Side A - The Guard

by daOtterGuy


Questionable Ethics

“Today on our investigation into the native ecosystem of the Canterlot Barracks, we observe the Flashus Sentrius in his natural habitat of the Guard’s Cafeteria,” Status Quo said in a fake dignified voice.

Status, wearing a pith helmet, sat across from Flash, who was smiling contentedly and staring off into space with a blissful look and the biggest, dumbest grin on his face. He was working his way through a large bowl of mangos and would sigh breezily every few moments as he chomped into the succulent fruit.

Shining Armour and Silver Mist both groaned, while Pine Sap grinned from the comical display. They had just finished their shifts for the day, but had been asked to stay behind to talk with Captain Blue Charge in his office when he was available.

Pine Sap, being a pony who couldn’t stand not having something to eat for any long stretch of time as well as having nothing to better to do, had ordered up snacks from the kitchen that had quickly amounted close to a full on meal. Mainly because the a few of kitchen mares were smitten with the stallions in the group.

“Here we see the Flashus eating his food of choice in the wilds of the castle: the inferior orange,” Flash, with no other acknowledgement of Status having said anything, threw a cupcake into the side of his face, “Note that the Flashus throws food at other ponies when offended by true statements.”

Status turned to Pine as the cupcake slowly trailed down his muzzle, “Fellow observer Pine Sap, what are your thoughts on this most strange of creatures? Why does he smile so?”

Pine Sap was banging her hooves on the table as she let out gales of laughter, “I see. That is a very good point and necessary for our discussion,” Status turned to Silver next, “What say you Silver Mist?”

Silver snorted and rolled his eyes, “I don’t know who’s worse; you doing this weird ‘observation’ schtick or Flash with that stupid grin on his face.”

“Both,” Pine Sap’s laughter became louder, “Shining Armour, what do you think is the reason for the stallion’s mysterious smile?”

“He got laid,” Shining deadpanned, “It’s the most obvious expression Flash has.”

Status blinked, “Wait, seriously? That’s his ‘I got lucky’ face?”

Pine Sap fell off the table and started rolling around while laughing at a hysterical pitch. Silver Mist was reciting the entire guardbook in his head to tune out what was, in his opinion, the worst possible topic of conversation.

Flash for his part had started humming merrily as he chomped through another mango.

“Yes, and it’s irritating every time he does it,” Shining gritted his teeth, “Also, I’ve been meaning to ask, but where did you get a pith helmet?”

“Looting,” Status replied innocently.

“From whom?” Shining asked with his eyebrows raised incredulously.

“Prince Blueblood,” Status answered, “He throws, on average, three point eight tantrums a day with at least one of them involving throwing objects around. The majority of those items end up going out a nearby window and landing in a bin that I totally didn’t place there. I’ve been keeping the stuff that interests me and selling the rest off at second hoof stores. I almost have enough bits just from pawning his garbage off to be able to move to Upper Canterlot.”

Shining blinked, “Should I arrest you for theft? I feel like I should arrest you for theft.”

“He threw them away and never made any attempt to reclaim or ask about the things in question,” Status shrugged, “Honestly, Blueblood replaced almost everything by the next day in each instance, so I don’t think it could be considered as ‘theft’,” Status tapped a hoof on his muzzle, “Although, if you really want to arrest me, you’ll also have to apprehend Pine Sap for taking that silverware collection-”

“It was a complete set of Hollow Shade’s Silver Family Originals!” Pine Sap interrupted from the floor.

“-And Silver Mist for a sizable number of grimoires and fiction novels,” Status finished.

Shining turned to Silver with a questioning eyebrow and was met with a shrug, “A large number of those grimoires were rare and I refuse to see such treasures thrown out into a garbage pile.”

Pine Sap, who had finally gotten a hold of herself, stood up from the floor and returned to her seat, “What about Blueblood’s personal collection of steamy erotic fiction that he threw out after his ‘marefriend of the week’ had caught him reading them?”

Silver turned a bright crimson as he stuttered, “Donated.”

“Really? I could have sworn that I saw you-”

“DONATED,” Silver shouted as he quickly covered Pine’s mouth with his hooves to stop her from finishing the sentence.

“Well, I suppose that’s fine then seeing as how you can’t be arrested for taking ‘garbage’,” Shining turned to Flash, “Enjoy your roll in the hay with Cocoa?”

“Yes,” Flash cheerily responded as he wagged his tail and took a bite of the mango in his hoof, “Yes, I did.”

“Yeah, figured as much, so-”

“In the bedroom,” Flash finished off his mango in one more huge bite.

“Why are you mentioning your bedroom?” Shining asked in confusion.

“The workout room, the dining room, the kitchen...” Flash continued listing off.

“Oh, no,” Silver’s eyes began widening as realization hit and he began to re-evaluate what the worst possible conversation could be, “He’s not listing off all the places he had sex with his colt friend is he?”

“... The conservatory, the library, in the study next to that creepy mask that will probably eat me one day...”

“Oh sweet Celestia, he is,” Shining groaned as Pine Sap let out another loud guffaw.

“... all three bathrooms, on the roof while making eye contact with that busy body mare that keeps spying on us...”

“You made eye contact?” Pine started entering the throes of uncontrollable laughter once more, “Flash, that’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.”

Pine Sap and Flash hoof bumped as he finished off, “... and then finally on the piano while playing a stirring rendition of Ode to Joy.”

Status narrowed his eyes and asked Flash in morbid curiosity, “How did you play Ode to Joy while having sex on top of the piano?”

Vibrations,” Flash grinned mischievously.

Shining slammed his hooves on the table, “Okay, I think that’s enough, I’m sure Captain Blue Charge is ready for us or at the very least we can do something else besides listen to Flash’s sex life.”

Silver Mist burst out of his seat, “I second the motion!”

“Aw, but Shiny, I wanted to get everypony up to speed on everything that’s happened recently,” Flash pouted.

“Flash, I already know what you’ve been doing. Too much actually,” Shining glared, “You’ve sent me a letter every other day since I’ve been gone telling me in explicit detail what you’ve done.”

“Like when Discord escaped?” Flash grinned, “That was a good day.”

“Yes, I’m so glad you enjoyed your swimming pool filled with mangos and drinking chocolate milk as it rained from the clouds while a spirit of chaos tormented the citizenry,” Shining grumbled.

“Shiny, you knew I would help the citizens of Canterlot,” Flash smiled warmly, “But Princess Celestia told us that the citizens were safe and the Bearers were handling Discord. Princess Luna even said that the guards should go enjoy the break in tedium.”

You didn’t have to go galloping through the streets of Manhattan while trying to not to be eaten by the buildings,” Shining growled.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. You just need to relax, and besides,” Flash waved a hoof, “Nopony was hurt, they all just went a little crazy for a bit. Hardly the worst thing that’s ever happened.”

“Crazy does not begin to describe the mare that was throwing glitter at me while I was struggling to get away from an elevator that was licking my flanks,” Shining glared, “Also, when I said that you had been telling me too much, I was more criticizing how you gave me a complete play by play account of your sexual experiences with Cocoa.”

“I just wanted you to feel included,” Flash hung his head disappointed.

Shining slammed his hooves once more on the table and stared at Flash with fury in his eyes, “Not when my marefriend reads them to me as foreplay!”

Pine burst out laughing again while Status soon joined her. Silver stared off into the distance and questioned the decisions in his life that had lead to that moment.

“I don’t really see a problem with Cady using my letters to get into the mood,” Flash gave Shining his most shit eating grin, “Frankly, I’m flattered she enjoys them so much.”

“Normally, I would thank you for helping a brother out in getting my marefriend to want to go to bed with me so much, but,” Shining pressed his face into Flash’s as he knew it made him uncomfortable, “I blame you for the spoons.”

Pine and Status were officially done as they laughed uproariously and Silver planted his face firmly into the table. After a few more moments of intense glaring that did nothing to dissuade Flash’s grin, Shining stood up.

“Alright, time for us to go check on Captain Blue Charge,” Shining declared.

“Yes, Sir,” Pine, and Status said while Silver merely groaned in affirmation from his place implanted onto the table.

“Aye, aye, Shiney Hiney,” Flash saluted.

“You’re lucky you’re my brother,” Shining grumbled under his breath as he marched towards Blue Charge’s office.

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The group of Shining Armour, Flash Sentry, Pine Sap, Silver Mist, and Status Quo entered Captain Blue Charge’s office.

It was very different from the small room Flash had seen during his interview, presumably as this was the Captain’s more permanent office. Just to start, it was much more spacious and had a large bay window that overlooked the city. There were several bookcases and cabinets filled to the brim with books and papers. The walls were decorated with charts and the floor was covered with a crimson rug emblazoned with Princess Celestia’s cutie mark.

The Captain sat behind a long oak desk covered with papers and reports. His brow was furrowed as he read through a piece of paper in front of him.

Flash lined up with his fellow guards just in front of the Captain’s desk and they all saluted crisply while shouting out, “Reporting in, Sir.”

Blue Charge continued to review his document for a moment more before looking over the assembled ponies. He leaned back in his chair and tapped a hoof idly on the desk. He scowled and seemed to be mulling over several thoughts most of which, going by the Captain’s expression, were probably not good.

“Before we get into why you’re here,” The Captain narrowed his eyes, “How the buck did you lot end up getting into trouble, but not natural born shit disturber Flash Sentry?”

The guards fidgeted uncomfortably as Flash burst into a grin that even Cocoa would find overbearing.

“I mean, come on!” The Captain threw his hooves up in exasperation, “You outdid the pony who regularly puts inspirational post-it notes on the nobility just to see how long he can get away with it.”

“My favourite one is ‘just hang in there, he shuts up eventually’, Sir,” Flash stated proudly.

The Captain leaned forward and pointed both hooves at Flash to emphasize his point. The others stayed stoic throughout the exchange but were internally groaning at the prospect of somehow being less professional than Flash Sentry. Shining in particular fought the urge to smash his face repeatedly into the desk in front of him.

“I expect you lot to do better, except for you Flash,” The Captain made direct eye contact with the pony in question, “You do your job well, but otherwise I don’t expect much more from you in terms of being serious.”

“I don’t try very hard, Sir,” Flash replied cheekily.

The Captain scowled, “Joking aside, that is not our business for today since all of you,” The Captain leaned forward and rested his muzzle on his hooves, “Have been promoted.”

The Captain released a quick burst of magic from his horn. Shining’s armour trim changed to twin colours of purple and white indicating the position of Captain with special status. The others received blue with white indicating Corporal with special status.

Pine and Flash shared a hoof bump while all of them stayed rigid and in position.

“Now, before moving forward, let me explain a few important pieces of information,” He looked directly at Shining Armour, “Shining - congratulations, you are officially a Captain of the Guard.”

Flash inwardly beamed for his adoptive brother. It was good to see that he wasn’t the only one that thought Shining deserved a big promotion.

“I’m honoured, Sir, but I thought I was only being promoted to be 2nd Lieutenant,” Shining questioned, “Captain puts me at the same authority as you, and I am far too inexperienced for that kind of position.”

“You are too inexperienced,” The Captain agreed, “which is why you have the white stripe, but I’ll get back to that. First, I would like to confirm; the four ponies standing next to you are the guards you requested for your squad?”

“Yes, Sir,” Shining answered with no hesitation.

“You have Corporal Flash Sentry listed as your second in command,” Captain Blue Charge recited, “This is also correct?”

“Yes, Sir,” Shining replied just as firmly.

Flash blinked. Shining hadn’t told him about that and he was surprised that he was chosen for the position as he would have figured Status was better suited.

“And you’re sure, Captain Shining Armour?” Captain Blue Charge narrowed his eyes, “You are absolutely certain of your decisions?”

“I can’t think of a better team to have,” Shining answered with conviction.

Captain Blue Charge smirked, “Good answer. You are officially the Captain of the temporarily named Special Tasks Squad, comprising of these bunch of greenhorns,” Captain Blue Charge then smiled warmly, “Congratulations to all of you.”

This time the assembled ponies let out a congratulatory shout. There was much patting on the back and congratulations to each other. Once the celebratory fervour died down, it occurred to the guards to ask for more details. Especially considering how odd and seemingly random this promotion was.

“I’m sure I can speak for all of us when saying we are glad for the promotion, but isn’t this a little too fast?” Status asked, “I know we’ve been overdue for a rise in the ranks, but Shining going straight to Captain seems a bit much.”

“I also am rather suspicious of this,” Silver Mist frowned, “I cannot help but wonder if something has happened to have cause for this.”

“You would be correct Corporal Status Quo and Corporal Silver Mist,” Status and Silver both stood just slightly taller at the use of their new rank, “One of the reasons you were all chosen was because of your actions in the mines shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident.”

The group stood tall and proud at the recognition of their work.

“The second is because the higher ups have good reason to believe that more threats are coming to Equestria and the Elements of Harmony may not be enough to handle it.”

That put a damper on the mood of the group.

“But I thought the Elements of Harmony could handle anything,” Pine Sap asked nervously, “One rainbow of karmic retribution and ‘boom’, threat gone.”

“That’s true, the Elements of Harmony are a very potent force that can handle almost any threat,” Captain Blue Charge nodded in agreement then continued, “However, can the same be said for its Bearers?”

“Their Bearers, Sir?” Status questioned, “Do you mean the ponies that use the Elements?”

“Yes, I do,” Captain Blue Charge nodded his head, “If I remember correctly the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony are a librarian of admittedly significant magical power, an apple farmer, a party planning baker, an animal caretaker, a seamstress, and a weather manager,” Captain Blue Charge quirked a single eyebrow, “Does that sound like an elite team of professionals that can take on any threat?”

“No, Sir,” Status gulped, “That sounds fairly alarming from our perspective as they just seem to be a random assortment of civilians, Sir.”

“Exactly,” Captain Blue Charge stated, “The Elements are not a perfect solution. We cannot change their Bearers and the Bearers in question are not trained combat specialists. The Elements take time to use. They become ineffective if the Bearers are not on good terms,” The Captain snorted, “Tartarus, the damn things are fickle. They can, on a whim, decide that the Bearers are no longer worthy - something that has happened before - and stop working in the middle of a huge conflict, which means we have to deal with a threat that we are in no way capable of dealing with.

On top of that, I’ve been noticing a trend recently with this so called ‘released after being locked away for a thousand years’ situation,” The Captain stood up and started pacing behind his desk, “I asked Celestia for a list of possible enemies that could appear after a thousand years and it was long. She even gave me a list of potential threats besides that and it was even longer.”

The captain slammed his hooves on the table and faced the group, “Did you know she included our ‘allies’ on that list? When I asked why, she stated, and I quote: ‘The only reason Equestria is not in perpetual war or razed to the ground is because of our focus on good diplomacy, our incessant need to always be friendly, and a staggeringly huge amount of luck’. To a high ranking military officer such as myself those words are, to be frank, bucking terrifying.”

“So what is our response to this news, Captain?” Shining asked.

“Glad you asked, Captain Shining,” Blue Charge stood tall and addressed the assembled ponies, “We are in the process of creating several groups to pre-emptively deal with potential threats, and you are one such group. You may have higher ranks, but you will all still answer to me. Eventually, you won’t have to; but for now consider yourselves on trial,” The Captain scanned over the group, “Are we clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” All five ponies replied in unison with a crisp salute.

“Good, then your first mission will be to investigate a distress call in Vanhoover. Your train leaves at Eighteen hundred hours and you are expected at the Wilderness Post on the grasslands a day after your arrival,” Captain Blue Charge threw a folder containing several papers over to Shining who caught it deftly in his magic, “Read up on the details while you travel there. Dismissed.”

Flash gave a final salute with his fellow guards and all of them exited the office.

As they trotted back to the Cafeteria to finish up their meal and head home to pack, Flash asked, “We just got bribed with promotions and increased pay to do super dangerous missions, didn’t we?”

“Yep,” Shining deadpanned.

“Oh, yeah totally,” Pine Sap happily answered.

“I’m surprised you even caught on,” Silver Mist scoffed.

“We are probably going to die,” Status noted.

“Okay,” Flash said, “Just wanted to confirm how screwed we all are.”

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Flash flinched as the caravan hit another bump in the road. He knew that magically animated caravans were ‘all the rage’ in Vanhoover and the preferred method of travel for quickly reaching the outposts and smaller settlements out in the grassland, but would it really be so hard for them to invest in making the trip more comfortable and not so hard on his rump?

They had been inside this silly thing since arriving in Vanhoover - Shining refused to be late for their very first mission - and it was wearing down on Flash’s patience, or what little he had.

The interior of the wagon was only just big enough to fit six normal sized ponies and not suited for a rather large earth pony like Pine Sap and an even bigger Pegasus like Flash. Status, Silver, and Flash were squished together on a wood bench built into one side of the wagon while Pine Sap and Shining sat on the other. A canvas cloth stretched overhead allowing only a view outside through one of two openings at the front and back. A purple crystal was embedded in the floor that was used to power the animation spell running the caravan and he constantly had to fight the urge to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the bright shiny mineral.

The ride was unpleasant with every bump that they crossed being felt in bruises along Flash’s flanks. The worse thing of all was that Flash was bored. He had been told many times by his closest of companions, most notably Cocoa, that Flash being bored was probably the worst possible scenario and likely to end in arson.

He was sure everypony was overacting as Flash has only done borderline criminal activities once when he was bored. Maybe several times depending on any given definition of ‘illegal’. Frankly, Cocoa had more reason for concern as Flash liked to go to his default hobby of choice when he was around: gnawing on his antlers.

Flash noticed a butterfly glide by outside the back of the wagon. He would go chasing after it and give his wings a stretch, but Shining had already gotten mad at him for leaving the caravan once already.

Though, the reason Shining had been so mad was probably because Flash had seen a ‘puppy’ and put it in a headlock while petting it and telling it what a good doggy it was.

Grizzly Wolves, as Flash had been lectured, were not supposed to be antagonized as they are extremely dangerous and very carnivorous. Ponies are also not supposed to be able to put them into headlocks, but clearly those ponies weren’t Flash Sentry.

He scowled as he remembered that Shining wouldn’t let him keep the adorable little vicious bundle of cuteness as it was a ‘danger to ponykind’ and ‘not acceptable as a house pet; dammit Flash it’s a wild animal’. The jerk had even put on sunglasses to protect himself from Flash’s weapons-grade pout.

He couldn’t believe Shining would do that. How was he supposed to guilt and beg Shining into giving him stuff now?

Regardless, Flash wasn’t allowed leave the caravan, so he would have to find something else to do - or, preferably, somepony else to bother.

Flash turned to his first line of defense against boredom: Shining. He was busy pouring over the mission documents for the umpteenth time, and that meant Flash would be treated to yet another debriefing if he interrupted.

He decided to leave Shining as a last resort.

Pine Sap was out cold and snoring rather loudly in a corner, which was a shame since that was Flash’s next go to for fun.

Status Quo was busy scribbling… something into a notebook and had this very intense look on his face. Status was great, but could be really scary. Especially when he was interrupted in the middle of one of his writing moods. Plus he didn’t want to be on the wrong end of his diving headbutt. He saw what Blueblood looked like after the Guard Gala.

Silver Mist was reading. Flash wasn’t sure what he was reading because there was no way that a pony would ever look as flustered and nervous while reading a Complete History of Griffon Culture. Flash had only seen that expression on his colt friend and that was only when he was in certain compromising positions that usually had Flash on top of him.

That, unfortunately, left himself. His mind immediately went to thinking about Cocoa. Normally that would be fine, but apparently thinking about Silver’s steamy literature made his mind immediately imagine Cocoa laying down below him while biting his lips seductively. This was definitely making Flash heat up - among other things - and he didn’t feel like living up to his first name with all of his fellow guards present.

That was kind of hot in its own way, but Flash didn’t need ‘public exposure’ on his file. Better to leave that kind of thinking for when he was alone.

Flash turned to Shining, who continued to glare down at the mission documents in mild annoyance. He breathed a heavy sigh.

Fine, I’ll take the mission briefing.

“Hey, Shiny. Whatcha doin’?“ Flash said in an obnoxious singsong voice.

“Going over the mission documents,” Flash suppressed the need to roll his eyes, “I just don’t understand these reports.”

“Well, that is kind of why we’re investigating it, right?” Flash noted.

“Well, yes,” Shining frowned, “It’s just so weird for the guards at the outpost to send out an emergency signal for backup, then to say it was only a false alarm,” Shining threw his hooves up in exasperation, “I mean, they used a primary flare! That’s only for serious emergencies. Like Nightmare Moon serious emergencies.”

“Hey, they might have just mistaken something scary for something not. Like a vicious and terrifying chipmunk, but it was actually a Grizzly Wolf,” Flash stared off into the distance, “Those bush tigers are fearsome beasts.”

Status paused in his writing to stare at Flash. He was about to ask how chipmunks could possibly be worse than a Grizzly Wolf, but instead shook his head deciding it wasn’t worth it and resumed writing.

Shining, already used to Flash’s ridiculous statements, ignored him and continued, “Except, they deal with those kind of threats all the time. They aren’t new recruits, they wouldn’t use the highest level of emergency flare for something as mundane as a ‘misunderstanding’.”

“Shining, you’re going to have to consider that this might have just been a mistake,” Flash reasoned, “I’m not saying that this isn’t suspicious, I actually agree with you on that front since it doesn’t make sense, but you need to consider that not everything is a sinister plot to destroy the country. If you go in with the assumption that everything is bad then you won’t be open to the possibility of everything being fine.”

Shining paused, “That’s… a good point. I’ll keep that in mind,” Shining smirked, “Knew there was a reason I chose you as my second.”

Flash grinned back, “Because I’m the bestest colt of course,” Shining rolled his eyes, “Now as your second, I’m telling you that you need to relax.”

Flash leaned in close and whispered into Shining’s ear, “Want to get Silver to admit he’s reading erotica right now?”

Shining’s then wore the most vicious of grins as he chuckled darkly.

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“Aw, come on Silver,” Shining whined, “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Yeah, having stranger sexual tastes than I do is actually impressive,” Flash grinned.

Silver scowled and glared at the both of them, “I don’t particularly appreciate having you take my books, nor do I enjoy having them read aloud for your entertainment.”

“Don’t be so uptight, Silver,” Pine Sap grinned, “I’ll tell you what, if I ever decide to ‘woo’ you, I’ll make sure I’m wearing heavy petticoats.”

“Don’t forget the whips,” Flash added, “Those appeared to be very important in the wooing process.”

“And the poetry,” Shining teased, “That one stallion in the story had been brought to the verge of tears by a lymeric.”

“Of course, there’s also the candle wax,” Status laughed, “Honestly, most of the dating in that book seemed more like trying to commit arson.”

“Something I wholeheartedly approve of,” Flash nodded.

Silver Mist puffed his cheeks, “I’ll have you know that Mrs. Rice is a visionary of erotic fiction and romance and I will not have you sully her name with your,” Silver seemed to struggle for a moment to think of a word, “barbaric mockery.”

The others laughed at Silver’s expense as they walked along the trails leading to the Wilderness Outpost. They had left the caravan a ways back as Flash had finally snapped and forced them to trot the rest of the way due to stir craziness.

For a grassland, there was a surprisingly large number of trees and shrubs that blocked their path. It was slightly overgrown, which was odd as the guard was supposed to be keep the path clear. It made Flash weary, as this seemed to add to the strangeness of the guards having set off that signal flare in the reports.

He checked the others to note they, too, were nervous despite. Everypony flicked their ears and darted their eyes along the path, searching for threats.

Each of them were armed with their weapon of choice: Shining’s sword, Silver’s lance, Status’ serrated whip, Pine’s gauntlets, and Flash wielded his trusty halberd Leslie. When he had been asked why he named his halberd Leslie, Flash had replied that it was named after his favourite character in a puppet show.

They probably wouldn’t have laughed so hard if Flash had elaborated that ‘Leslie’ was a giant puppet dragon that ate the ponies and burned down villages as depicted in the titular ‘The Great Burning of Puppet City’. It was one of Flash’s favourite shows due to the rampant use of pyrotechnics during the performance.

As they came upon the Wilderness Outpost, a two story hexagonal wood building with a lookout tower, Flash felt the familiar twinge of pain in his flanks that signified danger. He gritted his teeth and readied himself for the worst.

I was kind of hoping Shiny was full of it for once.

“Alright, stay alert,” Shining commanded, “We’ll be reporting to Sergeant Galloper. Be respectful and let me do most of the talking.”

“Will your talking involve long serenades and petticoats?” Pine Sap grinned while Silver glared at her.

Shining snorted, “Seeing as how I’m not planning to have an intimate candlelit dinner with him and have a marefriend besides, no.”

Flash felt a sharp spike in pain as they got closer to the Outpost. Flash focused and listened in on what his mark was telling him.

STAY TOGETHER.

“You know,” Status started, “We only need to report in. Shining, you could probably do that with Flash while the rest of us stay here and-”

“No,” Flash interrupted, “We stick together. Right, Shiny?”

Shining blinked, “Well, he is right. We don’t-”

“Stay together,” Flash furrowed his brow and made direct eye contact with Shining, “We do not know what’s going on, and splitting up would make us vulnerable.”

Shining stared back at Flash as the others appeared confused. Flash didn’t care if they thought he was being weird. What mattered to him was that everypony was safe and his mark was telling him that if they didn’t stay together there would be a chance of that not being the case.

“That’s a good point,” Shining conceded, “Alright, you heard Flash, stay close.”

Flash grinned and ignored the throbbing pain along his body that was steadily growing. He had an extremely high pain tolerance due to his mark, and had learned to do what was needed despite the pain, but it was really irritating how his mark always seemed to be able to circumnavigate his tolerance and hurt like a timber wolf bite.

As they arrived in front of the Outpost, a large green earth pony stallion stepped out dressed in armour with the red trim colour of a Private, and greeted them gruffly.

Shining answered, but Flash was ignoring the conversation in favour of controlling his rising panic and feeling of dread.

It was wrong.

That pony wasn’t a pony.

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“Are there others?” Flash inquired.

Both Cocoa and Flash were on the living room couch with Flash laying upside down in Cocoa’s lap listening to music on his headphones and Cocoa in his earth pony disguise reading some book that Flash could barely understand. According to Cocoa it was biology, but the only biology Flash was interested in was the anatomy of a Changeling and how to make them blush harder.

“Other what, Flash?” Cocoa replied.

“Changelings,” Flash asked, “I realized that the possibility of an entire race of shapeshifters might be a security risk and that I should probably care since, you know, I’m a guard.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised it only just occurred to you,” Cocoa put his book on the couch arm, “Just for curiosity’s sake, what does that make me? I am one of those shapeshifters myself.”

“My colt friend,” Flash stated immediately.

“And if I was deemed a threat?” Cocoa smirked.

“That doesn’t change my previous statement,” Flash said in a more serious tone.

“But if you were forced to choose between me and defending Equestria, surely you would pick your fellow guards,” Cocoa reasoned.

“Then I don’t think you know as well as you think you do,” Flash stated with conviction.

There was a long moment of silence as Cocoa absorbed the implications of Flash’s words with a concerned look on his face. Flash couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, but he was unhappy and that wouldn’t do. He also realized that they had gone a solid minute without him doing something adorable, so Flash pushed himself up and kissed Cocoa on the snout.

Cocoa smiled, “To get back on topic, the simple answer is yes. My species form what are known as hives, a large grouping of Changelings that serve under one Monarch. There are several major ones throughout the world, but the one you should pay attention to the most is my previous hive in the Badlands.”

“Huh, okay,” Flash tilted his head thoughtfully, “Can they all shapeshift?”

“Yes, though their success varies from Changeling to Changeling, subspecies to subspecies,” Cocoa replied, “My species in particular is size constrained when shapeshifting, but others can freely change their shape into any creature of any size or shape.”

“Subspecies?” Flash frowned, “Like how there are Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth ponies?”

“Exactly the same. I’m a variant known as a Guard Drone, which are born and trained specifically for combat,” Cocoa said in his patient lecturing tone that he uses when he is teaching others or lecturing Flash on something stupid he had said that day, “The other two variants are Worker and Spellcraft drones. Worker drones are smaller, don’t have any horns and are trained to do manual labour. Spellcraft Drones have multiple horns depending on magical ability, tall slim builds, and are used to perform spells and rituals.”

“Cool, I’m dating a big sexy guard drone,” Flash gave a sleazy grin, “Any other guard drones that you think would be willing to come over and join us in some fun?”

“No,” Cocoa chuckled, “My, or rather their, hive is specialized in Worker Drones and has difficulties breeding Guard and Spellcraft variants,” Cocoa glared, “Mainly due to the Queen’s inefficiencies.”

“The Queen? Inefficiencies?” Flash widened his eyes in surprise, “You have a Monarch?” He narrowed his eyes in thought, “Wait, you mentioned that earlier, right?”

“I did,” Cocoa said in a carefully neutral voice, “She is an incompetent, worthless, terrible, Cruel, Selfish, WRETCHED-”

Cocoa stopped as he had realized that Flash had gone silent during his tirade. He was looking up at Cocoa with wide eyes. He had never seen his colt friend speak of something with such hate.

Cocoa, as a means to apologize, starting scratching Flash right behind his ears where he liked it. It wasn’t long before Flash hummed happily and kicked his leg out.

Head scratches made everything better.

“I apologize Luv, I just...” Cocoa frowned, “I’m not particularly fond of their Queen.”

“It’s okay, Bugaboo,” Flash nuzzled Cocoa under the muzzle, “You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready too, though I’m confused why you keep saying ‘their’,” Flash tilted his head in Cocoa’s lap in confusion, “Are you not still part of their hive too?”

“No,” Cocoa glared, “And as far as I’m concerned they can burn,” Cocoa then paused and added, “Apologies once more, I’m not normally this… morbid.”

“It’s okay, I can understand the sentiment,” Flash mumbled.

“Of course you would, though if we were setting Iron Wall on fire I would prefer to have some time alone with the stallion first,” Flash noted the look on Cocoa’s face and decided that he would probably fly to live in Saddle Arabia if he was ever on the receiving end.

“So, I guess it’s impossible to tell a Changeling apart from a regular pony when they’ve transformed?” Flash asked.

Cocoa snorted, “If they’re from my hive, it’s not hard at all. Pay attention to the details and it becomes obvious. Their Queen is a terrible actor and even worse at disguises. That set the ability level for the rest of the hive.”

“Then why is your disguise so perfect?” Flash inquired.

“Besides the fact that I taste like chocolate?” Cocoa smirked.

“Ponies don’t normally taste like chocolate?” Flash asked incredulously.

“No they do not, Flash. That is a unique trait to myself,” Cocoa grinned as Flash pouted at the thought that other ponies couldn’t experience the deliciousness of his colt friend for themselves, “Anyways, the only reason I’m not as terrible as they are is because my father - Floral Print not Steel Bastion - was an artist that paid an excessive amount of attention to detail,” Cocoa sighed happily as he remembered fond moments with his late father, “We would spend many afternoons together fixing my disguise to ensure that it was spot on and I could live an average life.”

“Well, I’m glad he helped you out because that ass is the finest disguise I’ve ever seen,” Flash smirked, “Though not as good as the one I get to see when you drop the disguise.”

Cocoa rolled his eyes as Flash grinned underneath him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fur was wrong. It didn’t lie naturally like a normal pony’s and instead ran counter to the natural flow of the body. The proportions weren’t right. A leg was a little too long, and the neck stretched out longer than it should. The mane was glossy and shiny, but Flash couldn’t see any trace of product.

The details just kept piling up more and more. It was obvious to Flash that the pony was a shapeshifter, potentially a Changeling. He couldn’t assume it was a Changeling by default as shapeshifting was not exclusive to their race.

“As you can see we’re fine here,” the pony that wasn’t a pony gruffly said, “It was just a false alarm. We had mistaken one creature for something more fearsome.”

“That’s fine, we all make mistakes,” Shining grinned, “Everything seems in order, so we’ll just head back then.”

DON’T GO BACK, THERE’S AN AMBUSH WAITING.

Tartarus, no. Flash didn’t need his mark to tell him that going back was a terrible idea. His mark confirmed it, but he was already aware that they would most likely be captured once they left. It wasn’t difficult for a race of shapeshifters to just hide in the bushes and wait until we’re unaware to ambush us.

Besides that, this group was potentially entirely Changelings. Despite being one, Cocoa had been very clear that these creatures were dangerous and relied mainly on deceit to ensnare targets. Just to be sure Flash had understood the dangers of his own race, Cocoa had gone into explicit detail about Changelings’ feeding habits, which had left Flash completely terrified of them. Even taking out the fact that his closest friends were right next to him and potentially in danger, Flash wasn’t going to take a chance with these creatures attacking Vanhoover.

Thankfully, Flash had one advantage in communication that these creatures wouldn’t be able to know: Shining's dorky made-up code language. Back in high school, Shining had been really into spy novels for about a month and he had made a series of phrases and keywords to communicate certain messages in casual conversations. The spy phase had passed, but the secret conversations had persisted.

Flash could only hope that Shining remembered about it.

“Actually, Captain we can’t go back yet,” Flash interjected.

The others all looked at him in confusion while the not pony scowled. Flash struggled to keep his face neutral so as not to give away his intentions.

“We can’t?” Shining narrowed his eyes, “Why not?”

“I checked the forecast this morning and there was a heavy chance of fog setting in across the grassland,” Flash desperately hoped Shining would understand, “I wouldn’t want to be caught up and stranded out in the open on our way back.”

The real message was that they were being deceived and that they would be ambushed if they went back.

Shining was confused at first, but his eyes widened in realization of Flash’s true meaning. He understood. Flash fought back his sigh of relief.

Thank you, Shining Dork.

“My apologies, but Flash is correct,” Shining looked apologetic as he addressed the not pony, “Would we be able to stay for a time?”

The not pony looked irritated as it struggled to find a valid reason to turn them away, but eventually replied, “Certainly, though I’ll need to talk to Sergeant Galloper,” The not pony gestured with a hoof inside, “This way.”

The group followed the creature into the building. The Wilderness Post matched its exterior with a vaulted wooden ceiling, large and spacious opening, and several doors that lead off into other parts of the Outpost.

Flash scanned the dozen or so ponies that milled about in the room. All of them had tensed when they had entered and he could confirm that they were all shapeshifters form their lackluster disguises. Two such ponies stood out to him: a very large steel grey earth pony stallion and a short light green unicorn.

The not pony that had lead them there gestured for the group to stop, “Wait here.”

The not pony trotted over to the two ponies Flash had noted earlier. Clearly the leaders of the group. The earth pony looked agitated and scowled at them as the not pony explained the situation. The large earth pony trotted over to the group.

“I am Sergeant Galloper,” The ‘Sergeant’ said gruffly, “We already gave you a report and explained the situation. Why are you still here?”

“Jerk,” Pine Sap muttered under her breath.

She let out an oomph as Silver jabbed her in the ribs.

“The weather team in Vanhoover had notified us that there was a chance of fog later today,” Shining replied unfazed, “We are requesting lodgings to wait out the inclimate weather.”

The Sergeant narrowed his eyes, “The answer is no. Get out.”

Shining narrowed his eyes, as did the others. Even if he was a Sergeant and didn’t know that Shining was higher in rank than him, that kind of disrespect and gruffness was not tolerated between fellow guards.

Shining continued to talk to the Sergeant as Flash tuned them out. He was paying attention to the shapeshifters around him.

The shift in mood was palpable as Shining and the Sergeant continued to argue. Everyone became more tense and hostile as their argument escalated. It was inevitably heading towards a confrontation and Flash needed to be ready.

He focused on his mark as he took stock of the room. He saw one not pony stalking up towards Status. The not pony had narrowed its eyes and was readying to pounce on his fellow guard.

RAM YOUR HALBERD BACKWARDS.

I was just thinking the same thing butt.

As the not pony lunged towards Status, Flash flipped his halberd down with the blunt end of pole facing the creature. He thrust his polearm back and was rewarded with a cry of pain from the creature. Flash followed up with a quick right hook under the not pony’s jaw.

It crumpled to the ground with a groan.

ASSIST STATUS.

Flash turned to Status who was being charged at by several of the not ponies. He had his whip out and ready. Flash hated that thing. It was serrated with sharp metal and was designed specifically to cause as much damage as possible. For a peace lover, Status was using a rather nasty weapon.

He heard a resounding warcry and a thud from a not pony being thrown to the ground. Pine Sap was clearly on the prowl. There was a crackling of magic that signified Silver Mist beginning to cast. Though Flash couldn’t see him, he felt a heavy impact on his side that signified that Shining had taken on the pony pretending to be Sergeant Galloper and had apparently forgotten to dodge.

Having noted the status of the others, Flash dashed forward and slammed a not pony with the flat side of his blade. As the not pony staggered back, he was lashed by Status’s whip which caused several long red gashes to appear along the creature’s coat.

BEHIND YOU.

He turned and knocked another not pony down with his blade. He made a point of not killing the creature as the others didn’t know that their opponents weren’t ponies and Shining wouldn’t approve of killing their opponents even if he did know.

Flash took down another not pony with his halberd. He felt a wave of crippling pain wash over him as he felt his companions take several vicious blows to their bodies. That was not a good sign of how the fight was going. They were outnumbered and Flash was worried that in a battle of attrition, they wouldn’t come out on top.

In desperation, he changed the influence of his mark to instead only protect his fellow guards. Cocoa would have been angry, but four ponies Flash cared about were in danger and that was worse than a few extra bruises.

He focused on his mark and willed it to find a solution to the problem. This didn’t always work, but Flash was quickly running out of options as he noticed several shapeshifters that had been knocked out were starting to get their bearings again.

TAKE THE UNICORN HOSTAGE.

Flash turned to the light green unicorn from earlier. He was standing away from the fight and was worriedly watching his fellow not ponies fight. The idea of taking a hostage left a sour taste in Flash’s mouth, but if he had to choose between protecting his friends and his principles, he was going to always choose his friends.

Shining was not going to be happy with him after this.

Flash jumped over a not pony in his way and galloped towards his target. Before the unicorn could react, Flash lunged and knocked the shapeshifter to the ground. Wasting no time, he swung his Halberd around and positioned the blade right under the not pony’s neck as he pressed him into the floor.

“Stop,” Flash commanded.

All combatants immediately froze after noticing that Flash had taken one of their own hostage. Flash hoped his mark had picked right and he wasn’t pinning some random not pony that had no leverage over the others.

“Drop your weapons and stand against the wall,” Flash ordered.

The not ponies all glanced at the not unicorn underneath Flash. There was a tense moment of silence then a chorus of clattering and stomps as the creatures dropped their weapons and stood against the wall. The Sergeant in particular glared with intense malice at Flash.

Shining, Pine, Silver, and Status were bloodied and bruised from the scuffle. Shining in particular would need medical attention later from the huge battering he had taken. He would ask if they were alright, but Flash’s mark was giving him enough pain to hazard a guess that the answer would be ‘not well’.

“Flash,” Shining was glaring at him, “We don’t take ponies hostage.”

“Well, you don’t; I have less problems with doing this than you do,” Flash calmly stated, “Besides, I’m not doing this to a pony. All of you; Drop your disguises.”

“What like our wigs and fake mustaches?” One of the not ponies scoffed.

“I was thinking the magical one that you all have since you’re shapeshifters,” Flash replied.

The not ponies went rigid. Flash’s companions simply blinked in confusion as they didn’t understand what he was talking about.

“H-How do you-” Another not pony stuttered.

“Drop. Your. Disguises,” Flash growled.

The fake Sergeant looked to the not pony pinned underneath Flash. The creature nodded and, with a collective blaze of green fire, revealed the assembled Changelings for what they were.

Flash took quick stock of the Changelings. All the Changelings were Drone types, excluding the one that had been impersonating the Sergeant who was a Guard type. He had the familiar bug moose look of his colt friend with a larger build and more bull like horns.

Flash grinned at his team, “See? Not ponies.”

“What are they?” Status whispered in shock.

“Changelings, but that’s not important right now,” Flash replied, “You’re the boss, Shiny. What do we do?”

Shining narrowed his eyes at Flash, “You’re asking me that now?”

“Yes, because now we have advantage and don’t have to worry about being killed,” Flash smiled widely, “What are your orders, Captain?”

Several emotions flashed across Shining’s face, but soon settled on professional neutrality, “Hold him down. I need to ask him some questions.”

Flash nodded and readjusted himself to have better positioning over the Changeling under him. For simplicity Flash decided to name him Leader bug. Much easier to keep track of then ‘that bug I have under me that isn’t Cocoa’.

Shining stepped closer to Leader Bug, “Why are you here?”

Leader Bug stared impassively back betraying no emotion, “Running.”

“From?” Shiing asked, “And don’t play the pronoun game with me. I do not have the patience for that right now.”

“Queen Chrysalis,” Leader Bug sneered in disgust at saying her name, “I refused to allow my fellow ‘Lings and I to be subjected to such an uncompassionate Monarch any longer.”

“Queen Chrysalis?” Flash frowned, “From the Badlands Hive?”

Shining looked sharply back at Flash, while Leader Bug nodded in surprise, “Yes, I lead my fellow ‘Lings out after her latest streak of blasphemy.”

“Blasphemy?” Shining asked perplexed.

“She tried to convert a Worker Drone into a Spellcraft Drone using old and disgusting rituals,” Leader Bug growled, “I would rather not go into specifics, but if you want details I’m sure the one holding me down probably knows just as much as myself.”

“Flash?” Shining glared at him and Flash realized he would probably be in trouble later.

“A Spellcraft Drone is a Changeling that can use powerful magic similar to Unicorns,” Flash frowned as he thought about the rituals, “In terms of ‘old and disgusting’ rituals, I can think of several, but would rather not talk about them now.”

“I’ll let it slide for now,” Shining stated with emphasis on the last part.

He looked back down at Leader Bug, “Where are the real guards?”

“Asleep downstairs with their memories wiped of us,” Leader Bug answered, “We had no intention of harming them, simply to replace them while we rested before continuing our journey. The room is just past the door with the star on it”

“Silver, head downstairs and check on the guards,” Shining commanded.

Silver nodded and galloped in the direction noted by Leader Bug. After a few tense moments of silence, Silver returned with a relieved expression on his face.

“All accounted for, Captain,” Silver reported, “The creature was telling the truth.”

Shining nodded to Silver and returned to questioning Leader Bug, “Why did you go out of your way to put them to sleep?”

“I do not believe I understand your question,” Leader asked in confusion.

“You could have saved yourselves some trouble and just killed the guards,” Shining glared, “Would have saved yourselves from having to look after them.”

With conviction, Leader Bug replied, “Because hurting others, no matter the species, is wrong.”

That line stirred up a memory in Flash from his conversations with Cocoa.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash rolled over onto his side. He was laying down with Cocoa on their bed. Both of them had worked a long day and had opted to just laze around for the rest of the evening. He felt his eyes grow heavy as sleep tried to claim him, but a question that had been bothering him for a while refused to allow the blissful pull of dreams and cuddling.

Guess now was a good as time as any.

“Is there really no Changeling from your old hive that you would want to see again?”

There was a long moment of silence. Flash assumed Cocoa had fallen asleep. He guessed he could just ask another time when he remembered. He felt the pull of sleep beginning to draw in close once more.

“One,” Flash was startled awake, “There was one Changeling I would want to meet again.”

“What was he or she like?” Flash asked curious, “They must have left a good impression if you would want to see them again.”

“An idealist that believed that no one, pony, Changeling or otherwise, deserved to be harmed,” Cocoa sighed, “He was greatly against the hive’s current treatment of their ‘food’.”

“Food being the ponies you capture to feed off their emotions?” Flash tentatively asked.

“Yes, them,” Cocoa grimaced, “He, the other ‘Ling, hated the idea of just taking love and thought it would be better to ask for it.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Flash tilted his head in confusion, “The Princesses, or at least Celestia and Cadence, would definitely be willing to share.”

“Because Queen Chrysalis is a vapid, self centered, wretch that can’t and won’t believe in such a kind and generous offer,” Cocoa spat vehemently, “She would much prefer to live as some barbaric raider than do something so weak as to ask for something she needed.”

“Well, I think we should be friends anyways,” Flash grinned, “We just need to show how awesome and sexy ponies are and then Changelings will have no choice, but to befriend and swoon over us.”

“With Chrysalis in charge? Unlikely,” Cocoa scowled.

Not liking the sight of his colt friend being unhappy, Flash wiggled closer to Cocoa and nuzzled him under his muzzle. Cocoa smiled, which brought a grin to Flash’s face.

“Thank you, Luv,” Cocoa whispered as he kissed Flash on the snout.

“You don’t need to thank me, it’s my job to make sure you’re happy,” Flash smirked, “By the way, what was the name of that Changeling you liked? I might want to hunt him down and see if he’d like to join in on our fun.”

Cocoa burst out laughing, “Flash, really? You’re like a broken record.”

Flash grinned brightly, “What can I say? I have a thing for bug mooses.”

Cocoa grinned, “Well, if you must know his name was…”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What’s your name?”

Flash’s friends and the other Changelings all looked at him in confusion. He wasn’t paying attention. All his focus was on Leader Bug, who was looking back at him trying to figure out why Flash would want to know.

“Thorax,” Leader Bug replied, “My name is Thorax.”

Flash blinked, “Captain, if they promise to leave immediately without harming anypony else, can we let them go?”

“You want us to let them all go?” Shining stared at Flash incredulously.

“Yes,” Flash stated as f it were the most simplest thing in the world.

“All the Changelings?” Shining stared at Flash with a dumbstruck expression as did many of the other assembled ponies and Changelings, “That imprisoned the other guards? That attacked us? That we just captured?”

“I would like to note that they actually put the guards to sleep, not imprison them,” Flash cheerily responded, “Also, we haven’t captured them, we’re blackmailing them with a hostage. That is significantly worse.”

“Why?!” Shining shouted, “Why, after all that work to capture them, do you want to just let them go?”

“I owe Thorax a favour because of Cocoa.”

Shining stared at Flash. He was mad. Really mad. Flash knew it was the case by how he had gone silent and was grinding his teeth. It was the mad he reserved for special occasions, like when a family member was lying to him about something really important. It was that kind of mad that caused him to do things that later on he would regret and wished he hadn’t done.

Flash hated that he was causing it.

“Shiny, please,” Flash pleaded, “You have to trust me.”

After another moment of silence passed, “We’ll let them go, but,” Shining growled, “You tell me everything, and I mean everything, Flash. No more secrets. No ‘I’ll tell you later’,” Shining mockingly said in an idiotic voice, “We let them go and then you’re going to tell me everything you know.”

“Agreed,” Flash replied, “Can I let Thorax go now so they can get on with the running and you can get on with the yelling at me?”

“Fine, yes, they can all leave,” Shining said, “Go wherever Changelings go when they’re running away. Hopefully, Tartarus.”

Flash grinned and removed his halberd from Thorax. The now freed Changeling stood up and brushed off some dirt that had gotten on his chitin.

“Pharynx,” Thorax turned to the only guard Changeling in the room, “Grab everyling and head out. We’re going North.”

Now?” Pharynx shouted back, “We’re not ready! These idiots let you go, we can take them. Just use-”

“Pharynx, shut up,” Thorax growled, “I am not attacking a friend of Cocoa’s and I don’t particularly feel like being chased by the Royal Guard on top of Chrysalis.”

Pharynx growled and looked ready to argue back, but Thorax just looked at him. He went rigid and instead of fighting back, meekly nodded his head and trotted to the door. The other Changelings followed him out until only the guards and Thorax were left.

Thorax looked back at Flash, “I’m glad Cocoa is okay, give him my regards.”

“Will do, Leader Bug,” Flash saluted.

“You’re a strange one, Flash,” Thorax giggled, “Hopefully, we can meet again under better circumstances.”

With that, Thorax galloped out the door after his compatriots leaving only Flash and his friends. Or possibly ex-friends considering what had just transpired.

He quickly surveyed the other ponies.

Pine and Silver looked confused, Status was frowning in contemplation, and Shining…

Shining looked ready to kill him.

“All of you, outside,” Shining commanded while looking at Flash, “Except you, Flash.”

“But Captain-” Status protested.

“Now!” Shining yelled, “And that’s an order.”

The others raced out the door with Pine giving Flash one last sympathetic look before slamming the door behind them. Flash gulped.

“Talk. Now.”

Flash sat down and told Shining everything.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And that’s all?” Shining demanded.

Flash had just finished telling Shining about Iron Wall, his mark, Cocoa, and that Cocoa was a Changeling. He was left emotionally exhausted again, and Shining hadn’t stopped pacing since he had begun talking. He was still fuming, but was at the level of normal angry than ‘I’m burying you in the backyard after I’m done beating you with a shovel’ angry.

“Yeah, that’s everything,” Flash sighed tiredly.

“Right, so let’s start at the beginning,” Shining stopped pacing and looked at Flash with a stern expression, “You’re dating a shapeshifter that can transform into anypony in Equestria including the Princesses?”

“Not everypony, he’s limited because of his species,” Flash replied, “But for simplicity’s sake, yes.”

“So you found nothing wrong with the shapeshifter-”

“Cocoa,” Flash interrupted, “His name is Cocoa.”

“Fine,” Shiing huffed, “You found nothing wrong with Cocoa being able to replace anypony including a pony that could have been the real Cocoa?”

“Sergeant Steel Bastion can confirm with photographic evidence that Cocoa has been a Changeling since foalhood,” Cocoa had shown him a few and they had contained an adorable younger Cocoa, “With that being the case and taking into consideration how much time has passed, I can safely say that Cocoa means no harm to Equestria. Reporting him, however, would have caused more issues even if he is legally a citizen of Equestria due to his adoption.”

“Alright, I’ll concede the point as you did investigate the issue,” Shining begrudgingly agreed, “That doesn’t excuse you taking Thorax hostage. We are the Royal Guard, we do not take hostages. That makes us just as bad as the villains we face.”

“I wonder how long you would hold to that opinion if somepony you cared about was in trouble,” Flash accused, “Would you still keep your principles if Pine Sap was threatened? Silver Mist? Status Quo? Me? Cadence? Twilight?”

“That is not the point, Flash. We cannot-”

“What Shining?” Flash glared, “What can’t we do? As far as I’m concerned, if I had to choose between following an arbitrary code of honour or saving ponies I care about, I will always choose the second option,” Flash snorted angrily, “And as your second in command, I am warning you: the enemy doesn’t play fair.”

“That’s not the point!” Shining shouted back, “And how can you possibly assume that? What terrible thing happened that would make you say that an enemy wouldn’t hesitate.”

“Because if my own father, a pony I’m suppose to be able to trust, couldn’t be bothered to have standards, I don’t have high hopes for the rest,” Flash said quietly.

Shining flinched, “I- That’s… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- I didn’t mean...”

“No, it’s fine,” Flash shook his head, “I only just told you the full details about him, but Shining,” Flash looked back at Shining morosely, “I can’t make the tough decisions for you forever.”

Shining's ears went flat against his head as he turned away, “I don’t want to have to make those decisions.”

“Shining,” Flash took a deep breath, “One day you may, no, you will have to decide.”

There was a long pause. Shining was still turned away from him. Flash wanted to talk to him, to make things better, but he knew that it was better to wait. He could patient for his BBFL.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Shining whispered.

Flash knew what he meant, but asked anyways, “About what?”

“Your mark, Flash,” Shining barked bitterly, “Why didn’t you tell me about your mark?”

“For the same reason I told Cocoa,” Flash answered, “I don’t trust you enough.”

Shining whipped his head to face him. Flash flinched from the hurt expression on his face.

“You don’t trust me?” Shining shouted, “You’re my brother, Flash. Even if you’re adopted, I thought that was enough to show you can believe in me.”

“That’s not the issue, Shiny,” Flash pinned his ears to his head.

“Not the issue?” Shining growled, “Not the issue?! Flash you’ve been hiding all of this from me for years. Removing the fact that I’m your superior, you’ve been hiding it from me, your bucking family. Why would you do that?”

“It’s because-” Flash tried to say.

“You don’t lie to family, Flash!” Shining angrily cut him off.

“Shiny I know, but-”

“No buts, Flash!” Shining yelled, “You shouldn’t have kept this to yourself. You should have told me. Seriously, Flash what possible excuse could you have that would convince you that you couldn’t tell me something so important?”

“Because I’m scared, Shiny,” Flash choked out.

Flash could feel the onslaught of tears threatening to burst forth. He was shaking and couldn’t stop himself from wanting to gallop as far as he could. He couldn’t breath. Everything was closing in on him and he needed to escape.

“Why?” Shining asked softly.

“I’m still just that terrified foal, Shiny,” Flash said, “Back in that Tartarus hole of an apartment. All I can think of is whether or not you’ll use me like Iron Wall did.”

Shining snorted, “Flash, I wouldn’t do that.”

“What if you do?” Flash interrupted, “I don’t trust ponies easily, Shining. If you haven’t noticed I talk happily to a lot of different ponies, but only a few actually know about me. I don’t know how ponies will react or what they’ll do if they knew I had a broken-” Flash stopped himself, “Active mark.”

“Flash, you’re being ridiculous,” Shining rolled his eyes, “It’s just a mark.”

“Just a mark? Just a mark?” Flash gaped at Shining incredulously, “Have you met ponies? For most, their mark is everything. Everytime a pony finds out about my mark they either want me dead so I can’t infect them or be used for my mark’s true purpose: the Princess’s sacrificial meat shield,” Flash spat out bitterly, “I only have choice because Celestia gave it to me.”

“Flash, I wouldn’t kill you over something like that,” Shining threw his hooves up in exasperation, “And I certainly wouldn’t ask you to be my living shield. I can make those for myself just fine,” Shining paused then corrected his previous statement, “The magical kind, not the living kind.”

“I believe you,” Flash answered, “I just wonder how long it would take before you asked me to protect your sister or Cadence.”

“What?” Shining scrunched up his muzzle in confusion, “Why would I-”

“Your sister is the Bearer of Magic and is in constant danger. Cadence is a Princess of Equestria and a walking target for every wannabe baddie,” Flash scowled, “You’re a good pony Shining, but I don’t think your ideals will hold up when your family is threatened.”

“Flash, you are my family,” Shining shouted, “You cannot possibly believe that even under those circumstances, I could ever bring myself to use you like that.”

Flash whimpered, “I’ve been let down before.”

Shining stared at Flash. With no forewarning, Shining began casting from his horn. Several ribbons of violet light spouted from his horn and encircled Flash’s and Shining's neck in a ring.

“Shining, what are you doing?” Flash asked nervously.

“Clearly, you won’t believe me at my word,” Shining said, “But you will believe me at my promise.”

Flash’s eyes went wide in a panic, “Shining, no. An arcane promise is deadly, if you break it-”

“I won’t,” Shining cut Flash off.

“But-”

I won’t,” Shining stomped a hoof to emphasize his point.

Realizing that Shining was going through with the spell whether Flash liked it or not, he stayed silent to allow Shining to concentrate. Shining smiled back gratefully as the ribbons of light tightened until they were flush with both ponies fur.

“I, Shining Armour Sparkle, promise that under no circumstance despite any position I may acquire or leverage I have at my disposal, shall I ever force you to use your talent without your explicit consent,” Shining intoned, “Do you agree to this promise, Flash?”

Flash was hesitant but agreed, “I do,” Before Shining could finish, Flash interjected, “I, Flash Sentry Solaris Sparkle, also promise that, unless otherwise blocked by interference beyond my own influence or that would be detrimental to your safety, will tell you everything I may know or will know in the future.”

Shining’s eyes raised his eyebrows in surprise but continued the spell, “Then I hereby bind this promise between us until death separates us from each other.”

With a final burst of violet light from Shining’s horn the bands of light imprinted onto both of their necks and faded away leaving behind no trace of their promise.

“You know we can never remove that right?” Flash said casually, “Even the Princesses can’t break an arcane promise. I believe that particular spell is also super illegal. Like imprisonment forever illegal.”

“Eh, I don’t plan on telling anypony if you don’t,” Shining shrugged, “Besides, it means my brother knows he can trust me no matter what.”

“Yeah, I can,” Flash grinned as a few tears fell, “I don’t know if you can understand how much that means to me.”

“Probably not, but I can imagine, BBFL,” Shining returned the grin.

Flash lunged forward and wrapped Shining in a big hug. He had a pony he could finally trust to have his back no matter what. Flash couldn’t hold back the joyous feeling inside of him.

“So, I’m asking for Cadence’s hoof in marriage when we get back to Canterlot,” Shining added casually.

Flash leaned back to see Shining face to face, “Really? That’s amazing! She is definitely going to say yes.”

“Well, hopefully,” Shining grinned nervously, “I was actually trying to find a best stallion and since they are traditionally the groom’s brother, I was wondering if you knew anyone related to me that would be interested?”

“Spike,” Flash answered with no hesitation.

Shining burst out laughing, “Seriously, Flash?”

“Hey, Spike is great, but yeah he would have to fight me if he wanted to be your best stallion,” Flash smirked, “No way am I not planning the Bachelor Party.”

Shinin groaned, “I didn’t think of that, please don’t plan anything too wild.”

“No promises,” Flash grinned.

“Well, it’s all I can expect really,” Shining shrugged, “Anyways, let’s go back to the others. We need to wake up the guards, find an excuse for the Changelings, and then get home.”

“What are you going to tell them?” Flash asked worriedly.

“That you’re still my second, you had made the right call, and that we’re keeping the Changelings to ourselves until we talk to the Princesses,” Shining replied.

Flash nodded, “Good; though, Shiny? Do you think we could get some privacy on the train ride home?”

“Sure, why for?” Shining asked curiously.

“I was just thinking I need to fill you in on some stuff,” Flash smiled, “A lot of stuff.”

Shining smiled back, “I would love that.”