Princess Celestia froze.
During the course of her immortal life on the planet Equus, Princess Celestia had gone through many shocking, scary, and traumatic experiences. She had watched as loved ones and friends died as she continued to live on. She was the one who sent her sister to the moon, the one who was fueled by anger and betrayal to seal Discord into stone and to lock Sombra away, along with her sister's help, of course. And after she had endured such things, she thought that nothing could surprise her anymore.
She, however, was wrong.
Slowly, the sun princess levitated her cup of tea onto a table and turned to face her most Faithful Student.
"What was that, Twilight?" She questioned. Perhaps she had misheard.
"I said, I'm going on a date." Twilight said.
Oh.
"Oh," Celestia gulped. "With whom?"
"Nopony special, just some royal guard named Brad Sentry." Princess Sparkle replied.
"Brad Sentry?" Asked Celestia.
"Well, his real name is Flash, but I suppose Brad is just a nickname."
"Twi, are you sure you want to go on a date with that guy?" Asked the baby dragon who sat beside Celestia.
"Well, technically, it's not a real date," Twilight answered. "He was just so happy, so I decided, why not throw him a bone?"
"Well, I wish you the best of luck." Princess Celestia said.
Spike looked up at the white alicorn with an aghast expression.
"Thank you, Princess," Twilight bowed her head. "He should be here any sec-"
The doors to the room swung open and an orange pegasus wearing a black shirt strutted in.
"Why, hello there, Twilight." The pegasus spoke as he popped his collar.
"Oh, hi, Fla-"
"Yes it is I, Flash Sentry." Flash stated. "But, you know that already. But, I mean, who doesn't?"
"Yeah..."
"Well then, come along, Twilight," Flash Sentry said. "We mustn't keep the public waiting for the greatest couple to ever grace Equestria!"
"Okay. Bye!" She called as she trudged after Brad.
Spike and the princess sat there for a minute, not moving, not blinking. Just staring at the two ponies, and they kept staring, mouths agape, long after they rounded the corner. It took a few minutes, but Princess Celestia finally regained composure and quickly magicked the door shut.
"I say we destroy him." Spike said as soon as Celestia shut the door.
"No, Spike, we can't do that, it's unethical and just plain wrong."
"But, you saw what he was like! He was a total dou- er, jerk!"
"Maybe, but do you know this for sure?"
"No, but I um, er, I...Uh..."
The sun goddess quirked an eyebrow.
Spike sighed. "Okay, okay. I get your point. But, isn't there some way we can know for sure?"
Celestia grinned mischievously. "Well, we could spy on them while they're on their date."
"Aw, yeah! You're awesome, Princess!" Spike cheered.
Princess Celestia couldn't help but chuckle as they brohoofed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
"Well, Spike, what do you see?" The princess asked the baby drake, who was looking through a pair of binoculars.
The duo was currently peering out from behind a bush at Flash and Twilight, who were dining at a new fancy resturant that had opened a few weeks ago. Neither alicorn nor dragon could remember the name of the place. Luckily for the two, Flash Sentry and Twilight had decided to eat outside.
Spike gasped. "Princess! Flash! He- he...!"
"What?" Princess Celestia inquired, rather worriedly.
"He didn't even pull out the chair for Twilight!" The baby dragon cried.
Celestia rolled her eyes.
Spike turned to the goddess. "Can you believe that, Princess!?"
Princess Celestia smiled, and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Perhaps he realizes what a strong pony Twilight really is, and that she is perfectly capable of pulling her chair by herself."
Spike frowned. "Maybe..."
The night wore on as Spike continued to make observation and complaints about Flash's behavior and mistakes, how Twilight didn't smile once the entire night, and how Flash didn't pay the gosh darn check. The pegasus and purple alicorn eventually left the eatery and the two teleported after them. They appeared just in time to catch Twilight and Flash Sentry talking outside the castle, luckily they were not seen as they were in another bush.
"How come we're always in bushes?" Spike asked nopony-in-particular.
Celestia looked on intently at the two ponies having a conversation. She sighed in relief. Twilight would say goodbye to this colt and it would be her, Twilight, and Spike again. Oh, and Twilight and Spike's friends, of course. But, none of those friends had the bond or the pseudo-family dynamic that the three shared. Princess Celestia always thought it was sweet how they were like her children, and vice versa. With Twilight being the big sister, Spike the little brother, and Celestia the mother. It always made the immortal alicorn happy, seeing as she never had children of her own, and now she felt like she would never need them, since she had Twilight and-
Celestia was cut off from her thoughts at the sight of Brad about to lock lips with Twilight. Luckily, the purple alicorn recoiled in shock, her eyes the size of pinpricks.
Celestia suddenly felt something in the pit of her stomach. It felt...hot, it felt like...something was burning. Then, the sun princess realized what it was. It was anger. Not just anger, but pure rage. The anger burning inside her was hot enough to turn her own sun white.
'How dare he!?' The angered god thought. 'How DARE he!?'
The sun goddess was beyond outraged, for how dare that falsely-entitled, self- centered, jerk try to kiss the personal student of the princess!? It was then that Celestia had realized that everything the young drake had about Flash said was correct!
Princess Celestia lit up her horn and focused on Flash Sentry. Spike had to use his arm to shield his eyes, for the brightness of the Princess' horn was too much to bear. Suddenly, Brad Sentry vanished, much to the confusion of Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia vanished as well, leaving Spike to sneak back into the castle.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Flash awoke with a jolt, and took in his strange surroundings. The place he was in didn't seem to be a place at all. Just a space made up of various colors. The pegasus scratched his head thoughtfully. He could have sworn he was just with Twilight Sparkle.
'Twilight Sparkle,' The royal guard thought. 'That dumb mare must have done this to me.'
"That 'dumb mare' is my faithful student, Brad." A voice said.
Flash turned to see Princess Celestia herself walking towards him.
"Princess Celestia? What am I doing here?" Flash asked.
It doesn't matter where you are," The alicorn said. "It only matters where you are going."
Oh, this is the dreamscape, right? They talked about it in the newspaper," Flash gasped. "Oh, am I going to become an alicorn!?"
Princess Celestia rolled her eyes.
"Who am I kidding? Of course I am! I deserve nothing but the best." He stated.
The goddess glared at the smaller pony. She shoved her face near his, becoming eye-to-eye with him.
"I only have one question for you..." She said.
Flash gulped. "Yes?"
"Do you like bananas?" She questioned.
"...What?" He asked
"Do you like bananas?" She repeated.
He shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I guess.
Celestia smiled. And that smile turned into a giggle, and that giggle became a chuckle, and that chuckle became a loud, belowing cackle. This earned a few nervous chuckles from Flash.
Suddenly, the colt felt something grab him. He looked down to see the Princess' aura surrounding him. His eyes lit up and a smile stretched across his face. His was lifted into the air, ready to transform at any moment. He was lifted higher and higher, faster and faster. Until he smashed through the dreamscape and into the sky as the plane itself began to shatter around him. He rocketed through the air and Flash burst out into space, he passed stars, meteorites, and planets. Flash's face lit up as he approached his destination. The sun. Flash Sentry fought back in vain as he approached the big gas ball. In milliseconds, the royal guard crashed into the giant star's surface disappearing into the ball of gas.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Princess Twilight Sparkle walked into her mentor's bedroom to see Princess Celestia and her younger brother Spike sitting and playing a nice, little game of chess.
Celestia turned to her Most Faithful Student. "Oh, Twilight, how are you?"
"Hi, Princess, hi, Spike." Twilight said, wearily. "I'm fine."
"So, how was your date, Twi?" Spike grinned.
Twilight frowned. "Oh, it was...less than adequate."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Twilight." The Princess told her.
"Me, too." Spike added.
The purple pony princess gave them a weak smile. "Thank you."
Celestia nodded, taking a sip from her cup of tea.
Spike moved his royal guard across the board, successfully capturing the king. "Checkmate."
The white pony smiled. "Well played, Spike."
"Um, if you don't mind, can I head off to bed?" Twilight asked. "I'm rather tired."
"Of course." Celestia said.
"Yeah, you've had a long day." Her younger brother added.
The purple alicorn yawned as she left. "Thank you."
"So, is he, y'know, uh, um, dead?" The baby drake asked as soon as Celestia shut the door.
"Of course not," The white alicorn said. "While many ponies may think such a punishment was too harsh-"
"I don't."
"While many ponies may think such a punishment was too harsh," Celestia continued. "I'm not a monster, so, no, of course not."
"Seriously?"
Princess Celestia nodded. "In fact, it's quite a nice place. I've been there a few times myself."
"Whoa," Said the young dragon. "So, how long are you gonna keep him up there?"
"Oh, not long," The Princess drank some of her tea. "Maybe a week..."
Spike smiled up at her.
"Or two..."