• Published 2nd Aug 2013
  • 7,298 Views, 72 Comments

To My Princess, on the Day of My Departure - D G D Davidson



Before leaving on a two-year tour of duty in Zebrabwe, Flash Sentry pens a letter to Twilight Sparkle, telling her of his failure.

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To Flash Sentry, Now that You're Gone

To My Princess, on the Day of My Departure

by D. G. D. Davidson

II.

Dear Flash Sentry,

Your letter surprised me. You don’t need to feel bad about writing to me, and you don’t have to call me Your Highness or anything like that. I’m still not completely comfortable with the whole princess thing. I know I’m supposed to rule a kingdom someday, but right now I hope it’s not anytime soon: I like living in Ponyville where I can just be the librarian and study and spend time with my friends. I don’t even wear my crown most of the time.

And you didn’t run into me at the princess summit. I ran into you, so don’t feel bad about that, either.

In the past few days, I’ve read your letter over and over again, trying to understand it and trying to decide how to respond. I know you’re probably somewhere over Camelu by now, maybe even somewhere farther south. I’m not sure if this letter can reach you or not; obviously, there’s no Pony Express outside the border, and there’s nothing on the schedule showing another ship heading that way anytime soon. Unless I can work out a delivery spell that can reach a moving airship, I’m afraid this is just going to sit on my desk until you come back.

Two years, Flash? That’s a long time. Maybe it will go quickly; after all, I’ve been in Ponyville for three years now, but sometimes it feels as if it were just yesterday that I arrived as a young student who didn’t care at all about friendship. I hope the time does go quickly. I’d like to talk to you, and I wish you hadn’t run off like this.

I admit it’s true that I didn’t know about you before the princess summit, but, in a way, I feel almost as if we’re friends, even though we only met briefly and barely spoke to each other. You see, something happened at the summit, something strange. I don’t really know how to say this, and I don’t really want to say it, but you were honest with me, so I need to be honest with you. Besides, I know we won’t see each other for two years, so, like you, I feel I can say things now that maybe I wouldn’t say otherwise.

While at the summit, I traveled through a magical mirror to another world, and I met ponies there . . . well, no, they weren’t ponies. I’m not sure what you’d call them. They walked on two legs, and, instead of hooves, they had hands, which had thumbs on them so they could hold things. Many of them were like ponies I know, and they even had the same names.

One of them looked a lot like you, and, while I was there, I got kind of close to him. He helped me out once when I was in trouble. He watched out for me, just like how you say you want to watch out for me someday.

The second time I ran into you was shortly after I came home to this world. Seeing you after seeing him . . . well, it left me confused. I’m still confused.

I don’t think you’re a failure, Flash. I feel I failed you instead. Since I got your letter, I’ve kept thinking back over what happened when my friends and I went to Wuvy-Dovey Smoochy Land. I keep wondering if we could have done something different, if we could have somehow kept the Trail of Blood from happening. I let you down, Flash. It’s my own fault, not yours.

What you went through sounds really awful, but I know you did the best you could. Remember, you saved five luvcats on your back, and those five wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you. They’d love you no matter what, of course, but I know that, deep down, underneath that love they have to show you, they genuinely appreciate what you did for them.

My friends and I are often at the luvcat refugee camp these days, mostly distributing food and helping out the doctors working there. When you get back, if you think you can, and if we haven’t found a better place to move them to by then, you should join us. If you’re up to it, I think you should visit the ones you rescued, at least. I’m sure they’d want to see you.

We did talk a lot about the luvcats at the princess summit, as you guessed. Maybe things don’t have to be as bad for them as you think. Princess Luna suggested that we might be able to give them their own space where they can live away from ponies; that way, they could build their own society again instead of just showing affection to everypony all the time. Princess Cadance is doing research into love magic; she thinks she might be able to use her powers to change their reactions a little so they can live alongside ponies the same way griffons or minotaurs or gnomes can. We’re still working on it, but we’ll come up with something. Someday, those luvcats you saved will be able to tell you how they really feel, and not just how they have to feel about you.

Speaking of real feelings, I think it was the last part of your letter that left me the most confused. To be honest, after I read it, I was in bed for a day. I felt all twisted up and sick, almost as if I’d come down with feather flu. Nopony’s ever said something like that to me before, and I really don’t know how to respond. I didn’t even know what friendship was until just a few years ago, and this . . . I really don’t know anything about this.

Oh, why didn’t you talk to me instead of running off, Flash? Did you think I was somepony important? Did you think I don’t talk to ponies anymore just because I’m a princess? I’m the same old Twilight Sparkle I’ve always been, and I have a hard time getting everypony to understand that. I wish you and I already knew each other well, and then I’d know what to think and what to do and how to talk to you, and I wouldn’t have to be so confused!

Whenever I try to think of you, I always end up thinking of him, that other Flash Sentry I met in the other world. I admit I had some strong feelings for him. I forget that he’s not you and you’re not him, and I get all mixed up.

It’s not fair to you that I have an image of somepony else standing in your place in my mind. The things I shared with him, I never shared with you, even though it feels as if I have. I’ve only just met you, yet I feel I already know you. Is any of this making sense?

I don’t know what to think. Two years? Maybe two years is right after all. Maybe, in two years, I’ll have things sorted out.

I don’t think you’re a bad guard, Flash. I don’t think you’re a failure. You fought bravely to save others on the Trail of Blood, and you were thinking only of the luvcats, not of yourself. I could tell that from what you wrote. Please don’t feel bad.

I admit I am mad at you, though, not because of what you did there, but because you’ve run away to Zebrabwe instead of talking to somepony. You don’t have to do anything to make me think you’re “worthy” somehow. I think you’re a wonderful guard already.

You’ll probably never even read this, but writing it has made me feel better.

I don’t know where I’ll be in two years. Maybe I’ll have a kingdom already, though I hope not. Wherever I am, when you come home, please come find me. I think we should talk.

Stay safe, Flash. And hurry back.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

Comments ( 31 )

You're a wizard, DGD.

Must say, I do prefer Twilight's response over the original letter

Amazing, once again. I hope there's more correspondence between the two after this.^_^

It's good to know that Twilight understand...

After reading this, all I can think about is this song.

Who's inexplicably downvoting all the positive comments? :rainbowhuh: Judging from the comments at EqD, I'd say some hardcore Flash-hater...

Seeing all these comments downvoted is hilarious.

Anyway, I love this. First Flashlight fic I've read, and I hope any future fics I read do Flash justice. You get a thumbs-up from me.

WHO THE BUCK IS DOWNVOTING THE COMMENTS?!?! :flutterrage::flutterrage::flutterrage:

this is a great story!:twilightsmile: I nearly cried, but I didn't. :fluttershysad: This was my expression

looks lime someone has read the friendship is magic comics lol

Downvotes simply because he's Flash Sentry? Where have I seen that before?

Oh, right...

Anyways, congrats on getting featured on Equestria Daily with a Flash Sentry story! It's damn hard to do that.

Wait, what.
That's it?
I WAS TOTALLY EXPECTING MORE CHAPTERS :raritydespair:

Please continue this.

NO! This can't be the end!:raritydespair:

Could we see a continuation where letters to each other over the course of the two years he's on tour make it back and forth? A long-distance romance via postal service? Maybe powered through Derpy?

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk

Hmm. I really like the first chapter. The second...I feel detracts from the first. It's tempting to blame that on the reveal that it's Flash Sentry writing the letter, but I think that's really not the problem. The problem is Twilight babbling about his human counterpart.

The letter that is chapter one is moving. It relates some common experience between himself and twilight, and it welds it together plausibly enough to think that he might someday become her personal guard and that romance might bloom between them. It totally stands on its own. But then you have Twilight clearly being emotionally moved not by the letter, not by the pony writing it... but instead by her past experiences with somebody totally else in another universe that she's associated with him.

That totally kills the effect of the letter. Suddenly instead of common experience, or even destiny...it's more like romance by proxy. Imagine if you rescued a damsel from a burning building and she swooned over you for it. Now imagine instead that somebody totally else rescued her from a burning building, and that person happened to be wearing a red shirt, and she saw you the following day and you were wearing a red shirt too so she swooned over you because you reminded her of the guy her rescued her.

That's not romantic. And that's what Twilight is doing.

Oh that's so sad. I love it..... :pinkiesad2:

3136703

Thank you. I much appreciate it. The EqD pre-reader who took it says not a lot of fanfic writers are using the comics, so I'm happy to be ahead of the curve on that one.

I think I'm pleased with the way it turned out, but it took a lot of reader input to get it to this point.

Oh wow. This is quite a nice response from Twilight. :twilightsmile: I think it's almost like they feel the same way for each other. Flash loves her though he's never really met her. Twilight is also sort of in love with him even though she's never met him because she's met Human Flash in Human Land. You know, I don't think Rainbow Dash would object to Sonic Rainbooming this letter to Flash in Zebrabwe. :rainbowdetermined2: Or maybe she, Rarity, and Applejack could do it behind her back. :duck::rainbowkiss::ajsmug: Anyway, I'd like to see this continue, either in epistolary form or a straight up story. There aren't that many Flash/Twilight stories out here. (The one I've been reading so far A Guard and a Princess by TorontoFCBrony is quite good.) But I've read another of your stories, and you are an awesome writer. :twilightsmile: I'd like to see what you can do with this.

Oh my god, the feels :fluttercry:

Please continue this :fluttershysad:

Comment posted by Miketipe deleted Sep 25th, 2013

Clapping and tears... My only reactions to this story. Good job. Though I do admit that you should continue.

Such a sweet story, such a love. :heart:

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

I'm very impressed you didn't take the easy way out and have Twilight go, "You like me? OMGosh, I like an alternate universe version of you! We are totally dating now." Not to mention this is a very good entry into the annals of letterfics. :)

Wow. This story is terrific, and Scribbler's dramatic reading really did it justice. What you did with Twilight's letter is especially commendable. She was completely in character, and that couldn't have been easy. Overall, I loved it.

I think, though, that the impossibly cute and adorable luvcats being horribly devoured overshadows and detracts from the story's primary focus, the relationship between Twilight and Flash. A different conflict for Flash to cut his teeth on might have been preferable. Still, I've long said that the interplay of light and dark is what I find so fascinating about the series, and your story is certainly that. :raritywink:

Keep up the good work!

Loved the story :heart:is there gonna be a sequel?:rainbowhuh::fluttercry:
It's so good:twilightsmile:

okay here we go. another story that's been on my To Read list since it was featured on EQD.

EDIT: okay that was a great story, far better than I thought it would be based on the description. I am certainly no Flash hater but I have always felt that it would take a good writer to make a good FlashLight fic and that is what you've done here. While it's not as great as I would hope to find, I feel that's just a difference style. The way you wrote Flash's letter was reminiscent of civil war letters, writing home to the ones they love, and by the end I was almost in tears. Twilights response almost seemed rushed in comparison but was still decent and worth the read. All in all I give this fic 4 mustaches :moustache::moustache::moustache::moustache:

Oh my god, It's this story! I read this once, a long time ago, before I made my account! And now I've found it again so that I can favorite it.

Full review here, but in brief: I most enjoyed Twilight's comments. They may have been shorter than Flash's, but I felt they were very nicely in character. As for Mr Sentry... I got the feeling that he was deliberately waffling to avoid cutting to the chase, but unfortunately this had the effect of making things drag a little. It does seem really long for a single letter, even in the circumstances. I have read the relevant IDW comic arc, and that certainly helped.

Incidentally, I also read the sequel and enjoyed that more. I'll comment about that on that fic's page.

Can I go cry in a corner now? This was simply beautiful, I NEED more to this story.
:heart::pinkiecrazy: Please.:twilightsheepish:

I will not bother with a longer response since the author seems long-gone, but I must say I loved that Flash and Twilight did not resort to the stupid "We could learn to always love everyone else at all times" crap I have seen countless times. Was also an interesting and believable portrayal of a difficult military situation in Equestria.

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