Here's chapter three to my Flashlight love story; now the flashbacks take place shortly before Twilight's entrance exam in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", and gives some background to Flash and Sunset Shimmer. I strongly wish to note this is a Flashlight story, not a SunsetSentry story, okay? I don't hate the pairing, I'm more or less neutral towards it.

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Chapter 3: All Those Years Ago

Twilight had managed to catch her train to the Crystal Empire just in time, and she was now in her coach, mulling over what to say to Flash when they met. The journey lasted many miles, which gave Twilight plenty of time to think.

"Come on, Sparkle," she was saying to herself, "what to say to Flash when I run into him? Er, bump into him, I suppose? 'Hi, Flash, how are you…?' No, that's no good. Ah… 'Have you seen Celestia's sun today…?' Oh, that won't work either! What can I say to him when we meet?!"

Twilight hit her head against the table in frustration. Fortunately, and rather surprisingly, none of the passengers seemed to take notice of the frustrated light purple alicorn princess. Then the announcements came on, causing Twilight to sit up in surprise.

"Attention passengers – the service from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire is now arriving at the station. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform when boarding or departing."

"Ah!" gasped Twilight, "I haven't even thought of what to say-" She then mentally told herself to pull it together. "It's no big deal, Twilight; just keep your cool, and whatever you do – do NOT freak out…!"

Calmly, Twilight got out of the coach onto the station platform. All she had to do was find a light orange Pegasus with a blue mane and tail; how hard could it be?

Unfortunately, as Twilight was yet again not paying attention to where she was going, she bumped – you guessed it – into the stallion she was thinking of. Flash was not wearing his armor, exposing his cutie mark.

"Careful, miss," he said, helping the light purple alicorn back onto her hooves, "why is it we're bumping into each other all of a sudden?"

"Sorry," Twilight giggled nervously, "I was, you know, just in my thoughts."

"So was I," said Flash, brushing himself off, "I'm Flash Sentry, and you're Princess Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"

"Twilight would be fine," replied the light purple alicorn modestly, "even if I'm a princess now, I still prefer going by Twilight, you know."

"I see," said Flash, "so, do you wanna have a walk around the empire? It's my day off."

"Oh, my gosh, what a coincidence!" remarked Twilight, "I was gonna ask you the same thing!"

"I guess great minds think alike," Flash chuckled, "so where do we start?"

---

Back in Ponyville, Comet Tail was still sulking about being rejected by Twilight.

"It's not fair," he complained, "I would've gotten my one chance to be with Twilight, but then that Vincent, Vernon or whatever-his-name-is, he had to go and tell me off! The nerve of it all!"

"Oh, what are you moaning about now?" said a voice.

Comet Tail sighed and turned to face the light amber Earth stallion who asked him the question. He had a light brown mane and tail, moderate blue eyes, and three blue horseshoes for his cutie mark; his name is Caramel, a next-door neighbor to Rarity and Sweetie Belle, and a friend of the Apple family.

With Caramel were two other stallions – one of them was a dark gray Pegasus with a light cyan gray mane and tail with lighter streaks, light gold eyes, and his cutie mark was a lightning bolt from a cloud; his name is Thunderlane, a student at Wonderbolts Academy alongside Rainbow Dash. The other was a grayish amber Earth pony with a dark amber mane and tail, light grayish-blue eyes, and his cutie mark was an hourglass; his name is Time Turner, often nicknamed "Dr. Hooves," but he goes by either name.

"I guess Twilight's turned him down… again," Time Turner suggested.

"Yeah, how do you even know of this, Doc?" snapped Comet Tail.

"What Time Turner's trying to say is," said Thunderlane, "you've been getting obsessed over her since you met the three of us."

"So?" Comet Tail scoffed indignantly, "I think she's pretty. How can a princess like her reject someone cool like myself?"

"You sound like Rainbow Dash when she shows off," chuckled Thunderlane.

"I heard that! But at least I admit my feelings to a filly unlike somepony…" He gave a "knowing" glare at Caramel, causing his face to flush red as an apple.

"Hey, at least I don't show off in front of Applejack!" the light amber stallion retorted.

"All right, you two," said Time Turner, standing in between them, "now I presume you're planning to think of a way to impress her, right, Comet Tail?"

"You wait and see!" said Comet Tail, "Twilight will be my fillyfriend in no time!"

"Uh, yeah, good luck with that," said Thunderlane sarcastically, but Comet Tail didn't take much notice.

"You'll see, boys," the light yellow unicorn muttered to himself, "you'll see…"

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"…so this other Flash Sentry from this other world," said Flash, "he was a very kind sort, wasn't he?" By this point, he and Twilight were talking about the latter's adventures up to becoming a princess alicorn, and she was telling him about her few days in the human world.

"He was, a real gentlecolt, and treated me like a princess… no pun intended," replied Twilight, "but Rarity from the other world disapproved since the other Flash was ex-boyfriend – or coltfriend here – to Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight noticed Flash cringe at the name she mentioned.

"Sunset… Shimmer?" he asked with unease.

"Erm, yes. Why?"

"Sunset Shimmer," Flash slowly began, "was my fillyfriend from my youth."

"What did happen between you two?"

"It's a bit of a long story," said Flash, "it was before I became a royal guard…"

---

When Flash Sentry was a teenage colt, he was in a relationship with Princess Celesta's then-student, Sunset Shimmer, a light amber unicorn with a crimson mane and tail both with yellow stripes, cyan eyes and her cutie mark was a red and yellow shimmering sun.

About three weeks ago, Sunset was dropped as Celestia's student as she had become cruel and dishonest over the last several months, and didn't become a princess as quickly as she wanted.

"How could you act this way?" asked Flash angrily, "When we met a few years ago, you were sweet and innocent, and now you've turned into… into… a spiteful mare!"

"It's Celestia's fault I didn't get my dreams quickly as I wanted," growled Sunset, "and she thinks I'm the one who's selfish!"

"She kicked you out for the right reasons, Sunset."

"Well then," she growled, "we're leaving Canterlot."

"No, Sunset, there's no 'we'!"

"What do you mean, there's no 'we'?!" Sunset asked in anger.

"I refuse to help you just to get even with Princess Celestia," said Flash firmly, "it's not the right thing to do!"

"I can't do this alone, you know!"

"Forget it! We're through!"

Sunset stared at Flash, an appalled look on her face, and then scowled before turning on her heel.

"Have it your way, Sentry," she growled, "you're just like her – kind and foolish! One day, you will be sorry!"

Flash just stood in silence, watching his now ex-fillyfriend run off. He'd never had that much anger in him before, and he almost wanted to cry. After a few minutes, he felt something bump into him on the foreleg, and a young female voice cry out in surprise.

Flash looked down to see a young light purple unicorn filly with a dark blue mane and tail with purple and pink streaks, big purple eyes and no cutie mark.

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"Hang on a second," said Flash, "Twilight… you were that filly who bumped into me after I broke up with Sunset, weren't you?"

"Oh, yeah, I was," said Twilight, blushing, "must be a small land, Equestria is. It must have slipped my mind."

"What were you doing back then?" asked Flash.

"Well," Twilight began, "I had just gotten prepared for my entrance exam into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and I was so eager that I got lost from my parents."

"How'd that happen?"

"Well… let's say I got a little distracted by a stowaway balloon and wanted to catch it. As you can guess, it did have consequences…"

---

Little Twilight had finally caught the balloon, but by now, she realized that her parents weren't around.

"Mommy?! Daddy!" she cried, "Where are you?!"

Twilight ran fast as her little legs could carry her. She didn't notice where she was going and ran into a light orange teenage Pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail with lighter streaks, matching blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a two-tone sapphire blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt.

The teenage stallion looked down at Twilight with surprise and confusion.

"Are you alright, kid?" he asked, lending a hoof to help her back on her hooves.

"I think so," said Twilight, sadness clear in her voice.

"What's the matter?" asked the teenage Pegasus, "Are you lost?"

Twilight gave a sad nod. "I'm on my way to try out for Princess Celestia's School of Talented Unicorns, but I got distracted and I can't find my parents!"

She fell to the ground and began to cry. The teenage Pegasus felt upset seeing a filly cry, so he gave her a comforting hug, helping to wipe her tears out of her eyes.

"Do you feel better?" he asked gently.

"I do, a little," sniffed Twilight, "I'm Twilight."

"I'm Flash," said the teenage Pegasus, "you know, Twilight, I think it'd be easy to find your parents if we were in the air."

"In the air?!" gasped Twilight in shock, "I-I-I've never been in the air before!"

"Why not?" asked Flash.

"I get a little jumpy," Twilight admitted sheepishly.

"Don't be afraid," said Flash, "you can ride on my back or I can hold you, whichever is good for you. Either way, I'm helping you find your parents."

Twilight thought about it for a moment or two, and without thinking twice, she jumped onto Flash's back.

"What are we waiting for?!" she cried excitedly, "Let's fly! Or rather, you're the one flying and I'm riding…"

In a flash, the teenage Pegasus flew into the sky, Twilight clinging onto his back.

---

"I should tell you what my parents look like," said Twilight, "my mommy is light gray with a purple and gray mane, three purple stars for her cutie mark."

"Right," said Flash, "and is she…?"

"Unicorn? Yes. She should be with my daddy, who's grayish blue with a dark blue mane and two crescent moons for a cutie mark."

"Forgive me for asking, but why haven't you a cutie mark?"

"I was born without, but ponies obtain a cutie mark when they discover a unique characteristic setting them apart from others, like you, right?"

"Why, yes, Twilight; my cutie mark tells me I'm to be a royal guard some day for Princess Celestia."

"Is that my mommy and daddy?!" Twilight pointed down to earth, and she and Flash could see Twilight's parents – the exact description she gave them – talking to a mare.

"If you've seen our daughter," said Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet, "oh please let us know!"

"I've found her, Missus!"

The three adult ponies looked up, and saw Flash landing down with Twilight on his back. The little unicorn filly got off and ran to her parents excitedly.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Twilight's parents were so overwhelmed with joy that they hugged their daughter tightly.

"Oh, thank Celestia you're okay, sweetie!" said her mother.

"Don't you run off like that again," her father, Night Light, said sternly, "you nearly gave your mother a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry, daddy," said Twilight sadly, "I'd have been stuck if it wasn't for Flash."

The two parents looked at Flash, who gulped nervously; how would they have reacted to a stranger helping their daughter?

To his surprise, they were smiling!

"Thank you, young Flash," said Twilight Velvet, "if it wasn't for you, goodness knows what would've happened to our daughter!"

"Oh, it was nothing, Mrs… ah, what's your last name?"

"Sparkle."

"Mrs. Sparkle," finished Flash, "just couldn't leave a filly by her own, could I?"

Twilight walked over to Flash, asked him to lean down towards her, and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush red as an apple.

"This is my thanks from you," smiled Twilight, "you're my hero."

"Ah, th-thanks," said Flash shyly. Twilight then walked off with her parents to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, leaving the teenage Pegasus standing there, blushing.

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Aww, wasn't that sweet? :) I'm pretty sure many girls do that when boys help them out of tricky spots. Or they hug, I don't know. Also, in my own headcanon of MLP, Flash Sentry is older than Twilight, but younger than Shining Armor.

There's still more to come, and yes, I will write my own background story about Sunset Shimmer.