//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Reunited and it Feels So Good // Story: A Prince and a Princess // by TorontoFCBrony //------------------------------// Flash Sentry rested his chin on his hoof, looking out the window as the world passed by. The train ride from Canterlot to Ponyville felt like it was taking forever this time. The prince had taken this trip many times before, but this time was different. This time he had a few bags of his belongings with him, but he wasn't going for just a visit. Flash was permanently moving to Ponyville to live with his wife in her new castle. As Flash watched the beautiful autumn landscape pass by, the leaves on the ground, the fluffy, white clouds in the sky, he was putting together everything that had happened as of late. It had been a long and hard time, the last few months. The pegasus was getting used to his role as the leader of the Canterlot Royal Guard, thanks to the previous captain, Shining Armour, when everything changed. The two were separated—Flash taking care of his new captain assignment in Canterlot, Twilight taking care of her new royal duties in Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. Flash also had to get used to ponies calling him "Prince Flash Sentry", which was quite different from the usual names he was used to being called ever since his foalhood[1]. -------------------------------------- [1] Nicknames like Brad Sentry, Dumbass, and so forth. -------------------------------------- It was difficult to be separated so soon after marriage. The couple had an amazing honeymoon where they did lots of different things together[2], but then things became serious, throwing a wrench into their early marriage. After only a few weeks of being married and living in Canterlot, they had to go their separate ways. Twilight's new royal duties were not to just stand around and wave to her subjects—they meant so much more. In fact, once again, she had to become the savior of the entire kingdom while Flash Sentry had to sit idly by and wait for things to become normal again. -------------------------------------- [2] Not really. They only did one specific thing in particular... -------------------------------------- But the time finally came for Flash to be reunited with Twilight Sparkle and her friends as the train turned the corner, Ponyville dead ahead. After months of being separated, spending no more than a few hours with each other to catch up while in the Crystal Empire, the two were ready to become permanently reunited with each other. Flash nibbled on his hoof, worried about how things would be between them upon meeting again. After what felt like an eternity, the train finally pulled into the Ponyville station. As the wheels squeaked and squealed, Flash could see his wife waiting patiently on the platform. She hadn't noticed him on the train yet, but when it finally stopped, Flash's window was right in front of her. As they made eye contact, Twilight waved with an eager smile, and Flash could feel his heart pounding. As fast as he could, Flash grabbed all his belongings, a few bags in total. He ran past everypony, possibly even pushing some old mares over in the process, to be the first pony out of the train. He ran towards his bride, dropping his bags, and the two embraced with a firm hug. "Twily," Flash said into her ear, "I missed you so much." "I missed you too, Flashy," Twilight replied. Flash Sentry rested his head on her shoulder as he nearly began to cry. "No, I mean, I missed you more than anypony has ever missed anypony before." "Um, Flash—" "I missed you with every fiber of my body and soul," he replied as his head was still buried in her shoulder, and he began to move her left and right as he kept her shackled in his embrace, latching onto her. "Yeah, um," Twilight responded as she began to look around. Many other ponies were now staring at them. "Yeah, I think you missed me a little too much there, big boy." The mare broke off the hug and took a step back. The two of them made eye contact, a fire burning in their cheeks, and burst into laughter for a few seconds, before calming down with a few more chuckles. "Well... can I go see our new castle now?" Flash asked with a massive grin. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Our castle?" "Yes, our castle," Flash responded proudly. "Now that we're married, we have to share everything!" Twilight bobbed her head while in thought. "I suppose you're right. You should come see how big our new bed is!" "Can't wait to break it in!" Flash replied, a lot louder than he realised. The two of them looked at each other silently for a second and shared a quick burst of laughter. -------------------------------------- "Hello? Flashy?" Twilight asked her husband as he continued to stare up at the massive castle in front of him. He hadn't blinked for over a minute, and he was beginning to salivate. "This... is our castle?" he asked with a mystified tone. Twilight chuckled, covering her mouth with a hoof. Putting one of her forelegs over Flash's back, she answered, "Indeed it is! Just wait until you see the inside of it. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised!" Flash tilted his head towards his mare, still wide-eyed. "Can we check out the bedroom first?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to see some of the others first? They're already inside, waiting for us." "It'll only take a few minutes..." "Flash, no," Twilight answered sternly. The stallion put his head down, answering quietly, "Okay, fine." So, Twilight led her husband up the golden steps and through the similarly-coloured double doors. The immaculate interior of the castle was unique in the land of Equestria. It had characteristics similar to the Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace, but with a darker tone. The wall and floor material weren't as shiny as the two other royal palaces, but the castle still had a royal feel to it. It was Twilight's castle; the castle of a young mare who was never born into royalty, but controlled her own destiny. With awe, Flash trotted down the main hallway with his wife, looking at every detail on the walls, floor, and ceiling as they made their way. "Over there is the game room," Twilight said, pointing a hoof. "Game room?" Flash asked excitedly. "Yep," Twilight nodded. "Over there is the kitchen and dining room." "Kitchen and dining room?" Flash asked again. "Indeed," Twilight answered again with a smile. "Over there is the bathroom." "Bathroom?" Flash asked, keeping up his excitement. "Every house has a bathroom, Flash," Twilight answered flatly, yet happily. She missed the excited and foalish personality her husband had. "I know, I know. I don't mean to be so excited," the pegasus responded. He turned towards Twilight, putting his hooves on her shoulders. "It's just... this is our house!" "Ow," Twilight muttered as Flash began to shake her in his fit of happiness. "This is our castle!" he reiterated. "Flash, gentle, please," Twilight said as he shook her harder in excitement. "These are the walls where our foals will grow up," he said, giving her another shake. "Flash, stop!" Twilight yelled as she broke away from him. She panted for a second, and then giggled. "I know you're excited—I am too—but we still have the rest of the castle to check out." "Okay." Flash took a few deep breaths and bounced a few times like a hoofball player about to take the field. After calming down, he replied, "I'm ready." Twilight continued to give him the full tour. She showed him the magnificent bathroom with a gold jacuzzi. He showed great excitement at seeing the kitchen and the massive fridge inside of it. He also showed great excitement at the lounge. In fact, to keep it simple, he just showed great excitement overall. But one of the most interesting things about the new castle was Twilight's throne room, which had seven thrones. "Okay, one for you, your five friends, and wow," he said, pointing at the smaller throne beside Twilight's, "you even have one for me!" "Um, that's for Spike," Twilight answered, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "You don't exactly have a throne." "Oh." "But you're still going to be my most important consultant," Twilight replied, giving her husband a hug and a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. He hadn't felt the soft lips of his mare for quite a while. After ending the hug, Flash asked, "Hey, where are your friends, anyway?" "They're in the library. It's the third door on the left. It's the last room I wanted to show you today," Twilight answered. "Let's go!" Flash exclaimed. They made their way to the library. The prince was able to greet Twilight's five closest equine friends and her dragon assistant, who were all thrilled to see him once again. Boring small talk and catching up ensued for a few minutes, and then the stallion decided to have a look around the room. Flash looked at the massive walls, filled with books, that went all around the room, only stopping for a large, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out on the whole town of Ponyville. The pegasus instantly knew that this would be where Twilight would spend most of her free time from then on. He trotted his way back to the middle of the room, looking directly at a large contraption of some sort. "Uh, what's this?" he asked while looking at it. It was a machine of some sort, made up of various metals and other parts, with a mirror in the middle. He gave it a tap, causing a few of the pieces to shake and creak. "Be careful!" Twilight said while reaching a hoof on it, stabilizing it. After thinking for a second about how to explain what the machine actually was, she answered, "You know how, after Celestia gave Sunset Shimmer to me as an assistant, I sent her back to make things right in the human world?" "Yeah. She's not back, is she?" "No. In fact, she sort of liked the world that she moved to. When I sent her back, it took a while, but she made things right with the others there. She found the other Sunset Shimmer in that world and reunited her with her family, apologizing and explaining everything to them. When three new villains from our world ended up there, Sunset was able to inform me of it magically, and I built this contraption to be able to access that world at any time. After we were able to defeat them, Sunset decided she wanted to stay there permanently, and not return to Ponyville. She's happy there now, and she's moved on with her new life, and the other version of her moved on with her life, so I allowed her to stay." "That's nice of you, Twily," Flash replied as he put a hoof around his mare. "Yeah," Twilight responded, running a hoof through her lavender mane. Flash smiled back at his mare's cute, nervous way of accepting praise. "Hopefully one day she can come back and tell me the story of how she made things right with the other Sunset. " "I'm pretty sure she'll come back soon," Twilight responded happily. "After all, she can come back at any time." "But I have a weird question," Flash said as he put one hoof through the magic mirror, quickly taking out after the weird feeling it gave him. "What?" "If we all have a human counterpart, and Sunset Shimmer was able to meet hers and make things right, and you already met mine a few times, doesn't that mean that you have a counterpart too, that possibly knows nothing about any of this?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she put together her husband's words. "I've never thought of that..."