New Captain

by SilverKaizoku

Log 3

Flash breathed a sigh of relief. Never before had he been so pleased to be out of the captain’s office. Shining’s break down on being a captain had been thankfully brief and without any possible inkling of mention of his and Twilight’s relationship.

Now, as he slowly trotted down the crowded side-walk of the Crystal Empire, his mind was focused on one thing at the moment; his friends. Eventually, his trotting ended, coming to a stop in front of a music store with it sporting a large neon sign which read, “ATOMIC BEATS”. Pushing the door open, the guard was greeted with a loud, booming, and familiar voice.

“WELCOME TO ATOMIC BEATS; THE BEST MUSIC STORE IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!” The pony announced, startling Flash some. The stallion in question was a large earth pony; nearly as big as the apple farmer Big Mac. A lime green coat covered him. His mint blue mane was messy, with his bangs parted and hanging on the sides of his face. Wrapped around his forehead was a red headband. Flash chuckled. With all the numerous times he traveled here, it was a miracle he never went deaf from his friend’s shouting.

“Hello, Brawly.”

The stallion took a quick glance at the pony that entered, a big grin forming on his face.
“Flash?! Man, it’s been forever!” Brawly grabbed the small Pegasus, pulling him into a fierce bear hug. The guard squirmed under the pressure of his friend's hug.

“Ack! B-Brawly...can’t...breath.” Flash coughed, praying Brawly could hear his plea.

“Oh! Sorry, man!” Brawly chuckled, releasing him from his death grip. Flash panted heavily, taking a few seconds to catch his breath before giving his friend a smile.

“It's good to see you again, Brawly.” The two stallions raised their hooves and bumped them together.

“So, is Bass in?” asked Flash.

Brawly nodded. “He's in the back, We just got a shipment of Blue's new album and I was helping him unload the truck when you came in.”

“Ah. Do you need an extra hoof?”

“Really? Thanks, dude!”

The two ponies made their way to the back exit. Outside was a unicorn magically lifting boxes, sporting a pale purple coat, his black and white mane moved slightly as he turned his head to place another box on the side.

One of the stallions trotted over to him. “Alright, that's all of em.” He presented a clipboard and pen to him.

The unicorn gave a nod, pushing his sunglasses. His horn glowed a dark blue, levitating the pen and wrote down his name.

“Kay, then! Have a nice day!” With a wave, the deliver pony climbed back in the truck and took off.

“Good, the shipment arrived early,” he spoke aloud “Now then, what is taking Brawly so-”

“YO BASS!” The earth pony yelled.

“...Long.” Sighing, Bass turned to face the shouting earth pony. “Brawly, it's not necessary for you to scream like-” Bass stopped just short of his sentence when he saw Flash.

“Flash's here for a visit! And he even offered to help us!” Brawly said with a smile.

“Hey, Bass. How are you?” Flash waved.

A small grin took form on Bass's lips. “I'm fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Eh. Doin' good. The life of a royal guard is not an easy one.”

“It isn't? I thought all you guys did was stand around and look PO'ed.” Brawly stated bluntly, earning him a glare from Flash.

“There's more to being a royal guard than just standing around or fighting monsters. We aid civilians in their troubles, stop minor crimes-”

“-Get captured a lot?”

“The changlings surprised all of us! Even the princesses!”

“Chill, man! I'm joking!” Brawly chuckled.

“So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on patrol now?” Bass asked, passing two boxes to Brawly.

“Yeah, about that...I'm here because I have the day off.” Flash answered, picking up a box and walking inside.

Bass cocked a brow at this, lowering two more boxes. For what reason would Flash get a day off for? It wasn't a holiday.

“Why do you have the day off?” Bass questioned.

Flash sighed. “Because I'm being transferred to ponyville tomorrow.”

The two stallions stared wide eyed at their friend, Brawly's jaw falling open.

“Ponyville? The home of princess Twilight?” Brawly asked.

Flash nodded.

“Why are you being transferred?” Bass added.

“Princess Twilight decided to acquire her own royal guard. Both to protect her and the castle whenever she's away.”

“And you were chosen to be apart of it?”

Flash shook his head. “I was chosen to be it's captain.”

“What?!” Bass shouted. Flash stumbled backwards some, Bass's reaction catching him off guard.

“You’re gonna be a captain?! Congrats, man!” The larger stallion grabbed his friend, pulling him into another bear hug.

“Ack! Brawly! L-let go!” The pegasus flailed.

“Hehe. Sorry, again.” Brawly apologized with a sheepish grin. Bass lowered the last of the boxes. Opening them, he levitated several bunches of CDs onto the shelves.

“Sorry for the outburst, Flash. I’m just shocked is all. Still, I am happy for you.” the unicorn replied.

“Thanks, guys. I mean that.” Flash smiles sadly at the two ponies. “I’m gonna miss you both.”

Brawly hooked his foreleg around Flash’s shoulder. “Come on, man. Don’t get all mopey on us. It’s not like you’re never gonna see us.”

Bass nodded as he trotted over to the guard. “Brawly is correct. We’ll come visit any change we get.”

“Thanks guys, but, it’s not just you I’ll miss.” Flash sighed, tearing himself for Brawly and walked over the the window. “I’m gonna miss all of this. The empire, Captain Shining, Princess Cadence my friends in the royal guard.” He spoke softly, lowering his head. “I’m gonna miss all of it.”

The two ponies exchanged a glance of concern. Bass trotted to the despondent pegasus.

“Flash,” he began.”Do you recall when we first meet?”

To this, the guard cocked a brow. “Yeah? Why?”

“Do you remember how you felt during that time?”

Flash paused for a moment to think, a hoof placed under his chin.

“Uh...well, I was...hm. Sorry, Bass I don’t.”

Chuckling, the unicorn spoke. “You acted much like you are now, albeit, slightly more panicked.”

Flash’s eyebrows shot up, the memories of his first few weeks in the Empire came flooding back. He remembered how terrified he was. Worried he’d be unable to perform his duties or how he might fail to live up to the standards of his idol, Shining. and Princess Cadence.

He was a wreck, to say the least. That’s when he encountered Bass and after pouring his heart out, the purple stallion gave him some advice.

“Calm down, take a deep breath, and do the best job you can do.” Flash’s head turned to Bass, wearing a calming smile.

Flash cocked his head to the side, perplexed by the unicorn’s words. While his words helped him back in his rookie days, they couldn’t aid him now. At least, at the moment.

“Uh, Bass? How does that solve my current issue?”

“It doesn’t, really. I just wanted to see if you remembered,” Bass replied. “Well, not completely.”

Flash scratched the back of his head. “Uh...what?”

“Cheer up, take a deep breath,” Without warning, Bass pulled the stallion into a hug. “and take care.”

Flash had no words. His mind was blank and all words seemed lost to him. Bass was not the kind of pony to give a hug at random or period. Yet, here he was doing just that.

“Bass, I…”

“We are going to miss you, Flash. But, simultaneously, we happy for you.” Bass released Flash, trotting back over to Brawly. “Even if you’re leaving the Crystal Empire, it does not mean you’re leaving our lives.”

“Yeah, man! No matter what, we'll always be buds!” Brawly added, smiling brightly.,

The pegasus stood dumbstruck, a few tears welling up in his eyes. Quickly, batting them away, a smile returned to his lips.

“Thank you, Bass, Brawly. I’m lucky to have friends like you.” Bass returned Flash’s smile, as did Brawly, sporting a huge grin.

“Hey, Bass? Why don’t we treat “Captain Sentry” here to lunch?” Brawly asked.

Bass nodded. “I don’t see why not. It’s nearly noon anyway.”

“Sweetness!” Brawly howled, throwing his forehooves around his friends. “Let’s celebrate Flashy becoming a captain with some hayburgers!” With that, the lime green pony shot out of the door.

Shaking his head, Bass followed suit. Flash watched as his friends traveled down the street, his smile growing larger.He felt at ease, while some sorrow over leaving the Empire remained, it was no longer at the forefront of his mind. What took it’s place was the notion of protecting his new home of ponyville. With a final glance at the store, he joined his friend down the road.

Comments

[Phoenix Nebula]

Hmm... I didn't see any mistakes looks good. You better get to the part when twilight is introduced if that's going to be the main focus of your story. If you drag out the story to long before you introduce one of the main characters it will leave a few readers confused. Maybe you should try explaining what twilight is doing and thinking While Flash is still in the empire. Just a suggestion so far its not 100% certain were this story is going. You need to introduce a conflict soon or the story will have no direction. If you do this your story may get better views. I'm still enjoying it so far and I'm awaiting the next chapter.
i.imgur.com/23Yj0iX.gif

[BenRG]

It's not badly written but it is slow-paced and dull. You failed to do anything to grab my interest despite the nice initial premise. Sorry about that.

[SilverKaizoku]

6925153 Okay.

[KC Flare]

more of this please. all you realy need to do is just present a problem in the story, and build upon it. (i assume you already knew that though )

[SilverKaizoku]

6960608 Sorry, but this story is on indefinite hiatus. I can't really focus writing it while working on my first story.

Sorry.