//------------------------------// // Trip to the Crystal Empire // Story: Make them budge // by Aurora_Glow //------------------------------// Twilight looked out the window of the train, a dreamy look on her face. The girls were taking a trip to the Crystal Empire to visit Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart. Spike had decided that he wanted to stay in Ponyville for a "guy's night" with Big Mac and Discord. Twilight had been more than happy to accept the invitation when Shining Armor told her to visit, eager to visit her family. But that wasn't the only reason she was so excited. Twilight also wanted to see a certain pony... "Thinking of somepony?" a familiar voice asked, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight looked over at Rarity, who was smirking. "I'd recognize that look anywhere darling," Rarity said. "Somepony's in love! I think I know who you're thinking about!" Rarity sing-songed. Twilight blushed. "No I'm not!" she protested. "I'm just really really excited to see my family!" Rarity gave her a look, not buying the act one bit. "Darling, you can't fool me!" she said. "It's a lady's instinct. So, thinking about Flash Sentry again? He is quite dashing." Twilight blushed harder. "No," she stubbornly said. "I was not thinking about Flash. He's just a friend." Over the years, Twilight had gained a friend in Flash Sentry. You can only bump into the same pony so many times till you actually start having a conversation after all. It started with Twilight getting too guilty when she bumped in Flash for the hundredth time, so she gave him an apology card and treated him out to lunch. One thing led to another, and now she exchanges weekly letters with Flash. He became a really good friend of Twilight's. That didn't seem to have stopped her from bumping into Flash though. But they were just really good friends, and Twilight definitely didn't have a crush on Flash. "But Twilight," Starlight said, joining into the conversation. "Don't you remember? The day Flurry Heart forced me to confront my feelings about Sunburst? I said that my relationship with Sunburst was just like the one you had with Flash . And since I'm dating Sunburst now..." Twilight looked daggers at the smirking unicorn. "We. Are. Just. Friends," Twilight growled. But that only made the smirks on Rarity and Starlight's faces grow larger, making the alicorn facehoof. "Oh puh-lease Twilight," Rainbow said. "We all know you fancy that guy. Speaking of which A.J, I bet you five bits that Twilight bumps into Flash three times this trip." Applejack smiled. "You're on. I bet Twilight bumps into Flash two times," she said. The two mares spit onto their hooves and shook them. A confused Twilight watched them. "Umm girls? What are you doing?" she asked. "Didn't you know sugarcube?" Applejack said. "Me and Rainbow take bets on how many times you'll bump into Flash each time we are gonna meet him. Sometimes the others join in too. By the way, who wants to make a bet this time?" "I think I'll sit this one out," Rarity said. "But you girls have fun." "I'll sit this round out as well," Starlight said. "But please do tell me the results. I'd love to know if anything really happens this time round." Twilight glared at her, and Starlight simply shrugged. "I bet she'll bump into Flash five times!" Pinkie said, bouncing in her seat. "We have a looooong trip in front of us!" Twilight turned to glare at Pinkie. "That's ridiculous! I'm not going to bump into Flash that many times! I don't think I'll even bump into him at all!" Twilight exclaimed, frustrated. "Umm... I bet she'll bump into Flash one time," Fluttershy spoke up. Twilight stared at the yellow pegasus, aghast. "Fluttershy! Not you too!" Twilight said exasperatly. Fluttershy only shrank back into her seat and avoided her friend's gaze. "Well, you do bump into Flash an awful lot..." she said in a voice no louder than a whisper. Twilight could only groan. There was no reasoning with her friends. "Oh come on Twi! It's been six years!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Since you still haven't made a move on him, the least we can do is have fun with the whole thing." Twilight's glare intensified. "How many times do I have to say this? WE. ARE. JUST. FRIENDS!" the mare shouted, causing the other passengers to look at her. "Oops. Sorry," she apologized, covering her mouth with her hoof, embarrassed. Luckily for her, the train arrived at the Crystal Empire at that moment. The group walked out and found Cadance, Flurry Heart and Sunburst waiting for them. Cadance and Twilight did their special greeting dance, while Starlight excitedly ran towards her coltfriend, nuzzling him and giving him a peck on the cheek. Sunburst nuzzled her back. The other girls went to greet Cadance and Flurry. Flurry excitedly gave each of her aunts a great big hug. Twilight looked at Starlight and Sunburst. Both had happy smiles on their faces and were catching up. Her mind couldn’t help but drift towards a certain orange pegasus. Wait what? No no no no no! she panicked internally. I'm not in love with Flash! He's just a friend. Nothing more. Just a friend... right? She shook her head to clear herself of her thoughts. To her right, Cadance looked at her sister in law knowingly, recognizing the look on her face. You can't fool the princess of love after all. "Cadance, Flash Sentry is still stationed at the castle? Right?" Rainbow Dash asked, noticing her friend's look as well. Cadance sniggered. "He is!" she answered. "But I did make sure that his schedule was a bit less full this week. Speaking of which, what are you girls' bets this time round?" "YOU KNEW?" Twilight asked, alarmed. "Does everypony speculate and bet on my love life that I don't have? What else are you guys betting on?" "Don't be silly," Cadance said. "Of course not all ponies are speculating or betting! Shining Armor doesn't know. Who knows what his reaction's gonna be when he finds out. We keep it from him." "Yeah!" Pinkie said. The pink pony bounced up and down, unbothered by the frown on Twilight's face. "If he finds out that his little sister has a crush, he might destroy Flash! And we don't want that silly. So he doesn't know about the bets." Twilight said nothing, only fuming silently. "Also Cadance, to answer your question, I had bet that Twilight's gonna bump into Flash three times, Applejack had bet she's gonna bump into him twice," Rainbow said. "And Pinkie said five times, while Fluttershy said once." Cadance nodded, smiling, while Twilight only glared harder. Meanwhile, Flurry Heart watched the adults talk and cocked her head to a side. Auntie Twily's acting weird, she thought. Why's she grumpy? Who are they talking about again? Who's Flash? That name sounds familier... Oh! He's the nice guard who sometimes gives me lollipops! I like him! I wonder why they are talking about him?