A Prince and a Princessby TorontoFCBronyChaptersChapter 1: Reunited and it Feels So GoodChapter 2: Catching Up and Planning AheadChapter 3: Tryouts and PreparationsChapter 1: Reunited and it Feels So GoodFlash Sentry rested his chin on his hoof, looking out the window as the world passed by. The train ride from Canterlot to Ponyville felt like it was taking forever this time. The prince had taken this trip many times before, but this time was different. This time he had a few bags of his belongings with him, but he wasn't going for just a visit. Flash was permanently moving to Ponyville to live with his wife in her new castle. As Flash watched the beautiful autumn landscape pass by, the leaves on the ground, the fluffy, white clouds in the sky, he was putting together everything that had happened as of late. It had been a long and hard time, the last few months. The pegasus was getting used to his role as the leader of the Canterlot Royal Guard, thanks to the previous captain, Shining Armour, when everything changed. The two were separated—Flash taking care of his new captain assignment in Canterlot, Twilight taking care of her new royal duties in Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. Flash also had to get used to ponies calling him "Prince Flash Sentry", which was quite different from the usual names he was used to being called ever since his foalhood[1]. [1] Nicknames like Brad Sentry, Dumbass, and so forth. It was difficult to be separated so soon after marriage. The couple had an amazing honeymoon where they did lots of different things together[2], but then things became serious, throwing a wrench into their early marriage. After only a few weeks of being married and living in Canterlot, they had to go their separate ways. Twilight's new royal duties were not to just stand around and wave to her subjects—they meant so much more. In fact, once again, she had to become the savior of the entire kingdom while Flash Sentry had to sit idly by and wait for things to become normal again. [2] Not really. They only did one specific thing in particular... But the time finally came for Flash to be reunited with Twilight Sparkle and her friends as the train turned the corner, Ponyville dead ahead. After months of being separated, spending no more than a few hours with each other to catch up while in the Crystal Empire, the two were ready to become permanently reunited with each other. Flash nibbled on his hoof, worried about how things would be between them upon meeting again. After what felt like an eternity, the train finally pulled into the Ponyville station. As the wheels squeaked and squealed, Flash could see his wife waiting patiently on the platform. She hadn't noticed him on the train yet, but when it finally stopped, Flash's window was right in front of her. As they made eye contact, Twilight waved with an eager smile, and Flash could feel his heart pounding. As fast as he could, Flash grabbed all his belongings, a few bags in total. He ran past everypony, possibly even pushing some old mares over in the process, to be the first pony out of the train. He ran towards his bride, dropping his bags, and the two embraced with a firm hug. "Twily," Flash said into her ear, "I missed you so much." "I missed you too, Flashy," Twilight replied. Flash Sentry rested his head on her shoulder as he nearly began to cry. "No, I mean, I missed you more than anypony has ever missed anypony before." "Um, Flash—" "I missed you with every fiber of my body and soul," he replied as his head was still buried in her shoulder, and he began to move her left and right as he kept her shackled in his embrace, latching onto her. "Yeah, um," Twilight responded as she began to look around. Many other ponies were now staring at them. "Yeah, I think you missed me a little too much there, big boy." The mare broke off the hug and took a step back. The two of them made eye contact, a fire burning in their cheeks, and burst into laughter for a few seconds, before calming down with a few more chuckles. "Well... can I go see our new castle now?" Flash asked with a massive grin. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Our castle?" "Yes, our castle," Flash responded proudly. "Now that we're married, we have to share everything!" Twilight bobbed her head while in thought. "I suppose you're right. You should come see how big our new bed is!" "Can't wait to break it in!" Flash replied, a lot louder than he realised. The two of them looked at each other silently for a second and shared a quick burst of laughter. "Hello? Flashy?" Twilight asked her husband as he continued to stare up at the massive castle in front of him. He hadn't blinked for over a minute, and he was beginning to salivate. "This... is our castle?" he asked with a mystified tone. Twilight chuckled, covering her mouth with a hoof. Putting one of her forelegs over Flash's back, she answered, "Indeed it is! Just wait until you see the inside of it. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised!" Flash tilted his head towards his mare, still wide-eyed. "Can we check out the bedroom first?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to see some of the others first? They're already inside, waiting for us." "It'll only take a few minutes..." "Flash, no," Twilight answered sternly. The stallion put his head down, answering quietly, "Okay, fine." So, Twilight led her husband up the golden steps and through the similarly-coloured double doors. The immaculate interior of the castle was unique in the land of Equestria. It had characteristics similar to the Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace, but with a darker tone. The wall and floor material weren't as shiny as the two other royal palaces, but the castle still had a royal feel to it. It was Twilight's castle; the castle of a young mare who was never born into royalty, but controlled her own destiny. With awe, Flash trotted down the main hallway with his wife, looking at every detail on the walls, floor, and ceiling as they made their way. "Over there is the game room," Twilight said, pointing a hoof. "Game room?" Flash asked excitedly. "Yep," Twilight nodded. "Over there is the kitchen and dining room." "Kitchen and dining room?" Flash asked again. "Indeed," Twilight answered again with a smile. "Over there is the bathroom." "Bathroom?" Flash asked, keeping up his excitement. "Every house has a bathroom, Flash," Twilight answered flatly, yet happily. She missed the excited and foalish personality her husband had. "I know, I know. I don't mean to be so excited," the pegasus responded. He turned towards Twilight, putting his hooves on her shoulders. "It's just... this is our house!" "Ow," Twilight muttered as Flash began to shake her in his fit of happiness. "This is our castle!" he reiterated. "Flash, gentle, please," Twilight said as he shook her harder in excitement. "These are the walls where our foals will grow up," he said, giving her another shake. "Flash, stop!" Twilight yelled as she broke away from him. She panted for a second, and then giggled. "I know you're excited—I am too—but we still have the rest of the castle to check out." "Okay." Flash took a few deep breaths and bounced a few times like a hoofball player about to take the field. After calming down, he replied, "I'm ready." Twilight continued to give him the full tour. She showed him the magnificent bathroom with a gold jacuzzi. He showed great excitement at seeing the kitchen and the massive fridge inside of it. He also showed great excitement at the lounge. In fact, to keep it simple, he just showed great excitement overall. But one of the most interesting things about the new castle was Twilight's throne room, which had seven thrones. "Okay, one for you, your five friends, and wow," he said, pointing at the smaller throne beside Twilight's, "you even have one for me!" "Um, that's for Spike," Twilight answered, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "You don't exactly have a throne." "Oh." "But you're still going to be my most important consultant," Twilight replied, giving her husband a hug and a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. He hadn't felt the soft lips of his mare for quite a while. After ending the hug, Flash asked, "Hey, where are your friends, anyway?" "They're in the library. It's the third door on the left. It's the last room I wanted to show you today," Twilight answered. "Let's go!" Flash exclaimed. They made their way to the library. The prince was able to greet Twilight's five closest equine friends and her dragon assistant, who were all thrilled to see him once again. Boring small talk and catching up ensued for a few minutes, and then the stallion decided to have a look around the room. Flash looked at the massive walls, filled with books, that went all around the room, only stopping for a large, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out on the whole town of Ponyville. The pegasus instantly knew that this would be where Twilight would spend most of her free time from then on. He trotted his way back to the middle of the room, looking directly at a large contraption of some sort. "Uh, what's this?" he asked while looking at it. It was a machine of some sort, made up of various metals and other parts, with a mirror in the middle. He gave it a tap, causing a few of the pieces to shake and creak. "Be careful!" Twilight said while reaching a hoof on it, stabilizing it. After thinking for a second about how to explain what the machine actually was, she answered, "You know how, after Celestia gave Sunset Shimmer to me as an assistant, I sent her back to make things right in the human world?" "Yeah. She's not back, is she?" "No. In fact, she sort of liked the world that she moved to. When I sent her back, it took a while, but she made things right with the others there. She found the other Sunset Shimmer in that world and reunited her with her family, apologizing and explaining everything to them. When three new villains from our world ended up there, Sunset was able to inform me of it magically, and I built this contraption to be able to access that world at any time. After we were able to defeat them, Sunset decided she wanted to stay there permanently, and not return to Ponyville. She's happy there now, and she's moved on with her new life, and the other version of her moved on with her life, so I allowed her to stay." "That's nice of you, Twily," Flash replied as he put a hoof around his mare. "Yeah," Twilight responded, running a hoof through her lavender mane. Flash smiled back at his mare's cute, nervous way of accepting praise. "Hopefully one day she can come back and tell me the story of how she made things right with the other Sunset. " "I'm pretty sure she'll come back soon," Twilight responded happily. "After all, she can come back at any time." "But I have a weird question," Flash said as he put one hoof through the magic mirror, quickly taking out after the weird feeling it gave him. "What?" "If we all have a human counterpart, and Sunset Shimmer was able to meet hers and make things right, and you already met mine a few times, doesn't that mean that you have a counterpart too, that possibly knows nothing about any of this?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she put together her husband's words. "I've never thought of that..." Chapter 2: Catching Up and Planning Ahead"Hey, Spike. I'm home," said Twilight as she finally came home after a long day of class and walking in the heavy rain. "Ruff!" replied an excited Spike, who ran over to his master, rubbing his face against her jeans. "Hey, hold on, buddy," Twilight said as she rubbed the top of his head. "You're going to get all wet. Go sit down so I can give you a treat." "Woof!" Spike ran over to the couch, jumped on it, spun around three times, plopped his rump down, and panted heavily with his tongue out as he awaited his treat. Twilight took off her raincoat and hung it up on her coat rack. She pulled off her bulky, black glasses and cleaned them off with a new cloth from her kitchen counter. After putting her glasses back on, she then reached over to the other counter, grabbing a bone-shaped dog treat. "Have you been a good boy?" she asked as she walked over to Spike, who was still eagerly waiting on the couch. "Woof!" he responded with his tongue hanging out. "I'm sure you have been," she replied as she fed him the treat. While Spike was enjoying his snack, Twilight made her way down the hallway, going down the stairs into the basement of her family home. Turning on the light, Twilight laid her eyes on the project she had been working on for over a year. There were many papers of notes and pictures on the desk, which was against the wall. The wall itself was covered with more papers, pictures, and maps, with a web of red string bringing together pieces of information that were related. As a conspiracy theorist, Twilight knew to always document anything that was of interest. Looking at the cluster of information on the wall, Twilight scratched her chin, thinking deeply. "Ruff!" sounded a voice from behind her. "Hey, Spike, do you remember that weird guy with blue hair that took me on a date a few months ago?" Spike replied by sitting on his rump and panting excitedly. "Yeah, that guy from campus with the nice car and rugged good looks. Too bad he was a weirdo," she said with a smile to her puppy. "Well, I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think he knows some things I don't know about this project I've been working on." "Woof?" Spike asked in question. "Yes, Spike," Twilight answered. "I think he knows something about this multiverse theory I've been working on. There was something about him that just wasn't right, almost as if he knew something he didn't want others to know. And that other girl who was his ex seemed to be a little shady as well." "Ruff!" "You're right, I forgot about that. He thought he knew me from somewhere else, and he even knew my name without ever meeting me before." "Grrrrr." "I agree. Things have just gotten too weird lately. I'm going to have to look into this a little more." The fresh smell of burning firewood filled the air in the room. The crackling sound of fire could be heard. Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry were laying down together in the lounge room of the castle, cuddled up together, feeling the warmth of the fire. Twilight's friends had left for the day after catching up with Flash upon his return, and Spike was already in bed. The cool outdoor autumn air was counteracted with the warmth of the fireplace, the heat from each other's bodies, and the blanket they were wrapped up in. "Hahaha, that was such a great joke," Flash Sentry said with his hooves wrapped around his wife's back. "Now you tell one." "I don't have any jokes to tell, Flashy," Twilight responded. "Well, is there anything you want to talk about?" Flash asked. "Why don't you tell me about what happened when we were apart?" Twilight asked, batting her eyelids. "Sure," Flash replied. After pondering for a second, he responded, "So, since I'm here, and we haven't really planned things out fully yet. I made Sentinel and Optimus interim co-captains of the Canterlot Royal Guard, with the possibility of it being permanent." "Really? Why? I thought they didn't like you!" "Yeah, but whatever," Flash responded, waving his hoof. "They're good, strong guards who work well together. I didn't really want to go through a whole process because I'm lazy, and I didn't really know any other guard well." "Well, now that you're here with me again, do you think you know how things are going to work out?" "Yep! I'm going to stay with you no matter what. Besides, now that there's a new castle here, we're going to have to make a Ponyville Royal Guard." "Ooh, you can be the captain, who would lay down your life to protect me!" "You know I always will." Flash leaned down and kissed Twilight on the cheek. "So," Twilight responded. "Since we're going to open a new royal guard here, you're going to have to hold open tryouts, Captain!" "Meh, I'll do it later. My main focus right now is you," he said as he nuzzled Twilight. "So, what are we going to do over the next little while?" "Well, Princess Celestia encouraged me to go around Equestria, since I'm the new Princess of Friendship. Basically, she wants me to make appearances around the kingdom so that I can spread friendship even further." "Princess of Friendship tour, eh?" Flash asked, scratching his chin. "Can the newest prince in Equestria join you?" "Of course!" Twilight responded, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. "We can start planning it tomorrow." "It's settled then," Flash replied. "Hey, switching topics, how was it defeating that Tirek freak? It must have been awesome. That dude basically took my life force from inside me. It was very disturbing, I must say. Especially because his breath stunk like plot." Twilight giggled. "It's hard to explain. It felt very awkward having all of the powers from the other princesses, but it also felt amazing. And my fight with Tirek was quite scary because I didn't know what would happen, but looking back from now, it was pretty awesome. It felt amazing kicking monster flank." "I wish I were able to see it," Flash reminisced. "It would have been super sexy to see my mare beating up a big dude." Twilight blushed while looking away. "Why would it have been sexy?" "I don't know. Thinking about you being assertive is kind of... um... yeah." Flash was almost too embarrassed to finish his sentence. The two of them, still under the blanket together, didn't say anything for a few seconds. But then, Twilight lidded her eyes and smiled slyly. "So, big colt," she said while ripping off the blanket, "you like assertive mares?" Flash's eyes went wide open. He couldn't respond upon looking directly at the face she was giving him. His heart was pounding. Twilight leaned forward, nibbled on his ear, and whispered, "On your back." "O—kay," Flash responded, his voice cracking. The sunlight shining through the window met the eyelids of the couple still laying on the carpeted floor together. The fire burned itself out. Just the smell and a few embers remained. "Morning," Flash said as his and Twilight's eyes both opened at the same time. Twilight let out a small moan as she stretched. "Morning, Flashy." "I'll go make us some breakfast," Flash said happily. "Sounds good." Chapter 3: Tryouts and Preparations"Okay, recruits, to be a member of the new Ponyville Royal Guard, you're going to need guts," Flash Sentry yelled as he paced back and forth, crunching the fallen autumn leaves on the ground. Over the previous few weeks, Twilight Sparkle prepared vigorously for her upcoming Princess of Friendship tour, while Flash advertised around town that tryouts were going to be held for a new security force at the castle. The turnout was less than ideal. "You're going to need wits," the stallion continued as he paced in front of the eager ponies applying for new positions. Flash stopped and looked at the ponies in line. From left to right were: Big Macintosh, Spike, Rumble, Featherweight, Bulk Biceps[1], and Tom the Rock. "Which may not be your strong point," the prince continued. "But regardless, you recruits are going to have to be willing to lay your life on the line in order to protect Princess Twilight Sparkle. Is that something you're willing to do?" [1] Or Snowflake, as he was affectionately called by his close friends and secret fillyfriend, Fluttershy. Regardless, while Flash spoke, the massive, small-winged white pegasus was examining the inner cavities of his nose and was stunned by his discovery upon retrieving what he found. "Eeyup!" Big Macintosh replied cheerfully, while Bulk screamed like the little filly he was on the inside. Rumble and Featherweight gave each other a hoof-bump with excitement, while Spike and Tom stared back at their potential future captain blankly. Flash facehoofed. "Slim pickings," he muttered. "All right. This morning, I am going to test your endurance, speed, strength, and smarts. First, your strength. We're going to test each of you one-on-one in a tug-of-war contest to see who is the strongest. First up, Rumble and Tom." "Oh, darling, this dress is simply darling, darling. It really makes you look darling," Rarity complimented as Twilight continued to try on multiple dresses inside the massive master bedroom of the castle. The princess and her five friends were seeing what she could wear on her upcoming planned tour across Equestria. "I like the way it makes your flank look," Rainbow added. "Me too," Pinkie shouted. "All right," Twilight replied. "This will be the one I wear in Manehattan, since they have a heightened sense of style, and it's the final stop on the tour." Pointing to a few other dresses, the unicorn continued, "I'll wear that one in Canterlot, that one in Fillydelphia, that one in Baltimare, that one in Vanhoover, and that one in Las Pegasus." "I think it's going to be a wonderful trip for you and Flash," Fluttershy commented. "You not only get to travel across Equestria, meeting many ponies with your husband, but you also get to—what on earth is that noise?" Fluttershy was interrupted by the sound of burly shouting and cheering, as well as colt-ish struggle. The mares ran over to the window, looking into the backyard of the castle. Instantly, Twilight covered her face with one hoof in embarrassment. "Oh, Flash, why," she muttered to herself as she watched. Outside was Flash Sentry, blowing a whistle, watching Rumble pulling a rope tied to a giant rock, with a number of other males watching and cheering loudly. "Um, sorry, we don't have to watch this," Twilight said to her friends, but they all continued to look out the window, fascinated. "There's my love," Rarity mumbled with glazed eyes as she rested her chin on her hoof. "Go Tom!" she then screamed out, startling the others. With a confused roll of her eyes, and a slight chuckle, Twilight backed away from her spectating friends to continue to prepare for her upcoming trip. "Okay," Flash said with his eyes wide open in surprise. "So." He paused to try and gather his thoughts. "The stallion who won the strength contest, defeating Big Macintosh in the final, is Tom the Rock." Tom, being the relaxed-type that he usually was, refused to celebrate his victory. Besides, there were plenty of other contests to go. "Don't get too cocky, Tom," Flash said flatly as he continued pacing in front of his prospective guards. "There are many other things I'm going to test you on today. Next, I'm going to test your speed. What if a crazed mare sneaks into this castle at night and steals the princess' crown? Will you be fast enough to catch up to her? Each of you will run down to the river and back individually, and I will be timing you. First up will be Rumble." The colt gulped and trotted his way over to Flash. He bent down to set himself while the stallion put the whistle in his mouth and one hoof in the air. After a few seconds, the whistle blew, Flash's hoof came down, and Rumble was off. The hours went on. Twilight sat by the window. She swapped between looking out the window at Flash's tryouts and watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash's very heated argument. "Ah told ya, Granny Smith is the best tasting apple," Applejack yelled. "And I told you that that is disgusting and illegal!" Rainbow retorted. "That's not what Ah mean!" Twilight rolled her eyes and returned to watching the tryouts outside for the Ponyville Royal Guard. Needless to say, they weren't going so smoothly. The princess sighed through her nose as she watched her husband desperately try and rally up the other stallions, who at this point were all on their backs, exhausted from the various tasks they were asked to do. Tom looked like he was about to pass out, and Big Macintosh was asleep against a tree. For a quick second, Twilight turned back to her friends. "Listen, Applejack, I won't judge what you do in your family, but I also don't want to hear about it," Rainbow continued. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Fluttershy can be the judge if Big Macintosh is the biggest apple." The yellow Pegasus quickly turned red and shrunk in her stance. "Rainbow, how dense are ya? I'm talkin' about apples the fruit!" "Ooooooooh." Stealthily, Twilight got up from sitting on her bay window sill and snuck along the side of the room. Rarity spotted her sneaking away, but the unicorn gave her a wink and kept quiet as Rainbow and Applejack continued to dominate the conversation while Pinkie Pie chewed on her own hair. Twilight eventually made it out of her room and into the hallway of the castle. She made her way downstairs and to the open backyard of the castle. Once there, she found Flash standing in the open, looking around at the weak contestants who came out for his tryouts. "Hey," Twilight said as she came around and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Hey," Flash replied as he looked down on his side. "I take it that it didn't go very well?" "Not really," Flash replied, scratching his head. "That's okay. You tried. So, what're we going to do, then?" "Can your friends watch the castle while we're gone?" Twilight thought for a second. "I don't think they all can at the same time, but I'm sure they'd love to!" "Great! What about Spike?" "A few weeks in a castle, alone, except for a bunch of mares? I think he'll survive," Twilight said with a smile. "Great," Flash said as he put his whistle into his mouth. "No!" Twilight yelled as Flash blew it loudly with his wife right in his vicinity. "Line up, fillies," the prince yelled out. Though all tired, the stallions, colts, and rock all lined up. Flash pondered for a few seconds on what he was about to say, and how to say it in a cordial manner, but then flicked his hoof in the air and said, "Bah. We'll be in touch." Twilight and Flash trotted side by side as they made their way back into the castle as the others all dispersed. Author's Note Sorry, guys. I know I've been really quiet on here lately, and I apologize greatly for that. You're all amazing people, and I thank you all so much for being so supportive! I will give each of you an excuse at a different time. Here are my excuses lately: -I sprained my wrist and thumb in a recent soccer match (no joke, I've only been able to work 2 days in 2 weeks). That has made using technology hard. I've had amazing ideas but I haven't been able to go with them, and that sucks royally. -I've been working on improving my writing and writing my own novel, and I've been completely dissatisfied with anything pony I can write, because I've been working on my own characters and writing with humans and stuff. I feel like this (this chapter) is crap, but this is the best crap I could come up with for now. I didn't want to post the worst crap and rush it. I'm sorry I took so long, but it's hard posting when you feel uneasy about what you're writing about and unsure if people will like or absolutely hate your stuff. It has always been in the plans for this story to have quite a few short chapters to start off. The next one will take place in the human world, where we will see Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry, and some things will start to make sense, and we will see some of the plot start to thicken. Twilight will not get fatter yet from eating too much cake, but the plot, as in story, will get more interesting. Thanks to Gemstone the Unicorn again for looking at this and editing in advance. She has a FlashLight story of her own that, even though is on hiatus, is near-perfect. Check her out!
Chapter 1: Reunited and it Feels So GoodFlash Sentry rested his chin on his hoof, looking out the window as the world passed by. The train ride from Canterlot to Ponyville felt like it was taking forever this time. The prince had taken this trip many times before, but this time was different. This time he had a few bags of his belongings with him, but he wasn't going for just a visit. Flash was permanently moving to Ponyville to live with his wife in her new castle. As Flash watched the beautiful autumn landscape pass by, the leaves on the ground, the fluffy, white clouds in the sky, he was putting together everything that had happened as of late. It had been a long and hard time, the last few months. The pegasus was getting used to his role as the leader of the Canterlot Royal Guard, thanks to the previous captain, Shining Armour, when everything changed. The two were separated—Flash taking care of his new captain assignment in Canterlot, Twilight taking care of her new royal duties in Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. Flash also had to get used to ponies calling him "Prince Flash Sentry", which was quite different from the usual names he was used to being called ever since his foalhood[1]. [1] Nicknames like Brad Sentry, Dumbass, and so forth. It was difficult to be separated so soon after marriage. The couple had an amazing honeymoon where they did lots of different things together[2], but then things became serious, throwing a wrench into their early marriage. After only a few weeks of being married and living in Canterlot, they had to go their separate ways. Twilight's new royal duties were not to just stand around and wave to her subjects—they meant so much more. In fact, once again, she had to become the savior of the entire kingdom while Flash Sentry had to sit idly by and wait for things to become normal again. [2] Not really. They only did one specific thing in particular... But the time finally came for Flash to be reunited with Twilight Sparkle and her friends as the train turned the corner, Ponyville dead ahead. After months of being separated, spending no more than a few hours with each other to catch up while in the Crystal Empire, the two were ready to become permanently reunited with each other. Flash nibbled on his hoof, worried about how things would be between them upon meeting again. After what felt like an eternity, the train finally pulled into the Ponyville station. As the wheels squeaked and squealed, Flash could see his wife waiting patiently on the platform. She hadn't noticed him on the train yet, but when it finally stopped, Flash's window was right in front of her. As they made eye contact, Twilight waved with an eager smile, and Flash could feel his heart pounding. As fast as he could, Flash grabbed all his belongings, a few bags in total. He ran past everypony, possibly even pushing some old mares over in the process, to be the first pony out of the train. He ran towards his bride, dropping his bags, and the two embraced with a firm hug. "Twily," Flash said into her ear, "I missed you so much." "I missed you too, Flashy," Twilight replied. Flash Sentry rested his head on her shoulder as he nearly began to cry. "No, I mean, I missed you more than anypony has ever missed anypony before." "Um, Flash—" "I missed you with every fiber of my body and soul," he replied as his head was still buried in her shoulder, and he began to move her left and right as he kept her shackled in his embrace, latching onto her. "Yeah, um," Twilight responded as she began to look around. Many other ponies were now staring at them. "Yeah, I think you missed me a little too much there, big boy." The mare broke off the hug and took a step back. The two of them made eye contact, a fire burning in their cheeks, and burst into laughter for a few seconds, before calming down with a few more chuckles. "Well... can I go see our new castle now?" Flash asked with a massive grin. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Our castle?" "Yes, our castle," Flash responded proudly. "Now that we're married, we have to share everything!" Twilight bobbed her head while in thought. "I suppose you're right. You should come see how big our new bed is!" "Can't wait to break it in!" Flash replied, a lot louder than he realised. The two of them looked at each other silently for a second and shared a quick burst of laughter. "Hello? Flashy?" Twilight asked her husband as he continued to stare up at the massive castle in front of him. He hadn't blinked for over a minute, and he was beginning to salivate. "This... is our castle?" he asked with a mystified tone. Twilight chuckled, covering her mouth with a hoof. Putting one of her forelegs over Flash's back, she answered, "Indeed it is! Just wait until you see the inside of it. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised!" Flash tilted his head towards his mare, still wide-eyed. "Can we check out the bedroom first?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to see some of the others first? They're already inside, waiting for us." "It'll only take a few minutes..." "Flash, no," Twilight answered sternly. The stallion put his head down, answering quietly, "Okay, fine." So, Twilight led her husband up the golden steps and through the similarly-coloured double doors. The immaculate interior of the castle was unique in the land of Equestria. It had characteristics similar to the Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace, but with a darker tone. The wall and floor material weren't as shiny as the two other royal palaces, but the castle still had a royal feel to it. It was Twilight's castle; the castle of a young mare who was never born into royalty, but controlled her own destiny. With awe, Flash trotted down the main hallway with his wife, looking at every detail on the walls, floor, and ceiling as they made their way. "Over there is the game room," Twilight said, pointing a hoof. "Game room?" Flash asked excitedly. "Yep," Twilight nodded. "Over there is the kitchen and dining room." "Kitchen and dining room?" Flash asked again. "Indeed," Twilight answered again with a smile. "Over there is the bathroom." "Bathroom?" Flash asked, keeping up his excitement. "Every house has a bathroom, Flash," Twilight answered flatly, yet happily. She missed the excited and foalish personality her husband had. "I know, I know. I don't mean to be so excited," the pegasus responded. He turned towards Twilight, putting his hooves on her shoulders. "It's just... this is our house!" "Ow," Twilight muttered as Flash began to shake her in his fit of happiness. "This is our castle!" he reiterated. "Flash, gentle, please," Twilight said as he shook her harder in excitement. "These are the walls where our foals will grow up," he said, giving her another shake. "Flash, stop!" Twilight yelled as she broke away from him. She panted for a second, and then giggled. "I know you're excited—I am too—but we still have the rest of the castle to check out." "Okay." Flash took a few deep breaths and bounced a few times like a hoofball player about to take the field. After calming down, he replied, "I'm ready." Twilight continued to give him the full tour. She showed him the magnificent bathroom with a gold jacuzzi. He showed great excitement at seeing the kitchen and the massive fridge inside of it. He also showed great excitement at the lounge. In fact, to keep it simple, he just showed great excitement overall. But one of the most interesting things about the new castle was Twilight's throne room, which had seven thrones. "Okay, one for you, your five friends, and wow," he said, pointing at the smaller throne beside Twilight's, "you even have one for me!" "Um, that's for Spike," Twilight answered, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "You don't exactly have a throne." "Oh." "But you're still going to be my most important consultant," Twilight replied, giving her husband a hug and a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. He hadn't felt the soft lips of his mare for quite a while. After ending the hug, Flash asked, "Hey, where are your friends, anyway?" "They're in the library. It's the third door on the left. It's the last room I wanted to show you today," Twilight answered. "Let's go!" Flash exclaimed. They made their way to the library. The prince was able to greet Twilight's five closest equine friends and her dragon assistant, who were all thrilled to see him once again. Boring small talk and catching up ensued for a few minutes, and then the stallion decided to have a look around the room. Flash looked at the massive walls, filled with books, that went all around the room, only stopping for a large, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out on the whole town of Ponyville. The pegasus instantly knew that this would be where Twilight would spend most of her free time from then on. He trotted his way back to the middle of the room, looking directly at a large contraption of some sort. "Uh, what's this?" he asked while looking at it. It was a machine of some sort, made up of various metals and other parts, with a mirror in the middle. He gave it a tap, causing a few of the pieces to shake and creak. "Be careful!" Twilight said while reaching a hoof on it, stabilizing it. After thinking for a second about how to explain what the machine actually was, she answered, "You know how, after Celestia gave Sunset Shimmer to me as an assistant, I sent her back to make things right in the human world?" "Yeah. She's not back, is she?" "No. In fact, she sort of liked the world that she moved to. When I sent her back, it took a while, but she made things right with the others there. She found the other Sunset Shimmer in that world and reunited her with her family, apologizing and explaining everything to them. When three new villains from our world ended up there, Sunset was able to inform me of it magically, and I built this contraption to be able to access that world at any time. After we were able to defeat them, Sunset decided she wanted to stay there permanently, and not return to Ponyville. She's happy there now, and she's moved on with her new life, and the other version of her moved on with her life, so I allowed her to stay." "That's nice of you, Twily," Flash replied as he put a hoof around his mare. "Yeah," Twilight responded, running a hoof through her lavender mane. Flash smiled back at his mare's cute, nervous way of accepting praise. "Hopefully one day she can come back and tell me the story of how she made things right with the other Sunset. " "I'm pretty sure she'll come back soon," Twilight responded happily. "After all, she can come back at any time." "But I have a weird question," Flash said as he put one hoof through the magic mirror, quickly taking out after the weird feeling it gave him. "What?" "If we all have a human counterpart, and Sunset Shimmer was able to meet hers and make things right, and you already met mine a few times, doesn't that mean that you have a counterpart too, that possibly knows nothing about any of this?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she put together her husband's words. "I've never thought of that..."
Chapter 2: Catching Up and Planning Ahead"Hey, Spike. I'm home," said Twilight as she finally came home after a long day of class and walking in the heavy rain. "Ruff!" replied an excited Spike, who ran over to his master, rubbing his face against her jeans. "Hey, hold on, buddy," Twilight said as she rubbed the top of his head. "You're going to get all wet. Go sit down so I can give you a treat." "Woof!" Spike ran over to the couch, jumped on it, spun around three times, plopped his rump down, and panted heavily with his tongue out as he awaited his treat. Twilight took off her raincoat and hung it up on her coat rack. She pulled off her bulky, black glasses and cleaned them off with a new cloth from her kitchen counter. After putting her glasses back on, she then reached over to the other counter, grabbing a bone-shaped dog treat. "Have you been a good boy?" she asked as she walked over to Spike, who was still eagerly waiting on the couch. "Woof!" he responded with his tongue hanging out. "I'm sure you have been," she replied as she fed him the treat. While Spike was enjoying his snack, Twilight made her way down the hallway, going down the stairs into the basement of her family home. Turning on the light, Twilight laid her eyes on the project she had been working on for over a year. There were many papers of notes and pictures on the desk, which was against the wall. The wall itself was covered with more papers, pictures, and maps, with a web of red string bringing together pieces of information that were related. As a conspiracy theorist, Twilight knew to always document anything that was of interest. Looking at the cluster of information on the wall, Twilight scratched her chin, thinking deeply. "Ruff!" sounded a voice from behind her. "Hey, Spike, do you remember that weird guy with blue hair that took me on a date a few months ago?" Spike replied by sitting on his rump and panting excitedly. "Yeah, that guy from campus with the nice car and rugged good looks. Too bad he was a weirdo," she said with a smile to her puppy. "Well, I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think he knows some things I don't know about this project I've been working on." "Woof?" Spike asked in question. "Yes, Spike," Twilight answered. "I think he knows something about this multiverse theory I've been working on. There was something about him that just wasn't right, almost as if he knew something he didn't want others to know. And that other girl who was his ex seemed to be a little shady as well." "Ruff!" "You're right, I forgot about that. He thought he knew me from somewhere else, and he even knew my name without ever meeting me before." "Grrrrr." "I agree. Things have just gotten too weird lately. I'm going to have to look into this a little more." The fresh smell of burning firewood filled the air in the room. The crackling sound of fire could be heard. Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry were laying down together in the lounge room of the castle, cuddled up together, feeling the warmth of the fire. Twilight's friends had left for the day after catching up with Flash upon his return, and Spike was already in bed. The cool outdoor autumn air was counteracted with the warmth of the fireplace, the heat from each other's bodies, and the blanket they were wrapped up in. "Hahaha, that was such a great joke," Flash Sentry said with his hooves wrapped around his wife's back. "Now you tell one." "I don't have any jokes to tell, Flashy," Twilight responded. "Well, is there anything you want to talk about?" Flash asked. "Why don't you tell me about what happened when we were apart?" Twilight asked, batting her eyelids. "Sure," Flash replied. After pondering for a second, he responded, "So, since I'm here, and we haven't really planned things out fully yet. I made Sentinel and Optimus interim co-captains of the Canterlot Royal Guard, with the possibility of it being permanent." "Really? Why? I thought they didn't like you!" "Yeah, but whatever," Flash responded, waving his hoof. "They're good, strong guards who work well together. I didn't really want to go through a whole process because I'm lazy, and I didn't really know any other guard well." "Well, now that you're here with me again, do you think you know how things are going to work out?" "Yep! I'm going to stay with you no matter what. Besides, now that there's a new castle here, we're going to have to make a Ponyville Royal Guard." "Ooh, you can be the captain, who would lay down your life to protect me!" "You know I always will." Flash leaned down and kissed Twilight on the cheek. "So," Twilight responded. "Since we're going to open a new royal guard here, you're going to have to hold open tryouts, Captain!" "Meh, I'll do it later. My main focus right now is you," he said as he nuzzled Twilight. "So, what are we going to do over the next little while?" "Well, Princess Celestia encouraged me to go around Equestria, since I'm the new Princess of Friendship. Basically, she wants me to make appearances around the kingdom so that I can spread friendship even further." "Princess of Friendship tour, eh?" Flash asked, scratching his chin. "Can the newest prince in Equestria join you?" "Of course!" Twilight responded, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. "We can start planning it tomorrow." "It's settled then," Flash replied. "Hey, switching topics, how was it defeating that Tirek freak? It must have been awesome. That dude basically took my life force from inside me. It was very disturbing, I must say. Especially because his breath stunk like plot." Twilight giggled. "It's hard to explain. It felt very awkward having all of the powers from the other princesses, but it also felt amazing. And my fight with Tirek was quite scary because I didn't know what would happen, but looking back from now, it was pretty awesome. It felt amazing kicking monster flank." "I wish I were able to see it," Flash reminisced. "It would have been super sexy to see my mare beating up a big dude." Twilight blushed while looking away. "Why would it have been sexy?" "I don't know. Thinking about you being assertive is kind of... um... yeah." Flash was almost too embarrassed to finish his sentence. The two of them, still under the blanket together, didn't say anything for a few seconds. But then, Twilight lidded her eyes and smiled slyly. "So, big colt," she said while ripping off the blanket, "you like assertive mares?" Flash's eyes went wide open. He couldn't respond upon looking directly at the face she was giving him. His heart was pounding. Twilight leaned forward, nibbled on his ear, and whispered, "On your back." "O—kay," Flash responded, his voice cracking. The sunlight shining through the window met the eyelids of the couple still laying on the carpeted floor together. The fire burned itself out. Just the smell and a few embers remained. "Morning," Flash said as his and Twilight's eyes both opened at the same time. Twilight let out a small moan as she stretched. "Morning, Flashy." "I'll go make us some breakfast," Flash said happily. "Sounds good."
Chapter 3: Tryouts and Preparations"Okay, recruits, to be a member of the new Ponyville Royal Guard, you're going to need guts," Flash Sentry yelled as he paced back and forth, crunching the fallen autumn leaves on the ground. Over the previous few weeks, Twilight Sparkle prepared vigorously for her upcoming Princess of Friendship tour, while Flash advertised around town that tryouts were going to be held for a new security force at the castle. The turnout was less than ideal. "You're going to need wits," the stallion continued as he paced in front of the eager ponies applying for new positions. Flash stopped and looked at the ponies in line. From left to right were: Big Macintosh, Spike, Rumble, Featherweight, Bulk Biceps[1], and Tom the Rock. "Which may not be your strong point," the prince continued. "But regardless, you recruits are going to have to be willing to lay your life on the line in order to protect Princess Twilight Sparkle. Is that something you're willing to do?" [1] Or Snowflake, as he was affectionately called by his close friends and secret fillyfriend, Fluttershy. Regardless, while Flash spoke, the massive, small-winged white pegasus was examining the inner cavities of his nose and was stunned by his discovery upon retrieving what he found. "Eeyup!" Big Macintosh replied cheerfully, while Bulk screamed like the little filly he was on the inside. Rumble and Featherweight gave each other a hoof-bump with excitement, while Spike and Tom stared back at their potential future captain blankly. Flash facehoofed. "Slim pickings," he muttered. "All right. This morning, I am going to test your endurance, speed, strength, and smarts. First, your strength. We're going to test each of you one-on-one in a tug-of-war contest to see who is the strongest. First up, Rumble and Tom." "Oh, darling, this dress is simply darling, darling. It really makes you look darling," Rarity complimented as Twilight continued to try on multiple dresses inside the massive master bedroom of the castle. The princess and her five friends were seeing what she could wear on her upcoming planned tour across Equestria. "I like the way it makes your flank look," Rainbow added. "Me too," Pinkie shouted. "All right," Twilight replied. "This will be the one I wear in Manehattan, since they have a heightened sense of style, and it's the final stop on the tour." Pointing to a few other dresses, the unicorn continued, "I'll wear that one in Canterlot, that one in Fillydelphia, that one in Baltimare, that one in Vanhoover, and that one in Las Pegasus." "I think it's going to be a wonderful trip for you and Flash," Fluttershy commented. "You not only get to travel across Equestria, meeting many ponies with your husband, but you also get to—what on earth is that noise?" Fluttershy was interrupted by the sound of burly shouting and cheering, as well as colt-ish struggle. The mares ran over to the window, looking into the backyard of the castle. Instantly, Twilight covered her face with one hoof in embarrassment. "Oh, Flash, why," she muttered to herself as she watched. Outside was Flash Sentry, blowing a whistle, watching Rumble pulling a rope tied to a giant rock, with a number of other males watching and cheering loudly. "Um, sorry, we don't have to watch this," Twilight said to her friends, but they all continued to look out the window, fascinated. "There's my love," Rarity mumbled with glazed eyes as she rested her chin on her hoof. "Go Tom!" she then screamed out, startling the others. With a confused roll of her eyes, and a slight chuckle, Twilight backed away from her spectating friends to continue to prepare for her upcoming trip. "Okay," Flash said with his eyes wide open in surprise. "So." He paused to try and gather his thoughts. "The stallion who won the strength contest, defeating Big Macintosh in the final, is Tom the Rock." Tom, being the relaxed-type that he usually was, refused to celebrate his victory. Besides, there were plenty of other contests to go. "Don't get too cocky, Tom," Flash said flatly as he continued pacing in front of his prospective guards. "There are many other things I'm going to test you on today. Next, I'm going to test your speed. What if a crazed mare sneaks into this castle at night and steals the princess' crown? Will you be fast enough to catch up to her? Each of you will run down to the river and back individually, and I will be timing you. First up will be Rumble." The colt gulped and trotted his way over to Flash. He bent down to set himself while the stallion put the whistle in his mouth and one hoof in the air. After a few seconds, the whistle blew, Flash's hoof came down, and Rumble was off. The hours went on. Twilight sat by the window. She swapped between looking out the window at Flash's tryouts and watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash's very heated argument. "Ah told ya, Granny Smith is the best tasting apple," Applejack yelled. "And I told you that that is disgusting and illegal!" Rainbow retorted. "That's not what Ah mean!" Twilight rolled her eyes and returned to watching the tryouts outside for the Ponyville Royal Guard. Needless to say, they weren't going so smoothly. The princess sighed through her nose as she watched her husband desperately try and rally up the other stallions, who at this point were all on their backs, exhausted from the various tasks they were asked to do. Tom looked like he was about to pass out, and Big Macintosh was asleep against a tree. For a quick second, Twilight turned back to her friends. "Listen, Applejack, I won't judge what you do in your family, but I also don't want to hear about it," Rainbow continued. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Fluttershy can be the judge if Big Macintosh is the biggest apple." The yellow Pegasus quickly turned red and shrunk in her stance. "Rainbow, how dense are ya? I'm talkin' about apples the fruit!" "Ooooooooh." Stealthily, Twilight got up from sitting on her bay window sill and snuck along the side of the room. Rarity spotted her sneaking away, but the unicorn gave her a wink and kept quiet as Rainbow and Applejack continued to dominate the conversation while Pinkie Pie chewed on her own hair. Twilight eventually made it out of her room and into the hallway of the castle. She made her way downstairs and to the open backyard of the castle. Once there, she found Flash standing in the open, looking around at the weak contestants who came out for his tryouts. "Hey," Twilight said as she came around and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Hey," Flash replied as he looked down on his side. "I take it that it didn't go very well?" "Not really," Flash replied, scratching his head. "That's okay. You tried. So, what're we going to do, then?" "Can your friends watch the castle while we're gone?" Twilight thought for a second. "I don't think they all can at the same time, but I'm sure they'd love to!" "Great! What about Spike?" "A few weeks in a castle, alone, except for a bunch of mares? I think he'll survive," Twilight said with a smile. "Great," Flash said as he put his whistle into his mouth. "No!" Twilight yelled as Flash blew it loudly with his wife right in his vicinity. "Line up, fillies," the prince yelled out. Though all tired, the stallions, colts, and rock all lined up. Flash pondered for a few seconds on what he was about to say, and how to say it in a cordial manner, but then flicked his hoof in the air and said, "Bah. We'll be in touch." Twilight and Flash trotted side by side as they made their way back into the castle as the others all dispersed. Author's Note Sorry, guys. I know I've been really quiet on here lately, and I apologize greatly for that. You're all amazing people, and I thank you all so much for being so supportive! I will give each of you an excuse at a different time. Here are my excuses lately: -I sprained my wrist and thumb in a recent soccer match (no joke, I've only been able to work 2 days in 2 weeks). That has made using technology hard. I've had amazing ideas but I haven't been able to go with them, and that sucks royally. -I've been working on improving my writing and writing my own novel, and I've been completely dissatisfied with anything pony I can write, because I've been working on my own characters and writing with humans and stuff. I feel like this (this chapter) is crap, but this is the best crap I could come up with for now. I didn't want to post the worst crap and rush it. I'm sorry I took so long, but it's hard posting when you feel uneasy about what you're writing about and unsure if people will like or absolutely hate your stuff. It has always been in the plans for this story to have quite a few short chapters to start off. The next one will take place in the human world, where we will see Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry, and some things will start to make sense, and we will see some of the plot start to thicken. Twilight will not get fatter yet from eating too much cake, but the plot, as in story, will get more interesting. Thanks to Gemstone the Unicorn again for looking at this and editing in advance. She has a FlashLight story of her own that, even though is on hiatus, is near-perfect. Check her out!
