A newly appointed princess, Twilight Sparkle, has struck many with her beauty, but none other than Flash Sentry. An ordinary guard sworn to guard Princess Celestia and other royals with his life. Unfortunately, it is against rules to have "feelings" for anypony they protect. If Flash Sentry is caught loving Twilight, it will destroy his reputation he worked so hard to earn, and be stripped of his position as "Royal Guard".

Flash Sentry must battle his own feelings to keep the job he had worked so much for since he was a foal. As time goes on, it becomes more and more difficult to hold back his emotion and on top of this is an abusive Captain who controls the Royal Guard...

There are many axioms in Equestria. "Go with the grain." "Count your blessings." "Strive to be happy with what you have."

And, though left unsaid, the most important one of all: "Know your place."

Although Flash Sentry loves Twilight, she can never know of his love. She can never return the feelings. It wouldn't be proper. After all, social order is more important than fulfilling one's own wishes.

Alternate Universe tag is due to the existence of a caste system in this story. Please keep that in mind as you read.

Thanks to Sir Rustbucket, Draconian Soul, Regidar, and Loopy Legend for editing.

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Now with a poem by Fiend from the Darkness!

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Followed by What Hath Joined Together.

Rated Teen for mild violence and thematic elements.

This story is a sequel to The Order

Despite receiving a harsh reprimand from Captain Ironhoof for his "little stunt," Flash Sentry still struggles with his forbidden feelings for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maintaining a professional stance while adhering to the law of the land proves an even more difficult task, especially when his one act of defiance only seems to awaken the seething rebellion within him.

When Flash is assigned to escort Twilight to the Crystal Empire at Princess Celestia's insistence, tensions on all sides only seem to escalate.

Full list of character tags: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry, Shining Armor, Discord, Prince Blueblood, OC, Other.

Thanks to Sir Rustbucket and Holo for editing.

Now with a TVTropes page! A huge thanks and tons of Doge GIFs to Poptard for creating it!

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Rated Teen for some language, mild violence, and thematic elements. Sex tag is for sexual references in dialogue and implied sexual situations.