What Should Have Been

by Sunny_and_Auri_23

Love Is Fragile

“Flash?” I heard Sunny’s voice.

“Huh? What? I’m up.” I lazily opened my eyes, to see Sunny, Auri and Saphie. Well, Saphie was absorbed in a book.

“Three accidents in less than a week!” Auri stated with a small smirk.

“We didn’t even get to do an April Fools trick on you.” Sunny sighed sadly.

“Yeah. I even got Tinted fooled. It was hilarious.” Auri rolled her eyes.

“So, has Princess Twilight left?” I asked.

Auri looked at me. “Flash, you need to forget about her.”

“I… yeah.” I sighed. “Wait… what are you doing in my room?”

“Talking to you.” Sunny yawned. “Your sleeping habits aren’t very convenient.”

Before I could ask what time it was, Auri sighed. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Why-”

“Nearly everyone’s awake, Flash. They heard about what happened.” Auri said simply.

“Of course they did.” I mumbled

“So, Flash.” Thunder Spark came into the room with a hayburger, and passed it towards me.

“Um, thanks.” I said, taking a bite of the hayburger.

He snickered. “Crushing on the princess?”

“THUNDER!” Auri and Sunny chorused.

“What?”

“Is Private Sentry awake?” Shining Armor entered my room. “I need to talk to you.”

Auri nodded and the four of them left the room. Great. Shining Armor and I are ‘bonding’.

“Flash, um, I need to ask you something. What exactly is going on between you and my sister?”

Um, I don’t know. It’s like the flower. She loves me, then she loves me not, she loves me, then she loves me not. What in Tartarus is going on? What am I telling him?

So, what the hay are you saying, Flashing Stupid?

“Flash, please.”

“I don’t know.” I simply stated.

“You… don’t know?” He shot me an inquisitive look.

“No… I don’t.” I hung my head, as my mind filled with confusion again.

“Are you sure? Something must have happened.”

“Trust me, a LOT of things happened between us. I honestly don’t know what we are anymore.”

“Have you said anything to her? Because, she’s acting different, lately”

“Not that I know of. But Twilight herself can’t make up her mind on what to say to me. And...now that I think about it, I’ve been acting differently too...”

“I...see.” He gingerly glanced at me, as if he was examining me to see if what I was saying was true, “And you’re right. Strangling Winter Gust was very unlike you, Sentry.” I flinched at the mention of his name.

“Just the strangling bit though, I hate him with all my heart.”

“Really? May I ask why?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Okay then. Twilight can’t make up her mind on what to say to me either, at least about you.”

“What did she say?”

He bit his lip, “She kind of said that she likes you-no wait- loves you.” My eyes widened. Ugh, that just adds to my list. She loves me. She loves me not. Aaand she loves me again! “Well, in that particular example, she kind of told Cadence and I kind of listened in on the conversation…” He muttered under his breath with a sheepish expression.

“You were eavesdropping?” I asked, amused.

“NONONO! Just...um...checking in…” He ran a hoof through his mane awkwardly. I tried to stifle my snickering. He cleared his throat, “Anyway, she also talks a lot about you with Cadence. And from what I heard, and what she said to me, yeah, it makes sense that she-ahem- loves you.” I started mentally counting the seconds before everything turned around and nothing made sense anymore. 3...2...1...and-

“But when I asked her about it yesterday, she completely brushed me off. At first I figured it was because I’m not the love expert that Cadence is which actually makes me jealous sometimes.” He grunted, “But, when I told her that you got hurt today, she seemed...apathetic about it. And suddenly, when I mentioned that Winter Gust was also hurt, she literally ran past me to his room to make sure he was okay. Didn’t even say goodbye to me or anything.”

My eyes narrowed, So Winter Gust has something to do with this! Why didn’t I see it before?

“She changed again a few minutes before I got here, near tears and asking if you were alright. She wanted to see you bad, but I told her I needed to talk to you first. I’m sure she’s waiting outside as we speak.”

I don’t know how to feel about that. On one hoof, she was acting dangerously strange, and she could have eavesdropped on our conversation if it runs in the family. Shining, as though he could read my mind as well, which is seriously annoying, said that he put a soundproofing spell on the room, so, forget Twilight, nopony could eavesdrop on us. So I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Okay, let’s try this again.

On one hoof, she was acting dangerously strange and she had not only hurt my feelings, but had also taken some interest in my worst enemy. But on the other hoof, she was my friend. Wait is she? I mean, I care about her, definitely. She...um...seems to care about me, when she isn’t acting weird, that is. Shining Armor just said that she was near tears. I hummed in thought.

“Can I talk to her?” I finally asked.

“Sure. But Flash, one more thing. You are one of the best guards of your rank; even though you really hate Winter Gust, try not to get distracted, especially at a time like this. The threat against the Crystal Heart remains, it is of utmost importance that you, and all the other guards stay focused.” He formed a small smile and nodded. I nodded back in response. He enveloped his magic in a pink aura as he removed the sound proofing spell and opened the door.

He nodded again, but to a lavender alicorn mare instead. She cautiously glanced at me as she entered my room before glancing away. I realised that it was the first time she’d been to my room, as far as I knew, and she took the time in silence to observe my messy chambers. Following her gaze, I could tell she looked over the walls, floor and ceiling about three times, never making eye contact with me. Her horn glowed pink and she closed the door.

We shifted uncomfortably as the only wordless exchange. Moments passed. I looked at her and caught her looking away from me. Neither of us said anything.

“I can’t do this anymore.” I finally broke the silence, “This is ridiculous!” I grunted and covered my face with my hooves in exasperation.

“Yeah...it is, isn’t it?” Twilight mumbled with a soft giggle. This ‘giggle’, though, sounded deflated and miserable. I lifted the hooves from my face to see Twilight’s face. She was looking at the floor with a distant and intense glare. She probably noticed me watching her, as she abruptly turned to face me. Something’s definitely wrong. Her normally radiant eyes were dull, bloodshot and puffy, implying that she’d been crying. Her mane and tail were not their usual smooth and neat style, but instead ruffled and messed up. Her lip was quivering slightly, and she was taking soft, ragged breaths.

“Are you okay?” I asked dumbly. She forced a smile and nodded vigorously, before slowing down and transitioning into shaking her head depressingly.

“No. No I’m not.” Her eyes watered again.

“Don’t worry.” I whispered and gently pulled her down to sit next to me on the bed.

“How can I not worry? I have no idea what I’m even doing!” She snapped, then proceeded to sob into her hooves, “Ugh! I’m so stupid!”

My mouth hung open slightly in bemusement. She just...called herself stupid? Hmm...why does that sound familiar? I sadly watched the mare curl herself into a ball as my mental insults hurled themselves at me. Flashing Stupid. Flashing Stupid. Flashing Stupid. I shook my head. That doesn’t matter right now. I rubbed Twilight lightly on her shoulder. Startled but the sudden contact, she arose from her ball of tears and looked at me with her watery amethyst eyes. I reached out my forehoof to her. After a moment, she grabbed it and leaned into me, crying into my shoulder. I embraced her and stroked her back with my hoof comfortingly.

“It’s okay, Twilight.” I whispered.

We stayed there for a few minutes, neither of us willing to release hold of each other.

And that was when I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

---

Wake up, Flash. Time to face the day.
I opened my eyes drearily to see a lavender mare lying next to me.

Wait. I glanced towards the time. It’s 4pm. I’ve been sleeping for hours. And training starts in just an hour.
I jerked awake. Yay, I’m fired.

“Flash.” Twilight yawned, and sat up. “Waitttttttttttttttttttt. Oh my gosh it’s four already?!” She started panicking. “Love you, Flash. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…” She rushed out of the door.

Great. I love you too.

---

I walked into the training hall, where everyone’s stares just couldn’t leave me. Oh, come on.
“Hi…” I said to Sunny and Auri.

“Hi.” Sunny struggled to keep her eyes open, whilst Auri yawned.

“Why are you so tired?” I asked. Oh, right, that was a stupid question.

Auri rolled her eyes, and Sunny walked away to TA. “We were awake all night. Anyway, lesson…” She paused. “Whatever lesson number it is. I should probably tell you a thing or two about your own weaknesses.”

“My weaknesses?” I frowned.

“Everyone has a weakness. And it is very easy to understand what yours is.” She sighed.

“It is?” Flashing Stupid, Flashing Stupid, Flashing Stupid!

“It’s your love for Princess Twilight. It’s true, love can be a strength. See… Cadence and Shining. But it’s also a huge weakness… ugh. How do I say this? The more heart you give, the more your heart will hurt. Well, you’ll probably figure that out as time passes… there’s not an actual way to explain it, I guess.” She sighed. “Okay. I’ll let you decide - what do you want to learn?”

Um, I never really thought of that. “I don’t know… just teach me something useful, I guess…”

“There’s your next weakness. It’s how unsure you are-”

“Okay, everyone. We will be continuing with the fights that we were doing yesterday.” Captain Armor glanced at me and returned his gaze to the scroll. “Aqua Aura and Tinted Assistance.”

“WHAT THE HAY?!” Auri shook her head. “NOPE. NOT. HAPPENING. Besides, I already fought Night- Officer Night Star last time.”

He shrugged. “There’s an odd number of people.”

“UGH.” She muttered something under her breath as the two mares walked forward.

“Fight!” Shining Armor announced. “Oh, and don’t kill each other. I’m kinda expecting that.” He added.

TA instantly lunged into Auri, who kicked her in the stomach. Ow. Sighing in anger, TA punched the side of her head, (Again: ow.), and Auri’s hair came out from her usual loose fillytail.

“UGH, seriously?” Auri rolled her eyes and punched TA in the face.

That was when I spotted Twilight in the corner of the room.

“Hi.” She said as I approached her.

“Hi.”

“They’re gonna kill each other, aren’t they?” She giggled.

“All’s fair in love and war...I guess.” I replied, trying to act as cool as I possibly could.

“Um...if you don’t mind me asking, why did you...um, try to hurt Winter Gust yesterday?” She didn’t keep her eyes off Auri and TA.

I felt myself stiffen at the mention of his name.

“Well...basically...it’s complicated.” I said with a sigh. My mind went back to when I saw Twilight and Winter Gu- him talking, the words they said, I gritted my teeth at the thought. “Say Twilight, what were you doing with Winter Gust after I came out from hospital?” I was scared to hear the response. To both my relief and dismay, she didn’t give me one. It was almost as if she didn’t even hear me.

“Uh, Twilight?”

She finally glanced at me, “Why do you ask?” She raised her eyebrow, “Why do you think we did something?”

“Well, I was stationed at my post, and was just about to leave, when I saw you two. Though, you didn’t see me, clearly”

Her eyes widened, “You saw us together?” I nodded, “What did we say?”

I tensed at the memory, “You said that you loved him, and he said he loved you.”

Her face was expressionless. “Oh.” She turned to face the training that was going on, away from my gaze, “Is that why you attacked him?”

“Kinda. But...there’s more to it than that.”

“Oh, okay.”

There was a tense silence around us, despite the noise coming from the fighting between the guards.

She was the first to break it, “Well, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Whatever happened, with Winter Gust, I mean. And also on my birthday, sorry about the flower, I actually really like it.”

I shrugged, “It’s just a flower…”

“No, it’s not. I cast a preservation spell on it to keep it alive. It’s so much more than just a flower to me, Flash.”

She sighed softly, “And I’m really sorry, for everything. If I’m being honest, this Princess Summit was much lonelier without my friends. I’m just glad you’re here, and Tinted, Auri, Sunny and Saphie.”

“What about Princess Cadence and Shining Armor?”

“Of course, and I love spending time with them, except, with the threat on the Crystal Heart, they’ve been working on different protection spells and working on new armor for the guards. I’ve barely got to talk with Cadence other than our meetings.”

“What are you talking about in your meetings? I was just wondering because Princess Celestia and Luna aren’t here this time.”

She chuckled, “Sorry, Flash, I can’t tell you.”

“Eh, worth a shot.” I smiled.

She smiled too. She looks absolutely radiant when she’s happy. I suddenly noticed her smile transform into a sly smirk. Wait, can she read my mind too? Oh, come on!

She burst out laughing, “Why are you looking at me like that?”Oh okay, she can’t. Thank goodness.

“You look cute.” I quickly covered my mouth with my hooves. Oh my Celestia! Did I actually just say that!?

She froze, then burst out laughing again, loud enough that others in the hall were starting to look our way. I was about to facehoof so hard that my brain would fly out of my head and rocket into outer space. And explode. Twice.

Captain Armor glared at me and turned to face our onlookers, “OKAY! Concentrate everypony. Princess Twilight and Private Sentry are just on break, you can ignore Twily’s weird laughter.”

Twilight stopped laughing and flushed immediately, sending a deathly glare towards him. If looks could kill, Shining would’ve died at this moment. Twice. Actually maybe more than twice. I honestly didn’t want to find out. I stood dumbstruck as he giggled. How is he not dead yet? I would’ve screamed like a little filly if I was in his position.

Thankfully, the awkward situation turned less awkward when the rest of the guards resumed with their training. Phew, that was NOT one of my brightest moments.

“So…”

“So.”

“Here we are.”

“Indeed we are.”

“This is awkward.”

“I can see that.”

“I just want you to know that I forgive you.”

She smiled sweetly, “Thanks.”

Then, she unexpectedly leaned forward and kissed me, covering our little scene with a wing so that the guards-including an overprotective brother- didn’t see us. I quickly melted into the kiss, I was still tired from last night to panic and run away again. Not that I could in the vice grip of the Princess of Friendship.

We lasted there for several seconds, or maybe minutes, or maybe even hours; I wasn’t even paying attention. She finally pulled back and whispered, “Maybe, it’s a bit too soon for this”

“Huh? What do you mean? I thought we were okay…”

“No, of course we are. It’s just, maybe we can get to know each other a bit more?”

“Um sure.” I shrugged.

She giggled softly, and I could feel her warm breath on my face. “How about we eat dinner out tonight? Just the two of us?”

“Of course.” I sighed dreamily.

She beamed and started trotting towards the door, “Great! It’s a date!”

“A date…” I sighed. Before my brain finally processed what just happened. “A-A date!? She just asked me out!” I facehooved, probably harder than I intended. I’m going on a date! With her! With the most amazing pony in all of Equestria! Woohoo! I mentally squealed. But then it dawned on me. Wait, I’ve never been on a date before. OH MY CELESTIA I’VE NEVER BEEN ON A DATE BEFORE! I’m gonna mess up so baddddd.

I returned my gaze to the two mares who were still fighting. Okay, Flash. Take your mind off it. Then when it happens, Flashing Stupid is gonna kick in and ruin everything. NONONONO! We’ve been over this! He. Is. Not. Coming. Back. I hope...

I walked over to Sunny who was biting her lip, looking at Auri and TA.

I glanced at them, and I could see that this was going to be the final strike. TA punched Auri in the side, and she went down.

“And… Tinted wins!” Shining Armor shouted.

“Good fight.” TA pulled Auri up.

“You really are a trained assassin aren’t you?” Auri laughed.

“You could say that.” They both laughed and walked over to us.

“YOU GIRLS! That lasted ten minutes!” Sunny sighed and continued biting her lip. “Don’t tell me I’m next…”

“Okay… the next fight is between… Falling Sunshine and Sapphire Moonlight!” Auri facehooved.

“NONONONONONONONONONO. Not good.” Sunny walked to the front.

“Okay. Fight!” Shining Armor announced.

“So. What happened between you and Twilight?” Auri asked.

Um. Nope. Don’t think about anything. No. Clear mind. Auri cannot read my mind.

Auri sighed. “Flash.”

“I asked her on a date. Or, well, she asked me on a date. I don’t know!” I blurted.

“UNSURITY!” She rolled her eyes. “Well, when?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight?!”

“Tonight.”

“What in Tartarus are you tonight-ing about?” TA snapped.

“Um, nothing.” I said quickly.

Auri eyed me, and then sighed. I returned my gaze to the two mares who were now approaching.

“Well, I died.” Sunny sighed.

“Didn’t we all…”

Author's Note:

Um hello.

It's been a while.

We kinda gave up on this story for a bit (what with the hiatus and all that) but we do have a few chapters written out. We wrote this one and the last one in... July, I think?
But yes, hopefully we have improved somewhat in our writing. We realised how negative it was becoming so we tried to gradually bring the tone back to something we can handle properly. The next few chapters are much lighthearted and I can guarantee that we hit our lowest point in chapter 5.

Auri is begging me to not post chapters from Chapter 10 onwards just yet. So... um yeah, I'll be posting the next two chapters in a few days.

As always, thank you for reading our mess of a story, and have a nice day!

Comments

[SuperSonicHeroes]

So this story finally updated again. MY need to refresh myself on what it is about but it is good to see you active again.