Vanilla Twilight
“W-w-well P-P-Princess, I g-g-guess we're s-s-st-stuck here f-f-for a wh-while. M-Might as w-w-well g-g-g-get used t-t-o the c-cold.”
“Oh, f-f-fabulous.”
Princess Twilight Sparkle looked haggardly at the single royal guard she was trapped with. How had a simple vacation to the Crystal Empire to visit her brother his new foals turn into this? How did a simple vacation, meant for recreation and pleasure and to visit her brand-new twin niece and nephew, turn into freezing her flanks off in a desolate ice cave, chattering her teeth with the one stallion in all of Equestria she had managed to find attractive? Twilight seemed to remember an ice storm, and a derailed train, and a missing search party, but the details were hazy.
“I'm s-s-sorry. If I c-c-could, I'd f-f-fly us home, b-b-but the s-sno-snowstorm is v-v-vicious.” Flash Sentry answered Twilight's look of wearied defeat.
Twilight sighed. “I k-know, F-F-Flash. It's n-n-not your f-f-fault. At least c-c-come sit d-d-down. I'm g-g-getting t-t-tired of st-st-st-stutt-tt-tering across this c-c-cave at you.”
Flash did as he was told, sitting down near Twilight at the back of the cave. Twilight extended a stiff and half-frozen wing, pulling him closer, not for romantic purposes, but for warmth and to keep him back so she could work. Her horn lit up a brilliant magenta, and she fired a flare spell at the floor to start a magical fire burning there, not unlike the heart-shaped flame produced during Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations, though less cutesy and more functional. Both Princess and Royal Guard shared a sigh of relief as the warmth of the magical flame seeped into their frozen bones.
“Ohhh, thank Celestia.” Flash Sentry remarked, stretching his hooves out to warm them by the purple flames.
“Thank me.” Twilight retorted rather selfishly. But really, she was entitled to now and again. She was royalty, after all, and even though she would not normally react this way, well... she was more than a little frustrated at the moment.
“And you, of course. Thank you, Princess. In fact, mostly you. Entirely you. Please don't put the flame out.” Flash rambled. He looked at the raging blizzard outside. The winds were howling like demons in the darkness, and the freezing cold snow was more ice than slush. Already it had completely iced over Flash Sentry's wings once.
“Relax. I'm not gonna put the flame out. I'm just a little touchy because what was originally supposed to be a pleasure trip for me somehow turned into huddling for warmth in a barren ice cave in the middle of nowhere.”
“Well, let me be the first in this ice cave to be thoroughly grateful you can use magic. Alicorn princess, woo!” Flash replied weakly, pumping one hoof in the air softly.
Twilight just kind of stared blankly at him, a deadpan expression on her face. Flash put his hoof down and looked chided, like he'd just been told to go buck himself. Twilight sighed. “I'm sorry, Flash. I really am. I don't mean to come off like a prissy little princess. I'm not like that. I'm not that pony. I'm just a little upset. I shouldn't be spending my time being angry over a little...mishap. I should be thinking of a way out of this mess.”
Flash smiled. “You know, of all the ponies in Equstria to be trapped in a frozen ice cave with, I'm... I'm actually kind of glad it was you.”
“Why's that?” Twilight's cheeks began to flush pink.
“Well, you're the nicest Princess I ever met. You're honest, you're kind, you're funny.... Celestia has this kindness about her, but she's almost too imposing. I mean, she's huge for one thing. She's like three times my size. And when she gets even a little frustrated, boom! Straight to the moon. Luna would have just spent this entire time yelling at me and using words like 'thee' and 'thou' that nopony has used for ages, and Princess Cadance is nice, but I'd feel so awkward having to huddle up to her for warmth and then having to go back to the Crystal Empire and stare down her husband like 'Oh yeah, I totally had to snuggle up to your wife in order to survive, hope that's cool, bro.' Not to mention Prince Shining Armour is my boss. It's just a little awkward, you know? But those are just the practical reasons I prefer being stuck with you in a frozen pit of nothingness. There are other reasons too...” Flash trailed off, casting his eyes away with a blush on his face a guard in his rank should have been ashamed of.
“Oh? Um... like what?” Twilight asked.
“Well... I... I kind of like you. You're really cool, and you don't let your status as Princess go to your head. You're really approachable, and you're smart, and I just... really kind of like you... that's all.” Flash half-mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in Twilight's wing-embrace.
“Awww, thank you, Flash. You're really sweet, you know that? And... I kind of like you too. You're really sweet, you're protective, not to mention you're... um... you're really nice, too.” Twilight's face was bright red now, and it wasn't the heat from the fire. Flash Sentry slowly worked out the stiffness in his left wing until he could safely drape it over the Princess' shoulder. She placed her foreleg over his and smiled. The two winged equines snuggled together and enjoyed the fire, until somepony's stomach growled.
“Well, that's a mood-killer. Who's stomach was that?” Twilight asked.
“Ugh, it was mine.” Flash grumbled. “I haven't had anything to eat all day.”
“What?! Why not?” Twilight demanded in disbelief, immediately grabbing her thankfully-dry saddlebag in her telekinesis and hoofing through it as it floated in a shimmering magenta aura in the air in front of her.
“I just didn't get a chance-- no, your Highness. No. Put your food away, I'm fine. You eat it. You're more important anyway. I'm just a low-ranking guard. They can replace me if I starve.”
“Oh, horse-apples, you're eating this sandwich, darn it. You're the only other bucking person in this cave to talk to; I'm not letting you die.” Twilight swore uncharacteristically, magically making the sandwich float around Flash's head and bonk him off the helmet until he finally relented.
“Alright, alright! I'll eat the sandwich.” Flash took off his helmet and took the sandwich from Twilight, chewing the first bite slowly. He then looked down at the sandwich in his hoof, to Twilight, then back at the sandwich. He broke the sandwich in half and gave the other half back to the purple Alicorn. “No sense in us both starving to death out here. I can tell you're hungry too. You're starting to shake and the fire is right there. Your blood sugar is low. Eat, Princess.”
“You can just call me Twilight, you know. We're trapped in an ice cave in the middle of the frozen north, all alone. You can drop the formalities. I actually kind of hate them a little.” Twilight said, gratefully taking her half of the food back and eating it slowly.
“Okay. Twilight.” Flash responded. “Twilight. I can do that. It's actually a really pretty name, you know. Twilight Sparkle. It reminds me of that song from Griffon City, 'Vanilla Twilight'. You know, I'll find repose in new ways, 'cause I haven't slept in two days, 'cause cold nostalgia chills me to the bone, but drenched in vanilla twilight, I'll sit on the front porch all night, waist-deep in thought because when I think of you, I don't feel so alone~” Flash sang.
“As many times as I blink, I'll think of you, tonight~” Twilight sang the next line.
“I'll think of you tonight~”
“When violet eyes get brighter, and heavy wings grow lighter, I'll taste the sky and feel alive again, and I'll forget the world that I knew, but I swear I won't forget you, Oh, if my voice could reach back through the past, I'd whisper in your ear...~”
“Oh, darling, I wish you were here~” Flash finished. When the song ended, it left a silence that was deafening, and hung in the air like a thick fog. Flash coughed nervously. “I, uh... wow. You can, uh... you can really sing.”
“...So can you...” Twilight half-squeaked. She blushed and giggled a little. “And um... thanks. For saying my name was pretty.”
They kind of half-giggled together. Twilight noticed the fire was growing dim, so she fired another spell at it, and it roared back to life in a rainbow of sparks.
“Again, I am so happy that you're able to do that.” Flash said gratefully. Twilight giggled.
“Well, magic is kind of my thing.”
“Really, oh powerful Princess of Magic, who created new magic, based on old magic? I would never have figured out that magic was kind of your 'thing'.” Flash said cheekily. Twilight wing-slapped him in the back of the head lightly.
“Don't play cheeky with me, you big jerk.” She grinned. Flash wing-smacked her in the head right back.
“Two can play at the wing-slap game.”
“Oh, you little--!”
And in a very unprincesslike fashion, Twilight dived on her orange-coated companion and began trying to tickle him with the tips of her large Alicorn wings. Laughing like a maniac at the sensation, Flash was barely able to keep her at bay with his regular-sized Pegasus wings, tickling her right back. They giggled and chortled and rolled around the cave floor, a tangle of legs and wings.
Finally, when they were too tired to play anymore, Flash pulled Twilight backwards, the purple princess falling on top of her armoured new friend. She blushed at where she ended up. “Oh!”
“What? Never been laying on top of a royal guard recruit in the middle of a cave in a snowstorm?” Flash laughed.
“No, I-- Well, no, I haven't-- I--” Twilight stammered.
Flash leaned up and nuzzled her softly, and she squealed in surprise, but stopped stammering. “Sorry.” Flash said. “If that was-- I mean.... I don't want to overstep my bounds, here.” He looked embarrassed.
Twilight smiled serenely, and nuzzled him back. “I... I really like you.” She half-whispered.
“I really like you too.” Flash replied without hesitation.
“I... I don't know what to do from here.” Twilight admitted. “I don't exactly, uh... get out much.”
“You could start by letting me kiss you? Maybe?” Flash suggested. “I mean, you don't have to, but...”
“I'd really like that, Flash.”
Flash took Twilight's crown off her head softly, laying it gingerly next to her saddlebag. He then took her head in his hooves gently, and pulled her down for a kiss. She leaned into his touch, and she felt something deep inside her chest tug towards him, as if her heartstrings themselves wanted to wrap around this stallion and never let go. Flash's forelegs moved down to her torso, and tightened around her.
Magic began to crackle along Twilight's horn, and sparks began shooting from the fire. Suddenly, Twilight was engulfed in magical flame.
“Ahh!” Both ponies cried out in shock. Twilight got up quickly, but found that her skin was not burning. She looked down at herself and saw that she was on fire, so to speak, but that she felt no pain. Flash reached out to touch her, and found that he could. She was warm, but not painfully hot. “What... what is this?” Flash asked.
“I don't know!” Twilight stumbled back and hit the cave wall, and heard a loud hisssss as the ice along the wall melted instantly. Twilight grinned. “Flash, I have an idea. We're going to get out of here alive. Grab your helmet and climb onto my back!” She instructed, spreading her wings and floating her crown and her saddlebag back onto her body.
Flash was confused, but did as he was told. He was a little smaller than Twilight anyway; Alicons tended to be much larger than regular ponies, but as Twilight was only recently ascended, she was still much smaller than even Cadance. It would be a couple hundred years or more before she got to be Celestia's size. Flash climbed on Twilight's back and held on for dear life as she took off running straight into the blizzard.
“Twilight, what are you doing? We'll freeze to death out here!” Flash Sentry had to call out over the sound of the howling wind and sleet.
“No, we won't! Trust me!” Twilight responded. She ran at full speed, and the magical flames surrounding her body spiraled around them both like a slow-speed Mach cone. Within the cone of flame, Flash could see snow and sleet and winds of ice just melting away on contact with Twilight's skin. But Twilight was beginning to get tired, he could tell. Her body was built for library work and academics, not for athleticism.
“Twilight! I see the Crystal Empire's gates in the distance! Keep running!” Flash encouraged her, but Twilight was running out of steam.
“Tch... Damg it.” Flash swore to himself. The mach cone disappeared, and Twilight's gallop was slowed to a canter, then a trot, until she fell to her knees, panting and winded. The snow and the sleet whipped around them, freezing to their skin and bones and Twilight stared up at Flash with all the sorrow and regret she could muster in her eyes.
“I'm so sorry, Flash... I thought I was going to be able to make it all the way to the Empire... I've doomed us both to freeze to death out here. I'm so sorry!” She sobbed. He held her close.
“No, don't say that, Twilight. We'll get through this somehow.”
“I... I just don't have any strength left, Flash. I feel so weak...I can't move another inch.”
Flash took a deep breath and stared out at the gates of the Crystal Empire shimmering in the distance. He then looked down at the quivering Alicorn in his hooves. “No. We're not going to die out here. As a royal guard, it is my sworn duty to protect the Princess, and protect the Princess is what I'm going to do, Celestia damn it. We will not die out here. You say you're all out of strength? My love will give you strength.” Flash picked Twilight up off the ground, and held her up as her legs threatened to collapse.
“L-Love...?” She rasped. Flash wordlessly hiked Twilight up onto his own back and took off at a gallop. His wings were spread wide, bright amber against the black of the sky. He flapped them powerfully, and within a few thrusts they were airborne, albeit very shakily in the powerful winds. Twilight may have been bigger, but Flash Sentry was clearly much stronger. Flash Sentry's eyes were made of fiery sapphire, determined and shimmering with hope. He flew as fast as he could towards the Empire's gates, and spotted a certain bright white stallion with a shield for a cutie mark waiting there. Shining Armour had been waiting for a report on Twilight's location the entire time. The only three reasons he probably hadn't come out to look for his sister himself were back at the Palace, probably sleeping. His wife, Princess Cadance, and his new twin son and daughter, Bolero (full name Il Bolero di Fuoco) and Gleaming Shield.
“Your highness! Commander Shining Armour, up here!” Flash shouted down to the white stallion, who heard just enough to tilt his head up and notice the orange streak in the black sky.
Shining Armour quickly lowered the shield surrounding the Crystal Empire and let Flash Sentry in. He landed rather roughly, and tumbled sidways and over, accidentally propelling Twilight off of his back and onto the ground in a heap of fur and feathers. Flash ended up spiraling around in the air and landing directly on top of her back, knocking the wind out of them both and rumpling her plumage something fierce.
“Oh, dear Celestia! I'm so sorry, Twilight! Are you alright?” Flash darted up and off the Princess of Magic, all formalities forgotten as he knelt down by her side. “Did I hurt you? Ah, I'm a big idiot. I'm so sorry.”
“Are you two alright?” Shining Armour asked.
“I'm... I'm okay...” Twilight coughed weakly. “Thank you, Flash. You saved my life.”
Flash chuckled. “All in a day's work for a royal guard.”
“What were you doing out there?!” Shining Armour demanded, nearly in hysterics. “You could have frozen to death!”
“Twilight-- err... Princess Sparkle cast some sort of... fire magic, I guess, and she was able to use it to protect us for most of our trek from the cave we were hiding out in to here, but she just... ran out of steam. So I flew us the rest of the way. The important thing is that she's safe.”
“No...” Twilight struggled back to her hooves, trembling. “The important thing is that we're safe, Flash. I want you to know that I couldn't, and wouldn't, have done it without you. You gave me the strength to survive, even when I thought we were sunk. And if you were trapped out there, I would have gone back out for you.”
“Aww-- Princess, I--”
“Don't 'Princess' me, Flash! Not after what we've just been through.” Twilight was almost in tears. “Don't go back to calling me that now. I told you to call me by my name.”
Flash looked nervously from Twilight to Shining Armour, who had a stern look on his face, as if to say 'We're going to have a long and violent talk about this later, young man.'
“Flash Sentry, I will make it a royal order if I have to! Don't force me to resort to that!”
“Alright! Alright, Twilight. I give. You win. The truth is, I care about you too much to give a buck about the consequences. I didn't care if I died out there. I wanted to see you safe... because I love you.”
“I love you too, Flash.” Twilight walked back up to Flash and kissed him. Shining Armour began sputtering in disbelief in the background. “Oh stop it, big brother. If I recall correctly, you were in the exact same position he's in not too long ago.”
“Yeah, but I-- and he-- And it's different!” Shining Armour sputtered. “He's my employee, and you're my sister--!”
“Princess Celestia was your employer, and Cadance is her niece.” Twilight pointed out.
Flash Sentry was trying so hard not to laugh at Shining Armour's expense.
“When did this even happen?!” Shining Armour's voice took on a comically high pitch as his disbelief and shock hit its apex.
“Somewhere in between the romantic duet by the fire and the tickle fight on the cave floor, I think.” Flash blurted, but Shining's ice-cold stare made him clamp his muzzle shut and hide behind his big, strong, Alicorn marefriend. “Please don't hurt me.” Flash added.
Shining Armour's face took on a strangely saccharine smile, almost plastic in a way. “Hurt you? Now why in Celestia's green earth would I want to do that?” His voice was syrupy-sweet, as if talking to a toddler. “No, Flash Sentry, I'm not going to hurt you.”
Flash came out from behind Twilight. “Oh, phew, that's a relief. For a second there I thought you were gonna--”
“I'm going to pulverize you into dust!” Shining lunged for Flash's neck, and the orange Pegasus let out a yelp that would have sounded less out-of-place if it came out of a scared Chihuahua. Flash leaped for the air and spread his wings, only for Shining to begin firing hexes at him from his horn, hoping to bring him down, each spell punctuated by an angry outburst, such as “She's my sister!” and “I'll kill ya, ya little brat!” and “No touchy the Twily!” and even as far as “Get back in the friendzone where you belong!”
“Shining Armour, stop it right now! Are you going to do this to every colt I bring home?”
“Until the day I die!” Shining Armour responded. “I'm your BBBFF, remember? It's my job to protect you.”
“If you stopped being crazy for two seconds, you'd realize it's technically his job to protect me.” Twilight replied, gesturing up at the orange Pegasus stallion still dodging nasty spellwork in mid-air.
“Which is another reason for me to smash his hollow Pegasus bones into smithereens!”
“What is going on out here?!” Cadance's voice pierced the din of the scene as the pink Alicorn stomped across the grounds. “What is all the noise! Honey!”
“It's nothing, Cadance. My big brother is just trying to murder my coltfriend, that's all.”
“He's your brother. They're genetically obligated to do that.” Cadance responded sweetly, before her eyes steeled over and she turned her head back towards her husband. “Shining Armour!”
At the sound of his wife calling his name with such venom in her voice, the white stallion stopped in his tracks mid-spell, accidentally shocking himself with leftover magic.
“Yes, dear?” Shining asked.
“Why are you trying to murder one of your own royal guards?” Cadance demanded. Like a colt that had been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar, Shining Armour's head dropped and he mumbled something petulantly under his breath. “What was that?”
“...hekissedmysister...”
“I can't hear you.” Cadance repeated, her eyes cold.
“...He kissed my sister.” Shining said more audibly, though the extreme pout on his face was still present.
“And why is that such a bad thing?” Cadance asked more softly.
“Because she's my baby sister! I'm practically genetically programmed to punch in the face every colt that goes after her! I need to make sure they're not going to hurt my Twily!” Shining half-whined, half-shouted.
Cadance's expression softened and she nuzzled her husband gently. “I know, dear. But you have to remember that your sister is an Alicorn princess. What does that mean?”
“Um, that she's taller and has wings now?” Shining Armour answered. “Wings she can't even use all that well?”
“Hey, you suddenly grow wings out of nowhere one day, see how good you are at using them right out of the gate.” Twilight protested.
Cadance laughed. “No, sweetheart.” She chided her husband sweetly. “It means that Twilight is all grown up and can take care of herself. She's a powerful magic user. So powerful, she completed a spell that even Star Swirl the Bearded couldn't figure out, and was able to transcend another entire plane of existence. It means she's smart, and resourceful. If any colt ever did something to hurt her, I'll bet she could zap him into next year without even trying.”
“I... I know.” Shining relented.
“I know how you feel, Shiny. You feel like you've outgrown your usefulness to me. You're afraid to let me go, because it means acknowledging that I'm getting older, and in turn, you're getting older too.” Twilight said. “But I promise you, Shiny, I'll always need my BBBFF. I love you. You're my brother.”
“Ah.... Twily, I'm sorry. I just... you're right. I'm so scared to let you go, you know? Everything's changing around me so fast. My wife is an Alicorn, my sister's an Alicorn, I have a son and daughter now for pony's sake.” Shining turned to Flash Sentry. “Flash, I'm sorry I tried to jinx you out of the sky. Truth be told, you're a great soldier and an attentive guard, and I'm proud to have you under my command. I just get so protective of Twilight. She was always so alone, wrapped up in her books... I was always there to protect her growing up, but I realize now that she can take care of herself.”
“Thank you, Commander. I'll strive to make you proud--”
“You had better treat her like the Princess she is or by Luna's name I will kill you in the face so hard it will wake up your great-great granny in her grave, do I make myself clear?!” Shining interrupted, shouting his order as a military command.
“Sir, yes sir!” Flash snapped into a terrified salute.
“At ease!” Shining Armour commanded, and Flash dropped the salute and ran to hide behind Twilight again. “Twilight, I love you, I do. But your brother scares the crap out of me.” Flash said.
“Good.” Twilight said, giving her BBBFF a hug. “It means he's doing his job.”
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that you can't always protect the ones you love forever. You're not going to be able to keep them under your wing for their entire lives. Well, I don't have wings, but you get my meaning. At some point, you're going to have to let go and let them make their own mistakes, and let them craft their own victories. And that thought scares me half to death, but I'm going to have to accept it. After all, I have two newborn foals who are going to grow up someday, unless I get my hooves on some sort of ancient forbidden time-stopping spell. But I'm pretty sure you're not going to let me get my hooves on one of those.
When I learned that my baby sister was dating one of my royal guards, I was livid. I wanted to smack the living snot out of him for daring to try it, because in my eyes Twilight was still just a foal who needed my protection. It was my wife who finally made me realize that my sister is all grown up now and can take care of herself. And it was Twilight who told me that even though she didn't need her knight in Shining Armour anymore, she would always need me as her Big Brother Best Friend Forever, and I knew she was going to be alright. And even though I can't be there to watch over her 24/7, I can still be there to be her friend whenever she may need me.
Sincerely,
Shining Armour
P.S) Maybe I'm just being a hypocrite (*coughcough royalguardwhomarriedaprincess coughcough*) but really. A royal guard? And not even a Captain, like I was. Just... a schmuck. He's like a Lt. Col. or something. Something easily outranked by the castle janitor, for pony's sake. Granted, the colt's a highly-skilled, loyal, talented, impressive schmuck, but still! Insert older brother style indignation here!
P.S.S) I've enclosed a picture of Bolero and Gleaming Shield being adorable in the bathtub, since even though you were just here last week to see them, I've got a flaring, incurable case of Proud Father Syndrome and the symptoms include the intense, irresistible need to show off pictures of my children that will inevitably embarrass them in later life. Ta!~
Author's Note
I'm sorry, this was a cheesy one shot I wrote by drinking too much coffee and staying up all night. It's so terrible but there needs to be more Twilicorn and Flash. Also more Overprotective!Shining Armour. YES I SPELL IT "ARMOUR". YES, I LIVE IN AMERICA. LEAVE ME ALONE. *confetti*
Also, Daddy!Armour. I can just imagine him being Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist, showing off pictures of his kids to anyone he manages to stop on the street.
Extra edits because I forgot ponies don't have hands! Haha!
