Sol 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.