Flashlight

For as long as she could remember, Twilight had always considered herself an honest person. True, others, like her friends Applejack, may have been famous for such a trait, but it was always something she'd prided herself on, that whatever problems she had, she could be open about them to others. Never once had she come across a time when the prospect of being truthful was something to be fearful of. And yet, despite that, here was such a time.

She was walking along a pathway in the middle of a beautiful expanse of green grass and tress. It was the city park of Canterlot. This place held fond memories for her, like when she was growing up. She and her brother, Shining, would spend their weekends here playing with each other. She was happy to be here, and happier still to be with her colt-friend. And speaking of which, she turned to her left to see him, Flash Sentry, walking along side her. He was busy taking in the sights. According to him, when he was growing up in Canterlot, he too would spend a great deal of time here, so coming back must have been a good time for him.

She almost felt guilty then, as she would be revealing to him something that she had been advised by Celestia to do. Her expression changed from one of comfort, to worry, as she turned away from him. This was not something she wanted to do, but like Celestia had told her, a secret this big would only destroy what they had if it was kept. Through the corner of her eye, she could see Flash turn towards her. He must have seen the look on her face, as evidenced when he spoke up.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

The young princess faced him again, forcing a smile.

"Of course! The sun is shining, the park is beautiful, and I'm with you. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

From the raised eyebrow he gave her, it was clear that he wasn't buying it.

"Twilight, I've known you long enough to know when something is wrong. If there's something bothering you, you know you can tell me, right?"

On any other day, she would greatly appreciate that Flash was being this understanding. Today however, it just made her feel worse about herself that she'd been keeping secrets from him. Still, he was no fool, and he'd already figured out that something important was on her mind. But she also knew that this sort of discussion wasn't suitable for just them standing in the middle of a path like this. Looking around, Twilight spotted a nearby bench and pointed to it. Flash caught sight of it soon afterwards and nodded to her, understanding. The two made their way over to it and sat down next to each other. They faced each other and Twilight took a deep breath before speaking.

"Flash.......we need to talk."

Immediately, Flash's expression became more nervous, and Twilight couldn't blame him for it. Nopony, mare or stallion, could hear the words "we need to talk" and think it was anything good. Still, his look of worry quickly changed into a more mellow expression as he sighed and replied to her.

"Okay. What about?" He asked.

Twilight looked away from him and towards the ground.

"Do you remember what I was doing in the Crystal Empire before we met? What I told you I had done?"

Flash considered that for a moment before nodding.

"Sure. A thief had taken your crown into that magic mirror and you followed. You wound up in the world of humans, met that other Flash guy, found the crown and then came back."

Twilight nodded. He still knew only what he'd been told it seemed. And it did not escape Twilight's notice how sour his tone of voice had become when he mentioned the human version of him. Perhaps there was some small part of him that was, perhaps, a little jealous of what was essentially himself, having somewhat earned Twilight's affections prior to him. But from what she could tell, given their time together, Flash had learned to put such feelings behind him, for which she was grateful. Still, the time had come to let him know the one truth that was missing from his understanding of the event.

"Yes. But the thing is......I never told you who the thief was."

Flash frowned a little before answering.

"You never needed to. From what I hear they can't come back anymore. And besides, I don't know them."

Twilight felt a knot grow in her stomach, before turning to face Flash with a worried look. She shook her head as she spoke.

"Flash. You DO know."

Flash tilted his head in confusion, staying silent, no doubt waiting for Twilight to explain what she meant by that. Taking a deep breath, she finally said it.

"The thief.......was Sunset Shimmer."

There was a pause when she said that, a moment when Flash simply looked at her, not quite understanding what had just been said to him. But as time passed, it began to sink in for him, and his face changed to a look of shock. Twilight's ears drooped as she saw him like this. She knew he'd be surprised by the news, but it seemed as though he was having a far harder time accepting it than she'd expected. The stallion looked away from her, trying his best to take in what he'd been told. Eventually, after an unbearable silence, he finally spoke.

"Tell me everything."

That was not what Twilight had expected. But in truth, she understood Flash's position. He needed to know more, and she was more than willing to explain. And so she did, spending a great length of time telling him every detail of what happened, from when Sunset had broken into her room and stole the crown, to giving chase, to all the things she'd done in the human world. And finally, she told him that Sunset was still there, and would probably never be coming back. That last bit of news took him aback, and his eyes bore a look that Twilight believed to be sadness.

Flash meanwhile remained silent, listening very carefully to everything Twilight was telling him. In a strange way, Twilight almost wanted him to be angry about all this. It would be something she'd at least understand. But the silence? This was not what she wanted. Eventually though, Flash sighed again before speaking.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

He turned, looking her right in the eye. She felt ashamed, realising that this was something she should have told him from the start. But now that she'd spoken the truth, she knew she had to continue, and so told him exactly what was on her mind.

"I thought......I thought you'd be angry. I returned, and she didn't. I was worried that, maybe, you really did care for her, even a little. I've never had somepony like you in my life before Flash. I didn't want to lose you."

Flash's eyes widened, surprised at hearing that. It took him a moment to process Twilight's answer, but soon grasped what she was talking about.

"You thought I'd leave you over this?"

Twilight said nothing, merely nodding her head a little. There was silence between them once more. But that silence was broken by, of all things, a chuckle. Twilight looked at Flash, confused over why he'd react that way. And upon seeing the confused look on her face, Flash explained.

"Twilight. What I told you before was true. Sunset and I were never as close as you and I are. And from what you've told me, what happened in that other world wasn't your fault. It was hers. Her actions led to her being there, not you."

He then raised a hoof and gently placed it upon her shoulder.

"Trust me. You have nothing to worry about."

In spite of everything that had happened, Twilight smiled. It was as though a great weight had been lifted from her. Seeing Flash take this information and not be angry over it was a great relief to her. Raising her own hoof, she placed it over his and exhaled deeply.

"Flash......you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I was worried you might be upset, if only because Sunset was never coming back."

Flash's smile faded a little and he looked away, looking as though he were deep in thought. It was not an unhappy look, but Twilight could tell that he was considering that fact very carefully.

"In truth.....I am a little sad about that."

Twilight's ears drooped when she heard that, but she kept on listening as Flash spoke.

"When we were together, I was very young. Being my first filly-friend, Sunset was a mare I thought I cared for a great deal. In truth I think I cared for her more than she did for me."

His expression became more sad as he looked towards the ground.

"They way she spoke to me, and the way she'd mention me to others, made me realise that she only saw me as something to brag about. Something to make her friends jealous of her."

That much Twilight already knew. Celestia had told her that Sunset would boast to her friends about having a colt-friend. She understood how difficult it must have been to realise that about somepony you cared for. Still, she kept on listening.

"When I realised that, we broke apart. Though even after that, some part of me cared for her. And though I now know we'll never see each other again, I can at least take solace that she'll be able to find some sort of happiness in that other world."

Twilight gave a small smile at that. It was clear that the breakup had been hard on him at the time, but also clear that he'd managed to get over it. Silently, Twilight berated herself for acting as worried as she did. In all the time she'd known him, Flash had never seemed like the kind of stallion to get angry or upset over what she feared he would. Now that he was reacting so reasonably, it made her feel silly behaving the way she'd been doing. Looking up, she saw Flash turn his head in her direction.

"But you don't need to fear losing me Twilight. Even though I've been with you for a shorter time than Sunset, I know that I'm far happier with you."

Twilight blushed a little and smiled at that.

"Sunset and I never had anything in common. We never had any close moments. And I never loved her like I do you."

Upon hearing that, Twilight's face went completely blank. It was as though the entire world suddenly stopped making sense. She couldn't grasp what he'd just said to her. She must have mis-heard it. That was the only explanation. But she knew she didn't. Flash had truly said what she thought he did. The stallion looked at her in confusion as her face remained expressionless, to the point where he was starting to become concerned about her. After a silence of many minutes, Twilight finally spoke, though it was merely a whisper.

"What......what did you say?"

Flash thought for a moment what she was talking about, but then it soon sank in for him what she meant. Realising exactly what he'd just said to her, his face grew into a bright shade of red. His eyes darted about all over the place, clearly displaying a great deal of nervousness on his part. His mouth was open, but all that came out were fumbled words.

"I........I mean I........what I said was..........I.......I think I...........love........you."

Twilight's mouth began to hang open. She still couldn't believe the words that had come out of Flash's mouth, and neither could he. But eventually, his eyes stopped darting, and they focused entirely on Twilight. His expression changed from the one of near-embarrassment it had been moments before, to one of seriousness and determination.

"I.........love you."

After that, a smile grew on his face.

"I love you, Twilight."

This was a dream, Twilight told herself. It had to be. It was not that this was something she didn't want, far from it. But the sheer weight of what she'd just learned hit her with the force of a brick wall. Her mind simply couldn't let this revelation sink in for her. So she, rather embarrassingly, simply sat there on the bench with her mouth continuing to hang open. Flash, having just bared his soul out to this mare, waited for her to say something. Anything. But no words came. As the moments passed by, he grew increasingly worried. His heart began to become griped by the same fear that Twilight had been plagued with mere minutes ago. A fear that, maybe, he might lose her over this.

"Twilight, I.........I'm sorry. If you don't feel the same way, then I'm sorry. I just......."

But he wasn't able to finish his sentence. Because, to his utter shock, Twilight leapt forward and wrapped her two front legs around his neck, before planting her lips upon his. To say that he was surprised about this would be an understatement to say the least. But it didn't take long for that feeling to mellow out. Soon enough, he closed his eyes and placed his own forelegs around Twilight. Both of them felt unlike anything they'd felt before. The warmth of each other, the softness of their lips, was beyond what either of them had ever hoped this moment would be.

Neither of them had any doubt that this moment was probably being watched by several passers by in the park. But it they didn't care. They were just so happy with this one moment that they just lost themselves in it. After what seemed like the longest time, they soon broke apart from one another, their forelegs still wrapped around each other in a sort of hug. Both of them had fierce blushes in their cheeks, and they were grinning massively, and it was at this moment that Twilight finally said something.

"I love you too."

If it was possible, Flash's smile grew even wider, which Twilight returned. Both of them felt happier than they had ever been, and all the fears and anxieties they'd been feeling about this relationship were suddenly swept aide as though they were nothing. Closing their eyes, they leaned their heads forward until their foreheads were gently pressed against each other. They wanted this moment, this joy, to last forever. But like so many things in this world, it did not, and Twilight spoke once more.

"You're going back tomorrow......aren't you?"

Flash opened his eyes and saw her, her eyes tinted with sadness. He said nothing, merely nodding in response. Twilight nodded back, accepting his answer. Truth be told, Flash was only this far from the Crystal Empire because he'd been granted a leave of absence from his guard duties. But it was only for a few days, and he'd chosen to spend almost every moment of that with Twilight, for which she was grateful. But this was his last free day until he had to return. It was strange to Twilight to think of that. She'd spent most of her life without a relationship like this, and now that she had one, she couldn't imagine a day without him.

But she knew he'd have to go back. He had responsibilities to uphold, and if there was one thing Twilight valued, it was a pony fulfilling such responsibilities. The two stared at each other, sadness in both of their eyes. But after some time, Flash cracked a smile.

"I may be gone soon. But I'll still be yours. I'll be sure to write to you every day. And the next time I have a day free, I'll be right back here, with you, as though I'd never even left."

Twilight smiled at that. She had no inkling as to how such distance between them would affect what they now had with each other. An affection they'd never known. But what she wanted more than anything was to believe it would last, that their separation would make hearts grow fonder and they would continue to love each other. She did not know if that would be the case, but she elected to simply hope it could be so. So she simply nodded at his words, leading to another smile from him.

The two let go of each other finally and moved so that Twilight was now leaning against him. As they looked ahead, they saw that the sun was beginning to set. This would be their last day together for some time. And even though it had started with fears and worries, it had ended far more joyous than either had ever thought it could. It would be a day they would treasure for as long as they were together. For this was no mere date, as they had experience before.

This was the day they had truly fallen in love.