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.