Is Flash Sentry Fickle? · 4:55pm Jun 17th, 2018
Some people consider Flash Sentry fickle. They point out that he has at various times been in some sort of sexual relationship with Sunset Shimmer, then with Princess Twilight, and also shown an interest in Sci-Twi. Additionally, there seems to be some sort of emotional bond between him and Derpy Hooves.
Instead, if you look at what Flash actually does, he:
1) Falls for Sunset Shimmer, but dumps her after a while when he realizes that she's a cruel bully (and, really, she's WORSE than that), then
2) Falls for Princess Twilight, but this doesn't get very far because she's an Alicorn Princess with too many responsibilities back home to spend much time in the Humanoidverse. He is briefly
3) Confused by the fact that Sci-Twi looks a lot like Princess Twilight, yet doesn't know him and hence is uninterested in him. Then he
4) Starts making an effort to at least repair his friendship with Sunset Shimmer, but she is often too busy to have a meaningful conversation with him. In the meantime
5) Derpy acts friendly and consoling toward him.
This is not "fickle." He was only ever interested in two girls, at different times. One of them turned into a (moral and briefly literal) monster and the other of whom mostly lives in a far-off place and has almost no time for him. (Sci-Twi just confuses the issue as someone who looks creepily like Princess Twilight, from Flash's POV).
It is not at all objectionable that Flash is regaining an interest in Sunset Shimmer (at least on the level of being her friend). They were, after all, once in some way sexually and definitely personally intimate. They meant a lot to each other. They were close to lovers, and they were most certainly friends.
Is not his coming to accept her again, now that she has matured and reformed, proof that he is capable of seeing that she has changed for the better? Is that not a good thing, and a sign that Flash is a fundamentally decent person?
Imagine if he were instead cold and uncaring toward Sunset Shimmer, his former almost-lover and close friend. What would this imply about his character?
Yes, he didn't instantly resume his interest in Sunset Shimmer after Princess Twilight defeated her in the first movie. But bear in mind that he'd suffered some shocks to his opinion of her. First it turned out that his almost-lover Sunset was a cruel bully, then that she was also an extradimensional alien criminal fugitive. And remember, he was in the throes of his newfound love for Princess Twilight at that point.
At no point can we assume that he is in any sort of sexual relationship with Derpy Hooves. It's remotely possible (she's obviously his friend), but by that logic, we could designate anyone not named Wallflower Blush an utter slut who does half the school (and maybe Wallflower does, but everyone just forgets they had sex with her).
Flash Sentry doesn't always behave perfectly, but he treats other people extremely well (except when he's being mind-controlled by Sirens), and he is, after all, only a teenage boy. He shows serious positive emotions and constancy of affect.
He deserves a better opinion of him than he gets.
I can't say I've seen any accusations of fickleness on Flash's part. Finding out your girlfriend and your new crush are both alien unicorns would give anyone pause, especially when the non-unicorn version of the latter shows up and further muddies the waters. Flash isn't fickle; he's just trying to wrap his head around his life turning into a modern fantasy novel.
Of course, that assumes he has any degree of information on what's going on beyond his own observations. As far as he may know for much of the series, Sunset is literally from Hell and Twilight developed nearsightedness and amnesia at the same time. (Also, they and their friends mutate on a regular basis, and seriously, what's going on there?) Still, he's at least aware of the situation with the two Twilights by Legend of Everfree, so there's that. And he has Best Human for moral support and, in some worldlines, insight into the whole multidimensional debacle.
Still, the legacy of Brad the Waifu Thief stretches on for some. They'll hate him for whatever reason they can cling to.
You know, isn't it a bit like what happened when Spike talked to the Nightmare Moon timeline Rarity? People felt so bad for Spike then.
Well, here is Flash Sentry, who didn't know this was the wrong Twilight Sparkle when he talked to her first, actually had Equestria Twilight reciprocate his feelings, had to watch a Twilight Sparkle begin a romantic relationship with another guys right in front of him, and then had to deal with the fact that the Twilight who supposedly loved him had pretty much abandoned what could have been between them, without even telling him.
That's just messed up. And that's not even going into the issues with Sunset Shimmer. Flash Sentry isn't fickle, he's confused and sad and has every right to be.
I felt them sinking Flash and Princess Twilight was one of the incredibly badly written bits in the show.
4884256
Yes. It says somethng about Flash Sentry's patience and fundamental good nature that he doesn't positively hate Princess Twilight right about now. I wouldn't mind seeing -- but know it's very unlikely that we will ever see -- a story about Flash and Twilight making up as friends.
4884259
Flash Sentry was introduced to the story for shallow reasons and turned out being a better character than one would have expected. Then, mostly because of a very immature fan reaction against him, they proceeded to abuse him every time he shows up after the Rainbow Rocks movie.
He was introduced as a "safe" love interest for Princess Twilight, and when it seemed that she might actually fall in love with him, they decided to keep him away from her to avoid such an outcome. All because some fans saw Twilight as their "waifu" and got jealous of his interest in her.
What's worse, on an in-universe level this is best explained by Twilight Sparkle demonstrating her must unlovable character trait, which is her tendency to treat other people who care about her as non-existent if she would have to go out of her way to see them. She did this to Moondancer and the rest of her her original circle of friends due to her responsibilities in Ponyville; and she is doing this to Flash Sentry now that she has too many responsibilities in Equestria.
This is not a good flaw for somepony who is extremely important and hence will have many excuses not to look up old friends.
I feel so bad for Flash, he's very nice yet gets the boot over and over cause of fans hated him. I don't really hate him and maybe I'm looking WAAAYY too into it. But Twilight was personally teach by Celestia so she never got a normal high school expirence. And Horses don't really have period ( Yes I looked it up) http://myhorseforum.com/threads/horse-periods.9393/ It could be the her human hormones were confused for a crush.
4884259
Well the most people seemed to hate him it's really not fair
4884397
I don't.
4884256
Yeah Sunset don't even return him just being a friend . It's like the writers know the fans hated so they making him suffer.
4884399
I don't either but most fans will anyone will hate who is shipped with Twilight who isn't Sunset .
4884400
At least they threw him a bone during one of the Summertime Shorts. Even if, at any other moment, Flash doesn't seem to exist for Sunset Shimmer either.
4884382
At this point, it's most likely the writers figured they rode it out, so to speak. I'd love such an episode, though. It could be really bittersweet. And I also think, if it ever were to happen, Sunset should take Flash to Equestria for it, for several reasons:
Flash can then see with his own eyes how busy the princess can be. It would be an interesting juxtaposition to their first meeting, where Twilight was the one totally out of her depths. If Flash manages to handle himself well enough to talk to Twilight, it would also show how important this is, that he came all the way to her place for closure. And it would invert the usual dynamic of "pony coming to the human world" or, by now, "Sunset briefly returning to Equestria".
4884419
Yeah but are they even cannon?
4884784
You mean because it's not clear if anything from them is going to be referenced later, eh? Well, they're about as canon as most things. Just think of all the stuff the crusaders need to have lying around someplace, like an industrial-sized blow dryer we never saw again.
4884259
Better or worse than introducing it in the first place?
Sexual?
4884965
What is "sexual?"
4884963
And the fact Twilight and Flash almost kissed in Rainbow Rocks made it clear they did like each other.
4884963
I see no problem with Princess Twilight liking Flash romantically. He has admirable personal qualities and treats her honorably and kindly; he rescues her from trouble and helps her succeed in her mission. Nor is her own behavior in any way objectionable.
As far as I can see, the only problem anyone had with the attraction was that they want Waifu Princess Twilight to be absolutely pure-minded. No romantic love allowed at all.
4884965
Oh, you mean Flash and Sunset?
Yes, they were clearly in some sort of sexual relationship. Or at least Rarity thinks so, stated in both Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks (she uses the colloquialism "item") and any Rarity probably has good instincts for this sort of thing.
Were they having full penetrative genital intercourse? I think probably not. But I do think that they were in some ways being physically sexually intimate with one another.
Does this make Flash heartless and shallow for dumping her? No, he dumped her because it became increasingly plain to him that Sunset was becoming a moral monster. He may very well have tried to to help her, only to have his help angrily rejected. Pre-Reform Sunset Shimmer was a bitch.
Why do I think Flash treated Sunset honorably? Becsause this is Sunset Shimmer's own sentiment. Notice that even pre-Reform Sunset was not trying to get revenge on him for dumping her, and in Rainbow Rocks Sunset Shimmer is horrified when she contemplates how badly she used him.
If Sunset -- the "woman scorned" in this -- still has a good opinion of Flash, I'd take her opinion as solid evidence in the case.
4885242
So the whole thing about Sunset and Flash being an "item" is the only reason you're saying there was sexual intimacy between them? I can see what you mean with Rarity, but "item" just means "couple" with no other connotations necessary.
4885249
While Rarity of course melodramatizes matters, "quite the item" implies "serious couple" rather than merely "casually dating." It does not necessarily imply "having sex," especially given that the couple in question are something like 16-17 years old, but it implies strong emotional affect between them, such that they might be having sex.
Rarity is extremely good at working out social patterns. Hence, if she thinks that they were seriously romantic toward one another, I would trust her judgment on this.
For all we know, his twin sister
might have been trying to cheer him up after an "It's not you, it's my job" speech from M!Twilight. After all, their pony versions ARE pegasi so it is possible that they could be related....
I don't think Derpy is interested considering she is found holding hands on the beach with Bulk Biceps