The Ballad of Flash Sentry

by Z-blade Gracin

Chapter 5: The Baltimare Trial Part 1

The courtroom within Baltimare’s City Hall was designed like an ordinary, standardized courtroom with two sections: The area where the visiting ponies sat (the Gallery) and the area where the actual trial was held (the Well). These two sections were separated by a wooden railing, about a foot in height, called the Bar. In the area where the Gallery, there was also a balcony above shaped like a U that allowed more visitors to sit and watch the proceedings below. In the Well, there was the Bench (or where the judge typically sat) about five feet in height and two tables for the Prosecution and the Defense, each containing two chairs for both the attorney and their respective clients to sit in. All of the tables, chairs, the Bar, etc. were made out of the finest mahogany wood, complete with a reddish-brown finish. Above the Well was a glass-domed roof that allowed sunlight to illuminate the entire courtroom in its splendid glow.

The noise of ponies conversing in the spacious courtroom quieted as a series of loud tapping sounded from the Bench, where a burly-looking dark gray Earth pony with a white wig on his bloated head stood with his gavel in his black-tipped hoof.

“Order!” he bellowed, “Order in the court!”

When the courtroom had completely quieted, the white-wigged pony sat and announced in a loud, sophisticated voice, “This court is now in session—I, Mayor Bottomhoof, presiding!”

With another tap of his gavel, he took a white handkerchief from inside his long black robe and lightly wiped it across his glistened face.

“Are the Prosecution and the Defense ready?”

A Crayola-blue unicorn with midnight-blue hair and wearing a suit very similar to Fancy Pants’ stood and declared in an authoritative-sounding voice, “The Prosecution is ready, Your Honor!”

Likewise, a dark tan Earth pony with dark green hair and wearing a dark gray suit stood and declared with a younger but determined-sounding voice, “The Defense is also ready, Your Honor!”

The mayor smiled and nodded, his double-chin jiggling as he did so.

“Very good!” he exclaimed, tapping his gavel a few times to call the trail to order. “Mr. Night Light, you may begin your opening statement first!”

Night Light, the prosecuting attorney, made his way into the Well and turned to face the ponies before him.

“Honorable Mayor and members of the Baltimare community,” he began, “we are here today to see that justice is rightfully upheld. Today, we are here for the trial of Mr. Golden Rocket, a respected and even feared businesspony of this city. We, the Prosecution, will prove once and for all that this pony (he pointed to Golden Rocket sitting at the Defense’s table) was not only the mastermind of an infamous scandal that occurred five years ago in Canterlot, but that he was the only pony responsible for the crime! We will prove once and for all that this same Golden Rocket scammed my client, Mr. Fancy Pants (he pointed to Fancy Pants sitting at the Prosecution’s table), a quarter of a million bits from his company and then pinned the blame on two of the wealthiest and most prestigious ponies in Canterlot, Filthy Rich and Jet Set. Whatever the outcome of this trial, may justice be rightly served this day.”

With that, he adjusted his dark-colored suitcoat and came and sat down in the chair next to Fancy Pants at the Prosecution’s table. Afterwards, the defense attorney stood and made his way before the Bench. Turning to the ponies before him, he cleared his throat and began his opening statement in a young yet dignified voice.

“Honorable Mayor and fellow citizens of Baltimare, the Prosecution has made bold accusations today. But I assure you, fellow mares and gentlecolts, that my client, Mr. Golden Rocket, is innocent of any crime that the Prosecution claims that he has committed! We, the Defense, will prove once and for all that the Prosecution’s accusations are unfounded and that Mr. Golden Rocket is indeed innocent! As the Prosecution has stated, may the truth come to light during this trial.”

With that, he again took his place in the chair next to Golden Rocket at the Defense’s table. Afterwards, the mayor gave a few distinct taps with his gavel and declared in a solemn voice, “Let the trial between Mr. Fancy Pants of Canterlot and Mr. Golden Rocket of Baltimare now commence!”

He turned towards the prosecuting attorney and added, ““You may call for your first witness, Mr. Night Light.”

The blue unicorn stood and declared, “I call my client, Mr. Fancy Pants, to the stand.”

In response, Fancy Pants stood and made his way to the witness stand next to the Bench and sat down in the chair provided. As he did so, the prosecuting attorney took his place before the witness stand facing Fancy Pants.

“Mr. Fancy Pants,” he inquired, “you are the pony who is responsible for these proceedings, is that correct?”

“That is correct,” the sophisticated unicorn with the monocle replied in his proper English accent.

“And why have you done so?” the attorney further inquired.

“Because the Defendant, Mr. Golden Rocket, stole a quarter of a million bits from my company and then pinned the blame onto two of my colleagues, Filthy Rich and Jet Set. I am here to make absolutely certain that justice is correctly served.”

“As do we all,” Night Light concurred with a nod. Then, he commented, “I gather that this is not your first time petitioning for the Defendant, Mr. Golden Rocket, to be tried in this court, is that correct?”

Again, Fancy Pants nodded, this time with a sigh.

“That is right.”

“Yet, you seem to have high-hopes for this trial. Tell us, what makes this attempt different than the others?”

“Because new evidence has recently come to my attention and I wish to have it presented to the court today,” the white unicorn with light blue hair replied.

As he did so, he used magic from his horn to produce a document from his inside coat pocket. The document looked like a letter, formulated in a formal, business-like fashion. The businesspony handed the letter to the navy-blue unicorn, who held it in the air in front of him using magic from his own horn.

“Your Honor,” the attorney declared, hovering the letter before the mayor sitting at the Bench, “I present this letter to the court.”

The mayor took it and examined it closely using his small, oval-shaped spectacles.

“Why,” he exclaimed, “this appears to be the same letter that Filthy Rich had sent to Fancy Pants the day before the crime was discovered!”

The dark tan defense attorney stood and stomped a hoof onto the table.

“Oh, objection!” he exclaimed with a groan as he pointed at the prosecution attorney with his hoof. “Your Honor, the Prosecution is merely staling! This letter that they have presented as ‘new evidence’ is, in fact, the same letter that was used to convict Filthy Rich and Jet Set five years ago! The Prosecution is purposely going around in circles! As far as the Defense is concerned, there is no point in this entire trial if this be the only evidence that they bring to this courtroom!”

Night Light turned and looked at the defense attorney directly.

“On the contrary, my friend,” he countered with poise, “this document was not the evidence that my client was referring to. As a matter of fact, my client merely brought this letter with him today to illustrate a point.”

He turned his attention to the white unicorn sitting at the witness stand.

“Mr. Fancy Pants,” he inquired further, “you recall that Mr. Filthy Rich was convicted for scamming you of over a quarter of a million bits, is that correct?”

Fancy Pants nodded in response.

“That is correct, Mr. Night Light,” he replied. “Filthy Rich was ordered to pay back all of the bits that he had taken from me. He promised the court that he would do so and the authorities even reported to me shortly after the trial that he did just that.”

“Then, why are you here today?”

Fancy Pants used his magic to adjust his monocle and replied, “Because those bits are still unaccounted for…meaning that somepony somehow must have claimed them for his own.”

He turned to Golden Rocket and pointed at him, saying, “And I have reason to believe that it was none other than Mr. Golden Rocket himself!”

There were sounds of surprise among the pony spectators. The defense attorney, meanwhile, let out a long, irritated sigh and shook his head as he rose from his chair.

“Objection, Your Honor!” he breathed out. “Mr. Fancy Pants has no proof that it was indeed my client who had claimed those bits!”

At this, Night Light turned slightly.

“I was just about to get to that, actually,” he said coolly. “Please, be patient.”

With a frustrated growl, the defense attorney sat back down.

“The Defense…withdraws the objection…for now.”

With a satisfied smile, the Crayola-blue unicorn turned again to Fancy Pants.

“When did you first discover that your stolen bits were still unaccounted for?” he asked.

Fancy Pants put a hoof to his chin in thought.

“I remember that it was about a year after the Canterlot incident—four years ago, to be exact.”

“And where did you find this?”

“On one of the finance reports for my company dated five years ago...the ‘new’ evidence that I had recently discovered.”

The dark tan pony stood and pounded his hoof onto the Defense’s table.

“Objection, Your Honor! Where is this so-called ‘evidence’ that he claims to have in his possession?”

Before the mayor could respond, the Night Light let out a frustrated sigh and looked directly at the dark tan stallion.

“As I had just said merely moments ago…” he exclaimed, his eyes widened with growing irritation, “I was just getting to that! In fact, I have the evidence right here…!”

With that, he went to his black-colored briefcase at the Prosecution’s table and used his magic to produce a document from inside it.

“I present this copy of the finance report of Fancy Pants’ company’s assets to the court,” he declared, handing the document over to the mayor for examination. “It states, based on the total at the bottom, that two hundred fifty thousand bits were still unaccounted for after the Canterlot incident five years ago. It also states that those missing bits were secretly transferred to some unknown account. ”

The mayor looked at it through his round spectacles and nodded.

“I must say…this document indeed looks genuine,” he declared, gesturing to the document with his hoof. “I’d say that this case is officially closed!”

He was about to pick up his gavel to pronounce sentence when the defense attorney stood and interjected with another loud “objection!”

The mayor stopped mid-way and looked at the lawyer. This time, he looked rather annoyed.

“Confound it, Mr. Defense!” he breathed out, taking his spectacles off with his other hoof. “What is it now?”

The defense attorney stopped, rolled his eyes and, then, petitioned, “With your permission, Your Honor, I would like to cross-examine the witness.”

The mayor paused with a surprised expression on his face, as if he had been expecting Mr. Defense to say something other than what he had requested.

“Oh.”

Then, he nodded as he lowered his gavel and said, “Very well. You may cross-examine the witness.”

With that, Defense traded places with Night Light and approached the witness stand.

“Mr. Fancy Pants,” he began, looking at the unicorn directly in the eyes, “I am curious. Who was it that made this discovery?”

Fancy Pants swallowed.

“My secet'ry at the time, Ms. Fleur de Lis.”

Defense’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh, Ms. Fleur de Lis, was it?”

He paced as his expression turned into one of serious thought.

“Interesting…how interesting….”

Fancy Pants’ head and eyebrow cocked as he looked at the attorney with a curious expression.

“I beg your pardon, Sir?”

“Nothing…except something strikes me as odd about that statement,” the dark tan pony replied. “You say that this Ms. Fleur de Lis was the pony who discovered this evidence of yours, do you not?”

Fancy Pants nodded, puzzled.

“Yes, that is true.”

“And can you vouch for this mare’s credibility as an upstanding, prestigious pony from Canterlot?”

“Absolutely, Sir!”

“Yet, this mare that you claim had presented this evidence to you is not who you claim she is.”

Fancy Pants’ eyes narrowed.

“Just what do you mean by that, Sir?”

“I mean…” the attorney stated as he glared at the businesspony, “that I did some research of my own regarding this Ms. Fleur de Lis due to another case of mine a year ago involving a local baker in Manehatten. And do you know what I found?”

There was only silence from Fancy Pants as he stared back at the attorney with narrowed eyes.

“It turns out,” the attorney continued, turning and taking a few steps away from the witness stand, “that Ms. Fleur de Lis was not a wealthy unicorn from Canterlot…”

He suddenly spun around and looked at the white unicorn directly in the eyes.

“…but a poor unicorn from Prance!”

The courtroom was again filled with shocked voices from the pony spectators. However, the noise was soon broken by the mayor’s gavel rapping on the Bench.

“Order!” he bellowed. “Order, I say!”

The noise died away and Night Light immediately stood with his hoof raised.

“Objection, Your Honor! What has this got to do with the case at hand?”

“It has very much to do with it, actually,” the other attorney explained, stepping before the mayor. “Your Honor, if I may be allowed to proceed just a little longer, I can finally put an end to this long and tedious case once and for all.”

Despite the obvious look of hesitation on his face, the mayor nodded, allowing the defense attorney to proceed with his questioning. With that, the dark tan pony went to the chair next to Golden Rocket at the Defense’s table, took a document from inside his dark brown briefcase and again approached the mayor with the document in his hoof.

“I have in my hoof a copy of a news article from The Manehatten Times precisely eight years ago,” he declared as he raised the document in the air for all to see.

When he had reached the mayor, he handed the document to him as he added, “I present this as evidence for the court.”

The mayor took it and proceeded to examine it more closely through his small spectacles.

“It describes an incident that occurred six years ago in Manehatten when a mysterious pony broke into a local bakery and stole a loaf of bread stored therein,” the defense attorney further explained, turning to face the ponies seated in the Gallery.

After the mayor had finished examining the document, he nodded to a guard nearby and gave it to him who placed it next to the letter and the financial report that lay on a table nearby with a sign on top, reading, “Evidence Table.”

Mr. Defense then went to his briefcase again and took from it another document.

“And this…” he announced as he approached the mayor with it in his hoof, “is the identity of this ‘mysterious burglar’ from my recent investigation.”

He gave the document to the mayor, who took it and examined it. Suddenly, he straightened as he stared at it in disbelief.

“That is right, Your Honor!” the attorney declared. “The document does not lie; for this ‘mysterious burglar’ was none other than…”

He pointed a hoof at a tall, white unicorn mare with a flowing pink mane seated among the spectators.

“…Ms. Fleur de Lis!”

The other ponies gasped as their gaze turned to the tall white unicorn mare. The mare looked back at them and then at Fancy Pants with a frightened expression on her face.

“Of course…” Mr. Defense continued as his attention refocused on Fancy Pants, “you knew about this beforehand…didn’t you?”

The light blue-haired unicorn stared back at the attorney, his eyes fixed on the attorney for a few moments. Then, his gaze shifted to the side as he remained silent.

“Answer the question, Mr. Fancy Pants,” the defense attorney pressed. “Did you or did you not know about this beforehand?”

Fancy Pants finally sighed.

“Yes, I did.”

“Objection!” the prosecuting attorney interjected as he flew his hooves in the air. “Your, Honor, the Defense is trying to discredit the reputation of the witness!”

The mayor nodded in agreement and turned to the defense attorney before him.

“Objection sustained. Mr. Defense, what is the purpose of this inquiry and of discrediting Mr. Fancy Pants’ reputation like this?”

“I was not trying to discredit Mr. Fancy Pants’ reputation in any way, Your Honor!” Defense explained, turning to the mayor. “I was about to explain how kind-hearted and merciful Mr. Fancy Pants was in helping Ms. Fleur de Lis back on her hooves all of those years ago. Do not misunderstand me, Your Honor—there is no question about Mr. Fancy Pants’ reputation as an upstanding gentlecolt by any means!”

“So, what are you implying, Mr. Defense?” the mayor inquired.

“I will explain this with another question, if I may.”

The mayor gave a wave of his hoof.

“Very well. Proceed.”

“What I am implying is…if Mr. Fancy Pants (he motioned towards the witness) has been so quick to accuse my client (he motioned towards Golden Rocket seated at the Defense table) of scamming his company of over a quarter of a million bits, should he not have also been just as quick to accuse Ms. Fleur de Lis (he motioned towards the white and pink unicorn mare seated among the spectators) of the same crime, since she was his very own secretary at the time?”

With that, he turned once more to the mayor.

“If it pleases the court, I would like to submit a petition to refer Ms. Fleur de Lis from now on as another suspect in this case and to call her to the witness stand for testimony.”

The mayor sighed, took off his small spectacles and rubbed between his eyes.

“I regret to say, Mr. Night Light,” he said, turning to the confounded, dark blue unicorn sitting at the Prosecution’s table, “that Mr. Defense has brought up some very valid points.”

Turning to the guard standing next to the Bench, he declared, “Let it be written in the record that Ms. Fleur de Lis is now considered another suspect in this case.”

He turned again to the Canterlot gentlecolt and asked, “Mr. Fancy Pants, do you have anything further to add before I call Ms. Fleur de Lis to the stand?”

For the first time throughout the court session, Fancy Pants was paralyzed—his head was lowered, his hooves were tightly gripping the rail, his eyes were widened with his monocle freely dangling from his suit pocket and his breathing growing increasingly heavy. There he sat, silent and still.

What shall I do? If I reveal her secret, it will only worsen her fate! But if I remain silent—!

His mind reflected back to the time when he had first met Fleur de Lis those six years ago. He was in Manehatten at the time presenting his latest art piece in an important art convention. When the convention was over and he was packing his things in preparation to return to Canterlot, he heard from a friend of his that the authorities were searching for a supposed ‘burglar’ who broke into the local bakery. Being a pony who cared about equality and justice, he went to the authorities and volunteered his help. After searching for about an hour, he thought that he saw somepony in the alleyway and separated from the others in order to investigate. Upon entering the alleyway, he saw a bedraggled white unicorn mare with a flowing pink mane sitting with her back resting on the dirtied wall and quietly sobbing with her face in her hooves. Based on the crumbs and the tiny shards of glass stuck onto her fur and hooves, he assumed that she was the supposed “burglar” that the authorities were looking for. However, his heart took pity on her pathetic state and he approached her.

“Miss…? Are you all right? Is there anything that I can do for you?”

The mare sniffed and looked up at him.

“No—!” she replied, her voice cracking. “I—I think that I have done a…terrible thing!”

She buried her face into her hooves and began to sob again. Fancy Pants stepped closer, his mind searching for something to say to her.

“Miss...” he finally said. “I already know what you have done. You are the one who broke into the local bakery, aren’t you?”

The mare looked up at him with an expression of terror.

“Oh, please, Sir!” she begged. “I only stole that bread because I was hungry! You have to believe me!”

It was at this moment that Fancy Pants noticed something particularly different about her than the other ponies in Equestria—her accent.

“Your accent…” he observed. “You are not from Equestria, are you.”

The mare shook her head.

“Pray, tell me, where are you from?”

“From Prance, Sir,” was her reply.

Fancy Pants’ eyes widened.

She is an immigrant—from across the sea!

“From across the sea?” he exclaimed. “My! You have traveled far, haven't you! What brings you here?”

The mare looked down.

“I came here to Equestria because I wanted to become a famous fashion designer,” she replied. “But all I have become is a mare moving from job to job just to make a living. That is why I stole that bread. I have no more bits to buy any more food.”

She looked up at him and added, “What else was I to do, Sir?”

He stepped back. She presented a good point. She only stole because she had no other choice, except to starve. However, he couldn’t just overlook this situation. After all, the owner of the bakery was financially hurt in the process.

“It is still not right to steal,” he explained to the mare sitting before him. “You may have done so solely to survive but, in doing so, you have also financially hurt another pony.”

The unicorn mare hung her head in shame.

“However,” he added with a smile, “there is a way to make things right. If you come with me, I shall pay for the damages, help you find a suitable profession and also help you find a place to live.”

He reached out to her with his hoof.

“You will be safe if you come with me and leave all of this behind you. You will start a new life for yourself—a better one. I promise.”

At first, the mare looked up at him with a look of disbelief. Then, she took his hoof and he helped her stand.

“Why…?” she asked as she sniffed and wiped her tears away. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because, Miss,” he simply replied, “I believe that everypony deserves a chance to redeem himself…or herself.”

The mare gave him a hug and, with tears streaming down her face, she exclaimed, “Thank you, Kind Sir! I can never repay you!”

They parted a step backwards and Fancy Pants replied, gesturing with his hoof, “The only payment I ask is that you become the best pony that you can become. And, with my help, I know that you can achieve it.”

He adjusted his monocle and asked, “What is your name, Miss?”

“Fleur de Lis,” she replied with a smile.

He nodded in approval.

“Ms. Fleur de Lis…what a charming name!”

“And…what is your name, Sir?” she asked.

He bowed slightly in a gentlemanly fashion.

“You may call me Fancy Pants.”

“Mr. Fancy Pants,” the mayor’s distant voice repeated, “do you have anything else to add before Ms. Fleur de Lis takes the stand?”

He looked up at the ponies seated in the Gallery and his eyes rested on Ms. Fleur de Lis. He looked at her with eyes of uncertainty and helplessness. If Golden Rocket succeeded, she would be branded as a thief again, this time for a more serious crime. Then, who knows what would happen to her after that.

Fleur de Lis…forgive me. I am truly sorry. I tried…but I cannot help you any longer. This is something far beyond my control now.

“Nothing, Your Honor,” he replied, using his magic to produce a lavender handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiping it under his moist eyes. “I have nothing further to add.”

As he turned to step down from the stand, he sadly added under his breath as a tear escaped from his eye and fell onto the floor, “Nothing whatsoever.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With a heavy heart, Solstice slowly opened the front door of the mansion and stepped inside. He had spent many hours thinking as he wandered around the city and the countryside surrounding it. He was thinking about his father and what had transpired ever since he had discovered the truth about him. He needed that time to be alone…to clear his head.

His steps echoed throughout the deserted mansion as if he was in a large cathedral. Nothing stirred.

Mom, Dad and Clap must’ve gone to that trial some time ago. I wish I could go, too, but—

He sighed sadly. He felt bad that he wasn’t at the trial with his family, but he also knew that if he did go, he would not be silent—he would jeopardize all that his father had worked so hard to provide for them. It was better if he stayed behind…for his family’s sake.

He slowly climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway to his room. As he walked to his room, he noticed an open comic book lying on his bed with a letter on top of it. Curious, he sat on his bed and looked closely at the letter lying on the comic book. It was addressed to him. He took it, opened it and started to read.

“Hey, Big Bro,” it said. “Dad’s taking us to the trial pretty soon. Don’t have much time. Don’t know where you are right now but I hope you’ll get back soon. I’ve been thinking about what you said last night—about you doing the right thing. I know you don’t read comics that much anymore but I’d like you to read this one. I read it this morning and it reminded me of you. I know you’ll do the right thing, just like Flash Sentry does. You always do! Just believe in yourself and do what your heart tells you, like you’ve always done! Love you, Bro! Clap.”

Solstice placed the letter back on his bed and looked at the comic book opened before him. It was an issue that he had never seen before. He supposed that it must have been one of the newer ones. He scooted closer to it and started to read it.

The comic strip showed Flash Sentry and another stallion that he didn’t recognize standing on a bridge and looking at a beautiful sunset in the distance. The pony next to Flash Sentry turned to him with a look of concern.

“Why did ya do that, Flash?” the bubble above him said. “You could’ve said nothin’ at the trial and nothin’ bad would’ve happened! Now, the whole city hates ya for it! Why, Flash? Why did ya do it?”

Flash Sentry had a sad but thoughtful expression on his face. He didn’t turn to look at the pony next to him.

“Because, Dino,” the bubble over Flash Sentry said, “it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t just let those ponies accuse that poor griffin for something he didn’t do! That wouldn’t be right at all! I was the only one who knew who done it and it wasn’t that griffin!”

The next scene showed a crowded courtroom with a gray lion-headed griffin sitting in a chair with many ponies leaning and snarling angrily from behind him in the Gallery. From the back of the courtroom, Flash Sentry stood with a look of painful reluctance on his face.

“I knew it was really one of the other ponies who really blew up that factory,” the cream-colored textbox said on the top of the scene, “but I was too scared to say anythin’ about it, at first. If I spoke up, I knew I’d be in big trouble.”

The scene changed to a profile of the actual criminal pony, a prestigious-looking, light blue Earth stallion with a sly look on his face. He was surrounded by other prestigious-looking ponies (no doubt the stallion’s “friends”), all of them with equally sly expressions on their faces.

“Ya know about ‘Sly Fox’ Diamond, right?” the textbox along the top stated. “Well, he was the real criminal! But there was one problem—he had many friends, and if I said anythin’ that clued anypony in that he was the actual criminal, they would turn the whole city on me in an instant. So, I tried stayin’ out of the trial as best I could.”

Next, the scene changed to Flash Sentry bursting through the courtroom doors with a face filled with fiery determination.

“But then,” the textbox above said, “I remembered somethin’ very important—somethin’ that I had forgotten.”

The next scene showed Flash Sentry on the bridge again from the side as the bubble above him said, “Ya see, Dino…a hero isn’t somepony who wears flashy clothes or fights evil-doers. A hero is a pony who does the right thing, despite of what happens. That’s what really counts in the end.”

Solstice sniffed as tears formed in his eyes.

But Clap…I’m no hero! I’m not Flash Sentry! I’m Solstice Rocket…a clumsy, ordinary pony who’s plain scared of doing what he knows is the right thing! What kind of a hero is that?

At that moment, he felt something hard brush against his hoof. He looked down and was shocked to see the Flash Sentry necklace that he had given Clap lying next to his hoof. It must have been hidden underneath the comic book.

Clap’s necklace! Why would he leave it behind? I—I don’t understand….

He picked up the necklace in his hoof and looked at it.

I wonder why he’d just leave it behind. Strange…he seemed very excited to get it—

Suddenly, a thought came into his mind that made him stop in his tracks.

Maybe…he left it for me. Maybe…he wanted to tell me something.

He swallowed as a realization hit him like a train.

I may be just a “clumsy, ordinary pony” in my eyes…but, to him, I’m so much more than that.

He stared at the Flash Sentry necklace in his hoof. Clap had always looked up to him like a role-model. He could see that in his eyes every time he looked at him. To him, it was his big brother who inspired him to believe in himself ever since he had made his first homerun in the baseball game that helped him earn his Cutie Mark. To him, it was his big brother who told him to pursue his dreams. And, above all, it was his big brother who showed, through example, how to always do the right thing, no matter what.

Solstice tried in vain to sniff his tears away. It was as if Clap himself was saying to him, “I look up to you just like Flash Sentry. I know you don’t think you’re a hero, but I know you can do it! You always have!”

He clenched his hoof tightly around the necklace.

“I feel so stupid!” he breathed out. “I’ve always done the right thing! Clap knows it! I know it! And I’ve not been doing that lately!”

He looked up, his eyes filled with renewed determination.

“Clap, I won’t let you down…not this time! I know exactly what I need to do now!”

He put the Flash Sentry necklace around his neck and galloped out of the room and down the stairs. He charged out of the mansion and looked out at the city of Baltimare before him.

“One thing’s for sure…” he declared, his blue eyes flashing as he crouched in preparation for flight. “I hope that trial’s still going on…‘cause I’m gonna crash it!”

With that, he launched himself into the air with all his might and rocketed towards City Hall as fast as his wings could carry him.

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

This will end in tears. I just know it. Either the happy kind or the sad kind.