After a week on (somewhat) hiatus, here's the next chapter of my TwiSentry love story. This and the next chapter both take place after "Castle Mane-ia", as the context states. We will also be introduced to Comet Tail in this chapter, and expose him a little bit.

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Chapter 2: Enter the Comet Tail

Over the next several days, little had changed in Equestria after the Tree of Harmony was rediscovered in the Everfree Forest. Following her caper with the old castle of Celestia and Luna had taken its toll on Twilight Sparkle, and she was lying on her bed at Golden Oak Library. She was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed Spike come up to her with a cup of lemon tea.

"Twilight?" the baby dragon asked with concern, "I got your tea ready!"

But the light purple alicorn princess didn't reply, so Spike had to shout to get her attention.

"TWILIGHT!"

"Ah! Oh, yes, I would love to go out with you!"

"On a date?!"

Twilight snapped back to reality, and realized where she was. She turned her attention to a puzzled Spike.

"Oh, sorry, Spike," she said with embarrassment, "was in my thoughts… again." She nervously chuckled, but not without taking the cup from Spike's hands. "Oh, and thanks for the tea, Spike."

"Hey, what are friends for?" her dragon assistant smiled, but then Spike remembered what he was going to say. "But you've been acting strange since we came back from the other world, even when we were at Princess Celestia's and Luna's old castle. Is something wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight looked up after taking a sip from her cup; something was wrong, and she thought how to explain it to Spike, but didn't know how.

"Is it your crush on that Flash Sentry guy?" Spike asked innocently. Twilight's face flushed red the moment the words "crush" and "Flash Sentry" left Spike's mouth.

"You-!" she spluttered, but couldn't finish her sentence.

Spike gave a huge grin. "Aha!" he declared, "You do like him!"

Twilight scoffed. "So what?" she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So what? At least admit your feelings like I did with Rarity… well, kind of." Spike remembered shortly after his birthday that he let his greed get the best of him, causing him to capture Rarity, and to nearly destroy Ponyville, possibly all of Equestria. It was only when Rarity shown the then-grown up Spike the fire ruby he gave her, causing Spike to shrink back to his normal age. As they fell down to earth, Spike was about to tell Rarity his crush on her, but she covered his mouth and smiled happy tears in understanding, as if she knew all along.

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight sighed again, "I barely know Flash from this world, and he barely knows me. I live here in Ponyville, and he lives at the Crystal Empire, like Cadance and Shining Armor."

Then Twilight had a sudden thought; Shining Armor, her older brother, ruled the Crystal Empire alongside Cadance, and Flash was a royal guard, therefore, Shining Armor was more or less his boss.

"Uh, Twilight?" asked Spike, "You okay?"

"Oh, no," exclaimed Twilight, "I'm close to my brother and I've got a crush on Flash! If I end up in love with Flash, Shining Armor might fire him, and if Flash is fired, he may never speak to me or any of our friends again… and it'll be my entire fault!"

Spike didn't even bat an eyelid; he had heard this kind of talk before when Twilight freaked out over not sending a letter to Princess Celestia weekly, afraid of being tardy.

"Twilight, relax," he said, chuckling, "I'm sure your brother will understand. He's your B.B.B.F.F., or Big Brother Best Friend Forever as you call him, right? Maybe if you just started with simple conversations and hangouts with this Flash guy…"

"You're right, Spike! You're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"If I keep my feelings down to a minimum, Shining Armor won't know I'm in love with Flash," Twilight explained, "that way, I could keep a good relationship with him and keep friendship with Flash!"

"Uh, okay…" Spike wasn't so sure about where Twilight was going with her plan, but didn't object to it.

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The following Saturday morning, Twilight booked a train to the Crystal Empire. Hopefully, she believed, she'd meet up with Flash and they'd get to know each other a little more.

She opened the door to Golden Oak Library, and jumped in surprise. Her exclamation also took the stallion in front of the door by surprise as well, and he dropped the books he was carrying.

"Oh, Twilight!" cried the stallion, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, sorry, Vincent!" apologized Twilight, "I didn't know you were at the door!"

The stallion, Vincent van Colt, was a yellow Pegasus with a blue mane and tail, dark green eyes and wore glasses. His cutie mark was a paint palette and brush.

"Ah, it's alright, Twi," said Vincent, dusting himself off, "it could happen to anypony, y'know. Anyway, I was just returning those books I borrowed about magic spells for Fillis to study."

"How's she getting on?" asked Twilight.

"She's improved since we first came to Ponyville," Vincent smiled, "in fact, I'd probably have her enrolled to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns in a heartbeat!"

"Glad to hear it," said Twilight, "I was off to the train station for the Crystal Empire."

"What for?"

"Oh, just to get some air every now and then," Twilight lied; she didn't explain to Vincent about her crush on Flash, but we know, don't we?

"Okay then," said Vincent, "fine with me. Just like how I left Liverhoof to open up to a new environment and I've hardly left Ponyville since." By now, he'd just picked up his books when all of a sudden, Vincent felt himself fall off his hooves and hit the ground, scattering his books again.

"Oi! Pay attention to where you're runnin', mate!"

The pony in question who crashed into him was a light yellow unicorn stallion with a grayish blue mane and tail with matching grayish blue blues, and his cutie mark was a shooting star.

"Good morning, Princess," the stallion said in a smooth tone, completely ignoring Vincent.

"Oh, hello there, Comet Tail," sighed Twilight, "and for the record, I prefer going by Twilight, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Princess Twilight," Comet Tail grinned cheekily. The light purple alicorn rolled her eyes.

"At least respect my friend's wish, will ya?" Vincent groaned; by now, he had gotten his backs stacked up once again.

"Who's that pony with the bizarre accent?" asked Comet Tail.

"My name is Vincent van Colt," the yellow Pegasus sighed with annoyance, before smiling and holding his hoof out to shake. "I came from Fillydelphia but lived in Liverhoof for the last few years before moving here."

"You're from two places at once?" asked Comet Tail, not understanding.

"I mean, I was born in Fillydelphia, grew up there, and then moved to Liverhoof where I stayed for the last few years before I came here to Ponyville. I picked up the accent during my time in Liverhoof." By now, Vincent had put his hoof down when he knew Comet Tail wouldn't shake.

"Oh, I see," said the light yellow unicorn, "is that the place where the Beatrots were born?"

"Yes, mate, it is. Well known for singles and albums such as 'I Wanna Hold Your Hoof', 'Nowhere Mare', 'Day Trotter', 'Pony Road', 'Sgt. Pony's Cutie Mark Club Band', 'Magical History'-"

"You know something, mate?" Comet Tail interrupted, "I've just learned something new about you."

"What would that be?"

"Those glasses you wear – they really make you look like a geek, don't they?!"

Comet Tail laughed at his own wit; Vincent scowled with an irritated look on his face.

"Let me tell you-!" he began.

"Don't bother with him," sighed Twilight, "it isn't even worth it."

"Hey, thanks, girl," said Comet Tail, taking Twilight's hoof in his, "so, d'you wanna watch the stars with me tonight? Y'know, one on one chat?"

Twilight took her hoof back with an indignant look. "I'm sorry, but I'm booked for the day. Perhaps another day…?"

"But I insist!" protested Comet Tail, "You know how much you love memorizing all the constellations in Luna's night sky…"

"She said she was busy!" snapped Vincent with a firm tone in his voice, "Either you stop bothering her or I'll have to use force!"

Vincent and Comet Tail both glared at one another for what seemed like ages.

"Have it your way, van Colt," the unicorn stallion sniffed, and he walked away, knocking over the books Vincent had just stacked.

"What a rude fellow," Vincent frowned, re-stacking the books for the third time, "do you know him, Twilight?"

Twilight sighed before speaking. "Yes I do, Vincent, back when I was a student for Princess Celestia at her School for Gifted Unicorns," she explained, "back then, he was kind and polite. But over the years, he started to act cocky and arrogant. I think it has to do with hanging with other stallions."

"You didn't have feelings for him, right?" asked Vincent, "You know, as in…"

"Love? Pah," scoffed Twilight, "I only liked him as a friend, even though I took studies more seriously than friendship back then. He's given me the occasional flirt, but back then, of course, I didn't give romance that much thought either."

"You're in love with another stallion, are you?" Vincent asked with a hint of cheekiness.

Twilight's face blushed bright red. "How did you-?!"

"Just a hunch," replied Vincent, "it's okay, you can tell me. We're friends, right?"

"Oh… okay then…" Twilight paused to think about how Vincent would react. "I've got a bit of a crush on Flash Sentry…"

Vincent looked at the light purple alicorn with confusion. "Who's this Flash Sentry bloke?"

"He's a royal guard for the Crystal Empire…" Twilight quickly covered her mouth, realizing what she just said.

"So that's why you're heading to the train station," remarked Vincent, raising an eyebrow.

"Erm, yes, well, I…" Twilight couldn't come up with an excuse. Darn it, Sparkle! Why did you have to spill the beans?

"It's okay, Twilight," said Vincent, placing a hoof on her shoulder, "I understand completely. So what if you're in love with another stallion? I'm happy for you."

"You might be, but I'm not," sighed Twilight, looking down with worry. Vincent gave her the "explain to me" look, and she obliged.

"You see, Shining Armor, my brother, rules the Crystal Empire, and Flash Sentry is a royal guard, and therefore, my brother is his boss."

"Is that a bad thing? I mean, I've heard of employees dating their bosses' daughters, after all. You just need to work things out for both sides so everypony's glad."

Twilight mulled over Vincent's words; he might not be dating somepony right now, but she knew he had a point.

"You're right, Vincent," conceded Twilight, "that's why I decided to start out on a minimum level just as friends. Hopefully then, Shining Armor will let me and Flash date one another."

"Hey Twilight!" called a voice. The two ponies looked and noticed Spike at the door. "Shouldn't you be on your way to the station?"

"Oh!" gasped Twilight, jumping in shock, "I almost forgot! Sorry, Vincent – I must be on my way!" And she shot off like a jackrabbit.

"You heard everything, didn't you, Spike?"

"I did," replied the baby dragon, picking up the books Vincent had re-stacked, "I should know, because I've been with her."

"I can't put me hoof on it, but something worries me, Spike."

"What's that?"

"You know, Twilight's got a crush on this Flash Sentry bloke, right?" Spike nodded in understanding as Vincent continued, "But now that I think about it, I believe this Comet Tail has a crush on Twilight as well – a love triangle, if you will."

"Love triangle?!" exclaimed Spike, "Oh, I hope it doesn't lead to trouble for Twilight and everypony else!"

"Me too, Spike," agreed Vincent, sadly nodding, "me too."

Soon Spike had brought the books Vincent borrowed back inside Golden Oak Library and the yellow Pegasus was on his way once more. He was deep in thought as he walked down the streets of Ponyville. He made the wise choice to take a backseat, allowing nature and love to run their course.

Vincent wanted to help Twilight and Flash, even if he hadn't met the guard for himself yet, but the big question was… how?

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The songs and albums Vincent lists are all based off Beatle titles. See if you can guess what they are. ;)

Ohh, boy! Looks like a love triangle is only just blooming in Ponyville! What will happen when Comet Tail and Flash Sentry cross paths? Only I know for sure!