. First off I would like to say congratulations on the new castle. I would like to see around it sometime in the future but I'll be very busy for the next few days. Which leads to my next and most important point. The time I have right now I wish to use to tell you and your friends something very important, something only myself, Luna, Cadance and Shining armour know. Please gather them and meet me in Canterlot." She closed the scroll up and looked at the map she had of the castle before placing it on the table in the main room. "Spike. Let's get our friends. Celestia wants to meet us in Canterlot. Whatever it is, it seems important." She wrote a quick letter to tell Celestia they were on their way and had Spike send it before they ran out of the castle to gather up their friends. It was a few minutes later that they were all gathered up in the castle as Twilight was going to explain to them what she could, even with the little information she had. Rainbow Dash on the other hand was clearly annoyed as she had been woken from her sleep and it was no more than 24 hours after they had finished off Tirek. "So what is this about anyway? We recently defeated Tirek and you got a New castle in Ponyville. Please don't tell me there's another bad guy we need to beat." "Celestia said she wanted to tell us something. Something that only the other Alicorns and my Brother knew about. If you want answers then we best not stall. Everypony ready?" With a smile from them all and a nod from Dash she teleported them all to Canterlot. They were teleported right into the throne room where Celestia was waiting with Luna. When she saw them she stood up and walked down towards them and Luna did the same. "Twilight. It's great to see you again. How does it feel being a Princess with your own castle?" Twilight was unsure how to respond and after a few seconds she just said one word. "Overwhelming." Celestia chuckled when she said that as she remembered back to when she took up the rule of Canterlot. "You'll get use to it." Luna nudged her, her expression showing she didn't want to make small talk. "Alright. Now, I'm sure you want to know why I called you here." "Is it another bad guy?" Dash said and the rest of the mane six all looked at her with a glare. "What? I'm being serious." Celestia reassured her it wasn't what she thought it was. "No it's not Rainbow Dash." Celestia closed the throne room doors and looked at the guard mares in her throne room. "Ladies. What you're about to hear, doesn't leave this room. Understand?" They all nodded. "Good. Now Twilight. You know how society works, with Stallions and Mares?" Twilight nodded. "Yes Princess. It's a mares duty to protect her Stallion and care for him and it's the Stallions duty to provide foals for the next generation. While it is true that there is no law that is holding Stallions down, there is only very few that attempt to step out of what's expected of them as it's become something of a norm. It's also to do with the gender imbalance as there is almost 10 times more mares than stallions so they have to be protected to make sure this doesn't get worse." Celestia nodded at her explanation. "Do you know how our society became like this?" Twilight nodded. "Yes. You said it was to do with a war. There were so many stallions in the military in the early days of pony kind that after dealing with Sombra and after the great species war they were very few in number." Celestia nodded again. "After that the percentage of stallions went from 51% down to 19%, but as you know that war almost eliminated half of ponykind. The only ones who didn't fight were either to young, old or too sick and we only had a very small amount left in the military at the time. It was then that mares started to help stallions with their work but over time the work became more mare dominant and society shifted. The original idea was that stallions and mares weren't shamed from doing what society didn't expect of them and a healthy growing population. If a stallion back then wanted to wear pink then he could but it wouldn't shame him as a stallion." "But there's something I don't understand. The gender ratio was almost a perfect 50/50 before the war. How did it change?" Celestia was surprised Twilight knew that as it wasn't a subject she expected her to study up on but she smiled and gave her the answer she was looking for. "That's something I have been keeping a secret. When Discord was defeated, he used a powerful scroll to upset the gender balance. Ever since his defeat there have been more mares being born than stallions. I wanted to reform him to not only give him a second chance, but to reverse that spell. However..." "What? What happened?" "The scroll he got was from his father. Who's magic is much greater than his own. With that scroll and the magic in it, he was able to cast the spell and the scroll was destroyed after it's use. The magic was used and it disintegrated. So now Discord can't reverse his prank for at least another 100,000 years. Then he will be the same age his father was and his magic will be on the same level." Twilight's head jumped up, she got an idea. "Can't Discord be given our magic to reverse it?" "No. Our magic is unlike his. You saw his magic was different when Tirek ate it. So we can't help in that regard, and what Tirek did is different from what we did to power you. You mentioned it in a way to use our magic to boost discords magic. Tirek ate magic and used them together. Not to boost a single one. We did try to track down his father...but..." Celestia held her head down. "I see. Thankfully, as I said when it comes to the law we have, it's not bent to a certain gender." The others nodded with Twilight. "It's also not what my parents wanted. My father protected my mother a lot and there were even times she protected him. For a while my parents were the inspiration for the younger society years of pony kind and then my mother had twins." Twilight's head jumped up at this and Celestia smiled as she had a feeling she knew what she was thinking. "What is it Twilight?" "Twins? But...Luna is your younger sister. So..." Celestia chuckled. "She had twins twice. I have a little brother and a twin brother." All of them gasped at this, even the guards and some of them dropped their spears. "WHAT!!?" They all screamed at her, even the guards. Celestia quickly shushed them and now even the guards were more interested in what Celestia was telling rather than their actual duty. "If you don't mind me asking Celestia...where are they?" Celestia's smile dropped. "My twin brother has his own kingdom. He met some ponies who were in trouble and helped them out. They looked up to him as a king and over time their small village became a large city across the ocean. He now rules his own kingdom. But the reason he met those ponies in the first place was because he was out looking for...my younger brother. He and Luna did everything together, they had the best brother and sister relationship I have ever seen as even my twin brother and I fought sometimes, but they almost never did." Luna spoke next as Celestia was having a bit of difficulty speaking about it. "After my...banishment I heard from my sister about what happened. He ran away as my banishment was devastating to him emotionally. But even now that I've been back for some time, we haven't heard from him or any rumours about another Alicorn. Twilight and the rest of you. You have never failed us so we ask you, if you find any leads about a male Alicorn with a white coat and blue hair. Please let us know right away." They all nodded at her request. "What about his hair?" Pinkie asked. "You and Celestia have fancy hair so what will his hair be like?" "We don't know. An Alicorn with this kind of hair shows they have a large amount of magic at their disposal and he was still a teen when he ran away. So we have no clue what his hair will be like. Whether it will be like mine was when I returned or different." Celestia felt like she could speak now. "Twilight. I'm counting on you. If you hear about or see any male Alicorn matching what you are being told. Tell me right away." "You can count on me Princess." "Oh and Twilight. Please don't try to herd him. You or your friends or any f the guards who are listening right now." Twilight blushed at that. It was not uncommon for a stallion to have many mares watching over him. Not just to protect him but it was also a way to try and help with the gender imbalance and to reduce the amount of lonely mares. "I won't. I promise. But what if he has a mare? What if he got married?" Celestia smiled and chuckled. "Well then I would like to meet her." Rarity stepped out from the group. "Is there anything else we should know about him?" Luna nodded. "Yes. He's adventurous. He always loved exploring and liked to do it alone. We would usually catch him leaving his room at midnight sometimes, just to walk around the castle at night to experience the different atmosphere it brought." This caught their attention as it was almost unheard of for stallions to be alone. They had a mare with them at all times when outside with only very few exceptions. One of which was her brother Shining Armor as he was well trained, he knew how to defend himself and was well educated in many combat styles. That was one reason it was not uncommon to see him alone, the other was that any poor mare who tried anything on him would meet Cadence's bad side. "Alone?" Rarity's jaw dropped as Luna nodded. "Yes, and if he hasn't been in contact with society at all then he will likely be a stallion of old. So don't expect him to be like a normal one. He will more than likely be a fighter and a tough one at that." Luna and Celestia walked back to their thrones. "Good luck my little ponies." Twilight stepped forward as she had one more thing to ask. "Princess. Are there any leads you have on him? Like where he could be?" Celestia shook her head in sadness. "I'm afraid not Twilight. I have no clue where he is, but I have a strong feeling he is still alive, somewhere." Celestia said while looking out the window. "Princess. Why did yah keep him a secret?" Applejack asked as she stepped forward. "After I lost him, I sent guards out to find him and they came back empty-hooved and injured. I searched for more than 10 years for him but the guards spread stories of him and the story of a Male Alicorn in the changing society was seen as silly. Soon the story faded and was forgotten about. Imagine the commotion and shock the country would be in if I made this public. The last thing I want is hunters or others that could harm him to know about him." Applejack stepped back and Twilight had one last thing to ask. "One last thing Princess. What's his name?" Twilight made sure to get his name. "Flare Solis but we just called him Sol." "Alright. This should be enough." A white Alicorn was currently standing in a forest, holding 4 tree logs with his magic as he wiped sweat off his forehead. The axe he used to chop them down had been embedded into one of the trees that he was carrying and with the logs now held in his magical grip, he took to the skies and headed to the crystal mountains. Before he reached the crystal empire he made sure to fly up higher and used the clouds to avoid being seen as he made his way home. After another hour of flying Sol made it back to his house which was a small wooden cottage nestled in a cave in one of the mountains. He did have another house but he left it as it wasn't very good with it being his first one and it being on top of the mountain rather than in it so it was much colder. He put 3 logs down before he took out the axe and chopped the 4th one in half and took it into his house. The house wasn't made with anything fancy but he learned how to use tools in the years he had been alone and made some furniture through trial and error. Most of the stuff was made from either wood, stone or clay but he wanted it to be like that as if anyone found it then it wouldn't stand out or be fancy in any way. He chopped both parts in half again and again to get 8 pieces which should last him for a few days. He placed some of the wood under a bathtub he managed to salvage and clean out from a scrap yard. He put another part to the side to be used once those pieces were used. He put 2 more beside a fireplace that was a nightmare to construct but he managed to make it by using a fire spell on mud after he placed rocks in them. The last of the parts of the log he had he placed under his bed to be used when he needed them and with that done he settled down. As he did this he removed the spell he had on himself that took him years to learn. It was a spell that shrunk him down so he could pass off as a normal pony, cause with him being an Alicorn he was much taller than normal ponies. He looked over to the coat rack that he kept a green coat on that he would wear whenever he went out for a wonder but he never interacted with anything he came across. As he looked out the window he saw that the sun was setting which means it was time for him to turn in but before he did that he went to the bathroom and used a simple illumination spell and looked at himself in the mirror. His coat was scruffy and his glowing blue hair was messy and his wings were dirty but other than that which showed he needed to wash himself tomorrow, he didn't see any difference. "No bugs?" He checked on his legs and wings for any possible parasites but found none. He went to his kitchen and ate a quick apple before he decided to turn in so he closed the curtains over the single window he had and hopped into bed and soon fell asleep. "Now you understand? If you don't act now. He'll move on." Luna had just explained to a shy mare what will happen if she doesn't come clean to somepony she likes. "I...understand Princess." "Then don't hold back. You need to confess to him but not to strongly." With that said Luna left the dream. As she wandered around the dreamscape she saw ponies she knew, some she didn't and some she had forgotten. It wasn't easy keeping track of who's dream was who's. She did have some organization when it came to her dreamscape however as the dreams location in the dreamscape were a hint to where they could be in the real world. She saw all the citizens of Ponyville and their dreams were all close together while her sister's dream was surrounded by the dreams of all the citizens and guards of Canterlot. Even the Crystal Empires dreams were organized and grouped together so this took some weight off her chest. As she looked around the dreamscape she saw a small group separated from the rest and went to them only to find out they were campers spending the night in a park together. Luna turned and looked around at the dreams and was about to leave when a light caught her eye. She looked over to the light and approached it but as she did she had to pass the dreams of the Crystal Empires inhabitants to get to it. Whoever this pony was, they were alone and quite far from everyone else but before Luna could check on the dream, she heard her alarm go off and was shot wide awake. Angry that she was woken up so suddenly, Luna drought her hoof down on the alarm clock hard which not only turned it off but knocked of across the room. "Stupid alarm." Luna got up and got changed into her royal gear. Sol opened his eyes and smiled when he saw the light shining in through his window showing morning had already come. He dashed out of his bed and headed to the bathroom where he used a fire spell on the wood that he placed under the tub yesterday and as it heated up he headed outside and broke off a large piece of ice before returning and placing it in the tube to melt. As he waited he decided to get look at himself in the mirror and see what he needed to focus on cleaning. His blue hair was getting long and he needed to cut it soon but just as he thought that his eyes wandered to the axe he keeps next to his fireplace. "Should I?" He picked the axe up with his magic and decided to do it so he held the sharp side away and the flat side rested against his neck and started using the axe to cut his hair. His hair was still long but not to the point it was half way down his neck like it was a few months ago. "I guess that'll do." He waited for the ice to melt before he took the pieces of wood out from under the tub and threw them in the fireplace and washed himself. He was in there for about 25 minutes, mostly because he had to thoroughly clean his large wings and dry them off as he would be using them to fly and wet wings in cold mountain air are not very good. As he got out he took his towel, cleaned it out in the bath water before he took it and placed it away from the fire. Before he made his way out he used his spell to shrink himself and put on both his jacket and hat so he looked like a pegasus and not an Alicorn. While he can't remember much about his younger years he does remember being told that Alicorns were ponies who were Royalty or on very rare occasions, those who had done such a huge heroic deed or many of them that they were granted the title of 'Champion of Equestria'. A title that was on par with prince and princess in terms of honour. But with him being in isolation and not planning to end it anytime soon he had no clue how many Champions Equestria has had. He stepped outside and took out his map to see where he should explore today. The name of a place called Ghastly gorge caught his attention but he needed to pass Canterlot and the Crystal empire. He saw Manehatten, Hollow Shades and a few more towns. While he tried to avoid towns and live off the land he started to feel bad. As he stepped out and looked out over the mountain ledge he saw the Crystal empire in the distance and much further south of it he saw Canterlot. "Celestia...You're probably worried sick about me." After he ran away he did find it scary at first but he soon got use to it and the more he lived by himself the happier he felt after he got over the death of his first friend. He explored this world for years after his friend died and after he lost his first house but most days he was either getting things to be using for repairing his current house or furniture or to be used as fuel for a fire. It was hard but he liked it as he felt free, but recently he has been thinking back to his big sister and how the worry she felt is probably eating away at her. He looked at the Crystal empire in the distance and felt a part of himself push him there but part of him wanted not to go. He turned around to look away from it but that only made the pull stronger as he hasn't explored a town in years and especially not during the day. He heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the empire but as he looked in it's direction he saw colours flashing in the air and heard more explosions. This sealed it for him heading to the empire, so he ran and jumped off the mountain edge before taking flight towards the empire. He was just too curious to see what was happening. As he approached the empire he made sure he didn't forget to cover his horn and also checked to make sure the shrink spell was still in use and he was happy to see both were as he wanted them. He saw ponies were gathered in the centre of the city, around the large Crystal building that was surrounded by houses in a circle shape so he landed on the outside the house circle and walked in between them to keep himself hidden. "Attention Everypony!" He heard a voice shout and it sounded female. He peeked his head out and saw something that caught his attention. The one who spoke was a Pink Alicorn and she was wearing a crown. "I am so happy to announce that you will all soon have another Princess! For I, Princess Cadence, am pregnant!" The entire crowd erupted into cheers and more colourful explosions happened which caused Sol to look up at them with wonder. "Excuse me. Are you alright Miss?" He heard a voice from behind him and turned to see a female guard looking at him, but when he turned to face her she gasped. "Can I help you Miss?" He said cautiously to her. "Oh my dear, what are you doing here alone? Where's your mare?" He was confused and didn't give an answer. He just stood there in thought, wondering what she meant by that. "Are you asking where my wife is?" He asked and she nodded. "I don't have one. I'm single." She gasped at this again and looked sorry for him, which only confused him more. "Single and Alone? Not even a caretaker? Were you abandoned? Come with me and we'll help you find someone." She offered a hoof to him and she looked genuinely upset when she heard him say that but he just looked at it and didn't move. This was his first real interaction with any pony in decades, perhaps even centuries and it felt very strange. He didn't remember getting treated like this around Celestia or when he walked the streets of Canterlot as a teen. "Did I shrink myself too much? Does she think i'm a foal? No, it can't be. I'm still a little taller than her and she asked if I had a wife and foals don't have wives. I understand society changes but...this is insane" He thought to himself but then he saw the mare guard take a step back and put her weapon down. "See, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you. You don't need to be scared of me." He was scared of her but not cause he was afraid of getting hurt, but of being discovered so he took a few steps back but this only made her look more worried for him. "W-wait." She called out. "What?" "Why are you scared of me? I'm not going to do anything bad to you dear. Please, follow me and we'll find you a loving mare who will take care of you." He raised an eyebrow when he heard this. What was she trying to do to him? "Actually..." He looked at the crowd who were still cheering and looked back at the guard. "What's happening?" The guard mare seemed confused by his question. "You mean this celebration? Princess Cadence is pregnant, meaning we will soon have another princess. Isn't that great?" She said with a smile but this only made him more confused. "Who's Cadence?" He swore he heard glass breaking as the mares eyes opened wide and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks almost instantly when he finished asking that. But she soon went back to normal and giggled. "Oh, you're a joker who likes to play hard to get." She laughed but as she did there was another voice. This one was male. "Private, what are you laughing about?" The mare turned around and stood at attention after quickly picking up her weapon. "Sir! I was just helping this stallion. He said he doesn't have a mare." A white unicorn came down the alleyway with another 3 mare guards around him and they all looked at him oddly. "A mareless Stallion?" "He seems scared. Even when I put my weapon down he seemed to back off." The unicorn guard looked over his clothes which were clearly dirty and ruffled. "Who left you like this? Whatever mare did this to you, she will face a heavy punishment." Sol was getting a little annoyed with others thinking he had a wife so he told them straight. "Listen. I don't want and have never had a mare. I have lived alone and separate from society, so please stop asking me if I have a mare." They all looked at him before laughing. "Looks like we have a comedian. A stallion separate from society? That's a new one." Sol felt his muscles tense up. He just wanted to show them just to shut them up, but that would only attract attention to him so he played it cool. "Listen. Just leave me alone. I feel happier when I'm alone." He turned around and started to fly away. He decided to wait a few more years and see if society changes to something he understands rather than what it is now. But as he flew up he was blocked by 2 mare guards. "Please don't do this. You need a mare to love you." They had their hooves on his shoulders and were gently pushing him back to the ground. As this was happening in the air and some ponies in the crowd saw it which soon caught the attention of everypony there, even Cadence. Who now walked up to the white unicorn stallion. "Shining, who is this?" "A lone stallion. Mareless. From the clothes he seems to have been abandoned. He's also a joker, told us he lived alone and separated from all forms of social contact." Cadence laughed when she heard that before she approached Sol, who turned to look at her after the 2 mare guards wouldn't move. "Do you have a name?" She asked in a calm motherly voice. "I'm..." He hesitated for a moment. If he said his real name then it might come back to bite him. "...s-snow white." He said the first thing that came to mind but he soon face hooved when he realised what he said. "No...I mean I'm Winter Blaze." "Well Winter Blaze. Just come with me and we'll find you a someone to take care of you." Cadence put her hoof on his back and he backed away from her. "Oh...you have no cutie mark? You poor thing. How much hardship have you gone through?" "I'm not weak. I've been living alone for years." He got the same reaction as before. They just laughed at him. "I'm sure you'll make a mare happy with your jokes." He felt the 2 guard mares gently nudge him. Trying to move him forwards but he didn't move so Cadence lifted him with her magic. "Just relax, You'll be with a lover or, a few soon." Sol's patience was thinning and he was about to shout at Cadence but what he heard next made him lose it. "I wouldn't mind watching over him." A mare from the crowd said and he just closed his eyes and let his anger boil. He spread his wings and using the strength from his anger, he flapped his wings hard which caused a gust of wind to blow through the area. This caused Cadence to lose focus on him with her magic and drop him. He dashed out of there as quickly as he could. He was so focused on getting away that he took flight back to the Crystal mountains instead of taking the opportunity to hide. As he looked back he saw Cadence following him. He knew he couldn't lead her back to his house so he flew around the mountains. Going under ice stalactites and even went up to the clouds only to drop right down in a nose dive and pull up before hitting the ground. He looked back behind him again and saw she was still following him so he looked around the area for something to lose her. "Please stop!" We're just doing what's best for you!" She called out to him but to no success. Sol saw a cave and made a dash for it and she followed him. The cave was a large one and it was quite dark so as he entered it he almost crashed into a wall and had to take a sharp turn but his wing hit off a wall which caused him to tense up and land on the ground. He looked at the cave entrance and saw Cadence entering it so he looked around quickly and saw a small hole in the roof. He flew up to it and managed to get into it before his wing gave out from pain. His wing wasn't broken but it was injured. He remained silent as he heard her hoof steps enter the chamber and wonder around. "Please come back! Why don't you want help?! Are you hurt that badly?!" Her voice echoed as it bounced many times in the cave and she soon walked further in. After about 3 minutes he did his best to get out so he held on tightly and dropped from the hole. He didn't waste time getting out as he went to the entrance but stopped. With his injured wing, she could follow his tracks in the snow. He took a deep breath and jumped before flapping his wings. As he did that he felt pain shoot through them but he held on and went off too the side of the cave on the outside and buried himself in snow. He hopped this would be enough to lose her. He lay there for what must have been minutes until he heard echoes of wing beats coming from in the cave and held still as Cadence flew out and looked around. "Blaze!? Where are you?!" She looked around frantically and he could hear Cadence was panicking. "Oh no, Oh no, Oh no. I lost him. He's all alone out here. He could get hurt!" She was saying to herself quickly and looking around some more. He has been hurt out on travels before but being an Alicorn does have a few special perks. She flew upwards and looked around but didn't see him and couldn't see any tracks. She started hyperventilating and flew back to the crystal empire. When he couldn't hear her wings flapping he pulled himself out of the snow and started his journey back home up the mountain. The Warrior PrinceAuthor's Note I wanted to make this chapter a bit dramatic with some tense moments between Celestia and Sol. I think it's just cringe but i can't really do better. The Warrior Prince It was the day for Sol to face Celestia and Sol had been preparing for this day for a while. His fighting style and the tactics he would try were all thought out and combined with his survival skills he learned from living alone. He was more than happy how he was being treated after beating Luna as the guards and maids of Canterlot no longer flirted with him but instead showed a fearful respect. He didn't want to be feared but the respect was a welcome change from the usual stuff that he got for a while after he returned. Luna was a little mad that she lost but when she saw how it made the others respect Sol she took that loss and threw it aside. He still didn't have his Cutie mark which did annoy him but he didn't care that much as he survived this long without it so he could last another 1000 years if he needs to. "Your sword Sir." The Blacksmith said as she hooved over the blade for the battle he was about to have with Celestia. Needless to say the whole Nation and beyond heard about what he was going to do. Now he was challenging the sun princess and the arena was packed with not just ponies but griffins, minotaurs and many more as they came along when they heard of the battle that would take place. He saw where Luna and the other mares...the mane 6 or some silly name they had where sitting. The yellow one who he thought was Fluttershy and Rarity the white marshmallow one both looked like they were about to pass out. Sol looked over to the stand and saw both a set of golden and dark blue armour. Walking over it he felt the texture and weight of them and saw they were more or less both made of the same material. Looking over at the golden set he got a silly idea. "Perhaps I can reflect the sun to blind her?" He chuckled and had a feeling she wouldn't like him fighting dirty so he chose the dark blue armour. As he put it on he saw himself in the mirror and smile. He looked Like Celestia if she chose to wear Luna's armour. Picking up his blade he got ready emotionally and mentally. The tricks he used against Luna wont work on Celestia so he needed to come up with a tactic to beat her which was easier said than done as she was his older sibling and as a result, she taught him a large amount of the combat he knew. He was going to need to rely on adapting as he went along and strike at every opportunity he could. "Let's get this on the road. Even if i don't win. Simply injuring Celestia to the point of blood and exhaustion would be good enough for me." As the door opened and he stepped out to see Celestia there with her golden armour on, he smiled at her and she returned it. Luna sat up with the main 6 with a smile on her face and Sol saw her mouth 'Good Luck' to him. "So shall we lay some ground rules?" Celestia asked as the entire arena went silent. "What do you have in mind?" He asked. "Simple. No fighting dirty. No going for the head and no high level magic that could kill." "Agreed." Sol said to her. As Alicorns they were much tougher than normal. An alicorn could take multiple stabs to the chest and enter a healing coma which would return then to normal within 2 weeks which is the reason for the 'No going for the head' rule. They were tough and likely eternally youthful, but not fully immortal. Sol backed up and so did Celestia as both of them stood at other ends of the arena. "Begin." The announcer said but it wasn't shouted as she couldn't do her job properly from the shock and fear that this match brought. Celestia wasted no time slashing the air with a sword and creating lines of fire that went right towards Sol. "This move...she's going to-" Before he could finish his thought, his body reacted and with a sideways turning slash, he cut her fire slashes across the centre and turned right but as he turned that way to hit her fire slashes, the force of the impact slide him in the same direction and caused him to spin around. Just in time he saw a flaming sword come down on the location he was just a second ago. Thinking he avoided her attack he was shocked to see that as her sword stabbed the ground, she let out a magic fire which burned the rocky ground and with her magic, she used the sword that was in the ground to control where the fire went. Sol took to the air and tried to catch his breath but Celestia didn't let up as she sent the fire on the ground upwards with a flick of her horn and a little magic. When Sol felt the flame impact him he couldn't help but smile. The memories of his early training days coming back and his heart starting to beat more quickly. He looked at Celestia with a smirk that told her he wasn't going to hold back. From his location in the air, he folded his wings and with a strong flap from them, he was launched to the ground just infront of Celestia and as she was pushed back a little by the wind, he went on the offensive and lunged at her. Missing her by an inch as she sidestepped and kicked him. The crowed gasped and some were covering their faces as they had a hard time seeing their ruler do this to her own younger brother. But Sol was having the time of his life and the battle was just starting. "I know that smile." Celestia said with one of her own. "Your love of battle is still in you after all this time." "You know it is. And i don't plan to lose this one." Sol wasted no time and decided to back up and launch 3 magic blasts as Celestia before he teleported behind him and tried to slash her back like she tried to do to him. But she conjured a magic blade and blocked his attack. "You have to do better than that." Celestia said in a way that she knew would get under his skin. The crowd wasn't cheering at the match went on but instead they were almost holding their breath as the battle raged on. A prince taking on his elder princess sibling and with their culture it was hard to watch a prince battle in such a way and against such a foe. Fluttershy and Rarity were gone by this point as they couldn't handle the stress, while Twilight was standing like a statue and her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Dash almost had a small smile on her face. Pinkie was covering her eyes with her mane and Applejack had her face buried in her hat, taking occasional glances at the battle. "Sol is so cool." Dash said in her fangirl voice which was easily heard by almost the whole arena. Celestia was acting more defencing but she was also taking the opportunity to attack when possible. She knew Sol and Sol knew her so this was more of a battle of wit than anything else and Sol could tell she was trying to wear him down as she had barely moved. Most of the time she jumped and let her wings carry her by gliding. Saving her a lot of stamina. "I knew you would be tougher than Luna. But I'm impressed to see the difference." Sol complimented his older sister. Celestia didn't have a smile on her face. She instead seemed to have...a frown. "After you vanished, i swore that if you ever came back or when Luna was back after her banishment, that i would not allow that to happen again. Over those 1000 years i wasn't just ruling. I was training." Sol's smile slowly faded and he could see pain starting to enter Celestia as he gazed at her eyes. "All that time. You were alive and you never even so much as wrote a letter." Celestia had a hint of pain and anger in her voice. Sol realised what this would become if he didn't snap her out of it. "CELESTIA!" He shouted firmly and shot a small beam of yellow magic at her. Celestia's eyes widened and blinked a few times before blocking. "Calm down. We will talk about that after." Sol felt worse now as the anger Celestia likely had for him that she suppressed for so long was coming to the surface. She was right. It had been so long and he didn't even so much as write her a letter just to let her know not to worry. "Later. Right." Her voice was low like one exhausted and accepting of the situation. Sol's attention was caught when he saw the end of Celestia's mane become a slight orange for a moment. He had a bad feeling that if he kept going that something would happen that wouldn't be pretty so it made him freeze up for a moment to think. Celestia's front right hoof was shaking and she was glaring at him with...fire in her pupil. The next thing Sol knew his vision was almost taken up compleatly by Celestia as she went on the offensive. Bringing her sword down, she sent a fire slash outwards which Sol dodged and he just managed to avoid a downwards stab into the ground, but not the resulting fire that shot up from the cracks. The cracks on the ground continued to spread until about half the arena was covered in them and fire was shooting up out of them. Celestia however was in a conflict in her mind. She wanted to give Sol the battle he wanted to prove himself but as she battled him she was getting flashbacks of him before he vanished. Angry at herself for not trying to stop him but also at him from choosing to separate himself from her. She felt her body tense up and her emotions flare for a moment. She felt 'Her' starting to take over. "Sol...why did you run away from me?" Looking over at Celestia he was heartbroken to see her face. Her eyes had visible tears in them and her mane had taken on a more warm orange colour. As the fire kept on shooting up from the cracks on the ground, magma soon started to cover the arena but Celestia was unaffected by it as her gaze never left Sol. "It was stupid of me." That's all Sol had to say. He ran away cause of the pain he had of losing Luna who he was closest too. But that was no excuse to not stay with Celestia. She probably feels left out since her own younger brother chose to run away rather than stay with her. As he gazed into her eyes which had both pain and anger merging together inside, he realised that this was one of those things that needed to be vented. She would only calm down after getting this pain out of her system. A pain that he caused. "Did you not think i was capable of protecting you? Did you not like me? Not trust me?" Celestia asked as she paid no attention to the magma which she walked through to get to him. Every passing moment her mane become more orange. "No Celestia. That's not it. I felt like i needed to be left alone. I was young at the time and Luna's banishment made me unsure what to do." Sol wasn't fighting her. Instead he was now trying to avoid her attacks. "You think i was any better off?! Having to do that to my younger sister!?" She screamed. Her mane was now becoming lighter and changing. The whole time this was happening Sol was feeling the guilt of his stupidity and selfishness over all these years coming back to hit him hard. What happened next caught him off guard as Celestia fired a magic blast at him. "Everyday since her banishment it asked myself how i could have done things differently! On that day i lost the 2 of you! Both my younger siblings! I thought you were dead only to show up in Canterlot out of the blue after 1000 years!!" Celestia's mane was becoming a bright red now. Sol decided to also fight back with his magic as he used his wings to kick up dust and fired his own yellow bean towards Celestia in the direction she was before the dust covered her. "I'm sorry about what i did. It wasn't right. I know that now." He tried his best to calm her down. "You only learned that now?! Or did you know for some time and still said nothing?!" Celestia's mane was now a glowing bright yellow and her eyes were pure white. Her mane almost looked like...it would catch fire. Which it did the moment Sol thought about that. Her tail soon followed. Celestia's face was still covered in tears and some parts of her were shaking. The sadness and anger working together to make her lose control. Sol sighed as he looked at her and the state she was in. He had no clue what to say or do. "Celestia...i..." He was cut off as he felt a sword on his neck. Every spectator in the arena gasped at that and even Luna was started to consider stepping in. "No more excuses! Do you have any idea what the following years were like after you were missing? I never felt as horrible as i did in that timeframe! The pain never went away that i should have followed you! I should have done more! You ran off into that forest and for all i know a feral animal killed you!" Celestia had every right to be angry at Sol for what he had done and Sol couldn't find anything to get back at her with. But that still didn't stop Sol from doing what he needed to right now. Sol then used his back hooves and kicked Celestia away from him. He knew what he needed to do and that was to calm her down. He needed to let her attack him to get the anger out of her system. He stood up and rubbed the area on his neck where she put her sword. Alicorns need to have strong control over their emotions or things like this happen. Their magic can heighten the emotions they feel and caused them to act without thinking. He had 2 options. Make Celestia more mad and the fight would be shorter but also more brutal. Or draw it out over time and let her calm down normally. For the sake of his subjects who were also nearby he decided to go with the latter. Looking up at Luna who was about to intervene, he glared at her and shook his head which stopped her in her tracks. "Go back Luna." He heard Celestia say without turning around and she tried to not sound angry at her. Luna knowing she was outmatched by them, backed off. "Celestia. We aren't finished yet." He drew his blade which he put away a while ago when he realised how much she was hurting. "You're Right." Celestia's blade was now an inferno of flames and Sol swore he smelt burning metal at that moment. "We need to stop this!" Twilight shouted as she saw it was about to get out of control. But as Celestia and Sol's blades clashed again in the arena, a magic shockwave knocked almost all the ponies off of their seats and the magma was pushed to the corners. Leaving Celestia and Sol surrounded by it. "Why didn't you let me know you were alive?! Tell me Sol!" Sol was about to remain silent until he just said what came to his mind. "Cause i was young and stupid." He pushed against her fire blade and with a step to the side and twist. His blade passed hers and managed to give her a cut on her side. Sol was almost hesitant to fight when Celestia showed no pain. "That's all!?" Bringing her Blade down again she cracked the ground and sent up more magma and flames which knocked Sol into the air again. Leaving his with visible burns. "I got to watch out for that." He thought as he picked himself up. The hot rocky ground feeling like sandpaper against his coat. Celestia threw her blade at Sol and as he blocked it with his own, he saw her fire a powerful magic beam at him. Sol just barely had enough time to put up a shield before the beam hit him. This however made him drop his sword and Celestia's which he blocked was knocked upwards and came down sharply on his back. Pain shooting through him as his concentration was broken which weakened his shield and a few moments later it broke. Celestia was shaking in her legs by this point. She put a lot into that attack and now that a lot of her anger was vented, she was starting to come to her senses. Realising her emotions got the better of her she felt guilt and regret shoot through her a moment later. "SOL!" She ran up to see what damage was done and as she reached half way she stopped and looked on in both amazement and horror. Sol had her blade impaled into him on his left side which was also flowing with some blood and he had 2nd and some 3rd degree burns. Both magical and non magical as the magma also left him with large swollen red spots on his back legs. But he was still standing and he looked...furious. Sol started to walk up to her as his body was glowing with magic. Thinking back to when she trained him, there was one thing that always ticked Sol off. Pain. When he was in pain he felt like he was losing and as a result he often got really angry in intense moments of pain. Allowing him to ignore most injuries he had and keep fighting. But to see him enduring the ones he currently had was something she never expected and just like her, he seemed to also be on the verge of letting his emotions overtake him as his magic swelled up. "You want to know why i never wrote to you? Fine. I have no idea. Thinking back i don't know if it was cause i blamed you, or if it was me and i didn't want to return to a large standard of life like that. I lost track of time and of my thoughts. I focused on the there and now. Not on the future and not the past as you can't change the past. It's been so long since that time that i can't even remember Harvests face anymore. The first friend i had who treated me equally and not as a scary royal figure. Or as some pony who needs to be protected. I liked it there with him and when he passed away...i don't even remember. It was so long ago. But i do know this. I did wrong to you. But i won't let that ruin the future i can have with you and Luna as a family." As he said this, Sol felt like he was trapped in his mind with his body moving by itself. "Sol..." Celestia's gazed went from his face to his wings. Sol wings were starting to change colour. "Do you think seeing you like that didn't make me feel bad for my foolishness. It did. I hurt you and i never thought about it until just before we met up again in Canterlot." Sol spread his wings out as energy seemed to envelop them and his flank was starting to glow as his feather grew larger. Every pony who was looking on was staring at Sol in amazement as he seemed to be transforming before their very eyes. Even with him and Celestia having a heated family talk in the middle of a battle. "I'm sorry that i hurt you. I won't do it again! But you didn't hold back with that magic attack. SO I WON'T HOLD BACK TOO!" Sol was now in the same position she was in before and his magic had reached his breaking point. His sadness in seeing what he did to her was making him angry more at himself than her and that anger broke. Sol's wings stretched out fully and the entire arena was covered in flowing streams of different coloured magic. Each feather on his wing emitted a different colour and they flowed out behind Sol like streams. His tail and mane also followed the same as his wings as his streams of coloured flowed like Celestia's mane. His coat turned a bleach white just like Celestia's was and magic pulses were being sent out as Sol used this never before seen magic. The streams of magic stretched out and went over the top of the arena so even those outside who were trying to see parts of the match saw it. As the pulses washed over the crowed, all of them quickly found themselves relax. They felt safe, all their worry seemed to vanish and their accelerated heartbeats returned to normal. Celestia herself had trouble resisting the pulse waves that Sol was sending out as she felt herself relax, like there wasn't any danger even when she knew Sol was still angry. Sol prepared a beam of his own that Celestia saw and put a barrier up to stop, but thanks to how relaxed she felt from the waves, or the presence that Sol seemed to be emitting, it was hard to hold it up firmly. The best way she could describe it was the feeling you have when a limb is burnt out from use and moving it around feels weird and it also doesn't moved fully the way you try to make it. It felt like that but instead of a painful burn, it was a weakness from the relaxation she felt. As Sol's beam impacted her shield it broke within a moment and she was knocked back against the wall. A moment later Sol's wings, coat and mane slowly returned to normal and he soon found himself shaking off his head. Looking around he realised what he done and looked over at Celestia who had a large black burn mark on her chest, but she was still alive and well. "Celestia!" He ran up to her to check on her but as he started to run he felt a sting on his back. A moment later he pulled out Celestia's blade which was in his back and limped over to her as she struggled to get up. She did manage to do so slowly as the relaxing effects of Sol's...whatever that was finally started to wear off. "I think we should stop this match. We need to clear things between us before we do something like this again." Sol said to her as both of them stopped fighting. "Agreed. Let's stop this." She agreed with him as she saw the blood flowing down his side from the injury her sword inflicted on him. "So it's a tie?" Luna asked with a relieved sigh before she flew down to check on them. A moment later the gates opened and medical professionals immediately ran over to them. "I'll be fine. I have been worse off. Make sure Sol is alright." Celestia told the staff as Sol was given more attention at her request. Celestia had 2 reasons for this. She wanted to make sure he was not injured in any permanent way and she knew Sol hated attention. She was right as Sol looked over at her with a shocked expression when she said that and a moment later when most of the doctors were around him, he glared daggers at her. Celestia just smiled and giggled. "Problem?" She asked with the biggest smug grin she could make. As Sol was lead way to be treated for his injuries, Celestia and Luna were left to speak. "What was that all about? I thought you had better control over your emotions than that." Celestia sighed. "Luna. I had to put up with an intense amount of guilt for both of you over so long and then i learned he was alive. Not just that but he didn't even tell me. I felt betrayed as he didn't feel or think about sending so much as a 'Hey Celestia. This is Sol, i am alive so don't worry.' I would have been happy with even just that. Just to know he was still alive." Luna had nothing to say and just looked at the ground. Celestia stood up and got her posture back. "Let's go Luna. We need to sit down and clear this up before something like that happens again." Twilight flew down to Celestia within a moment of them starting to leave. "Celestia! Are you alright?" She asked worriedly but all her mentor did was chuckle. "I am. Don't worry." She breathed a happy sigh as she looked over at Sol who was being lead to get treated for his sword injury. "What was that?" Twilight asked. More to herself than anyone else there. Celestia on the other hand, was smiling as she looked over at Sol and saw something new on his flank. She smiled when she saw it as she knew what it meant. "I'm sure you can figure it out Twilight." With that. Celestia and Luna teleported back to their rooms to change back into their royal attire and clean up. Celestia more so than Luna.
Once a Prince. Always a PrinceAuthor's Note Please Read First After talking to some who read my story and finding flaws, I changed the first chapter slightly. Not much was changed but I added more to the story. Also, this will be the last chapter of this story for a little while. I am going to focus on the other 2 for the next few days Once a Prince. Always a Prince It took some time but Sol finally made it back to his house. He had to walk for a good distance before he felt like he could fly the rest of the way and while he felt his wing get slightly better to the point he could fly, he was still slow while flying. When he got back he realised he had to hide his house as they might send out a search party so he looked around and found some boulders and moved them into the cave before using a basic ice spell to freeze them before he picked up more, placed them on top of the other ones and froze them too. When it was over he looked at it and it looked just like the rest of the mountain. He did leave a small hole to use to get into the cave so he entered that small hole before he moved another boulder over the front of it. "That should do it." He thought back to the Alicorn who was chasing him. That Alicorn wasn't his older sister Celestia or his Twin Sister Luna. Not his parents or anyone he knew, so how was she an Alicorn? What did she do to earn it, or was she a natural born Alicorn? "How much has society changed? It's like it's upside down and inside out." He rubbed his injured wing as he made his way into his home. He needed to calm down and think this over so he got more wood and placed it under the tub but then he remembered he needed ice and to empty it. He levitated the tub along with him as he went back outside before he emptied it over the edge only to see it turn to ice and smash upon hitting the rocks below. He took another piece of ice and headed in, carrying both of them with his magic. He placed the tub back down and the ice in it before he set the wood on fire and waited. As he waited a thought entered his head, making his heart sink. Could that Alicorn he met mean that there were new Alicorns? Was Celestia still around or was she overthrown? Was Luna still on the moon? He felt panic enter him as he worried for Celestia. "Celestia..." He didn't know what to say as that thought haunted him. Was she overthrown and killed? Did she die thinking he ran away because he didn't love her. "That's not true!" He screamed to the air. His body was twitching in his panic as now that he has seen society and how alien it was he worried about so much more stuff. "I need to go. I need to make sure she's ok and get this off of my conscience." It felt like it took an eternity for the ice to melt and he did what he did before. He threw the wood in the fireplace to start a fire but this time he added some coal he kept off to the side to the fire. He picked up the towel and headed to clean himself up. Cadence had just arrived back at the Crystal empire and Shining ran up to her when he saw the look on her face. She looked terrified and was hyperventilating. "Honey, what happened!? Where's Blaze!?" All the crystal ponies around the area looked at her for an answer. "I...I lost him." All the ponies heard that and gasped, causing gossip to start spreading throughout the crowd. "You lost him? How?" "I have no clue. I searched the cave I chased him into but I couldn't find him at all." Shining armour looked worried when he heard her explanation. "Should we organise a search party?" Cadence nodded her head. "Yes. We need to find him. The poor dear's probably terrified and hungry." Shining ran to the guard barracks to get a squad together. Cadence was determined to find this stallion and find out what was wrong with him so she went to pack supplies for a long search. Shining later returned with 20 guards. 17 mares and 3 stallions. 7 unicorns. 9 pegusi and 4 earth ponies. "Good going honey. Now let's find this stallion." All of them started to head to the crystal mountains. The unicorns teleported the earth ponies and the rest just flew up to the mountains. But Cadence ended up stopping when she saw a very familiar unicorn, who was now an Alicorn and 5 others also going up the mountain. "Twilight!" She shouted and flew down to her. "Cadence!" Twilight shouted and as they went up to each other they did their dance. "Sunshine, Sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake." They both resited in unison Both fell on the ground laughing after they did their dance and the rest of them just watched. "What are you doing in the crystal mountains Twilight?" Cadence asked. "My new castle. Remember the map I found out about. Well it wanted all of us to come to these mountains for...something." Twilight looked around and saw a few guards and her brother. "Shining!" "Twily!" They ran up and hugged each other. "BBBFF. What are you and Cadence doing here?" "We are looking for a lost stallion. Cadence chased him, but he managed to get away." All 5 of her friends looked upset when they heard that. "A stallion out here? Alone? I can't believe it!" Twilight looked more curious than upset. "There's no way that the map would send us if it was just a stallion that a few guards could find. There must be some other reason. Who was this stallion?" "Winter Blaze." Cadence told her and this just made Twilight even more confused. Sol was pacing back and forth in his living room, the thoughts he had before his bath still haunting him. He was still at war with himself as to if he should go to Canterlot as he wanted to but part of him didn't cause of how society was like at the empire. "I can't...I'm going. I need to make sure my big sis is alright." He tested out his wing and he was happy to see it was getting better. It would take him a while to reach Canterlot at the speed he would fly at and he's certain he would need to stop for a rest along the way so he looked back on his map for a location that wasn't the Crystal empire. He saw a place called Neighgra Falls that was a little south of the Crystal empire and foal mountain which was close to Canterlot. Smiling, he put the map in a bag and placed the bag on his back. He put a few fruits in the bag for the trip there and the trip back. He put out the fire and left his towel on the rack before putting his coat back on and a hat to cover his horn. Then he shrunk himself to pass off as a normal pegasus pony and left. He moved the boulder that was covering the exit and slipped out before covering it over again. He stood at the edge and took a deep breath and with a smile he spread his wings and took flight. He flew upwards until he was in the clouds and rested his wings to the side before he let himself fall, using his wings to glide for a while. He smiled as he felt the wind on his face and flowing through his hair that his hat didn't cover, making sure to keep it secure. It was a pleasant feeling that he had never gotten tired of in all his years of traveling. He beat his wings to take flight once more before he almost hit the ground but as he flew he made sure to stay away from cities and roads and only travel over forests and mountains. As he did that he found himself slowing down to take in the scenery around him but saw a sign in the distance. It read. "Welcome to Neighgra Falls" He stopped flying and decided he might as well check this place out while he rests so he walked in the direction the sign was pointing. When he turned the corner he saw a huge waterfall that must have been bigger than even Canterlot castle and as it fell it reflected the sun's light, giving off a shine like a diamond. "I...can't believe I've never been here before." He walked up to the edge of the lake at the bottom of the waterfall and looked across it to see a multitude of fishes swimming in the water. Looking up at the top of the waterfall, Sol decided he wanted to see what it was like at the top so he took flight and made it to the top. The view at the top was spectacular not just with the view of the surrounding land but also the large river at the top that went over the edge. "Wow. This place was made naturally? No interference from pony kind?" He didn't realise that there was a security guard close by who saw him and walked up to him. "Excuse me." Sol turned to face the security guard to see it was mare with an orange mane and a brown coat. "Yes Miss, Can I help you?" He asked with a smile. "Are you...alone?" He nodded. "Where's your mare?" He lost his smile when he heard that. This was a repeat of what happened earlier in the crystal empire. "Not again. You too? I thought I told that pink cotton candy pony Cadence that I don't need a mare. Never have and I'm not looking for one." He realise he raised his voice a little and the mare backed away slightly so he sighed and decided to apologize. "Sorry about that outburst. Just stop asking me if I have a mare. I'm sick of it." "But...Stallions have mares with them all the time." This caught his attention. "Wait...what?" "Because there is so few stallions compared to mares, we mares have a social duty to accompany and protect our stallions, at least until this gender imbalance is fixed. I mean sure there is no law that says a stallion can't be alone but it's become so common in society that it's mostly just done subconsciously." He decided to try and get as much information as he could from her. "I've been living alone. I have never really been to a town as I was taught how to self sustain at a young age so...can you tell me how things work?" He asked and she looked a little shocked. "Sure. Have you heard of the great species war?" He nodded. "Well in that war almost 70% of the stallion population was lost. As a result when this happened Society slowly changed. Mares took jobs that stallions usually did and because we had so few stallions, we started to do things to keep them safe such as think that stallions should always have a mare. This caused some mares to become upset because the odds of finding a lone stallion were so small, so herds were made where many mares shared one stallion. This kept the mares happy and it made stallions more protected." " Wait, so what is the stallion percentage now? What do stallions do in society?" "As I said, there is no law stopping them from doing anything a mare does but they are expected to be part of a herd and populate as much as possible, and as well as protect and raise the kids. It's our duty as mares to keep them happy. As for what their percentage is now, sadly they are less than 10%." He was shocked to hear this. He knew stallions were very few after the war but to hear they had dropped in number even more was scary. "How did that happen? How did they get so low?" He asked. "There were a few reasons. After they war, many stallions either stayed in the military or didn't settle down to have kids cause of the trauma they got in the war. Before the war, the birth rate in Equestria was stagnant. Some years there was an increase in births, some years there was a drop. This in a way, stopped over population but the balance had been greatly shifted thanks to that war." Sold nodded to show he understood her." "Right. Keep going." The mare told him the rest. "Birth rates went into the negative and have been like that for a while. Then some mares who were in the government suggested that Stallions stay out of work to get the population up again. They protested by not doing what the government said, so they kept doing their work and not what they suggested. This resulted in the biggest decline in birth rates ever seen and this was around 300 years after the war." "But how? Stallions and mares had an almost 50/50 birth rate." "That's just the thing. None of us. Not even Equestia's top scientists and magicians know what is causing this gender imbalance. Now the birth rate is around 15% for stallions and 85% for mares. But some places are worse than others. For instance, the town that has the worse imbalance is ponyville. Where there is 1 stallion for every 20 mares." "But...Stallions can still do everything a mare can. Right?" "Oh yes. There is no less rights or less opportunities for stallions out there than there is for mares. Most just stay with the current culture. If you never knew this then it likely comes as a surprise. Sure Celestia has a spell that allows for mares to have children. But the one born will also be always a mare. The reason this spell isn't used is for 2 main reasons. The first off is with the decline in stallions, mares started to see them the possibility of them not exiting anymore and they didn't like that idea. So they started to form groups to protect the few ones that were still around and even the government started to support families much more. Guess that's why we are so protective of Stallions. We don't want them go extinct. As for the 2nd reason...well, last time we tried to let magic take over something that Nature itself controls, it ended in total disaster." "I see. Thanks." He said with a sigh but then he remembered something. He was finally talking to somepony and getting answers so he could get one he's looking for. "Celestia? A white Alicorn with a multicoloured mane? That ring any bells?" Sol wanted to make sure that she was talking about his older sister Celestia and not a pony who took her name after dethroning her but when he asked that she burst out laughing and fell to the floor. "Ring a bell? She's our Princess and rules from Canterlot with her sister Luna who returned from her banishment only a few years ago." His head jumped up when he heard this. Luna was back, his sister and the one who understood him the most. "Luna's back?" She looked at him bewilderedly. "Yeah, she is. How could you not have known when it was the biggest news in...forever?" She asked. "I told you. I live separated from social interaction." She now looked upset and sorry for him. "How have you lasted so long without any interaction with others?" "I like to explore." He left it at that. The mare was looking over him without him knowing. She looked at his face and neck then at his front hooves and back hooves. As she looked over him she started to blush at his frame. He looked well kept and strong, not lazy and she didn't see any scars but his coat did look a little ruffled. He stood there in silence, looking over the falls as the mare behind him didn't move. He then heard her gasp and looked back at her and saw her looking at his flank. "You don't have a cutie mark?" He looked at his flank and he shook his head. "No, I don't. Wait...why were you looking at my flank?" She blushed deeply and giggled when he asked that but he just looked away, not wanting to know. The mare walked up and sat beside him and looked over the falls with him. "Nice view. Isn't it? I remember when my mother brought me here as a filly. This place was a newly opened attraction and it just recently got improved." Sol looked around and saw the walkways were still made of metal that was unstained. Not dirty in the slightest. "It gives a nice sense of peace." He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "Sure does. You said you isolated yourself from society. But you're here so you are no longer isolated. Is this the first place you have decided to visit?" He shook his head. "I visited that Crystal Empire not far from here but I got strange looks, so I ran away. By the way, thanks." "For what?" She asked. "For not trying to take me away. Just talking is nice enough for me." Sol told her. "You're welcome." He sat there for a few more minutes with the mare. He felt mentally prepared to go to Canterlot now. "Anyway. I should get going. I need to be in Canterlot soon." He stood up and said goodbye before he took off. As he looked back he saw her staring at him but she soon waved and turned around and walked away. Twilight and Cadence had been looking for hours but they still couldn't find the stallion they're looking for. Twilight was getting a little worried for said stallion but also couldn't help but wonder why the map would send them to the mountains just to find one stallion. "Where could he be!?" Twilight asked in frustration and turned to look at Fluttershy who was listening to some birds in a nearby birds nest. "So Nothing? Alright, Thank you for your time." Fluttershy flew back to them. "They said they haven't seen any pony come up this mountain today." Cadence groaned in annoyance before she sighed "How did I lose him? I don't get it. He went into a cave and just...vanished." Cadence sat down and rubbed her forehead. While this was annoying her, she had to make sure not to give up for this stallion's sake. "Come on. We will look until dark." They all set out to go further up the mountain. Sol kept flying towards Canterlot. He was determined to make sure that Celestia was alright as even hearing it was not enough. He needed to see she was alright for himself. He was almost at Canterlot and thought about what to do as he landed on a tree to think. "Alright. If I go in alone I will likely attract attention. If I fly then the guards will likely see me, and this technically isn't my home as my old home was the old castle so breaking into the house of my sisters wont be good in terms of family matters." He peeked his head out and looked around for something to use and his eyes landed on a stand that was selling clothes. Mostly self made costumes but one caught his attention that would be perfect for hiding him. It was a cloak with a hood but the colour was awful. It was a greyish colour but it wasn't the worse in the pile. "Wait a moment." He reached into his coat pocket and felt some gold coins. Pulling them out of the pocket he saw he had 5 coins but one he remembered he had in his pocket since he ran away. While the other 4 he found on roads as he wondered around Equestria and some locations beyond it. He saw the price was 3. But he didn't know what 3 it was talking about. 3 Silvers? 3 Golds? What was this currency called? He wondered if he should approach her and ask for the cloak as he didn't want another mare asking him about 'where his mare was' He decided to try something he never has before and cast a spell on his throat. "Hello." His voice sounded like a smoker so he tried again "Hello." It sounded deeper so he tried again "Hello." His voice sounded just like a mare so he flew over her and landed in a bush behind her. "Excuse me." The mare selling the clothes jumped in surprise. "Hello? Is somepony there?" She asked as she approached the bush. "Yes. I was wondering. How much is it for that cloak." He levitated a bit over to it and circled the cloak with it. "It's worth 3 bits." The mare was confused as to why the customer was hiding but he then levitated 3 bits in front of her. "Is this enough?" She nodded but he added a 4th bit before he took the cloak. The seller was about to ask why but Sol beat her to the punch. "Why did I give you 4? If anypony asks. You saw nothing." He walked out of the bush wearing the cloak and he felt happy as the shadow cast on his face from the shade concealed his identity. He walked into Canterlot castle and looked around. This place was much more fancy than the previous castle they had and they usually didn't have many visitors but as he looked around he saw a lot of ponies looking at different artefacts and pictures of ponies he didn't know. One of these pictures was one ladled 'Wonderbolts' and it was a bunch of pegasi in uniforms lined up and saluting. As he looked at it he started to wonder where Celestia was so he walked further in. There were a few normal ponies and guard ponies around but it was somewhat empty. He wanted to make sure Celestia was here so he changed his voice and talked to a mare guard. "Excuse me. Do you know where Princess Celestia is?" The guard looked at him. "She's out making appearances right now but should be back very soon. However Luna is awake if you want to speak with her." His heart jumped for joy when he heard Luna was back and he thanked her before he moved on. He entered what he thought was a dining hall decorated with large windows, a stage, a statue and tables. Needless to say he thought this place was impressive but it was almost too much for him. He wanted to see Celestia and head back home. As he wondered the castle there were a few off limits areas that he just had to leave. The only places that were accessible were the first and 2nd floors and the dining room so he waited at a table for awhile and just looked around the room. He was offered some tea for no charge so he accepted and took some. As he closed his eyes his mind wandered to the times he decided to live alone. Celestia had just banished Luna to the moon and when he saw that happen he ran into the Everfree forest. He mostly survived off of what little fruit he could find and even what little edible plants he could find. He got sick a few times but he also recovered quickly. He had no clue how long he was in there for until he came across a stallion in the forest. This was back when stallions weren't like they were today and this stallion was a farmer who lived off of the land by himself. His name was Grand Harvest, a Earth pony with a brown coat and green hair and with a cutie make that was 2 tomatoes next to each other. He was caught by harvest when he tried to take a few tomatoes from his garden but harvest stopped when he saw he was an Alicorn and let him have the tomatoes he took. He spent years with Grand Harvest, the two of them became best friends but they also never left to visit any towns or cities since everything they needed to live was all supplied by the land. He died around 40 years after they met and Harvest left him his home. Sol buried him behind the house and lived in that house for a further 120 years. He had to move out when the elements wore it down to the point that just stepping on the upstairs flooring broke it. It was then that he spent a few years trying to repair it. He wondered the Everfree and used his magic to rip trees out the ground and used his magic to cut it, which resulted in large chunks of burnt wood that were not pretty to look at. For a while after that, he trained with the spells he knew to try and improve them to not have burnt wood and try to get a clean cut, but it didn't turn out so well. It must have been at least 3 years after that when he was out exploring that he saw a road bellow with a cart getting pulled and as it hit a bump an axe fell out, which he later took and used to cut trees down to repair his house. This cycle of cutting and repairing happened 2 more times and he lost count of the years that passed. It was after the 3rd time it happened that a storm unlike any other passed over the Everfree and his house caught fire. He was asleep at the time and woke up to find the house in a blaze. He couldn't save his house but he did his best to stop the fire from spreading by using a basic ice spell on the fire that blew off his house and onto other trees. When that was over he was tired and drenched so he did the best thing he could think of and that was fly to the closest mountain and sleep in a safe spot. This is when he felt something. The loss of his house meant he needed another and he had a whole world to explore. In a way this caused him to feel happy. So far the only exploring he had done was in the Everfree but now he could go further, so he flew and flew. He went wherever his heart took him and after 5 or so years of having no specific home he found a cave in a mountain region that had a great view. This would become the home he currently had and it took him around 2 years to make. Mostly from burning and removing rock to make more room and from trial and error in making his home. Over the years he repaired his home a lot of times but it was mostly from fires as spells backfired when he was trying to better the spells he knew. It was the same routine, Go out and explore. Come back. and train every few days and repair it every few years. While he didn't interact with others, he did watch from a distance sometimes and the biggest shock to him was one that happened not that long ago when he saw a giant crystal tower appear and some strange dark fog going over it until a light seemed to destroy it. A few months passed and he got curious by the cheering in the empire and went to check it. Now he was here, wanting to see his big sister Celestia. "The Princess is back!" He heard a guard shout and he looked to the entrance and his eyes fell on Celestia. She was taller than he remembered and her hair was longer but other than that she was just how she was 1000 years ago. As he looked at her he couldn't help but smile and he wanted to speak to her, but doing that so suddenly could be bad so he just sat at his table and took a sip of his tea. "Hello all my wonderful subjects. I trust you're all enjoying your time visiting Canterlot Castle?" She looked around at them and as Sol saw her gaze going over to him he ducked under the table. He had a feeling she would see through his disguise. He waited there for a few moments before he heard a voice that made him happy. "Sister." The voice was clearly Luna's and he looked out from under the table and saw her. "Welcome back. How was your trip?" "Wonderful, Luna. But why are you awake right now? It's earlier then your usual time." She asked and Sol slowly crawled out from under the table and tried to get to the entrance. It was at this moment a scroll appeared and fell between them. "From Twilight?" Celestia read it. The scroll was Twilight explaining their situation of looking for a stallion in the crystal mountains and she is asking her if she was aware of any town up in the mountains. "Not from what I can recall. The crystal mountains have always been a dangerous place, so nopony would be living there." She whispered the next part to Luna. "But apparently there is a stallion lost in the mountains." Luna's eyes widened and Celestia didn't overlook this. "Luna? Do you know of this?" She nodded. "Yes. I saw a dream north of the crystal empires dreams. Somepony is living there." Celestia looked worried when she heard that but her attention was caught by a mare shouting. "Careful!" Celestia, Luna and all the other ponies turned to look at the cause of the noise. They saw a pony in a cloak had almost been hit by moving furniture so both of them went to the incident in the hallway. "What happened?" "My bad Princess. I'm not use to carrying heavy furniture." One of the Castle maids said to them. Sol was worried more than ever at the moment. He feared Celestia would see through his disguise so he kept walking slowly to the exit but the moment Celestia's gaze landed on him she felt something that she couldn't put her hoof on. "Excuse me. You, wearing the cloak." He stopped and started to sweat. What was he to do? Fly? Run? Play fool? He didn't want to face Celestia and explain why he didn't come back after all this time. Sure he could say he had a lifestyle he liked and he was upset but he was so cut off from her that he didn't even know when Luna came back. "Yes? Can I help you?" He made his voice mare like and didn't turn around. "If you don't mind me asking my little pony, who are you?" He felt his legs start to shake, not sure how to answer. He looked behind him and saw a crowd of ponies in the room and looked back at the entrance and saw another crowd looking at him from there too. If he revealed himself here he had no clue what the repercussions would be. "I'm...i'm...snow white." He used the first name from before. "Snow white. Can you pull your hood down so I may see your face?" He realised now that he had 2 choices. Reveal himself, or run. There was no way to talk this out, if there was then he didn't know how. He sighed and turned around, looking at Celestia through the darkness that the hood produce to cover his face. "I'm sorry." He whispered so only they could hear it, he then spread his wings and took flight as quickly as he could. Flying over the crowds.
The ChaseSol zoomed out of there as fast as he could. Not looking back at all. As he flew he heard Celestia shout for the guards to catch him. He soon looked back and saw around 30 guards following him in the air alone but more were scattered across the ground. As he flew he was soon blinded by a flash of light and when he moved his hoof away from his eyes he saw Celestia had teleported and Luna followed suit. He looked around him and saw guards with their spears pointed towards him. He heard a zooming sound and as he looked at Celestia he saw the same ponies he saw in the picture from before. The 'Wonderbolts' were flying next to his sisters and ready to zoom if he made a move. "Snow white. Why are you running away from us?" Celestia's voice was a mixture of concern and suspicion but also seriousness. "I should be able to get away if I teleport. But I'm already flying so that's a no. I need to get out of sight before I teleport." Sol flapped his wings hard and flew upwards to the clouds, as he did the wonder bolts soon followed. "You're not getting away!" The one he assumed was the leader shouted. "Go and get her Spitfire!" Another one cheered. This Spitfire was fast and he started to feel a little afraid he wouldn't lose her without going back to his normal size. Sol decided to take a gamble so he kept flying higher and higher and so did Spitfire. When he was high enough to the point the clouds looked to be a good distance away he played his gamble. "What are you doing? Running away like this? How will Celestia feel when she finds out she's chasing you?" This thought popped into Sol's mind and it bothered him greatly. "You think you can get away from me by going higher? You need to do better than that." Spitfire said with a smile and Sol tucked his wings to his sides and curled his hooves into his stomach as he started to fall. "YOU'RE CRAZY!" Spitfire followed him but he soon changed so he was falling face first downwards and he was falling faster than Spitfire flew after him. "You're running away from your Big Sister and your Twin. How do you think this makes them feel?" He felt his heart tighten when that entered his mind. It caused his body to tensed up and he almost opened his wings. Sol timed this carefully as he changed the direction of his fall to the castle. He opened his wings before he hit the ground and with great speed he flew into the castle and grinded to a halt on the floor. He was happy to see the guards were still outside as the crowd was trying to move aside and let them in but the crowd and guards ended up falling over each other. He took this opportunity to run into the Canterlot gardens and hide behind a statue, where he started to charge up a teleportation spell. "Are you going to keep running? She will find out eventually, unless your plan is to never let her know you're alive and stay isolated." He hit his head with his hooves and the spell he had building up faded. These thoughts were starting to really hurt him and he felt a pull to just tell Celestia who he was to end it. Celestia and Luna arrived just moments later and so did Spitfire. "She's somewhere in the gardens. Spitfire. Fly up and watch from the sky." Spitfire did just that and Sol knew he needed to get away quickly. "Luna. I need you to get Twilight and the others. I have a feeling there is more to Snow White that what we can see." "Leave it to us sister." Luna Teleported and Celestia spoke. Sol knew he couldn't teleport now. If he did then since Celestia knew the location of his teleportation then she could follow him. "Snow White. As a Princess of Equestria I order you to show yourself. If you comply and do so peacefully, I will be merciful to you." Sol desperately wanted to shout out at her. This reminded of him of when him and Celestia played hide and seek at a young age. She would say 'I order you to show yourself' and he would say. 'I'm a prince. Your order is nullified.' He smiled at that memory. "We're back sister." He looked out from his hiding spot and saw more ponies. 2 Earth ponies, 2 Pegusi, 2 unicorns and 2 more Alicorns. The same Alicorn from the Crystal empire. "What's wrong Celestia?" The Purple Alicorn asked. "There is a Pegasus pony called Snow White hiding here. When I approached her she started to run and I feel like there is more to her than what her cloak shows." They all looked around the garden for him. "THERE YOU ARE!" Spitfire zoomed down from the sky towards him and he jumped out of the way. He was now standing out in the open and all the ponies around him had their gaze on him. The guards who were watching over the guests now had their attention focused on him after they finally got through. "Snow white. Who are you and why did you run from me?" "Do you plan to abandon Celestia forever? How do you think she would feel if her own little brother did that to her? She's done so much for you." An imaged flashed in his head when he thought of that. He saw Celestia on a chair and looking at a family portrait and a picture of him as a little colt. Wondering where everything went wrong. He almost teared up from that. These thoughts he was having were speaking the truth, he couldn't keep hiding forever and if he did then it would devastate both his sisters. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted, not realizing he forgot to change his voice until he already spoke. "That voice...Winter Blaze!?" "The Stallion you were looking for?" Celestia asked Cadence and she nodded. "How did he manage to fly so far?" Luna narrowed her eyes at him and started to walk forwards but as she did Cadence called out to her. "Luna. He's likely scared. Don't get so close to him. You're only scare him more." Luna didn't listen to her and kept walking to him. Sol quickly looked around and saw an opening. He dashed as fast as he could and got passed the guards but was soon stopped by a rainbow Pegasus and the Purple Alicorn who teleported infront of him. "Nice try buddy." Sol was starting to get worried now. He had no clue what to do about the situation he was in. He wanted to get away but he feared he would have to use magic to do so. He was then tacked to the ground by an earth pony with a cowboy hat who was trying to tie him up with rope. "Gotcha now." Sol didn't want to hurt anyone but he was left with no choice. He moved his front hoof and knocked Applejack off him. This seemed to surprise all the ponies in the area but the Earth pony got back up and rubbed where she was hit. "A fighter? I like you." She said and looked ready to charge at him again as he took a battle stance. "Just end it. There's no need to hide anymore. Sure society has changed and is now crazy but is that a good reason to abandon your family?" Another image flashed in his mind. This one was of Celestia looking directly at him and she asked 'Do you still love me?' but she said it with concern and fear in her voice. He shook his head to get that thought out of his mind. He looked around at them all but as he did he was soon face to face with...a cannon? Confetti exploded in his face and it even knocked his hood back. As it did this he remembered he stored the hat he was wearing previously in a pocket in the cloak so he quickly put his head down and pull the hat out and put it on. The confetti was enough to conceal him for a moment as he slipped it on. "Winter Blaze? It is you!" Cadance shouted but Luna and Celestia were looking at him more curiously than before. While he did run away as a teen and while his appearance did change over the past 1000 years, Celestia and Luna would likely know who he is very soon from seeing him like this. "How many more? How many nights do you think Celestia has had crying herself to sleep, worried about you cause you haven't so much as sent her a letter, letting her know you're alive and alright? Or nights where she cant even sleep?" Another image flashed in his head. Celestia was in his room and holding the teddy bear he use to love playing with as a colt and crying into it as she nuzzled it. He felt like he was on the verge of breaking down. All these thoughts were telling the truth but the next one got him and almost broke his heart. "You ran away after Luna was banished. She lost both her little brother and little sister on the same night. You could have been there for her in her time of hardship. But you weren't. You ran away into a dangerous forest. How do you think they would feel if you died in there?" He felt this side of him winning the battle in his heart and he couldn't take it anymore and let go. He looked at them sadly. "He's giving up? Did that hurt him?" A yellow Pegasus said and started to walk up to him but stopped when the earth pony who tried to tie him up before laughed. "Him? Give up? Unlikely, from the way he hit me. That's the energy and fury of a fighter." "Luna. Celestia. I'm Sorry." He opened his wings and zoomed off once again. But this wasn't to try and get away from them. But to get them away from the crowd. "Wait. I didn't mean for that to hurt you!" The pink one shouted as they chased him. He had to keep flying and knock the rainbow one out of the way once more as he stopped and landed in the bushes. Away from the gaze of the crowd. When they were all out of sight he decide to not hide any longer. "Celestia. Luna." He looked at them as he sat in place on the grass and shed a single tear. "I'm sorry. You must be worried sick about me." He lifted his hooved to his hat and as he took it off and as it still covered his face he used his magic to return himself to normal size, so he was now a little taller than Luna but still a bit smaller than Celestia. He then moved his hat away and let them see his face and his horn. He also spread his wing to show he was an Alicorn. All the others there were in shock but Celestia and Luna soon lost the look of shock on their faces which was soon replace with tears of happiness. "Sol...is that you." Luna asked and walked towards him. He smiled at her. "Yes Luna." Luna's expression soon changed and she now looked at him doubtfully. "Wait...if you really are Sol then answer these 2 questions. What nickname did I give you?" He chuckled. "You called me Solly as a kid but also Blue flame because my coat was like Celestia and my hair was like yours." Celestia spoke next. "As a Princess of Equestria I order you to show yourself." He grinned when she said that and said what he wanted to back in the garden. "I'm a prince. Your order is nullified." Both of them lost their serious expression and ran towards him happily and tackled him to the ground causing him to chuckle as they did that. "SOL!" "SOL!" He soon had both Luna and Celestia holding him tightly, their earth pony strength showing as he had a little difficulty breathing. They soon stood back up but Celestia didn't stop hugging him. They didn't want to left him go as they even wrapped their wings around him. "Luna. Celestia. You may want to let go. I think we've hugged enough." They let go of him and he saw the happiness and joy in their eyes as tears were flowing down their face like rivers. "Where have you been all this time?" Celestia asked. "I know I have no good excuse for being away so long but to answer your question. For the past 500 or so years I have been living in the crystal mountains. I should have sent you a letter to at least let you know I was still alive." Sol looked behind them at the approaching crowd. "Here comes the crowd." Celestia looked back at them and back at Sol. She made a quick decision to not reveal Sol just yet. He needed to know what has happened while he has been away. "Sol. Turn back to Snow White. We'll chat in the castle." Celestia cleaned the tears from her face and put on a different face. Luna and the others did the same and the walked out of the bushes with Sol wearing his cloak again and back to the size of a normal pony. The pony he met before who was called Spitfire has seen the whole thing happen and Celestia looked at her stirringly. "Not a word Spitfire. Understand?" She saluted and went back to her squad. The crowd walked out to the garden and the guards surrounded Sol but Celestia ordered them to stand down. "It's been settle. Snow White misunderstood something and ran from us in fear. I will take questions later. For now I need to talk to her. Follow me Snow White." The guards separated the crowd to let them pass. Only Sol, Celestia and Luna went together as the rest of the Elements of harmony and Cadence and Shining armour all stayed in the hall. They went up to the top level where he looking from side to side, seeing the decorations and the paintings and portraits of famous leaders from diplomats to generals. They soon entered a room at the top of a large tower and he took off his cloak and turned back to normal. He looks around the room and smelt the air which smelt like flowers. Celestia and Luna turned to face him and he then realised the others from before weren't here with them. "They're waiting in the main hall. I assume your looking for the ones who were with us?" He nodded. "What's happened since I left?" Celestia chuckled and put a hoof on his back. "A lot. After the war and Luna's...banishment." She was clearly uneasy even mentioning that. "After that, with so many stallion dead in the war it caused things to shift. Mares would end up dominating work and stallions would eventually be placed into work positions that wouldn't endanger them as much if they were in one before." Sol sighed and rubbed his head. He knew the war killed almost half of the pony population but he didn't expect this to happen cause of it. "We were hoping the population would be back to normal in a few years. About 200 years at max. Until we learned that Discord played a prank by messing up the birth rates." "What about now? You said 'would' so it has already happened." Celestia continued to explain as much as she could to him in the best detail she could. "After more time they started to see mares as expendable because of their large numbers so even the military became mare dominant. But as time went on they realised with stallions in work and still in the military, the population wouldn't do very well and stallions were still dying faster than they were being born. So they were encouraged to focus on populating rather than working. The progress was slow and caused trouble as a lot of mares fought over what few stallions there were, so a law was passed that allowed 1 stallion to be with many mares rather than just a single. This ended up being a huge success as the stallion population has increased from 7.3% to 9.5% in the past 25 years while before that it was either stagnant or declining." Sol rubbed his forehead. He now knew why the mares were acting to strangely when they saw him alone and acted like he was fragile. "So...what does that mean for me?" Celestia smiled and threw her hooves around him. She knew he felt really out of place as besides blueblood and Shining armour, he was one of the very few royal stallions in Equestria and the only Alicorn stallion as his older brother was in another continent, ruling his own kingdom. "Well, how about for now you lay low. Get use to the castle and get to know the staff. Don't worry, i'll make sure they don't try anything." He got a little grumpy when he heard that. Sure he knew Celestia was only looking out for him but he also wasn't a foal anymore. He had lived by himself for over 950 years. Only about 35 of those years did he live with his friend Grand Harvest. "I can take care of myself." "I knew you can. But for a while, let me take care of things. Alright?" He sighed, knowing he couldn't really argue with her. "Fine." "There we go. Now, Sol. Come to the throne room in 3 hours. The guards and maids need to know who you are and what will happen if they try anything with you." Celestia left the room and now he was left with Luna. "So...Luna." He didn't really know what to say to her but he saw her smiling at him. "You want to play some games while we wait?" He nodded. "Sure. What you got in mind?" Luna levitated something infront of him. It was plastic and had some buttons on it. This is when Luna saw his coat was not very clean. If he was going to be shown to the staff then he needed to look presentable. "Well first we have to get you cleaned up. After that's done...I assume you don't know what a NeighStation is?" Her face now had a grin on it. 3 hours later It was now midnight and the castle was closed to all but the staff, the wonderbolt leader Spitfire, Cadance and shining armour and the Elements of harmony wielders. Celestia even called back the staff who had days off or were on vacation for this important meeting. Celestia was currently sitting on her throne and the room was completely full of guards and maids. Spitfire was close to the throne and Cadence, Shining armour and the elemental bearers were all on the throne just one step under Celestia. There was a lot of chatter amongst the crowd that was gathered in the throne room. Mainly about what was so important that they all had to be called but some were friends who were catching up on times missed. As Celestia cleared her throat the entire throne room went silent and all eyes were on her. "All of you are probably wondering what is so important that I had to call all of you here and even interrupt some of you on vacation. Before I tell you I need you all to understand something, what I am about to tell you never leaves this room. Understand!?" She said firmly which caused some to become a little fearful. At this point Sol walked in with Luna but he was covered in a cloak that hid him completely. Both of them walked up to the throne and stood beside Celestia with Luna on the left and Sol on the right. "Good. Now as to why I called you all here. There is a part of my life that I want to share with you and this part of it is now going to relevant to your work. You all know about how I had to banish Luna to the moon, but what you likely don't know is that on the day Luna was banished, I didn't lose just a sister. I lost 2 brothers too." The crowds eyes widened when they heard her say that and some even started talking again. Some shouting questions to her and some trying to talk over others but they were soon silenced when Celestia's mane started to catch fire. "You would be wise to remain silent and listen." Luna informed them. "I lost my younger brother Flare Solis that day as he ran away. He and Luna were the best of siblings so her banishment took a toll on him. After he ran away my twin brother went after him. He couldn't find him and eventually he ended up ruling his own kingdom on another continent. My little brother has been lost for over 1000 years. Until today." Celestia nodded and Sol took off his cloak, allowing it to fall to the floor. His coat was just as clean as Celestias was now and his blue hair was no longer ruffled. The entire crowd looked at him in disbelief and some mares were trying not to eye him up infront of Celestia. "It will be a while until my little brother here will be publically revealed and until then he will be wearing a disguise during the day. When he is in it, he will be addressed as 'Snow white' but as night time when the castle is closed he will not be wearing it. Treat him with the same respect you do me and my sister, and also to all the mares here. Don't try to herd him at all. If any mare here tries to do that or anything else on him...well then you will see what I'm like on a bad day. Now, are there any questions?" A good amount of hooves got raised when she asked that and she picked one out at random. "Where will his quarters be?" A maid asked. "He will be in the reservation room that is one level under mine. Yes, that room was made for him in case he returned which is why it has never been used." Another mare asked a question that made Celestia laugh. "Who will be assigned to him." The crowd was a little confused to see Celestia laugh about that question and even Luna laughed. "Assigned? He's a stallion of old so he's more than capable of defending himself. Now, I will answer only 1 more question." More hooves shot up and she picked one at random. "Does he already have a mare?" Celestia looked at Sol and he shook his head. She then went up to him and sniffed him. "He has no other scent on him, so no he doesn't." "Wait. Scent?" He asked in confusion. "Oh. You didn't know?" Luna nudged him and told him what it meant. "When a stallion gets a mare or several then put their scents over their stallion so other mares know he's taken. This way of any other mare tries something, then their own scents can be used to identify her. This also helps and lost stallion find his way back to his herd if he should be separated from them." Sol rubbed his head in annoyance. If this was how much society had changed, he would decided to stay single forever. "Dismissed." All the ponies in the room left after Celestia said that
A New DaySol was perfectly happy where he was and he had no intention of moving. The bed in his chambers which was just under Celestia's room was the most comfy bed he had ever rested on. Even the bed his had back in the old castle couldn't compare to it at all. But all good things had to come to an end as he heard his bedroom door getting chapped and he remembered what Celestia had told him. He would need to get into a proper sleep schedule now that he had returned so for the first few weeks she would wake him up around the time she woke up. This would let him be himself for a while before he needed to put on the Snow white disguise for the doors opening so no pony besides the staff knew who he was. "Sol. Little Bro. Time to wake up." He heard Celestia say and with a groan, he slowly rose from the sheets. "But I'm so comfy." She giggled at his reaction and his hair. It was a complete bushy mess. "Come on. You need to wash up." Sol got out of his bed and used his magic to put it back to normal. "Luna did tell you how to use a shower. Right?" Sol walked into his bathroom and fount it more open than he expected. There was a shower in the far right corner and a plastic chair in the far left with towels stacked on it. Where he was standing at the door there was a sink and a mirror cabinet full of supplies to his right and a strange stand on his left. Celestia saw he had stopped and was looking to his left. "Oh that. That's where you put clothes or royal gear." She pressed a small button at the side and the stand had metal poles raise from its side before they connected with magic. Making a sort of magic box. "You set what you're going to wear in there so it's ready for when you come out. "Wait...will I have any royal gear?" "I am having a smith make a set for you." She then smiled with a laugh. "I don't think your old attire fits you anymore." She levitated a small crown, chest piece and shoes infront of him and they were indeed what he wore as a teen. He shoes were almost half his hoof size and the crown was to small for his head. "You kept them?" With a sly grin and sticking her tongue out while looking at the ceiling, she answered. "Problem with that?" "Never change." He said with a smile. Knowing Celestia still hadn't changed after all these years. "I will be waiting outside your room. I know you can take care of yourself." With that said, she left his room and let him shower in peace. As Sol showered he relaxed. The hot water running down his back and in-between the feathers of his wing was very calming, to the point he almost felt back asleep as he sat in the shower so he picked himself up and started to wash himself. He used the bottle that Luna told him to use which contained shampoo, or something like that to clean his hair, coat and wings. As he looked at the label he saw it was sold to mares. But then he remembered that society standard had changed in the time he was away so while he was a stallion, he likely wouldn't act like one in todays standers. Moments later he was fully cleaned up and dried. He made sure to check himself over in the mirror to see if he was like Celestia and he was happy to see his coat was and so what his hair, minus the flowing style. "Alright Sis. I'm ready." Celestia opened the door and smiled at him. "Alright. Follow me. You should have your new royal attire by the end of today." Celestia started walking down the hall and he followed her. As he walked with her he saw there was quite a lot of guards and maids cleaning up and changing their posts from night guards to day guards. One thing he did notice was that he must have seen over 100 mares and only 5 stallions and only 2 of them were guards while the other 3 were butlers. As he walked behind Celestia he couldn't help but hear mares whispering and giggling at him. A few time he looked at the ones who were giggling only to see them wiggling their eyebrows at him. He chose to forget it and followed Celestia all the way to the dining room. "By the way Sol. I made you your favourite breakfast." Celestia levitated a pancake over to him, decorated with cream and blueberries which made his stomach growl. He looked back at Celestia who was stiffening a laugh as he face was scrunched up but her chin was quivering. "Thanks Sis." He took it with his magic and went to the table where he found others sitting. He recognized them as the mares and stallion he saw yesterday but the orange and yellow one who was wearing a blue suit wasn't there. Instead in her place was a small purple dragon. When he walked in the room they all turned and looked at him. This is when he saw the 2 other Alicorns from before, the pink one and the Purple one. The only other guy was a white unicorn who had a shield as his cutie mark. Before he could say anything he was face to face with a pink face with a wide smile. "Hi. I'm Pinkie Pie. Is it true you're Princes Celestia's younger brother? Where is your older Brother? Do you like parties?" The pink one was lifted by Celestia and put back on her seat. "I appreciate you want to be friends with him Pinkie. But this is his first day back so perhaps you should let him get use to it first before throwing questions his way." This is when Sol's head jumped in remembrance of something from before. "Wait...Sis. Why did you remove me and my bro from history?" She looked surprised to hear he knew. "You know about that?" He nodded. "On my way here I stopped at some falls and spoke to a mare while I was in disguise and she told me a lot. The birth rates, what happened socially and even about Discord and Sombra." She sighed. "I was worried. If others knew you were out there then the wrong kind might send out a search party for you and even other species like the griffons could have hunted you. I did tell the truth about you and your older brother only to those I trusted over the generations. Believe it or not. On the first few days that you ran away, when the effects of the realisation of how rare stallions were was just starting to be realised, I heard some mares place...bets. Some saying the first one to find you gets to marry you and other bets. At one point most of the castle staff were almost always talking about you or your older brother. So to stop the wrong kind from finding you, I let you pass off as a legend." Sol understood why she did what she did and smiled. "Thanks." This is when the doors they entered a moment ago were flung open and a very tired Luna walked up to the table. "Morning Luna." She didn't look happy as she just walked up to the food, took some grapes and eat them all in a few bites, along with the branch that held them. "Ehh...Sis?" Celestia looked annoyed. "She's always like this in the morning." When Luna saw Sol and lost her grumpy expression and smiled but she still looked very tired. As Luna left the dining room to catch some sleep, Sol sat down on a empty seat at the edge of the table and Celestia sat right at the end, opposite of the Purple Alicorn and next to him. Looking back at his pancakes, he smiled and started to use the knife and fork he was provided. He did feel a little uncomfortable as he felt like all eyes in the room were on him but he just accepted it. He knew Celestia would be protective of him for at least the next few weeks and with him being the only male Alicorn they have likely seen, it would be understandable for him to be something of attention. "Sol. I know you have just came back, but you are still a prince. So there are things you need to know. But what order you do them in, is your choice. You can join me and see the work I do during the day or you can go with Twilight and her friends and get to know your subjects more. But for now, remember what I asked. That you stay in your disguise." Sol stopped eating for a moment and thought about what she said. He did want to get out and see more of this world and what has changed, but he didn't like how mares treated him as fragile. The flirting was a little annoying if they did it often but he didn't mind it that much. "Alright Sis. I guess I'll go around and see what's changed. By the way, who are they? Also, last I recall. Only me, you, Luna and my older bro were alicorns." He tried to not sound like he was accusing them. "The Alicorn is Twilight. My Prized pupil and the other one is Cadance the Princess of love. The stallion is her husband, Prince Shining armour. Brother of Twilight and Captain of the royal guard. The rest are the new wielders of the Elements of harmony." To hear their was new bearers was a little surprising as last he remembered, the elements were hidden away. "New Elements? What happened?" He asked as he almost chocked on a piece of pancake. Celestia went on to talk about Luna returning to Discord being set free but later reformed and then about Sombra's return, the wedding that was crashed by changelings and Twilight's ascension to being a princess. "That's...a lot to take in." He said as he finished his breakfast "Twilight. I trust you and the others to show Sol around the place. Preferable around Canterlot and then take him to ponyville to see if he can make any new friends." Twilight smiled at the chance to show Sol around the castle and then around ponyville. She would teach him the history of this castle and show him a few areas and then one of her friends would show his a different area. "You can count on us Princess." They all finished their pancakes and Sol put on his cloak and turned himself to a normal pony's size. "Alright Sol. Follow me and I'll show you around the castle. The rest of you, stay here. We'll be back soon and while we're gone you can plan out where you want to show him around." Sol followed Twilight out the room as he heard the doors to the from of the castle open and there was already a small crowd waiting to get in. "You probably don't know this castle very well, but don't worry. By the end of today you will." Twilight lead him through the castle and as she did he got a few strange looks from the visitors in the castle but the guards knew who he was. "So where are we going first?" Sol asked. "Well you will likely want to study up on history. Ever since Luna's banishment, Equestria has changed in it's geography quite a bit. We are a little more that double the size we were back then." Sol's eyes widened when he heard this. He knew ponies were becoming larger in total population over the years but he expected Equestria to change or fall and be renamed a few times, but in 1000 they have not only remained one nation, but grown. "Where are the history records kept?" "In the library, which is where I was taking you." As Sol walked with her he couldn't help but notice her character. She fit a librarian perfectly but also a scientist role. She seemed to jump for joy when they were in the library and expressed her love to learn. She was shown to be very smart and knew a lot about chemicals and computers along with history and magic. He found her company pleasant and to an extent, funny. Seeing a princess jump around like a little filly when she got excited. When Sol got to the library he decided to look at a map of the world and he was amazed to how much it had grown compared to the last time he looked at an up to date map. There was Equestria that he knew but it extended much further that Canterlot which was a good bit away from the old castle he was raised in. To the north was the Crystal Empire and from there, Stalliongrad was to the east and a place called Yak-something-stan to the north. West word there was the changeling lands and south-west of that was the deer kingdom. North of Yak-stan was the penguin union and to the west of that, just before the changeling land was the Polar bear kingdom. The only residents inside Equestria was some buffalo tribe to the south-west which was a small land locked nation next to a place called apple-loosa and to the south east there was the Dragon tribe which was on a island not far off the coast. He looked at the other side of the world and saw a land that was almost just as big as Equestria, called The Griffon Empire. When Twilight looked at what he was looking at she decided to speak. "It's larger than that." She walked next to Sol and pointed to 5 other countries. "Skyward kingdom, lowland republic, the Frozen norther army, the workers union of the blue mountains and united the tribes of sealand. All of them are, what you would call puppet states. They answer to the Griffon Empire. So the empire is actually 17% larger that Equestria." Sol looked to the south and it looked like a muddles mess. There was so many countries and they had the strangest boarders. "The Griffins have many cultures and they are constantly fighting. They believe their clan is the best so this pride had divided them. The griffon empire seeks to unite them all under 1 rule. If that happens, they will be almost twice the size of Equestria and their resources will be more that triple what we have." "Wait. How so?" He asked. Wondering why the griffons didn't use the lands minerals to improve their own country. "They believe in tradition. Iron, steel wood and stone are the only resources the tribes use for battle. They see using only that as a fair fight and do it to prove their skill. Saying if all the weapons are the same then it's down to skill and nothing else. It's a honour system they have." Sol looked to the east of the Griffon empire and saw another country. Much bigger than the rest but not as large as the empire. It was called The Griffon liberation army. "What about this." "The Griffon Liberation army. These are griffons who have put their clan traditions aside for now to unite against the empire. Seeing it as a threat to who their culture." "I see." Sol sat down and rubbed his head. Taking all this in. "It gets even more confusing. Before you returned, the emperor of the empire died and he had no hair to his throne and so far, no will pointing to a successor has been found. It's currently in a crisis. Some saying to democratically elect a new leader. Some saying the highest in the military should take the throne. Some wanting to abolish the monarch all together." "A civil war." He said and Twilight nodded. "Very likely it will come to that and the puppet states might also gain their independence." She sat down next to him as he was taking all this information in while looking at the map of the world. Twilight was very interested in getting to know Sol more as she knew Celestia and Luna but not him and sometime in the future she also hopped to meet his older brother. To her it was a strange feeling. Seeing a not only a Alicorn stallion but a stallion who doesn't act fragile. She never once needed to stay next to him while walking or hold his hoof when he was stressed. She knew he was different from the way he hit Applejack who was the most physically strongest mare she knew. He was defiantly different and she liked that. "Twilight. Why are you looking at me like that?" She realised she was staring at him and tried to think of an excuse. "Sorry. I am still surprised Celestia had a little brother." She whispered that part as there was other ponies using the library. He nodded and decided to find a history book to see what he had missed. A few hours later, Sol was heading back to the throne room after he had been given a tour with each of the elemental bearers. He had read a few books and got a basic understanding of the main events that have happened since he left such as Tirek and the Changeling invasion. While he did hear about it before he got a little more information on what happened from the book and Twilight. Such as Twilight being trapped in a cave with the real Cadance. "We're back." Dash called to her friends. "So Sol, what do you think of your new home?" He sighed and chuckled. "It's going to take some getting use to." They saw the doors to the castle close after a crowd left so Sol returned to normal and took off his cloak before stretching his wings. Each tour with each bearer was an enjoyment for him. Fluttershy was one of the most kind ponies he had ever met and she was very sensitive as when she was passing the garden and the animals didn't go to her she almost cried. That stopped soon after he let her hug him. Dash took him to see the wonderbolt academy where he got to meet the captain Spitfire again. She was cocky and energetic but this in a way is what made her likeable rather than annoying. She had a little big of an ego problem but it wasn't something he minded. Applejack showed him around the outside of canterlot and along the fields so he knew what lay outside the city. She was like Dash in that she was proud and had a lot of energy but what stood out about Applejack was her love of work and feeling the satisfaction of a job done well. Pinkie Pie was a strange one as she did thinks that he never could figure out how she did them. Like that time she showed him a bakery and somehow got in a cake without damaging the outside of it. Pinkie showed him around the city and while she mentioned different things like parks or theatres, she was mainly focused on the food areas like bakeries and cafes. She was energetic like Dash and Applejack but she was much more free spirited than them as she loved to make other happy and found satisfaction in that rather than the actual work itself. Rarity was very regal and she was also really generous which fit her element as she bought him lunch during their tour and paid for it all. She showed him around the high class areas of the city where most nobles lived and while it was a lovely area, the ponies themselves could have been nicer. "So how was your day Sol?" Celestia asked as she walked down from her throne. She was clearly tired as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "It was great. But you...you look awful." Celestia activated a spell and she was able to open her eyes fully but she still looked awful. As Sol looked around he notice the place was decorated with lavender and it smelt very nice. Looking down passed Celestia he saw Luna was putting the lavender up and when she was done she walked over to him. "Good night Luna. Did you sleep well." "Yes I did, and how about you? How was your day?" She asked. "Pleasant. The bearers are really nice and I'm still trying to wrap my head about all this. Hey...what are you two up to?" He saw both of them were grinning at each other. "So you had a pleasant time with that, did you?" "Shut it." He said to them and they all laughed as his response. Even Celestia was almost on the ground. "You're still to easy to tease." Celestias eyes widened when she said that, as she remembered something. "Speaking of teasing. Sol, I have something for you." She levitated a present over to him and as he opened it he was surprised when he opened it. It was his old PJs but they were now his size. "Don't you think I'm a little old for these?" "Well I thought you would have wanted them. You never slept without them in the old castle." She sighed, a little annoyed. It was true and he does remember he liked the way they felt on him so he decided he might as well wear them. It would be better than wearing nothing. "Now...your royal gear is ready for you to wear. Try them out tomorrow and see of they fit. I am still wondering how we will introduce you to all of Equestria and not make it look strange or have it be something that is too much for you to deal with." Her eyes started to drop again so she walked down off her throne and headed to her room. As Sol looked at the main 6 he saw they were also leaving so it was just him and Luna. "Go and catch some sleep. I will visit you in your dream." He smiled at her before he headed to him room. When he got to his room he pulled out the PJs he had been given and smiled. It was his old onesie that was lined with different coloured and glowing fibbers which made his PJs look like the norther lights were on them. He stopped and looked at his flank, seeing he was still blank and he had yet to figure out what his talent was. Sighing, he put his onesie on and hopped into his bed and sank into it, not long after he drifted off to sleep. Author's Note My editor is going through some things so it will be a while for this to be fully edited. But I tried my best to proofread it. Also, do you think Sol should remain single or not? Who should he fall for, or who should fall for him?
AttentionAs Sol slept in his new bed happily, he was woken up by the sunlight which shined through his window. It's warmth being a pleasant awakening. As he rose from the covered and out of the bed he stretched his wings and the rest of his body for the day ahead. He didn't know what Celestia had planned for him today, but he was eager to know. As he was about to take a shower he heard his door chap. "I'm up Sis." He said with a smiled as Celestia opened the door. "Nice to see I didn't have to get you up this time." She was smiling with a teasing grin. "I'm not a foal, neither am I a weak stallion." Celestia levitated a scroll out that was hidden in her mane. "I know that. But who says I can't mess with my little bro. Besides, you have been hiding for a long time." Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, Sol headed to the shower to make sure he was clean for the day ahead. As he closed the door over he left it open a little bit and Celestia started to tell him about what his option were today from his room. "Today you can head to ponyville which is where Princess Twilight lives and interact with your future subjects but you can also stay here and I can teach you the ropes of being a prince in this day and age, not to mention I want to test how strong your magic is. So there is no sleeping in today." She said that last part jokingly. "Oh haha sis. How far is ponyville?" "You can see it from my room so not too far. Just a little south of Canterlot." Sol finished up and left the shower before drying himself off. "I also have your royal gear ready, if you want to try it on." Sol left the bathroom with his mane still wet and looked at the next set that had been made for him. It was like Celestias but with a small crown rather than a tiara and the rest was all in the same colour as Celestias gear but they were smaller than hers. "Come on, let me see you in them." She said with a smile and he rolled his eyes with a smile. He had a feeling she would tease him as she normally loved to do. "Fine." He put on the armour and it fit wonderfully well. Their was no discomforts or tightness. "This isn't actually half bad." To him while they were comfy to wear, since he hadn't worn such things in a long time a part of his mind was still having a little trouble processing that he had them on. Thinking it was just a dream. "Feels strange to wear it after so long. Doesn't it?" It was then that 2 stallions wearing butler outfits entered the room with new sheets and cleaning equipment and they almost freaked out when they saw them. "Princess! Sorry, I thought this room would be empty right now." "We were just leaving. Let's go Sol." Both Sol and Celestia left the room and walked to the hall for dinner. He got a few more looks from different mares, some flirting with him by commenting on how he looked. Celestia gave them a few glares as a warning to back off and the continued. "So have you decided what you want to do?" She asked. "I guess I will head to ponyville. It will get me out and about more." "Twilight will be thrilled to hear that." They arrived at the dinner hall and Sol took his seat and not long after he did he saw Luna enter the hall. She looked tired like yesterday but she had a smile on her face and walked up to him before hugging him. "Morning Sol." "Morning Lulu." He grinned as he used her child name which he knew slightly annoyed her but she didn't loose her smile. "Want to stay for dinner?" "Can't. Too tired." Luna took a cupcake and ate it alone with its wrapping before she started to leave the hall. Sol didn't like seeing her like this and wanted to spend more time with her, but he knew she was princess of the night and needed to watch over the dreams of their subjects. "So how will I get to ponyville?" "I'll teleport you there. Twilight and the rest of her friends returned their after they gave you a tour. But before you go I would like to test your magic." He almost coughed on the juice he was drinking when she said that. While Celestia did duel him when he was younger he mainly duelled Luna as Celestia was too strong for him. "What? Really?" "Yes. I want to see how strong you really are. Put it this way, if you cant beat me then I'll have to assign guards to you." She said with a grin. He didn't know if she was joking or if she was laughing at how annoyed he would be with mares always guarding him. "You haven't changed. You might be taller and with insanely longer hair, but you are still that annoying older sister I remember." "I'm your older sister. Keeping you safe but annoying you too is my job." Sol finished up his food and followed Celestia to her room. He was a little worried about this test of hers. Sure he had practiced some magic when he was living alone but the practice he had was few and far between. Perhaps 3 times a year at most. "What do I have to do?" "Just put up a shield and black simple magic blasts. After than you attack me." Her horn lit up and when Sol saw this he put up a shield, ready for her attack. As the blast impacted his shield, he barely managed to hold it together but was able to block her attack. Putting more magic into her horn, her laser became stronger and Sol pushed harder to get more magic out to keep his shield up. She soon stopped and smiled. "Struggling?" "A bit." He answered back a little nervously. "Well now you try and break my shield." Smiling, she put a shield around her and he powered up his horn to fire a blast at her. The result was less then pleasant as Celestia barely broke a sweat holding up her defences and Sol soon stopped when he couldn't add more power to his magic attack. "Your magic is lacking. I guess I need to add a training schedule to my daily duties. But we aren't done, I have 2 more tests." The 2 extra tests were a fitness test for him, which he passed with flying colours and even done much better than Celestia did. He joked around about her sitting around all day which earned him a smack with a pillow from her. The last one was a combat test. They both fought with magically made swords as she tested out what he know about defence. Sol did much better than the magic test but still didn't beat Celestia. "So...how did I do?" With a smile and after sending a letter ahead of him to inform Twilight of his arrival, she answered. "Well you passed 2 of my 3 tests so you don't need guards to follow you around." "Wait...you were serious?" He thought Celestia was joking but to hear this coming from her in a serious voice was something else. "Yes. Sol, you might not like the idea of guards but you have to understand. Because of the war and thanks to Discords prank, Stallions who are not taken are almost unheard of and you are one such. Not taken and also an Alicorn. If the public knew about you then goodness knows what mares will be after you. I trust Twilight and her friends not to do anything but I am still weary of something bad happening to you. You don't know the customs of the current age so some might use that to manipulate you." "I...understand." He looked at he ground in defeat but Celestia lifted his face up to look at her. "Hey, cheer up. You're back with us and have a lot to look forward to. Not to mention you might find a mare you like." Sol blushed when he heard that. "Wait. You said..." He was cut off. "I said that is any mare tries to herd you then they will be in trouble. But if you go after one you like then I will respect your choice." Sol didn't think he didn't have to worry about that as thanks to him being an Alicorn, the only one he could be happy with would be another Alicorn as he wouldn't have to watch the once he loves pass away. "I...think I will stay single." "Well, that's your choice. Now come on, let's get you in your disguise and on your way." Sol put on his cloak and put his hood up before Celestia got ready to teleport him. "I want to hear about your time with Twilight when you're back. Have fun." A moment later Sol found himself in a crystal room and looking around he counted 6 doors around his as he stood in a circular room. The floor had a 6 sided star on it and each side pointed to a door but it was strangely quiet. "Hello?" He said as it echoed through the hall. "Sol?" He recognized that voice that belonged to Twilight and heard trotting and hooves hit off the crystal floor but there were multiple sets of hooves hitting off the floor, likely the rest of her friends. He waited in place until they arrived in the room he was in and he was happy to see all 6 of them and the small dragon he heard was called Spike. "Hi Twilight." He said with a smile. "You choose to come here?" "I was never an inside pony. I always preferred to be out and about." He took his hood down and walked up to them. "I'm here to get to know the ropes of society and Celestia even suggested I make friends." "So you will be hanging out around here more often?" Spike asked with a smile. "I guess I will." "Finally, another guy to hang out with." Sol chuckled when he heard that. It must be hard for stallions or even dragons to find some friends of the same gender in such a society. "What made you choose to visit us first? Was it because you remembered how awesome I was?" Dash asked as she did a pose in the air and Sol answered with a smile. "Besides the castle staff. You're the only ones who know who I am. And Sis trust you so I guess I can to." Twilight smiled and asked him to follow her and they soon arrived in a room with a crystal table where Twilight sat down. Each one of them took their seat while Sol took one that he found in another room. "So Sol, what do you want to do?" "I was thinking you could show me around ponyville. It would be nice to see how things have changed first hand. The crystal empire gave me a rough idea but I want to walk around and have a proper look." Sol looked at the map in the centre of the room that showed all of Equestria and a small part of what he remembered was Stalliongrad. "Amazing, isn't it. This map seems to know when there is a problem and who is needed to sort it out." Twilight told him and she happily looked over it. "We might have more problems in the future since we didn't get Starlight." The all went silent when Rainbow mentioned that. "Who?" "A unicorn mare who tried to remove all the cutie marks in her village. Beside her own." Pinkie came back in the room with some treats and Rarity was a little bit behind with some tea. "But enough about that. We will gladly show you around after a quick snack." Sol didn't need to wait very long as they finished their snacks and were with him at the from door in less than 10 minutes. He was happy to be able to go outside and explore again but now that he knew how this society saw him and how he would need to stay with the element bearers really put a damper on his excitement. "Well...you all can show me around." He didn't know this town so he had no idea what it had to explore, so he thought it would be best if they showed him around. After a quick discussion between them they decided to show him the key locations around Ponyville and clouds dale. "Alright then. Let's go." Sol put his hood up as they left the castle. As they left the castle with Sol standing between them he got a few looks from mares as they walked through the town. They seemed more surprised that he was with the element bearers than anything else and some giggled when they saw them. Some mares who were alone were glaring at them and him with jealousy. "What about that Stallion has caught their eye?" He heard some of them whisper. "I have no clue, but he is really cute." He blushed when he heard that. Being called 'Cute' while clearly an adult was a strange feeling. Sol looked around and even some stallions who were with their own mare or mares were looking at him with a grin. One thing Sol was wondering is how Twilight was taking this so casually, as she was a princess but these ponies thinking she herded him didn't seem to phase her. "This way. We'll arrive at Sweet Apple achers soon. This is when they heard somepony shout in a panicked voice. "Watch Out!" Looking to the side Sol saw something heading his way at a fast speed. He didn't have much time to react as something impacted him in the chest, but he remained standing and just slightly staggered. Looking at what hit him he saw it was a Scooter and a small Pegasus filly was on it, wearing a helmet and she looked worried about something. "Are you alright?" Sol asked her but she remained unmoving. "Scootaloo!" Another voice called and 2 more fillies ran over to her. "Sorry about that mister, you're not hurt, are you?" Sol smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine. It didn't hurt...much. Who might you be?" "Applebloom." The small one with a bow told him before she was pushed out the way. "Sweetiebelle." The filly called Scootaloo then parked her scooter infront of Sweetiebelle. "Scootaloo. We're." They all huddled up beside each other. "The Cutiemark Crusaders!" Sol's smile disappeared when he realized he still didn't have his Cutie mark and it made him start to wonder if he would be treated like a kid without one. Being treated like a fragile doll was bad enough but also a child. He would probably explode with anger if he had to put up with that. "Well it's nice to meet you. Play safe now." He turned to the rest of them but before he could continue walking a voice spoke out from the crowd. "Why didn't you push him out of the way?" All of them turned to see a mare looking at the element bearers with disgust. "I can take care of my-" He tried to tell her but she cut him off. "Sweetie, this isn't about taking care of yourself. It's about them not doing their job. They should have shielded you from that." Twilight stepped forward. "Sol is capable of handling himself. Plus we aren't his herd so we don't have any duty to him." Multiple ponies hd their eyes like dinner plates when they heard that. "Wait. You're not his herd? Then why are you-" This time Twilight cut her off. "All you need to know is I am following something Celestia requested, and I don't intend to disobey her." This time the mare smiled and so did a few more. "Well if he's not with you, perhaps we can take him off your hooves." Their eyes were half closed and they were smiling. Sol saw this and his anger rose to a point he almost snapped. "Just try it and you will regret it." He was able to prevent himself from shouting, but he gave her a warning. "Oh, he's a fiery one. I like it when a stallion has some bravery, it's really cute." He was getting irritated from her advances but thankfully, Twilight stepped between him and her. "He is under our watch, so get lost." "You couldn't even stop a scooter from hitting him, how would you stop anything else from potentially harming him?" The mare and Twilight were not almost in each others face and Sol looked on with wide eyes, wondering if this would get bloody. If the gender roles have switched in the past 1000 years then mare fights might be like the stallion fights of old. With somepony going home bruised, beaten and bloodied. In a way he wanted to see the battle but at the same time he had a feeling Twilight would win with not much effort, so to save the annoying mare a trip to the infirmary he stood between them. "Stop this. It will only end with one of you in the hospital." The mare approached him and put a hoof on his chest. "This is between me and her. You best stay out of this babe." Being called that caused him to blush as he was not expecting it but never the less, he kept trying to break them up so he moved her hoof off his chest. "And I am telling you to stand down. You don't need to fight." When Sol said that he remembered that Stallions would fight to impress mares in the old times, so this fight might be their way of trying to impress him, but as he looked at Twilight he saw she wasn't trying to impress him. She was just following Celestia's orders. "I really don't want you to get hurt in the crossfire." Two more mares appeared at her side and tried to move him away. "Just go with them. When I'm done with her, I'll show you how a real mare treats a stallion." She said with a seductive grin. With how he was being treated it caused Sol to snap as he slammed his hoof into the ground which caused all the ponies around him to feel it as visible cracks appeared where he stomped down and a shiny blue aura surrounded him. Proving he wasn't a weak stallion and that he himself was more than capable of being a threat. "Get away from me!" The whole crowd went silent and their gaze didn't leave Sol and after a moment he calmed down and his aura died down. Even the 2 mares who were trying to move him out of the way backed off in fear. "I am not interested in a herd and I am not someone who needs to be protected. So back off and end this before it gets out of hoof." Turning to Twilight, she looked back at the mare that gave them trouble with a massive smug grin on her face. "What did I say. He can take care of himself. Now let's go Sol, we have a lot show you." He turned back to her with a smile. "Lead the way." The crowed parted quickly as he followed Twilight away to the outskirts of the town. As they walked to Applejack home they heard Rainbow Dash laughing. "Did you see the look on her face? If Luna doesn't need to visit her in her sleep tonight, I will be impressed." "Well it was her fault. She didn't act very marelike." Rarity commented and Sol listened to them and they chatted along the way to their destination. As they walked, Sol count help but think back to the little fillies in that group called 'The CutieMark Crusaders'. The yellow one and white one to be exact. One looked and talked like Applejack while the other was similar to Rarity so he figured they were related. "Those Fillies back there. I hope none of you take this the wrong way but were any of them related to any of you?" "Sure are. Applebloom is mah little sister." After Applejack, Rarity spoke next. "Sweetie Belle is my little sister too." When Sol heard that his smile disappeared and he couldn't help but think back to the early days of his life. He remembered his older brother and Celestia's Twin who might not ever know he is back in Equestria. Sol Stopped in his tracks and stared at the ground as the memories of hanging out with his older brother flashed in his eyes. He really missed him and he would more than likely want to see him too, he just needed to contact him. Even if Celestia has already contacted him, he needed to make some room in his schedule to plan out a visit. "Sol? Are you alright?" He was snapped out of his mind and saw Twilight and the others looking at him. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking. Anyway. Let's get going." The rest of the trip to Sweet apple archers was uneventful.
DecisionSol moved along until he was at Sweet Apple acers and he finally felt like he could take his hood down. "What was that all about?" Twilight sighed. "Sorry you had to go through that. It's to do with..." Sol interrupted her. "The cultural change. I know." Sol didn't want to keep doing this. Being treated like a child was getting annoying and he was just barely able to hold himself together back there. "How would the Nation react to knowing I was a prince?" He asked Twilight. He wanted to know if he was known in Equestria as Celestia's younger brother, then if the Mares would leave him alone. "Well...you would likely always have guards with you. Some mares might be terrified of you and stay away while others might see you as 'The ultimate catch' and try to get your attention. But the worst you might have to deal with is marriage requests from other Nations." That last one really caught his attention. If he had to deal with that then he is basically at a catch 22. He wanted to go home and ask Celestia if he could just go back to the mountains he use to live in but knowing her, she didn't was him to leave again after last time. "Are you thinking of letting Equestria know who you really are?" Sol took a few moments to think on that and decided he would wait a bit longer. In the meantime he was shown around the farm and what Applejack does. This is when he met Big Mac who was also a single stallion. "Big Mac, this here's Sol." "Applejack. You ain't got him as a mate, have ya?" He asked. "No. We are watching over him. Celestia's orders." Big Mac looked over to Sol but the hood still hid his face in the shade. "Hey Sol. Ya hungry?" Applejack asked and got his answer as he shacked his head. He didn't have that much to eat beforehand and it was coming up to lunch time. Applejack went into her house and Sol went to sit down with the others. "Sol?" Mac asked. "It's a short nickname I was given." He wasn't surprised that Mac didn't know who he was or even slightly recognized his name, but that's how he wanted it. The only ones who needed to know was the castle staff and the elemental bearers. "Why has Celestia ordered you to watch over him?" Mac asked as he looked over to Applejack. "That's confidential." Twilight spoke so Applejack wouldn't be distracted. Applejack soon brought an Apple pie over and Mac sat with them for his break. The pie was probably the sweetiest thing Sol ever tasted. So much so he almost couldn't eat it. "Like it?" Applejack asked with a smile. "You bet." Sol continued to eat it until he was done. He couldn't help but look at the mares around him who were all staring at him. He figured it was because he acted differently to how stallions normally do or perhaps because he was the only male alicorn they had seen. "It's not polite to stare, you know." "I'm just wondering, what will you do with how much your world has changed? You aren't going to stay in Canterlot forever. That wouldn't be good for you psychologically." Sighing, he looked to the side at the trees and knew what she meant. If he wanted to know what he was to expect then he needed to see other stallions to know how they behaved. So far he has seen Big mac and another one called Shining Armour who both seemed to be doing well but he needed to know more. Looking back over to the mares who were with him he decided to trust them to accompany him while he learned all about what had changed. "Alright. I want to look around and see what exactly it is stallions do and what is expected of them in life." All the girls smiled at him. "Take your time. Best not rush it." Rarity said as she finished her tea which Sol didn't recognize she had. They finished up their food and started to walk back into the town. Sol wanted to see how the other Stallions acted so the girls would walk around with him for a bit so he got a grasp on the lifestyle that was expected of them. Walking around the town he saw that most jobs were indeed mare dominant but he did see Stallions mostly working the garden of the house they lived in with their herd or they were in assistant roles as he saw Mr Cake helping Mrs Cake with their business. While they did run the business together it was clear Mr Cake was doing things that would be more of an assistants role. "Not much. It's strange to see how much things have changed. If this was the same when I was young these stallions would be a laughing stock." One thing that Sol did notice is that the stallions had a lot of kids. So far he has seen 2 of them out with their herds of about 4 to 5 mare and in both of them there has been more than 7 foals with them. While he didn't like the idea of being babied like they were being, looking at them he saw they were genuinely happy. It almost wished he could start a family and with all the years he spent in isolation, he was starting to warm up to the idea of friends and family. But he was an Alicorn and he knew a family would only be bad for him in the long run. "So the Stallions that work are in assistant roles?" He asked randomly as he needed to get his mind off the idea of a family. "Mostly. In most businesses Stallions are commonly in assistant roles with a few rare acceptions. With one of the rare acceptations being my big brother Shining Armour, Captain of the royal guard." Twilight was certainly happy about that as she had a hoof on her chest as she said it. "How does raising a family work?" "Stallions will usually stay and watch the kids with 1 or 2 mares with him. Depending on the size of the herd while the rest of the mares work." Sol still had one last thing he wanted to know from them. "How does marriage work out?" He heard Rarity chuckle when he asked that. "Oh darling. It works out wonderfully. When a Mare or mares find a stallion that like and want to marry then they all get a combined gift for the stallion. This is most commonly jewellery like a necklace or bracelet. If the stallion accepts then the they plan the wedding." Sol now knew what he needed to look out for if mares start to give him gifts. "Hold on a moment. That mare back there. Was she not aware that Twilight is a princess? The way she was speaking would have her thrown in the dungeon." "It's not a crime to speak your mind. Yes what she said to Twilight was insulting but it wasn't a crime. Ponies have the freedom to express themselves as long as it doesn't result in violent action." Dash was circling over them as she said that. The best thing Sol thought he could do is hear from the stallions of the town about what they think of how they are treated and then he would make his decision if he should reveal himself. Walking through ponyville he got a few looks from the mares around him thanks to what he did before but they quickly looked away and went back to their business. Looking around he didn't see many stallions who he could talk to but one that was sitting on a bench with 2 mares around him seemed like the safest one to have a conversation with. "Hey girls. Mind if I talk with that stallion alone for a moment?" "Sure. We will wait for you." Sol went over to the Stallion on the bench and when he was close he heard one of the mares talk to him. "Hey Little guy. You lost?" He shook his head. "No. My...mares are over there." Sol cringed when he had to call them 'His mares' but he needed to not draw to much suspicion to himself. "Can I speak to...your stallion for a moment. I just want to ask him a few things?" He tried to play innocently. If the mares saw him as a child who needed taking care of then he felt like he needed to start playing dumb and clueless. "Sure thing Cutie. Just don't be to long. He doesn't like being away from us for long." The mares walked to the sides and stayed close by to keep and eye on them but far enough he felt like he could talk freely. "Hey. Mind if I ask you some things?" "Sure thing." The stallion asked as he looked to the sides, unsure why the mares left him. "How are your mares treating you?" He asked with a smile. The stallion looked at him uneasily and Sol realised it was because his hood was still up and covering his face. Taking it down he let his blue mane fall and the stallion started to seem more calm than before. "They are wonderful. They have given me a lot of foals and do the hard tasks for me so I can rest but they stay with me as often as they can." He said with a smile and looked over to one, only for her to wink back which caused him to chuckle with a hoof over his mouth. "What do you do besides raising your kids?" "Well I tend to my garden, clean the house and read." Sol was starting to feel sorry for him but if he was happy then who was he to judge? "Alright. Last question. Do you hang out with other stallions often?" "Yeah. We gather together at a bar every weekend. But it's open all week." Sol felt a smile on his face appear when he said that as he was happy to see something that Stallions use to love doing is still happening, even with the massive culture change. "Alright. Thanks. That's all." Sol put his hood back up and walked back to the element bearers. "Alright. Done." "You get what you wanted?" "Sort of. There are somethings I want to know but am afraid to ask." They all looked at him curiously. Wondering what such a thing could be. "Are you alright discussing it with us?" He shook his head. "Perhaps another time. But in the mean time you still want to show me around more?" Twilight looked over to Rarity and nodded. "Well then it's off to my boutique. I have a few ideas for some outfits that might suit you Sol." Sol spent the last of the day with them as they showed him their homes and what they did around ponyville. Rarity offered to make him a suit that he could wear in public that would look casual. She was hoping to make one that he could wear if he was to reveal himself to Equestria, but after he reminded her that such a time would likely be a while away, she settled for a casual outfit. Pinkie Pie was perhaps the best baker he had ever had the pleasure of meeting as her cupcakes were to die for. She also had some really strange habits, like doing things that wouldn't be physically possible or talking to walls or the sky or something off in the distance like she was on a stage when there was nothing there. She was peculiar but in a pleasant way. Fluttershy's house was filled with animal, most of them common and there was little to no rare ones but they all seemed to listen to her like children. Even a giant bear had made friends with her which was impressive to say the least. She often didn't talk at a normal volume but he didn't mind that. Twilight showed him where she lived and he was impressed to see that she lived in a crystal castle but when he asked how it was made, she just said 'It's a long story.' He also learned that she got the title of princess of 'Friendship' which was a peculiar thing to be a princess of to him. It took some time to see Cloudsdale as Twilight had to cast a spell on some of her friends so they could walk on the clouds. The city had grown much larger than last time Sol saw it as it was 4 times the size he remembered. Perhaps even more. Dash showed him her training and her desire to be a wonderbolt which he smiled at when he saw how determined she was. Out of all of them the one mare who was catching his eye was Twilight. Mostly because she was the only other Alicorn there but her personality reminded him of a fusion of the old mares and current ones. She was sweet and very smart but she was also strong and determined. Trait he found likeable about her but he choose to quickly forget about it. He had a lot to go through and a big decision to make that he didn't know the full consequences of. "So...how was your day." Twilight asked. Eger to hear his answer. "It was...eye opening. To say the least. But enjoyable. Thanks. But I should probably get back to Canterlot." He lost his smile as he said that. "Come back and visit." Looking over at Rarity he answered. "I defiantly will." Sol just got up as Celestia teleported into her castle. Looking over the bearers and her gaze landing on him. "How was your day Sol?" She asked. "As I said to them. An eye opener but enjoyable." Sol walked up to her and stood by her side. "Thank you for showing him around. All of you." She said with a smile before teleporting him and herself back to Canterlot. Sol took his cloak off and stretched out his wings out as he turned to Celestia. "How was your day?" She sighed and lost her smile. "Stressful and annoying. You know how much I hate discussing with the upper class." Sol chuckled to himself. Even after all these years, Celestia really hasn't changed in the slightest. "Well you are done with them. At least for tonight." Sol walked alongside Celestia as they headed for their dinner before they would turn in for the night. "So have you made up your mind?" She asked as they walked. "About if I want Equestria to know about me?" Celestia nodded. "Well...I guess I might as well. If I can show them what I am like and through me, stallions of old then I could perhaps get things back to normal if mares took me seriously. But I will say this. I want no marriage requests." Celestia got a smile on her face that was half smile and half smirk. "That's my younger brother. Never liked being treated like a baby. Even when you were." They sat down for a while and after their dinner he followed Celestia to her room to write out a letter to Twilight, letting her know he had made a decision and that it would be announced in a few days. "The look on their faces will be hilarious." Celestia was grinning at the thought. "By the way...what about my older brother?" Celestia had a feeling she knew what he meant. "He has his own kingdom as you already know. He got married a few years after he left to search for you. While it is true that his wife makes most public appearances, all the laws and regulations of his kingdom were made by him. So he has not become like other stallions have. He has even trained his wife to do battle like a captain." "So wait. Another Alicorn?" Celestia shook her head. "No. Eternal youth spell. She is still a normal unicorn." That spell was only in its prototype stages when he was younger, but Sol just smiled as it sounded just like his brother to get it done. "I see." Sighing. He headed off to his room to turn in for then night. Sol had a lot on his mind and he needed to think it over alone. "Oh and before I forget. I have some good news." He turned back to Celestia and waited for her to tell him. "Your older is coming for a visit in a few days." Hearing that made Sol's heart skip a beat. Mostly cause he was wondering if he has changed and wouldn't be the same. With him being married that only reinforced that fear and if he has then would that effect their relationship? "Thanks for letting me know." Sol said as he left the room and headed to his own. He headed for a shower the moment he went in as he felt like that would help him think more clearly so he took off his gear and sat them down in his wardrobe before taking a shower. As he let the hot water run down his back and mane his mind drifted to what his brother might say to him when they meet. Would he be angry with him? Would he bring his wife for a visit? Does he have a kid, so a new member to the family? The possibilities were scaring him more than he would have liked them to and the fact that he would be announced to Equestria in a few days isn't helping. Sure it was his choice but this only added things to worry about. Not to mention what if his brother arrived for a visit just after he was announced? Would he have to get his picture taken? How would the public react to this? He remembered Luna talks about something called the 'Paparazzi' or something like that and how they likely wouldn't leave him alone and because he is their long lost brother, he would be pestered by them more. Sol got the bottle of mares shampoo and put it over his mane and coat. He still hated how this had become a smell of 'Power' when it smelt like old perfume. Not to mention the bottle itself. It was blue and had a cloud in the shape of a hoof punching the sky with the word 'New kick' on the front of it with the word 'Power' being punched by the hoof. Putting it back he choose to forget about it. He had two, perhaps 3 more days before he was announced so this shampoo would help hide him under his cloak. He turned off the shower and dried himself off. He decided that when he would meet his brother he would treat him like he would last time they spoke...1003 years ago or something close to that. He didn't waste any time as he collapsed into his bed and fell asleep within moments of his head touching the pillow.
RevealSol got his nerves in check. He wanted to make sure that this all went well as he will soon reveal himself to all of Equestria, Celestia had already made the nessassary arrangements and informed all their subjects about an upcoming announcement. It had been 2 weeks since he made his choice and his older brother mentioned he had some delays as he still had yet to visit but he would be along almost any day. Sol got ready as Celestia was set to make the announcement that she had a younger brother and that he had returned. That he was to be treated like a mare and not a stallion. He was both happy and terrified as with the difference in Culture then how will things turn out diplomatically. He sighed and left that worry alone for now as he stood next to Luna in the throne room. "Nervious?" "Well my Culture has changed and males have become almost like kids who need constant pampering. I feel like i am on an alternate world from the one i originally was born and raised on and i have no idea how my gender will effect the diplomacy in the future and I al don't have my cutie mark yet. So yeah. More than a little." Luna rubbed his head. "One step at a time Sol. One day at a time." "Thanks LuLu. You always knew how to cheer me up." She chuckled as the name he used. "We are no longer kids so we might need different names to call each other." She lost her smile and looked asked something that had been on her mind for so long. "Sol. I know you liked to be alone and despite being mostly related to my sister who is the day, you like the cold so I was just wondering. What did you do for 1000 years?" "Well if you must know the first 3 or 4 years I spend alone. Mostly in one area with a lot of fruit trees and I spent my time learning how to make traps. It was after this that I met a Stallion called Grand Harvest. He lived alone as he too didn't really like big cities. I lived with him his whole life and he taught me how to work off the land. How you can tell what soil is the best for crop growth and even how to live independently. I was almost an adult at that time. About 1 year away from legally being one. I asked him not to tell anyone I was an Alicorn and he promised it. He even took it to his grave 80 years later at the age of 105. I must have spend...200 years or something like that in his house as by the time I left it the roof had a lot of holes, the wooden floor was weak and it lost all it's colour, becoming as grey as the forest. So I spent the first 5 years after that finding and making a new house and about 3 years marking down all roads and trails ponies used for camping, hiking. All of that stuff." Luna listened intently to his story. "What about magic? Did you train in it while you were away?" "Yes I did when I didn't have anything to do. I choose to live in the crystal empires ice mountains as I just had to get some ice and I could melt in if some fire to clean myself. It was much more relaxing that just taking a dip in a stream or lake. I would spend my time wondering the roads in a cloak and picking up anything that was dropped along the road. I once even picked up a sword that fell off a military wagon. Yes at times it was boring but I liked being alone. I felt like my mind was at peace and while I did miss you and Celestia I just didn't feel like returning to a life of royalty." "What did you take up to keep yourself occupied?" "I studies plants. Animals and even magic. But I did try and take up some cooking and smiting after I found the sword on the road. I also took up reading. I didn't have total isolation as I did every now and then if I found enough bits on the road I would head into a town to see if I could find a bookstore or if I had something on the road that I didn't need or any food I grew that I didn't need I would sell it." "You must have noticed the change in the culture around that time. Did you not?" Sol thought about it and remembered that around 600 years ago the mares did start acting strange towards him. Some of them even asked if they wanted them to take him back to his house which he almost laughed at as it was more than 30 miles away from the town. "Yeah they did. Around 300 years ago, one of them asked who my 'Head mare....or was it herd matron? I cant remember. They asked who she was and even a few of them gave me sad looks. Like I was a lost kid or something. It was then that I decided to isolate myself for a long time so I went back and got everything I could carry and after 3 trips to the town I got as much books as I could. I made sure they were the largest possible so I could read them for longer and for the last 300 years I just didn't go to the town." "Even I was shocked to see how much it changed when it came back. Discord messed up the birth ratio it as a prank but thanks to that war that happened. Male were becoming few in number which caused mares to start to fight among them about who gets the stallion. Slowly things were put in place to make sure the death rate for them went down." "I know. After a while they lost what made them a stallion. They lost the determination and the desire to be successful. The bravery to fight and be the provider. To face danger head on and be ready to learn and try the most insane things possible and see what sticks." Luna chuckled. "You have no idea how happy we...I am to see you are still you." She said nuzzling her head into him. "I am not going to change. I am back and now that you are too I wont be leaving again." Luna then grinned. "I also heard from my sister you have your eyes on a certain six mares." "What are you..." He then realised she was talking about Twilight and her friends. "No...not in that way." He groaned in annoyance. "Not you too. Celestia was bad enough." "Oh come on. I'm just teasing you." There were some mare guards standing around them that were hearing all of this but because Luna was there and because he isn't like normal stallions, they didn't try anything. Sol waited for a little longer and then he heard Celestia announce to the crowed. He sighed as he felt his chest tighten as there was no backing out now. Putting on the best stony face he could he slowly walked up next to Celestia. The crowed was huge, to the point that some even had to stand outside canterlot with Celestia walking into a blue orb which was used as a projector to put her image and voice around the fields. "As you may know, Luna wasn't that well know during her banishment and when she returned you have likely heard some theories or rumors going about that i have other family members that are not that wel known. Well i am here to tell you today that those theories are true as today i would like to introduce to Equestria, my younger brother, Flare Solis." Celestia moved to the side as Sol stood on the ledge, letting all the mares and stallions of Equestria see him. There was 1 or 2 griffins and some others like donkeys amount the thousands of ponies that he saw. All these eyes that were on him, looking him over with wonder made him feel really uncomfortable. He wasn't use to large crowds, even in the olden days when Stallions were warriors. He saw some flashed in the distance and even some pegusi that were flying close by, closer than normal with some press passes were photographing him. He looked back at Celestia and without needing to say anything, she knew what he wanted her to do as the crowd probably wouldn't take him seriously. Even if he is royalty and if they do, not as much as Celestia. She walked up next to Sol and Luna stood at the other side. "Now I am sure you have some questions about Flare Solis, so for the next 1 hour the throne room will be open for the press to ask some questions, but Solis wont be there, and don't think about trying to sneak away to find him." She said the last part seriously. "I always hated crowds." She said as he took off his crown and placed it to the side. "I know you do. That's why I will be answering the questions from the press, unless you want to be there with me." She offered. To him it might be a good thing to show up as it would show fearlessness to that which is new. Or it could show cowardness because he is close to Celestia. How much this culture has changed meant he had no idea what he should do. Looking over to Luna as she smiled at him he agreed to come along to the throne room with Celestia and Luna would be with him. Following Celestia and Luna to the throne room he hesitated to enter when he heard the amount of talking in the throne room. The moment Celestia entered there was a shower of camera flashes and questions being fired, trying to get theirs answered first. "I know you hate crowds. It's not to late. You can still choose to not do this." He decided to listen into the crowd and what they were asking Celestia. "When did he Return?" "What is he going to be doing?" "Wouldn't this job of ruling be too stressful for a stallion?" Sadly Sol did read up on it and while Shining Armour did rule with Cadence, it was mainly just the guard he done. Almost everything else was run by her. Sol was starting to get enraged with how much had changed in the time of his leaving and returning. There had been a few times he just wanted to hide back in his old home and wait for another 1000 years to see if things get back to normal. Sighing he listend into what Celestia would say in response. "Around 2 weeks ago." "Not much. He needs to learn how things have changed." "Not at all. He done it before." Smiling at those answers he turned to Luna who now walked into the throne room and instantly was showere by flashes from cameras. Dispite the anger he had for the press not leaving them alone, one thing they said did get him. 'What will he be doing?' Sol still had yet to find out what his Cutie mark was and he didn't know anything to try to find out. But if he was to show he was not like other stallions by a show of skill then how could he prove it? He could battle Celestia infront of them but they would likely think she was going easy on him or that him challenging her was 'Cute' in some way. Perhaps a spar with a guard or two. He needed to remember that he was going to be trasted as a fragile child if he doesnt prove himself which is hard considering the cultural changes. Sighing he left the throne room and went to his room to think. He needed to think of a way to prove to this society that he was just as strong as them and then perhaps more stallions will see that and try to be like him. "I will be in my room if you need me." He tells Luna as he does his best to remain unseen as he heads up to his room. The maids giving him a few looks as they see him in his new royal get up. It was a strange feeling as he remembered that guys used to try and pick up mares but now they were trying to do that to him. It was weird but he would be lying if he said he didnt somewhat like it. He at least was happy that they wernt angry or disgusted by him. As he approtched his room he saw a mare waiting at the door, holing what looked like a sword. "Oh. Your majesty. Princess Celestia sent me. She told me to give you this. Said that it belonged to you." She held out the sword which was still in it sheeth and when Sol saw it he was taken aback. It was his old sword that she commissioned for him so long ago. Before he ran away. Taking it and pulling the sword out, he was delighted to see it wasnt rusy and didn't look worn down at all. It was still the same as he remembered it. The helt was long and golden with a blue jewel at the bottom on it and it went upwards into a circular area where the sword sproured out from. The ending of the sword split into 2 blades for the last 25% of the way to the tip and he still saw the metal was reflective. "Thanks." He said to her and she then asked him. "Please let me put it away. A stallion shouldnt be holding such a dangerious thing." He sighed and tried not to let his anger sound in his voice. "Please understand. I am no normal stallion. I will take it." The maid knew she had to listen to him. Her duity was to the royal family and he was part of that. Meaning she had to listen to him. "Very well." She bowed and left, looking at at him before she left the hall as he put the sword back in the sheeth. Entering his room he placed his sword in a display case which was at the far side of his room and headed to take a shower. As he thought on about what to do he decided that hiding away wouldn't be a good idea. He needed to face his problems head on so he decided after he made himself look presentable and put his royal gear back on he headed to the door of the throne room but stopped just as his hoof was at the door handle. To say he was nervious would be an understatement. This was a large crowd. Perhaps the largest he would ever be in and they even had those 'Cameras' as they were called which were almost blinding. Closing his eyes, he tensed up as he made his choice and went into the the throne room. "Let's get this over with." He said under his voice. Author's Note I am so sorry for not updating this. I compleatly lost track of time with it. This is just a short chapter. I will try and make this into something you would like to read but i am a little low on ideas for it. Also if you like this story, you might like the other one i am mainly focused on. This is the 2nd most focused on i am doing. My most focused is TOWTH. (The one with the heart)
The Plan"Sister. Are you sure Sol can handle all that attention and duties? He still has yet to get his cutie make." Celestia smiled at her but Luna could tell it was a forced one. She was deep in thought as she was so happy to have Sol back that she forgot it would impact her plans. "Sol is a tough one, like you. I have little doubt he will adapt to his new position and the attention quickly. But there is still the matter of Twilight. You know the plan was to make her a princess and step down for her to take over. Sol might want to stay with us but..." "But?" Luna asked "I asked Cadence and she sees a future with him and and Twilight together. So he might end up ruling with her." "I see." Luna said as she looked to the side. She was hoping they could fool around like they use to when they were foals or have a friendly battle like they did as teens. But they were both adults now and she needed to learn to leave the past in the past. "But as you know Sol will never admit that he likes anyone." Celestia said with a sigh and a smile. "Just like you when you were a teenager." Both of them shared a laugh before the door opened and they saw Sol enter, looking annoyed. "Oh my. What happened to you?" "I tried one of those spells that made me look different. But it didn't work." "A percention alteration spell?" Sol rubbed his horn. The tip burning from extensive usage of attemting the spell. "Yeah. That one. I am getting sick of staying in the castle. Your stall also don't help. Sol was still getting some looks and Celestia could see the 2 mare guards in her throne room checking him out, even if they kept a stone face on them. "Guards. Leave us." The 2 mares looked at Celestia and then left the room. They didn't bare look back as they felt her glaring at them even while not seeing it. "You want to get out and see the city?" Sol nodded as Celestia asked him that. "You never change. I will teach you the spell but remember to be back before the evening. You're older bother is coming to visit you." Sol's eyes widened as he forgot about that. The attention he had gotten since he was revealed to Equestria was more than he expected. He had seen a few mares looking at him as he passed by the windows where they saw him. A small crowd usually formed. "But you must remember. If you take on the apperence of a mare the you need to know how to change your voice or not speak at all. If you stay a stallion then you might need somepony to accompany you so you don't draw attention." Celestia said with a smile. "I prefer to stay a stallion." He said bluntly. "Fine. Then who will show you around?" She asked, mostly to herself. "I will sister. He would feel more comfy if i was with him and not some mare he doesn't know." Luna got up and started to walk down. "Or...we could get...you know who." Celestia said grinning. "Tia. Don't play matchmaker. Remember the last time you did that before Cadence took over? When you were sleepy?" Celestia went bright red when Luna mentioned that. "Should i know about this or not?" This caught his attention. Tia usually was the one who done the teasing when they were younger. So a chance to get her back was too good to pass up. "After a hard day of work. My sister wanted to calm down and relax so after she sat down at a fire and read a book. She heard two ponies outside, fighting. She tried to fix it with a love spell....but...." Luna giggled, almost laughing. "As she cast the spell on the stallion, he also turned around and since he was looking at a planet when the spell hit him. He fell in love with it. He called it 'George' or something." "And the mare?" "She saw him starting to kiss the plant and freaked out. That's when Tia decided to relieve some of her duties, such as watching over love. So she got cadence to inherate that power." Sol chuckled at this. It was quite the funny little story. "I still find it hard to live with the roles being reversed. Honestly, the staff treat me like i am a kid." She said sighing "You're lucky you're with us. If you were a normal stallion you would probably have been in a herd right now. Assuming you would even allow it." She chuckled and then looked sad. "What's wrong?" "You should know this. Since stallions are becoming more and more rare. Some mares...in positions of power are wanting to...put things in place for Stallions to spend more time reproducing." "Like what?" He asked cautiosly. "Like a stallion of age must be in a herd of at least 5 mares. This is a popular one being put forward right now as there is a lot of mares fighting over stallions. Some mares support it and some are against it. I fear if it passed then it might get worse down the road." Sol knew what Luna meant. He hated the idea of needing to be with mares and being pampered constantly. It was less out of love and more out of needing to do what is needed to keep the species going. "What about me?" He asked. "You will be an acception. So far you are the only male alicorn in Equestria. While your older brother is elsewear. You won't need a herd." There was still more he wanted to ask "Are stallions required to have kids?" He asked. "No. They are not required, but with the large amount of mares around its hard to find a stallion who isn't an adult and taken. It's almost unheard of...until you came along. But if you are worried about stallions losing rights, don't be. Me and my sister will make sure that doesn't happen." "Well is there anything weird or anything that has changed?" Luna thought for a moment before she blushed deeply. "I...you best find out about that yourself." It was unusual to see Luna become this flustered. Meaning it was perhaps something sexual. Luna only ever blushed like this 2 times. Sexual stuff, even just speaking about it. And when she was caught playing dressup as a filly. "I will get things ready to tell him. Luna. Change your apperance and take him out for a while." Celestia taught Sol how to properly alter the perception of those around him and soon he looked like a basic unicorn with a Yellow coat colour. Luna walked along side with him outside the castle and into the city. "So where to first?" Luna asked with a smile "Well what new things is there since i...we left?" "Tia told me of this thing called a 'Theater'. I have been meaning to check it out." He followed Luna to a large building that said 'Showing Now. Lord of the Horseshoes.' "What's that?" Sol asked. "It's suppose to be a movie with mythical creatures in olden times. I heard my sister say it was a good movie." As Luna walked up to the counter to get the tickets the mare at the counter looked at Sol. "How can i help you?" "2 to see Lord of the Horseshoes." Luna tried to not act like she normally does, with authority but tried to act casually. It was a little funny to see as she normally doesnt act like this around her subjects...but then again she is usually also not in disguise. "Are you sure? That's likely too violent for a Stallion." Luna narrowed her eyes at the mare which caused a shiver to run up her spine. "Did i stutter?" Luna asked firmly. "No." The mare said quickly and handed over 2 tickets to see the movie. Sol and Luna entered the viewing room, only for him to get a worried look from a lot of the mares there. He figured it was for the same reason as the one at the entrance got worried. The movie lasted for around 3 hours and he enjoyed it greatly. It was dark and quite bloody, but Sol was use to seeing that as he had gotten more than a few cuts when he lived alone. A tree even once fell on his front leg and a broke branch almost stabbed through his leg. "It'z been a while since we had time to ourselves." "It was like old days. Nice to have you back Lu." She looked at him with a warm smile as he finished his soda. "Same here." They headed back to the Castle and when Sol arrive he didnt expect to see a face he hadn't seen in a long time. Entering the throne room and saw a Black alicorn with a white mane. He stood as tall as Celestia and both were talking away happily. He froze up when he saw him, it was his older brother. "Eclipse." He said and he turned to face him. Smiling he ran up to Sol. "Little Bro! I missed you so much!" He almost tackled him into a hug. "I missed you to." Sol said with some diffeculty breathing from the bearhug he was getting. "Where were you all these years?" Letting him go, Sol fell to the floor and gasped a few times before getting back up. "In the Crystal mountains. I took up home there for a few hundered years. The first few i spent in the everfree. What about you?" Sol asked as he looked at Celestia. "Where's your wife? I heard you were married." "Yeah. I sure did. I found a mare about 50 years after you ran away. Plus i could tell how the culture was changing so i kinda also wanted to get out of here. I would have offered you to come with me so we could rule our own kingdom like Celestia and Luna do." Looking over his older brother, Sol saw Eclipse's Cutie mark. It was a full moon that was shining through dark clouds but the clouds were in the shape of claws that seemed to be trying to grab the moon and darken the light. "Like it? I got it a while after making a kingdom and having to protect it shortly after. It represents light in the darkness. Or hope." Sol sighed as he was now the only one in their family that didn't have a cutie mark. "I think you are overwhelming him." Celestia said as she walked up to them. "Sorry. I'm just so happy to see you again. I thought for sure that you were dead. I mean if any mare found an Alicorn male in this day and age they would likely keep him. You're quite the catch since you're single." While Sol hated that idea, it did raise the question if he wanted to be single for the rest of his life, but Celestia is still single and so is Luna. "I still can't belive Discord done that. Some kind of sick joke." He said as he tried to change the subject. His love life wasnt something he liked to talk about. "So i heard. Changing the gender ratio. As much as i hate to say it, this herding tatic that Equestria made has only stagnated that male population." His older brother looked annoyed when he mentioned Discord. "Wait. But it has increased. Right?" He asked with a little worry and Celestia spoke next. "Yes, but not in the way you think. The pony population has...tripled since you vanished and most are mares. So yes while there is more stallions than before, there is many, many more mares. So overall the stallions are going down in how much they make towards the total population percentage even if their numbers are slowly increasing." "So Sol. Do you have any mare that catches your eye?" He asked with a smirk and Celestia held back a laugh as she saw Sol blushing. "No. I don't." He said bluntly. "You can tell us if you do." Sol walked to the side and looked out the window, at the streets below. There must have been around 200 mares and he saw only 3 stallions out with them. "No i don't. I'm still taking in all of this." "I know it's a lot. But you will adapt. I know you. This is something you will find a way around. But just be careful. If you act threatening to assert your independance, the mares might see it as cute instead of something to be taken serious. Which means you will have to prove yourself." "What about marrage? Has that changed?" Eclipse chuckled. "You will have to ask Celestia that. She knows her kingdom more." Eclipse left the throne room and headed to his room to rest up and help Luna with her upcoming night shift while Sol went over to Celestia. "Celestia. What has changed?" Celestia turned around and pulled a book out from under her throne. "Here. Read this. You will understand that some mares will try to do and how they now see Stallions." The book she handed to him had the title 'Stallion herding, scent marking and caring for their needs. A book for newly adult mares.' The front of it showed 2 mares. One White and the other grey. The white one had sunglasses on and the gray one was wearing a bowtie. Both of them were looking at him with half closed, seductive eyes and biting their bottom lips. "Is this a-" He was cut off. "No...it's not 'that' kind of book. As i said, this is what most mares will do to you and how they will treat you." Sol took it to his room. Unsure if he should even give it a read as the cover alone was diffecult to look at. "And this." She handed him one more and this one showed a cream coloured mare with a cutie mark that was a heart and baby bottle. A colt was hugging into her and sleeping happily. The title read 'Raising a colt into a stallion. By Cream Heart.' Sol didn't really like the idea of reading these or much less being seen with them, but if it helped him then he knew it would be best if he did. As he left the throne room, Celestia chuckled to herself. "Oh Sol. Never change."
A Normal WalkSol had finished reading the books and to say he was shocked would be an understatement with how the mares and Stallions are now so different. But to him that didn't matter as he had no plans to get married, at least not anytime soon. What was more important was today and the event's it was going to bring as word about him has now all around Equestria and there was more than a few odd reactions from multiple empires as Discords 'Prank' was global and not just limited to Equestria. A Mare or multiple as harems were common, would rub themselves all over their lover as a way of marking them with their scent which others could easily smell, indicating he was taken. But to him that didn't matter as he wasn't planning on getting married. Mostly because his Alicorn immortality would only make love with anyone not like him a painful thing. Cadence likely has thought about that with her partner and is dreading the day he passes. Sol decided to get himself ready for today so he went to take a shower before putting on the same royal wear he always wore. Celestia more or less had the same kind made for him but had them separated and marked one for each day of the week. And a backup. So he had around 14 sets of the same, all in one place. Putting a hoof to his head, he sighed. It was almost comical they way they were all the same. But he quickly took the set that had the label for today and left his room. As he walked the halls he saw the maids cleaning and some flirted with him as they had a habit of doing, but he learned to block it out and focus on today. As he made his way to the throne room he saw a 3rd throne that Celestia had ordered to be constructed for him. Smiling, he approached it and sat down and was delighted to feel how soft it was. "No Sol. Focus. You are a prince. Hold yourself like such and act like an adult." He told himself as he fixed his back and sat upright. "Well look who's ready for duty." Celestia appeared from behind the throne which made Sol jump. "Tia! Don't do that!" He said as he managed to stop his Fight response and stopped himself from potentially giving her a bloodied nose or eye. Putting a hoof on his chest he managed to calm himself down. "Sorry. But i couldn't help it." She said with a big grin on her face as she took her seat next to him. "So how did you sleep?" She asked happily. "Quite well. I still find it hard to think i am back after all these years. To be honest, i kind of forgot i was a prince with all those years i lived alone." Sol wasn't going to lie. He was already starting to miss his old house and his old life. But he also remembered that Grand Harvest told him that if he ever did decide to go back, he should spend time with his family as he sadly lost his in a timber wolf attack. Sol's first taste of immortality came when he was living with Grand harvest. When he was getting taught how to work the land and how to take care of it. Over time he saw Harvest get more grey and weaker. One time which was 4 years before his passing he collapsed in the garden and Sol rushed over to him. By that time Sol hadn't aged in appearance since the day he ran away, but as he looked at Harvest he knew he wouldn't be around for much longer. Sol spent the last 3 years of Harvest's life as the one who attended the garden. 1 year before his passing he lost his sight and 6 months later he didn't ever remember who Sol was. He was starting to sleep all the time. Only waking up for food, which Sol had to feed him and tell him he was his 'Caretaker'. It was one of the toughest times for Sol as every passing day he would wake up and check on Harvest. Making sure he was still alive. Around 1 week before he passed he stayed awake more often but he was talking to the air. Taking to those he once knew like they were in front of him and he would also talk into the early hours of the morning. Sol would never forget the day that he passed away. He was trying to get to sleep but couldn't as Harvest was still talking to the air. But as it reached around 2 in the morning, he heard a chuckle from Harvest and then he went silent. Looking back on that moment he realised he likely passed just before he himself managed to get to sleep. That was around the first time he felt starvation in a long time as he failed to keep the garden healthy by spending time indoors, trying to get over the fact that Harvest was gone. Thankfully he did manage to ration the food he did have until the summer and by that time he was almost skeletal in appearance. About 10 years after that he decided to move to a more remote place. "Sol?" He snapped out of it and looked up at Celestia. "Sorry Sis. Just thinking." He didn't realise that Luna too had arrived and was standing next to him. He only realised when he looked to the side to see her smiling at him. "You still daydream?" She asked jokingly. "Yeah i do. So what?" Both giggled and took their seats with him. With that the day begun and Sol watch on as Celestia and Luna delt with their work. Sol still didn't have much to do as he was still learning about what's changed and how he will now deal with the new culture. He could challenge Celestia to a duel to prove to others that he was capable of taking care of himself as a Stallion of old. But they would likely say 'She let him win to be a 'Gentlemare' or some crap like that. Not only that but the attention he got from being royalty was starting to get annoying. Thankfully Celestia was there to tell them all to leave him alone and that he could do things himself. He thought about running away again but he didn't want to hurt Celestia who had waited so long to see him or Luna who looks like she wasn't even back for 5 years. Sighing, he got up from his throne and went to the garden. Saying to Celestia and Luna 'I need to take a walk' as he left. Walking in the gardens was something he usually did to clear his head or calm down. As he went into the gardens he was approached by a mare who asked to be his escort. "I can take care of myself. I am not like 'Your' stallions." He said with a hint of disgust which caused her to take a single step back. "I didn't mean to offend you." She said as she looked upset. Sol sighed and rubbed his head. "I'm just tired of being treated like a kid after i was raised to show no emotion and follow logic since i would be a leader. It's not your fault. Return to your duties." He said and left as he entered the garden. As he walked in the garden it wasn't long until he saw that Discords statue was gone. This made him panic a little as he couldn't really remember much about Discord other than he was not a nice guy. The only memory he has of him was a seemingly 3 second memory of him sitting on a throne, laughing and a strong feeling of fear. "Guard!" He called in a voice that sounded more concerned that fearful. The mare from before ran up to him. "Sir?" "Where's Discord?" He asked as he pointed to the empty place his statue use to be. "Oh. He's reformed. He's now living with Fluttershy." She said so casually. "Really? Him? Reformed?" She nodded. "I...see. Thanks. You say resume your duties." He told her as he walked further into the gardens, only to soon be blocked by...a wall of bubbles? "Oh my, how much you have grown." A familiar voice said from all around. "Discord?" He asked as he looked around and as he did, the bubbles took shape into the Discord he remembered in his memory. "Well look who's back. The Prince. Where have you been all these years?" He asked as he then put in a hat and smoked a pipe while looking through documents that he made appear. "Cause i couldn't seem to find you at all when i got out. You were none existent." He then made them all vanish. "I was away. In my own little adventure." "1003 years? Some adventure. You must have a lot of stories." He didn't reply to that. "What? Don't tell me you lived in isolation for a long time?" Sol did the same and didn't respond. "Oh...introverts. No fun at all. Why keep it all in? Show the true you." He said as he flicked a finger against his head and one of these smiling masks you see in Drama signs fell to the ground. With a look of amusement on his face, he looked right at Discord. "Oh fine. I get it you want to be alone. But you will come around eventually. Especially in a world like this. Where stallions only make up less than 10% of the overall population." He said with a smirk and vanished. Sol shook his head with rolling eyes. "No. I'm happy as i am." He said with a hint if pain in his chest. "Get lost!" He said to himself and steeled himself against the feeling. He knew he was an alicorn and as a result, anyone who wanted to marry would pass away. He would have to eventually bury his grand-foals and all others down the line. What kind of life is it where the elder has to bury and outlive the young? No. He would remain single. He would avoid the pain. One thing he did wonder was what else changed or what happened besides the culture change and he knew just the place to head to check on that. The throne room. Heading back to the throne room he looked at the glass windows which Celestia said she was saving for 'Something Special' previously and had a habit of putting up images of stories. One glass window caught his eye. One that he had walked by a few times but up until now had never stopped and looked at it. It was a picture of him...flying down with snow covered mountains in the background and both Luna and Celestia looking up in delight at him. "When was this installed?" He asked himself. "On the very day you returned while you were sleeping." Celestia said behind him with a smile. Sol looked over the others. One of them depicting an invasion of some kind. "That's the invasion of Canterlot. It happened recently, about 2 months age." Canterlot was invaded and he never heard about it? He really was living under a rock for 1000 years. "It was invaded and i didn't even know about it." He said in shock. "Everything turned out well. Thankfully." She said with a smile. "Why didn't you fight back?" He asked her. "You have the power of the Sun. A star. Why not fight back?" He asked almost angrily. "Why do you think? The collateral damage would be too devastating. I challenged the queen and was winning, but then i felt my power boil up...i felt...her speaking into my ear and i lowered my power." "Her?" He asked with confusion but Celestia looked shocked. "Oh did i say her haha? I mean...the queen was trying to get into my mind. Yeah." Celestia was clearly nervous about something. "Sorry Sol but i have to go. IHaveCakeLeftOverIfYouWantSomeOkBye." She said in a panic before teleportating away. All he got from that was something about cake. Sol was left there stunned. Celestia had never acted like that before and it made him concerned for her. But what could he do? He decided he would head to the door to the council chambers and listen into what they were talking about. He had nothing to do so he went there and as he had come to expect, it was all mares. The rest of the day went slow. Most things that normally happened didn't take place that day and even Luna saw that it was a much slower day than normal. "So how was your Day?" "Besides a shock seeing Discord again. Uneventful." "I know. Strange." Sol had a feeling it was because of him. The days were getting more easier with less mares showing up and when they did they were more...formal and sharply dressed. Perhaps they were trying to catch his eye. "Oh Luna. I was speaking to Tia today and she acted strange." "What happened?" "Tia mentioned...her. Do you know who shes talking about?" "Her? As in just that with no name?" Sol nodded and Luna shook her head. "Sorry. But i have no clue. I don't think shes talking about mum so i have no idea." Luna smiled at him before it turned to a grin. "Hey Sol. How about we have a bet?" "What are you implying?" "We go out disguised and see who can drink the most before giving up. None alcoholic of course." "The stakes?" He asked with a grin "If i win. You have to wear a suit and greet mares who arrive tomorrow." He narrowed his eyes at her as she grin evilly. "You never know. You might like somepony." She said in an almost singing like way. "And if i win?" She lost her smile. "What do you want to happen?" After thinking on it for a moment he looked at her with a grin. "For Nightmare night you will have to wear 'That' suit." He said as he hinted to something with a grin and Luna's eyes widened with fear. "Why?" She asked but he just put up a hoof. "Deal or no deal?" After a few moments she took it and shook. "Fine." With that, both of them disguised themselves and went out. Author's Note I am thinking of Cancelling the FNAF story and making a new SCP crossover story called 'Son Of Scarlet' as i have totally forgot what the story of the FNAF one even was. Also to those who are reading this one. I am mainly focused on my other story TOWTH.
Finding your pathSol had spent some time going over recent events and he was surprised to see Celestia hadn't been there to deal with the problems at hand. However she did mention something about something called 'Her' but that's all she said about it. He did ask her before but she pushed the subject away. She seemed to be fearful of her power. Like she would lose control if she used too much or went too far. She had fought Nightmare moon to a standstill before and while she wasn't strong enough to stop discord alone, she could still give him some trouble if she really tried. So she wasn't weak, it seemed like there was something hiding her back mentally. Something she feared. Sol did have a theory however. She lose her younger sister who was just suffering from rejection and acting out of sadness. Her younger brother who ran off and was never found for over 1000 years and her twin brother who ran off to search from the younger but ended up ruling his own kingdom. She lose half her family in one night and was left alone to rule a whole empire by herself. Such an event would drive even the most loving individuals crazy and with the massive power and responsibility she suddenly had, she probably done a few things she, at the time, thought were good and helpful but looking back at them she realised they were bad. Her eyes must have been opened after a time and she realised what the power and emotional trauma done to her so she does her best to not let the power get to her, unless she wanted her bad side to come out again. It was only a theory but he couldn't have imagined how much pressure the past 1000 years were on her mentally after half her family was gone and the last one she had moved away from her. Sol did like to be alone but he wasn't beyond being with others if they needed the help. Realising his own mistake now he regretted that he ever ran away. If he was still with her then things might have turned out better. But like Luna, he reacted out of emotion too but he chose to run away. It had to wait however as he had to prepare for today. While he didn't really have any duties he still needed to keep up appearances and needed to hold himself to the title he had. Last night he did have a dream that he didn't know if it was his mind giving him a solution to the problem he had or Luna somehow influenced it. But he had an idea how he would try to prove himself. He needed to not challenge Celestia first. He could head to the guard training ground and prove himself by challenging the guards and work his way up. Sure he was an alicorn so he had some advantages but for the most part it seemed that the culture changed to believe the stallions had low mental capacity rather than physical. Even if physical was part of the culture change the most change seemed to be mentally so if he could prove himself against even the toughest guards by showing them he had the mindset of a leader then he could eventually challenge Celestia. Sol then remembered he hasn't really used a weapon in a long time so he might be rusty and if the guards even know the battle tactics he did as he was over 1000 years old. Heading out of his room he made his way to the armoury where he saw around 4 blacksmith mares working and sweating in the intense heat. One of them saw him and froze up. "Oh. P-Prince." She said with shock in her voice and the other 3 turned to face him. "At ease. I'm just here to request weapon." He told them but this only seemed to shock them. To hear a prince request a weapon to them was unheard of. While only a small fraction of the stallions out there joined the guard, they were often made to be lookouts or other jobs that kept them at a distance. They had no idea how to react to this. "Any weapon specifically?" Was all one could asked as her mind went black at the situation they were in. Sol thought about it for a moment and he decided on a sword. This was a weapon to challenge Celestia when the time was right and the guards likely used wooden sword to train. Unless they had developed some kind of magically created swords in the time he was away. "A sword." That made the blacksmiths jump. A sword. Up close and personal and not something like a bow to attack at a distance. All of them were frozen for a few moments. "Sir. Are you sure? Stallions don't normal-" He cut he off by raising a hoof. "I am not like those of today. I am over 1000 years old. I was raised and trained to fight by Celestia and i survived in the woods, away from society and from the protection that my sisters have for over 1000 years. Remember? Please don't make me order you to give me a blade." Sol hated giving orders to others. "Y-yes sir." They couldn't argue with him. He was in the same position of authority as Luna. So really the only one who had the power to overrule his word was Celestia and that wasn't cause her title was more than his, it was cause she was older as if a prince or princess ever had a disagreement then the oldest usually got priority. So if he and Princess Twilight had an argument, since he was the older of the 2, he would take priority. "Keep it here and i will get it at the end of today or tomorrow." He said as he left and went to the barracks. He was going to start proving himself to the guards and to the whole of Equestria that he wasn't some cuddly prince. There was only 2 mares in the Barracks and when they saw him they froze in shock. "S...Sir?" One said with shock. "At ease soldier. I am just here to observe. You're training starts soon, doesn't it?" He asked them with a tone of voice that hinted that he was there for a purpose and was going to see it through. "Yes. It's in the yard. But why would you be intere-" He held up a hoof to her. "I have my reasons." He walked passed them and looked out into the field and saw the mares training. there was 2 stallions there training with crossbows. When one mare saw him, she silently motioned to the rest who once they saw him started to train harder. If this was a way of attempting to get his attention or because they were putting on a display for royalty, he didn't know. Sol watched a few matches and saw their techniques. Needless to say he was aware of most of them. There was some that were done differently as a way of improvement but for the majority of the fighting styles. Not much seemed to have changed when Celestia trained him. They looked back often to him to see if his expression changed and for the most part he maintained his blank poker face. He was now sure they were trying to catch his eye, but they would have to try harder as he was not all that impressed. After the 8th spar he said to the mares beside him without even turning to look at them. "I'm joining." He said bluntly and he heard one of the mares drop her ice cream at his comment. Sol grabbed a wooden sword and walked into the ring as the last two mares who battled were leaving. Needless to say they all looked horrified at him standing in the middle of the sparing ring. "Listen up. I am sick of you all thinking i'm some kind of sensitive creature that needs to be cared for. So i am now challenging any and all of you to a sparing match. Step forwards." He waited for a response but it was so quiet the onlt thing he heard was the wind. "You're majesty-" One tried to speak as she stepped into the ring. Sol turned around more quickly than they could react too and pointed the wooden sword at her. Which caused her to back up. On a balcony, Celestia was looking down as she took her midday break and smiled as she saw Sol in the middle of the fighting ring. "You still have that fire in you. Don't you?" She giggled to herself. "Take another step and i will consider you my opponent." Sol warned the mare who was now a frozen statue. This caused a commotion which caused the 2 stallions who were training with crossbows to enter the ring to try and get him out of it. Sol's eyes turned to looked at them and he glared at them which caused the 2 of them to back off. One of them tried to be brave and took a step into the ring. "Take one more step and we battle for real." The stallion thought he was joking but as he took another step he found himself on the ground with a burning pain on his side. The audience gasped loudly as the stallion back up and held the area he was struck at. "I'm not joking around! If you want me to leave, then you will have to beat me in a spar!" He announced to the crowd of mares. "Fine then." One of them stepped forwards. Sol turned around to her and smiled. "A mare with a spine to fight me." He said as a joke since to them it was not seen as right to fight him since he was a stallion. But he didn't care. He was about to battle. The mare charged at him blindingly. Not tactics put into her attack. She must have thought he was bluffing so with a simple block, a smack to the side and a stronger smack to the other side, she was out. "Anyone else?" Sol said as he took her down with no effort. It took some time but slowly the mares started to attack him one by one at first and then some tried to team up. Thanks to his training, fitness and speed he was easily able to avoid and counter them and soon he found himself standing amount a crowd of injured mares. "Is that all you have? The training i went through 1000 years ago was much more brutal than this at basic level. This is when he heard something behind him that put a smile on his face as it reminded him of the times before Luna vanished. All the mares around him were looking behind him. Wide eyed and fearful. A Few minutes ago. Luna and Celestia both looked at Sol as he took down the guards in a sparing ring. Each guard lasting no more than 10 seconds against him before being knocked out or thrown out of the ring. The tactics he used was the basic training he went through more than 1000 years ago and some more that they assume he picked up while surviving in the wild for years on end. "Sol is still the warrior he was trained to be." Luna said with a smile. "I think the mares are getting a little frustrated." Celestia chuckled as some mares who were injured were watching him with pouts on their faces. "More like jealous. We simply must join in, for old times sake." Luna said. "Luna. I'm not sure that wo-" Luna had already vanished and returned with her old battle gear. "Sol wants to show he is a stallion of old and not like the ones today. So a real battle would show that." Celestia sighed and a few moments later it turned to a smile. "Very well. Go on ahead. I will be along soon." With that, Luna flew down to the sparing ring. Present time "Indeed it was." Luna walked up to Sol covered head to hoof in a black and blue armour and Sol greeted her with a smile as he turned to face her. "Luna. You want to challenge me?" All the mares were wide mouthed and watching with great interest. "Indeed we do dear brother. For you have proven yourself by handling our guards but how will tho last again me?" She grinned and put the hatch on her helmet down before tossing Sol a real sword which he caught with his magic. Luna pulled out her battle-axe and got into a battle stance. Celestia herself was standing at the side from a distance as she watched them prepared to battle. A memory flashed in her mind of a younger Luna and Sol with stone swords in the garden of the old castle battling each other. Blades hitting each other until one sword broke. They usually had a few bruised and some cuts after the battle but they each were happy afterwards. "I have a feeling Sol will win." She told herself as she still didn't know what he picked up from the years of living alone so how he will fight would be unpredictable.
Proven"So Sister. Do you expect to beat me? Remember the times you tried before?" Sol said in a joking way. A smirk largely visible on his head. To him he didn't care if she had Armor on as this would work in his favour. He already had a battle plan to beat Luna. "Why Dear Brother. You will find we are no longer the inexperienced fighter we once were." Luna raised her Axe and pointed it at him. "We challenge you." "Challenge Accepted." He said with a grin. Waiting for Luna to make the first move, he was greeted with her rushing forwards and bringing the axe down. Sol easily blocked it with his blade but as he felt the impact he realised it was a light impact. Looking back at Luna, he saw her smile and then with her 2nd swing, the axe hit him with more force than before. This is when Sol realised she was testing him. "Why Sister? Do you think I'm not capable of handling you?" He said mockingly as Sol moved his blade forwards and blocked at the handle before moving his blade up to the head of the axe. Hooking it and throwing it to the side. But Luna's grip on it was stronger than he thought so both of them put all the strength they had into their weapons. It was at that moment that Sol's blade broke in half and he looked at the hilt which only had about a quarter of the actual blade part left. "Don't underestimate us Brother." Luna said pridefully. Sol smiled as he was about to burst that ego she had. "Well same goes for you. This is all i need." He said as he held the broken sword with his magic. Luna was unsure if he was serious but she believed him as he was a very strong fighter. So with her trust in him that he could still fight with that broken blade, she attacked him and he avoided her easily. There was one incident which was close to him getting hurt as Luna swept her axe across and for a moment Sol lost his balance as he didn't expect to land on a rock so he moved back, the axe seeming to barely miss his cheek as it did so. Luna saw that and did her best to slow it down and did barely managed to as he lost his balance after she launched the swing so stopping it was not happening, all she could do was slow it down. Sol did manage to avoid it and she was relieved she done no serious harm to him. Swinging her axe she did all she could to hit Sol. Putting all her effort into speed as she was still aware he wasn't wearing anything heavy so she needed to not put in a lot of power to her attacks. Not because he was a Stallion but because it was common sense to not do something that could potentially kill your sparing partner. Needless to say she was amazed at how quick Sol was as he avoided every attack she threw at him. A downwards hit would make him step back. A slash would make him drop and duck. A sweep would make him jump. He was a pro at avoiding her attacks. Sol knew that Luna would soon catch on to what his tactic was so he needed to distract her and he knew just how to do that. With his blade bud he tried to go for her head. While he didn't plan to actual land a hit, he needed to make it look like he was trying, at least for a while. "Sol. Why do you not get a new blade or an heavy weapon like us?" She asked, more out of concern for her brother. It was then that Luna felt the sweat coming off her forehead. "Why Luna...or LuLu..." He said with a chuckle as he knew that got under her skin and the angry pout she made confirmed that nickname still did annoy her. "Surely you realise what I am planning by now?" He did a fake sneak attack as he tried to make his attack take her by surprise, which it did, even with him not trying to hurt her. Just make sure she was focused on attacking him. "What are you planning." Sol grinned. All the time he spend in the woods alone made his body grow stronger and his stamina improve greatly. Avoiding her was quite easy and he wasn't starting to sweat. All he needed to do was wait till Luna tired out thanks to her heavy Armor and his bulky weapon. "You will see." Sol grinned. Celestia was watching from the side and saw what Sol was doing and understood his tactic. Luna was a talented fighter and knew how to take a beating but Sol was quick and struck where it counted. Luna was getting tired and the heat she was feeling inside the Armor she wore didn't help in the slightest. As she saw Luna pull her Axe back she was sweating and breathing heavily. Sol had shown her his speed to make her realise that power wouldn't do and to throw around that Axe with her magic at such a speed and to keep track of his movements along with how heavy the Armor she wore was all working against her and Sol knew it "Sol has won." Celestia said and her mare guards looked at her in surprise. "Wait. Really your highness?" Celestia nodded. "Look at Luna and then at Sol." Not to mention Sol had also changed his fighting style. He never waited for his opponent to tire out when he spared with Luna before. Previously he would always avoided their attacks before striking and aiming for important points or use the environment to his advantage. So it was similar but different too. It was clear to anyone at this point that Luna was tired while Sol still had stamina to spare. Luna's armor was also weak at the joints and that seemed to be where Sol was aiming his fake attacks which caused Luna to be unable to ignore them. He had Luna in a net and it was slowly closing over more and more. Sol decided to go on the offensive now and charged at Luna with the intent of tiring her out more. He launched fake attacks at important points in her like her joints but was either blocked or he slowed himself down to the point that Luna was able to block him. He pretended to be frustrated which was hard as the grin wasn't easy to get rid off since everything was going to plan. Time after time again Luna would block him and grin, but she was gradually getting slower and slower. The moment Sol saw her magic stagger he knew it was time to finish this. He done one more fake strike and when it was blocked he moved his blade upwards so when Luna's axe followed he lost his fake expression and the grin returned. Sol moved forwards and when Luna saw this she brought the axe down. More like let it drop. Sol stepped back and then when the axe was in the ground he jumped into the handle as her magic lifted it again and with one more jump he landed on Luna's back. This caused her to collapse and as she tried to move she felt something at her neck. She looked down and saw Sol's broken blade with that sharp point at her neck. Ready to slit it open in a moment. Looking up all she saw was Sol looking down at her with a huge grin on his face as he held the broken blade to her neck. "I win LuLu." He said as he got off her and took the broken blade away from her neck. As he stood up and looked around he saw all the mares were wide eyed and their jaws were hanging to the ground. "Next?" He said smugly and all the mares backed off. Even the stallions from before were beyond shocked at how he defeated Luna and it was clear she was trying to actually hit him as the large amount of holes in the ground, how much she was sweating and the fact they saw a steel blade get snapped infront of them. They knew she wasn't holding back or decided to just let him win to be nice. He won a real duel against the princess of the moon. Some ponies were even watching from the castle interior and upper levels as mares and stallions alike were leaning over edges and looking down from widows to watch their battle. Luna stood up and took off her helmet. Cleaning her forehead of sweat, she looked to Sol with a smile. "You fought well Brother. We're impressed." Sol helped her up and she took off her Armor before putting her royal clothing and crown. "Sol is the winner!" Celestia announced from the side with a large smile on her face. "I knew you would do it Sol. You were normally the most experienced fighter and had the most fire when it came to battling." Celestia narrowed her eyes in a way that someone would do when looking at something they were trying to understand. With a hoof she wiped his cheek and smiled. "Well now mares will know you're not a doll with that." She had a smile on her face. Sol decided to prove himself once more, so in the sight of all the ponies around him he pointed to Celestia. "Celestia. I challenge you to a duel next week." He was somewhat tired from all the dodging he had to do with Luna so some time to recover would help him. This would have 3 things working in his benefit. First would also let word spread of him challenging Celestia. The 2nd would be the word of him beating Luna also spreading and lastle while he had proven himself in physical power he needed to now prove himself mentally. So taking down Celestia or holding his own against her with a solid plan would show mares that he doesn't have a low mentality for his age and that other stallions could too and that stallions can return to the way they use to be. "And I accept your challenge younger brother." She said in her normal calm in collected tone. "We will meet in the Canterlot theatre 1 week. Rest up and prepare yourself." "One thing more." He narrowed his eyes to her. "What might that be?" "No holding back on me." This caused the mares and even the stallions that were there to almost start sweating and one stallion even fainted. Sol had half a mind to kick him to wake him up but choose not to as he was here to prove himself and that Stallion could be like him, not to be cruel. "I accept your request." Celestia said with a smile and casually walked back to the Castle. Sol knew he needed a new plan. Celestia and his older brother were trained and completed the training their parents gave them while his and Luna' were incomplete as she disappeared before they finished theirs. Plus she also saw the way he took down Luna and would be aware of it so he decided to head in and make up a new plan. On his way to his room the mare guard were looking at her nervously and not with flirty eyes like they were before. He smile as he knew that was a good sign that they weren't going to treat him like he needed care anymore. Arriving back in his room he smiled at his success today as he got ready to have a shower. He more or less had nothing else to do for the remainder of the day. It had been a few days since he had taken up his title or prince again and he still didn't have much to do as Celestia was normally the one who was most busy. Heading into the shower room he turned it on and started to clean himself. What caught his attention soon after was a stinging sensation on his cheek, where Celestia had touched him. However he decided to leave it for now and get washed. The shower itself wasn't too hard for him to understand when he returned as there was times he got lost in the woods and bathed under a waterfall. A shower was more or less the same besides a off and on switch and a dial that controlled the temperature. He did hear that Luna had trouble with it and by the time Celestia returned to see how Luna was doing it looked like the whole bathroom had gotten washed and forgotten to have been dried. One thing that did still somewhat bother him was his lack of a certain mark. To him the way his society operated, even before the gender ratio change was strange. For example how was it that the mark that ponies got was always tied to their name in someway when their name is what they got at birth? Not matter what their names were they almost always seemed to get a mark later on in life that reflected that in some way so was it really based on their 'Special talent' or was their talent somehow linked to their name that their parents gave them? "It's probably magic. That seems to be the the answer to a lot of stuff like that here." The mayor of ponyville was called 'Mayor Mare' but is that a title or her name? Was she just called 'Mare' before being elected? If not then was was her name? If it was 'Mayor mare' at birth then her parents knew she her talent would be related to politics somehow. Sol shook his head to get these thoughts out of his mind. It wasn't worth getting a headache over. This is when he saw the clock that showed he had already been in there for 15 minutes while he felt like he just got into the shower. "I got to stop thinking about these theoretical stuff when getting washed." Sol told himself as he rubbed his forehead. He got cleaned and as he was getting dried he saw in the mirror what the stinging was. He had a cut on his cheek. "Well that will probably be a scar. Not that I am complaining." He said with a chuckle and decided to stay up and read some book before heading to his bed. Calling it a day.
Home Sweet Home"Twilight. A letter from Celestia just arrived." Spike ran over to her with a scroll in his claw. The purple Alicorn, Twilight Sparkle who had just recently received her crystal castle was still looking over the map she was making of the castle. "Hold on..." She drew out another room on the parchment she held in her magic before turning to him. "What did you say Spike?" He frowned as he held out the letter, showing it was from Celestia and without a moment's hesitation she took it and read it. "Dear Princess Twilight. First off I would like to say congratulations on the new castle. I would like to see around it sometime in the future but I'll be very busy for the next few days. Which leads to my next and most important point. The time I have right now I wish to use to tell you and your friends something very important, something only myself, Luna, Cadance and Shining armour know. Please gather them and meet me in Canterlot." She closed the scroll up and looked at the map she had of the castle before placing it on the table in the main room. "Spike. Let's get our friends. Celestia wants to meet us in Canterlot. Whatever it is, it seems important." She wrote a quick letter to tell Celestia they were on their way and had Spike send it before they ran out of the castle to gather up their friends. It was a few minutes later that they were all gathered up in the castle as Twilight was going to explain to them what she could, even with the little information she had. Rainbow Dash on the other hand was clearly annoyed as she had been woken from her sleep and it was no more than 24 hours after they had finished off Tirek. "So what is this about anyway? We recently defeated Tirek and you got a New castle in Ponyville. Please don't tell me there's another bad guy we need to beat." "Celestia said she wanted to tell us something. Something that only the other Alicorns and my Brother knew about. If you want answers then we best not stall. Everypony ready?" With a smile from them all and a nod from Dash she teleported them all to Canterlot. They were teleported right into the throne room where Celestia was waiting with Luna. When she saw them she stood up and walked down towards them and Luna did the same. "Twilight. It's great to see you again. How does it feel being a Princess with your own castle?" Twilight was unsure how to respond and after a few seconds she just said one word. "Overwhelming." Celestia chuckled when she said that as she remembered back to when she took up the rule of Canterlot. "You'll get use to it." Luna nudged her, her expression showing she didn't want to make small talk. "Alright. Now, I'm sure you want to know why I called you here." "Is it another bad guy?" Dash said and the rest of the mane six all looked at her with a glare. "What? I'm being serious." Celestia reassured her it wasn't what she thought it was. "No it's not Rainbow Dash." Celestia closed the throne room doors and looked at the guard mares in her throne room. "Ladies. What you're about to hear, doesn't leave this room. Understand?" They all nodded. "Good. Now Twilight. You know how society works, with Stallions and Mares?" Twilight nodded. "Yes Princess. It's a mares duty to protect her Stallion and care for him and it's the Stallions duty to provide foals for the next generation. While it is true that there is no law that is holding Stallions down, there is only very few that attempt to step out of what's expected of them as it's become something of a norm. It's also to do with the gender imbalance as there is almost 10 times more mares than stallions so they have to be protected to make sure this doesn't get worse." Celestia nodded at her explanation. "Do you know how our society became like this?" Twilight nodded. "Yes. You said it was to do with a war. There were so many stallions in the military in the early days of pony kind that after dealing with Sombra and after the great species war they were very few in number." Celestia nodded again. "After that the percentage of stallions went from 51% down to 19%, but as you know that war almost eliminated half of ponykind. The only ones who didn't fight were either to young, old or too sick and we only had a very small amount left in the military at the time. It was then that mares started to help stallions with their work but over time the work became more mare dominant and society shifted. The original idea was that stallions and mares weren't shamed from doing what society didn't expect of them and a healthy growing population. If a stallion back then wanted to wear pink then he could but it wouldn't shame him as a stallion." "But there's something I don't understand. The gender ratio was almost a perfect 50/50 before the war. How did it change?" Celestia was surprised Twilight knew that as it wasn't a subject she expected her to study up on but she smiled and gave her the answer she was looking for. "That's something I have been keeping a secret. When Discord was defeated, he used a powerful scroll to upset the gender balance. Ever since his defeat there have been more mares being born than stallions. I wanted to reform him to not only give him a second chance, but to reverse that spell. However..." "What? What happened?" "The scroll he got was from his father. Who's magic is much greater than his own. With that scroll and the magic in it, he was able to cast the spell and the scroll was destroyed after it's use. The magic was used and it disintegrated. So now Discord can't reverse his prank for at least another 100,000 years. Then he will be the same age his father was and his magic will be on the same level." Twilight's head jumped up, she got an idea. "Can't Discord be given our magic to reverse it?" "No. Our magic is unlike his. You saw his magic was different when Tirek ate it. So we can't help in that regard, and what Tirek did is different from what we did to power you. You mentioned it in a way to use our magic to boost discords magic. Tirek ate magic and used them together. Not to boost a single one. We did try to track down his father...but..." Celestia held her head down. "I see. Thankfully, as I said when it comes to the law we have, it's not bent to a certain gender." The others nodded with Twilight. "It's also not what my parents wanted. My father protected my mother a lot and there were even times she protected him. For a while my parents were the inspiration for the younger society years of pony kind and then my mother had twins." Twilight's head jumped up at this and Celestia smiled as she had a feeling she knew what she was thinking. "What is it Twilight?" "Twins? But...Luna is your younger sister. So..." Celestia chuckled. "She had twins twice. I have a little brother and a twin brother." All of them gasped at this, even the guards and some of them dropped their spears. "WHAT!!?" They all screamed at her, even the guards. Celestia quickly shushed them and now even the guards were more interested in what Celestia was telling rather than their actual duty. "If you don't mind me asking Celestia...where are they?" Celestia's smile dropped. "My twin brother has his own kingdom. He met some ponies who were in trouble and helped them out. They looked up to him as a king and over time their small village became a large city across the ocean. He now rules his own kingdom. But the reason he met those ponies in the first place was because he was out looking for...my younger brother. He and Luna did everything together, they had the best brother and sister relationship I have ever seen as even my twin brother and I fought sometimes, but they almost never did." Luna spoke next as Celestia was having a bit of difficulty speaking about it. "After my...banishment I heard from my sister about what happened. He ran away as my banishment was devastating to him emotionally. But even now that I've been back for some time, we haven't heard from him or any rumours about another Alicorn. Twilight and the rest of you. You have never failed us so we ask you, if you find any leads about a male Alicorn with a white coat and blue hair. Please let us know right away." They all nodded at her request. "What about his hair?" Pinkie asked. "You and Celestia have fancy hair so what will his hair be like?" "We don't know. An Alicorn with this kind of hair shows they have a large amount of magic at their disposal and he was still a teen when he ran away. So we have no clue what his hair will be like. Whether it will be like mine was when I returned or different." Celestia felt like she could speak now. "Twilight. I'm counting on you. If you hear about or see any male Alicorn matching what you are being told. Tell me right away." "You can count on me Princess." "Oh and Twilight. Please don't try to herd him. You or your friends or any f the guards who are listening right now." Twilight blushed at that. It was not uncommon for a stallion to have many mares watching over him. Not just to protect him but it was also a way to try and help with the gender imbalance and to reduce the amount of lonely mares. "I won't. I promise. But what if he has a mare? What if he got married?" Celestia smiled and chuckled. "Well then I would like to meet her." Rarity stepped out from the group. "Is there anything else we should know about him?" Luna nodded. "Yes. He's adventurous. He always loved exploring and liked to do it alone. We would usually catch him leaving his room at midnight sometimes, just to walk around the castle at night to experience the different atmosphere it brought." This caught their attention as it was almost unheard of for stallions to be alone. They had a mare with them at all times when outside with only very few exceptions. One of which was her brother Shining Armor as he was well trained, he knew how to defend himself and was well educated in many combat styles. That was one reason it was not uncommon to see him alone, the other was that any poor mare who tried anything on him would meet Cadence's bad side. "Alone?" Rarity's jaw dropped as Luna nodded. "Yes, and if he hasn't been in contact with society at all then he will likely be a stallion of old. So don't expect him to be like a normal one. He will more than likely be a fighter and a tough one at that." Luna and Celestia walked back to their thrones. "Good luck my little ponies." Twilight stepped forward as she had one more thing to ask. "Princess. Are there any leads you have on him? Like where he could be?" Celestia shook her head in sadness. "I'm afraid not Twilight. I have no clue where he is, but I have a strong feeling he is still alive, somewhere." Celestia said while looking out the window. "Princess. Why did yah keep him a secret?" Applejack asked as she stepped forward. "After I lost him, I sent guards out to find him and they came back empty-hooved and injured. I searched for more than 10 years for him but the guards spread stories of him and the story of a Male Alicorn in the changing society was seen as silly. Soon the story faded and was forgotten about. Imagine the commotion and shock the country would be in if I made this public. The last thing I want is hunters or others that could harm him to know about him." Applejack stepped back and Twilight had one last thing to ask. "One last thing Princess. What's his name?" Twilight made sure to get his name. "Flare Solis but we just called him Sol." "Alright. This should be enough." A white Alicorn was currently standing in a forest, holding 4 tree logs with his magic as he wiped sweat off his forehead. The axe he used to chop them down had been embedded into one of the trees that he was carrying and with the logs now held in his magical grip, he took to the skies and headed to the crystal mountains. Before he reached the crystal empire he made sure to fly up higher and used the clouds to avoid being seen as he made his way home. After another hour of flying Sol made it back to his house which was a small wooden cottage nestled in a cave in one of the mountains. He did have another house but he left it as it wasn't very good with it being his first one and it being on top of the mountain rather than in it so it was much colder. He put 3 logs down before he took out the axe and chopped the 4th one in half and took it into his house. The house wasn't made with anything fancy but he learned how to use tools in the years he had been alone and made some furniture through trial and error. Most of the stuff was made from either wood, stone or clay but he wanted it to be like that as if anyone found it then it wouldn't stand out or be fancy in any way. He chopped both parts in half again and again to get 8 pieces which should last him for a few days. He placed some of the wood under a bathtub he managed to salvage and clean out from a scrap yard. He put another part to the side to be used once those pieces were used. He put 2 more beside a fireplace that was a nightmare to construct but he managed to make it by using a fire spell on mud after he placed rocks in them. The last of the parts of the log he had he placed under his bed to be used when he needed them and with that done he settled down. As he did this he removed the spell he had on himself that took him years to learn. It was a spell that shrunk him down so he could pass off as a normal pony, cause with him being an Alicorn he was much taller than normal ponies. He looked over to the coat rack that he kept a green coat on that he would wear whenever he went out for a wonder but he never interacted with anything he came across. As he looked out the window he saw that the sun was setting which means it was time for him to turn in but before he did that he went to the bathroom and used a simple illumination spell and looked at himself in the mirror. His coat was scruffy and his glowing blue hair was messy and his wings were dirty but other than that which showed he needed to wash himself tomorrow, he didn't see any difference. "No bugs?" He checked on his legs and wings for any possible parasites but found none. He went to his kitchen and ate a quick apple before he decided to turn in so he closed the curtains over the single window he had and hopped into bed and soon fell asleep. "Now you understand? If you don't act now. He'll move on." Luna had just explained to a shy mare what will happen if she doesn't come clean to somepony she likes. "I...understand Princess." "Then don't hold back. You need to confess to him but not to strongly." With that said Luna left the dream. As she wandered around the dreamscape she saw ponies she knew, some she didn't and some she had forgotten. It wasn't easy keeping track of who's dream was who's. She did have some organization when it came to her dreamscape however as the dreams location in the dreamscape were a hint to where they could be in the real world. She saw all the citizens of Ponyville and their dreams were all close together while her sister's dream was surrounded by the dreams of all the citizens and guards of Canterlot. Even the Crystal Empires dreams were organized and grouped together so this took some weight off her chest. As she looked around the dreamscape she saw a small group separated from the rest and went to them only to find out they were campers spending the night in a park together. Luna turned and looked around at the dreams and was about to leave when a light caught her eye. She looked over to the light and approached it but as she did she had to pass the dreams of the Crystal Empires inhabitants to get to it. Whoever this pony was, they were alone and quite far from everyone else but before Luna could check on the dream, she heard her alarm go off and was shot wide awake. Angry that she was woken up so suddenly, Luna drought her hoof down on the alarm clock hard which not only turned it off but knocked of across the room. "Stupid alarm." Luna got up and got changed into her royal gear. Sol opened his eyes and smiled when he saw the light shining in through his window showing morning had already come. He dashed out of his bed and headed to the bathroom where he used a fire spell on the wood that he placed under the tub yesterday and as it heated up he headed outside and broke off a large piece of ice before returning and placing it in the tube to melt. As he waited he decided to get look at himself in the mirror and see what he needed to focus on cleaning. His blue hair was getting long and he needed to cut it soon but just as he thought that his eyes wandered to the axe he keeps next to his fireplace. "Should I?" He picked the axe up with his magic and decided to do it so he held the sharp side away and the flat side rested against his neck and started using the axe to cut his hair. His hair was still long but not to the point it was half way down his neck like it was a few months ago. "I guess that'll do." He waited for the ice to melt before he took the pieces of wood out from under the tub and threw them in the fireplace and washed himself. He was in there for about 25 minutes, mostly because he had to thoroughly clean his large wings and dry them off as he would be using them to fly and wet wings in cold mountain air are not very good. As he got out he took his towel, cleaned it out in the bath water before he took it and placed it away from the fire. Before he made his way out he used his spell to shrink himself and put on both his jacket and hat so he looked like a pegasus and not an Alicorn. While he can't remember much about his younger years he does remember being told that Alicorns were ponies who were Royalty or on very rare occasions, those who had done such a huge heroic deed or many of them that they were granted the title of 'Champion of Equestria'. A title that was on par with prince and princess in terms of honour. But with him being in isolation and not planning to end it anytime soon he had no clue how many Champions Equestria has had. He stepped outside and took out his map to see where he should explore today. The name of a place called Ghastly gorge caught his attention but he needed to pass Canterlot and the Crystal empire. He saw Manehatten, Hollow Shades and a few more towns. While he tried to avoid towns and live off the land he started to feel bad. As he stepped out and looked out over the mountain ledge he saw the Crystal empire in the distance and much further south of it he saw Canterlot. "Celestia...You're probably worried sick about me." After he ran away he did find it scary at first but he soon got use to it and the more he lived by himself the happier he felt after he got over the death of his first friend. He explored this world for years after his friend died and after he lost his first house but most days he was either getting things to be using for repairing his current house or furniture or to be used as fuel for a fire. It was hard but he liked it as he felt free, but recently he has been thinking back to his big sister and how the worry she felt is probably eating away at her. He looked at the Crystal empire in the distance and felt a part of himself push him there but part of him wanted not to go. He turned around to look away from it but that only made the pull stronger as he hasn't explored a town in years and especially not during the day. He heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the empire but as he looked in it's direction he saw colours flashing in the air and heard more explosions. This sealed it for him heading to the empire, so he ran and jumped off the mountain edge before taking flight towards the empire. He was just too curious to see what was happening. As he approached the empire he made sure he didn't forget to cover his horn and also checked to make sure the shrink spell was still in use and he was happy to see both were as he wanted them. He saw ponies were gathered in the centre of the city, around the large Crystal building that was surrounded by houses in a circle shape so he landed on the outside the house circle and walked in between them to keep himself hidden. "Attention Everypony!" He heard a voice shout and it sounded female. He peeked his head out and saw something that caught his attention. The one who spoke was a Pink Alicorn and she was wearing a crown. "I am so happy to announce that you will all soon have another Princess! For I, Princess Cadence, am pregnant!" The entire crowd erupted into cheers and more colourful explosions happened which caused Sol to look up at them with wonder. "Excuse me. Are you alright Miss?" He heard a voice from behind him and turned to see a female guard looking at him, but when he turned to face her she gasped. "Can I help you Miss?" He said cautiously to her. "Oh my dear, what are you doing here alone? Where's your mare?" He was confused and didn't give an answer. He just stood there in thought, wondering what she meant by that. "Are you asking where my wife is?" He asked and she nodded. "I don't have one. I'm single." She gasped at this again and looked sorry for him, which only confused him more. "Single and Alone? Not even a caretaker? Were you abandoned? Come with me and we'll help you find someone." She offered a hoof to him and she looked genuinely upset when she heard him say that but he just looked at it and didn't move. This was his first real interaction with any pony in decades, perhaps even centuries and it felt very strange. He didn't remember getting treated like this around Celestia or when he walked the streets of Canterlot as a teen. "Did I shrink myself too much? Does she think i'm a foal? No, it can't be. I'm still a little taller than her and she asked if I had a wife and foals don't have wives. I understand society changes but...this is insane" He thought to himself but then he saw the mare guard take a step back and put her weapon down. "See, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you. You don't need to be scared of me." He was scared of her but not cause he was afraid of getting hurt, but of being discovered so he took a few steps back but this only made her look more worried for him. "W-wait." She called out. "What?" "Why are you scared of me? I'm not going to do anything bad to you dear. Please, follow me and we'll find you a loving mare who will take care of you." He raised an eyebrow when he heard this. What was she trying to do to him? "Actually..." He looked at the crowd who were still cheering and looked back at the guard. "What's happening?" The guard mare seemed confused by his question. "You mean this celebration? Princess Cadence is pregnant, meaning we will soon have another princess. Isn't that great?" She said with a smile but this only made him more confused. "Who's Cadence?" He swore he heard glass breaking as the mares eyes opened wide and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks almost instantly when he finished asking that. But she soon went back to normal and giggled. "Oh, you're a joker who likes to play hard to get." She laughed but as she did there was another voice. This one was male. "Private, what are you laughing about?" The mare turned around and stood at attention after quickly picking up her weapon. "Sir! I was just helping this stallion. He said he doesn't have a mare." A white unicorn came down the alleyway with another 3 mare guards around him and they all looked at him oddly. "A mareless Stallion?" "He seems scared. Even when I put my weapon down he seemed to back off." The unicorn guard looked over his clothes which were clearly dirty and ruffled. "Who left you like this? Whatever mare did this to you, she will face a heavy punishment." Sol was getting a little annoyed with others thinking he had a wife so he told them straight. "Listen. I don't want and have never had a mare. I have lived alone and separate from society, so please stop asking me if I have a mare." They all looked at him before laughing. "Looks like we have a comedian. A stallion separate from society? That's a new one." Sol felt his muscles tense up. He just wanted to show them just to shut them up, but that would only attract attention to him so he played it cool. "Listen. Just leave me alone. I feel happier when I'm alone." He turned around and started to fly away. He decided to wait a few more years and see if society changes to something he understands rather than what it is now. But as he flew up he was blocked by 2 mare guards. "Please don't do this. You need a mare to love you." They had their hooves on his shoulders and were gently pushing him back to the ground. As this was happening in the air and some ponies in the crowd saw it which soon caught the attention of everypony there, even Cadence. Who now walked up to the white unicorn stallion. "Shining, who is this?" "A lone stallion. Mareless. From the clothes he seems to have been abandoned. He's also a joker, told us he lived alone and separated from all forms of social contact." Cadence laughed when she heard that before she approached Sol, who turned to look at her after the 2 mare guards wouldn't move. "Do you have a name?" She asked in a calm motherly voice. "I'm..." He hesitated for a moment. If he said his real name then it might come back to bite him. "...s-snow white." He said the first thing that came to mind but he soon face hooved when he realised what he said. "No...I mean I'm Winter Blaze." "Well Winter Blaze. Just come with me and we'll find you a someone to take care of you." Cadence put her hoof on his back and he backed away from her. "Oh...you have no cutie mark? You poor thing. How much hardship have you gone through?" "I'm not weak. I've been living alone for years." He got the same reaction as before. They just laughed at him. "I'm sure you'll make a mare happy with your jokes." He felt the 2 guard mares gently nudge him. Trying to move him forwards but he didn't move so Cadence lifted him with her magic. "Just relax, You'll be with a lover or, a few soon." Sol's patience was thinning and he was about to shout at Cadence but what he heard next made him lose it. "I wouldn't mind watching over him." A mare from the crowd said and he just closed his eyes and let his anger boil. He spread his wings and using the strength from his anger, he flapped his wings hard which caused a gust of wind to blow through the area. This caused Cadence to lose focus on him with her magic and drop him. He dashed out of there as quickly as he could. He was so focused on getting away that he took flight back to the Crystal mountains instead of taking the opportunity to hide. As he looked back he saw Cadence following him. He knew he couldn't lead her back to his house so he flew around the mountains. Going under ice stalactites and even went up to the clouds only to drop right down in a nose dive and pull up before hitting the ground. He looked back behind him again and saw she was still following him so he looked around the area for something to lose her. "Please stop!" We're just doing what's best for you!" She called out to him but to no success. Sol saw a cave and made a dash for it and she followed him. The cave was a large one and it was quite dark so as he entered it he almost crashed into a wall and had to take a sharp turn but his wing hit off a wall which caused him to tense up and land on the ground. He looked at the cave entrance and saw Cadence entering it so he looked around quickly and saw a small hole in the roof. He flew up to it and managed to get into it before his wing gave out from pain. His wing wasn't broken but it was injured. He remained silent as he heard her hoof steps enter the chamber and wonder around. "Please come back! Why don't you want help?! Are you hurt that badly?!" Her voice echoed as it bounced many times in the cave and she soon walked further in. After about 3 minutes he did his best to get out so he held on tightly and dropped from the hole. He didn't waste time getting out as he went to the entrance but stopped. With his injured wing, she could follow his tracks in the snow. He took a deep breath and jumped before flapping his wings. As he did that he felt pain shoot through them but he held on and went off too the side of the cave on the outside and buried himself in snow. He hopped this would be enough to lose her. He lay there for what must have been minutes until he heard echoes of wing beats coming from in the cave and held still as Cadence flew out and looked around. "Blaze!? Where are you?!" She looked around frantically and he could hear Cadence was panicking. "Oh no, Oh no, Oh no. I lost him. He's all alone out here. He could get hurt!" She was saying to herself quickly and looking around some more. He has been hurt out on travels before but being an Alicorn does have a few special perks. She flew upwards and looked around but didn't see him and couldn't see any tracks. She started hyperventilating and flew back to the crystal empire. When he couldn't hear her wings flapping he pulled himself out of the snow and started his journey back home up the mountain.
The Warrior PrinceAuthor's Note I wanted to make this chapter a bit dramatic with some tense moments between Celestia and Sol. I think it's just cringe but i can't really do better. The Warrior Prince It was the day for Sol to face Celestia and Sol had been preparing for this day for a while. His fighting style and the tactics he would try were all thought out and combined with his survival skills he learned from living alone. He was more than happy how he was being treated after beating Luna as the guards and maids of Canterlot no longer flirted with him but instead showed a fearful respect. He didn't want to be feared but the respect was a welcome change from the usual stuff that he got for a while after he returned. Luna was a little mad that she lost but when she saw how it made the others respect Sol she took that loss and threw it aside. He still didn't have his Cutie mark which did annoy him but he didn't care that much as he survived this long without it so he could last another 1000 years if he needs to. "Your sword Sir." The Blacksmith said as she hooved over the blade for the battle he was about to have with Celestia. Needless to say the whole Nation and beyond heard about what he was going to do. Now he was challenging the sun princess and the arena was packed with not just ponies but griffins, minotaurs and many more as they came along when they heard of the battle that would take place. He saw where Luna and the other mares...the mane 6 or some silly name they had where sitting. The yellow one who he thought was Fluttershy and Rarity the white marshmallow one both looked like they were about to pass out. Sol looked over to the stand and saw both a set of golden and dark blue armour. Walking over it he felt the texture and weight of them and saw they were more or less both made of the same material. Looking over at the golden set he got a silly idea. "Perhaps I can reflect the sun to blind her?" He chuckled and had a feeling she wouldn't like him fighting dirty so he chose the dark blue armour. As he put it on he saw himself in the mirror and smile. He looked Like Celestia if she chose to wear Luna's armour. Picking up his blade he got ready emotionally and mentally. The tricks he used against Luna wont work on Celestia so he needed to come up with a tactic to beat her which was easier said than done as she was his older sibling and as a result, she taught him a large amount of the combat he knew. He was going to need to rely on adapting as he went along and strike at every opportunity he could. "Let's get this on the road. Even if i don't win. Simply injuring Celestia to the point of blood and exhaustion would be good enough for me." As the door opened and he stepped out to see Celestia there with her golden armour on, he smiled at her and she returned it. Luna sat up with the main 6 with a smile on her face and Sol saw her mouth 'Good Luck' to him. "So shall we lay some ground rules?" Celestia asked as the entire arena went silent. "What do you have in mind?" He asked. "Simple. No fighting dirty. No going for the head and no high level magic that could kill." "Agreed." Sol said to her. As Alicorns they were much tougher than normal. An alicorn could take multiple stabs to the chest and enter a healing coma which would return then to normal within 2 weeks which is the reason for the 'No going for the head' rule. They were tough and likely eternally youthful, but not fully immortal. Sol backed up and so did Celestia as both of them stood at other ends of the arena. "Begin." The announcer said but it wasn't shouted as she couldn't do her job properly from the shock and fear that this match brought. Celestia wasted no time slashing the air with a sword and creating lines of fire that went right towards Sol. "This move...she's going to-" Before he could finish his thought, his body reacted and with a sideways turning slash, he cut her fire slashes across the centre and turned right but as he turned that way to hit her fire slashes, the force of the impact slide him in the same direction and caused him to spin around. Just in time he saw a flaming sword come down on the location he was just a second ago. Thinking he avoided her attack he was shocked to see that as her sword stabbed the ground, she let out a magic fire which burned the rocky ground and with her magic, she used the sword that was in the ground to control where the fire went. Sol took to the air and tried to catch his breath but Celestia didn't let up as she sent the fire on the ground upwards with a flick of her horn and a little magic. When Sol felt the flame impact him he couldn't help but smile. The memories of his early training days coming back and his heart starting to beat more quickly. He looked at Celestia with a smirk that told her he wasn't going to hold back. From his location in the air, he folded his wings and with a strong flap from them, he was launched to the ground just infront of Celestia and as she was pushed back a little by the wind, he went on the offensive and lunged at her. Missing her by an inch as she sidestepped and kicked him. The crowed gasped and some were covering their faces as they had a hard time seeing their ruler do this to her own younger brother. But Sol was having the time of his life and the battle was just starting. "I know that smile." Celestia said with one of her own. "Your love of battle is still in you after all this time." "You know it is. And i don't plan to lose this one." Sol wasted no time and decided to back up and launch 3 magic blasts as Celestia before he teleported behind him and tried to slash her back like she tried to do to him. But she conjured a magic blade and blocked his attack. "You have to do better than that." Celestia said in a way that she knew would get under his skin. The crowd wasn't cheering at the match went on but instead they were almost holding their breath as the battle raged on. A prince taking on his elder princess sibling and with their culture it was hard to watch a prince battle in such a way and against such a foe. Fluttershy and Rarity were gone by this point as they couldn't handle the stress, while Twilight was standing like a statue and her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Dash almost had a small smile on her face. Pinkie was covering her eyes with her mane and Applejack had her face buried in her hat, taking occasional glances at the battle. "Sol is so cool." Dash said in her fangirl voice which was easily heard by almost the whole arena. Celestia was acting more defencing but she was also taking the opportunity to attack when possible. She knew Sol and Sol knew her so this was more of a battle of wit than anything else and Sol could tell she was trying to wear him down as she had barely moved. Most of the time she jumped and let her wings carry her by gliding. Saving her a lot of stamina. "I knew you would be tougher than Luna. But I'm impressed to see the difference." Sol complimented his older sister. Celestia didn't have a smile on her face. She instead seemed to have...a frown. "After you vanished, i swore that if you ever came back or when Luna was back after her banishment, that i would not allow that to happen again. Over those 1000 years i wasn't just ruling. I was training." Sol's smile slowly faded and he could see pain starting to enter Celestia as he gazed at her eyes. "All that time. You were alive and you never even so much as wrote a letter." Celestia had a hint of pain and anger in her voice. Sol realised what this would become if he didn't snap her out of it. "CELESTIA!" He shouted firmly and shot a small beam of yellow magic at her. Celestia's eyes widened and blinked a few times before blocking. "Calm down. We will talk about that after." Sol felt worse now as the anger Celestia likely had for him that she suppressed for so long was coming to the surface. She was right. It had been so long and he didn't even so much as write her a letter just to let her know not to worry. "Later. Right." Her voice was low like one exhausted and accepting of the situation. Sol's attention was caught when he saw the end of Celestia's mane become a slight orange for a moment. He had a bad feeling that if he kept going that something would happen that wouldn't be pretty so it made him freeze up for a moment to think. Celestia's front right hoof was shaking and she was glaring at him with...fire in her pupil. The next thing Sol knew his vision was almost taken up compleatly by Celestia as she went on the offensive. Bringing her sword down, she sent a fire slash outwards which Sol dodged and he just managed to avoid a downwards stab into the ground, but not the resulting fire that shot up from the cracks. The cracks on the ground continued to spread until about half the arena was covered in them and fire was shooting up out of them. Celestia however was in a conflict in her mind. She wanted to give Sol the battle he wanted to prove himself but as she battled him she was getting flashbacks of him before he vanished. Angry at herself for not trying to stop him but also at him from choosing to separate himself from her. She felt her body tense up and her emotions flare for a moment. She felt 'Her' starting to take over. "Sol...why did you run away from me?" Looking over at Celestia he was heartbroken to see her face. Her eyes had visible tears in them and her mane had taken on a more warm orange colour. As the fire kept on shooting up from the cracks on the ground, magma soon started to cover the arena but Celestia was unaffected by it as her gaze never left Sol. "It was stupid of me." That's all Sol had to say. He ran away cause of the pain he had of losing Luna who he was closest too. But that was no excuse to not stay with Celestia. She probably feels left out since her own younger brother chose to run away rather than stay with her. As he gazed into her eyes which had both pain and anger merging together inside, he realised that this was one of those things that needed to be vented. She would only calm down after getting this pain out of her system. A pain that he caused. "Did you not think i was capable of protecting you? Did you not like me? Not trust me?" Celestia asked as she paid no attention to the magma which she walked through to get to him. Every passing moment her mane become more orange. "No Celestia. That's not it. I felt like i needed to be left alone. I was young at the time and Luna's banishment made me unsure what to do." Sol wasn't fighting her. Instead he was now trying to avoid her attacks. "You think i was any better off?! Having to do that to my younger sister!?" She screamed. Her mane was now becoming lighter and changing. The whole time this was happening Sol was feeling the guilt of his stupidity and selfishness over all these years coming back to hit him hard. What happened next caught him off guard as Celestia fired a magic blast at him. "Everyday since her banishment it asked myself how i could have done things differently! On that day i lost the 2 of you! Both my younger siblings! I thought you were dead only to show up in Canterlot out of the blue after 1000 years!!" Celestia's mane was becoming a bright red now. Sol decided to also fight back with his magic as he used his wings to kick up dust and fired his own yellow bean towards Celestia in the direction she was before the dust covered her. "I'm sorry about what i did. It wasn't right. I know that now." He tried his best to calm her down. "You only learned that now?! Or did you know for some time and still said nothing?!" Celestia's mane was now a glowing bright yellow and her eyes were pure white. Her mane almost looked like...it would catch fire. Which it did the moment Sol thought about that. Her tail soon followed. Celestia's face was still covered in tears and some parts of her were shaking. The sadness and anger working together to make her lose control. Sol sighed as he looked at her and the state she was in. He had no clue what to say or do. "Celestia...i..." He was cut off as he felt a sword on his neck. Every spectator in the arena gasped at that and even Luna was started to consider stepping in. "No more excuses! Do you have any idea what the following years were like after you were missing? I never felt as horrible as i did in that timeframe! The pain never went away that i should have followed you! I should have done more! You ran off into that forest and for all i know a feral animal killed you!" Celestia had every right to be angry at Sol for what he had done and Sol couldn't find anything to get back at her with. But that still didn't stop Sol from doing what he needed to right now. Sol then used his back hooves and kicked Celestia away from him. He knew what he needed to do and that was to calm her down. He needed to let her attack him to get the anger out of her system. He stood up and rubbed the area on his neck where she put her sword. Alicorns need to have strong control over their emotions or things like this happen. Their magic can heighten the emotions they feel and caused them to act without thinking. He had 2 options. Make Celestia more mad and the fight would be shorter but also more brutal. Or draw it out over time and let her calm down normally. For the sake of his subjects who were also nearby he decided to go with the latter. Looking up at Luna who was about to intervene, he glared at her and shook his head which stopped her in her tracks. "Go back Luna." He heard Celestia say without turning around and she tried to not sound angry at her. Luna knowing she was outmatched by them, backed off. "Celestia. We aren't finished yet." He drew his blade which he put away a while ago when he realised how much she was hurting. "You're Right." Celestia's blade was now an inferno of flames and Sol swore he smelt burning metal at that moment. "We need to stop this!" Twilight shouted as she saw it was about to get out of control. But as Celestia and Sol's blades clashed again in the arena, a magic shockwave knocked almost all the ponies off of their seats and the magma was pushed to the corners. Leaving Celestia and Sol surrounded by it. "Why didn't you let me know you were alive?! Tell me Sol!" Sol was about to remain silent until he just said what came to his mind. "Cause i was young and stupid." He pushed against her fire blade and with a step to the side and twist. His blade passed hers and managed to give her a cut on her side. Sol was almost hesitant to fight when Celestia showed no pain. "That's all!?" Bringing her Blade down again she cracked the ground and sent up more magma and flames which knocked Sol into the air again. Leaving his with visible burns. "I got to watch out for that." He thought as he picked himself up. The hot rocky ground feeling like sandpaper against his coat. Celestia threw her blade at Sol and as he blocked it with his own, he saw her fire a powerful magic beam at him. Sol just barely had enough time to put up a shield before the beam hit him. This however made him drop his sword and Celestia's which he blocked was knocked upwards and came down sharply on his back. Pain shooting through him as his concentration was broken which weakened his shield and a few moments later it broke. Celestia was shaking in her legs by this point. She put a lot into that attack and now that a lot of her anger was vented, she was starting to come to her senses. Realising her emotions got the better of her she felt guilt and regret shoot through her a moment later. "SOL!" She ran up to see what damage was done and as she reached half way she stopped and looked on in both amazement and horror. Sol had her blade impaled into him on his left side which was also flowing with some blood and he had 2nd and some 3rd degree burns. Both magical and non magical as the magma also left him with large swollen red spots on his back legs. But he was still standing and he looked...furious. Sol started to walk up to her as his body was glowing with magic. Thinking back to when she trained him, there was one thing that always ticked Sol off. Pain. When he was in pain he felt like he was losing and as a result he often got really angry in intense moments of pain. Allowing him to ignore most injuries he had and keep fighting. But to see him enduring the ones he currently had was something she never expected and just like her, he seemed to also be on the verge of letting his emotions overtake him as his magic swelled up. "You want to know why i never wrote to you? Fine. I have no idea. Thinking back i don't know if it was cause i blamed you, or if it was me and i didn't want to return to a large standard of life like that. I lost track of time and of my thoughts. I focused on the there and now. Not on the future and not the past as you can't change the past. It's been so long since that time that i can't even remember Harvests face anymore. The first friend i had who treated me equally and not as a scary royal figure. Or as some pony who needs to be protected. I liked it there with him and when he passed away...i don't even remember. It was so long ago. But i do know this. I did wrong to you. But i won't let that ruin the future i can have with you and Luna as a family." As he said this, Sol felt like he was trapped in his mind with his body moving by itself. "Sol..." Celestia's gazed went from his face to his wings. Sol wings were starting to change colour. "Do you think seeing you like that didn't make me feel bad for my foolishness. It did. I hurt you and i never thought about it until just before we met up again in Canterlot." Sol spread his wings out as energy seemed to envelop them and his flank was starting to glow as his feather grew larger. Every pony who was looking on was staring at Sol in amazement as he seemed to be transforming before their very eyes. Even with him and Celestia having a heated family talk in the middle of a battle. "I'm sorry that i hurt you. I won't do it again! But you didn't hold back with that magic attack. SO I WON'T HOLD BACK TOO!" Sol was now in the same position she was in before and his magic had reached his breaking point. His sadness in seeing what he did to her was making him angry more at himself than her and that anger broke. Sol's wings stretched out fully and the entire arena was covered in flowing streams of different coloured magic. Each feather on his wing emitted a different colour and they flowed out behind Sol like streams. His tail and mane also followed the same as his wings as his streams of coloured flowed like Celestia's mane. His coat turned a bleach white just like Celestia's was and magic pulses were being sent out as Sol used this never before seen magic. The streams of magic stretched out and went over the top of the arena so even those outside who were trying to see parts of the match saw it. As the pulses washed over the crowed, all of them quickly found themselves relax. They felt safe, all their worry seemed to vanish and their accelerated heartbeats returned to normal. Celestia herself had trouble resisting the pulse waves that Sol was sending out as she felt herself relax, like there wasn't any danger even when she knew Sol was still angry. Sol prepared a beam of his own that Celestia saw and put a barrier up to stop, but thanks to how relaxed she felt from the waves, or the presence that Sol seemed to be emitting, it was hard to hold it up firmly. The best way she could describe it was the feeling you have when a limb is burnt out from use and moving it around feels weird and it also doesn't moved fully the way you try to make it. It felt like that but instead of a painful burn, it was a weakness from the relaxation she felt. As Sol's beam impacted her shield it broke within a moment and she was knocked back against the wall. A moment later Sol's wings, coat and mane slowly returned to normal and he soon found himself shaking off his head. Looking around he realised what he done and looked over at Celestia who had a large black burn mark on her chest, but she was still alive and well. "Celestia!" He ran up to her to check on her but as he started to run he felt a sting on his back. A moment later he pulled out Celestia's blade which was in his back and limped over to her as she struggled to get up. She did manage to do so slowly as the relaxing effects of Sol's...whatever that was finally started to wear off. "I think we should stop this match. We need to clear things between us before we do something like this again." Sol said to her as both of them stopped fighting. "Agreed. Let's stop this." She agreed with him as she saw the blood flowing down his side from the injury her sword inflicted on him. "So it's a tie?" Luna asked with a relieved sigh before she flew down to check on them. A moment later the gates opened and medical professionals immediately ran over to them. "I'll be fine. I have been worse off. Make sure Sol is alright." Celestia told the staff as Sol was given more attention at her request. Celestia had 2 reasons for this. She wanted to make sure he was not injured in any permanent way and she knew Sol hated attention. She was right as Sol looked over at her with a shocked expression when she said that and a moment later when most of the doctors were around him, he glared daggers at her. Celestia just smiled and giggled. "Problem?" She asked with the biggest smug grin she could make. As Sol was lead way to be treated for his injuries, Celestia and Luna were left to speak. "What was that all about? I thought you had better control over your emotions than that." Celestia sighed. "Luna. I had to put up with an intense amount of guilt for both of you over so long and then i learned he was alive. Not just that but he didn't even tell me. I felt betrayed as he didn't feel or think about sending so much as a 'Hey Celestia. This is Sol, i am alive so don't worry.' I would have been happy with even just that. Just to know he was still alive." Luna had nothing to say and just looked at the ground. Celestia stood up and got her posture back. "Let's go Luna. We need to sit down and clear this up before something like that happens again." Twilight flew down to Celestia within a moment of them starting to leave. "Celestia! Are you alright?" She asked worriedly but all her mentor did was chuckle. "I am. Don't worry." She breathed a happy sigh as she looked over at Sol who was being lead to get treated for his sword injury. "What was that?" Twilight asked. More to herself than anyone else there. Celestia on the other hand, was smiling as she looked over at Sol and saw something new on his flank. She smiled when she saw it as she knew what it meant. "I'm sure you can figure it out Twilight." With that. Celestia and Luna teleported back to their rooms to change back into their royal attire and clean up. Celestia more so than Luna.
