Chapter Six : About Time!
While convenient, Twilight was soon reminded of the consequences of teleporting farther than one was comfortably acclimated. Spots flooded her vision once her hooves touched solid ground. Her head swam, though she heard the distinct sound of gasps go off around her. “I'm here,” she grumbled, rubbing at her eyes with the back of a foreleg. “I'm here.”
She tried to take a step, but she stumbled. Fortunately, somepony was quick enough to catch her. “Good gravy, girl!” exclaimed Applejack. “Where the hay have you been?”
Plucking a leaf out of Twilight's mane, Rarity mused, “Well, she's obviously been someplace dreadful.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I was in the middle of some research into the Everfree's flora,” she fibbed. She plucked the leaf out of Rarity's magic with her own, then promptly stuffed it into her saddlebags. “I wouldn't have stayed out so long if I had known there was a party going on. I'm sorry about that.”
“Oh, who told you?”
“I ran into Apple Bloom.”
Applejack bit down on her lip. “Did she make it to Zecora's place all right?”
“Yeah, she's fine. She really knows her way around.”
She sighed in relief. “Good.” Her head turned to face Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike, who approached them with smiles on their faces. “Look, y'all, Twilight's finally here!”
“About time!” shouted Pinkie. The pink earth mare threw her forelegs around Twilight's neck in a hug. “Now we're missing only one friend!”
“Wait, what?” asked Twilight.
Rarity rolled her hoof in the air. “Oh, Rainbow Dash is busy getting tomorrow's thunderstorm ready.”
Worry welled up in the unicorn's barrel. “T-thunderstorm?”
“We're due for the rain,” said Applejack. Displeasure twisted her mouth into a frown. “It was supposed t'be a nice little sun shower, but somepony at the weather factory messed up and they got a shipment of unruly thunderclouds in from Vanhoover.” Her scowl deepened, her voice lowered in volume. “Guess it's just easier to unleash the lot of 'em an' risk property damage than to sent 'em back there they came from...”
The mares (and, of course, Spike) looked at each other in discomfort. “Anyway,” coughed Rarity, “you really need to say hello to our new neighbor, Twilight. He's a lovely individual.” She pointed to the far corner, where a lone stallion sat staring into a half-empty glass.
Twilight squinted. “He looks familiar.”
“Well, he should,” commented Spike. “That's Flash Sentry. We met him at the Crystal Empire, remember?”
Well, now she remembered. Flash was the lieutenant of the reinforcements Princess Celestia sent—the same stallion who walked them to breakfast on one of their first mornings spent in the palace. “Yes. I guess I didn't recognized him without the armor.”
As a pony who was born and raised in Canterlot, the golden armor of the Royal Guard was everywhere and discerning individuals was rather difficult when one was desensitized to their presence.
“Come on, Spike, let's say hello.”
With her number-one assistant by her side, Twilight nudged her way past the herd of familiar party-goers. It was easier said than done, as her presence hadn't gone unnoticed. “Hey, book-girl!” shouted a voice from the crowd.
Twilight spared a glance. “Hey, Colgate!”
Another voice rang out, “What's up, Twilight?”
“Nothing much, Derpy.”
More and more ponies were vocal with their greetings as she walked, which made her wonder when she became so popular. Though it was nowhere near as frenzied, the last time she had so many eyes on her was during the Gala ticket fiasco. She, admittedly, knew very few names, and that was only because of Pinkie's abundance of parties. But, it was better than nothing to a mare who aimed to take greater strides in the name of friendship.
She tapped her hoof on the table to get the occupant's attention. Flash looked up immediately, only for his eyes to bulge out of his head as he yelped and fell out of his chair. “Uh...” She glanced at Spike, who merely shrugged. “Flash? Hello? Are you all right?”
Scrambling, the stallion righted himself. “Yes, yes, I'm fine!” he retorted a little too loud for his liking. “It's just... I-I didn't think you were coming.”
“I would've been here sooner, had I known this was going on, but I was in the middle of something.” She tilted her head. “I mean, you live here now. Even if I didn't show, we would've run into each other eventually.”
A crimson tinge spread across Flash's cheeks. “W-well, yes, but... It's, uh, really good to see you again, Miss Twilight.”
“It's good to see you, too. So, which house is yours now? The one on Pastern, or Dapple?” They were the only vacancies to Twilight's knowledge, as the owners there moved out before their trip to the Crystal Empire (and Rarity, as always, kept her ears open for potential gossip—despite her claims otherwise).
“No, it's on Hames.”
Her brow knitted together in confusion. “I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one.”
Pinkie Pie slid into her peripheral vision. “That was Berry Punch's place!” she whispered. Well, it wasn't so much a whisper as it was a poor attempt at one.
“Berry moved?”
“Only in with her sister a few doors down. You know, because she needs help with her drinking prob—”
“Thank you, Pinkie.”
“Don't mention it!”
Twilight raised a hoof to her forehead and sighed as the pink mare bounced away. “Sorry about that,” she muttered, smiling at Flash.
The stallion shrugged. “It's fine. It sounds like you still have a few empty houses around. What happened?”
She frowned. “Ponies are always coming and going, I'm afraid. It can get rather... hectic around here when you least expect it. I guess it's only a matter of time before someone realizes they're better off someplace else.” She didn't have the heart, given her company, to inform him the couple in the house on Pastern were driven off by Spike's birthday rampage (and she intended for Spike to never find out), or that the family on Dapple moved to Baltimare after the “Gabby Gums” incident.
Fortunately, Flash didn't seem to want to press further. “Well, you don't have to worry about me leaving,” he said. He grinned. “After that whole debacle in the Crystal Empire, I'm pretty sure I can tough out anything this town throws at me.”
Spike crossed his arms. “Good luck with that.”
Twilight shushed him, then returned her attention to the pegasus. “Well, I wish you all the best. Excuse me.”
Before she could turn to leave, Flash reached out. “Wait!”
She started. “What?”
“Where, uh... May I ask where your place is?”
“Oh, Spike and I both live at the Golden Oaks Library.”
“It's a giant tree with windows in it,” added Spike. “You can't miss it.”
Flash nodded. “Okay, got it.”
Twilight offered him one last wave. “See you around, Flash!”
“See you...”
As they walked away, Spike rubbed his hands together. “Well, now that that's over, let's get back to the grub!”
She glanced at him. “Hmm?”
“Food! You haven't eaten yet, have you?”
“Oh, yeah, I took a few sandwiches with me this morning.” Still, she looked over a table stocked high with colorful pastries. Lunch or not, she found herself drawn, and she took a pink-frosted cupcake from the variety. “Eh, I guess one little cupcake won't hurt.”
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Poor Flash... Wow, I never thought I'd hear myself say that.
Wow. Flash meets Twi again. Let’s see how he tries to smoosh her. Probably not that well, because he doesn't know (and neither does Twi) that Twi is crushing on a different stallion.
Good chapter, am sad this feel so short, but so long as you feel good about them, my opinion hardly matters in that regard. Good work all the same!
9159256
That’s mean. What’s wrong with my reply? I spoke truthfully and kindly. As per my comment, you know that it is true.
9159316
The spelling, am sorry that came out far crueler than well than it should've been. I apologize. In there I went ahead and had fixed it with what was likely your intent, again I am sorry it came out as if I was saying something I didn't intend. Just trying to help, because I couldn't understand your original commit on the first go.
9159316
Am gonna go ahead and remove it, and stuff. I do feel bad.
9159701
Don't worry. The comment was just vague at the beginning, so I couldn't figure out what the issue was. Thanks for helping me be a better writer. I learned though. Don't comment using your iphone. Use your computer. Also I made my corrections. And yes. I'm using smoosh instead of woo.
9159742
Aye, I went ahead and removed it regardless. Yeah, phones tend to do that, sorry to have bugged you.
9159810
Problem. Sorry for making you feel bad.