Sentry
The whole of the Crystal Empire burned alive with color and mirth. The city streets sparkled around Flash Sentry and Flash Sentry, as if celebrating the humble parade of these two like-bodied individuals. The two trotted side by side, passing beneath bright flowery bursts of fireworks and flickering lamplights of purple, orange, and blue.
The teenager stared down at his hooves. He saw his own reflection in the immaculately smooth surface of the street, and beyond that the fireworks, the aurora, and the stars of a magical night's sky. At long last, he wrenched his eyes off the otherworldly mosaic to glance at his helmeted doppelganger.
The lieutenant stared forward, stoic and stalwart. Despite Cadance's insistance, the march of the guards escorting Flash to the Crystal Palace was swift and steady. Even as ponies hollered and laughed and relished in the festivities all around them, the security team moved forward as if it was a simple spring afternoon.
Flash Sentry gazed aside. He looked at families gathered at street corners with their children. Crystal ponies and Equestrian strangers alike chatted openly with one another, sharing stories and culture and enthusiasm. Flash saw ponies of different sizes, coat colors, and manestyles. He even saw a few equine creatures that were larger or smaller than the ponies he was used to. Some creatures with big ears—Flash judged were either donkeys or mules... he could never figure out the difference between those two terms. He saw a group of what had to be zebras... and then other taller, more horse-like specimens. At some point, he caught something out of the corner of his eye that startled him. Something with feathers, a beak, and feline hindquarters. Flash scoured his own mind for a name, but all he could come up with was a diarrheic assortment of CGI effects from various Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies...
"Stick to the center of the street, please," he heard his own voice say, cold and authoritative.
"Oh... uh..." Flash Sentry trotted closer to the lieutenant. "Sorry."
"Do not approach any buildings or structures unless you are instructed to do so," the lieutenant continued, not looking at him.
"Yeah. You got it." Flash gulped, then looked at his double.
He saw his own pony expression reflected in the golden armor.
"Heh..." Flash smiled. "Pretty boss outfit, dude," he attempted.
The lieutenant's jaw clenched, but he said nothing.
Flash blinked. "... ... ...did you polish it yourself?"
A sharp breath, and at first Flash thought his other would remain silent. Eventually, the words were produced: "As a matter of fact, I did."
"Bet you're really proud to be wearing that."
"It is my honor to protect and serve both the stewards of the Crystal Empire as well as Equestrian sovereignty abroad," the lieutenant said. "Pride naturally comes with such duty."
"Oh. No doubt. You've won the Princess' respect. So that must mean you're doing pretty a-okay."
Once again, the lieutenant was silent.
"Do... do you mind that I talk?" Flash asked.
The lieutenant exhaled. "It does not matter if you are silent or not."
"Sure. I feel ya." Flash looked forward again. "I never had any sweet armor. But I did have a pretty awesome sports car."
The lieutenant raised an eyebrow, although he didn't look at the stallion he was escorting.
"And... and I waxed the Hell out of that thing. Spent my monthly savings on making that car look as gorgeous and sparkling clean as possible." He breathed meditatively beneath the fireworks and noise of the celebration. "But... I didn't have anything to be proud about with that car. Not really. I wasn't using it to save people or protect any empires. I just... owned it to make myself look cooler. I was wasting money in order to... t-to be something I really wasn't." He blew out the side of his muzzle and gazed at the crystalline streets. "Only made sense that I eventually sold it. But... I still haven't done anything with the money. I should be using it for college tuition... but I haven't even chosen a college to go to." His ears drooped. "So... yeah... it must be really... really awesome to believe in something." He swallowed. "If I believed in half the stuff that you do... then perhaps I'd be doing something cool on my side of the mirror too."
The group marched along, silent beneath the bedlam of festive euphoria.
"From what I was briefed by the Captain," the Lieutenant suddenly spoke. "I've learned that you are greatly responsible for the celebrations taking place—and the arrangement thereof."
Flash's ears perked up. Blinking, he turned to look at his escort. "Uhhhh... yeah. I guess you could say that."
"It is more than mere rumor. The second-in-command of the Wonderbolts confirms that it is an actual fact." The lieutenant breathed. "Unification between the Crystal Empire and the Equestrian Union has been the highest goal that the stewards have ever hoped to achieve. And I live to serve and protect them as they aspire to their goals." He cocked his head aside with a slight shrug. "In a way... you have done more for those I've pledged myself to in a few days than I myself have accomplished in an entire career."
Flash fidgeted in mid-step. "Bro... I didn't mean to rain on your parade."
"Nothing of the sort." And for the first time since they left the barracks, the lieutenant made eye contact with the teenager. "Simply stating that you do—indeed—have something to be proud of."
Flash blinked. Eventually he smiled. "Too bad I can't look nearly as badass as you in the process."
Something crossed the lieutenant's muzzle—something resembling a smirk.
And—without their knowing it—the pace of their march had finally begun to slow...
Stats
Page generated in 0.04 seconds
Total duration
1,057 users online
1,693,726 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Time to learn more about Pony Flash I think.
My life is miserable right now. Yet, somehow, this makes me smile. Gotta love a story that can take you from your woes. Looking forward to the next entry!
Just guards returning from patrol. Nothing to see here. Nothing about there being more than who set off or that there are duplicates.
Yessss, I’m so hyped for them to bond and stuff.
Hopefully not since it's unlikely to stop.
Hey, nice.
Hey, if you can't pat yourself on the back, who can?
Part of me knows that this is probably building up to him going back through the mirror a wiser, better adjusted individual - and part of me wants him to just go 'nah' and trot off into Equestria at the end.
How much older is pony-Flash than human-Flash? Maybe 6-8 years?
I wonder what pony-Flash's parents are like.
8859160
That's not what I said.
What you wrote can be rephrased in more formal logical terms as "All who believe in something purely on faith are fanatics."
What I wrote can be rephrased in more formal logical terms as "The group labelled 'fanatics' is a subset of the group labelled 'people who allow faith to overrule facts'."
The latter does not imply the former.
What I wrote boils down to "Mental issues and fanaticism are two particularly extreme examples of the human brain's preference for clinging to existing conclusions in spite of new data." (According to the scientific reasoning course I took in university, it's an energy-saving adaptation. Restructuring one's view of the world is an energy-intensive process.)
8858822
To be honest, with everything that's happened I'd prefer if he stayed in Equestria. He's been much happier than he was on the other side, and once he gets his house in order and his issues resolved he'd probably be able to live a better, more fulfilling life in horseland.
8859204
Ah, makes sense, thanks for the clarification.
I apologize for getting triggered, I recently discovered the Faith, so when I see things that may be construed, in my mind, as "intolerance" I get a bit more miffed than I used to.
8859204
Yep, even as a Christian, I understood what you meant almost immediately. Whether you believe in something like the Bible or not, many people twist words into what their brain wants to see. Even people completely well-meaning. And then fanaticism takes that to a whole new level. Going just on what I know best (Christianity), there are people that ignore entire sections of the text, only to focus their entire efforts on a paragraph that can be interpreted multiple ways.
You always see and hear what you want to. It takes incredible mental willpower to read something, then see that your assumptions were "wrong."
I have even noticed myself doing this halfway in before catching myself. I have a theory, and the things that support that theory matter more to my brain than the things opposed to it.
8859234
"Provoked," if you please. "Triggered" is a technical medical term that's getting its meaning diluted from overuse.
Or if you really want to go overboard, "peeved."
8859540
'Peeved' Yes, this is the way to go.
Up to date, now. And just in time to see Flash learning about himself.
8859234
he was pretty peeved by your post, perticularly peeturbed, and positivley pissed off... okay, perhaps unpleased would be a more proper paraphrase, but then the poor peanut gallery would be deprived their pathetic pedantry and poor pursuits at alliteration...
8860310
Sweet limericks bro!
I think we're about to see Guard Flash do something adorable.
Is story is getting better and happier.
Wonder where human Sunset went.