No Sun-Queen Shall Rend Asunder

by Plough and Stars Pony

Heresy!, Part One

“Hello, Twilight.”

Pulled from her intent reading, Twilight looks up to see the pink Princess of Love coming approaching the two of them.

“Cadance!”

Flash lowered the books as swiftly as he was able to, rising from his haunches to his hoofs. He grunts as pins and needles jab inside his leg. Admonishing himself, Flash slowly walks up to Cadance.

Twilight is already there, leaning down to the floor in front of her sister-in-law;

“Sunshine, sunshine…”

Cadance joins in, hopping from hoof to hoof with Twilight, covering then removing hoofs from her eyes;

“…ladybugs awake!”

Sitting upright on their haunches, the two mares clap hoofs together;

“Clap your hoofs…”

Twilight and Cadance stand up, turning away, shaking their tails and hindquarters;

“…and do a little shake!”
Twilight and Cadance plonk themselves down and throw arms round each other, beginning to laugh. It was short-lived.

Flash sees the playing out of the old nursery rhyme between the two Princesses, grinning, and amused, recalling Cadance had used to foalsit Twilight years and years ago.

The grin falters as he sees the two alicorns face away, leaning down, chanting “…do a little shake!”, as they waved their rumps, shaking their tails.

Flash saw Twilight stretching her shapely flanks, the curve of her rump exposed as her swooping three-colour tail whips back and forth.

Uh oh

Pomf!

Flash’s wings snap upward and outward as his snout reddens at the lovely luscious lavender sight.

Did that just…

The stallion’s eyes widen as both alicorns’ laughter choke out, and they straighten to stare at him with astonishment.

…

Oh no, oh no, no no no, don’t tell me, oh, Galaxia please…

Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight had seen him accidentally declare his feelings for Twilight.

The humiliation was total. His reputation as a loyal, stoic, golden Guardspony crumbled, blew away on the Princesses’ gazes. Flash could feel himself grow hotter and hotter as his inside cringe and twist in to unbelievable shapes.

Flash sees, as Twilight stares still at him, Cadance bring a slippered hoof to her lips to stifle a titter. In that hyper-real moment, Flash could see the tousled hairs in her pink and yellow mane, the bags under her eyes.

He stumbles back on weak, trembling legs, wings flapping woodenly. He couldn’t be with them any longer.

Pivoting on his shod toes, Flash sprints away, in to the library.

“W-wha-what…,” Twilight stammers, blushing.

“Oh, who was that, Twily?”

“Flash Sentry,” Twilight answers, still staring after the light-orange Pegasus.

“Twilight, I’m not sure how to break this to you, but I think you have a serious admirer,” Cadance says, one eye on Flash’s empty wake, and the other on Twilight. Her grin, white and knowing, bends over her face.

The lavender alicorn blushes more furiously. “Oh…um…uh…right then…ah.”

“Ever had an admirer before, Twily?”

“Nnn-nnuh-no no no.”

“Mmm, how long have you known him?”

“Three days, only three days.”

“Ooaah, hoo hoo, really?”

Flash Sentry only stops running when he reaches the back of the library, hidden by mountainous walls and walls of books and tomes. Seeing nopony else, he chooses the furthest corner where one bookcase slots against the wall, the carpeted floor in deep grey, cool shadow. Isolated, quiet, hard-to-find.

A near-perfect hiding-place.

The disgraced stallion heads heavily in to the dimness. He curls up on the floor, arms and hoofs drawn up under his chin, wings unfurled clasping himself. Flash sighs, and closes his eyes. He does not want to, but the lyrics of the nursery rhyme ring merrily through his mind, Twilight and Cadance waving their tails, the wingboner, and the disgracing sprint away.

Flash groans, wanting to banish it from memory, space, time, but wholly unable to.

Flash knows he cannot continue in the Royal Guard any longer. Five years or so of service, since he was eighteen, standing quietly in the background, a dizzying appointment to Princess’ bodyguard…the most lovely, beautiful mare he had ever seen…the green shoots of a possible friendship…and now this.

Second day on the job, and I bucking blow it!

Twenty-three years old, with the prospect of resigning in shame and dishonour, stained by the fact he could not keep his traitorous wings down.

…This is the worst day of my life.

Flash lies there stewing in silence before…

What will Iron Hoof think? Well, wave me off with a sneer. Oh no, what about Dad? He’ll look at me in disgust, say harsh words, and turn away. What will I do now? Who will guard Princess Twilight now?

Lying down huddled, muzzle resting on his arms slowly draws Flash’s eye to his two golden horseshoes. What a proud, upstanding, loyal Guardspony would wear. Not one who had to hide a love he should not be feeling, one who was ashamed at that love, and one who had disgraced himself in front of two Princesses.

I should not be wearing this, I have disgraced it.

Hooking a toe of one hoof in to one shoe he levers it off, pushes several inches away to the crook of the wainscotting. He does the same with the second, and then two more, each pushing them away from him. Momentarily gazing at his front hoofs, he raises them to slide off his helmet. Setting it on the floor, he unbuckles the straps keeping the breast- and side-plates joined. Completed, the piles of metal glimmers dully. Flash, now naked as when he came in to the world, feels marginally cleaner, lies down again the floor, legs and arms under him, facing away from his armour, idly scrutinising a primary feather as his thoughts turn over and over.

“Apt? Did you see where Flash went?”

The library-stallion looks behind him and adjusts his spectacles, confused.

“I’m afraid I did not, Your Highness. Did…did he leave?”

Cadance’s mouth crooks upwards at the corners.

“Sort of.”

“Well, I never saw him, You Highness, I’m afraid.”

“It’s alright, Apt.”

“I will look for Flash. He cannot have gone far in this library.”

“Should I come too?” Twilight asked.

“Thank you for being spirited, Twily, but no. After what happened, the sight of you may make him more nervous. I think it
is best if I talk to him alone. Flash will calm down better if he is in a one on one chat.”

“Oh, okay.” Twilight’s ears flop to the side of her head. She rubs one arm with the other. Cadance reaches over to rub a hoof on her shoulder. “I know you have the best intentions, Twily.”

“Flash?”

The stallion slowly raises his head, feeling his body begin to shiver with dread and his insides twist anew.

Cadance stands mere feet from him at the end of the bookcase, standing in the light, outside of the deep shadow cast by the lamps. Tall, pink, shining resplendent. He, huddled, in dimness, ashamed. Beside him, armour he had taken off.

“This is where you got to.”

“Your Highness,” he croaks, not meeting her eyes.

“It appears we have not been introduced, Flash,” the alicorn said, smiling, cheeks dimpling, head on one side. Flash cringes, shaking. Cadance lifts an arm and leaves it in the air in front of Flash, waiting. “Pleased to meet you, Flash,” she said. Flash paused, before he lifts an arm to fit the hoof in to hers. Flash clears his throat, and tries to keep his voice steady. “Pleased to meet you too, Your Highness.” The Princess tries to shake, but the two jerk out of time. The two hoofs let go. The pink hoof slowly touches down to the carpet again. The orange-gold hoof folds under Flash’s barrel, as if it was embarrassed by what had happened. “Well,” said Cadance softly. “At least that wasn’t worse.”

Flash was too full of dread to even think of grinning.

The gentle, gracious, understanding alicorn walks toward him, before kneeling down and scooting the last few inches. She was now right in front of him. Flash could not turn his head to either side without seeing her.

“Flash, I think we need a little secret talk. Right here is comfortable.”

The abased Knight, cringed again, trembling. He tried to move backwards, but his rump strikes the wainscoting, unable to move any more. Flash clamps down on the whine rising in his throat.

“Flash, there is really one question I need to ask: do you have strong feelings for Twilight?”

The stallion does not answer. A blush rises to his face, eyes skitter down to the floor, insides boiling and seething, a funny tinge of nausea rising.

“Flash,” Cadance says insistently, but not raising her melodic voice, eyes fixed upon him, “Answer me”.

“Yes!” Flash forces himself to say. He opens his eyes again and made himself continue. “I love her. I love her very much.”

Cadance is silent for a few seconds. Then she hums softly, lifting her crossed arms to meet her chin. She still looks at him, not cross or angry, not judging, just patient.

Flash just happens to notice the dark deep circles under the pink Princess’s eyes under a layer of makeup. Her blond and pink and mane were…faded. Flash remembers how bright and bouncy she had been at the wedding interrupted by
Chrysalis. Cadance looked tired, so very tired.

The Princess meets his gaze, her eyes purse just slightly. Flash frowns as he felt a peculiar sensation of being scrutinised second by awkward second. He couldn’t avoid a nervous cough. Oh, Celestia and Galaxia, what is thinking? What is she planning on doing to me?

The thrill dies down. The noise of Cadance breathing in. “You are in love with Twilight, Flash. I’m sorry I had to use my magic to find out if it was true. I won’t use my magic again right now.”

Cadance hums a second time. “Well, isn’t that something? I don’t hear something like that every day, Flash.” A pause, several more seconds for Flash’s heart to pulse, his belly to knot sickeningly.

“Flash, why don’t you tell me how you fell in love with dear Twilight?”

The gold-yellow stallion squirms, folded arms and wings tightening together, shuffling uncomfortably. What had been deathly tightly secret between just him and Greyhoof for months, she wanted him…

“Flash, I should let you know we don’t have much time. So, please, tell me, quickly.”

“It’s been months, Your Highness, since…since…Heh, I had been…noticing – seeing her before. She stood out to me.
Bright, sweet, so kind, and…so beautiful, more beautiful than any other mare I’ve seen.” Flash breaks off, eyes glazing over, his ears flopping back, full force of the love a great warm bloom in his chest, his cheeks and ears, the mental pictures of Twilight chorusing to the loud sympathetic thumping of his heart.

Cadance smiles to herself on the inside. He did look cute like that. She smiles more deeply as an amusing thought strikes her. Soo, the wingboner was for Twilight. Imagine if it was for little old me. Well, I know I’m pretty head-turningly hot. Would I mind? heh heh

Flash continues. “I wanted to get to know her better, pony to pony, I didn’t mind much she had been taught by Celestia, or she’s saved Equestria. Then, she solved that thingy down in Ponyville, and became a Princess…You must know, Highness, it was her Coronation – that – that changed everything.” The stallion sighs. “You were there. I was there, Guarding the Presentation Room, you were there, I don’t need to describe it. My thoughts were, when she was on the dais and during her speech to all those ponies, of how proud, how happy she looked, so confident and yet so nervous. I felt…I wanted to help her. So much. I kept thinking of her at that moment, over and over.”

He hesitates and swallows, even though his mouth his dry. Picking up he says,

“I started…um…these dreams of her; and me…just doing things. It was painful to me. Weeks passed before I realised what had happened. I didn’t want to believe it. Pegasi are not supposed to fall in love with Princesses.”

Flash sighs heavily, again feeling the shame that had settled on his shoulders at that time.

“If I may, Your Highness, please don’t tell the next stallion Iron Hoof sends to guard Twilight I told you this. And…please don’t tell him how I disgraced myself.”

“The…next Guardspony, Flash?”

“Yes. How can I guard after – that?”

“I think I will not be bothering Auntie to send up a new Guardspony, Flash,” Cadance replies, corners of her lips darting upwards.

“Huh?” Flash blabs, then dumbly astounded. He fails to understand her. How could a Guardspony not be sent up?

“Well,” said Cadance before her smile widens to a small grin. “May I tell you a secret, Flash?”

Eyebrows still drawn together, Flash, perplexed, answers hesitantly, “Y-Yeah…what is it?”

Cadance leans close to him, and the Princess of Love whispers:

“Not in the Crystal Empire, Flash.”

“Wait, what do you say?”

“Here in the Crystal Empire, we encourage our little ponies to follow where their hearts take them.”

Flash Sentry stares at her, mouth open.

“One last thing, Flash Sentry…I will be watching you. We don’t want any more wingboners do we?” A broad smile splitting her muzzle, and then she winked at him.

Flash found himself smiling too. A half-embarrassed laugh forced itself out of him. “R-Right, I gotcha, Your Highness.”

“Hmm-mm, Flash?”

“Your Highness?”

“Please, do call me Cadance. Shining and I are very informal up here in the Empire.”

“Ah, right…I gotcha, Cadance.”

Cadance rises to stand, Flash rises a moment later, both grinning. Both walk back to the waiting ponies at the entrance.

“There you are!” Twilight cries as she sees Cadance walk in to view with Flash Sentry a foot in tow behind her.
Flash swallows, again seeing her surprised face moments after his treacherous wings flared. Thick hot shame roils inside him, the stallion brought so low, now risen up, pushes it down. No, not now. I must apologise to her.
Flash meets the lavender alicorn’s eyes. Bowing his head low so the tiles filled his vision, he pushes out his arms in front of him.

Twisting his lips, clearing his throat…

“Twilight, I am so very, very sorry for what happened. I swear I will make sure it never happens a second time.”

“W-What…did you do, Flash?” he hears Apt ask, tremulous, anxious. Then… “Bishe!”

White fur darts in to Flash’s field of view, tiny fangs, pink tongue, hot sharp smelly breath. Flash throws his body upward, out of the little dog’s attempts at licking him while he was down. Bishe bounces upward, trying to catch the elusive muzzle, but fails. Bishe settles for lapping the breastplate, placing pads on Flash’s elbows and wagging his tail.

“Bishe!” Apt Drop repeated heatedly, as both Cadance and Twilight couldn’t chain back their laughs. Flash halfheartedly joined in. “Sorry for not…,” he said, when the laughter ended. “Your Highnesses, I’m sorry. Bishe is rather…,”

“Hey, we understand, Apt,” Cadance says, sweetly.

“Um, w-what did Flash do?” Apt asks again.

“Oh, it’s not important, Apt.”

Apt Drop purses his lips a second. The librarian then asked: “Oh, aside from that, is Your Highness attending the play at the theatre next weekend?”

Cadance’s eyebrows jig up, her smile widens, the tension of the put-down melting away. “Oh, you didn’t mention a play before, Apt. What is this play about?”

Apt Drop breathes more easily, “It is called “A Stallion and His Mare”, Your Highness, written by my friend, Quartz, who will also be starring in it. I have seen the setup of it, and it is very beautiful.” A blush brightens his cheeks.

"Well, we all will look forward to seeing it, Apt." Cadance glances at both Twilight and Flash. "Are we ready to go?"

On the affirmatives, they said good days to Apt and left.

The three ponies walked back to the Palace in the slanting beams of the setting sun, orange sky above, orange snow below, shadows pulling away from houses up and down the street. Flash Sentry realised Twilight and he would have to have a frank talk when they were alone again, before they turned in for bed. It should be a chance for him to apologise to her again, explain his now-apparent feelings, a thorny issue for them to discuss. Brave Guardspony he may be, but he was not looking forward to it.

Shining Armour greets them at the Palace door. “Where were you?” he cries as Cadance, Twilight, and Flash walk past the floating Crystal Heart. “Did you need that search party to find Twily and Flash?”
Cadance titters. “No, we did not, dear. I was just greeting Flash.”

Comments

[Ultimate Warrior of Zera]

Excellent on Cadence’s caring personality.

[Alphamon_Ouryuken]

“Flash, there is really one question I need to ask: do you have strong feelings for Twilight?”

“Yes!” Flash forces himself to say. He opens his eyes again and made himself continue. “I love her. I love her very much.”

Cadence:
derpicdn.net/img/2019/1/12/1933090/medium.png