Bright Skies twisted gracefully through the air high above the vast, green countryside south of Cloudsdale. It had been too long since she had a chance to fly simply for fun, and the weather today was perfect; a clear blue sky with just a few clouds tastefully placed by the last weather team. She wanted to enjoy it before the overcast that was scheduled for the evening was moved in. The sun felt warm on her coat and wings while the cool, spring air ruffled her curly mane. Her sharp, hawk-like vision that all pegasi naturally possessed could clearly make out the gleaming spire of Canterlot’s castle scores of miles to the south. She wriggled in delight from muzzle to tail as she took in a deep breath through her nostrils before letting it out her mouth. Just perfect. Bright Skies angled her wings and banked left and right in wide, lazy turns; maintaining her altitude with just an occasional flap of her pink wings. Only 26 years old and still in her prime, she relished the fact that she still had many good years of strong flying left in her.
Her thoughts soon drifted back to her son. Even before he could fully speak, Flash enjoyed flying with her so much. Bright Skies smiled as she could almost hear his excited squeals, shouting for her to fly faster and higher; he was absolutely fearless in the air, even though he had no wings. Oh, if only he did… It’s not that she didn’t mind carrying him, but she knew, based on his rate of growth, that he would one day be too large for her to comfortably carry. Sunset Shimmer had even theorized that he may even grow as tall as Princess Celestia! That seemed an incredible thought, especially since he was still such a small guy. So small… For now, she resolved that she would savor every moment that she could still bear him aloft on her own wings. Maybe we could go for a flight when he gets back? I know he would love that.
The pink pegasus now pulled into a steep climb, pumping her wings hard as she could as she began to accelerate vertically. Bright Skies breathed hard as the air became steadily cooler, her wings burned with a healthy strain. When she felt she could go no faster, she stopped flying, allowing her momentum to eventually die, inducing a stall. Bright Skies allowed herself to fall backwards, giggling at the sense of vertigo as she fell limply back towards the ground many thousands of feet below, her wings fluttering like banners caught in a breeze. Her body began to spin slowly in the air currents as she reached terminal velocity. Wait for it… The air was rapidly warming as she continued to descend. Wait for it! As soon as her sensitive muzzle detected a change in the scent of the air, indicating that the ground was now rapidly approaching, she went into action. NOW! Tucking one wing in while stiffening the other, Bright Skies flipped over to face the ground before snapping both wings open in order to grab onto the much thicker atmosphere. She felt a massive strain within her chest as her wings bit into the denser air, causing her to pull up sharply a mere fifty feet above the tree tops at an absolutely scorching speed. Eat your little heart out Rainbow Dash. She laughed out loud at the absolute thrill of pulling off an old maneuver that she hadn’t tried since she was a teenager.
Oh, I’m going to feel that one in the morning… Bright Skies chuckled to herself as she eventually alighted on a cloud to rest. You’ve still got it girl. As her breathing began to calm, she felt a small twinge of regret for pulling such a risky stunt while being a mother and all. Well, I suppose I’ll just be more careful about pulling stunts like that in the future. After all, what would Flash say if he saw me being so reckless? An image of him cheering and shouting ‘So cool mom!’ caused her to blush slightly. Yup. I’d never be able to tell him to be careful ever again after that. She sighed as she flopped over on her back while staring up at the clear blue sky. I’d better get back. Sunset did say they would not be gone for long. Bright Skies rolled over off of the cloud, opening her wings as she began to fly at a more comfortable pace back north to Cloudsdale. I can’t wait to hear how his day went! She smiled as the thoughts of a pleasant evening at home with her son began to fill her imagination. Life is so good…
Flash Skies trudged along aimlessly for what felt like hours as Celestia’s sun continued to climb higher into the afternoon sky. Why would she leave? He continued to grapple with his fractured thoughts, running through every theory he could think of, but nothing he could come up with made any sense to him. What could have happened…was it Princess Celestia? He immediately chastised himself for the blasphemy of even thinking the Solar Princess could have ever done anything wrong. It’s not right…Sunset can’t…she just can’t be gone! His feelings of grief slowly began to darken with black anger, wrath at the injustice that such an important pony could suddenly be gone from his life, from Equestria. The spot on his forehead where she had kissed him tingled, causing him to rub at it in frustration. Ugh, what did she do to me? She ran away…she left us. He instantly hated himself for thinking that his esteemed mentor would do something so cowardly. She had to have had a good reason. Something bad must have happened…Flash sniffed as he felt fresh tears beginning to form in his eyes, he rubbed them away furiously. NO! I will not show weakness! It was what she had always told him, to never show weakness. But as much as he tried to calm himself, he could not escape the terrible storm of painful emotions that continued to rampage through his heart and mind, hammering him with the inescapable truth: Sunset Shimmer was really and truly gone. He just wanted her back. To see her, to hear her voice again; he didn’t care if she gave him all of the homework in Equestria! He would endure anything if it meant he could have his beloved mentor still with him.
I should have said something…done something…But deep down, he somehow knew that nothing would have changed what had happened, and he hated that. His stomach growled. Somewhere along the way he had dropped his lunch and hadn’t gone back for it. That small tragedy simply added more regret to a steadily growing collection of negative emotions. Mom always gives me the best lunches…
…Hey! Give it back!” Flash was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of somepony shouting. He looked over to the main road which he had wandered away from and saw a small group of young ponies. He slipped behind a lone tree and peeked around it. Three young pegasi colts were hovering just over a small, earth pony filly with a yellow coat, green mane, and brown eyes. The three colts were tossing an orange ball to each other which they had, apparently, stolen from the filly. They laughed as she hopelessly jumped in an attempt to reach them. Flash recognized two of the ponies. One was Slipstream, a brash colt with a charcoal-grey coat and an electric yellow mane cut in a mohawk style with matching yellow eyes. He and Flash had once been on very friendly terms, but as he had gotten older, Slipstream had fallen in with some other mischievous ponies which had caused him to become more antagonistic and mean-spirited over time. Downdraft was one of those bad influences. A stocky colt built more like an earth pony than a pegasus; he was the light blue one with a white, cropped mane and green eyes hovering to the left of Slipstream. Flash didn’t recognize the third colt: small, red coat and brown mane; he was snickering the loudest.
The little filly began to cry pitifully, which only caused her three tormentors to taunt her with even greater glee. Flash gritted his teeth as he felt his anger re-surge anew. Stomping out from behind his cover, he approached the unhappy scene. “Alright Slipstream, give it back!” He shouted with righteous indignation. All four ponies trained their gaze upon him as he came into sight; the filly stopped crying, sniffing as she wiped an eye to get a better look at her rescuer.
Slipstream met his angry gaze and smirked. “Well, well,” he said as he tossed the ball from one hoof to the other. “If it isn’t the ‘wingless wonder.’ How ya doin’ Flash?” The human glared in response.
“Give it back to her,” Flash repeated as he came to a stop just below where Slipstream was hovering. The pony smiled at him.
“‘Give it back?’ Or what?” He said as he tossed the ball again. Flash stared him down for a moment, allowing his two-toned eyes to bore into Slipstream, an uncomfortable silence began to fill the air.
“Come down here and I’ll show you…” He finally said in a low, angry tone. Downdraft and the other colt let out an ‘oh!’ of excitement at that. There was a blackness in his heart right now, and Flash knew it, but he was too angry to care. This injustice was the last straw. He knew, deep down, that he was letting his anger dictate his decisions, but he was too upset to stop himself as he knew he should; he felt like venting his rage. He felt his forehead mysteriously tingle again.
Slipstream raised an eyebrow in surprise before he slowly descended in front of Flash, the other two ponies following after him. The colt tossed his stolen prize to the side towards the filly who quickly snatched it up. She glanced nervously between the group for a second, before uttering a nearly silent thanks to Flash and then sprinting off. Slipstream stared the human down.
“Why do you always have to be so annoying? We were only having fun.” He quipped as he took a threatening step forward. Flash held his ground.
“Why did you have to turn into such a jerk?” he retorted; the two other colts snickered as the standoff intensified. Slipstream glared at him. Flash suddenly began to think of his mother, of Sunset, and even Princess Celestia. All of them had warned him in the past of his volatile temper and his need to control it; he immediately regretted allowing himself to feel such wrath and dark anger. He let out a breath as he prepared to stand down. Slipstream suddenly raised a hoof and shoved him on the shoulder causing him to stagger back a step.
“What?’ He stated, growing bolder. “I thought you told me to come down.” He said as he shoved him again. Flash looked down and away, upset that he had invited this confrontation by uttering rash words.
“Just, forget it Slipstream,” He mumbled. Downdraft landed with a thud next to Slipstream.
“Just look at him Slips,” The stocky pegasus scoffed, “I think he’s sad, you gonna run home and c’wry to mommy?” Downdraft said in a mocking tone, eliciting another laugh from the red pegasus who also landed. Flash gritted his teeth,
It’s only words…
“Aw, don’t be like that Downdraft,” Slipstream replied in feigned sympathy. “You’d be sad too if you were some nopony with no real family.” Flash snapped back to attention, breathing hard.
“I have a mom…” He growled as he began to see red, his hands clenched into hard fists. Slipstream laughed.
“But she’s not your real mom.” He said. “She’s just the pony that has to watch you, that’s all. Especially since you were the one who stole her magic…”
A wordless scream cut him off as Flash exploded forward and shoved Slipstream in the chest as hard as he could with both hands, causing the young colt to fly back and roll across the ground; Flash charged after him. The pony quickly rolled upright and ducked under the next swing while sticking his hind-leg out, causing the small human to trip and slam face first into the ground. Flash immediately sprang back up and spun around just in time to catch a hoof across the face as Slipstream punched him. Stars exploded across his vision as he fell on his back. Slipstream grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him back up as he swung at him again.
Suddenly remembering a move that Rainbow Dash had taught him, Flash threw his left arm up, blocking the strike as he then wrapped his arm around the colt’s forelimb and twisted his body, dragging Slipstream to the ground with him. The two children continued to tussle and roll across the ground, shouting and hitting as they each attempted to get on top of the other; the other two pegasi looked on in utter shock as the pair continued to fight.
None of them took notice of the brown, earth pony stallion with a graying mane and moustache pulling a cart loaded with wood stop along the road next to them. He wore a blue kerchief about his neck and a brown Stetson on his head. The pony unhitched himself and adjusted his hat as he slowly trotted over and paused to survey the fight.
Flash finally gained the upper hand as he pinned Slipstream beneath him and proceeded to rain a hail of angry blows from his fists, left and right, across his opponent’s face, screaming savagely with each punch. As Flash raised his right fist to strike again, he suddenly paused mid-swing as he realized that Slipstream was no longer fighting back. The pathetic pony was trembling as he shielded his face with his hooves. Flash immediately felt sick to his stomach as he fell backwards to get off of him, propping himself up on his elbows as he panted for breath.
“A’right!” A gruff voice cut through the air as everypony suddenly took notice of the adult. “That’s enough!” The stallion stepped between Slipstream and Flash, sternly glaring at the two of them with sharp blue eyes; Flash withered under the pony’s angry gaze. “Both of ya get up!” The two of them immediately obeyed without a word as they stood and faced each other with shaky countenances. “Now I want the two of ya’s to shake, the fight’s done.”
Flash and Slipstream both blinked in surprise, looking first to the stallion then back to the other. The pegasus’s coat and mane were ruffled and dirty, a few of his feathers were bent and out of place; he would definitely need a serious preening later. At the same time, however, something seemed to pass between them as they each hesitantly put out a hoof and hand and shook. Flash felt strangely calm as a feeling of empathy and respect for his one-time acquaintance began to replace his anger. Slipstream gave him a sheepish glance as they shook. The stallion nodded as they finished shaking,
“Now you three, run along home, and don’t ever let me catch any of ya’s acting like this again!” The three pegasi nodded before quickly taking to the sky like frightened birds as they winged off towards their respective homes.
Flash glanced nervously at the adult who had now turned his full attention upon him. He was still frowning, but his expression had softened slightly. “Now as for you youngin’, follow me.” The pony turned and headed back towards his cart; the boy obediently following his elder, walking with a slight limp. His shirt was torn and dirtied and he could feel that he was going to have more than a few bruises. The stallion hitched himself back up to his wooden, two-wheeled cart that had a load of cut wood stacked in it. He eyed Flash again for a moment before gesturing with his head,
“Climb on up there.” The young human pulled himself up into the front of the cart and sat down in front of the woodpile, facing forward. The pony began to walk at a steady trot, the cart gently squeaking and swaying as the powerful earth pony pulled it along with effortless strength. After a few moments, he asked, “What’s your name, son?” It took Flash a second to find his voice as he cleared his throat,
“F-Flash Skies, sir.” The pony nodded.
“Well, mines’ Burnt Oak. A pleasure to meet ya.” Flash simply nodded in response, feeling far too subdued at the moment to talk much. He winced as he ran his tongue over his split lip, the copper taste of blood spreading inside his mouth. Various aches began to flood across his face and body as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. “Ya want to tell me what all went on back there son?” Flash liked the warm twang of the pony’s voice, it sounded rich and soothing. He cleared his throat again,
“H-how much did you see?” The pony smiled as he glanced back at him.
“Enough.” Flash frowned slightly in confusion.
“Then, why didn’t you stop us?” Burnt Oak sighed, pausing a beat before saying,
“Sometimes, ya gotta let youngsters, ‘specialy colts, settle their differences. If I’d stopped you two, ya both would have tried to finish it later and by then, ya would’ve had time to only grow angrier at th’ other. Then somepony mighta’ really gotten hurt.” He gave Flash a wink, “But don’t you worry none. I would have stopped ya if things had gotten too outta hoof. Seems ya knew when to quit anyhow.”
The boy nodded thoughtfully as he took a moment to absorb the pony’s wisdom. Burnt Oak trotted on, flicking an ear back towards his small guest,
“So, tell me what happened.”
Flash then proceeded to describe the whole situation he had come upon. His background with Slipstream, his own poor choice of words, and the bad decision to shove the pony when he had lost his temper after the latter had insulted his mother.
“I…I shouldn’t have pushed him, I know. But those things he said about my mom…I…I just got so angry…” He sighed in frustration, “It’s just, I always lose my temper. No matter how hard I try…” Burnt Oak smiled to himself.
“Sounds like ya got a lot of care in you son, some powerful feelings.” Flash didn’t reply, but pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them looking downcast. “Son, do you know the difference between a colt and a stallion?” Flash quizzically raised an eyebrow,
“…Taxes?”
The older stallion’s mirth rang out in a hearty chuckle, practically echoing around the countryside. Flash blushed slightly.
“You’ve got some wit to ya’, I’ll give you that!” He said with a grin. “No son, a young colt follows his feelings first. He usually does whatever he feels like. But when he grows up, he can’t just follow his feelings. He has to do what he knows is good instead of what just feels good.” Flash lifted his head and stared ahead as he processed those words. “For example, it must’a felt pretty good at th’ time to shove that colt because of what he said, am I right?” Flash slowly nodded as he looked down in shame. “But later, it didn’t feel so good, did it?”
“No sir…” Flash murmured. Burnt Oak nodded in sympathy.
“It’s in those kinda moments that ya really need to think, to do what ya know is right rather then what ya feel like doing.” They moved along for a little while in silence. Flash kicked his heels gently over the edge of the wagon as he thought over all that had happened. The image of how Slipstream appeared when he was punching him flashed across his mind, he winced.
He was…afraid of me. What if he’s right? What if I did steal mom’s magic? What if she is only watching me because everypony secretly thinks I might be dangerous? His first thought was to ask Sunset about this which instantly caused a fresh wave of grief to crash into his heart as he remembered that she was gone, causing him to grimace in pain.
They eventually came up onto an old, wooden shack. It was dark and weathered with age but appeared to have been well maintained. It had a single door and a small, square window offset next to it. There was a tree-stump with an axe sticking out of it to the its side along with a small pavilion under which more split wood was piled. A small, stone well with a bucket and pully sat further behind the small shack. “Ah, here we are.” The pony said. The wheels of the cart bumped slightly as he pulled off the main road and back onto the grass. Flash looked curiously at the new location.
“Is this where you live?” He inquired. Burnt Oak unhitched himself as he came to a stop beside the covered wood-pile.
“Nope, not really. I live further south in a town called Ponyville. This is just a simple, halfway point that I use to get wood to customers who live further away.” Flash had heard about Ponyville from Rainbow Dash. She told him that she had other friends there that she wanted to introduce him to. Flash hopped down from the wagon, staggering as his sore, right leg threatened to buckle under him.
“So, what now?” The pony looked at him and smiled.
“Now, I unload this wood. Want to lend a hoof?” Flash nodded as he began to grab the cuts of wood from the back of the wagon. Together, the two of them stacked the pieces carefully on top of the rest of the pile until the wagon was empty. Flash felt a bit of comfort in working with his hands, anything to take his mind off of the unpleasant thoughts and feelings he found himself still struggling with. After they were finished, Burnt Oak put a hoof gently under the human’s chin and examined his face,
“Ya might want to put some ice on that eye of yours when you get home. But I think you’ll be a’right.” Flash smiled sadly as the pony released his chin.
“Thank you sir, for your help…” he said shyly. The stallion nodded in acknowledgement.
“You’re very welcome son.” He reached under his kerchief and pulled out a shiny golden bit before tossing it to Flash who caught it with a surprised expression. “Every stallion deserves his keep.” Burnt Oak said with a friendly wink. Flash looked at the money in his hands, and then back to the pony.
“You don’t have to give me this, sir.” The pony shook his head and smiled.
“Sure I do. But I tell ya what, you come back here this time next week. Give me a hoof with some of my work here, if its fine with your ma’ that is, and I’ll see to it ya earn what you do, fair?” He held out a hoof which Flash, after a moment’s hesitation, grasped firmly and shook. “You run along home now youngster, be good now, ya hear?”
Flash felt tears of gratitude coming to his eyes at the stallion’s warmth and kindness. He simply nodded his head quickly before turning about, beginning the long walk towards home.
“Another fight Flash?” Bright Skies let out a disappointed sigh as she gently wiped some of the dried blood off of her son’s chin with a damp cloth as he sat on the couch of their living room; his right cheekbone was turning an amazing shade of purple. The small human looked away, downcast as he felt unable to look her in the eye. The late afternoon sun still filtered in through the windows of their cloud house, not helped by the grey overcast moved in by the last weather team.
“I have no excuse,” he said quietly. “I let my temper get the better of me, again.” The pink pegasus could not help but marvel at the succinctness of his words. She felt conflicted; grateful for his maturity, and at the same time, upset that Sunset Shimmer’s strict discipline had caused him to mature so quickly.
He’s only a child… She picked up his torn shirt, her heart aching at the sight of the various bruises and scrapes that marked his small torso. Something was not right about him, she had noticed it since he had first arrived home that something had seriously disturbed him. He had been in a few scuffles before, but even then, he had never appeared this sullen and upset about them afterwards. She knew he was distressed for getting into another fight, but there was something different this time. It just felt wrong, very wrong. Bright Skies gently laid a hoof on his small shoulder, but he would not meet her gaze,
“What’s the matter dear?” She said with all the tenderness she could muster. “Do you want to talk about it? You know you can tell me anything.” The boy wanted to talk, to tell everything that had happened to the pony he loved more than life itself, but he wasn’t ready to. He felt like an injured animal that only wanted to be left alone to lick its wounds. He slowly let out the breath that he had been holding,
“Not now…maybe later.” Bright Skies clenched her jaw at the wall he had just thrown up, but relented with a nod.
“I…understand dear, but I’ll be here when you’re ready.” He still wouldn’t look at her. Time to change tactics. “Are you hungry Flash? I can make fried fish for you tonight if you want.” She knew that was his favorite meal, a guaranteed win. Flash sat still for a moment before shaking his head.
“No, thank you. I think I just wanna go to my room.” Even though his stomach cramped with hunger, he felt far too conflicted to eat anything. Bright Skies felt herself go from worried to full-blown panic. Flash had never turned down food before, let alone his favorite meal. She looked on in stunned silence, taking a few steps back as the boy suddenly stood up and walked towards the soft cloud staircase that led to his room. She clutched his shirt to her chest, longing clawed at her heart.
“Would you, like for me to give you a bath dear?” Flash paused for a moment before shaking his head,
“I’ll get it myself, thanks…” he said quietly. Bright Skies could only stare on in helpless impotence as he walked away. After another moment, she heard the door to his room slam shut.
What should I do…Her ears folded flat against her head as she slumped down on her haunches, feeling utterly defeated. What can I do?!
Flash felt terrible for leaving her, but he was at a complete loss as what to make of the day he had just experienced. Once he had arrived at his room, he paused to take a look around. It was a typical bedroom that any colt his age would be proud to have. Above his twin bed was a poster of Canterlot. Celestia herself had signed it for him in her beautiful calligraphy. It read, “May Harmony always be with you Flash Skies! Love, Princess Celestia.” The golden telescope on the windowsill was also a gift from her. She was like a dear aunt to him, a second mother. Every Hearth’s Warming, as well as on on the anniversary of his arrival to Equestria, she would always send him a thoughtful gift. They wrote to each other regularly and she would even visit from time to time, usually coming with Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset…The pain in his heart was overwhelming; he collapsed forward onto his cloud-bed. Is this what it feels like when somepony dies?
Turning his head, Flash looked over at his night stand and stared at a framed picture of himself with Princess Celestia and Sunset. It had been taken over a year ago, he could still feel the pleasant, warm afternoon sun of that happy day in front of his house. The picture showed him wearing a red shirt with black shorts while sporting a big, goofy grin on his face as he leaned a hug into his teacher’s shoulder while Celestia smiled down warmly at the pair of them. Sunset was captured mid-eyeroll, but she was still smiling. He reached over and pulled the picture over so that it lay face down on the night stand. It hurt too much to look at right now. After a few minutes, he began to drift off. ‘She’s not your real mom…’ Was the last thought to echo through his mind as he fell into a fitful slumber filled with dark dreams that prowled at the edges of his mind.
Bright Skies rolled over in her own bed for what must have been the hundredth time. It was late, she was exhausted, and yet she knew that there was little chance of her getting any sleep that night. As she lay on her back, she glanced over to stare out the window at the moon hanging in the night sky over Equestria like a silent sentinel; the Mare in the moon stared back.
And what are you looking at? Bright Skies had always enjoyed sleeping with the moonlight coming in through at least one window, she must have had a thestral somewhere in the ancestral bloodline.
Rolling back over, she rested her chin down on her forelimbs, sighing as she ran through the same thoughts all over again. What could have happened today? What happened to my baby? She had spent the whole evening prior in restless pacing and menial tasks as she tried to figure that out. So many times, she had almost knocked on her son’s door, but each time had held back. As Bright Skies replayed the evening’s events over again in her mind, she suddenly came to a new, dreadful realization. He didn’t called me ‘mom’ once since he came home. The thought felt like an icy blade twisting right into her heart.
As tears threatened to form in her eyes, her right ear flicked as she caught the sound of somepony faintly tapping at her bedroom door as it slowly creaked open. She immediately raised her head and turned to see her son standing there in the doorway under the pale moonlight. Still shirtless, he was tightly hugging his bare torso with his arms, his hair was askew; his face a twisted visage of emotional agony. Bright Skies jaw worked up and down a few times in wordless anguish as they stared in silence at each other.
“M-mom?” He finally whimpered, “Can I sleep here tonight?”
The pegasus responded simply by lifting a wing in invitation. The small human immediately clambered up onto the bed and instantly snuggled into her warm side as she dropped her wing over his trembling form. Bright Skies encircled her tail protectively around him, twisting her neck to nuzzle him as she placed a few, tender kisses on his forehead. She could feel how tense he was against her; his whole body was shaking in distress.
“Flash,” she whispered, he looked up at her from under her wing. Her eyes shimmered as she smiled sadly at him before softly saying, “It’s alright to cry when we need to. Please cry.”
That was all it took. It was like watching a dam break. With a few heaving breaths, the boy buried his face into her barrel as a torrent of grief and pain came out of him in a flood of tears that she could feel soaking into her coat. He didn’t wail, but groaned and whined in deep, panting sobs that shook his small form. The mother held her son tightly against her with her wing, tears running down her own cheeks as she soothingly whispered,
“It’s okay, it’s okay, let it all out. Everything is going to be okay…”
It felt like several minutes before he finally began to calm down, and several more after that before he spoke. Bright Skies gently stroked his back with her wing as she patiently waited for him. Flash turned his head so that he was looking up at her; his eyes were still wet, but his breathing had slowed. He felt comforted by her familiar scent, her warmth and closeness that he had known since he was an infant as he listened to the steady beat of her heart. He reached up and placed a hand on her side in front of his face, gently petting her in an almost absentminded fashion. Silk could not begin to compare to the softness of his mother's coat.
“She’s gone…” he finally said, his voice cracking slightly.
“Who’s gone dear?”
“Sunset. She said that she was leaving Equestria, and that she may never come back. She left us…” he trailed off as he nearly broke down again. Bright Skies closed her eyes in comprehension.
Oh Celestia…so that’s it! She opened her eyes as she leaned down to nuzzle his forehead. “I’m so sorry, Flash. I’m so sorry that she’s gone, that you had to hear that.” And truthfully, she was. Sunset Shimmer may have rubbed her the wrong way at times, but deep down, she could not thank her enough for all that she had done for her son. “Flash, we can never control what others do, but we can control what we do, and how we let other’s choices affect who we are.”
Do what you know is right. The old stallion’s words echoed through his mind. “It still hurts though…” Flash murmered. Bright Skies smiled sympathetically,
“It always does my dear. Sometimes, it’s the ones who are closest to us who hurt us the most.” She grimaced slightly at the memory of her old coltfriend. “But, you don’t have to let it change you,”
“…Except for the better.” He said, finishing her statement. She beamed at him proudly.
“That’s right, my heart.” They were silent for a short while after that, content to simply enjoy the other’s presence; Bright Skies continued to gently stroke him with her wing. Flash stared ahead blankly as he rested his head against her while continuing to softly pet her side. She could tell there was something else still bothering him.
“Mom?” Her ear flopped at him.
“Yes dear?” His face squinted in concentration before his eyes moved up to meet hers.
“Did I…steal your magic?” Bright Skies blinked as she felt her jaw drop, her wing paused mid-stroke.
“Did you…what?! Who in Equestria told you such an evil thing?!” She exclaimed in a surge of outrage. Flash swallowed as he allowed his gaze to drop away.
“It was Slipstream…” Bright Skies ground her teeth in anger.
Why that little…why can children be so cruel?!
“He also said, that you’re not my real mother. That it’s just your job to watch m-” Flash was cut off as his mother suddenly sat up and seized him under his arms, lifting him up and setting him down on his knees with a speed that even Rainbow Dash would envy. She rested both hooves on his shoulders and leaned down, looking him directly in the eyes with a fierceness he had never seen from her before, there was a fire in her eyes so intense and sharp that he actually gulped.
Now it all makes sense…She held his gaze for another moment. “Flash Skies.” She practically growled. “For the rest of your life, I never want you to entertain such a wicked lie ever again, even for a second, do I make myself clear?!” Flash blinked in shock before slowly nodding.
“Yes’m,” he squeaked. She continued,
“I asked to be your mother, Flash. I practically begged the princess for that privilege! And as far as my magic goes, well," She leaned back and smiled slyly at him, "That was providence. I couldn’t be happier that you have it, and I couldn’t be prouder of how well you are able to use it." Bright Skies then leaned down close to him until her velvety muzzle brushed softy against his little nose, and with all of the overflowing love only a true mother could express tenderly whispered to him, "I would gladly give you my wings if I could.”
Tears of complete and utter gratitude began to well up in Flash's eyes as he listened to her declare her absolute love for him, feeling ashamed that he had ever entertained the doubts that had assailed him earlier. The boy grasped her forelimb with one hand and nuzzled it with the side of his face.
“Th-thanks mom…I love you too...” She then pulled him into a warm embrace, wrapping both her forelimbs and wings around him, holding him tightly against her fluffy chest; he hugged her fiercely in return. They stayed that way for a wonderful amount of time, neither of them wanting the special moment to end. Bright Skies knew in her heart of hearts, that she was meant to do this, that it was her vocation to be a mother. She whispered to him,
“No matter where you came from, no matter where you may go, I will always be your mother Flash. Nothing will ever change that.” She felt him nod against her as half-a-sob escaped from him. Flash had never felt happier, or more loved in his entire life. He silently thanked harmony and the Creator of all things that he had such a pony to call his mother.
“I’m so sorry I got into that fight, mom.” He finally managed to say. Flash felt his inner resolve harden like steel, a surge of confidence rising within him like a blazing fire. He thought of Sunset, of Princess Celestia; he would do them and his mother proud. “I don’t want to hurt anypony. For the rest of my life, I only want to help and protect others, just as you and everypony else have helped me.” Bright Skies smiled as she looked down at him.
“And I know you’ll be great at that, dear.” She suddenly noticed a momentary flash of light appear beneath her wings. Confused, she pulled them back and instantly cried out for joy. Flash snapped his head up.
“Flash! Look! Look down! Look at your shoulders!” He immediately looked to see what she was referring to. There, clearly emblazoned on each shoulder, was the image of a grey kite shield with a bright-yellow lightning bolt across the front of it.
“It’s…it’s my…” He was at a loss for words. Tears of pure joy flowed down Bright Skies’ cheeks.
“Yes dear…it’s your cutie mark.” She had been wrong before, neither of them would be getting any sleep that night.