"May I just say, Sir, it is an absolute honour to have been chosen to remain with you," Flash remarked with a bow.
"YES, I IMAGINE IT WOULD BE," Solaris replied, no doubt with a tone of sarcasm had he the means to actually do so.
"I have to say though," Flash began. "I'm curious as to why I've never heard of you. History books talk of your daughters, but your name never once appeared."
"I IMAGINE MY KIDS DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT ME. WE NEVER HAD THE HAPPIEST OF RELATIONSHIPS."
"Oh," Flash replied. "I'm...sorry for prying, Sir."
"NO APOLOGY NEEDED, LAD. I'M JUST GLAD I HAVEN'T BEEN LEFT DOWN HERE TO ACCUMULATE COBWEBS...AGAIN."
Flash's smile resumed. "Well, Sir, you can count on me to serve you and your needs." He saluted. "How may I be of assistance?"
A pause as the old king considered that. "WELL...SINCE I'VE BEEN OUT OF THE LOOP FOR A WHILE, THERE ARE A FEW QUESTIONS I'LL NEED ANSWERING."
"Well, I'm not exactly privy to all that occurs in Equestria, but I'll certainly tell you what I know."
"GOOD. FIRST AND FOREMOST. YOU MENTIONED A PRINCESS TWILIGHT WHEN YOU ARRIVED. SHALL I ASSUME THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE THREE NEW ALICORNS WHO HAVE EMERGED IN THE CENTURIES I'VE BEEN GONE?"
Flash smiled. "Indeed she is, Sir. Perhaps the most famous pony in the land right now." He turned, looking to the great doors of the chamber that he'd entered through. "She's a hero to many of us, having saved Equestria alongside her friends more times than I can count. Truly, if ever there was a pony who deserved the title, it's her."
"WELL THEN, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT PONYKIND STILL RESPECTS AND ADMIRES THOSE WHO HAVE ASCENDED TO ALICORNHOOD."
Flash turned back to him. "No question there, Sir. All of us look forward to seeing what kind of days lie ahead of us now that she sits upon the throne."
"...PARDON?" Solaris asked.
"Sir," Flash asked back.
"DID YOU JUST SAY THAT SHE NOW RULES EQUESTRIA?"
"Um...well...yes? She had her coronation quite recently."
"AND WHAT OF MY DAUGHTERS?"
"Oh. They...retired?" the stallion answered, suddenly feeling more than a little worried about the information he was revealing.
"RETIRED? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT MY CHILDREN JUST UP AND LEFT THEIR POSTS TO THE NEW GIRL?"
"Well, it's not as if they just dumped it on her and left," Flash explained. "Princess Twilight has been growing into her role for some years now. And besides, given the long history of your daughters' reign, it's not unreasonable that they'd want to move on."
"THERE IS NO 'MOVING ON' FROM THE DUTIES OF AN ALICORN, BOY. WE'RE MEANT TO BE THE LEADERS OF PONYKIND. TO STAND HIGH ABOVE IT ALL AND SERVE AS EXAMPLES OF HOW TO BE. YOU DON'T JUST RETIRE FROM THAT."
Flash scratched the back of his head as he considered his response. "If it makes you feel any better, we'll likely remember Celestia's reign for generations. She guided us well for all those years and became perhaps the most beloved mare in history."
"...AND LUNA TOO?"
"I think it'd be hard to compare, given Luna's recent return to us," Flash answered innocently.
"...RETURN? FROM WHERE?"
Flash halted here, his eyes widening with realisation. "Oh! I thought...I thought you'd have been told, Sir."
"TOLD WHAT, EXACTLY?"
His conversation partner looked away awkwardly. "I'm...not sure if it's my place to tell you."
"SO HELP ME, SENTRY. IF YOU DON'T TELL ME THERE'LL BE A FLIPPING RECKONING!"
Flash sighed. "Well...you see...a thousand years ago there was...a disagreement between the sisters."
"...GO ON."
Realising that he had little recourse but to just lay the cards all out on the table, Flash prepared himself for what he knew would be an unhappy reaction. "A thousand years ago, owing to the division of rulership between them, Luna grew unhappy that the population of Equestria favoured her sister. She felt that she was unloved because ponies were asleep when she was in charge. Because of this, dark magic took hold of her, transforming her into a being known as Nightmare Moon. She and Celestia fought, resulting in Nightmare being trapped in the moon for a thousand years. It was only recently that she became free once more, and thanks to the intervention of Twilight she was able to be restored back to her former self. Since then, the sisters have reconciled, ruling Equestria together just as they did in the past."
There was a long pause, which Flash was most certainly not comfortable with, but in the end, Solaris did indeed give his thoughts. "WELL, I WAS EXPECTING SOME BUMPS IN THEIR RULE, BOT NOTHING ON THAT SCALE."
"Things...resolved themselves in the end, Sir," Flash reasoned, clearly trying to keep him from getting too upset.
"AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS, I'D CALL THAT A FAIRLY LATE RESOLUTION," he snapped back, the room shaking as he did so. "THIS IS JUST GRAND. I RETURN AFTER ALL THIS TIME TO DISCOVER THAT HALF OF MY PROGENY SUCCUMBED TO DARK POWERS AND THEN WENT TO WAR WITH THE OTHER HALF. I MUST BE THE ONLY FATHER IN THE UNIVERSE THAT'S EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THAT KIND OF NONSENSE."
Flash glanced to the side. "Huh...why do I suddenly feel like I need to correct him on that?"
"WELL, THAT SETTLES THINGS. SENTRY, YOUR TASK FROM THIS POINT FORWARD IS TO KEEP ME INFORMED OF EVERY SINGLE RIDICULOUS THING THAT'S HAPPENED WHILE I'VE BEEN GONE. CLEARLY, EQUESTRIA HAS BEEN UNDER POOR MANAGEMENT FOR FAR TOO LONG, AND I NEED TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF MESS I NEED TO CLEAN UP."
Flash paused after hearing that, letting his new role sink in for him. In that silence, he looked behind him, to the massive doors that led to the rest of the palace, before turning back to Solaris. After a while, and after doing all of the adding up in his head, his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh. "I...only got this job because your daughters didn't want to be around you for long periods of time, didn't I?"
"STOP THE PRESSES, THE BOY ACTUALLY HAS A BRAINCELL OR TWO."