After the talks during dinner, Solaire made his way to his sleeping quarters. Settling down in his bed without his armor, and gently falling asleep. Comparing this bed to those in Lordran, there was an obvious winner. It took no time at all to get him to have the best sleep in his entire life.

Solaire opened his eyes, only to be met on-top of a balcony, mossy stone covering the layout. He looked into the sky, and saw the sun, a dark shadowy cloud obscuring the vision of it. He then took a look around himself, and realized that he was not back in his sleeping quarters.

He was instead, back in Lordran.

"How? This isn't possible.." He told himself, as he walked up the set of stairs to the right of him. As he made his way up, he stared down the familiar bridge in front of himself, the husks of warriors walking aimlessly with their swords. The red dragon still perched on top of the small ledge at the end of the bridge. It didn't make sense how he made it back. Had it been a dream?

"It couldn't have been a dream. I was able to feel it." He told himself, shaking his head. He turned to his left to see the Chosen Undead, a friend of his, walk up to him.

"Ah- friend.. What hap-"

The Chosen Undead turned to ash, his armor falling to the floor with a loud clank. Solaire stared in horror as he saw it, and shook his head.

"No- no.. You couldn't have died- you are chosen. How?" He asked himself, before falling to his knee's and picking the ash up with his hands. It fell through his fingers.

"My friend.. my last friend. How could you have fallen to ash?" He asked, before standing up. Something was definitely not right in the world. He turned to his right, looking down the bridge. The dragon at the end of it roared wildly, and began to fly towards him.

He immediately turned around, running to the small balcony before turning for just a second. A wave of flame was sweeping over the entirety of the area, and there was only one option. Solaire grabbed the end of the balcony, and hurled himself off the edge, falling.

He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He was silent as he did so. The fall lasted for seconds, and felt like an eternity. There was no end to the floor below, and instead he kept falling into an endless abyss. The sound of the dragon had died out due to range, and the only thing he could hear was the blaring wind in his ears.

He then finally spoke up.

"Is this the abyss..?" He asked himself, before a familiar voice from the night before was heard. He looked up in front of him, to see the dark blue alicorn appear in front of him, standing on nothing but air.

"No, Solaire. You've not fallen into an abyss." Luna told him, to which suddenly Solaire landed on solid ground. The falling had stopped, and he was not in any pain what-so-ever. Luna looked around for a little bit, before taking a few steps towards him.

"I can understand now what you mean by a hateful world. But you're still safe with ours." Luna said, as Solaire shook his head. He gave a sad chuckle, before looking up, as if trying to spot the ledge he jumped from.

"I jumped with silence. If a world like yours didn't exist, I was ready to die in mine." He said, before looking back down at her. She took a few steps, now close to him.

"This is only a nightmare. Remember that. I can feel the sorrow, the pain resonating from this."

"It may only be a nightmare.. Yet the world I lived in was a nightmare itself."

Luna shook her head, before giving him a soft rub on his shoulder with her wing.

"No need to think of that anymore. You're in ours now, and it's much safer than.. this world. I promise you that nothing will force you to re-live these experiences. For when you are in a bad dream, i'll try to accompany you. Perhaps I can lift your burden of these memories."

"These memories are permanent. I'm just glad these new memories will be much more happier. Thank you, Princess of the Night." He said, reaching his hand over and patting her head. Luna didn't exactly know how to respond with the small pat, but simply smiled.

"Let's get you to sleep." Luna told him. Solaire nodded.

"To arise the next day to a bright and loving sun." He said, before the nightmare faded, and all he could see is a dark blue color. That was all he could see, before his eyes giving out and his vision blacked out.

Solaire opened his eyes. Instead of being greeted with a dark bleak sky, he was greeted with the ceiling of his royal guest room. He took a moment to breathe, his breath calm and collected. He then shot himself up, sitting on the side of the comfy bed. He was in nothing but his underclothing, and he needed to get dressed in his armor to watch the sun arise, if it hadn't already.

He looked to the window to see no light coming from it. Thankfully he hadn't missed it, and stood to equip his armor and other clothing. Setting the helmet comfortably on his head, he then equipped his sheathed sword. Double checking everything on his person to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

"Ah- the flask." He said, looking over to the desk where he had laid his flask. He picked it up, and set it inside the small pouch on his backside. He then stretched, and headed for the door.

Opening the door led himself to a dark blue sky, the outer corridors of the castle lit up in dark blue flames. Nightguards patrolling the hallways of the castle, bearing their traditional dark purple armor. Solaire then searched for the bright moon in the sky, and mumbled.

"The moon is the perfect contrast to the sun. Beautiful." He admitted. Solaire wasn't exactly fond of the moon, since the night brought darkness to his world. Yet this one.. Was beautiful like the sun.

Perhaps he would become a Warrior of both sun and moon? He chuckled at the idea, but the idea was interesting to say the least.

As he stared at the moon, he recalled to the nightmare he was having. Being put back into such a world, and watching one of the last few friends he had left turn to ash in front of him, was an experience that he didn't really want to re-live. Even if it was simply fictional. The calming voice of the Princess of the Night had helped him soothe back into a cozy rest. He smirked.

"Even if the Princess is a little rough around the edges, she still is good at the center of her heart." He reminded himself to thank her later, whenever he would get the chance to talk to her again. Solaire continued to admire the moon, until it started to slowly move.

"This must be the time." He said, watching the moon slowly fall across the horizon, as the sun began to brighten the world up with its glorious shine. In only a matter of a few minutes, the sun was now in the place of the moon. Solaire, still standing at the doorstep of his room, took his usual stance when praising the sun.

He muttered the phrase of a Sunlight Warrior.

"Praise the sun."

After a few seconds of holding the pose, he let his arms down to his sides, and began to walk down the steps.

"If it is morning, it must mean that Princess Celestia must be awake. I shall find her." He said, putting a hand on the sword at his side as he walked. It was simply habit, and wasn't in a threatening manner. Solaire slowly walked through the halls of the castle, still admiring the pieces of art and beautiful architecture inside. As he walked, many ponies had seen him and gave him questioning looks. Some backed away from his presence, but he didn't notice.

He had made it to the dining hall, opening its doors and searching around the room for Celestia. She was nowhere to be found. Neither was Luna to be found. He scratched the top of his helmet as if it were his head. He wondered where she might have gone. Was it not breakfast time?

"Ah- Solution." He said aloud, seeing a guard walk down the opposite corridor from himself. He strode over to the guard and asked the guard politely if he had seen the Princess he was looking for.

"Princess Celestia was required to attend a meeting just after raising the sun. It isn't uncommon for her to skip out on breakfast occasionally if the meeting required it. The last I've heard, it was about the ongoing rebellion outside the borders. Crazy stuff." The guard told him, before resuming his patrol.

Solaire nodded, taking in the information. It wasn't good to miss the first meal of the day. She was a perfectly fine living being. She must require sustenance, does she not? She wasn't undead, like him. He shook his head, a little upset at the thought of someone requiring the princess' attention. No one should require her to do anything.

"Perhaps I don't understand the way things work around here.." Solaire told himself, trying to calm himself. It seemed to work. He did indeed not know a whole lot about the place he was currently in. He didn't know the specific rules, the culture, how they handle themselves or their history. He thought of going to the library, but he wasn't all too keen on reading. Sure, he didn't mind it, but it wasn't something he preferred.

He would rather gaze at the glorious sun than read a book telling him how to think. He'd have to learn through experience.

Four hours.

Four hours of political talks. Sure, it was important, but Celestia hated politics even though she was a leader of Equestria. It was about the same topic that had been talked about for the past couple of months, and in these recent weeks, the meetings became more frequent. The topic being the 'rebellion' outside of the borders.

A group of ponies, unsatisfied with the infrastructure of ruling in Equestria, and fighting their own kind. They never thought once to go about it peacefully, and instead have been trying to take over small towns and cities near the borders edges. These so called 'rebels' are more like 'anarchists.' It fit them a lot more.

The meeting was one with the captain of the royal guard, that being Shining Armor, and a few other political leaders and mayors from the towns at the border. She knew these talks were required, and they are important, but god did she hate them. She hated thinking about her own people killing their neighbors. It was not a fun thought.

Before the meeting had started, she asked if they could instead talk about the topic at the dining hall, eating before they started or eating while they started. It would've made people happier since talking on an empty stomach for hours on end usually left ponies cranky. Which, obviously happened.

"Celestia, the only thing we can do is to send our forces at the borders and defend. Once they notice that there is an impenetrable wall of our forces, they won't even attempt to combat it." Shining said. Celestia had disagree'd with him all morning, and continued to do so. Even if she was nice, she understood that sometimes you need to be forceful.

"Simply defending isn't enough. I don't like hurting our ponies, just like you, but you must understand that simply defending will make us seem weak. If we don't stop the problem at the source, they'll convert more ponies to their side with their lies and deception. We must fight back." Celestia said, her eyes narrowing at Shining. She then spoke up again.

"And why are you still considered the captain of the royal guard still? Aren't you the leader of the Crystal Empire? This isn't a fight on your front." Shining grew a little angrier with the sudden remark.

"Because unlike you, I seem to still give a damn. I have to step in as the Captain because no one here can do it like I can. That is, protecting the citizens here. Just because it's not war on my front door, doesn't mean it won't effect the neighborhood."

"I don't give a damn? Oh, Shiny.. You're stepping way out of your league. I've done all I can to keep peaceful, and they've ruined their chances. I would've liked to stick to friendship, to peace, but Shining, things don't work that way. You wouldn't much know that though, would you? You've grown up, gone through battles as a Captain, and you still can't get that through your thick skull. Face it, Shining. You aren't built to handle these situations."

The room was getting more and more heated by the second, and the other attendee's of the meeting simply watched, scared to speak up or disturb anything further.

"You insult me, yet you had to choose me because I was your only option. Funny, if you didn't need me, why the hell did you still make me the captain? Also, you didn't even attempt friendship or peace."

"Tell your sister that. That she didn't try for peace or friendship. You know, the sister that's now traumatized because it went wrong. The sister you forgot about." Celestia said, standing up and making way for the door. She wasn't going to listen to any of this anymore for the rest of the day. In fact, she was going to cancel all further meeting after this one.

"Don't you dare bring my sister into this! You forced her to go into there with no warning! You are the re-"

Celestia shut the door to the meeting room, still hearing the muffled yells of Shining Armor. She stood outside the door, shaking her head whilst looking at the floor. She was angry, sad, frustrated and lost. The only thing she knew at that moment was that she could not take that conversation any more. It would've resulted in a fight if it went any further.

She began walking to her own bedroom, making her way through the corridors of the castle until she was at her front door. Just as she was about to step inside, she heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, I guess walking around aimlessly did help me find you."

Celestia turned around to see Solaire.

Solaire was a bit taken back at her somewhat angry glare, and the welling tears in her eyes. He took a step forward cautiously, and asked:

"Are you okay, Princess?"

Celestia didn't answer, simply staring at him. After a few seconds of staring she shook her head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Celestia thought, and slowly nodded, heading into her room. Solaire assumed that was his cue to follow her. He stepped inside the room after her, and the large size of the room put him in awe. He guessed it wasn't really surprising that a Princess such as herself has a large room for herself. The ceiling decorated with a nice picture of the sun, and the sides depicting pictures or art.

Celestia made her way to the bed, and sat on top of it, staring at him again. Solaire took a few steps forward and stopped at the foot of the bed.

"I hate it." Celestia said suddenly and bluntly. Solaire tilted his head, questioning her.

"Hate what?"

"Everything."

Solaire then gave a chuckle, to which Celestia did not seem amused nor finding reason to why it was funny.

"You do not hate everything, Princess."

"How do you know that?"

"Because even if you hate mostly everything, you'll still have the sun."

"I hate that too." She said, to which Solaire then removed his helmet slowly, holding it at his side. The expression on his face showing seriousness and question.

"You hate the sun..?"

"Yes. I hate raising it every morning. I hate that just because I can do it means that I have to. I hate feeling like I am the ruler of the daytime yet have little time of day to myself." She said, burying her face into the blankets of her bed. Solaire nodded to each statement. She continued:

"I just want to be left alone from these stupid problems and political things that always require my attention. I hate feeling the guilt of my precious student being almost injured and killed, and being forced to deal with the thought of killing somepony, that if I just instead tried to rid of the problem the alternative way, it would've resulted in her being okay." With each word her tears began to well up further, before they streamed down her face.

Solaire didn't speak while she talked. He didn't move or, do anything but nod. Celestia looked up to him, and gave him what Solaire perceived as a cry for help.

"How were you able to deal with the problems of your world..?" She asked.

Solaire was silent until he gave a heavy sigh. He looked her in the eyes.

"I.. didn't think about it. I disassociated myself with that part of my duty. Killing daily, watching my friends and foes fall to the monsters of the world. I dealt with my problems by not taking it seriously. Which, doesn't work in the end, as I realize now. I think that the problems I faced were inevitable. That I had to face them or face death, and facing death wasn't something I was exactly fond of." He said as he put a hand on the footboard, leaning into it.

"I know a Warrior such as myself shouldn't give a Princess advice on how to deal with her problems. But, the way I see it, you have to think about the reason you do everything you do. Why do you keep on ruling, why do you keep on pushing forward even if you hate it. Then, I would question if i'm stable enough to keep on doing it. If i'm not, then i'd take a break. If you aren't able to rule efficiently and correctly, then it's better for you to take time off than to make decisions out of the instability of your emotions."

After Solaire had finished his little speech, silence ensued for a few seconds, before Celestia spoke up with a slight smile.

"You're very smart.."

Solaire smiled with a slight exhale.

"I'm not smart, Princess. I'm simply real."

Celestia then stood up off of her bed, and shook her head, the tears flinging off of her cheeks and face.

"I'm going to cancel any further meetings I have today, and take the day off." Celestia said with a smile. "Would you like to accompany me for today? It's fine if you're busy."

Solaire chuckled.

"What would I be busy with? Wandering the maze that is the castle?" He said.

"You could always talk to any other pony in the castle."

"And miss the opportunity to talk with you instead? Now, why would I ever do that?" He said, putting his helmet back on. Celestia chuckled a little.

"Thank you, Solaire. It seems that whenever I need help, you're right around the corner. And yet it's only been a day and a half."

"Well- let's spend the other half of today having fun."

Celestia began to walk towards the door.

"Definitely."

Author's Note

The chapters will continously be getting longer and longer.

I really do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to leave a comment about what you liked! Or, if you have any feedback or criticism, don't be afraid to tell me!

Thank you for reading, and I hope that my writing has been improving.