Here's chapter three to the edited version of my TwiSentry love story. Again, the flashbacks take place 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 SunsetSentry, I'm more or less neutral towards it.

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Part 3: All Those Years Ago

As they walked around the Crystal Empire, Flash and Twilight were talking about her adventures up to becoming a princess alicorn, and she was telling him about her few days in the human world.

"…so this other Flash Sentry from this other world," said Flash, "he was a very kind sort, wasn't he?"

"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? And how did you meet her?"

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

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A young Flash Sentry lived with his parents in Cloudsdale. His father was a royal guard and wanted Flash to be just like him. The father, Flame Barrier, was a dark orange Pegasus whose cutie mark was a blue shield with a fireball behind it. His eyes were green and his mane and tail were a solid dark sapphire. Flash's mother, Lullaby Strings, was also a Pegasus with light yellow fur, blue eyes, a blue mane and tail with pink stripes, and her cutie mark was a guitar next to a music note.

Flame Barrier wanted Flash to be a Royal Guard just like him.

"It'll be very exciting and put your courage to the test," he would say.

"Yeah, it will," said Flash, but inside, he doubted his father's words.

Lullaby Strings, on the other hoof, disagreed.

"That kind of lifestyle is risky and dangerous," she said, "I don't want my son to end up getting hurt or worse."

The two Pegasi argued and argued until they decided to just divorce. On the day Flash and his father were leaving, his mother had begun to feel rather ill, and it was unfortunate they never knew why...

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A few hours later, Flame Barrier and young Flash made their way to Canterlot. After a couple of months, Flame went off to some Royal Duty, but never came back. Unfortunately, he'd carelessly forgotten to ask somepony to look after young Flash, and the Pegasus colt began to fear the worst.

What if mom was right and he was killed in battle? he thought. Flash wondered what had happened and ran off, looking for his father. No matter where he went, he couldn't find the dark orange Pegasus stallion.

"I'll never find him," he said sadly, and then looked around him. He had no idea where he was at all!

"Not only have I lost my dad, but now I've lost myself," he whimpered.

Flash looked up and noticed that it was beginning to rain. Quickly, he ran for the nearest shelter, Canterlot Castle.

"Hopefully I can keep safe and dry here," he said to himself. A pair of guards nearby noticed him alone and sad.

"What're you doing out here in the rain, boy?" one of them asked, "You'll catch a cold!"

"I'm lost and I don't know where my father is," Flash replied.

"Oh my," said the other guard, "we better get you to Princess Celestia immediately!"

The two guards quickly took the freezing colt to Princess Celestia.

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Princess Celestia stood at the throne room with a young filly. She was a light amber unicorn with a crimson mane and tail streaked with yellow and had cyan eyes. At this point, she didn't have a cutie mark.

"Sorry to interrupt, your majesty," said one of the guards, "but we found a young colt in the rain, and it seems his father isn't with him."

"Oh dear," said Celestia, "bring him here."

The two guards moved and Flash stepped forwards.

"Y-your Highness," he said, nervously bowing.

"What is your name, young one?" asked Celestia.

"Flash Sentry," the young colt replied, "I can't find my father, Flame Barrier. He's been gone for a long time, and I'm afraid I may never see him again!"

Celestia felt sympathy for the young colt. "I am sorry to hear of your loss, young Flash."

"What can we do for him?" asked one of the guards, "We can't have him grow up without a parent. Surely he has a mother?"

"My mom's in Cloudsdale," said Flash.

"How would you like to stay here in the castle?" Celestia offered. Flash looked at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course," the princess smiled, and then she notioned the filly next to her. "This is Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said, "she is my top student."

While Flash was making himself at home, Princess Celestia sent some of her guards to find Flash's mother. However, by the time they reached Cloudsdale, they couldn't find a light yellow Pegasus mare which matched Flash's depiction of her. They returned with the unhappy news.

"We couldn't find the mare Flash described, your majesty," said one.

"Sh... she's not there...?"

"I'm afraid not," said another, "we're sorry... truly, we are."

Flash lowered his head in sadness. Not only was his father gone, but now his mother was too.

"Whatever shall I do?" he said, on the verge of crying. One of the guards spoke up.

"I could take you under my wing like a foster father," he offered. Flash liked that idea, and so it was arranged for the guard to be his foster father. He also began studying so he could become a Royal Guard too.

During that time, Flash even began to build a friendship with Sunset Shimmer, and before long, it would begin to blossom into something more; however, not every love story has the happy ending...

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Several years later, Flash and Sunset were teenage ponies, both having obtained their respective cutie marks, Sunset's being a red and yellow shimmering sun. About three weeks ago, she 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… were you that filly who bumped into me after I broke up with Sunset?"

"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…"

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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.

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"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."

Flash and Twilight looked all around Canterlot in the skies; then...

"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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"…and when it came for my entrance exam," continued Twilight, "I must have been so wrapped up in you helping me find my parents that I was unable to hatch the egg Spike was in. That was when all of a sudden, as if by coincidence, it was a young Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom that hatched Spike, caused me to lose control of my magic until Princess Celestia intervened, and obtain my cutie mark!"

"A sonic rainboom?" asked Flash, and then quickly realized. "I think I can remember seeing one of them not long after we found your parents; it was real loud and scary, I thought."

There was a pause before Twilight spoke up again.

"Now that I'm thinking about it," she said, "we met the same day you and Sunset broke up, the day Spike hatched, and the day me and my friends all got our cutie marks! How often does that happen?"

"Must be destiny, I suppose," Flash shrugged, "or pure coincidence. So what did happen after you passed your entrance exam?"

"Princess Celestia made me her own personal protégé at the school not long after I passed," said Twilight, "and since then, I've been studying magic, and eventually friendship, right up to my coronation. Even so, my friends and I still learn more about friendship every day.

"When I told my older brother, Shining Armor, about how you helped me, he said, 'I'm glad you're okay, Twily, and although I'm not fond of strangers, I'd like to meet this Flash pony and thank him for what he's done.'"

"Hold on," Flash interrupted, "did you say Shining Armor?"

"Yes, I did," said Twilight, "why?"

"Oh, nothing," said Flash, a little hastily, "I was just asking, is all."

"Oh, okay," said Twilight, understanding, "I guess he probably forgotten about it and assumed you were another random pony named 'Flash'. Must be a common name in Equestria."

"I guess so," Flash chuckled, and then he went silent. Oh, jeez, he thought, Shining Armor's my boss and Twilight's brother. What's he gonna think if he finds out one of his soldiers is dating his sister?! No, come on, Flash – pull yourself together!

"Oh, my gosh, does time fly?!" exclaimed Flash, "Well, it was nice finding out more about one another, and hope to see you soon!" And he quickly flew off.

"Wouldn't you like to visit me sometime in Ponyville?!" called Twilight, but she got no reply. "I guess it's a 'maybe', then!"

Twilight was a little disappointed, but nonetheless glad she at least got to speak with Flash in pony. As she walked back to the station to catch the next train to Ponyville, Twilight thought something was up, but couldn't put her hoof on it…

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In my own headcanon of MLP, Flash Sentry is older than Twilight, but younger than Shining Armor. My theory is that Sunset Shimmer is about a few years older than the Mane Six, journeyed Equestria before escaping through the Crystal Mirror where she stayed in the human world for thirty moons, learning to adjust to her new form, and then the movie takes place.

There's still more to come!