//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Sharp Pitch's Secret 
// Story: "Princess Flurry Heart, Destroyer of Worlds!" 
// by Fluttercheer 
//------------------------------//

	Flurry Heart sat still in the bed, eyes fixating her guard. The unexpected, emotional reaction had let her become quiet, so she didn't say anything as Sharp Pitch continued to speak.
“I was a guard in Canterlot three years ago. I was directly serving Princess Celestia as member of her day guard. It was easy most of the time. The changelings had just made peace with Equestria under their new ruler, King Thorax. And nopony had heard anything of Queen Chrysalis for two years. Sombra was not an enemy anymore and Lord Tirek was still secured in Tartarus. Canterlot barely had to deal with any attacks. Even the element bearers didn't have much to do during this time. I was a peaceful era. But in one night..... Canterlot suddenly got attacked by timberwolves.”
He lowered his eyes. “It was a large pack and it was never found out how they could escape the Everfree Forest. Princess Luna helped fighting them, but since they were so many, all of Canterlot's guards were needed to defend the city. They woke me and called me to duty only a few hours after I had went to sleep this night. I followed the call, but today, I wish I hadn't.....”
For a moment, Sharp Pitch was in silence. His eyes were fixated on the bed under him, while he tried to find the right words and gathered his strength to continue. Flurry Heart still didn't say anything.
“We could evacuate the citizens in time, brought them into safety, down into the ancient caverns under the castle. But the timberwolves had spread themselves all over the city. We needed to free Canterlot of them, so we split into groups and began to search the streets and buildings for them. Some of the streets were completely dark, only the faint light of our horns helped us to find our way and to detect timberwolves in their hideouts. The procedure once we had found them was simple.”
Sharp Pitch's heart began to beat faster. Shaking, he sat down at the edge of the bed. He held a hoof at his chest, breathing strong. Flurry Heart's face had turned into one of concern, though, not knowing how anything she could say now would be received, she decided to stay quiet until the guard continued his story.
“We..... We shot them with the magic from our horns. Let their bodies collapse into a pile of the branches and twigs they were made of. Then..... Then we used a fire spell to burn their remaints before they could resurrect themselves. They were fighting back, of course, but we operated in teams of three, so it was easy enough to eliminate them. At least, it would have been easy for me as well if I wouldn't have been so tired.”
He turned around, facing Flurry Heart now. His eyes were filled to the brim with sorrow. “I made a mistake this night, princess. Unlike the other guards, I stayed awake for a long time. I never thought something like this would happen. But it did and I should have been prepared for it.....”
Flurry Heart shuddered as a dark, foreboding feeling came over her. Something in the tone of Sharp Pitch's voice and the look in his eyes..... It almost made her forget what had just happened to herself.
“And then?” she asked, her voice a mere whisper. She gulped.
“T-Then I made a bigger mistake,” he answered taut, voice shaking. “We had just cleared the backstreet we were in. We left it, making our way to another part of the city, looking for more of them. But then I stayed behind, because I had heard something behind the corner of a house. Another timberwolf was approaching, so I turned around and waited for it.”
His gaze at Flurry Heart intensified. “Have you ever heard how it sounds when a timberwolf runs, princess? Their wooden legs on the ground sound almost like the hooves of ponies. There's only a small difference and you need to listen closely to hear it. It's something every guard in Canterlot gets trained at.” He snorted.
“The timberwolf came around the corner and I aimed and shot. There weren't any street lamps and no torches on the walls. But I didn't miss it, I hit it and it collapsed. I could have sworn in this moment that sounds were coming from it, high-pitched whimpers. But I chalked them off as a product of my tired mind. Whatever gives timberwolves the ability to sound like actual, living wolves, they can't do it anymore after their bodies have collapsed. So I finished it off. I was too tired to trot over to it and I knew that more timberwolves would await me, so I shot a fire spell from the distance. The body began to burn brightly. I watched it for just a second, then I turned around and caught up with the other two guards. Soon we met other groups and joined them and it wasn't long anymore until we had the city cleaned completely. We returned to the castle and I finally found more sleep. It's the last peaceful sleep I remember.”
Sharp Pitch's hooves began to shake and he looked away from Flurry Heart again.
“On the next day, I felt better. I was rested up. And I began my day like any other day before. Everything was normal, the timberwolves were all gone and the ponies had returned into their houses. But it didn't stay like this for long.” His voice broke.
“Then..... they came. A stallion and a mare entered the throne room. I saw their faces, the stallion was angry and the mare had covered her face with one hoof and was crying uncontrollably into it. The stallion was carrying a tiny, scorched body on his back..... It was only because of the horn that I noticed it was a unicorn..... Not a timberwolf.”
Flurry Heart covered her mouth with both hooves, horror spreading on her face.
Sharp Pitch brought a hoof to his forehead and rested it on it. He closed his eyes.
“They demanded satisfaction. They demanded compensation. And they wanted to know who the murderer of their daughter was. Of course it was found out it was me..... The other guards had always paid attention, they had checked if it really was a timberwolf every single time. Only I didn't, because all I thought about was bringing this mission behind me as fast as possible so I could go back to bed and sleep!” He let his hoof come down and punched the mattress.
His body slumped strengthlessly. “They cast me out soon after. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna tried to speak up for me, so I could stay under special conditions. But the ponies of Canterlot and the parents of the filly did not calm down, continued to demand justice. So I had to leave and I knew, even if they would have forgiven me, I wouldn't have been able to stay in Canterlot. Only Princess Cadance, who was in Canterlot Castle at this time, gave me a chance. So I took it and went with her as she returned to the Crystal Empire; where I became one of the castle guards, under the condition of only doing the simplest guard duties. But what I did came with me and it's still here.”
As Sharp Pitch had ended, the room got clad in silence. The young alicorn princess did not answer, but the expression in her face showed that the story had broken her heart, and the guard in front of her just sat there, hunched over and face buried in his hooves. Minutes passed until Sharp Pitch removed them and looked up again, back at Flurry Heart.
“I have seen, princess,” he said in a broken voice. “I have seen and I know how it feels.”
In front of him, Flurry Heart started trembling and tears ran down her face. “W-When does it stop to feel like t-this?” she stammered.
“Never,” the guard answered weakly. “It's constant pain at first and one day, you become numb to it. You learn to live with it, but it always stays and in some moments, it will feel as fresh as it did right after it happened. You can continue to go on if you are strong enough, but it will always hurt for the rest of your life, because there is nothing you can do to reverse it or to make up for it.”
He paused, taking a few breaths.
“But you, princess, you only did it to defend yourself. There was no time for you to assess the situation and you had to act fast. You had no other choice. What happened was not your fault, you should be thankful for this. And never assume again that other ponies did not see.” His voice had become sharp at his last sentence.
Having spoken these words, he got up and headed for the door, leaving the weeping royal filly behind on the bed. As his hoof was already at the doorknob, he held himself back, biting down on his lips. He looked back over his shoulder.
“If you ever need to talk, princess, come to me. Because your parents haven't seen yet.” Then he pulled the door open, went outside and shut it behind him.
In the corridor, he stopped again. He rubbed over his face and breathed in and out a few times. As he had somewhat regained his composure, he continued his way through the corridor.
All eyes were on him as he left through the door of the royal apartments and entered the throne room. He moved past Spike and Sunburst and towards the throne, where he bowed his head. “Your highness,” he said.
Cadance's face showed both happiness about seeing him and concern in regards to what he would tell her. She had a tired look in her eyes, but still appeared focused.
“Sharp Pitch..... It's good you returned. Have you done what we told you?” She did a short sideways glance to Shining Armor, who stood right from the throne with a stern face.
“Yes,” the young guard answered.
“Did Princess Flurry Heart take your offer?”
“Not yet. It was more complicated than expected.” His face broke a little again.
Cadance nodded, not asking any more questions. “Thank you, Sharp Pitch, I will talk with my daughter later. You may return to your quarter now and get some rest, too.”
“Thank you, highness.” He bowed again, then left the throne room, his body slightly swaying on the way out.
Cadance followed him with his eyes for a few seconds, then directed her attention to Sunburst. “We need your advice, Sunburst. You sealed Flurry Heart's magic after her crystalling, why are these outbursts happening?” Her voice sounded more nervous now, but she tried to remain composure.
Sunburst was sweating slightly. He lifted a handkerchief and dabbed over his forehead with it.
“I-I'm not sure,” he began, stammering. “The spell I used is blocking most of the nerve tracts that are responsible for concentrating magic inside of the horn. I assume that huge stress or fear is leading to a reversed effect, but I need to do more tests.”
Cadance gave him a nod. “Okay, go and do this, Sunburst. You have only time until tomorrow to find an answer. Other than that, are you and Spike sure you know exactly what to do at the gathering in the school?”
Spike stroke a pose. “I got it down!”
“Me as well,” Sunburst nodded sternly.
“Good. Then go and take care of your last preparations now.” Cadance leaned back in her throne slightly, bringing herself into a more comfortable position.
“We only have to hold out until tomorrow,” she said then, confidence in her voice. “If all of you do what we discussed this weekend, then the ponies of our kingdom will trust us again soon. Once this happened.....” She trailed off and paused for a moment.
“Once this happened, there will be enough time for us to find a solution for addressing Silver Hoof's death without raising suspicions. We need to remain level-headed.”
A last round of nods was exchanged, then Sunburst and Spike left the small congregation. Cadance looked to her husband. “Let us go and talk with Flurry Heart, now that we are finished here. She needs us now.”
“Okay,” Shining Armor said, tight-lipped.
Cadance left her position on the throne and trotted down the stairs, then entered the royal apartments with her husband.
It was like thunder was sounding through the castle as the door fell shut behind them.