The Day the Flashlight Died
Princess Twilight Sparkle was waiting for her husband, Flash Sentry, to get home from his job in the royal guard. She glanced at the clock, it was getting late, he should really be back by now. Twilight stood up and started pacing back and forth. There was a knock at the door.
“Hmm… That’s strange. Flash lives here, he knows he doesn’t have to knock.” Twilight thought. She shrugged it off and went to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw a mail pony standing at the door.
“Hello, Mrs. Umm.. Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He said, fumbling through his bag, trying to find a letter. “I have an urgent letter from Princess Celestia.” He found the letter and gave it to Twilight.
“Thank you.” Twilight said, taking the letter with her magic. She closed the door and went into her bedroom to sit down and read the letter.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I know you must be worried about Flash Sentry. I thought I should just let you know that he has been selected to go on a very important mission in Saddle Arabia along with a few other members of the royal guard. Shining Armor is also going on this mission. It’s going to be very dangerous, but they said they were prepared for it. They very dutifully said that it was their job, their purpose as a member of the royal guard and they happily left to fulfill their duty.
I hope you’re not too worried about them, they should make it back just fine. The mission should take no more than 10 days and no less than 3 days. Please be patient and if you need anything, feel free to contact me. You may even come visit me if you find it necessary. I will be happy to help you with anything you need, and I will be happy to talk to you about anything you feel like you need to talk to me about.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Twilight read through the letter a few times. She sighed and used her magic to put it away in a desk drawer. She fell back on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling until she fell asleep.
Twilight woke up in the middle of the night, her tummy felt weird, and she felt sick. She got up and quickly went to the bathroom. She threw up as soon as she made it to the toilet. She sat at the toilet throwing up again and again until there was nothing left. Even then, she continued to dry heave. After about 30 minutes, she felt good enough to get up and write a letter to Princess Celestia.
She told her how she wasn’t feeling good and she wanted to talk. She took it to the post office, hoping it would arrive soon. Then she went back to her bed to lie down.
Twilight had accidentally fallen asleep again, and she was awoken by a knock on the door. She got up to go answer it. Her stomach, which had been hurting earlier, felt fine now. When she answered the door, it was the mail pony, the same one who had given her the letter from Princess Celestia earlier.
“I’ve got another letter for you. Another one from Princess Celestia.” He said, holding out the letter.
Twilight took it, thanked him, and went back to her bed to lie down. She opened the letter, and Princess Celestia said that she wanted to see Twilight in the castle later. Twilight sighed and put the letter where she had put the other one earlier.
Twilight continued doing nothing until the designated ‘later’ came about. Twilight got up and left, heading towards the castle. When she got there, she found Princess Celestia waiting for her in her quarters. Twilight sat down next to her.
“What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Well, my stomach has been hurting and I’ve been super hungry lately. More hungry than usual, and I feel stupider. Also, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and throwing up for no reason. Is this some kind of rare disease I’ve never read about?”
Princess Celestia laughed. “No, Twilight. I thought you would know this.”
“Know what?” Twilight asked.
“You’re pregnant.” Princess Celestia said smiling.
“What? Really?” Twilight asked, her eyes widening.
“Yes. The throwing up in the morning is called morning sickness. It will go away after a little while.”
“Well, it sure is a relief to know that I’m not sick.” Twilight said. She looked at her stomach, “But this is just astounding. I never would have expected it.”
Princess Celestia laughed again. “Is there anything else you would like to talk about, Twilight?”
“No, I was just worried about my health. But it is always an honor to be in your presence Princess.” Twilight said bowing. “I guess I’ll be leaving now.” She said as she started to walk out.
“Good bye, have a nice day, Twilight.” Princess Celestia said, waving a hoof at Twilight as she left the castle.
When Twilight got back home she layed in bed and stared up at the ceiling again. She let her mind go black and she just focused on the ceiling. She fell asleep again soon after. She dreamt about the future, about what would happen with her and Flash now that she was going to have a foal.
When she woke up she was still thinking about the same thing. Suddenly, a thought hit her hard. “What if Flash gets killed on this ultra dangerous mission he’s on and he never finds out I’m pregnant, and he never gets to meet our foal?”
Twilight shook her head to shake the thought away. She didn’t want to think of things like that. She knew deep down that everything would be fine. She knew she couldn’t be wrong. “That will never happen, it’s impossible, he couldn’t go and die on me. It just won’t happen, and I know for sure because he has Shining Armor to look after him, so nothing will happen. But just in case, I should write him a letter to tell him the good news so he at least knows about this.” Twilight thought.
She got up and went to her desk where she pulled out parchment and a quill. She started writing. She wanted the letter to be perfect. She didn’t want it to distract him so he get himself killed, and she didn’t want it to be so plain and boring that he didn’t pay any attention to it. She had to rewrite the letter multiple times just to get it right.
When she was sure she had it perfect, she decided she would take it to Princess Celestia and ask her to send it to him. She sealed the letter in an envelope and then went back to the castle, hoping Princess Celestia would be available to see her.
When she got to the castle, the guards let her in to see Princess Celestia without any hassle. Twilight happily walked into her quarters. She heard Princess Celestia speaking with someone, it wasn’t like Twilight to eavesdrop, but she just couldn’t help herself. She stopped at a corner and listened to what she was saying.
“What? But those are our best guards. I guess we’ll just have to send more.” She said, exasperated. “Poor Twilight will be devastated.”
“What did she mean? What had happened? Could Flash be ok? What about Shining Armor and the rest of the royal guard? I need to ask Princess Celestia what happened.” Twilight thought. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“Hi Princess, I-” She started.
“Twilight, what are you doing here?” Princess Celestia asked, interrupting her.
“I wrote a letter. I was going to ask you if you wouldn’t mind sending it to Flash Sentry for me.” Twilight said, using her magic to hold up the sealed envelope out in front of her.
“Twilight, I don’t know how to tell you this but…”
“But what? What is it? What’s happened?” Twilight asked.
“Umm… Perhaps I should be leaving now.” Said the royal guard that was in the room. He looked at Princess Celestia and she nodded. He quickly made his way out of the room, Twilight watched as he left and then she looked at Princess Celestia sadly.
“Twilight. Maybe you should sit down.” Princess Celestia said, levitating a pillow over to Twilight. She set it on the ground and Twilight sat down on it, still holding the letter up with her magic.
“Will you please tell me now, Princess?” Twilight asked, tears swelling up in her eyes from fear that her worst fears were coming true.
“I’m afraid that in the mission in Saddle Arabia, all the guards have died. They were walking along a cliff and the rock broke from underneath them, even the pegasi couldn’t fly away.” Princess Celestia said, wiping away a few newly formed tears.
“So that means….” Twilight started.
“Yes, Twilight. Flash Sentry is dead. And so is Shining Armor.” Princess Celestia said, turning away from Twilight so she didn’t have to see her.
“B-but…..” Twilight started. “A-are you sure? What if…”
“Twilight. They’re gone, you just need to accept it.”
Tears poured out of Twilight’s eyes and down her face. They dripped onto the pillow she was sitting on. She looked up at Princess Celestia and left without saying another word. Twilight went back to her house. She walked back through the rain. "Of course it's raining, that's just typical." Twilight thought.
When Twilight arrived back home, she realized that she had left the letter she wrote to Flash at the castle. She didn’t care anymore anyway, he wouldn’t ever get it now anyway. Then Twilight realized something. “Wait. If all the guards died, then..…” She went to her desk and pulled out the letter she received from the Princess earlier, about Flash going on the mission.
She read it over again. “Then that means Shining Armor is dead too.” More tears fell down her face. She put the letter up and got into her bed. She cried into her pillow silently. She didn’t want anypony to hear and ask her what was wrong, she wouldn’t be able to deal with talking to them.
After crying for what seemed like hours, and what probably was hours, Twilight stared at the ceiling again and thought. “I’ve got to get back on my feet. Even though Flash is gone, I need to take care of our foal. When it's born I’ll make sure I tell it everything about its daddy and its uncle. It’s going to grow up in a good home, with a good family. I’ll get the girls to help me if I can.” Twilight thought.
She got up and went back over to her desk, finally starting to feel like herself again. “First things first, I’ll need to make a to-do list.” She pulled out some parchment and a quill and started writing.
