Flash: My routine has been mostly the same since the first day, just without as much drama. It was nice, being able to talk to Twilight every day. I had managed to convince her to just eat at least three meals a day, and she’s already looking like her old self. She still has small bags under her eyes, but it might just be me caring too much.
I also learned a lot about her and her friends. They all sound like good ponies. Fluttershy was what her name made her out to be, she worked with animals and was typically quiet. She sounded like somepony I could hang out with, along with the rest of her friends, but Pinkie Pie just sounded really hyperactive, like she’s on several energy drinks.
However, after a month and a half or regular routines, Twilight was meeting with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I was still supposed to stick to Twilight’s side, but mustn’t show any signs that either she or I is a friend, because it could lead to some suspicions.
“...So, what have you been studying Twilight?” asked Princess Celestia.
“Mostly Ancient Canterlot history, Flash and I have been working together. We went through every book there was,” said Twilight, clearly unaware of my unease, and I shifted in my seat.
“And, Twilight, who is this Flash character?” asked Princess Luna.
“Oh, uhm, he is, my… Guard, right next to me, here,” she said, stammering, and both her and I were blushing intensely.
The other two in the room looked at us both suspiciously, and thankfully, they did not see the smaller incident when Flash started to guard Twilight.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, it is simply nothing, just being as helpful of a Guard as I can be, even if it goes beyond guarding,” I stated, trying to clear up the matter between Flash and Twilight.
“Well, Flash, you seem to be a little defensive on this matter,” said Celestia.
“W-well Princess, it-” I was cut off abruptly.
“Flash, do not worry. And when you meet with us in private, feel free to use our normal names,” said Luna, trying to help out. Celestia shot a glare at her, but stayed silent.
“And, if anything Flash, it is best you continue what you are doing,” said Celestia.
“Guys, I’m still here!” said Twilight, blushing fiercely.
They soon got back on topic, talking about politics, imprisonment and the punishments to the wrongdoers. I was soon lost in the two-hour long “chat” that Twilight took him to. I added in on places where there was missing information, but otherwise, I stayed silent and sipped on his tea.
When they left, I asked Twilight why she brought up their study time together. And when I emphasized on together, she said, “Well, it’s not fair that you don’t get any credit, and the fact that you did almost half the work and helped me get through my emotional struggles, I couldn’t leave you out.”
“But you saw the way Celestia and Luna looked at us! It was almost like they thought it was... scandalous that we studied together!” I proclaimed, and quieted it down as a squadron of guards walked by, looking at us awkwardly.
“Well yes, but… I can’t leave you out of the picture! You are my friend here Flash, and I might hurt you if you feel like you don’t matter to me!” said Twilight, reaching to the point of almost shouting before realizing what she said.
“You… I matter to you?” asked Flash, thrown off by her statement.
All Twilight could do was look away, smile weakly, and blush. We didn’t speak for an awkward thirty seconds, before Twilight said, “You do matter to me, Flash, because you are the only one I can talk to about my problems,” she replied, looking up at his now smiling face.
I quickly looked away, coughing into my hoof, his muzzle going absolutely red. We walked in silence, only broken by our own hoofsteps. I only stood by Twilight’s bedchambers to be sure that she was safe, and went back to my own.
Twilight:
Why. Can’t. I. Get. Him. Out. Of. My. God. Damn. HEAD?!
Seriously. He’s just a Guard! Why, everytime I close my eyes, does he appear, smiling crookedly, in a handsome way, with his warm icy-blue eyes? His disheveled mane- ugh, fuck! I can’t stop thinking about him. Maybe Celestia can help me.
But think of what happens to the both of you. He could get sent off, be a Guard for somepony else, hell, executed for my feelings, because he probably shares them too! And the least she would do was wipe our memories of each other, and I wouldn’t have a friend!
At that thought, I began to cry. It turned into a silent sort of sobbing, and for twenty minutes I was this way before I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was greeted by beautiful birdsong. My cheeks were dry with tears from the previous night, and the sun hurt my eyes in the most excruciating way. When I could open my eyes, I looked in a mirror, and my makeup was all smeared over her face.
“Ohhhh, Celestia, how will I clean it up?” she asked herself.
Then a knock sounded on the door. I figured it was some random Guard bumping into it, but I said come in anyways. Surprisingly, the door opened, and even more surprising, it was Flash who came in, with rather casual clothes on. He noticed my state of distress and flew over in a matter of a second. That’s why they call him Flash Sentry, I thought to myself.
He grabbed my head and forced me to look at him. “Twilight, are you okay? What happened?” he kept asking questions as he pulled me into a hug, stroking my mane.
“F-Flash,” I started, sobbing, “I-I’m sorry you have to see me th-this way.”
He shushed me before I could talk any further and said, “Twilight, is this about somepony?”
Well, I couldn’t lie if I wanted to, for it spilled out of my mouth after he finished. “I really, really like you Flash.”
He blushed immediately, and it was my turn to hug him. He then wrapped one of his wings around me and led me to the outside balcony. He then said, “I might know something to cheer you up.”
“Hmm?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Would you care to go for a flight? Just a short one, maybe to the roof or a cloud?” he asked. “It always brings me joy.”
“Well… I don’t really know how to fly,” I said, looking away. “That is, I haven’t in a long while.”
“Then I will have to teach you,” said Flash. “You will probably need to fly at some point anyway.”
I only nodded. He gave me instructions as he demonstrated, “...Just keep a steady pace… Don’t strain yourself… Hey, you’ve got it!” he chuckled.
Soon, I was rising up. Then, Flash nodded his head toward the roof of the castle. I went up first, trying to prove myself, but I could tell I needed help halfway, and Flash helped me up the rest of the way. When we got to the top, my breath was taken away by the sight of the kingdom before my eyes. It was absolutely beautiful.
“So, Flash, you think we could get to a cloud?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes.
“I don’t see why not. Just, ask for help if you need it. I don’t need you falling,” he said stoically.
“Okay! Race you!” I shouted happily.
“No, Twilight! Wait! Your wings could- shit!” He said, racing after me.
I didn’t understand until my wings utterly failed me. They locked in place and I started plummeting. I could hear Flash calling my name and racing to catch me as I plummeted to my death. However, I stopped falling, thinking that I died, before I realized I was being pulled up. When we stopped, I finally opened my eyes.
“So, Twilight, how’s the view?” he asked, with a wing around my shivering body. I had expected a scolding, a ‘What in the name of Celestia were you doing?’ or ‘Are you hurt?’ or ‘I can’t believe you’d act so stupid!’ Instead, I got a cheerful question.
“It’s so, so… beautiful,” I said, the last word coming out as a whisper. A lone tear of joy came from my eye, and Flash wiped it away.
I looked at him, sitting so straight, so regal and perfect, and yet he was calm and happy with himself. When he noticed I was staring directly at him, he looked over with a small, contempt smile that I found to be quite enjoyable. So when I leaned into his chest, he tightened his embrace and kissed the top of my head. I was half startled and half overjoyed, but I remembered one thing: we cannot be together.
But instead of leaving, I stayed there for a good ten minutes, letting him stroke my mane. “Well, you are exceptionally beautiful, Twilight,” he said before he fell over on his side.
I didn’t care if boundaries divided us, I went over and pulled him up. He looked startled as I kissed him, full on the lips, and I swore to myself that he didn’t care for me at all until he was kissing me back. When we broke apart, I was gasping for breath.
“Oh, I am done for if anyone finds out. Shit, shit, shit!” I heard him whisper to himself.
He was right. If either of us were caught, Flash would probably be rejected by the Guard at best. But, then again, why is it such a bad thing? And what were those medals for…
“Flash, may I ask what your medals are for?” I asked.
“Hm? Oh, they’re for service, dedication, and trial,” he replied.
I asked him to explain further. “Well, one of them is for the amount of time I’ve spent in the Royal Guard, one of them is to prove I’m an officer, and the third is to show my trial, due to the fight against the Changelings,” he said, and I shuddered again, remembering those things.
I put my head under his chin, and he relaxed, but said, “How in the hell are we going to cover this up?”
Well, that’s what I was wondering as well. “I don’t know, but I think we could just go on with our lives, just only do whatever this is in private.”
He wrapped both wings around me as I hugged him, and I couldn’t remember a happier or more nervous time in my life. Well, at least we know we’re meant for each other. And with that, I made a growing realization, we are meant to be together, even if it’s wrong.
Flash:
I am so fucking done for is anyone finds out, especially the Captain, even worse, Princess Celestia and Luna. But I couldn’t hurt Twilights’ feelings now, and I wouldn’t want to. It was the happiest moment in my life. With her in my arms, and, well, wings, I felt as if I meant something.
“Well, it’s probably best we head down before somepony notices we’re gone,” said Twilight.
However, neither of us wanted to, but we had to. It was at least nine o’clock, and it would be suspicious if we weren’t back at the castle. When we landed back at the balcony, a servant had walked in.
“Uhm, Princess Twi- oh, there you are!” she said, clearly unaware of anything.
“Hello! Oh, what have you brought?” she asked, looking at the tray she carried.
It was clearly breakfast, but there was a letter on it. She had the servant put the tray on a desk and let her go. I went to get the letter, but Twilight was clearly in distress. She didn’t look too well, and I was going to ask her why but I saw that she was holding the letter.
“I-Is everything okay, Twilight?” I asked.
She looked up quickly, as if she didn’t know I was still here. She was chewing her bottom lip, as if trying to come up with a reason other than what was written on the letter. She gave up and said, “I’m requested to the Royal Court in three days of the boundaries of love. This is just a really, really bad time for this.”
I knew what she was talking about. We really screwed this up. She could be biased, could say she can’t make it and arouse questions, she could say the wrong thing on this topic, oh, Celestia, we don’t have the greatest timing in the Universe at all.
But, then again, it does mean I’ll be guarding her in the Court, so she’ll probably have some of the best protection. I was lost in thought on all the scenarios that could play out, I didn’t realize Twilight had walked right next to me.
“Oh, uh, can I help you?” I asked, startled.
She smiled up at me, just a simple, warm smile. “You could help me prepare.”
And with that, we immediately went off to the library, first to study the old laws and the new ones that could come up in court, and to get the answers ready with the verdict.
When we got there, the Guards at the door told us that the library wasn’t open for visitors. Well, that’s peculiar. It’s almost never closed, seeing that Twilight is always here. They said they were re-organizing the books, and that made me understand. There were hundreds of thousands of different books in the library, along with documents, scrolls, and the like.
Twilight sighed heavily and turned around, walking slowly back towards her room. I walked alongside her, making sure she’s okay. She was about to enter her room, when suddenly the Captain came barreling down the hallway.
“Emergency… garden… oh, Celestia… need… help-” And he fell over. Twilight gasped in shock, and I saw a wound along his flank, with blood seeping quickly.
“Twilight! Get him to the infirmary, now! I’ll be back soon!” I shouted, running towards the garden, grabbing his spear.
As I rushed out, I could see the scuffle between some hooded figures and the guards. I flew down, shouting, and impaled one of the cloaked ponies in the stomach. He howled in pain, dropped his weapon, and fled slowly, only to run into another Guard who pinned him to the ground. Another ran up to me, trying to get my chest, but I shoved him back down on the ground, picking up a fallen dagger, and shoved it hilt-deep into his leg, pinning him to the ground. He howled in pain and I bucked him right in the head, causing him to black out.
A third came up behind me, but I flared to the right, the blow dodged easily. He stabbed at me again, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight watching the horrid battle. Her purple coat was hard to miss. The jab at me grazed my flank, missing my chest, thank Celestia, and I kicked the blade out of his hooves, caught it mid-air, and slammed the hilt into his forehead. Another shot an arrow at me, which caught in my feathers, and I picked up a second dropped dagger and flung it at him, hitting him square in the throat. He toppled over, disappearing behind his hiding spot.
Somepony jumped me, pinning me, but he wasn’t trained enough, and forgot to pin my legs. I bucked him right off of me, flew him up fifty feet, and drop kicked the sorry shit. A pegasus intercepted me mid-air, the knife blade going through my mane. I flipped, taking the weapon out of his own hooves, and stabbed his flank, causing him to fall slowly, then plummet to his former attackers’ fate. I was tiring, the battle thankfully over. I flew down slowly, and a field medic rushed over to me.
“Sir, you do need some attention,” she said, pulling out a bandage roll.
“Hm? Oh, oh my,” I replied, looking at the long, rather shallow but bleeding wound across my flank, suddenly feeling the pain.
I laid down on the uninjured side, letting her treat me, when Twilight came bursting into the yard. She looked around, trying to spot me, and flew over as soon as she did. The medic had just finished treating my wound when she hugged me, tears flowing freely.
“O-oh Flash, what would I h-have done w-without you?” she asked, crying into my shoulder.
I shushed her, reminding her of the promise we made earlier. She nodded immediately and made me come with her. I had no idea where we were going, I was just trying to keep up with her. When we got to her chambers, I had to stop rather quickly to keep myself from running right into her.
“Come on, Flash! Come-on!” she said, trying to pull me into her room. I had to submit to being dragged.
She promptly sat on the bed, and I guess I had no choice but to follow her. “So, how’s Captain Strong Wind? I hope he’s okay,” I asked, looking down at her.
She looked up, crying, and trying to compose herself. “H-he’s fine. I’m j-just worried ab-about you, Flash,” she said, looking directly at me.
I swear, my face was on fire. I thought she had only kissed me earlier, due to the heat-of-the-moment, and I did save her life. I looked away, rather embarrassed, but she drew up closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Never, and I mean never, do something like that again. You didn’t even have your armor on! If you don’t come back, I… I… don’t know what I c-could do without you!” she sobbed, her voice breaking near the end.
I wrapped both wings around her, and she cried into my chest. The force of such knocked me on my back, so she and I were laying on the bed. I calmly stroked her mane and patted her on the back for a good hour, letting her cry, before she stopped.
“It’s okay, Twilight. I’ve come back from worse. You need not worry,” I said, looking at her.
She looked up nervously, eyes wet from crying, and grabbed my face by one of her front hooves. She moved up, and, without a second thought, kissed me gently. I was even more surprised this time, but I kissed her back as gently as she did to me. When she pulled away, she rested her head back on my chest, only she wasn’t crying.
I raised my hoof to rest on her shoulder, and she gladly accepted it. If anything, she relaxed further. “I… I love you, Flash Sentry,” she said. I was too starstruck to speak. She then rolled off me, onto the other side of the bed, and snuggled up to my side, under my arm.
“I love you too, Twilight Sparkle,” I finally said.
When she got under the covers, I got up, but she held me back. “Please, Flash, stay with me tonight.”
I couldn’t say no, but saying yes was rather hard. I just nodded, blushing harder than when she kissed me the second time and wrapped an arm around her. She cozied up to my body and fell asleep rather fast, however it took me longer to. For half an hour, I was debating to try and leave or not, and decided to stay. I had to think though, but I realized that I did truly love her, and that she loved me back.
Spike:
I really wanted to check in on the Princess tonight, but I decided to let her sleep. When I woke up the next morning, it was almost nine. I quickly ran to her room and seeing that there wasn’t a Guard there, I opened the door as fast as I could. But, there, in her room was…