TRUTH & MENTALITY
The solstice of the sun glared at the Earth in it's magnificence. Solaire could only stand in silence, a witness to a crumbling world, yet beauty not as lost as he had once believed. He could of spent days only standing and watching; contemplating each and every moment spent among the tarnished land of Lordran.
A new, unfamiliar face bore his way down the crumbling stairs to his view. Solaire couldn't find the strength to unsheathe his sword at the possible threat of danger; his final moments would be to the own victory of another. For him, an existence in the kingdom of the sun would fare as his final desire.
Nay, instead this figure lowered itself in question; A fellow survivor of an unjust fate, no doubt. Solaire's only truth to survival in these one great lands is companionship; cooperation. Solaire turned himself to meet the sunken face and rusted armor of the unkindled soul that placed his hand firmly upon his sword in caution.
A proposition... That's what it comes down to. To fight one in the same, to escape the land of torment and pain. Solaire offers his hand in a mutual friendship.
In this world, Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value. Rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
Headaches. Unbearable headaches. They wracked his head daily with their stinging pulse. Solaire laid upon a particularly comfy 'couch', something that fared like an elongated throne to his own recollection. Drifting in and out of his sleepy conscious, Fluttershy, with assistance, had managed to removed most of Solaire's chest plating. Twilight, grossly engaged, scribbled furiously upon her now overflowing notebook.
Rainbow Dash, who had proved herself to be a mare with excessive hubris, sat familiarly bored, with an hoof stretched across the table. The abnormally strong pony who had primarily assisted in lifting his encumbered body, hesitantly returned to her own residence, taken a vow of silence by the three ponies that persuaded her.
The newly befriended Fluttershy took no hesitation in hustling herself to an opposite room to Solaire's choice of stay. All around Solaire's presence accompanied tens of small animals and creatures that scuttled about and eyed Solaire uncomfortably. One in particular, a snow white hare, glared unfriendly towards him; Solaire sensed bouts of hostility between that one.
Fluttershy reemerged from her previous location, carrying a tray of bandages and what appeared to be a strange, discolored liquid.
"Here, drink this... You'll feel better I promise." She cooed, nudging the glassed liquid towards him.
Solaire was hesitant; this concoction looked less like a drink and more like an alchemists brew. He shot a worried look to Fluttershy, attempting to ensure it's safety.
"Go on." She pressed him, waving her hoof forward in confidence.
Solaire gulped in preparation and took the brew down with one stroke. He cringed; it tasted terrible! Fluttershy giggled at his reaction, and unraveled the various packs of bandages that she had previously brought out.
"W-water... please?" Solaire begged, attempting to relieve the awful aftertaste of the previous medicine.
"Oh! I'll get some!" Twilight responded, gently floating her notebook onto a table, and trotting into the kitchen.
Solaire propped himself up upon the couch, wrapping his arm around the back of it's frame. Fluttershy rested herself beside him and began carefully places various bandages and gauzes on the scratches and cuts he had received.
Fluttershy perked an ear as she worked to the faint whispers that eluded from Solaire's lips as his gaze met the panes of the nearby window. It was incomprehensible to her own vocabulary, yet she felt compelled to question him:
"Um... If you don't mind me asking-" she hesitated; Solaire ceased his preachings to receive her own query.
"-What is that your humming to yourself?" She asked, shrinking down slightly upon hoping she did not offend the foreign entity. Solaire replied with a grin, breaking his view from the shining light beyond the living room.
"A prayer of sorts. A rite of safety you could say." He returned his view to the light.
Fluttershy tilted her head curiously at the response.
"Here's your water Solaire!" Twilight exclaimed abruptly behind Fluttershy, to which Fluttershy recoiled and bounded forwards with a yelp.
"Ah.. Gratias tibi ago." Solaire thanked, observing Twilight's innate ability to levitate the glass cup in front of him. Carefully grabbing the exterior of the cup, Twilight's enveloping magic over it faded as the she intently watched the movement of his hand.
"The thought fades over me-" He began, raising the glass to his mouth.
"-That I might be absolutely insane. That my body has passes within the Kiln and my soul resides within this eternal... imagination." He took a small sip, taking notice of Twilight's unenthusiastic expression.
"You don't think we're real?" Twilight asked.
"Perhaps you are. But this- this world is unreal, unimaginable... Not even of my taint would I of envisioned this." Solaire calmly expressed, placing his hand upon his forehead within his somber state.
Twilight took a moment to ponder his own words, recollecting everything she had experienced.
"Your not from Equestria, are you Solaire?" She stated, seeking an end to her own hypothesis.
Solaire traced his view across the room: The three ponies that sat, gazing intently at him. One whom sat extraordinarily bored, who's attention shifted to the recent query. The one who worked tirelessly to restore his health, whom debt he has no bounds to. But the one that stood in question, who stared with violet eyes into his own; seeked a truth that Solaire feared would morph their own perceptions on how they saw this strangely kind-hearted collection of iron and flesh.
Solaire, in his seemingly internal damnation upon Lordran, has beared a silent witness to every atrocity within the boundaries of the human mind. One's own survival deemed that these acts must be preformed by the survivalist himself. If Solaire's own heart wasn't unnaturally strong; If his will was met among any others...
...His soul would wonder the darkness of hell forevermore.
"My world is that unlike any nightmare a sane man could conjure; As if this world is my retribution for my attempts at an end." He hung his head in resentment.
Fluttershy sat silently next to the somber figure, her every wish to revitalize his spirits were left with a nervous apprehension.
"Solaire-" Twilight replied, touches of concern skimmed her voice.
"No... Please. I have cast my own shadow upon myself. How rude am I to leave this conversation on such a wretched note." Solaire brought his once doubt-stricken face to meet her own. A gentle smile graced his lips.
"Do you know why I kept going; To brace myself against the endless nightmares?" Solaire questioned unambiguously.
"-It's because of my unbridled love of my god... of my sun." He motioned his arm to the skies beyond the paned window.
"The Warriors of Sunlight... we were called." He shifted himself comfortably upon the couch as he began.
"A collection of soldiers, of peasants, of kings. Brought together not by own sociable likeness; but to our faith to a higher truth, to justice and holiness." Solaire explained, closing his hand into a fist as he spoke.
Rainbow Dash gathered herself to rest next to Twilight as his war-time story led; intrigued by every new reach of battle and adventure.
"...Many sought to close this bond; To break our spirits and bear our weaknesses to the dark. But the sun, however beautiful it rests upon the heavens, is incapable of darkness; As are we. In my quest, in the quest of others, I have committed acts I can only assume you would evict as monstrous. You Creatures- no, ponies, granted a passion of friendliness, would accept such a being as I without question?" Solaire guilelessly asked.
Twilight Sparkle met with a smile.
"It's our own jobs to spread friendliness and unity, Solaire. While we may not seem like much, we ourselves bear some of Equestria's most potent magic. Whatever world you come is something nopony could imagine.
Even somepony as.... frightening looking as you has their own passion to them; Something we can't bear to ignore."
Solaire worked his legs, mustering his strength to resist his illnesses. With a burst of strength, he pushed his arms from the couch and worked to stand. To his own surprise, the concussion once stricken to his head had withered to a slight headache as he stood without fault.
"I have no reason to deny your hospitality; nor deny you my own strength." He gently bowed to the group as he spoke.
Fluttershy noted his own resilience to his wounds. Nopony could of recovered from his current condition as he had done. Regardless, her delight in rehabilitating his strength complimented herself with a wide grin.
"Princess Celestia would be delighted to hear about you Solaire." Twilight eagerly pronounced, clasping her hooves together.
"-If... That's OK with you?" She asked.
"Princess... Celestia?" Solaire replied curiously; Repeating his own meaning of Celestia unto his mind.
"Oh my, I'm sorry; I only assumed you skimmed through the book you erm... stole." Twilight pointed out.
Solaire rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. He had remembered making a spectacle of an escape after grasping the copy of Equestrian History not so long after being discovered by, what he can safely assume was another pony in it's home.
Perhaps he will have to show his own apologies to the being during his stay here.
"Why... It's hard to explain without telling you all about pony history but..." Twilight coughed, clearing her throat. She began:
"In the beginning there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. Celestia, being one of the sisters, has been around longer than anypony could remember. At one point, a conflict arose between Celestia and her sister, Luna. A terrible fight and the sensation of evil that was produced from her sister had forced herself to banish Luna from Equestria up until recently...
"She is unlike anypony alive. While there are Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns (like me), Princess Celestia bears the power of all three of our races. She does not only hold power because she has always been royalty, but because she is essentially the strongest being in Equestria."
Solaire placed his hand upon his chin, comprehending this new power unknown from his limited views of this world.
"So you. How do you know the Princess, whom hold dominion over your world?" He asked.
"Well..." Twilight prepared:
"I was taken in by Celestia herself as her protege. Back when I was a filly, I proved myself worthy over my erm... extraordinary hold of magic." Twilight explained, avoiding the details of her destructive bouts of energy that blew a hole within the castle's tower.
"So your a scholar of sorts? An heir to her highness?" He queried.
"In a sense, yes. But Celestia has been ruling for eons. Nopony could imagine her stepping down for anypony, much less ME." Twilight complied, objecting the possibility.
Solaire could not resist in remembrance of his own Princess; his own 'deity'. Gwynevere, daughter to the wretchedness that is Lord Gwyn, and the bearer of the sun's light. His faith never faltered in her quest; that his own entity was offered to her defense. But that was until an awful secret breached the minds of her followers.
An adventurer, and lone undead with extraordinary might; dared to desecrate the tomb of the Old Lord Gwyn, to which the omnipresent son of Gwyn, Gwyndolin, lied within to forever protect his image. With the undead's own magnificent strength, he had cast his blade into the heart of the unfortunate son, and with it the false image of a long-since vanquished princess faded; The sun of Anor Londo, was no more.
A groan erupted from the spectrum-colored pony whom at this point, had remained mysteriously quiet.
"Gee Solaire, your beginning to act like more of an egghead than Twilight! I mean... no offense, but snoooore!" Rainbow Dash motioned her arms in annoyance.
"Since nopony needs me, I'm going down to Pinkie Pie's place for some brunch." Rainbow Dash stood, flexing her wings in preparation for her departure.
"C'ya!" She waved, pushing herself off the ground and out the door in a burst of speed.
Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash, only to return her gaze to Solaire, remembering the previous conversation.
"Pinkie Pie?" Solaire asked.
"I'll explain later..." Twilight said, slapping her hoof forwards onto her face.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today has been more eventful than any this past week. I apologize for the lack of a Friendship Report this time around, I have something better.
Fluttershy found a strange creature today: It had been injured by the ever-present Manticore that resided in the Everfree Forest. She being the animal enthusiast that she is, managed to fend the Manticore from harming it any further. On first glance, the creature was a mass of strange metal, almost like the kinds put into our railroad trains.
It was more than just metal though: It was a strange hairless creature that encased it's own body in what I can assume was armor. The only thing to describe it more closely is that it has the basic structure of a dragon-kin, only it has no tail, no horns, no wings, and no protruding snout. I would of assumed it was some monster that was conjured during Discord's escape, being as strange as it is. But to our own surprise it's not a monster in the slightest. Solaire is it's name... and it can talk.
He, a male from what we found out, is possibly more intellectual than most ponies I know. But he himself claims he is not from here, but from some barbaric and dangerous world. He refuses to give me explicit details of his own land.
Princess, I implore you to seek an audience with this creature... this 'hew-man' (his race) as he is not only one of exceptional intellect, but of a strange entity of power not even I can recollect.
~Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle