Dec-Feb: Hide and Seek
Flash’s sports car pulled up in front of Twilight Sparkle’s house. The car’s owner sat in the front seat soaked to the skin and wearing a sky-blue shirt and a red tie over a pair of slacks. The blazer that went with the slacks was draped over the shoulders of pretty, bespectacled girl in a dark blue dress with stars on the skirt who was sitting in the car’s front passenger seat. She was also completely soaked. Flash had lent her his blazer earlier that night as protection against the cold night air, but despite his best efforts to squeeze it dry, the article of clothing was still too wet to offer much protection. Twilight had accepted it regardless.
In the back seat of the car sat it’s only two dry passengers. One was a purple and green puppy; the other was a younger teen boy. The boy looked like a younger Flash but with darker skin and hair. The boy also had an empty pump-action water gun with the name “Shining Armor” written on it in black permanent marker sitting on his lap. He was also scowling at the puppy who was lying on the seat belly up in content.
“Well, here’s our stop,” Flash said as he undid his seatbelt and began to step out of the car.
“Come on, Spike,” Twilight called to the dog. The dog got up from the back seat and bounded into his human’s waiting arms.
“Hey, Base, thanks for the jerky. It really hit the spot,” Spike said to First Base. First Base’s scowl deepened as he blew a raspberry in response.
Flash opened the front passenger door and helped Twilight out of the car. He was about to begin walking her to her door when his younger brother rolled down the window and called after him.
“Hey, Big Bro,” Base called, “don’t forget to give this back to Shining Armor.” With that, he tossed the water gun at Flash’s direction. Flash managed to catch it before it fell on the ground but not before fumbling it a few times.
“Careful, Little Bro,” Flash scolded his brother. “This isn’t yours, and if it breaks, you’re going to have to spend the money Shining paid you to replace it.”
First Base simply shrugged and rolled up the window. Flash shared a look with Twilight and shook his head.
Twilight giggled and took Flash’s arm, allowing him to lead her to her front door.
“I really had fun tonight,” Twilight said to him.
“Yeah, me too,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He opened his mouth to say something else but then, closed it again, biting his lip. This happened two more times, and by the third time, the two of them were roughly a foot away from the front door.
“Are you free next Friday?” Flash finally blurted out. Flash internally cringed. So much for acting or sounding casual.
“Excuse me,” Twilight replied, stopping and turning towards him.
“I was wondering if you are going to be busy next Friday because if you aren’t, then maybe I can take you to do some browsing at the bookstore. Then, maybe I can take you out for frozen yogurt or ice cream or coffee or dinner or whatever afterwards,” Flash rambled. “I’m just kinda winging it at the moment, and I don’t really have anything specific planned, but I will by Friday, you know, assuming that you accept, which you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’d be nice if you did, and…” Flash clamped his free hand over his mouth. Stop talking, genius!
Twilight giggled again, completely oblivious to Flash’s internal screaming. “That sounds like fun. What time should I be expecting you?”
Flash’s jaw dropped as the sound of plates crashing played in his mind. Aw, crud! “I, I, I’ll have to get back to you on that. I was thinking maybe 7-ish, but we can go earlier or later if you like.”
“Okay, then. It’s a date. Just call me when you have a plan.” Twilight turned and was about to enter her house when she stopped and took off Flash’s blazer.
“Oh, almost forgot about this,” she said as she returned it to Flash. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
“Oh, no problem,” Flash replied, giving her Shining Armor’s water gun in exchange. “Just, uh, don’t forget to give this back to your brother.”
Twilight smiled, about to enter her house again. However, before she could take another step, Flash took her by the hand, bent down, and kissed it. The two of them met eyes and froze. Finally, Flash spoke first.
“Umm, I’ll see you on Friday, milady,” he said with a nervous grin before straightening and returning to his car.
As Flash drove away, Twilight hurried inside her house, shut the door, and squealed gleefully.
Six months later…
Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and Cadance were in Twilight’s room packing the last of her things. She was excited to be going to study at Cornell University, but she was nervous too.
“Twilight, Twilight,” Sunset called her before finally resorting to waving her hand in front of Twilight’s face. “Twilight! Hello?”
“Huh?” Twilight cried as she jerked her head and turned to Sunset.
“You were staring off into nowhere again. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing,” Twilight replied as she picked up her plush owl Owlowiscious and began fiddling with it. “I guess I was just thinking about having to attend a different university from Flash again.”
“Twilight, it’ll be okay,” Cadance reassured her sister-in-law. “I know the idea of going long distance is scary, but it’ll work out.”
“But what if it doesn’t?”
Cadance sighed. “Well, if it doesn’t, then I guess it probably just wasn’t meant to be.”
Twilight buried her face in her toy owl and groaned.
“Hey, hey,” Cadance lifted Twilight’s head and put a hand on her shoulder. “Just calm down. Freaking out isn’t going to help you two work things out. Besides, remember what happened the last time that you freaked out about your relationship?”
Two months earlier…
“Hello,” Cadance answered as she picked up the phone.
“Cadance, it’s Twilight,” said Twilight in a breathy, anxious voice. “I don’t know what happened, but I think my relationship with Flash is falling apart.”
Cadance raised an eyebrow at this. “What exactly happened?”
“Well, I was kind of worrying about how Flash and I are going to be going to different universities and how we were going to make going long distance work and what if we end up meeting other people. Then, Flash gives me this really personal gift.” If Twilight talked any faster, she’d be hyperventilating. “I tried to turn him down, but he insisted that I hold on to it. And then, and then…” Twilight actually began to hyperventilate.
“Okay, okay, Twi, slow down. What happened?”
“I told him that I love him!”
Cadance’s jaw dropped. “Oh, no.”
“And after I told him that, he didn’t say it back,” Twilight continued. “Why didn’t he say it back? Does he not feel the same way about me? Did I do something wrong to make him not feel the same way about me? Is there anything I can do to fix it?”
“Twilight, Twilight, breathe,” Cadance paused listening for the sound of Twilight taking a deep breath. Once she heard it, she continued, “You probably just overwhelmed him; that’s all. Look, those three little words mean different things for different people when it comes to romantic love. Some people throw them around like they don’t really mean anything; other people will only say them to the people they want to spend forever with. I’m guessing Flash leans toward the latter category. It’s not that he doesn’t care about you. He probably just hasn’t figured out how he feels about you enough to say it.”
“So, when I told him that I love him, Flash might have thought that I wanted to move our relationship forward faster than he was ready for it to go,” Twilight realized before she groaned in frustration. “Oh!”
“Look, just meet up with him tomorrow and talk to him. Maybe if you explain to him what you really meant, he’ll do the same, and the two of you can clear the air. Your relationship is probably in better shape than you think it is.”
Not only was Cadance right about the relationship being in better shape than Twilight had believed, but she was also right about how Flash had just been overwhelmed by Twilight’s sudden declaration. Twilight let out a breath and smiled before continuing to help Cadance and Sunset pack.
Meanwhile, somewhere in town, Flash was driving to Twilight’s house with Micro Chips in his front passenger seat. Micro Chips had also gotten accepted into Cornell, and the two of them had just finished helping Micro’s parents pack his things and were about to pick up Twilight and Sunset so that the four of them could drop off Twilight and Micro together.
“So, just how are you and Twilight going to deal with the long distance thing?” Micro asked Flash.
“Not sure, but Twilight seems to be a lot more okay with it than she was last month,” Flash replied before letting out a sigh. “Do you think I should tell her?”
“Tell her what?”
“Those three little words.”
Micro’s eyes widened as he turned to Flash. “Dude, you sure you want to do that? I mean, think about it. You can’t just say those words to just anybody, and once they’re out, there’s no taking them back.”
“I know,” Flash replied before sighing again, “but I already promised her and myself that I would say them to her someday, especially since she already said them to me.”
Flash could still remember what happened after that fateful moment.
Two months earlier (again)…
“Grandma, I need your help,” Flash cried as he rushed into the living room. “It’s Twilight.”
“Oh,” Grandma Birdie replied, turning off the TV, “what is it?”
“Twilight just told me that she loves me!”
“Oh, no,” Grandma put a hand on her face.
Flash, oblivious to his grandmother’s reaction, continued, “I should be happy, right? I mean, the best, most amazing, most wonderful girl in the world just told me that she loves me, and I guess a part of me is happy, but—.” He sighed. “But I’m honestly mostly terrified. Why am I terrified?”
Grandma took a deep breath and asked, “Flash, tell me. Did any part of you want to tell her that you love her back?”
“EVERY part of me wanted to tell her that I love her back,” Flash exclaimed, “but for some reason, I just, I just couldn’t. What’s going on with me?”
“Do you know what stopped you from telling her that you love her?”
Flash paused, his mind going back to the moment. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. I remember feeling really scared all of a sudden. I remember thinking ‘What if I said those three little words back to her and ended up letting her down in the end?’”
Silence fell on the two of them for what felt like the longest two seconds in Flash’s life. Then, Flash continued, “I just want to make sure that I really mean those words when I say them to her, and right now, I’m just not entirely sure yet. All I know is that I care about her too much to mess up what we’ve got.”
Flash groaned and clutched at his temples, “But what if I already did?”
Grandma put both her hands on Flash’s shoulders and squeezed them, “Flash, it’s okay. I’m sure Twilight didn’t mean to scare you. She probably just didn’t realize that you need a little more time to understand your feelings than she did. Now, all you have to do is talk to her and tell her what you just told me.”
“But what if it isn’t enough?” Flash cried, looking up at his grandmother.
Grandma Birdie sighed, placing her hands back on her lap. “Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want the truth?”
Flash frowned thoughtfully. After thinking it over for a while, he got up and went upstairs. He returned a few minutes later, clutching a worn plush lion. The toy wore a handmade felt collar with the word “SIMBA” messily written on it with fabric paint.
Flash sat himself in front of his grandmother and said, “Go ahead and tell me the truth, Grandma. I can take it.”
Grandma Birdie put a hand on top of Flash’s and said, “Hun, if your honesty isn’t enough for Twilight, then maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Flash waited for his grandmother to withdraw her hand. Then, he slumped forward, buried his face in the plush lion, and let out a loud, frustrated groan.
“Yeah,” Grandma flatly stated as she turned the TV back on, “that’s what I thought you’d say.”
“I can’t believe you guys have to go already,” Twilight said as she stood in front of her dorm room, facing her boyfriend and best friend. “I mean, it feels like we just got here.”
“I know,” Flash replied, “but Sunset and I have to head back home and finish packing up to go to Everton. I guess next time we see each other, it’ll be over video chat.”
Twilight looked away and smiled sadly.
“Umm, I’m going to wait by the car,” Sunset said. “You two look like you need a moment.”
Sunset made her way to the stairs, leaving her two friends by themselves.
“Hey,” Flash said, turning Twilight back towards him. “We’ll meet up again. Our relationship will be fine.”
Twilight closed her eyes and giggled nervously. Then, her eyes snapped open. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
Twilight entered her dorm and closed the door. Moments later she came back out, holding a plush owl. It was mostly beige with dark brown wings. A felt note that read “Don’t forget me” was stitched onto its orange talons.
“Here,” Twilight said to Flash, holding the owl out to him.
“You’re giving me Owlowiscious?!” Flash exclaimed taking a step back. “Twilight, I can’t. Shining Armor gave him to you while he was away in the Marines. He’s too special.”
“Yeah, well, so are these,” Twilight said, pulling out a ball chain with a pair of dog tags from under her vest. “You gave them to me anyway.”
Flash let out a breath and shook his head. Then, he smiled and accepted the toy from Twilight. “Well, Simba could use a friend. I’m guessing that the same conditions apply.”
Twilight nodded.
Two months earlier (yet again) …
“Hey, you okay?” Flash asked Twilight. The two of them were standing in front of Twilight’s house; Flash had just brought her home from their volunteer activity.
“Yeah, I guess,” said Twilight, looking away from him. “I was just thinking again.”
“About?”
“About the two of us going to different colleges.”
“Oh,” Flash looked at the ground and then looked back up at her. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”
“Are you worried too?”
“Yeah. That’s why, that’s why I wanted to give you something,” Flash reached into his shirt and pulled out a ball chain with a pair of dog tags that he was wearing around his neck. He took off the chain and put it on Twilight.
“What are you doing?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I want you to have them.”
“Flash, they’re your grandfather’s. I can’t take them.” Twilight moved her hands to remove the chain, but Flash grabbed on to them.
“Twilight, please,” Flash said to her, his deep blue eyes looking into her trembling purple ones. “I want you to hold on to them for me. I know the two of us have been worrying about how this relationship is going to work out long distance, which is why I’m giving them to you. If you ever want to break up, don’t call me, don’t write, just send these back, and I’ll know that it’s over, and I’ll let you go, no questions asked.”
“Are you nuts?” Twilight nearly screamed. “I can’t have you associating something that belonged to your grandfather with heartbreak.”
“I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided that if this relationship ever needs to be over, then I’d rather hear it from Grandpa than from you.”
Twilight blinked at him a few times with wide eyes.
“That sounded a lot less weird in my mind.”
For a while, the two of them just stood there with Twilight’s hands in Flash’s. Eventually, Twilight nodded, “Okay, okay, I’ll hold on to them.”
Flash smiled at her before taking her right hand and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her hand tenderly before letting her go and walking back towards his car. Twilight turned to her house about to enter when she suddenly turned around.
“I love you, Flash Sentry!” she called after him before suddenly clamping her hand over her mouth, shocked at what she had just said.
Flash turned around, their eyes meeting once again. Flash opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He closed it and reopened it, trying to will himself to say something, but once again, nothing came out.
Finally, he said, “Thank you” before going to his car and quickly driving away.
Flash turned the plush owl over and over in his hands before looking up at the toy’s owner. Then, he threw his arms around her and pulled her close.
“I love you, Twilight Sparkle,” he whispered in her ear.
Twilight gasped as tears welled in her eyes. She returned Flash’s embrace and kissed his cheek. Twilight’s cheek brushed against his as she let her tears fall, wetting both of their faces.
When they parted, Flash raised his hand to dry her face, but she grabbed his hand before he could touch her face and shook her head. Flash blinked at her in confusion but decided to let it be, so instead, he raised her hand towards his lips and kissed it. After they said their farewells, Twilight continued to watch him go. As soon as Flash was out of sight, Twilight rushed into her dorm, shut the door, and wept with joy. She and Flash had certainly come a long way since their relationship started.
Six months earlier…
Flash and Twilight stood in line for the cashier at Royals and Stables Bookstore. He had only intended to bring Twilight browsing, but Twilight saw a few new books that she just had to have. After a rather long five minutes, the two of them finally stepped up to the cashier.
“Okay, that’s $60,” said the cashier after she scanned Twilight’s selection. Twilight reached for her wallet and pulled out a gift card at the same time that Flash took a few bills out of his wallet. Before one realized what the other was doing, they each had placed their desired payment methods on the counter in front of the cashier.
The cashier gave them both odd looks. Flash looked down on the counter and saw Twilight’s gift card sitting next to his cash while Twilight saw Flash’s cash next to her gift card. The two of them looked at each other with the same odd look the cashier was giving them. Flash looked from the counter to Twilight and back and forth. Twilight looked from the counter to Flash and back and forth. Neither of them looked like they were going to volunteer to not pay.
After the longest three minutes ever, the cashier pushed Twilight’s books and gift card and Flash’s cash back to them. “Why don’t you go back to the end of the line and decide who is going to pay first? I’ve got other customers to think about.”
Flash and Twilight both sighed, taking their things and moving back to the end of the line.
“What was that all about?” Twilight snapped at Flash.
“What?” Flash snapped back defensively. “Can’t a guy pay for a lady without getting in trouble with her these days?”
“I am perfectly capable of paying for my own things.”
“I know that,” Flash agreed. “I swear that I’m not trying to make a statement about your capability. I know that you make your own money, and I know that you can pay for yourself. I’m just—.” Flash paused, taking time to properly collect his thoughts. “Look, before I was old enough to even want a girlfriend, both my grandparents and my mom told me that the guy is supposed to pay for the girl on a date because it’s the polite, gentlemanly thing to do, and unless dating manners have changed since the last time I’ve gone out with a girl, I fail to see what exactly I did wrong.”
Twilight humphed, “Is that all?”
“Yes, of course. What other motive could I possibly have for wanting to pay for you?”
Twilight sighed and calmed down. “I’m sorry. That came out ruder than I meant it to. I didn’t mean to sound like I’m assuming the worst out of you. It’s just that, well, my brother heard from a friend of his from the police department that sometimes guys use paying for their dates as an excuse to extort favors out of their dates.”
“What kind of fav—Oh!” Flash’s eyes widened in realization. “What kind of a sick human being would do that?”
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, before I even met you, Shining Armor told me to refuse if I ever go on a date and a guy offers to pay for me.”
“Twilight, I can assure you that I am completely uninterested in those kinds of favors, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be right to make you go against your brother’s wishes,” Flash paused, trying to find a solution to their current dilemma. “Okay, I’ll let you pay for your books, but if your brother’s okay with it, I’d like to have the honor of treating you to froyo afterwards.”
“Just how are you going to get my brother’s permission?”
“We call and ask. How else?” Flash replied, pulling out his phone before remembering that he didn’t have Shining Armor’s number. “Um, Twilight, can I have your brother’s number?”
Twilight rolled her eyes before smiling and pulling out her phone.
Later as they were walking out of the bookstore, Twilight let out a laugh.
“I can’t believe you actually called my brother while we were in the middle of a date to ask him of you can treat me to frozen yogurt,” Twilight exclaimed as she shook her head.
“Hey, I have a lot of respect for your brother and for the rest of your family too,” Flash replied. “Besides, if I tick your family off, best case scenario, you end up dating a guy they don’t approve of; worst case scenario, we end up committing suicide inside a tomb among other stupid decisions.”
Twilight let out another laugh and Flash joined her.
“Why are we laughing?” Flash exclaimed between laughs. “That was a dark joke.”
The two of them gradually stopped laughing and made their way to the frozen yogurt shop. Flash paid for their purchases, and the two of them sat down at one of the tables. For a while, the two of them just sat there eating their yogurt and enjoying each other’s company. Then, Twilight began to laugh again.
“It’s only the first date, and we’ve already had our first fight,” she giggled. “Can you believe it?”
“I can’t believe that our first fight barely lasted three minutes,” Flash chuckled back. “I think we’re at the start of something really beautiful, milady.”
Twilight smiled at him. “I think so too.”
This is my submission for the December-February challenge. The prompt for December, January, and February is "Train of Time." Here are the details from ro994's deviantart journal: "The challenge consists of using both the present and the future (flashforward) or the past (flashback), to mark the reflection of change over time, on the changes involved in the relationship that Twilight and Flash could have. Both flashforward and flashback are two literary tools that are used to show facts, for reflection. So, basically, the challenge is to use either of these two tools for our favorite couple, Flashlight, in any of its forms."
So, I moved the Author's Notes to the bottom for two reasons. One, I'm only allowed to put author's notes in one position. Two, I felt like this story is better explained with the notes at the bottom. Anyway, I was honestly pretty stumped when this prompt came out. All I knew was that I wanted to write something in the same continuity as Heaven's Not Too Far Away, and this kinda ended up coming out. The title is borrowed from the English lyrics of a song from a certain Japanese movie. See if you can guess the song and the movie. Also, I hid some VERY subtle references to that movie, specifically its soundtrack. I had thought of writing a FlashLight crossover with that movie, but I couldn't get it to work out.
Also, the whole part where Flash and Twilight decide to send each other certain items as a breakup message was inspired by a story that one of my high school teachers told me about back when she and her husband were dating and had to go to different universities. Of course, the item my teacher and her husband used to send the message wasn't anywhere near as personal as what Flash and Twilight ended up using. Obviously, neither my teacher nor her husband sent the breakup item. Will Flash and Twilight end up so lucky? 
Of course, they will. I'm a hardcore FlashLight shipper.
Also, believe it or not, one of my dad's friends actually gave me and my sister the same advice that Shining Armor gave Twilight for the same reasons stated in the story.
Before I get an angry mob going after me about Flash and Twilight still not lip-locking, I'm saving it, alright? It'll come when I'm ready for it to come. 
If it wasn't obvious, it's in the same continuity as Heaven's Not Too Far Away.
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Nice chapter. Happy to see they're gonna try the long distance, which can work as me and my sister are both by-products of it.
That's a stupid reason to tell someone that you love him/her... Flash, I am routing for yah, but you need to bring your A-gam... This is your A-game isn't it... Oh sweet Celestia.
that is true for 99.999% of everything ever said.
Evolutionary-wise it actually makes perfect sense for a man who purchases things, often meals and such, to expect a woman to... recepercate in that means, as men who do that are showing that can provide for the women they are courting.
Is it a Studio Ghibli film (and yes that included Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind despite actually being made by Studio Topcraft)?
9378882
No, it's not a Ghibli film. Are you going to need another hint?
9378912
maybe the studio that made it or year it came out
9378931
It came out in 2016.
9378935
'Your Name'?
9378942
Ding! Ding! Ding! 🔔
This was so sweet. Good job. Can’t wait to see more from this continuity.
I know you're going to have them kiss. But holy crap, 6 months and no kissing?! My high school girlfriend didn't hesitate the second our first date was over. Still, glad to see this is still going. Yay Sci-FlashLight
You know, the last month has been difficult for me. I had several problems, I'm inclined to find inspiration for this couple, but you know what? You are amazing! You always inspire me, you have a nice way to interpret the relationship of Sci-Twi and Flash.
I really like that Flash is a gentleman, and he is so innocent! Aw, Sci-Twi was distressed by their relationship, so cute> \\ <
I love the conflict of love from a distance, but I know that they will continue to love each other. They are destined to be together!
I also love the creativity you have to write! I hope to continue reading you. And do not worry, no matter what they say, you write beautiful!