Racing up the steps, I swept my halberd through the masses of guards that patrolled the Storm King’s castle and attempted to bar my path. Gore splattered against my fur, dying it a rust red. Though exhaustion pulled at me, I pushed through, determined to arrive before it was too late.

I knew what was to happen. I’d seen the signs, the preparations that had been made before the final assault against the Storm King’s forces.

The Storm King would die. It was an inevitability.

But he was alone.

And that was dangerous.

Cadance had dropped from the war weeks ago. She had defected alongside the majority of the nobles to wait out the conflict in comfort, hoping that peace would come if she simply did nothing for as long as possible.

Luna was on the front lines, dealing with the stragglers and ensuring no Storm Guard may rise again to invade once more.

Spike, by request of the Guard Captain, used his new power to burn through the enemies and watch Luna’s back. A trusted ally while her right hoof was preoccupied with the Storm King himself.

But that meant there was no one around to stop what was going to happen.

In the aftermath of Twilight Sparkle’s death, against all odds, I had become his trusted second. I was the one he confided in. I was the one that stood beside him through the horrors of the war. I was the one that was there when he needed someone by his side.

The line had long been crossed between subordinate and captain, and I hated to admit I was glad for it.

Admiration and respect had truly morphed to something beyond that. I knew it was wrong. He was grieving, unstable, and not ready to commit to another after his prior beau had so callously left him. I was greedy, I wanted him for myself and I took advantage of the situation to forge a relationship wrought from grief and desperate need.

Though guilt wracked my brian, I was in the unique position to understand him better than anyone else.

To know what he would do.

Reaching the topmost landing of the stairwell, I stood before the massive doors leading into the throne room of the Storm King. I slammed through them in a full body tackle, undeterred by the iron double doors.

Inside was a circular storm room scattered with the stony remains of a throne or what hadn’t already fallen through the many open windows. Lying dead on the floor was the Storm King, his head severed from his body, a look of shock permanently etched on his face.

Standing over his body was Shining Armour.

“What are you doing, Captain?”

“Now, pay close attention. When carving out major organs, you must ensure that all connecting fibers are properly cut before removal to ensure minimal damage,” Shining dictated as he pointed to several key areas around the open heart with his scalpel, “this is very important for organ transplant donors, otherwise they can’t properly use it.”

Shining was hosting a lecture in the surgical amphitheater located in the Canterlot Main Hospital.

Flash watched bemused from his seat in the stands at the mixed reactions of the doctors-to-be gathered around the cut open corpse of a recent donor. Shining was performing a live demonstration and there truly was the full gambit of expression on display.

Some looked on the verge of being sick, prior knowledge led Flash to presume they would drop out come next semester, while others were excited, either due to academic curiosity or morbid fascination. There were even a few that seemed apathetic, either numb to the experience or simply disconnected as a way to cope with the corpse before them.

Nearly all of them warily eyed Flash and Spike, the prior due to Flash being called down multiple times to snap bones in his teeth, the latter due to his post meal nap from devouring one of the donor’s back legs at the start.

Looking over at Spike, the drake caught Flash’s glance with one slitted eye and thumped his tail on the bleachers, a content smile on his face.

Flash returned the smile then renewed his focus on Shining’s discussion.

“And that is how you avoid getting squirted with copious amounts of blood. Now—” a mauve unicorn raised their hoof “—yes, ugh, Tacit Response, right?”

A nod to the affirmative as Tacit said, “Yes, that is correct, Dr. Armour.”

“I’m not a doctor,” Shining answered.

“Do you not have an honourary doctorate from Canter U for your research?” Tacit asked with a tilt of her head.

“Yes, but it’s honourary and I’ve never considered myself one.”

“Still a soldier to the core?” Another student jokingly said.

“Yes, actually. Can take the colt out of the military, but not the military out of the colt.” Shining grinned at the smattering giggles his response elicited. “Now, what was your question?”

“Firstly, just to clarify, we use major organs for both transplants and biofuel, correct?”

“More for the first purpose then the second, but yes. Organs, once processed, generate an abundance of fuel compared to other parts of the body.”

“And the biofuel is used primarily for powering Equestria?”

“There are other uses, but, yes, that is correct.”

Tacit nodded thoughtfully, “then are there other methods that could achieve the same effect? Or potentially, another branch of necromancy that could produce better results?”

“An excellent question, I’m glad you asked.” Shining smiled as he wiped the gore off his scalpel with a towel. “Elemental magic from Pegasi, particularly weather and storms, can produce similar energy, however it’s too hard to control in the quantities we would need. Earth ponies have another method using thermal, but the effect is too large and impossible to contain. With necromancy, the only other method are producing arcane cores.”

“That’s the method for creating artificial organs and body parts, right Dr. Armour?” a bright green earth pony asked.

“Not Dr. Armour, please,” Shining said with a tight smile, “and yes that is what they are used for.”

“Then why do we use biofuel over arcane cores?” another student asked.

“It’s more efficient in terms of energy usage and a significantly easier spell to cast. Additionally, arcane cores require a lot of magic to get started, whereas biofuel only requires a small amount to break down a corpse into fuel.”

“Can we not use both in tandem?” a light blue pegasus asked.

“No,” Shining answered.

“Why not?” the same pegasus said.

“One of the first rules of necromancy is that necrotic doesn’t mix with necrotic,” Shining said as he settled into his teaching voice, “when two different necrotic energies interact with each other, the weaker energy gets shorted out. As arcane cores are stronger, they would cause any biofuel run object to falter when in close proximity.”

Several students began to take notes while others muttered amongst themselves.

“Now, any other questions?” No hooves were raised. “Wonderful, now then—” Shining grabbed his scalpel with his magic “—we’ll start by—”

A loud bang interrupted Shining’s speech as a guard raced into the room, breathing heavily in his full armour. Spike raised his head with a peeved expression from being awoken and snorted a small burst of flame.

“What is it, private?” Shining said, “we’re in the middle of a lecture.”

“Apologies, Sir,” the guard quickly came to attention and gave a salute. “They found her, and I was told you needed to be informed immediately.”

“Found, who?” Shining asked with a weary sigh.

“Tempest Shadow.” Flash, Spike, and Shining collectively tensed at the mention of the name.

“We’ve captured Twilight Sparkle’s killer.”

“Where is she?” Shining demanded.

Luna regarded him calmly from her position near her personal contingent of guards. They were in the night wing of the castle, down a corridor of guest bedrooms that had been repurposed as interrogation rooms during the war.

Silver filigree lined the stone walls and gorgeous paintings of scenic nightscapes hung squarely along them. Beautiful work that at any other time would have been appreciated by the trio that trotted up to the Princess.

“Just in this room, Shining,” Luna answered. Before Shining could push past her, she grabbed him with her magic and pulled him away from the door. “A moment of your time before you enter.”

Forcing himself to calm down, Shining sat down on his rump. Once settled, Luna waved a wing, and half of her contingent left, while the other half positioned themselves around the hall to prevent the potential escape of the prisoner.

“Now, firstly, I am hoofing her over to you,” Luna started, “you will have as much time as you need. I have no use for her, or anything she knows, however, she is unaware of this and believes that she may be able to bargain her way out of this situation.”

“Why haven’t you corrected her?” Flash asked.

“Her smugness at the thought that she may escape is amusing to me,” Luna answered.

“If she’s useless, then why are you keeping her alive?” Shining seethed.

“For you.” At everyone’s confused expressions, Luna elaborated, “arguably, you, Shining Armour, have suffered the most due to the actions of Tempest Shadow. So, I am giving you the opportunity to attain closure, in whatever capacity that may be.”

“You want me to torture her,” Shining said, a dark edge to his voice.

“Or kill her, or talk to her, or insult her. Quite frankly, I am indifferent. Whatever you may do, I will look the other way within reason, since the only worth she has is what peace of mind you may acquire from her.”

“Not to say we, or I guess Shining, aren’t grateful, but why are you giving this to us?” Spike asked.

“As stated prior, he has suffered the worst, but beyond that, he’s done much for Equestria and, more importantly to me, has been a good friend through these trying times.” Luna smirked. “What point is being friends with royalty if one does not gain some royal favour?”

“Being a companion you can rely on when you need it,” Shining answered.

“Because you seem lonely and could use a friend?” Flash said.

“You’ve helped us plenty of times before, we might as well return the favour,” Spike added.

“And this is why I have granted you this opportunity. Now, I must return to the throne room as Equestria does not stop running just because I’m not there. The guards will keep watch and handle the aftermath when you are done.” Luna began to walk away before she stopped. Looking over her withers, she said, “Just to be clear, if you do not kill her, I will. Her actions make her life forfeit as a key instigator in the war. I only wish for you to do what is good for you rather than what you think is.”

With her last piece said, Luna left, flanked by two guards that marched perfectly in step with her.

Shining strode into the interrogation room, slamming the door open with Spike and Flash scrambling after him. The interior of said room was lavish, but had been stripped of all furniture with exception to a table bolted to the floor, a few cushions, and a hanging chandelier.

Shackled to the table with a pair of manacles was a dark red coated unicorn with a broken horn and scarring along her face. She had multiple open wounds covering her body, presumably from when she was captured, and no evidence of any medical treatment. Most likely because there was no point treating a soon-to-be dead mare.

Flash noted the pulsating magic along the chains that indicated they were mana locks thus rendering Tempest incapable of using magic.

Tempest regarded them coolly, hardly even phased by their entrance. “Hello, gentlecolts, how may I—”

Without letting her finish, Shining grabbed her by the mane with his hoof and slammed her head into the table. As he brought her head back up, he glared into her face.

Tempest answered his expression with a peeved one of her own. Blood seeped from nose as she gritted her teeth. “Is this how the Captain of the Royal Guard acts?!” she shouted.

In lieu of a verbal response, Shining slammed her face into the table again.

“Are you quite done?” Tempest hissed as she was brought back up.

“No, I’m not,” Shining answered with a dark uncurrent to his voice.

“Captain, I think—”

“Don’t interrupt me, Flash.” Shining leveled his steely gaze at Flash who flinched. “I’m busy handling the prisoner.”

“You need to lay off, Shining,” Spike said, his voice soft and reassuring. “Remember what Luna said. Do what’s good for you, not what you think is good for you.”

Turning his irate gaze to his younger brother they stared each other down before he conceded with a weary sigh. Shining released Tempest from his grip and trotted around the table to take a seat cushion directly across from her with Flash and Spike sitting on Shining’s left and right respectively.

Hanging her head as she caught her breath, Tempest wiped the blood awkwardly off her face with a manacled hoof. “I suppose some punishment is in order, however, Captain, if you wish to gain the knowledge I have you’ll have to be a lot nicer.” She sneered the last word in distaste.

Covering up his snort of amusement with a twisted frown, Shining replied, “I suppose I’ll try to be more accommodating.”

“Good.” Tempest smirked. “Now—”

“Where are you from?” Shining interrupted.

Bristling in place, Flash turned towards Shining with a concerned expression. “Captain—”

“The Lands Beyond,” Tempest replied, “now, if we could focus on—”

“Before that,” Shining interrupted again.

“Captain, no. This is not—”

“Before what?” Tempest asked, thoroughly perplexed.

“The pony population of The Lands Beyond prior to the war was near zero, and nowhere within the Lands is a place that could even remotely be considered a settlement. You could have been born there but the odds are so low, that I doubt it. So,” Shining leaned forward, “where are you from?”

“I hardly see the relevance, but,” she scrunched up her muzzle in annoyance as she growled out, “I was born in Ponyville, now… what are those looks?”

Spike and Flash stared at Tempest in open bewilderment while Shining fought to control the laughter that threatened to escape from him. “Ponyville? You’re from Ponyville?” An errant snort managed to get away from him.

“An storm forsaken dump of a town,” Tempest growled, “now, if we’re about done discussing my past, I would prefer to focus on—”

“Any family living there?”

“Captain!” Flash shouted as he stomped a hoof, cracking the floor.

“What is it, Flash?” Shining said.

“Do not,” Flash punctuated the word with a firm glare, “involve unrelated ponies into this.”

“I’m just curious.” Shining grinned sharply. “I’m not going to do anything with the information.”

“No, Shining. That’s too far,” Spike quietly rumbled.

Huffin in annoyance, Shining said, “Fine, then a different question. Why did you side with the Storm King?”

“Is this really necessary to know?” Tempest narrowed her eyes in annoyance. “Wouldn’t you prefer to discuss the remaining active Storm King agents or the secret prison cells?”

“We have found the remainder of those months ago,” Shining said with a nonchalant shrug, “we don’t need outdated information.”

Tempest smirked. “You may think you’ve found everything, but—”

“We already found the underground internment camps in the badlands,” Spike interjected.

“Team Beta or whatever they called themselves have also been forcibly disbanded. Rather easily since they all hung up those flags in plain sight,” Flash said.

“You couldn’t have possibly—” Tempest spluttered, “no! It’s not possible. There still must be—” her eyes darted as she tried to think of something that remained, “they couldn’t all be—”

“Gone?” Shining quirked an eyebrow, a smarmy grin stretched across his face. “Look, Tempest, there isn’t anything you know that we haven’t found out, so if you’re hoping to bargain your way out of this…” he trailed off.

Slumping in her seat with a shell shocked expression on her face, Tempest started to process the information she had been given. As she began to form conclusions, her eyes widened as an important question to her mind.

“Why am I here?” Tempest asked, dread in her voice.

Leaning forward until his muzzle just mere inches from Tempest's face, Shining’s grinned wider than ever before. She tensed as she felt herself pinned in place by the malevolent look in his eyes. Her ears pinned themselves to her head and her eyes widened in fear as the implications began to sink in.

“I’ll keep that information to myself,” Shining said as he abruptly returned to his prior seating position, “now, why did you join the Storm King?”

“I—” Tempest gulped. “I had been playing with some other ponies back in Ponyville when our ball rolled into a nearby cave. I’d gone in alone to get it back, but it had been home to an Ursa Minor. It attacked me, cracked my horn in half. My friends—” she spat, pure venom in her voice, “—abandoned me. Left me alone since I was a cripple,” a bubble of emotion caused her voice to hitch.

Shining narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Okay, so you broke your horn and then joined the Storm King because… why?”

“He promised to restore my horn when he took over Equestria using the power of the two sisters — one at the time. He told me her power could restore my horn despite the Princess herself telling me she couldn’t do it.” Tempest furrowed her brow. “Which now that I say it, doesn’t make much sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. That was stupid of you to believe,” Shining bluntly stated, “so, the bombs you stole—”

“Made,” Tempest interrupted.

“Pardon?”

“I made them.” A prideful grin spread across her face. “My special talent is fireworks and that encompasses bombs. I used the organs harvested from the cockatrice of the Everfree Forest then mixed them up with several other ingredients to create the petrification bombs. Had them magically charged and ready to throw when we landed in Canterlot. We could only build a few, but we only ever needed to take out one of the Princesses.”

“That explains why we can’t counter the effects,” Spike said, “it’s just a random concoction with no recipe, which is what we had deduced, but it’s nice to have the confirmation.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about someone recreating it,” Flash added, “one less concern to have.”

Shining nodded, satisfied. “Good, then we’re done here. Time to go.” He stood up from his seat.

“We’re leaving?” Flash asked incredulously.

“Do what’s good for me, right?” Shining said with a bemused smile. “I needed a few good punches and answers to some niggling questions I had. Now that I have them, I can say I sympathize to a point, but ultimately her motivation was as worthless as I knew it would be. It’s time to move on.”

Perking up immensely, Flash bounced to his hooves and nuzzled the side of Shining’s cheek, his tail wagging excitedly behind him. Rolling his eyes in amusement, Shining returned the affection.

With one final disapproving look, Spike got up and joined the others in their departure.

“Wait, what about me?” Tempest called after them.

“You’ll die,” Shining called back, “you have no use and you’ve done too much.” He snorted. “I’m looking forward to hearing what Luna ends up doing to you later.”

“No, no, you can’t leave me with her!” Tempest cried out. “She’s a monster! She’ll torture me! I’ll give you anything, anything at all! Just don’t give me to her!”

They ignored her as Shining reached for the door knob.

A moment of silence.

“She begged for her life.”

Shining stopped with his hoof wrapped around the door knob.

They turned back to look at Tempest.

She stared back at them, a twisted, desperate smile on her face, a crazed look in her eyes.

“The whole time, she begged me to stop,” Tempest continued, “to let her friends go, but I didn’t. I wanted to make her hurt.”

Shining stared at her, captivated by her words. Flash knew nothing good could come of listening. He tried to nudge him, snap him out of it, but Shining stayed riveted in place.

“I didn’t even hurt her because she could thwart the Storm King or that she was the Element of Magic. I was having a bad day. You destroyed one of my fleets, Captain—” she snarled, “—and your sister was right there. The others had gotten away because of that damned cat, but I still had Twilight.”

She turned to Spike with a wide smile, every tooth gleaming in the light of the midday sun streaming through the back windows of the room.

“Well, I suppose not all of them managed to be saved. Little Spikey Wikey would know that, wouldn’t he? Does it hurt still? The place where I shoved that lance straight through that pegasus’s heart and right into you? I can see the scar. Though, it must hurt more knowing that she died for nothing.”

Clenching his jaw, Spike released an involuntary growl. His eyes became slits as he regarded Tempest with the utmost contempt. Flames spewed from the closed corners of his mouth.

“I had her all to myself.” Tempest cackled. “Poor little Twily. She screamed so much as I cut into her, chopping off every limb one by one. All the blood and tears and begging, so much begging.”

The metal under Shining’s hoof began to bend as his grip tightened. He stood frozen, staring at Tempest with an unreadable expression.

“She was conscious through everything. Right up until I stabbed her through the heart. In her final moments, she had changed her tune. It was all ‘Shiny, Shiny!’,” Tempest said in a mockingly high pitched voice, “always calling out for her ‘big brother best friend forever’ to come save her. Well, where were you BBBF?!”

Shining took a step towards Tempest, releasing the crumpled door knob. Tempest grinned, a menic gleam in her eyes.

A wing blocked his path, as Flash stared pleadingly into Shining’s face and said, “Captain, don’t. She’s baiting you. You were done, we were moving on! I know what you want to do, but it’s not worth it. Just walk away.”

Turning away from Tempest, Shining tried to reply, but his attention was brought back to Tempest as she burst into crazed laughter.

“What a failure of a brother you are Shiny. The big bad Captain of the Royal Guard couldn’t stop one crippled unicorn from killing his sister. She was crying for you! She screamed your name right up until her final moments, but you were nowhere to be found. You’re a worthless, useless—”

Shoving past Flash, Shining lunged for Tempest. He clambered onto the table and grabbed hold of her neck, forcing her backward in her seat, stuck by the chains anchoring her to the bolted table.

Straddling her body, Shining threw his front hooves into her face, one after the other. Blood arced through the air from the impacts as Tempest laughed in tandem to Shining’s guttural rage induced screams.

Two wings grabbed him from behind and dragged him off of her, screaming that he needed to stop. Shining tried to pull out of Flash’s grip, but he was no match for Flash’s superior strength. Against his will, Flash managed to drag him off the table and away from Tempest.

Rising to her original position with her head hanging over the table, she laughed at Shining, continuing to taunt him.

Charging his horn with magenta light, Shining fired off two bolts of arcane fire in Tempest’s direction before Flash managed to grab Shining’s horn with his wing, stopping the flow of magic.

Tempest screamed in agony as the blasts hit her face and neck, burning off the fur and causing the smooth flesh to boil and rupture.

“Let me go, Flash! I’ll kill her! I need to kill her!” Shining screamed.

“You worthless failure!” Tempest shouted, “you couldn’t kill me when it mattered most and now you can’t even do it when you have the perfect opportunity! Come back here, you coward! KILL ME!”

Devolving into animalistic grunts, Shining renewed his efforts to escape from Flash’s grasp.

Bursting through the door, Flash dragged Shining out of the door. The guards on either side ignored their struggles, staying completely motionless as their training required.

Spike followed hesitantly behind him, worry etched onto his face.

After a few more moments of struggling, Shining slumped into Flash, tears flowing down his face as he released blubbering sobs.

Flash pulled him tighter to his chest in a futile attempt to comfort him.

“Is there a private room nearby?” Flash asked one of the guards.

“Down the hall, take a right then third door on your left,” the guard answered as he pointed down the noted corridor.

Giving the guard a firm nod, Flash gently lifted Shining onto his back who grabbed onto Flash’s neck. “Are you coming with us?” Flash asked Spike.

“I’ll catch up with you later. I need to let Luna know we’re done, and…” Spike’s face tightened as he looked at nhis brother with concern, “... you’re better at helping Shining through… this.”

“Alright, you can come join us later, or we’ll meet back at the house.” Flash looked at Shining morosely, his ears pinned to his head as another round of sobs began. “I’ll… do what I can.”

“Thanks, Flash,” Spike said.

Feeling less than useful, Flash began his trek down the hallway, Shining’s crying following in his wake.

Tempest pressed her face against the table, the relative coolness soothing her burns. She flicked an ear as she heard the door open and close followed by several heavy thumps and the telltale clack of sharp claws on wood.

“So, the drake returns,” Tempest greeted as she stared up at the menacing dragon with casual indifference, “are you here to finish the job?”

“Of a sort,” Spike said as he regarded Tempest with the kind of contempt reserved for the foulest of things.

“Then finish me off,” Tempest hissed through clenched teeth.

“Patience, Tempest. I want to talk first.”

“Ugh, just kill me already,” Tempest scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

“Funny. That’s the same sentiment a dragon I talked to recently had.” Spike tapped a claw against his chin. “I’m starting to worry I’ve become abhorrent to speak with. Maybe I should attend one of those conversation workshops that are so popular right now.”

“Just get on with it.”

“Sheesh, grumpy much? Anyways, I was thinking of the stuff Garble told me — the dragon I mentioned earlier. Fun to talk to when he isn’t trying to rip your throat out — and about something you said earlier.”

“How worthless your pegasus friend’s sacrifice was?”

“That, plus all the things you said about Twilight, and, frankly, there isn’t a roided out pegasus to hold me back nor do I have any amount of trauma that would be worsened by outright killing you.”

“Then get on with it!” Tempest shouted.

Grinning with his wide maw of razor sharp teeth, Spike loomed over Tempest, a predatory glint in his eye. Once more, Tempest found herself coming to conclusions she didn’t want to.

“Again, there is no rush. I’ll kill you, but—” he held up a single claw “—I had a talk with Luna and she wouldn’t let me do it in place of Shining Armour unless I could make it interesting.”

Cold dread settled within Tempest. “What are you getting at?”

“Getting there, but first a tangent. Did you know dragon fire is nothing like normal fire? Or even arcane for that matter. See, you can control aspects of it, and, if you happen to be magically connected to a rather powerful unicorn, you can do some really neat stuff.”

That feeling of dread grew stronger as Tempest began to dislike the train of thought Spike was following.

“So, I proposed mixing my dragon fire with some necrotic, which would make it last longer, way longer, and could have the heat turned down. Not too hot, but definitely still hot enough that it will hurt.” Bright magenta flames began to spew from his mouth through the gaps in his teeth. “Fun fact, this room happens to be soundproof, so no one will hear anything no matter how loud you are.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Tempest asked as she tried to futilely wriggle out of her restraints.

Spike leaned forward, leveling his head to be just above Tempest. His grin nealy split his face as he gave Tempest a look of pure malice.

“You’ll figure it out after hour two,” Spike replied.

Gathering the flame in the back of his throat, Spike opened his maw and spewed a raging storm of fire.

Tempest screamed.

Tick. Tock.

That was all Flash heard as he waited. The ticking of the clock in the corner.

The clock in question was clearly an antique. A tall weathered, wooden piece ornately carved with the typical motives of leaves and general fanciness.

He had been sitting there quietly for any number of minutes, letting Shining gather his bearings after he had gotten off of Flash’s back and told him to stay by the door. Shining had made no sound once they had entered the room nor even tried to look at Flash. He was clearly not in a good place, and there wasn’t much Flash could do until Shining was ready to talk.

So, Flash waited.

In tandem with the sound of the ticking clock.

Tick. Tock.

It felt morbid, in a way. The ticking. As it was counting down to the end of something.

Something important.

“Why?”

Perking his ears to better hear Shining’s hoarse voice, made raw by the amount of recent screaming and sobbing, Flash stared at Shining’s strong back. He’d always thought it was big, stable, never moving.

But now it appeared small. Fragile. Like it could break at any moment.

It made Flash want to put off the conversation as long as possible.

“Why, what?” Flash asked.

A heavy inhale of air followed by an equally strong exhale.

“Why did you stop me?” Shining said.

“Why did I stop what?”

“Flash,” Shining hissed out.

Tick. Tock.

“You were leaving. You’d gotten closure. You were moving on, but you went back.”

“She deserved to die, Flash.”

“I’m not arguing that, I’m arguing that you didn’t have to do it yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you shouldn’t have listened to her. It’s only made things worse.”

Tick. Tock.

Finally turning his head to face Flash, Shining regarded him with his bloodshot eyes and a cold expression. “So, you stopped me because killing her would have made me feel worse?”

“Yes,” Flash answered.

“That doesn’t make any sense. She needed to die,” Shining stressed.

“She already was.” Flash cut through the air with his wings. “Luna had already told us that she was going to die no matter what. The point of that meeting was to give you closure over Twilight’s death. You were doing so well! We were leaving, you were moving on. But then—”

“Stupid Shining Armour had to go and get triggered again,” Shining spat.

“No!” Flash stomped a hoof, standing rigidly straight with a determined look on his face. “It is not stupid to be set off by that. Your feelings are valid, Captain. I just—”

“Need me to be the calm and collected one all the time, huh?” Shining snarled. “Gotta make sure the Captain doesn’t go and kill himself.”

Tick. Tock.

“I’m not foalsitting you,” Flash said with the kind of resignation that bespoke of an argument already had.

“You have a shitty way of showing that you aren’t. Speaking of, why Captain? You never call me Shining, or Armour, or anything else.”

“It’s… personal.”

“Really?” Shining narrowed his eyes. “Do you even love me?”

“Yes,” Flash answered with no hesitation.

“Then why won’t you use my name?”

“Because I love you,” Flash said, desperation creeping into his voice as his ears pinned to his head.

“Then why won’t you use my name?!” Shining shouted.

“You already said that.”

“Because you still haven’t given me a good enough answer!” Magic burst from Shining’s horn causing nearby furniture to slide across the floors, several presumably expensive decorations smashing on the floor.

Tick. Tock.

“Do you think I’m like your master or something? That I control you?”

Flash shook his head. “No, Captain—”

“Stop calling me Captain!” Shining growled, “you’re supposed to be my coltfriend and you act like your my subordinate or slave, I—” his eyes widened as relaziation dawned on him, “but you are… because of me.”

Knowing the direction the conversation was heading, Flash tried to interject, “no, this isn’t about that. It’s completely different.”

“You’re just trying to dodge around the truth!” Shining accused as a fresh bout of tears flowed down his face, “that you’re only with me because I’m a threat to you.”

“No, I’m not. Please—”

“I would never use that against you!”

“That’s not it, just stop so I can—”

“How could you even think I would do that to you?!”

“I don’t! If you would just listen—”

“No! I won’t! I can’t!” Shining threw his hooves over his head squeezing his eyes shut, his emotions spiraling further out of his control. “You’re supposed to be on my side. Thick and thin! I can’t know that you think I’m a monster too. I can’t—”

“It’s not about my heart!” Flash shouted as he flapped his wings with one powerful thrust.

Tick. Tock. Crack.

Shining removed his hooves from his head. The room had been completely wrecked. The furniture had been pressed up against the walls, their contents, if they had any, broken across the room. The clock lay shattered on the floor, broken.

Flash stood with his hooves wide apart, panting from exertion.

“I have never once thought that you would use the artificial heart you made for me to control my actions. You gave it to me so I wouldn’t die, and I’m glad to be alive.” Tears sprung to Flash’s eyes. “I’m glad to be with you.”

“Then why do you call me Captain?”

“I want you to take me on a date.”

“You—” Shining blinked. “We’ve been on plenty of dates.”

“Sex isn’t a date, and neither is ogres and oubliettes with your brother. We haven’t gone on an actual date… Captain. And I know it’s because—” Flash sniffled. “—we started our relationship… wrong.”

“We…” Shining tried to protest before hanging his head, “we did.”

“So, I call you Captain to… draw a line. For myself.” Flash shrink in on himself, bunching up with his wings hitched above his head. “I only want to call you by your name when I feel like we’re… okay. Like we aren’t just holding onto each other because of trauma, but just because…” he trailed off.

They both stared down at the floor. Unsure of what to say. The silence expanded and grew until it encompassed the entire room. Any words either stallion tried to say got stuck in their throats.

In the quiet, against all odds, the broken clock worked just once more.

Tick. Tock.

Before it permanently stopped.

Author's Note