Although he would like nothing more than to spend a day on patrol or otherwise being active, even Flash could admit to enjoying a relatively quiet day every once in a while. And so it was, in the shadow of the great palace of the Crystal Empire, that he was given such a day. There were no plans for training, forays into the wastelands beyond the Empire's borders or even a routine patrol around the city. No, today was about one thing and one thing only: Inspections.

It was something every guard in Equestria had to deal with from time to time. Flash, along with every other guard stationed to the Empire, would be trotted out before the palace, asked to stand in their regular formations, and await review by their commanding officer. It was, needless to say, a rather uneventful and boring thing to have to go through. But, being a guard for as long as he had, Flash had become rather used to such days. Besides, he'd tell himself, his direct superior was once a guard himself, and was fully aware of just how tedious such days were. At the very least this shouldn't take too long.

And speaking of whom,, it was here that the doors of the palace began to creak open, signalling the guards to stand at attention. They all waited as their leaders emerged from the palace and began walking towards them. Princess Cadence, and her husband, Shining Amour. Flash kept his eyes on both of them as they approached, seeing the occasional squirms of his cohorts, Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps. They had not been guards here for nearly as long as he had, so it was understandable that they would be more nervous about this.

But even so, Flash kept his attention on the two royals, who were now standing in front of the large formation of guards before them. As one would expect of a former soldier, Shining Armour was looking upon every mare and stallion here, with the kind of piercing gaze you'd normally find on a bird-of-prey. Flash had been through this a few times before. If he stood firm and stayed the course of his usual stances and appearances, he'd be fine. As Shining walked long the front row of troops gathered there, his eyes befell each and every one of them, looking for any flaws in the way they held themselves.

Soon enough, the Prince stood before Flash himself, and the young guard could have sworn that his gaze intensified even more, if that were even possible. But he did not begrudge the older stallion for this. After all, Flash was dating the guy's sister. It was only natural that Shining would be placing greater scrutiny on Flash than the others. It was an attitude the Prince had towards him that he'd just had to get used to, even though he took solace in the fact that Shining was understanding about the whole relationship. After a few rather serious moments, Shining let out a sigh and gave a short nod to Flash, indicating that he had passed his inspection.

Flash resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief after that, and instead looked on as Shining continued his observations of the other guards there for the rest of the afternoon, with even the nervousness of Thunderlane and Bulk not causing any real issue. Once the inspections were complete, Shining moved away from the assembled guards and began speaking to his wife, Cadence. Being as far away as they were, Flash could not make out what they were saying, not that he wished to pry or anything.

In fact, he was glad that the Prince's eyes were no longer on him, for it gave him a chance for his thoughts to wonder to other things besides the inspection. However, anypony who knew him would have known immediately what, or rather who, he was thinking of. It had been a long time since he last laid eyes on the one he once called "the most beautiful mare in Equestria", and nothing would please him more than to see her again. To fly away from the Empire, arrive at her doorstep, and embrace her lovingly was a notion that was on his mind constantly. It was only through Twilight's frequent correspondence to him that he'd been able to last as long as he had without her.

Fortunately, he knew he had some leave coming up, and knew exactly where he'd be spending it. That thought caused his stoic demeanour to break and a smile to form upon his face, one which he hid again soon afterwards as he looked on at his two monarchs. The two gave a small smile at each other and Cadence began to walk back towards the palace, while Shining stood before the guards once more. The silence that had been there all afternoon was broken when the Prince spoke out.

"Guards! I am pleased to inform you that you have all passed inspection."

Once those words were said, Flash could hear the deep exhales of mane of the guards standing before him. But, ever the soldier, he kept his own composure while the Prince continued.

"There are no further plans or excursions planned for today, so all of you are to report to..."

But the Prince was cut off from finishing his words by the sudden, and very loud, bursting open of the palace doors. Spinning around in an instant, Shining looked on, along with all the other guards there, to see one of the native crystal ponies, an earth pony mare, run out of the palace, only just missing Cadence as she charged forward. The Princess of love began running after her, just as concerned as her husband, who was now walking towards the mare himself. Flash saw as she approached that she bore an expression of great concern.

Once the mare had reached Shining, she stopped and began panting furiously in an effort to catch her breath. Cadence managed to keep up with her soon afterwards and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"It's alright. Just breathe!" she said calmly.

The mare nodded at her Princess and took in a few deep breaths. Flash was becoming worried now. Ponies didn't just run towards royalty like this unless something bad was happening. Eventually though, the mare finally caught her breath and began to speak.

"It's the mirror! Something's happening!"

Flash's eyes widened at that. The mirror? That could only mean one thing. The magic mirror stationed here by Princess Celestia herself after the Empire re-emerged a couple of years ago. That object served as a doorway between Equestria and another world, inhabited by a race of creatures known as "humans". Flash had heard much of that world from Twilight, who had herself visited that world some time ago. But that thought caused a sudden bitter feeling in him, as that adventure of hers had also been connected to one he once knew.

Regardless, he kept his attention on the Prince and Princess, who were now giving each other glances. Cadence gave a nod to her husband, who returned the gesture with his own, bearing a look of utter seriousness as he did. After this, he turned and looked straight at Flash, causing the latter to stand at attention once more.

"Sentry! Thunderlane! With me!"

The two pegasi needed no explanation, and raised their hooves to their heads in salute.

"Yes Sir!" they said in unison.

Shining spun around again and began running towards the palace, with Flash and Thunderlane running behind him. Although he had not seen as much action as more experienced guards, Flash was still ready to face what might be causing all this trouble. Though he knew that, with the mirror being a magical item, there may well be little anypony like him could do to solve it. Nevertheless, he kept up with Prince Armour as the three of them ran fast through the hallways of the palace, eventually coming to the chamber of the mirror.

Although he'd heard much about this thing, this was the first time he'd ever laid eyes on it. It was old, and certainly magical-looking. But what caught his eye most was that the reflective surface looked, for lack of a better word, wrong. It shimmered brightly, but with many dark colours, and it possessed a faint glow all around it, indicative of some magical goings on. Unfurling their wings and spreading them in a battle-ready stance, Flash and Thunderlane took their positions, flanking Prince Armour, who himself was lowering his horn to point it at the mirror.

"Be ready. Anything could happen," Shining commanded.

The two pegasi nodded at that and prepared themselves for what might happen next. And it did not take long for something to finally occur, for all three saw that the surface of the mirror seemed to be moving from the inside, as though something was pushing out of it. Before any of the stallions could react, there was a hum of the magic of the mirror before it was bathed in a blinding flash of light. All three raised their hooves to cover their eyes just in time, and waited for the light to die down before they looked upon the mirror again.

When the light eventually faded, Flash looked ahead, and what he saw made the colour drain from his face. There were two figures lying at the base of the mirror, the one behind obstructed by the one in front, though he knew that both were ponies. But it was the one in front that caught his attention, and for good reason. As the figure rose, Flash could not believe his eyes. It was a unicorn mare, with a yellow coat and a bright red-and-yellow mane. A mare that Flash had told himself he would never see again.

His eyes then darted to Prince Armour, who was taking a step forward in an aggressive manner. But Flash stepped forward and raised a hoof, stopping Shining and catching his attention.

"Sir...I know her."

Shining raised his eyebrow in confusion over that, but nevertheless allowed his guard to continue to move forward. As Flash approached, the mare began to stand up from her lying-down position. After that, she looked up, with a look of shock upon her face, not unlike the one that was now on Flash's own face, as he broke the silence between them.

"Sunset?"

There was a pause from the mare as she looked upon him, but after a while, she responded with a silent nod. Sunset Shimmer, a one-time student of Princess Celestia, and a mare who had once been very close to him. But, as astonishing as this unexpected return was for him, what followed was even more so. For it was here that his eyes finally locked onto the second figure that had arrived with her. His eyes widened even further as the figure got to it's hooves, albeit in a very unsure way. It was a pegasus stallion, whose coat was a bright orange and whose mane was a dark blue. But this stallion was very familiar to Flash, as his next words could testify.

"Is that...me?"