Rarity levitated a brush with her magic and started to style Twilight's mane. "Hold still, darling," she kept saying, for she wanted Twilight's mane to be perfect. Once she finally finished, she set Twilight's crown on her head and held out a mirror.
"Do you like it, Twilight?" She asked with hope in her voice. Twilight stared at her reflection.
"Yes, Rarity. It's great! But I don't think I need to be this fancy," Twilight responded, causing Rarity to roll her eyes.
"Of course you do, darling! Princess Celestia is sending royal guards and a chariot! You need to look your best!" The white unicorn responded.
"Yes, I know. But it's not like my guards are not going to see me when I'm not all 'fancied up.'"
"Well, it's nice to leave a good first impression. Now, you have to get back to the castle! They're going to be there soon!" Rarity informed as Twilight thanked her and ran out the door, trying not to mess with the mane-style she was given.
She soon got to the castle, and waited. All in all, she thought it would be a little weird to have guards monitoring her. It would provide more company in the huge castle, though. Soon, there came a knock from the door as the guards entered. As Twilight came into the room, they all stood in a straight line and bowed. Twilight smiled nervously. She still wasn't used to all the praise she was given as a princess. An orange Pegasus guard then walked through the door, and spoke in a voice that Twilight recognized.
"Princess Twilight, your chariot is here," the guard informed as Twilight walked outside. She knew who this pony was. Flash Sentry. She had admired him ever since she went into the human world, and that admiration turned into a deep love. She wanted to start a conversation, but she didn't know what to say. She soon came up to her chariot. It was made of light blue and purple crystals with gemstones hanging off the back, Twilight's cutie mark on the front, and two harnesses for pegasi to be attached to. She thought it looked gorgeous.
"Thanks, Flash Sentry," she said, not recognizing the state of confusion on the stallion's face.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but how do you know who I am?" He responded. Twilight then remembered. She knew Flash in the human world, but not in Equestria. She blushed as she tried to find an answer.
"Um… Princess Cadance told me about you," she responded, avoiding eye contact with the guard. Flash nodded and went back inside. All of the guards went to their positions, and Twilight greeted them all, getting bows every time she walked over. Spike came up to her.
"I don't think I can ever get used to this, Spike," she told her number one assistant.
"I know you will, Twilight. If Princess Celestia thought you couldn't handle it, she wouldn't have made you a princess," Spike said, touching Twilight's crown upon her head. She agreed with Spike, and noticed that the sun was setting. She had many extra rooms in the castle, so she let the guards sleep in there. Soon, she climbed into bed and a familiar face came rushing into her thoughts.
"UGH! Why can't I get him out of my head?!" She said out loud to herself.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Princess?" Twilight turned to see Flash standing in the doorway. He must have heard her small outburst. Twilight blushed furiously.
"No, I'm fine. Say, what are you doing up?" She asked, sounding a little surprised.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to get a small snack, if that's alright with you," Flash responded, looking into Twilight's purple eyes.
"Yes, that's fine. You know I said you can have food whenever," Twilight responded. She then realized that this would be one of the moments that she could have a one-on-one conversation with the stallion of her dreams. "Actually, I'm kind of hungry as well," she said as she approached Flash. Flash backed up as he let Twilight go in front of him.
"There's no need for that, Flash. I would want to become better friends with all my guards, so you shouldn't treat me like I'm something special," Twilight said as she walked over by Flash again. They soon got into the kitchen as Twilight took out a tub of ice-cream. "Want some?" She asked Flash. Flash nodded and ate. Twilight tried to start up some small talk.
"So… how's it like being a guard?" She asked as Flash wiped the ice-cream off his snout.
"It has its ups and downs. It's kind of boring at times," he responded to Twilight.
"Have you read any good books lately?" She asked as Flash's face lit up.
"Well, I recently read The Tale of the Sphinx Pony. It's a great story!" Flash answered as Twilight smiled.
"Oh my goodness! I love that book!" The two then started talking and laughing about the story. Soon, they both got tired and decided to go to bed. As Twilight climbed under the covers, she felt a little happier. She got to know Flash Sentry a little better. Well, the pony version of him at least. She slowly drifted off to sleep.
Twilight found herself in a battlefield. Ponies were standing on two sides of a dividing line. One side of the battlefield was dark and one was light. She looked and saw the leaders of the troops, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Princess Celestia spoke, her royal Canterlot voice echoing through Twilight's ears.
"Oh, a newcomer, I see. What side will you choose? Solar or Lunar Empire? The choice is all yours," she concluded, her bright eyes burning like fire as she stared at Twilight. Twilight looked at the Solar Empire. Her best friends; Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike were all on the Solar Empire side. She was about to walk over when she heard an all too familiar voice.
"Twilight! Please join the Lunar Empire with me!" Twilight turned around and saw that the one that called to her was Flash. She froze, not knowing which side to go on. Her heart spoke faster than her actions as she spread her wings and flew over to the Lunar Empire. Her friends stared open mouthed and shot a glare across the battlefield.
"Darling, why would you betray us?" Rarity asked.
"We showed you friendship!" Fluttershy added on.
"Is this what you are honestly going to do to us?" Applejack chimed in, followed by Rainbow Dash.
"Come on, Twilight! We've been with you forever, and now you're just going to leave us like that?!"
"Well, this battle is going to be no fun for you!" Pinkie added on, growling at the offensive side.
"Yeah! I agree!" Spike said. Celestia and Luna then commanded their troops to charge. Once Twilight looked up, all of her friends were right next to her, about to attack. Rainbow Dash kicked her hoof right in Twilight's face…
"AHHHH!" Twilight shouted, accidentally throwing her sheets across the room. She looked outside and noticed the sun was shining brightly.
"Oh, thank Celestia it was only a dream!" Twilight said as she got her mane ready. She walked out of her room and saw Spike walking down to the kitchen. As she walked, she happened to walk right into Flash Sentry. She looked up and blushed.
"Sorry… this keeps happening!" Twilight remarked. Flash gave her a smile.
"It's alright, Prin- I mean Twilight," Flash said, remembering Twilight's request of treating her like a friend. Twilight smiled.
"Hey, do you want to hang out today, maybe have a walk around Ponyville? You know I want to know all of the guards better," Twilight said, thankful she could think of an easy excuse to spend time with Flash.
"Yeah! I would love to see more of Ponyville!"
"Great! I'll actually tell my friends to come to a picnic!" Twilight responded. Flash agreed to the idea as Twilight flew outside. He then blushed as one of his fellow guards walked up to him.
"When did you like picnics?" The other guard asked. Flash blushed even harder, remembering that he mentioned several times he was more of an indoors pony.
"I don't like picnics very much… I just want to get to know Princess Twilight more and…"
"You like the Princess, don't you?" The guard asked as he saw Flash in defeat.
"Yeah…" he replied. The other guard just winked at him and walked back to his post.
Twilight flew into the Carousel Boutique and found all her friends in there, trying on new dresses Rarity made.
"Hey everypony, up for a picnic by my castle later?" Twilight asked as her friends looked at her.
"Yeah, Twilight!" Rainbow responded. The others nodded their heads in agreement.
"Just so you know, somepony else is going to be there as well…" Twilight responded with a slight blush glowing on her cheeks. Rarity happened to notice this.
"Looks like somepony has a crush!" Rarity teased, causing Twilight to look away.
"In that case, I'll bring da best apple pies ya crush ever tasted!" Applejack stated as Twilight blushed even harder. Everypony started talking about the picnic as Twilight excused herself.
"We'll be at the castle in twenty minutes!" Rarity said as Twilight flew off. She soon landed in front of the castle and entered. She found Flash sitting at a table, having a conversation with Spike.
"My friends agreed to come for a picnic, so do you want to head outside?" She asked. Flash agreed and went outside with Twilight. "Spike, I'll call you out when it's ready," the purple alicorn told her assistant as she stepped outside. Flash and Twilight walked up to a beautiful hilltop overlooking a river by a mountain. Twilight laid out the mat and got the food set out. Now, she would just have to wait for her friends.
Once Twilight's friends got to the castle, Twilight called Spike out and they all sat down on the mat. Flash introduced himself.
"Hello, I am Flash Sentry, one of Twilight's royal guards. It's a pleasure meeting you all!" He greeted. Everypony shook his hoof, happy to meet him. Applejack got out a huge apple pie, Rarity put a few strings of gemstones on the trees, Fluttershy brought a few furry friends, Pinkie Pie placed a huge plate of cupcakes and a chocolate fountain on the mat, and Rainbow Dash preformed a Sonic Rainboom. They obviously wanted to make the picnic great for Twilight and Flash. Flash then asked them about what it was like to figure out they all represented the Elements of Harmony. The Mane Six all told their stories, and soon the sun was high in the sky. Twilight said bye to her friends and decided to spend the afternoon with Flash. The two walked through Ponyville.
"Wow, Ponyville is a nice little place!" Flash remarked, looking at the buildings.
"I know. A very ideal place to live! Probably not as beautiful as the Crystal Empire, but it is a great home!" Twilight responded. She then got an idea. "Hey, want to go on an adventure?" She asked, her eyes wide with hope.
"Where?" Flash asked as he noticed a grin on Twilight's face.
"To the Everfree Forest and into the Castle of the Two Sisters!" Twilight responded with glee. Flash then got so excited; he flew up into the air.
"I've always wanted to see that! Let's go!" Flash said as he flew alongside Twilight until they saw the abandoned castle. They flew down in it as Twilight led him into the library.
"We're here!" Twilight said. Flash then started exploring excitedly. To Twilight's delight, he had a passion for books as well. The two read for a few hours until Twilight wanted to do something a little more exciting.
"Hey, did you know that there is a cool trap door slide? We should go over there!" Twilight said as Flash laughed.
"That sounds great!" He responded as the two walked over. Twilight pulled a lever as the two fell in the slide together. They ended up on the outside of the castle, laughing. They did it a few more times before deciding to head back.
"That was fun. I would love to hang out again sometime!" Flash said.
"Really? I would love too as well!" Twilight responded.
"I actually would want it to be something more like a date…" Flash said, which caused Twilight to give him a look.
"What?" She asked. Flash then looked her right in the eyes.
"You see, Twilight, I've kind of had a crush on you for a while. I know it probably would ruin your reputation to go out with a royal guard like me, but I ask you anyways. Would you want to, Twilight?" He asked. It was silent for a moment until Twilight did something neither of them expected. She kissed him. As she pulled away Flash looked into her eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes!"