Canterlot High School was almost completely vacant of life at this time of night. The countless stars shined brightly upon the marble roofs and statues of the academy building, reflecting the light and making the outside gardens appear livelier than they were supposed to be. In just a few hours the sun would be high upon the sky, warmly inviting the never-ending stream of students into the open hallway to study, learn new things and spend times with their acquaintances and close friends.
But until then, there was only one single presence in the premise of the destroyed Equine Symbol, a shadow of a blue haired boy sitting on the stone stairs next to now empty pedestal, his head sadly bobbing to the rhythm of his own imagination. Flash Sentry, a student with respect, admiration and popularity behind his name, has been visiting the school ground every single night, simply standing there and longingly waiting.
Tonight was no different. Flash Sentry raised his eyes towards the ruins of the statue pedestal before releasing a rather harsh, long and very noticeable sigh into the silence around him. Rubbing his neck and shuddering from the morning cold despite wearing a warm, leather jacket, made the annoyingly common though pass through his mind once again; was all of this just a waste of time?
Standing straight appeared a harder task than he hoped as his previously covered skin was exposed to cold leather and morning freeze alike. Flash hurried to take a few rushed steps towards the Canterlot High Ex-Symbol, almost stumbling upon the stone remains, as he attempted to warm himself up. With a few rushed steps he stopped before the glowing marble of the stone and shivered, concentrating on his own reflection within. What he saw he didn’t appreciate: he looked awful. Black, heavy marks under his eyes, from all the sleepless nights, and running, sick nose did not do him any good. Flash’s hair was waves in all sides lacking any sort of direction and style. Even his jeans and shirt were picked in a hurry as if he didn’t give a care.
And he truly didn’t. This has become a routine for the young man: wake up in the middle of the night, drive to the school ground with a cup of fresh coffee, await her and then return back home to get some sleep and proper shower before the classes. Of course, something like this was ridiculous and after a while, he started to doubt if her promises held any merit or if it’s simply him acting like a complete dork. Another long sigh escaped Flash’s lips as he pushed his back against the pedestal and closed his eyes.
The memories and colours of the gracious, constellation unicorn enclosing the Canterlot High in his magic and vanquishing both the Dazzlings and their curse in one simple, kind gesture flashed before his eyes. But Flash was certain that it was not the magical energy of the unicorn, but the girl and her friends within it who completely broke his curse and saved the school from eternal damnation. Twilight Sparkle, the girl who appeared out of nowhere and brought both chaos and majesty of magic with her, refused to leave Flash’s heart for even a second, even though she was nowhere to be seen or found for the rest several weeks since the Battle of the Bands.
She was not a student at Canterlot High, at least not a proper, full-time one. As her friends and… Sunset Shimmer explained, she was moving a lot due to the magical and school problems alike, only staying and studying at Canterlot High when she was visiting the town. That could still work, Flash though, If only he could spend a little bit more time with her.
Flash imagined her purple hair waving, her silhouette silently passing and her awkward yet cute giggle ringing as she appeared from the other side of the pedestal and bumped into him.
Flash Sentry swiftly turned his head as he opened his eyes and rushed to look at the other side, witnessing nothing but the glowing shadow of the High School. If only his imagination was a reality, he wouldn’t be cursing and swearing and hitting the statue in anger right now. He had to stop and think, today was simply not the day she was going to return and meet him, as was promised. It was probably tomorrow, or the day after that, Flash though. He will certainly be there when she returns, the first to meet and talk with her. Flash was determined to let his, albeit chaotic, feelings be known to the girl, so that he could finally set them straight.
Yes, that was the idea, and that’s was what he was going to do.
Picking his guitar case the he carried with him around to perform the “Love in a Flash” song to his crush, Flash Sentry flexed his entire body and made the first step towards the parking lot to get a few hours of sleep… but… then, the young man heard obnoxious footsteps.
He could not believe it. All those days and weeks of waiting finally gave fruition! There was no way this was someone other than Twilight Sparkle, not at this time of hour. Flash’s face turned white. There was a black spot in plan.
How was he going to meet Twilight looking like –this-?
Cold sweat rushed by his neck, awkward lumps in his throat making him unable to speak.
Flash Sentry panicked as the footsteps became louder and louder, almost reaching the other side of the statue. Quickly licking his palms to fix his hair and clean his face was the only thing he could do before the faithful meeting. Flash Sentry forcefully pushed his jacket’s zipper to reveal semi-proper attire and finally turned to meet~
BAM!
Flash Sentry slammed upon the cold ground, his chest gasping for air as something rather heavy found itself upon him. Groaning from pain, he carefully opened his eyes and looked towards the silhouette of a very familiar girl. He cringed, judging from her groan she was in more pain than he was. Trying to stand up with the girl on top, Flash briefly smirked, what a sense of Déjà vu.
“I’m sorry! Who’s there?”
Then, a sudden doubt crossed his mind. The hairstyle of this Twilight Sparkle was completely different from her usual self, most of it tidily kept in a large bud behind her head. Several of her locks waved over her forehead and ears, alike a spiral. She also had a star shaped, metallic token which brightly… Flash was staring, as he suddenly realized. With her expression dull and scowled, this different Twilight Sparkle had her eyes looking straight into him, narrowed with confusion, “Excuse me, do you see my glasses?’
Flash Sentry’s heart was put in Iron Maiden once again; this was not the right Twilight Sparkle. Groaning from regret, he helped the girl by gently pushing her off himself before picking up large, thickly framed glasses and putting them into her hand. With a thankful gesture, Twilight Sparkle quickly fixed the frames over her eyes and tilted them over her nose with a simple finger gesture. Then, she looked at Flash Sentry:
“…Good Night. I…I did not expect anybody to be here at this night of hour, forgive me.”
“No, it’s okay.” said Flash Sentry immediately, taking a few more steps backwards to exit the discomfort of her personal space. Was it two or three meters? Better safe than sorry.
“Oh, okay,” Twilight added briefly, looking at the ruined statue soon afterwards. Twilight’s palm pressed on the marble stone and her gaze completely fell on it, giving almost no care for Flash Sentry’s presence. The Canterlot student awkwardly looked at her again, trying to think of a way to move out of this onerous situation. Sunset Shimmer and her friends properly explained to Flash Sentry that this Twilight Sparkler was a look-alike of the other one, having completely different fashion sense and hobbies; she was a top student at Crystal Preps, which is why she didn’t respond to Flash’s questions and gestures in any apparent way, which the real Twilight would, of course, do. She was not a twin or a close relative of… his Twilight Sparkle, but simply someone who by a sick twist of fate ended up, of all places on Earth, in here.
“Um…” Flash Sentry begun, his fingers sliding by his neck as he tried to get Twilight’s attention. The new Canterlot Student was already wearing her school uniform, presumably preparing to go straight into the halls of the school building as soon as she was finished here, with whatever she was busy with. Passing around a corner, and another, with a rather strange object in her hand, this Twilight mindfully explored every crack and broken part which remained of the ruins, making Flash Sentry raise his eyebrow. What was she doing?
“Um! Twilight Sparkle?” He finally raised his voice, forcing Twilight to shudder from the sudden “wake up call” and look at the boy before herself with a rather worried and shy expression:
“Ehehe, oops. Sorry, got catch up with the source, I mean, the statue. Am I bothering you?”
“No, uh, of course not. I am just, well, surprised to see someone else here at this hour.”
Twilight Sparkle peered at him for a few long seconds before fixing her glasses and standing up from her kneeling position, smiling awkwardly to top it all out, “Likewise…”
“Flash Sentry,” the young man introduced himself.
“And I’m… Oh, you already know.”
“Twilight Sparkle, yes, I had a… close friend with exactly the same name, appearance and voice, though I imagine Sunset Shimmer and others told you about her already.”
There was a long pause as the obscurity of the whole idea settled in the air around both Flash and Twilight, them merely blinking at each other before Twilight Sparkler finally marked, “In a sense, that’s what they explained…” she obviously bended the answer, prolonging the silence.
“…But do you not find that at least a bit weird?”
“Stranger things happened in Canterlot High, you know, including She-Demons, Sirens-“
Twilight Sparkle’s lips curled in awkward smile as she, once again, did the Micro Chip glasses fixing gesture of “Know-It-All” and said, “Oh, believe me, Flash Sentry, I heard and probably know a lot more about it than anyone in Canterlot High! All the researchers and data gathering I’ve done, all those experiments and analysis and…”
“Turning into a She-Demon yourself?”
Boy, he did not want to touch this topic at all since the end of the Friendship Games. Strange worlds, hostile black thorns, magical blasts and missiles as well as talking dogs for the third time was more than he could, or wanted, to handle. But before him now was one of those cataclysms and she apparently was “researching” that highly volatile and dangerous magic once again and… he was the only one here who could intervene.
“O-Oh.” She said, her head bowing, the purple hair completely hiding her eyes beneath the shadow of her fringe. The young girl mumbled something under her breath as she began to rub her palms together, the strange, cube-like object nearly slipping through her hands. Twilight forced her nails deep into her skin until there was a quiet yelp before she was ready to speak again, her eyes visibly watering:
“Yes, I’m… I can imagine how horrible, even offensive, this looks. First, I steal all the magic from your friends, then, I accidently open portals nearly destroying the whole school and then I turn into this… this, spirit of pure evil, voracious demon with no regard to anything but magic. And now, you caught me trying to continue my research… I’m ashamed. I truly am…” Twilight Sparkle began to furiously rub under her eyes, attempting to hold down tears at the memory of all the things that happened during the Friendship Games.
“Well, when you put it like that…” Flash began, Twilight’s expression completely shriveling as if she was about to disappear in her own shadow, or at least trying her hardest to do so. Flash Sentry rubbed underneath a chin in an ill attempt to hide his heavy sigh. How does one react to everything that happened in the short spawn of less than one year? How –does– one act towards the chaotic mess that keeps happening around?
Flash Sentry had no answer. He had attempted to follow the way his friends or classmates, as well as teachers or Principal Celestia herself reacted to the magical discord, and he practically was able to completely ignore or treat any magical anomaly as yet just another annoying unexpected class test but, something inside his mind still lingered, that wanted to ask the question: “Is this really normal?”
It wasn’t. Nobody can say “My Ex-Girlfriend was once a wielder of a powerful, magical artifact with which’s power she had turned into a literate She-Demon able to mind control the students of the High School, but was redeemed by the power of rainbows. A few days ago she turned into an Archangel with a magical horn and stopped a second She-Demon who opening black holes from another dimension and destroying this word. Oh and there was also a talking dog,” without doubting his sanity.
“Your Twilight Sparkle would never do something like this, I depicture,” Said Twilight, breaking the snooze stupor Flash Sentry found himself in. With a shake or two of his head he scared away the sleepy haze and turned back to the new Canterlot Student, his expression still plain and unhappy, face barely visible under the shadow of the now starless sky.
“She sounded like a true hero...”
“She was, and she wouldn’t,” Flash Sentry began, finally smiling and putting his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, “… The Twilight Sparkle you are talking about is a rather honest individual who would do anything in her power so that no innocent soul is put in danger or harmed. She’s a true friend, who never puts herself before others. But… You remind me of another person…”
“Sunset Shimmer, “Twilight Sparkle gasped, following the motion of Flash’s nod.
“Sunset Shimmer… She’s a good person as well, at least now she is,” Flash’s head sagged slowly, “But I’m sure after the whole incident you and her talked all about it, plus the discussion on the whole She’Demon thing”
“Actually, she didn’t really tell me that much,” Twilight Sparkle answered shyly, “Or, at least we didn’t get to talk about it again, she’s kind of avoiding the topic of magic all together which is why…” She nodded towards the black box in her palms, slightly revealing the object, before pointing her gaze towards the broken statue. With a permission to look properly at the object, Flash could finally see what it was. And it was, indeed, a small black cube. There was nothing too special about the makeshift item besides the fact that it was, apparently, made from domino pieces with the hollow inside filled with silently buzzing mechanisms.
Flash looked at the uncomfortable girl and only managed to fake a smile; he truly knew nothing about physics, engineering, science –or– magic. He simply nodded as if understanding her last line:
“I do not think she would approve, but I saw her researching this “magic” in different classes and laboratories long before the Friendship Games so… I don’t think she has any leg to stand on, chill.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled poorly at that remark, finally stopping the awkward pestering of her invention. Placing her hands below her waist, she looked at Flash Sentry and answered with complete, shy silence. Flash Sentry raises the pockets of his leather jacket as he turned his head in uncomfortable remark, gazing at the statue once again, as the heavy air collapsed between the two of them.
A heavy, mechanical buzz was announced from the black cube, echoing in the silent schoolyard. Twilight quickly forgot everything around her and moved with rushed steps to the pedestal, making rings around it with the gadget almost, but not exactly, touching the marble surface. The dots on the different domino pieces began to glow with bright, red colors before settling one the piece with five of them. Twilight raised the cube in front of herself, making sure the flash was consistent, before squealing in joy.
Flash Sentry burrowed his face in the jacket, trying to hide the smirk. This was so childish.
“So, um, what exactly is that thing?” He bothered to ask, after making sure the “experiment” was done.
Twilight Sparkle gently placed the blinking cube on the pedestal and grinned, she actually grinned, at him:
“Quintessence frequency stability locator, or, in short, a tracking device for magic.”
Flash Sentry raised his eyebrow, changing his gaze from the box to Twilight and back, “…It tracks magic?”
“A lot of magic, about sixty three aether ampere! Anything higher would probably cause the transdimensional merging! Or maybe, maybe we are just in time before that actually happened.”
This Twilight Sparkle was clearly in her element when she was talking magic, Flash Sentry though. Her sparking with excitement eyes, her sunken in the topic attitude. All of this was… rather familiar for Flash.
The personality of both Twilight was the only thing the young man could be certain of being different, but when she wasn’t trying to appear or act in front of people, this Twilight Sparkle showed the same traits as his one, and this… strange feeling bothered him more than he expected.
“What does it mean, exactly?” He asked a bit coldly for his tastes, offering a smile to soften the delivery. Twilight Sparkle didn’t seem to bother with his attitude, simply continuing her explanation.
“It means, for one reason or another, this pedestal is linked to –that– magical world and is highly volatile. If I am to be rhetorical, “She fixed her glasses once again, “Then any drop of magical activity can cause a chain event that would somehow force the quintessence energies to act again.”
“Good think we are not doing this.” Flash Sentry frowned visibly, no more magic, no more problems.
“Are you completely disinterested in this entirely new, magical, amazing, exciting world!? This word that Sunset Shimmer and your Twilight Sparkle, and their magic, have so many ties to? Are you that…Tha- Oh…Uh… I’m…”
Twilight Sparkle began to fix her hair in awkward gesture, clearly trying not to offend Flash. A slight blush appeared on her face as she turned away, her head bowed towards the ground looking at nothing more interesting that her boots. Flash Sentry looked upon the pedestal, Twilight’s words forcing him to see this block of marble in strange, mystical and magical colors and ways; colors and ways that he, until this point, had tried to entirely avoid.
His Twilight and all her friends had spend a lot of time near this pedestal, he had noticed before, and she even said that the next time she’ll met him, it will be here. Flash Sentry was unsure of that significance this broken statue held, of course, it was a masterful craftwork and the symbol of his school but he didn’t see it as anything else. He couldn’t believe or understand that inside there was all this magical energy that wanted to break through, escape just like that time with the black vines during Friendship Games. Perhaps it’s because they spend so much time near this epicenter that they began to grow wings and tails and horns.
Or perhaps…
“You know, like, that “magical” world is rather weird,” he broke the ice once again, looking at confused Twilight with a small smile, “I saw a lot of weird things while trying to run away or save others, that is.”
Twilight Sparkle blinked with short pauses. She looked at Flash with clear amusement in her eyes. Within a second, she pushed her backpack off her shoulders and removed a notebook and a rather girly looking, bright pink pen, holding them in her hands as if some kind of journalist.
“What did you see?! Tell me every detail!”
“… I, uh, “Flash awkwardly staggered, “Are you going to write that down?”
“Of course! Why didn’t I think of this before, so many students saw glimpses of that world, especially those who were hanging not to fall in, I can gather so much useful information.”
I don’t think they are going to be that happy about it, Flash though, but didn’t say that out loud. The look this Twilight Sparkle was giving him made answering in any way but agreements almost impossible, it was a mix of a constabulary interrogation and girlfriend’s obvious hints. He sighed.
“I saw a world straight out of children cartoons. The few glimpses I managed to catch were rainbow waterfalls, miniature cottages, crystal castles, flashing rivers and…”
He stopped; Twilight raised her eyebrow at him, “Yes?”
“Colorful ponies, I believe I saw hundred of flying ponies, don’t you think that’s weird?”
Twilight Sparkle managed to hold a chuckle, awkwardly drawing a few flowers in her notebook before responding, “No, I actually managed to get a look at many of those multicolored, magic wielding equines.”
“I just… I know so many –weird- things happened at Canterlot High, but a world of magical ponies that live near tentacle-like black vines is something that boils my brain. Is it really real?”
“It is.”
“Wow.”
“Was there anything else you managed to get a glimpse of?” Twilight asked curiously.
“I don’t think so; the whole world was twisted and blurred inside the portals you have opened. I probably missed something while I was running for my life.” Flash Sentry smirked awkwardly, making Twilight cough and close her notebook, this time much slower bringing it back into her backpack.
“That’s enough, thank you…”
“Do you plan to go into that world somehow?”
“Y-yes, without causing massive ruckus and destruction, of course,” She added, looking at the tracking device once again, “I can’t let such a discovery go to waste, I just can’t. I know that curiosity killed the cat, yet… It just has to be done.”
Flash Sentry blinked, “You are something, alright.” With that remark he blushed madly and looked away.
Twilight Sparkle didn’t respond, making sure the notebook was carefully hidden and placed so that it wouldn’t fall out. After a few long minutes she had removed the magical device from the pedestal and placed it back into her bag just as well, forcing the glowing symbols to fade away.
“You know, if Sunset Shimmer and my Twilight have so many things to do with that world…” Flash began and stopped, he realized something. The young student’s eyes opened as he peered upon Twilight, gasping:
“Tomorrow is Saturday!”
It was Twilight’s time to react. With a shock she looked at her shirt, then at her watch and tried her hardest not to cover her face with her palm. It –was– Saturday. Two hours before midday! She was so busy with her projects and researches she completely forgot that there was no school today. Flash Sentry was so busy with his obsession and love over his Twilight that he mistook yesterday for today.
There were both idiots.
And they both sighed heavily. Twilight was the first one to break the silence, standing up from the ground as she offered him a meek and awkward smile, “I think you and I shall better go home, we still got two days until the first ring of the class, “She attempted to joke, making Flash Sentry answer with a smirk.
“How did you even get here? I imagine you live quite far.”
“I took the last bus yesterday.”
“And…how do you plan to get back home?”
“Well…” She sang the last line, clearly not thinking this through, “I guess I’ll just walk, thirty miles shouldn’t be such a struggle.”
Flash Sentry quickly took his keys from his pocket, spinning the holding ring as he motioned towards the alarm button from his car, “I’ll drive you home, come on.”
Twilight Sparkle looked at the rock star in question, offering him a rather puzzled, if not insulted look, “Mm… Thanks, but I do not think I trust a stranger from my school that much, Flash Sentry. It’s okay.”
“I insist, even being a lonely girl in the sidewalk aside, what if some of those magical demons from another world mistakes you for another Twilight Sparkle and attacks you?”
A bright spark flashed in her eyes, Flash Sentry rolled his eyes and sighed:
“I only made the situation worst, didn’t I?”
“No, you have hit pretty close about the sidewalk and all those possible situations, like missing the morning breakfast routine with my mother and making her worry.” She said. That’s now what he meant, -at all-.
“All right, Flash Sentry. Please, could you kindly drive me home?” She asked sheepishly, as if something was absolutely wrong or intimate in such request. The young student only nodded and picked up his guitar, beginning to walk towards the parking lot.
“Oh, and Flash Sentry?”
“Yes?”
“Playing a guitar or making any noise louder than talking volume past midnight is against the law, I believe the fine for that is quite harsh....”
Flash Sentry chuckled to himself; this midnight passed in a flash.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading!
