Carrot and Stick

by Tumbleweed

Some Notes on the Text

The Flash Sentry Papers, as I have noted before, are terribly unorganized. Or, perhaps it's safer to say, they're not organized at all.

Not that I expected proper bibliographies and citations from a pile of journals I found at the bottom of an antique trunk (along with several empty liquor bottles and a rather comprehensive collection of vintage playcolt magazines). Still, even by these lax standards, Sentry's memoirs are nothing short of maddening. The notebooks themselves aren't numbered or dated, which is challenging enough. However, the contents of the notebooks are even more disorganized, as Sentry jumps from one anecdote to another without thought of chronology or continuity.

I have spent untold hours poring through the Flash Sentry Papers, annotating, cross-referencing, and transcribing in an effort to bring these historical documents to my small but enthusiastic audience. The work is hard, but satisfying-- especially considering the previously unheard perspective Sentry has to offer on events such as The Battle of Canterlot.

Unfortunately, there are some amongst my modest but enthusiastic audience who are less concerned about the historical events, and more interested in the various characters caught up in them. Specifically, this vocal minority is concerned about the character of a character-- Flash Sentry himself. There are a few misguided but passionate critics who decry my work as slanderous fiction. Surely, they argue, a famed and decorated hero such as Knight-Colonel Flash Sentry, recipient of both the Celestial Cross and the Twilight Sparkle Star, could not be anything like the rogue he admits to be in his memoirs. These critics would prefer to look upon Flash Sentry as a blank slate, a figure only seen in passing reference in other texts.

I find it ironic that many of those who dispute the veracity of The Flash Sentry Papers also cling to various rumors and legends that put Sentry in the role of Princess Twilight Sparkle's protector and/or paramour, depending on who you ask. It is true that Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle crossed paths on more than one occasion, with more than ample opportunity for private encounters if the both of them were determined enough.

And yet, despite the caddishness Sentry admits to in his memoirs, I have yet to find any conclusive mention of such a dalliance. One would think a confessed scoundrel such as Sentry would admit to (if not brag about) such a relationship, but I have yet to find any thus far in my studies. Which implies that no such relationship ever happened, or Flash Sentry simply chose to completely omit the most scandalous details.

Princess Twilight Sparkle still has not returned any of my letters of inquiry on the subject.

With this in mind, I have chosen a particularly enlightening snippet to make up the second volume of The Flash Sentry Papers. While the events are of slightly less importance than the Battle of Canterlot and the attempted Changeling invasion of Perchertania, the following passage provides valuable insight to Flash Sentry's character and personal life (not to mention a peek into how ponies lived their day to day lives over a century ago).

As always, I will provide minor historical footnotes and commentary throughout the memoir. One needn't read the first volume, The Prisoner of Zebra, to comprehend the second, but I strongly encourage the discerning reader to do so for the sake of context. The paperback edition of The Prisoner of Zebra have just hit the market, making for an worthy (and affordable) addition to the library of any academic or historian.

--George MacIntosh Fresian

Comments

[Trumpet of Doom]

I think your italics got screwed up a little ways in.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Good beginning, here. Very reminiscent of a certain Miss Amberly. ;)

[The Great Derpsby]

Oh, you chose to continue? I'm curious already!

Also, considering what a nice fellow his mirror counterpart is/was, maybe those sceptics have a point. Proof, not so much, the one in the know appears unwilling to share.

[Neece]

8235232
I so wish we'd hear more of Cain's (mis)adventures...

[ponygrad]

And yet, despite the caddishness Sentry admits to in his memoirs, I have yet to find any conclusive mention of such a dalliance. One would think a confessed scoundrel such as Sentry would admit to (if not brag about) such a relationship, but I have yet to find any thus far in my studies. Which implies that no such relationship ever happened, or Flash Sentry simply chose to completely omit the most scandalous details.

Princess Twilight Sparkle still has not returned any of my letters of inquiry on the subject.

Remember though, Princess Bookhorse knows some magic spells.

This is so much fun to read if you imagine the fic and the show as different but both entirely unreliable narrators.

[Seraphem]

Shipping, Shipping never changes.

Yeah, it's not even a box or did to fan shoppers since, will, historical Shipping of this kind is plenty rampant IRL as it is.