Rejects' Love

Several hours had passed since Flash Sentry had been turned down by Twilight and he was still heartbroken. He just couldn't understand why Twilight would flat out reject him. He kept on playing the scene over and over in his head, Twilight telling him she wasn't interested, her yelling at him, her accusing him of only wanting to be with her since she is a princess and her storming off. He had not said anything to the other guard about it all day because it hurt too much but finally the other guard asked, "Flash, are you ok? You've had tears streaming down your face ever since your talk with Princess Twilight."

At first Flash simply sighed in despair but then he realized that perhaps talking to the other guard might help. He replied, "No, I'm not ok. Princess Twilight yelled at me and told me she wasn't interested."

The other guard couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about, especially given it involved a princess. He asked, "She wasn't interested in what?"

Flash was shocked that the other guard didn't know what he was talking about. He replied, "She wasn't interested in me! She wasn't interested in being my marefriend!"

When the other guard heard this, his jaw dropped open as he was shocked that he would simply ask a mare he hardly knew about a relationship, especially a princess. He asked, "You what? You simply asked Princess Twilight to be your marefriend?" He couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, "Do you even know Twilight?"

Flash did not take kindly to the other guard chuckling. He snapped, "Do you find it funny that she broke my heart?"

The guard replied, "No, I'm just shocked that you would do that. Now back to where we were, do you even know Twilight?"

Flash replied, "Well this happened before you were stationed here. Her and I met after she returned from the human world....."

The other guard broke down laughing, "The human world? That's a good one Flash!" His laugh became louder as he continued, "What did she do, come out of a comic book or something!"

While his laughing angered Flash greatly, he knew that since his fellow guard wasn't there when it happened, he needed to stay calm. He replied, "Well you see, this other pony named Sunset Shimmer came through some sort of portal involving a mirror and stole her crown and she had to go to this other world to get it back."

The other guard couldn't help but wonder if Flash hadn't bumped his head but decided to go along with what he was telling him. He asked, "Alright, about her returning. You said you met her then?"

Flash replied, "Well she got her crown back and when she returned and was getting ready to head home, she bumped into me and fell over. I helped her up and she blushed a little bit."

The guard asked, "Alright but what about after, have you two interacted any since then?"

Flash replied, "Uh, no. I just think she's beautiful and since she blushed at me, I thought maybe she would be interested."

The guard shook his head, "Flash, that is your problem right there. You went and asked a pony who you have only interacted with once to be your marefriend. I don't get it, WHY would you want to hook up with a pony that you know next to nothing about?"

Flash replied, "Well....."

The other guard continued, "Flash, I get it, you think she's hot and you want to get to know her but that can't be the only reason." He began to glare at Flash and his voice became more stern as he asked, "You don't want to hook up with her solely because she is a princess, do you?"

Flash held his head low and replied, "Well no....."

The guard said, "Look, you can tell me. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony, guards' promise."

Flash replied, "I'm being honest, I just wanted to get to know her and maybe pursue something special with her."

The guard said, "Well ok. I wouldn't let this get to you too much though, like every other stallion, you're going to get rejected and there's nothing you can do about it."

Flash had a feeling that his fellow guard thought he was lying so he decided to end the conversation, "You're right, I won't let this get to me."

The guard replied, "Good, we don't need you becoming depressed and being unable to perform your duties."

After they finished their discussion the two did not say much of anything for the rest of their shift. Flash felt like the other guard not only didn't care, but even found it a bit amusing that Twilight rejected him while the other guard simply thought Flash did what he did because Twilight is a princess.

Several hours had passed since being rejected by Starlight and Sunburst was in the nursery taking care of Flurry Heart. Ever since he had become the Empire's crystaller, there was one thing always made him happy, and that was taking care of Flurry. This time though was different, while he did enjoy taking care of her and her giggles did bring out a smile or two from him, on that day all that was on his mind was Starlight.

He couldn't help but replay the whole thing through his head, Cadence bringing Starlight to talk to him, her constantly stepping back and needing her space, her admitting that she didn't see him like he saw her, her admitting to only liking mares, Trixie's arrival, their becoming a couple and what hurt him the most, their passionate kiss right in front of him. The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and began sobbing.

Shining Armor heard this and head to the nursery to see what was wrong. He knew that Sunburst loved Flurry and wanted to find out what the crying was over. When he arrived he found Sunburst sitting down with his face buried in his hooves. He asked, "Sunburst, are you ok?"

Sunburst looked up and saw a concerned Shining Armor. While he had no desire to talk about this to anypony, he figured that he should given that he was taking care of Flurry. He replied, "No, I'm not ok."

Shining Armor asked, "Are you hurting somewhere? Do you need a painkiller of some sort?"

Sunburst replied, "Physically I'm ok" he pointed to his heart and continued, "I'm hurting emotionally."

Shining Armor had been fairly busy all day so he knew nothing about his interaction with Starlight. He asked, "What is causing you this much distress?"

Sunburst replied, "Earlier today Twilight and Starlight came up to the Crystal Empire and I told Cadence I wanted to speak to Starlight."

Shining asked, "And what happened there? What happened to cause you this much heartache?"

Sunburst replied, "Cadence brought her back to talk to me and I decided to tell her right away how I felt and she told me that she wasn't interested in a relationship."

To Shining Armor this seemed like a less than stellar reason to be so distraught. He said, "Well if she isn't she isn't. I know you're sad but...."

Sunburst began to cry, "It-it isn't just that! She told me that she only likes mares, she told me that she has her eyes set on this mare named Trixie!" He began to quiet down as he continued, "I just don't get it. How could a mare be attracted to another mare? It just doesn't seem right."

Shining replied, "Well....."

Sunburst continued, "And even worse, that Trixie pony shows up and Starlight tells her she loves her, right in front of me!"

Shining tried to reply, "Well....."

Sunburst became more emotional as he continued, "And they became marefriends and kissed right in front of me! It seemed like Starlight was rubbing it in my face that she loves Trixie and not me!"

Shining knew he had to be a bit firm, "Sunburst, I know you are devastated over this and I do think that was in poor taste but you can't let this affect your job. MY daughter needs you when Cadence and I are busy and Flurry loves you to pieces. I doubt she would want somepony else taking care of her because you couldn't."

Sunburst asked, "I know, I know but I still can't help but wonder, why would she be attracted to her but not me?"

Shining replied, "Well like she said, she likes mares and their personalities seem to mesh. Both of them like things a bit more chaotic and both of them have checkered pasts so they can relate with one another."

Sunburst sighed, "I can see where you're coming from regarding their personalities but mares finding other mares attractive is something I'll never get."

Shining replied, "I don't understand it either but there are some things you can't change and don't let this get you down too much. Like I said, you are our crystaller and you take care of Flurry Heart while Cadence and I are busy with our royal duties. I don't want you not giving her the absolute best care possible."

It hit Sunburst that despite being depressed over Starlight that he did need to remain focused if he is to do his job. He said, "I'll do my best to get past this. I know it will be tough, but I don't want Flurry not getting the care and attention I should be giving her."

Shining gave him a smile and suggested, "Good. Now why don't you go home early and clear your mind. I have nothing else to do today so I'll watch over my daughter."

Sunburst replied, "Thanks your Majesty. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

As Sunburst left the nursery and headed towards the exit, he couldn't help but still feel depressed. He knew that he had to get out of this funk but felt like he had no one to talk to that truly understood him. He knew that Shining Armor did care but also knew that he simply didn't understand or even know what being rejected the way he was felt like.