A Certain Shade of Green

Twilight crashes through the double doors and skids into the wall before taking off down the corridor; Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity hot on her hooves. The foursome trail the last vestiges of Twilight’s tail around a corner and find the purple alicorn princess with nowhere left to run.

“Twilight, wait! Why in Equestria are you running?” Spike calls. Twilight rounds on her pursuers, the smile on her face an obvious last minute addendum.

“Just needed some...fresh air,” she heaves. Applejack steps forward and adjusts her askew stetson before clearing her throat awkwardly.

“I hate to be the one to point out the obvious but that right there looked more like downright panic to me.”

“Panic? I’m not panicking. Who’s panicking?”

“I’m afraid she’s right darling,” Rarity comes to stand beside Applejack in solidarity. “It’s going to be pretty hard for you to downplay your feelings after that…” Rarity does her best not to cringe, “display.”

“You went totally white like you just saw a ghost or something and then you zoomed out of the room like zoooom, wooosh and we were all like ‘Twilight come baaaaack, and then we chased you all the way down the hallway and now we’re here.” The tableau of angry glares she gets is enough to cow Pinkie into silence.

“Twilight,” Rarity starts. “Simply go back in there and strike up a conversation with him, surely it can’t be that difficult.”

“But I can’t go back in there! He’s in there and he probably saw me freak out and he’s so handsome and-” Applejack presses a hoof to Twilight’s babbling maw.

“You’ll be fine Twilight. You’re probably the smartest pony I know.” Applejack swings a hoof around Twilight’s neck and begins to herd her back toward the party much like she would wandering cattle.

“But I don’t even know where to start.”

“Just start with small talk. Y’know stuff like how’s the weather, read any good books lately; stuff like that.” Twilight blinks as the imposing double doors leading to the ballroom tower over her.

“Small talk,” Twilight inhales a full breath through her chest. “Got it.” Twilight pushes open the door and trots back into the ballroom, her chest full of air and her head high and confident. She takes one last look back over her shoulder at her friends-who are all doing their best to encourage her-before she continues toward the back of the room where Flash Sentry is conversing with Celestia.

“Go get em Twilight” Rainbow Dash cheers from the doorway.

“You think she’ll be alright?” Spike asks, looking for all the world like he is partially responsible for feeding Twilight to the beasts.

“She’ll be fine,” Applejack draws. “That mare can talk the hind legs off a donkey.”

The first fifteen or so steps maintain a level of poise that is matched only by the haughtiest of ponies and the vainest of models. However, over time her steps begin to slow and drag like a boat at the mercy of a dying breeze, eventually stopping altogether not ten steps from where the object of her affection and anxiety stands casually conversing with Princess Luna.

A deluge of thoughts race through Twilight’s head; thoughts that make her falter considerably; thoughts that completely crumble her resolve and turn her in the opposite direction.

“Twilight, there you are!”

Oh buck.

“Oh, hey Flash,” Twilight whirls around, the false, unctuous smile she is wearing already beginning to slip from the rest of her face.

“You left in quite a hurry earlier, the princesses and I wanted to know if you were feeling OK?”

“No; no, I’m fine,” Twilight feels her dress begin to dampen with a sheen of nervous sweat. “Just had some...princessly business to take care of.”

“Alright, well as long as you’re OK…” Flash gives her a perfectly gentlemanly smile and moves to go past her toward the crowded tables opposite the throne.

“Wait!” The slightly panic stricken voice of the newest alicorn princess causes Flash Sentry to stop mid stride and turn to face her “Would you maybe like to get a glass of cider or something, and, I don’t know...talk for a little bit?”

It is evident to both parties how difficult it is for Twilight to articulate at that particular moment, but Flash smiles warmly at her just the same. However, he also looks conflicted; almost as if the things that are making Twilight act so skittish and shy are affecting him as well.

Flash Sentry’s eyes shoot around the room and his head swivels with them, almost as if what he and Twilight are discussing is sensitive information worthy of the gallows. “Are you sure that’s OK? I mean, you’re a princess and everything.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Twilight fails to convince even herself that such an action is acceptable.

“Well, if you’re sure it’s ok then I would love to.” Flash Sentry smiles warmly at her and Twilight thanks the stars above her blush is as light as it is. Flash Sentry gives the immediate area a cursory once over and spots a table just to the left. Trotting over, Flash pulls out a chair for Twilight before commandeering a seat of his own just across from her.

“So...” the stallion starts, heaving a grin too large for his face toward Twilight who fights against every urge she possesses not to shy away. “Savior of Equestria for the second time eh?”

“Third actually.”

“How’s it feel?” Twilight takes a breath through her nose.

“Surreal.”

“Still not used to it all?”

“I feel like I should be but...it gets pretty overwhelming a lot of the time.”

“I can imagine,” Flash nods in assent. “I don’t think I could ever be in the position you’re in, what with constantly being the center of attention and all.”

“Yeah,” Twilight agrees shyly. “It can get hectic.” That’s it; the proverbial nail in the coffin; the steak through the heart of their conversation and the genesis of a silence so dense and burdensome it is comparable to a black hole or the pit of a singularity. Flash taps his hooves on the table awkwardly before stating that he is leaving to get the two a couple fresh cups of cider.

Once Twilight is certain Flash is far enough away from her that he cannot see their table she practically leaps out of her chair, dragging whatever parts of her the leaden silence haven’t ground to an unrecognizable, disfigured pulp toward the monolithic double doors of the ballroom. As she breaks the threshold she is bombarded by a litany of questions, all of which leaning toward more or less the same thing.

“Twilight!” Spike squawks.

“Twilight dear, what happened?” Rarity questions.

“He said something rude didn’t he?” Rainbow Dash snarls, pounding her hooves together.

“Did he finally reveal his grotesque second head?” Pinkie gasps, flitting around the purple alicorn like a fly would manure. Twilight parts the wall of inquiring ponies and steps into the hallway behind them.

“I don’t know what happened, everything was going fine and then it just...fell apart.”

“Didja small talk like I told ya?”

“I tried; I don’t know what my problem is. It’s like my brain refuses to work whenever I try and talk to him.”

“Twilight, darling;” Rarity takes this opportunity to pow-wow with Twilight, steering her away from the other three vessels of overflowing inquisition and into a space between her and the wall.

“It seems I misspoke earlier, Twilight. A stallion like Flash Sentry-” Rarity’s Irises crawl to the top of her eyes and her brow knits in thought. “A stallion like Flash Sentry is going to be a tough nut to crack. He is practically imbibed in the run-off of the rich and sophisticated every day. You can’t simply meander in there and hope to win him over with small talk.”

“Well what the hay am I supposed to do then?”

“You mustn't just talk, you must woo him.”

“Woo him?”

“Yes, woo him. Entice him. Make yourself seem like the most irresistible mare in all of Equestria. Let him know that turning you down would be an egregious mistake.”

“How the heck do I do that?”

“Simply muster up a bit of feminine charm. I know you have it, every mare in Equestria’s got some somewhere.”

“I don’t know if charm is really my thing…”

“Nonsense, you’ll do fine.” Rarity croons as she maneuvers Twilight toward the doors.

“Just remember, feminine charm.”

“Feminine charm,” Twilight recites as she walks through the threshold and back toward the table. “Feminine charm.”