“What are you doing, Captain?”

Shining Armour stood on the blood soaked stones staring back at Flash in shock with the beginnings of tears in the corners of his eyes. He was surrounded by the scattered remains of what was once a throne arranged around him in a rough circle, the headless body of the Storm King laid dead nearby.

Levitating within his magical grip was a long metal sword, the tip pointed directly towards his heart.

“I-I—” Shining stuttered, “what are you doing here?”

“Coming to see you,” I answered.

“Why?” I looked at the sword in Shining’s grip then back to him. “R-right.”

I took a hesitant step towards him trying to keep my eyes focused on both the shaking sword and Shining himself. As he tensed at the movement, I retracted my move.

“What are you doing, Captain?” I asked again.

“You already asked that,” he replied shakily.

“And you haven’t answered.”

He darted his gaze away from me, unable to meet my eyes. “I killed the Storm King,” he said, a tremble to his voice.

Sparing a glance to the severed head nearby, I said, “I noticed that.”

Biting his trembling lower lip, he continued, “with the Storm King dead the war will end. I gave all my research notes to Luna. Spike will be fine as he’s with her and she knows what to do in an emergency. I—”

“You’re prepared to die.”

“Yes,” Shining said quietly.

“One way or another.”

“I’m not needed anymore.”

“You are,” I immediately replied.

“How?”

Silence hung between us at the statement, devouring the implications and leaving no room for words. Panic gripped my mind as I struggled to come up with the right answer. A sentence that would make everything better. But nothing would come.

My partner was about to kill himself and I couldn’t think of a single word to stop it.

He smiled as tears finally fell. He leveled his sword, securing the grip and removing the tremor in the blade. “Goodbye, Flash,” he said as the sword thrust forward.

“No!” I cried.

I was too far away. I’d never be able to gallop fast enough, fly fast enough. I flapped my wings as hard as I could, calling on the winds that were my birthright as a pegasus.

Gales careened forward, breaking Shining’s grip. The sword clattered against the stones.

Shining looked at me with a mixture of tears and fury as he shouted, “Why are you stopping me?!”

“Because you’re still needed!” I cried back as I stomped a hoof on the tiled floors, my eyes feeling watery.

“How? How am I still needed? The war is over, everything after can be handled by Luna. No one needs the monstrous Captain of the Royal Guard! It’s better for everyone if I just—”

“I need you!” I shouted as I felt hot tears roll down my face.

Another silence filled the space between us. Shining looked at me in shock, seemingly confounded by the idea that I would want to be with him.

That all those months together were just playing.

That I hadn’t meant anything when I had said I loved him.

That he wasn’t the most important thing to me.

“I need you,” I repeated weakly, my voice dropping off as emotion choked up my throat.

He reached a hoof towards me before his eyes widened in shock, his horn already beginning to charge up some type of spell.

“Flash, behind you!” he shouted.

Swinging my halberd around to a ready position, I rotated on my hoof to face whatever I had been warned about. I did so just in time for the Storm Guard that had snuck up behind me to puncture me through the chest with his lance, piercing through both armour and flesh.

It was agony. I knew as soon as the spear left my body with a wet schluck that it had gone through my heart.

Blood spattered on the floor as I struggled to stay standing. I could feel my frantic heartbeat in my ears, the organ desperately trying to stop the inevitable encroachment of death.

The Storm Guard dropped backwards, a hole burnt through more than half its body from a blast of arcane fire that Shining had presumably shot.

Burnt flesh filled my nostrils as I was grabbed roughly by a pair of white hooves. Shining’s face came into my field of vision. His expression was overtaken by a horrible mixture of fear and panic. Tears marred his fur as they ran down his face leaving dark tracts under his eyes.

“Flash, Flash!” he cried as he held my face level with his. My rump dropped to the floor as my strength began to fail me. “You have to stay with me.”

“It went through my heart, Captain,” I replied. I smiled, a measure of comfort washing over me at the blessed chance I had to die in my lover’s embrace. “I won’t be here for much longer.”

“No, no, no, no!” He repeated as sobs wracked his voice.

Another dollop of blood dripped from the hole in my chest. Internally, I reprimanded myself for wearing such shoddy armour. If it was capable of being broken through by a single spear thrust then it wasn’t good armour.

But it had been the armour Shining had given to me on my first day and sentimentality had made it difficult to let it go.

“I feel so lucky that you’re here in my final moments, so glad that I got to be yours,” I said as my vision began to darken.

“No, stop. We just need to get you to a medic. I-I—” Shining shaked, his composure quickly dissolving “—you just need to hold on!”

“I love you.”

Defeat overtook Shining. His face crumpled as pure agony came out of his throat, incoherent sounds of grief.

As I felt the end near, all of a sudden, Shining’s eyes began to glow in magenta light. His horn alighted with magic forming an arcane skull entwined within a wreath of flowers.

I felt my body probed by something. An unknown entity that enveloped me before focusing around my heart. It was warm, like Shining.

A question formed in my mind from the entity. It asked if I wanted to live.

Of course, I wanted to live. It was a foalish question.

I felt my heart begin to change. A heartbeat formed under shattered tissue that pumped through my body granting me precious life. As the organ began to dissolve and the new began to grow, it pulsated in time to the waves of Shining’s magic as the skull bore into me, its empty sockets staring at me.

A price. My life would cost me.

Dedication. Devotion. Loyalty.

To Shining.

If I agreed, he would never know of this bargain. A secret between the entity called forth by Shining’s magic and I.

If I could have managed it, I would have laughed at what a ridiculous exchange this was. It was a redundant bargain. I had already spent months of my life dedicated to the stallion I would give anything for.

What was the point in refusing to grant him what I was already willing to give?

As Shining’s magic reconstructed my heart, as unconsciousness began to overtake me, as the world faded away to focus solely on the beating of my new organ to the tune of Shining’s, I thought only of one thing.

Now and forever, I would always be his.

Flash sat across from Shining, staring into his bowl of oats at their dining room table. Their short dining room table. A fact Flash needed to remind himself as it had never felt as long as it did then.

They were back in their shared apartment, a brick high loft with tall ceilings and rafters from which Spike would lay about and hide possessions he didn’t want his nosy older brother looking at. Or for when Flash was hiding from his significant other every time he messed up his assigned house chores. Again.

The walls and floors were all made of wood paneling with shelves of various momentos and nerd paraphernalia hammered into them. Any shelves with fantasy and tabletop items were Shining’s, anything with horror or weird cursed items were Flash’s. Anything that was some horrific amalgamation of both were Spike’s.

One corner of the room had a hammock strung up with a guitar resting inside and sheet music scattered about the base.

He noted the four rooms shot off the main living area. The master bedroom for a very large Spike since he couldn’t sleep comfortably anywhere else, a second bedroom for him and Shining, a bathroom that was the site of many a morning battle, and a fourth room up a long staircase that was for Shining’s private research.

All of these observations were in an effort to ignore the growing dread that had formed within Flash since the night before.

It had grown when they hadn’t spoken after their fight.

It had grown when Flash had been relegated to the living room instead of their shared bedroom.

It had grown that morning when Shining had still not said a word to him.

Spike, the coward, had taken note of this earlier and decided he would make a fly-in trip to Ponyville to check in on the animals at Fluttershy’s cottage thus leaving Flash alone to deal with the uncomfortable silence.

If he were more honest with himself, he would admit that the quiet was mostly self inflicted. He could break it by simply saying something. A morning greeting or just some small affirmation of how much he loved Shining would break the curse laid between them. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Because if he did, that would mean Shining could speak too.

And Flash wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what Shining had to say.

So, he stared at the oats he didn’t want to eat and contemplated the futility of his current predicament as it was now the only option left to him.

The sound of a spoon clattering against a bowl caused Flash to look up.

Shining’s gaze was downcast, his brow furrowed. He was biting his lip in indecision seeming to weigh over an important decision. “Are you busy today?” he finally asked.

“N-no,” Flash forced out, the words feeling heavy after the long bout of silence, “I have this week off. Same as you.”

Because it was all Luna could do when she saw the state they had been in after their interrogation of Tempest Shadow.

“Right, I’d just thought…” he trailed off, “do you want to go out this afternoon?”

Perking his ears up expectantly, Flash said, “yes, do you have somewhere in mind?”

“There’s a fair in town. Just a small one off the square with a few rides and games. I thought we could go together.”

“Do you mean just to go, or as a date?” Flash asked, a hopeful note to his voice.

“As a date,” Shining said, his face flushed.

A smile spread across Flash’s face. “I’d love to!”

The rest of the morning had passed by quickly with Flash happily strumming away at his guitar and Shining reading through a book on some new tabletop system he was obsessing over.

When the time came, both threw on jackets to cover the extensive number of scars on their bodies — they made ponies uncomfortable. Whether because they were reminders of the war or just because it was them, neither stallion could ever tell — and made their way into Sunlit Square to attend the fair.

It was a low brow affair. A few simple rides, some food carts selling food with enough grease to stall a heart instantly, and stall games that were little more than flashy grifts. Many would consider this to be a waste of time, too foalish for anyone that weren’t or had foals.

But it was Flash’s first real date with Shining, so it was the best place to be.

“Oh, oh! We should do— no, we should — wait, that actually looks so cool!” Flash said as he excitedly swiveled his head and spun in a circle. His wings fluttered at his side as his tail swished in time to his twitching ears. “Darnnit, I can’t decide. Captain, what do you want to do first?”

Forcing down the frown that threatened to overtake him at the use of Captain, Shining said, “Well, I could go for some lunch.”

“That’s a great idea!” Flash shouted with all the enthusiasm and exuberance of a foal a tenth his age. “We should do donuts. No, wait, veggie dogs. Wait, no—!”

Snorting in amusement, Shining said, “Maybe think it over before suggesting something?”

“But there are so many options and they all taste amazing!” Flash snorted excitedly, his eyes sparkling in the midday sun. “Besides, you never let me eat fried food.”

“Because if I did, you would be so big we'd have to roll you everywhere we go.” Both stallions giggle snorted at the mental image. “So, choose what you really want.”

Furrowing his brow in intense concentration, Flash ran through his options and finally settled on his choice. “Mozzarella sticks!” he exclaimed.

“Sure,” Shining conceded, his voice speaking with the resignation of knowing the horrors to be unleashed.

After a short exchange with a nearby vendor and a wait in which Flash wouldn’t stop bouncing on his hooves in excitement, they procured their deep fried cheese and settled in at a nearby picnic table.

As soon as they had sat down, Flash had dined into the food with fervent glee, managing to douse his face in a mixture of cheese and marinara sauce.

“Maybe try to get some of that in your mouth, Flash?” Shining mused as he popped a dipped mozza stick into his mouth with a hoof.

Using his tongue, Flash slurped up the remains around his mouth before regalling Shining with a dazzling smile. “There, all gone,” he said.

“Seriously?” Shining scrunched up his face in mild disgust. “You couldn’t wipe it off with a napkin or something?”

“Oh, please, that’s hardly the worst thing I’ve had on my mouth.”

“Yeah, but I kiss that mouth,” Shining retorted, “I’d prefer something clean.”

“Like that’s ever stopped you before,” Flash replied with a sleazy grin.

“Stop right there. I don’t like what you’re implying and there are foals around.” Shining eyed the empty basket of food. “You done?”

“Yep!” Flash grabbed the basket with his hooves and dumped the whole thing in a nearby garbage can. “Let’s go play some games.” He shot up from his seat, his tail wagging rapidly behind him.

“Aren’t all of those stalls basically scams?” Shining said as he followed Flash’s lead.

“Well, yeah, but they’re fun scams,” Flash answered, “and sometimes you win!”

“You mean almost never,” Shining replied dryly.

“That’s still sometimes!” Flash called back as he raced towards the game stalls.

A bemused Shining followed after his prancing colt friend. He soon caught up to Flash at a balloon dart game, his face pressed up against a display case prominently displaying a tiny white plush unicorn.

He tapped a hoof excitedly against the glass to the annoyance of the vendor as he turned to look at Shining with big eyes filled with foalish glee. “Look, look, look! It’s you!”

It did in fact look like Shining with its white plush fur and blue string mane. “It does. I’m guessing you want it?”

“Yep!” Flash nodded his head enthusiastically.

Rolling his eyes at Flash’s antics, Shining dropped a few bits onto the counter from his saddlebag and said to the game operator, “this good for a few rounds?”

“Sure is,” the unicorn replied, a smarmy grin on her face.

Using her magic, the mare slid over ten darts on the rough wooden counter of the stall.

The game was simple enough. Throw darts at the balloons pinned to the backboard from behind the counter. If enough balloons were popped, the thrower got a prize.

Taking a dart in his wing, Flash scrunched up his face as he aimed, his tongue sticking out and eyes narrowed at a balloon situated in the third row.

He pulled back, then thrust forward quickly, releasing the dart.

It soared through the air striking the exact center of the balloon he had aimed for. Instead of the expected pop, the dart instead plinked uselessly against the rubbery material and plopped onto the wooden trough lying underneath.

Frowning, Flash took the next dart and threw it. Another perfect throw, but still no popped balloon. He threw each one, one after the other, each dart plinking uselessly against the balloons before falling to the trough underneath. By the last one, Flash’s ears were pinned to his head and he looked miserable.

Reaching for another dart, Flash hung his head morosely as he realized he was out of throws. “Guess, I’m out,” he said dejectedly.

“Nice try, stud,” the operator said.

“You okay?” Shining asked.

“No,” Flash grumped, “I wanted a lil’ Captain to snuggle with when the bigger version wasn’t around.”

The sentiment brought a warm grin to Shining’s face. “Guess I’ll just have to be around more for you to snuggle.”

“Yeah…” Flash trailed off before he slammed his hooves to the counter, snapping his head to a surprised Shining, “hey! You could win it for me!”

Shining’s expression flattened. “Really, Flash?”

“Aw, come on, please?” Flash begged.

“What exactly makes you think I’ll do any better?”

“Colt friend magic.”

“What?”

“It’s the magic of colt friend’s getting their colt friend’s stuff they want!” Flash announced as if it was the most obvious thing in Equestria. “It’s a thing!”

“Flash, you definitely made that up.”

“B-but, Shiny!” Flash whined.

Both stallions froze, Shining staring at Flash with an unreadable expression, Flash flushed a bright cherry red.

“Uh, I mean, um… Captain?” Flash mumbled.

Shining snorted, filled with determination. He trotted up to the game stall and slammed down a pile of bits with his magic. The operator gathered the coin with a dark gleam in their eyes and placed an equally large pile of darts on the counter.

His horn emitted a bright magenta glow as he levitated the entire stack in his magic. As the intensity brightened, both Flash and the game operator stepped back, looks of matching concern on their faces.

In a burst of magic, the darts zoomed forward and punctured through the entire wall of balloons along with the backboard. Splinters exploded from the impact littering the trough and stall.

The game operator, who had understandably ducked for safety, popped their head back out from behind the counter. They looked in wide eyed panic at the remains of their backboard the back to Shining.

“We, uh, have a winner!” the mare called out. “Pick any prize you want and… please don’t do that again.”

With a stoic expression, Shining plonked his hoof against the display case containing the miniature plush version of himself and snorted, while Flash excitedly galloped in place.

“Sure thing, and you did score enough points to take another prize… or as many as you want.”

Scanning the prizes in the stall, Shining spied an orange pegasus hiding out behind a line of earth ponies. “I want the orange pegasus too,” Shining demanded.

Hoping this would placate the unicorn who had destroyed his stall with both blunted darts and a reinforcement enchantment, the operator passed over the noted plushies.

Flash tried to grab the unicorn plush as it passed from the operator to Shining, but it was quickly yoinked away. Flash looked at Shining in confusion.

“You have to ask for it,” Shining said.

“Can I please have lil’ Captain, Captain?” Flash asked.

In answer, Shining narrowed his eyes.

Tapping his hooves together nervously, his face flushed, Flash said, “can I have lil’ Captain, please…” his blush intensified, “...Shining?”

Satisfied, Shining hooved over the plush to Flash who quickly wrapped up the prize close to himself with a wing. Taking the opportunity, Shining slid under his other wing and nuzzled in close, wither to wither.

Together, they walked in step to enjoy the rest of the fair, both stallions sporting massive grins on their faces.

Shining flopped onto his and Flash’s king sized bed. He laid on his side and enjoyed the cool breeze blown by the rotating fan overhead that spun in lazy circles. Flash followed shortly after him, tucking himself between Shining’s forelegs and snuggling into Shining’s chest fluff until his head lay nestled over his heart.

He hummed in contentment as he heard the steady thumping of Shining’s chest. A soothing rhythm that caused him to begin to lull into sleep after their perfect first date.

“So, we’re actually keeping these in our bedroom?”

Flash opened his eyes and strained his neck to look over Shining’s withers. On the bedside table were the two plushies placed close together. Both were situated in such a way to appear as if they were kissing.

“Absolutely,” Flash answered as he returned to his previous position.

He felt rather than saw the disapproving frown on Shining’s face. “Spike will never let us hear the end of it if he sees it.”

“Then we can counter by bringing up his sexual tastes. I’m sure he’ll drop it real fast when we start discussing his stash of horn weekly and wing monthly magazines that he hides in the rafters.”

A snort followed. “He really has to remember that I’m not his only older brother at this point.”

“Hmhm, very foalish of him to assume I wouldn’t want to snoop for embarrassing stuff too. That’ll teach him to leave his smut within the aerial range of another being that can fly.”

Both stallions chortled in amusement at Spike’s expense. It was a light sound that rang through the room and dispelled some of the heaviness that presided over them.

After a moment, Shining said, “please keep calling me Shining.”

“I—” Flash started.

“I’ll take you on as many dates as you want or do whatever it is you need me to do so you feel close to me, but, please,” Shining said as his voice trembled, “call me by my name.”

Wrapping his forelegs tightly around Shining’s barrel, Flash pulled him as close as he could. “Okay, Shining.”

Returning the gesture, both entwined their bodies together in such a way that it was difficult to tell where one of them began and the other ended. They breathed as one, perfectly in tune to each other as the remaining distance melted between them, beginning to mend the unseen broken bridges between them.

“Shining.” The stallion in question released a happy hum in answer. “I love you and I won’t leave you. Ever. You understand that?”

Tensing beneath Flash’s grip, Shining replied, “I—” he gulped, “yeah, I know.”

“And that means you know, that any plans that we make moving forward, we’ll do them together, right?”

“Yeah,” Shining whispered.

“Then I want to ask you again. What’s next, Shining?”

The quiet returned, but less heavy than it had ever been before. Despite the racing of his heart, Flash knew that Shining was at least mulling over the question. A better result than any prior attempt.

“I don’t know,” Shining said defeated, “I haven’t known what’s next since…” they both silently acknowledged the weight of what happened after the Storm King’s defeat, “... I just don’t know.”

“Night Light is divorcing your mom,” Flash announced.

“To be honest, I’m surprised he hadn’t already done so.” Flash lightly brushed the spot where Twilight had struck him with the wine glass, the new scars under his fur feeling rough to the touch. Shining nuzzled into the contact.

“True, but you will find it surprising that he’s planning to move to Hollow Shades to work at a smaller lab and as a teacher.”

“Good for him,” Shining said, “I think he’ll really love it there. Especially being around foals again. My dad always loved being, well, a dad.”

Biting his bottom lip, Flash added, “There was one other thing too.”

“Oh? He wants some muscle to help him move.” Shining giggled lightly at the jest. “I’m sure we can take some time off to get him settled into his new home.”

“No, he…” Flash trailed off then decided to tell him, “... he asked if we would go with him. You, me, and Spike. To Hollow Shades.”

Another bout of silence filled the space as Shining mulled over what Flash had said. Flash could feel Shining’s heart accelerate, an anxiousness that gripped both his body and mind.

“I-I can’t, Luna needs— we can’t leave—” Shining took a heavy breath as the excuses fell away, “—I’m not ready to be happy.”

Flash could correct him. He could tell him off, tell Shining he’s being ridiculous. Tell him that he deserved happiness just as much as anyone else. Possibly even more after everything he’s been through, everything he’s had to do in the name of regaining Equestria’s peace.

But he didn’t.

Because Luna did still need them.

Because Cadance still hadn’t let Shining go.

Because Spike was still hurting even though he would never admit it.

Because his sister didn’t deserve what happened to her.

Because Shining’s mother hated him.

Because they still had work to do in the aftermath of the war.

Because Flash and Shining needed to still navigate their relationship.

Because Shining was still hurting.

Because with all the reasons above, no amount of healing or recovery will ever grant Shining peace. Not until he was ready to move on.

When he was ready to want to be happy.

Until then, there would always be an excuse. Always be something that is happening to put it off. A new problem that had to be solved before Shining could deal with what he needed to.

It could take decades for Shining to be ready. It could never even happen at all. But, Flash would see it through.

He’d already dedicated his life to him.

Flash wiggled himself away from Shining’s chest and further up the bed until he was level with Shining’s face. He kissed him on the lips, a quick comforting peck. Chaste by any standards of their past experiences. He pressed his nose to Shining’s, their breath mixing together.

They had been having sex for as long as their relationship had been, but this moment felt like the most intimate time they had ever had.

“Flash,” the stallion in question hummed in acknowledgement, “could you… tell me what our future would be like? If we went to Hollow Shades?”

He could jest, crack a joke about how Shining and Spike were usually the storytellers. That he was the goofball that derailed everything they did.

But that wasn’t what his partner needed.

“We’d live in a house by a creek,” Flash started, “a big house with high ceilings and the comfiest furniture imaginable. There would be a back porch that overlooked the water and the stars would be reflected in it on clear nights. We’d fall asleep in the hammock overlooking it, entwined together just like this.”

Shining took a deep steadying breath, a smile spreading on his face.

“You’d work on your research in your spare time, but primarily be a teacher alongside your dad. You’d both crack jokes while you taught the foals. Spike would be a local librarian. I would play in some cheap stage band at a bar.”

“It could hardly be cheap if you were playing there.” Shining nuzzled the side of Flash’s cheek who grinned at the affectionate touch. “No way my hot colt friend could be worth only a few measly bits.”

Flash giggled before he continued, “We’d start a local tabletop group. You would finally have time for me to teach you guitar. We would end every day with ‘I love you’. Always wake up the next morning to say it again.”

A few tears fell from Shining’s face. “It sounds wonderful,” he whispered.

“It does,” Flash whispered back.

They continued to hold each other with Shining’s grip loosening as his light snoring signified his journey into the land of dreams.

There would be more in the morning to deal with. More problems to handle. More time spent to be there for Shining. Good times, bad times, and everything in between. Constant change, constant noise that would intersect with their lives.

They would still be monsters, killing other monsters that threatened their hard earned peace. They would still be victims, reeling from the horrors that had been inflicted upon them.

But, as Flash began to drift to sleep embracing the most important pony in his life, there was still a constant in their lives.

Flash would always be there for Shining.

An obvious statement.

For Shining always had Flash’s heart.

Author's Note