Celestia trotted down the empty pathway, not a soul in sight save from the lush bounty of greenery that surrounded her on all sides. Up ahead, Celestia spotted burning sigils in the ground when the pathway ended. Approaching closer, she tried to make out what they said.
Jump off the cliff and stick the landing.
Celestia looked to the cliff, and taking a gander downward, noticed it led to what seemed to be a bottomless, mist covered abyss.
“I knew coming to another dimension would be a bad idea,” Celestia muttered, backing away from the cliff when she started to hear moans and shrieks from down below.
Truthfully, her own dimension hadn’t been the best of places to host dates at, but at least she was more comfortable with it than a location she knew nothing about. But her date had assured her there was no harm in the spot he had asked to see her at. Except for the occasional monster or abomination on the way.
Looking to the opposite side of the cliff, she noticed the pathway continued, up to a set of stairs that led up to a balcony against the hill. Walking up it, Celestia noticed another sigil burning in the floor.
Praise the Sun!
Shaking her head, Celestia continued upward until she reached the top of the hill, where she could see her date near the railing at the end of the balcony, staring up at the setting sun.
She joined him, standing quietly as the two stared together. Shooting him a sideways glance, she noted his odd appearance, though compared to many of her other dates, he looked relatively normal. He was a knight, that much she was certain, his face masked by a large helmet while he wore a chainmail shirt and armored boots and gauntlets. The only other indication of a status upon his person was a tattered shirt with a sun symbol on the front. Within the sun was a face, though Celestia couldn’t tell whether it was smiling or just staring straight ahead with no expression.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, startling Celestia. Her eyes looked away from the sun symbol on his chest while her cheeks blushed furiously, but all he could do was laugh in response. “There is no shame in the wandering eye.”
“N-no, it isn’t that, honest,” Celestia muttered. She shook her head, praying the redness on her cheeks would die down. “I just… have a thing for suns, is all.”
He nodded, taking a glance at her cutie mark. “I can see that, as clear as the day that rises on your rump.”
Celestia giggled, playfully shoving against him with her shoulder. “I see you take that no shame business to heart with yours eyes.”
“In a way, yes. There is no shame appreciating art for its true beauty, such as yourself, my dear.” He turned to her, holding out a hand. “I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight.”
Celestia placed her hoof in his firm grip and shook. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, Princess of the Sun.”
Solaire chuckled. “Well, well, look at that, we have something in common already.”
“I am guessing your job has something to do with the sun?” Celestia asked.
Solaire shrugged waving his hand passively in the air. “In a way, yes, in another, no. We are but warriors to serve the firstborn of Gwyn, who he himself is the Lord of Sunlight.”
“But wait, why do you serve the firstborn if the father is the true Lord of Sunlight?”
“Gwyn used to be the Lord of Sunlight. He is but the Lord of Cinders now, on account of his… well, burns.” Solaire shrugged. “It’s a long story to get into, but let’s just say he petered off his moral horizon years ago.”
Celestia nodded. “Ah, so you serve the current Lord of Sunlight now, I presume?”
Solaire coughed under his breath, rubbing the back of his helmet awkwardly. “Not exactly…”
Celestia arched a brow while her ears perked up.
“He was once the God of War. A foolish deity that misused his powers for personal gain and the glory of battle. So great were his crimes, his father punished him by stripping away his deictic status, along with all statues and any indication of him on the world be destroyed, even his name fading away to obscurity in due time.”
“So… if I’m getting this right, you’re a warrior of a group of knights who worship a god who isn’t a god anymore, along with the fact none of you know his name?” Celestia said.
Solaire chuckled, nodding his head slightly as he leaned his arms against the crumbling railing. “You probably think me a fool. Not like anyone else already doesn’t. Hard to not be seen as the foolish when in a world as dark as mine you still find a way to be bright.”
Celestia laid a hoof on his hand. “No, no, I don’t think it’s foolish. You have something you believe in. Everyone needs something like that in their lives, and I won’t judge you for it.”
“Thank you.” Solaire cast his gaze back to the sun overhead, where it turned the clouds into fields of gold. “You know, the Warriors of Sunlight aren’t my true calling.”
“Oh?” Celestia asked, a faint smirk on her lips.
“They are a jolly group of friends to co-operate with, but they aren’t why I joined in the first place. He is.” Solaire pointed up to the sky.
Celestia followed his finger’s direction. “A cloud in the shape of a cupcake?”
“No, to the right of that.”
“A cloud in the shape of a mini cupcake?”
“No, what is it with cakes and you? The sun!” He raised both hands straight out into the air, as if he was about to swan dive right off the balcony. Celestia stepped to the side a few feet in case he was going to.
“So… you joined a cult because you loved the sun?” Celestia asked.
“Well, not specifically because of that sun,” Solaire explained, turning back to Celestia. “That isn’t my sun. My sun I still haven’t found.”
“Your… sun?” Celestia smiled clumsily. “Are we still talking about the same ball of fire in the sky?”
“It’s not the sun itself I want. It’s the symbol!” Solaire held a hand to his heart and swooned over the celestial object. “A shining light to make each day bright. A light of joy that hangs over your head each day and promises to return the next. A light of meaning to your life that casts it with rays of understanding over your soul and pours through the clouds of doubt to nurture the heart within.” Solaire glanced to Celestia, his expression as blank as always due to his helmet. “Don’t you see, the sun I search for is the sun every person searches for in their life.”
“Wow… that is oddly touching,” Celestia admitted. She stared at the bodacious knight with new eyes. “I can certainly say I’ve been searching for a sun all my life as well.”
“Look at its beauty, eve as it leaves this world!” Solaire exclaimed, holding out his hands as if he can catch the sun before it set. “If only I could be so grossly incandescent!”
“That’s an odd use of words,” Celestia giggled.
Solaire held a hand to his chest and bowed to her. “What can I say? The hopeless romantic within me can still be heard above all the gibberish from time to time.”
Celestia couldn’t hold back her laugh any longer, and before too long Solaire joined with her as well.
Finishing his hearty chuckle, Solaire fell to one knee so that he could stare at Celestia from a position of where she outshadowed the sun from his view. “Celestia, I have something to admit to you.”
“Oh no, please don’t tell me you have a ring…” Celestia whispered.
“Will you be my sun?”
Celestia groaned. “Listen, Solaire, it’s only been the first date and all, and I—wait, what?”
“My sun. My light in the dark. The one thing I gave up everything for just to be with.” He touched her neck with a gentle hand. “Celestia, you are my sun, and I am but your humble knight. I would like nothing more than serve you and bask in your magnificent radiance as my only reward. For to set eyes on your alone is worth all the riches in the world and then some.”
Celestia’s face was positively on fire, and her cheeks flushed so red her original coat of white couldn’t be seen on her face. She rested a hoof on Solaire’s hand, ignoring how dreadfully cold it felt. “Solaire… no one’s ever said such kind words to me before.”
“That must mean they’re blind if they cannot see the resplendent beauty right before their eyes.”
She gulped, her breath weak as her knees buckled. “Wow, this is so much to take in. To think, I’m your sun, and we only just met.”
“We didn’t just meet. I always knew my sun was out there, keeping me warm even in the darkness. We may have just now laid eyes on one another, but I’ve been in your light for an eternity.” Solaire laid an ice cold palm against her cheek. “I even gave up life just so I could search for you.”
“Wait, what? Life?” Celestia asked, pushing her icy hand away. “But you’re clearly alive.”
Solaire pulled off his helmet, the immaculate face of a man with chiseled good looks and long, golden hair held back in a ponytail greeting Celestia. “While it may appear so, I am undead. I became undead so that I may live forever with no fear of death, just so I can find my sun.”
“But… but that’s insane!” Celestia exclaimed.
Solaire rose to his feet and took a step forward. “Is it? I found my sun, Celestia, which is you. Becoming undead was worth the process it took to get to you.”
“Solaire, you’re not you anymore. Not now, at least.” Celestia touched the exposed skin of his hand and shivered. “How can I love something that isn’t even alive?”
“But Celestia, my beloved goddess of light, I love you!” Solaire reached out with a hand, but Celestia stepped back. “I… I gave up everything for you.”
“I know, Solaire, I know.” Celestia turned away, her wings flaring out. “Including the only thing that could let me love you back.” And with that, she took to the skies, leaving Solaire all alone on the cliff.
The sun set behind the horizon, and the world turned back once again.
Celestia sighed. She was wandering down the halls of the castle, her mind too trouble to have her body rest in just one spot. While her most recent date wasn’t the worse in terms of injury to her internal organs or threats against her life, it had been one of the most emotionally depressing of the bunch. Solaire had so much hope in his eyes when he looked at her, but she couldn’t return that hope in turn. Those eyes had no light behind them.
Passing by her sister’s room, she heard cheers behind the doors. Holding a ear to keyhole, she heard Luna’s voice, along with Deadpool’s—who might as well as just move into her room from how much time he spent in it—and a third voice as well. A voice she had heard earlier in the day, as a matter of fact.
Celestia threw open the doors. Before her was a table set up with plastic cups in a triangle formation on either end. On one side was Deadpool, the other Solaire, while Luna stood in the middle sitting on a keg.
Solaire bounced a ping ping ball off the table and into one of Deadpool’s cups. “Oh , the joy of victory is sweet upon my lips once again!” Solaire shouted, performing that odd stance of his again while Luna clapped her hooves together and whistled.
“What is the meaning of this?” Celestia asked the trio.
Luna hopped off the keg and moved to her sister’s side. “Beer pong, my dear sister! Deadpool introduced Solaire and I to the game, and we just can’t get enough of it!”
“It truly is the game of champions,” Solaire agreed.
Deadpool had managed to finish the rest of his cup of as cheap as a college kid could afford beer without even removing his mask, then gave Celestia a thumbs up. “You really gotta try it sometime!”
“Ooh, we can do teams and participate in jolly co-operation!” Solaire declared, raising a fist of righteousness to the heavens. “I call dibs on Celestia!”
“Hey, no fair!” Deadpool argued.
Celestia held up a hoof for all three of them to silent down. “Okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, why is Solaire here?”
“Why, to win you over, of course,” Luna reminded Celestia, smirking deviously to her sister.
“It’s why I’ve been here for the past two weeks,” Deadpool called out, aiming his next shot at Solaire’s cups.
“You haven’t made much progress,” Luna mentioned.
Deadpool’s shot went wide, bounced off a cup, circled in the rim of another one, then went way off course and hit Celestia right in the eye. Deadpool leaned against the table on a hand and shrugged. “I’m the slow kind of romantic, ya know? I’m the tortoise of the dating world. Or would that be turtle?”
“Then I shall be the mighty frog, and leap into the lap of my darling as I know we are fated to one day!” Solaire said, holding a hand to his chest while striking a dramatic pose that dazzled anyone who laid eyes on it.
Covering her eyes with a hoof, Celestia backed away slowly. “I’m pretty sure you’d break my legs if you actually tried to leap in my lap, Solaire. In any event, I’m off to go bury my sorrows in ice cream. Have fun!”
Deadpool adjusted his glasses and saluted to her. “Will do, sunny-buns!”
Luna got back on her keg and tapped her hoof on the table. “Alright, boys, back to business. Whoever wins plays me, and whoever wins that gets to decide what movie we watch tonight!”
Deadpool fistpumped the air. “The Notebook, here I come!”