"I see you are a knight of the princess." Solaire said to the guard as they walked down a beautifully lit corridor. His eyes looking at the paintings and artwork strewn across the walls, including a few statues of ponies he knew nothing about. They must've been important if they were in this castle.

"Correct. I'm a dayguard, under Celestia's command." The guard said, eyes forward, focused.

"A dayguard. Who is in command during the night?" Solaire asked, his eyes still stuck onto the paintings on the walls.

"Princess Luna controls the nightguard."

"Princess Luna. That is a fitting name for a Princess of the night." Solaire said, chuckling a little at the irony of the names. They had made it into another room, and entering inside was a large red carpet which led to a counter. Multiple ponies sat behind the counter, presumably assigning rooms to any visiting royalty or guests that have come to the castle.

The guard went up to an empty line, and greeted the clerk.

"Hello madam. I have a request from Princess Celestia to assign this creature a room. I'll take the checking slip once done." The guard told the clerk, who'm looked at Solaire. She was a bit in awe over the appearance of him, but obliged with the order. She pulled out a yellow slip, and picked up a quill pen with her mouth. She was an brown color, with brown hair to match. Though Solaire didn't pay attention to her much.

The clerk passed the slip to the guard. The guard read it, making sure to see what room to escort him to.

"Come with me, sir." The guard said, picking the slip up within his mouth. Solaire followed him down another corridor, this time the right half of the corridor was open. Between the pillars you could see the outside, bright world. Solaire was simply in awe at the sight.

After what seemed to be an eternity living in a destroyed world filled with hatred only, he felt as if there was no possibility of anything like this to exist. He still felt odd, feeling as if all of this was still too impossible to be real. Yet instead of questioning it, her decided it was better to go along with it. Was he really in the right to question the Princess of Sunlight and her world? Heavens no.

They finally made it to a guest room, which was located outside. Walking up a few stairs, they made it to the door. The guard turned to Solaire, and spoke with the slip in his mouth still.

"You are free to explore the Castle as Princess Celestia allowed you permission to do so. This is your living quarters that you will be staying at. Please do not switch to any other room. If someone is in your living quarters without your permission, ask the nearest guard to have it resolved. If you have any other questions, ask a nearby guard." Solaire simply nodded, and waved to the guard.

"Praise the sun, fellow knight." He said to him. The guard stopped for a second, questioning the weird phrase, before continuing.

Solaire opened the door, to which a large room with a comfortable looking purple bed lay in the center at the right. To the left was a desk, some books on-top of it. Next to said books was a quill pen, and many papers. A dresser lay next to the bed as well, though there didn't seem to be much reason to change clothing, as this was his only pair.

Solaire took his helmet off, and set it on the desk. He wiped his blonde hair, and shook his head, a couple of popping noises coming from him.

"Much better." He said with a small smile. He wasn't intending on staying inside the room for long, and wanted to explore the castle grounds. To see what it had to offer. He put a hand onto his sword, before deciding against taking it off. Just because he felt safe didn't mean he couldn't run into trouble, and as a Warrior of the sun, he would defend against it!

He took his helmet, putting it back on, and exited the room.

Paperwork. Meetings. Dull ponies to talk to for hours on end about unnecessary problems. This was the average day for Princess Celestia. She stared at the pony on the other side of the meeting table, and then glanced at the clock quickly. It was almost a few minutes before her break started. A well deserved one at that.

It had been about three hours since she sent Solaire and her guard to get him a room. She wondered what he might have been doing. As a creature from another realm, he must be confused about the differences. She remembered to ask him about what his world was like and his experiences there at a later time. She got a brief description and, it sounded bleak. Perhaps the sun was all those people had, and that made them appreciate it even more.

"With that being said-" The voice across the table droned on, his voice simply putting Celestia to sleep. It wasn't anything of importance, and just an argument about pricing of oranges in his town. Like she could really control the market like that. It was up to the farmers, not her!

Finally, the clock struck the 12 on the top. It was her break.

"Excuse me, I must attend to something else. If you would, you can sit here and go over your notes and points, or wait around the halls of the castle. I'll be back in thirty minutes or so." She said, quickly exiting the meeting room, not giving the pony a chance to speak up against it.

"Oh finally.. I'm free.." She said, before noticing a guard walk by. She stopped him.

"Do you know where Solaire is?" She asked him.

"The last I had seen him was at the furthest royal balcony. He hasn't moved from there in an hour or so." Celestia nodded, and let the guard continue on with his work.

She could have spent time talking to any royal associates or guards, or spending time to herself reading or eating something. Yet this new creature was intriguing, and had piqued her interests quite quickly. His happy tone was infectious, but it wasn't a fake tone, unlike most who talk to her. He seemed real. He wasn't only happy, but also had the ability to let himself be sad for a moment. When he stared down at his hands, she could feel, and hear the sadness in his voice.

He must have lost quite a few friends in his world. That alone would make anyone go crazy, or depressed.

After a couple minutes of walking, and going up some stairs, she made it to the furthest royal balcony, where Solaire was seated on the edge of the brick balustrade or, better known as the top rail. He was watching the events going on below. The small town, taking in its bright colors, and the beautiful scenery of the sun lighting every part of the world up.

"You know, sitting on the edge like that is dangerous." Celestia told him from behind, slowly walking up behind him. He laughed a bit, turning around and hopping off the rail. He stared up at her with the same awe she saw before when they met.

"Falling to my death is the least of my worries. I've seen, done, and been through much worse. A simple balcony can not stop me, I assure you." He said with a smile.

Celestia smiled back. Damn was it infectious.

"You are a strange one, Solaire."

"Well, I come from strange times in a strange land. Would it really be a surprise that I myself am strange?" He said, before taking off his helmet. His blonde hair was being pushed slightly in the wind of the balcony, and Celestia enjoyed the sight of the friendly face in front of her.

"I guess that wouldn't be a surprise, would it. I suppose i'm just a little confused about everything. You're a mystery, Solaire."

"Ah.. Maybe its best you don't know much about my world or myself. I'll tell you if you'd like, but be warned.. It isn't a fun topic. I don't want to darken your world." He said, meaning every word he said. He didn't know if he deserved to be in a world so bright as this, as maybe he might just ruin all of its beauty. Maybe he might bring something to it that didn't help it but instead hurt it.

"Don't worry about such things. You're free to speak about your experiences. I'm willing to listen."

"Hm.. Okay.." He said, not really trusting it. "My world is a world of pain. It's basically the essence of my world. Pain, darkness, and hopelessness. Everyone there has a soul but.. if you were to give up? If you truly were giving up, can no longer go on and let go of your humanity, you would become hollow. A shell of your former self, and become hostile to everyone around you. Friend, foe, they were the same to a hollow." He said, shaking his head.

"Many times have I had friends go hollow. Fellow Warriors of Sunlight especially. All trying to find their own sun, their own brightness in their dark world, yet they give up. I almost did, just as them." He said, putting a hand to his chest.

"But, funnily enough, I was sucked into this place. My soul saved, my quest saved, and.. my life, saved. I wasn't destined to go hollow, I guess."

"Well.. I'm glad you didn't. You've really spiced up my day to day life already, and you've not even been here for a day. I'm sure you'll be a welcome addition to anyone's life here." Celestia told him, giving out a little chuckle.

Solaire really loved hearing her laugh. If he could make the Princess of Sunlight laugh, he was doing something right. He was glad to hear that she was enjoying his company, even if they have barely met for a little while.

"I'm glad you enjoy me being here. A nice change of pace, as usually any creature seeing me would try to pillage my humanity!" He said with a laugh, though a tone of sadness in his voice from it. He shook his head. "What exactly have you been doing since we last talked?" Solaire asked her.

"I was in plenty of meetings. Useless troubles that don't need my approval. I do not understand why people treat me as an answer to every little problem in their lives. I'm not the end all be all of anything." She said, venting out a little bit to Solaire, who simply nodded his helmet.

"I just wish I didn't have to be royalty. And with someone not accustomed to our culture here, I feel like I don't have to. But as soon as I walk back down those stairs, I have to be all royal once again. I just wish things weren't the way they are. Wars have been popping up across the world recently, and everyone is on edge and trying to act like it doesn't exist, and these wars are not anything we have seen before. People are dying. Being.. absolutely obliterated."

Solaire listened in silence, watching the Princess' eyes and general body language, along with listening to her soft cries for help. That's what he heard in his ears. Cries for help.

"Perhaps.. People want your approval to know they are following in the right footsteps. They want to hear your opinion on their life, because, to them, if someone as magnificent as you thinks they're doing good, they can't fail. That isn't exactly right.. but, that's what they see. And these wars you speak about. I understand how it feels to feel stuck, and hopeless. To pretend none of it exists.." Solaire said, a heavy sigh coming from him.

"I understand, because I've gone through it all the same. It's okay to feel confused and conflicted. Because in the reality of things, none of us are different than the other. Just another soul trying to find its light."

Celestia sniffled, but held back anything else that was daring to come out. She nodded to him, and stepped close to him, nudging her neck against his helmet. A pony-human hug.

"Thank you Solaire. Perhaps we should.. meet at dinner. I'll introduce you to my sister." She said, backing up a few steps.

"I'd love to." Solaire nodded.

"Then.. I'll see you when that time comes." Celestia said, turning around and heading down the stairs.

Solaire stood there, sort of surprised at the emotion Celestia vented. Most in his world didn't speak of such things and surpressed everything. This.. was quite.. amazing.

"What a wonderful person." Solaire told himself.

Author's Note

I know, I know. Much longer than the previous ones, but I just got lost in writing this!

If you enjoyed it, or have any feedback, let me know in the comments. Tell me your favorite and least favorite part!

I was listening to 'Nameless Song' from Dark Souls 1, on constant repeat while writing this.