Royals, Friends and Lovers Chapter 2: Risky Romance

Chapters

1 The Princess and the Guard
2 Enter the Comet Tail
3 All Those Years Ago
4 Race to Disaster
5 Cadance Learns the Truth
6 A Sneaky, Dangerous Plan
7 Operation - Romance
8 Now or Never
9 Love is in Bloom

1 The Princess and the Guard

It was a calm afternoon at the Crystal Empire, an empire within the arctic north of Equestria. With the recent coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle a few weeks ago, extra security was required to insure her safety at the empire, so more guards were transferred here.

Among these guards was a light orange Pegasus named Flash Sentry; he had a two-tone blue mane and tail, bright blue eyes, and a two-tone sapphire blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt for a cutie mark. He was very eager to have been chosen to come to the Crystal Empire.

"It's great to have a change of scenery every now and then," he said to himself.

Upon arrival to the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance informed him that Twilight was coming for her first summit. Cadance was light pink with a purple, rose and white mane and tail, her wings were tinted purple at the tips, had purple eyes, and her cutie mark was a teal crystal heart within gold lace. Her full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but she prefers Cadance for short.

"Princess Twilight?" Flash asked. "The newest princess?"

"Shining Armor would normally be here too," said Cadance, "but he's busy training some more new members."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"So is he," said Cadance, "he was really looking forward to seeing his sister."

Flash felt a bit nervous inside; this was his first time meeting with Twilight Sparkle and he wanted to make a good impression.

"I hope I don't do anything silly and cause her to make fun of me," he said to himself.

Later that evening, it was time for Princess Twilight's arrival. At the throne room of the Crystal Empire, Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stood in place with Flash Sentry next to them. There were three Crystal Empire guards on either side of the carpet, and all six blew horn fanfares to signal Twilight's arrival the moment the doors opened.

Twilight walked down the alley towards the three older princesses, Spike and the rest of the Mane Six behind her. The light purple alicorn looked around curiously, but didn't watch where she was going and bumped straight into Flash! Both looked at one another in surprise, but quickly shrugged it off.

"Her Highness," declared Flash, "Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

Princess Cadance giggled as she and the Royal Sisters walked towards Twilight.

"Twilight!" said Cadance happily, hugging her sister-in-law, "I haven't seen you since the coronation."

"We have so much to discuss," said Princess Celestia, "but it can wait until tomorrow. You all look tired from your journey. Now, off to bed, all of you."

Earlier, Twilight, Spike and their friends had arrived at the Crystal Empire on a train from Ponyville, and evening was starting to fall.

There was excited chatter as Spike and the six mares walked away to their rooms. (Twilight and Spike shared a room together.) Shortly after, the three elder Princesses left as well. Now the seven guards stood alone in the halls. Flash looked towards the doors.

"Hmm," he thought out loud to nopony in particular, "now where have I met Princess Twilight before?"

"You hear him, boys?" asked a guard.

"What's with Sentry here?" asked another.

"I think the new guy Flash Sentry's got a crush on the Princess!" remarked the first guard, and he and he other five Crystal Empire guards broke into laughter. Flash felt his cheeks go hot. He barely even knew Twilight, and already the guards were teasing him about it.

"No I don't," he protested in his defense, "I don't even know her…"

"Course ya don't, lover boy," teased a third guard, "are you gonna be her Prince Charming now?"

"Better make it Prince Flashy," joked the second guard, and they broke into laughter again.

Flash just said nothing and rolled his eyes. Boys…

About three days passed; a former student of Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer, had stolen Twilight's Element and took it through the Crystal Mirror, a gateway that opened once every thirty moons, into another world through a house statue in front of Canterlot High. On the third day, when the moon reaches the peak of the night sky, the portal would close, not to open again for another thirty moons.

Fortunately, Twilight and Spike (who decided to join her) had retrieved her Element safely after she won the title for Princess of the Fall Formal, and they made it back to Equestria just before the portal closed, with confidence boosted about her title as a Princess.

Flash Sentry stood in place in front of a door, minding his own business. He could barely hear Twilight's friends bombarding her with many questions about the other world.

"I wanna tell you all everything," sighed Twilight in exhaustion, "I do, but I'm just so exhausted from all the dancing."

"Dancing?!" Cadance, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity all asked in confusion.

Once again, Twilight wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped straight into Flash!

"Oh!"

Twilight fell to the floor on her rear end, and then looked up to see Flash smiling kindly at her. She blushed bright pink as he helped her back on her hooves.

"We've got to stop bumping into each other like this," Flash chuckled, before walking off, passing Spike and the other six mares, who all watched as he went about his duties.

"Who was that?" asked Twilight.

"He's a new member of the castle guard," Cadance explained, "Flash Sentry, I think. Why? Do you know him?"

"Not exactly," Twilight said, turning away, blushing slightly.

As she walked away, Applejack "oohed".

"Somepony's got a crush on the new guy!" she teased.

"No, no, I don't," protested Twilight.

"She does!" gasped Rarity, "She absolutely does!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Twilight scoffed, still trying to hide her blush, "I don't even know him. He just…"

"Totally reminds you of a guy you met in the other world who played guitar, was in a band, and helped prove you didn't destroy all the decorations for a big dance, so you could still run for princess of the big dance, and then asked you to dance at that dance?!" Pinkie gave a big, deep breath before saying, "Right?"

Twilight looked at Spike, before looking back at the pink Earth pony in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"Just a hunch!" Pinkie gave a big, silly grin, and hopped about her merry way.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and placed her hoof over Spike's shoulder, holding him close as she looked up to the ceiling.

Elsewhere, Flash was in his thoughts as well. This was the second time Twilight had bumped into him. When he helped her up, Flash could swear he saw a hint of blush on Twilight's cheeks. Maybe she was embarrassed, or maybe she was tired from dancing, who knew?

"Why do we bump into each other like that?" Flash was saying to himself, "Is this a kinda habit, or is it something else all together…?"

He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and ran right into a door!

"D'oh!" he cried, shaking his head after the impact.

"Watch where you're going, Crash Sentry!" a guard called in a teasing way.

"Couldn't help myself if I was in my thoughts," groaned Flash. He put a hoof to his mouth in shock at what he just said. Darn it, Sentry! Why in Tartarus did you say that?!

"Oh, I see," the other guard joked, "what was in your thick, metal head?"

"Let's just say me and Princess Twilight bumped into each other, so to speak…"

"You really love her, don't ya?"

"I do not," argued Flash, getting annoyed, "we don't even know one another! Okay?"

"Oh, alright, Flashy boy," the other guard conceded. He paused before saying, "is that Princess Twilight Sparkle looking out a window?"

"Where?!"

The other guard broke into hysterical fits of laughter. Flash scowled crossly at him.

"Oh, real mature," he said sarcastically, and sulked off, leaving the other guard to laugh in his spot. Although he tried to hide it, Flash knew the other guard did have a point. Again, he felt his face flush red as an apple.

Oh my Celestia, he thought anxiously, I must be falling in love!

About two weeks later, back in Ponyville, little had changed in Equestria after the Tree of Harmony was rediscovered in the Everfree Forest. Her caper with the old castle of Celestia and Luna had taken its toll on Twilight Sparkle, and she was lying on her bed at Golden Oak Library. She was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed Spike come up to her with a cup of lemon tea.

"Twilight?" the baby dragon asked with concern, "I got your tea ready!"

But the light purple alicorn princess didn't reply, so Spike had to shout to get her attention.

"TWILIGHT!"

"Ah! Oh, yes, I would love to go out with you!"

"On a date?!"

Twilight snapped back to reality, and realized where she was. She turned her attention to a puzzled Spike.

"Oh, sorry, Spike," she said with embarrassment, "was in my thoughts… again." She nervously chuckled, but not without taking the cup from Spike's hands. "Oh, and thanks for the tea, Spike."

"Hey, what are friends for?" her dragon assistant smiled, but then Spike remembered what he was going to say. "But you've been acting strange since we came back from the other world, even when we were at Princess Celestia's and Luna's old castle. Is something wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight looked up after taking a sip from her cup; something was wrong, and she thought how to explain it to Spike, but didn't know how.

"Is it your crush on that Flash Sentry guy?" Spike asked innocently. Twilight's face flushed red the moment the words "crush" and "Flash Sentry" left Spike's mouth.

"You-!" she spluttered, but couldn't finish her sentence.

Spike gave a huge grin. "Aha!" he declared, "You do like him!"

Twilight scoffed. "So what?" she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So what? At least admit your feelings like I did with Rarity… well, kind of." Spike remembered shortly after his birthday that he let his greed get the best of him, causing him to capture Rarity, and to nearly destroy Ponyville, possibly all of Equestria. It was only when Rarity shown the then-grown up Spike the fire ruby he gave her, causing Spike to shrink back to his normal age. As they fell down to earth, Spike was about to tell Rarity his crush on her, but she covered his mouth and smiled happy tears in understanding, as if she knew all along.

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight sighed again, "I barely know Flash from this world, and he barely knows me. I live here in Ponyville, and he lives at the Crystal Empire, like Cadance and Shining Armor."

Then Twilight had a sudden thought; Shining Armor, her older brother, ruled the Crystal Empire alongside Cadance, and Flash was a royal guard, therefore, Shining Armor was more or less his boss.

"Uh, Twilight?" asked Spike, "You okay?"

"Oh, no," exclaimed Twilight, "I'm close to my brother and I've got a crush on Flash! If I end up in love with Flash, Shining Armor might fire him, and if Flash is fired, he may never speak to me or any of our friends again… and it'll be my entire fault!"

Spike didn't even bat an eyelid; he had heard this kind of talk before when Twilight freaked out over not sending a letter to Princess Celestia weekly, afraid of being tardy.

"Twilight, relax," he said, chuckling, "I'm sure your brother will understand. He's your B.B.B.F.F., or Big Brother Best Friend Forever as you call him, right? Maybe if you just started with simple conversations and hangouts with this Flash guy…"

"You're right, Spike! You're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"If I keep my feelings down to a minimum, Shining Armor won't know I'm in love with Flash," Twilight explained, "that way, I could keep a good relationship with him and keep friendship with Flash!"

"Uh, okay…" Spike wasn't so sure about where Twilight was going with her plan, but didn't object to it.

Author's Note

Much of the context is based off pony Flash Sentry's scenes from Equestria Girls, with additional dialogue (as my own interpretation) for what happened after he appears.

2 Enter the Comet Tail

The following Saturday morning, Twilight booked a train to the Crystal Empire. Hopefully, she believed, she'd meet up with Flash and they'd get to know each other a little more.

She opened the door to Golden Oak Library, and jumped in surprise. Her exclamation also took the stallion in front of the door by surprise as well, and he dropped the books he was carrying.

"Oh, Twilight!" cried the stallion, "You gave me quite a scare!"

"Oh, sorry, Vincent!" apologized Twilight, "I didn't know you were at the door!"

"And I thought it was Pinkie Pie who gave surprises," a young filly teased.

"That'll do, Fictionary," Vincent scolded his younger sister, "and Twilight, that's okay, it could happen to anypony. Anyway, we were just returning those we borrowed about magic spells for her to study."

"I've made leaps and bounds since we came to Ponyville," added Fictionary, "I hope Vincent gets me enrolled to Princess Celesta's School for Gifted Unicorns faster than you can say 'Equestria Games'!"

Fictionary was referring to the upcoming Euqestria Games to be held at the Crystal Empire. Not too long ago, her friends Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been selected as flag carriers for the games.

"All right, calm down, sis," chuckled Vincent, rubbing the top of her head.

"Glad to hear it," said Twilight, "anyway, I was off to the train station for the Crystal Empire."

"What for?" asked Fictionary.

"Oh, just to get some fresh air every now and then." But we know why she was headed there, don't we?

"Good enough for us," said Vincent, "just like how we left Liverhoof to open up to a new environment and we hardly left since." By now, he'd just picked up the scattered books when all of a sudden, Vincent felt himself fall off his hooves and hit the ground, scattering his books again.

"Oi! Pay attention to where you're runnin', mate!"

"Who was that?" gasped Fictionary.

The pony in question who crashed into him was a light yellow unicorn stallion with a grayish blue mane and tail with matching grayish blue blues, and his cutie mark was a shooting star.

"Good morning, Princess," the stallion said in a smooth tone, completely ignoring Vincent.

"Oh, hello there, Comet Tail," sighed Twilight, "and for the record, I prefer going by Twilight, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Princess Twilight," Comet Tail grinned cheekily. The light purple alicorn rolled her eyes.

"At least respect my friend's wish, will ya?" Vincent groaned; by now, he had gotten the books stacked up once again.

"Who's that pony with the bizarre accent?" asked Comet Tail.

"That's my big brother Vincent van Colt," said the light blue unicorn filly, "and I'm his little sister Fictionary! We came from Fillydelphia but we lived in Liverhoof for the last few years before moving here."

"How can a unicorn and a Pegasus be siblings?" asked Comet Tail, not understanding, "And how can you live in two places at once?"

"Let's just say our mother was a Pegasus, and our father a unicorn," sighed Vincent, rolling his eyes, "Fictionary and I were born in Fillydelphia, grew up there, and then moved to Liverhoof where we stayed for a few years before coming here to Ponyville. I picked up the accent during my time in Liverhoof."

"Ah, I see," said the light yellow unicorn stallion, "the same place where the Beatrots were born?"

"Yes it is, mate. They're well known for singles and albums such as 'I Wanna Hold Your Hoof', 'Nowhere Mare', 'Day Trotter', 'Pony Road', 'Sgt. Pony's Cutie Mark Club Band', 'Magical History'-"

"You know something, mate?" Comet Tail interrupted, "I've just learned something new about you."

"What would that be?"

"Those glasses you wear – they really make you look like a geek, don't they?!"

Comet Tail laughed at his own wit; Vincent scowled with an irritated look on his face.

"How rude!" exclaimed Fictionary.

"Let me tell you-!" began Vincent.

"Don't bother with him, you two," sighed Twilight, "it isn't even worth it."

"Hey, thanks, girl," said Comet Tail, taking Twilight's hoof in his, "so, d'you wanna watch the stars with me tonight? Y'know, one on one chat?"

Twilight took her hoof back with an indignant look. "I'm sorry, but I'm booked for the day. Perhaps another day…?"

"But I insist!" protested Comet Tail, "You know how much you love memorizing all the constellations in Luna's night sky…"

"She said she was busy!" snapped Vincent with a firm tone in his voice, "Either you stop bothering her or I'll have to use force!"

Vincent and Comet Tail both glared at one another for what seemed like ages.

"Have it your way, van Colt," the unicorn stallion sniffed, and he walked away, knocking over the books Vincent had just stacked.

"What a plonker," Vincent frowned, re-stacking the books for the third time.

"You're telling me," agreed Fictionary, "do you know him, Twilight?"

"I knew him years ago as a filly," Twilight explained, "it was back when I was a student for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns..."

***

This was some weeks after Spike was hatched and after Twilight's successful entrance to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. A young filly Twilight was walking in the courtyard, when she saw a light yellow unicorn colt being picked on.

"You see that loser?" one of the older colts taunted, "Look at him, he can't even defend himself!"

"Where's your mommy, Comet Fail?" another colt sneered.

"Hey!" snapped Twilight, "Leave him alone!"

The bullying colts turned to the light purple filly and scowled.

"Mind your own business," one of them sniffed.

"Yeah, we don't need a little filly like you butting in on stallions like us!" another colt agreed.

"Then how about me?" came a stern voice.

The colts turned around and noticed Princess Celestia. They went from acting tough to cowering in fear at her sudden presence.

"What is the meaning of this?" Princess Celestia demanded.

"Ah, we were just... erm, foolin' around?" one of the tough colts lied.

"No you weren't!" said Twilight, "You were bullying that colt."

"You know that I do not approve of bullying," Princess Celestia said sternly, "you three are in big trouble."

The bullying colts gulped nervously, and they soon followed Princess Celestia inside.

"Thanks for standing up for me," said the colt they had been bullying.

"You're welcome," said Twilight, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, by the way. What's your name?"

"It's Comet Tail," the unicorn colt replied.

"It's nice to meet you," said Twilight, "why were those bullies picking on you?"

"I'm the youngest of seven siblings," explained Comet Tail, "my six older brothers and sisters and father never noticed me. Only my mother did, but she died last year."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Twilight.

"The only real reason I got in here was because my oldest brother Shooting Star is one of Celestia's guards," Comet Tail added.

Just then a large dark yellow unicorn stallion appeared. He had a long, flowing blue mane and tail, purple eyes, and a comet tail for a cutie mark.

"I heard that some colts were giving you a hard time, Comet," he said, "you alright?"

"I am now," said Comet Tail, "oh, and this is..."

"Not now, brother," interrupted Shooting Star, "I've got to head back to work."

With that, he strode away.

"That wasn't very nice," said Twilight.

"Yeah, but that's what older siblings do," Comet Tail shrugged, "you look up to them, but they overlook you completely."

"Not Shining Armor," said Twilight, "he always had time for me."

"Lucky," muttered Comet Tail, "I wish I had a sibling like that..."

"I'd better get going," said Twilight, "it was nice meeting you, Comet Tail." With that, Twilight headed back into the castle.

***

"Wow," said Fictionary, "kinda feel bad for the guy. So what happened afterward?"

"We became friends, even if I wasn't interested back then as I am today," said Twilight, "but then he dropped out for reasons I'm not sure of, and we didn't meet again until the Hearth's Warming Eve play me, Spike and the others put on, and he then moved to Ponyville days before Applejack was to compete in the Equestria Rodeo in Canterlot. He's done the occasional flirt I usually dismiss, but Comet Tail's done it more since hanging around with other stallions, and especially after I became a princess a couple of months ago.

"I just don't know what changed in him," she continued, "he used to be nice and quiet, but all of a sudden, he's become cocky and arrogant."

"It's probably a stallion thing," shrugged Fictionary.

"He'd better watch himself," said Vincent.

"Why's that, big brother?"

"Because if he thinks he's gonna win Twilight by acting the way he is, he's got another thing coming!"

"I just hope he doesn't do something insane," said Fictionary.

"Well," said Twilight, "I'd better be off for Flash Sent-whoops!" She covered her mouth in embarrassment, her face blushing redder than Big Macintosh's fur.

"Flash who?" asked Vincent.

"You're in love with another stallion, are you?" Fictionary asked cheekily.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about," Twilight stuttered.

"Twilight's got a coltfriend! Twilight's got a coltfriend!" Fictionary sang in a cheeky way.

"Oh, real mature," groaned Vincent, rolling his eyes.

"I do not!" objected Twilight, "I barely know Flash."

"Who is this Flash bloke?" asked Vincent.

"He's a new member of the Crystal Empire Royal Guard," explained Twilight. Then she suddenly realized that she had spilled the beans about who she was going to visit.

"Is that why you're heading to the train station?" asked Fictionary innocently.

"...yes," Twilight sighed in defeat. She mentally cursed herself for spilling the beans.

"Why are you acting like it's a big deal?" asked Vincent.

"Well, it's like this," said Twilight, "my big brother Shining Armor is in charge of the Crystal Empire alongside Cadance. So he's Flash Sentry's boss. If Shining would see me and Flash dating, he might be cross."

"Is that a bad thing?" Vincent didn't sound convinced, "I mean, I've heard of employees dating their bosses' daughters, after all."

"I just don't want to risk my B.B.B.F.F. getting mad and Flash getting fired."

"Talk about a lose-lose scenario..." remarked Fictionary, "I'm sorry, but what is a B.B.B.F.F.?"

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever," Twilight explained.

Just then, Spike looked out from the door. "Hey Twilight," he called, "aren't you supposed to be at the train station by now?"

"Oh my!" gasped Twilight. She'd spent so much time speaking with Vincent and Fictionary she lost track of time.

"I've got to go," she said, racing off towards the station.

"Have fun, Twilight," called Fictionary, waving, "but not too much fun with the royal guards!"

"Behave yourself, young filly," said Vincent.

"What?" asked Fictionary innocently.

"Ugh... never mind."

"Well, anyway, love triangles aren't a good thing, are they?" asked Fictionary.

"Why do you bring that up, Fictionary?" asked Spike, picking up the books Vincent had re-stacked yet again.

"If two ponies fight over the same one, then there might be trouble," explained Fictionary.

"We best hope that's not the case," said Vincent, "otherwise, he'll have me to talk to!"

Spike had brought the books Vincent and Fictionary borrowed back inside Golden Oak Library, and the siblings were on their way once more. Inside, Vincent wanted to help Twilight and Flash, even though he hadn't met the latter for himself yet, but he decided to take the backseat and allow love and nature to run their course.

Twilight had managed to catch her train to the Crystal Empire just in time, and she was now in her coach, mulling over what to say to Flash when they met. The journey lasted many miles, which gave Twilight plenty of time to think.

"Come on, Sparkle," she was saying to herself, "what to say to Flash when I run into him? Er, bump into him, I suppose? 'Hi, Flash, how are you…?' No, that's no good. Ah… 'Have you seen Celestia's sun today…?' Oh, that won't work either! What can I say to him when we meet?!"

Twilight hit her head against the table in frustration. Fortunately, and rather surprisingly, none of the passengers seemed to take notice of the frustrated light purple alicorn princess. Then the announcements came on, causing Twilight to sit up in surprise.

"Attention passengers – the service from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire is now arriving at the station. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform when boarding or departing."

"Ah!" gasped Twilight, "I haven't even thought of what to say-" She then mentally told herself to pull it together. "It's no big deal, Twilight; just keep your cool, and whatever you do – do NOT freak out…!"

Calmly, Twilight got out of the coach onto the station platform. All she had to do was find a light orange Pegasus with a blue mane and tail; how hard could it be?

Unfortunately, as Twilight was yet again not paying attention to where she was going, she bumped – you guessed it – into the stallion she was thinking of. Flash was not wearing his armor, exposing his cutie mark.

"Careful, miss," he said, helping the light purple alicorn back onto her hooves, "why is it we're bumping into each other all of a sudden?"

"Sorry," Twilight giggled nervously, "I was, you know, just in my thoughts."

"So was I," said Flash, brushing himself off, "I'm Flash Sentry, and you're Princess Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"

"Twilight would be fine," replied the light purple alicorn modestly, "even if I'm a princess now, I still prefer going by Twilight, you know."

"I see," said Flash, "so, do you wanna have a walk around the empire? It's my day off."

"Oh, my gosh, what a coincidence!" remarked Twilight, "I was gonna ask you the same thing!"

"I guess great minds think alike," Flash chuckled, "so where do we start?"

Author's Note

The songs and albums Vincent refers to are puns of the Beatles' catalogue:
*I Wanna Hold Your Hoof - I Want to Hold Your Hand
*Nowhere Mare - Nowhere Man
*Day Trotter - Day Tripper
*Pony Road - Abbey Road
*Sgt. Pony's Cutie Mark Club Band - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
*Magical History [Tour] - Magical Mystery Tour (The title was also punned for the season 3 finale, "Magical Mystery Cure"!)

This chapter takes place shortly after "Castle Mane-ia".

3 All Those Years Ago

As they walked around the Crystal Empire, Flash and Twilight were talking about her adventures up to becoming a princess alicorn, and she was telling him about her few days in the human world.

"…so this other Flash Sentry from this other world," said Flash, "he was a very kind sort, wasn't he?"

"He was, a real gentlecolt, and treated me like a princess… no pun intended," replied Twilight, "but Rarity from the other world disapproved since the other Flash was ex-boyfriend – or coltfriend here – to Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight noticed Flash cringe at the name she mentioned.

"Sunset… Shimmer?" he asked with unease.

"Erm, yes. Why?"

"Sunset Shimmer," Flash slowly began, "was my fillyfriend from my youth."

"What did happen between you two? And how did you meet her?"

"It's a bit of a long story," said Flash, "it was years ago as a colt, before I became a royal guard…"

***

A young Flash Sentry lived with his parents in Cloudsdale. His father was a royal guard and wanted Flash to be just like him. The father, Flame Barrier, was a dark orange Pegasus whose cutie mark was a blue shield with a fireball behind it. His eyes were green and his mane and tail were a solid dark sapphire. Flash's mother, Lullaby Strings, was also a Pegasus with light yellow fur, blue eyes, a blue mane and tail with pink stripes, and her cutie mark was a guitar next to a music note.

Flame Barrier wanted Flash to be a Royal Guard just like him.

"It'll be very exciting and put your courage to the test," he would say.

"Yeah, it will," said Flash, but inside, he doubted his father's words.

Lullaby Strings, on the other hoof, disagreed.

"That kind of lifestyle is risky and dangerous," she said, "I don't want my son to end up getting hurt or worse."

The two Pegasi argued and argued until they decided to just divorce. On the day Flash and his father were leaving, his mother had begun to feel rather ill, and it was unfortunate they never knew why...

A few hours later, Flame Barrier and young Flash made their way to Canterlot. After a couple of months, Flame went off to some Royal Duty, but never came back. Unfortunately, he'd carelessly forgotten to ask somepony to look after young Flash, and the Pegasus colt began to fear the worst.

What if mom was right and he was killed in battle? he thought. Flash wondered what had happened and ran off, looking for his father. No matter where he went, he couldn't find the dark orange Pegasus stallion.

"I'll never find him," he said sadly, and then looked around him. He had no idea where he was at all!

"Not only have I lost my dad, but now I've lost myself," he whimpered.

Flash looked up and noticed that it was beginning to rain. Quickly, he ran for the nearest shelter, Canterlot Castle.

"Hopefully I can keep safe and dry here," he said to himself. A pair of guards nearby noticed him alone and sad.

"What're you doing out here in the rain, boy?" one of them asked, "You'll catch a cold!"

"I'm lost and I don't know where my father is," Flash replied.

"Oh my," said the other guard, "we better get you to Princess Celestia immediately!"

The two guards quickly took the freezing colt to Princess Celestia.

Princess Celestia stood at the throne room with a young filly. She was a light amber unicorn with a crimson mane and tail streaked with yellow and had cyan eyes. At this point, she didn't have a cutie mark.

"Sorry to interrupt, your majesty," said one of the guards, "but we found a young colt in the rain, and it seems his father isn't with him."

"Oh dear," said Celestia, "bring him here."

The two guards moved and Flash stepped forwards.

"Y-your Highness," he said, nervously bowing.

"What is your name, young one?" asked Celestia.

"Flash Sentry," the young colt replied, "I can't find my father, Flame Barrier. He's been gone for a long time, and I'm afraid I may never see him again!"

Celestia felt sympathy for the young colt. "I am sorry to hear of your loss, young Flash."

"What can we do for him?" asked one of the guards, "We can't have him grow up without a parent. Surely he has a mother?"

"My mom's in Cloudsdale," said Flash.

"How would you like to stay here in the castle?" Celestia offered. Flash looked at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course," the princess smiled, and then she notioned the filly next to her. "This is Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said, "she is my top student."

While Flash was making himself at home, Princess Celestia sent some of her guards to find Flash's mother. However, by the time they reached Cloudsdale, they couldn't find a light yellow Pegasus mare which matched Flash's depiction of her. They returned with the unhappy news.

"We couldn't find the mare Flash described, your majesty," said one.

"Sh... she's not there...?"

"I'm afraid not," said another, "we're sorry... truly, we are."

Flash lowered his head in sadness. Not only was his father gone, but now his mother was too.

"Whatever shall I do?" he said, on the verge of crying. One of the guards spoke up.

"I could take you under my wing like a foster father," he offered. Flash liked that idea, and so it was arranged for the guard to be his foster father. He also began studying so he could become a Royal Guard too.

During that time, Flash even began to build a friendship with Sunset Shimmer, and before long, it would begin to blossom into something more; however, not every love story has the happy ending...

***

Several years later, Flash and Sunset were teenage ponies, both having obtained their respective cutie marks, Sunset's being a red and yellow shimmering sun. About three weeks ago, she was dropped as Celestia's student as she had become cruel and dishonest over the last several months, and didn't become a princess as quickly as she wanted.

"How could you act this way?" asked Flash angrily, "When we met a few years ago, you were sweet and innocent, and now you've turned into… into… a spiteful mare!"

"It's Celestia's fault I didn't get my dreams quickly as I wanted," growled Sunset, "and she thinks I'm the one who's selfish!"

"She kicked you out for the right reasons, Sunset."

"Well then," she growled, "we're leaving Canterlot."

"No, Sunset, there's no 'we'!"

"What do you mean, there's no 'we'?!" Sunset asked in anger.

"I refuse to help you just to get even with Princess Celestia," said Flash firmly, "it's not the right thing to do!"

"I can't do this alone, you know!"

"Forget it! We're through!"

Sunset stared at Flash, an appalled look on her face, and then scowled before turning on her heel.

"Have it your way, Sentry," she growled, "you're just like her – kind and foolish! One day, you will be sorry!"

Flash just stood in silence, watching his now ex-fillyfriend run off. He'd never had that much anger in him before, and he almost wanted to cry. After a few minutes, he felt something bump into him on the foreleg, and a young female voice cry out in surprise.

Flash looked down to see a young light purple unicorn filly with a dark blue mane and tail with purple and pink streaks, big purple eyes and no cutie mark.

***

"Hang on a second," said Flash, "Twilight… were you that filly who bumped into me after I broke up with Sunset?"

"Oh, yeah, I was," said Twilight, blushing, "must be a small land, Equestria is. It must have slipped my mind."

"What were you doing back then?" asked Flash.

"Well," Twilight began, "I had just gotten prepared for my entrance exam into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and I was so eager that I got lost from my parents."

"How'd that happen?"

"Well… let's say I got a little distracted by a stowaway balloon and wanted to catch it. As you can guess, it did have consequences…"

***

Little Twilight had finally caught the balloon, but by now, she realized that her parents weren't around.

"Mommy?! Daddy!" she cried, "Where are you?!"

Twilight ran fast as her little legs could carry her. She didn't notice where she was going and ran into a light orange teenage Pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail with lighter streaks, matching blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a two-tone sapphire blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt.

The teenage stallion looked down at Twilight with surprise and confusion.

"Are you alright, kid?" he asked, lending a hoof to help her back on her hooves.

"I think so," said Twilight, sadness clear in her voice.

"What's the matter?" asked the teenage Pegasus, "Are you lost?"

Twilight gave a sad nod. "I'm on my way to try out for Princess Celestia's School of Talented Unicorns, but I got distracted and I can't find my parents!"

She fell to the ground and began to cry. The teenage Pegasus felt upset seeing a filly cry, so he gave her a comforting hug, helping to wipe her tears out of her eyes.

"Do you feel better?" he asked gently.

"I do, a little," sniffed Twilight, "I'm Twilight."

"I'm Flash," said the teenage Pegasus, "you know, Twilight, I think it'd be easy to find your parents if we were in the air."

"In the air?!" gasped Twilight in shock, "I-I-I've never been in the air before!"

"Why not?" asked Flash.

"I get a little jumpy," Twilight admitted sheepishly.

"Don't be afraid," said Flash, "you can ride on my back or I can hold you, whichever is good for you. Either way, I'm helping you find your parents."

Twilight thought about it for a moment or two, and without thinking twice, she jumped onto Flash's back.

"What are we waiting for?!" she cried excitedly, "Let's fly! Or rather, you're the one flying and I'm riding…"

In a flash, the teenage Pegasus flew into the sky, Twilight clinging onto his back.

"I should tell you what my parents look like," said Twilight, "my mommy is light gray with a purple and gray mane, three purple stars for her cutie mark."

"Right," said Flash, "and is she…?"

"Unicorn? Yes. She should be with my daddy, who's grayish blue with a dark blue mane and two crescent moons for a cutie mark."

Flash and Twilight looked all around Canterlot in the skies; then...

"Is that my mommy and daddy?!" Twilight pointed down to earth, and she and Flash could see Twilight's parents – the exact description she gave them – talking to a mare.

"If you've seen our daughter," said Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet, "oh please let us know!"

"I've found her, Missus!"

The three adult ponies looked up, and saw Flash landing down with Twilight on his back. The little unicorn filly got off and ran to her parents excitedly.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Twilight's parents were so overwhelmed with joy that they hugged their daughter tightly.

"Oh, thank Celestia you're okay, sweetie!" said her mother.

"Don't you run off like that again," her father, Night Light, said sternly, "you nearly gave your mother a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry, daddy," said Twilight sadly, "I'd have been stuck if it wasn't for Flash."

The two parents looked at Flash, who gulped nervously; how would they have reacted to a stranger helping their daughter?

To his surprise, they were smiling!

"Thank you, young Flash," said Twilight Velvet, "if it wasn't for you, goodness knows what would've happened to our daughter!"

"Oh, it was nothing, Mrs… ah, what's your last name?"

"Sparkle."

"Mrs. Sparkle," finished Flash, "just couldn't leave a filly by her own, could I?"

Twilight walked over to Flash, asked him to lean down towards her, and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush red as an apple.

"This is my thanks from you," smiled Twilight, "you're my hero."

"Ah, th-thanks," said Flash shyly. Twilight then walked off with her parents to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, leaving the teenage Pegasus standing there, blushing.

***

"…and when it came for my entrance exam," continued Twilight, "I must have been so wrapped up in you helping me find my parents that I was unable to hatch the egg Spike was in. That was when all of a sudden, as if by coincidence, it was a young Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom that hatched Spike, caused me to lose control of my magic until Princess Celestia intervened, and obtain my cutie mark!"

"A sonic rainboom?" asked Flash, and then quickly realized. "I think I can remember seeing one of them not long after we found your parents; it was real loud and scary, I thought."

There was a pause before Twilight spoke up again.

"Now that I'm thinking about it," she said, "we met the same day you and Sunset broke up, the day Spike hatched, and the day me and my friends all got our cutie marks! How often does that happen?"

"Must be destiny, I suppose," Flash shrugged, "or pure coincidence. So what did happen after you passed your entrance exam?"

"Princess Celestia made me her own personal protégé at the school not long after I passed," said Twilight, "and since then, I've been studying magic, and eventually friendship, right up to my coronation. Even so, my friends and I still learn more about friendship every day.

"When I told my older brother, Shining Armor, about how you helped me, he said, 'I'm glad you're okay, Twily, and although I'm not fond of strangers, I'd like to meet this Flash pony and thank him for what he's done.'"

"Hold on," Flash interrupted, "did you say Shining Armor?"

"Yes, I did," said Twilight, "why?"

"Oh, nothing," said Flash, a little hastily, "I was just asking, is all."

"Oh, okay," said Twilight, understanding, "I guess he probably forgotten about it and assumed you were another random pony named 'Flash'. Must be a common name in Equestria."

"I guess so," Flash chuckled, and then he went silent. Oh, jeez, he thought, Shining Armor's my boss and Twilight's brother. What's he gonna think if he finds out one of his soldiers is dating his sister?! No, come on, Flash – pull yourself together!

"Oh, my gosh, does time fly?!" exclaimed Flash, "Well, it was nice finding out more about one another, and hope to see you soon!" And he quickly flew off.

"Wouldn't you like to visit me sometime in Ponyville?!" called Twilight, but she got no reply. "I guess it's a 'maybe', then!"

Twilight was a little disappointed, but nonetheless glad she at least got to speak with Flash in pony. As she walked back to the station to catch the next train to Ponyville, Twilight thought something was up, but couldn't put her hoof on it…

Author's Note

The chapter title is a reference to the George Harrison song of the same name.

The flashbacks of Twilight, Flash and Sunset Shimmer take place shortly before Twilight got her cutie mark in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles". I know, time syncing isn't my strongest ally, I admit, but I promise to write a story about Sunset Shimmer's past!

Flash and Sunset's break-up is a hint towards "Equestria Girls"; my thinking behind it was "if human Flash broke up with Sunset Shimmer, maybe pony Flash did the same thing?" I wish to emphasize that this is a Twilight/Flash story, not a Sunset/Flash story. I do not hate Sunset/Flash, I'm more neutral towards it, okay?

4 Race to Disaster

Back in Ponyville, Comet Tail was still sulking about being rejected by Twilight.

"It's not fair," he complained, "I would've gotten my one chance to be with Twilight, but then that Vincent, Vernon or whatever-his-name-is, and his silly little sister; they had to go and tell me off! The nerve of it all!"

"Oh, what are you moaning about now?" said a voice.

Comet Tail sighed and turned to face the light amber Earth stallion who asked him the question. He had a light brown mane and tail, moderate blue eyes, and three blue horseshoes for his cutie mark; his name is Caramel, a next-door neighbor to Rarity and Sweetie Belle, and a friend of the Apple family.

With Caramel were two other stallions – one of them was a dark gray Pegasus with a light cyan gray mane and tail with lighter streaks, light gold eyes, and his cutie mark was a lightning bolt from a cloud; his name is Thunderlane, a student at Wonderbolts Academy alongside Rainbow Dash. The other was a grayish amber Earth pony with a dark amber mane and tail, light grayish-blue eyes, and his cutie mark was an hourglass; his name is Time Turner, often nicknamed "Dr. Hooves," but he goes by either name.

"I guess Twilight's turned him down… again," Time Turner suggested in a moderate Scolttish accent.

"Yeah, how do you even know of this, Doc?" snapped Comet Tail.

"What Time Turner's trying to say is," said Thunderlane, "you've been getting obsessed over Twilight since she was coronated as a princess."

"So?" Comet Tail scoffed indignantly, "I think she's pretty. How can a princess like her reject someone cool like myself?"

"You sound like Rainbow Dash when she shows off," chuckled Thunderlane.

"I heard that! But at least I admit my feelings to a filly unlike somepony…" He gave a "knowing" glare at Caramel, causing his face to flush red as an apple.

"Hey, at least I don't show off in front of Applejack!" the light amber stallion retorted.

"All right, you two," said Time Turner, standing in between them, "now I presume you're planning to think of a way to impress her, right, Comet Tail?"

"You wait and see!" said Comet Tail, "Twilight will be my fillyfriend in no time!"

"Uh, yeah, good luck with that," said Thunderlane sarcastically, but Comet Tail didn't take much notice.

"You'll see, boys," the light yellow unicorn muttered to himself, "you'll see…"

Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane Six were having a chat when they noticed Twilight was missing.

"Has anypony seen Twilight at all today?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm afraid not," said Fluttershy.

"Not since yesterday afternoon," said Applejack.

"I hope that nothing bad has happened to her," said Rarity.

"Maybe she's throwing a super special party for us!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

At that moment, Vincent was walking by.

"Yo, Vincent," called Rainbow Dash, "have you seen Twilight?"

"Yes, Rainbow," said Vincent, "Fictionary and I saw her this morning. Why?"

"We haven't seen her all day," said Fluttershy.

"Is this a problem, Fluttershy?"

"Well, we're worried that something bad might have happened."

"She said she was going to the Crystal Empire," explained Vincent, "apparently to meet with some bloke I don't even know, Flash Sentry."

"Flash Sentry?" asked Applejack, "Now does that name sound familiar, girls?"

"I think that was that one guard Twilight met before going through that mirror," said Fluttershy.

"And after she and Spike returned," Rarity put in.

"She acted like she had a crush on him," said Rainbow Dash.

"Just like you and one of the Wonderbolts," Vincent teased, "what was his name again, Soarin?"

Rainbow Dash's cheeks turned bright red and her wings extended.

"You-!" she spluttered indignantly, "I don't-! How-?! Ohhh!" She gave a flustered groan; this made the others laugh.

Suddenly, at that moment, who should sneak his way in but Comet Tail.

"What's this I hear about Princess Twilight falling in love with a stallion that isn't me?" he asked.

"Ugh, not that irritating bugger again," muttered Vincent.

"What do ya want, Comet Tail?" asked Applejack.

"I am on a quest to win the heart of Princess Twilight," said Comet Tail.

"Uh, yeah, good luck in that," said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

"Are you saying that you doubt me?" asked Comet Tail.

"Yes we are," said Vincent firmly, "what makes you think Twilight would fall for some arrogant fool like you?"

"How dare you call me an arrogant fool!" snapped Comet Tail.

"Oh, and that's coming from somepony who called me a geek!" retorted Vincent.

"Looks like something needs to be settled," said Rainbow Dash, "what do you say about a race, Vincent? If you win, then Comet Tail can leave Twilight alone."

"But what if I win?" asked Comet Tail.

"Doesn't really matter," said Rainbow Dash, "so, interested or not?"

"Well..." Vincent began, "if it'll get Comet Tail to leave Twilight alone, then I accept."

"I knew you'd see it my way!" cheered Rainbow Dash.

Later that afternoon, Vincent and Comet Tail stood at the starting line outside Sweet Apple Acres. Both stallions were determined not to let the other one win.

"This shall be a one lap race, boys," said Applejack, "there shall be no tail bitin', no shortcuts, no rammin' one another off course, no greasin' anypony's hooves, no-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but can we get on with it?" demanded Comet Tail.

"Fine," sighed Applejack, and then said quickly, "most importantly, have fun. Ready, set, and go." And with a wave of the flag from Caramel, Vincent and Comet Tail were off! The rest of the Mane Six cheered for Vincent.

Caramel, however, was worried. "I've got a feeling this is only going to lead to trouble…"

Vincent and Comet Tail were racing through Ponyville. Vincent was in front, but Comet Tail began to pass by using his magic to speed up,

"They don't call me Comet Tail for nothing," he grinned.

"Show off," snapped Vincent, "wings, don't fail me now!"

At that moment, Twilight had just left the train station. No sooner had she stepped off the platform, she could see the race.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Twilight! Watch out!" shouted Vincent. The yellow Pegasus stallion came to a stop before crashing into Twilight. Before the light purple alicorn could ask what was going on, Comet Tail saw Twilight ahead but was too late to stop, and crashed into her!

"Aaaahhh!"

"Oh bugger!" cried Vincent, racing off after them, "Hang on, Twilight!"

Comet Tail and Twilight crashed into a nearby Lyra, who was knocked into a nearby Bon Bon. Out of surprise, the beige Earth pony shrieked and crashed into a light grayish-mulberry Earth pony with moderate cerise eyes, mane and tail, and a bunch of grapes and a strawberry for a cutie mark. This was Berry Punch, everypony's idea of a town drunk, holding a bottle of cider. Her bottle flew in the air towards a light bluish-gray Pegasus with a pale blond mane and tail, yellow wall-eyes, and two large bubbles surrounded by five smaller ones for a cutie mark. This was Derpy Hooves, hovering a few feet off the ground and holding onto a muffin.

"Mmm," she said, unaware of what was going on, "muffins."

The bottle conked Derpy in the head, causing her to drop her muffin.

"My muffin!" she cried, and chased after her beloved little muffin.

At that moment, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were walking along planning on how - you guessed it - to obtain their cutie marks.

"Alright y'all," said Apple Bloom, "what are we gonna try today?"

"I got it!" said Scootaloo, "We can obtain our cutie marks by..."

"That muffin?" asked Sweetie Belle, confused.

"No, that wasn't what I was gonna say!" But before Scootaloo could correct herself, ("Stop that muffin!") Derpy came charging in.

"How about we make like a banana and split?" asked Apple Bloom.

So that's what they did. However, as Derpy claimed her muffin once again, Scootaloo was headed straight towards Big Macintosh with a cartload of apples!

"Look out!" cried Apple Bloom.

Big Macintosh could see Scootaloo headed towards him and quickly swerved to the left, a few apples spilling out of his cart, but he didn't see Vincent was now right in front of him!

"Ooohh, get outta mah way!" the large red stallion cried.

Too late, the two stallions crashed into each other, causing more apples to spill. They crashed right into Time Turner, who was at a nearby banana stand. Apples and bananas flew everywhere! It was a terrible mess, but surprisingly, nopony had been seriously injured. What was even more surprising was that Derpy was completely oblivious to the chaos that had just taken place; she flew away with her muffin in her hooves.

"Is everpony okay?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, yes," said Vincent, "other than a few bruises, I'm perfectly okay."

"You're one to talk," grumbled Bon Bon.

Just then, Spike, Thunderlane, Caramel, and the rest of the Mane Six ran up (flew in the case of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Thunderlane) to the scene of splattered apples and bananas and piled up ponies.

"Holy moly!" cried Caramel.

"What happened?" asked Thunderlane.

"Ask Comet Tail," groaned Vincent, "ah, that really hurt..."

Everyone glared at Comet Tail.

"What? What's everypony looking at me for?"

"You crashed into me!" snapped Twilight.

"Nopony told me you were in my way!" retorted Comet Tail.

"You should have watched where you were going!" added Lyra.

"But you didn't because of how busy you were boasting about yourself," Vincent added.

"Boasting?! Ha! You're one to talk, four eyes!"

"I'd rather be four eyes than zero brain," retorted Vincent.

"Are you saying I'm stupid?!"

"Eeyup," added Big Macintosh.

"Well, blame Rainbow Dash," said Comet Tail, "she's the one who suggested the race from the get go."

"I'm right here, you know!" the cyan colored Pegasus shouted.

"Well, it's true," sniffed Comet Tail, "at least I'm not a Wonderbolt lover!"

Rainbow Dash's face went redder than the streaks in her mane, and seethed in anger. "At least I pay attention to where I'm going, Comet Fail!" she snapped back.

Her insult was met with gasps, and some ponies backed a little away.

"Comet Fail?!" the light yellow unicorn said furiously, calmly at first, then getting angrier and angrier, "I hate that name. I hate it, you hear?! Nopony calls me Comet Fail! Especially not some speed-obsessed air-head!"

"Air-head... AIR-HEAD?!"

Rainbow Dash was so furious she wanted to tear Comet Tail a new flank, when Applejack held her back.

"Whoa, there, Nelly! Not in front of the foals!"

"Let me at 'im! LET ME AT 'IM!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, standing between her and Comet Tail, "While it was wrong for Comet Tail to crash into me, you were the one who suggested this race. Now apologize."

The cyan Pegasus could see everypony who'd been involved in the random crashes - bar Derpy - were glaring at her, even Big Macintosh and Scootaloo.

"Alright, I get the picture," she groaned, "by hindsight, I shouldn't have suggested such a race."

"Yeah, no kidding," retorted Vincent, "I could've been killed!"

"A lot of us would've," muttered Bon Bon, rolling her eyes.

"I want my cider!" cried Berry Punch. Everypony just stared awkwardly at her. "...what?"

"Now that Berry's brought it up," said Applejack, "Big Mac, weren't these apples gonna be used to make some cider?"

"Eeyup," replied Big Macintosh, "but now they're ruined, and ya can't make business or quality cider with ruined apples."

"All too well," agreed Applejack, recalling the Flim Flam brothers.

"And I'm covered with Bananas that I could have eaten," grumbled Time Turner, "still, at least they're not pears... can't stand them..."

"Alright, Comet Tail," said Vincent, "since this race didn't have a good conclusion, we'll have to think of something else." He looked around; Comet Tail had gone! While everypony else had been complaining, he had slipped away and nopony noticed.

"Where's he gone?" asked Thunderlane.

"Ooh! Maybe he's making plans to attempt at winning Twilight's heart?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"What?" asked Twilight in confusion, "Why would Comet Tail want to win my heart?"

"I'm not sure," said Pinkie, "maybe it has to do with you and Flash?"

"Pinkie!" Vincent and the rest of the Mane Six shouted.

"Oopsie," said Pinkie.

Before Twilight knew it, the ponies who weren't aware of what was going on crowded around her.

"Who is this Flash pony that's got something to do with you?" asked Thunderlane.

"What does he look like?" asked Berry Punch.

"What are his favorite foods?" asked Derpy, "Is muffins among them?"

"Is he handsome?" asked Lyra.

"What does he do fer a livin'?" asked Apple Bloom.

Twilight brought a hoof to her head as more questions were asked. This was going to take a very long time to answer them all.

"Pinkie..."

"Yes, Vincent?"

"Do you ever not blurt out important things?!"

"Sometimes I just can't help it," Pinkie shrugged.

"Of course you can't," muttered Vincent, rolling his eyes yet again.

"Oh dear," said Fluttershy, "things are starting to get out of hoof."

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, "I just hope things don't get worse."

"Who's gonna clean up this mess?" asked Caramel.

"Guess we all should," said Time Turner.

As they set to work cleaning up the mess, a mysterious stallion wearing a cloak and hat watched them.

"He won't get away with what he's doing," he said quietly to himself, "he shall not harm Twilight and her friends, not while I'm around..."

Author's Note

One of Comet Tail's lines references Back to the Future Part 3.

Something there for the SoarinDash fans! :3

5 Cadance Learns the Truth

About two months had gone by since the race between Comet Tail and Vincent ended in disaster, and things returned to normal in Ponyville at this point. Not long afterward, Ponyville had qualified for the Equestria Games at Rainbow Falls, and the actual event had taken place at the Crystal Empire, with Ponyville narrowly beating Cloudsdale by one medal.

During that time, Comet Tail had been doing what he could to get Twilight to go out with him, but every time, she rejected him, and he got more and more frustrated. One such case was when he was tripped over and fell flat on his face.

"Who the hay just tripped me over?" he grumbled as he stood up on his hooves once again.

Because of Pinkie's outburst about Twilight's crush on Flash Sentry being exposed, Spike and the Mane Six wanted to help their alicorn friend by getting them to fall in love, and most other ponyfolk supported them all the way, except for one other stallion...

"This is just a ludicrous idea," Vincent was saying, "it's completely pointless and it won't make things any better!"

He, Fictionary, Spike and the rest of the Mane Six were at Sugarcube Corner discussing the Twilight and Flash issue.

"Now, yer just complain' fer absolutely no reason at all, Vince," said Applejack, "after all, Ah spend lots o' time with Caramel and Big Macintosh is alright with it, since he and Fluttershy are going out. Why should it make a difference for Twilight and Flash?" The light yellow Pegasus blushed upon hearing Applejack's comment about her and Big Macintosh.

"There's obviously a difference between running a farm and ruling an empire whilst commanding royal guards," said Vincent.

"Why not try and set up a romantic atmosphere?" suggested Pinkie, "We can invite Flash and let him and Twilight have fun together!"

"No, no, no! Absolutely not!" snapped Vincent, shaking his head, "It is simply out of the question; besides, Flash could end up getting the sack if he was shirking his duties. I say we ought to leave them be and allow their feelings to blossom naturally, y'know."

"But what if something were to go wrong?" asked Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy's got a point," said Rainbow Dash, "Comet Tail would try and tear them apart. We're not letting it happen, are we?"

Spike, Fictionary and the other three mares agreed with Rainbow Dash.

"Well, don't count your chickens before they hatched just yet," said Vincent firmly, "Twilight would never approve if she knew you were forcing her and Flash to fall in love in the first place."

"Don't be ridiculous, big brother," said Fictionary, "they're only trying to help her and Flash."

"I'm not being ridiculous!" argued Vincent, "I'm being realistic… and safe!"

"Ah, come on, Vince," said Spike, "what's the worst that could happen?"

"Please don't say that!" groaned Vincent, "But either way, your silly idea isn't going to work."

"It's better than not trying at all, Vincent dear," insisted Rarity.

At Golden Oak Library, Twilight had been feeling bored and lay on the bed for about an hour. Soon, she was walking around anxiously in circles on the floor, deep in thought. Her pet owl, Owlowiscious, sat fast asleep on his perch.

"What can I do?" she thought anxiously, "I'm afraid to tell Shining Armor about my feelings towards Flash; goodness knows how he'll react since everypony in Ponyville's talking about it! Only Vincent understands what I'm going through, but Cadance…"

Then she stopped dead in her tracks, and an idea flew into her head.

"Perhaps I can spend a day with Cadance to soothe my nerves!" Twilight squealed in delight, "What does my calendar say?"

She looked at her calendar and saw that the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum was coming to Ponyville in about two weeks' time.

"Excellent," she told herself, "there's plenty of time to prepare for Cadance's visit… given that she agrees to it, of course." Twilight then set off to make plans.

A few days later, at the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor stood in front of the Crystal Empire royal guards, and that included Flash Sentry.

Shining Armor was a pure white unicorn stallion with sapphire blue hooves, a sapphire blue mane and tail with lighter and darker streaks, light cerulean eyes, and his cutie mark was a pink six-pointed star over a purple shield with three small light blue stars above.

"Right boys," he said, "I shall be giving you lot your usual inspections."

Come on, Flash, the light orange Pegasus thought to himself, pull yourself together! Keep Twilight out of your thoughts, and he won't notice. You're good at keeping a straight, poker face.

Inside, Flash hoped his boss wasn't a mind reader and knew what was happening. Celestia knows how Shining Armor would react!

"Hey you!"

Flash jumped in surprise, and then gulped. Ah, jeez, this is it!

"I don't mean to sound rude, but… yeech! What a pong!" remarked Shining Armor, plugging his nose in disgust. Flash looked and saw he was talking to the guard next to him.

"It's not my fault," the guard sulked, "those guys hid my armor near a nest of skunks, and I didn't have time to find tomato juice!"

The two guards in question were snickering and pointing at one another. They stopped snickering when Shining Armor gave them a glare.

"I shall talk to you two later," he said sternly, and then when he inspected Flash, he gave a nod and moved on to the next guard. Flash breathed a sigh of relief.

That was a close one, he thought gratefully as Shining Armor inspected the next few guards.

"Right, boys, your inspections are complete," the white unicorn stallion declared, "you are all dismissed, except for you two," he said sternly to the two guards who played their tricks on the guard with now-smelly armor. They gulped nervously.

"I'll need a word with you in my office," Shining Armor continued, and he headed off in the direction to his office, the two guards following behind him.

"Now where can I find tomato juice?" asked the guard with smelly armor.

In the throne room, Princess Cadance was reading a letter that she had just received from Twilight. Just then, Shining Armor came in after having a talk with the two cheeky guards. He had punished them into performing kitchen patrol duties for a month.

"What'd you get, Cadance?" he asked.

"It's from Twilight," his wife explained, "she's asking me to spend the day with her at the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum!"

"Oh, I'm glad my little sister wants to spend time with you," Shining Armor smiled, "it has been a while after all."

"Why don't you come as well?" Cadance suggested, "You and Twilight don't spend much time together these days."

"That's true," said Shining Armor, "but an empire doesn't rule itself, you know. Although it might be a little lonely, I admit, but even a Princess needs to broaden her horizons every now and then."

Cadance nodded in understanding, and then kissed her husband's cheek before setting off to write her reply to Twilight. "Dear Twilight..."

Several days later, it was the day the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum was to arrive in Ponyville. Cadance kissed Shining Armor goodbye, and boarded the train with Flash and another guard behind. The light orange Pegasus felt nervous about seeing Twilight again, even if it was for a moment or two. The best plan, he thought, would be to confine in Cadance about his problem. Hopefully, he thought, she would understand, being the princess of love after all.

After the train departed from Canterlot and steamed towards Ponyville, Flash made his move.

"Princess Cadance," said Flash, "pardon me, but could I have a private word with you?"

"Of course, Flash," Cadance smiled, "what was it you wanted to me?"

Flash thought over what he was going to say. "It's got something to do with your sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle," he began.

"You don't have any issues with her, do you?" asked Cadance, slightly concerned, "I mean, with her bumping into you a few times before, and all?"

"No, no problems with her at all, Princess," explained Flash, "it's just… well… I have a crush on Twilight…" He paused to let his confession sink into Cadance's mind.

"Oh… you're in love with Twilight?" she asked curiously. Flash nodded silently.

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear!"

"Not for me," muttered Flash.

"Why ever not?"

Flash took a big breath and explained his worries to Princess Cadence regarding Shining Armor.

"…and if her were to catch wind of this, I'd be sacked quicker than you can say 'Princess Celestia'."

"Oh," said Cadance, "I understand now."

"Please don't mention it to him," begged Flash, "otherwise, if he fires me, I may never get a chance to see Twilight ever again."

Cadance thought the idea of Twilight having a coltfriend sounded wonderful and was willing to tell Shining Armor, but even she knew it sounded risky, and began to get a little worried.

"Don't worry, Flash," she said kindly, "I won't tell him." Their conversation was interrupted by the announcements.

"The morning service from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville shall be arriving shortly."

"That's our stop," said Cadance, "you better get ready."

Flash nodded in understanding and bowed, then walked out of her compartment.

The Crystal Empire locomotive's whistle sounded as it steamed into the station, coming to a stop at the platform, where Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash stood.

The horns sounded, then Flash and the other guard walked out of the coach, and the red carpet rolled out. Twilight felt her heart skip a beat the moment she saw Flash. Then walking out of the coach was Princess Cadance herself. Twilight's mouth opened wide the moment she saw her sister-in-law.

"Your Highness," said Cadance, bowing before Twilight. The light purple alicorn and her friends thought they should do the same.

"Your Highness," Twilight replied in kind, bowing. Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack followed suit by bowing before Cadance. There was a pause before anypony spoke up again.

"I'm teasing, Twilight," Cadance giggled, standing up again, "we're sisters-in-law. We don't have to be so formal."

She turned to the two guards and nodded. Flash gave a small smile before following the other guard into the coach. The red carpet was rolled up, and the train quickly departed.

"Hey Flashy," the other guard teased, "you had one chance to talk to your fillyfriend and you missed it completely!"

"Oh, be quiet," Flash muttered. I should've mentioned that to Princess Cadance as well… Darn it…

After a few minutes of silence, something colored dark blue sped past the train in the opposite direction.

"Did you see that?" asked Flash.

"See what?" replied the other guard.

"Something blue just flew right past our train," remarked Flash.

"Ah, don't worry about it," said the other guard, "I'm sure, whatever it is, it's not gonna mess up the Princesses' day out, right?"

"I guess," sighed Flash. Little did they know that Twilight and Cadance's day out hadn't gone according to the former's plan...

Meanwhile, later in the evening, Twilight and Cadance finally had some time to themselves after Discord, the former spirit of chaos, faked an illness to have somepony attend to him in Fluttershy's absence, the light yellow Pegasus being away to observe rare, magical creatures known as Breezies.

"Erm, Cadance?"

"Yes, Twilight? What is it?"

"There's something I should tell you," the light purple alicorn said nervously. She paused to gather her thoughts. "Do you remember when I came back from the other world a few months ago?"

"Yes, Twilight, I do. Was it when you bumped into the new guard, Flash Sentry?"

"Hit the nail on the head," said Twilight, "a few weeks afterward, he and I talked at the Crystal Empire, and since then… well…"

"Take your time," Cadance soothed.

"I… I think I'm falling in love with him!"

Cadance squealed in delight. "I just knew it!" she cried in excitement, "You two would make a really sweet couple."

"Please don't tell Shining Armor about this, though," Twilight begged, "I don't want my B.B.B.F.F. to get angry at Flash."

"Don't worry, Twilight," smiled Cadance, "I'm won't tell him. Sisters-in-law don't rat out each other." She had nearly told Twilight about what Flash said, and decided not to… just in case.

The following morning, Cadance departed for the Crystal Empire, and after biddng Twilight and her friends goodbye, she boarded her coach, followed by two Crystal Empire guards. (Flash wasn't one of them.)

Unknown to the two princess alicorns, a certain light yellow unicorn was also aboard the train.

"I'm not letting this Flash Sentry take her away from me," Comet Tail said angrily to himself, "I won't! No matter what it takes or what I do, Twilight Sparkle will be mine!"

Author's Note

This chapter is "Three's a Crowd" taken from another angle. In fact, the episode in question inspired this chapter!

Apparently, the guards at the Crystal Empire aren't the sharpest tools in the box. :P

6 A Sneaky, Dangerous Plan

After what felt like an eternity to Comet Tail, the train steamed to a halt at the Crystal Empire railway station. The guards were first to get out of the train, shortly followed by Cadance. Then Comet Tail got out of his coach and looked around in wonderment.

"This must be what the Crystal Empire looks like," he said to himself in amazement, "I'm impressed; much better than I thought it would be."

Unknown to him, the mysterious stallion was also on the train, but didn't make his presence known to Comet Tail.

"Whatever you're planning here," he said quietly, "you're not getting away with it."

Comet Tail quietly followed Cadance and the two guards to the castle of the Crystal Empire. The mysterious stallion was quietly on his tail, observing his every move and action.

Comet Tail was completely oblivious, getting to know his surroundings, cheerfully greeting any Crystal ponies who walked right by him.

"Your Highness," said one of the guards, "I feel somepony might be following us for reasons I do not know."

"You sure you're not imagining things?" asked the other guard.

"Positive."

Comet Tail noticed the three stop, and quickly went into hiding. By the time Princess Cadance had turned around to see if anypony had been following her and the guards, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm," she said, "there's nopony following us."

"Sorry about that," said the first guard sheepishly, "must've been my imagination after all..."

"That's quite alright," smiled Cadance, "carry on you two."

Once they were on their way again, Comet Tail came out of his hiding spot, right behind a few Crystal bushes.

Phew, that was a close one, he thought, I must keep myself hidden as possible so they don't notice a thing...

Eventually, as Comet Tail wished, Cadance and the two guards finally arrived at the entrance of the castle. The guards opened the doors for Cadance, who walked gracefully in, and they shortly followed her afterwards, the doors closing behind them. Comet Tail looked around to ensure nopony was watching him, and after waiting a few more minutes, he slowly and quietly opened one of the doors.

"Right," he told himself quietly, "I'm one step closer to Twilight's heart."

"More like a step closer to trouble," muttered the mysterious stallion, who stayed outside.

"Now where can I find a unicorn guard?" Comet Tail said to himself. He was now in the hallways, looking around with curiosity. As if by coincidence, he spotted a Crystal Empire guard coming his way. To Comet Tail's expectations, he was a unicorn.

"Perfect."

Quickly, the light yellow unicorn stallion hid behind a pillar, waiting to pounce like a lion watching its prey in silence. Timing his move just right, Comet Tail zoomed in front of the guard, startling him.

"Who goes there?!" demanded the guard, and before he knew it… ZOOM!

"What was that?!" ZOOM!

"No, 'who was that' would be the correct question, my friend!"

The guard stood there in utter confusion as he kept seeing streaks of yellow zip past him. After a moment or two, he felt something tap his shoulder. Cautiously, the guard turned his head only to face Comet Tail, grinning widely.

"What are you doing there?!" the guard demanded crossly.

"Wanna know why they call me Comet Tail?"

"Huh? I don't know-" PUNCH!

"...sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen..."

Shining Armor looked worried and concerned; he was supposed to have twenty guards, not nineteen.

"Where's Vanguard?" he asked, "He hasn't returned yet."

The guards talked amongst themselves; they too were worried. "Let's hope nothing bad has happened to him," said Flash.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Vanguard stepped in.

"Where have you been, Vanguard?" asked Shining Armor.

"Sorry I'm late, sir," replied Vanguard, "I was minding my own business, but I got distracted and bonked me head into a wall. I was out cold for a few moments, but I soon woke up."

"I see," said Shining Armor, "well, no matter; you're alright now Vanguard, so I'll let it slide. Carry on."

The Crystal Empire unicorn guard made his way past the other guards, and then noticed the light orange Pegasus.

"So this is the Flash Sentry they're talking about," he muttered to himself. Vanguard faked a cheerful look and turned to Flash.

"You must be Flash Sentry," he said, acting somewhat polite and excited, "I've heard a lot about you and it is such an honor to meet you," he added, shaking his hoof.

"Why, yes, that's my name," said Flash, a little awkwardly, "I never knew I had a bit of fame outside of the Crystal Empire, to be honest."

"Well, surprise, surprise," said Vanguard.

"So… what did you want to speak with me about?" asked Flash.

"Nothing much," replied Vanguard, "just the usual day's events and such, y'know… and your friends from outside the Empire."

Flash gulped nervously. "Erm… what friends?" he asked, "The only friends I have around here are the other guards."

"And what do you and your guard friends do together, eh?"

"N-not much; we just get together, share stories about ourselves, pull the occasional prank on each other…"

Vanguard could see that Flash was getting anxious. "Nervous, are we?"

"Who-who said anything about being nervous?!" Flash spluttered hastily, "I, ah, have… duties to perform! For Shining Armor… yeah."

"Do you anypony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?"

Flash's eyes widened, for he almost paled at the mention of the newest princess' name; Vanguard could tell.

"I-I-I m-met her once… m-many years ago," admitted a stuttering Flash, "b-but I hadn't seen her since until she became a princess."

"Is there anything you like about her?" Vanguard asked.

"Erm… her intelligence, her kindness, her bravery… and her beauty… I like her for who she is…" Flash was hoping Vanguard would stop bothering him, for he was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Good to hear," said the Crystal unicorn guard, "well, I best be off now."

And with that, he trotted away to find Shining Armor.

"Phew," said Flash, "that was a relief – he was starting to creep me out a little."

Then a nasty thought came to him. Wait a minute… I just told Vanguard that I'm in love with Twilight! Well, sort of. What can I do now?!

Meanwhile, Vanguard made his way down the hall, thinking over what he got from Flash. Then suddenly, an idea flew into his head.

"I'd better get it approved by Shining Armor though," he said craftily.

Vanguard walked down the halls hoping to find Shining Armor or his office. As if by luck he found the white stallion unicorn heading back to the castle.

"Pardon me, sir," he called, "if you don't mind, but could we have a private word?"

"I don't see why not, Vanguard," replied Shining Armor, "follow me to the office."

The Crystal guard smirked silently to himself as he followed Twilight's older brother. Wonderful…

"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" asked Shining Armor once they were inside. The office wasn't anything special; it was decorated with flags of the Crystal Empire, and flags with Shining Armor's cutie mark. He and Vanguard stood at opposite sides of a brown desk, the former sat on a leather chair whilst the latter was on a cushion.

"If you don't mind me making a special request, sir," said Vanguard, "given your permission, of course."

"Permission granted."

"Would it be fine with you if I were to request a week's leave to Ponyville, as long as it's fine with you, of course?"

Shining Armor seemed curious at the guard's request. "For what purpose would this visit be?" he asked.

"Ah, I just feel like going out into the country for some fresh air and excitement," admitted Vanguard, hoping Shining Armor would accept it as an excuse.

"Very well," he conceded, "you may have the week off in Ponyville."

"Thank you, sir," said Vanguard. Brilliant, he thought, it's all coming in place. As he left to go to the train station, neither he nor Shining Armor knew that Cadance had been eavesdropping.

Why is Vanguard so keen on going to Ponyville? she thought to herself, and walked off in worry, and then she spotted Flash.

"Oh, Flash," she said, "thank goodness I found you."

"What's the matter, your Highness?" he asked, concerned.

"I'd hate to inform you about this," Cadance replied, "but Vanguard is headed for Ponyville for the week."

"Ponyville?" asked Flash, and then a nasty thought came to him. "Oh no…"

"What?"

"I was forced to tell him about my love for Twilight, and I think he's headed to Ponyville to tell her! Oh, this is really bad! What can we do?!"

"I don't know for sure," said Cadance, "but you're right; this is bad. If word of this gets around, then Shining Armor will be furious!"

"Your Highness," said Flash, "I request permission to go after him. Something isn't right about him…"

"Permission granted."

Flash bowed to the princess, and then quickly departed after Vanguard.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Lieutenant," said Cadance quietly, "good luck..."

Meanwhile, Vanguard was hiding outside the train station. He didn't know that Flash had been following him the whole time in the air. Neither was aware about the mysterious stallion quietly spying on them.

Now what's he up to? Flash thought to himself, a look of suspicion on his face.

When he thought nopony was watching him, Vanguard took off his armor, and in a quick flash of green light, he turned into Comet Tail! Flash could not believe what he was seeing and gasped quietly.

An impostor! he thought, I must get a closer look, but not too close, just in case I accidentally get spotted…

"Excellent," Comet Tail told himself, "I'm even closer than I thought! Ah, Comet Tail, you're a real genius!"

Comet Tail? How dare he do such a deceitful thing! Flash thought angrily, Pretending to be a guard is a very serious crime!

Afraid of being spotted, Flash made sure he was out of Comet Tail's range, and then he bought a ticket to Ponyville. A few moments later, Comet Tail done the same thing, and then both stallions boarded separate coaches. The mysterious stallion also boarded the same coach Flash was aboard.

"Not long now," Comet Tail grinned to himself, "soon, Twilight Sparkle will see I'm the only stallion she'll want, not that pathetic Flash Sentry!"

In the other coach, Flash had a look of determination across his face.

"I'm not letting Comet Tail ruin my chance for happiness and love," he said to himself, "he's a traitorous liar and is not getting away with this!"

"But if he tries to stop me…" Comet Tail was saying.

"…I don't care what it takes…" Flash was saying.

"…to win Twilight's heart!"

"Like the old saying goes…"

At this point, both Comet Tail and Flash Sentry were not willing to let one another steal Twilight's heart from them.

"THIS MEANS WAR!" they both shouted.

"I believe in you, sir," said a voice in Flash's coach, "Twilight is certainly the mare for you."

Flash looked around, puzzled. "Who the hay said that?"

"Over there!"

Flash turned and noticed the mysterious stallion was reading a newspaper in his hooves, covering his face.

"Who are you, and how do you know about Twilight?" asked Flash suspiciously.

"Let's just say I'm an old friend of hers," said the mysterious stallion, "just trust me on this."

"Say no more," conceded Flash, "I'll take your word for it." But he still had suspicion deep inside...

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were getting ready for their plan while Fluttershy took care of a sickly Discord.

"Don't tell me you five are still trying to force them to fall in love," Vincent groaned, "this seriously isn't gonna work."

Rainbow Dash was quick to object with him. "Ah, lighten up and stop bein' so negative," she said.

"I agree with Rainbow Dash here," put in Rarity, "at least be more positively on these types of situations, Vincent darling. If it works in the end, think of how happy Twilight and Flash will be!"

"Shining Armor wouldn't be happy," muttered Vincent.

"But if he sees how happy Twilight is, he'll have to be okay with it!" squeaked Pinkie.

"If he ever understands…"

Some hours later at the train station, the train from the Crystal Empire had pulled in.

"Ah, back in good ol' Ponyville," Comet Tail smiled as he stepped out of his coach, "now where's my fillyfriend-to-be?"

Not long after, Flash Sentry walked out of his coach. "Somewhere where you won't get your dirty hooves on her," he muttered.

Comet Tail hadn't seen or heard him, and the light yellow unicorn trotted off, shortly followed by Flash, who made sure he wasn't spotted. The mysterious stallion stepped out of his coach and watched Flash fly away.

"Good luck, my friend," he said, "make sure he doesn't harm Twilight!"

Author's Note

This chapter takes place after "Three's a Crowd".

This chapter loosely takes inspiration from the "Canterlot Wedding" duology.

7 Operation - Romance

Back at Sugarcube Corner, Spike and the four mares were getting their plan ready. Vincent stood in the background, still believing – you guessed it – that their plan was pointless.

"It's too bad Fluttershy's taking care of Discord," said Pinkie Pie, "she'll be missing out on a whole lot of fun!"

"Well, it did serve 'im right for fakin' that blu flu of his," said Applejack, "not to mention for sneezin' on me and Rarity and getting' us 'sick'."

"Still, at least Twilight and Cadance had fun together a couple of days ago," Rarity pointed out.

Then Spike looked out the door and noticed a familiar light yellow unicorn trotting past.

"Uh oh…"

"What's the matter, Spike?" asked Applejack.

"It's Comet Tail!"

"Comet Tail?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, "What in Equestria is he up to?"

"I'm not sure," said Spike, and then he, Vincent and the four mares noticed a light orange Pegasus with a blue mane not far behind Comet Tail.

"Who was that mysterious pony?" asked Pinkie.

"I don't think we've seen him before," added Rarity.

"I've never seen him before," said Vincent.

Spike had just enough time to get a glance at the Pegasus' cutie mark.

"That's Flash Sentry!" he exclaimed.

"Well, what in tarnation is he doin' withou' his armor?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know," said Rainbow Dash, "but I suspect this may have something to do with Twilight and Comet Tail."

"If Comet Tail's around, then this means trouble," said Vincent.

"Before I go and take her hoof, I need to get Twilight some sweets," Comet Tail was saying to himself. So he went to the next sweet shop in Ponyville.

"Good day," he said to the clerk, "I'm here to purchase chocolate daisies for Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh, her favorites," said the clerk, "right away, sir."

Soon, Comet Tail was given a small box of chocolate daisies, paid for his purchase, and he headed off.

"Ah, yes, the quickest way to a mare's heart is a hidden secret," he told himself, "but chocolate will make it a whole lot easier."

Comet Tail then trotted on towards Golden Oak Library.

"And now," he grinned to himself, "to claim my future bride."

Future bride? What's he talking about? Flash thought to himself. He hid in the shadows, waiting to see what would happen next. Unknown to him, the same mysterious stallion had been following after him the whole time.

Comet Tail, after looking to see if nopony was watching, knocked on the door. Within seconds, Twilight answered it, surprised to see Comet Tail.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"A good day to you, fair Princess Twilight Sparkle," Comet Tail said as smoothly as he could, "I have brought you some confections I hope you find to your taste."

"I appreciate your offer for the chocolates, Comet Tail," said Twilight, trying not to sound rude, "now would you please go already? I'm kind of busy."

"Oh, but surely somepony as smart and beautiful as yourself can offer but a few minutes for a chat?" Comet Tail insisted.

Twilight rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, unaware she had a part in the light yellow unicorn's sneaky plan.

Don't let him in, Twilight, the mysterious stallion thought, he's a lying impostor!

"Very well, but not too long," she said at last, "come on in…"

"Excellent," Comet Tail grinned, and he followed Twilight inside. Flash looked upset as he observed the scene; he almost wanted to cry, but he knew guards do not cry in public. Then a bad feeling came to him.

Twilight doesn't love me, he thought sadly, she's better off with that jerk than me! And Flash ran off, tears in his eyes.

"The poor fella," the mysterious stallion sad sadly, "and poor Twilight... if only you knew how much he cares for you like you cared for me in our youth..."

Inside Golden Oak Library, Comet Tail felt proud inside. One step closer, he thought with triumph, play my cards right, and she'll forget Flash Sentry.

"So," said Twilight as Comet Tail made himself comfortable, "what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Why, you, of course," said Comet Tail.

"Why me?" asked Twilight, "Doesn't everypony know what there is to know?"

"Not exactly," said Comet Tail, "and while I'm at it, maybe you can learn some things about me as well?"

Meanwhile, Spike, Vincent, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack were making their way to Golden Oak Library.

"I still think this is a crazy idea," Vincent was saying.

"Look, we've heard it about a thousand times, and we tell you to stop being so negative!" snapped Rainbow Dash.

"Actually, it was twenty three times, last time Ah counted," said Applejack.

"Never mind that, but we gotta get Twilight to fall in love with Flash!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

Then suddenly, the sextet saw Flash running in their direction, an upset look on his face.

"Hey, what's the rush?" asked Pinkie.

"She's better off with that Comet Tail!" Flash said brokenheartedly, "She's invited Comet Tail inside to talk and it now looks like she's falling for him over me!" And then he kept on running.

"What?!" Spike and the four mares said in shock.

"I knew it would end in tears," said Vincent.

"Oh, shut it, Vincent," snapped Rainbow Dash, "c'mon everypony; let's get to the library!"

At the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor was concerned that one of his guards was missing.

"Flash Sentry appears to have vanished," he declared, "he must have a good reason for leaving his post."

Cadance winced silently, hoping her husband wouldn't suspect her for having involvement. Suddenly, the doors flew open, and in stumbled a Crystal Pony unicorn with the same grayish indigo fur as the royal guards.

"Vanguard?" asked Shining Armor, puzzled, "Back so soon from Ponyville, are we?"

"Me, in Ponyville?" the real Vanguard asked, confused, "sir, whatever do you mean?"

"Didn't you request that I let you spend a week in Ponyville?" asked Shining Armor, just as confused.

"I made no such request!" Vanguard replied indignantly.

"But if it wasn't you… then who did I talk to?"

"Let me explain – so here I was, minding my own my business, then from out of nowhere, a yellow unicorn zips in front of me, asked me why they call him Comet Tail, and next thing I knew, I was stuck in a closet without my armor!"

"He's come out of the closet, hasn't he?" a few guards snickered, before getting a glare from Shining Armor and Cadance.

"So this Comet Tail ambushed you and pretended to me you just to get to Ponyville?" asked Cadance.

"Yes, he did."

"Then Flash was right to go after the impostor," said Cadance.

"And that's why he left his post?" Shining Armor asked in surprise.

"I gave him permission," explained Cadance as calmly as she could, "he knew something wasn't right about Vanguard – or, the impostor Vanguard, I suppose – and so did I."

"An impostor! How could I have been such a fool?" Shining Armor groaned.

"It wasn't your fault, dear," his wife comforted, "but we must find Comet Tail and Flash. Goodness knows where they could be!"

"Shall I alert the rest of the guards?" asked Vanguard.

"On the double," commanded Shining Armor, "we must search all of Equestria, and leave no stone unturned!"

Oh, I hope nothing bad happens to Twilight, Cadance thought with worry.

"…and that's how I got my cutie mark," said Comet Tail.

Before Twilight could speak up, Spike, Vincent, and the four mares burst through the door, almost ripping it off its hinges.

"What the hay is this all about?!" Comet Tail demanded angrily, "Can't you see we're talking?!"

Vincent scowled and pointed an accusing hoof at him. "I thought we told you to stay away from Twilight!" he shouted furiously.

"What is going on here?" asked Twilight.

"Flash saw you and Comet Tail, and he believes that you don't like him!" squeaked Pinkie.

"What?!" Twilight was aghast. "Oh no…"

"Who cares?" scoffed Comet Tail, "Nopony needs a guard like him. You need me, don't you, my little Princess?"

No sooner had he said that, Twilight slapped him hard in the face!

"YOU KNEW, DIDN'T YOU?!" she screamed, tears in her eyes, "You knew I was in love with Flash and tried to force me to pick you over him, didn't you?!"

"But Princess…"

"BUT NOTHING!" yelled Twilight, "You're the biggest jerk I've ever met, and so take your so-called feelings back and STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!"

The light purple alicorn ran out of the library, angry and crying. The remaining group glared furiously at Comet Tail.

"Ya nasty varmint!" snapped Applejack, "Don't ya see what ya've gone and dun?!"

"You're an even bigger meanie pants than I thought!" said Pinkie Pie.

Then they all headed off after Twilight, but not Comet Tail. He stood up, rubbing his face where Twilight punched him, scowling in fury.

"Have it your way, Twilight," he snarled crossly, "if I can't have you… then nopony will!"

Vincent heard Comet Tail's dark comment, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Without thinking, he let Spike and the four mares get ahead of him, and then flew away in another direction.

"I know Twilight'll probably get mad at me, but so what?" he said, "I must get help, no matter what!"

The mysterious stallion had seen and heard everything. "I hope that new friend of yours knows what he's doing, Twilight," he said as Vincent flew away, "you're lucky to have a friend like him, Spike and the other five mares." And he ran off after Comet Tail.

The Everfree Forest is a mysterious place outside of Ponyville where many strange creatures live, such as timberwolves, parasprites, Ursas, and a cockatrice. Twilight and her friends once went through the forest to find the then-missing Elements of Harmony.

Flash had ended up in the Everfree Forest, tears still pouring from his eyes, and he had no idea where he was.

"What a fool I've been," he said sadly, "how could I think Twilight would ever fall in love me?"

Flash buried his face and began to cry; he didn't really care if somepony was watching him, for he wanted to be alone.

"But you're not foolish, Flash."

The light orange Pegasus looked up and noticed Twilight approaching him.

"Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" asked Twilight.

"I thought you'd be with Comet Tail," Flash sulked.

Twilight was indignant. "I never had interest in him," she replied, "I thought he was nice when we first met at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but now he has become an arrogant, dishonest jerk. I don't care for Comet Tail. I care for you…"

"Do… do you really mean it?" Flash asked hopefully.

"I do," Twilight smiled, tears forming in her eyes. "I… I love you…!"

She couldn't contain herself any longer; Twilight leaned on Flash, crying softly.

"It's okay," Flash smiled as he gently stroked her mane, "at least now we know the truth."

"Hooray!" shouted Pinkie as she jumped ten feet into the air, "I knew you two would fall in love!"

"Ah guess Vincent was right," said Applejack, "we didn't need to make them fall in love; they can fall in love themselves!"

"But you didn't listen to him," objected Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, neither did you," retorted Applejack.

"Oh, what can possibly ruin this beautiful moment?" asked Rarity.

"Keep your dirty hooves off of her, Flash Sentry!"

Everypony turned only to face...

"Comet Tail!" exclaimed Spike.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight snapped angrily, "Can't you see Flash and I are busy?"

"You really thought I would sit idly by while that pathetic excuse of a guard took my chance of happiness?" Comet Tail asked.

"Your chance of happiness?" retorted Flash angrily, "You forced the truth out of me, didn't you?!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," Comet Tail sniffed, "but either way, there's only room for one stallion perfect for Twilight's heart – and that stallion… WILL BE ME!"

Comet Tail's yell echoed throughout the Everfree Forest.

"No it won't!" said a voice.

Everypony looked to see where the voice came from, and to their surprise, it was…

"Shining Armor?!" exclaimed Twilight. Flash gulped nervously, and hoped Shining Armor wouldn't spot him. Luckily, Shining didn't take any notice of him.

"Comet Tail," said Shining Armor sternly, "I am placing you under arrest for impersonating an officer of the Royal Guard." Standing next to him was the true Vanguard, an angry look on his face.

"I've got a score to settle with you," he scowled at Comet Tail.

"Hold up a minute, everypony!" a male voice called out. Everyone turned to face the mysterious stallion.

"He is not who he says he is."

"He isn't?" asked Pinkie.

"You are correct, Pinkie," said the mysterious stallion, "that pony you see before you is a fraud!"

"Wait a minute," said Twilight, and then she gasped when the mysterious stallion lifted up his head, revealing his face. "Can you possibly be...?"

"Exactly, Twilight." The stallion took off his hat, revealing his grayish blue eyes and mane, and light yellow fur, and that he was a unicorn!

"I am the real Comet Tail!"

Author's Note

This chapter is influenced from two songs from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride:
*Not One of Us - the thoughts of Vincent van Colt, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie after Comet Tail's true colors are revealed
*Love Will Find a Way - Twilight and Flash's thoughts when they fall in love

Did anypony expect that the mysterious stallion was the TRUE Comet Tail?

8 Now or Never

"Wait a minute," said Pinkie, "if you're Comet Tail, then who's this?"

"That Comet Tail is an impostor," said the real Comet Tail, "a Changeling disguised as me!"

The fake Comet Tail gave a sinister chuckle. "You don't actually believe this fool, do you?" he smirked.

"So you're the one who impersonated Vanguard and tried to get information out of me!" remarked Flash.

"Indeed I am," said the impostor smugly. Suddenly, his eyes glowed green, and a circle of green magic surrounded the impostor as he began to change form. His mane turned a dark arctic bluish gray, his coat a sea greenish black, and his eyes a moderate arctic blue. He also had fangs, holes in his legs, and a pair of tattered insectoid wings. He gave an evil laugh; everypony except the real Comet Tail was in shock.

"Surprise!" the Changeling cackled.

"But how?!" gasped Twilight, "You, other Changelings and Queen Chrysalis were blasted away by Cadance's love!"

"I was one of the lucky ones to escape before the blast," said the Changeling, "and now that I'm here, Queen Chrysalis would love to have a word with you, Princess Twilight!"

Flash stepped in front of Twilight. "If you want to harm her, you'll have to get through me," he said firmly.

"Hey, look over there!" the Changeling pointed. While everyone was distracted, a flash of light went off, temporarily blinding everypony. Once the light had faded away, two ponies were missing...

"Where'd that varmint Changeling go?" asked Applejack.

"But more importantly, where's Twilight?" cried Rainbow Dash.

"Darn it!" cried Vanguard, "He got away with the princess!"

"Calm down, Vanguard," said Shining Armor, "but we must catch him and save Twilight! If that Changeling harms so much as one hair, he'll be sorry he ever messed with the wrong stallion!"

"He won't get away with it," said Spike crossly.

"I think I've an idea!" said Comet Tail.

Meanwhile, the Changeling was getting away and had Twilight bound in strong magic ropes. He had also used a disabling spell to prevent Twilight from using her magic.

"Let me go!" Twilight shouted as she struggled to get free.

"And let you fly away with your lover-colt?" the Changeling sneered, "not a chance! I tried to reason with you, Princess, but you instead kept forcing me to take extreme measures!"

"I'm not interested in an impostor like you!" snapped Twilight, "Not now, not ever!"

"Big mistake, Princess," said the Changeling, "if I could not have you, why should anypony?"

"I would not hurt her if I was you!"

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a streak of yellow whizzed in front of the Changeling!

"Who's there?" the Changeling demanded. Suddenly, he found himself being circled by the same yellow streak. Twilight and the Changeling were surprised at this. When the streak faded, there glaring at the Changeling was Comet Tail.

"Put her down and nopony gets hurt," he said firmly, horn glowing blue.

"Make me," sneered the Changeling.

While Comet Tail was distracting the Changeling, Flash quietly crept up and took Twilight.

"It's okay," he whispered, "you're safe now." And he flew away with her before the Changeling could notice.

"You!" the Changeling snapped at Comet Tail, "You distracted me!"

"And for the right reasons too," Comet Tail smirked.

The Changeling angrily chased after Flash and Twilight, transforming himself into Comet Tail. The Changeling was about to fire a blast at the two, but was stopped by the real Comet Tail.

"Don't even think about it!" he snapped, "I know what you're trying to do- Aaahh!"

The Changeling angrily shoved Comet Tail out of the way and chased after them.

"Come back here!" he shouted.

"Not on your life," Comet Tail groaned, ruefully rubbing where he'd been hit by the Changeling and chased after him, followed by everypony else who'd witnessed Changeling's transformation.

At Fluttershy's cottage, the pale yellow Pegasus was still looking after the sickly Discord.

"I hope you're beginning to feel better, Discord," Fluttershy said sympathetically.

The former spirit of chaos sniffled. "Oh, yes, Fluttershy," he said.

Suddenly, the Changeling burst through the door - literally - almost blowing it to splinters, and then he ran through the window, shattering it to pieces.

"You can fly, but you can't hide, Sentry!" he shouted.

"What was that?!" cried Fluttershy.

Suddenly, the real Comet Tail charged through, much to Fluttershy and Discord's confusion.

"Excuse me!" he said, "Can't stop! Twilight and Flash are in trouble!"

"Trouble?!" gasped Fluttershy.

"No time to explain, Fluttershy," said Spike, "but that other Comet Tail you saw was actually a Changeling!"

"A Changeling?!" squeaked Fluttershy.

"Yes, you heard Spike correctly," said Comet Tail, "no time to lose! We must stop him from harming Twilight and Flash!" And they gave chase once more.

"But I thought they'd all been blown away..." Then Fluttershy had a look of anger on her face that was rarely shown. "How dare that Changeling try to hurt my friends!" After explaining everything to Discord, she joined the others in the pursuit.

"Don't worry about me!" Discord called, "I'll be- be- ATISHOO! …alright," he finished weakly.

Meanwhile, Flash and Twilight raced through the streets of Ponyville with the Changeling hot on their tail. Lots of ponyfolk were shocked to see their resident princess being carried by somepony they didn't know, even more when they saw somepony they knew firing at them... or so they thought.

At that moment, the real Comet Tail raced past, much to their confusion.

"Why are there two Comet Tails?" asked a mare named Golden Harvest.

"Sorry I can't stop!" the real Comet Tail, "I've an impostor to stop!"

"Keep still, will ya?!" the Changeling shouted.

"You're never setting hoof on her as long as I'm around!" Flash shouted back.

"What's going on here?" asked Thunderlane.

"I'll explain everything!" gasped Comet Tail, "But we got to keep that impostor away from Twilight!"

"We got to keep that impostor away from Twilight!" the Changeling repeated.

Caramel, Time Turner and Thunderlane were surprised by this.

"So that would explain Comet Tail's behavior," said Caramel.

"I think I recall something similar to this last year," remarked Time Turner.

"What do you mean?" asked Thunderlane.

Before Time Turner could explain, Rainbow Dash called out to the three stallions.

"Cut the chit-chat you three!" she called, "We must stop that Changeling from hurting Twilight or possibly worse!"

"RD's right!" added Applejack, "C'mon, boys!"

So the three stallions joined the rescue chase.

Up the lane, Ficitonary and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing with a beachball. Suddenly, Fictionary saw the chase heading straight towards them!

"Look out!" she cried. Quickly, the four fillies dropped their ball and scampered away just in time!

Not too far ahead was Big Macintosh with a cartload of apples.

"Watch out, Big Macintosh!" Twilight shouted, and the big red stallion saw them heading straight towards him!

"Ah! Not again!" he cried, and quickly got out of the way… just in time! Everypony (dragon, in Spike's case) sped past behind his cart, not an apple was spilled.

"Phew," remarked Big Macintosh, "that was a close one. But why are there two Comet Tails?"

"That's what we're thinkin'!" said Apple Bloom.

"Whatever it is," said Scootaloo, "it can't be good."

"Maybe we should follow them," suggested Sweetie Belle.

The chase continued on all the way to the Ghastly Gorge, where Rainbow Dash once held a contest to see who would be her pet. Throughout all the enduring chaos, Twilight had managed to slip out of her ropes and the disabling spell the Changeling had put on her had started to wear off.

As they were nearing the edge, Flash began to fly himself and Twilight towards the other side. The Changeling looked back towards Comet Tail and shot a spell from his horn, causing Comet Tail's hooves to get stuck in green goop.

"No!" he cried.

"It's over, Sentry!" the Changeling snarled, "Twilight is MINE!"

"Twilight, be careful!" shouted Comet Tail.

Flash could see the Changeling about to fire at both of them. Fearing for their lives, he knew what to do.

"Twilight," he said, "I'm going to toss you into the air. That way, you won't get hurt."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, what if-"

"Don't worry about me!" insisted Flash. "I'll be fine."

Twilight smiled meekly, and then everything seemed to happen at once…

Just as the Changeling shot a bolt of green magic at them, Flash tossed the light purple alicorn into the air and the bolt hit him on the wing.

"Aaagh!" he cried in pain, and the injury to his wing caused Flash to fall from the sky. At that moment, the pursuers arrive, shocked to see Flash falling from the sky.

"He's falling!" cried Fluttershy.

"Flash! No!" cried Twilight, and flew after the falling royal guard. By this point, she had gained control of her wings.

There was a big splash, and Flash had fallen into the river! The river flowed very fast; Twilight's heart was racing as she flew to save Flash from possibly certain doom. Unfortunately, they were getting closer to a waterfall!

"What is she doin'?!" gasped Apple Bloom, "She might get hurt or worse...!"

"She's following her heart, if you ask me," said Comet Tail, still struggling to get free.

"Oh, I can't bear to watch!" squeaked Sweetie Belle, covering her eyes.

"Twilight!" cried Flash, gasping for breath, "Help me!"

"I'm coming!" the light purple alicorn shouted, and just as Flash was about to fall over the waterfall, Twilight grasped on tightly to his forehooves!

"I got you!"

With all her strength, Twilight carried Flash gently to safety.

"Thanks, Princess," smiled Flash.

"Eh, any time, Lieutenant," said Twilight.

Everypony and Spike cheered loudly, but the Changeling snarled in anger.

"Twily! Thank goodness you're safe!"

Shining Armor was so overwhelmed with joy that his sister was safe he hugged Twilight tightly, crying. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his sister, nor had he been so terrified in his life.

"It's okay now," Twilight smiled with tears running down her face.

"Not for long!" snapped the Changeling. He then charged towards Twilight, trying to attack her again when...

"Get away from my sister-in-law!"

WHAM!

The Changeling was knocked to the ground by none other than...

"Cadance!" cried Twilight in happiness. As she embraced her sister-in-law with a hug, Princess Celestia arrived with a tall dark yellow unicorn stallion only Comet Tail recognized.

"Shooting Star, brother," he exclaimed, "this is a surprise!"

"Comet Tail, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and for impersonating a member of the Royal Guard," said Shooting Star.

"Wait!" cried Twilight, breaking off from the hug, "He didn't do it. It was that Changeling!" And she pointed to the Changeling who was trying to sneak off. Twilight blasted a spell from her horn at the Changeling, revealing his true form.

"Curses!" said the Changeling, "Foiled by a princess!"

"Has anypony noticed a 'change' in me?" asked Comet Tail, "Now, please be honest with me; would I ever go far to try and take somepony as my own, and would I really want to hurt a fly, let alone anypony?"

Everypony thought.

"He's my brother," said Shooting Star, "sure, we may have not spent as much time with him as we should have when we were young, but I still care for him."

Comet Tail's eyes widened. "R-really?" he said softly.

"Yes," said Shooting Star, "I know you'd never act this cruel, and I'm sorry we've been neglecting you, Comet Tail."

Comet Tail gave a small smile at his older brother. The Changeling was soon apprehended and taken away to await his punishment.

"Serves that Changeling right if you ask me," Comet Tail smirked as the Changeling was taken away by Vanguard and another royal guard.

"But Princess Celestia," said Spike, "how did you know about this?"

"I told her."

Suddenly, Vincent van Colt appeared from behind Celestia.

"You're the one who told Princess Celestia what was going on?" asked Rarity.

"Yes I am," replied Vincent.

"You were at Twilight's coronation and made the painting of her, right?" asked Cadance.

"Yes, I have," the yellow Pegasus stallion replied modestly. Then he noticed Flash.

"You must be that Flash Sentry bloke I heard about," said Vincent.

"Indeed I am," said Flash.

"Say, what happened to your wing?" asked Vincent.

"A Changeling impersonated me and fired a blast at his wing," said Comet Tail.

"A Changeling?" Vincent looked closely at Comet Tail. "So you must be the real Comet Tail..."

"Yes I am," said Comet Tail.

"If that's the case, then what had actually happened to you?" asked Vincent.

"Some time after Twilight's coronation," Comet Tail began, "I was lured away by a mysterious pony. But it turned out to be a Changeling; he captured me and turned into me. After he left, I freed myself and tracked him down, and the rest I'm sure you can pretty much guess."

"So all this time," finished Twilight, "a Changeling was disguised as you, and none of us, even me, knew about this?"

"Pretty much."

"What in Equestria is a Changeling?" asked Fictionary.

"They are creatures that have the ability to take the form of anypony it chooses," explained Celestia, "you see, during the Royal Wedding at Canterlot, Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, disguised herself as Cadance so she could feed off Shining Armor's love and weaken him so the Changelings could invade."

"I was the only one to suspect something was off about 'Cadance', quote-unquote," said Twilight, continuing from where her former mentor left off, "but, due to everypony's excitement over the wedding, nopony listened to me, even if I had all my facts together. Then she trapped me in some cave where I found the real Cadance. Together we escaped and confronted the impostor."

"I was among the guests at the wedding when Chrysalis revealed herself," Comet Tail added.

"How do you remember that?" asked Shining Armor.

"Well, I rarely forget a face," said Comet Tail with a shrug, "must be a knack, I suppose."

"But anyway, thanks to Twilight," said Cadance, "Shining Armor and I were able to combine our magic and blast the Changelings away."

"They were made for one another," finished Twilight, "just like me and Flash-" She quickly clammed her mouth shut, realizing what she had blurted out.

"What was that?" asked Shining Armor.

"Should we tell him and Princess Celestia?" Cadance whispered to Twilight.

"I think now's the appropriate time," Twilight agreed. She turned to Shining Armor and Celestia, and then said bravely as she could, "Flash Sentry and I are in love."

Author's Note

This was originally one whole chapter, but because of its length, it was split into two.

When the Changeling's text is italicized, it's his normal speech. When his text is not italicized, he's speaking as Comet Tail.

There are references to Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Originally, there was going to be a scene of Vincent telling Celestia what was going on, but I didn't write it out as I wanted the reveal to be a surprise.

9 Love is in Bloom

Shining Armor looked at his sister in confusion. "You and Lieutenant Flash Sentry are in love?" he asked after what felt like an eternity.

"Yes, we are," Twilight said, worrying how he would take the news.

"Did you know about this?" Shining Armor asked Cadance.

"Yes, I did," his wife admitted sadly.

"Why didn't either of you tell me?" asked Shining Armor.

"Well, we were afraid you'd be angry," replied Twilight.

"Why would I be angry?" asked Shining Armor.

"Because Twilight's your sister and you're my boss," said Flash, "plus it would be like dating your boss' daughter."

He turned to Princess Celestia and Shooting Star, wanting to know their opinion on the matter at hoof.

"When Shining Armor married my niece Cadance," said Celestia, "at a time, I was considered his superior, but I was alright with it."

"That sort of thing is perfectly natural," added Shooting Star, "it's not the first time a royal guard's dated a Princess, but it definitely won't be the last."

"How could I have forgotten about Shining and Cadance's case?" remarked Twilight, feeling embarrassed.

"That's okay, Twilight," said Cadance reassuringly, "sometimes we forget the little things."

"And yes, I do care very much for my little sister," said Shining Armor, "and I'd get upset if anything bad were to happen to her, not to mention that Changeling nearly done so. And to be fair, you did leave your post without my acknowledgement…"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Flash said sheepishly.

"But you helped in saving my sister from getting hurt, and you stood up for Twilight as well, so I'm letting it slide."

"Oh, thank you, sir."

"First things first," said Shining Armor, "I suggest you take some time off till your wing's better."

Flash looked at his right wing; the damage the Changeling had done to it looked pretty bad. He knew better than to argue against his superior's orders.

"What mares want from a stallion," Princess Celestia said wisely, "is their honesty, bravery, kindness, and their will to put the needs of others ahead of their own. That Changeling relied on his selfish ways to get what he wanted."

"Not to mention he tried to make me look bad," added Comet Tail.

"Why don't you stay in Ponyville while you heal, Flash?" suggested Twilight.

"That's a nice idea," said Flash, "and it would give me the chance to get to know your friends."

"I love that idea!" Pinkie squeaked excitedly, "I should tell you about when Twilight and I first met, or maybe our fun time at the Grand Galloping Gala! Ooh! How about when Rainbow Dash pulled off that sonic rainboom?!"

"Easy there, sugarcube," said Applejack, "there's gonna be plenty of time to do that later."

"For now, let's just go home," said Rainbow Dash, and soon everypony headed towards Ponyville.

As they made their way back to Ponyville, Comet Tail trotted closer to Twilight and Flash.

"Sorry about what went on," he said.

"It wasn't your fault," said Twilight, "it was that Changeling."

"Yeah, he deceived us all," added Flash.

"Indeed," agreed Comet Tail, "and to be honest, I once had a foalhood crush on Twilight."

"Is that true?" Twilight seemed rather surprised.

"Yes," said Comet Tail, not looking at Flash for fear of how he'd react, "but I eventually grew out of it. I can see that Flash is the perfect stallion for you."

"Well, thank you, Comet Tail," said Flash.

"Besides, I don't think I'd stand much chance against a royal guard." The trio chuckled.

Let's hope he doesn't go crazy like Sunset Shimmer did, Flash thought to himself.

"I hope you'll take it easy on both of them," Cadance told Shining Armor, "after all, you are their superior."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Shining Armor smirked, "just because he's with my sister doesn't mean I'll be less hard on him."

When they got back to Ponyville, Pinkie Pie had already set up a huge party.

"Three cheers for the new couple!" the pink Earth pony cheered.

"Did you really throw us a party?" asked Twilight.

"Do I giggle in the face of danger?" asked Pinkie. Twilight said nothing.

Before long, everypony was partying. During the party, Comet Tail accidentally bumped into Berry Punch.

"Hey! Watch it, dude!" she snapped.

"Oh! Sorry," Comet Tail replied sheepishly. Then Berry Punch turned to face him, coming closer to him as he backed nervously up. "Uh, why are you walking towards me?"

"Anypony ever tell you you have a cute face?" Berry Punch's expression left little doubt that she'd had a bit too much cider.

"Uh, B-Berry Punch?" Comet Tail asked in a bit of surprise, "W-what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Berry Punch pounced on Comet Tail and began kissing him.

"Uh, guys?! Help?!"

"Ah, come on, Comet Tail," chuckled Caramel, "just be glad you've got a mare that wants you."

Comet Tail just rolled his eyes. Celestia help me... he thought with dismay.

While Comet Tail was being kissed by Berry Punch, Shining Armor arrived at the party with Cadance.

"I hope they're doing alright," Shining Armor said to himself.

"Oh relax," said Cadance, "look, they're having a great time."

"Hi, B.B.B.F.F.," Twilight smiled.

"B.B.B.F.F.?" Flash asked, confused.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever," Twilight explained, before turning back to Shining Armor, "what brings you two here?"

"Just wanted to see how you're getting along," Cadance smiled.

"If you're asking, my wing's much better than it was before," said Flash, "a bit of pain, but not as serious."

"Glad to hear," said Shining Armor, "also, I wanted to thank you for saving my sister."

"Not the first time I've done it," said Flash modestly. Shining Armor looked confused.

"Do you remember when I ended up lost and you wanted to thank the colt for helping me find my parents?" asked Twilight.

"Yes, I do," answered Shining Armor, "You said somepony helped you."

"Well," said Twilight, "that somepony who helped me is right in front you." She gestured to Flash.

"You mean," Shining Armor began to ask Flash, "that you're the one who helped Twilight all those years ago?"

"The same," replied Flash, feeling a little nervous inside. Oh jeez, I didn't say anything to upset him again, did I?

But to his relief, Shining Armor just smiled.

"Well, I guess that's two things I ought to thank you for, one of them many years overdue," he added with a chuckle.

"Just doing my job," smiled Flash.

Twilight had asked Spike to fetch the journal she and the rest of the group wrote friendship reports in to the party so she could write down what had been learnt through this latest adventure.

"Over the last few weeks," she wrote, "I've learned a very strong lesson not just about friendship, but more importantly, love. While it's true that jumping right into a relationship with somepony you've just met isn't the smartest thing to do, if you take the time to get to know one another and bond, then it'll be worth all the time in the world.

However, jealously from others is very serious for it can affect your relationship in terrible ways. But thankfully, one's jealously can lead to his or her downfall. I'm sure that Changeling learned his lesson about that the hard way.

But what he hadn't learned, and Princess Celestia summed that up perfectly, 'what mares want from a stallion is their honesty, bravery, kindness, and their will to put the needs of others ahead of their own.'"

"Uh, Twilight?" asked Flash once the princess had finished writing, "Would you mind watching the stars with me?"

"I'd love to go with you, Flash," said Twilight.

The two trotted peacefully along until they came across Vincent and the rest of the Mane Six.

"Evening, everypony," Twilight waved.

"Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie bounced in excitement, "Whatcha doin'?"

"We're just taking a stroll," said Flash.

"We're absolutely proud that you two are together now," said Rarity.

"As am I," said Shining Armor, walking up to them, "my little sister, she grows up so fast…" Twilight noticed a tear running down her brother's face.

"Are you crying?" she asked innocently.

"Ah, no," he replied hastily, wiping his eye, "just liquid pride is all; totally different thing!"

Twilight just chuckled; she'd heard that before.

"It's a good thing you two were able to work things out naturally and without our help," smiled Vincent, "I did suggest it to five certain mares, but they didn't listen…"

He gave a knowing look to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy.

"We only wanted to help," Fluttershy said sheepishly, and then noticed Twilight and Flash walking off.

"They're just having a bit of quiet time together," Shining Armor told them.

"I see. Well, anyway," said Vincent, before giving a cheeky grin to the five mares, "I'm sure four of you would be in the same situation with your crushes, right?"

"Er, what crushes?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking a little nervous.

"Hmm, let's see – a Wonderbolt, a baby dragon, Applejack's big brother, and some bloke named Caramel, if I'm not mistaken?"

This caused four mares to blush and groan in embarrassment while Pinkie just giggled in her silly way.

"Caramel's a sweet guy and all," Applejack admitted, "but-"

"I told you, I don't have a crush on any Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"Spike's cute for a dragon," said Rarity, "but-" She couldn't finish her sentence. Fluttershy just squeaked out of shyness. Twilight, Pinkie, and the two stallions had a laugh.

"Oh, he's just teasing," said Twilight.

"Or am I?" Vincent commented in a mischievous way.

"Fluttershy," said Rarity, "weren't you supposed to tend to Discord?"

"Oh!" the light yellow Pegasus cried, "I almost forgot about him!"

And she flew away quicker than you could say Nightmare Moon.

Pretty soon, Twilight and Flash were along watching the stars in the nighttime sky.

"Beautiful tonight, isn't it?" asked Flash.

"It sure is," smiled Twilight.

"But not as beautiful as your eyes," Flash smiled as he held her hoof. Twilight's cheeks flushed as red as an apple.

"Oh, Flash," she giggled bashfully. Before Flash could say anything else, Twilight reached over and kissed him right on the lips.

Their kiss lasted about fifteen seconds before Twilight pulled away.

"I know you're watching us!" she called to a nearby bush. Within seconds, four small fillies, two unicorns, one earth, and one Pegasus popped out from behind.

"How'd ya know it was us?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Cause I know you all too well?"

"Got us there," said Scootaloo, and then made a gagging noise, as if in disgust.

"Oh, lighten up, Scoots," said Fictionary, and said cheekily, "anyway, we just wanted to see you and your coltfriend kiss."

"Just some harmless fun," added Sweetie Belle. The four trotted away, but then Twilight spoke up again.

"You too, Pinkie," she said. About three seconds later, the pink Earth pony mare bounced out of the bush.

"Aww, you're no fun!" she moaned.

"What a silly mare, that Pinkie," said Flash.

"Yeah, but she's still my friend," Twilight chuckled. She and Flash smiled as they continued watching the stars. This was a night they hoped would last forever…

EPILOGUE

Meanwhile, at Canterlot, the Changeling was being led to his prison cell.

"Hmm, strange," said one of the guards.

"What is it?" asked the other.

"There's something not right about this cell," said the guard.

"Like what?"

"Well, this one looks a lot roomier than the other cells."

As the two guards inspected the inside of the cell, they were suddenly encased in ice. The chains that kept the Changeling from escaping also froze, giving him the chance to break free. At that moment, Queen Chrysalis and Golden Lass appeared from behind them.

"Good work, Icy Heart," said Golden Lass.

The blue unicorn mare stepped out of hiding.

"I cannot believe you failed your mission," Chrysalis hissed at the Changeling.

"It was hardly my fault!" protested the Changeling, "That yellow Pegasus stallion-!"

"No tales!" snapped Chrysalis angrily.

"Yes, your majesty," the Changeling sighed in defeat.

Golden Lass was not happy. "Curse that Vincent Van Colt," she mumbled, "curse him for spoiling my plans! No matter - we'll have to think of something craftier. When I'm through with Vincent, his life will be so miserable he'll wish he never existed!"

THE END...?

Author's Note

The following pairings are hinted:
*Spike and Rarity
*Fluttershy and Big Macintosh
*Rainbow Dash and Soarin'
*Applejack and Caramel

The next chapters to come are referenced by Vincent.

I drew the illustration that appears at the very end. It can be found on my DeviantArt account.

I strongly suggest listening to Richard Marx and Donna Lewis' "At the Beginning" when the ending scene plays; trust me - it fits the story in my opinion! What love songs do you think fit Twilight and Flash? Leave a comment!