Outbreak

Chapter II

Heartbreaker

Frustrated and embarrassed beyond all belief, Twilight Sparkle had hastily bolted from her family luncheon to clear her mind. Her anger had carried her all the way back to her new crystalline tree house in search of an escape, which she had finally found in her most sacred of rooms- the royal lavatory, or in more uneducated terms, her royal bathroom.

Well, that went better than I’d expected… not.

As Twilight stewed in the steaming, fragrant waters of her bathtub, thoughts of her previous actions held firm in her buzzing head. Sure, she knew she could have handled the situation a bit more maturely, but that didn’t matter to her as much as her frustration with her mother and Cadence. The two certainly were poking and prodding at what they knew was sensitive territory for the young alicorn, but that wasn’t the main reason she was so upset.

No, the main reason for her distraught mood was that now she knew something she wish she didn’t- that one of the most helpful and friendly stallions she had ever met, one she had looked up to for his actions and righteous ways viewed her as some sort of love interest. Someone to work up the nerve to court one day, someone he most certainly would fantasize of intimate, steamy sessions with, hooves romantically intertwined, gentle kisses up the neck...

“GAAAH!” Twilight squealed, rubbing her temples. “Get out of my head!”

Twilight couldn’t believe that all of this time, she had been oblivious to the signs. As much as she hated to admit, Cadance and her brother had been right all along- Flash Sentry certainly did show signs of more than just a friendly interest in her. Now, worst of all, she would be the one who had to set the poor stallion straight. She hated the thought of crushing the pegasus’s hopes for a relationship with her- something that wasn’t his fault to begin with.

“…I’m sorry Flash…” she spoke to herself, plopping her hooves back into the bathwater. “…I just… don’t like you that way…”

“Who are you talking to?” called a young, boyish voice from the open doorway to the bathroom.

“GYAAAH!!!” Twilight yelped, flinging soapy water all over the bathroom walls. “SPIKE, DO YOU EVER KNOCK?!”

“What’s the big deal? You’re always naked.” her young, scaly assistant Spike reasoned.

“This is different, Spike!” Twilight scolded, causing the purple dragon to cringe. “You shouldn’t just barge into the bathroom when somepony’s using it… Uugh. What is it?”

“Well, Miss Snippy McMeanpants…” Spike grumbled, eliciting a glare from the alicorn in the tub. “There’s someone at the door for you… I think it’s that one guy you and I met in the human world when your crown got stolen.”

“Wait, Flash Sentry is here NOW?!” Twilight sputtered, nose now pressed against Spike’s.

“…Um… Yeah.” Spike answered, shrinking back from his surrogate sister’s freaked-out face. “Except oranger… and pegasus… y… er.”

“Oh nononononono!” Twilight mumbled under her breath. “I was NOT ready for this today!”

“Twilight, relax…” Spike calmed. “I’m sure we can just tell him that this is a bad-”

“INVITE HIM IN!” Twilight beamed. “Glad you thought of it! I’ll invite him in for some tea, then when we can really talk, I’ll let him know that I’m just not interested. Then, we can still be friends!”

“That’s not what I-”

“Thank you, Spike! You may have just saved the metaphorical bacon of our friendship!” Twilight thanked, leaping still wet from the tub to give Spike a large, wet smooch on the forehead. *Muack!*

“Bleah! Twilight, what gives?!” the dragonling called as Twilight wrapped her mane in a white towel, placing her purple bathrobe over her back.

“No time for more kisses, Spike! I have work to do!” Twilight called, sprinting from the room.

“…I’m taking a bath in the sink.” Spike grumbled, wiping his forehead with a nearby rag, closing and locking the door behind him.

Outside in the cold February air stood Flash Sentry in all of his white and blue royal guard armament clutching a bouquet of roses under his right front leg. The stallion rubbed the last smudge of snow from his breastplate with a wing in order to make himself appear more presentable to the one he harbored secretive feelings for. This was it. Today he was going to work up the nerve to ask her out, after his official business was over of course- duty came before romance.

"Come on, Flash... you got this." he told himself. "I'll give her the flowers, then ask her on a date- cakewalk."

Popping one last, very long hit of breath freshening spray with the previously-anti-smudge wing, Flash Sentry was ready.

The door opened, revealing the fresh-from-the-tub princess, who shuddered once the cold air hit her damp body.

"Well, hello there, Princess Twi... Twili..." Flash began to stutter at the awe-inspiring sight before him. Something about her robed and toweled appearance caused the poor colt to grow more nervous than he had ever been- she was just so enticing wrapped in that heavy garment.

"Flash Sentry, hi!" Twilight greeted with a similar nervous voice. "I didn't expect to see you here today!"

"I-I, um... Is this a bad time?" Flash questioned, blushing redder than a tomato.

"O-Oh, no... I just stepped out of the shower is all..." Twilight dismissed as calmly as she could, which admittedly wasn't very calm at all. "So... what brings you to Ponyville? N-Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything..."

"Oh- I um... was sent here to give you this letter from Canterlot's Department of National Security." Flash explained, trying desperately to collect himself in front of her.

"Oh, well, thank you." Twilight thanked. "Listen, why don't you come inside... I mean, it's cold out and I don't want you to catch-"

"O-Okay, I can come in..." Flash accepted, still beet red in the face, flicking his tail from side to side. "I-It is kind of cold... yeah... not hot and sweaty at all out here."

"Flash, a-are you... alright?" Twilight questioned, noticing Flash Sentry beginning to look as though he would be sick at any moment. Unfortunately, the pose she had entered had caused her towel-mane to shift, revealing a generous portion of wet mane to the stuttering stallion.

"Oh, I... I'm just feeling a little... bit..." Flash stammered, feeling sweat flow freely down his flanks and head spinning out of control.

"Flash...?" He could just barely hear Twilight call out to him. "Flash...?!"

Flash Sentry awoke slowly to the sensation of something poking and prodding around in his mouth- something thin and wooden. Once his eyes fully opened up, he witnessed two blurs above him which soon formed the shape of two mares- One Twilight Sparkle, the other a white-coated, pink-maned pony in a white nurses cap.

"Mr. Sentry?" the unfamiliar mare called to him. "Can you hear me, Mr. Sentry?"

"Unnn..." Flash Sentry gurgled. "...What...? What happened...?"

"Oh, thank goodness..." Twilight sighed a breath of relief.

"Twilight...?" Flash questioned, rising to sit up. Looking around him, he saw that he had been taken inside the crystal tree and gingerly placed on Twilight's red futon, a bright-pink blanket draped over top of his lap. "Did something happen?"

"I don't know." Twilight explained. "My towel came off my head, then you just... collapsed in the snow. A-Are you okay?"

"You're lucky you didn't hit you head." the nurse pony spoke up. "I'm Nurse Redheart, by the way."

"I... fainted?"

"You certainly did. Are you feeling any severe head pains? Does anything hurt?" Nurse Redheart continued.

"Oh... uh, no... I feel fine." Flash dismissed.

"Alright then. I think we can just call this a minor fainting spell." Nurse Redheart concluded, placing the used Popsicle stick in a special plastic container marked with an odd, black symbol reading "DO NOT USE".

"Thank you Nurse Redheart." Twilight spoke. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't just been passing by to see this whole thing happen."

"Yeah... thanks." Flash Sentry added.

"Don't hesitate to stop by the hospital if anything starts to become a problem." the nurse instructed the two. "Head trauma can come even when we don't know it's present. I must be going now... nurse stuff to be done."

Flash Sentry witnessed Twilight guiding Nurse Redheart out of the room and presumably back out into town. Gazing down at the pink blanket which covered him up to his chest, allowing his arms to lay freely on top, he realized that he was without his armor.

"My duds...!" he exclaimed to himself. "Where are my plates?"

Fortunately, it wouldn't take long for the stallion to locate his armor, neatly placed on a nearby table close together. At least he wouldn't need to explain to his superiors that his armor had mysteriously been clothesnapped by a mare. If his guy friends saw him right now in a frilly pink blanket being tended by a lady, he would surely have his stallion card revoked. With a little luck, Flash Sentry figured he could get his duties done, complete his personal errand, and swim out of this situation embarrassment free.

...Okay... Flash Thought. I can still salvage this situation! Think, what does Twilight like to talk about... Books! Books, yeah... and smart stuff... perfect. I just need to get up, put on my armor again, and she'll be swooning in no..."

"Swooning...?" Twilight questioned.

"GAAH! N-No, I meant, you were...!" Flash squeaked, realizing he had somehow been broadcasting his thoughts for all around him to hear. "Twilight, I-I didn't mean to-"

Twilight Sparkle let out an exasperated sigh. She knew this moment was bound to come up, just not this quickly. Unfortunately for her, in order to save their friendship, she would have to just go with her gut, something she knew wouldn't work as well as a carefully coordinated conversation like she had planned.

"Flash... we need to talk." Twilight began.

Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle sat opposite each other at her kitchen table, both having difficulty coming up with just the right thing to say. Flash knew, based on her earlier words, that this might be his last chance to save himself from being rejected by the pony he had developed strong feelings for, while Twilight tried to figure out just how to reject him while still maintaining a healthy friendship. As both sides of the same coin conflicted, Twilight was the first to speak.

"...Flash, you know that I care immensely about you, right?" she questioned the orange pegasus across from her.

"I know..." Flash responded. "I... I care about you too, Twilight. You know I would do anything for you."

"Thanks... you always were a great companion. I owe you so much for the way you helped me get through my ordeal in the other world..." Twilight confessed.

"... I did what I needed to." Flash added. "I couldn't stand to see you suffer like that."

"Flash, I need to talk to you about this crush you have on me." Twilight interrupted, causing the stallion's pupils to shrink to pinheads. "Cadance and Shining Armor told me about how you've been... admiring me whenever I visit the Crystal Empire."

"...Oh..." Flash mumbled. "Listen, Twilight... I just-"

"Flash, you really are one of the best friends I've ever had." Twilight consoled. "And I would do anything to make sure you were safe and healthy... but I just can't seem to view you in any other way..."

"...Twilight... I... wh-what about the blushing I've seen? you just seem so..."

"Maybe at one time Flash... maybe I did have a little crush on you." Twilight continued. "But that was months ago, and I guess I knew deep down that it wouldn't work out... you and I are just different, you know?"

"B-But...!"

"Flash, I'm so sorry... I'm just not interested in what you're proposing for us to be." Twilight concluded.

"...Okay..." Flash sighed, hanging his head. "Well, then... I guess I'd better be going then. I have a letter addressed to you from Canterlot. It was on the table when you took my armor off... and I brought those roses for you, too."

"Flash..."

"I'm okay... really, I am..." Flash lied, turning to leave the room with ears drooped and a sad expression upon his face. "... and I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, Twilight... I'll see you some time or another."

Flash Sentry tried his best to hide his tears from the princess. He had never thought that today, of all days, she would push him back like that. He knew she meant well, but that didn't change the fact that his hopes for a romantic relationship with the mare of his dreams had been crushed before his very eyes. As he entered the stairwell to exit the large crystal palace, he heard Twilight call out to him one last time.

"...Ooooh... Flash, wait!"

Twilight Sparkle glided down the stairs to catch the leaving pegasus, hoping to try to at least cheer him up a little bit. Sure, she didn't want what he was selling, but Twilight also couldn't bear to see the poor colt so depressed.

"Flash Sentry... I'm sorry." She spoke in a sad tone herself. "I never meant to hurt you, and I'm truly flattered that you think of me in such a way... it's just that I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. Besides... I'm sure you could do much better than me if you looked around more..."

"...That's not possible." Flash panned. "I couldn't stop thinking about you from the moment I laid eyes on you... you were perfect in my eyes. You were everything I had ever wanted... attractive, sweet, intelligent, no one can top you Twilight."

"Flash, you're giving me too much credit... I'm not perfect at all." Twilight reasoned. "I'm sure there's somepony out there for you who's better than me. I just don't want us to fall out of touch... I care about you, and I just want to see you happy, nothing else."

By this point the poor stallion was at the door, just about to walk out. One more line escaped his lips before he did so.

"...You made me happier than anything else..."

And with that, Flash Sentry closed the door behind him and walked into the cold, snow covered town.