“Hey, Dusk, are you gonna keep those?”

Dusky Flare looked up, and then over at the pile of memorabilia. A set of hoofball cards, his spare wing guards, a half dozen magazines he’d found shoved in a corner of his closet, and more. “Oh, no, that’s my giveaway pile. Help yourself.”

“Thanks, man.” The other pony in the room began rummaging around the pile, pulling out the cards. “You sure? Some of these are signed.”

“I’m not really into that stuff anymore,” Dusk said flatly, turning back to the luggage trunks strewn across the bed. Part of him still couldn’t really believe it was over, and that part couldn’t bring himself to care about the collection he’d brought with him when he was still a cadet. His mind buzzed with thoughts of what he was going to do next. How he would tell his father.

“Hey, Flash,” he said after a moment. “Did you… do you know what you’re gonna do now?”

Flash Shadow looked up. “I dunno, not really. I’m sure it’ll work out, though.”

“You’re not worried?”

“Nah. I mean, this was always a temporary gig for me, y’know? I just wanted some money saved up before I went to university. My mom’ll be thrilled I’m back early, even; she never wanted me to join up.”

Dusk nodded, quiet. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

Flash gave him a hard look, clearly not buying it. “Alright, if you say so,” he said, skeptical. But he didn’t push it. Instead, he added, “I was gonna go grab something from the mess hall before they closed. Did you want something?”

Dusk shook his head. A moment later, he heard his roommate and partner leave the room, and the door close behind him. Flash may not have understood how he was feeling, but at least he could recognize when Dusk wanted to be alone.

Soon enough, most of the trunks were packed, and Dusk had cleaned out all of his drawers. He looked up, and reached towards the framed painting of Princess Luna hanging over the dresser, but then he hesitated. He sat down on the bed, looking up at her.

“What happened?” he whispered. “I never thought… I thought you knew how much we loved you.”

All he had was rumors. That was all any of the Night Guard had. Stories of betrayal, corruption, dark magic and epic battles. No one really knew what had happened that night. Sure, Princess Celestia had addressed them all, but all she’d really confirmed was that Luna was banished and the Night Guard was being dissolved. She’d offered to let anypony who wanted to transfer to the Solar Guard, but most of them, Dusk included, had declined. He didn’t know what the others’ reasons were—he just knew that he’d signed up to work for Luna, not her sister.

He took down the painting, running one hoof along the polished battle armor Luna was depicted in. She was striking, dangerous, and beautiful. Behind her, constellations and comets were scattered through the sky, an artist’s depiction of the majesty of her night. And in the corner, an elegant autograph, addressed to a starry-eyed colt many years ago.

A tear dropped down onto the painting, and Dusk hastily dropped it onto the bed, wiping his eyes. “No—damnit—” he muttered, grabbing the cloth he used to polish his armor with one wing and carefully wiping away the tear. It left a blemish, but only if you looked at it closely.

“I have so much I want to say to you.” He surprised himself with the sound of his own voice, only realizing he’d opened his mouth when he’d started talking. “I know I was just a guard, and you probably didn’t know I existed. But ponies are saying that you snapped because no one cared, and I just… I don’t understand. I cared. Everyone in my squadron cared.” He swallowed, trying to hold back tears. “We’d stay up well past dawn all the time, swapping stories. Everyone loved your night. Some of them liked the quiet, the peaceful moments with just their thoughts. Some of them loved the stars and how they were arranged. Some just didn’t fit in anywhere else.”

He fell silent again, continuing in a quieter voice. “I’ve always wanted to be a Night Guard. As long as I can remember, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. You probably didn’t know this, but I got my cutie mark the day I signed up. I was too young, of course. I was trying to run away again, and they didn’t accept it. Brought me back to my father, even though I begged them not to. But I knew, even then, what I wanted.”

Dusk looked around the room, at the bare walls and two empty beds. All signs of the ponies who had lived there for the last year were already packed. In the morning, when their final shift was over, there would be nothing left to say that anyone had ever occupied these quarters. Dusk didn’t know what would happen to them then. Perhaps the whole building would be torn down, as part of an organization that no longer existed. Perhaps a Solar Guard would move in, and put a picture of Princess Celestia above the dresser. It would be just one more thing that the solar alicorn had taken from her sister.

“I don’t know what to do now,” Dusk whispered. “I swore I wouldn’t go back.”

There was a bump against the door, and then it opened, and Flash came back in. He held out a bag with one wing, and Dusk could smell the warm bread immediately.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I got you something anyway,” Flash said. “You should eat.”

“Thanks,” Dusk muttered.

“Hey, Dusk,” Flash piped up again after a moment. “I know this guard stuff was more important to you than it was to me. I was wondering if… well, my folks are pretty well off, and we’ve got a spare room. If you wanted to stay until we figured this whole thing out…”

Dusk gave him a sad smile. “You don’t have to do that, Flash.”

“Yeah, well, I want to.” He hesitated, then nodded to the painting, his smile briefly slipping. “I miss her too. This whole situation sucks, and I’d rather have at least one friend around, y’know?” He paused a moment, before adding, “From everything going around, it seems like that counts for a lot.”

Dusk touched the painting briefly. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Carefully, he removed it from its frame, slipping it into a carrying tube and putting it into his trunk. “I’d love to stay at your place, if you’ll have me.”

Flash thumped him playfully on the back. “Of course we will, you big galoot. My folks won’t mind at all.”

It took only a moment to confirm that everything was packed. With the trunks stacked by the door, they waited as the night slowly lightened, the shadows being washed away by the light of dawn. As the passage of the sun marked the ending of their final shift as guardsponies, they left, and didn’t look back.