“This night is sparkling/Don't you let it go,” Twilight sang as her friends the Rainbooms played their instruments beside her on the stage. She smiled as she watched her brother Shining Armor waltz across the dance floor with his new wife Cadance. “I'll spend forever/Wondering if you knew/I was enchanted to meet you.”
The dance floor and the stage were surrounded by tables where friends and family sat admiring the newlyweds’ first dance. At one table sat Flash Sentry and his family which consisted of his grandmother Free Bird, his aunt Flare Burst, and his brother First Base.
“Ugh,” Base groaned. “How long are they going to be dancing for? When are they going to cut the cake?”
“Base, they just got married,” Aunt Flare chided. “Let them celebrate their love for a little while longer. Then, we can have cake.”
Base sighed as he got up and went back to the hors d’oeuvres table to get more mini chicken quesadillas.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash cheered, riffing her guitar as the Rainbooms finished the first song. “Let’s turn this party up to eleven.”
“This is our big night,” sang the Rainbooms. “We're getting ready/And we're doing it up right//This is our big night/Wedding’s arrived/Now we'll start it out right”
Rainbow Dash had insisted that the band play one of their originals for the reception. Granted, they had to tweak some of the lyrics, but it still worked, kinda.
“Aunt Flare, may I have this dance?” Flash said, extending his hand toward his aunt with an exaggerated bow. His grandmother and his aunt both laughed.
“My, what a gentleman,” Aunt Flare joked back as she took her oldest nephew’s hand. Flash stood back up and escorted her to the dance floor, which was now so full of people that the bride and groom almost blended into the crowd.
“Good friends on the way up now,” the Rainbooms sang. At that moment, Twilight saw Flash and his aunt on the dance floor. She glanced at each of her friends as if asking them for permission. After getting covert winks, nods, and thumbs up from each of them, Twilight discreetly rushed off the stage and onto the dance floor.
Twilight frantically searched the dance floor for her boyfriend and his aunt, the small frown on her face growing with each second that she was unable to find them. She caught a glimpse of red hair in her peripheral vision and turned towards it. Twilight smiled as she made her way to the redheaded woman and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman turned around and smiled before pulling Twilight into a hug.
“Twilight,” Flare greeted as the two of them pulled away. “I was wondering when you were going to come down here.”
The two of them shared a quick laugh before Flare stepped aside and pushed Twilight closer to her nephew. “He’s all yours.”
Flash blushed as he took Twilight by the hand. “Milady.”
Twilight giggled and shyly turned away from him as he brought her hand towards his lips.
Flash and Twilight had no idea how long the two of them had been dancing together, but the wedding reception had gone on long enough for them two be in the middle of a slow dance. Flash had one arm around Twilight’s waist, and Twilight had one arm across Flash’s shoulders.
“Hey, Flash,” Twilight said to her boyfriend as the two of them continued to sway to the music. “I want to ask you something. How come we haven’t had our first kiss yet?”
“What do you mean? We’ve kissed plenty of times,” Flash answered.
“Well, yeah, but never on the lips.”
“Oh.” Flash’s face fell as he looked away in embarrassment. “Yeah, about that.”
He turned back towards her and sighed. “Just don’t laugh, okay?”
“I’ll try not to, but that’s all you’re getting,” Twilight replied.
“Okay, here it goes.” Flash took another deep breath before continuing, “I wanted to save my first kiss for the girl I ask to marry me.”
“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening. She blinked a few times in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah, and no, it isn’t one of my grandmother’s conditions. I decided to on my own.” Flash once again looked away, almost
fearful of whatever Twilight’s reaction might be.
Twilight’s smile widened into a playful smirk as she said, “You’re really that romantic or, more accurately speaking, idealistic? I dare say even old-fashioned if I wanted to be unflattering.”
Flash chuckled as he turned back towards her, catching the good-natured tone in her voice. “Well, Sunset and my bandmates used an even less flattering term for it, but yes, yes I am.”
Twilight giggled back as she rested her head against his chest. “I am loath to have to wait that long, but if it’s that important to you, then I’m fine with it.”
Suddenly, her eyes widened as she pulled away from him in realization. “Wait a minute. You WANTED to save your first kiss? As in past tense?”
Flash groaned has he internally facepalmed. “I was hoping that you wouldn’t catch that.” He once again sighed before explaining, “Back when Sunset and I dated, she kinda stole my first kiss. I told her that I was saving it and that I didn’t want to kiss her just yet, but she took it out from under me anyway. That’s, that’s how I realized that I had to break up with her.”
Twilight just blinked a few times, unsure how to respond. Then, she looked to the ground as if contemplating something.
“Who you give your first kiss to meant that much to you?” she asked, meeting Flash’s eyes.
“Well, yeah,” Flash replied. “I know this might sound kind of silly, but I didn’t want to give my first kiss away to just any girl.”
Twilight once again looked away from him. “You sure know how to make a girl feel bad.”
Flash’s eyes widened in panic as he let go of Twilight’s hand and waist. He cupped her face with his hands and turned her to face him.
“Twilight,” he began, almost desperately. “I’m not saying that you’re just any girl. I like you. I really, really like you, and I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I really hope with every part of me that you could be the one. I really do.”
Twilight’s eyes widened when she realized what Flash had assumed that she meant. “Oh, Flash, no. That’s not what I was feeling bad about at all.”
She took Flash’s hands in hers, pulled them away from her face, and just held them. The two of them just stood in silence for, well, not even half a second, but to them, it felt like forever.
Twilight explained, “I feel bad that you would treasure your forever girl, who could very well be me, enough that you would save your first kiss for her.” She looked away again as she continued, her voice dripping with shame, “I, on the other hand, almost gave my first kiss away to some guy I just met because I thought he was cute.”
“So, you and Timber Spruce have never kissed?” Flash asked, trying and failing to hide the smirk that was growing across his face.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a groan. “No, the moment never presented itself again.”
“So, I could possibly be the first guy you ever kiss.”
Twilight shrugged with a small smile. “Possibly.”
Flash smiled back as he pulled her into a hug. Then, he brushed her hair way from her forehead and quickly planted a kiss on her forehead. Twilight pulled away and looked up into his eyes, surprised yet pleased.
“I know that one didn’t count, but I really wanted you to have it,” Flash explained.
Twilight laughed as she pulled Flash into another hug, thinking to herself, “Oh, Flash, every single one of them count, whether you know it or not.”
A little over a year later…
Late one night, Flash was in the kitchen with his grandmother, having just finished washing the dishes.
“Unbelievable!” Grandma Birdie exclaimed. “You’re barely home from college for a day, and your brother is already dumping his chores on you.”
“It’s no big deal, Grandma,” Flash replied. “I offered, and besides, I figured it’d be the easiest way for me to talk to you alone.”
“Talk to me about what?”
Flash let out a breath as he put the last plate away. “Grandma, I think, I think I’m ready to ask Twilight to marry me.”
A long, palpable silence followed. Unbeknownst to Flash, a smile was slowly spreading across his grandmother’s face.
“I know the two of us have only been together for a year. We’re both young and still in college, but I think she’s it. I think she’s the one, and I want to ask her to marry me.” Then, Flash sighed and pressed his hand on his forehead. “But…”
“But what?” Birdie prodded as Flash trailed off.
“What if I go through the effort of proposing to her and making the whole thing memorable and she says no?” Flash continued, talking very quickly. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame her if she did. I can think of a million reasons why she wouldn’t want to marry me. She’s a smart, brilliant, amazing woman with aspirations, and being married could get in the way of making those aspirations happen. Besides, I still haven’t figured out what I want to do when I graduate, and even if I do figure it out eventually, that doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to support the two of us. On top of that, what if the two of us end up being one of those couples who end up having a kid really early in the marriage? I mean, I’d personally love to have kids, but they’re a lot of work, and they tend to change plans sometimes drastically, and Twilight hates changing plans.”
“Alright, hold it,” Grandma Birdie cut Flash off. “I get it. Your girlfriend has a million and one reasons why she would say no. I’ll give you one reason why she would say yes.”
She paused, turning Flash to face her before continuing, “She would say yes because she can trust you to love and care for her through the good and the bad. The better question is if you can trust her to do the same for you. If the answer to that is no, you might want to rethink the whole proposal idea.”
Flash let out a sigh and frowned in contemplation. After a few seconds, he turned back to his grandmother and nodded.
“You’re right, Grandma, and yes, yes I trust her.” Then, he chuckled, “Besides, I already called and asked her family about it, and they’re all pretty thrilled with the idea.”
“Even Shining Armor?” Grandma smirked.
“Eh, I’m not entirely sure,” Flash admitted. “All he said was ‘Hmm’ and ‘Go for it.’”
“Well, then, you’re probably in the clear. If he had a problem with it, he would have said ‘Over my dead body’ or something along those lines.”
The two of them shared a laugh. After a few seconds of silence, Flash once again frowned before turning to his grandmother with a sheepish grimace.
“There’s one other little issue I need to take care of,” Flash confessed. “I might have underestimated how much an engagement ring was going to cost. I mean, I saved up for one, but if I want to buy one right now, I’m either going to have to get one that doesn’t have a diamond or get one with a fake. I’m probably making too big of a deal out of this, but I can’t stand the idea of anything in our relationship being fake. At the same time, I can’t just get down on one knee in front of her with a jewel-less ring.” He paused with a contemplative frown. “Can I?”
Grandma Birdie smirked and shook her head. “What’s Twilight’s ring size?”
“According to Cadance, five and a half. Why?”
Birdie continued to smirk knowingly as she walked out of the kitchen, leaving behind a very confused grandson. She returned shortly with a ring box in her hand and held it out to Flash.
Flash took the ring box with an utterly bewildered expression and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw what was in it, a diamond ring with a gold band. The diamond wasn’t very big, but it sparkled like the brightest star in the sky. Flash looked from the ring to his grandmother.
“That was the ring your grandfather proposed to me with. I know it’s not very spectacular, but it was the best he was able to afford,” Grandma explained.
Flash couldn’t stop himself from grinning ear-to-ear as he looked back at the ring. “Grandma, this ring couldn’t be more perfect.”
One week later…
“Are you sure it doesn’t need more glitter?” Pinkie Pie asked as Sunset Shimmer put the finishing touches on a large sign.
“Any more glitter and Twilight wouldn’t be able to read it, which would totally defeat the whole purpose of the sign,” Sunset replied. “Okay, AJ, it’s ready to go!”
At that, the blonde, freckled farmgirl and Flash’s close friends Derpy Muffins and Micro Chips hoisted up the sign. The three of them stepped back to admire Sunset’s handiwork while Flash stepped forward to do the same.
“That looks incredible,” Flash exclaimed as the grin on his face grew. He inhaled and let out a breath as his smile diminished ever so slightly. “I just hope she likes it.”
“You just get that gal over here while we make sure everything’s set up,” Applejack said. “Besides, you’ll never know what she’s actually going to say until you ask.”
Flash nodded as he tugged at his shirt collar nervously. “Here goes nothing. Thanks for helping with this, guys. I really appreciate it.”
“Will you just go already?” Sunset retorted, pushing Flash towards the trail. Once he was out of sight, she turned to the others. “Okay, guys, let’s go over the plan one more time. AJ?”
“You and I are gonna wait a little ways down the trail to watch for them coming,” Applejack replied.
“Pinkie and Derpy?”
“We make sure nothing bad happens to the sign,” said Derpy while the pink party girl nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Chips?”
“I’ll keep an eye on the music player,” the bespectacled boy answered, seating himself at the picnic table next to a mounted mp3 player as he held up the remote to the speakers.
“Okay, and when AJ and I text you that they’re coming?”
“We scatter the rose petals, jump into the bushes, and Micro hits the play button,” Pinkie squealed. “Oooh, this is going to be so great! I can’t wait to see the two of them kiss!”
“Whoa!” Micro Chips exclaimed. “No. None of that. I can’t speak for Twilight, but I know for a fact that Flash doesn’t want to be sharing his first kiss with an audience.”
“Technically, it’s not his first,” Applejack pointed out, causing Sunset to grimace. “Eh, no offense, sugarcube.”
“None taken,” Sunset replied before turning to Pinkie. “Micro’s right, Pinkie. We really ought to respect their privacy. The moment we see their faces getting closer, we shut our eyes and keep them shut.”
“Aww,” Pinkie whined.
Meanwhile, Flash had just picked up Twilight, and the two of them were getting buckled into his car. However, before Flash started the car, he handed Twilight a strip of cloth.
“I’m going to need you to tie this over your eyes,” he said.
“Why?” Twilight raised her eyebrow at him as she took the blindfold. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”
“Do you trust me?” Flash grinned at her as he stuck the key into the ignition.
“What is this? A Disneigh movie?” Twilight laughed but nevertheless put the blindfold on anyway.
Flash turned the key, starting the car, and drove to Stardust Point. After parking his car, Flash got out and helped Twilight out, taking her by the hand.
“Where are we?” Twilight asked as she blindly yet cautiously followed Flash up the trail.
“You’ll see,” Flash answered as he carefully led her.
“They’re here,” Applejack whispered loudly to Sunset, who began running up to the clearing while AJ texted the others.
When Pinkie Pie got Applejack’s text, she nearly screamed. The only thing that prevented her from doing so was Derpy clamping her hand over Pinkie’s mouth. After making sure the sign was readable and presentable and scattering the glitter-covered rose petals that Pinkie somehow pulled from her hair, Flash’s five co-conspirators dove into the bushes, thoroughly concealing themselves, and Micro Chips hit the play button on the mp3 speaker remote.
“Is that the PianoStrings cover of ‘Rewrite the Stars’ I’m hearing?” Twilight asked as she and Flash stepped into the clearing.
“Good ear,” Flash praised as he let go of Twilight’s hands and stepped behind her. “Okay, you can take off the blindfold now.”
Twilight removed the blindfold and blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to adjust to the change in light. When Twilight was able to see clearly, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped at what she saw.
Standing right in the middle of the clearing surrounded by glitter-covered rose petals was a large sign that read “Twilight, Will You Marry Me?”. The words stood out against the dark, blackish blue background, and the letters were made from hand-painted stars. Twilight turned around and saw Flash kneeling in front of her with an open ring box in his hand.
For a while, neither of them said anything. The two of them just stared at each other, Flash in nervous yet hopeful anticipation and Twilight in total shock. Flash’s face was starting to hurt from how hard he was forcing himself to smile. Finally, Twilight broke the silence.
“Is, is this real life?” she gasped.
“If it is, you better call an ambulance because the suspense is killing me,” Flash flatly replied.
Twilight covered her face with her hands as her breathing quickened. Worried that Twilight was going to pass out, Flash was about to rush forward to catch her when she let out a squeal.
“YES!” Twilight screamed before jumping up and down excitedly. “Yesyesyesyesyes, yes!”
Flash blinked rapidly as he released a breath that he didn’t even realize that he had been holding. A smile involuntarily spread across his face.
“Uh, Twilight,” he chuckled, getting his girlfriend-now-fiancée’s attention. “I’m happy for us too, but I’m going to have a hard time putting the ring on if you don’t stop jumping.”
Twilight stopped jumping with a sheepish giggle. Flash took Twilight’s left hand and took the ring out of the ring box. His hands shook as he slipped the ring onto Twilight’s finger.
When Flash let go of her hand, Twilight held her hand up in front of her to admire the ring. The design of the ring was rather plain, and the stone wasn’t very large, but Twilight could tell that it was of excellent quality, much like the man who had just put it on her finger.
Speaking of which, Flash stood up and took her by her other hand. Twilight stopped admiring her ring and turned towards him. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as his cheeks turned pink.
“I know by my own conditions, I’m totally allowed to kiss you now, but I’ll only do it if you’ll let me,” Flash said to her.
Twilight giggled, blushing as well. Then, she closed her eyes and replied, “By all means, go ahead.”
Flash could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he brought his face closer to Twilight’s. He slowly let out a breath as he gently pressed his lips against Twilight’s. He closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, his hands coming to rest on her upper back.
Twilight ran her hands up his shoulders, bringing them to rest at the back of his neck. She pulled herself up closer to him, deepening the kiss. If the two of them hadn’t needed to breath, they would have stayed that way forever.
Flash panted breathlessly when he and Twilight broke the kiss. He didn’t think it was possible, but his heart was racing even faster than it was earlier. When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking right into Twilight’s sparkling violet ones.
“Wow,” he gasped.
“Yeah, wow,” she agreed, just as breathless as he was. Then, she smirked. “I kinda want to go for another one.”
“Oh really?” Flash smirked back. “Well, I kinda want to do something crazy.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at him as he led her to the railing separating the cliff clearing from the steep drop to the bottom of Stardust Point. Way beyond the railing was an amazing view of Canterlot stretching all the way to the horizon.
Flash let go of her hand, cupped his hands around his mouth, and screamed, “Hey, Canterlot! Twilight Sparkle and I are getting married!”
Twilight burst out laughing before stepping up next to him and also screaming, “Flash Sentry and I are getting married!”
“We’re getting married!”
“We’re getting married!”
Then, before Twilight could even realize what was happening, Flash scooped her up into a bridal carry causing her to squeal in surprise. The two of them laughed as Flash spun her around in the clearing. When the two of them stopped spinning, they were once again looking into each other’s eyes.
At that moment, all the worries that Flash was venting to his grandmother about last week diminished. They didn’t quite disappear. Let’s be real; he and Twilight are going to have to talk about them eventually. However, at that moment, none of that mattered. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was one thing.
“I love you, Twilight,” Flash whispered tenderly to her.
“I love you too, Flash,” Twilight whispered back before the two of them leaned in for their second kiss.
The two of them managed to touch lips before Pinkie Pie jumped out of the bush with a squee, thoroughly ruining the moment. Don’t worry; she totally made up for it later. Who do you think threw their surprise engagement party?
Author's Note
So, here it is. My last submission for FlashLight Week 2019, the high point of my series, and the last piece of fanfiction that I will be publishing for at least 2 years. 
Yeah, that last line in "Takeoff" was foreshadowing in case you couldn't tell. 
I actually foreshadowed this back in Return to Everfree. 
