It was a beautiful day in Ponyville! The sun was shining, the grass was growing, and ponies were going about their daily business. Nothing bad had happened... yet. And hopefully nothing would. But, you see, this town is one of the most danger prone towns possibly on the face of the planet, if not, Equestria. It had the habits of monsters, vines, Discord, parasprites, and of course, Pinkemena Diane Pie. Oh sweet ol' Pinkie Pie.
She is probably the most bizarre thing in existence. She can break the fourth wall in front of ponies, and they won't really care. She can eat as much candy as an elephant can, still keep her slim figure, and nopony minds. She can bounce for hours and not get tired, and nopony tries to point it out. The only thing that ponies find odd about her are things she bothers to tell them about. Such as her "Pinkie Sense". But, above all these things, all that this pink little ball of hair and sunshine cares about is making her friends happy. That is her purpose in life. Although sometimes it can go too far, it always turns out right in the end. Then her, her friends, they're all happy.
Today will be a day that Pinkie will make another friend happy through a new concept she learned: Ship.
It had been quite the pleasant day for Pinkie Pie. She woke up, ate whipped cream with waffles on the bottom, and got outside. (That was her morning routine every morning after all.) Today she would be meeting her friend Rarity over a little meal. They both had the day off work, and they decided they would spend some time together.
Pinkie said hello to every pony she walked by, and they said hello back with a smile. She was happy to see every pony, cow, and donkey happy today, and so were they. Today couldn't get any better for the mare as the smiles she saw made her grin even more.
She was told to meet Rarity at a cafe' called, "Madame le Flower". For some reason that name sounded incredibly familiar to Pinkie, but it didn't bother her much. Soon she found the cafe', and Rarity sitting at an outdoor table. The place wasn't that fancy, it looked pretty normal from the other restaurants Pinkie had seen in her past. The tables were made of metal and glass and the chairs were just wooden. The waiters and waitresses all wore the same black shirt for a uniform. The front of the cafe' was basic, a wood/glass door, a window to the right of it, and a fenced garden in front of the window.
Pinkie Pie jumped over to her friend in raw glee and sat down on the only other chair at the table, in which was across from Rarity.
"Hi Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said with her wonderful smile.
Rarity smiled back. It was hard to resist not smiling at Pinkie when she was happy. In which was nearly every single day. "Hello darling. How are you this morning?" Rarity said.
"I'm doing super-duper-rific! How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm doing well. I just finished my latest designs for Hoity Toity yesterday and I'm so glad to have a little time off work."
The pair engaged in more small talk until a few minutes later when a waiter in glasses came and asked for their order.
The earth pony's glasses reminded Rarity of a certain egghead's, "colt problem". When Twilight came out of that mirror/portal/thingymawhatever and saw Flash Sentry for that one time, Rarity could see what was going on with her when she was around him. Ever since, each time Rarity had been over at her library to spend some time with her, Twilight was reading romance novels. Twilight even talked with her about getting a cat. (Not that Rarity found anything wrong with that.... or the romance novels..... or being single...) It was worrying Rarity that Twilight had feelings for Flash but didn't know what to do with them.
Rarity decided to bring it into the conversation. "Pinkie, has Twilight ever talked to you about getting a cat?"
"Me and a cat? I love cats! They're so cute and adorable. And they always like my mane for some reason. I just can't get them off. Though if I did have one Gummy would feel a bit jealous and we wouldn't want that would we? But apart from that, no, she hasn't talked to me about getting a cat."
"No dear, about her wanting a cat."
"Well, she did once. But she already has Owlicious, why would she want another pet? Besides, don't cats eat birds?"
"Never mind the cats. Have you noticed that whenever we come to visit her she's always reading a romance novel?"
"Yeah. What do cats and books have do with anything?"
"I'm not finished. You know our suspicions of Twilight liking Flash Sentry? The pony part of the royal guard?"
"Yeah."
The waiter came by and put the two pony’s food down, Rarity thanked him and continued. "Twilight has been talking to me about
those romance novels more and more lately and I think she actually likes Flash Sentry a bit. I worry she's in love with him and that introverted little egghead doesn't know what to do but read."
Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, making all the ponies around look in their direction. She then stood up and put her forelegs on the table. "We need to go help her right now! Or else she'll be a lonely cat lady! ...Or owl lady? I don't know. But we must go help her!"
"In time we will Pinkie Pie. I would like to finish this food we have. Then we can buckle down and ship those two!"
Pinkie sat down and ate her food. The rest of their time together was more small talk and details about their lives. Pinkie Pie was thinking about the word Rarity said, "...ship those two!” Of course she knew what a ship was. It is a sea or air vessel that is used for transport. But the way she used it was different.
Soon Pinkie forgot about it and the two split ways, saying goodbye and again going about their daily business. Rarity sadly actually had something to do and Pinkie was determined to get Flash and Twilight together. Which brought up the "ship" question again.
The pink mare turned around to find Rarity and ask her but she had already gone. The pink mare thought, "Oh well, Twilight is a smart pony. If she doesn't know what Rarity said nopony would." So off Pinkie went to Twilight's house/library/tree, with two objectives in mind.
Princess Twilight Sparkle's house was full of books, book shelves, paper, ink, and quills, and Princess Twilight Sparkle liked it that way. All the organization and order made her feel intact with her life, and feeling good. But there was always something that just made her life even better. Reading books. Science, history, magic, and one of her recent favorites; romance.
Twilight could not pry her eyes off the subject from the first time she ever laid her eyes on the words before her. Each page just
tempted her to read more, to find out what happened next. The suspense would literally kill her if she couldn't get the next sequel. She had recently been spending most of her time reading these books.
Oh, how she wanted all her little love fantasies to come true. For her to find the perfect stallion, get married, and have children. She knew there would be hardships on the way, but she wanted those things to happen. She wanted to cry, and have her heart broken, and then have her heart sealed back up again. She'd love that.
At the moment, Twilight was sitting in her library, reading the latest romance novel she had gotten her hooves on. She was just about to open it up and read it when she heard a knock on the door. She placed the book on the wooden floor, approached the door, and opened it with her magic.
There stood Pinkie Pie with her casual smile on her face just outside the doorway. "Hi Twi!" Pinkie giggled from her rhyme.
Twilight smiled at the irresistible face. "Hello Pinkie. Would you like to come inside?"
"Sure, I need to ask you something." Twilight moved so Pinkie Pie could come in, and shut the door.
Pinkie came in and sat down in the middle of the room. "What do you need to know?" Twilight said.
"What does "ship", mean?"
Twilight looked at Pinkie dumbfounded, misunderstanding the question. "A ship is an air or sea vessel meant for transportation."
"No! I know what that is. Rarity used ship like, "We must ship so and so!"." Pinkie tried to be careful not to cause any suspicion before Rarity and she even made a plan.
"Oooooooh, that ship. Ok. Umm..." Twilight put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment, then she put her hoof back down when she had a way to explain "ship". "You see Pinkie, what do you think would happen if you put a mare and a stallion that don't know each other, or have a lot in common, alone in a room on a ship at sea for five days?"
Pinkie took a bit of time before coming up with an idea. "They would get really hungry?"
"Ok, put them in there with food."
"Well how much food?"
"Enou- Why am I arguing with you about this? Just answer the question."
"But they would go hungry without enough food. I couldn't not get hungry after five days of not eating food."
Twilight just played along, knowing that her argument was invalid. "Enough food to last them five days."
"Well, they would spend a lot of time together, get to know each other, and..... Be really good friends!" Pinkie Pie threw her hooves up in the air in victory.
Twilight sighed in annoyance. "No Pinkie, they would fall in love."
"Oooooooh." The pink mare lowered her forelegs and looked at Twilight in wonder.
"So now do you get the term, "ship"."
"Yes."
"Good. Have anything else you want to talk about."
In that moment Pinkie gasped as loud as when she first saw Twilight, and then ran through the door, leaving a Pinkie-shaped puff of dust in her wake.
Twilight stood there awkwardly for a moment before saying, "I guess not.", then she walked off to begin her new book.
Pinkie Pie had the most amazing idea ever when she gasped. It was to be the greatest idea in the history of greatness! It would help her friend find love! Make her happy! Then everypony would be happy! Pinkie rushed off to Rarity's place to tell her about her plan.
But a goat leg stood in Pinkie's path suddenly. She had bumped in to Discord by accident. She looked up at the Draconequus. "Hi Discord!" Pinkie said.
Discord put on a smile. "Oh, why hello there Pinkie. I didn't see you there. How have you been?"
"I'm doing awesome! I'm helping Twilight find love. I came up with this super-duper party-shmlooper plan that will get Twilight and Flash Sentry together."
"Oooo, that sounds like fun. What's your plan?"
"I'm going to ship them!"
Discord took a moment to realize what Pinkie actually meant. When he did, his eyes lit up. "Oh really? May I join you?"
"Sure! I hope you’re ok with the others coming along."
Discord of course knew that her friends would say, so he decided to intervene. "Actually Pinkie, how about we keep it a secret for now."
"Why?"
"Because, it'll be like a surprise!" Discord teleported beside Pinkie and put an arm around her. He motioned ahead of them as he explained, "Can you see it Pinkie? They would be so surprised and happy that Twilight found love because of your idea. Can't you just see their faces? They'd be so their pants would fall off."
"But we don't wear pants. They're too uncomfortable."
Discord walked in front of her with some blue jeans. "I take offense to that." The pants exploded.
A piece of the jeans landed on Pinkie's face, so she wiped it off and continued. "But anyway, sure, that does sound nice I guess."
"Great! We'll start today with the planning."
The next day...
Flash Sentry woke up. He just woke up because he felt like it. Usually when he had the day off, he would just sleep in with his Princess Twilight Sparkle plushy close to his chest. But he felt like getting up early today. He had no understanding of why.
He nuzzled the plushy, feeling the small Twilight's furry embrace on his face. Ever since he had seen her on her coronation day, he had a crush on her. But he had his doubts and had never attempted to make any moves on her. Why would a Princess want a mere guard anyway? He wasn't important, or special, or amazing in any way, he was just a normal Royal Guard. The ones that just stand around and do nothing the whole time. The ones that nopony cares about. Cadence even let him join her guard for a day just so he could try and make a move. Poor Flash felt oh so rejected on that day.
Flash had tried his hoof at internet dating, but he couldn't get his mind off his dream mare, and his dates just kept on failing. He could never get Twilight out of his head. Soon Flash just went into a depression. "I want to move on, but how?” he always asked himself.
He nuzzled his Princess Twilight Plushy once more and rolled out of bed. He yawned loudly after he touched the floor. He then proceeded to the stairs, and headed down them. Once he got to the bottom, he set up the coffee machine, sat down, and decided to take in the whole scene.
The morning sun seeped in through the open windows. The bird noises echoed through the walls. The sound of coffee drips could be faintly heard. Flash Sentry closed his eyes and sighed, drinking in the whole scene.
*THWACK!*
"...Ok he's out, now what do I do?" Pinkie Pie said in the mobile phone behind an unconscious Flash Sentry.
Discord was on the other side of the phone, dealing with an unconscious Twilight. "Now, ugh, your friend is heavier than she looks, grr, wait by the door, I'll get to you when I can."
"What should I do in the mean time?" Pinkie threw her club behind her, in which hit the head of a pony about to wake up.
"Get some food ready, I'm starving. Oh, also cover your face, he can't know it's us ok? Also if he wakes up again don't forget to use the nighty timey stick."
"Alrighty then Discord! Bye!" Pinkie lowered the phone from her ear and pressed a button to end the call. Then she looked over at Flash Sentry, who was still unconscious on the ground next to Pinkie's large wooden club.
Pinkie picked Flash up off the ground and dragged him over to the couch in the living room, smacking Flash's head on obstacles as she went. She knocked over a couple of things, and broke something before she reached the couch. She put his hooves on it first. His hooves slid off instantly after she did. This time she decided putting his head on first. Now he just slouched on the front of the couch, not on it. Pinkie then tried grabbing his rear legs and flipping him backwards on the couch from his slouching position. His head now rested off the couch, his hind legs were up in the air, and his body was the part sitting on the couch while his butt was in the air.
Pinkie thought that was good enough and proceeded to the kitchen. When she made it there, she opened the cupboard, and found some pancake mix. She took that out and put it on the counter. She looked to her left and discovered a machine that looked like the one Mr. and Mrs. Cake told her to NEVER EVER drink from. Pinkie, however, was very curious, and decided to take a look at it.
The pot of black liquid looked full, so Pinkie decided to take it out and hold it. First she sniffed it, it smelled terrible to her, and then she took a long drink from it. Her mind froze, her right eye twitched, and she dropped the pot of coffee. The glass pot shattered across the floor into many shards of broken glass. Pinkie just stood there for a moment, absorbing the high amount of caffeine she had just consumed. Shortly after a head twitch, her whole body began to shake and vibrate.
Discord was flying in his magical flying taxi that ran on chocolate milk. He had Twilight "sleeping" in the trunk of the car. Discord was humming a certain catchy theme song as he flew through the air. He was admiring his nice gas mileage when he saw a ginormous explosion coming from Canterlot.
"I wonder what that is." Discord thought aloud. He just shrugged and kept on humming.
"Luna stop farting! My goodness!" Celestia whined.
"Well I'm sorry! I had too much garlic bread." Luna said.
"Well could you at least contain it for now?"
"No Tia. When a mare's got to fart you just let her fart."
The two Alicorns felt the whole entire castle shake at once.
Celestia looked at Luna with wide eyes.
"It wasn't me, I swear." *toot*
"Oopsie daisy. Hehe." Pinkie Pie destroyed the interior of Flash's home. The whole entire place was scorched, there was a bunch of broken glass and furniture out of place. The only thing that seemed untouched was Flash Sentry and the couch he was lying on.
In that moment, Discord's magic taxi rammed open the wall, causing even more damage. Pinkie Pie just stood there for a moment, wide eyed, and then smiled. She then walked toward the car.
"Hi Discord!" Pinkie cheerily said.
Discord rolled down the window and poked his head out of the opening. He waved and said, "Hello there Pinkie Pie!" Discord rested his arm he used to wave on the side of the car. "I have Twilight in the trunk. I suspect you have Flash?"
"Yepereezee! Right there." Pinkie gestured to the unconscious Flash Sentry lying in a goofy position on the couch.
"Wonderful. Now get him in the trunk." Discord pointed backwards with his thumb.
Flash was about to wake up, but Pinkie grabbed him by his hind legs, pulled, and had him flip forward and slam on his head again. She also knocked him into other obstacles accidentally, making Flash dig even deeper into unconsciousness.
Pinkie had a little struggle with putting Flash in the trunk. #1, Twilight was already in there, and there wasn't too much space in there anyway. #2, Flash Sentry was very heavy, and he kept on sliding certain ways and landing on his face multiple times. But soon Pinkie got him in there and she proceeded to the front seat of the taxi.
Soon Pinkie and Discord were off. Discord back out from Flash's wall, and the taxi began flying again.
Pinkie Pie turned towards the direction of Canterlot and said, "Goodbye Canterlot!” She took another moment to look at the city before looking at Discord and saying, "Are you sure knocking them unconscious is the best way to ship them?"
Discord look at Pinkie. "Trust me, it's the best way possible to get them together." Discord looked ahead again. "Would you like some chocolate milk?" Discord took a hand off the wheel and made a glass of chocolate milk appear on his palm.
"Would I!?" Pinkie swiped the cup from his hand. "Thank you!"
"No problem. We will be arriving at the boat shortly."
Pinkie wiped of a chocolate milk mustache. "Where'd you get the boat?"
"I know ponies."
Discord appeared in the middle of a giant fishing boat in front of a crew of ponies. They all stared at him, terrified. Discord quickly introduced himself. "Hello there! I am Discord. Spirit and God of chaos and disharmony. May I borrow your boat for five days?"
The whole crew already ran away to the docks by the time he was finished. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Neat." Pinkie said.
Project S.H.I.P.
-Day 1/5, 08:46:09 AM
Twilight was the first to awaken. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her vision was a little blurry, so she blinked a few times to chase it off. Her head was still resting on the cool floor. Her head ached like Tartarus the moment she awoke. Twilight looked around from her current view point.
It looked like an underground bunker, only not underground. It had two small, barred windows on what Twilight thought might be the sides to the most forward towards the door. There was one of those windows on each side. The large door in between the windows was made completely of iron.
Twilight tried to move her head to look behind her but then ran into something warm and fuzzy. It was also yellow. Twilight snuggled up closer to it, wanting to feel the warmth of whatever it was she was clinging to. It smelled like dandelions to her. She soon brought her head up to see what it was. She immediately blushed when she realized who it was. It was Flash Sentry.
Twilight backed away and breathed a little heavier. Why was he here? Why was she here? What is here? What happened to her? She couldn't remember a thing. At this rate she was going to hyperventilate soon.
But she couldn't. She had to find a way out of here. That solution was easier to find than soil. Teleportation. Twilight’s horn began to light up and then she disappeared in a flash of light. However, she only teleported on top of Flash, waking him up, making her jump to the ceiling and making them both scream at once.
Once Twilight landed on the ground and stopped screaming. She stared at Flash who was sitting up in his terrified state. She stood there for a quick moment before attempting to knock Flash out of his trance.
"Flash?" Twilight said. She gets more screaming as an answer. "Flash?" She waves her hoof in his face. "FLASH!" She yelled in his ear, causing him to fall down and stop screaming.
Flash lay on his back, looking at Twilight. He was gasping for breath for a moment before he realized he was in the presence of a Princess. He instantaneously sprang to his hooves and bowed.
Twilight really didn't like it when ponies did that around her. It made her think that other ponies thought that she was special royalty. In which she was, but she wanted to explain that in spite of having wings and a horn that she was like every other pony.
Twilight sighed and said, "Please get up. You don't have to bow every time I'm in your presence."
Flash Sentry got up, looked at the ground and blushed. "Sorry." He said.
"No need to say sorry."
"Sorry." Flash turned his head and looked around, then he turned to Twilight. "Where are we?"
Twilight sat down. "I don't know. The last thing I remember is this terrible smell."
"The last thing I remember is a taxi." Memories came back and struck him in the head, making Flash's head hurt. He put a hoof to his head and flinched. "Ow!"
Twilight walked over to Flash to examine the injury. "Woah!" Twilight exclaimed. There was a gigantic red bump on Flash's head. "That bump is huge!"
"It feels like it. It hurts." Flash said, followed by a grunt of pain.
Twilight's horn glowed, and her head moved toward Flash's. "Here, let me heal you a bit." A purple aura enveloped the bump for a little bit. The injury shrank a bit, and Flash let go of it. "There, that should keep the bump from hurting for a little while."
"Thanks." Flash said. "So we have no idea where we are?"
"No, we don't."
"Can we get out?"
"No, I tried teleporting, but there is some sort of magic keeping me from doing so."
"Did you try blowing this place up?"
"Sorry, if they can keep my teleportation magic in, then they can keep my other magic in too."
"Darn. Well, I guess we'll be here for a while." Flash lied down.
"You’re just going to give up?"
"What am I to do? Fly into the wall? Pry open that iron reinforced door? I'm not anything big Princess. I'm just a guard. I'll protect
you if I can. But I doubt I can be of any help." Flash took a deep breath through his nose.
"You don't sound like an optimist."
"I'm not." Flash curled up like a dog on the floor.
A few seconds later Twilight's stomach grumbled. She was hungry. "Excuse me Flash. Are you hungry?"
Flash let out a sigh, and then fell to his side. "Yes. What is there to eat here? All I see is concrete walls, a door, two windows, and a toilet." He pointed to the toilet in the right corner of the room. It was one of the closed off toilets that you would find in a public bathroom.
"Well..." Twilight looked around at the room again, and found a tray full of food that had soundlessly popped into existence to the left of the door. "Look at that! Food!" Twilight ran to the food just to stare at it dumbfounded.
"What is it?" Flash asked.
"It's cotton candy and chocolate milk."
An awkward silence filled the room.
"Great idea to start the day with cotton candy and chocolate milk Discord!" Pinkie Pie said. She put in an entire cotton candy blob in her mouth and swallowed it before continuing. "I'm sure Flash and Twilight will love it!"
Discord and Pinkie Pie were on a fishing boat that Discord named, "S.S. Discord". They were currently in the Caricoltan Sea on a beautiful sunny morning. The water was calm, the air was drenched in the smell of salt, and Pinkie and Discord were reclining in lawn chairs near the front of the S.S. Discord.
Discord smiled and replied, "Oh I have no doubt they'll love the meal. I wonder what they're up to. Probably just talking."
"Talking about what?" Pinkie Pie said.
"Maybe just ooey-gooey relationship stuff."
"You mean like... kissing?"
"Yeah, that. Actually how about we just watch." Discord snapped his fingers and a floating flat screen TV popped up in front of him. Discord lifted up his right arm and motioned Pinkie to come over. "Come come. Let us watch romance rise."
Pinkie happily dragged her chair over beside Discords chair and sat in it. They watched Twilight and Flash talk until it got dark. It was mostly just silence and small talk, though Pinkie Pie and Discord could see that they were nervous around one another.
They almost fell asleep watching it all go by. But then they had a chance to do something. The soon-to-be couple were about to go asleep on the floor, separated. Then Pinkie saw a perfect chance to get the two to snuggle up.
"Discord! Make Twilight cold!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
Discord looked incredibly drowsy. His eyes were fatigued, and he kept on almost falling asleep. He let out a loud yawn while saying, "Why?”
"Because Flash will hear her shivering and put his wing around her!"
"Ok. *Yawn*" The moment Discord snapped his fingers, his whole body went limp and he fell asleep. Pinkie Pie put her face on the floating screen, giggling and waiting for her plan to work.
Flash was woken up by the sound of shivering. He looked to his right and saw Twilight making vibrating breaths, and her whole body shaking. He wasn't cold. The only thing actually cold was the concrete floor, but he could stand that. Why was she cold? Flash couldn't help but feel sorry for her. But what was he to do? Put his wing around her? What if she rejected him? But from what he learned today was that Twilight just wanted to be treated like any other pony. Would Flash had put his wing around any other mare because he wanted them to be warm? Yes. Flash brought up a little courage by repeating that in his head.
Flash got up with his little bits of nerve and walked over beside Twilight, lied down beside her, and put his wing around her. He tried to keep a little bit of distance so he wouldn't feel too awkward, but that didn't matter since Twilight just cuddled up closer to Flash's side, making the yellow stallion blush.
Project S.H.I.P.
-Day 2/5, 09:06:02 AM
Flash Sentry's eyes slowly opened like a draw bridge gate being pulled up by several stallions. He took a deep breath in, and the exhaled through his nose. He had nothing to think of at the moment. Nothing bothered him, nothing annoyed him, he wasn't happy, but he was satisfied. That was until something rubbed up against him.
Oh yes, he remembered now. He saw Twilight being relentlessly tortured by the cold air. He racked up the courage to put offer his warmth and did so. Flash just slept that way for the rest of the night, comfortable and warm beside Twilight.
Flash honestly thought he would've woken up feeling embarrassed for what he had done, but instead he was now proud of himself for bringing himself to help his crush. But what about when she awoke? But Flash didn't bother himself with such questions at the moment, he was focused on the now, and now meant lying here with a non-plushy Twilight under his wing.
Flash heard Twilight take in a deep breath and looked over at her. She was waking up. Now he was worried about how she would react. Flash wouldn't panic though, so he watched her eyes slowly flutter open.
"G-good morning." Flash said quietly.
"Good morning." Replied Twilight.
Twilight looked behind her to see Flash's wing caressing her. "Why is your wing holding me?"
Flash took a second to regret not thinking of something to say to Twilight, just in case she asked. He blushed a little. "You were
cold so... I put my wing around you."
Twilight didn't quite know how to reply. She remembered being cold but she was only half asleep, and thought it was a dream.
"Ok." Twilight said.
Twilight’s acceptance of Flash's answer made Flash feel a little better about what he did. Not that he thought he did anything bad, but he felt that it was a little inappropriate.
"Thank you by the way."
"Y-you're welcome." Flash replied, feeling happy that Twilight didn't get angry with him. "Do you want me to get off now?"
"No. It's comfortable." Twilight looked away to try and hide her red face.
"Alright."
Discord, unlike Pinkie Pie, was very dissatisfied with the project so far. He thought this would've involved more yelling, chaos, and... Well, discord. He thought there was something incompatible about Twilight and Flash, and that a relationship would never work out. Oh colt was he wrong. Now he had to deal with snuggling, making out, and romance stuff. But he would change that today, and he had a grand idea to do it.
Discord lay in a lawn chair to Pinkie's left, Pinkie was also in a lawn chair. They had both been watching the floating monitor that showed Flash and Twilight in the cold, cement room. Discord looked to his right at Pinkie, who was gleefully watching her plan working in full.
"Pinkie Pie?" Discord asked.
Pinkie looked at Discord and said, "Mhm.".
"Would you mind if I tried an idea of my own?"
"Well what is it?"
Discord rubbed his claw and paw together and laughed maniacally. Pinkie Pie shortly joined in.
Meanwhile, in the cement jail...
"Hey Flash Sentry?" Twilight said after taking a whiff of the air.
"Yeah?" Said Flash.
"You kind of smell."
Flash blushed a bit. "Sorry."
"No need to be sorry Flash Sentry, I bet I smell too." Twilight said with a comforting smile.
"You can just call me Flash if you want to."
"Alright."
The two ponies had just been lying beside each other for the past thirty minutes, enjoying the time, silence, and warmth of each other. They had also been a bit bored. What was there to do in a cement room? Twilight wished she had a book to read. Flash actually wasn't as bored as Twilight was, for having her under his wing made his mind spin around, making a bunch of thoughts pop into his head that burned more time than one would think.
"Hey Flash?" Twilight said. "What do you think we should do to pass the time?"
"I don't know. What is there to do in a cement prison on a ship at sea?"
"...Rock, paper, scissors?"
*CRASH* Flash and Twilight both jumped into each other's forelegs at the sound of thunder, making each of them blush and shyly let go of each other.
"Was that thunder?" Flash unconsciously rhetorically asked.
He abandoned Twilight on the ground to investigate. He flew by the small window to see into it. He saw black skies, rain, and gigantic waves of water surrounding the boat.
"We're in a storm." Flash said as he descended towards the ground to land beside Twilight.
"Oh, well... ok." Twilight said, followed by a crash of thunder and the sound of rain hitting the upper deck of the boat. "Well, it'll most likely get cold again so... could you...?" Twilight sheepishly smirked.
"Could I?" Flash said.
"Could you...?"
"Me?"
"Yes you."
"Could I do what?"
"Put your wing over me again."
"Oh yes certainly."
When Flash was about to lie down beside Twilight, a huge wave caused the ship to tip backward, and the two ponies along with it.
"Waaagph" Cried Twilight as she and Flash were knocked towards the back of the prison.
The two were in a bit of shock before realizing what was going on. They'd landed on top of one another. They blushed instead of preparing themselves for the next attack from the ship's rocky jerks of doom.
The next attack felt like someone put an instant stop to a speeding wagon. Flash and Twilight were thrown forward. Though before they hit the iron wall, Flash Sentry extended his wings, catching himself, and the princess he held in his forelegs.
Still flying in the air, Flash looked behind him, thanked Celestia that he and Twilight hadn't hit the iron door, and then looked to Twilight.
"Luna! I just got my billionth 'Thank you' prayer!" Celestia announced, entering Luna's room.
Luna sat at her computer, playing an addictive game that has an addiction to hats. She turned her chair around to face her sister. "Oh how good for you!" Luna said with a forced smile, completely sarcastically.
"Don't you just love it when you get thanked for something you didn't even do? Especially when it's your billionth thank! I love my life."
Luna squinted her eyes. "Yay..."
"By the way Luna, may I have a piece of your cake as a victory treat?"
"Sure." Luna said as she turned her seat back around and played her game.
When Celestia trotted out of Luna's room, the dark colored Alicorn turned around in her chair and yelled, "YOU'RE WELCOME!!!”
"Twilight! Are you ok?" Flash said.
Twilight had put her face in Flash's chest out of fear. She slowly tilted her head up to meet her eyes with Flash's. "I'm ok." Twilight said.
Flash smiled, happy to know that Twilight was ok, and Twilight smiled as well. The two stared into each other's eyes a bit longer before- "FLASH LOOK OUT!!!".
*CLANG!!!*
Project S.H.I.P.
-Day 3/5, 09:26:39 AM
Pinkie Pie stood in front of Discord with an angry stare plastered upon her face. Pinkie Pie saw the outcome of Discords attempt to get Flash Sentry and Twilight closer to each other, and it didn't look very safe, or fun. Nor was it fun to watch. As Flash was holding Twilight, the ship nearly tipped over sideways, causing the wall to move over and hit them both in the process, knocking the soon-to-be couple out cold. After Pinkie saw this, Discord knocked her out with his own magic, knowing she would try to disrupt the plan. Now Pinkie, and Discord were arguing on the top deck in front of the magic screen.
"Discord! You could have seriously hurt them!" Pinkie Pie said angrily.
Discord put his paw and claw to his chest, acting as if it wasn't his fault. "Wha-, me? You were the one who approved. Besides, it was funny! Don't you remember when they were looking into each other's eyes, but they were distracted too long, and then THWACK!!!" Discord smiled excitedly, but frowned when Pinkie's expression didn't change.
"Discord, there is a point in time when friendship gets serious. When friends get hurt is one of those times! I'm drawing the line here! I'm cancelling the project!" Pinkie Pie removed eye contact with Discord, and then to the giant grey box that Flash and Twilight were in, and began to walk toward it.
Discord opened his mouth an put up a finger to reply, but no words came out. He bowed his head. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to find an excuse but couldn't. Her logic was too good. There was no way he could continue the project without something getting hurt either emotionally, or physically. It was the only reason he even decided to start the project in the first place. To have these ponies get hurt over love, and struggle. But then, he thought, isn't that the story of love? To build a relationship? Discord had often heard these speeches of love in his heydays when a couple would try and fail to defeat him. Discord looked to the screen to his left, and saw Twilight resting her head in Flash's chest. It was in that moment Discord realized something: how do they feel? How does it feel to be knocked in the head with a club and then dragged into a cement box, alone, with no one but a pony of the opposite sex? Then taken through a journey of laying on the floor, and going through several awkward situations with the other pony to find out you're in love. That was what this was for, and although the method of getting two together here might be insane, it would be completely necessary, because Twilight is an introverted nerd, and Flash lives in a place several miles away. Discord needed to finish this.
Discord looked away from the screen and to Pinkie Pie, who was about to open the door to Flash and Twilight's prison. Discord instantaneously teleported next to Pinkie Pie, and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from pressing the button to open the doors.
Pinkie looked at Discord. "What is it?" She said in a voice that was somehow cute, and assertive at the same time.
Discord let go of Pinkie's hoof. "Pinkie Pie I'm sorry." Discord surprisingly took no time to spit the words out. "Yes, what I did was meant to make me laugh. But I realized when no one else is laughing, it's not funny anymore. This was meant to be something to create love between two ponies, I know that now. I promise I won't do it again, just don't cancel the project!" Pinkie Pie was shocked. Discord, pleading with a decent apology and no puppy dog eyes. It was nearly unbelievable.
Pinkie looked to the button, to Discord again, and sighed with a smile. "Okay Discord, I'm giving it one more chance. I almost forgot what I'm here to do too. I guess my anger sort of got the best of me." Pinkie Pie rubbed the back of her head and giggled. "Shall we?" Pinkie Pie held out an elbow for Discord to put his arm through.
Discord smiled a bit, and leaned down to take Pinkie's gesture. "We shall." He said, walking along with Pinkie to the two recliners in front of the floating screen.
Project S.H.I.P.
-Day 3/5, 11:46:12 AM
The first thing that Flash noticed when he woke up, was that he had the worst headache he'd ever had in his entire life. It felt like solid concrete was thrown at his head. In which, from getting his sense back, he found was true. He would've gotten up but he found Twilight holding him down with her weight. Since he got knocked out, they must've been stuck in this position. Twilight had this pleasant smile on her face, which Flash found joy in. He took a few glances at her from time to time to check if it was still there. He liked her close to him with that positive vibe running off her. He smiled too. Was he shocked that he woke up like this? No, surprisingly. As soon as he woke up and noticed her there, there was a little surprise, but no big gasps or anything. It wasn't like she was going to call him a pervert after his first risk on making a move. So he laid there, motionless for the longest time. That was until Twilight woke up of course.
She woke up with a flutter in her eyes, in which Flash thought was a little cute. She then yawned and looked up at Flash, who was looking at her.
"Good morning." Flash said a little shyly.
Twilight blushed, causing Flash to blush, and neither of them knew why. However, neither of them broke eye contact. Flash let go of Twilight a little, giving a little more room in his grasp. Twilight didn't move though. She stayed right next to his chest, looking up into what felt like his soul.
"G-good morning." Twilight finally managed to say.
The pair stood there awkwardly for what felt like hours, but in an odd way, enjoyed every moment of it. They weren't lost in their respective thoughts but more in tune of what they were doing. Somehow it seemed to pass a lot of time.
Both of them breathed in through their noses and noticed an odor on each other. Twilight put her legs in between them and looked to Flash.
"Flash, I don't mean to be rude, but", Twilight began quietly, "you kind of smell."
Flash broke eye contact and looked to his left, at the ceiling. "Yeah, we both kind of do." He said, a little embarrassed.
"Well, I haven't had a shower in about five days, so that's probably why. I never was one to remember to bathe." Twilight giggled, catching Flash's eyes again.
"Me neither." Flash said.
Twilight frowned. "What're we going to do? We don't know how long we'll be in here, there's a magic barrier so I can't use my magic to get out of here, and all we have to eat is cotton candy and chocolate milk to drink."
Flash didn't know if they were going to get out of there, but he needed to say something to make her feel safe. So he said something that just about any colt would say to a filly to make her feel better. "It's going to be okay. I bet we'll be fine."
Twilight lowered her head a little. "You bet. Those two words mean you're not sure. You know what? I'm not sure either. For all I know our captors are going to kill us, or sell us to be slaves." She looked up at Flash, tears welling up in her eyes. She was starting to lose control, and hope along with it. "What if I never see my friends again? What if I die and no pony knows how, or when! I don't want to die. Not now..." She started to explode into tears.
How was Flash holding together through this? He had the same reasons to lose hope, and to lose control. But what was keeping him so calm? Why wasn't he crying? The answer was literally in his forelegs. It was Twilight. She was the reason he forgot about everything and moved past it. He didn't care if he died, as long as he was with her.
Flash Sentry put one of his hooves to the back of Twilights head, and pulled her into his chest. Her cries were now muffled, and Flash's muzzle was right next to her ear. Flash whispered in her ear, "Twilight, I can't tell you that everything will be okay. But, I can tell you that I'm here for you, and I'm happy to offer support. Please don't cry. I-" Flash hesitated for a moment, "I care about you." Third day alone with Twilight, and Flash had already made it this far to say those words. But that wasn't what he cared about, he wanted Twilight to know that he was there with her, suffering the same torture.
Twilight calmed down faster than Flash anticipated. She was now reduced to a shaky voice and occasional sniffles.
"Th-thank you." Twilight said quietly. "I-I'm sorry you-" Twilight swallowed, "-you had to see me like that I... just..."
Flash smiled. "I know." He nestled his head inside Twilight's mane. "It's fine. Crying is okay."
The rest of their day was occupied with pass times, and small talk, as the two went on with their day. Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry, Pinkie Pie, and Discord had a very good day, which ended with a new lesson learned.
Dear, Princess Celestia
Today I learned that romance is a thing and.... well I forgot the rest but I'm pretty sure it'll come to me again sometime in my life. In other words, I believe I learned something that might be valuable, but I forgot what it is. In the meantime, I will continue to be my wonderful fun-loving self. Anyway, ta-ta!
Sincerely, Discord