“So, Sunset what’re your thoughts on uh…..love?” Flash asked weakly as they walked the castle halls with the rays of the morning sun spilling through the windows and created golden rectangles of light across the tiled floor.
Sunset slowly turned to him with the same look of annoyance he’d been dreading whenever he would think about mustering up the courage to approach her with the subject.
“This is related to those parasites, right?”
“Yeah, well….no. I mean…kinda?” He replied, flustered. “I mean, what are your thoughts on y’know….romantic love?”
“From what I’ve seen, Changelings can feed on just about any kind of affection-even platonic ‘love’, it might even extend to lust as well, but I have neither experience or evidence to support such a hypothesis-they are able to take it to increase their own magical powers and of course, to use as sustenance.”
Sunset was silent for a few moments as if she were contemplating something before Flash opted to try again-he got this far after all and if he didn’t get an answer from her now, it would be unlikely that he would be able to summon the courage to ask her again.
“But, what do you think about love-forgetting the Changelings for a minute-what is your opinion on it? Do you….do you think that under certain circumstances two people can fall in love? Even if they are extremely tense and they might be almost complete opposites of each other?” He pressed.
Inwardly, Sunset sighed but, he was asking her honest opinion and a healthy dose of cynicism and reality would probably be good for him.
“Well, as for the love that attracts one person to another-there’s nothing romantic about it-that’s just worthless sentimentality used to sell greeting cards. The truth is, it’s , more like a mental illness-those feelings don’t come from the heart, but the brain like every other emotion. Love is like a disease that manifests and go through stages of infection through a chemical reaction created by sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen-both chemicals exist within each gender, just of different degrees based on what you were born with which begins the first stage-lust.”
She stopped to gauge Flash’s reaction, this obviously wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he did ask for her expertise of the subject.
“The second stage is the attraction that makes someone the focus of your attention-this is controlled by neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin which changes the way someone thinks and fuels their unhealthy obsession with another individual.”
Pausing once again, she got the impression that Flash wanted to say something in protest, but was waiting for her to finish.
“The third and final stage is attachment, which is helped fueled by oxytocin-a chemical that help strengthen emotional bonds like platonic love between a parent and their offspring and helps couples want to stay together. Vasopressin is a hormone that is released after mating and something that I believe is necessary for things like jealousy to exist.”
“Okay, so you have a pretty negative opinion of love-which, I can kind of see after the way your parents treated you.” Flash sighed.
“Realistic opinion, but when it comes to my mother and father I believe they either planned my birth to advance their social status or I was an accident and while viewing my as nothing, but genetic refuse they decided to use my childish affection for them to achieve their own ends until I was old enough to figure out what they were doing.” Sunset retorted.
“But, what about love potions? Or Princess Cadance?” Flash pressed. “They seem to be able to make others fall in love or at least become more affectionate towards each other…”
“You are aware that certain narcotics can be used to trick the brain and simulate certain emotions, right?” Sunset asked. “Besides, love potions are something only a sociopath would use to make someone fall in love with them, it’s really no different than slipping a pill into someone’s drink at a bar and committing some unspeakable act on them while their out. As for Cadance, from what I’ve seen, she could merely suppresses hostility rather than force people into feeling things for each other-at least, that’s what I hope since that power is open to all kinds of abuse.”
Flash shook his head.
“Come on, you should know Cadance better than that-she only uses her power responsibly and by that logic, Celestia and Luna can’t be trusted either since they control the sun and the moon respectively to aid the life cycle of not just Equestria, but the entire world and they’ve never abused their power.” He countered. “Though, I’ll admit you have a point about the love potions-wasn’t there some old legend about one destroying a kingdom? I think my Dad read it to me once when I was a kid….”
“It still doesn’t change the fact that love is nothing, but a buzzword one uses to manipulate those who have affection for them to their own ends.” Sunset growled. “I loved my parents when I was stupid kid-as much as it pains me to admit it-and look at how they treated me.”
“What about your friend?”
Sunset’s blood ran cold at the mention of Peachy.
“What about her?” She asked, trying her best to sound indignant.
“You told me she was your best friend-the first and only person you ever accepted as your friend before you met me-and you obviously cared enough about her to begin a genocidal rampage to get revenge in her name….are you going to tell me that you didn’t hold some amount of affection for her?” He challenged, taking a step closer and causing Sunset to take a step back.
“I….”
“You were willing to drive an entire species to extinction for her because of how painful it was to lose her, you don’t just want to kill the Changelings either-you want them to suffer. So, did you love her? Platonically, or otherwise? Because that’s what it looks like from where I’m standing-so, you’re either lying to me or you’re lying to yourself.”
“I….don’tknow.” Sunset admitted, hanging her head shamefully. “I did love her, but even I’m not sure in what way-after getting burned by my parents and my inability to trust Celestia….she was the first person I felt like I could really open up to and she wouldn’t stop caring about me or start manipulating me because of it.”
Flash immediately began to feel guilty, he was so determined to change Sunset’s mind that his words came off harsher than he had intended.
“Sunset, I’m sorry….I didn’t mean to-look, we can just drop it and forget this whole conversion ever happened. I’ll never bring up any of this again and we can go our separate ways.” He offered, it seemed like he could forget about a relationship-at this point he wasn’t even sure if his friendship with her was salvageable.
“No….it’s okay, I think part of me needed to hear it. I guess, maybe part of me was trying to protect myself-when I lost her I couldn’t fathom how Celestia could live for so long and stand to bear so much pain from losing those she cared about or what kind of masochist would seek out to make more of those kind of friendships, knowing that they’ll only lead to more heartache. Sometimes, we just need someone to hold a mirror up in front of us, huh?”
She raised her head and while there weren’t any tears streaming down her face, her eyes were still quite visibly watery.
“You know something else? I do like you Flash and as much as I still want to fight the Changelings, my only focus is the Queen now-she’s the one who ordered the attack and without her maybe we can change their views on some things…deep down, I’m just terrified of losing you like a did Peachy-I’m easily one of the most powerful Unicorns that Celestia has ever taught, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to go through that again.” Sunset continued, shakily.
“I guess it would be too much to ask for you to stay out of the fight? Because that’s what it’s going to come down to-another siege on Canterlot-I’ve met the Queen and fought against her-she’s not the type to compromise….she reminds me of myself in so many ways I’m no longer proud of.”
“I’m sorry Sunset, but even if it weren’t my duty-it’s not in my nature to stand by let others get hurt trying to fight on my behalf.”
“You know, I’m actually glad that you feel so strongly about this-it pretty much confirms what I’ve suspected about you for a while now and since I don’t intend to let this war with the Changeling Queen to end without one or both of us dying-I plan on fighting her to my last breath….and I’m glad I got to know beforehand.” Sunset replied, her voice wavering slightly.
Taking him completely by surprise, Sunset leaped forward and wrapped her forelegs around him.
“You know, I was think about the chemistry of love a lot lately because part of me was wondering if there was some way to inject it into the Changelings and just kill the Queen-but then, I realized how hypocritical that would be-and even if it weren’t, we probably don’t have the resources to mass produce something like that for all of the Changelings in Equestria. Even if we knew how many there were. And then I started thinking about you and began worrying about what it’s going to do to me if I can’t protect you from them.” She continued, holding him tighter. “You’ve seen the way I’ve acted after Peachy’s death and we both know she wouldn’t have approved my actions-what if I completely snap this time?”
Flash slowly returned the embrace by wrapping a foreleg around Sunset.
“I don’t think either of things are going to happen-I still have a lot to live for-and I have no intention of becoming a thrall for some crazed monarch….” He slowly moved his hoof to gently message her back in an effort to comfort her. “And you don’t need to babysit me-I can take care of myself if I have to. Last time they took us completely by surprised, but now we know what to expect and we’re ready for them. Besides, with you on our side I’m more confident than ever that we can beat them.”
“I hope you’re right.” Sunset replied glumly, pulling away from him. “It would just be so much easier if we could launch a pre-emptive assault on them, instead of sitting around, waiting for a futile attempt and diplomacy and only then get a real shot at them. If only we knew where they were hiding out…”
“Sunset….” Flash began warily.
“Our focus would still be the Queen, of course-but, if any Changelings tried to attack us on the way to her-we could hardly be blamed for defending ourselves. They also attacked us, so even if they do have a nation of their own-which, based upon what I’ve seen, I very much doubt-it doesn’t seem likely that other nations would view such an attack negatively. The point I’m trying to make is that if we figured out where they’re hiding and were able to pull something like that off, the element of surprise would likely end things quickly and likely prevent as many casualties.” She continued.
“Even if we did know where they were hiding-we should be helping them figure out a way to deal with their nature for peaceful co-existence, not slaughter them wholesale.”
“As I said, the Queen is the head of the Changeling body-we just need to cut that off and request an unconditional surrender-of course, Celestia would never justify wiping out an entire species-not matter how unsavory their actions may be. But, at least then we’ll have a chance at talking to them and reaching a peaceful resolution. They can’t be somewhere in the open-people are on the lookout for strange behavior after the Changelings Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor uncovered in Ponyville and Cloudsdale….and it can’t be too far from the city if they were able to send another infiltrator after the attempted kidnappers were captured.” Sunset continued as she began pacing. “They’ve got to be holed up someplace forgotten-or at least, uninhabited….”
“Well, why don’t we get some breakfast-it’ll probably be easier to think on a full stomach.” Flash suggested.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right….it could just come to me-still, it’s driving me crazy because I could swear I know of a place like that….”
---
Twilight’s eyes cracked open to see the sunlight spilling into her room before closing them for a few more moments. She really didn’t want to get up, yet-right now she didn’t have to follow any real type of schedule-and last night was the first full night of sleep she’d had since the initial Changeling attack. As much as she wanted to sleep in and savior the current peace, she knew that she had to speak with Rainbow Dash to let her know that she had decided it probably wouldn’t be so bad if she and her brother began dating.
Sitting up in bed, Twilight stretched her forelegs in the air as she let out a colossal yawn. It seemed as though a single good night’s sleep didn’t make up for a week’s deprivation. Pulling the covers aside, Twilight got out of bed and approached the dresser and mirror opposite as was her morning ritual before pulling out a brush to straighten her frazzled mane.
Even if Rainbow and Shining Armor had some sort of falling out, she could probably help resolve any issue. After all, damage control seemed to more or less be her entire role within Ponyville. Plus, unlike the break up with Cadance-this time she would have the advantage of actually knowing about this reltationship.
Spike exited the bathroom with a small towel wrapped around his waist-he must have just finished his morning bath.
“Twilight, you’re up!” He exclaimed upon seeing her. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do with the whole thing between Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor?”
“Yes, I have decided that it isn’t really my place to stand between them-especially when they-well, Dash seems to be pretty sincere and given her track record-it’s unlikely that she’ll end up betraying his trust in some way.”
“So, do you want me to go with you….or should I stay here?” Spike asked, twiddling his claws.
“Spike, I told you before; this concerns you just as much as it does us-you can stay here if you like, but I’m not going to cut you out for something so trivial as your lack of biological connection to us.”
Spike smiled at this. Despite not talking about it very much, Twilight knew that deep down he felt like an outcast-someone who wasn’t a pony, but knew little to nothing about other dragons. While this concerned her, she had always left it alone unless Spike brought it up-not wanting to pry. She made a mental note to ask Cadance for advice-Celestia may have raised Spike as a hatchling, but despite his growth, intelligence, and capabilities-he was still essentially a baby dragon. Nonetheless, she made a point to try to reinforce the fact that despite being the only dragon in Ponyville-he wasn’t alone and that he could count on her and their friends if he ever needed them.
Twilight placed the brush back on the dresser and examined her reflection in the mirror one last time before being satisfied that her appearance was now presentable to the public.
“Are you ready to go Spike?” she asked.
He nodded before she levitated him onto her back.
---
Twilight and Spike were in the castle courtyard. Since there had been no response when they knocked on the door of Rainbow Dash’s room, they figured that she may have already been up, flying around somewhere.
“Are you sure she’s out here?” Spike asked. “I mean, the castle’s pretty big-she could have decided to try flying around inside.”
“Knowing Rainbow Dash, I’d say that’s pretty unlikely-as an athlete she enjoys having as much open space as possible.” Twilight replied.
“Rainbow Dash!” She called out, catching a prismatic blur streaking through the sky.
The streak curved before heading down towards the duo, hitting the ground, Dash skidded to a halt with a trail of dirt dug up by her hooves behind her.
“What’s up!? Are the Changelings attacking!?” She asked alarmed, preparing to fight. “I didn’t see anything from the air…”
“No, everything is fine….actually, I came to talk to you about Shining Armor.”
Rainbow Dash felt her muscles stiffen as the overwhelming sensation of anxiety crept over her. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Despite everything they’d been through together it still seemed unlikely that Twilight would allow the two of them to date. Yet, part of her still held out hope. Wanting to maintain her cool demeanor, she willed her facial muscles to relax to help give the impression that she was calmer than she actually felt.
“Okay, so what have you decided?” She asked, impressing herself with the fact that her voice didn’t come out shaky.
“Well, after much deliberation and after seeking advice from Rarity, I was able to come to the conclusion that the two of you dating would most likely not impact Spike or myself in any negative manner-in respect to our relationships with you and Shining Armor.” Twilight began.
“The biggest concern I’ve had was how the dynamics of you relationship would affect our friendship and my bond with Shining Armor-especially, if things don’t work out between the two of you. As far as stability is concerned, now that I am aware of your intentions-neither of you should worry about speaking with me about any potential or ongoing relationship concerns. More than anything, I like the fact that right now we all get along and enjoy each others’ company-it’s something that I don’t want to lose. So, with that said-I would like to give you my blessing to begin dating my brother.”
“Well, thanks for thinking about it, Twi.” Dash sighed. “Don’t worry about me-it’s….disappointing, but at least now I know how you feel about it. Besides, I’m awesome enough to keep flying solo-who really needs anyone else, anyway? Dating would probably just slow me down-wait, what did you just say?”
“I said; I am at peace with the idea of you dating Shining Armor.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight skeptically, as if this were the set-up for some sort of prank and she was going to be the butt of the joke.
“You’re serious?” She asked, cautiously.
“Yes.”
Dash slowly approached Twilight, like a skittish animal trying to decide whether or not it would be safe to take food from a stranger offering it. Even if this wasn’t a prank, it could have been a weird test of some kind. She knew how much Twilight loved tests.
“Are you sure?”
“Rainbow, if the two of you truly care for each other and being together makes the two of you happy, then it wouldn’t be my place to stand in the way of that.” Twilight replied, honestly.
“Well, that’s a relief…I’d hate to screw up our friendship over this-especially, if he doesn’t feel the same way…”
“That’s good to hear.” Twilight grinned.
“You know, I’m surprised you got up this early-it’s not really your job to manage the weather here.” Spike commented.
“Yeah…well, I couldn’t really sleep last night-so, I came out here to fly and clear my head. But, now that I have nothing to worry about, I can finally relax….”
“There’s still the Changelings.” Twilight grimly reminded her.
“Pssh! So, far they’ve only attacked us when our guard was down like a bunch of cowards. If they were really tough, they would’ve fought us head-on from the beginning.” Dash retorted, confidently.
“Just because they’re pragmatic doesn’t necessarily make them cowardly.” Twilight chided. “They’ve exhibited many traits similar to bee and ant colonies, they may be fiercely loyal to their Queen and become extremely dangerous if they believe that she is being threatened.” Twilight countered.
“Well, we aren’t the ones who started this-besides, if they play nice, then they shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” Dash replied, coolly.
Twilight merely rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh as she turned around to head back into the castle.
“Well, Spike and I are going to get some breakfast-want to come with us?”
“Yeah,” Spike added. “I heard today, they’re going to be serving mountains of pancakes towering above your head-almost reaching the ceiling!”
“I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating.” Twilight commented.
“Uh….” Rainbow Dash was about to decline, before her stomach began rumbling. “Sure, I’ve been working out here for a while-it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to fuel up.”
Dash also realized that it would also probably help her figure out the best way to approach Shining Armor if she was thinking about it on a full stomach. They’d only known each other for less than a month-how could she show interest in him without coming off as desperate? Then again, now that she could ask Twilight-who arguably knew him better than anyone-maybe she really had a chance with him.