CHAPTER 7
Twilight and her friends walked on towards the Ponyville Fair: an event held for the next entire week. She decided to take this opportunity to let Gryph and Flash tag along since they had just gotten acquainted with one another. Her friends were all excited to see them. Of course, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were all excited mostly just to see Gryph.
“Rainbow Dash, we’re going to see Black Gryphon again!” Pinkie squealed while bouncing up and down.
“I know Pinkie! Talk about awesome! Twilight is friends with the best singing stallion in all of Equestria!” Dashie responded.
“Now girls, remember, we’ve got another guest here tonight: Flash Sentry.” Twilight said.
“Yeah, yeah, that guy too.” Dashie said with much less energy.
“Now now, Rainbow Dash. Flash Sentry is a royal guard and thus a fine gentlecolt and he deserves our utmost respect.” Rarity reminded her.
“Oh, there’s Gryph right now!” Twilight said, rushing forward to meet him.
“Twily! There you are!” he said giving her a hug till another voice from behind interrupted him.
“Hey there, Twilight! Didn’t think I’d miss the Fair did you?” said Flash Sentry.
“Oh Flash, just in time! It’s great to see the two of you!”
“Yeah, um, Twilight, would you like me to go get you some refreshments over by the food booths?” Gryph asked her.
“Sure Gryph! Oh, and can all my friends come along with us too, including Flash?”
Gryph looked back at Flash who had a smirk on his face.
“Uh, suuuuure, yeah, Flash can come too!” he said with tension in his voice.
“Awesome! Alright girls, Spike, let’s all get something to eat then we’ll split and go do some games and rides and stuff!” Twilight said as the rest of them joined in.
Gryph and Flash ended up next to each other and Flash nudged Gryph with his wing and whispered into his ear.
“Guess you can’t keep her away from me forever, sailor.” he said as Gryph had an agitated look on his face.
While eating under a tent with a hayburger sale, Twilight and Gryph were at the same table with Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike. Flash was stuck with everyone else at another table.
“Well those were some fantastic hayburgers!” Twilight said, licking her chops.
“Eh, not as good as the gems over at that one jewelry booth.” Said Spike, taking meager amounts of hay in his claw to eat.
“Well hey, Twily, I’ll be right back in just a second, I’d like to get you something.” Gryph said as he walked off over to another booth to buy something for Twilight.
Twilight smiled and blushed as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash giggled to each other.
“Girls.” Twilight said, sternly.
“What? He toooootally likes you, Twilight!” Dashie said under her breath.
“Marry him Twilight, marry him!” Pinkie said, stretching her lips into one of Twilight’s ears.
“Marry him?! Pinkie, I’ve only just met him a few days ago!” she said, blushing uncontrollably.
Just then, Gryph came back, carrying a caramel-covered apple on a stick in one of his wings.
“Here you go, Twily.” he said, giving it to her.
“Oh wow, thanks Gryph! I do love caramel apples!”
“Hey Twilight,” Flash said next to her. “Bought you a little something if you don’t mind.”
Flash put a bowl of peach shortcake sundae on the table right before Twilight as her eyes widened.
“Oooooh, my favorite! Thanks Flash!” she said, hugging him as he had a love-dazed look and Gryph gave him a grimace.
“Aw, it’s nothing. The Princess of Friendship deserves it!” he said, bowing politely and then walking over back to his table to finish his hayburger.
Twilight looked over to notice that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash had confused looks on their faces. Pinkie shifted her eyes back and forth between Gryph and Flash and rubbed her chin with her hoof. Spike gave Twilight a look like he knew there was a rivalry already starting to form. Twilight thought perhaps it was just coincidence that they both wanted to get her something at the same time and brushed it off but began to then wonder if perhaps they were starting to compete for her attention.
“Well anyways, Twily, you like Ferris wheels by any chance?” Gryph asked her.
“Oh do I ever! Can we go on that one?” she asked, pointing to the largest Ferris wheel.
A few minutes later, Gryph and Twilight were seated together in a small cart on the Ferris wheel and had been stopped at the top to see the sunset while some of the carts below were being filled with more riders.
“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” Gryph asked Twilight.
“Sure is.” Twilight said staring out at the horizon.
“I would see this every night while on duty on some of the vessels I was on during my time in the Navy.” he started saying. “I always did wonder what others in the world were seeing every time I’d watch it and what they were doing. It’s amazing when you really think about how ponies across the world experience things at such different-“
“Hey Twilight!” said Flash, suddenly hovering in front of both of them.
“Oh, hey Flash.” Twilight said politely as Gryph gave Flash the evil eye.
“Just thought you might wanna come with me to one of these gaming booths as soon as you guys are done with this ride. I could win you one of those stuffed animals if you want.”
“That would be fun.” she said. “Just don’t waste all your ticket money, some of those things can kind of be a scam.”
“Naw, they’re only a scam if you can’t do it, but this royal guard’s got it in him!” Flash said, proudly.
“Royal guard…more like royal PAIN.” Gryph said under his breath as the Ferris wheel began to move again.
When it stopped at the bottom, the pony at the gate undid the latch for Gryph and Twilight and they both left. Flash was waiting at the exit gate for Twilight and then brought her along to one of the gaming booths with Gryph following closely behind.
“Step right up for the chance of a lifetime!” said the noisy male pony running the booth Flash was talking about. “You there, orange pegasus with the spiffy blue hair, you look like you’ve got what it takes!”
“Sure do!” he said handing a ticket to the pony. “Watch this, Twilight!”
Flash picked up one of the balls on the table and landed it right in one of the smaller cups. He had three turns and landed all three of his balls into the same cups. Although he was aiming for the cups with higher scores, he still managed to win a cute stuffed bear for Twilight.
“Congratulations, young stallion! Take this adorable bear for your lady!”
“Oh, well we’re not really a thing.” Twilight said, blushing.
“Nonetheless, here’s something to remember me by, your highness.” Flash said handing the bear to Twilight as she snuggled it.
“Pfff, that’s nothing. You watching, Twilight?” Gryph said after handing the game booth pony one of his tickets.
Gryph grabbed three balls all at once and threw them towards the top and managed to land all three of them in the larger cups giving him the highest score possible.
“UNBELIEVABLE!!! You’re the first pony to get the high score tonight! Which one do you want, good sir?”
“I’ll take the giant Trotimus Prime plushie right up there. Twilight’s a huge Pranceformers fan!”
The pony then brought down the plushie and handed it to Twilight who had huge eyes at the moment.
“YES YES YES! I love it, Gryph!” she said jumping up and down.
“Guess there’s more than meets the eye with me.” Gryph teased as he walked by nudging Flash while Flash looked angered.
“It’s okay, Flash. I still love the teddy bear too.” Twilight said to Flash.
“Oh, well of course! Not that it matters. We’re both happy to get you prizes…right, Gryph?” he said doing his best to look friendly with Gryph as they both exchanged fake smiles.
“Right, well what do you guys want to do next?”
“Oh, well if you’re still hungry, they’ve got cactus taters over at booth 121!” Gryph said.
“Or some cotton candy over there at the booth next to that charity drive?” Flash said pointing in the opposite direction to where Gryph was.
“Um…yeah, those both work…” Twilight said, starting to sound rather apprehensive.
For the next few hours, Twilight started to notice a rather similar pattern of events. Gryph and Flash continued doing random favors for her, winning prizes, taking her on rides, and buying her snacks till she could be spoiled no further. She walked on towards the gate entrance, as the fair was getting ready to close up, and came across Spike who was licking a giant gem-encrusted cotton candy. He stopped to notice Twilight using her magic to carry a huge bundle of things she had gotten from Gryph and Flash.
“Hey Spike.” she said, tiredly.
“Whoa. Somepony’s had an early Hearth’s Warming Day haul.” Spike responded.
“Can we pleeeease go home now before one of them hands me the deed to a mansion in Las Pegasus or something?”
“Ah, cheer up Twilight. They just both like you.”
“Yeah, but it’s kind of a problem when both of them are trying to get my attention with endless favors and gifts and stuff.”
Twilight used her magic to take a final bite out of Gryph’s caramel apple and then threw the rest in a nearby trash can.
“I appreciate all of this but I didn’t think it was going to get this bad. I thought they were both friends but it’s obvious they’re just getting over competitive for me at this point.”
“Think maybe you should talk to them.”
“Maybe. I’m almost too scared to say anything though. I don’t want to drive a wedge between them or make either of them think I don’t like them. Heck, at this rate, I don’t think I can decide which one I like more. I liked Flash first but then Gryph came along and was rather charming but now both of them seem charming and…UGH!!”
Twilight let herself plop onto the ground as some of her items came crashing down on her.
“Why do crushes have to be so hard…” she mumbled.
Pinkie came bounding in, suddenly, looking for Twilight.
“Hey Twilight! The rest of us are waiting for you outside of…AAAAAWWW!! Isn’t that so sweet that Gryph would buy all of these things for you!” she said with her eyes beaming.
“Not all of this was from Gryph.” said Spike licking up the rest of his cotton candy.
“Oh…” Pinkie said, realizing what had happened.
Twilight took one last stressful sigh and sat there thinking about tonight’s events. She was saddened to know Gryph and Flash were trying to hog her up and outdo one another and that it would ruin the supposed friendship they had. She began to wonder if they even were friends and were probably just using that claim to hide their true intentions. Perhaps a good night’s rest would help her figure everything out.
Sure enough the next day, things only seemed to get more confusing. Twilight was occupied throughout most of the morning and both Flash and Gryph were busy with their own things to do as well but when she had time, she snuck outside to keep a close eye on both of them. Thankfully she managed to see their good sides, but it made it more difficult to decide which one was best for her.
After Gryph came out of a building where hew as doing singing lessons for some fillies and colts, he saw a nearby booth with a donations box for the veterans of Ponyville and immediately went over to donate a substantial amount of bits to them. Right after that, she saw Flash helping an elderly pony cross the street followed by Gryph giving up his own ice cream to a filly who had just dropped hers on the ground. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and it gave her a headache just thinking about it. She could not make up her mind on which of these stallions would be the best partner for her. She knew both liked her and had great qualities but they needed to stop spoiling her with all the good things they did for her. She put her hoof over her face and knew right away that she had to meet with all her friends on this and figure something out before things would escalate.
Later that afternoon, she called all her friends and Spike to an important meeting in the map room of her castle.
“Alright everyone, listen up. We’re here on a very important matter.” she began.
“What happened? Is this a friendship problem we have to solve? Our flanks ain’t glowin.” Applejack said.
“Well it’s not something the map is calling us for, but it is a friendship problem I fear.”
“Does it have anything to do with all that stuff that Gryph and Flash gave you last night?” Pinkie asked, nervously.
“Sadly yes.” Twilight began to explain. “Look, not all of you might have seen it yet but it looks like both Flash Sentry and Black Gryphon have a crush on me at the same time and they’re getting way too competitive about it. I fear this could cause a huge rift between the three of us. I’ve never dealt with crushes like this and I’m really scared of what could happen so I need your help if there’s any input you can give.”
The room went silent for a few moments until Pinkie started to raise her hand.
“Um…you probably aren’t in the mood for me to say you should totally pick Gryph, riiiiight?” she said bashfully, putting up her drawing of the two of them in love.
“Pinkie Pie, that ain’t gonna help.” Applejack said sternly.
“She’s right, Pinkie.” said Dashie. “This isn’t looking too good. Did you see how Flash and Gryph both got her some food at the same time and Gryph looked upset?”
“Twilight, darling, I’ve had many crushes before, so I think the best advice I can give here is that you just need to talk with these two gentlecolts. When Applejack and Trenderhoof and I were caught in a love triangle a while ago, we talked it out and Trenderhoof seems to have moved on now.” Rarity told Twilight.
“But I don’t know what to say? They both look like they’re on the verge of getting into a huge argument.”
“Just tell them you don’t appreciate what they’re doin, Sugarcube.” Applejack added. “Ya don’t have to be mean or anything, just tell them the truth.”
“But I kinda like both of them the same. I don’t want to choose one over the other.”
“Twilight, maybe you should wait a little longer on that. You know, just not take it anywhere right now and stay friends?” Spike said walking up next to her from his smaller throne.
“I agree with Spike.” said Fluttershy. “Friendship is always the start of any relationship after all, Twilight.”
“I guess so.” Twilight said drearily. She looked down at the table for a few seconds and then looked back up with a determined face. “I think I’ve got an idea.”
Not long after the meeting, Twilight had managed to track down Gryph and Flash and find a way to get both of them to come to her so they could talk things out at her castle. There was a dance happening in the town hall and she decided to ask them if they wanted to join her. The catch was, neither of them knew that they both were asked. She figured that if they both showed up, she could explain things and then try to work out the problem before the dance and hopefully they could all join each other as friends and share equal time with her.
“Alright Twilight. This is it.” Twilight said, pacing back and forth before the entrance door to her castle. “Flash should be here any minute since he’s still housing in the castle. I just hope Gryph doesn’t take too long after him…”
“I’m ready, Twilight.” said Flash, walking in wearing a nice suit. “Oh, um, are you not going to be wearing anything or do you want me to give you some time to pick out a dress?”
“The dress can wait Flash. Look, I actually wanted to talk to you about something before we head out to the dance.”
“Oh, well alright. I’m open ears.”
“Well, the truth is Flash, I think you and I need to-“
Suddenly, the door swung open and Gryph bolted in wearing his suit and a bouquet of roses and was belting out the best song he could for Twilight on the spot.
<i>Twilight Sparkle, you make my heart feel wild and free
Twilight Sparkle, take my hoof, come with me
I’ll show you my love, girl, I’ll make you mine
Oh please, Twilight Spark…</i>
Just then, Gryph opened his eyes and stopped singing at the sight of Flash already with Twilight and dressed up for the same exact occasion. Twilight had a nervous look on her face and Flash’s face looked very confused, but Gryph didn’t realize what was going on just yet. Suddenly, a great rage built up inside him and he felt Flash had finally crossed the line.
“So, this is what it all comes down to now, Flash?” he said, tucking the roses under his wing. “Twilight and I had a great night ahead of us and you think you can just steal her from me like that?”
“Steal her?! Wait, hold on now, Twilight was going with ME to the dance, Gryph!” Flash responded, walking over to Gryph.
“Um, guys, actually, I, um…” Twilight said, trying to explain the situation.
“What?! Are you calling me a liar now? Twilight specifically said she wanted to go to the dance with me!”
“You know, Gryph, I may be a royal guard with some codes of nobility, but this is where I put my hoof down. You’re not going anywhere near Twilight!”
“Guys…”
“What are you gonna do about it? Stop me with your armor? Oh that’s right, you aren’t wearing it!”
“I don’t need my armor to protect the Princess of Friendship!”
A horrified Twilight looked on at the two stallions as they started snorting out their nostrils and pushing against one another with their heads like they were about to fight. She suddenly lost control of herself. A burst of glowing energy emanated from her horn and she hollered so loud her voice could be heard echoing throughout the castle halls.
“STOOOOOOP!!!”
Gryph and Flash backed away from each other and covered their ears. They looked up to see Twilight panting and looking more enraged than they were ever willing to see.
“Neither of you stole me, I invited both of you here!!” she screamed.
“Wait, you invited both of us?” Flash asked.
“Twilight, why?” Gryph chimed in.
“Because we needed to work this out! Did you guys think I wasn’t going to catch on that you both really like me?! I thought maybe if I got both of you in the same place at the same time we could fix this and then just go to the dance, all three of us as friends! I liked both of you and I couldn’t decide which one I should have, so I wanted us all to come to an understanding and not fight about it, but after seeing tonight’s display, I…I don’t think I want to be with either of you at all!!”
Twilight burst into tears and used her magic to take Gryph’s wrist band off that he gave to her when they met and threw it on the ground before him. She then flew off down the hallway, weeping.
“Twilight!” Gryph called, but Twilight had already disappeared behind another set of doors that she slammed shut.
He walked over and picked up the wristband and looked at it in his hoof. He then started to hear the front door creak and looked back to see Flash removing his suit and walking out the door with his head hung.
“Flash, wait!” Gryph said, rushing outside to meet him. “I…I didn’t realize she invited both of us.”
“What difference does it make anymore?” Flash responded. “We’ve both broken her heart now and she doesn’t want either of us. I lost my cool and now I’m not even worthy of the honor I’ve always claimed to have as a guard. Twilight deserves much better than me.”
Flash then spread his wings and flew off slowly into the sunset sky to get away from all the heartache he had caused. Gryph put his hoof out and wanted to call after him but just couldn’t get the words out. He looked back down at the wristband and slowly started to put it back on his left hoof.
Gryph continued to plod along without saying a word. His head hung low and his hoof-steps were slow and methodical. Ever since he met Twilight, he had never felt such happiness, but he had nothing to be happy about anymore. He had broken his dream-mare’s heart and wronged a fellow soldier. For the first time in his life, Black Gryphon didn’t feel like the good stallion he had always been.
“She deserves much better than me too.” he said as he tossed the bouquet of roses to the ground.