What Hath Joined Together

Chapter 25

                                                                                 Voir Dire — Part II

A minute before Flash Sentry's scheduled dismissal, Prince Blueblood opened his bedroom door and stuck out his head.

"You can leave," Blueblood spat, then slammed the door back shut.

"Yes, Your Highness," Flash answered in a stiff bow.

As he left, nopony came to relieve him.

So Prince Blueblood knows he's a figurehead. He knows it, and he... he hates it. So that's why he does what he does. Why he hides. Why he eats. Why he has those mares dote on him. Who else will? I almost feel sorry for him.

... Okay, actually, I do. Flash's ears flattened. I do, and I understand.

I'm sure if he gave me a chance, he would understand, too.

Sighing, Flash shook those thoughts away. No time for that now. Now, time for dinner, and then I'll change into my dress uniform and meet Steel and Spear. Have a few drinks—What was that beer that Discord recommended? A pilsner?—maybe do some dancing, maybe see the Wonderbolts again, have some laughs...

Maybe Twilight will come for me after... Maybe...

The spring in his step returning, Flash hurried down to the Great Hall for dinner, his stomach rumbling.

~

One dinner, a conversation with Greyhoof, and a quick change of uniform later, Flash Sentry made his way to the castle courtyard.

There, Steel Wind and Sharp Spear, clad in the same dress blues, greeted him. "Hey, Flash! Looking sharp!" Steel said with a whistle.

Flash trotted down the steps to join them. "Thanks! You guys managed to clean up too!"

Grinning, Spear smacked him with a wing. "Hey! We can be fancy if we need to! Right, Steel?"

"Right, Spear!" Steel puffed out his chest. "As regal as they come!"

Flash snorted. After today, that isn't hard to accomplish. He threw a forehoof around both of his friends' necks and laughed. "Well then, gentlecolts, ready to head out?"

"Of course!" they said in union.

Flash led the way out of Canterlot Castle. "You know, it's kinda scary when you two do that."

"Do what?" they asked, in union once more.

Flash jabbed a forehoof at them. "That! That... weird... 'talking at the same time' thing you guys have done since basic!"

Both stallions caught up to him, flanking him on either side as they walked over the lowered drawbridge and headed for Canterlot's business district. "You're telling me you've never done that with anypony, Flash?" Steel Wind asked. "Never had somepony who could finish your—"

"Sandwiches?" Sharp Spear suggested.

Steel Wind facehoofed. "No, sentences! Somepony who could finish your sentences!"

Well, there is one, Flash thought, remembering the train ride back to Canterlot. Although he let a smile grace his face for but a second, he replied, "No, can't say I have."

"Don't worry, Flash," Spear said, "I'm sure you'll find a mare like that soon. Maybe even tonight!"

This time, Flash let his grin show. "Maybe..."

The three continued their trek from Canterlot Castle, through town square, and to the business district, chatting all the way. The stallions that Flash had once avoided and found unrelatable, he now happily spoke with. They discussed the bar, shops they passed, and the absence of First Lieutenant Shooting Star and Second Lieutenant Argon.