With every yawn that resonated through the silent environment of the office, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, formerly known as Tempest Shadow, started feeling more and more pity for her captain. It was as if the yawns were distributing invisible hapless energies and throwing them directly at her.
She glanced over at Flash Sentry to see him leaning on one hoof, his eyes half lidded, and a small bit of drool ready to flow out of his mouth, down his pen, and onto the tanned papers he was scribbling on. His pen was barely gripped between his teeth so scribbling was the perfect word for it. In his current state of fatigue, there was no way that he would be able to accomplish all of the loops and curves required to sign his name effectively.
He yawned again and, not long after, she did the same. Yawns were oddly and inexplicably contagious. She stood, walked over to him, and roughly took the pen from his grasp, surprising him and causing him to quickly sit up straight, slurping the drool that was dangling from his mouth.
"I'll get those documents done right away." Flash said, looking around for his missing white and blue-coloured pen, which was a congratulatory gift for his promotion from his former captain, Shining Armor, whom he succeeded when the unicorn chose to dedicate his time ruling by his wife as Prince of the Crystal Empire.
"Here." She spoke, handing him the writing instrument.
"Oh, why do you have my pen?"
The pegasus began to write a signature down onto the papers, but found himself scribbling off the side and onto the table. He wasn't even writing his own name, he was unconsciously thinking of his idol, one of the Pillars of Old Equestria, specifically the Element of Bravery. He looked up at Fizzlepop and smiled sheepishly as he saw her eyebrow twitch ever so slightly.
"We keep nap room three on this floor reserved. Go get a few hours sleep. I'll handle things here in the office and wake you if you are needed."
"No, no... I'm fine. I need to finish these documents."
The unicorn lowered her gaze and withheld a chuckle. "I doubt those documents will be valid if you keep signing them this way." She kept her tone serious while staring at the ink on the tabletop.
"Huh?"
Fizzlepop pointed her head at the papers, to which the pegasus followed along and his face fell upon reading what he wrote: 'Flash Magnus'. He looked up at her and figured he really must be sleepy since he saw the right side of her lips quirked upward, causing them to form half a smile. Someone like Fizzlepop wouldn't find the current situation amusing. Yes, he was definitely tired.
"I guess I could use a na—" Another yawn kept him from carrying on with his sentence.
"Go, Captain, I promise I'll wake you up in a few hours." She assured.
Flash nodded and stood. He stretched his legs and yawned habitually. "Thank you, lieutenant." He said before leaving the office.
He made his way toward the nap rooms at the main end of the long hallway, thankful that the higher ups recognised that their troops needed such things. At least they were good about something. Now, if he could just get there without falling asleep, he would be very lucky.
If he hadn't been so exhausted, he would have let loose a cry of triumph when he arrived to his destination. Instead, he just grinned stupidly and yawned yet again.
He flipped the panel beside the door to indicate the room was occupied, then went inside the small, plain room. The walls were made of crystal, just like everything else in the kingdom, and the bed nearly took up all the space in the room. He could almost hear the soft cotton fabric of the sheets calling to him. The only thing that could make the sight more pleasant would be if there was a voluptuous mare laying there. He kicked the door shut behind him and locked it. All guards on the floor had keys to the nap rooms so Fizzlepop would have no trouble getting in to wake him up.
After removing his armour and helmet, he crawled upon the bed and laid down on his right side. He stretched out and relished the softness of the mattress under his tense body. As soon as he closed his eyes, his posture relaxed and he emitted a light snore, indicating he was asleep.
After filing all her paperwork for the day, she went over to stack Flash's in several neat piles, organising it in categories which fit. She's learnt a lot about organising from Princess Twilight Sparkle and Amethyst Star during her visit to Ponyville. If she did this, the delivery would be much faster and her Captain could go home sooner. As soon as she finished organising the last stack, she heard the door swing open. She looked up to see a happy Shining Armor trotting into the room.
"Hey, Flash, I... Lieutenant, where's Flash?"
"He was tired so he went to nap room three to get some rest."
"Oh! You actually let him take a break? A nap of all things?"
"He was exhausted. Contrary to rumours, Your Highness, I'm not a slave driver... anymore." She reminded, in a rougher tone than she should have used toward a one of the two highest ranking ponies in the Crystal Empire.
"Sorry. Could you go get him? There's something I need to talk to him about." Shining requested.
Fizzlepop rolled her eyes before narrowing them back onto Shining, causing the stallion to take a step back. He'd heard about the glares she gave, but this was the first time he'd been privy to one.
"This is business, right, Your Highness? I don't want to wake the Captain for something not important."
"Yes, yes." Shining assured, raising a hoof to cover his nervous cough. "I promise this is the most important thing in the world and shall be handled in a professional manner."
"Very well. I'll go get him." She said in a strait-laced tone before leaving the office.
Shining reached for his flank to make sure that he hadn't soiled himself. How Flash worked with such a scary mare all day and why he took her in the first place was beyond him. From what he's seen, though, they both seem to work incredibly well with each other and she keeps the pegasus in line, so he's not complaining. She would certainly be a good wife to somepony like Flash, one day. She already held him in her hoof, she just needed the rings to fasten him there.
She quickly made her way to the room where Flash was sleeping and took out the key. She loathed having to wake Flash since he looked extremely exhausted with the dark circles under his eyes, even his eye bags have bags. Shining did say it was professional and she knew that no matter what, Flash would want to hear from his predecessor. Shining doesn't visit very often due to his own personal agenda nowadays.
She unlocked the door and went inside, closing it behind her, but not bothering to lock it back. They wouldn't be in there long and most of headquarters had already gone home or are on patrol.
"Captain, Prince Shining Armor wants to talk with you. Wake up." She said and waited for him to react in some manner. When he continued to snore, she tried again. "Captain, wake up! Shining needs to speak with you."
She waited and, once again, he didn't move. She made her way to the edge of the bed where he was facing, placed a hoof on his barrel, and shook him gently. She would have used more force, but she wasn't sure how he would react to being awoken too suddenly. According to the stories she overheard from the other guards, long ago, Shining Armor received an armour-denting buck when he woke the orange pegasus up too quickly. She did not relish receiving the same fate.
"Captain," she spoke with a little desperation, shaking him a bit rougher, "you need to—EEK!" Before she could finish her sentence, she let out a small screech as Flash pulled her onto the bed. She fell on her side and Flash took the opportunity to wrap his wings around her, locking them in their place as he nuzzled the rest of his body closer to her, resting his chin above her head. She struggled slightly, attempting to get up, but he only pulled her tighter. She couldn't move her legs to push him away and she's trying really hard not to let her broken horn burst with unstable magic. "Captain! Wake up!" She commanded, her voice much higher in volume than it had been previously. It was just under a yell. She attempted to pull out of his embrace again, hopeful that if she did, he would wake up from all the movement, but it was to no avail. She was officially Flash Sentry's teddy bear until he chose to wake up.
Flash yawned and muttered her name, surprising her by both the fact that he might be dreaming about her and by the sweet tone he used.
"Captain, you should let go of me..." She said softly. "So that I can—"
"I don't want to let go. If I let go, you'll be all alone again. I'll never let you be alone again."
Fizzlepop's eyes widened upon hearing those words and the painful tone in which they were spoken. Is he really that solicitous about her?
"Stay, just for a little while." He mumbled in his sleep, tightening his embrace before he began snoring softly.
She formed a sweet smile and she closed her eyes. "I'll stay, just for a few minutes." Fizzlepop joined him in his slumber, forgetting that Shining was waiting for them back at the office.
Shining Armor directed his gaze to the round clock on the crystal wall. Fizzlepop had left thirty minutes ago to wake Flash and still hadn't come back. Surely, she had a method to wake him up. Shining often got a kick out of making up little scenarios with Fizzlepop in them to use against Flash and see how quickly he woke up.
He jumped off his seat. "I'd better go see if she needs help." Shining spoke to himself, leaving the office, walking toward nap room number three. He twisted the door knob with his magical grasp instead of knocking, forgetting it might be locked. Much to his surprise, it wasn't. He slowly opened the door and a massive, ear to ear grin lit his face upon seeing the scene before him.
Flash was holding the mare protectively like a foal would hold their favourite teddy bear. He had a tiny smile on his face and was sleeping soundly. Shining directed his gaze to the embraced, who was equally as relaxed, her face void of any stress that normally displayed there. The scene tugged at his heart and he just couldn't find it in himself to wake them. They looked like a cute couple and he knew both needed their well-deserved rest, even though the mare wouldn't ever admit she was tired. He silently summoned a camera and snapped a few pictures before locking the door to the room and leaving the two in the tranquility that rarely existed for them. Showing Flash the latest pictures of Flurry Heart pulling on her crystaller's beard would have to wait.
END