Broken Hearts

by Silver Inkwell

Chapter Twelve: Leaving Ponyville/ Manehattan/ Reflections

Chapter Twelve: Leaving Ponyville/ Manehattan/ Reflections

The next day Flurry was the first one to wake up, well, barely, and she loved the sight of Shadow in his sleep and she decided to have a bit of fun with him as she booped his nose and he wrinkled his face, but still he was not yet awake. Then she decided to get a little bit more serious rubbing his chest with one hoof very slowly while booping his nose very fast with her other hoof, and soon enough that did the trick and he blinked his eyes in shock and surprise at her.

“May I ask why you are booping my nose and rubbing my chest?” he said.

“You may, and it’s because I wanted to wake you up so you could see my face again,” she said with a smile giving him one last final boop to his nose.

“I’m going to get you back for that you know,” he said with a smile now at her.

“I would love to see you try, but come on, we can't sit around in bed all day, we have places to go and breakfast to eat,” she said with a smile getting out of bed preening her feathers as Shadow blew out a mouthful of them.

This is why pegasi are annoying, the feathers, not that I mind hers, he thought to himself still smiling as he got up and refreshed himself in the bathroom.

“I was thinking about leaving Ponyville today and going over to Manehattan today and maybe doing some other random various fun things before I head home, and it’s not that I want to go home, but I am worried about my mother,” she said.

“I understand and agree and support you, but I had the strangest dream last night, we were in this park, or maybe a castle, and were looking at the stars and just talking, and then you said you loved me and you leaned in and gave me a kiss, it was very weird and strange, and it felt so real until you woke me up.”

“I’m sorry for waking you up from your dream,” she said.

“It’s okay Flurry, I just wish that the dream could come true is all,” he said.

“Maybe it will, maybe it won't, you never know,” she said.

“I hope so, but anyhow get ready for the day because it’s gonna be a long one, after all, the summer sun celebration is coming up very soon.”

“I know! I can't wait for it,” she said smiling as she finished up getting ready, “Well, are you ready for the day or are you going to leave me behind instead?”

“I am always ready, and I would never leave you behind my dear, come, let us go,” he said with a smile as they went downstairs and ate breakfast in silence and then got on a train for Manehattan as Flurry had time to think to herself.

Last night, what she said, did she really mean it or was it just a random passing thing? She knew that they had been together for a long time now, but she also didn't want to rush into things either. It was a hard choice to make certainly, and she wanted to know for sure before she got home, but she didn't know if she could make a choice like that in the time she had. It wasn't like she knew any other stallions though, those that she did call her friends had long moved on, and it wasn't like she could see other ponies, besides, he was crazy, odd, eccentric and random, and he always had a smile on his face and was very optimistic, she like all of these qualities, she liked him, and not just for his looks, she knew him like she would know a family member, and they had helped each other time and time again, and then she remembered the photos, they spent so much time together and there was hardly a moment they were apart, there was not only no way he could be the spy, but there was no doubt in her mind that he loved her too, and the dream was a definite indicator of things, but maybe she could make that dream come true if the conditions were right enough for it.

But what if something happened to them, or what if it wasn't meant to be?

Oh dear, she almost didn't consider that, if would break her heart, or his, there were so many questions to ask, so much stuff to sort out, but wait, what was that quote she heard so many times, better to have loved once then not?

Well, it went something like that, or so she thought, and it was probably true, she was so ready and willing to love that she would rather have her heart broken if it meant that she could finally be free to do whatever she wanted to.

Meanwhile Shadow was thinking his own thoughts very similar to hers. He knew that he loved her, but did she feel the same way? She seemed to be that way with all her teasing and signs of affection, but he didn't know if he could take the risk until he was ready and certain of it, and who knew when that might be.

And there they were, two ponies, mind alike, both so much the same, and yet ever far apart, neither willing to take the first step forward yet.

The train rattled on to Manehattan as both kept thinking to themselves and soon enough they arrived and took the tour around as Shadow took photos of everything, and the mood seemed unusually awkward and silent that day.

At the end of the day they went to an opera and dinner, but they still did not speak a word, even when they went to the park they still hardly spoke a word until they got to the pond, and then Shadow finally spoke up.

“Do you want to know why I find reflections so fascinating?” he asked.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Flurry said plainly.

“It’s because they can show you so much truth and yet lie at the same time, one can see the best and worst parts of one’s self when they look into it, the whole idea of reflections is scary, after all it is light bouncing off of something giving you a past image of yourself and never the present unless you have many reflections surrounding you. And since we have time let me tell you the legend of the first mirror. Long ago a king of ancient royalty and enormous wealth had a great and prosperous empire, and everypony was happy, yet he still felt that there was something missing in his heart and soul, everypony complimented the looks of him and the queen, but he could not tell if they were lies or not, he knew they spoke the truth about the queen, but what about himself? How could he trust them? Sure, he had lakes and ponds, but they were not a perfect image, they were flawed, and so he ordered every blacksmith in the land to use any metal they could find to fashion a metal so pure to his own desire, and the projects was very secret, but a wizard warned the king that getting what he wanted would not bring him happiness, it would only bring him more grief and misery than he already had, but the king in his pride ignored the old wizard.

Soon enough the metal plates were formed, but many were still underdeveloped and he slowly eliminated each one until he had the work of the best blacksmith in the land. When the project was finally done he killed the blacksmith since he did not want the secret to get out, but the metal plate was so heavy he had to have the help of other ponies to carry it to his castle, but as they did so pieces that were not as refined fell off and turned into glass and sand and dust.

The king did not notice this, and when the metal plate was finally safe and secure in his room it was only then that he took the cover off to see his own image.

What he saw shocked him, he was fat, he was scraggly, sure his face looked good, but the rest of him was a mockery to his own royal status.

The king was furious and he covered up the mirror as his heart turned black and he cursed the blacksmith and the wizard but decided to never look in it again lest he suffer more misery, but in the meantime, he would strengthen his body and mind, and then once he did he just might look into it once more.

Time went by and rumors of this metal plate with a perfect image started to spread, and the king had to reassure them that there was no such thing, but every night when it was dark he looked into the metal plate to see how well he was doing, and he was happy that he was getting better, but still angry because he was not yet how he wanted to be, and so it went for many weeks.

But one day it was discovered that the queen was with child, and the kingdom forgot about the metal plate with a perfect image, even the king did as he had it moved into a secret storage closet so his wife would never see it.

Then many months later on a very special day the child was born and the queen smiled at the king and proudly declared that the baby who was a boy looked just like his father, and the king smiled, but deep down inside he was hurt.

Did she think he was going to be like him, did she think he was going to be fat, would he have to work hard to be a perfect form? His smile turned into a scowl and he took the baby away from her claiming he wished to see his child, but he slowly approached the window and tossed the baby out the window to its death.

If he was going to have a child he wanted it to be perfect, and everypony was shocked and the queen cried, but he declared his reasoning, but the ponies questioned how the king could know that he himself was not perfect, and eventually he gave in and told them the warning, but everypony was so consumed by their own vanity that they swarmed over each other and opened the closet door and everypony screamed as the king had once done.

The queen declared that the king had lied to her about her form, and many other ponies too, chaos and confusion rippled out like a very mighty tidal wave.

They managed to shatter the metal plate, but as a result the pieces flew out everywhere and soon enough everypony had a piece of it and they could replicate it, and soon enough the thing intended for royalty and kings and queens only, and maybe the nobles became commonplace and they lost value, but over time magic tamed the treacherous nature of the mirror, but as a result the images that was see today are flawed ever so slightly so that we may never repeat the same foolish mistakes that the king once did. And that was the tale of the first mirror, I hope you enjoyed it because I certainly did the first time around.”

“I did enjoy it, but I can't believe the king did that just to satisfy his own selfish desires, and to think that it tore an entire nation apart, just wow.”

“Yeah, that was just about my reaction to hearing it the first time around, more or less, but did you enjoy today at all because you seemed very quiet.”

“I did, I was just thinking about something very serious, that’s all,” she said.

“Was it about your mother or the crystal empire?” he asked.

“No, it was about something else that I really don't want to share with you.”

“Oh, well okay then, if that’s what you want I won't force you into anything.”

“Thanks, but tomorrow is another day, tomorrow is the day I go home, this is the last day of our trip so if you have anything to say at all, anything to make it extra special at all, do so now or forever hold out,” she said.

Shadow considered her offer, should he? He really wanted to do it, but he didn’t know if he had the power and strength to do so, he took a deep breath in and stared deep into her eyes and slowly started to lean in towards her.

“I can only think of one thing, but I do not know if this is the time for such a thing,” he said feeling the rapid beating of his heart trying to calm his body and breath down, come on, don't lose your nerve right now.

“Shadow, whatever it is that you plan, I’m sure I can handle it, after all, we’re old enough to make our own choices and forge our own path, and if you’re so afraid of me getting I promise not to do so and I give you permission for what you want to do, just please make it as long as you need to,” Flurry said nervously also trying to calm down her beating heart and breath.

“Alright, fine then, as you wish,” he said as he slowly leaned in and whispered into her ear the words he had wanted to say to her for so long, “I love you.”

Flurry looked like she was about to cry as she smiled back at him, “I thought you were never going to say that because guess what, I love you too.”

“Well then, I guess there is no point to delaying this any longer, is there?”

“No, there isn't,” Flurry said with a smile back at Shadow’s own.

And together they leaned in and slowly kissed each other in the darkness under the full moon near the pond in a park in Manehattan with fairly warm weather, and the kissed seemed to last forever while in reality it must have been just about a minute or so, but it was the most magical and best minute of their entire lives.

After the kiss, they pulled away and gasped, “That was…”

“Shush, there are no words to describe this, but if you want you can try again after I show you some more, if you’re ready for more that is,” he said.

Flurry smiled back at him, “I am always ready for more,”

He smiled back at her and kissed her again as Flurry wrapped her wings around the back of his head also using her hooves to her own pleasure and desire as Shadow did the same, and they slowly made love through the rest of the night unseen by anypony except for a lone single silent shadow that was very nearby. ergleich.d��
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Comments

[Silver Inkwell]

Everyone, I hope you enjoy this story!
Please leave a comment if you do and support me everywhere I am and friend me in Discord if you want to,
And most of all, Patreon support, please.

[Ice Star]

The "Other" tag includes Princess Celestia, Luna, Discord, and the Nightmare/ villains/ changelings/ Chrysalis

The other tag is actually for non-original characters with no tag. This would include: background characters, characters adapted and used for crossovers, characters that simply don't have a tag, numerous comic characters, and real people. I'd remove that tag and just leave your tagged characters to your main characters, such as Flurry, any main antagonist, and important supporting characters, like Cadance (who according to your description, appears to have a large rule in your story).

[Silver Inkwell]

8302042
Oh, okay then, ty very much!

[Ice Star]

8302061
You're welcome. I'd suggest making the same change if you did this on other stories too.