With Heart and Sword

by FALG

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Fluttershy, Adventure, Shining Armor, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 12995

Kindness wasn't the only thing that changed me.

(Sequel to "I met Kindness", read it here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/38530/I-Met-Kindness)

Flare here my friends. This is the next part of my story, here I will tell you how I discovered my purpose in life.

After a month of my arrival in Ponyville, I would meet Fluttershy: the mare I'd share the next stages in my life; and after some hard time, she accepted me.
It wouldn't be long until an event put our lives at risk, and an incident changed our lifes. An incident where I was at risk of losing everything I loved.

Gather round, I shall tell you how I found my real purpose in life, after thinking with my Heart and Sword.

Please critique, comment, and rate properly!

Published 2012-08-09 06:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-09 06:04:02 UTC

Light

I’m Flaring Blur, but those who know me can call me Flare.
I already told you my story of when I met Fluttershy, and this part of my story takes place a month later.

I’ve been going out with her for almost a month; to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to even get to date her in the first place. But she accepted me. She accepted me!

The first date we talked about our past. I told her about my life as the son of Canterlot’s army captain, my trainings, my life as a pupil; I think I told her almost anything about me.
She told me how she discovered Ponyville thanks to a race in which her friend Rainbow Dash was involved. She told me about how she got her cutie mark and her adventures with her best friends.

I was kinda jealous of her, she had a group of friends, her best friends. I had plenty of them, sure. But I never had a best friend, all the friends I had weren’t worth for being my best (I’m a bit selective, just like my brother), and that’s plainly selfish from my point of view, but I just can't help it.

Fluttershy was the mare I always wanted; I liked shy ponies, and she was making honor to her name. She took things slowly, and I’m patient enough to oblige; I like things to happen fast though, but for her, I’d wait forever.
Our dates weren’t too special, just some strolls, visits to Sugarcube Corner and occasionally another bar or restaurant. But I was planning on doing something a bit more romantic at some point.
Actually, this was exactly the day which I wanted to do something else… after a month of going out with her.

It was at night, around midnight, we went out for dinner and I asked her if she didn’t mind to walk around Ponyville with me. She was kinda scared because she didn’t like the darkness, but in the end accepted as long as I was with her.

“You look nice tonight” I told her when we were walking down the empty streets.

“I always look like this Flare” Fluttershy said a little embarrassed.

“I know, but you look specially nice today” I replied.
She smiled, I loved it when she smiled.
A few minutes passed, there was a complete silence except for the occasional breeze and the rustling of leafs.

Then a shadow came out of nowhere, and blocked our way. We stopped, waiting for the shadow to leave, but it stayed still. Then the shadow spoke:

“Stay calm, I don’t want to hurt you” it said.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Just give me your money, and I’ll let you leave”.
Fluttershy stepped in, I wanted to stop her but I couldn’t move thanks to the shock of being mugged.

“Please sir, you don’t want to do this” she said.

“Don't you dare get near me, just do as I say and nothing will happen to you” the pony said.

“You don't have to do this sir, you can still change your mind” Fluttershy assured.
The shadowed pony didn’t reply, and I could swear he was about to leave, until:

“Hey brother you ain’t chickening out ain’t ya’?” a voice behind me said.

When I looked back, two more ponies appeared, they were hooded so I couldn’t see them clearly.

“Guys, I don’t want to do this” the shadowed pony said.

“Oh but you don't have other choice” the second hooded pony replied.

“No I don’t, I don’t have to do this”

“Too late pal, you can't back down now, you finish what you start." the first hooded pony started walking towards the shadowed pony.

“Hey, leave him alone” I stepped in.

“Get the hay outta my way, this doesn’t concern you”.

“We can arrange this” I started “we give you our money and you let us go, everyone wins" I suggested.
The hooded pony thought for a while, and then said:

“Okay, deal, you two go away, but you are coming with us” he said while pointing the shadowed pony.

“No! Leave him alone!” I got surprised because Fluttershy got between them.
The hooded ponies laughed, they too were surprised at her impulse.

“C’mon pretty girl, you’re joking right?” the other hooded pony said.

“Please, there must be a way to arrange this.” Fluttershy said.
The two hooded ponies looked at each other, and then looked at her again.

“Well well, there is always a way to arrange things” I could note that the hooded pony was grining as he was reaching his hoof to touch her muzzle.

“Don’t you dare lay a hoof on her” I jumped in.
The pony looked at me surprised as much as I was of myself.

“What did you say?”

“I will not repeat myself” I said walking towards him.

“Ohhhh the kid has some guts don’t he?” the hooded pony scoffed looking at Fluttershy “so what if I touch her like…” he was about to touch her shoulder “this?”
As soon as he touched her, I found myself bending his foreleg, forcing him to sit just out of pain; when I released him, he looked at me with a wrath that (I assume) he didn’t know he had.

“Well, looks like we’re doing this the hard way” he said.

The hooded pony spun and gave me a mule kick, I only had time to raise one hoof and block it as I could. Then he tried to pin me down, and I sidestepped.
The other hooded pony wanted to hold me but I kicked him, stunning him. As I looked the other hooded pony preparing for another tackle, I stood on my hindlegs, rising my forelegs to have a better guard.

“Come on, hit me!” I taunted him.

He went for another pinning, I sidestepped; he tried again a few times and I finally countered, doing a circle throw launching him a few hooves up, and he landed with a thud.

As he got up, he looked at me with even more anger, almost grinding his teeth.

“You are so dead now, you know that?” he said.

“Oh yeah? Prove it” I replied.

The hooded pony instead of pinning me, he rammed; he headbutted me, and with his forelegs he grabbed mine making me trip.
On the ground he kicked my head plenty of times, and I was about to give up; but I saw the other hooded pony struggling with Fluttershy.

Fluttershy

I rolled to a side and rammed the first hooded pony, I stood again on my hind legs and hit him with my front hooves time after time again. He didn’t know how to defend himself, and he fell out of tire. He couldn’t feel his head anymore.

I rushed to Fluttershy and rammed the other hooded pony, as he was on the ground I told him:

“You better run out of here while you still can dumbflank, you don’t know what I could do to you”
He nodded quickly and I left him run away. I looked back to Fluttershy.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She couldn’t respond, she was shocked. I apprached her but she only stepped back.

“Fluttershy, it’s me Flare, don’t you recognize me?”
She didn’t respond, but looked at me deeply, until she snapped and hugged me.

We kept silent a while, until I asked her again if she was alright.

“Yes I’m okay Flare” she sighed looking around “I’m sorry the date got ruined”
I completely forgot, it was still a date after all.

“Forget about the date, nothing matters to me as long as you're okay.”
Then, a light came from behind me, along with a stabbing pain in my flank; I dropped to the ground, screaming as a white light surrounded my vision.
I could hear Fluttershy screaming my name, everytime her screams sounded farther than the last, until I couldn’t hear her anymore.

And the next moment, everything went black.

Void?

As I woke up, my head ached like hell. At first my blurry vision didn't allow me to see at my own hoof, but after some time I could see books around me, and some more books in shelves.

It was Twilight's house.

Why I was in her house? Did I miss some part in my life or what?
I stood up slowly, and called Twilight to get her attention:

"Oh Flare you're awake! That's good" the unicorn said.

"Huh? Why would it be bad if I didn't?" I accidentally asked her.

"Do you need a reason for that?" she asked back.

"I guess no, sorry" I replied, realising how stupid the question was.

"Do you know anything about what happened to me?" I asked her, hoping for a concrete answer.

"Not really, Fluttershy explained me a bit..."

"FLUTTERSHY! Where is she, how is she?!" I yelled.

"Shut up!" she shushed me quietly "She's still sleeping and she is okay! Look behind you"
I did so, and saw Fluttershy in a little mattress with a blanket, and I realised something.

"She slept at my side?"

"Yeah, she came here with you on her back pleading for help" Twilight explained "and she didn't separate from you the whole night"
By reaction, I looked at the window, the sun was coming up.

"How long has it passed since she brought me here?" I asked

"I dunno, a few hours, I kept searching the books I have for something that linked to your problem"
Then it hit me.

"Waitwaitwaitwait, why did she bring me here in the first place?"

"See for yourself" the unicorn said walking towards me.
And she signaled my flank.

A feeble white light was coming from where my cutie mark is, or was; it wasn't there anymore.

"What is this?!" I asked desperate.

"Calm down, I don't know either but it's nothing to worry, yet." Twilight said.

"Yet? What does that mean?"

"I read some books I have about cutie marks since Fluttershy brought you here and pointed that light coming from you, this is very rare, and I haven't got any sturdy theory about what is happening."

"Do you know somepony that may?" I asked

"I already sent a letter to Princess Celestia telling her the problem, she should be talking to her wizard council now, somepony has to know about this; she will send me a letter once she finds out something, meanwhile I'm looking for an answer on my own."

"Oh okay"

"Don't worry, we will find a solution" she assured me.

After half an hour a green light came from upstairs, and then a little dragon came with a parchment.

"Twilight, from the Princess!" said the dragon "oh hey Flare, how are you holding up?" he said looking at me.

"Hey Spike, I've been better, but I'm fine, thanks."
Twilight then grabbed the letter with her magic and read to herself, until she looked at me.

"We got it" she said with a smile

"What is it? The solution?" I asked her

"Kind of."

"Kind of? Just tell me what it is and I'll do it." I said

"It's not that simple, this isn't any kind of disease or illness, this is something like a... characteristic? I can't put it clearly" Twilight said worried.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ugh, I think you need to hear what they found out about this" she suggested.

She explained me the problem, it has no name, and only a few cases were shown in the whole history of Equestria.
Supposedly, it is some kind of ancient power, granted normally to warriors with more than one special talent.

"But there are ponies with more than one special talent Twilight" I stopped her.

"Yes, but those have talents which are linked to their cutie marks, which normally are one" she explained.

"So are you telling me..."

"That in fact, this kind of power grants a second cutie mark, but related to the pony's purpose" she finished.

"WHAT?! I mean, why me? I'm not even important to this world!" I said

"These things are not decided on renown, be it present or future, it depends on the purpose of the pony in life; not all had the chance to find out their second cutie mark." she replied.

"How many have had their chance?" I asked.

"The record is very vague" she said "maybe there are five to ten cases including you of this. But not all were able to solve it"

"Well what's the worst that can happen?" I said

"Actually that is not known either" the unicorn answered worried.

I looked at Twilight surprised.

"What does that mean?" I asked again

"This isn't any kind of power, it's like a test, a time trial to be specific" she explained.

"Alright, I already lost then..." I said calmly but nervous on the inside.

"No you didn't, you have a week until the time runs out." she said

"So what will happen if that happens?"
She kept silent some moments, and then spoke again.

"The council is not sure about that either, but the records say that those affected, after the lapse of a week, haven't been found again ever."
That made me shiver, what she said would mean that:

"Will I die?"

"Perhaps, but I'm not sure, the ponies weren't found; their corpses, in case they died, weren't found either." Twilight said.

"So what will happen to me? Will I die or be sucked into come kind of void to the moon or other universe or..."

"Calm down, you still have one week, you got time until something happens to you, make sure to find the solution."

"Oh yeah? What do I have to do then?" I asked impatiently.

"According to the council, the solution lies in a past event, you have to think what happened recently to find your purpose."

"Past event?" I repeated

"Yeah, what happened recently that gave you this kind of light?" she pointed to the light coming from my flank.

"Well, I was..." I got interrupted since a yellow pony threw me to the floor.

After a while Fluttershy finally calmed down, and we were able to tell her the situation; but when Twilight asked her what happened, she didn't want to say it.

"If you don't want to tell me that's fine" the unicorn said to her friend "but don't keep it with yourself."
The pegasus agreed, and then Twilight looked at me.

"I think you should go to Canterlot, you may find more information in the castle's archives." she said.

"What makes you think I can enter the castle?" I asked her impatiently.

"I can help you with that, I'll write another letter to the princess asking her to await you."

It made sense, if she was the princess' personal student, she surely had benefits within the royalty.

"I guess I'll have to take the next train to Canterlot, do you have any idea when does the next one leave?"

"Hey no need to rush, it's still midday" Twilight said
I looked at the window, a few hours passed since I woke up, it was midday indeed.

"Well I'll come back later, I have to tell this to my brother too; so I better get going."

I left the library without another word, I'd come later if I needed to.

Back to the start

"Come again?"

Plaid was somepony who had trouble understanding even the most simple things; but I couldn't blame him for not understanding this, I didn't quite get it too.
I explained him my situation again.

"Oh this is just perfect." he said "How come you are so special, and I'm just some kind of misfit wanting for my life to change for a little bit?"

"I told you, I didn't want for this to happen, it depends on the future personality of the pony, just like the cutie marks."

"But didn't you say you are getting another cutie mark?"

"Yeah, but this isn't any cutie mark; this one doesn't represent a talent, but instead a purpose, or so Twilight told me."

"Oh I know your purpose in life, make mine a reason to laugh at!" Plaid yelled.

"PLAID! SHUT THE HAY UP! Everything you do with your life has nothing to do with mine! So stop complaining about your life and do SOMETHING FOR IT!" I yelled back.

My brother flinched, it wouldn't be the first time; everytime he had a chance to make a reason for his life being miserable, he rubbed it at me.

His life wasn't miserable, he overacted it; many good things happen in his life but he doesn't pay them attention, and he complains for nothing good happening to him. He just doesn't see them, I couldn't blame him for that.
I had the same problems sometimes.

I calmed down and I resumed:

"Look, I shouldn't care what happens in your life; I'm just telling you, there is nothing wrong with it, you only think so because can't recognize something good when it comes."
He looked at me, with a stare that self-explained his thoughts.
I didn't bother to keep explaining him, it was a waste of time. "He'll find out on his own" I said to myself.

I packed some of my things in a bag, a pouch full of bits, some clothes, and in a separate bag my weapons. If I headed to Canterlot, I could use them in the barracks; after all, my dad was still working there as a trainer.

As I headed out of the house, I looked at my brother one last time:

"You sure you don't want to come with me to the station?"

"Why? Nothing will happen to you, I'm sure you'll still be here in a week. This won't be the last time I'll see you"
He wanted to keep arguing, he was good at that; but I was the silly one for falling into it.

So I headed out of the house, without saying anything else.

When I got to Twilight's house it was 2 PM, I had to leave now for Canterlot if I wanted to solve this.

"Would you mind looking over my brother every now and then?" I asked Twilight when I arrived.

"Of course, don't worry about that." she said.
She gave me a parchment, sealed with a ribbon.

"Princess Celestia said she is a bit busy to receive you personally, so I wrote a pass for you to enter without problems."

"Great, thanks; so when does the next train leave for Canterlot?" I asked.

"The next train leaves in two hours, you have time until that, have you eaten something at least?" she asked me.

"Yeah don't worry, I ate at home; I'm leaving, I have to still buy a ticket for the train."
She wished me good luck, and then I left the library towards the station.

It was as bustling as I first arrived at Ponyville. I went to the ticket booth and bought a ticket for the train to Canterlot, and waited for some time.

Almost two hours passed, and it was almost time to leave, I entered the train, leaving my belongings onto one bed of it's compartments.
Not many ponies entered the train, which suprised me, Canterlot usually had many tourists, but this time only a group of ponies entered the train.

Then somepony appeared, and trotted to the ticket booth in a hurry, I approached the pony:

"Fluttershy?" I called
The pony looked at me:

"You thought you'd be going alone right silly?" the pegasus said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I'm going to Canterlot with you, I'm involved in this problem as much as you do. Besides, I can't let you go alone, that doesn't seem correct." Fluttershy answered.
The train whistled, signaling it was about to leave the station.

"C'mon hurry! I'll carry your stuff, you get in the train!" I ordered.
She did so, and the train almost left us behind, but we reached it in time.

After two months in Ponyville, I was going to visit my home.

It was ironic, the same place were my life started, would be the place where my life could end.

Heartbeats

"You didn't have to come with me Fluttershy" I affirmed.

"Oh but I wanted to, Flare; I couldn't let you deal alone with this." she said.
As a matter of fact, I was happy she was coming with me, I really liked her company.

The wagons of the train had 8 beds, four on each side (in a bunk bed style), but the other group that entered the train was in another wagon, so we had one wagon all for ourselves.
I left my things on a bed on the back-right side of the car, Fluttershy went to the back too but on the other side.

We talked for the most part of the trip, and after that I read a book I brought with myself, Fluttershy on the other hand started to watch through the window above her bed until she laid her head down for a nap.
I watched her napping for a while, she was so pretty, I was lucky to have the chance to date her.

Night arrived, and I left the book for a while. I looked through the window towards the stars.

Another thing I liked to do was star gazing, though in Canterlot it was hard because there was always light coming from the lamps in the street, which blocked the sight. So sometimes I went to the outskirts of Canterlot to get a good look at the night sky. I had a marefriend that loves the moon, but once we broke up I lost all hope of sharing time with somepony below that beautiful white sphere.

I took my gaze out of the window and looked at Fluttershy; she was still napping, and I couldn't help but smile after looking at her for a while.
When I looked to the night again she spoke:

"You like doing that, don't you?"
I looked at her again, and I noticed she was fully awake.

"Doing what?"

"Look at the night, you like doing that" she answered.

"Oh, yeah; it's something I like to do whenever I have the chance" I explained.
She got down from her bed and walked towards me.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
I patted the opposite side of my bed and she sat there, looking outside just like I did.

We kept silent for a while, my heart racing by the second, waiting for something (anything) to happen.
I looked her, she was still looking through the window, the light of the moon bathing her face. I stared at her for a while.

"Flare, stop looking at me so much" Fluttershy said with an embarrassed smile, looking away.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it" I said quickly, coming back to reality "it's just that you're too beautiful Fluttershy." I couldn't see clearly, but I believed that she blushed.

"You really think so?" she looked at me.

"I don't only think so" I said, she looked away. "You are beautiful."
She looked at me again, and kept staring me for another while. It was like time stopped whenever she looked into my eyes.

I wanted to say something, to say I liked her; but the words wouldn't come out properly, being only a silly mumbling. So I just shut up and looked away from her, trying to control the hard beating in my chest. Why couldn't I say just three words? Was it so hard to say "I like you"?
I closed my eyes forcibly, trying to focus in controlling my heartbeats.
And my neck felt something strange, something cold.

She was nuzzling me, she had such a tender touch I didn't want it to end. I couldn't help but turn my head towards her, and our snouts were at the distance of a hoof.

Maybe it wasn't necessary to say anything, it was pretty obvious anyway; but I still did it:

"Fluttershy, I... like you" I said in a whisper.
I think she already knew that by then, but she still replied in another whisper:

"I like you too, Flare"
When I wanted to realize what I did, I pecked her on the lips; I just reacted at her words, for the first occasion in my time with Fluttershy I didn't really mean to kiss her.
I turned back my face from hers, wondering if I messed up. But she didn't move a single bit.

So I took the chance.

I leaned in again, closed my eyes.

And finally kissed her.

We arrived

This was the second day since everything happened.

I woke up around midday, we were about to get to Canterlot, but I had time to eat something in the eating wagon.

Fluttershy slept next to me, I wrapped us with the bed's blanket during the night; I felt her body enlarge and shrink with every breath.

I got out of the bed quietly to not wake her up, and headed for the eating wagon.
I just had some carrots, I wasn't very hungry, I was still nervous of what happened last night.
That kiss, was the most tender I ever had; I was starting to fall for her.

As I said before, I had several marefriends; but there is another thing, I had fallen in love with some of them, but the feeling wasn't always mutual. There was also another mare I fell in love for but we've never been coltfriends, we just acknowledged we liked each other (in the end she liked me too).
When I heard she had another coltfriend, I entered into a very deep depression; it took me a while to get over that.

I ate half of my meal when Fluttershy entered the wagon, I couldn't suppress the need to give her a smile, which she returned with one of her own. She went to the food bar and came to my table with some soup.

"Morning" I said to her "how did you sleep?"

"Um, fine, how about you?" she asked back.

"Fine too" I simply answered.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Sorry, but you looked so beautiful while sleeping."
I think she got back to her shy self, because we didn't talk for the rest of the trip; we were still a bit nervous about what happened last night, besides we had nothing to talk about.

Canterlot was the same as when I left (well, only two months passed).
We headed for the castle; when the guards on the entrance asked us who we were, I told them that Princess Celestia was expecting us and gave them the parchment Twilight gave me. They let us in and an usher lead us to our rooms.
My room was wide, with a bed on one side and a desk next to a wardrobe on the other; near the bed there was a bedside table with a lamp onto it.
I threw my bags on the bed, laid down for a while and started to think.

What was I supposed to do know? What made this light appear on my rear? Did it have anything to do with Fluttershy or not? And most importantly, will I still be here? I already lost a day with the trip, so there were six days remaining until the week was due.

I heard a knocking on the door, and Fluttershy entered:

"Uh, hi, sorry to bother you" she apologized.

"Don't worry, what's up?" I asked her.

"I was just about ask you that, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, there's somepony I know that I have to say 'hi' to, you don't have to come with me." I told her while leaving the bed.

"Oh, okay" she said a bit sad, while leaving the room.

I left and headed for the barracks.

The place had dozens of ponies in it, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike. Some were talking with each other, and the rest were training with dummies or with sparring partners. It was a place were the sound of metal blows was constant.
There was a white stallion training separated from the other ponies, he was the one being trained under my father's teachings, he was...

"Shining Armor!" I called.
The stallion looked at me, and smiled.

"Flare! Long time no see pal, how's it going?" Shining asked.

"I could be better, but yeah I'm fine; how about you, how was your honeymoon?"

"Oh fantastic, I wouldn't change it for the world."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it" I told him.

"Thanks friend"

As I said, Shining Armor was the pony that my father was training; and now he was the Captain of the Royal Guard, and as such he didn't only have command over the guards, he also had power over the whole army. And he used to recur to my dad whenever he needed advice, help or has to be replaced for some reason (like when he went for his honeymoon).
Since he was trained under my dad's tutelage, we eventually became friends, and from time to time sparring partners, but he always won since we both fought with the "power" style of swordplay (which was my weak point when used as a first resort); I never fought him in my own style.
Many times I had hard feelings for him for taking the role of Captain when my dad had intended to give it to me, but after some minutes they would go away; it is hard work to be Captain of the Royal Guard, and I hated hard work. Besides, I really wasn't into it.

Back to the story, Shining noticed the light on my rear.

"Say, what's that on your flank?" he asked me.

"Oh, well, that's the main reason I came back from Ponyville." I said, and I explained him the whole situation.

"Whoa, pal that's terrible" he said.

"Yeah it kind of is, still I don't think I would get more information from the castle's archives" I concluded.

"I'm not sure about that, maybe you can find something else".

"I am not wasting another day just to know 'something else', I just have to wait for an event similar to a recent one."

"So, you are going to wait until somepony wants to rob you?" he wondered.

"I don't really know Shining, I really don't."

"Do you know when my dad comes?" I changed the subject.

"His job starts in around an hour but he comes earlier" Shining said "you're gonna tell him about this?"

"Well, I can't hide this from him, he is my dad." I said

"Yeah you're right. Well you can wait here if you want or grab a dummy for some practise if you wish." he suggested
I opted for the second, luckily I brought my weapons with me, as I always did when visiting the barracks.

There were two kinds of dummies, the standing ones, and the spinning ones. The former were ideal for hitting accuracy, and were the most used in the barracks; they were a standing stick wrapped in hay.
The latter were designed for speed and reflex, and were barely used; they were a bare stick, with two more coming from it's sides: the stick on the right had a sword tied up, and the left one had a circular shield. Behind the sword there was a similar shield, and vice versa.
The spinning dummies had a mechanism which made them turn when hitting the sword or the shield, if somepony hit the shield it had to block or dodge the sword; and if the sword was parried it had to push the shield back.
If chained right, one could be lead into an infinite loop of hitting, blocking, parrying and dodging; until the pony stepped back out of exhaustion. The real purpose of this dummy, was to test how long could somepony could last in the loop.

I went to the spinning dummies, and grabbed my sword with my mouth, and started practising for half an hour.
From time to time I stepped back to catch some air, and headed back to keep the chain of hits, both with my sword and my front hooves.

The doors of the barracks opened again, and a fully grown colt entered, which I haven't seen or heard anything from this last two months.

Brighter

The colt entered the barracks normally, some recruits stopped their training to greet him. He was walking towards Shining Armor.

"How is everything Shining?" he asked calmly

"Great master, thanks for asking" the unicorn replied.

"You've been training the recruits like I told you?"

"Yes master"

"Good, prepare the troops for the next class"

"Uh sir, we have an extra pony, maybe we can add him to the class" Shining suggested

"Fantastic! The more the merrier! Who is it?"
Shining then lead the colt towards me, I was still training with the dummy; when I heard them approach, I turned and looked at the colt that was with Shining.

"Flare?" asked the colt

"It's been a while... dad" I said smiling.

Steel Calmness was my father, former Captain of the royal guard and the army, and Shining Armor's master. He loved his time in the army, and was renown for his almost flawless army strategies.
When he had the age of Shining, my father helped to defend Canterlot and many other cities from barbaric invasions or other conquerers from the other lands. First as a mere soldier, and ranking up at a quick pace.
My father taught me his strategies when he intended to make me the next Captain, but when Shining appeared my dad taught them to him as well; so Shining and I know about armies as much as each other (well, Shining knows more about me because he deals with armies first hoof, while I only read about them in books that I find in Twilight's library).
I never had the experience to be in the army, but I want to keep it that way; it's no easy task.

"How's your life in Ponyville?" my dad asked me while walking through Canterlot's streets, he cancelled his class to have the day off with me.

"Pretty good actually, I met some new friends, and Plaid likes the place too." I replied

"Did he make new friends?"

"I'm pretty sure he did dad, don't worry" I assured him "after all, we got a welcome party so he must have at least one new friend".

"You had a welcome party?" he asked intrigued.

"Courtesy of a very happy mare named Pinkie Pie. I met her a month after our arrival in Ponyville and she told me that she threw a party for every new pony in her town" I explained.

"Oh so the ponies in Ponyville are friendly then."

"You can be sure of that" I said.
When he asked me about the light in my flank, I explained him; and his reaction was a bit of concern, and sadness: the first because everything can turn out wrong, the second because he saw that I didn't come to Canterlot just to say "hi" to my father. When I apologized for that, he told me not to worry; after all, we could spend some last quality time. And I happily agreed for that.

We kept talking about what happened these last two months; I didn't tell him about Fluttershy though, maybe out of embarrassment because she wasn't my girlfriend yet; I had to officially ask her to be my marefriend for me to talk about her without holds.
I agreed with my dad to meet him the next day, in his house, where I lived my whole life until two months ago. We would continue to talk there.

We parted ways, he headed back home, and I for the castle.

When I arrived to the castle, it was around 6 PM. I knocked Fluttershy's room, and she opened.

"Hey there Shy"

"Oh Flare, um, wanna come in?" she asked stepping aside.
I stepped in, her room was exactly the same as mine.

"Is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know really; I met my father today, and I thought I could deal with this." I explained

"Deal with what?"
I pointed the light coming from me.

"With this, I won't be able to see my dad anymore if this problem ends up badly; I don't wanna die or be sucked into a void and be there until I die starving or by age!" I shouted.
I fell to the floor, curled up but calm. And all of a sudden I started shivering in fear, eyes closely shut.
I stayed like this for a while until Fluttershy spoke:

"Are you... giving up already?" she asked sadly.
I opened my eyes, and stared her.

"I didn't give up, it's just that, what if that event that reveals me my purpose never comes?"

"It will come, I know you have a purpose Flare." she affirmed.

"How do you know that? We only know each other for only two months, you don't know everything from me. How can you be so sure that you know my purpose?"

"I didn't say I knew your purpose, I said..."

"Yeah yeah right save your speech Fluttershy, 'cause it won't work anymore" I exclaimed.

"But Flare..." she stepped back.

"Face it Fluttershy! I won't be here for too long! This moment that has to occur in less whan a week, won't happen! I don't know if something will happen or not, but I do know that in my life doesn't exist such thing as 'purpose'; we have to face it, I won't be here for long."
She didn't say a word.

"If I have to leave this world, at least I can do it in peace if I know you will be safe." I continued.

A hard pain stabbed my flank, I fell on my haunches and looked at the light. It got brighter.

"Flare are you okay?!" Fluttershy ran to my side.

"I'm fine, but I don't like the fact of this light becoming brighter."

"Let's go see Princess Celestia, she should know about that." Fluttershy suggested.
She passed my right foreleg over her shoulders and helped me walk, we hurried as much as we could towards the Princess room.

This wasn't good news.

Less

This was the third day since everything started.

"Your time got shortened up?!" Shining was terrified

I went to the barracks to tell Shining what happened, "hopefully I'd find my dad too" I told myself.

"How long do you have until, well, 'that' happens?" Shining asked again

"Three days at most" I answered.

"What? Didn't you tell me you had a week to resolve this?" the unicorn asked.

"Exactly, but that was when this whole thing started; I lost a day on the train towards here, yesterday was the second day, and with the skipped day they are three." I explained.

"Counting today right?"

"Yes; so I had seven days to fix this, minus the skipped day it makes a total of 6."

"You are in trouble, you know that?" Shining affirmed.

"Tell me something I don't know, Shining."

I went back to the castle, to see the archives, maybe they had written another thing I should be aware of. But after three hours of reading there was nothing else found.
I asked the council if they had some new info, or something they knew that was in the archives; but their knowledge for this subject was very limited.
I was very mad at them because they didn't warn me about the skipping time. I wasted two days doing nothing to solve this, and one was skipped, so I had a very tight situation. Despite my anger they were very patient, they were still trying to find something with Princess Celestia to help me.

I went to my dad's house around 14:30 PM. He was awaiting me like we agreed.
I told him about this new circumsance I was in, he looked worried, but was still calm. He had the theory that if you get too worked up with something, you can't think clearly.

"It's pretty ironic you know." he simply said when I finished.

"Huh? Please tell me you have a GOOD reason to say that." I told him.

"Well, you remember your time in school right? Primary and secondary school?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, you always left your homework for the last moment, rushing to finish it. This is almost the same situation, only with bigger consequences." my dad explained.

"Let me guess, are you joking about my situation here?" I asked him impatiently.

"I'm not joking, I'm only pointing it out."

"Oh great, thanks, I feel a whole lot better now." I mocked

"Calm down Flare, I know you don't like doing jokes about something serious, but take in mind that without an encouraged mentality no solution will be found." my father said.

Happiness, that was the solution for almost everything, seriously. It is a factor in the army, if your soldiers aren't happy, they won't put up a fight.
Just like this, if your mind wasn't clear of all negative thoughts, you won't see the solutions, even if they pass right in front of you.

"What do you want me to do then dad? I can't sit here and do nothing!"

"Of course you can't, but you also can't find the answer by your methods. If this is another cutie mark, you have to wait..."

"...until it reveals itself." I finished the sentence. Now everything made a little more sense now.

"Exactly, fate will create the opportunity for you to realize that; you can't do nothing about it." my dad affirmed
He was right, if this new cutie mark was supposed to reveal me the purpose of my life, it should appear by itself, by fate's doing.

Like every other cutie mark.

I looked at my dad and said:

"I don't know dad, what if fate doesn't create this event in time?"
He looked away.

"Don't think about that Flare, those thoughts will consume you sooner or later." my dad answered.

"You're right dad, sorry".

I left the house and headed for the outskirts of Canterlot.

I sat down in a hill and looked towards the horizon.

Something good about looking at the horizon was that your mind could drift away, and you could keep like this for hours.

I was a bit less worried about the days wasted, because they weren't a total waste, fate hasn't decided to make a move yet. But I was still worried nonetheless.
I went back to the castle, and straight to my room. I left myself collapse on the bed for a nap that I really needed.

Bash

This was the fifth day since everything happened, the fourth I didn't do anything remarkable to add in this story.

Before I left this world for good, I had thought of a few things I wanted to do before.
One of them, was a real battle against Shining Armor; since we always fought with his advantage, I wanted to know who could win if we fought or own ways.

"You're kidding right?"

"I am not kidding Shining" I told him "I want to fight you, but for real this time, not just any sparring match."

"You are insane; if you can't beat me with what your father taught you, you think you'll win with something you haven't properly mastered?" he insisted.

"C'mon pal, don't tell me you are chickening out." I scoffed

"I am not, I am simply rejecting your plead." Shining said

"Please Shining! I only have one more day here, don't let me go without having a proper fight with you."
The unicorn began to think for a while, and finally said.

"Well fine; you'll fight in your style, I'll fight with mine, use as much weapons as you wish, but I don't know if I will let you time for using them." he said with a smile.

"Don't worry about that, we'll see what happens. Tomorrow here at the barracks?"

"Why not today?" suggested Shining.

"Hey that's a great idea, give me some time to grab my equipment from the castle."

With that, I left for the castle and after an hour I got back with a bag full of my weapons, armor and some other gadgets I designed.

I decided to have my light sword, and strapped to my front hooves two retractable blades.
My armor consisted of a metal neck guard and hardened gauntlets, ideal for blocking incoming slashes (they are like shields, only more maneuverable).
Shining on the other hoof, was clad with purple armor with details of gold, with a matching helmet similar to those the guards wear. His only weapon was a longsword, it may be heavy, but Shining lifted it with his magic without a problem.

The battle took place in the center of the barracks, many soldiers watched the fight.
We agreed on a sudden-death bout, so there wouldn't be rematches. The fighter would win if his sword was in contact with the other's coat (making it an automatic win), or if the other fighter declared defeat (somehow).

We took opposite sides in the fighting zone, and then the battle started.

Shining ran towards me, trying to ram me. I blocked the ram but fell to the ground with the impact, Shining then made an impaling motion and I rolled to a side evading his sword.
I walked away from him some paces, and he charged again; hacks and slashes from the right and left were his strong points. I had to block with my gauntlets; when I found an opening, I parried him and punched him in the head a few times, I definitely left him dizzy because the helmet may protect from slashes, but not blunt hits.
He regained his feet balance and attacked again, this time swinging his sword in a circle around him. He was trying to confuse me because he wanted me to block the attacks. Blocking wasn't something I was always good at.
But once his sword was behind him, I tackled him, but he didn't fall; he had his front hooves off of the ground, so I took the chance and made him a sweeping hip throw. He got up slowly, because his armor was too heavy.
I jumped towards him but he kicked me off, with his magic he picked his sword and flung it to me. I unsheated my own and parried the flying object. Shining charged his horn with magic and shot a charge.
I dodged it, but after it came several more, so I ran around the zone avoiding the hits. Then he got pissed and charged one big shot. I just waited still until he fired, then I rolled to a side.
He picked his sword again, and ran in a jousting manner, which I responded with the same.
I sidestepped at the last moment, to avoid the sword, but Shining grabbed me by the head, and slammed me to the ground.

My head felt lighter because of the dizzyness, and Shining said to me:

"You put up a good fight Flare, but not as good as me" while levitating his sword.

"You keep thinking that friend, but I haven't lost yet, nor I will lose this fight" I scoffed.

"Oh yeah? And why, pray tell, is that?"

"You haven't noticed a poking on your neck, have you?" I asked him with a smile.
He looked to a side, where my hoof had the hidden blade completely unfolded, touching his coat.

"No way..."

While putting my stuff on my bag, Shining came to me:

"Hey Flare, I just wanted to congratulate you for winning, you certainly are somepony that puts up a fight."

"Thanks pal, I appreciate it; but let me tell you something, you could have won the fight as much as I did." I replied

"No Flare, I never had a chance against you."

"You are just being humble Shining, stop it; you could have been the one to win, but it turned out the other way around. Don't reduce yourself just because of one lost battle, a Captain would accept it with honour."
Shining laughed.

"You definitely are the son of Steel Calmness. You have the same wisdom as your father."

"Stop the cheesy dialogue Shining, it doesn't fit you." I joked.

I went to the castle, I entered my room and left my bag with weapons next to the wardrobe. Then I decided to make another thing before I left this world.
So I headed to Fluttershy's room, and knocked the door until she opened.

"Hey Fluttershy, I wanted to tell you something."
She kept silent, waiting for me to talk.

"I wanted to invite you on a date tomorrow, all day if you are okay with it."
She thought for a while:

"Tomorrow is your last day here right?" she asked worried.

"Don't think like that Fluttershy, it will only make things worse."
She looked down and sniffed, I couldn't stand seeing her like that.

"C'mon, we can have dinner, I invite."
I expected for the light in my rear to "swallow" me when I was asleep, so Fluttershy wouldn't have to bear to watch me as I left this world.
After too much thinking from her part, she finally said:

"I can't say no to you Flare" she said with a smile.

We agreed to meet each other on the castle's doors at 7 PM, and we left for our rooms.
When I was about to sleep, I noticed a letter on the floor. I picked it up and read it.

Flare, meet me at the hill tomorrow at 9 AM, where your brother and you used to play when you lived here.
Bring your weapons too, we have something unsettled yet.

Dad

"What does he want?"

Bout

This was my last day here.

At 9 AM I went to the hill my father told me, where my brother and I had played long time ago. The sun was only showing one half, leaving the sky with its particular dawn colour.

Noticing the sound of my hooves, my dad looked back at me.

"Hey there Flare, thanks for showing up." he said

"What is it dad? Why did you want to meet me so early? And why did you ask me to bring my weapons?" I asked him while showing him my bag.

"Well, like I said, we have something unsettled. And since this is your last day, well, I wanted to give me a treat for once."

"What are you trying to say?"

"You know I trained you Flare, and also Shining Armor, but yesterday you proved me I was wrong all along for choosing him over you."
I was surprised at that, not because he was saying he was wrong, but because of what he was implying.

"So you watched the fight between me and Shining." I affirmed.

"Yes, and I must say I am very proud of the outcome."

"But that wasn't supposed to be the outcome, Shining wouldn't fall for my tricks, you trained him!"

"And since I trained him, I want to be sure to not lose as he did." he said while unsheathing his longsword with his mouth.
I stared at him a while, was he really wanting to have a fight with me? What was he trying to prove?

Finally, I followed suit, I grabbed my gauntlets, the retractable blades and my sword.

We didn't move for some moments, with our guard up, waiting for the other to make a mistake.
I took three steps forward to my dad, shortening the distance to five hooves; he advanced two more, now we were at three hooves of distance.
Without warning, he made a quick slash at my neck height and I crouched; I hit his chest with my front hooves and made him step back, so I threw myself at him, grabbed him and performed a big outer reap.
In the floor he slashed again, barely missing me, so I stood up and retreated a few paces.

"Looks like those judo classes worked really well for you son" he said.

"Thanks, they work really well with my fighting style."

"Don't forget who taught you."

"I won't, but there are things I know you haven't taught me."

"Oh yeah? Show me." he scoffed.
And so I did, I was holding my sword in my mouth pointing to the right, and I switched it to the left. Dad never taught me swordplay with a reversed grip, assassins developed that. I also stood on my hind hooves, rising my front ones from the ground, leaving them fall at my sides.
I put my hind right leg behind me, making my chest point in diagonal from my position and my father's. And with my front left hoof, I taunted him with a wave.

"C'mon dad, I'm not going to be here forever" I said with a smile

He lunged with the sword, and I parried downwards. So he slashed at my legs, and I jumped while giving him a kick which disarmed him and made him flinch. I grabbed his sword and passed it to him to keep fighting.
Like Shining did, he hacked and slashed, right and left, but I just dodged him. I stood again in all fours and clashed my sword with his. We both were at disadvantage because the other was using their sword on the opposite side, and my dad knew that too, he could see I haven't fully mastered the reversed grip.
While our swords were still fighting for the space in between, I punched my dad with my hoof, and did it again a few more times.
He was dizzy, but was still standing, as I tackled him he hit me in the head with the hilt of the sword. Now I was the dizzy one.
I slashed at him, but didn't hit him, he was too far for my sword to reach him; but his sword was longer, so he slashed upwards and disarmed me of my sword.

I was in trouble.

I fell on my back, and felt like I lost conciousness, not because of the hit, but because I ran out of breath.

My lung capacity is way lower than the average earth pony; I can't keep up a fight for more than a few minutes with my fighting style, so I have to finish quickly, that was why I had the retractable blades, to help me defeat the enemy in a shorter amount of time.
But I didn't want to use them on my dad, that was like cheating. I didn't mean to use them on Shining either, but I had to before he killed somepony.

I saw my dad taking a big leap towards me, slashing his longsword downwards. I rolled aside and in the process hit my dad with my backhoof right in the snout.
I ran to my sword, and just as I picked it my dad had slashed me downwards again, but this time I parried it with my hoof, switched my sword grip to normal and disarmed him again, this time for good.
With my sword poking his chest, I looked at him at the eyes.

"Looks like I finally win" I said.
After a moment of silence, he smiles.

"Well done Flare, I am very proud of you" he replied.

"Why was this battle about again dad?" I asked him while sheathing my sword.

"You already forgot? I said that we had something unsettled, we never had a fight like yours with Shining."

"But what were you trying to prove after this? That I could beat you if I wanted?"

"No, I wanted to prove if my choice in the past was correct." he implied.

"What choice?" I asked him again.

"The right student; I never had to choose Shining over you, Flare." he said sadly and looking away "boy was I wrong."

After another silence, I spoke:

"Dad, you did the right thing; Shining was more used to your teachings than me, he is your perfect student, not me. I can't deal with your swordplay, so you had to teach Shining instead, while I developed my own way of fighting; I could never be Captain even if I were your full-time student."
He didn't speak.

"Choose anypony to train, you'll still be my dad no mather what happens." I assured him.

"Thanks Flare, seriously."
We closed in for a hug.

"I hope everything turns alright, and if not..." he started.

"Don't worry about that now, whatever that has to happen will happen." I said.

"I love you son."

"I love you too dad."

And stayed like that for some time.

Last

When it was 7 PM I met with Fluttershy at the castle's entrance.

"Hey there, you ready?" I called
She nodded, and we parted off.

After a while that we got to the restaurant and that we ordered our food, Fluttershy looked sad. I asked her what's wrong, but she just said she was fine.

"C'mon Fluttershy, there is something bothering you, I can feel it."

"Please Flare I'm fine" she insisted, looking away.

"It's because of the little time I have left?" I guessed.
She looked at me askance, I guessed right.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't worry about that, but I just can't help it Flare; now that I was starting to open my heart to somepony, I'm about to lose him because of a strange situation." she explained.

"But there are plenty of colts out there waiting for somepony like you Fluttershy. You just have to search for them."

"I don't know, you know I'm not very sociable; and I just can't expect for every colt to take the iniciative to talk to me, what if they don't like me?"

"There will be colts who will, and those who won't. Fluttershy I can guarantee you, that you won't be alone your whole life; there will be colts (or mares, who knows) that will make your heart race at the first sight, or after some time of knowing them." I assured her.

"Maybe but, what if I don't want that to happen?" she said "What if the pony I want to spend my life with is no longer in it?" she accidentally hinted.
I looked at her confused, was I really making a big impact on this pony? I mean, sure, I had kissed her before, but sometimes things can take a 180º turn.

"Fluttershy, are you...?"

"Sorry, this is wrong, all wrong" she snapped and left the table. I followed her but a waiter stopped me.

"Yeah I know what you're telling me but I don't have time" I grabbed a pouch full of bits and emptied it's content in his pocket "keep the change." I told him and rushed outside.

I looked around, Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen, so I ran through the streets looking for her. I found her near an alley, on the floor.
I tapped my hoof to the wall to make her know of my presence.

"Fluttershy! What was that back there?" I asked a bit angry.
She looked at me, there were tears coming down from her face.

"Why did you do this? Why did you want to take me out on your last day?!" she yelled back.
I didn't respond.

"Why did you tell me you like me after all this started? Now I have to deal with your departing, but I just can't do it!"
I kept silent for another while, her crying was the only thing I was hearing.

"Listen Fluttershy" I said while sitting next to her "I didn't want any of this to happen, but it happened. I told you I like you because if I didn't say it, I'd have to take it with me forever, so I took the chance to tell you on the train." I explained.

"I told you to search for other ponies for you to forget me, as my time was very limited here on Earth." I kept explaining.
I took a deep breath before resuming "And this dinner with you, it has been selfish on my part, I can see that now; but" I paused "I only wanted to share the last moments of my life with you."
She stopped sobbing, and looked at me.

"You are a pony I really care for Fluttershy, I wouldn't picture my life without you, be it as a friend or something else."
We kept looking at each other for a while.

"Well well lookie here the two lovebirds!" a voice came from the alley.

Fluttershy jumped out and got behind me.

"Who is it? What do you want?" I asked looking at the darkness.

"C'mon my friend, don't tell me you forgot about me? It's been a week since we last met, you can't forget something that easily." the voice implied. It was awfully familiar.

"Fluttershy?" I called the pegasus behind me "isn't he...?"

"...the pony we helped back in Ponyville?" she finished the question.
I heard a few clops coming from the shadows, and a pony showed up.

It was the shadowed pony from before, and this time he was hooded.

"It's been a while friends" he said

"What are you doing here?" I asked him

"Looking to restore some self-esteem you took away from my buddies last week." he replied, and instantly kicked me.
I've been sent flying a few paces out of the alley before falling on my back.

"Hey! What is wrong with you?! We helped you back in Ponyville!" I yelled.

"Oh yes you did help me, but now there is no need of your help now; I finally found my way to solve everything on my life" he said with a smile.

"Please sir..." stepped in Fluttershy from behind him.

"Don't bother trying that on me again sweetie" he said while shoving her towards a wall in the alley, and Fluttershy fell to the ground.

"Fluttershy!" I looked at the unknown pony "Please leave her alone." I pleaded.

"Oh sure, we'll leave her alone" he scoffed "after beating you dead and having some fun with her." he finished with the most disgusting grin I could have seen.

"WHY YOU... " I raised from the ground.

"I would think twice before doing something fella" he said while levitating a knife.

"You are a unicorn" I said

"What gave you the hint?" he mocked.

"Please, you know you don't want to do this."
He looked away a bit, and looked at me again.

"Nah, I actually want to do this. So if you don't want to get hurt you better turn away." he told me.
The other two were approaching the dizzy Fluttershy.

"Please leave her go, she has nothing to do with this."

"You keep thinking that? She is in this as much as you do. You two made me lose the confidence the last time, it won't happen again!" he snapped.

Out of reaction I half-moon kicked him in the face with my right hind leg, making him lose the concentration on the knife and letting it fall. I took advantage of the surprise and with the same leg made a roundhouse kick, again to the face. I pushed him against a wall and kept punching him.
The other two left Fluttershy alone, and now headed towards me to help his partner. I threw the one in my grasp against the other two, making them fall.

The three got up and surrounded me.

"Bad idea boy, bad idea" the unicorn said to me.

"You never know if it was a bad idea, until it shows an outcome." I replied.
He was in front of me, so one of the other two grabbed me from behind, leaving me defenseless.

"Will you now say it was a bad idea?" the one grabbing me said.
And the unicorn started punching me in the stomach, leaving me with less and less air with each hit; until they left me fall.

"Guess this is where you die partner" the unicorn said while levitating the knife from before.
I was doomed, as the knife was drawing nearer the unicorn mocked:

"Once we take care of you, we're gonna have some fun with your friend."

I don't remember what happened the next moment, but I do remember that after that I had him pinned down to the ground punching him ferociously. I had his face raised a little so that with each punch his scruff would hit the floor.
Once he wasn't moving anymore, I made sure he was really unconscious: I turned his face to the ground and slammed it with a force I wasn't aware I had.
I looked at the other two behind me, but they weren't there anymore, I assumed they got scared and ran away. But I noticed something else, they weren't actually afraid of their partner being beaten up to unconsciousness.

The light in my rear has grown brighter, with even more pain than the last time.
I approached Fluttershy limping as soon as I saw the light. I shook her to wake her up, she fainted when she got hit to the wall.
When she regained conciousness and saw the light, she hugged me.

"This is it, right?" she asked.

"Fluttershy I have to tell you something." I said.
She listened.

"It doesn't matter where I am; be it another dimension, or the afterlife, or Celestia knows where. But I will give my life for your well being."
The stabbing pain became stronger. The light has started to surround me.

"I will risk my life for yours, no matter how or where. Whenever this light takes me, I will still ensure your well being."

"How?" She simply asked, crying, her voice was sounded lower.
I grabbed her hooves and made her look at me.

"When it comes to love, nothing is impossible."

Then the light shone even brighter, I was levitated from the ground. I could hear Fluttershy scream, calling me, but she sounded far.

I closed my eyes, expecting the inevitable.

I'll never see her again. But I don't care as long as she is okay. She is somepony to fight for, I'd fight against Death itself to ensure that she is okay. I'll protect her with my life, even in death.

When it comes to love, nothing is impossible.

Absolutely nothing.

Lie

I remember waking up in a bed, not comfortable or uncomfortable either.
I sat on the bed, but I couldn't see anything, my vision was black, until my eyes got used and I realized I was in a room: a hospital room.
I looked at the window of the room, on the right, it was night time. Then I looked at the door on the opposite side, there were some lights turned on.

I tried to get up but I noticed something on my side. I turned on a lamp next to me.
There she was, looking as peaceful as she did on the train to Canterlot.

"Fluttershy."

I stroke her mane a little, and she moved. So I turned off the lamp and with a lock of her hair entangled in my hoof I drifted off to sleep again.

I woke up again, it was daytime now. Fluttershy wasn't there, but I saw a bag in a chair right under the window, maybe she went out to do something.

I just laid down in my bed looking at the ceiling for a while, thinking of what happened this last week; the kiss at the train, the fight with Shining and with my dad, and the unicorn that once we helped, turned against us.
I looked around again and realized that this wasn't the hospital of Canterlot.
Then Fluttershy entered the room.

"Oh Flare thanks Celestia you are awake!" she ran to me for a hug "How are you? Are you okay? Is there something I can do for you?" she rushed her speech.

"Fluttershy I'm OK, don't worry." I assured her laughing a little "where am I anyway?"

"You are in the hospital." she said.

"Well duh, why am I dressed like this if this wasn't a hospital?" I joked showing the green attire I was wearing "I'm asking where this hospital is."

"Oh sorry, this is the Ponyville hospital." she replied.

"Ah so you brought me here from Canterlot?" I asked.
She looked at me weirdly.

"Um, we never left Ponyville Flare." she said.
I made her an intrigued face, then laughed.

"Good one Fluttershy!"

"I wasn't joking."
I stopped laughing and looked at her.

"Please tell me you REALLY are joking."

"Well um, I could, but I'd be lying" she said.
Something wasn't right, I hit my face to see if this wasn't a dream, it hurt.

"Something's not right here" I said while poking my chin "if we didn't go to Canterlot, then what did we do this week?"

"I took care of you, while you slept all week." she answered

"Slept all week?"

"Yes, after the thievery we were victims of, you passed out. And didn't wake up until today."

My eyes were wide open now.

"So I didn't pass out, I was in a coma!" I exclaimed.

"Um, I think so." she replied, a little scared "Besides, the doctors kept track of your reactions while you were asleep."

"In a coma" I corrected.

"Please don't say that" she said while covering her ears "I don't like that word!"

"Okay okay! Wait, kept track of my reactions?"

"Yes, they take note on the reactions and changes of the patients."

"Let me see that."
She gave me a little board at the end of my bed and gave it to me.

Day 1: More colour on the cheeks - Night time
Day 2: Reaction (spine curved upwards) - Night time
Day 3: Reaction (turning head in different periods of time) - Around noon
Day 4: Nothing remarkable.
Day 5: Reaction (body shakes) - Noon
Day 6: Reaction (body shakes) - Morning

Reaction (body shakes) - Night time

Now everything made sense, and at the same time, it didn't.
The kiss, the light becoming brighter, skipping time, my doubt about the cutie mark appearing, and the battle with Shining, dad and that unicorn.

Everything was a dream.

"Does this tell you something Flare?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, it does." I replied, and told her what I dreamed this whole time.
I only skipped the part of our kiss, I didn't want her to think bad of me, or to startle or confuse her. I didn't want to ruin the friendship between us.

But I can't think of her as a friend anymore.

Even if it was a lie, that kiss made me realize how I feel about her.

Change

The next day

Now that I knew that everything was just a dream, it finally made sense. Because I could never defeat Shining Armor, no matter how many weapons I carry with me; the same goes for my dad, he taught me, and even though that he doesn't know my own style of fighting, he wouldn't lose so easily. They didn't get to be Captains for nothing.

It was also more than a coincidence that Fluttershy and I ran into the same pony we tried to help a week ago. It was like he actually followed us from Ponyville (maybe those hooded ponies were the group that came with us in the train). And since it was a dream, it wasn't sure if he really was a unicorn.

The "purpose" cutie mark disease never existed, my subconcious made that up so I could realize my purpose in life myself.
But I couldn't remember it. And I also didn't know if my cutie mark had actually changed.

I started thinking that it will never happen, it was too unreal.

I got discharged from the hospital pretty quickly, with a stay of a week total. Fluttershy helped me get up from the bed, after days of not standing, I had to get used to it again for the next days.

We walked the route to my house, not saying anything. Once we arrived I asked her to come in and she accepted.
Plaid came to open the door for us:

"You finally arrived." he said

"Hey Plaid, what's up?" I asked

"Nothing much, I was doing great until you showed up" he joked.

"I'm grateful to see you too brother."
I entered with Fluttershy's help, and she made me sit on the border of my bed, and she sat next to me.

"Who took care of you?" I asked Plaid

"Well, the librarian came to watch over me sometimes, or she asked me to go there if she couldn't come."

"What... Twilight?" I was surprised

"Oh that was her name" Plaid said. "Does it suprise you?"
Fluttershy then proceeded to explain to him the part of my dream where I asked Twilight to watch over him.

"Nice joke, but that won't work on me y'know?" Plaid mocked

"Why does everypony think I'm joking?" Fluttershy whispered to me. And I just laughed a bit.

"How it was decided that Plaid would be under Twilight's watch?" I asked back

"Well, when Twilight came to visit you, I asked her to. It was the next day after we almost get robbed."

"Where my dream started" I said "looks like I overheard you in my sleep."

"Maybe" she just replied.
We kept silent for a while, and my heart started racing again; like it happened in my sleep of taking the train to Canterlot.

The Plaid broke the silence.

"Hey Flare, did you take a look at your cutie mark?"
Then I remembered, and quickly looked at my flank.

It HAD changed.

Now there was a heart clad in armor below the sword I always had for a cutie mark.

"F-Flare? What is that?" Fluttershy asked scared

"Maybe the cutie mark that symbolizes my purpose." I suggested
I looked at it steadily, trying to figure out what it meant. And I let out a smile, I couldn't believe I haven't thought of that before.

"What does it mean?" Fluttershy asked.
I looked at her, and said it.

When it comes to love, nothing is impossible; family, partners, marefriends. You are able to pull out a strength you weren't aware of.
My dad told me that years ago, and I had more than one opportunity this last week to prove it. Even though only one of the two times I protected Fluttershy was real, they both along with my feelings for her made me realize my purpose in life.

"Protect those that I love."

Prologue - 500 bits

A family consisting of a father and two sons were at the Canterlot train station; the sons were departing from their home, looking for a new life.

"Thanks for coming with us to the station dad" said the older son.

"It was the least I could do" replied the father.

The sons put the cases and bags in an empty compartment inside the train and headed outside to have some last talk with their dad before leaving.

"I hope you find a good life in Ponyville, Plaid are you sure that was a good choice?" the father asked the younger pony.

"Yes dad, I looked for everything that talked about Ponyville: booklets, newspapers. I told you already didn't I?"

"Yeah you did, I'm just a bit uneasy because you are leaving, that's all" replied the father.

"Dad, we will be fine, I promise" assured the older son.

"I know I know..." said the father.
A moment of silence passed by, then the father spoke again:

"I have a parting gift for you guys" he said while grabbing a little chest he had brought with himself.

The brothers looked at its contents, and were surprised at a yellow shine coming from it.

"Five hundred bits; no more, no less" affirmed the father.

"Wow dad, but why are you giving this to us?" the older son asked.

"I thought you may need a little help sometime in your new home, so I thought of giving you this. Use them with care." the father said.

"Thanks dad but, we can't accept it, it's too much" the younger brother said.

"Guys, I have more than plenty of these to take care of myself the rest of my life; being the trainer of the Canterlot army doesn't pay as much as being its Captain, but it's more than necessary. This is nothing guys." the father insisted.

"Well, I guess we can take it. But we will use them just in emergencies." the older brother said.

"I know you will use them well Flare" the father said with a smile.

The train whistled, signaling that it was about to leave the station.

"Well, looks like this is it, dad. Thanks for everything." said the older brother, about to cry.

"Have a good life in Ponyville kids; we will meet again." replied the father hugging his two children.

"Take care dad" the younger son said.

"You too guys" the father answered.

The brothers then hopped in the train and pulled their heads out of the window, to wave goodbye one last time to their dad, just as the train started to leave the station.

"Ponyville, here we come."