Before their discussion on the balcony of the Crystal Palace, Princess Cadence and Commander Comet Frost had already a relationship that went beyond that of leader and subordinate. However, they had merely regarded each other as casual acquaintances and reliable peers. After the aqua Unicorn told the pink Alicorn about his backstory, the two of them gradually began to develop a stronger bond.
Comet Frost had made it clear that if Cadence ever needed a shoulder to lean on, he would be there for her. His job already required him to be there for the princess, but this offer went beyond the obligations of the Royal Guard. He assured her that he would be there for her on both a professional and a personal level.
Cadence was very grateful for this, and out of courtesy, she extended the same offer to Comet Frost. She assured him that if he was ever bothered by his past, his duties as a Royal Guard, his personal life, or anything else, he could feel free to come to her for support.
While Comet Frost appreciated that gesture, he was hesitant to accept it. He did not feel it would be very proper for the princess to be the one comforting her bodyguard and not the other way around. Aside from that, he rarely ever needed comforting, as he had been trained not to feel distressed by any events or emotions he underwent. Still, he kept Cadence's offer in mind, as he had already been able to trust her with the knowledge of his checkered past.
All the same, Comet Frost felt that the person who should have been most concerned about Cadence's well-being was her husband. Despite how busy Shining Armor was with the preparations for the Equestria Games, Comet Frost was obligated to bring his wife's loneliness and depression to his Captain's attention.
So a couple days after his conversation with Cadence, Comet Frost sought out Shining Armor. It took the aqua stallion a surprisingly long time to locate the white stallion. He searched the entire palace and was unable to find him. Then it occurred to him that Shining Armor was probably continuing to supervise the preparations for the Equestria Games.
With that in mind, he went outside the palace to continue his search. He headed straight for the district that had been designated for the new buildings. A couple months prior, the area had been little more than an empty patch of land. In the time since then, the construction teams had made a lot of progress. Half of the new buildings had already been completed, and the other half were well under way.
Comet Frost conducted a thorough examination of the small district, but he still failed to locate Shining Armor. Strangely enough, the Captain was not the only one missing; all the other Royal Guard who were supposed to be supervising were absent from the area, as well. Curious as to their whereabouts, Comet Frost approached the construction foreman and asked if he had seen his fellow officers.
The foreman was more than willing to explain why the Royal Guard were not present. He claimed that some complications had arisen earlier that day. He had reason to believe that the floors on some of the multistory buildings might not have been reinforced before the supports were put in. Because of this, construction had to be temporarily halted so that each of the buildings could be inspected. This may have seemed like an extreme measure, but it was also the only way to ascertain the stability of the walls. If the construction teams went ahead without doing this, they would run the risk of having one or more of the new buildings collapse after they were inhabited.
Since the inspection was just standard construction protocol, the Royal Guard did not have to be present for it. As such, Shining Armor had chosen to give all the Royal Guard on the supervising committee the rest of the day off. Consequentially, most of those officers had gone back inside the palace. The rest of them had decided to stop by the tavern before returning to their posts. The foreman recalled that Shining Armor had been in the latter group.
Upon receiving this bit of information, Comet Frost thanked the foreman for his time and departed from the vicinity. Then he quickly made his way to the pub, and he found a couple dozen of his fellow officers gathered there. Some were conversing with civilians, others were playing cards, and a couple were visiting with family.
Comet Frost spotted Shining Armor at a table near the back. He seemed to be talking with a young mare. This sight took Comet Frost by surprise, and it left him somewhat perplexed. He had never seen Shining Armor talk with a mare who was not in the Canterlot Royalty or Royal Guard. To see him doing such a thing now was a little… disconcerting.
Comet Frost had a bit of a history of prematurely jumping to conclusions. Luckily, he did no such thing this time. If he had, this situation would not have ended well for him, Shining Armor, or anypony else in the bar.
The aqua stallion calmly trotted over to the table and politely cleared his throat to get the attention of the two ponies seated there. The mare and the white stallion immediately turned towards Comet Frost. The latter nodded in acknowledgment and stated "Commander Frost."
"Captain Armor," the aqua stallion said in response, nodding. He turned to the mare and told her cordially "Good afternoon, madam."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir," the mare rejoined, smiling.
Comet Frost tentatively smiled back. He wondered who this mare could have been and why Shining Armor would be speaking to her. Almost as if he had read the aqua stallion's mind, Shining Armor announced to his fellow officer "Comet, allow me to introduce you to one of the Crystal Empire's most influential natives, Lambent Flare."
The mare remained smiling and extended her front hoof to him. Comet Frost slowly gazed down at her hoof, as if he was contemplating whether or not to accept the gesture. However, she seemed friendly and open-minded. So he slowly lifted his own front hoof and shook Lambent Flare's. Initially, he was inclined to be gentle with her, but it turned out she had a very strong grip.
Lambent Flare had a rather respectable appearance. She had a tawny coat, a light brown mane, and lime green irises. Her cutie mark was a torch, and her entire body was sparkling, meaning that she was a crystal pony. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and she was wearing a peculiar interest. It had jewels in place of beads, and the trinket at the bottom contained a symbol of a cross inside a circle.
After the hoofshake, Comet Frost inquired in interest "Influential in what way?"
"The locals view her as a symbol of endurance and hope," Shining Armor enlightened him, "It was partly because of her that the Crystal Empire survived King Sombra's rule."
Comet Frost was astonished to discover that. He turned to the crystal mare and asked her "Is that true?"
"Somewhat," Lambent Flare replied, shrugging slightly, "Captain Armor's exaggerating a bit. I won't deny that I played a role in securing my people's survival before Sombra was banished."
Comet Frost had known this mare for less than thirty seconds, but by this point, he was already intrigued to learn more about her. He set his front hooves on the table, leaned closer to Lambent Flare, and queried "Just what, pray tell, did you do?"
"It may take a while to explain, Commander," Lambent Flare notified him.
"That's fine by me," Comet Frost proclaimed, "I'm off-duty for the next few hours, and I've got nothing planned until I return to my post. So right now, I've got plenty of time to listen."
Lambent Flare smirked and remarked "In that case, Commander, pull up a chair and I'll tell you of my contribution to this town."
Comet Frost nodded in agreement, pulled back one of the chairs to the table, and sat down in it. Once he was settled, he looked to the tawny mare and eagerly beckoned her "Proceed."
Lambent Flare then gave a thorough recollection of the Crystal Empire's distant past. Like the rest of her people, she had regained her memories of life before King Sombra's rule. However, he had usurped the Empire when she was just a filly. She had been born free but raised as a slave. However, as she grew up, she came to acquire a deeply empathetic and rebellious personality. She was one of those individuals who is effected worse by the misery of others than their own misery. When she saw how badly her people suffered at the hooves of King Sombra, Lambent Flare became strongly motivated to somehow find a way to relieve them of their pain.
Although King Sombra was practically omnipresent and omniscient in the Crystal Empire, even he did not have the means to monitor the activities of every single one of his slaves for every minute of every day. While the city's population was always working, not all of them worked at the same time. Three-quarters of the crystal ponies were always at work while the remaining quarter would get some rest. They rotated shifts every six hours. Whichever quarter of the population was sleeping would not be monitored by King Sombra until they returned to work.
Lambent Flare saw a way to use this to her advantage. Whenever she and the others in her quarter were not working, she did one of two things. She slept, and she spoke to her companions. She did not talk about rudimentary subjects like how to divide their rations or how to put up with the aches they received from their arduous toils. Instead, she talked to them about… alternatives to their current lifestyle. She filled their heads with visionary ideals. She asked them to imagine a life from before Sombra arrived. It would be a life devoid of shackles and hard labor. To many of them, freedom had become a foreign concept, but they shared Lambent's desire for it.
When Lambent Flare's people were properly motivated, she proposed that they act on their wish for a new beginning. They managed to spread the word of this to the other three quarters of the population, and everypony wanted in on this conspiracy. Shortly after, the crystal ponies began to form a covert resistance movement against King Sombra. It was not long before the movement was established, and once it was up and running, the crystal ponies launched a plot to bring Sombra down.
They implemented two different strategies to accomplish this objective. Firstly, they tried searching for the crystal heart. All citizens of the Crystal Empire knew of its legendary ability to repel any and all threats and dark forces from the city, and the heart was regarded as the only object powerful enough to vanquish King Sombra.
The resistance decided that finding the crystal heart was top priority. Unfortunately, they did not have very much luck in this endeavor. The only time they could afford to search without drawing Sombra's attention was when they were supposed to be sleeping. They had to sacrifice the only hours of solace they had in their hellish lives to look for the key to their salvation. Even those of them who were not fatigued were unable to come up with any sign of the crystal heart. They looked and looked and looked for the relic, but it seemed to be nowhere in the entire city.
Before long, Sombra caught on to what the resistance was up to. Almost half of the insurgents were subsequently captured and executed by Sombra. He warned the remaining members of the resistance and the rest of the crystal ponies that they would all receive the same fate if they attempted to overthrow him again. He also boasted that he had hidden the crystal heart somewhere where they would never find it.
Some members of the resistance wanted to continue looking for the crystal heart, but the majority did not feel the risk was worth it, seeing as how so many of their companions had died in the search for it. So the resistance promptly ended the search for the crystal heart. The way they saw it, they only had one alternative to defeat Sombra: they had to seek out help from outside the Empire.
This was before the Crystal Empire had been officially recognized as a part of Equestria. However, every one of the crystal ponies had heard the tale of how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had defeated the infamous draconequus Discord. It was their hope that the two Alicorns could give King Sombra the same fate.
The resistance quickly decided that they needed to send a request for aid to Equestria. However, they had no means of delivering a message or communicating over long distances. So in order to contact the rulers of Equestria, one of the Crystal Empire's residents had to leave the city and travel to their neighboring country to ask for aid directly.
Most members of the resistance were very unwilling to undertake for this errand. After all, even with the right directions, it would likely take weeks to reach the Castle of the Two Sisters on hooves. In addition to that, there would certainly be many dangers on the way there, such as savage animals, harsh climates, and rough terrain. To top it all off, while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were well-known for their benevolence and hospitality, nopony could say with absolute certainty that the two rulers would actually agree to help the Empire.
All the same, that was a chance that they were going to have to take. Ultimately, Lambent Flare volunteered to go. She spent about a week preparing herself for her journey. That was perhaps the longest week of her life. She had never left the city before, let alone the country. As such, she had no idea what she would face on the road ahead. However, she was determined to do whatever she deemed necessary to remove King Sombra from power.
After a week of thorough preparation, Lambent Flare fled the Crystal Empire. Even escaping from the city proved to be a difficult endeavor. Even with her six-hour interval of opportunity, she had to evade the notice of King Sombra from the moment she stepped outside. The Unicorn king always kept a close eye on all activity that took place in the city streets. Somehow, he never had to sleep.
Despite Sombra's persistent gaze, Lambent Flare managed to flee from the city without drawing attention to herself. She had to move slowly and carefully through the city streets. If she made even the slightest sudden movement, she would have been caught. In total, almost three hours elapsed from when Lambent Flare snuck outside her house and when she reached the edge of the city.
Her trek did not get any easier once she was out of the city. After she left the Crystal Empire, Lambent Flare had to navigate through miles of snow and ice. The average temperature in that landscape was far below freezing, so Lambent had to gallop at a fast pace to stay warm. She could not afford to stop for long, lest she risk freezing to death. At most, she allowed herself three minutes to rest and catch her breath every few hours.
By the end of the day, she arrived at the border of Equestria. Her journey became significantly less perilous after this point. On her way to the Castle of the Two Sisters, Lambent Flare passed through many different regions of Equestria. She encountered an arid desert, an overgrown jungle, and a barren wasteland. However, most of the land she traversed was green, lush, and beautiful. It vastly overshadowed the dreary setting that King Sombra had created at the Crystal Empire.
In addition to Equestria's stunning scenery, Lambent Flare was deeply impressed by the size of the country. She had seen maps and charts of it, but she did not realize just how large Equestria until she made this journey. Of course, one could argue that nopony would truly comprehend how large Equestria was until they travelled all the way through it like Lambent Flare.
Since Equestria was a massive country, naturally it had a fairly large population to match. However, Lambent Flare decided to keep a low profile while she was in Equestria. She deliberately avoided visiting towns or settlements. She was not mistrustful or suspicious of the inhabitants; she simply did not want to turn heads until she reached the Castle of the Two Sisters. After all, it was very likely that nopony in Equestria had ever seen a crystal pony before. Lambent Flare did not want to run the risk of alarming the Equestrians with her presence if that was the case. So she ended up undertaking the entire quest without any aid whatsoever.
Almost a month after she left the Crystal Empire, Lambent Flare made it to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Immediately upon arrival, she practically demanded to have an audience with the princesses. The Royal Guard almost turned her away because she had no identification, no appointment, and a rather disheveled appearance. But when Lambent Flare insisted that the fate of an entire civilization was at stake, the Royal Guard agreed to let her in.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were willing to hear what Lambent Flare had to say. She told them everything about what was going on in the region north of Equestria. The two rulers were astounded to learn that the Crystal Empire had been enslaved for more than a decade without them knowing of it. However, it did explain some strange recent events that had taken place in Equestria. For the last ten years, the sky over Equestria seemed to get more menacing, and various dangers had sprouted all over the land. One of the latter was the notorious Everfree Forest.
Lambent Flare and the two rulers quickly concluded that there must have been a special connection between the Crystal Empire and Equestria. Whatever spirit the residents of the Crystal Empire were undergoing, the same aura must have been channeled onto the citizens of Equestria. Since the Empire had been consumed by a malevolent entity, the crystal ponies' misery must have been having a destructive effect on its adjoining country.
Once they reached this conclusion, Celestia and Luna decided that it was in everypony's best interests that King Sombra be removed from power. So they willingly accepted Lambent Flare's plead for assistance. They would have left for the Empire straightaway, but Lambent Flare was clearly exhausted and weakened from her trek; she was in no condition to go anywhere. Luna and Celestia allowed her to stay for a night to regain her strength and energy. That was the first night of peace she had gotten in years. She tried to enjoy it, but in the back of her mind, she could not forget the fact that her people were still suffering terribly.
Luckily, the following morning, Lambent Flare was ready to return to the Empire and save her people. She woke up that morning knowing it would be the start of the last day that the crystal ponies lived under the cruel subjugation of King Sombra.
It had taken Lambent Flare nearly thirty days to reach the Castle of the Two Sisters. Fortunately, it took her nowhere near as long to get back; Princess Luna and Princess Celestia offered to fly her there. With their help, Lambent Flare was able to return to her home in a matter of hours.
On their way to the Empire, Celestia and Luna came up a plan. Lambent Flare paid close attention as they explained it to her. They told her that they would need her to get back into the city and get her people to shelter. Once the crystal ponies were safe, the two Alicorns would confront King Sombra and banish him to the glaciers surrounding the area.
As soon as the two Alicorns and the crystal mare arrived at the Empire, Lambent Flare rushed back into the city. This time, she was not as concerned about avoiding detection by King Sombra. If anything, she was hoping the Unicorn king would notice her so that she could distract him from Luna and Celestia. This was precisely what happened.
The moment King Sombra spotted Lambent Flare, he tried to ensnare her. She managed to evade capture long enough to free her people from their chains and instruct them to get indoors. Once everypony was safely indoors, Celestia and Luna moved in and confronted King Sombra.
Lambent Frost had gone to a window to witness the conflict. The battle was short, but very memorable. Celestia and Luna had flown high into the sky. When they were over a hundred feet above the ground, a bright white light engulfed the entire area. The light was so powerful and so intense that Sombra was blinded by it. Lambent Flare covered her eyes to avoid being blinded as well, but she quickly turned her focus back to the scene outside. She felt that after everything she had been through, she had earned the right to witness Sombra's demise.
Through the bright light, Lambent Flare watched as King Sombra was immersed in a huge cluster of energy. He shouted in agony, as if he was being tortured. Lambent Flare could not help but chuckle at that prospect; in her mind, Sombra deserved a painful end.
Ten seconds later, Sombra was visible again. Most of his body had dissolved into a huge cloud of black fog. Only his head retained its shape. Working together, Luna and Celestia projected Sombra's new form to the north, away from the city. They opened up a large body of ice, cast Sombra into of it, and sealed it shut once he was trapped inside.
Lambent Flare smiled at the sight. Then she completely blacked out, as did the rest of the crystal ponies. For a reason nopony could fathom, the Crystal Empire vanished alongside King Sombra. It was as though every trace of it had simply faded from existence, and the Empire did not reappear for more than a millennium.
Lambent Flare ended her story here, as Comet Frost and Shining Armor knew the rest.
When she was finished giving her account, Comet Frost whistled in amazement and commented "That story… is beyond incredible. I cannot imagine what you must have been through."
"You're telling me," Lambent brashly stated, "It's still hard to believe it all took place a thousand years ago."
"Then I must say; you've aged rather well for an 'old mare,'" Comet Frost cheekily remarked.
Shining Armor and Lambent Flare both got a good laugh at that.
"Well, thank you for that, Commander," the tawny mare muttered in amusement, "Back in the days of King Sombra's rule, I never gave much thought to my physical appearance. After all, I had better things to do than fret over the state of my mane or my complexion. Nowadays, it seems as though my biggest worry is the possibility that I won't regain my looks. Strange, huh?"
"Yeah, strange indeed," Comet Frost coincided, scoffing. After a short pause, he declared, "Well, at any rate, you seem to have made a fully recovery. I don't see any scars or bruises on your body, you look quite healthy, and your façade bears no lingering signs of fatigue or anguish. So if you ARE concerned about maintaining a physically appealing image, you shouldn't worry, ma'am. You've already got one."
Lambent Flare seemed a little stunned to hear the aqua stallion tell her this. However, his observation had a positive effect on her. Once she took it in, she grinned and cockily stated "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were flirting with me, Commander."
In response to that, Comet Frost blushed furiously. He tried to cover this up by covering his face and looking away. Lambent Flare and Shining Armor chuckled at his reaction. Fortunately, that was the most they did; for Comet's sake, they did not tease him or mock him.
As soon as the pink tint faded from the aqua stallion's cheeks, he turned back to the tawny mare and told her candidly "That was not my intent, Miss Flare. I apologize if I sounded as though I was… 'hitting on you,'"
"Don't sweat it, Commander,'" she asserted, "I was just joking. Still, I really appreciate what you said about my appearance a moment ago. While I'll never forget the memories of King Sombra's tyranny, I'm glad to know that his rule did not leave a blemish on my exterior."
"Your fiancé must be pleased to know that," Comet Frost thought aloud.
At that, Lambent Flare raised an eyebrow in bewilderment and queried "What makes you think I'm engaged, Commander?"
"Your necklace," the aqua stallion expounded, gesturing to the long piece of jewelry around the tawny mare's neck, "Before I was transferred here from Canterlot, I did a lot of research on the history of the Crystal Empire. I also read all about your customs and cultures. I learned plenty about the Empire's politics, social order, economy, art, fashion, and special ceremonies. Since weddings fall under the last category, I know all about how people get married here. I remember reading somewhere that whenever a stallion wishes to propose to a mare, he makes a necklace of jewels with a symbol of a cross inverted in a circle at the head. Then he approaches her and offers her the necklace. If she accepts it, they are wed within a month or so."
Lambent Flare took in everything the aqua stallion said. When he was finished, she sighed, lightly nodded her head in affirmation, and remarked "You did your research very well, Commander; that is entirely correct."
"So who's the lucky stallion?" the aqua stallion inquired in interest.
"Nopony," the tawny mare blunted apprised him. She used her magic to lift up the necklace of jewels and clarified "This wasn't given to me by a lover, sir. It belonged to my sister-in-law."
Comet Frost was surprised to hear that. He rubbed his chin and presumed inquisitively "So, am I right to assume that you have a brother, and that he made that necklace?"
"Yes, and yes," Lambent verified, letting go of the necklace, "He gave this to his marefriend shortly before King Sombra came to power. They were married less than a week before we were enslaved. They were together for almost the whole duration of Sombra's rule."
"'Almost?'" Comet Frost repeated in bafflement, "What happened to them? Did they break up sometime during the occupation?"
"No, she died shortly before Sombra was banished," Lambent Frost drearily enlightened him, "To make matters worse, she passed away when I made my month-long pilgrimage through Equestria. I wasn't even able to comfort her or my brother when it happened. I can't help but feel guilty for that; my sister-in-law meant as much to me as she did to him."
Comet Frost frowned sadly and placed his front hoof on Lambent's saying "I'm so sorry for your loss. How did your brother take it?"
"Well, as you can imagine, he was devastated," Lambent Flare disclosed, "He swore to make King Sombra pay for his wife's death. At first, his desire for revenge seemed to be the only thing that kept my brother going. However, after Sombra was killed by Princess Cadence, we had a proper memorial service for everypony who died under his rule. That set my brother's mind at ease, and he was able to move on."
"I'm glad to know that," Comet Frost remarked. There was another short period of silence, and then he leaned back and pronounced "But that still doesn't explain why you're wearing his wife's necklace."
"I'm getting to that," Lambent Flare assured him. She held up the necklace again and continued with "This type of necklace is not only used for weddings, Commander. In special cases, they can be created to represent a pledge. Ideally, the maker gives the recipient one with the promise to stay close to them. That's why my brother gave it to me."
"That makes sense," Comet Frost proclaimed, "What sort of pledge did he have in mind?"
"He promised to take care of me," Lambent Flare illuminated, "You see, nopony else in our family survived that holocaust. Because of that, and because of the pivotal role I played in Sombra's downfall, my brother felt obligated to look after me. So he gave me this necklace and went off to earn a living to sustain the both of us."
"Where is he now?" Comet Frost queried.
"He works in the palace," Lambent Flare informed him, "He's actually a member of the Royal Guard, so you probably know him. His name is Solar Flare."
It turned out the aqua stallion knew that name very well. He raised an eyebrow and assumed in interest "Oh, so you're Solar's sister?"
"Yeah, she is," Shining Armor confirmed.
"Huh, that explains a few things," Comet Frost frankly said in response.
"Like what?" the tawny mare asked curiously.
"For starters, there is a striking resemblance between you and Solar Flare," Comet Frost revealed, "In addition to that, every time the Royal Guard are paid, Solar always sends about half of his paycheck to a certain address in the city. I always assumed the recipient was either a dear friend or an immediate family member. Most of all, many times when Solar Flare is off-duty, a lot of the crystal pony members of the Royal Guard ask him to introduce them to his sister."
"That so?" Lambent Flare asked rhetorically, "And how does he respond to that?"
"He just humors them by claiming that he would consider their request and pass along their interest to his sister," Comet Frost apprised her, "At first, I thought the others were so interested in meeting Solar's sister because they were trying to irritate him or because they were desperate to get a date. Now that I've met you and I know what you've done, I think I can guess the real reason."
"I should say so, Commander," Lambent Flare speculated, "Whenever Solar Flare tells the others that he'll consider introducing them to me, he must be bluffing. I've never been contacted by any member of the Royal Guard. Other than Captain Armor, of course. But that's different."
"Different how?" Comet Frost enquired.
This time it was the white stallion who provided the explanation. Shining Armor notified his fellow officer "Since Solar Flare is always so busy up at the palace, he is often unable to make time to visit the city. Because of that, he asked me to check up on Lambent from time-to-time to see how she's getting by and such."
"He also brings me up to date on how Solar Flare is doing," Lambent added in, "Although Captain Armor is not allowed to give any of his officers special treatment, he's given me his word that he will keep an eye on Solar and make sure he stays out of trouble."
"Well, that IS his job," Comet Frost pointed out, "Every other member of the Royal Guard – myself included – is primarily responsible for ensuring the safety and security of Princess Cadence and her subjects. Captain Armor, on the other hoof, is primarily responsible for ensuring that we don't slack off when we're on-duty."
Lambent Flare snickered at that and turned to the white stallion. She queried "Is that true, Captain?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much my job in a nutshell," Shining Armor affirmed, smirking, "Even when I'm off-duty, I make sure my men stay in line. In fact, that's why I came here today; to keep tabs on that bunch."
At that, he gestured over his shoulder to the other off-duty members of the Royal Guard. Comet Frost stated in perplexity "Wait, so you didn't come here to talk to Lambent?"
"Well, not originally, no," Shining Armor explicated, "Originally, I only came here to watch over the men. Just wanted to make sure they stayed in uniform and did not have too much to drink. I planned to stop by Lambent's house sometime later. It was just a coincidence that she came to the tavern shortly after those stallions and I did. We decided to go ahead and talk since we were both in the same place at the same time."
"I gotta say; this is a most interesting meeting place," Comet Frost perceived, gazing around at the pub, "Especially since I know for a fact that you don't drink, Captain. And I'm pretty sure you didn't decide to take it up, just now. I don't smell any alcohol on your breath."
"Well, like I said, I was just here to supervise the men," Shining Armor reminded his colleague.
"Right, right, of course," Comet Frost acknowledged. He then turned to Lambent Flare and pronounced "Still, I don't smell alcohol on your breath either, Lambent. Aside from that, you don't strike me as somepony who drinks. You must have another reason for being here."
"An astute observation, Commander," Lambent Flare affirmed, "There are a lot of people in this city who prefer to drown out their sorrows with liquor. Considering how they all endured ten years of slavery, one could hardly blame them. However, I'm not one of those people. In fact, I've never had an alcoholic beverage in my life. I sometimes visit bars, but never for the booze. I just like the peace and quiet atmosphere."
"I can understand and identify with that sentiment," Comet Frost disclosed, "This sort of tranquility is hard to find these days. Truth be told, I never saw the appeal in getting intoxicated. That's probably one thing the three of us have in common; none of us have any interest in drinking."
"Then that honestly bids the question, Commander," Lambent Flare declared, "What are YOU doing here?"
This question caught the aqua stallion off guard. He tentatively mumbled "Well, uh…"
"Actually, I'd like to know the answer to that, too, Comet," Shining Armor remarked, leaning a little closer to his fellow officer, "If you aren't here for a drink, why are you here?"
Believe it or not, Comet Frost had forgotten the reason he had entered the tavern in the first place. However, he was quickly remembered the conversation he had with Princess Cadence earlier that week. Once that thought occurred to him, Comet Frost turned to his commanding officer and informed him "I was looking for you, sir."
"For me?" the white stallion repeated in slight confusion.
"Yes," the aqua stallion affirmed. He paused for a minute, and then he looked Shining Armor in the eye and inquired "May I speak straightforwardly, sir?"
"Always, Comet," Shining Armor answered genially.
"Good," Comet Frost stated. There was another brief period of quietness, and after that, he sighed and told Shining Armor "In that case, I'd like to talk to you about Princess Cadence."
Shining Armor seemed to tense up a little at that remark. He leaned closer and queried nervously "Is she alright?"
"Yes, she's doing fine," Comet Frost assured him, "However, when I talked to her last week, she seemed somewhat depressed. Subsequently, I asked her if anything bothered her, and she expressed some… concern about your work habits."
"My work habits?" Shining Armor repeated in perplexity.
Comet Frost nodded in confirmation and revealed "Yes. In a way, she has come to believe that you are far more interested in making arrangements for the Games than you are in leading the Empire with her."
"Why, that's preposterous!" Shining Armor countered heatedly.
"Maybe," Comet Frost calmly coincided, "But considering how long you've been outside the palace monitoring the supervising committee, I'm inclined to agree with her."
"Well, I can assure you that that allegation is not true," Shining Armor insisted, "Believe me, Comet; I am not intentionally avoiding my wife. I just want to ensure that everything about the Games is handled properly. I'm not just doing this for my pride. The Games could do a lot to improve the image of the Crystal Empire. Delegates from all our ally countries will be coming here. Since the Empire is going to represent the whole of Equestria at this event, we should do everything we can to give our visitors the right impression of our nation."
Comet Frost took in everything Shining Armor told him. Once the white stallion was finished, the aqua stallion remarked "Well, I would be a fool to dispute that. One can never underestimate the power of the image, after all. All the same, Captain; is it really necessary for YOU to be the one who monitors ALL the preparations?"
"I suppose not," Shining Armor professed, "Because of how important the Games are, it is equally important that all the arrangements are executed properly. I feel as though I'm the only who can handle the responsibility of ensuring that everything gets done the right way."
"I understand where you're coming from, sir," Comet Frost declared, "However, Commander Plainview or I could just as easily head up the supervising committee. Neither of us is married; we don't even have a lover. Why not let us shoulder the burden for a while? That way, you'd be able to spend more time in the palace."
Shining Armor gazed off to the side and rubbed his chin to think about this proposal. It was fairly reasonable and methodical, and Comet Frost clearly knew what he was talking about. Eventually, the white stallion turned back to the aqua stallion and told him "Alright, Commander. You've convinced me that you've got the right determination and capability. You really wouldn't mind leading the supervising committee for a while?"
"Not at all, sir," Comet Frost maintained, "Nearly all of the officers seem to enjoy my company, so I'm confident they won't object if I took charge. Plus, it'd be nice to get out of the palace every now and then."
"Why is that?" Shining Armor enquired, "Are you having any personal problems of your own at the palace?"
"Oh, no; I have nothing to complain about," Comet Frost asserted, "It's just that nearly all of my work involves being indoors. Believe me; I greatly enjoy being in that citadel, and I enjoy my work in there just as much, but at times I feel as though I don't get enough fresh air and sunlight. As such, I figure that this change in our schedules would benefit both of us, Captain. I mean, regardless of how nice one's place of residence or workplace is, I don't think anypony would want to be cooped up inside for every minute of every day."
"My brother would probably disagree with you, Commander," Lambent Flare countered, "Ever since he enlisted in the Royal Guard, I've only seen him about once or twice. I pass by the palace at least once every day, but Solar is never stationed outdoors when I'm there. From what Captain Armor tells me, Solar always takes on the longest shifts with the most time-consuming assignments, and every single one of them takes place inside the palace."
"That's actually a pretty accurate assessment of Solar Flare," Comet Frost coincided, "He's like a textbook example of what the Royal Guard are expected to be. He's typically one of the first awake in the morning, one of the last asleep at night, and he's almost always got his hooves full. On average, he only stops working about five times a day; three times to eat, once to shower, and once to mingle with other off-duty officers. Altogether, those five breaks add up to just slightly over one hour."
"I've noticed that, too," Shining Armor perceived, "Every day, Solar Flare spends about six hours sleeping, one hour to eat, refresh himself, and mingle with others, and the remaining seventeen hours laboring."
"Damn, seventeen hours?" Lambent Flare remarked, "That's just one less than the work shifts we had during Sombra's occupation."
"It could be possible that Solar Flare never really broke out of that routine," Comet Frost conjectured, "Either that or he's a workaholic."
"Could be," Lambent Flare stated, "But if you ask me, I think the real reason he works so hard is that he wants to make enough money so that the two of us will never have to worry about anything ever again."
"If so, that's astonishingly noble of him," Comet Frost declared, "However, from the way you put it, you seem to imply that he's working so hard because he doesn't want you to have to work to make a living."
"Oh, he doesn't feel that way, Commander," Lambent Flare pronounced, "However, he DOES feel as though I shouldn't have to work as hard as most other people. Still, that doesn't prevent me from finding a way to contribute to society."
"Then you DO have a job?" Comet Frost presumed.
"Yes, I'm a private investigator," Lambent Flare disclosed.
Comet Frost did not expect to hear that, but he was rather intrigued to learn this fact. He raised an eyebrow and stated "Oh? So you're involved in the detective business?"
"That's right," she confirmed.
"How did you come to get into that line of work?" Comet Frost inquired.
"Well, as you can imagine, I didn't have many ambitions for the future when I was a filly and a teenager," Lambent Flare expounded, "I didn't get my first job until after King Sombra was destroyed. Once the Crystal Empire was fully restored, I started looking for a job. To make my search easier, I had some criteria for what to look for. I was hoping for a job that would involve making an honest living, serving the community and society at the same time, and maintaining peace and order in the Empire. In the end, I chose to be a private investigator."
"How has that worked out for you?" Comet Frost queried.
"It's been going very well," the tawny mare elucidated, "I'm very good at solving problems and locating missing things, Commander. If any wrongdoing is committed anywhere in the city, the residents come to me to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. So far, I've solved forty-three different cases over the course of the last year."
"Out of how many clients?" Comet Frost asked in interest.
"Forty-three," she bluntly retorted, smiling, "Currently, I'm the most prestigious P.I. in the whole city. My services have a 100% success rate."
"That's rather impressive," Comet Frost commented. He rested his front leg on the table and rested his head on it. He then gazed downward and rubbed his chin; he looked as though he was getting an idea.
"Something on your mind, Comet?" Shining Armor enquired.
The aqua stallion did not answer straightaway. A minute later, he turned back to Lambent Flare and asked her "Are you a private investigator on the state level?"
"Yes, sir," Lambent replied, nodding her head in confirmation, "I work in coalition with the town's police and the security forces."
"Alright then," Comet Frost acknowledged, "Tell me; have you ever thought of becoming a P.I. on the federal level?"
"You mean where I would aid the Royal Guard and the Equestrian Royalty?" the crystal Unicorn theorized.
"Precisely," Comet Frost affirmed.
"Well, I don't know about that, Commander…" Lambent Flare tentatively began.
"Actually, Comet may be on to something, Lambent," Shining Armor interjected, "Think about this in perspective. You'd get your own office in the palace, where you'd be able to have plenty of peace and quiet on a regular basis. Plus, you'd have the opportunity to see Solar Flare when he's both off-duty and on-duty. Rather than me telling you how he's doing every few days, you'd be able to visit him yourself."
Lambent Flare could not deny that these were all fine points. She shrugged and thought aloud "That certainly does sound appealing."
"We haven't even mentioned the best part yet," Comet Frost proclaimed. He leaned closer to the tawny mare and pronounced "I could arrange for you to have an audience with Princess Cadence herself."
This prospect seemed to excite Lambent Flare. She smiled and asked eagerly "Really?"
"Absolutely," the aqua stallion replied, "It's the least we could do for the mare who helped bring salvation to the Crystal Empire."
"You give me too much credit, Commander," Lambent Flare modestly proclaimed, "All I did was run for help and cause this entire city to vanish for ten centuries. Princess Cadence and Spike The Dragon were the ones who really saved my people."
"Still, you helped relieve their suffering," Comet Frost pointed out, "Because of that, I'm certain the Princess would be delighted to meet you."
"Well, if she is, than who am I to decline an invitation from her?" Lambent Flare perceived, "I'll take your offer into consideration, Commander. In the meantime, could you decide on a specific time and date for when I could meet Princess Cadence?"
"It would be my honor," Comet Frost proudly declared.
There was another long period of utter silence between the three of them. Then Shining Armor gazed at the clock on the wall to get the time. It was already late in the afternoon. The white stallion turned to face Comet Frost and told him "We should probably head back to the palace soon. Could you get the men ready to leave?"
"You got it, sir," Comet Frost avowed. He stood up and trotted towards the center of the room. From there, he loudly cleared this throat to get everypony's attention. Soon, all eyes were on him, and he announced "I need all members of the Royal Guard to listen up. We are about to depart for the palace. So I need you to empty your glasses, round up your cards, straighten your uniforms, and stop flirting with the patrons."
He had meant that last one as a joke. It had the intended effect; every other member of the Royal Guard let out a hearty chuckle. In actuality, none of the officers had been trying to flatter any of the mares in the bar at this time. Once they had their laugh at Comet Frost's joke, they proceeded to follow his orders.
Comet Frost watched his fellow officers as they cleaned up their tables and paid for their drinks. At one point during this event, Comet Frost gazed back at his table out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that Shining Armor and Lambent Flare had gotten out of their chairs, as well. They were standing very close to each other and whispering into each other's ears.
Amidst the all the noise in the tavern, Comet Frost managed to overhear three lines of their conversation.
"You should go ahead and take the job at the palace," Shining Armor encouraged the tawny mare.
"Maybe I will, but then I won't have these visits to look forward to anymore, Captain," Lambent Flare perceived.
"Well, look on the bright side," Shining Armor told her, "They won't have to be just visits anymore."
At that, Lambent Flare grinned and nodded her head in agreement. She said something more that Comet Frost could not make out. In response to that, Shining Armor smiled back deviously and said something more in an equally quiet manner.
These strange actions arose Comet Frost's suspicions. He wondered if there was another reason for Shining Armor's meetings with Lambent Flare other than the well-being of Solar Flare.
At first, he thought that such a concept was inconceivable. Then he realized something odd.
Over the past several weeks, Shining Armor had found a way to make time to speak to the sister of one of their coworkers; a mare he supposedly barely knew. Yet over the course of those same weeks, he had been unable to make time to see Princess Cadence, his own wife. In Comet Frost's mind, there was no way that could add up without… the personal involvement of another individual.
So maybe Shining Armor did have another motivation for seeing Lambent Flare. However, as of right now, this was only a theory he had. Since he currently had no conclusive evidence to validate it, he decided to put the subject out of his mind for the present. But he did not plan to let it go altogether. If something was going on between Shining Armor and a mare other than Cadence, it would mean trouble for all four of them.
He made a note to keep an eye on Shining Armor and Lambent Flare whenever they were around each other in the future. But despite his suspicions and even with this objective, Comet Frost hoped that his theory was flawed and that he was just being paranoid. Because if it turned out he was right… he knew he would have to tell Princess Cadence about it. And once that happened… Comet Frost could not foresee any good ending to that scenario.