Chapter 3: Solar Starts School
A few days later, Celestia was in her study thinking about something.
"What should I do for my son's education?" she asked. "I'm sure the orphanage had some kind of schooling, but I just don't think it's enough. I feel like my son needs a proper school education. I could try homeschooling him or enrolling him in a private school. But I'm just unsure either of those will work out. There's also my School For Gifted Unicorns, but I don't want him to be picked on or thought of as an outcast since he's an Alicorn like me and Luna, even though there might be others there who will think of him as extraordinary and unique. There has to be something."
Luna, who just so happened to be passing by, overheard.
"Is something the matter, sister?" she asked.
"I'm trying to think of something to do for Solar's education." Celestia replied. "I want something he and I will both be happy with. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Yes, actually." said Luna. "How about the School Of Friendship? He's bound to be welcome there."
Celestia thought this was a wonderful idea.
"Sister, you're a genius." she said. "I'll speak to Twilight right away."
Celestia then summoned a guard.
"Your Majesty?" the guard asked.
"Ready my carriage." said Celestia. "I need to go to Ponyville and speak with Twilight at the School of Friendship."
"Right away." the guard nodded.
Soon, Celestia was on her way to Ponyville in her carriage, which was being pulled by four Pegasus Guards. They soon arrived in Ponyville, and subsequently at the aforementioned educational institution.
"Now, you boys wait out here." she told her chauffeurs. "I won't be long."
The guards nodded and Celestia went inside the building. Inside, Twilight was in her office sorting through some paperwork when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" she called.
The door opened and Celestia entered. It should go without saying that Twilight was very surprised.
"Celestia!" she gasped. "What a surprise! What can I do for you?"
"I wish to get my son enrolled at this school." Celestia replied.
Twilight beamed.
"The others would love to have him join the class!" she said. "I'll just fetch you an enrollment form."
Twilight went over to a filing cabinet and took out a blank enrollment form, which she had Celestia fill out. Soon, the document was filled, and Twilight finalized it.
"Okay, you're all set." she said.
"Excellent." Celestia smiled. "Solar is going to be so thrilled!"
Back at Canterlot Castle, Solar was playing with the stuffed Thomas plush he had been given to Celestia on his first night sleeping in his new room, which he had aptly named "Little Tommy" when he saw Celestia enter.
"Mama!" he cried happily as he raced to her.
"Hi, sweetie!" Celestia replied as she picked her son up with her magic and showered him in kisses.
After a bit of smothering Solar in kisses, Celestia set him down.
"Mommy's got a surprise for you." she said.
Solar gasped.
"What is it?" he asked.
Celestia then showed her the enrollment form.
"You're going to a new school." she said. "Twilight and her friends work there. Remember them? They attended your welcoming party."
"Yeah, I remember them." Solar nodded. "When do I start?"
"You start on Monday." said Celestia. "So Sunday night, you'll have to go to bed early."
"Okay." Solar nodded.
"Also, we'll need to buy you some school supplies." Celestia continued. "Come with me."
With that, the royal mother and son duo left the castle and walked down the streets of Canterlot to a store, where they began shopping for school supplies.
"Well, Solar, since it's you that's starting school, you can pick the school supplies all by yourself." said Celesita.
"Really?" asked Solar.
Celestia nodded, and Solar began picking out supplies. He picked out a backpack, lunch box, pencils, and stationary set that include a folder, lined notebook, memo pad, three pens, a pencil sharpener, a pencil pouch, and a coloring and activity book that were all themed around, you guessed it, Thomas & Friends. Celestia couldn't help but smile and giggle.
"You just love Thomas, don't you?" she asked.
"Yup!" Solar nodded.
Soon, Celestia had paid for the items and was walking out of the store with her son. As they left the store, Solar was beaming with excitement over starting his new school, but was also rather curious about it.
"Mama, what's the School of Friendship like?" he asked. "Will I meet other foals my age there?"
"It's possible." Celestia replied. "Of course, there are students of other races at the school, like griffons, hippogriffs, yaks, and even dragons."
Solar was amazed.
"I haven't even started going to that school, but I'm already thinking I might like it there." he told himself.
He would soon prove himself right. Soon, Monday arrived, and Solar woke up bright and early. After having a bath and brushing his teeth, he went into the royal dining room, where Celestia was already at the table, having some pancakes with raspberry sauce, strawberries, and a cup of tea. A bowl of corn flakes with a glass of orange juice was at the place next to her.
"Morning, Mama." Solar greeted Celestia as he sat down to eat.
"Good morning, dear." Celestia replied as she had another forkful of pancakes.
Just then, Luna entered the dining room, looking very disheveled. Her eyes were red and her mane and tail were a mess. She looked like she hadn't had any sleep at all.
"Let me guess; another all-nighter?" Celestia asked.
"Yup." Luna replied groggily.
Luna made herself a cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese on it. After breakfast, Solar brushed his teeth again, then gathered his things, including his lunch, which Celestia had already made herself rather than having the royal chefs make it. Once Solar had his things together, he and Celestia left for the train station, where they caught the morning express to Ponyville. During the ride, Solar decided to get some extra shut-eye, since he had woken up early, so he closed his eyes and leaned into Celestia, who didn't mind one bit, and even draped her wing around him like a blanket. Soon enough, the train arrived in Ponyville, and Celestia gently nudged Solar awake.
"Wake up, baby, we're here." she said.
Solar stretched and yawned, then collected his bags and disembarked the train with his mother. The two then made their way to the School of Friendship. When they arrived, Celestia took Twilight into the latter's office, where she, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Starlight, who worked as a guidance counselor for the school, and Spike were waiting, along with six other students that were each a different species. One was an Earth Pony named Sandbar, the second a griffon named Gallus, the third a hippogriff named Silverstream, a Changeling named Ocellus, a yak named Yona, and another dragon named Smolder, all of whom were promptly introduced to Solar and vice versa.
"It's so nice to meet you, Solar." said Gallus. "Especially because you're a boy."
"Yeah, now me and Gallus won't be the only boys in this class anymore." added Sandbar. "Uh, no offense."
"None taken." Solar winked.
Twilight then noticed the time on the clock.
"Well, it's about time to start classes for the day." she said. "Would you like to stay, Celestia? You're always welcome to."
"Would that I could." replied Celestia. "But I have other matters to attend to."
"I understand." nodded Twilight.
Celestia then kissed Solar on the head.
"Have a good day, sweetie." she said as she turned away.
"Bye, Mama!" Solar called out as he waved.
Soon, Celestia was long gone and the school day officially began, and eventually, lunchtime arrived, and the other students decided to use this time to get to know their new friend and vice versa.
"So, Solar, what do you like to do for fun?" asked Gallus.
"Oh, that's easy." replied Solar. "I love to watch Thomas & Friends. It's my favorite show of all time."
"Thomas & Friends, eh?" asked Gallus. "I've heard of that show."
"You have?" asked Solar.
"Yeah." said Gallus. "I've even seen a few episodes of it on the internet. It's pretty good if I do say so myself."
"Cool." said Solar. "What about you guys?"
The other Young Six then told Solar what they had been up to until this point.
"Wow." gasped Solar. "All of that really happened?"
"Yup." nodded Smolder. "I really wanted to give that Neighsayer jerk one heck of a beat-down."
"But thankfully, everything worked out." added Silverstream.
"That's cool." smiled Solar.
But unknown to Solar, Ocellus was looking at him with a lovesick expression.
"He's so nice." Ocellus was telling herself. "There's just something about him, but I don't know what."
Soon, lunch was over, and class resumed. At the end of the day, Luna, who was now back to her usual physical self, came to pick up her nephew.
"Did you have a good day, Solar?" Luna asked as she and Solar walked back to the train station for the ride back to Canterlot.
"Oh, it was great!" replied Solar cheerfully. "I can't wait to tell Mama about it!"
"Yeah, I'm sure your mother would love to hear about your day." agreed Luna.
Soon, they were back at the Castle, and Solar told Celestia all about his first day at the School of Friendship.
"I'm glad you had a good day, Solar." Celestia smiled.
"Hey, Solar, wanna have some Auntie-Nephew Gaming Time?" Luna then asked.
"No thanks, Auntie Luna." Solar replied. "I wanna relax for a bit."
"Sure." nodded Luna.
With that, Solar went to his room and laid down on his bed.
"Wow, I sure do love my new life as the son of Princess Celestia." he sighed. "Sure, I do miss the other kids at the orphanage, but now I have a new Mommy and new Aunties as well as new friends and a new school, especially that Changeling Ocellus. She sounds like a really nice girl. I can't wait until tomorrow to see her again."
And as Prince Solar Eclipse, the new son of Princess Celestia, drifted off to sleep, he felt very happy to now be in the care of the most powerful and important pony in all of Equestria.
The End
A.N. Well, there you have it, folks. I apologize if this story seemed somewhat short. Thing is, apart from Solar Eclipse starting school at the School of Friendship as you saw in this chapter, there really was nothing else planned for this story. Rest assured, another MLP-related chapter story that will likely be longer than this one is on its way, except this one will be a crossover with Transformers, particularly Rescue Bots Academy. Other than that, I'll share no further details for that story, at least for the time being, so stay tuned.