We're only about ten feet from the front gates of the Palace when Octavia turns back to look at me. Her left eyebrow nearly rises to the stratosphere.
"What are you giving me that look for?"
I didn't even realize that I was giving her a look. I shake in place, my shades rattling.
"I know that silence gives you the license to ponder on many a thing, but honestly, Vine." She flicks a tail, sticking her nose up to the air. "I'd hope you would give me a great deal more faith than that!"
I bite my lip, squirming slightly. I try to trot forward, joining her in our mutual stroll past the royal guards' wagons and into Ponyville.
But she can't stop... stopping. "Okay!" She exhales in an indigo burst, then speaks in purple amusement through a lazy grin. "I know what you're thinking."
I scuffle to a stand-still, rolling my shaded eyes. Whenever Tavi claims to "know what I'm thinking," it only means that I'm about to become audience to a great deal of rambling pretense. Still, I pivot towards her with a patient smile.
"But, in truth, I am a lady... and a quite mannerly one, too." She adjusts her bow tie, standing with a stately poise. "After all, I needn't lecture you on the finer points of etiquette that I've mastered over the years... perfecting into a practical art!"
I nod vigorously.
No.
You needn't.
"And, furthemore, I'm simply not in the place nor the position to afford any sort of relationship with anypony, much less a ridiculously handsome stallion that I just suddenly met."
My muzzle grimaces.
Does she even hear herself?
Thankfully, Tavi does, and she knows it—out loud. "I mean... true, you and I just landed ourselves positions within the Royal Palace, something I've been anxiously anticipating for several, several restless nights, and it's quite easy to use my ardent enthusiasm as an unnecessary springboard into far less intelligent pursuits... but I'm beyond that! And you should believe it!" She punctuates this with an accusatory poke of my chest.
I weather the storm, stifling an honest snicker.
"So... d-don't even pretend to... assume... erm... that I would have completely swooned... if we h-had stayed within the presence of that inexplicably debonair... specimen for a few more minutes just now." The mare gulps, hard. "Despite how sweaty—er... polite! Despite how polite he was."
I stare at her.
She groans, her purple voice buckling. "Look, Vinyl, I've worked very... very hard for what's transpired today. I... I should remain focused! Just because we're over the hump—the neck of the woods, as t'were—doesn't mean I can afford myself any leisure trivialities! From now on, it's hard work, supreme concentration, and music... lots and lots and lots of music!" She flexed her forelimbs, fluffing her mane as she stared ahead. "Hmmmmm... I wonder, when we rehearse for the Princess and her Friendship Cabinet... will the guards be in attendance too?"
I facehoof heavily.
"Eh. No matter." She trots forward firmly. "Onward! To celebration! Excelsior! Heehee..." A dreamy sigh. "Oh, I do wonder if it would be a trifle bit too pestering to bring the news to Lyra and Bon Bon this evening..."
I shrug, turning to look over my shoulder.
I do a double-take.
Princess Twilight Sparkle stands on the northeast balcony of her Castle, gazing out onto Ponyville. Suddenly, an orange figure shuffles up, hooves clapping against the balcony's surface as he stands at attention.
Twilight Sparkle turns around, and her face explodes into a joyous grin. Her wings stretch out, feathers fluttering in the wind. Even from afar, I can detect no sign of gray or turquoise in her voice anymore. All is rich orange... and turning oranger as she drifts towards him.
The guard lowers his helmet, revealing a very familiar face and an even more familiar smile. Then he and the Princess do something I don't expect. They lean in and nuzzle one another... closely.
"Oh Viiiiine!" Happy violet tresses tug me away from the Castle. "Where'd you go? There's much to be done! The afternoon is young, after all! Heehee!"
I bite my lip, eyes locked on the scene atop the balcony. With a nervous shuffle, I turn and gallop swiftly after Tavi, promising myself not to speak a word of this.
After all, that shouldn't be too hard...
Wait, your actually doing TwiSentry...........
Awkwardness.
6390474 Thou be it king and queen of all.
D'awwwww.
Also, awesome 8-bit-inspired LoL music is awesome.
6390473
i.imgflip.com/qgbt9.jpg
Oh... this is interesting.
6390473 FlashLight. And apparently shortskirtsandexplosions did indeed decide to go there, along with a classic bit of romantic comedy: Mare crushes on Stallion who she doesn't know is in relationship with her new boss.
Oh yes, the equine excrement is about to strike the rotary oscillator.
Well, on the plus side, this means Octy will remain single.
Well, I *was* enjoying this series.
I'm gonna have faith in you on this one Skirts. I'm trusting that you're using this as a convenient plot device and nothing more.
And now, the fic approaches the shark, stretching before it attempts to make the jump...
And there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
But for real tho, what's everyone's beef with Flash? I agree he's underdeveloped in the show, but when has that ever stopped this fandom? And especially considering that the TwiSentry isn't the focus of the story, but simply an ironic counterpoint to whatever-it-is that Skirts is planning to do with Octavia's character.
Well. It seems like there is a great deal of awkwardness in store in future chapters.
6390669
6390473
It isn't necessarily true FlashLight... he felt like a slime in the previous chapter, and his "brown" voice doesn't sound good. Feels like a user to me.
6390899
A shortskirtsandexplosions fic? Really?
6384630
The ten minutes after the first chapter was released before other people noticed the author's name?
6384750
I'm sorry, but who is Stu Leaves? I can't always keep up with this fandom...
Ah ha ha, the butthurt is strong here.
6390498
Nooo! Robo, how could you. Whyyyyy, that's my day! My WHOLE day! Everything is piss in a bucket now. I'm... I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when Flash is gone.
6391023
It's not so much about him being underdeveloped. It's that we don't WANT him to be developed. We don't want any legitimacy to his existence. He was inserted specifically to be a head-turner for a character who has done fine on her own without petty high-school romances. His state of lacking development exacerbated that issue for the fact it just points out that his existence is entirely to be eyecandy/distraction for Twilight. Unnecessary and annoying. Around that time, I believe it was Meghan who promised he'd never make an appearance in the canon show (I believe the wording was closer to there'd be nothing EQG-centric getting into the canon series). ... Then he wound up making an appearance in the canon show and ended up giving a cocky look off in the direction Twilight was. If we were going to get an EQG-made character injected into canon, it could at least have been the one everyone likes, Sunset Shimmer.
That, so far, is what I can tell from my own feelings and the explanations I've gathered from quite a number of other people who just don't like the character. Aggravating and pointless to the extent that many feel he doesn't deserve to have a point assigned to him. A number of authors capitalized on that by making Flash into a pit fall joke character. The rest, as they say, is history. Doesn't have to be logical, just has to be what it is!
I'm calling it, Flash Sentry excretes some kind of waifu-stealing pheromone. Not sure if he does it on purpose.
Whew, he's taken.
6391435 Pretty much this exactly D:
6391079
It's a reference to another Skirts fic.
all I want now is a chapter called shark jumping things just so all of you can get over yourselves
woot! let's go league!
6391079 Nah, but I thought of that comment while reading and I thought it was too good to pass up.
Oh is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?
6391435
Alright. I guess I see where you're coming from. I get it: He's a one-note Obligatory Love-Interest, and the franchise didn't strictly speaking need one. But I guess I still don't see why it's such a huge deal that people get so butthurt over it. I mean, I was initially ambivalent towards Flash (mostly because of his one-dimensional nature), but the sheer amount of panty-bunching I've witnessed towards him have made me want to like him a little more just out of spite. And it especially baffles me when people get upset about him being in a fanfiction.
Whatever. It's not really a big deal.
Brony Notion posted an interesting video recently concerning Flash. I think its called “the truth about Flash Sentry.”
Octy is drifting far down Deriver Denial, you know! Still, Vinyl's got the right idea. She's said that she can't afford entanglements right now. Time will reveal to her that Flash is the Royal Paladin and Consort and, I think, Vinyl's presence will ease the blow.
6393341
I've got to agree with this. I'm pro-Flash Sentry because I want to see the antis having impotent hissy fits about him. I've seen too much bullying of FlashLight fans on several fan sites for me to be able to empathise with the antis' position.
I love how each chapter has consistently 10-15 comments, but the last one has over forty, and this one is well on the way.
All because of some random-ass pegasus who had no reason to be in the Crystal Empire in the first place.
. . . Sorry to crush all your dreams, Octavia, but Flash Sentry's taken. Very.
6496809 random ass-pegasus something something xkcd
Ooooohhh shit. Tavi's going to have a shit fit when she hears about this.
The video attached to this went private. If anyone remembers what it was, please let me know!