Several Years Later

IT was very early morning. Nearly sunrise, in fact, and Rose stands in front of a mirror combing his hair, humming a familiar song from long ago in his life that reminds him for some reason of both his old home and the Everfree. A rather upbeat, simple tune. A...minuet, if he recalled the terminology correctly from his music lessons with dear old Octavia. Or does he remember from longer ago?

He gives a small shrug and finishes his combing, carefully styling his hair into his favored long braid before exiting his suite and making his way down the hall. Since he is finished preparing, he may as well check up on...

"Summer Rose, Caldwell, Are you two almost finished in there?" he asks, giving a knock on each door across from each other with an ethereal...hand. it did feel almost a bit strange to refer to it that way still, but in his opinion, "claw" was and still is simply inappropriate for the task.

But back to the matter at ha...hoof. as he calls out, the door on the left swings open, and out through it strides a rather adorable young alicorn filly.

She is a pleasant, soft pink. Paler than that of her sire, but not as subtle as her dam. Her hair falls in banded shades of darker pinks all the way down to the coat color of her sire, marked with a cutie mark of a flower with a blossom in the shape of the sun, only parted by her horn. Her eyes though, her eyes are the striking, warm magenta of her dear mother, beaming quite happily as she trots from her room with a pep in her step, flapping her wings a bit to stretch them out, using her magic to adjust the string of pearls she wears around her neck. "Ready daddy!"

"Very good! How is my little filly feeling hm, ready for her big day?" Rose asks with an approving smile, gently patting her head.

"I sure am, daddy! I can't wait, I'm sure mom is gonna be sooo proud of me when I do it all by myself!" she says giddily as she prances in place.

"Not just her! I will be too. of course, I'm always proud of you both." he says, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

She swats at him ineffectually, pushing him away "daddyyyyy!' She whines, clearly embarrassed by the praise and affection, causing her father to chuckle as he starts walking over to the other door "Caldwell, are you doing alright in there, son?"

He receives no answer. He raises an eyebrow and slowly pulls open the door, trotting into the other's room. it is littered with a great number of interesting trinkets and decor with an astrological flair. they even have a telescope and their own little observation deck on the balcony, an excellent and thoughtful gift from his mother a few years back.

Speaking of him, there he is! A bit bigger than his sister, but slimmer. he is standing in front of the mirror, all dressed and ready to go, but asleep on his feet, snoring lightly. His coat is a rich, pleasant purple, marked by a cutie mark of a soft pink, flowery nebula with a full moon superimposed in front of it, And his mane a lighter tone, complemented by a rather adorable bow tie. He favors his father's fashion sense, it seems.

Rose gives them a few gentle shakes with his magic wordlessly as he smiles down at them, and the colt wakes with a small start, stomping his front hoof "O-oh! Yeah, I'm ready dad!" he says still slightly drowsy as he shakes his head and looks up at the older stallion with a small apologetic smile. "S-sorry..."

"Awe, no need to apologize, Caldwell. I know you're a night owl." he says, giving him a playful nudge with a hoof on his shoulder before trotting out into the hallway "meet me outside with your sister in a few minutes. I'm going to go and greet the rest of the family at the entrance. And remember, Champ, you're gonna do great things someday, don't be down on yourself." he says warmly, encouragingly as he trots his way out of the door.

"Y-yeah, thanks Dad," he says, getting a bit more hitch in his giddyup, straightening his tie and looking a bit more sure of himself as he finishes getting ready for the occasion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose makes his way out to the main entrance of the castle, looking this way and that. The escorts left about half an hour ago, so they should be arriving about-

"DAD!"

An excited, southern twang rings through the air as a hot pink blur streaked through the air towards him, collidig with is chest.

Were he a weaker stallion, he would have been bowled over, sent tumbling back a few feet even! But Rose has long since become accustomed to the strength of an earth pony, allowing him to endure as the happy adolescent colt clung to him, hugging them back with one leg kindly and nuzzling into his soft, golden locks, careful not to judge his horn. "Well hey there, Jambosier. Is my favorite little farmer doing well?"

The little colt looks up at him with a pair of bright green eyes. Honestly, were it not for his horn and the slight difference in color, The little guy is almost the spitting image of his uncle. It's quite endearing in his father's opinion, Macintosh is a good stallion, and Jambosier seems to take after him well enough, as evidenced both by how well his powerful frame was filling out as puberty began to take hold, and by his short, cheerful response of "Eyup!" As he pulls away and gives a short nod to the question, letting Rose get a look at his cutie mark, a bright, Golden Delicious apple, more specifically, a Pommes des Alpes de Haute Durance if Rarity was correct in her knowledge of Prench cuisine, which she always was.

"Darn tootin! The little rascal might be a unicorn, but he sure bucks like an Apple if I ever saw one!" A familiar voice calls out from behind him. Rose looks up from his son to see his mother approaching, her hair tied into a messy bun, and her grandmother's scarf adorning her neck. Rose winced internally, remembering when Granny had passed, but this is a happy moment, a time for cheer and welcoming! There is no time for such things now, he has a family to greet!

"Well, that's great to hear, Applejack. I trust your trip was pleasant?" he asks as he gently releases his son to walk over to his mother, who nods and looks up at him warmly. "I mean, as nice as a train ride can be, I reckon. Rainbow Dash Sends her regards by the way. She wanted to be here with us, but official Wonderbolts business and all that. Some kinda hubbub goin on over in Griffonstone."

"Ah well, it is what it is," he says good-naturedly, leaning in to hug the mare gently, allowing her to wrap her hooves around his neck for a moment before they both pull away. "Congratulations, by the way, I heard about the proposal. When are you girls gonna tie the knot anyway?"

"Probably a few months from now, thanks for getting your RSVP done so quick by the by! I'm honestly a little surprised you took the news so well."

"Applejack, we haven't been that way with each other in *years*, not since a bit after Jammy was born. I've had plenty of time to get over it." he said as he waved a hoof nonchalantly. "besides, you deserve to be with someone who can grow old with you, and be there with you and support you in way's I just can't being a prince and all. Beside's. We'll always have the memories of those long hot summer nights on the farm, won't we?" He finishes, leaning in and whispering this last sentence playfully.

Applejack blushes a bit at this and pushes him away, giving a small scowl. "Alright, enough of that there, Cassaneighva!" She says without much drive behind it as she tries not to smirk. "So uh...is *she* gonna be coming...?"

he grimaces slightly but takes a deep breath, putting a smile back on. "yes! The situation between us aside, we do still have a child together, and I will tolerate her if it means I still get to spend time with-

With a sudden loud POP, and a small puff of light and smoke, Eris appears on the steps of the castle, a set of bags in her claws, and a purple coated earth pony colt in tow.

"Honey, I'm hoooome!" She calls, dropping her bags, which pop open only for a swarm of moths to erupt from within, presumably heading towards the nearest clothing store for lunch as she walks to join the group with the colt trotting close behind.

Rose grits his teeth slightly and gives her his best attempt at a smile. "Ahhh yes, Hello Eris. So Kind of you to join us,m thank you for bringing Screwball along," he says as he eyes toe colt with a much more sincere, warm expression.

"Well, of course! Can't have family portrait day without your firstborn, now can you?" She says with a smirk, gesturing for the young one to go to his father. "Go on Screwball, go say hello!"

Once he has permission, the colt seems to practically...no, *literally* float his way over to his father, smiling wide and going in for a hug "hey dad!" he says, seeming quite excited to get to see the stallion, hugging him tightly around his neck, with Rose reciprocating the gesture contentedly.

Rose pulled away after a few more moments, smiling proudly down at them. Sure the circumstances of their birth were...less than pleasant to think about, but Screwball was still his firstborn. Eris had named him Mordred, but he had gone ahead with calling him Screwball almost sheerly for pure spite against her tasteless attempt at poetic irony, and when his cutie mark had come in, well, he had felt fairly vindicated to say the least.

He brushed aside the colt's purple, white highlighted mane to get a better look at his swirling eyes, giving him a warm, paternal smile "So, how has my little troublemaker been?"

"Great! Mom has been teaching me more about how to use our magic!" he says excitedly as he rummages through nothing next to him and from within it pulls out what seems to be a can of peanut brittle. "Here, these are for you!" He says proudly, barely containing a chuckle as he looks at the jar with thinly veiled anticipation.

Rose Plays along for the moment, reaching out with his magic and taking the jar "Oh! How thoughtful, a gift!" he says, squinting as he makes a show of examining it. "Hmmm, peanut brittle huh? Thanks, sport! Here, let me get some!"

Screwball leans in eagerly, his tail whirring excitedly like a helicopter blade behind him as his father reaches to remove the jar, but...it seems he is having some difficulty. He grunts and attempts to turn the lid once, twice with seemingly no effect!

"huh, I think the lid is stuck, champ," he says, handing the jar back to a now somewhat confused and disappointed-looking Screwball, who takes a look for himself, twisting the lid and popping it right off.

"Huh...? No, it's not, see! It came righ- AHHHHHHH!" he screams out, cut off as suddenly a cavalcade of colorful, springy snakes pop from the jar, slithering all over him as he runs about the plaza. "ahh, get them off, get them oooooofff!"

After having himself a little chuckle, Rose picks the other up in his magic, using it to dispel the snakes before setting him back down with a smirk "Good try, Screwball, but you forget how long I've known your mom. You'll have to get up pretty early in the morning to get the drop on your old man with an old gag like that." he says with a wink, patting them on the head, drawing a small chuckle from the defeated prankster, the gambit securely in his father's favor.

"Yeah, yeah, you got me dad, that's 152-0. Don't you think you could let me have one?" The colt asks, giving his father a big, watery-eyed pout that he was getting just a bit too old to be able to pull off.

Rose scratches his chin with a hoof as he looks down at his son, seeming to strongly consider the idea. "Hmmmm.....no!" he says as he stomps his hoof, giving them a mischievous, playful smile before tousling his hair as the colt gives a defeated groan.

"Now now, none of that, take it on the chin and try to do better next time, you'll get it eventually! Now, go and play with your brother, We still have to wait for-"

"Wait for who, exactly?" A warm, regal voice sounds out from the castle doors. Celestia and Luna make their way down the steps, looking well-rested and ready to start the day, with Caldwell and Summer in tow.

Rose smiles and trots over to them, kissing each of the princesses gently on the cheek. "Glad to see you two so up and at em! Thank's for wrangling the kids, I almost forgot!

"It was no problem at all, Our...er...my...nono, Our Prince," Luna says, nodding to her sister with a smile, seeming mollified by the kiss, gently rubbing Caldwell's back to help keep the poor sleepy thing awake as they chatted. "We are all quite busy today, after all. It is quite a big day, especially considering the occasion."

Celestia smiles wide at the mention of this, patting dear little Summer rose. "indeed, my precious little ray of sunshine will finally get her chance to move the sun all on her own this year. Why, in a few years, her and her brother will be moving the bodies all on their own on a daily basis. Ah, it brings back memories of when my sister and I were young..."

"You are both still plenty young, Celestia." Rose objects gently, placing a hoof on her shoulder and rubbing a bit, drawing a more smarmy grin from for former diarch as her sister chimes in.

"Really, is that why you constantly refer to us both as "Milf", Rose?" Luna says in a haughty, teasing voice, giving him a small wink, and drawing disgusted, childish groans from the two foals as they try to cover their ears bowing to the ground to do so.

Rose holds in his amusement and shrugs, trying to play it off "I mean, to be fair, you are both quite milfy, but even so, we all still have plenty of years left in us!"

The conversation goes on like this for some time as the lot of them share their collective company, savoring the time they are able to spend together, not just as a collective of gods and monsters and royals and mortals, but as a family.

And when the crowds had gathered and Rose stood there with his dear friend, fellow student, and co-ruler, and watched his
one and only daughter raise the sun to the uproarious applause of the masses, he could not help but feel that today, on this special morning, the sun was gloriously bright.

Author's Note

And there it is! A warm Summer's Greeting from the Tint Family To all of you!

Let me tell you, I have been having one hell of a writer's block. Not just for That Time, but for writing for my little pony in general. I Just wasn't able to put the proverbial pen to paper for the longest. But today, on this special day, the first of June, my birth month, as summer approaches, the mood was finally right to write.

Hopefully, there should be more material in the coming days. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful family photo by Moony, artist of several of the art pieces in that Time I Got Reincarnated As a Pony, and have a great day!