"Tabard Camembert Atelier."
When he spoke the magic words, Pierce Swiftwind slid a yellow folder across the wooden table towards me. I flipped it open, a little impressed when I leafed through my friend's collection of the mogul's documents. It was a treasure trove of papers to dig through, detailing everything there is to know about Mr. Atelier. All of it was neatly arranged in order, dictating the entire journey from his humble beginnings to how he became the ruler of the empire he was running today. I held back the smile trying to burst forth from within, my stare weighing heavier in scrutiny at my friend, who could only cross his hooves.
"You've asked for it. Here it is."
"A little too late for that, don't you think, Pierce?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I beg to differ," he replied, leaning in closer. "If you knew the current circumstances, you'd understand."
Something about the way he said that made me glance down at the papers once again. To be clear, I wasn't ready at all to trust Pierce in this scenario, mostly because of the pony whom Pierce was working for. However, with all these documents presented before me, it was starting to become a little perplexing: what would Mr. Atelier earn from having my friend provide me with all his personal papers? Was he trying to earn my trust? Was he just toying with me? I recalled the conversation that we had back in the banquet in Manehatten, as well as the letter he penned and entrusted to my father to hand it to me just days before. Adding this folder to the list, it made me wonder: perhaps he really was on my side after all?
"Why are you giving me this?"
"Apart from me promising you that I would? Technically, the circumstances called for it."
The silence that followed was thick and brooding. For a moment, the room felt congested, with Pierce bearing, in his gaze, a dark tenacity that I had never seen before. It was only after a while that I realize that it wasn't directed at me; I was thinking that he may have something to say when he learned of what happened between me and Rainbow Dash after seeing my hoof wrapped up in a cast. In fact, it almost seemed as if he was furious at himself, which was something that was truly unlike him. To me, it could only mean that whatever the current circumstances were, it did not fare well.
"What happened, Pierce?"
"It's about Mr. Atelier," my friend began with a disgruntled sigh. "He was reported missing two days ago."
Elation was the first thing that swelled in my chest, followed by a mix of disgust and shame at the prior, followed by the return of my logical ability of reason. Mr. Atelier, disappearing? How can the face of an entire industry, surrounded by wealth, power and importance, just vanish without a trace? How was that even possible? Before I could pursue the matter further, the door opening with a metallic squeak as Gallant Sentry strode in, wearing a look of what I would call rigorous malice. I had seen that before; it was an expression that usually came after my father vents out his anger and frustrations. The darkness in his gaze softened when it drifted to me, warping into something that was really, really unlike the stallion I know.
For the first time in the years I had seen him, Gallant Sentry looked apologetic.
"Did Pierce tell you what happened already?"
"I was beginning to," my friend answered in my stead. "Any progress on your end, sir?"
"Nothing. Faust damn that stallion for thinking he could run away from this."
"Run away from what?" I was compelled to ask. "What was Mr. Atelier running away from?"
"Days ago, he became the prime suspect of the attack you and Princess Twilight," Pierce muttered grimly. "We believe he may be directly involved in what happened. We have a possible lead, albeit a far-fetched one until we can get some testimonies. Then again, the attack itself was a little bit of a stretch to begin with. You had your reasons for suspecting him, didn't you, Flash?"
The nod I gave should've been enough of an answer, but I'm certain they wanted more than that. However, it was pretty obvious if you did a little thinking. I had taken into heart about what he said back in Manehatten, so much so that I had brought it up to Twilight after a moment of serious contemplation. She became a little more stringent after that, beginning to turn away some projects and outright question others. The recklessness Mr. Atelier was concerned about was then replaced with a sense of moderation, though knowing Twilight, she can be really finicky about every detail in the process.
Perhaps Mr. Atelier knew how fastidious she could be and kept that in mind. Perhaps he knew that all those projects would be rejected, most of which would come from his competitors. To use Twilight and I like that, all to smother the competition and solidify his foundations as the leading face of the infrastructural industry of Equestria... it had invoked a different kind of change not in Equestria's landscape, but in the hearts of all those investors and magnates. They had been clamoring for her, inviting her to all those lavish banquets and exuberant gatherings, showering her with praise and appreciation; with that change, you can be certain that all that esteem withered into a bristling, bubbling apathy, gradually building up until one day, one of them decides to let it loose.
To have Mr. Atelier be the one, however... all of it started to not make any sense.
"You know the motive?"
"Not a fixed one. Like I said, the whole thing's far-fetched," Pierce reaffirmed. "Some of his documents had Mr. Atelier mentioning something about having his son as being the potential husband to Princess Twilight. If she ever became his daughter-in-law, you know how much power he would have, right? He would draft out all these projects and he didn't even need to blink just to get a signature. If he wanted to, he could ask the princess to refuse any projects that come in."
"But it still doesn't make any sense," I prodded on. "If he wanted Twilight on his side, why attack her?"
"Tell me, Flash Sentry," my father posed a question. "Who do you think was the real victim of the case?"
I could only muster up a blank stare.
"What are you talking about?"
My father shifted his gaze to Pierce, prompting him to speak. "I was looking over the case file to see if everything matched up and all the leads I was given by the team just weren't adding up to anything. So we decided to tackle this from a different angle and... well, with the way the circumstances are now, it's starting to come together. Honestly, Flash, I don't know how to tell you this."
"You're not saying..."
"There's a chance that Princess Twilight may not be the target."
I couldn't bother recalling how many questions that I bombarded myself with when I first heard that. All I remembered was that my initial shock quickly warped into something else, with my raised brows furrowing, cheeks darkening in a darker shade of black, and a stinging lump curling like a grisly centipede in my throat. It was an emotion I was taught to cage in by my mother and taught to shun by my father, both whom emphasized to me how much it could damage the reputation my family had worked hard to maintain. It was antipathy, caustic and untethered, twisting and coiling around my bleeding heart.
"Mr. Atelier knew about you and the princess, didn't he?" my father asked.
I managed a glum nod.
"So that's how it is," he concluded grimly. "He wanted you out of the picture, so he sent some ponies to get rid of you or, at the very least, make it seem as though you were the one behind the attacks. Knowing him, he'd probably go for the latter: have Princess Twilight believe you're responsible for the attack, she might lose her trust in you and he'll have his son step in to take care of her. Cowardly, certainly, but one couldn't argue with the results."
"Where is he?"
"No one knows, Flash, and if they did, they'd have no obligation to tell you," Pierce barked, mustering a glare. "You think hunting him and destroying him would solve everything, Flash?"
"It'll solve something, I'm sure."
"No it wouldn't, Flash!" he scowled sharply. "I've seen ponies do that. I've met those ponies and they all thought the same thing. They all thought that just because they got rid of someone, it'll better their lives. They all thought that without even thinking about the consequences that would come to them. What do you think, that I'll just let you do it? That I'll let you kill Mr. Atelier? You're no better off killing yourself, Flash Sentry!"
"I'd kill myself too if it means Twilight would be safe!"
Even my father recoiled at the harsh tone loaded in my voice, dripping in the venomous anger freed from its rusted confines. I shot my friend an intense glare, though he already reciprocated before I even began. The thundering cannonade in my chest was welling up to a crescendo, blood gushing and jostling around like a mob in my veins. When he opened his mouth, I braced myself to retaliate with my arsenal ready, only to stop in surprise when he let out a soft, deploring sigh.
"Look, Flash, I'll never understand the places you have gone to," he stated in a mild tone. "Still, you know what I understand? You're the most hated pony in all of Equestria, but you and I both know it wasn't because of you. I understand that now and I apologize for not realizing it sooner. I also understand that you care deeply for the princess and you think it's because of you that she's hurt. You're angry that the princess had been hurt because Mr. Atelier roped her into this and that's why you want to settle this between you and him. There's one thing, however, that I understand and you don't."
I looked up at him from the abyss I was in, daring him to speak.
"Twilight Sparkle wouldn't want this," he said.
"How can you be so sure?"
"How can't I?" he retorted with a sorrowful chuckle. "Flash Sentry, you're one of my oldest friends. I've known you ever since we got sent to detention together back in high school. Sure, you may not have the strongest sense of judgement, but you always had a strong sense for balance. You were always a mediator, seeking for an ideal equity; a mantle that the rest of us couldn't hold. Whatever the princess saw in you, I'm sure it was that. She would want to wake up and see the Flash Sentry who counters hate with peace and goodwill, not a Flash Sentry who would murder in response to it. The Flash Sentry that she knows — that I know — would return it with tolerance and forgiveness. The Flash Sentry we know would want to see justice be done in a rightful manner."
Somehow, I felt a fourth presence in the room. It was warm and benevolent, though there was not an aura of sovereignty and power that would come from Princess Celestia, nor was there the temperance and tranquility one would expect from Princess Luna. As the warmth embraced me, the spiked vines entrenching my heart began to unfurl, the flickering embers in my chest dying down. From over my shoulder, I could picture her smile, genial and sincere; I could hear her voice, soft and gentle as it allayed all my worries. Perhaps it was all my imagination, this calming presence. Perhaps it was just my mind's way of telling me that I never really wanted this, that Twilight would never want this, no matter how hard I wished it to be. The look of resignation I bore was palpable to Pierce, who managed a smile.
"We'll find him, Flash, I will promise that," he assured. "In the meantime, we'll need to convince the rest of Equestria that you're not the pony they think you are and I know just the pony who can help. Does the name 'Mandegloire' ring any bells?"
I shook my head, though it would seem my father had an inkling of who it might be. "Wasn't she the lawyer who famously convinced the jury to overturn the verdict in the case of the Wonderbolts ownership scandal?"
"The very same," Pierce said, sporting his trademark grin. "To put it simply, Flash, she has a knack for working on the more impossible cases. If there's anypony who can turn you from the most hated pony in all of Equestria into anything else, she's the one who you'll want help from. Of course, you'd have to go to her office in Manehatten and request her services personally if you want to."
There's the catch I was waiting for; I suspected an opportunity like this wouldn't come by so easily without effort. "So, I'll have to convince her to take my side," I sighed.
"Yeah. A spur-of-the-moment kind of deal," my friend reiterated knowingly. "It's something you're pretty good at, last time I checked."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, the muscles and tendons around my jaw and cheeks straining once more as they remembered how to form a smile again. That alone set off a light chortle from my friend and even brought forth the rare smile from my father, especially so from what Pierce pulled out next from his glossary of dramatic vocabulary.
"Lo and behold, Flash Sentry has returned."
"I must say, you've made some significant progress, Mr. Sentry."
"I did?" I blurted out.
"Well, if what you told me truly reflects your thoughts, then yes," Nurse Redheart answered with a sympathetic smile as she flipped through the papers in her clipboard, archiving the progress of my cognitive behavioral therapy from day one. It might not be a therapy I asked for, along with the multitude of things that my father provided me, but it was one of the few that I appreciate. "Would you imagine that you'll ever be this happy eight months ago?"
"I can't honestly say I would be," was my response, accompanied by a chuckle. "Come to think of it, it's been eight months already..."
Time is a smug, impatient bastard of a pegasus that sneers at the happier moments you revel in and gloats in the darker moments you fell into. In the eight months I've toiled through since the incident, time was especially cruel, making every passing day last a little longer. It's frightening, how far I had come. Of course, I wouldn't be here without all the help that I had received as well as the therapy I underwent to free myself of the anxiety attacks I was constantly under. I shudder to think where I might end up otherwise if it weren't for everyone else. All in all, I was glad that I could be here.
If only I could say the same for Twilight.
"How's the princess doing?"
Nurse Redheart's face fell when I said that. "I'd say Her Royal Highness is going through a lot," she mumbled, hooves tensed. "Of course, that's an understatement, really. You would know that, since you were going through the same things before. It's utterly cruel, whatever you both had to go through."
Cruelty, huh? Come to think of it, there had been an abundance of those lately. It's one of those things where everyone has in their possession, but won't ever admit they do. We've all been cruel at some point of our lives, most of us unintentionally so. It's something that, as we learned ever since we were foals, provides us a sense of self-satisfaction and a little bit of pride, albeit unwittingly at the unwilling expense of others. No one — not even myself, not even Twilight and might I even add Princess Celestia — was free from the temptations that cruelty would promise. If we were, Equestria would never be here. That's the curse of cruelty: no matter how much we dissociate ourselves from it, cruelty will always be at the heart of progress as a conduit to sate our dissatisfaction.
"May I see her?" I asked.
"Sure thing," the nurse chirped, scavenging through her clipboard. "According to the schedule, Her Royal Highness should be having her physical therapy session right now."
"Thank you."
"Don't be. It's best if you're there with her."
I made my way to the physical rehabilitation room without needing to spare a thought. Having been there many times myself when I had my hoof broken from a moment I'd rather not talk about, the whole journey felt natural, as if I was heading home. It was bliss, being able to walk again; all that remained of my pain was the occasional fuzz that comes and goes in my joints. Sometimes, it does come back if I put a little too much pressure onto it, which had amounted to a number of sleepless nights. It's a pain that I'll have to live with for quite some time, according to the doctor, who also told me to lay off any laborious work for the time being. Still, I'm not making any promises.
It's almost tragic, trotting in to see the medical staff awkwardly cheering Twilight on as she struggles to canter down the treadmill, lightly huffing in an attempt to ease off the pain. What's really tragic, however, was the dismal look in her eyes, bereft of the hopeful, lively spark that was true to her name. A little bit of it came back when she noticed my presence, but it was only a lackluster shard of its former glory, easily snuffed out by the gloom bubbling from within her. It was enough, however, to fan the moribund embers of determination still flickering within her, bringing newfound power to her bandaged hooves as she soldiered on against the shifting road beneath her.
"Great to see you here, Flash Sentry," the head doctor said as he stepped over to my side. "I take it your panic attacks have become less frequent now, yes?"
"Yeah," I half-heartedly replied, a little more concerned on other things. "How's the princess doing lately?"
"Physically, she's doing well. Her therapy's been progressing healthily and the phantom pain sensations she's getting from losing her right wing are mostly sedated. All in all, she's doing fine and will be discharged in a few months at earliest." The doctor adjusted his glasses, sneaking a glance back at Twilight as he lowered his voice: "As for her mental state... to say the least, it isn't in its best form. Her Royal Highness had been refusing to talk to us or even eat her meals. When we ask her if anything was bothering her, she kept on insisting it was fine and would throw a tantrum if we persisted. Just a moment ago, we've barely managed to convince her to attend the physical therapy session. That's not to mention the case report which, as I promised, I had confided the details to her."
"How did she take it?"
The grave shake of his head was a foreboding gesture, warning me of what I was about to face.
"Pardon me truly if I say this," the doctor stuttered. "Her Royal Highness would've been better off not knowing it at all."
Some part of me secretly and selfishly yearned for just that: the convenience of silence. Of course, Twilight Sparkle, as I had mentioned before, does not take a response of silence well. I'd reckon that if we told her after all is said and done, she'd be much more devastated than she was right now. To her, silence was secrecy, a truth withheld and a mask for lies. Silence was something she had come to reject ever since we argued about hiding secrets from each other. As for me, I would say that I'm indifferent either way, but in all honesty, I'm beginning to share the same view as well. Seriously, how many complications could we have avoided if we spoke up a little more? How many misunderstandings could be averted if we knew what was happening? Even now, I'm keeping a multitude of secrets from her, from the ongoing investigation into Mr. Atelier's disappearance to the deal with Princess Celestia, all for her safety. What if, in the end, her unknowing became her undoing? What will I do then?
"Look who's here to see you, Your Highness!"
Despite the nurse's cheerful tone, all that elicited from Twilight was a broken smile. As despondent as it made me feel, I made sure my own smile remained strong and firm when we helped her back onto her wheelchair before we escorted her back to her room like a procession. There were some conversations had between us, though Twilight never took part in them, with me following suit when my gaze fell back to the stub where her right wing once was. One can only imagine how distressed she was, especially after some of the papers dubbed her the 'One Winged Alicorn', an untactful pseudonym which incited enough public outcry to force them to apologize. It's downright disgusting really, how low some establishments would go. Of course, right now, she's indifferent either way.
Funny how things turned out for us.
"You had lunch yet?" I asked
A shake of her head.
"Well, you want something light, at least? Like an apple or a hay sandwich?"
A nod.
The journey back to her room was a short one, even with the added detour of picking up some donuts from the cafeteria. With the help of the staff, I carried her back into bed, thanking them with a nod and that cracking smile of mine when they left us with a gift of privacy. It was the longest moment we spent together in total oblique silence, avoiding each other's gaze and shuffling in place whenever the awkwardness tried to settle in. I had no idea what to say or where to begin, with some callous part of me wishing that she started the conversation despite all she's been through. Of course, it will be unlike me to stoop that low.
"Twilight?"
Her Royal Highness sullenly glanced up at me; to that I held my breath and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Y-You gonna eat that donut? It'll be stale if you leave it like that."
Way to fucking go, Flash Sentry.
That, however, seemed to do the trick: within the next few seconds, Twilight started to splutter and choke, before a fit of laughter burst forth from her after so long, bringing joyful tears to her eyes. I sat there with a light blush, chuckling sheepishly at myself and my fallen dignity, sacrificing itself for the sake of her happiness. It was refreshing, seeing her laughing like this after such a long moment in darkness. They do say laughter is the best medicine; Twilight's was probably a miracle cure, in this case. However, as much as we both wanted it to linger, it was quick to drift away. When the last of her short-lived laughs faded into memory, her gaze fell and the darkness returned to swirl in her eyes once again, growing larger and larger in the uneasy silence resettling in.
That is, until she spoke.
"Would you have come up with a name?"
My stare hardened, all my muscles beginning to tense up. "Don't know," I admitted breathlessly, trying my best not to shiver.
"Me neither," she shakily sighed with a strange, somewhat disconcerting smile. "It's weird... how dismissive I was... how I thought it was just me being under the weather..."
"You couldn't have known."
"I should've known, Flash. Every mare should," she rasped bitterly. "The signs were there! The signs were all there! Th-They were all— the nausea, t-the cravings, the... everything was there! Everything was there! Everything! Tell me, Flash Sentry! What kind of a mare am I?!"
"Twilight, you're not—"
"Tell me, Flash Sentry!!" Twilight started to shout, glaring right into me. "What kind of a fucking mare does not even know that she was three months pregnant?!"
I could only glance away, gritting my teeth as the words on the report slowly slipped back into mind, still horrifying and sickening as it was when I first read it. They found it when scouring through the rubble: the remains of a small fetus, curled up, greasily molten into the cement and caked in dredges of soot. All matters were made worse when the results of the genetic tests came back, leaving no question as to who the devastated parents were and sealing the makings of an unprecedented motive that would not easily be overlooked, as Shining Armor had put it tremendously. It was unbelievable, how much a pony can lose in the course of one night, all because of the selfish endeavors of another. By the time I could bring myself to look at Twilight again, she was already sobbing loudly into her sheets, trembling violently even as I stepped up and wrapped her hoof around mine.
"Where have I gone wrong?! Tell me, Flash, what did I do wrong?!"
I retained my grim silence.
"Flash, look at me! For fuck's sake, LOOK AT ME!!"
Immediately, I snapped my wandering gaze back, staring into the abyss in her eyes, seething in a dark mess of rage and confusion and forcing the tears out from me. I was afraid. I was truly afraid at the mare before me, ensnared in a cavernous gossamer of raw, malicious anger. This was not the Twilight Sparkle that I knew nor was it the Twilight Sparkle that the name resembled; this was but a poor substitute, twisted and warped in a malignant pool of hate, demanding for answers that no one would ever unearth from the grayer atmospheres of Equestrian morality.
That is, no one except me.
"It's me."
The whirlwind of emotion stopped in silence. "Wh-What do you mean?" she whimpered.
"It was me. They were after me. They were after me and you got—" I choked on my tears towards the end, retracing my breath as I tried again. "They were after me and you got caught up in this. They were after me because I was with you, and because I was with you that night and... they did this because we were together, Twilight! They wanted to use you, to turn you against me and they thought this was the best thing they could do! All of this... all of this..."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Once again, she shattered the fabled silence.
"F-Fuck..." she gasped eloquently, eyes wide open as everything sank in.
"All of this was because of me..." I quivered. "You lost a wing, you lost a foal... it was all because of me... they were all fucking right this whole time, weren't they?"
"Flash Sentry, don't you dare—!"
"It's my fault! It's justified! They were all right!"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, YOU—!!"
"They're Celestia-damned right! I am a murderer!"
That was when Twilight struck me across my cheek.
The sting of her slap burrowed in me, etching itself into my memory. I could distinctly recall the look she gave me: her furious glower, her grinding teeth, her damp cheeks, her sole wing fanned out in a display of animosity... I didn't want to believe it was her, that this was her, yet this was what she had become, what we had become. All our brighter days together seemed so distant and minuscule, cowering in the shadow of the past several months of turmoil. We had fallen too far into the chasm to crawl back up, too lost into the black hole to scramble back to the world we had lived in. We were mere children that had strayed too far from reality and are now paying the fucking price.
"Don't say that... please..." she begged. "I can't do this... not with you like this..."
I couldn't bear to stay long after that. It'll be cruel to both me and her if I did, and with how abundant it was currently, it was really the last thing we both need. In the end, this is what we make of it. Of love, that is. Argument after argument, insult after insult, vitriol malignantly spewing out like a geyser from both of our mouths even while the whole of the world fixated onto us... this is what our love had come to. We had been churned, twisted and turned, warped by so much malevolence and so much revulsion, and got fucked over countless of times that we had grown into the fiendish monsters you'd read on the paper on every other day. We had reached the extremes foretold in the legends and myths, which really brings back the undeniable conclusion, first whispered tenderly to me by none other than Clementine Genoise Sentry.
Love is disgusting.
"What is this?"
Shining Armor's glare was as caustic as I had expected it to be when I handed the letter to him. It was a letter that I had unceremoniously prepared the night Twilight and I had our first argument. I had kept it safe and was planning to scrap it, though learning the truth behind all that happened prompted me to bring it back out again, for the sake of whom, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, I watched the frown on the captain's face grew ever darker as he skimmed through the scrawl of words I had prepared. When he was done, he let out a morose sigh and looked at me with a wrinkle of his snout. By then, I was already bracing myself for another one of his shouting sprees, though, as I would soon find out, I did not actually need to.
"What's this all about?"
"It's my resignation letter, sir."
"I know what it is," he scowled disapprovingly at my obvious statement. "It wouldn't be like you to resign from your position as royal bodyguard, no matter what the situation calls for. Plus, you're a little late for trying to pull this off, don't you think?"
"Trust me, Captain, it's better this way."
"For who? For Twilight? Or is it really for you?"
"I'm trying to keep her safe," I argued. "You read the case file, Captain. It is my innate belief that I might be responsible for the ordeal that Princess Twilight had been put through. Without me—"
"Okay, okay, stop," he butted in, shaking his head. "First off: cut the formalities. I'm Shining Armor and she's just Twilight, without the royal titles and everything, alright? Second: you're correct that I read the case file that your attorney had provided me. It's the reason why I convinced our parents to retract the lawsuit against you and also the reason why the guard is busy hunting down Mr. Atelier even as we speak."
That was a move that I had to desperately thank Melody for; the only mare with enough bravado to coax a livid Shining Armor to read the case file. It was that move that issued a change, that paved the way for the two of us to become unwitting allies fighting for the common ground for bringing justice where it's due. To me, it was the move that saved my flank from being kicked into the cell with a life imprisonment sentence handed down by the jury. Perhaps without Melody, I may not be the free pony I am right now. I may still be the most hated pony in Equestria without her help for the string of interviews I had on the radio. She had done what most attorneys would fail to do; I'll need to find a great way of thanking her for that.
"However," he continued, his tone softening. "What I got from that as well was that without you, Twilight would've been worse off, being married to someone's son just so they could selfishly profit from something as simple as her own signature. If she knew, she would appreciate that. I might not have Cadance's love magic, but that's enough to tell me that you really care for her, no matter what you have to do."
"So you do understand why I have to do this."
"No doubt I do, but did you consider what Twilight would think about this?" the captain questioned. "Do you know how devastated she would be if she heard that you're gonna leave her? Honestly, Flash, I'm more afraid of what happens to her when you do. She might go through worse than what she's going through now."
"What could be worse than having your wing amputated and going through a miscarriage?"
"Granted, those two things are absolutely terrible, but still, she strove on. You know why? She kept on going because she had you. She had someone who would support her and help her, to share the burdens with her, to be a shoulder to cry on when she needs it. She had a pony who really cares for her as much as she cares for him. Believe me, Twilight needs you now more than ever. Doesn't that make you stop and think for a second what you're really risking here?"
I did not give a reply, forcing out a defeated sigh from him.
"Fine then, if that's the best you can come up with," he mumbled quietly, folding the letter with his magic. "I'll see what I can do..."
One can tell that it's a strange time when the captain of the guard — your very own superior — becomes willing to run an errand for you, especially when you're aware that he loathed your presence up until a few weeks ago. I'm guessing this was his way of trying to make up for the other days he bitterly treated me, which I can wholly appreciate. With all that said and done, we made our way down the hospital corridors, to a room booked and prepared by the guard with cooperation from the medical staff. It is in this room where everything is decided; it is in this room where the truth of what happened that fateful night shall be revealed.
You know what the heartwarming thing about all this was? Stepping into the room to see all these familiar faces that had been there when it all started to come together and give you one last push. Pierce was the first of the group to greet me with his quaint, lopsided grin, followed by Melody who gave me a hearty pat on the back. Then came Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, both of whom finally brought an air of sincerity to their voices as they wished me good luck. To have Thunderlane and Cloudchaser be there as well was especially encouraging, the couple having willingly housed me in the turbulent months I had to go through despite starting off by being a fucking asshole to them. It was a kindness and understanding that I couldn't appreciate more than I do now, and for that, I gave them a thankful nod.
"You ready, son?" my father asked me.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied back, putting in some mediocre effort to look confident. "Dad, I... I really didn't have the chance to say this to you, but I... I'm sorry. About everything I said, about how I treated you—"
"It's just a memory spell. You're not dying, Flash Sentry," he snorted, making the rest of the ponies chuckle. Some part of me became a little afraid that I inherited his form of humor as well. Honestly, though, I would be a little proud of that. Of course, as only Gallant Sentry would, he topped it off with another of his traits I wouldn't mind having under my wing as well: one last piece of fatherly advice.
"Just remember to stay strong in there. Remember: you've been through this before and you're stronger because of it. Prove it to everyone here that you can go through this again."
My mother still wears the same look of absolute worry she had when she was first informed of this back in the interrogation room, but the little smile she gave me convinced me that she will be there at every step along the way. Instead of speaking, she decided to convey her message with a tight, warm hug; one that urged me to come back no matter what happens. For her, I mustered my most confident grin, coupling it with what little pride I have left in me as I climbed into the bed. With that, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna strode up to me, both with genial smiles of their own, with the former princess' horn lighting up in a wisp of faint yellow.
"Okay, Flash Sentry," her voice soothed my ears with its blossoming warmth. "We shall begin with the memory spell. Now, close your eyes."
To that, my vision blurred into an inky darkness, the faces that surrounded me lost. I could only see one face: that of Twilight Sparkle, smiling the way she smiled back when the days were brighter. It was a smile that I would want to see it returning to its rightful place, a smile that I would give to see it back on her face. Perhaps, with this, it could finally come true. Perhaps, when all is said and done, Twilight Sparkle would finally be able to smile again. Peace flourished within me, flooding over my chest that rose and fall along with my steady breath as I clung tightly onto that prospect, even as everything started to flare up into a brazen glare of white.
"Did I ever tell you why I liked you, Flash?"
Not really, no.
"It's funny when you think about it. I mean, you can't really say this about everypony, you know."
That kinda makes me special, doesn't it?
"Probably. Maybe. Almost definitely."
I think the word you're looking for is 'truly'.
"That might be it."
It might be not, you know?
"Of course, it might be not. Still, I'm definitely sure that's the word I'm looking for."
Truly?
"Truly, or at least, the base word it's derived from. That's the word that best suits you, Flash: true."
That's a pretty big word, don't you think?
"Correct, which means you've got some big horseshoes to fill, mister."
If it is the wish of Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle, I will.
I truly will.