"Focus, Flash. Deep breaths. You can do this!" Flash Magnus mentally reassured himself. What he was about to do was going to take a courage beyond any such display of courage he had ever known. A courage even stronger than what it had taken for him to realize he'd been wrong about Stygian, that the scholar had wanted to fight alongside his friends rather than stealing their powers for himself.
Now the designated pillar of bravery, still in the prime of his life, was preparing to confront a feeling he had never known before. It was a feeling of romantic attraction. And he knew to whom he felt this strong attraction: Fellow pegasus and pillar Somnambula.
It seemed like everything about that pegasus mare from a village in Southern Equestria infatuated Flash. Her coat of light scarlet that always stood out and shone as bright as the hope she embodied, her mane and tail that hung down to her sides in two shades of blue, her cutie mark that depicted a gold necklace, the way she dressed and the way she carried herself in that playful and optimistic attitude. And of course there were her grayish blue violet eyes that always conveyed hope. Whenever Flash looked at them he found it hard not to get lost in their gaze.
But did she feel the same way towards him as he felt towards her? Would things ever be the same between them if she told him she didn't reciprocate the feelings of attraction?
Well, like it or not there was only one way to be sure. Flash had been putting this off for long enough. He couldn't ignore it any longer if he wanted to still be able to call himself the pillar of bravery. The next time he saw Somnambula, he was going to tell her how he felt about her. The rest would be up to her.
Fortunately, Flash found the perfect opportunity to more or less confront the mare when he found himself visiting the village she hailed from. He was particularly surprised to discover a stone statue of her that towered over the village square. Not since Princess Celestia had he seen another pony be worshiped as a deity.
In fact, it was because Flash Magnus was gazing at the stone statue for so long that he didn't notice when he just so happened to brush up against Somnambula's coat. He turned around and quickly found himself face to face with her. She seemed to have no idea as to why he was here, but just looking at her was enough to make his heart beat rapidly in his chest.
Somnambula, for her part, just gave a playful giggle as she gazed at her fellow pillar. "Ah, Flash Magnus. What a lovely surprise," Her smile shone like the precious glowpez that had been fastened into a necklace for her (said necklace proudly being displayed around her neck for all to see). "To what do I owe the pleasure of your unexpected and unannounced visit? Does Starswirl have need of us again? Is there another great evil that we must vanquish?"
Flash swallowed hard as the stallion tried to keep his cool. He didn't want his emotions to betray his intentions. "No, Somnambula," He quickly replied. "I just happened to have some time off from training the royal guards, so I figured I'd come here and see the sights. I didn't really get a chance to see everything your village had to offer when we first met."
"Well, be honest, what do you think of it now?" Somnambula inquired with a smile.
Flash was quick with a reply. "It's... lovely. I can see why you'd call this place home," Then he somewhat nervously asked. "Is it true what I hear? Does that ancient pyramid really have a curse that prevents you from flying?"
Somnamubla nodded her head in confirmation. "It is. But you needn't worry, nopony really goes there anymore. After all, it's the final resting place of the pharaohs. And... Prince Hisan too." Briefly her voice took on a mournful tone.
The stallion quickly took notice of the change in expression of his fellow pillar. "I... didn't know you two were close." Was all he could bring himself to say. Now he wished he'd taken time to learn that fact and determine whether Somnambula could ever love anypony else.
Yet in the blink of an eye the mare's mood returned to its usual cheerful state. "It's alright. I know he wouldn't want me to be sad and moody. I'm just grateful I had the chance to know him, even if it was brief. I don't regret for a moment going off with you, the other pillars and Stygian. It opened my eyes to a world beyond my village, a world I would never have known about had I not met you."
"I feel the same way. Going into battle alongside you and the others was an adventure I wouldn't have missed no matter what!" Flash boldly declared as he momentarily forgot the reason for his visit. But he soon remembered and cleared his throat. "Anyway. I... kind of had another reason for coming here to see you, Somnambula. There's something I... was hoping to ask you."
As if she sensed what Flash was about to ask, Somnambula quickly spoke up. "Well, let's not discuss it here. Let us go somewhere where the two of us can talk in secret," She unfolded her wings. "Follow me! I know just the place."
The two pegasi departed the village and headed out towards the pyramid they had briefly discussed earlier. But they stopped a ways from it. Somnambula seemed confident that they had traveled far enough. "This should be suitable for the conversation we're about to have," She told Flash as she seemed to look towards him as her smile seemed to widen and grow brighter ever so faintly. "Now go ahead. What is it you wish to tell me? I know it must be important if you came all the way to my village for it."
Flash Magnus realized that the moment had come. He couldn't put this off any longer if he wanted to. So he took a deep breath, summoning the courage needed to say what needed to be said. "Somnambula," He kept his gaze firmly fixed on her while trying to see if he could judge any kind of reaction or emotion from her. "I... don't know how to say this exactly but," He took a deep breath before continuing. "I love you. Really, I do. Not just as a friend either."
Somnambula's response took the pillar of bravery by complete surprise. She strolled right up to him and without saying a word she pressed her lips up to his as she kissed him.
Flash's cheeks flushed red in response. "Does this mean you love me?" He hopefully asked when the kiss had ended.
The pillar of hope proudly nodded. "Indeed it does, Flash. I am so happy that you told me this. Oh, how I have longed for this day!"
"Wait! You knew?!" Flash exclaimed in disbelief as his brilliant turquoise eyes began to widen!
Somnambula's smile seemed to morph into a particularly sly grin. "Not really. But you are not the only one who had a confession they wanted to make. For you see," She told her fellow pillar. "I had feelings for you much the same way you did for me. Since getting out of limbo I have had a lot of time to think, and that time allowed me to realize that what I felt for you was different from what I felt towards the other pillars. It was something I hadn't felt even with Prince Hisan despite how close we were."
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Flash questioned.
"Well, this is the first time we've seen each other in a long time, is it not?" Somnambula innocently pointed out. "I couldn't just leave my village to come and see you. Besides, I needed time to be sure that I wasn't mistaken. Your visit simply gave me an opportunity to confess before I could come to see you. But now we have both confessed and we both know that we love each other very much."
Flash flushed anew. "S-Somnambula..."
Somnambula simply put a hoof up to Flash's mouth and silenced him. "Hush. There is nothing more that needs to be said. We have confessed our love and that's all that needs to be done. We can figure out what comes next together."
The pegasus stallion removed his fellow pillar's hoof from his mouth as he still decided to speak up. "You think we oughta tell the other pillars about us? And tell Stygian too?"
"Perhaps," Somnambula grinned from ear to ear. "Who knows? Perhaps they noticed our feelings towards each other even before we realized them ourselves. For now, though, let us enjoy our time together as a couple. After all, I believe any mare should consider herself lucky to be the official marefriend of a stallion like yourself, Flash Magnus."
Flash Magnus just smiled, taking Somnambula's hooves into his own. "And I'd say any stallion is quite lucky to be in love with a mare like you, Somnambula. You do have a way with words after all."
Author's Note
If you want you consider this to be indirectly related to Meadow of Rocks, which I also wrote.
I'll admit I'm not the biggest shipper of these two, but I still think it can work. And people wanted to see this. However, I'm not going to be writing a ship fic for Starswirl and Mistmane. I don't think there's any sort of chemistry between them.
