Twilight Should be dating MY OC!

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle was pacing around while talking to her little dragon friend, Spike. He had a long list in front of him with a quill in his hand as he was crossing things off as Twilight spoke. Twilight had a big day ahead of her and needed many things to be taken care of. She was about to see her sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, about royal duties for the next few days.

“Alright, Spike,” she said, “Do we have all the documents we’ve gone over for the Royal Equestrian Summit?”

“We sure do.” Spike said proudly, showing her the list. “Everything from A to Z, your highness!”

“Well we should probably do a quick check. We want to be sure we have everything ready.” said Twilight.

“Aw, but Twilight, we’ve checked like three times now!” he said, disappointedly.

“This summit is very important, Spike.” she reminded. “Just one little screw-up, and I could look really bad in front of Princess Celestia and all the other constituents who will be presiding over this event.”

“Alright, fine.” he grumbled.

Suddenly, the door opened and several royal guards walked in to the sound of trumpets playing behind them. The orange pegasus guard with blue hair named Flash Sentry walked forward to introduce Princess Cadence.

“Introducing, her royal highness, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire.” he said.

Twilight stared for a moment at Flash. It had been several years now since she first met him back when she entered the magical mirror that transported her to the world where she and all who lived in it took on a strange new form known as “human”. She met Flash Sentry in that world and developed a crush on him. The biggest difference between the two was that the one she met in the other world was a high-school student who played guitar but the one in her world worked as a royal guard for the Crystal Empire. Despite the fact that she took on the same form as him, she felt odd having a crush on a different creature from another world so perhaps it was time to move on from that Flash. This Flash, however, was a pony just like her and she couldn’t help but think about him. No doubt they had similar personalities, but she sadly never got to speak to this Flash since he was always busy doing his duty as a guard and he lived far away. She had seen him several times before but they never really got to speak to one another at all. Just a few glances here and there. She continued staring at him so much, she almost forgot about her sister-in-law.

“Twilight?” said Cadence.

“OH! Um, Cadence, good to see you!” said Twilight hugging her around the neck.

They then both crouched down and started dancing around to perform the dance Cadence had taught Twilight since she was a filly.

“Sunshine, sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

They giggled delightfully as Spike rolled his eyes. Flash could even be seen snickering a bit until one of his fellow guards tapped him with their wings and he wiped away his smile and straightened up.

“I’m so glad we get to work together for this summit, Twilight!” said Cadence. “It’s so hard preparing for these things in the Crystal Empire, but I’m so happy to be here with my favorite little sister-in-law!”

“I’m excited too, Cadence!” Twilight replied happily. “Spike, never mind the checklist. We’ve done enough. I’d like to take a little time to settle in with my sister-in-law.”

“Phew! Saved by the bell!” said Spike, rolling up the long list into a scroll and sticking the quill inside it.

“Now could you show Cadence to her suite?” Twilight continued.

“You’ve got it, Twilight!” Spiked responded.

Spike walked off with Cadence following close behind along with several of her guards. Twilight looked back to them and started to walk forward until she felt herself bump into another pony.

“Whoops, my bad.” said Flash.

“Oh dear! I’m so sorry, Mr. Sentry! I should have looked where I was going.” Twilight said, shocked.

“It’s alright, your highness. Gosh, it’s almost like all we’re good at is bumping into each other, isn’t it.” Flash replied to her.

“Hehehe, yeah, bumping into each other….hehehe…” Twilight continued laughing nervously as her face turned beet red and she moved her hoof around on the floor.

“Say, if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly do you know my name?” Flash asked her.

Twilight’s ears suddenly perked up and her eyes widened. She had just realized she used his last name and he was not aware she had met his human counterpart.

“Oh…um…you know, Cadence told me…hehe…” Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth till she swallowed and then just told Flash the truth. “Actually, Flash, to be honest……well, you and I sort of already met, but……it happened in another world.”

“Um……I’m not sure I follow.”

“Like……okay, you know that mirror in the Crystal Empire that you guys have to guard a lot?”

“Yeah?”

“It was in that mirror. It leads to another world. You were in there but you were a human. They’re like how we look but they kinda almost resemble primates cuz they have digitals but they stand upright on their hind legs all the time and they have tiny noses and no tails and a bunch of other stuff. Follow any of that?”

“Soooo……you met me but in another world beyond the mirror and I looked different?”

“Yep. Pretty weird, I know. Eheheh.”

“I knew there was something special about that mirror we guard. Wow, they just don’t tell us these things anymore.”

Twilight continued blushing and moving her hoof around on the ground not knowing what to say in response. Since she was finally starting to talk to the stallion she admired, she was at a loss for words. Flash stood there expecting her to say something but started getting nervous himself and felt awkward as time went on. He finally spoke up.

“Well, I mean, was I nice to you in that world?” he asked.

“Oh, well of course! I mean I certainly thought so. Like you were really nice and handsome and…er…well of course you were handsome, I mean…not like…um…not saying you aren’t handsome or something just……eheheh…”

The redness on Twilight’s cheeks only grew redder and her smile grew bigger. She had no idea what to do now. Flash, on the other hand could see exactly what was going on and did his best to keep things from getting weirder.

“Well thank you, your highness.” he said, smiling warmly. “I don’t get compliments like that so often from royalty.”

“Oh, well that’s a shame really. I mean does being a royal guard really take it out of ya?”

“Definitely, but hey, it puts bread on the table and it’s an important job and, well, I always feel good when I’m protecting others.”

“I’m glad to hear you enjoy it, Flash. I’m sure Cadence really appreciates all you do for the Crystal Empire too. So, you guys are all staying in the castle here while the summit is underway then?”

“That’s about the size of it, your highness. I think I’ll adjust to this place rather nicely since it reminds me an awful lot of the castle in the Crystal Empire. A crystal castle right here in little old Ponyville is the perfect place for me and the boys to stay at.”

“I hope you like it here then. By the way, you can just call me Twilight, just like all my friends do. ‘Your highness’ kinda sounds a bit……weird sometimes. Hehehe…”

“My apologies, your high…I mean, Twilight.”

“Hehehe…”

They both stared at each other for what seemed like an hour smiling with their cheeks all rosy till their eyes parted and just seemed to wander off in whatever direction they could find. Twilight then spoke up feeling perhaps she had already made herself look silly enough.

“Well, I should probably go get ready for the summit.” she said. “You make yourself at home here and let me know if there’s anything you need, alrighty?”

“I’ll be sure. Thanks Twilight. Nice talking to you.” Flash replied as he took of his helmet and began walking off in the direction some of the other guards had gone to find his room to stay in.

Twilight watched Flash walk off and continued to smile but couldn’t help but chastise herself for how she handled it.

“Darnit, Twilight, what was that!?” she said quietly through her teeth. “’Your highness sounds weird?’ He probably thought I was insulting him or something! I could have handled that better…”

“Still crushing on the new guy, are we?” said Cadence from behind.

“WHAT?! Oh, Cadence?! Um…naw, I wouldn’t say crushing, just…you know, like, admiring from a distance? If that makes sense…”

“Twilight, I had the biggest crush on your brother in high school; I know exactly what you’re going through.” Cadence teased.

Twilight sighed.

“You’re right.” she said. “I met him in the world beyond the mirror and he was a really nice guy. It just felt so weird because he wasn’t the same species as me so I kind of had to just let it be. Plus, according to the letters I’ve been getting from Sunset Shimmer, he actually seems to like her again. I never really got to talk to this Flash and he seems just as nice.”

“Well, why don’t you tell him how you feel?” Cadence said, nudging her sister-in-law.

“Eh…I dunno, Cadence. I dunno if I can brave it up enough.”

Cadence giggled and started walking back to her room in the castle.

“It’s going to be alright, Twilight. We all have to overcome a crush at some point in our lives. I’m sure things will work out fine between you and Flash if you let it.”

“Thanks, Cadence. I just hope this doesn’t affect my performance tomorrow at the summit.”

Later that night, Twilight was pacing around inside her bedroom going over some notes she had prepared for the summit. She had just finished practicing her speech a third time and was finally satisfied and ready for tomorrow.

“Well, I guess that’s enough practice for now. Guess I’m ready for that summit!” she told herself confidently.

“Well, well, well, seems somepony still can’t get over Flash, eh?” said Spike, walking in and teasing Twilight.

“Spike! It’s…it’s not what it looks like, alright!” she scolded him.

“Come on, Twilight, you’re making it so obvious! I’m sure he’s already aware you really like him. Why don’t you talk to him more?”

“I don’t know what he’ll think of me. I don’t know if I should do it. He’s a guard and I’m a princess…”

“Um…Twilight, you realize Shining Armor was a guard and Cadence was a princess too, right?”

“They started dating in high school, Spike. It’s not the same. I just get so scared when I talk to him. I probably looked so weird down there when we had our first real conversation.”

“What if Flash really likes you too though?”

“Well, that would be nice. I wouldn’t mind being with him but I’m not sure I want to go through all the trouble. I should probably just focus on all the princess duties I have.”

Twilight jumped into bed and covered herself with her blanket.

“Well, sweet dreams, Juliet.” Spike whispered softly as he crawled into his little bed nearby.

While she was trying to fall asleep, Twilight could not stop thinking about Flash but could also not get over the thought that she probably was in over her head.

“Maybe I should just leave Flash be.” she thought. “He’s nice and all but I just don’t know if it’s going to work out. I don’t even know if he likes me back. You’ll be fine, Twilight. You’ll be fine. Ah…but I still wouldn’t mind having a stallion someday. I’ll just wait. I’ll wait till one day I find the perfect stallion who comes my way…”

Elsewhere down the hallway, in a guestroom in the castle, Flash could not stop thinking about Twilight either. The first encounter he had with her had already left him wanting to get to know her better.

“Twilight sure is a pretty mare. She seems quite shy but all I gotta do is just let her know it’s alright. Maybe if I talk to her a bit more and am there for her it will work. I’ll try it. She just might be the one…”

Flash nestled into his warm bed with a smile on his face though he would have a hard time falling asleep as he could not get his mind off Twilight.

“Well, I’m definitely crushing for sure.” he laughed.

Chapter 2

Twilight trotted down the streets of Canterlot carrying some scrolls hovering around her with her magic as she began organizing them. She still had one hour left before her speech at the Equestrian Royal Summit and wanted to be sure she had everything ready.

“Alright, I have these documents, yes, I have those. And these ones are ready too. I guess there’s nothing to worry about at all, looks like Spike and I really did get everything double-checked. Well, we’re all good then. Looks like this summit is going to be just-“

Suddenly Twilight felt herself bump into another pony and her papers began fluttering downward as she fell back to the ground.

“AGH! I’m so sorry, Miss! I wasn’t looking!” said the voice in front of her.

The male pegasus she bumped into had yellow eyes, a greyish coat and dark, navy blue hair with aqua highlights. His left wing had one ruffled feather and his cutie mark was a musical note with an infinity symbol next to it. He wore a small black wrist-band on one of his hooves with a symbol that appeared to be in the shape of a gryphon’s head.

He started to brush himself off and then reached to help Twilight up until his eyes focused on her face as he saw her moving in slow motion. Twilight got up and whipped her head around. The pegasus stallion saw sparkles all over her and the environment around her turned pink as sweet, romantic music could be heard playing in his head. He was instantly taken back by how beautiful she looked. Her mane was long and flowing. Her velvet coat was a nice shade of lilac. She looked majestic and graceful. She opened her lovely purple eyes and exchanged glances with him for a moment and began to smile. She was truly the fairest mare he had laid eyes on.

On Twilight’s end, she was shaking her head around from the slight pain of bumping into someone and couldn’t help but laugh a little at her clumsiness.

“No, really, sir, it’s alright, it was totally my fault. I should have been looking where I was going. How clumsy of me.” she said picking up all her papers.

The pegasus stallion continued staring and then gave her a friendly smile. She smiled back and introduced herself.

“Sorry. I’m Twilight. Princess Twilight. You know, the Princess of Friendship. You’ve probably heard of me before. Hehe.”

“Princess Twilight? Oh, so you’re the new young princess from not too long ago who got her wings and then was crowned. Wow. I’ve heard of you before…… though, to be honest, I have to admit, the newspaper photos don’t do you nearly enough justice. You look a lot prettier in person.” he said to her with a rather suave voice. Twilight smiled and blushed.

“Well, anyways, where are my manners? The name’s Black Gryphon. You can call me Gryph for short.” said the handsome pegasus as he put his head to the side letting his hair wave in the wind.

“Gryphon? Your name is Black Gryphon?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Yeah, my parents thought gryphons were cool animals and I was born a pegasus so they decided to name me after one.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Black Gryphon.” Twilight said, politely shaking his hoof. “So are you from around here?”

“I actually live in Vanhoover, but I travel all over Equestria. I’m a singer and a voice actor so I find myself traveling from place to place doing concerts and getting called to audition for all sorts of productions.”

“You’re a singer? Gosh. I feel bad, I haven’t actually heard of you before.”

“It’s okay. I’m not, like, super well-known like Countess Coloratura or Sapphire Shores or anypony, but I do have quite a fan-base. I got my big break from doing my own vocal work in my spare time while I was finishing serving in the Royal Navy and, well, the rest is history.”

“Wow, you even served in the Navy? You sound pretty talented!”

“Well, besides doing things like scuba-diving, mountain climbing, animating, drawing, dancing, launching homemade rockets, flying drones and all that stuff, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Gosh, that’s a lot of things to be good at!”

Twilight ran out of compliments and they shared glances for a few moments. Gryph had a rather welcoming and friendly smile and he appeared to very much enjoy her company. With the trouble she had had talking with Flash recently, she felt she wasn’t really good at talking to handsome stallions. Her social awkwardness from the old days seemed to just kick right in and she felt scared to say anything more to him. She wanted to keep talking to him since he seemed so friendly and had much to discuss but then she remembered the summit and had to speak up.

“Well, I really hate to say it but I’m kinda busy, but I hope to see you again, Gryph. I’m sure it won’t be difficult for either of us to find each other considering we’re both kinda famous. Hehe…”

“Oh, um……well I understand. Princesses have a lot to do.” said Gryph, looking somewhat disappointed. He hoped he would have more time to talk to her.

“Yeah, it’s the Equestrian Royal Summit and I should probably get going before I miss it. Least after I do my duty today I can let them take care of the rest while I head back to Ponyville. See ya, Gryph!”

Twilight took off flying but then Gryph’s ears perked up after hearing what she said about Ponyville.

“Ponyville? Oh, Twilight, hold up!” he said as he spread his wings and flew off to catch up with her in midair. “You said you’re heading to Ponyville after this?”

“Um, yeah, that’s where I live actually.” she responded.

“Oh, well that’s perfect! I have a concert coming up in Ponyville in three days! Perhaps you’d be interested in coming down to see it?”

“You have a concert in Ponyville? So that’s what all the equipment is that they’re putting over in at one field! Of course I’d love to come see it, Gryph!”

“Awesome! I’m so glad you can make it! Oh, and before you leave, here, how about you take this: your first Black Gryphon merchandise. They’re usually being sold at my concerts during autograph session but here’s a free wrist-band for the Princess of Friendship.”

Gryph pulled off the band around his hoof and gave it to Twilight. Twilight stared briefly at the band and then used her magic to wrap it around one of her hooves.

“Thank you very much, Gryph. This is a nice gift!” she said as she smiled warmly before giving him a hug.

Gryph’s eyes closed halfway and he looked more content than ever before. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

“Well hey, I can’t wait to see your concert in a few days and it was great to make a new friend!” said Twilight as she fluttered on and flew up to a nearby castle to begin her duties for the day. “I’ll be seeing ya!”

“Any time, Twilight Sparkle!” said Gryph waving back.

He watched Twilight fly away gracefully with her hair waving around from the wind. He continued to stare at her until she disappeared behind the castle to find the entrance on the other side. With hearts floating out of his head and his smile reaching to each corner of his cheeks, he slowly floated down to the ground till he landed on all four hooves.

“She’s just so beautiful. Golly, where has she been all my life and how did I not just learn more about her after hearing about the Princess of Friendship? Well I’m glad I met her now and I’m lucky I’ll see her again. I gotta find a way to win her heart……wait, I know what I’ll do! Yes, I’m sure she’d love that! Alright…...um, so many stories……no…a hundred thousand stories…have filled my head……yeah, that sounds good for the opening lines…”

Gryph flew off, thinking hard to himself; planning something special to give to Twilight for the next time he would meet her. He could already tell Twilight seemed fond of him; he just had to find a way to truly make her love him back.

Later, at the opening of the Equestrian Royal Summit held in Celestia’s palace, Twilight stood in front of a multitude of ponies who had gathered for the event. She was just finishing her speech.

“So it is with great honor, that I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, welcome all of you to the annual Equestrian Royal Summit, held in the capital city of Canterlot. Everyone enjoy your stay!”

The crowd cheered loudly for Twilight’s speech and she bowed courteously to them. The applause was then followed by the ambience of a murmuring audience as everyone began to get ready for the day. Twilight had already done her part for the morning and only had a few more things to help with before sundown. Princess Celestia came up to the platform she was standing on to congratulate her former protégé.

“Well done, Twilight!” she said. “These ponies were very pleased with that speech you gave.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight replied. “I wasn’t even that nervous this time around either! Hehe!”

Twilight reached up with her hoof to scratch the back of her head and Princess Celestia gasped as she noticed the band Twilight had around the bottom of her left front leg.

“Oh! Twilight, I didn’t know you were a fan of Black Gryphon!” Celestia said.

“Huh? Oh, you noticed my band! Yeah, I actually met him earlier and he gave me this.” Twilight replied

“You MET him?!?” said Celestia with excitement in her voice. “Ooooh, Twilight, that’s great news! He’s got amazing music!”

“I haven’t heard him yet but he’s got a concert coming up in Ponyville in a few days and he invited me to it.”

“OH MY GOODNESS!” Celestia squealed before putting her hoof over her mouth so she wouldn’t look too childish to the other ponies around. “Sorry. But really Twilight, you’re a lucky mare to have bumped into him! And he even gave you this wrist-band!”

“Yeah, he seems like quite a nice guy and I can’t wait to hear what his music sounds like.”

“I hear he’s also pretty good with mares.” said Celestia, wiggling her eyebrows at Twilight.

“Oh……well I mean yeah, he kinda does seem to be…” Twilight replied, bashfully. “He, uh……he kinda seems to be fond of me…well sorta…hehe…”

“Aw, Twilight, that’s rather sweet! You should talk to him more. I’m sure you’d have easier access since you’re royalty.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I would. Well anyways, I’m still going to go to that concert. Think you might make it too, Princess?” she asked Celestia.

“I sadly won’t be able to since I will be incredibly busy with the summit, but if it’s not asking for too much, would you mind getting an autograph for me?” she said with a smile.

“Of course I will! What would you like me to have him autograph for you?”

“How about a picture of the two of you together?”

“Oh…hehe, well that would be a good idea I guess.” Twilight said blushing. “Alright, Celestia, I’ll get you that picture with his autograph. I’m sure he’d be very happy to do it for me.”

Twilight began thinking a lot about Gryph after talking with Celestia. She almost had a feeling he liked her though she couldn’t tell if he was just being really friendly and social. What Celestia said about how she should talk to him more almost made her want to or, if anything, get to know him better as a friend since she was so good at making friendships and learning valuable lessons from them. She nearly forgot about what had happened with her and Flash a few days ago and how she was so nervous trying to socialize with him, but she did remember she wanted to wait to see if a stallion would come along for her. Perhaps Gryph was the one? Then again, it would be best to not jump too quickly to that conclusion. She wanted to be sure she could be a good friend to Gryph.

A few days after Twilight’s encounter with Black Gryphon, she had invited her friends over to her castle to have brunch. They had all gathered around in the room with the friendship map and had just been served by Spike who brought out daisy sandwiches, homemade oatmeal, and some freshly-squeezed orange juice. Twilight was finishing up something important for the royal summit and was late but Spike had told them she would be there soon.

“So is Twilight gonna join us or what?” asked an impatient Rainbow Dash who had been told earlier by Applejack to wait to eat when Twilight came in.

“Now darling, one must never rush a lady. If Twilight is taking a while, I’m sure she has a good excuse.” Rarity pointed out.

“I dunno, Rarity.” said Applejack. “She said we’d start at this exact time. Hope she makes it eventually or this here oatmeal’s gonna get mighty cold.”

“Maybe Twilight’s super-duper busy with even MORE food for us!” Pinkie started rambling. “Maybe she’s got a huge tower of pancakes with blueberries, and strawberries, and raspberries, and every other berry you could possibly imagine inside of them with lots of maple syrup and a whole lotta whip cream and she’s going to treat us all for desert after this course is done! Ooooooh, that would be delicious!!”

“Gosh, I don’t know, Pinkie. That sounds like an awful lot for brunch.” Fluttershy said, cautiously.

“Pfffffft! Naaaaw, that ain’t nothing!” Pinkie replied before sticking her long tongue out to try and swallow the sandwich in front of her. Applejack leaned in and nodded her head back and forth to remind her to wait and Pinkie set the sandwich back down while whimpering like a dog.

Suddenly, Twilight came in looking like she had just finished a lot of hard work.

“SORRY! I got caught up with some paperwork I had to do for the summit! I’m done now. You guys ready to eat?”

“Ready?! I was BORN ready!” said Pinkie reaching back out with her tongue to take in the sandwich.

“Alright, let’s dig into this……whoa…” said Rainbow Dash dropping the spoon she had grasped with her feathers. She just noticed the band around Twilight’s hoof. “Pi-Pi-Pi-Pinkie…”

Pinkie stopped munching on her food and looked at what Rainbow Dash was pointing at and suddenly spat everything out of her mouth.

“Blehehehe! OH MY GOODNESS, TWILIGHT!!!” she screeched.

“Um…is there a problem?” Twilight said, cocking her head to the side.

“TWILIGHT, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BAND?!” Rainbow Dash asked, excitedly.

“Oh, this little thing? Well, I was walking around in Canterlot the other day and I bumped into this really friendly stallion named Black Gryphon and he gave-“

“OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!!!” said Rainbow Dash as she and Pinkie exchanged excited glances.

Pinkie jumped in midair, ignoring gravity while her legs and arms wiggled around at high speeds.

“TWILIGHT MET BLACK GRYPHON!! THIS IS THE COOLEST THING TO HAPPEN IN FOREVER!!!!!”

“Black Gryphon?! Wait what?!” said Spike, rushing over while still wearing an apron. “TWILIGHT, THAT’S AWESOME!!!”

“Wait, you guys know about him?!” Twilight asked with her eyes bouncing back and forth.

“Know him?! He’s only, like, the coolest singing stallion in all of Equestria! Are we there yet, a-a-are we there yet?! You’ve done it all from A to Z…” Spike said before breaking into random song and dancing like no one was watching.

“Oh my. I haven’t heard of this stallion but he does sound good from what you all are saying.” said Fluttershy.

“I haven’t heard of him either, darling. Twilight, you said you met him in person in Canterlot? What was he like?” Rarity asked.

“Well, he was awfully nice to me. I guess he was a little starstruck to meet a princess but he didn’t really seem that nervous. He seemed quite confident and…oh yeah, he invited me to the concert he’s having in Ponyville tonight. I’m guessing he was included in the lineup for the Annual Young Musicians Celebration.”

“That’s what we wanted to have you come do with us tonight, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said. “Pinkie, Spike and I just found out about him recently and when we heard he was having a concert here, we knew we had to invite the rest of you!”

“EEEEH! Yes, we have totally got to do it! That concert is going to be fantabulous! Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, will you girls come to?!?” said Pinkie zooming in front of the other three ponies with her face up close to them and her grin so wide it almost went beyond her face.

“Well I wouldn’t mind a little concert I suppose. I mean I hope the music’s good and all. I ain’t much of a fan of most of these confangled modern tunes nowadays……if ya’ll can call it that.” Applejack told Pinkie.

“CONFANGLED?! Pfffft! AJ, are you for real, girl?!” Rainbow Dash said hovering over Applejack and poking her in the nose. “Black Gryphon’s got an amazing voice and his music is great! It’s not like the kind of stuff Rara used to sing before she ditched Svengallop after you came to her rescue, it’s waaaaay better!”

Suddenly Spike slid in through the door with a boombox on his shoulder while wearing sunglasses, a shirt and hat that had the Black Gryphon emblem on them. He turned on the boombox and put this other hand up in the air while banging his head around to the song Are We There Yet.

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash got out of their seats and started dancing around and singing to the music Spike was playing but Applejack came over and pushed down on the power button of the boom box since the music was too loud for her.

“Alright, alright, we get it! The music ain’t too shabby.” she said.

“That sounded wonderful…” Twilight said putting her hoof over her heart and looking down at her wrist-band. “His music’s as sweet as he is!”

Pinkie slowly moved up next to Twilight’s throne with a big grin on her face as if she knew what Twilight was thinking. Twilight glared at her and Pinkie trotted off giggling to herself.

“Alright, everypony, tonight we’ll all attend the concert. I’m anxious to see how he performs after having met him and I’m sure he’d be a great friend to us all.” Twilight told them all.

“OMIGOSH! Twilight, since you already met him, do you think you’d be able to introduce us all to him?! PLEEEEASE?!” said Rainbow Dash, grinning widely.

“OOOOOH, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SAY YES, TWLIGHT!!!” Pinkie chimed in.

Twilight used her magic to gently place them back in their seats while nodding her head back and forth with a grin on her face.

“I’m sure Gryph would love to meet you all. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Pffft! She gave him a nickname! That’s cute!” Rainbow Dash snickered as Pinkie joined in with her.

Twilight gave them a stern look and rolled her eyes but then calmed herself down and turned back to Spike who still had on his Black Gryphon clothes and the boombox on his shoulder.

“Spike, why don’t you play us all some more of Gryph’s music. Keep the volume down though, please.” she told him.

“Okay, Twilight. Hehe…”

Spike then pushed the power button again without following her orders to turn the volume down and let the song Are We There Yet? blast throughout the entire room. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash got up and started dancing on the map while Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy covered their ears. They started to uncover their ears though and quickly adjusted to the music and slowly started bobbing their heads to it. Twilight, meanwhile appeared unamused but a smile started to form on her face.

“He does have some great music.” she said to herself as she began to blush.

Chapter 3

Later that night was the Annual Young Musicians Celebration. Two other groups performed earlier and Black Gryphon was up for the third and final round. Gryph started his segment walking out on stage with Are We There Yet? playing and was accompanied by DJ-PON3 at the turntable. He had just finished singing and the crowd could not contain their enthusiasm. Stallions whooped and pumped their hooves in the air while mares everywhere screamed and stared dreamily at Gryph as he took a bow on stage.

“ARE YOU EXCITED TO BE HERE TONIGHT, PONYVILLE?!” he asked the crowd as they cheered. “That’s awesome! You guys are a beautiful crowd by the way. Well hey, I’m really happy to be here and I have a really good lineup tonight. How many of you in here have heard Fighting Back yet?”

While ponies in the crowd raised their hooves in response to his question, Twilight and her friends were murmuring in the audience about Gryph.

“Pinkie……we are at a concert with Black Gryphon! THIS…IS…SO AWESOME!!!!” shouted Rainbow Dash, pressing her face in with both her hooves.

“I know! I’m so excited I could burst! Well I can’t do it cuz if I bursted I’d fly all over the place like cotton candy and then I’d ruin the concert and then everypony would have to leave and they’d all be so sad and Black Gryphon’s night would be ruined so I can’t do it now but HOLY CELESTIA I’M STILL SO EXCITED!!!” Pinkie replied with her lips moving faster than Rainbow Dash could keep up with.

“I say! Black Gryphon has a beeeeeautiful voice! Hahaha!” said Rarity, looking rather enchanted.

“I agree! I didn’t even think his music would be nearly this good.” Fluttershy responded. “It’s so uplifting! It…it makes me feel so warm inside!”

“He’s got some great stuff! Sure is a handsome fella too, ain’t he Twilight?” Applejack said, nudging Twilight right next to her.

“Oh…well I mean not saying he isn’t or anything, but yeah, I guess so, I mean I really do think so…I mean, not saying I like…uh …” Twilight said blushing uncontrollably.

“Ooooh, sounds like somepony’s got their eyes on the Gryphinator!” Spike teased.

“I DO NOT! I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that! Not saying I don’t think he’s handsome, I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings or anything… Do you think that would hurt his feelings? Did I say anything wrong?! Hehehe…”

Twilight had a huge smile on her face while blushing as drops of sweat trailed down her forehead. All her friends were giggling at the sight of her.

“It’s alright, Sugarcube. I think we’re all a little stars-truck right now.” Applejack said, giving Twilight a pat on the back. “Ponyville ain’t had a performance like this since Rara got her act together!”

“SSSSSHHH!! QUIET! He’s gonna move on to the next song!” Rainbow Dash said, trying to whisper as the audience started to calm down.

“Alright, Vinyl, we ready for this one?” Gryph said to DJ-PON3 as she nodded her head up and down and prepared for the music to start.

The stage went dark and the sound of an alarm could be heard beeping. The lights slowly faded on while flickering between colors in sync with the alarm sound effect. The beeping grew louder and louder as music started to play along with it. The energy of the music grew and was followed by percussion and the sound of someone saying “I” over and over again. Gryph finally took a deep breath and began the first verse.

The ponies in the crowd continued pumping their hooves and jumping up and down to the bass. Their jumps were so heavy that they caused thunderous clops on the ground that sent tiny pebbles nearby into midair for a brief second. The lights shone and flickered with the music as mist-makers spewed smoky clouds all over the stage that glowed the color of the lights they were covering. Gryph moved and danced methodically while carrying the microphone in the feathers of his right wing. He would hold it in one of his hooves when he flew off the stage to perform airborne acrobatic moves with ease.

Meanwhile, in the audience, Twilight and her friends couldn’t stop marveling at the show.

“I NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE BOBBIN MY HEAD TO HIS KINDA MUSIC!” yelled Applejack to her friends over the ambience of the musical build-up into the interlude of the song.

“THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash responded.

“HEY TWILIGHT!” yelled a familiar voice right next to her.

“OH, HEY FLASH!” she said to him. “ARE YOU HERE TO ENJOY THE CONCERT TOO?!”

“I HEARD THERE WAS A CONCERT HERE EARLIER AND I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO SO I DECIDED TO BUY A TICKET! I’VE HEARD OF THIS GUY AND HE’S GOT SOME GREAT STUFF! I WISH I COULD SING LIKE THAT!!”

“YEAH, HE SURE IS SOMETHING ELSE!”

The interlude then started and Gryph began singing again.

As the song reached it’s end, Gryph moved to the center of the stage and set his microphone on the ground. He turned around with his back to the audience and moon-walked out to the edge. Just as the music was ending, he leaped backwards off the stage and did a backflip into the space between the stage and the gates separating the crowd. He then turned around and put his hooves out as they responded with thunderous applause. For a few brief moments he continued to smile while panning the audience. He suddenly noticed Twilight in the center and waved to her. Twilight was surprised to see he recognized her and waved back bashfully as Flash looked at her confused. Gryph gave her a wink and turned around to fly back onto the stage and retrieve the mic.

“Do you know this guy?” Flash asked Twilight.

“Yeah, I met him the other day in Canterlot right before the summit! Look what he gave me!” Twilight said, putting her hoof in the air that had the Black Gryphon band around it.

“Oh. Well that, uh… was rather nice of him!” he replied.

“WOOO!” shouted Gryph as he took a deep breath and turned back to the audience. “You guys are awesome! Well hey, guess what, I have some good news for you: this next song is really special. None of you guys have heard it before and if you have, well stop stalking me!”

The audience laughed at Gryph’s joke as he smiled back.

“Anyway, yeah, this song has never been heard by anypony. It’s not quite as crazy as the last one, but it’s a song I wrote for somepony very special. You all know this pony; she’s been with you for a very long time. She came to Ponyville as a unicorn to learn about friendship and now she’s become even more…”

“Oh gosh, is he talking about me?!” Twilight said as all her friends stared at her in amazement.

“…and perfect timing too, I just noticed she’s in the audience with us now. Everypony please welcome the Princess of Friendship: Twilight Sparkle!!”

Gryph gestured to Twilight as one of the stage lights was moved by DJ-PON3’s magic to shine on her. The audience cheered loudly for Twilight and she couldn’t stop blushing while waving to them all.

“DUDE, TWILIGHT, BLACK GRYPHON WROTE A SONG ABOUT YOU!!!” said Spike, grabbing Twilight’s leg and shaking it with excitement.

“SONG FOR TWILIGHT!! WHOOOOOOOO!” Pinkie, shouted loudly.

The ponies continued cheering for a rather flattered Twilight as Flash clapped lightly but had a somewhat suspicious look on his face.

“Alright, well here it goes! Get read to spin it, Vinyl!”

DJ-PON3 switched out a record and placed the play-head on top of it to start the song. The music started up quiet and deep and began energizing till Gryph started singing the song he wrote for Twilight: Faster Than You Know.

As he was finishing the interlude, Gryph got up and flew down into the audience right towards Twilight. Her eyes widened as he reached for her hoof. Shaking a little, but with a big smile on her face, she took his hoof and flew with him. As soon as she got up, the pitch of the song shifted and filled Twilight with joy. The lyrics of this song were perfect because this was exactly what she was thinking when she got her wings and became a princess. He lead her to the stage to sing directly to her. She stood on the stage blushing and smiling as Gryph finished the song.

After the song had ended, Gryph and Twilight exchanged glances on stage. She moved in to nuzzle against him and he put his wing around her. They then parted and Gryph turned to the audience.

“Let’s hear it for Twilight, everypony!” Gryph said just as the music was ending.

The audience applauded the Princess of Friendship as she waved to them all. In the center, her friends were so full of zeal. Spike, Pinkie and Dash were whooping loudly, Rarity and Fluttershy had their hooves up to their cheeks and looked so happy for Twilight, Appleljack was rearing and saying “YEEHAW!”. Flash, on the other hand, had a rather sad look on his face. His ears went down and he turned around and walked out of the audience.

“Thank you so much, Gryph.” Twilight said to him, smiling warmly.

“Any time, Twilight.” he replied, covering the mic so they could only hear each other talk while the audience continued cheering. “It took me forever to get that song made at the last minute but I enjoyed writing it! I hope it wasn’t too inaccurate to how things were for you after you got your wings…”

“Oh, not at all! That is totally what I was thinking after it happened! It’s almost like you were there the whole time.”

“Oh good. Well I’m glad you liked it!”

“I loved it! By the way, I hope you don’t mind I introduce you to my friends and get some autographs after the concert? They’re really big fans of yours.”

“Aw, of course! I’d love to meet them! Actually, here, take this…” he said handing her a small card with his feathers. “It’s a backstage pass though I’m sure you could get back there anyway since you’re royalty.”

Twilight smiled and went in to hug Gryph one last time. She then took the pass with her magic and then flew back out to see her friends as ponies in the crowd could be heard shouting her name.

“TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!” they chanted.

Twilight landed right where she was standing earlier and was welcomed by all her friends staring at her with their faces grinning.

“Twilight, darling, that was so sweet of him!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Twilight, seriously, that was AWESOME! You got to be on stage with Black Gryphon!” Rainbow Dash said, grabbing Twilight and shaking her.

“I may be wrong but I think Gryph’s got a bit of a crush on ya, Twilight!” said Pinkie appearing right next to Twilight out of nowhere as she nudged her in the side and raised her eyebrows up and down.

“Daaaw, stop, I’m sure he’s just…hehe, being nice and stuff…” said Twilight.

She then turned to her side where Flash was to see he was no longer standing next to her. Her smile went away and she looked around for Flash but couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Flash? Flash, where are you? That’s odd. He was right here when I left with Gryph.” she said.

Twilight looked somewhat disappointed that Flash was no longer there but she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the stage while Gryph was ready to move to his next song.

“Ooooh, boy! It felt good to finally sing that song! I put a lot of work into it. I’m glad you guys liked it.” he said as the audience cheered in response. “Well hey, you guys ready to hear Academy now?”

The audience shouted in approval and Rainbow Dash squealed with delight.

“EEEEH! I love this song so much! It totally reminds me of my training for the Wonderbolts! I get so pumped when I listen to it!!” she exclaimed.

The song started off before the first verse and the lights flickered to the beat as the bass continued to boom with workout-style music. Everypony danced around and stomped their hooves on the ground waiting to hear Gryph start singing. Gryph walked back up on the end of the stage, not missing a single step, ready to dance and move with energy. He was just getting started and had all the time he needed to continue pleasing the crowd. What he did earlier for Twilight and how well she responded left him feeling even more confident in himself than ever before. He knew he had this…

Chapter 4

Dozens of ponies waited in line behind the stage for autographs and pictures after the concert. Gryph and the other artists before him all sat at their own tables with their managers and assistants helping out. Gryph had so many ponies line up to see him; he felt this was his biggest and most appreciative crowd yet. Many of them gave him great compliments for his work and young fillies and colts spoke of how much they wanted to grow up to be as good of a singer as he.

Towards the end of the line, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were waiting to get Gryph’s autograph and some photos. They were really excited to get to speak to him.

“There he is, girls!” said Sweetie Belle the moment some space opened up for them after the ponies in front had left. “Mister Gryphon, I’m Sweetie Bell and this is Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. We’re huge fans of yours! We love your work!”

“Yeah, your voice is amazing! I love the song Taking Off!” said Scootaloo, jumping in the air and keeping herself afloat for a moment with her tiny wings buzzing around.

“Aw thanks, kids! It’s always great to see fans like you!” Gryph said with a cheerful smile.

“Black Gryphon, I wanna sing as good as you someday!” said Apple Bloom, eagerly.

“Oh, well hey, you’re in luck! I’m going to be sticking around for the next few days for the talent show so if you’d like to learn from me, there’s a signup sheet for lessons right here. There’s a cost but the proceeds are going straight to the Ponyville Hospital.”

Gryph pushed a small clipboard forward with a list of some names of ponies that had already signed up.

“Count me in!” said Apple Bloom, taking the pen with her mouth and carefully signing right on the paper.

“Well Sweetie Belle’s already a great singer and I’m not really up for lessons, but your music really inspires me and so do you, Black Gryphon!” Scootaloo told him. “I’ve actually thought of joining the Royal Navy someday like you or become a Wonderbolt or something!”

“Well the Navy sure is tough but if you’ve got what it takes, it’s a real privilege to serve. Don’t ever stop believing you can do it!”

“Such wisdom!” she said looking to the sky with her eyes as big as saucers. “Oh, and before we forget, would you mind signing our merch we got?!”

Scootaloo put on a Black Gryphon hat she had bought earlier as Sweetie Belle stood up wearing a Black Gryphon shirt and Apple Bloom set one of his CD albums on the table.

“Absolutely, girls!” he said, grabbing his pen with his feathers and signing all their goods.

Photo Finish then walked in with some of her crew as they prepared her camera to take photos of him with the fillies.

“Photo Finish haz arrived! Are ve ready to make da magicz, Mr. Gryphon?” she said to Gryph.

“Come on girls, let’s get some pictures together!” he told them as they rushed over to a backdrop that a crew member had just set up.

Nearby, Twilight could be seen watching Gryph with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She saw how good he was with kids and how respectful he was to his fans and she warmed up at the sight of this. She continued to look at him as he posed for the camera and laughed with the CMC as they spoke to each other. They then left and waved goodbye and he smiled as they ran off. Continuing to smile, Gryph walked back to his table where his manager told him that they were getting ready to close autographs and photos after the next few ponies had come. Gryph sat back down and began talking to more of the kids that were waiting in line for him.

Spike could be seen standing next to Twilight with his arms crossed, having a smug look on his face. Spike knew exactly what was on her mind.

“Spike…” she said, sternly.

“Twilight, you can’t hide it from me. You’ve totally got a crush on the guy!” he snickered.

Twilight sighed and then continued staring at Gryph.

“I won’t deny he is pretty nice. He was awfully kind to take his time to write that song for me.” she said.

“Maybe he likes you too?” Spike said, elbowing her. “Try talking to him, Twi! You were afraid to talk to Flash but Gryph seems to like you back.”

“Spike, are you just recommending that cuz you think Black Gryphon’s awesome to begin with?” she teased.

“Eh, I might be a little biased but hey, he’s handsome and like you said, he’s nice!”

Twilight turned around to see Pinkie standing in front of her with a big smile on her face. She was holding a paper that had a crayon drawing of her and Gryph with a heart between their heads that read “Gryph & Twi Forever!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight grumbled.

Pinkie then put her snout up to Twilight’s ear to whisper something.

“I totally agree with Spike! You guys are my OTP by the way!”

“OTP?” Twilight asked.

“One True Pairing! Duh!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and then noticed that Gryph and some of his handlers were heading to the backstage area where she could meet him with her pass.

“OH! Everyone, Gryph’s going backstage! Now’s our chance!” she called to the rest of the ponies who were all waiting patiently behind her.

They all trotted over to a nearby security guard named Overhaul. He was a tall muscular earth pony sporting a rather prominent bar-handles mustache, a hazel coat, black hair and had two crossed pistons as his cutie mark.

“Hold on now, ladies…” he told them.

“Ahem?” said Spike.

“And dragon. You need a backstage pass to…oh, your highness! I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you were here.” he said to Twilight.

“I have a pass, sir. Also, would it be too much trouble if my friends all came with me?”

“Um…not at all, Princess. This way.”

The guard stood to the side and led them in behind a curtain where Gryph was standing with DJ-PON3, some stage crew that were helping him and a few of his friends he had invited backstage. There was a male earth pony named Ace Racer who had a beige coat, short blonde hair and two small gears on top of a larger gear for his cutie mark. He was using a camcorder and recording Gryph who was talking to another friend of his, Lightning Hoof, a male white pegasus with blue and aqua hair who had no cutie mark. Everyone then noticed the Princess of Friendship walking in and parted to let her see him.

“Ladies and Gentlecolts, the Princess of Friendship!” said Ace pointing the camera to Twilight as she walked in.

“Oh, Twilight! Glad you could make it!” Gryph said once he noticed her.

“Gryph, thanks again for that song! It was so sweet of you!” she said giving him a hug. “Also, these are my friends. Everyone, you know Black Gryphon. Gryph, this is Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and my number-one assistant, Spike.”

Everyone smiled at Gryph as Rainbow Dash came forward to shake his hand.

“I am a huuuuuge fan!” she said bashfully.

“Always good to meet a……wait a minute. Rainbow Dash… Are you a Wonderbolt by any chance?” he asked.

“Uh…yeah?” she replied.

“Oh, that’s right! The Wonderbolts! I’ve hear of you before!”

“You…..YOU HAVE?!”

“You do great in the Wonderbolts shows, Miss Dash! Guess you could say I’m a fan too!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and her mouth slowly began to form the biggest grin she could possibly give.

“BLACK GRYPHON……IS A FAN OF ME?! AAAAAGHHH!!!” Rainbow Dash screeched with delight while fanning herself and then fainted on the ground.

“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” Twilight asked as everyone else laughed out loud.

“He has that affect on mares, your highness.” said Lightning Hoof, giggling.

“Well hey, Gryph, ya got yerself some great tunes there!” said Applejack walking forward to shake his hand along with the rest of Twilight’s friends.

“Simply stunning, darling!” Rarity said.

“Yes, I especially loved the song Sight Unseen. It reminds me so much of myself!” added Fluttershy.

While Twilight was standing aside to let all her friends speak with Gryph, she continued watching him dreamily. Another pegasus pony with a similar color scheme to Gryph then stood by her.

“My brother’s got a lot to be proud of, eh?” he said to Twilight.

“Oh, you’re his brother?”

“Sure am. Name’s Nathaniel but I go by 'Baasik'. I work on the music for his songs.” he said shaking her hoof.

“It’s great to meet you too. Yeah, Gryph’s an amazing pony. He’s also really nice. I’m so happy I met him the way I did in Canterlot the other day.”

“He’s going to be sticking around for a few more days since he’s thought of entering the talent show this weekend so there’s a chance at seeing more of him in action. He might even choose one of the kids that signed up for lessons to do a duet with him.”

“Aw! I hope Apple Bloom gets that chance someday.”

Twilight then turned her head and saw Gryph in front of her.

“Hey Bro, could you excuse us for a second.” he asked Nathaniel.

“Knock em dead!” he said, winking to Gryph as his brother smiled back.

“Hey Twilight, I wanted to ask you something if you don’t mind.” Gryph said to Twilight.

“Oh, sure, Gryph! What is it?” she said nervously.

“Tomorrow morning would you care to join me for a little brunch over by that awesome café near the town hall you guys have here in Ponyville?”

“Uh…do you mean like the VIP dinner signups? How much does it cost?” she said starting to sweat a little.

“Nonono, that’s later tomorrow afternoon. I’m talking like just you and I together for brunch. No signups, no payment. Just the two of us.”

Twilight blushed almost as pink as the stripes in her hair and her ears flopped down immediately. She could barely speak.

“You……you want me to have brunch with you?” she asked.

“Well why not? It’s the least I could do for my new friend whom I wrote a song for.”

Twilight looked back and forth and then took a big gulp.

“I…I’d be honored to, Gryph!” she said confidently, putting her hoof over her heart.

“Great! Does nine o’clock work best for you?”

“Nine is perfect.” she said nuzzling up to him again.

She then noticed all her friends to the side reacting to what just happened. While everyone seemed to do a good enough job of containing their enthusiasm, Dash and Pinkie had to let out their inner fangirls. Pinkie held her ‘Gryph & Twi’ sign up high as Dashie did her best to not giggle with delight. Spike gave Twilight thumbs up as she winked back at him. Suddenly Twilight remembered her promise to Celestia.

“Oh, and Gryph, can you and I get a picture with an autograph real quick?” she asked him. “Princess Celestia wanted one since she had to miss the concert.”

“Absolutely! Photo Finish?” he called.

Photo Finish zoomed in with her crew and took a quick photo of Gryph and Twilight smiling big with their arms around each other. The picture printed out of her camera and began fading into view. Gryph picked it up and took out one of his pens and signed it for Twilight.

“Thank you so much! Celestia’s a big fan of yours too and she’s going to love this! Well, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then, Gryph! My friends and I should probably head home now. It’s getting pretty late.” she said to him.

“I’ll see you too, Twilight.” he replied.

All Twilight’s friends walked out waving goodbye to Gryph and the others as they chattered amongst themselves about their experience that night.

Twilight walked out after Spike and waved to Gryph as he waved back. She then went past the opened curtain and disappeared into the late night.

Gryph continued to look on and sighed contently. Nathaniel then landed right next to him.

“Told ya she’d say yes.” he said to his brother as they both exchanged high-fives with their wings.

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Gryph and Twilight sat at a small table just outside of the Ponyville Café chatting with each other. They were in an area further away from the other tables so they wouldn’t draw too much attention. Gryph was afraid some of the press might see them and try to ask questions so he requested to be seated there where they could be alone. He wanted for Twilight to be comfortable with him and have no interruptions on their first date. Twilight was in the middle of laughing at a silly comment he had just made while he continued to look on dreamily.

“So Gryph, you said you’ve done some voice acting, right?” she asked before taking a sip of her oat-shake.

“Yup. More of a singer, but I’m still getting into some voice-acting.” he told her.

“Is there anything I might have heard you in?”

“Well, there is one character I’ve already played. Have you seen Finding Tori?"

“Oh yes! I loved that movie! Were you in it?”

“I was the voice of Betty the Loon in that movie.”

“WHAT?! You were Betty in that movie?!”

“Sure was! I didn’t even know they used my voice, but I literally found out right when the movie was released.”

“OMIGOSH!! That’s awesome! I can’t believe I’m actually talking to someone who was in that movie!” Twilight said, excitedly.

“Yeah, it was kinda easy too. All I had to do was make crazy bird sounds. BRRRAWK! BRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAWK!” Gryph said as he stretched his neck out, squawking like a bird and flapping his wings around as Twilight giggled with delight.

Gryph looked on confidently as Twilight continued to laugh. He then prepared to give her more interesting facts and trivia about himself.

“And then of course there’s Pac-Pony and the Ghostly Adventures and Tiniest Pet Shop. I did some singing in those shows.”

“Aw, I loved TPS! Gosh, Gryph, I had no idea you were in all these things!”

“Yeah, I haven’t really done a lot of voices in things quite yet so not many that ponies would recognize me, but it’s okay. I love my fans and I love doing what I do.”

“You really are a good singer.” Twilight said.

“Thank you.” He replied.

“That song you wrote last night really touched me…”

They continued gazing at one another lovingly until the sound of another pony behind Gryph could be heard.

“Oh, hey Twilight!” said the voice.

Gryph’s ears perked up suddenly and he shifted his eyes to the side as if he was suspicious of something. He turned around to see an orange male pegasus with blue hair and a lightning bolt on top of a shield for his cutie mark. This pony seemed quite friendly and harmless but Gryph did not expect to have any interruptions so he wasn’t too happy to hear somepony coming along, talking to Twilight during his finest hour.

“Oh, Flash! How are you?” she said as Flash walked forward stopping next to Gryph.

“Doing great, Twilight!” Flash replied.

“Well hey, I want you to meet the guy who was singing at the concert last night: Here’s Black Gryphon! Gryph, this is Flash Sentry. He’s a royal guard who works for my sister-in-law in the Crystal Empire.”

Gryph’s eyebrows raised at hearing this pony was in the royal guard and he put his hoof up to his forehead to salute him.

“Oh wow, a royal guard? Good sir, I have to salute you! I’m former Navy and I’m honored to be in the presence of a royal officer.” he said reaching forward to shake Flash’s hoof.

“The pleasure’s all mine, sailor.” Flash said, shaking his hand and then saluting in response. “Well hey, sorry if I’m interrupting you two. I was just walking around in town. Cadence is working in Canterlot again today and they let me have the day off.”

“Oh. Well I’m glad to hear you’re keeping busy while staying here, Flash.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, the other guards are a bit busy though so I’m kinda by myself for now. Oh well. I best get a move on. You two have fun.” said Flash as he walked off waving to both of them.

“See ya, Flash!” Twilight replied.

“So you know that guy?” Gryph asked her.

“I met him a while ago during important business in the Crystal Empire. I see him from time to time.” she told Gryph.

“He seems like a nice guy. Royal guards are held in high esteem in the Navy so it’s always good to hear from one.”

“Yeah… Well anyways, what were we talking about?”

“Oh, something having to do with my singing I think, but enough about me. Let’s talk about you Twily…er, do you mind if I call you Twily?”

“You can call me that if you like…… Gryphy! Hehehe!”

They both giggled for a few moments until Twilight cleared her throat and began speaking again.

“Well, you obviously know I’m a princess…” she continued.

“Uh huh…” Gryph said listening, attentively.

“Well I used to live in Canterlot before I learned how valuable friendship is. I’ve always been a huge lover of books but that was all I pretty much did till one day my entire life changed when I was sent to Ponyville…”

As Twilight was telling her life story to Gryph, Flash could be seen listening nearby, behind a tree. He turned himself around and sat behind the tree as he took a deep breath in.

“You got this, Flash. Just be cool. Maybe it’s nothing; maybe Gryph will just be a phase for Twilight. He doesn’t live around here anyways and you have more access to her so you’ll have chances.” he told himself.
Flash then got up and started walking away looking rather confident. He had much work to do if he was to win over the Princess of Friendship.

Later that night, Gryph was busy doing his vocal workshop with the fillies and colts that had signed up for it. Twilight had some free time but all her friends were busy so she decided to go see a movie that was playing in the Ponyville Theater down the street.

Meanwhile, Flash Sentry was waiting in line for the same movie in the same room. He had already seen this movie but he noticed Twilight was going to see it and took this chance to try getting close to her.

As the movie was starting, Twilight nibbled on her popcorn till she heard Flash’s voice nearby.

“Hey, Twilight, it’s me, Flash!” he called to her.

“Oh, Flash, what’s up?” she called back.

“Hey, do you mind if I sit next to you? It’s a bit packed in here and I’d rather be with someone I know.”

“Oh sure! Here, take this seat.” she said patting the folding chair next to her.

Flash sat snuggly in the chair and took a deep breath and then began talking to his crush.

“Well, I’m glad I wasn’t alone seeing this movie. After seeing the reviews, I was curious. The critics weren’t too friendly to it.”

“Oh, tell me about it. The critics just can’t leave Pranceformers alone! Makes me sad that they can’t see how great these movies are!”

“Uh…yeah, definitely! I mean I can understand what they said about the second movie but it got better as time went on. I’m hoping this one is better.”

“Well hey, I’m glad there’s someone else who’s a fan of Pranceformers. Most of my friends are kinda critical of it too, but hey, everypony’s got opinions.”

“Right, opinions…”

Flash took a gulp and blushed a bit. He actually didn’t much enjoy the Pranceformers movies but since he saw how much Twilight loved them, he decided to play along to get her attention.

“Yeah, so who’s your favorite character in these movies?” he asked.

“Oh, definitely Trotimus Prime! He’s just so awesome and I love all the fight scenes with him!” Twilight said before plunging her snout into her bag of popcorn to munch on some more.

“Yeah, he’s like the only saving grace of these movies…ER, I MEAN…I mean the only saving grace…of…of the second movie that is. Yeah, cuz, you know, the second movie was kinda the worst.”

“Eh, it was kinda worse then the others, but it wasn’t too horrible. Oh, it’s starting! Put on your glasses!”

The lights in the theater went down and the screen began to light up. Twilight and Flash sat attentively with their 3D glasses on as the previews for other films ran until the movie itself was finally presented: Pranceformers: The Last Knightmare. As the film went on, Twilight and Flash whispered back and forth to each other about Pranceformers trivia and giggled at some of the jokes. Two and a half hours later, the movie had finished and ponies began to exit the theater.

“Oh man, that movie was a lot better than I thought!” Twilight said as she tossed her empty popcorn bag into a nearby receptacle.

“Yeah, that was actually not half-bad! The critics didn’t know what the hay they were talking about!” Flash responded.

“I’m so glad we’re getting a sixth movie too!”

“Hey, Twilight, the bowling alley’s still open. Would you like to go in with me and play a few rounds?” Flash asked as he pointed to Ponyville Lanes to their side.

“Well……Spike’s probably asleep by now so he won’t notice I’m up late. Eh, sure, why not?” Twilight said trotting up next to Flash as they both entered the bowling alley.

About an hour later, Gryph could be seen walking down the street singing silently to himself so he wouldn’t wake up anypony. He had finished giving lessons to the kids a few hours ago and was out for a midnight walk since not many ponies were out and therefore would not crowd around him for autographs or pictures.

Say what you need to say
You say
You keep on letting fear get in the way
The way
It’s hard but soon enough you’ll be okay
Okay
So take a breath and try another day
Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say…

He continued to sing until he started to hear familiar voices from a few yards away. He looked to the side and saw what appeared to be Twilight Sparkle walking. He watched as she disappeared behind a building and decided to follow after her to take another shot at getting her attention.

“Ah, there’s my favorite princess!” he said confidently as he trotted over.

Suddenly, as he got closer and was able to see her, he also saw Flash Sentry at her side. They were both walking right next to each other while talking and holding milkshakes that they had bought at the bowling alley. Gryph stopped and the smile on his face began to move downward to form a frown. He backed away slowly into some nearby bushes and left his head peaking out a little and continued to listen in on them.

“Well Twilight, I should probably head on back to…oh wait, we’re BOTH heading back to the same place. Almost forgot I’m staying in your castle for the next whole week. Hehe!” Flash said, laughing.

“It’s okay, I was about to say the same thing!” she responded, laughing back.

They continued down the road to Twilight’s castle sipping on their milkshakes and discussing Pranceformers lore till Gryph could no longer hear or see them over the hill before the end of the road to the castle.

“Flash is staying WITH Twilight in her castle?” he asked himself. “That’s……that’s odd. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s got his eyes on her too. Perhaps he’s trying to steal her from me? That’s probably why he interrupted us earlier today. No, no Gryph, get a hold of yourself. You’ve only just met him and he seems pretty nice. Maybe this is how stallions tend to act around Twilight…”

Gryph paced back and forth trying to not get angry over what he just saw. He then looked back and could barely make out Twilight and Flash both walking in through the front door of her castle and closing it tightly behind them.

“Still…I dunno about this guy.” he said, suspiciously.

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

That next morning, Gryph got up early and flew towards Twilight’s castle just outside of Ponyville to meet her. He was nervous about what he saw last night and hoped he could have things cleared up if he talked to Twilight. Once he made it to the front entrance, he landed on the top step and knocked on the large crystalized door.

“Hey, Twilight, it’s Gryph!” he called through the door. “Just wanted to talk to you real quick. Twilight? Um…okay, is Spike there? Anypony?”

Suddenly the door opened slowly halfway, and Gryph looked inside but there was no one behind the door.

“Hello? Twilight?”

Gryph walked around to search for someone. He then saw the silhouette of a pony in front of a stained-glass window in the hallway. Gryph could not make them out from the sunlight that was peering in through the windows and changing the colors of the pony but saw that it had wings and without thinking, he suspected it was Twilight.

“Ah, Twilight, there you are. Hey, I had a great time with the lessons last night with the kids. That Apple Bloom sure learns fast! Well yeah, I was walking around after that and I couldn’t help but notice you were with…”

Gryph walked closer to Twilight with his eyes looking to the side as he talked but the closer he got, the more obvious it was that he was not talking to Twilight. The mysterious pony turned around and revealed their face.

“AGH! Fl…Fl…Flash Sentry! Ehehe…” Gryph said, surprised.

“Hey Gryph.” said Flash, rather nonchalantly.

“You…um…you’re staying in Twilight’s castle, that’s right. I guess that’s why I saw you two walking together last night…”

Gryph and Flash exchanged glances at one another for a few moments until Gryph’s face looked more and more suspicious. He finally knew he had to be honest with the royal guard. He began to smile to show some respect to Flash for he didn’t want to get in a fight.

“Alright Flash. I think we both know what’s going on here.” Gryph told Flash. “We’ve both got our eyes on the same mare, don’t we?”

“I guess you could say we do.” Flash replied.

“Ah. Well, I dunno when you started crushing on her but I just hope you realize I still want her so I’m not gonna stop trying to win her heart.” Gryph said, confidently.

“I hate to break it to you, sailor, but I feel the exact same way.”

“Well then looks like we’ve both got some work to do.”

“You seem like a very noble stallion, Gryph, but with all due respect, I am gonna win Twilight’s heart.” Flash said as he got up close to Gryph. He spoke to him in a mocking voice, but Gryph didn’t flinch.

“Hehe, please, spare me the flattery, royal officer.” Gryph said, walking by Flash and patting him on the back with his wing. “This Navy veteran’s got the charm and I’m sure she’s already fallen for me.”

“We’ll see about that. I’ve still got my royal guard status. What exactly will she see in a former Navy pony?”

“Hey now, I was honorably discharged but I was going to be a SEAL. I would have made it if I hadn’t broken my leg during a skydiving accident.”

“Oh wow…sorry to hear about that…er, I mean, well sounds like you’re a bit too much of a daredevil. Think maybe Twilight deserves someone more careful than that?”

Gryph stopped walking and had a surprised look on his face. He almost seemed like he was going to get mad but he looked back at Flash with a devilish grin, turned around, and took a deep breath.

“Ah, Flashy. You just don’t get it do you?”

Gryph walked over next to Flash and put his wing around him and then broke into song.

Flash, old pal, you’ve got some spunk
But you’re foolin’ yourself, can’t you see?
You’re a bit out of your league, my friend
Twilight should be dating meeeeeee...

As he sang, Flash noticed that the environment around them began to change. Gryph walked right by him and in an instant, the entire world they were in transformed into what appeared to be a huge naval vessel at sea and Gryph was wearing a camouflage uniform and carrying a microphone in his hoof. The sound of fast-paced music could be heard picking up and Gryph continued to sing along.

Sure, royal guards are noble and wise
But Navy? We have what it takes
We’ve got experience, we’ve got class
Imagining what you must go through on a regular basis just gives me a headache!

“Hey, don’t insult the duties of a guard! And how did we get here anyway?!” Flash called back.

“My singing has that effect on ponies. Just go with it.” Gryph teased.

I wrote her a song, I sang it with love
I’m sure Twilight’s made up her mind
She knows more trivia about me than most of my fans
How could I just leave her behind?

“Oh please…” said Flash.
Suddenly a fighter jet zoomed right by Flash, causing him to spin around uncontrollably and in no time at all, they were on top of a tall mountain and Gryph was wearing sunglasses and mountain-climbing gear and carrying a walking stick. Flash shook his head around to recollect himself and Gryph continued walking on while singing.

Through all my adventures, I’ve never seen somepony
As beautiful as Twilight, it’s true
And although you spend time around royalty all day
You probably don’t know her as well as I dooooooo!

“I knew her well BEFORE you did!”

Gryph then took out a camera and recorded himself on top of a small rock on the mountain.

“Flash Sentry should not be dating Twilight Sparkle. Hoofji has spoken.” Gryph said before doing a backflip off the rock. “I sealed it with a backflip, so now it’s official. This is a bad cannon shipping!”

Flash rolled his eyes and planted his face into his hoof. As he opened his eyes, he was blinded by a moving stage light that shone in his face. After he looked away, he saw Gryph on stage in a sailor’s uniform with a microphone accompanied by several other stallions playing various instruments. In the crowd were tons of screaming mares cheering on Gryph.

Twilight and I have it made for each other
She’s lucky she bumped into me
Don’t fret Flash, buddy, you’ll find a girl someday
There’s plenty of fish in the sea

Gryph pointed to all of the beautiful young mares in the audience and pushed Flash in for a “crowd surf”. Gryph spun around and let himself fall into the crowd as they moved him along with Flash.

“Do you get it now, Flash? Is it sinking in? Hold on, I’m gonna try one more thing. I gotta get this through to you.” Gryph said as he and Flash continued to crowd-surf over the mares until they reached the end.

Flash began to fall off and suddenly everything got brighter from one of the lights shining on his face again. He opened his eyes and found himself staring right at the bright sky on the horizon but he was thousands of feet above the clouds and plummeting to the earth below. He then noticed Gryph right next to him in skydiving gear with his legs stretched out.

The Princess of Friendship deserves a real stallion
One who takes the risks I dare to take
Not someone who’s too cautious all the time
To me that just sounds a bit fake

You can try all you want, Flash
It ain’t gonna work
Open your eyes and you’ll see
Twilight should be dating meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Gryph opened up his parachute and shot upwards as Flash continued to fall down. Flash then opened his wings and glided gently to the ground till he landed and then everything reverted back to Twilight’s castle. Gryph came down from the ceiling, gliding gracefully and landed in front of him.

Yeah, Twilight should be dating my OC!

Suddenly Gryph’s eyes opened wide at the mistake he had just made.

“Er…ME! I MEANT ME! She should be dating me!” he said, frantically.

“Hehehe, did you just say she should be dating your OC?” Flash giggled.

“I was thinking about something else but hey, at least I can still rhyme.” Gryph replied.

“Do you even have an OC?”

“Yes. Yes I do. His name is Scauden. He’s a gryphon and he’s awesome, just like me.” Gryph said, taking out a small drawing of a gryphon with a color scheme similar to his own.

“Puh-lease.” replied Flash. “OCs are the most overrated thing in fandoms, especially the Pranceformers fandom.”

“You might not want to tell Twilight that. She’s got like twelve Harry Trotter OCs.”

“She…she does?”

“Yup, and she loves them like her own children.”

“Oh dear…” Flash said nervously as his eyes darted to and fro. “Alright so there may be some things I don’t have in common with her but not every relationship can be perfect. You may have good looks and can sing really good, Gryph, but that’s not everything, you know!”

“Hello?” said a voice down the hallway.

Gryph and Flash’s eyes widened and their ears perked up as they looked to the side to see Twilight turning right into the corridor.

“Gryph, Flash, what are you guys doing? I heard singing. Was that you, Gryph?” she asked, walking towards them.

“Twilight…um…yeah, yeah that was me singing…singing to, um…Flash!” Gryph replied with sweat dripping down his forehead. “Yeah, I was singing to Flash about um…”

“About how much of friends we’ve just become!” Flash said, putting his wing around Gryph.

“YEAH! That’s right, Flash and I are pals now!” Gryph replied, doing the same.

“Aw, that’s awesome, guys!” Twilight said, cheerfully. “I’m so glad to hear two of my new friends are getting along like this!”

“Oh yeah, Gryph and I happen to share a lot in common! Royal Guard, former Navy, we’re like two peas in a pod! Right Gryph?”

“Right you are!”

“Semper Filly!” Flash said, giving Gryph a high-five with his wing.

“Hehehe… Sailors don’t say ‘Semper Filly’, that’s Marine talk.” Gryph whispered out of the side of his mouth while smiling.

“I knew that-ANYWAY!” Flash said, tensely. “I hope the Princess of Friendship approves of this.”

“Of course I do! You guys are going to get along just great! Would both of you like to come join me and my friends at the Ponyville Fair tonight?”

“Oh, sure! I love fairs!” said Gryph.

“You can bet I’ll be attending to hang out with all my friends!” Flash added.

“That’s great! I gotta go run a few errands in town now, I’ll see you guys!” Twilight said, waving to them and walking out the front door.

Gryph and Flash stood with smiles stretching from each end of their faces while waving. The door closed and then they both looked back at each other, grimacing.

“So I guess Twilight thinks we’re friends now.” Flash said.

“Hey, you don’t seem like a bad guy, Flash. I don’t mind being your friend, but you’re gonna lose.” Gryph replied.

“How about we both just promise each other to not go crazy and just be as mild-mannered about this as we possibly can. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Gryph and Flash then shook their hooves while smiling proudly and walked away slowly while still staring at each other. They then bumped into the walls of the castle and looked back noticing what they had just done. They both brushed themselves off without a care and then took one more glance at each other and finally flew off in different directions to attend to their business of winning Twilight’s heart.

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Twilight and her friends walked on towards the Ponyville Fair: an event held for the next entire week. She decided to take this opportunity to let Gryph and Flash tag along since they had just gotten acquainted with one another. Her friends were all excited to see them. Of course, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were all excited mostly just to see Gryph.

“Rainbow Dash, we’re going to see Black Gryphon again!” Pinkie squealed while bouncing up and down.

“I know Pinkie! Talk about awesome! Twilight is friends with the best singing stallion in all of Equestria!” Dashie responded.

“Now girls, remember, we’ve got another guest here tonight: Flash Sentry.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, yeah, that guy too.” Dashie said with much less energy.

“Now now, Rainbow Dash. Flash Sentry is a royal guard and thus a fine gentlecolt and he deserves our utmost respect.” Rarity reminded her.

“Oh, there’s Gryph right now!” Twilight said, rushing forward to meet him.

“Twily! There you are!” he said giving her a hug till another voice from behind interrupted him.

“Hey there, Twilight! Didn’t think I’d miss the Fair did you?” said Flash Sentry.

“Oh Flash, just in time! It’s great to see the two of you!”

“Yeah, um, Twilight, would you like me to go get you some refreshments over by the food booths?” Gryph asked her.

“Sure Gryph! Oh, and can all my friends come along with us too, including Flash?”

Gryph looked back at Flash who had a smirk on his face.

“Uh, suuuuure, yeah, Flash can come too!” he said with tension in his voice.

“Awesome! Alright girls, Spike, let’s all get something to eat then we’ll split and go do some games and rides and stuff!” Twilight said as the rest of them joined in.

Gryph and Flash ended up next to each other and Flash nudged Gryph with his wing and whispered into his ear.

“Guess you can’t keep her away from me forever, sailor.” he said as Gryph had an agitated look on his face.

While eating under a tent with a hayburger sale, Twilight and Gryph were at the same table with Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike. Flash was stuck with everyone else at another table.

“Well those were some fantastic hayburgers!” Twilight said, licking her chops.

“Eh, not as good as the gems over at that one jewelry booth.” Said Spike, taking meager amounts of hay in his claw to eat.

“Well hey, Twily, I’ll be right back in just a second, I’d like to get you something.” Gryph said as he walked off over to another booth to buy something for Twilight.

Twilight smiled and blushed as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash giggled to each other.

“Girls.” Twilight said, sternly.

“What? He toooootally likes you, Twilight!” Dashie said under her breath.

“Marry him Twilight, marry him!” Pinkie said, stretching her lips into one of Twilight’s ears.

“Marry him?! Pinkie, I’ve only just met him a few days ago!” she said, blushing uncontrollably.

Just then, Gryph came back, carrying a caramel-covered apple on a stick in one of his wings.

“Here you go, Twily.” he said, giving it to her.

“Oh wow, thanks Gryph! I do love caramel apples!”

“Hey Twilight,” Flash said next to her. “Bought you a little something if you don’t mind.”

Flash put a bowl of peach shortcake sundae on the table right before Twilight as her eyes widened.

“Oooooh, my favorite! Thanks Flash!” she said, hugging him as he had a love-dazed look and Gryph gave him a grimace.

“Aw, it’s nothing. The Princess of Friendship deserves it!” he said, bowing politely and then walking over back to his table to finish his hayburger.

Twilight looked over to notice that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash had confused looks on their faces. Pinkie shifted her eyes back and forth between Gryph and Flash and rubbed her chin with her hoof. Spike gave Twilight a look like he knew there was a rivalry already starting to form. Twilight thought perhaps it was just coincidence that they both wanted to get her something at the same time and brushed it off but began to then wonder if perhaps they were starting to compete for her attention.

“Well anyways, Twily, you like Ferris wheels by any chance?” Gryph asked her.

“Oh do I ever! Can we go on that one?” she asked, pointing to the largest Ferris wheel.

A few minutes later, Gryph and Twilight were seated together in a small cart on the Ferris wheel and had been stopped at the top to see the sunset while some of the carts below were being filled with more riders.

“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” Gryph asked Twilight.

“Sure is.” Twilight said staring out at the horizon.

“I would see this every night while on duty on some of the vessels I was on during my time in the Navy.” he started saying. “I always did wonder what others in the world were seeing every time I’d watch it and what they were doing. It’s amazing when you really think about how ponies across the world experience things at such different-“

“Hey Twilight!” said Flash, suddenly hovering in front of both of them.

“Oh, hey Flash.” Twilight said politely as Gryph gave Flash the evil eye.

“Just thought you might wanna come with me to one of these gaming booths as soon as you guys are done with this ride. I could win you one of those stuffed animals if you want.”

“That would be fun.” she said. “Just don’t waste all your ticket money, some of those things can kind of be a scam.”

“Naw, they’re only a scam if you can’t do it, but this royal guard’s got it in him!” Flash said, proudly.

“Royal guard…more like royal PAIN.” Gryph said under his breath as the Ferris wheel began to move again.

When it stopped at the bottom, the pony at the gate undid the latch for Gryph and Twilight and they both left. Flash was waiting at the exit gate for Twilight and then brought her along to one of the gaming booths with Gryph following closely behind.

“Step right up for the chance of a lifetime!” said the noisy male pony running the booth Flash was talking about. “You there, orange pegasus with the spiffy blue hair, you look like you’ve got what it takes!”

“Sure do!” he said handing a ticket to the pony. “Watch this, Twilight!”

Flash picked up one of the balls on the table and landed it right in one of the smaller cups. He had three turns and landed all three of his balls into the same cups. Although he was aiming for the cups with higher scores, he still managed to win a cute stuffed bear for Twilight.

“Congratulations, young stallion! Take this adorable bear for your lady!”

“Oh, well we’re not really a thing.” Twilight said, blushing.

“Nonetheless, here’s something to remember me by, your highness.” Flash said handing the bear to Twilight as she snuggled it.

“Pfff, that’s nothing. You watching, Twilight?” Gryph said after handing the game booth pony one of his tickets.

Gryph grabbed three balls all at once and threw them towards the top and managed to land all three of them in the larger cups giving him the highest score possible.

“UNBELIEVABLE!!! You’re the first pony to get the high score tonight! Which one do you want, good sir?”

“I’ll take the giant Trotimus Prime plushie right up there. Twilight’s a huge Pranceformers fan!”

The pony then brought down the plushie and handed it to Twilight who had huge eyes at the moment.

“YES YES YES! I love it, Gryph!” she said jumping up and down.

“Guess there’s more than meets the eye with me.” Gryph teased as he walked by nudging Flash while Flash looked angered.

“It’s okay, Flash. I still love the teddy bear too.” Twilight said to Flash.

“Oh, well of course! Not that it matters. We’re both happy to get you prizes…right, Gryph?” he said doing his best to look friendly with Gryph as they both exchanged fake smiles.

“Right, well what do you guys want to do next?”

“Oh, well if you’re still hungry, they’ve got cactus taters over at booth 121!” Gryph said.

“Or some cotton candy over there at the booth next to that charity drive?” Flash said pointing in the opposite direction to where Gryph was.

“Um…yeah, those both work…” Twilight said, starting to sound rather apprehensive.

For the next few hours, Twilight started to notice a rather similar pattern of events. Gryph and Flash continued doing random favors for her, winning prizes, taking her on rides, and buying her snacks till she could be spoiled no further. She walked on towards the gate entrance, as the fair was getting ready to close up, and came across Spike who was licking a giant gem-encrusted cotton candy. He stopped to notice Twilight using her magic to carry a huge bundle of things she had gotten from Gryph and Flash.

“Hey Spike.” she said, tiredly.

“Whoa. Somepony’s had an early Hearth’s Warming Day haul.” Spike responded.

“Can we pleeeease go home now before one of them hands me the deed to a mansion in Las Pegasus or something?”

“Ah, cheer up Twilight. They just both like you.”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of a problem when both of them are trying to get my attention with endless favors and gifts and stuff.”

Twilight used her magic to take a final bite out of Gryph’s caramel apple and then threw the rest in a nearby trash can.

“I appreciate all of this but I didn’t think it was going to get this bad. I thought they were both friends but it’s obvious they’re just getting over competitive for me at this point.”

“Think maybe you should talk to them.”

“Maybe. I’m almost too scared to say anything though. I don’t want to drive a wedge between them or make either of them think I don’t like them. Heck, at this rate, I don’t think I can decide which one I like more. I liked Flash first but then Gryph came along and was rather charming but now both of them seem charming and…UGH!!”

Twilight let herself plop onto the ground as some of her items came crashing down on her.

“Why do crushes have to be so hard…” she mumbled.

Pinkie came bounding in, suddenly, looking for Twilight.

“Hey Twilight! The rest of us are waiting for you outside of…AAAAAWWW!! Isn’t that so sweet that Gryph would buy all of these things for you!” she said with her eyes beaming.

“Not all of this was from Gryph.” said Spike licking up the rest of his cotton candy.

“Oh…” Pinkie said, realizing what had happened.

Twilight took one last stressful sigh and sat there thinking about tonight’s events. She was saddened to know Gryph and Flash were trying to hog her up and outdo one another and that it would ruin the supposed friendship they had. She began to wonder if they even were friends and were probably just using that claim to hide their true intentions. Perhaps a good night’s rest would help her figure everything out.

Sure enough the next day, things only seemed to get more confusing. Twilight was occupied throughout most of the morning and both Flash and Gryph were busy with their own things to do as well but when she had time, she snuck outside to keep a close eye on both of them. Thankfully she managed to see their good sides, but it made it more difficult to decide which one was best for her.

After Gryph came out of a building where hew as doing singing lessons for some fillies and colts, he saw a nearby booth with a donations box for the veterans of Ponyville and immediately went over to donate a substantial amount of bits to them. Right after that, she saw Flash helping an elderly pony cross the street followed by Gryph giving up his own ice cream to a filly who had just dropped hers on the ground. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and it gave her a headache just thinking about it. She could not make up her mind on which of these stallions would be the best partner for her. She knew both liked her and had great qualities but they needed to stop spoiling her with all the good things they did for her. She put her hoof over her face and knew right away that she had to meet with all her friends on this and figure something out before things would escalate.

Later that afternoon, she called all her friends and Spike to an important meeting in the map room of her castle.

“Alright everyone, listen up. We’re here on a very important matter.” she began.

“What happened? Is this a friendship problem we have to solve? Our flanks ain’t glowin.” Applejack said.

“Well it’s not something the map is calling us for, but it is a friendship problem I fear.”

“Does it have anything to do with all that stuff that Gryph and Flash gave you last night?” Pinkie asked, nervously.

“Sadly yes.” Twilight began to explain. “Look, not all of you might have seen it yet but it looks like both Flash Sentry and Black Gryphon have a crush on me at the same time and they’re getting way too competitive about it. I fear this could cause a huge rift between the three of us. I’ve never dealt with crushes like this and I’m really scared of what could happen so I need your help if there’s any input you can give.”

The room went silent for a few moments until Pinkie started to raise her hand.

“Um…you probably aren’t in the mood for me to say you should totally pick Gryph, riiiiight?” she said bashfully, putting up her drawing of the two of them in love.

“Pinkie Pie, that ain’t gonna help.” Applejack said sternly.

“She’s right, Pinkie.” said Dashie. “This isn’t looking too good. Did you see how Flash and Gryph both got her some food at the same time and Gryph looked upset?”

“Twilight, darling, I’ve had many crushes before, so I think the best advice I can give here is that you just need to talk with these two gentlecolts. When Applejack and Trenderhoof and I were caught in a love triangle a while ago, we talked it out and Trenderhoof seems to have moved on now.” Rarity told Twilight.

“But I don’t know what to say? They both look like they’re on the verge of getting into a huge argument.”

“Just tell them you don’t appreciate what they’re doin, Sugarcube.” Applejack added. “Ya don’t have to be mean or anything, just tell them the truth.”

“But I kinda like both of them the same. I don’t want to choose one over the other.”

“Twilight, maybe you should wait a little longer on that. You know, just not take it anywhere right now and stay friends?” Spike said walking up next to her from his smaller throne.

“I agree with Spike.” said Fluttershy. “Friendship is always the start of any relationship after all, Twilight.”

“I guess so.” Twilight said drearily. She looked down at the table for a few seconds and then looked back up with a determined face. “I think I’ve got an idea.”

Not long after the meeting, Twilight had managed to track down Gryph and Flash and find a way to get both of them to come to her so they could talk things out at her castle. There was a dance happening in the town hall and she decided to ask them if they wanted to join her. The catch was, neither of them knew that they both were asked. She figured that if they both showed up, she could explain things and then try to work out the problem before the dance and hopefully they could all join each other as friends and share equal time with her.

“Alright Twilight. This is it.” Twilight said, pacing back and forth before the entrance door to her castle. “Flash should be here any minute since he’s still housing in the castle. I just hope Gryph doesn’t take too long after him…”

“I’m ready, Twilight.” said Flash, walking in wearing a nice suit. “Oh, um, are you not going to be wearing anything or do you want me to give you some time to pick out a dress?”

“The dress can wait Flash. Look, I actually wanted to talk to you about something before we head out to the dance.”

“Oh, well alright. I’m open ears.”

“Well, the truth is Flash, I think you and I need to-“

Suddenly, the door swung open and Gryph bolted in wearing his suit and a bouquet of roses and was belting out the best song he could for Twilight on the spot.

Twilight Sparkle, you make my heart feel wild and free

Twilight Sparkle, take my hoof, come with me

I’ll show you my love, girl, I’ll make you mine

Oh please, Twilight Spark…

Just then, Gryph opened his eyes and stopped singing at the sight of Flash already with Twilight and dressed up for the same exact occasion. Twilight had a nervous look on her face and Flash’s face looked very confused, but Gryph didn’t realize what was going on just yet. Suddenly, a great rage built up inside him and he felt Flash had finally crossed the line.

“So, this is what it all comes down to now, Flash?” he said, tucking the roses under his wing. “Twilight and I had a great night ahead of us and you think you can just steal her from me like that?”

“Steal her?! Wait, hold on now, Twilight was going with ME to the dance, Gryph!” Flash responded, walking over to Gryph.

“Um, guys, actually, I, um…” Twilight said, trying to explain the situation.

“What?! Are you calling me a liar now? Twilight specifically said she wanted to go to the dance with me!”

“You know, Gryph, I may be a royal guard with some codes of nobility, but this is where I put my hoof down. You’re not going anywhere near Twilight!”

“Guys…”

“What are you gonna do about it? Stop me with your armor? Oh that’s right, you aren’t wearing it!”

“I don’t need my armor to protect the Princess of Friendship!”

A horrified Twilight looked on at the two stallions as they started snorting out their nostrils and pushing against one another with their heads like they were about to fight. She suddenly lost control of herself. A burst of glowing energy emanated from her horn and she hollered so loud her voice could be heard echoing throughout the castle halls.

“STOOOOOOP!!!”

Gryph and Flash backed away from each other and covered their ears. They looked up to see Twilight panting and looking more enraged than they were ever willing to see.

“Neither of you stole me, I invited both of you here!!” she screamed.

“Wait, you invited both of us?” Flash asked.

“Twilight, why?” Gryph chimed in.

“Because we needed to work this out! Did you guys think I wasn’t going to catch on that you both really like me?! I thought maybe if I got both of you in the same place at the same time we could fix this and then just go to the dance, all three of us as friends! I liked both of you and I couldn’t decide which one I should have, so I wanted us all to come to an understanding and not fight about it, but after seeing tonight’s display, I…I don’t think I want to be with either of you at all!!”

Twilight burst into tears and used her magic to take Gryph’s wrist band off that he gave to her when they met and threw it on the ground before him. She then flew off down the hallway, weeping.

“Twilight!” Gryph called, but Twilight had already disappeared behind another set of doors that she slammed shut.

He walked over and picked up the wristband and looked at it in his hoof. He then started to hear the front door creak and looked back to see Flash removing his suit and walking out the door with his head hung.

“Flash, wait!” Gryph said, rushing outside to meet him. “I…I didn’t realize she invited both of us.”

“What difference does it make anymore?” Flash responded. “We’ve both broken her heart now and she doesn’t want either of us. I lost my cool and now I’m not even worthy of the honor I’ve always claimed to have as a guard. Twilight deserves much better than me.”

Flash then spread his wings and flew off slowly into the sunset sky to get away from all the heartache he had caused. Gryph put his hoof out and wanted to call after him but just couldn’t get the words out. He looked back down at the wristband and slowly started to put it back on his left hoof.

Gryph continued to plod along without saying a word. His head hung low and his hoof-steps were slow and methodical. Ever since he met Twilight, he had never felt such happiness, but he had nothing to be happy about anymore. He had broken his dream-mare’s heart and wronged a fellow soldier. For the first time in his life, Black Gryphon didn’t feel like the good stallion he had always been.

“She deserves much better than me too.” he said as he tossed the bouquet of roses to the ground.