Supper a while later was served in the Hall. Flash kept himself to himself as usual. He was too embarrassed to look up at
Twilight and Cadance. Even so, he heard Cadance’s giggles and saw the glances she put his way. Twilight looks his way a
few times before snapping her head away. Shining curiously follows his wife’s and sister’s gazes to the golden-yellow
Pegasus.
Flash pays more attention to his stew, the salad, the garlic bread on the table in front of him. He kept notice to only speak
when spoken too. When he was full, and offered more food, he was wise enough to decline. He would be helping Lieutenant Shooting Star with the recruits for the Crystal Empire Guard to-morrow. He shouldn’t have a full belly.
He hears both Cadance and Twilight giggling together, attempting and failing to hide grins behind fore-hoofs. Shining
Armour huffs impatiently.
“Are you full now, Twilight? Or have you started to take after Auntie Tia, now?” the pink alicorn teases.
“Yes, yes, I’m full, thank you,” the younger mare asserts, blushing.
“Shiny tells me you had three plates of pancakes for breakfast. Are sure you do not want pudding?”
“You just have extremely-talented cooks, here!” Twilight says testily.
“Oh, we do try to rein in the best, Twily,” Cadance laughs. Turning to Flash, she asks, “Are you full, too, Flash?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“That’s good. Lieutenant Star will be driving those recruits to exhaustion to-morrow, if I know him.”
“Good to hear, sir. I’m looking forward to it too.”
Cadance turns back to Twilight. “How would you be up for a little evening-flight, Twily? You and me?”
Twilight looks her sister-in-law over. “Are you sure?” she asks hesitatingly, a tiny bit worried. “You still look quite tired.”
This makes Flash look over in his turn. While she had brightened up from their first meeting, Cadance was still paler and
exhausted-looking than the bride she had been on her wedding day, after the memorable grapple with the Changelings.
Cadance smiles, “Oh, I’m still hale and hearty, Twily. And how about you? You said in your last letter that you needed more
flying practice - ,”
Did Twilight glance over at him for a second?
“ – and I would love to borrow you to discuss some things.”
The lavender alicorn frowns and quirks up an eyebrow, “Okay…as long as you feel up to it; and um…what things?”
“Oh, wait for it, Twily,” the pink mare chuckles as she jumps up, pecking Shining Armour on the cheek. “We’ll be back later, love.”
“Okay, have a great time, you two,” Shining says waving as the two mares left. Flash waves goodbye too, but stops when he sees Twilight’s wave hesitate on seeing him wave.
Once they were gone, Shining gestures for Flash to stand. “Now we have the place to ourselves, I think this is a perfect opportunity for me to show you the Palace, Flash.”
Flash nods. “It sounds like an excellent idea, Your Highness. Thank you.” He follows the white Prince. This place is indeed wonderful, it would be nice to see more of it as blue frogs and yellow-gold frogs click again and again in unison on the crystal floors.
Cadance quickly took to the air the minute they were outside, up, up, up, and up, till they were level with the top of the Crystal Castle's tallest tower. Cadance patiently waited for Twilight to catch up. Twilight was still getting used to her wings. They felt too big and cumbersome to a body which had been a unicorn's for one-and-twenty years. Her take-offs were still ungainly.
Twilight complained as much to the other alicorn. Cadance was quick to reassure her: "You'll soon gain the hang of it, Twily. I used to crash in to everything when I was learning flight."
"Sounds just like Rainbow Dash, she has lived through some crashes in her time, like our first meeting. Oh, well, I am learning through books on flight-mechanics. The landings, I'm finding a little difficult still."
Cadance smiles. "You'll get there in time, Twily, don't worry. Now, are you coming?"
"Sure!"
"Follow me!"
Cadance shot off steadily in to the snow-filled orange dusk, her big pink violet wings beating majestically, as Twilight matched her, though with uneven flaps compared to her.
Twilight let the sweep of the empire's spires and roofs hued in the violet light fill her vision and mind. It drifted inevitably to the Crystal ponies she had come up here to study.
"Breath-taking, isn't it?"
Cadance's voice pulls her out of her reverie. Twilight jolts her head up to see Cadance staring at her, grinning.
"Oh, oh, yes, it is." Twilight swallows quickly. "Spectacular."
"What were you thinking about?" the pink alicorn asks as she steers towards a particular peak in the mountains.
"Is it true, the myth that the Crystal ponies wandered out of the Crystal caves and came to life?"
The other wrinkled her snout, deep in thought.
The two alicorns crest a thermal and glide in to a cave scooped out of the granite face of the mountain. The floor covered in untouched snow. A ledge juts out, lip just stopping, straight out in to a high drop down to the snow and boulders beneath.
Cadance lands with the skill of the professional. Twilight skips on her landing and bounces several paces, stopped by Cadance's wing-tip. Twilight smiles a little embarrassed.
"I'm not sure, Twily. I'm more concerned with the Empire's present, than the deepest lore. I guess it will be in the library."
Pink and lavender alicorns turn to take in the view.
Twilight speaks up, barely wanting to break the peaceful scene. "Now...what did you want to talk to me about, Cadance?"
"Hmm, first of all...thank you for coming up to see me and Shining. I haven't seen you for ages. I am really ecstatic you're here. Right now, it's the best time you could have come up."
Twilight hums in pleasure, leaning forward to nuzzle her second-oldest friend. "I missed you too, Cadie. It's really nice spending time with Celestia and Luna, but I'm not seeing you, who I've known for years and years."
Cadance wide toothy smile lingers, ears flopping sideways. A moment later they perk up.
"Now to business," Cadance says. "Hmm, Twilight, I'll need to ask you a couple of things concerning Orion."
Twilight stiffens at once, smile thinning and curling to contempt.
"What about him?"
"Twilight, what are your thoughts on the case? What do you think his punishment should be?"
Twilight hisses. "How complicated is it? He attacked me. It's black and white!" she spits angrily. "Despite that, Orion's trying to deny the charges, but there were three other ponies as witnesses. the law is crystal-clear. It'll be seven years for him if he pleads innocence to the end and loses the case -,"
Cadance nods once, before shaking her head. "No, Twilight," she interrupts. "What do you think, honestly, about his circumstances? About Orion and Clover?"
Twilight opens her mouth, before frowning. "How do you know? I haven't been up-to-date with the Canterlot Times, but, I haven't seen mention of his...stunt, yet."
The pink mare shrugs. "Auntie and I have been sending letters to each other, discussing it. I'm curious to learn your feelings in the matter, Twilight."
The lavender mare also shrugs. "I don't know or understand why Orion came to me after Celestia turned Clover down. Why should Orion think I would grant him the marriage where Clover failed? All me and Celestia did was uphold a law that's nearly two thousand years old. And that law is the law of the land."
Cadance breathes a deep breath through her nose. "And Clover, Twilight?"
"Clover is fine. She didn't break any laws, Cadance."
"Hmmm,...I meant, what should Celestia have done to dissuade Clover from trying again through another way?"
"I think Celestia handled the matter properly. She explained the law to Clover, and said how deeply sorry she was, and suggested a second way for her. Anyhoof, Clover should be happier with an Earth-pony stallion."
Saying that, Twilight feels the creeping cold for a moment.
Cadance wrinkles her snout again, and smirks. "You know, that sounds decisive and bold coming out of the mouth of the mare who used to hold a crush on the Earth pony colt next door."
Twilight blushes furiously, pupils shrinking. "I only a little filly then, Cadie. It happens to everypony when they young!"
Cadance smiles until she resumes the stern business, playing Discord's Advocate.
"So, this is just a naïve part of her life Clover is going through. Thus, why should she be chastened for this naivety? Even if her romance and engagement with Orion is wrong. Why should she suffer?"
Twilight knew this game. Cadance and she had played this years ago. Good practice for a filly to take somepony's skin and walk about in it, and much else.
Now, Cadance's words, and the roleplay were irritating her. "
"Cadance, nopony is ever going to punish Clover! Maybe she will be set up with a matchable stallion by her friends, and that is all!"
Silence, save for the heaving of heaving breaths and hot vapour in the freezing cold. Cadance looks back, silent, big black eyes wider. The other alicorn roughly calms herself with slow breaths. She didn't want to start fighting with her old foal-sitter.
Cadance was still calm, despite Twilight's outburst.
Twilight groans, sighs, rubs her frogs in to her cheeks and shut eyes. "I'm sorry, Cadance."
“Think no more of it, Twily,” Cadance murmurs comfortingly. “Well, if you’ll excuse me asking, just who is that Flash Sentry?”
Twilight feels herself tense up slightly. “Oh, you know he’s my Guard, Cadie. Celestia assigned him to this vacation…two days ago. And he…saved me from Orion’s rant…four days ago. Seems longer, you know?
“Iron Hoof and Celestia tell me he is an exceptional soldier, he’s been five years in the Guard and he’s always polite and respectful to everypony, does everything asked of him, at his post on time,
“Mmm, that’s the Guard,” Cadance says. “But what about the pony, Twily?”
Twilight purses her lips for a second, collecting her thoughts on the findings gathered from the past few days.
“Um, I only know a little about him just yet. But I do know he really likes to read, like me, that he’s interested in history, oh, he agreed to help me in my project while we are here. Not only that, he’s interested in the Empire too.”
She rolls her shoulders, shifting her wings just enough to shake a dusting of snow off the feathers. They seemed a bit stiff.
“Just maybe, I could – show him round the Empire one day.”
Cadance grins. “That sounds wonderful, Twilight. He’ll be eagerly looking forward to that. And did you ask him to call you by your name? He doesn’t say “Your Highness” to you.”
“Oh, well, I didn’t want a friend addressing me with such formality about a hundred times a day. So, I asked him to call me by my name. It would be suffocating, being with him reading books for eight hours every week-day and still feeling as isolated as I do in Canterlot.”
“You’re feeling isolated?” Cadance asks abruptly, staring at her, concern in her wide eyes, surprised drop of the jaw.
“Yeah…,” Twilight admits, sheepishly shrugging her shoulders, frog of one hoof embarrassedly scritching and rubbing a spot on her bangs.
Cadance without pausing pulls the smaller younger lavender mare in to a tight hug. “Oh, Twilight, I didn’t know. Tell me everything.”
“Thanks, Cadance.” Twilight answers, voice muffled in the chest fluff. “It’s just…living in Canterlot Castle, it’s crammed with Guards and servants, and I have only three friends, Celestia, Luna, and Discord. All the others, I only talk to them to wish them a good day or to ask somepony to fetch something for me, I don’t get the chance to know any of them any more than that. And I wanted to know somepony as a friend who was completely ordinary.”
Cadance rubs her chin along the crown of Twilight’s frizzy navy-blue and magenta mane, nuzzling up stray hairs. “When was the last time you saw your friends, Twily?”
“Oh, I would say a moon or so ago, which is sad. I still write some letters to them.”
“Say, Twilight, promise me you’ll visit Ponyville to see them soon, maybe after this vacation ends.”
“Yeah, okay, Cadance, I promise.”
Cadance releases Twilight, Twilight scoots a little away, shaking her wings back in to shape to trap heat beneath the down feathers. Turning to Cadance, she raises a hoof to make a cross over her abdomen before covering an eye with the same hoof. “There, official now. Pinkie Promise.”
Cadance laughs. Twilight grins in return.
“Back to Flash, though,” Cadance says, before stopping.
Twilight could tell the other alicorn was building up to something.
“And…?” she enquires.
Cadance pauses a little more, before going on, “And Flash…appears to have a crush on you, Twilight.”
Twilight’s insides clamp and twist in painful twinges and pangs. She sits up straighter, wings stiff behind her. Again she
recalls, from earlier, looking up from their rhyme-and-prance to see Flash Sentry with wide-open wings and red muzzle.
Speechless, swivelling tail and galloping away, wobbling in his run.
“Does he now?”
“How does that seem to you? It’s not every day you find a colt is burning a torch for you.”
"Any chance you could return his feelings, Twily?”
“No, I won’t.” she says. Cadance looks taken aback. Twilight continues, “It’s just a silly crush he’ll grow out of and someday he’ll find a nice Pegasus mare to settle down with. I want to get to know Flash better, but as a friend.”
Silence between the two mares again.
Did she feel the cold especially just then?
“I’ll leave it at that, then,” Cadance concedes in a low voice. “Maybe, I’ll raise the topic at another of our little talks, Twi.”
“Huh, if you insist, Cadance,” Twilight grudges.
“We’ll talk about silly, cute stuff too, Twily. For example, would you and your friend like to come along with Shining and I to
see the play Apt mentioned in the library. It’s on next Friday.”
“But that’s only week away. I…shouldn’t like to skip any time of my research for…,” she trails off when she sees Cadance’s wide white eyes and grinning teeth, eagerness beaming out. She was forced to concede.
“Oh, oh…of course, Cadie. One night off shouldn’t derail my research.”
The other claps her hoofs excitedly, “Fab! If Flash wants to come along too, let me know. Shining’s bringing some of his friends from the Guard.”
“W-well, I suppose I’ll need to ask Flash if he…,”
Cadance spreads her wings. “Keep me updated, Twi.”
Twilight spreads her wings too, and follows Cadance to the edge of the cliff, feeling the cold of the falling night on the underside of her feathers, hoofs crunching the squeaking snow. Soon the two are gliding up and through the indigo dusk, back to the Castle.
Meanwhile, in the Castle… “And this is the barracks, Flash. Room for thirty Guards.”
Flash looks in.
Two rows of neatly made up bunk-beds down the walls, separated by a wide aisle. The bottom beds had a chest at the foot, while the upper beds had an overhead locker bolted to the wall. At the other end of the room was a large window overlooking the lines of tents in the policies below the Castle.
“What we discovered on recruiting was that more ponies than expected turned up, so we had to move them in to the tents outside. It’s a temporary measure.”
“I see, what are the lights in the tents, Your Highness?”
“Each of the tents has a light-emitting gem inside. The Crystal pony recruits appear to be afraid of the dark. We’re slowly getting them used to the dark. But that’s enough for to-night, it’s late now. Twi and Cadance should be back soon."
Twilight turns their conversation over in her mind. She wasn’t sure if she was looking forward to the next “special” conversation, seeing how this one had run over such aggravating topics. Beside her, Cadance was visibly struggling to stay awake as she flew.
Flash and Twilight swop good nights with Cadance and Shining before escorting Twilight up the long staircase to their rooms. Flash rehearses the words he had thought up to himself. Was it just him or did he imagine the tiny amount of tension between the lavender mare and himself?
They reach the two doors opposite each other. Twilight turns to smile at Flash. “Well, good night, Flash. See you to-morrow.”
Flash draws in a nervous breath, cold in his mouth and throat.
“Before you go, Twilight, I – well, I wanted to deeply apologise again for my “accident” in the library. It won’t happen a second time.”
Twilight’s smile slowly slides off her face. A tense pause.
“I would say just forget about it, Flash.”
“O-Okay, Twilight.”
She stops. She turns her head back to him.
“One thing. Do you have feelings for me?”
A tremor quivers up and through Flash. Asked by the mare he desires most in Equestria. This was harder than when
Cadance had asked him.
“Yes,” he replies. “Yes, Twilight, very much so.”
The trembling inside grows stronger. What every colt in love feared from his crush. The damning rejection. Despite the trembling he was tense on the inside
The lavender mare sighs, flicking deep blue bangs out of her eyes. The sigh snaps the tension in the stallion’s shoulders and chest.
“I’m sorry, Flash,” she says, lovely limpid eyes looking at him sadly, almost pityingly. “I am so sorry. But we can’t be together. I only want to be friends. I’m sorry.”
It was worse than he had imagined. The pain inside him blooms and flares, spreading slowly, pain waxing out of his heart and chest. Shoulders sag down, and Flash drops his eyes from her. He just didn’t want to keep eye-contact with her.
“Okay, Twilight…I understand.”
The words were painful to say.
“Hey…,” she says softly. “Don’t be like that.”
He hears the click of hoofs on the crystal tiles, a breeze on his neck, Twilight coming closer to him, sad eyes and empathetic smile.
“Come here, Flash.”
Warmth loops round his shoulders, and a heavier warmth higher up his neck, hair tickling his ears and the nap of his fur, a deep bass note rumbling in his ears.
Flash gasps. Twilight is hugging him. Twilight is hugging him!
Heart banging on ribs, breath croakily tearing in and out, mind slow then racing ever-faster.
This never happened. Princesses never hugged Guardsponies. Never. The only time Flash had seen a Princess hug a Guardspony was when Celestia had hugged Lieutenant Shooting Star when his beloved father had died.
Hooves jerkily moved to meet round Twilight’s neck.
“I just want to be friends, Flash. I hope you understand.”
“Okay, Twilight.”
Mare and stranger break part. Twilight smile broadens.
“Hey, you’re smiling again!” the mare says, all too sweetly.
Flash couldn’t help his smile widening too.
“Thank you, Twilight. Thank you.”
“Good night, Flash.”
Flash passes over the thresh-hold, leaves the door to close, before leaning his weight to shut it. A few seconds he pauses.
“Wow” the stranger in a strange land murmurs.