It only took a moment for Flash Sentry’s eyes to adjust to the darkness of the Crystal Hearth’s lounge. Years as a guard had honed his senses down to rapid reflexes, and while he knew he didn’t need to be alert here, he practised his vigilance regardless.
The Crystal Hearth was the spot of choice for the Empire’s Royal Guards to wet their whistles and warm their bellies, and after a long cold shift patrolling the outskirts of the Frozen North, Flash was ready to take all the comfort that he could get. He stopped once the door swung shut behind him, and took a deep breath to dive deep into the mood as quickly as possible.
Somewhere off in a dimly lit corner a smartly dressed mare was sliding her hooves up and down a grand piano, her body swaying back and forth to the gentle trickling melody that issued forth from her instrument. Flash smirked and looked away. There wasn’t much cuter in the world than a pony totally lost into their hobby, and the sight of the pianist started to thaw his frozen hooves. He kicked the last of the ice off of his hindlegs and proceeded further in, taking in the rest of the lounge.
It was dark, as always. Gas lamps threw a flickering glow over red velvet booths and darkly varnished tables. None of the ponies in the room paid more attention to Flash than a quick glance, totally absorbed into their own relaxation. Some were sitting in large groups, their boisterous energy muted by the calming environment set by the piano and lighting. Others were sat in pairs, huddled close together in quiet laughter or even silence. The scent of ale was rich throughout the building, and frothing mugs tapped and rattled onto their coasters with a strangely rhythmic tune as tired guards took deep swigs.
Flash’s eyes alighted to a curious sight in the Crystal Hearth. Not only was there a pony that wasn’t paired with any other sitting huddled down at the bar, but it wasn’t even a pony. The creature’s body was a uniform matte black, save for a dimly glowing turquoise on its back. Sad—he felt they were sad, but the absence of tears or, well, anything outside of that same turquoise glow made it difficult to tell—eyes looked down at their own mug. Instantly a new goal settled into Flash’s mind, and without a second thought he strode further to the faded leather stool next to them.
“O-oh, uh, sorry, I didn’t know you wanted… I-I’ll move, no worries—” the changeling flustered, his wings buzzing once in surprise as Flash settled down onto the stool. With a strong—though, he hoped, friendly—pat on its back, Flash pushed them back down to their seat, and then smiled affectionately.
“Hey there,” he started, before catching the bartender’s eye and nodding for a drink. “No need to run away now. I came here alone too and was hoping for some conversation myself.” He patted its back again, marvelling inwardly at the sturdy chitin as he did so, and then pulled his foreleg back.
“S-sir, look, I really, I really don’t want to cause any trouble, it’s just really cold out tonight and I thought a drink could, it’s fine, really, I’ll…”
Flash glanced at him queerly but reined his raised eyebrow back in the moment he caught their startled expression. “There’s no harm meant, friend. Honest. Name’s Flash, Flash Sentry. How about you?”
“...Me?”
“You got a name?”
“Oh! Uh, Thorax.”
Flash gave a curious nod at this and sent another beaming smile. “Thorax. That’s right. I remember that name now. Prince Shining’s new friend.”
Thorax turned away and looked back at his drink. “Y-yeah. Something like that. Nobody else’s, though.”
Flash thanked the bartender for his drink and took a deep pull on it, thinking. A month ago he and every other guard were on the highest alert for this changeling, and then the next day were all being told he was free to stay at the castle and request to visit the Royal Family whenever he wanted. It never bothered Flash any, but the rest of the guard were even more stubborn to change than Shining Armor himself. Gingerly he reached his foreleg out again and, hesitating only a second, set it on Thorax’s back and started rubbing consolingly.
“Well, mine now, too.”
It was Thorax’s turn to look curiously confused. “You’re not afraid of me?”
“Well, I think the whole concern is that you’ll replace our loved ones and steal our heart and soul or something, and right now you don’t look like any pony I’ve loved.” He chuckled lightly before continuing. “You’re halfway there, but I’d like to think I’m clever enough to notice if you just changed right now.”
Thorax chuckled himself. It was hesitant, half-hearted, but Flash counted it as a win already.
“You don’t even need to be afraid of that. I don’t want to steal love from anypony.” He paused, visibly judging Flash for a moment before continuing. “It’s sweeter when it’s freely given, anyways.”
“What’s it taste like?”
“Huh?”
“Love. What does it taste like?”
Thorax stared at Flash and it was incredibly likely that, had he eyelids, he would have been blinking. “You know, I-I never really… It’s not like, we don’t really…” He frowned, the words trailing off into the echoes of piano notes. Flash said nothing, opting instead to savor the earthy ale and the warmth that had begun to radiate into his limbs from his stomach.
“You ever go a full day without eating,” Thorax continued, speaking not at Flash but somewhere a thousand yards away in front of him, “and not just not eating but not able to eat? Or even longer?”
Flash nodded. Soldier life was big on rations, but in emergencies they aren’t always given priority.
“And then, after that, after the pangs and the frustration and th-the just, plain miserableness of it all, you get something really warm and filling into you? Do you know that feeling?”
“Yup,” Flash said, his mouth already watering at memories of hot meals after cold patrols.
“That’s what love tastes like. Not the sense of fullness. That sense of relief.”
“Sounds like a pretty fancy way of living to me.”
Thorax sighed deeply and sunk further into his mug. Quickly Flash signalled the bartender over and ordered two more ales. In an instant they were on the counter before them, and Flash winked at the grumpy looking stallion behind the bar.
“Glad to see you’re not as stuck up as the other patrons in here,” he whispered to him.
“Tips is tips,” the bartender growled back, before stepping back up to the register.
“You, uh…” Thorax started, pushing his empty glass away and, after glancing at Flash’s smile and holding his new mug, shifting his stool an inch or so closer to the pegasus, “I meant it pretty literally. You don’t get the relief without the pain. The… hunger.”
“You hungry now?” Flash asked slowly, eyeing Thorax for his reaction.
“Always,” the changeling sighed, starting to slump forward onto the bar again. “Always hungry. Though not… not as bad, since coming here. Ponies love a lot. In a lot of different ways.” He glanced over his shoulder at one of the larger groups of guards on the other end of the bar. “Some of them, anyways.”
“Tell me about them.”
“Huh?”
Flash sighed and started rubbing Thorax’s shoulders again. The changeling didn’t jump at his touch this time. In fact, his chitinous cheeks somehow managed a blush, and he leaned towards Flash—just a little bit, but a bit all the same.
“How ponies can love. I think it’s interesting. I wanna hear more.”
“W-well, uh, they—you do?” Thorax asked, a fangy smile finally sneaking onto his face.
“Yeah. I’m big on love. Love to love. I love when others love. See her?” Flash asked, swivelling around on his stool to point at the mare at the piano. Thorax followed his hoof, subconsciously trying to hide himself before realizing the expression on her face.
She was totally lost into the music now, her eyes closed and face repose as if she were asleep and the notes were simply using her as a means to play themselves. Back and forth she moved, swinging and swaying with a flow so smooth and soft she seemed like a sheet of silk in the wind.
“O-oh,” Thorax stammered, the catch in his voice for once not from nerves.
“That’s true beauty to me,” Flash started.
“Oh,” Thorax muttered, slightly dejected.
“When a pony gets into something they love like that. And you,” Flash emphasised, turning back round and swinging Thorax back with him, “seem like a pony who is a love connoisseur.”
Another blush.
“When you, uh, when you put it like that, it sounds… Makes me sound a bit too special than I am.”
Flash’s hoof reached out but didn’t rest on Thorax’s back this time. Instead it found his foreleg, and settled gently onto it while the changeling stared bug-eyed at it. Despite Thorax’s shock his leg didn’t recoil, and Flash left it there for him to marvel at.
“Well, maybe with a lot more time to find out you can prove me wrong, but my first impression is it suits you just fine.”
“I, well, thanks, I-I, you know, that’s…” Thorax stammered and stuttered before looking up at Flash’s face and snapping his jaw shut. He swallowed hard and let himself smile brightly once again. “You’re the first pony outside the Royal Family to treat me with any kindness.”
Flash nodded. “I figured.”
“And the first creature to treat me this nicely, too.”
“Hopefully not the last, though.”
Thorax squinted. “I… I’m sorry, I know it’s not polite to question every gesture and interaction, but really, I just… I have to ask, I’m a changeling, I’m not even a pony, I-I probably shouldn’t be here in the Empire and I definitely shouldn’t be out of the castle yet, and you’re just… You’re…”
“Yeah?” Flash asked, hiding his grin behind a long pull of his drink.
“You’re… you’ve been really sweet, but… Why me?”
Flash savored his drink for a moment while he prepared his words, and Thorax waited patiently, his turquoise eyes drilling into Flash’s. After one more swig, he sat the empty mug down and turned to face the changeling.
“Doesn’t make any sense to me that we’d serve a Princess of Love and not practice what she stands for, you know? Like I told you, I like love. I like it when a creature loves what they do and when two friends show their love by going out for drinks and when two partners bare themselves true to each other and when a creature knows how to love themselves. You,” he emphasised, poking Thorax on his inflexible chest, “are more an expert on love than I could ever hope to be. I think it’d work out well for both of us if you had an ear to go on about your knowledge and passion.”
“...Wow, I real—”
“Plus, you’re pretty cute.”
“—lywhauagh, what, ahhh, er,”
“And I’m wondering if you’d like to go someplace else and get a bite to eat.”
Thorax regained control of his tongue, though his wings had started to chirp quietly despite his attempts at restraint. He blushed again, the blue almost shining through his cheek like a beacon, and then finished his own drink off.
“You know, Flash,” he said, pulling himself tall and meeting eyes with him, “I’m actually feeling pretty full already.”