“You’re being transferred.”
The words hit Flash Sentry like a slap in the face. “Pardon, sir?”
Shining Armor stared back from the other side of the desk. The desk in question, like everything else in the Crystal Empire, sparkled like a diamond. In fact, the entire office sparkled. And by Celestia, did it sparkle brightly. Back when Flash Sentry was first recruited to the Crystal Empire he had to buy a pair of sunglasses until his eyes could get used to all the reflected light.
“You heard me,” said Shining Armor. “Pack your stuff. You’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
“This... this is outrageous!” Flash argued. “I just got here a month ago!”
In truth, it was about month and a half. When Flash Sentry graduated from Canterlot Boot Camp he immediately requested that he would be posted in the Crystal Empire. In Flash’s eyes the Crystal Empire was a new and exciting frontier, full of all sorts of potential dangers lurking in the snow. His goal was to tame the northern countryside with the all-powerful discipline of civilized law and order, and the best way to do that was to stay posted in the Crystal Castle. To be kicked out just after a month and a half essentially spat upon his goals and ideals as a whole.
In short, he wanted to stay.
“With all due respect sir, I’m staying,” Flash insisted.
“Don’t be upset, Private,” assured Shining Armor politely. He showed no contempt, yet he didn’t back down in the slightest. For a hardened military leader of a winter-stricken nation, he always seemed to be a bit on the pleasant side. “This isn’t because you’re doing anything wrong.”
“Then why are you doing this? You know how much I want to be here!”
“That I do,” Shining nodded. “You want to stay here because you want to be on the front lines, correct?”
“Nothing pleases me more, sir.”
“Well, in case you haven’t caught on, the front lines aren’t here,” grimaced the unicorn prince. “The Crystal Empire may be in a frozen tundra, but it’s far from the dangerous place you make it out to be. The crime rate is at a minimum, Flash. We haven’t had so much as a bar fight around here. The scouts that we post at the borders say that no monsters live anywhere nearby; it’s too cold.
“The point is, I’ve asked Celestia for too many of her Royal Guards. We’re overstaffed. I’ve overestimated the danger of living here. It’s not that you’re not a good soldier Flash, it’s just that the Crystal Empire doesn’t need protecting. It doesn’t need you.”
Flash Sentry lowered his head, pursing his lips together. “I... I understand completely, sir.”
“Don’t take it so hard on yourself, Private,” said Shining Armor. “I’m making sure that you’re going to a place where you are needed.”
“Where’s that?”
“What brings you to Ponyville, Princess Celestia?” said Twilight Sparkle, sitting at her kitchen’s table. Princess Celestia took the liberty to pour the tea for herself, wearing that all-knowing smile on her face as always. Ponyville’s library was a cramped and tiny place, and the kitchen in particular was cursed with a low ceiling, so Celestia had to be extra careful not bump her head on anything. The visit from the sun princess had come rather unexpectedly, but Twilight had tried her darndest not to freak herself out about it. Despite her efforts however, Twilight’s anxiety over upsetting Celestia still showed.
“Please Twilight, for the thousandth time, you don’t have to call me ‘Princess’ in private,” said Celestia with a polite, motherly laugh.
“Sorry, Princess.”
Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes. She'd never win that one, that's for sure. Not willing to dwell on the subject any further, the Goddess of Dawn decided to cut to the chase.
"Twilight, we've decided that you need protection," she said.
Twilight was so surprised, she nearly spat out her tea. "What do you mean by 'we've decided?'"
"I mean 'we' as in Cadence, your brother, Luna and myself," Celestia explained. "We're all very worried about your safety."
"What do you have to worry about?" Twilight inquired. "I've got the Elements of Harmony under my roof; the most powerful magical artifacts known to ponykind!"
"Yes, but you can’t have your friends literally on your side at all times, Twilight," Celestia pointed out. "And danger isn't exactly going to take a holiday."
This wasn't the first time a subject like this had been brought up between Twilight and Celestia. When Twilight first became a princess she had soon made it very clear to her teacher that the newly-crowned alicorn wanted to lead a happy, normal life in Ponyville with her friends. After all, wasn't it because of her friends that she became a princess in the first place? Celestia complied with this, but she never truly dropped the subject.
"An alicorn is a powerful force to be reckoned with, but I know for a fact that they can still die," Celestia continued. "Why do you think I've got those guards outside waiting for me? You honestly think you can live right next to the Everfree Forest without being in danger?"
"But Celestia, I can't have a million guards following me around!" Twilight argued. "Ponyville's a small town. How can I expect to move around practically if I'm surrounded by suits of armor?"
"Yes, I know how hard it must feel," nodded Celestia. "Believe me, it took some getting used to when Luna and I first stepped into power. It felt like we had no sense of privacy with all the security we had, but we knew it was necessary and we got used to it. That's why we're going to break you into this 'royalty' business slowly."
"Slowly?"
"Yes, slowly," Celestia exhaled, thankful that Twilight was beginning to understand. What happened to the days when Twilight Sparkle was eager to please her? To the days when she was a unicorn filly that would simply die if she had been given an F? "You're only going to be given one guard. He will be tasked to the duty of running for help when you're in danger. And if the situation calls for immediate action, he has orders to employ direct force."
"That's it?"
"That's it," nodded Celestia. "Wait a minute. One more thing: He'll have to to stay in the library."
"What?!"
"Don't use that tone with me, young lady. Yes, he's going to be your roommate. What, did you think that he's going to sleep outside in the cold?"
Twilight Sparkle grimaced. "I suppose you have a point..." she said, drifting off in thought of a bodyguard dogging her every move. She began to have an unsettling feeling in her gut. Having a pony that was trained to watch over her like she was the pony version of the Hope Diamond? It would be like being a bug under a microscope.
"Good," said Celestia contently. "Glad to see that you're finally seeing things my way. He'll be at your doorstep by the end of the week."
By the end of the week...
Flash Sentry sat in his train car as the Equestrian countryside rolled past him through the window. As he looked into his reflection in the glass, he thought about how he would greet his princess.
"'Hey Twilight Sparkle, I'm Flash. Flash Sentry.' No, too casual. ‘Greetings Your Majesty, I am Private Flash Sentry. I shall be the one to protect and serve you by decree of Prince Shining Armor and-' Nah, too formal. 'Oh, hello! Didn't see you there. I'm Flash Sentry. You must be-' Okay, that's not going to work. 'Hello Princess Twilight, my name is Flash Sentry, but you might remember me as the stallion that bumped into you twice in a row.' No. That's a stupid one. 'Hi there Twilight Sparkle, I'm your personal bodyguard. You can call me Flash Sentry. Why don't we just lie down on the bed and get to know each other better?' No, that's WAY too creepy..."
The conductor's voice blared through the speakers. "Last stop, Ponyville Station!"
"Crap. Gonna have to wing it."
When the train came to a complete stop, Flash Sentry hopped off with his bags, whistling a tune in the hope to calm his nerves.
Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire...
"Is he gone yet?" asked Princess Cadence.
"He just left this morning," said Shining Armor. "I still don't understand why you had to set this whole thing up."
"But Shiiiniiinnnng~" Cadence said playfully, "it's been forever since the last time I got to play matchmaker!"
"How do you even know that they'll like each other?"
"You almost sound like I don't know what I'm doing," Cadence remarked. "It's my special talent, remember?"
There was a knock on the door of Golden Oaks Library. Twilight Sparkle stopped reading her book and turned her head towards the closed doorway. Either it was Rainbow Dash asking to pick up the next Daring Do book, or it was the bodyguard that was tasked to shadow Twilight’s every move. Twilight really, really, really hoped it was Rainbow Dash.
*Knock-knock-knock!*
Deep down, Twilight knew that she was in no such luck. Rainbow Dash never used the front door anyway. No, not when it concerned Daring Do. Dash always barged through the nearest open window like an airborne puppy, tackling Twilight and saying, “Where’s the next one? Where’s the next one?”
*Knock-knock-knock!*
At this point, Twilight was just procrastinating. She was always terrible at procrastination. It just wasn’t in her nature.
*Knock-knock-knock!*
Spike walked over from the other room, drawn by the sound of the knocking. He glanced at Twilight for a second, wondering why she was staring at the door like it could reach out and bite her. No doubt that he temporarily forgot that they were expecting a member of the Royal Guard today. Spike was always forgetful like that.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” the baby dragon asked.
Twilight sat in silence, the pressure weighing down her shoulders.
“Fine, be that way,” he grumbled. “Seems like I have to do everything around here...” Without a second thought, Spike opened the door.
“Hello my Princess,” said the stallion in the doorway, bowing to Spike. “My name is Sentry Flas-err, Flash Sentry. I’ve come to be your protector.”
“That’s really flattering,” said Spike, “but you’re talking to the wrong librarian.”
Flash Sentry looked up, meeting the eyes of Spike. “Oops, sorry! My bad!” He looked around, finding Twilight within the time of half a second. *Ahem* “Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I’m your new bodyguard. You might remember me from the Crystal Empire.”
Twilight Sparkle looked back in startlement, her cheeks blushing pink and her eyes as wide as dinner plates.
Nailed it, Flash silently congratulated himself.
The room continued to be dominated by silence.
Or maybe I didn’t nail it, Flash Sentry worried. Why is she staring at me like that? Was it something I said? C'mon, say something! I’m dying here!”
At the meantime, Twilight was having this reaction:
Words could not express how many emotions Twilight Sparkle was going through. After this endeavor, her doctor would describe that she was experiencing a minor panic attack at that moment, and it was perfectly understandable if she teleported out of the room and onto a random stray cloud about four miles away.
Which she did. Twilight Sparkle teleported onto a cloud four miles away. Wasn’t sure if that was clear or not.
“Huh? Where am I?” Twilight wheezed as soon as she stopped hyperventilating. She looked down from her cloud and instantly regretted it. The town of Ponyville was visible from a dizzying height, and she was not used to heights yet. She silently thanked that alicorns had pegasi magic along with their wings, or she would plummeting to the ground by now. She hugged her cloud tightly, not letting go for the life of her. Once she got a hold of her relatively safe surroundings, she used the quiet scenery and calm, blue sky to try to think straight.
“Okay, okay, let’s go over some facts. Facts are good. Facts are undeniable. Facts are always right. Facts keep me sane.” She took a deep breath, a technique she learned while trying to make the Crystal Empire the annual host for the Equestria Games. “Fact #1: Flash Sentry took me to the Fall Formal back in the freaky-overdressed-monkey universe. Fact #2: That same Flash Sentry was really determined to take me to that dance, so there’s a really good chance that he had a thing for me. Fact #3: Flash Sentry-another Flash Sentry-has been assigned to be my personal guard. Good, Twilight. You’re doing good. Fact #4: He’s going to move in with me. Okaaay, maybe that’s going to be awkward. You’ve been through worse, Twilight. Don’t flip out now. Keep it together, girl. Keep. It. Together. On with the list. Fact #5: Pony-Flash doesn’t know about the freaky-overdressed-monkey universe, so there’s no proof that he has any of the same feelings for me. Fact #6: My friends like to tease me that I allegedly had a freaky-overdressed-monkey for a boyfriend, BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE! HE WAS NOT MY BOYFRIEND! I WENT TO ONE DANCE WITH HIM! ONE! FREAKING! DANCE! AND CONTRARY TO WHAT RAINBOW DASH SAYS, I DO NOT HAVE A FREAKY-OVERDRESSED-MONKEY FETISH!!!”
*Cough!*
Twilight Sparkle whipped around, searching for the source of the sudden noise. Her eyes met an airborne Flash Sentry, flapping his wings to keep aloft and looking directly at her. He stared at her like she just waltzed into a five-star Canterlot restaurant, hopped onto a table, took a swig of the strongest whiskey in Equestria, and started belting out her favorite commercial jingle at the top of her lungs.
After the longest four minutes of Twilight Sparkle’s life, Flash Sentry spoke up. “Sorry ‘bout that. *Cough!* Got something in my throat.”
It was Twilight’s turn to speak. “H-how long have you been listening to me?”
Flash Sentry grinded his teeth, thinking of what to say. This was not a good first day on the job. “Uhh... would you believe me if I said that only heard the things past Fact #4?”
Silence.
“Why did you come here?” said Twilight.
“Well, when you disappeared, I got a little worried,” explained Flash, adjusting his helmet. “It’s sort of my job to worry about you, see?”
“Oh, right.”
More silence.
“Sooooo... you feel like coming down off that cloud now?” suggested the stallion.
“Not really.”
More silence, accompanied by some distant birds chirping.
“Any reason why you want to stay here, Princess?”
“I... have a hard time flying. Not really used to it. I pretty much just know how to glide and preen my wings occasionally.”
Upon hearing this, Flash Sentry grabbed another nearby stray cloud and made himself a comfortable seat. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Your Majesty. I was just the same as you when I started flying.”
“It’s the heights, too,” added Twilight. “Not a fan of heights yet.”
“Look, why don’t I just push your cloud back to the library and get to a comfortable altitude? You can just glide your way to the ground that way. It’ll take only fifteen seconds of flight, I promise.”
Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was going to be up here forever, thought Twilight gratefully. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
“...And then you can tell me what that whole ‘freaky-overdressed-monkey’ thing was about,” Flash finished.
NO! NO! NO! thought Twilight. “That’s... umm... classified information of national security!” she lied.
“It’s a matter of national security... that your friends constantly tease you about?” Flash said smugly.
“Listen smart guy, could you please just get around to moving my cloud closer to the ground?” said a rather irritated and slightly sassy Twilight.
“Is that an order?”
“Damn right it is.”
Without another word, Flash got off his cloud and started lightly pushing Twilight’s.
“Not so fast!” Twilight cried, trying not to fall off.
“Sorry, Princess,” said her bodyguard, “but I promised Spike that I’d get you back as soon as possible. He’s been worried too, you know.”
Twilight thought about this; how she never took Spike’s feelings into consideration. To make a long story short, she felt quite a bit guilty about it, but then justified herself by mentally confirming that she had bigger issues preoccupying her thoughts at the time. In the end, she decided to say nothing about it and promised herself she would apologize to Spike later.
“We’re here,” said Flash, lowering the cloud to near-ground-level. “It’s time to hop off.”
Twilight took in a breath of courage, spread her wings as wide as she could, and leapt off her cushiony platform. She wasn’t exactly Wonderbolt material yet, but she knew one aspect of flying: She loved to glide. Gliding was effortless and graceful. It was like she had a gentle breeze brushing her face all the time. It was one of the most relaxing things in the world, and it only could be beat by watching kittens play in cardboard boxes while you fall asleep in a hot tub. Twilight knew deep down, no matter how long she lived, gliding would always be her absolute favorite thing about being an alicorn. It was almost soothing enough to make her forget about all the things that Flash Sentry overheard. Speaking of which...
“How about now?” Flash asked as Twilight landed. “Feel like sharing yet, Princess Twilight?”
Twilight grunted.
“Look, I don’t know what the big deal is,” he said as he landed next to the Grand Royal Matriarch of the Ponyville Library, “and all I know for sure that you have a problem getting comfortable with me. I’ve picked up some pieces from your little speech, but my years studying criminology tell me that I need more evidence before I can come to any conclusions. I just want to know exactly what all this fuss is about, so MAYBE I can do something about it. Does that make sense?”
“Let’s... get inside,” said Twilight.
“And you’ll explain everything to me?”
She froze, her hoof on the doorknob.
“...
“...
“...
“I suppose you have a right to know some of it.”