Heart-Shaped Horseshoes

Flash Sentry was shifting nervously on his uniform. He was afraid he was sticking out too much with his bright orange coat. Most guards had either white, brown or grey cotas. Just like a Cutie Mark, the color of a coat usually indicated who you were destined to be.

Flash grandfather had been a  member of the Royal Guard, a Royal Chariot Carrier to be specific, and he told Flash the day his Cutie mark appeared, that the lighting engraved shield meant he was going to be a Guard too, that he was destined to protect the Princesses. Flash believed his grandfather was the coolest pony around and he wanted him to be produ but he also was always self-conscious about his coat, thinking that he looked more like a Wonderbolt than a Royal Guard.

But Flash had endured all the trials to this day, all the training, all the test. He had graduated from the Academy with honors and now was proudly wearing the golden chestplate and standing stall. He was going to make his family and his Princess proud by being the best guard in his entire squad

“Attention! Captain Shining Armor walking in!”

And he had to ruin it all by having his wings spread widen.

All the other guards suppressed a laugh while Flash tried to hide it as just being nervous. Pegasus wings spread over many things. Threats, amusement but also attraction. he remember how his dad used to flap his wings  like a hummingbird every time his mother gave him a kiss on the cheek. Flash wouldn't have minded that involuntary reaction of his body so much if it hadn't be caused by the attractive captain of the guard.

Ever since he was a colt, Flash Sentry preferred being in the company of other boys. At first, he thought that was only natural with girls being gross and stuff. But as time passed and his classmates began to make jokes and comments about girls, Flash began to realize he hadn't cared about girls. At all.

He got lucky in flight school, since a few of his teammates shared his tastes and he actually had a good time there. It also helped that pegasus as a whole didn't care much about stuff like that. Unicorns and earth ponies were a little more inclined to whisper and judge but pegasi by nature were free-spirit and couldn't care less about which way a pony swinged. But Flash knew this wasn't so much about prejudiced but about protocol. It wasn't proper of him to show his interest for his superior in such a way so he took a  deep breath and pulled his wings back.

Shining Armor walked among the cadets, giving them the usual stern speech but when he reached Flash he actually smiled at him

“Cool coat colors, cadet!”

Flash smiled, not sure if he was supposed to laugh at the alliteration.

“You're gonna get a few whistles from the mares during the parades! I bet you're used to it, uh?” Shing joked, poking Flash who just laughed awkwardly.

“What´s your name, kid?”

“Flash Sentry, sir!”

“Looking forward to your  performance, Flash!” Shining said, moving on.

Flash could heard the other cadets growling at him.

****

Life at the squadron wasn't so bad for Flash after all. If any of his teammates though he was going to get special treatment, they soon dropped that idea when Shining made them all go through one hell of a schedule. Flash endured it along with the rest of his squads and he soon found a place among them.

Just like in flight school and in the academy, Flash started to noticed which stallion shared his way of life. It was just something he could tell, almost like magic. Not every stallion was a hundred percent into it, some tried to hide it, some denied it and some didn't seemed too sure. But there were others that were very open about it or were very bad at hide it. Some of them made moves on Flash and he responded to a few but eventually, he decided that he was better on how own. He didn´t joined the Guard to get a date after all, his goal in life was being a Chart Carrier, just like his grandfather.  To fulfil that goal, Flash worked hard and pulled himself to his limits. He ended every day with his wings and legs tired but a smile on his face,  knowing he was doing his very best.

One afternoon, Flash took his fifteen minutes break to just laid on a cloud. He sued to do that as a kid a lot, just laid back and star at the blue sky, the entire world disappearing as he slowly drifted away.

“Enjoying the view, cadet?”

Flash startled, thinking it was his superior officer but instead he found Shining Armor floating upside down in a blue aura.

“Ho-how?” he asked.

“Levitation spell. A little trick I learned from my little sister. Shhh. Don´t tell the guys.”

Flash laughed.

“You mind making me room? My head is starting to hurt.”

Flash moved a little and watched as Shining floated into the cloud, casting a spell to avoid falling through. He stood there, just looking at the empty sky. Flash couldn't enjoy the view, he was busy fighting his own wings.

“Man, I love the view up here. Sometimes I´m envy of you guys,” Shining said and Flash smiled. “Then again, I can do a lot of neat tricks with this one here,” Shining said, pointing at is horn.

“Yeah, but even with all the magic of the world you couldn't pull stuff like a Sonic Rain-boom,” Flash joked but then regretted it. Shining was his superior after all, maybe joking with him wasn't a good idea.

“Ha! You remind o f somepony my sister is always talking about!” Shining said. He didn't looked upset at all. “ANyways, our girl can beat us easily. She has the best of two worlds.”

“Your...girl?”

“Yup,” Shingin said, pulling a picture from his armor. Flash recognized the mare as Princess Cadence, one of Princess Celestia´s protegees. “She can dive, glide and teleport her way out. The best mare in the entire world.”

Flash was feeling uncomfortable. He didn´t even understood why, he already knew he had no chance with Shining but somehow, hearing him say those things, realizing he was literally out of his reach, it made him feel like the sky was falling down.

“What about you, Flash? Got a special mare waiting for you.”

“No, sir.”

“Oh come on, drop the formalities! Just call me Shining!”

“I rather not, sir.”

Shining looked at him, confused. “That's no good. If you don't have anypony waiting for you to return, you´re gonna get stuck in this job all your life.”

“Serving the Princess and guarding our kingdom is all I care, sir.”

Shining sighed. Flash wasn't getting his point. He thought the kid was different, that it wasn't just the color of his coat but he himself was able to break the mold of the typical stern guard. But Flash kept his stubborn posture, failing to realize Shigin was offering his friendship.

“Break is over. Go back to your squad,” Shining said.

Flash saluted him and glided down, He didn't thought of asking Shining if he need help going down but he was too disturbed for it. He spent the rest of the journal suppressing all his emotions and that night, he buried his head on the pillow.

*****

“So, that guy was a dead ringer for me, uh?” Flash asked and Twilight nodded, giggling.

Flash was still fascinated by the Princess's story of her journey to another dimension, especially the part where she found his counterpart. Flash wondered if this other Flash had the same orientation as he and if he went through the same problems.

“Flash, do you want more tea?” Twilight asked, levitating the cups.

“I'm fine, Princess.”

“Stop calling me that! You know I don't like being called that way!” Twilight replied, blushing while Flash laughed,

“Well, you are a Princess. Coolest Princess  I know, actually.”

Twilight blushed again and said “At least, you treat me more like my friends do. Yesterday I visited my old school and all these fillies followed me around, calling me Princess. It was awkward.”

“Well, that´s expected. You are their heroine, they admire you,” Flash explained.

“I guess I can understand that. When I was their age, I felt the same way for Princess Celestia. I used to admire her a lot. Heh, my friends used to tease me I had a crush on her.”

Flash smiled but didn't said anything. He knew how those assumptions could hurt.

“But after getting these wings and title,a maybe even before that, I started looking at Celestia a different way. not so much as my teacher but as my friend. I know it sounds silly but I feel like I cans tila dmrie her but feel than I´m at ehr level.”

“It doesn't sound silly at all, Twilight.”

“What about you, Flash? Did you had somepony you admired?” Twilight asked, slightly hiding behind her cup.

“I used to admire my grandfather. He was a Royal Carrier and the best pony I knew.”

Twilight noticed how sad he sounded and said “I´m sure he was very proud of you, Flash.”

“I know, he told me so before he passed away. But by that point I already had another pony I look up too, that I wanted to be proud of me.”

“Oh, really? Who?”

Flash Sentry looked up from the table they were sitting, straight at the Royal Balcony in the Crystal Tower were Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were greeting the embassadors from Saddle Arabia. Flash smiled, feeling a warm in his chest. He wondered at what point the uncertainty and hear in his chest became this reassuring feeling. When he moved over his unrequited love for his Captain and was able to look after Shining as a role-model, a hero maybe even a friend. He was now a Captain as well, Captain of the Crystal Guard and able to serve at his Prince looking him at the eyes

Twilight looked at him confused, wondering what he was thinking. Flash smiled at her and asked for another cup of tea.