Flash Magnus may have been born and raised in a completely different era, but he and the other Pillars have been able to adjust to modern Equestrian society with the help of the Elements of Harmony. In fact, Flash was able to make an especially strong friendship with Rainbow Dash, a fellow flier whose bravery and competitive spirit rivaled his own.
However, after spending a few months together as close friends, it seemed that Rainbow was wanting to take things a bit further than just friends. Even though the stallion was more than interested, he knew he couldn't reciprocate Dash's actions when she tried to make the first move. And when she tried to ask why, Flash found it hard to adequately explain his reason without hurting her, or making her judge him too poorly.
For you see, Flash Magnus had a rather significant reason for his resistance towards a possible relationship, even with someone as amazing as Rainbow Dash. While they have have been the same age (biologically speaking), Flash was raised in a much different era as the Element of Loyalty. Most of their differences in upbringing could be looked aside, but there was one big one he knew could be a deal-breaker. And despite how he felt about Rainbow, the soldier was worried how she would react if she learned the truth.
“Ms , I’m a thousand years old.”
Funny to say, but I have written a story about a kid that has undergone what Flash has, but unlike mine, yours has explored the more mature factor that I'm only trying to come up with in a possible sequel. Now, while what Flash reveals what he is was something that I impressed that you actually went there. But once again, you might have helped me with some inspiration of a future story that I might consider doing. And to that, thank you.
This didn't quite go the way I expected it, but that was a great surprise. And Rainbow was actually pretty mature and supportive about it too! Props on your RD!
Well...this is the second I heard term gelding in an mlp fic. first was Ruin Queen of Oblivion in unexpected (scootaloo gets knocked by her colt friend. when sweetie belle asks her sister rarity if she was in scoots situation.) the other is by Cracked inkwell called Inverno in F Minor. have ya read that one or not? if you thought your m/m stories get down voted but THIS will make readers angry & screaming at ya in comments going "Hey where's the clop!" hope you're prepared for that. p.s: btw hope ya didn't take offense at my playful jab on people's negative comments...anyways Great story:)
This is awesome! Ive been wanting to do a rockhoof and apple jack one but its hard to type to much on a broken scean
I actually kind of saw that coming (no pun, seriously). Not my headcannon, and this ship makes little sense to me (don't bother arguing, I'm not here for a ship war).
(Yes, I follow the Magnus--->Several Generations--->Sentry headcannon. Fite me)
BUT
I can appreciate good writing. Biting and intense all the way to the reveal, even if I guessed. Good read, have an upvote.
So cute!
8693000
Honestly, I'd be surprised if that were to occur. The story is clearly rated Teen, and it's not I only write Mature fics on this site. But still, thanks for the heads-up just in case.
As one of the few people who is a larger fan of your less erotic works, I very much approve of this story. The emotions you conveyed felt real.
This was a good read, keep it up.
Bruh. My balls . . . they feel weird. I had to hold them the entire time this chapter. Lol good story anyways.
Dash walks into the dining hall of Twilight's castle where Twilight and Celestia are having tea:
"Hey, Twilight, thanks for not having faith in me. You thought I wouldn't understand the poor guy? And that I wouldn't accept him? Well, I did. We're dating now, so there! And Princess Celestia, he did that to join the Royal Forces, that means you were in charge. So I have to ask, what the actual hell!? I know it was a thousand years ago but seriously!? Asking a stallion to do that just to have the right to be in your army!? Seriously you both should be ashamed of yourselves!"
Dash turns and leaves without waiting for a response.
This is what I see happening the next day.
Decent story, if a bit predictable. Can I just say, though, your description is a bit clunky. You can pretty much remove the entire last paragraph since you're basically just going: "No, seriously, Flash Magnus has a big reason to reject Rainbow! Read to find out what!" In fact, you mention that three times, and you already got us curious with the first one.
(Also, seems very odd they'd geld their entire military, you know, considering how important it was to have children back in the day. In fact, that's kinda necessary in order to produce more soldiers.)
I have to say, straight up displaying your crotch rather than simply saying: "Look, I was castrated" strikes me a really strange thing to do right after rejecting a girl who came on to you.
8693392
Well, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Besides, Flash himself said that if he just told her, she'd probably want to see for herself anyway. He was just making sure she understood he wasn't bluffing.
Aw :3
This is a decent story, but I can't help but be put off by the fact that castrating soldiers is extremely stupid. Removing the testicles (and thus the man's supply of testosterone) reduces aggressiveness and risk-taking behaviour, pretty much the exact opposite of what you want in a soldier expected to charge headlong into the enemy with spear in hoof.
Here. Have a favorite, upvote, and follow. OK, but seriously, this was amazingly well written. Even if it was rated teen. Still amazing. The way you described things in this story. Geez, I wasn't expecting it. SO beyond what I was expecting but seriously. Great work.
Gonna have to read more stories from you! DEFINITELY going to make a comeback to this story. Never gonna forget it! Keep it up! 
One millennium, two millennia.
8693393
I mean, I get that, but that's still a very strange assumption to make. Like, if I met a woman who told me she had her genitals mutilated, I sure as hell wouldn't ask to see it because that would be insanely insensitive and all kinds of wrong. And if she insisted of proving it by showing me, I would be pretty weirded out.
All I'm saying is, you don't really go from: "I don't want to talk about it, it's very personal" immediately to: "Okay, you see the huge scar where my testicles should be?"
8693708
I would agree that asking would be insensitive; but then again, Rainbow Dash isn't the most sensitive mare around. Especially when she's upset (like in this story). And considering how rare a procedure like that would be in modern times, she might think he's lying unless she saw herself.
Well, of all the possible things I expected, that was the last one...
8693377
"Actually, Rainbow, you may recall that I was just a young filly back then: I was still studying under Star Swirl and had barely started to get the hang of the whole 'ruling a country' thing. It's not like I was the one who decided all soldiers should be gelded, that was just some old tradition. For the record, I thought it was pretty stupid as well, which I why I abolished the practice."
That's a pretty assholeish thing to do, tho, no matter how mad you are.
I was expecting something good from the description V, and you delivered! Great work as always!
Great stroy! One question, was the Pillinfs thing coming from the show or fan content?
8693892
You mean the Pillars? That was the official name of the Guardians who went into Limbo.
I guess if this story suffers from one thing, aside from the reveal being predictable due to how telegraphed it is, it's the fact that—even granting cultural differences—it makes no sense for soldiers to have to be castrated outside of severe punishment. It's counter-intuitive on multiple levels, and it just seems like a moronic way to "test" recruits.
If anything. it would've been interesting to see Flash be hesitant with Dash because of his sexuality. Let's say it was normal in Flash's time for soldiers to indulge in homosexual activity amongst themselves, like in several real-life ancient cultures. Dash's reveal could be that she doesn't judge a guy for swinging both ways, even though she may be straight herself. Or something.
Am I overthinking this?
"...her statement cut off so abruptly"
*snicker* *snort*
8693482
I don't know, I think it makes sense. The reason we castrate stallions in real life is to make them easier to train. It may have been considered necessary at the time for them to learn. Sure, a man's much less aggressive (and suffers hypogonadism, which can cause crippling depression in humans, though some other animals can adjust) without the hormones, but that also means they're calmer, and won't be distracted by the mares they work with. Hell, I've heard from some men who suffered a complete loss of testosterone that they couldn't even enjoy the taste of food anymore. A gelding really would live a Spartan life, few or no pleasures or distractions.
I started guessing what it might be, and my first thought was, maybe an accomplished soldier like him was considered good breeding stock, and he was required to sire foals for the state, which would give him serious discomfort about sex later in life. Then it really started to ramp up to 'what he'd lost', and I thought ... maybe it was the exact opposite of that.
8693708
I get that it reads as kind of awkward, but I can also imagine it being too difficult to say, and actually easier just to show her. Presenting his package, in a nude society, could be emotionally easier than saying the words 'My testicles were cut off.'
Before Reading:
I totally thought this was going to be that thing (don't recall if it was Greek or Roman or whatever) where the soldiers were encouraged to lay with their brothers in arms. The idea being that fighting alongside your lover(s) would make you fight all the harder for it. And he wasn't sure how rainbow would react.
After Reading:
Yeah that works too. Also well written so, nice.
8694052
I don't think it makes no sense when you consider how we treat horses in real life. Neutering is thought of by some trainers as necessary for their temperment.
8694172
maybe but pegasai culture is distinctly greco-roman, in both ancient greece and ancient rome, soilders where expected to have a family because that created military dynasty's within family, also in both cultures well castrated men did exist they where considered to be slaves or so, so the guys point does stand.
8694351
Yeah, I know that. But I also meant to point out that pony societies, the ancient one Flash comes from and the modern times of the show, don't follow everything about their human inspirations. If they followed everything, Flash wouldn't be castrated, but he would have had to go through a whole lot worse: Spartan boys would be abused from a very young age in training too brutal even for adults by modern standards, and being sexually abused by their teachers would be considered normal. Often, what's different from the human counterpart has to do with them being horses; for example, they are more like horses than humans in that nudity is accepted in most situations. So the fact that castration in human history was largely for slaves and criminals (and opera singers) doesn't necessarily mean that Equestrian society would look at it the same way. In horses, castration has a calming and obedient effect, and could conceivably have been thought of as necessary for the cohesion of the unit in ancient times. That it is different from human historical precedent doesn't mean it doesn't make sense in this world.
8694351
On a side note, soldiers in Greco-Roman times (particularly Sparta) were also expected to share love and sex with their fellow soldiers, something that would help them bond. In fact, according to their cultural ideas about what love is, the love between men was real and desirable, while love between a man and a woman was considered very strange. I don't remember which emperor, might've been Julius Caesar, but he caused a scandal by kissing his wife in public. If a man loved his wife, there was something gross or even sick about that to them, related to the fact that common wisdom considered women to be subhuman. The term 'eros', which sort of means 'erotic love' or 'obsessive, sexual love' was, literally, a mental illness by their understanding.
Given how queer the rest of VClaw's portfolio is, that's the direction I thought he was going to go from the description. Flash's confession would be something like, "I do love you, but I'm not comfortable getting into a relationship because I was taught that these feelings are a form of madness. Also, I've only ever had sex with other stallions in my unit, and sex is more like a bonding activity between friends to me."
But obviously, he went a different way with it; if all the soldiers are geldings, there definitely weren't any orgies in the barracks.
8694166
I thought that too! Especially since it's VClaw.
8693761 Yes, I realize all this, but I still think this is how Rainbow would react, as she may not think of this. Also, yes just leaving like that is assholeish but I think it's what Rainbow would do.
8694083
A real horse isn't a 'person' though, while a pony is. An animal, particularly one which isn't terribly bright, is by and large a slave to its instincts and so training them is radically different to training a being with a good grasp of abstract concepts like pride, duty, and patriotism. Flash wanted to join the Royal Legion, as would anypony else signing up, so why would they need to be castrated to get them to do something they willingly joined up to do in the first place? That kind of logic leads to the conclusion that you'd also have to castrate human soldiers to get them to follow orders properly, which is obviously completely untrue.
That's... a pretty moronic requirement for being a soldier. Makes no sense on any level.
Would've made more sense to have him be hung up on the two different time periods thing than for... that, to be his secret.
8694564
In humans, sure. In ponies? Maybe not as much as you might have thought.
Once upon a time, mankind rode horses into battle. Sure, some insisted on having stallions as their warhorses, but that was pure machismo. Stallions were more likely to be ill mannered, more easily distracted when a mare went into estrus, and frankly, just not necessary. Mares and geldings were (and remain today) far more common as mounts.
I don't much like it (I wouldn't even do that to a dog), but that's historic fact. And I can see how someone could extrapolate from that for their headcanon.
That all said, this fic was kinda cute. Good on you, Dashie. And damn your luck, Flashie. Be good to that mare!
8694564
It happened a lot more often than you think.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch
Castration has been going on for one reason or another for millennia.
This is pretty stupid tbh. There are better ways of doing a gelding story and this isn't one. Also sexless relationships? Sure, if you enjoy unseasoned food. No relationship has to be sexless unless you're crippled and cant feel anything from the neck down, especially not in a world with magic and technology. Just shave a square off his fur and slap a testosterone patch and he'll be sporting a hard-on in no time. Its also a misconception that eunuchs, ancient, or modern day, (from injury, disease or choice) cant achieve an erection. Many testicular cancer survivors can still get an erection and achieve orgasm without their jewels and off of testosterone, its just harder to get and the orgasms arent worth the effort. Testosterone patches and injections help many men achieve satisfactory sex lives.
8695012 Funny you should say that. Rainbow agrees with you:
"It takes balls to become a gelding" was too corny a line for Rainbow to use.
I don't like this story. Noone had to sacrifice anything (in the story) and everything just worked out fine. This could have been a great start for a fic how youthful decisions could come back to bite later (when dash do want to have foals) or that it turns out that all those other solutions Dash mentioned (potions and whatnot) in fact don't work or have serious drawbacks.
But none of this happened which is a shame because this premise is great. Like really a great idea. So many things could have been done with it and you choose to do none of those.
Yeah, in a conversation between real people, that sentence is gonna create a pretty big hole for Rainbow to have to climb out of. I enjoyed most of this, but that was too insensitive a thing for her to say and it just be glossed over.
I didn't think I would like it, but I liked it. Also I'm amused at the comment that didn't suspect this and those that so knew.
Cheers
nice story