Flashlight

If there was a more perfect day to have a picnic, Twilight hadn't experienced it. The sky was a perfect blue, with no clouds in sight. The sun was shining brightly and there was a cool breeze. The spot they'd chosen was also good, on the top of a green and grassy hill, overlooking the town of Ponyville below. She and her closest friends had gathered here for a day of relaxation. Her duties as princess had been relaxed for the day, so they could all enjoy this time together. And that was something she was greatly appreciative of.

For as much as she tried, something always seemed to come up that kept the six of them from spending quality time together. it was either some big disaster that needed their attention, or it was some individual problem one of them was facing. But today was different. Today, everything was set up just perfectly. Looking away from the bright and clear sky, Twilight looked at her friends. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were all enjoying the view from the top of the hill, all while enjoying some sandwiches that had been prepared for them.

"I must say Twilight, these sandwiches are delicious!" Rarity commented.

Twilight raised her hoof.

"Thanks Rarity, but I wasn't the one who made them. It was Spike."

That caused the white unicorn to raise an eyebrow.

"Truly? Then do thank him when you get home. Cooking it may not be, but he's clearly getting better at making pony food."

Twilight couldn't deny that. When Spike had first started making meals, they were often unsuitable for pony consumption, owing largely to his own tastes as a dragon. But he'd been getting better at his craft, due in no small part to a cook-book Twilight had offered him. A book which, she was hesitant to admit, also had the recipe for these sandwiches. Still, it was a nice compliment on Rarity's part, and one Spike would surely appreciate once she relayed it.

She then joined her friends in looking out over the sight of Ponyville, and then smiled, sighing deeply.

"This is nice. I can't remember the last time we just hung out like this." She said.

Pinkie then considered that for a moment before replying.

"I think it was when you got the news of your brother's wedding!"

That comment made twilight frown.

"Thank you Pinkie." She said in an annoyed voice.

Her friend's remark was true. The last time they'd had a picnic like this had been the day she first discovered her brother, Shining Armour, not only had a relationship with her former foal-sitter, Princess Cadence, but that the two were going to be married. In truth, it had not been a happy day for her back then. Not that her brother was getting married, that she was very happy about. But the fact that she'd been kept in the dark about it, especially when the two siblings had been so close for most of their lives, had very much angered her.

But her anger subsided when she thought about how things ended. Shining and Cadence had been married happily, and even though there were certain "complications" involved in their wedding, all-in-all it had been a truly joyous occasion for all. Her expression changed from one of annoyance to one of happiness as she faced her friend.

"You're right Pinkie. It may have been hard for me at first, but that news really was very good for everypony. I don't think I'd ever been happier than standing beside my brother when he got married. It was such an honour. To be present at the union of two who loved each other so much."

The other ponies turned to look at her after she said that, with Rainbow in particular having a rather mischievous look on her face.

"Oh, I'm sure you'd know ALL about romance, wouldn't you?" She said.

Twilight raised her eyebrow, confused as to why Rainbow would make such a comment. She then realised that her friends were looking at her in an odd way, as though they knew something she didn't. Eventually, the silence became unbearable and Twilight relented.

"Alright. What's going on?" She asked.

In spite of their previous tone, all of her friends suddenly started to feign ignorance, starting with Applejack.

"Oh it's nothin sugarcube. Certainly not anythin to do with somethin you think we don't know."

Twilight tilted her head, still confused as to what was going on. Her friends all look like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary. They were keeping something from her, though Applejack's comment seemed to suggest that it was her who was keeping secrets from them. Though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what. What did they think she was keeping secret that could possibly cause them to behave this way. She looked at each of them in-turn, hoping one of them would just blurt out what was going on. Eventually, the silence was broken by Rarity.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet darling, we're referring to a certain young princess who was seen spending time with a certain handsome guard pony."

In an instant, Twilight's face grew bright red. She now knew exactly what they were talking about. It had been only a few days since they'd returned home from the Crystal Empire, but while they were up there, quite a few things had happened. And those events had led to Twilight approaching a young stallion by the name of Flash Sentry. Things between them had been good and, at his request, the two had spent the following day in each other's company by a lakeside near the crystal city. But she had not told anypony about it, so how could they possibly know?

Not wanting to just come out and admit it, Twilight composed herself as fast as possible and, like her friends a few moments ago, tried in vain to pretend like she didn’t know what they were talking about.

"I.......don't know what you mean."

The others raised their eyebrows at her. As a liar, Twilight was almost as bad as Applejack, and it was clear from the look on their faces that they weren't buying it. Rarity continued.

"My dear Twilight, give us some credit. Equestria's newest princess, spending time outside the Empire's capital with a stallion when they think nopony's looking? Half of Equestria probably knows by now. In case it slipped your notice, personal lives of royalty are hot gossip topics."

That thought made the colour practically drain from Twilight's face, not only because it was now clear that her friends knew all about Flash, but that such knowledge was also potentially known to others. The idea of her private life being the subject of debate by complete strangers was not something she enjoyed thinking about. But, as it seems there was no turning back at this point. Relenting, Twilight sighed heavily before hanging her head and nodding at her friends.

"Alright. I admit it. Flash and I did spend the day together."

Looking up, she saw her friends give each other looks that reminded her of a group of children who'd just been told that they'd get exactly what they wanted for hearth's warming eve. Rarity then looked over to her again, still smiling.

"So when we asked you if you had a crush on him before, you just weren't willing to admit it?"

Twilight shook her head. When she had returned from the world of humans, her friends had asked her outright if she had a thing for Flash, who had bumped into her shortly afterwards. She'd denied it at the time, and it was true she bore no feelings for him at that moment. But, after the time they'd spent together, she was no longer as sure as she was.

"No, I meant what I said back then. It's just that things.......changed."

Her friends' expressions changed to one of concern. They could tell at a glance that Twilight was deep in thought over the matter and didn’t want to push any further than they were welcome to. Fluttershy though spoke up, in her typically hushed voice.

"So......what happened?"

If she was being honest, Twilight didn't really want to get into her reasons for doing what she did with Flash. Her experiences in the human world, spending time with Flash's human counterpart, and all the rest were things she was less than eager to share, even with ponies as close to her as these . How would they react? Looking at each of them, she knew deep down that they wouldn't give up on this, not until they understood what was going on. And so, reluctantly, she began to explain why she had decided to approach Flash.

It took a while, but she'd finally laid out to her friends everything that had happened, including her decision to accept Flash's offer to spend the day with him. The group looked unsure, and Twilight could not blame them. She herself had struggled with the decision, still not knowing if her being with him was out of affection for Flash himself, or simply what she felt for his counterpart. Unexpectedly, Rainbow Dash was the first to come forward with her response to all this.

"So......do you like the guy? I mean, how did things go with him back at the Empire?"

It was a fair question. And thinking back on it, it was also a question easy to answer. They day with him by the lake had been, by-and-large, a pleasant one. They hadn't kissed or anything, just spent the whole time talking. About where they grew up, Twilight's studies under Celestia, Flash's guard training, their respective friends, and all manner of other things. The two of them had seemed equally as interested in what they had to say to each other and, overall, she'd actually liked being with him. And so, a smile on her face, she answered Rainbow's question.

"Yes Rainbow. I do like him."

The group all smiled at that, with Rainbow shrugging her shoulders after getting her answer.

"Then I don't see a problem."

Twilight shook her head. Leave it to Rainbow to see things so simply. Looking at her friends, she could tell that they were okay with all of this. And she was happy about that. The last thing she wanted was for those ponies closest to her to have a problem with the stallion she'd chosen to spend her time with. The moment was somewhat spoiled however as Pinkie suddenly bounced up right next to her and spoke with a rather coy look on her face.

"Sooooooo, what did you two get up to? Anything juicy?"

The redness came back to Twilight's face as she took in what Pinkie had just asked her. All of her other friends were looking at her just as expectantly as she was. They were probably expecting some story of passion and romance, which was not something Twilight was wanting at this early stage. Her mind practically shivered when she considered what kinds of things her friends might be thinking she and Flash go up to back then. She nervously shook her hooves at them.

"No no! Nothing like that! We just.......talked. I swear!"

After a few moments of staring at her, Pinkie's ears drooped, clearly disappointed.

"Aw! That's too bad! I was hoping for more than that. Oh well."

She shrugged and went back to eating her food, much to Twilight's relief. She had no problem with her friends being curious about this, but that kind of delving for the goings on between her and her new "companion" was something else altogether. Still, she smiled when she realised that her friends were probably not going to push too hard for info even if they had done more than talk. But that smile faded a little after Applejack began to speak.

"Er, Twilight? I hate to bring things down, but he's stationed up in the Empire and you're down here in the south most days. Isn't you and him together going to be difficult?"

Twilight nodded. It was something she'd spent quite some time thinking about. Long-distance relationship were things she'd often heard being difficult to pull off. Plus, his duties as a guard would mean he'd be very busy, as would she now that she was a princess. But, as she'd told Flash before, if her brother and a princess could get together, then so could the two of them. Looking up at Applejack, she shook her head whilst smiling, giving her friend her answer. Applejack seemed to accept that well enough and nodded back in response.

But then Fluttershy, as quiet as ever, spoke up again.

"So, you and he, do you think it's....you know.....the "L" word?"

That question got the attention of all of them, even Pinkie, who had spent much of the conversation eating all the cakes of the picnic when she thought nopony could see her. Twilight considered that question carefully. Fluttershy had obviously meant whether or not there was any real love between the two of them. And that, perhaps, was the hardest question to answer. She herself had never been in love before, and neither had Flash. So she probably wouldn't know what it felt like if it did happen to her. But in all honesty, what they had right now probably wasn't love.

There was an affection between them certainly. And they did enjoy being in each others' company. But even Twilight, who had never been in love, could tell the difference between affection and real love. Could love actually be born between them? Could they stay together long enough for it to happen? She did not have the answers to those questions. But there was one thing she did know, and she made sure to tell her friends exactly what was on her mind in that regard.

"I don't know if it is love Fluttershy. But I'm more than willing to wait for it."

The group all looked at each other with smiled again. It was an answer that they'd clearly wanted to hear, and things seemed to quiet down after that. The topics they discussed moved away from Twilight's love life, for which she was grateful, and towards other things, like the Cutie Mark Crusaders latest failed attempts to earn their cutie marks, or some new animal that Fluttershy had taken into her care. The day had passed them by without incident, and as planned, they enjoyed this time they spent together.

But as their picnic drew to a close, a thought came to Pinkie Pie. A question for Twilight that she needed to ask.

"Twilight? Flash is a guard, right?"

Twilight looked up at her friend and nodded. Pinkie looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking up again.

"So........what does your brother think about one of his guards dating his little sister?"

And just like that, the colour left Twilight's face again. The group, having suddenly been hit with what Pinkie had just suggested, all gave each other worried looks. Without exchanging a word, all five of Twilight's friends simultaneously closed their eyes and bowed their heads as their alicorn friend remained still. As sombre as they were all pretending to be, they had a hard time keeping themselves from giggling as Rarity spoke.

"May Celestia have mercy on that poor boy's soul."