//------------------------------// // Cadance // Story: How to Disappear Completely // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// With a metallic clatter, the bars to the cell rolled open. In the ensuing echo, Flash Sentry sat on his cot, blinking out at the rest of the room. Guards stepped back from the doorframe while Shining Armor took a breath. "Well, you heard Princess Cadance. You are no longer to be imprisoned here." Flash Sentry looked at him... then at the doorframe. Shining Armor spoke, "Of course... in the name of standard protocol... I will have to assign guards to you for the duration of your stay. But so long as you've been pardoned by the Royal Sisters, you are free to go about the public premises of the Crystal Empire." Flash exhaled slowly. He gazed down at the stone floor. Shining's eyes narrowed. "Do you not understand? You are free... with the fullest liberty that this nation can extend." Princess Cadance glanced at her husband, then at the lone stallion in the cell. "Shining... leave with your guards," she said. "I'll make sure that he's properly escorted to speak with the other Princesses." Flash bit his lip, his body tensing. Shining gaped at his spouse. "Princess... Cadance..." His voice lowered, filled with intimate concern. "You know that I can't do that." "But of course you can." She drifted over gracefully and nuzzled him. "Don't underestimate my own strength, Shining. I've taken on worse monsters in this world than lost, woesome teenagers." Shining sighed defeatedly. The trailing hint of a smile crossed his features. "I'll try to remember that fifteen years from now with Flurry Heart." "You had better." Her brow furrowed above a pink smirk. "She's going to be your hoof-full when the time comes. I'll have done my duty." "I don't remember agreeing to that exchange." "You did when you married me. You just didn't know it at the time." She kissed his cheek in front of the guards and urged him on his way with an alicorn wing. "Now go above ground. You're needed at the celebration, overlooking everypony." "Yes, your highness." He slapped his helmet on. "But I'll still leave a contingent outside the brig. Should you need anything at all..." "I'll know who to turn to, dear." Shining Armor bowed, then turned towards Thorax. "Your Highness. May I have the honor of escorting you back to the Banquet Hall?" The multicolored specimen squirmed suddenly. "Oh! Oh yes... but of c-course, Captain." Thorax's horns and wings twinkled with a warm color as he smiled a chitinous smile. "Sorry. You two are just too cute." Shining stifled a growl as he marched upstairs with his entourage. "Right this way, Your Majesty..." Soon the guard, their leader, and the neon-colored moose bug were all gone. It was just the pink princess pony and the young stallion remaining. She trotted towards him, and instantly the cell smelled of perfume. "So... you really are 'Flash Sentry.'" Flash nodded. He didn't say a word. Cadance found a stool across from him and sat daintily on the un-regal furniture. "We have a Flash Sentry too, y'know. But—from what I understand—you already met him." Flash nodded again, slowly this time. "He was only doing his job by alerting the guard to your presence," Cadance said. "I know that sounds like an awfully predictable excuse: 'He was only doing his job.' But you must understand, the Crystal Empire has been through so much. Between the ghost of Sombra, the saber-rattling of the Yakyakistanians, and the ever-lingering threat of Chrysalis' drones... we've been alone out here against the elements. But now that we're being unified with the Equestrian Union, a lot of that should change. My husband Shining is partly to thank for that." She smiled. "And—now—so are you." The teenager kept avoiding her gaze. "I am... very sorry that you've been placed in this position, Flash," Cadance said. "To be honest, it goes beyond 'standard security protocol.' I love my Shining Armor... but sometimes he's far too protective—both of me and the Empire. I guess you could say that we... have a sour history when it comes to dealing with Chrysalis and her changelings. And now that our beloved daughter—Flurry Heart—is in our lives... well... neither of us want to take any chances. Your arrival here was quite startling, and unfortunately the one to suffer from our panic and confusion was you." Flash shrugged. Finally, he spoke: "I'm okay." "With what?" Cadance arched an eyebrow. "With suffering? No creature deserves that—pony or otherwise." He breathed out the side of his muzzle. "You wouldn't know." "I suspect you find ponies to be magical, happy beings," Cadance said in a gentle tone. "But make no mistake, Flash Sentry. We can suffer. And we have." A quiet breath. "I have." He cringed, rubbing one shoulder with the other hoof. "I'm sorry..." "You are sorry, aren't you?" She cocked her head to the side. "It pains me to think that nothing else brought you to this point." He bit his lip. "I know you're wanting to ask me something," she said. "Don't hesitate. That's what I'm here for." His eyes darted up, fragile and blue. "The other Flash Sentry... the pony one..." "Yes? What about him?" "Do you know him?" "Hmmmm..." She smiled warmly. "As a matter of fact, I do. In a manner of speaking, he's akin to Shining Armor's protege. He was brought over from Canterlot specifically for this post." Flash exhaled, shuddering. "Is he happy?" Cadance dwelled on that for a bit. Leaning back, she brushed her mane back and spoke eloquently: "He's a very serious pony. But he wasn't always. His youthful, jovial veneer made him difficult to train under his previous mentors. But Shining Armor saw through all of that and beheld potential. I'd say he's becoming a very capable soldier under my husband's guidance. Still..." She smiled slightly. "...he's adorable in his own way. Some things you simply can't strip away." Flash simply nodded at that. His eyes trailed away. Cadance squinted knowingly at him. "Curious. Is there another Cadance where you're from?" "Yeah." Flash huffed. "She's a guidance counselor to a preparatory school full of stuck-up blowhards." He fidgeted. "Or at least she was. Either way..." His eyes darted back to her. "I totally see where this conversation is going." "Is that why you won't trot out of this cell?" He was silent. "From what I understand—from what the Second-in-Command of the Wonderbolts has implied—you've come to Equestria to do many wonderous... fearless things. But 'fearlessness' is a matter of perspective, isn't it?" "I never figured out what your 'husband' does in my world," Flash mused. "He's probably an ex-football player who substitutes for sex ed class while making out with pigskin." "Evasiveness is definitely a teenage trait," Cadance said. "But to go on an entire adventure for the sake of it?" Her lips pursed. "What are you truly afraid of, Flash?" He hugged himself, avoiding her gaze again. "I know where you're planning on taking me, Your Highness. And... and if it was just Luna and Celestia, that'd be fine... but..." "You still feel for her," Cadance stated. "No." Flash's teeth showed. The hint of a scowl. "I don't." "Is that a fact?" A pink hoof caressed Flash's cheek. He gasped, his ears instantly drooping. Somehow, Cadance had crossed the distance between them in a blink. She stood graciously before the stallion, her horn glowing as she felt the curve of his muzzle and chin. "Ah. Now I see." She breathed calmly. "The hearth is long gone, but the fire remains. It doesn't burn for her or for yourself or anypony. It just... blazes... and consumes." He gazed up at her, shivering slightly. Her next expression was a sad one. "Who would think so lowly of oneself to allow such scalding...?"