//------------------------------// // New Beginnings // Story: A Brand New Beginning // by StoryWeaverKP //------------------------------// The Flash Sentry Tales Chapter 1: New beginnings “Here I go,” Flash Sentry said. “The start of a brand new adventure.” With the tines bit of reluctance, Flash opened the door to his car and stepped out. A soft breeze blew against him, and the wind swept away some of the channeled courage he had been storing for weeks. His heart thumped in his chest, and a slight sheen of sweat started to cover his back. Why was he feeling this way? It wasn’t that big a deal, was it? It was only college. Only college. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Flash Sentry took another deep breath, grabbed his school bag, closed his car door, and moved toward one of the many buildings that made up the illustrious Equestia State University. Things would be different going forward. This wasn’t going to be anything like Canterlot High, and that was a small measure of the problem. For the first two years in high school, Flash was one of the most popular guys in school. That sort of thing never really mattered to him, and so often times, it was one of those disregarded qualities that he carried. Well, after a certain pony princess waltzed in and out of his life, everything changed. In the wake of Princess Twilight’s first departure, things started to change for him. Unseen hatred and animosity radiated against him from somewhere unknown, and Flash couldn’t help but notice the strength of its ominous aura. His popularity diminished slowly, but again, that didn’t matter to him, well, not at first. He walked across the parking lot and went into Yearling Hall. Other students around his age, and perhaps a little older, also moved into the building. Most of the people were unknown to him, although Flash did spot a few of the girls from Crystal Prep academy. At least, that’s where he thought they came from. During the Friendship games, Flash didn’t have the luxury of making it very far in the competition, and so he had to watch everything from the sidelines. It wasn’t until after he attended Camp Everfree the summer between his sophomore and junior years that he truly started to comprehended his insignificance in the scope of the school community. Seven girls, on the other hand, blossomed into being the most important people at Canterlot High. No matter what Flash did, he couldn’t seem to gain a break. Asking out Sunset at Camp had been a failure, and his short, but torrid romance with Aria Blaze during his junior year had left him wondering what his purpose was supposed to be. It didn’t help that the ever present resentment from ghostly figures seemed to follow him everywhere. Why did he receive so much frustration? It wasn’t until this summer that he had finally constructed enough resolve to make a change. “Things are going to be different,” He whispered to himself. “I don’t care if a hundred other worlds hate me, I’m going to do my best.” Flash forced himself to smile, and even give off a little laugh. A few of the surrounding students peered at him curiously, but said nothing to him. Eventually, Flash found room 312, and he moved into the class room. About twelve were already seated at various places, and Flash knew none of them. He gave some of them smiles as he moved to one of the far rows and sat toward the middle. A quick glance at his watch revealed that there was still about fifteen minutes before his Equestirian Literature class would start. He reached into his bag and pulled out a thick notebook. About half of the notebook had been filled with various story ideas and notes. A small degree of delight flickered within him as he cleared his mind. A single purple-skilled woman stood in the midst of his mind, and she began taking a new form. It was a little awkward at first, because Flash has never seen a pony that had a human face before. Nevertheless, he still conjured up the best possible image of what the pony princess could look like. When she was firmly implanted in his mind, the surrounding background warped and began to take shape and color as well. The princess stood amidst a grassy field, and there were all manner of magical things flying through the sky. Flash jotted down things he saw in his mind eye. Many of the images had been specks of dreams that he had remembered, and others were brand new wonderings that were birthed from a yearning imagination. Princess Twilight went on adventures, encountered magnificent creatures, and even survived insane obstacles. Someone shook his shoulder. “Flash, are you listening to me? Hello?” a soft feminine voice called out. Flash blinked, and a wave of embarrassment flooded his limbs and chest. He glanced up, and a bacon-haired woman sat beside him in the next row. A soft glimmer shimmered in her blue-green eyes. Her lips formed a wide, amused smile. “Sunset,” Flash said. “Oh, sorry. Were you talking to me?” She giggled, and a series of small tremors vibrated Flash’s very soul. “You’re not already taking notes, are you?” Sunset asked. Flash chuckled as he closed the notebook. His watch said they still had eight minutes or so. “No, I was just…” he paused for a moment. “freewriting.” “Freewriting?” Sunset asked. Flash replied, “Yeah, I’m just brainstorming on this idea for a story.” Sunset smiled, and it was if she was incarnate of her namesake. Warmth basked his face. “I didn’t know you liked to write. Is that feature of Flash 2.0?” She winked. He locked eye contact with her, and his spirit trembled again. In an instant, he thought to himself. “Stop it Flash. Don’t try again. Just work on yourself, relax, and the right girl will come one day. It won’t be today, and it won’t be her.” He nodded. “I decided to try my hand at writing during senior year, after that crazy dark crystal guy tried invading the school.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah… Sombra. Thank goodness that resolved itself.” She stared off into space, perhaps replying those crazy times in her mind’s eye. “So what is this story idea?” Flash shrugged. “Well, there are a lot of components to it. It’s mainly about friendship, magic, and overcoming evil through the power of goodness.” “Oh?” Sunset asked. The delight in her smile and her eyes grew a little. “That sounds like a great foundation for a story. What inspired you to write about that?” Flash said, “I had seven great muses.” He averted his eyes. “I… I even dated one for a while.” Sunset gave off an awkward chuckle, but her smile didn’t go away. However, when Flash turned his attention back on her, she let her eyes dance to the side. “So have you decided on a major?” Flash asked. Sunset replied, “Not yet. I’m leaning toward physics maybe? It reminds me of some of the stuff we had back home.” She glanced about to ensure no one else looked at her, and then she mouthed the word “magic” silently. “How about you?” “Its funny you mentioned that,” Flash said. “I think I want to take physics as a minor. I’ve often heard that you can study about other worlds and realities through quantum physics.” “Other worlds, huh?” Sunset’s eyebrows descended over her eyes, and yet, she still appeared just as amused. “Y-you’re not still obsessed with her, are you?” Flash replied, “I’ll admit, I think about her a lot, but because of the amazing reality that other worlds actually exist. There are terrible things that are out there beyond the scope of our perception. There are also… beautiful things that have come from other worlds.” His heart thumped a little harder, and in the back of his mind, a tiny voice told him not to say what he wanted to say. It screamed at him with all of its strength. His next set of words came out in a little whisper. “You’re one of them.” Sunset’s eyes widened a little, but she didn’t break her focus on him. A slight redness had painted her cheeks. “Sorry, that was st-” Flash started to say. Sunset interrupted him. “No, it was fine. Thank you, that was sweet of you to say. So, what is your major going to be?” “Writing,” Flash said. “Some kind of English degree where I can improve my ability to express myself through the magic power of worlds.” He chuckled. “That’s the only kind of magic I actually have.” Ever so softly, Sunset replied, “In this world, words have even more powerful effects than anything from back home.” A rather tall fellow waltzed into the classroom, and his appearance made Flash do a double take. The professor had a plaid, sleeveless vest, a pair of bright purple, sequined pants, and a pair of flip flips on. His chin had a long and winding goatee that stretched out in front of him. A crazed and eccentric look whirled in the man’s eyes. “Greetings class,” the man spoke with a voice that tended rise and fall in arpeggio. “I hope you’re all here for Intro into Equestirian Literature. My name is Professor Discord, and I am going to take you on a magnificent journey! Rest assured.” *** At the end of class, Professor Discord skipped out of the room with the candor of a small child. “That… was strange,” Flash said. Sunset nodded. “Yeah, tell me about it. I can already this class is going to be all over the place.” The other students got up and moved toward the door, but Sunset remained seated for a moment. Flash made a motion to get up, but once he saw that she didn’t, he remained where he sat too. Sunset kept her gaze on him, and once more of the people filed out of the room, she began talking. “So, I’m not going to lie. I’m not sure how to feel about you writing about… stuff that we encountered.” Sunset said. “I mean, it’s cool that you’re expressing yourself, but I can’t help but wonder if you’re going to get it wrong, you know?” “Get it wrong?” Flash asked. Sunset nodded. “You know, since you have never been to where I’m from, you might get the details of Equestria and why things happened to us incorrectly, you know? It’s not a big deal, I suppose. I don’t know why I’m so conflicted.” She laughed a little before she rubbed the back of her head. Was it Flash’s imagination, or was she blushing a little more. A warm tickling flickered in his mind, right behind his eyes. “W-would you like to see some of my notes, and you could give me pointers?” “Pointers?” Sunset asked. “Yeah, or maybe… we could co-write something together that captures the spirit of your world, you, your friends, and … whatever,” Flash said. She remained silent for a moment. “I think it would be best if you didn’t use our real names. The last thing I would want is to be kidnapped in the middle of the night by Celestia knows who.” “Celestia?” Flash asked. “You mean like… the principal?” Sunset laughed a little. “It’s a long story.” The little voice in the back of Flash’s head yelled again. It pleaded for him to proceed with caution, and yet, his heart thundered all the louder. Flash swallowed a little harder. “I’d love to hear it sometime. And we could easily change the names and keep it all focused in your home world.” Sunset smiled. “We?” “I mean, if you wanted to co-write,” Flash replied. A long moment of silence lingered between them before Sunset giggled. “I’d have to see you’re writing so far. I suppose I could still tell you more about my world, and about how things are over there.” “Great!” Flash said. “Maybe we could have coffee sometime?” Sunset paused for a moment. “I’m free now. My next class doesn’t begin until 2:00 PM.” Flash’s heart dropped into his stomach. “I wish I could, but I have class in about twenty minutes, and it’s in the Starswirl Building across campus.” “Ah,” Sunset said. She turned her attention away for a moment. Then she grinned. “So, Rarity found out a party that’s going on tonight at the Griffin Manticore Parasprite house tonight. We all planned to go.” Flash replied, “Oh, I heard a couple of the guys from our school got into that frat. I heard the party is going to be pretty fun.” “So are you going?” Sunset asked. Flash frowned. “I wasn’t planning on it.” “Oh.” Sunset frowned as well for a brief moment. “So…. do you want to? It could be a good chance for us to talk and catch up.” A fire exploded within Flash’s chest. “Oh, um… sure. I’d love to go with you. I mean… go to the party with you, not –” Sunset placed an index finger on his lips, and they locked eyes again. She giggled. “I know what you meant. Do you still have the same number?” Flash just nodded. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll text you when we get there.” Sunset got up from the seat, and so Flash did as well. They walked out of the room in silence, albeit that silence was saturated in a kind of twisting, wild energy. When they go out of the room, Sunset went one way, and Flash had to go another. She simply waived to him, and then walked away. Not to appear weird just staring after her, Flash also walked away, and moved out of the building. His mind buzzed with static disbelief. He had managed to walk halfway to the Starswirl building when his cell phone hummed within his pocket. Flash took it out and stared at the screen. Sunset: Hey! Just making sure it’s the same. He drew in a deep breath before replying with the following. Sunset: Hey! Just making sure it’s the same. Me: It was great talking to you. An instant later, he received another text. Sunset: Hey! Just making sure it’s the same. Me: It was great talking to you. Sunset: :-)  Flash chuckled. This really was a new beginning after all. And for the first time in a long time, the shrouded source of hatred and animosity didn’t feel so bad.