“Flash! Wait up!” Twilight cried out.

Twilight was attempting to catch up to me as I distanced myself from the Carousel Boutique as much as possible.

“Will you at least tell me what happened back there?!”

I didn’t even know where Sugarcube Corner was, but I wasn’t about to pause to let Twilight interrogate me.

“Flash, I swear to Celestia—”

Twilight’s rant was cut off as a rainbow blur shot past her. I stepped forward several more feet before I felt somepony slam into the side of me, rattling my armor as I ground my hooves into the dirt.

My supposed attacker dropped like a sack of flour as she clutched her ribs in anguish.

“Ack… that… that hurt more than I thought it would,” she wheezed.

I drew my lance and pointed it at the cyan pegasus, cautiously circling around her as she stood up and glared at me. She reached over and pushed the tip of the lance away from her chest, raising a skeptical brow.

“Hey, pal, my friend’s trying to talk to you.”

I gave her a smirk, “I thought I was making it pretty obvious that I wasn’t interested in talking to her.”

Twilight teleported next to us with a blinding flash of light before the mare could form a retort. Twilight panted as she fanned herself with one wing.

“Dash, wait! He’s… he’s with me,” she explained between breaths.

Dash let out a chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “Oh, yeah. That, uh, that explains the armor.”

“I don't wear it for show, if you couldn’t tell,” I grumbled as I holstered my lance.

“Yeah, I guess that’s my bad.” Dash walked over to me, holding out her hoof, “The name’s Rainbow Dash, and I’m the fastest flier in all of Equestria.”

I gave her a mirthless laugh as I took her hoof, “I’m Captain Flash Sentry, and I highly doubt that.”

Her wings flared up as she adopted a disgusted expression. “Excuse me!?”

I felt the smirk return to my face. “I’m sorry, did I stutter?”

She lurched forward, her angry breath brushing against the hairs on my neck as she hissed into my ear. “Do you want to race, Flash? I could kick your flank if I really wanted to.”

I scoffed, pushing her away with a hoof. “I don’t race mares, especially one with a dye-job.”

Dash sputtered in disbelief as she snarled at me.

“I don’t fake anything, jarhead.”

Twilight separated the two of us with her magic. “Enough of this, you two! Flash, what did I just say about how you treat my friends?!”

“She tackled me!”

Twilight turned away from me, “And Dash, did you really think it was a good idea to try to tackle a fully armored stallion carrying a weapon? You could’ve hurt yourself for Celestia’s sake!”

Rainbow Dash huffed in exasperation, “You were chasing after him! I needed to stop him somehow.”

“So you tackled him?!”

“And what was your plan? Chase him all across town?! You have wings now, ya know! And a horn too!”

I rolled my eyes at their bickering. Rarity had made it clear to me that I had to be on good terms with Pinkie Pie, and that meant going to Sugarcube Corner with or without Twilight.

Twilight glanced over at me as I trudged onward toward where I assumed Sugarcube Corner was. “Flash! Stop leaving without me!”

I let out an audible groan as the two of them glided over, hovering above me like I was some kind of pet. Twilight landed next to me as soon as she could, clearly favoring the feeling of earth under her hooves.

Dash grinned in response to my discontent, “I’m coming with you, Twilight. I have a bone to pick with him.”

I sighed.

Princess Celestia, please hurl me into the sun.

“So are we just going to ignore how fast you bolted out of the Carousel Boutique?” Twilight asked me as a smirk formed on Dash’s face.

I rubbed the fading mark around my neck. “That’s not important right now. We just need to get to Sugarcube Corner so I can get this over with.”

Twilight frowned, “You’re going to actually apologize to her, right? I want a genuine apology from you, not a half-assed one.”

Dash closed the distance between us, prodding me with an accusatory hoof, “Apologize? Did you upset Pinkie Pie!?”

I groaned aloud as I spotted the gaudy-looking gingerbread house ahead of us, “Unfortunately.”

Dash gritted her teeth as Twilight piped up again, “Rarity made it sound like the party will be happening tonight, which makes me think Pinkie Pie is already expecting us.”

“Then this will be easier for me than I thought.”

The bell above the door chimed as the three of us walked in. A moment later, the pink mare from the train station came bouncing toward us.

“Hi Twilight! Hi Dashie! Hi Flash! My Pinkie Sense told me the three of you were coming!”

I gave her a bemused look, “Your… Pinkie Sense? How do you even know my name? I never introduced myself.”

She giggled and waved a nonchalant hoof at me, “Oh, that’s an easy one, I asked Fluttershy a few minutes ago, though she looked like she was super-duper upset about something.”

My eyes widened as I started at the cotton candy mare. “But… that’s not possible. Her cottage is literally the farthest building from Ponyville.”

Dash laughed aloud at my bewilderment, “Dude, just… don’t question her. You’re gonna drive yourself crazy if you try and figure her out.”

Pinkie’s grin widened to an uncanny degree, the fur on the back of my neck standing up. “Also, I forgive you, Flash. I know what it’s like when you’re someplace new and somepony starts randomly talking to you and you have no idea who they are so you just pretend like they’re not a huge pain in the flank while they talk about something that you couldn’t care less about and pray to Celestia that they leave within the next five minutes.”

“What?”

She giggled, “Oh! All this talking and I still haven’t started setting up your party, silly me!”

I gave her a strained expression. “I don’t think that’s really something I want to do.”

“Aw, come on, Flashy. Just let me throw you one tiny eensy-weensy par—”

“I’ll agree to it if you promise me to never call me that again,” I interrupted, a glare hardening across my face.

Pinkie’s smile didn’t falter as she gave me a mock military salute. “You got it, Captain! I’ll get everything set up in no time!”

She zipped past me fast enough to make me stumble, crashing into the kitchen as I ducked under a stray pot that flew over my head.

“Great…”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at me, clearly relishing in my misery.

An amused smile formed on Twilight’s face as I paced back and forth across the library.

“I pace when I’m anxious too, you know,” Twilight remarked, waving my outfit around with her magic.

“I’m not anxious, I’m just… thinking,” I replied back.

Her cheeky grin broadened. “Does it hurt?”

I gave a light chuckle and yanked the clothing out of her magical grasp.

“Ha ha. You know... I think I’m starting to rub off on you, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”

She rolled her eyes. “I think it’s about time we stop stalling, we have a party to get to. And don’t worry, I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie only invited the seven of us. She figured you wouldn’t like having to talk to a bunch of random ponies.”

I glanced over at a mirror as I donned my suit and tie, I decided to leave my armor and weapon behind for the night. If I was lucky, it wouldn’t come back to bite me in the flank.

“So you, your other friends and I? Who am I missing?”

Spike gave me an annoyed glare as he lazed about across the couch, “Me, dude.”

“You know, they’re your friends too now, Flash,” Twilight added.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I murmured as Twilight buttoned my shirt and straightened my tie.

She flashed me a sympathetic smile as she inspected my attire.

“If you apologize to Fluttershy, I think you’ll be back at square one for the most part, and I’m pretty sure Applejack and Pinkie Pie actually enjoy your company.”

“And Rainbow Crash?”

Twilight blushed, “I think you may have made a rival, though in your case, that might be a good thing.”

I raised a brow, “Why’s that?”

“Well, if Dash is acting competitive around you, then it might mean she has taken a liking to you. Also, I wouldn’t let her hear you call her that, she might try to tackle you again.”

I scoffed at her and shook my head, “I was strangled and tackled in the same day. At the very least, Ponyville hasn’t been boring.”

Spike sat up and frowned at me. “I was wondering why you left as quick as you did. Rarity must have done quite a number on you.”

More than you know, kid.

“She caught me by surprise, that’s for sure,” I said as I walked over to the front door. “I just hope this party doesn’t backfire on me.”

“Heya, Flash! Look what I can do!” Pinkie said as she continued to bounce in front of the table I was seated at.

There was a moment of silence as she closed her eyes. I gave a cursory glance around the room, beginning to think that I was missing something, then she opened her eyes and spoke up a moment later.

“Ta-da! Isn’t this neat?!”

I glanced sidelong behind Pinkie, looking at Twilight and her friends in the hope of some receiving extra context, but their puzzled expressions told me everything I needed to know.

“Uh, am I missing something? Pinkie?”

“Shoot, nopony ever gets this joke. Maybe Discord would get a laugh out of it.”

“Discord? Discord’s in Ponyville?” I growled.

“Yessir! He’s like, totally best friends with Fluttershy. They hang out all the time and sometimes stop by for treats together! I wouldn’t worry about him though, he hasn’t done anything bad in a long time.”

Oh, fuck me. Another reason to apologize to her as soon as possible. My life’s already complicated enough as it is.

I put a hoof to my face as Rarity trotted over to us and took a seat. “You’re telling me that that little pegasus managed to tame a god? Are you sure he’s not going to cause anymore trouble?”

Pinkie ceased her bouncing for a second, catching her breath before giggling, “Nope! But he’s so fun though!”

Rarity spoke up, “I’d hate to say it, darling, but I’m afraid we can’t exactly leave him to his own devices.” She paused, flicking her mane back. “Even though the Elements of Harmony are close by, we still need him to stay near us so that we can keep an eye on him.”

I stared over at Twilight and Dash as she continued to speak. The two of them were whispering to one another, stealing glances at me every so often.

“Also, I’d like to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I realize it wasn’t very professional of me, and that your behavior isn’t an excuse for me to lash out at you the way I did.”

I turned to face Rarity, a genuine smile plastered on her face, and grinned. “I don’t know, Rarity. I’ll admit, I’m not exactly the easiest to get along with, maybe a little force was something I needed. Though, you did technically assault a royal guard.”

Rarity giggled. “I suppose I can’t rely on amnesty, can I?”

“No, I’ll just forget it ever happened and pretend like I wasn’t put in my place by a young mare with no combative training.”

She fluttered her eyes at me. “A grown mare needs to know how to be assertive with her stallions...”

I broke eye contact with her for a moment and looked back over at Twilight, our eyes meeting from across the bakery. Her content smile wavered, replaced by a slight frown.

Why is she looking at me like that?

“Well, I think we’d be here all night at this rate. I just came over to apologize, so I’ll leave you alone now. Take care!”

Rarity sat up and winked at me before walking back over to the others, the smile on my face remaining.

I shook my head as Twilight and Spike walked over to me.

“You ready to head out, Flash?” Twilight asked me with slight bite to her voice.

I looked over at Spike, who just shrugged his shoulders at my bemused reaction.

“I, uh, think I still have one more thing to do,” I replied, standing up and walking over to where Fluttershy was standing.

She spotted me as I approached her, taking a small step back and hiding behind her long pink mane. “O-oh, h-hello, Flash.”

I sighed and rubbed my mane with my hoof, “Look, Fluttershy, I just came over to say…”

I breathed in as Fluttershy looked at me with a intrepid but curious expression. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were trying to help me. You just brought up some—” I gulped down something bitter in my throat, “—bad memories.”

She nodded as she pawed at the ground, not looking me in the eye as she began to speak.

“I don’t know what came over me, either,” Fluttershy whispered. “Normally, I have to really concentrate to do what I did, but it just kind of… happened.”

I smirked. “Well, if we’re both sorry, then I’d like to start over again. That is, if you’ll let me.”

Fluttershy perked up, giving me a soft smile in return. “Of course.”

I turned around and saw that Twilight’s miffed expression had vanished, replaced with a proud and almost smug look. I bid farewell to Fluttershy before walking back over to her.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Twilight asked me.

I scoffed at her as the two of us walked back toward the main entrance. “Nothing I can’t handle, Twilight. It seemed like it was important to you, so…”

“Thank you... for caring.”

Author's Note

Some people were concerned with how Rarity treated Flash in the previous chapter, hopefully this makes up for it.

Sorry no content has been posted in a while, I've been pretty busy with college and all that. I hope to write some more later this month if at all possible.

Also, I should note this is the first time I ever wrote Pinkie Pie, so let me know how I did.

Don't forget to hit like if you liked the story, dislike if you don't, and follow me if you want to see more from me in the future.