Of all the days he could have chosen to do perimeter patrol duty, it had to be the day when it was raining. High above crystal city soared a pegasus, clad in the golden armour of the Equestrian royal guard. His fur was orange and his mane a dark blue, his cutie mark that of a shield and lightning bolt. Flash Sentry, guard of the Crystal Empire, was doing his rounds, flying high above the capital of the Empire, watching out for any potential dangers to the many ponies below.

But while most days were pleasant enough in the Empire, even a place as magical as this was not immune to the occasional bout of bad weather. And so it was today, as Flash was flying, that he had to deal with a torrential downpour and cold winds. Still, he wouldn't have been chosen to be a guard in the first place if a little rain could stop him, so he put up with it, spending many hours watching out for anything that might be worth reporting. But, as was often the case in the Empire, there was little to nothing to worry about, and soon enough, Flash's time on patrol was up, and he began to make his way back towards the palace.

Flying during a rainstorm like this was not easy, even for accomplished fliers, but Flash made good time getting back to the crystal palace, landing on one of it's many balconies. Waiting there was another guard, who nodded to Flash as he passed. Flash nodded in return at the guard, who was no doubt here to take his place on patrol. The orange pegasus swiftly entered the palace, taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of being inside after the cold weather outdoors. He briefly shook his body, making sure to get as much rainwater off him as possible, before making his way towards the guards' recreational area.

He had a brief period to rest and get something to eat before having to resume his duties, and soon found himself in a modestly sized room with several other pegasi and unicorn guards already there and enjoying their lunches. Flash looked over the available meals and picked out a nice grass sandwich for himself before hearing a voice from behind.

"Hey Flash! Over here!"

Flash turned to see a nearby table, at which sat two other pegasi, both clad in the golden armour of the guard. One was a stallion with a dark coat and a mohawk-style mane. Thunderlane, a recent addition to the guards. Beside him sat perhaps the largest pegasus anypony would ever lay their eyes on. White in his fur and yellow in his short mane, this pegasus was bulky and muscled like nopony's business. Roid Rage, yet another new recruit. Thuderlane was waving him over, and after collecting his sandwich, Flash walked over and sat by them.

Flash knew these two well enough after they were recruited. The two had, to his surprise, once been potential recruits for the Wonderbolts, the so-called "greatest fliers in Equestria". But both had decided to drop out for some unknown reason, though rumour had it that the two were just too intimidated by the drill sergeant there to want to keep doing it. Whatever the reason, they'd soon decided to try their hooves at guard duty, and were sent to the Crystal Empire shortly afterwards, where they had become frequent "lunch buddies" of Flash.

As Flash sat down and began to eat his meal, Thunderlane leant over.

"Hey, me and Roid were planning on checking out that new restaurant that just opened near the train station after we clock out today. You in?" He asked.

Flash opened his mouth to speak, but Roid suddenly shot up from his chair and expressed his enthusiasm for the plan.

"YEAH!!!" He shouted.

One might expect Flash, not to mention every other pony in that room, to be rather shocked by this sudden outburst by the large pegasus. But Roid had gained a rather notorious reputation for doing this sort of thing, so few would really bat an eye at this behaviour anymore, least of all Flash. Still, after waiting for Roid to take his seat again, he decided to answer Thunderlane.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm taking the night shift this evening. Maybe some other day?"

Flash, after answering the question, got back to his sandwich, while Roid and Thunderlane looked at each other with confusion in their faces.

"Another night shift? How is it that the guy dating the boss' sister ends up getting MORE work to do?"

The orange pegasus couldn't help but frown at that. It was inevitable, but they'd finally got around to bringing up Twilight. Although it brought him joy to once again have his filly-friend, the love of his life, in the forefront of his mind again, he didn't particularly want these two to be talking about her like that.

"I don't think Prince Armour would appreciate you referring to Princess Sparkle like that, and nor would I for that matter." He said in a somewhat aggressive tone.

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow at Flash.

"Princess Sparkle? Come on Flash, you're dating her for Celestia's sake! I think it would be fine for you to use her name."

Flash put his sandwich down and placed his hoof upon his chest-plate.

"Not with the uniform on I won't. When I wear this, I am a guard of Equestria, and she is one of our princesses, and will be referred to as such."

Even though Flash loved Twilight with all his heart, he was, first and foremost, a guard of Equestria. His duties were very important to him, and he'd always been noted for his discipline in this regard. Twilight knew this about him and had, to some degree, admired him for it, hence why she was as accepting as she was that his duties meant that he'd spend so much time away from her. That understanding was just one of the many qualities that Flash appreciated and loved about her, just as he admired Twilight's own sense of responsibility to her own duties now that she was a princess.

Thunderlane though couldn't help but roll his eyes at the comment.

"Why I end up having my lunches with a stick-in-the-mud like you I'll never know." He answered.

Flash did his best to ignore that remark and continued eating his lunch. As the minutes rolled on, more and more of their fellow guards made their way out of the room, no doubt to resume their work elsewhere in the palace. Prince Shining Armour tended to keep them on a tight schedule, a trait he'd picked up back when he was captain of the guard for Celestia back in Canterlot. Still, Flash and the other two still had some time left before they had to get back to their own duties, and elected to enjoy as much of this brief respite as they could.

Unfortunately for Flash, the subject they chose to discuss was, once again, his love life.

"I just don't know how you do it Sentry. I mean, you end up dating a princess, a PRINCESS of all things, and the two of you barely spend any time together."

Ideally, Flash would rather not have discussed such things with these two, but, with his filly-friend being Equestria's latest monarch, her private life, and by extension his own, was always going to be the subject of speculation and rumour, much to his and her annoyance. Whether it was Thunderlane, Roid or some other guard he met somewhere down the line, his involvement with Twilight was what all of them would be most interested to hear. And even though he tried to keep his composure, it wasn't hard to detect the feeling of annoyance in his voice.

"Princess Sparkle has many responsibilities. And even if she didn't, she spends a lot of time trying to improve her magic and research new spells. That kind of work has been her whole life, while I on the other hoof, have only become a part of her life recently. It wouldn't be fair for me to expect her to just drop all of that to be with me."

Thunderlane and Roid said nothing, merely watching as Flash's expression became one of melancholy, as he looked down at his now-finished meal.

"Besides.......she lives in Ponyville and my post is here in the Empire. Things between us were always going to be long-distance. But that just makes the moments we do have together all the more important."

Truthfully, nothing would have given Flash greater joy than to have his beloved princess with him right now, or to just drop everything and fly down to Ponyville as fast as his wings would carry him. But such a thing would be irresponsible of him, and if there was one thing he knew about Twilight, it was that she did not approve of those who shirked their duties in life. Still, he'd always taken comfort in the fact that he had her in his life. There had been a time, not so long ago, when he'd feared that his love life would be nothing but a shambles.

His prior relationship, that of Sunset Shimmer, had ended in disaster, and had been a cause of depression for him for some time. Thanks to Twilight, he'd managed to find some happiness in his life again, for which he was eternally thankful to her. His love for her, which he'd only confessed at their last day together, was, to his relief, reciprocated by her, and the two had shared their first kiss that day because of it. Being with her made him feel like the luckiest stallion in the world, though he knew that most probably felt like that when they were in love as he was.

Still, his companions weren't going to give up that easily.

"Even so, it's been, what, a month since you last saw her?"

Flash sighed and looked even more morose than before.

"A month.........and two weeks." He replied.

Thunderlane shook his head at that.

"Jeez. I'm not sure I could ever being away from my filly-friend that long."

Flash was half-tempted to reply to that by mentioning how Thunderlane did not, in fact, HAVE a filly-friend at this time, but thought better of it. Instead, he decided that it was probably for the best if he got back to his duties. He got up from his table and was about to pick up his empty plate when, all of a sudden, Thunderlane and Roid shot up out of their chairs and sharply saluted in Flash's direction. Needless to say, Flash was rather taken aback by this behaviour, but soon realised that there was a sound of approaching hoof-steps behind him. Turning, his eyes widened with surprise as he saw, standing in the entrance to the room, was none other than Princess Cadence.

His training kicking in immediately, Flash's hoof shot up towards his head in a salute. Cadence approached the three pegasi and raised hr own hoof.

"At ease."

The three stopped saluting and lowered their hooves. Cadence then gave a glance over to Roid and Thunderlane, before turning her attention back to Flash.

"Guard-pony Sentry. I would speak with you, if you have the time."

Flash was unsure of her tone of voice, but nevertheless agreed by nodding towards her. Cadence nodded back before turning around and making her way out of the room. Flash looked over his shoulder to his fellow pegasi, who shrugged their shoulders at him in confusion. He then made his way out and began to follow Cadence down the hall. There was silence between them for a while before the princess finally spoke.

"I have news Flash. We will be receiving a visitor next week and I'd like you to make the arrangements for greeting them."

Flash nodded at that.

"Of course Princess. Anypony I should know about?" He asked.

He was then taken aback by the sound of giggling from Cadence. Turning towards her, he saw a rather mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh, I should think so. A pony you in particular should be rather happy about seeing again."

Flash tilted his head at that, briefly unsure of what Cadence was referring to. Then, it suddenly dawned on him what she was talking about, or rather, "who" she was talking about. His face lit up with a smile, the first time he'd done so in days as his mind grasped just who it was that would be coming here soon. Twilight. There was no other reason Cadence would have asked him to be the one to do this. The princess meanwhile, had caught sight of the smile on his face and giggled a second time.

"Good to know the flame's still burning. Yes, Twilight will be arriving with her friends next week. My husband, Prince Armour, invited her to spend the weekend here. Those two haven't had much time to bond recently, so he thought it was a good idea for them to catch up."

Upon hearing that, Flash's smile diminished somewhat. He was still very happy that he'd get the chance to see his beloved Twilight again, but the new of why she was coming here lessened that happiness, something that Cadence noticed immediately.

"You know, I'm sure she'll be just as happy to see you as she is with her brother." She said as they carried on walking.

Flash lowered his head a little.

"With all due respect your highness, it might not be best for me to intrude on this. Prince Armour is her brother. He's been a part of her life since the day she was born. They need time to re-connect. It wouldn't feel right to intrude on that."

Cadence shook her head at that.

"Sentry. I'm sure my husband would appreciate that attitude, but Twilight needs to see you as well. Lovers shouldn't be parted for so long."

Flash stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing that, his face now a bright crimson at the mention of the word "lovers". He had not told anypony about his confession of love to Twilight. Not his friends, his family, and certainly not the royals who ruled the Crystal Empire. Seeing the embarrassed look on his face, Cadence chuckled.

"My dear Flash, you don't really think the princess of love would be blind to such things, did you? I saw that look on your face when you returned to the Empire over a month ago. That was a look of pure love if ever I saw it. You and Twilight have something very special between you now, and I'm very happy for the both of you. And that's why such a thing needs to be rekindled."

Flash looked away from her, still rather uncomfortable in discussing his private life with others.

"Twi…..I mean……Princess Sparkle and I write to each other all the time. It's not as though we're cut off from one another."

That was not a lie on his part. As promised, both he and Twilight had been corresponding with each other on a regular basis, and to him, those letters were often a highlight of his day. Though admittedly, it was strange to suddenly have letters and scrolls appear out of green fire like that. Still, he had to confess that it had been difficult for him to not see her beautiful face like he'd been able to do during his leave time all those weeks ago. Not to embrace her, or know the feeling of her lips upon his. Her not being with him had been difficult, but he'd learned to endure it.

Looking up at Cadence, he forced a small smile.

"You know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Cadence raised an eyebrow at that.

"Do you seek to lecture the princess of love on matters of the heart guard-pony?" She asked.

Flash's eyes widened at that and he raised his hooves in defence.

"No, no! I didn't....I mean......what I meant was that......"

But before he could get another word out, he was interrupted by another fit of giggles from Cadence.

"Relax Flash. I understand, believe me. But if you keep waiting for the right time to be with her, you'll always be disappointed. Her visit is a perfect time for the two of you to enjoy each other's company. She and her brother will have their time together, don't you worry. But trust me when I say that she'll be just as eager to be back with you as you are to be with her."

Flash considered that. In all the letters Twilight had written to him, not once had he ever been under the impression that she felt any less about him than the day they last saw each other. And that warmed his heart a great deal. His mind conjured up images of their last time together, and brought up new possibilities of how things would be between them once she returned to the Empire next week. To say he was not looking forward to such a reunion would have been a lie, and it brought a smile to his face to know that the mare he loved so much would be with him once more.

And knowing that, he looked up at the princess of the Crystal Empire, his smile bigger than it had been in weeks.

"In that case, your highness, I'll be sure to arrange a proper welcome for her."