A Shoulder to Cry on

Scene 4: The Crystal Palace

Three days Later:

Trotting through the hallways of the Crystal Palace on a normal, sunny afternoon, a young Private Flash Sentry was waiting for when Mi Amore Cadenza would call him. It'd been three days since the pink Alicorn Empress herself told the gold-armored Pegasus about what'd happened over the week, what with her false Pregnancy, her Husband's change of nature, and how to stop him. Flash could only wait for Cadence to summon him, for a direct assault on Captain Shining Armor would only get him arrested.

As he continued through another corridor, two Crystal Pony Soldiers could be spotted galloping towards the recruit, one male, and the other female. As Flash's ears picked up the fast pacing of hooves, he looked to his left and found the two armored Unicorns to be stopping, all while getting closer to him. Eventually, they skidded to a halt about two feet away from the Pegasus, eventually stopping to catch their breath for a good minute or two.

With no time to waste, the gold and blue-maned Stallion responded immediately with: " Hey, good afternoon guys. What can I do for you two today?" He asked, pretending to not know what's gonna come out next.

Then, the male Soldier replied with an energetic tone: "Private Sentry, we're here to escort you to the Crystal Throne Room. There, our Empress will wish to talk with you personally," he finished before the female Soldier started to speak.

"We don't know why, but we could only imagine the possibilities at the least. Are there any Questions?" She'd finished, her tone somehow had a hint of concern in it, which puzzled Flash, but he didn't show. But instead of letting curiosity get the better of him, he'd simply decided to answer her question.

"No Sir. I don't have any questions at this time!" Flash replied, saluting to his comrades with his right foreleg, "Lead the way," he said before trotting between them.

The Crystal Throne Room

A few minutes later, Cadence was seen anxiously sitting on her Throne, staring at the Massive Crystal Door in anticipation all while the room was also occupied by several Crystal Soldiers, a few advisors, and a dozen service ponies, who were all shifting their focus on both their Empress and the large door with great concern.

Before that, the room was recently filled with many noises that consisted of yelling, arguing, and multiple hoof stomps. Apparently, there was supposed to be a meeting on politics and other stuff that hardly mattered in the rules of Monarchy.

However; one of the two Soldiers that were sitting right next to the Crystal Monarch had noticed his Empress wasn't paying attention to the meeting, instead focusing her sights on the door. Concerned, the Soldier leaned a little towards the right, willing to successfully whisper in her ear without drawing too much attention. Surprisingly, Cadence leaned her head a little towards the left, trying to get into hearing range of the Soldier, while her ear perked up. The Crystal Stallion took this as a sign that she wanted to listen to whatever he had to say and began talking quietly to the pink Alicorn.

"Your Highness. I don't mean to offend, but may I ask why you are staring at the door?" The Alicorn only nodded lightly while giving a soft look that said 'None Taken', allowing the guard to continue, " Well then, what is your reasoning behind it? Is there someone or something important arriving soon? Is it Captain Armor? Or are you...uninterested by this meeting?" Unfortunately, the last question was a little louder than the other three, for it turns out that almost everyone in the room heard it and looked at their direction with gasps and looks of shock.

"What is the meaning of-" exclaimed one of the advisors (an Earth Pony who had a grey mane and pale-violet crystal coat) who's clearly past his prime before he was interrupted by the sound of the large Crystal Throne Room entrance opened, revealing two more Crystal Soldiers, and the one Cadence wanted to see, Flash Sentry.

Immediately, everyone turned towards Sentry's direction, either giving out looks of confusion like the Other Soldiers and the service ponies were, or of annoyance at the now approaching trio, coming from the advisors. But Mi Amore Cadenza smiled before speaking.

"Why hello there Flash. I'm glad to see that my Guards have found you."

Flash simply bowed to her Highness, in which she'd kindly gestured for him to stand.

"Everyone, I'm afraid this meeting will have to continue for another day. You may-"

"What? But...excuse me your highness. I'm sure you realize that this meeting is-" the Elder advisor protested before being shot down by the same pony he was speaking to.

"Is not going to end nor ignored, it's only going to be put on hold for now," Cadence said sternly while still holding the soft and gentle tone she'd always had, "Right now, I've brought young Sentry here to talk about another matter. One that is urgent and cannot be ignored. And I also recommend that everyone here stays, for this is also a matter that involves the Crystal Empire itself."

Cadence's Mind

Cadence suddenly paused the flashback, confusing Rainbow Dash.

"Hey wait. Cadence, why'd you stop the Flashback? We were just getting to what you had planned." The Prismatic Mare said poutingly.

"Well..." Cadence wore a nervous grin, "It's actually to talk to you about something. Something to confess actually."

This'd puzzled the Cyan Pegasus even more, but she'd tried not to show it, "Ok then...if you need to confess something, then do it," She responded with a more relaxed tone. The same tone Rainbow had used to help her younger sister, Scootaloo, smile whenever she felt down.

"Y-you won't get mad at me for it?" She asked surprisingly.

"Nope, unless you want me to that is," Rainbow said jokingly, which had the pink Alicorn giggle for a bit.

"Rainbow Dash, to tell you the truth, I...I..." she started, but paused, darting her eyes to the left and the right before inhaling a deep breath: "I actually kind of lied when I said I had a duel with Shining Armor!" she blurted out quickly, slowly looking down with her eyes closed afterwards.

"What do you mean?" The Cyan Pegasus, sounding more serious than she'd intended, causing the pink Alicorn to shake slightly.

"Well...what I mean is...uh...umm...well..." she was stuttering now, which made her companion feel uneasy from how she spoke to her.

It pained Rainbow to see Cadence feeling this down, perhaps more so than how down she herself was before and during Tank's Hibernation. She then felt both her eyes getting wet and her sight a bit misty, which she'd tried wiping away, but...

"...I lied about there being a duel Rainbow," she finished.

Regaining herself, the Pegasus gently offered a wing to her, which the young Empress accepted kindly. After letting Cadence get used to the extra warmth, Rainbow asked her: "Why?" In a soft tone, confusing her friend.

"Huh?"

"Why'd you say there was a duel between you and-" she suddenly had a hoof with a golden slipper shush her at mid-sentence. When she couldn't speak, the hoof stopped blocking her lips.

*sigh* "Listen Rainbow, I don't really know why I said there was a duel but..." the pink Alicorn paused before continuing, "...I guess the real reason why I lied is because...because...beca-"

"Because why?" The cyan Mare had asked slowly.

"Because I always heard about how you would try and make your events seem more 'exciting' from either Twilight or Pinkie Pie, and...the truth is that I...I guess I didn't want you to think I was boring as-"

"Ok Cadence, I think I get it now," She interrupted.

"Y-you do?" Cadence asked confusingly.

She affirmatively nodded.

"The-then you're not mad?"

"Eh...a little, but not a whole lot. Either way, it wouldn't convince me to leave you out in the woods all by yourself."

*gasp* "Really?"

Another nod was given by the cyan Pegasus.

*whew* "Well um...Thank you then Rainbow Dash," the pink Alicorn then nuzzled Rainbow's neck, with her returning the gesture. They'd stayed like this for several minutes before the two of them broke off gently.

"So...I guess your real plan is what's coming up on your Flashback then?"

"Hmm...Oh, right. Almost forgot about that," Cadence then turned to the flashback, which was still paused, "Guess we'd best continue where we left off then."

And with a flicker of her horn, surrounded by a sky-blue aura, the flashback resumed.

To be Concluded