//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Now and Then // Story: In a Crowd of Thousands // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// It was a beautiful, mid-May afternoon at the Canterlot City Park. In this park, a large group of boys and men had gathered to celebrate the end of the boys’ elementary school education and their transition into middle school. Most of the boys and men were playing various games while some stood off to the side chatting, eating hotdogs, and drinking soda. A good distance away from the festivities, a boy with yellow-orange skin and spikey, blue hair sat on a park bench while an elderly man with orange-tan skin, silver hair, and wire-rimmed glasses knelt beside him. The boy rubbed the last of his tears from his vivid blue eyes, which were red from crying. “You feeling better now, Flash?” the older man asked him. “Yeah,” Flash sniffed, looking up into the man’s eyes, “I’m better now. Thanks, Grandpa.” “You know, we don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to,” Flash’s grandfather said as the two of them stood up and the older man took his grandson by the hand. “Why don’t we take off early, and I’ll buy you some ice cream?” Flash nodded and began to follow his grandfather. “Wait!” a voice called out from behind them. Flash and his grandfather turned around and saw a boy about Flash’s age with purple skin and gray-blue hair. The boy also wore a pair of glasses with thick, black rims. Behind the boy, a tall, thin man with sky blue skin, black hair, and sharp, inscrutable facial features followed. “Hey, Micro Chips, what’s up?” Flash greeted the boy. “Are you and Grandpa Lionheart ditching, Flash?” Micro Chips replied. “Now, son,” the tall man said to Micro in a deep voice tinged with a Texas accent, “Flash and Mr. Lionheart are free to go early if they want to. They don’t have to stay just because we’re still here.” “I know,” Micro answered. “I just wanted to ask if we can leave early with them.” “Dude, you really don’t have to,” Flash objected. “I know,” Micro countered, “but I want to. Besides, I won’t have as much fun without you.” He turned to his father and pleaded, “Can we ditch with them, Dad, can we?” Mr. Chips crossed his arms as he thought carefully about his son’s request. Aside from a few frown lines appearing at the corner of his mouth, his facial expression hardly changed at all. Finally, Mr. Chips unfolded his arms and answered, “Well, I am getting a hankering for ice cream, and the refreshments here aren’t too good anyway. Why not?” “Yes!” Micro cheered as a small smile formed on his best friend’s face. Without further ado, the two boys and their parental figures began walking towards the park’s exit. Meanwhile, a girl about Flash and Micro’s age with lavender skin, an indigo ponytail, and black-rimmed glasses had just entered the park along with a college-age woman. The young lady had pink skin and tricolored hair that was also tied up in a ponytail. The little girl held a plush owl in her arms while her companion carried a bookbag full of chapter books and children’s encyclopedias. The little girl’s name was Twilight Sparkle, and she wanted nothing more to do today than stay inside and read, but her babysitter Cadance had insisted that today was too lovely to be spent indoors, so Twilight had agreed to do her reading in the park as a compromise. “Cadance,” Twilight said to the young woman, clutching her toy owl tightly, “how come you get to come home for the summer, but BBBFF doesn’t?” “Well,” Cadance replied hesitantly, “I get to come home for the summer because I’m in college, which is school for grownups. Your brother, on the other hand, is in the military, and the military is more like an actual job than it is school. Shining Armor only gets a set number of days off a year, and he’s saving them for Christmas and the winter holidays.” “Why can’t BBBFF’s job give him more days off so that he can come home for the summer?” “I,” Cadance paused, contemplating the best answer to Twilight’s question, “I’m not sure, but I do know that the military needs people working all year round. Maybe having fewer days off helps make sure that there’s always someone doing jobs that need to be done, maybe.” “Is BBBFF’s job more important than me?” Twilight asked, nuzzling her face into her toy to hide the small frown starting to form on her face. “Oh, Twilight, sweetie, of course not,” Cadance exclaimed, putting an arm around the girl. “I know Shining Armor can’t always be around whenever you want him to be, but I also know that he loves you very much and that no matter how long he has to be away, he will never, ever forget about you.” Twilight looked up at her babysitter and gave her a small smile. The two of them reached the playground and looked for a bench to sit and set their possessions down at. When they found one, Twilight set her toy owl on it and sat down next to her toy. Candance also sat down and turned away to begin rummaging through the bookbag. While Twilight’s attention was on Cadance and Cadance’s attention was on the bookbag, two boys ran by, grabbed Twilight’s toy, and ran away, laughing maliciously. “Owlowiscious!” Twilight cried in distress. She got up and chased after the boys who had taken her precious toy from her. “Twilight!” shouted Cadance, getting up to chase after Twilight. For a girl who hated physical activity, Twilight was surprisingly fast. “Give him back!” Twilight screamed at the boys as she continued to chase them. “What are you going to do if we don’t?” the boys taunted. “Are you going to cry like a baby? Like a big, dumb cry baby who still plays with dolls?” With a cruel laugh, the boys tossed Owlowiscious into a nearby tree, stranding the toy in its branches. Twilight stopped right underneath the tree while the boys kept running and laughing. “You stupid bullies!” Twilight yelled after them, trying not to cry. She looked up at the tree where her toy owl was stuck in its branches and began to jump, trying in vain to reach her toy. She knew her attempts were futile, but what else could she do? “Twilight!” Cadance cried in relief when she finally caught up to her charge. She knelt to Twilight’s level and asked, “Are you okay?” Twilight didn’t answer but pointed up at the tree. Cadance turned to where she was pointing, and her eyes widened. “Those boys did that?” she asked cupping Twilight’s face with her hands sympathetically. Twilight nodded as tears began to run down her face. Cadance knew how much that toy meant to Twilight. Twilight’s older brother Shining Armor had gotten it for her before he left for the Marines as a memento of the more innocent, carefree chapter of their lives that had drawn to a close last year. Leaving Owlowiscious stuck in the tree was not an option. “Okay, Twilight, here’s what we’re going to do,” Candance explained. “We’re going to go look for the groundskeeper and see if he has a ladder. Then, we’ll come back and get Owlowiscious down, okay?” “No!” Twilight refuted, planting her feet firmly under the tree. “Twilight, we’re not going to be able to get Owlowiscious down without a ladder.” “But if we leave, those boys might come back and take him.” Cadance groaned as she put a hand to her face. She should have known Twilight wasn’t going to want to risk losing her toy again after what had just happened. She could always just leave Twilight with Owlowiscious and look for the groundskeeper by herself, but what kind of a babysitter just leaves her charge unattended in the middle of a public place? Thankfully for Cadance, Flash, Micro Chips, and their parents just happened to be walking by. “Excuse me, miss,” Lionheart called out as he approached Cadance and Twilight. “Is something wrong?” “Oh, yes,” Cadance replied. “I was watching my boyfriend’s little sister when these boys just ran off with her plush toy and threw it into that tree.” Cadance pointed up to where Owlowiscious was perched before continuing, “We won’t be able to get it down without a ladder, but this kid doesn’t want to leave to go look for the groundskeeper.” Lionheart looked at Twilight who was still crying over Owlowiscious and then looked up at the toy. The toy owl had dark brown wings and a beige body. On its orange talons a felt note saying “Don’t forget me” was stitched. Lionheart had a feeling that someone special gave Twilight that toy and could understand why it would be so valuable to the little girl. “Why don’t I look for him for you while you and your little one stay here?” Lionheart offered. “Oh, would you?” Cadance replied. “Of course. Come on, Flash. Uh, Flash?” Lionheart looked around, noticing that his grandson had gone missing. He turned back to Cadance and asked, “Uh, miss, have you seen my grandson anywhere?” Before Cadance could answer, everybody heard a rustling from the treetop and looked up. “Flash Sentry! What do you think you’re doing?!” Lionheart shouted with wide eyes. Flash had climbed up the tree and was now shimmying towards the branches that held Owlowiscious. “I’m trying to help the girl get her toy back,” Flash replied, seemingly oblivious to his grandfather’s worry. Lionheart groaned as he put a hand to his face. Turning his attention back towards his grandson, Lionheart called out, “Just be careful, okay? You already broke your arm once doing that.” “Okay, I’ll be careful,” Flash assured his grandfather. He was about halfway to the toy. If he could just get a little closer, he should be able to just reach out and grab it. Flash slowly inched closer and closer to Owlowiscious. Soon, he was a mere arm’s length from the toy owl. He reached out and managed to grab it by the felt note attached to its talons. However, as Flash began to pull the toy towards him, he felt himself slipping from the branch he was on. “Whoa!” he cried out. Lionheart rushed forward to try to break his grandson’s fall. The action surely would have resulted in a trip to the emergency room for both grandfather and grandson if Flash hadn’t managed to catch himself and scramble back onto the branch. “I’m okay. I’m okay.” “Mercy me! Give me a heart attack why don’t you?!” Lionheart cried out. “Uh, Grandpa? How do I get down while holding onto this toy?” Flash called down. “I don’t know how to climb down using only one hand.” “Just toss it down to me, and I’ll catch it, okay? Then, climb down the way you normally would.” “No!” Twilight cried in protest. “You’re going to hurt Owlowiscious!” “Twilight, it’s okay,” Cadance attempted to mollify. “Owlowiscious will be fine.” “But what if they drop him?” the little girl whined as fresh tears poured from her eyes. “Don’t worry, little one. We won’t,” Lionheart knelt to her level and reassured her. “Someone you love gave you that toy, right?” Twilight nodded, still crying. “I would never ruin something that special, but if you want your owl down from the tree, you’re going to have to trust me, alright?” Reluctantly, Twilight nodded. As Lionheart stood up again and prepared to catch Owlowiscious, she squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with her hands. Flash took a deep breath and threw the toy owl towards his grandfather, and just as Lionheart promised, he caught it. “Got it!” Lionheart cheered triumphantly. Twilight slowly lowered her hands from her eyes, and when she saw her beloved plush toy held tightly in the older man’s hands, an enormous grin broke out on her face as she practically yanked Owlowiscious from him. “Owlowiscious!” the little girl cheered as she hugged the toy owl tightly. “Twilight, what to you say to the nice man?” Cadance reminded her. “Thank you,” Twilight said to Lionheart hurriedly before she resumed protectively snuggling Owlowiscious. Twilight was about to run off and go straight home where she and Owlowiscious can read together in safety and peace, but Cadance stopped her and reminded her that she still hadn’t thanked the boy who was climbing down from the tree. Twilight whined. All she wanted to do was go home and protect her books, her owl, and herself from the dangers of the world such as mean boys, tall trees, and falling to the ground from tall trees, but of course, her babysitter had to complicate things with matters as trivial as gratitude and basic courtesy. Nevertheless, Twilight did as she was told. As soon as Flash got down from the tree, she grudgingly thanked him. “Oh, no problem,” Flash replied with a wide, friendly smile, oblivious to the icy shield Twilight had put up between the two of them. “Grandpa and I were just trying to help. Are you feeling better now?” The little girl looked up, and her purple, bespectacled eyes met the boy’s warm, blue ones. His eyes were so warm that she could feel her defenses slowly melting, and despite herself, Twilight smiled back at the boy. Twilight shyly looked away and gave him a small nod. “That’s good,” Flash continued. “You know, Grandpa and Mr. C. were just taking me and my friend Micro Chips to get ice cream. Maybe you and your babysitter want some too. Do you want to come with us?” Unfortunately, the bold invitation caused Twilight to shrink back and refreeze the wall between her and Flash. Hugging herself and Owlowiscious, she shook her head. “You don’t want to come with us?” Flash frowned slightly. The idea of refusing an offer of ice cream was completely alien to him, so naturally, he found the girl’s behavior utterly confusing. Twilight refused to speak and shook her head again, confusing Flash even further. “What’s wrong, Twilight?” Cadance asked her charge, kneeling to Twilight’s eye level and putting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “I want to go home,” Twilight whimpered. Cadance slowly nodded in understanding before standing upright. “She’s still a little upset by what those boys did to Owlowiscious,” Cadance explained to Flash and Lionheart. “She just needs a little space right now, so I’m afraid we’re going to have to turn down the invite.” “I understand,” Lionheart replied, taking his grandson by the hand. “Well, hopefully, we’ll run into each other again, miss. It was nice meeting you.” After Cadance returned the sentiment, Lionheart and Flash returned to where Micro and his father were waiting for them while Twilight and Cadance went off in the opposite direction. “Why didn’t that girl want to get ice cream with us, Grandpa?” Flash asked. “Those boys who threw her toy into the tree really hurt her feelings,” Lionheart explained. “Some people when they get upset just don’t want to be around other people for a while.” “How come?” “Well, you know how turtles pull themselves into their shells whenever they think they’re in danger?” Flash nodded. “Some people, like that girl, do something like that with their feelings. Just give her time and space. She’ll come out when she feels safe.” “Do you think I’ll ever see her again?” asked Flash. “Maybe.” “Do you think we’ll be friends when we do?” “I don’t see why not,” Lionheart replied with a smile before ruffling his grandson’s hair. “Who wouldn’t want to be friends with a kid like you?” Years passed, and that first meeting faded into an old memory. Flash was sixteen now and had just broken up with his first girlfriend a few weeks ago, but he wished that he had done it sooner, years sooner. He had kept putting off the breakup out of fear that he was going to end up hurting her. Little did he know the breakup would end up hurting him a lot more than it did her. “You’re NOTHING to me, and you don’t mean a thing to anyone else either, never had, never will,” she had said to him, and judging by the smug smirk she had on when she walked away, she had meant every word. Flash shook off the lingering pain from Sunset Shimmer’s words as he closed his locker. Suddenly, he was jolted out of his thoughts by something hitting his leg. He looked down and saw it was a girl with long, indigo hair. “Whoa!” he exclaimed as he offered a hand to help her up. “Are you okay?” The girl awkwardly took his hand and allowed him to help her up. She nodded in response to his question, and he smiled at her before walking away. Flash frowned as he studied the mental image he had of her face. Something about that girl seemed familiar even though he was sure he had never seen her before. He remembered seeing a similar face on a much younger girl he met once when he was ten, but something about the way this new girl looked and acted told him that she was a completely different girl from the one he had met before. “It doesn’t matter,” he thought bitterly to himself. “It’s not like either girl is going to remember you.” The events of the Fall Formal confirmed that the strange girl he bumped into several times was not the same girl he had met when he was ten. Even so, he and Princess Twilight found themselves forming an attraction for each other. Unfortunately, her opportunities to visit came few and far between, and a second brush with otherworldly magic and one winter holiday season later, Flash was beginning to feel the distance between them. Well, he’s going to have to deal with that some other time. Right now, the Friendship Games was coming up, and he had been chosen to represent the school. Everyone was going to need him at his A game if they wanted a chance at beating Crystal Prep. Flash made his way towards the gym to help his teammates set up for the welcoming party that opened the games. He even brought his guitar with him; maybe he could use it to break the ice with the Crystal Preppers. He really should have been watching where he was going because before he even realized what had happened, he had collided with someone and fallen to the ground. The person he bumped into fell with him. “Twilight? I almost didn't recognize you,” Flash exclaimed in overjoyed recognition as he helped the girl up. He had yet to realize that this Twilight was not the same one he had been thinking about earlier. To his confusion, she grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him closer while squinting her eyes. Flash looked around and found a pair of glasses lying on the floor. “When did you start wearing glasses?” “Um, like, since forever,” Twilight replied. Flash raised an eyebrow at this. That answer didn’t make any sense, but she clearly needed those glasses to see, so Flash dismissed his confusion and picked up her glasses from the floor. “Oh, so how long are you here for?” he asked. “Just for the Friendship Games.” “Right. Of course. We'll totally win with you here,” Flash exclaimed as he slipped Twilight’s glasses onto her face. As her vision cleared, Twilight found herself staring into the kind boy’s vivid blue eyes. Oh, good gracious! Did this boy have beautiful eyes! Those eyes also seemed oddly familiar, as if she had seen them before a long time ago and then forgot about them. However, before she could further contemplate the familiarity of those eyes, her energy detector beeped reminding her of the task at hand. “Uh, I gotta go,” said Twilight before running off as fast as she could. “Uh, okay. Bye?” Flash called back, his earlier confusion returning. That was weird. Why did Twilight seem to not know who he was? And if she had needed glasses quote “since forever” unquote, why wasn’t she wearing them the first few times she visited? Flash pondered these questions as he resumed making his way to the gym. As he continued to think, he realized that something about Twilight seemed markedly different from the last few times he saw her, especially her eyes. No, it wasn’t just the glasses. Strange, even though her eyes were different, Flash couldn’t help but feel as if he’d seen them before a long time ago. The fact that Twilight was competing with Crystal Prep was a huge hint that she wasn’t the otherworldly princess that Flash met previously. Turning into an insane, world-ending threat was an even bigger one. More importantly, this Twilight didn’t seem to find anything about him attractive at all. Her new boyfriend from Camp Everfree was proof enough of that. Flash didn’t hold Twilight’s lack of attraction for him against her though. She was free to be with whoever she wanted even if the person in question wasn’t him. All he had to do was accept the situation for what it is and move on from it, easy. So, why can’t he get her out of his mind? Her eyes especially were constantly haunting him like a forgotten memory that was begging him to remember, but remember what exactly? The answer to those questions came one fateful June day. Every summer, Canterlot City had a huge summer festival at the park, and every year, Flash and his family took part in it. This year was no different. Twilight didn’t partake in the festivities as regularly as Flash did, but she was partaking in them this year. Unlike Flash, she wasn’t spending the day with her family. Instead, she was on a date with her boyfriend. “Here you go, boo,” Timber Spruce said to Twilight as he handed her a snowcone. “Thank you,” Twilight replied before taking a big bite out of the mound of shaved ice and raspberry syrup. She immediately regretted the action when her teeth started to chatter from the sudden cold. Meanwhile, Timber licked his lips as he prepared to do the same with his lemon snowcone. However, before he could so much as lick his snowcone, a small person ran between him and Twilight, bumped into him, and caused him to spill his entire snowcone all over his shirt. “SHELLY!” a 4-year-old girl with light tan skin and a short, lilac ponytail cried out as she chased a plush turtle tied to a bright blue balloon. The wind carried the balloon into the air and across the park, dragging the stuffed turtle with it. “My shirt!” Timber cried, staring incredulously at the mess of ice and syrup splattered all over his shirtfront. “I’m so sorry!” the girl’s mother hurriedly apologized to him and Twilight as she ran after her daughter. Timber didn’t seem to hear her as he scowled and began marching after the two of them. “Timber!” Twilight exclaimed, frowning in concern as she followed her boyfriend. The wind carried the balloon into the trees, and the balloon’s string got caught on the branches, stranding the turtle in the treetops. The little girl caught up to her toy and tried in vain to reach up and grab it. “Shelly!” she whined as tears threatened to come out of her eyes. Her mother caught up to her and knelt to her level to try to comfort her. “Hey!” Timber shouted when he and Twilight had caught up to them. “What’s the big idea bumping into a guy like that?” As if in response to Timber’s yelling, the little girl burst into tears and let out a long, piercing wail. Timber shrank back in a mixture of guilt and surprise. “Timber,” Twilight scolded him. “She’s just a kid. You didn’t have to be so hard on her.” “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Timber uttered in panic. Not knowing what else to do, he bent down to the girl’s level and began making faces. “I didn’t mean to yell. I was just being silly. See, I’m silly, silly, silly.” The girl only seemed to cry even more, much to Timber’s mortification. “Excuse me,” a voice called out. Twilight, Timber, and the girl’s mother turned to the voice and saw Flash approaching them holding a kite. Behind him were a middle-school-aged boy that looked like a smaller, darker-colored version of him and three women. Two of them were middle-aged and uncannily similar in appearance with red hair, brown eyes, and yellow-orange skin that was lighter than Flash’s. One wore glasses and had her hair up in a bun, and the other had brown highlights in her hair and a ponytail. The last woman had the same eyes as the other two and also wore glasses but was much older with pink, wrinkled skin. Her gray hair had bits of brown, hinting at its original color. “Is something wrong?” Flash asked the little girl’s mother. “The wind blew Shelly up the tree,” the little girl wailed, pointing up at her toy. Flash and his family looked up where the girl was pointing and saw a plush turtle tied to a balloon which was tangled on a tree branch. Anyone with eyes and a brain could figure out what had happened. “I could get your turtle down for you if you’d like,” Flash offered the little girl, handing the kite off to his younger brother. “Oh, no, we couldn’t possibly trouble you,” the girl’s mother protested. “It’s no trouble at all, really.” “Honey, don’t tell me that you’re planning on climbing up that tree,” the bespectacled, red-haired woman exclaimed. “Of course, I am, Mom,” Flash replied. “How else am I supposed to get it down?” “Flash Sentry, you already broke your arm once doing that,” his mother objected, crossing her arms. “Mom, it was only once, and I was eight. I’ve climbed plenty of trees since then, and nothing has happened. I’ll be careful,” Flash assured as he prepared himself for the climb. Flash’s mother sighed and put a hand to her face. Then, she put her hand down, uncrossed her arms, and gave her son a small, amused smile. Everybody watched apprehensively as Flash climbed higher and higher up the three. Something about the entire situation felt oddly familiar to Twilight, but she couldn’t figure out why. Finally, Flash reached the branches where the balloon and the stuffed turtle were tangled up in. He tried to carefully untangle the balloon string from the branches, but the task was proving difficult. As he continued to tug on the string, he didn’t notice that he was slipping off the branches until… “Whoa!” he cried. His mother screamed and covered her eyes while everyone else gasped in horror. Thankfully, Flash managed to catch himself before he completely slipped off. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” “Oh, mercy me, give everyone a heart attack why don’t you?!” the woman who was presumably Flash’s grandmother exclaimed. “Sorry, sorry.” Flash repositioned himself more securely and stared intently at the tangled mess of string and branches. “Guys, I think I’m going to need to cut the turtle loose from the balloon. I’ll still be able to get the turtle down, but the balloon’s probably a goner.” “Oh, don’t worry about the balloon,” the little girl’s mother replied. “I can deal with that later.” “Great. Does anybody have anything I can use to cut the string with?” “How about this?” the other red-haired woman asked as she pulled a folded pocketknife out of her pants pocket. “Since when did you start carrying around a knife with you?” Flash’s mother exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. “I started carrying one after I joined the Army. Besides, you never know when you need to slice through something.” “That’ll work great, Aunt Flare. I just need to climb back down and get it,” Flash replied. “Hey, Mom, can I start carrying a knife with me?” Flash’s brother asked. “Oh, sure, when you’re 22,” his mother answered with just the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice. Flash was about to start climbing down when Twilight interrupted, “Excuse me.” Everyone turned to her. “Um, I could always just bring the knife up to him,” Twilight began, “that way he won’t have to come down.” “You going to climb up after him?” asked Flash’s brother. “Not quite,” Twilight answered as her hand and necklace started to glow purple. Aunt Flare’s knife took on the same glow and floated out of her hand towards the treetops. “Whoa! You’re one of those girls from Big Bro’s school that he tells us about.” “I see my girlfriend’s reputation precedes her,” Timber bragged, proudly putting an arm around Twilight’s waist. “Timber, stop,” Twilight scolded as a small, sheepish smile graced her face. That smile was the key to the door of Flash’s memories. In his mind, Flash saw a much younger face with that same smile, and that face also had Twilight’s beautiful, bespectacled, purple eyes. Twilight was that little girl that he helped and wanted to be friends with all those years ago. “Bro! Grab the knife!” his brother called up the tree, returning Flash to the present. “Oh, right,” Flash replied, grabbing the pocketknife out of the air and unfolding it. With a single swift motion, he cut through the balloon string and caught the toy turtle before it fell out of the tree. Then, he carefully climbed down the tree cradling the plush toy and presented it to the little girl. “Shelly!” the girl cheered, taking her toy from Flash and hugging it tightly. “Thank you so much, mister.” “Oh, no problem,” Flash replied with a smile. Twilight blinked twice as she unconsciously began to stare at him. Why did those words and that smile seem so familiar to her? “Sorry that I couldn’t get your balloon.” The little girl scowled and humphed, “I don’t like balloons anymore.” Her mother stifled a laugh and said to Flash, “Thank you so much for your help. That was so kind of you.” The woman took her daughter by the hand, and they left to continue enjoying the festival leaving Flash, his family, and Twilight and Timber still standing under the tree. “So,” Flash said to Twilight, shyly avoiding eye contact with her, “thanks for the help.” “Oh, it was nothing,” Twilight replied, oblivious to the torture that her smile was putting Flash through. “You did most of the work.” “Well, you did save me an extra trip up and down the tree, so thanks anyway.” What was wrong with him? He was being attracted to Twilight because of a stupid childhood memory that she probably doesn’t even remember. More importantly, she already has a boyfriend. “Um, hey, Bro, are you done talking to your friend?” Flash’s brother once again interrupted his thoughts. “We’ve got to go. This kite’s not going to fly itself.” “Okay, I’m coming,” Flash replied. He quickly said his goodbyes to Twilight and Timber and left with his family. When the two of them were alone, Timber asked his girlfriend, “So, why don’t we try our hand at a few games? I think I just might win you a prize.” “Oh, sure,” Twilight replied before following her boyfriend. Even though Twilight’s body was at the park with Timber, her mind was elsewhere. Everything that just happened was giving her a major case of déjà vu, and she wanted to know why. She started with the little girl and the toy in the tree. Something like that definitely happened to her once. The toy owl her brother had given her had gotten thrown into a tree by some bullies. Luckily, a boy and his grandfather had been kind enough to help her, just like how Flash helped that little girl. As she focused on remembering that boy, she began noticing similarities between him and Flash. They both climbed trees and apparently broke an arm once while climbing trees. They both had the same spiky, blue hair, the same vivid, kind, blue eyes, and the same warm, friendly smile. Finally, all the pieces came together for Twilight. Flash Sentry and that boy were the same person. Upon that realization, Twilight mentally aged Flash’s face back and forth between the present and the past repeatedly. Flash’s facial features had changed over the years, but the kindness and warmth that exuded from his eyes and smile remained unchanged. That observation caused Twilight to blush slightly as she smiled to herself. Wait. Why was thinking about Flash’s face making her blush? Why was it making her smile the way that it did? Twilight didn’t even know this boy well. More importantly, she has a boyfriend, and she found said boyfriend very attractive and enjoyable to be around. “Hey, Twilight, which keychain do you want?” Timber asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Huh?” she exclaimed before remembering what she and Timber had been doing. Timber had set out on winning her a prize, and after failing to do well at ring toss and the ping pong ball game, his latest attempt was darts. To his frustration, he hadn’t been able to win her a large prize, but he did win her a keychain. Her choices included a sun, a palm tree, a beach umbrella, a balloon, and a kite. After narrowing her choices down to the palm tree and the kite, Twilight ultimately chose the kite.