Just A Slice

The Throne room remained absent of anypony but her guards while Luna made her plans for the next day. She was intrigued by the handsome pegasus and wanted to see just what he could do. She called in her flightmaster and headservant to the throne room, rudely awakening them from their slumber, but she paid no heed to their annoyed looks badly hidden behind their facade of respect, she was too excited.

"Tiberias, If a pegasus has been proven to have slower acceleration, yet has extraordinarily powerful wings, what does that mean about his aerial performance capabilities?"

He was startled by her unusual question, "Ideally it would indicate to great maximum speed Your Majesty, but some pegasi are born with stronger wings whilst having normal statistics. So it might only show that he just isn't good at acceleration."

Still, she had hope, "I have a new recruit who bears the aforementioned traits and I would like to see what he can do after breakfast in the morning. I want you to prepare trials based on mine and your hypothesis on his skills for tomorrow."

"Yes Your Majesty." he said with a bow before he trotted off to the pegasus training grounds.

"What of me Princess?"

"Ruby, I want you to join me for breakfast in the morning and after I want you to attend to the pegasus in room 306. I want you to spoil her, and pamper her. If you aren't sure what to do, attend to her as if she is the unicorn Rarity, I believe you have had her under your watch several times. But keep in mind, if she asks anything of you, heed her word. If she asks you to stop pampering her, do so and immediately come to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes my lady, you always present me with the hardest challenges." she said with a smile. They laughed together about the picky unicorn for a bit before Ruby trotted off to make preparations.

Tomorrow is going to be so much fun for the both of them, Luna smiled to herself.

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The two pegasi awoke in each others legs and snuggled for a bit longer until disturbed by a servant giving them an invitation to breakfast with the princesses.

They got up and followed him to a large dining hall with the princesses at the head of the table and a motley group of nobles talking about the workings of the kingdom. They all were silenced by the entrance of the couple as they were seated. Luna introduced them to the court and to her sister. "Celestia these are the ponies I was telling you about, Aeroslash and Flashfire. Celestia nodded to them and resumed speaking with a maroon pony to her right. Luna engaged them in conversation as they sat down next to her at the table. Plates of food promptly slip under their noses, making their mouths water.

"Was your room alright? I am afraid we don't have many left, we have a few dignitaries over from various places in Equestria so we are a bit tight on room. Aero answered her, "It was quite nice Your Majesty." before turning to devour his food. He hadn't eaten all week despite Flare telling him to go out and buy some food, he had just stayed with her in the hospital not even accepting the food she offered him from her plate, insisting that she needed it more than he.

"You will have to forgive him Princess, he hasn't eaten all week." Flare informed the startled Luna. Several heads turned to stare at her in shock, including Celestia.

"And why ever not?" the white alicorn asked.

"Oh, he didn't want to go and eat, he just stayed with me at the hospital." Celestia nodded and returned to her conversation. However the rest continued to stare in disbelief. Luna saved them, "What are you staring at? Don't you know that is rude?" They returned to their food and conversation hastily, but still snuck peeks at the oblivious Aeroslash, his snout buried in the food..

Flare thanked Luna and began eating the exquisite meal set before her. When Aero finished with his, he looked around hungrily for more and Luna called for another serving.

Gradually the nobles trickled out of the room after finishing their respective meals until only the couple, the princesses, and a yellow pony beside a green pegasus in uniform.

Celestia excused herself to her duties and Luna called the two unknown ponies closer. "Ruby take Miss Flashfire to her room and attend to her, Tiberias, come with me and Aeroslash. Ruby collected Flare and they left to do girly things, Aeroslash supposed while the pegasus approached him. "Tiberias Leonithicas, I am to be your trainer."

Aeroslash looked at Luna confused, at which Luna responded saying, "I will accept your application to my guard after we see what you can do." Aeroslash nodded and followed her as she left the room with the pegasus behind him.

Luna led them through the palace and outside to a large open field with rings on stands everywhere and several dummies in armour standing and hovering all over the ground and in the air. Aeroslash shifted his wings uncomfortably in their metal encasings. "So you just want to see how well I can fly?" he asked. The pegasus answered, "How well you can maneuver, how fast you can start up, how fast you can go, and how well you can fight, among various other things. Come with me." Aero heeded him and followed him to a rack of weapons while Luna remained where she was and watched. Tiberias pulled out two steel hoof caps with upraised studs. "These are your melee weapons. Since our mouth is unwieldy and we cannot carry many weapons these are for bucking the hell out of stuff." He popped them onto Aero's hooves and ordered him to work on an armoured dummy.

He approached the dummy, not sure what to do. "Well? Hit it!" Startled, he bucked the dummy so hard, the head shot off and rolled under a table in the distance. The trainer's eyebrows shot upwards almost as fast in surprise.

"Well you are strong for a pegasus, lets see what else you can do." He told him to fly as high as he could and use "Those shiny things" on a levitating dummy some distance away.

Aero compelled his wings to push himself up and with some added assistance from his legs, he rocketed for the sky.

"Well he seems pretty fast in acceleration." Luna stated to Tiberias. The flightmaster snorted, "It's how every pegasus learns to fly, we are all good at it that way. He used his legs to start up faster. We will see how fast he can accelerate while starting in the air. I see what you meant by powerful wings, and I find it hard to believe what you say about his poor acceleration."

He looked up to see the pegasus and was astonished yet again. "That is much higher than most ponies are willing to go and he is still going higher." Luna looked up. Aero was so high she could barely make him out to be a dot in the sky.

Still going ever higher, Aeroslash sought out the height that he was at the first time he hit his target. When the thin atmosphere started affecting him, he ceased his ascent on hovered, looking down at the distant ground. An array of puny dots littered the ground, but his pegasus eyes were like the eyes of a hawk, he saw his target and aligned himself directly over it. Taking a deep breath, he did his signature, slow back flip and began the dive.

Tiberias' eyes got wide. Luna couldn't see what he saw so she asked him what was wrong. "He is up too high. There is no way he he will be able to unfurl his wings in time to avoid the ground." Luna didn't know what he meant, "So-"

"So there will be nothing left but a splatter of that green fur on the ground."

He pushed his hooves in front of his nose as he opened his eyes. The air was splitting around him and he heard it start to whistle. With a sudden realization, he knew why he had never been able to duplicate Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom, he always hit his target long before he got enough speed. The realization made him braver, much more courageous ad he pushed harder with his wings, his speed increasing at a faster and faster rate.He could see Tiberias jumping around like a madpony but he was too focused to pay any attention. He gave another strong flap of his wings.

Tiberias started cursing and jumping around about how stupid the pony was and stuff, but Luna had only eyes for the streak of green and gold streaming from his wake as a thunderous shrieking blasted at her ears. She saw him spread his wings, increasing his speed as he rocketed for the ground.

He spread his wings, angling them so that they only increased his speed. Determination was set on his face as we willed himself to go even faster. He would make the rainboom, this he knew it deep in his soul. His wings split the dummy effortlessly but he still didn't cease his course. Then he realized, if he didn't pull up, he would die. He flicked his wings and shot forward horizontally, his hooves barely kissing the ground, He could feel his wings slashing dozens of targets, rings, and steel poles before he flicked the tip of his left and he swerved left. he continued to dodge targets as he couldn't seem to slow down. When he realized he wasn't slowing, he panicked and tilted his wings. He rocketed upwards and pulled his wings to his side. He eventually slowed and began to fall. He opened his wings and flew to where Luna and Tiberias stood motionless.

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Flare stopped the masseuse mid-back and listened. That whistle could mean one thing and one thing only. She shot off the bed and burst out of the room leaving the surprised ponies that were catering to her in her room. She raced through the hallways, the sound getting louder and louder. As she ran onto the grounds, she stopped cold.

In the sky, she saw Aero plummeting to the ground much faster than he normally did in a dive. "He is getting too close!" she screamed and she raced to where he was headed. She saw him start to streak and saw a ray of green and gold erupt in his wake. She just knew he was trying the rainboom again and wasn't going to let up until he left nothing but a crater in the ground.

Tears began streaming from Flare's face as she ran, hooves flying around a corner of a wall and saw him vanish behind a tall hedge and she heard a loud thud as well as the clang of metal. Flashfire stopped in her tracks and collapsed on the ground in tears.

Her love! He was surely dead! There was no way he could have survived a hit like that. He was all she had! She couldn’t lose him now! Why did he have to be so obsessed with making a sonic rainboom? Whywhywhywhy?!

It was all Rainbow Dash’s fault! If she hadn’t of done the sonic rainboom at that stupid show where she did it to save some wonderbolts. She just lay there in the grass crying her eyes out for what seemed an eternity until she got up and ran to her room, throwing everypony out and slamming the door in their surprised faces and collapsed on the bed. There she cried until she fell asleep.

Aeroslash landed with a grunt of disappointment. He was so close! He just didn’t have enough speed to do it. He emerged from his thoughts and walked over to where Tiberias still stood gaping.

The pegasus didn’t say anything only walked over and pulling out one of Aero's wings began examining the blade, still unharmed before returning to Luna grumbling to himself. “Where did you say you got these wingblades? Luna asked. "Flare Made them for me. She is a forge pony, I swear she can make anything.” He said reminiscent. Tiberias interjected with a snort, “They are much lighter and stronger than the ones we make for our guards. I have no idea what they are made from.”

Luna gave a surprising answer, “Some kind of aluminum alloy I should think.”

“I never really knew what she was talking about but she did mention that metal.” Luna nodded, "Welcome to the guard. We do our training and drilling at night so I will see you here at sunset. Before we say goodbye we should ask Flashfire how and with what she made the blades from. Let us go to your room.” Tiberias protested, saying that they were not done with their evaluation. "We will do that later Flightmaster, but for now We will visit Flare to discuss what metal these are made from.

Aeroslash followed Luna into the palace to his room. When he opened the door to his room, he spotted Flare buried into the blankets. He walked over and rubbed her wing. She jerked awake and when she saw him her eyes grew big as grapefruits as she pulled him into a big hug kissing him hard and stroking his mane and crying loudly. Luna slid out of the room to give them some privacy, anger scarring her face.

“W-What’s wrong?” he asked startled as Flare attempted to choke the life out of him.

“You! You scared me half to death! You and that stupid sonic rainboom! I saw you disappear behind a wall and heard a loud thud. I just knew you had died, leaving me all alone!” She continued to cry into his mane. "Don't you dare ever do that to me again! Don't you dare! Promise me!" Aero gripped his distraught marefriend harder, trying to ccalm her down. "I promise Flare. I promise."

Luna summoned Ruby and when the yellow pony arrived, sheepish, Luna lit into her.

“I ordered you to cater to her every need! I told you to keep her happy! Now I want an explanation as to why she is so upset, and I want it NOW!”

“S-s-she ran off when some kind of whistling sound started ringing. When she came back she threw us out of the room and slammed the door. I headed for you as you told me to but a messenger came before I arrived at the training grounds and summoned me back here.”

Hardly satisfied with her answer, Luna sent her off with a huff and reentered the room. Aero was still holding Flare, comforting her as her crying died down. She backed out of the room, still seething from her anger. She would have plenty of time tomorrow to question the apparent forging pegasus, when she had calmed down a bit. As she walked to her room she began to reminisce about the stallion as her vengeful attitude faded. “She is one lucky pony, both in how attractive he is and how much of a great stallion he is. He will make her a wonderful husband. ” she said to no one in particular. When she entered her room she laid down on her bed and thought about Aero until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Aeroslash continued holding Flare until she calmed down. He kissed her and asked if she wanted to walk with him. She immediately accepted. She didn’t want him out of her sight for a long time. Perhaps forever. Aeroslash led her to the training grounds where he caused so much destruction. He told her what happened and showed her that there was no crater. Only then did she notice the studded hoofcaps on his hooves.

“What are these?” she asked him while she examined them, holding them in her hooves.

“These are what I will use in melee combat. Luna accepted me in her personal bodyguard. My close call impressed both of them.”

She nodded a little worried that he would get hurt in battle. He saw the worry spread over her face so he nuzzled her affectionately. “Don’t worry,” He said, consoling her, “The bodyguard are the last ones to fight in battle.”

“Then I’m worried you will get hurt then.”

“Not with these things on.” He said shuffling his wings and in turn, his razor sharp wingblades. She gave a wan smile and they continued their walk about the palace. Eventually they came across Celestia's throne room and saw the sun alicorn with an astonishing line of ponies waiting for a audience with her. Aeroslash remembered how empty Luna's room had been at night, nopony but the bodyguard. Here at day however, the number of ponies far outweighed the number of guards.

They spotted the unicorn that had given them a ride to the city and waved. She waved back as they trotted over to her. "Oh my dears! It's such a pleasure to see you again I didn't know you stayed at the palace. If I had known I would have taken you straight here." She smiled and batted her eyelashes at Aeroslash in an annoying manner. Why girls did that was always a mystery to him.

He gave her a slight smile, "We only got here last night. we ran into some... unfortunate business in the city and Flare was hospitalized. I met Princess Luna and just got accepted into her personal bodyguard about an hour ago.

She looked shocked, "Oh you poor dear. Are you all right?" she asked Flare "I'm fine, just fell and broke my leg." she said not really looking her in the eye. "Oh come now deary I have a friend who is awful at lying and I can tell when a pony lies, Come you can tell me." Aeroslash cut in with an unheard of tone of voice scarily like his father's, "No she won't tell you. Now I suggest you leave her alone." he said with distasteful malice. The prying unicorn was getting on his nerves. Rarity looked at him in astonishment, "Well I must say you have need of an etiquette lesson on how to speak to a lady."

"How about one on how to speak to a snoop?" Flare looked at him with the same amount of surprise as Rarity. She had never heard him snap at somepony so harshly. Aeroslash realized how rude he had been. He was just so annoyed at how she kept on prying. "I apologize. Those circumstances are a rather touchy subject. I didn't mean to snap in such an undignified manner. I ask your forgiveness." He said, not really looking like he meant it.

Flare had never in all the time she had known him seen him speak in such a "Noble" manner even if he didn't look the part. His language was all prim and proper and his words strangely eloquent. Rarity didn't seem to notice as she accepted his apology. "I understand. Everypony has secrets they would rather not everypony know."

He stood up straight and Rarity saw his mane, a deep, deep forest green, almost black, and a bright gold streak. She knew where she had seen that combination of colors in such perfect contrast, almost an hour ago as she was arriving at the palace.

"Did you by any chance attempt a sonic rainboom at the 'hour ago' that you mentioned?" His eyes grew wide, confirming her suspicions. "Because I happen to know the pony who created that particular move." Flare kew what was happening beforehand but she couldn't stop his eagerness. "What?! You know Rainbowdash?!" Several ponies hissed at him to be quiet, glaring at him.

"As a matter of fact I do." She smiled at Flare thinking her victory was at hand. Aero quieted down but was still very excited. "Could you introduce me to her?" Flare gasped and stared at him. She couldn't believe he was more interested in a mare he didn't even know than her. Rarity didn't miss a beat, "Hmmm, I don't know when the next time she might come to Canterlot is, but next time she does, I will come with her and I will look for you."

His glee was obvious, "It's a deal." he shook her hoof vigorously and trotted away humming a happy tune. Flare followed him reluctantly as Rarity winked at her, smiling. She turned her head angrily and ran to catch up to him.

Aero was about to go somewhere when Flare told him to come with her to their room. There was something in her tone that made him comply, though he was so overjoyed that he wanted to go flying. Just to let the wind run through his hair. When they got there Flare shut the doors and turned to him, "Do I mean so little to you?" she asked harshly.

"Huh?" was all he could get out before, "Are you so interested in a mare that you don't even know that you totally forget about me?"

He didn't like where this was going so he responded, shooting down her accusations. "So you are saying that even though I defended you from that obnoxious unicorn, I still don't love you? Is that what you are saying?"

Flare hadn't even thought about it that way. "Then why were you so excited when she mentioned Rainbowdash?
You forgot me when she said you could meet her."

"So I could get her to sign that poster of the competition where she made her debut. Big deal. Look, I love you. Not Rainbowdash. So what she is my favorite celebrity. You are my favorite mare, and that won't change just 'cause I got her autograph."

Flare looked at her hooves shamefully. She didn't know what to say. Aero lifted her muzzle to his and gave her a small kiss. "Now lets forget about Rainbowdash. I have to spend all night training so I need to get some 'rest'." he offered flirtatiously with a wink. "I will have to make that very difficult for you." She responded likewise, taking off his wingblades and setting them on the dresser. He took off his hoofcaps and crawled into bed waiting for her. She slid in under the covers next to him as he pulled her into an intense kiss, full of all the love and desire he had ever felt for her. He drew away barely an inch, catching his breath, "Actually, I don't think I need much sleep right now."

Flare smiled and pulled him back into her.