Shining Dash

by Ianpiersonjdavis

Deception

At sunset, Flash stopped by the bar to await nightfall and the possible reappearance of Sunset Shimmer.

Whenever he wasn’t delegating orders to the other members of the guard, he searched the entire royal archive for any mention of her existence.

The thought had occurred to Flash that he could just simply ask Celestia about the mare who claimed to be a former student of hers.

During lunch he almost acted upon these thoughts, it was the only time of day that Princess Celestia had the time to take a break from the nobles bickering over what they failed to see as relatively minor disputes in light of the recent Changeling attack and very real threat that they still posed.

However, when he opened his mouth to ask he found that he couldn’t do it; he saw the Princess sitting there sipping tea in the short half hour lull that gave her any peace of mind these days and couldn’t bring himself to potentially open up new wounds for her.

Of course, while he tried to deny it to himself; part of him knew that the real reason he didn’t ask was because he was afraid.

This was the fear that this news would put her on high alert and that she would make the other members of the guard work harder as a result and that they in turn would hate him more than they already did.

A loud cracking sound filled the night air once the stars began to shine shortly after the rise of Luna’s moon.

Flash galloped towards the alleyway the sound had originated.

There was a Changeling, lying limply on the ground with a puddle of light green liquid oozing from an ugly gash across its torso.

Standing above it was Sunset Shimmer, pulling her black leather jacket back over her body.

“Sunset, what’s going here?”

“What?” She glanced back down at the Changeling. “Yeah, that’s the bitch you were talking to yesterday-knocked me out a few days ago and I woke up in some kind of cocoon, I was watching both of you talk last night.”

“You killed her.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Slashed her torso open from stomach to chest.” Sunset replied nonchalantly. “I was pretty pissed though, so I wanted to rip all of her legs, bash in her ribcage with one of them and then slowly crush her windpipe-but, that would have taken too long.”

Flash stood there in stunned silence at her confession.

“I didn’t want to draw too much unwanted attention, since I’m not really welcome in this city and I’m trying to keep a low profile.” She continued.

“Why would you do that?” Flash asked hoarsely, feeling his heart begin to speed up in fear. “When we could have taken her as a prisoner and interrogate her if you kept her alive?”

Sunset smirked, taking note of his tone and relishing the fear he was feeling.

“As I’ve said; I’m keeping a low profile and bringing a live Changeling to Celestia’s doorstep is the exact opposite of that, as well as the fact that I don’t care about this city or its people.”

“So, how was this Changeling able to capture you and emulate your personality so well if you’ve been keeping such a low profile?” Flash challenged.

“She was a drone and an infiltrator.” Sunset replied. “I don’t like being made a fool and as if falling for her deception wasn’t bad enough, I was also imprisoned so they could ‘feed’ on me.”

“They were going to eat you?” Flash asked, in shock.

“No,” she replied. “As with any pathetic creature, they require love for sustenance.”

Sunset looked back down at the slain Changeling.

“Now, maybe we should begin to walk and talk; I’ve just killed this thing and it’s already starting to stink.”

“Even though I’ve been talking to an imposter, you seem to know about everything we talked about-how?” Flash demanded.

“Easily; you’re a terrible excuse for a guard and an even worse excuse for a Captain and for a Changeling infiltrator, she certainly didn’t know to check to see if she wasn’t being shadowed.” Sunset replied smugly.

“And why didn’t you reveal yourself then?” he pressed.

“Because an idiot guard was talking to her the whole time and I knew he’d get in the way.” She replied.

“You were worried about hurting me?”

“No, I was pissed and I wanted my revenge, but I couldn’t exact it without risking you interfering or calling the other members of your little guard.” She responded, curtly.

“So what’s your plan now that she’s been taken care of?”

“Since you guards are so horribly inept at your jobs, perhaps I will show you what a waste you are by accomplishing what you cannot by assisting with your little Changeling problem.”

“What makes you think that you can do this so easily?” Flash demanded.

“Because I’m intelligent, skilled with magic, and I didn’t get my position just by being some pretty boy.” She spat.

“You think I’m pretty?” Flash asked, cheekily.

“Not bad looking, but in all seriousness; why does it seem like Celestia always puts guy like you in charge of her guard?”

“Technically, I’m holding Captain Shining Armor’s position until he recovers.” He reminded her.

“Still, it seems like she’s trying to reinforce the dreams that most fillies I grew up around seemed to have about a handsome prince or knight sweeping them up their hooves when they became mares.” Sunset continued.

“I’ll be the first to admit that the guard probably isn’t the right place for me.” Flash replied. “But, Shining’s a good guy and I couldn’t ask for a better Captain.”

“What, you can’t seriously mean that I’m getting to you or the other members of your guard?” Sunset asked.

“No, words don’t hurt me anymore-it’s just the distrust and loathing of my peers and the fact that I never chose to become a guard.” He replied. “I had a pretty bad temper as a colt-I got it from my father and there were a few incidents where I hurt other colts; I broke one’s leg and when I was a teenager there was another Pegasus…” his voice trailed off at the memory.

“What happened?” Sunset pressed.

“Sorry,” he replied, shaking his head. “I remember taking his wing in my teeth and twisting it before I punched it-that was the last straw for my parents; when I came home, my father informed me that they had spoken to Celestia and enlisted me into the royal guard to straighten me out.”

“What was the fight about?”

“Back in Cloudsdale there was a Pegasus with a bad wing condition that meant he would never be able to fly, once the others found out they began bullying him-until I attacked the ringleader.”

“So it must have worked; I’ve been attacking you since we’ve met and you haven’t raised a hoof towards me.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah, I guess so…”

“There’s an inn I’m staying at,” Sunset continued. “The room has two beds, so you can stay there until morning; I doubt I’ll be accepted into the castle without someone of at least a shred of recognition there to vouch for me.”

“Alright,” Flash conceded. “But, where is this Changeling hive that you escaped from?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, turning to face him. “I burned it down along with all of the Changelings inside.”

Author's Note:

This another chapter with Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry, but the next one will go back to Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor.

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[Evil Paladin]

To do list:
Get a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk
Get oil changed
Do not cross Sunset Shimmer
Sweep the living room...