Sol couldn't find any words as he saw his oldest friend standing there before him, all grown up and towering over him. Although he figured that Torch would've grown to be a rather tall and big dragon by how Torch's own dad looked, he wasn't expecting Torch to actually surpass him like this.
"Hey, dad," Ember casually waved. "Did you need something?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I came because I heard that the young princess and that drake have arrived."
"You did? But how did you know that they were here?"
"I may not be Dragon Lord anymore, Ember, but that doesn't mean that I don't like to know what's going on." Having spoke his reasoning, Torch looked down upon their guests. "I know it's a little late, but welcome to the Dragon Lands, visitors from Equestria."
Though he wasn't the Dragon Lord anymore, that didn't stop them from bowing out of politeness.
"It's nice to be back, Lord Torch," Twilight said.
"Bah. Just call me Torch. There's no need to bother calling me even that at this point," he grumbled.
"Yes, sir." Torch nodded in response to Twilight before she motioned out a hoof to Starlight. "This is Starlight Glimmer, my former pupil."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Starlight said with a bow.
"Greetings. I didn't know that Princess Twilight had a pupil."
"Well not anymore," she corrected. "I graduated not all that long ago."
"Hmmm."
Taking this moment as her cue, Twilight went over to the next one in line.
"And this is Rarity, one of my best friends and the Element of Generosity."
"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Torch," Rarity said, only to get an acknowledging nod from Torch.
Twilight moved down the line over to Spike. "I take it you remember Spike?"
"Ah yes. The 'tiny one' who participated and won the Gauntlet of Fire," Torch said with a hint of amusement.
"W-W-What?! Y-You know?!" Spike nervously asked with a gulp.
"Yes, but it wasn't until Ember came up to me later that night and told me that I found out. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to talk to you in private, Spike."
Ember's eyes narrowed into a warning glare. "Dad. We talked about this."
"I know, Ember, I know. I promise I'm not going to eat him or harm him in any way."
"I would hope not, you giant windbag. I've actually grown to like Spike."
"Who said that?!"
Hearing the other male voice chuckling, Torch's head snapped back down to the group of visitors. When he did, his eyes locked directly onto Sol, who looked up with a smile.
"Even after a thousand years, you're still just as loud as I remember you, Torch."
Torch lowered his head to get a better look at Sol. Silently, Torch's eyes roamed over him, humming as he swore to himself that he'd seen this male before. After a few moments of looking over him, Torch's eyes widened slightly as he recognized this male's species and started to remember. There was only kirin that he new of that existed, but he disappeared over a thousand years ago.
He's got the same eyes, same coat color, same pony and draconic limbs, and the same voice... Torch mused to himself. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that this actually is him... but...
"What's your name, white kirin?" Torch slowly asked, which caused Sol to recoil in surprise that he'd even ask him.
"What are you talking about, Torch?" Sol asked in confusion. "It's me, Sol. You know, Solar Rupture? Your old friend from like a thousand years ago during the tail end of Dragon Lord Inferno's reign?"
Hearing Sol's voice and talking about Inferno made Torch's heart race in anticipation, but he wasn't completely bought yet. After all, Sol just up and disappeared on him over a thousand years ago, so for him to suddenly appear out of the blue like this was suspicious to him.
"If you really are Sol, then you'll have to prove it."
Still stubborn until proven wrong I see, he mentally sighed. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"
"If you really are Sol, then there's only one thing that you can do to prove it." Torch grinned. "Show me your dragon form."
Sol blinked. "Oh. Is that all?"
"Is that- what do you mean 'is that all'?!" Twilight shouted.
"Hmm? Something wrong, Twilight?"
"Since when could you turn into a dragon?!"
"Since forever," Sol replied with a shrug. "As a kirin, I have the ability to change into a dragon."
"... and you never thought to bring this up during our Q&A sessions why?" Twilight grumbled.
"Didn't I tell you after we first met?"
"I don't remember! That's why I take notes!" Twilight exclaimed. "If you did tell me, then it'll be somewhere in my notes that I took of you during your first time in Canterlot."
"Oh. Well, considering that I didn't have enough magic to even attempt it at the time, I guess I didn't think that it wasn't really important."
"And now?"
Sol smirked as his body started to steadily grow brightly. "You'll want to cover your eyes for this."
Twilight watched as Sol started to walk over to the edge of the throne towards Torch, before he began to pick up the pace into a sprint. Squinting, Twilight did her best to keep her eyes on Sol's shining form until she saw him leap off the cliff. Surprised that he just did that, Twilight took her first step forward to see what he was up to when a bright flash of light, accompanied by a powerful, magical shockwave, emanated from over the edge where Sol jumped. Forced to shield her eyes, Twilight brought a wing up and covered her face, less she be blinded by the light. Recovering from nearly being blinded, Twilight, along with everyone else, looked up and felt their jaws.
Standing there before them was what appeared to be a dragon, but it was unlike any dragon that any of them had ever seen or read of. It's form looked like that of a leaner dragon that stood a little over half of Torch's own height, but the biggest and most noticeable difference of it to that of other dragons were the scales... or rather, lack there of. While it definitely looked like a dragon, instead of scales, it looked more ethereal as colors of green, blue, purple, and pink light constantly shifted over the dragon's form.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Snapped out of her stupor by the joyous and booming voice, Twilight saw Torch wrap an arm around the strange dragon in a hug.
"IT REALLY IS YOU!"
"Yes, it's really me," Sol said in amusement.
Torch let out a booming laugh again as he let go of Sol and lowered his voice back down.
"I was starting to believe that I'd never see you again. You did just disappear after all. Where the heck did you even wander off to all those years ago?"
"Sorry about that, Torch. I was sealed away inside a crystal and hidden deep underground."
Torch hummed. "Sounds like there's quite a story behind this. Am I right to believe that it had something to do with your dad and the other Scaleless Dragons?"
"Yes, it does. I'll be sure to explain everything to you soon. It's the least that you deserve, old friend."
As they heard Sol speak, Twilight noticed that when he spoke, the voice didn't come from his mouth. Curious, Twilight flew up and around in front of Sol's face to get a better look at him, but when she did, she couldn't find any facial features on him. While his face did hold a distinct draconic shape to it, she couldn't find any traces of eyes, nostrils, ears, or a mouth.
"Is something wrong, Twilight?" Sol asked, noticing her flying in front of him with an odd expression.
Hearing Sol's voice without seeing him open a mouth to speak from, it didn't take Twilight long to figure out what was going on.
"You're using telepathy to speak to us, aren't you, Sol?" Twilight figured.
"Yes, I am."
"But... how? Is it some sort of spell that you cast?"
"It's not. Whenever I turn into my dragon form, I become what's called a Scaleless Dragon, like my father and aunts and uncles. While I'm like this, my body takes on a more celestial form, turning from flesh and bone to pure light. While I'm like this, I have no need for a nose, eyes, ears, or mouth, in order for me to smell, see, hear, or even breath and speak."
As Sol was explaining this, Twilight had absentmindedly teleported to her a quill and parchment, and began writing down notes about his form from what he said and what she was seeing for herself.
"So how do you feel while you're like that?" Twilight wondered.
"Powerful... but also serene and at peace-"
Without warning, Sol grunted and clung a claw to the side of his head as he doubled over. Unsure of what was wrong with him, Twilight was about to fly over to him, but was stopped when Torch caught her in his claw.
"Easy there, Princess," Torch calmly told her.
"What's going on with him?!"
Torch snorted. "Sol can't maintain being in that form for very long. If he does, his body will supposedly be torn apart from its power, but we didn't test it too much for his sake."
"But isn't he a Scaleless Dragon already?!"
"Yes, but it's because Celestia is his mom and that he has inherited some of her alicorn magic that he can't maintain that form. The combined power of both a Scaleless Dragon and Celestia are too much for him to contain at once."
Twilight looked worryingly at Sol. "So this only happens when Sol changes into a dragon?"
"Yes, but we've got an idea of how things work. The first sign of him nearing his limit in that form is when he starts to get a migraine like this, but I remember that he'd conditioned himself to maintain it for at least ten minutes before this starts to happen." His eyes fell down to Twilight, peering over the edge of his claw. "His body should be able to withstand this form for a longer period of time than this. Tell me, Princess, do you know what might have caused his body to be like this?"
Twilight frowned and looked over to Sol. "A little over a year ago, the crystal that Sol was sealed and preserved inside of cracked, and the magic that kept him preserved throughout the years started to slowly leak out of it, along with Sol's own. By the time we found him over a month ago, his magic was incredibly low, and he barely had the strength to walk at first."
"If his body was no longer being preserved by the crystal, then his body would start to lose what resistance he'd built up."
"Similar to like how a muscle starts to weaken if it's not being used," Twilight figured, earning a grunt of agreement from Torch.
This also explains why he looked a little scrawnier than what I remember him being.
Now that he had an understanding behind Sol's condition, he knew how to tend to Sol, which would be an easy fix as it require for Sol to simply rest and relax... and Torch knew the perfect way to do it. A moment later, they both turned to Sol as his Scaleless Dragon form became unstable and dissipated in a burst of light, reverting him back to his normal kirin state.
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the mountain ranges near Griffonstone, a certain draconequus was sleeping peacefully in a plush bed on the wall of one of the secluded caves. However, their sleep was abruptly interrupted as the draconequus shot up from bed as they felt a great yet very old and familiar wave of power for a brief moment.
What the heck?
Eyes narrowed in focus, the draconequus reached out their senses and concentrated searched for the source of the magic, having recognized it from long ago in the past. But, after a few minutes had passed and coming up with nothing, the draconequus gave up their search with a frown.
... probably just my mind playing tricks on me.
Believing to have been awakened for no good reason by a false alarm, the draconequus grumbled and laid back down in bed.
I think I might head over to Baltimare soon. I haven't been there for some time, and it would be nice to hit the beaches there in Horseshoe Bay while on my trip around the world. I can relax, get a tan, have myself one of those drinks with the little umbrellas in them, and maybe even have a little bit of chaotic fun.
Back in the Dragon Lands, Sol stood shakily as he felt the backlash from having stayed for too long in his Scaleless Dragon form. Groaning from the headache he was experiencing, he soon started to feel his body wobble side-to-side from the dizziness before he lost his balance and felt himself starting to tip over. But, instead of falling over onto the rocky ground, he instead found himself leaning up against Twilight's side, who'd seen what was about to happen to him and teleported over to help support him.
"Okay, that wasn't very smart of me," Sol said with a groan.
"Yeah, it wasn't," Twilight frowned. "Couldn't you have done something else to prove to him that you were you?"
"I could've tried, but Torch is very stubborn and generally won't change his mind until you've proven him wrong."
"Still, you could've told him something that only you two knew of and tried to convince him that way."
"..."
"... you didn't think about that, did you?"
"Ehhhh..."
Twilight let out an annoyed sigh. "Anyway, I suppose we should let you lay down somewhere and rest."
Hearing them, Torch held an open claw to them. "Let me take him."
"Huh?"
"Since this happened because of me, I'll take him."
"Do you have something that'll help him?"
"I do. I'm going to take him to one of the hot springs and let him soak in rich minerals in the water."
Twilight raised a skeptical eye. "And you think that that'll work?"
"Yes. As it turns out, this exact thing happened before when we were younger. If it worked on him over a thousand years ago, it'll work on him now."
Twilight frowned and glanced over to Sol. "I'm still a bit skeptical about this. I've never even heard of hot springs with any form of healing properties."
"Trust us, Twilight, it works," Sol assured with a small smile that eased Twilight's uncertainty.
Helping Sol over to Torch's open claw, Twilight once again began to notice the comforting warmth emanating from Sol's body. As she did, she was reminded of when she woke up earlier that morning and quickly looked away from Sol to hide her growing blush.
Keep it together, Twilight. Everypony and dragon are looking at you.
Having helped Sol into the palm of Torch's claw, Twilight backed off of it and watched Torch lift Sol up.
"I'll take him to the hot springs. If you want to come see him or visit the springs themselves, talk to Ember. She knows the way," Torch told them.
Sol held securely in his claw, Torch flew up and made for the hot springs. With them now gone, Twilight let out a sigh and teleported herself up to the others who'd been watching the whole thing from the throne.
"Well... that was something," Spike commented
"No kidding," Starlight nodded. "So, is it just me, or did Sol kinda remind you of something when he turned into a dragon?"
"You mean like Princess Celestia's mane," Spike answered, more of a observation than a question.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Starlight turned to Rarity. "What about you, Rarity? You've been rather quiet."
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, darling. What were you saying?"
"Just wondering what you think."
Rarity blinked and looked back in the direction that Torch was flying.
"Well, I for one am surprised that they have hot springs here," she said, earning her a deadpan look from Starlight.
"Seriously? Sol just turned into an ethereal-like dragon before our eyes, and you're more interested in a hot spring?!"
"I will admit that Sol did look rather dazzling with how his colors meshed and flowed like they did, but how can I not be interested by the fact that there are actually hot springs here in the Dragon Lands?!" Rarity asked Starlight back. "Don't you know about you, darling, but I'd rather not have to go this whole trip without a proper place to bathe, and the chance to do it in a hot spring is one that I've been dying to try."
Starlight rolled her eyes at Rarity and turned to Twilight. "What about you, Twilight?" she asked. "What're your thoughts how Sol looks as a dragon?"
"Well, now that I've calmed down and have had some time to think about it clearly, it's actually not really that much of a surprise to me," Twilight said. "After all, he did say that he took after Princess Celestia quite a bit. Guess we know just how much that extends to now."
"Alright! That's it!" Ember blurted. "I'm starting to get tired of not knowing what's going on here! Just who was that guy?!"
The ponies and Spike shared a look before Twilight approached her.
"You might wanna sit down and make yourself comfortable, Ember. It's... a bit of a long story."
It didn't take long for Torch and Sol to arrive at the hot springs. Having recovered from his transformation a little bit on the way over, upon them landing, Sol glided out of Torch's claw and landed with a slight stumble.
"It's a shame that your type of unicorn magic doesn't cleanse you of headaches as well," Torch commented.
Sol gave a nod as they made their way over to a hot spring big enough for Torch and slowly lowered himself in with a satisfied groan.
"I know, but at least my light magic, or holy magic if you'd still prefer, is ideal when it comes to healing and curing spells."
Torch grunted before he too lowered himself into the hot spring with a pleased and relaxed sigh. As he leaned up against the edge of the pool, he gave a curious look at Sol.
"Speaking of holy magic," he began, "where's that hammer and shield that you used to carry around with you?"
Sol's relaxed expression was replaced by frown. "I don't know."
"You mean you weren't sealed with them?"
"I was in a rush and left them on the stand in my old bedroom. After I awoke and took a walk through the abandoned ruins, I went to my room, but they weren't there."
"Did you ask Celestia if she took them for safe keeping?"
"I did, but she doesn't really remember what she did with them. She's been searching the castle for them, but she's not sure how long it'll take to find them... if they're even there."
Torch hummed with a nod. "Even for us dragons, searching our hoard for a specific item from a thousand years ago would take a while to find."
"That's what mother said," Sol sighed. "She doesn't remember if she kept them locked away in the vault, hid them in the armory, or wherever else she might've placed them."
"What about using your magic over earth to detect metals and other earthen materials?" Torch suggested. "You can still do that, right?"
Sol sighed and leaned back. "Now there's a thought," he said with a chuckle, eliciting a snort from Torch.
"You meant to tell me that you didn't think of that before?"
"My mind was a bit preoccupied with the Underkingdom to think about it."
Hearing about the ancient kingdom, Torch blinked in surprise. "You mean that you haven't finished it yet?"
"I did, but compared to how things are in Equestria today, I've been working on updating the Underkingdom to meet today's standards."
"I understand that you're ambitious with your project, but don't forget that you are Equestria's prince and the heir to Celestia's throne."
Sol sighed and closed his eyes as he felt his body relax and his headache start to fade.
"I may be the son of Celestia and might one day inherit the throne and rule Equestria, but it's still important to me. Even if it's never used, I still take great pride in the Underkingdom and the work that I've put into creating it. Surely you understand that feeling."
"Heh. Yeah, I suppose I do."
The two relaxed in the hot spring in silence for a few minutes until Sol cracked an eye open with a small smirk.
"So, Torch, just how did you manage to become Dragon Lord and find yourself a mate? Last I recall, you weren't much of a ladies' drake."
Torch gave Sol a toothy grin. "Times change, old friend. As for how I became Dragon Lord? Hahaha! Now that's a great story I haven't told in a while."