The sun's rays began to filter through the window and the curtain, giving the room a warm glow. Although the windows were shut tight, she could faintly hear the sound of chirping birds, which were what woke her up. Twilight's eyes slowly opened, and she allowed herself a moment to get used to the rising light levels. She'd had a very good sleep, and was not eager to leave it just yet. But, as the moments passed, a realisation dawned on her, and she suddenly noticed an orange foreleg gently draped over her.

She turned her head, and a warm smile crept onto her face. There, sleeping soundly, was her beloved colt-friend, Flash Sentry. He was lying perfectly still, a warm smile upon his face, one which led Twilight to gain her own smile. Last night had been unlike anything she'd experienced before, and it had all been with a stallion she loved. Thinking fondly on the previous night, she slowly moved forward, gently planting a kiss on his lips. There was a low, almost purring sound, coming from Flash when she did this, eventually leading to him gradually opening his eyes. When he saw her, smiling back at him, his own smile widened.

"Good morning". He said affectionately.

Twilight moved her head forward again and gently nuzzled his.

"Good morning." She replied.

Lifting his foreleg, which had still been draped over Twilight's shoulder, Flash placed his hoof on the side of her face, staring into her eyes in a loving manner.

"Well, last night was.......quite an education."

Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at that remark. She then raised an eyebrow at him.

"Learn anything interesting?"

Flash gained a somewhat mischievous look on his face before bringing his face closer to hers, his voice now lowered to a whisper as he replied.

"Certainly. For one thing, I learned just how much you enjoy being kissed on the neck."

The effect of him saying that was immediate, as Twilight's face erupted into the reddest blush anypony could have thought possible. His aim achieved, Flash afforded himself a brief laugh, one which quickly earned him a playful push from Twilight, who was trying her hardest not to burst into laughter over her lover's remarks regarding last night. But even with this, admittedly childish moment between them, neither could be made any less happy over what had occurred between them. Although neither could have foreseen that an act of physical intimacy like this would have ever happened when they first started dating, neither would have changed the fact that it had occurred.

Their laughter ended, the two stared at each other. They wanted to say so many things to each other. "I love you", or "I'm so happy to be with you", and a plethora of other words that were in their hearts. But, as they smiled at each other, they understood that no words need pass between them after this. It was, they had to confess, a rather large threshold they had crossed in their relationship, and one that would undoubtedly be a shock to their friends and family, if they ever decided to tell them. But somehow, they knew that it was right, that the time had come for this level of their love to have happened.

But, as pleasant as this moment was for them, Twilight noticed that Flash had now gained a somewhat worried look. His eyes moved up to see that she had certainly noticed this, so he knew that there was no point in trying to hide it. After clearing his throat, he spoke.

"And......um.....was I.......alright?"

It took Twilight a few moments to understand what he meant by that, but her eyes widened with understanding as she began to grasp his question. The way he looked at her, it was clear that he was worried that he might have let her down in some way last night. Thinking carefully, a smile crept onto her face as she answered him as truthfully as possible.

"Flash......you were worth the wait."

The stallion looked at her, trying to see if she was just saying that to make him happy. But, as was always the case with Twilight, there was no lie in her expression, and his face became one of relief. With that sorted, Flash moved his foreleg and wrapped it around her again, the two enjoying each other's warmth during the early morning sunlight. Neither of them wanted to move from this spot, as neither would have objected to staying like this all day. But, they both knew that they would have to part eventually, as today was the morning in which Twilight and her friends were set to return to Ponyville. After such an enjoyable weekend, they knew it would be hard to get back to their normal lives, without being able to see each other as frequently as this. But, they had endured their last separation, so they knew they could cope with this one.

Flash began to nuzzle the side of her head gently, before speaking to her.

"So what does this mean now? For us?" He asked.

Twilight considered this carefully before answering.

"Well, the two of us are technically mates now, so that's a pretty big step. As for everything else.......do you think this will change how we feel about each other?"

Flash looked thoughtful for a moment before a smile crept onto his face.

"If you mean if I love you any less, then no, it hasn't changed a thing."

Smiling, Twilight reached over a kissed him on the cheek for that, and the two quickly returned to simply enjoying this quiet and intimate moment they shared. After spending as much time embracing each other as they could, Twilight looked over to her bedside table, and her eyes fell upon the clock that sat on it. It was nearing eight o'clock, and she knew that the train was less than an hour from departure. She sighed and looked over at Flash. One look at her expression and she knew what needed to be done. He gave a sigh of his own and nodded before finally letting her go. The two moved over to their respective sides of the bed and threw off the sheets, getting into a sitting position before hopping off onto all fours.

Flash looked over and noticed that Twilight had already packed her things, with a small pile of suitcases neatly piled up in the corner near the door of her room. He realised that he was expected to be suited up and ready to report for his daily duties soon, which today meant that he was to act as Twilight's escort out of the palace. That meant he'd have to return to the barracks and fetch his uniform. He began to move towards the door to do just that when Twilight suddenly stepped in front of him, barring his path. The pegasus looked at her with confusion before his filly-friend giggled briefly.

"Allow me." She said.

Before Flash could open his mouth to ask her what she was doing, he saw that her horn had begun to glow. There was a brief, but near-blinding flash of light, and the stallion shielded his eyes from it's effects. The light began to dim and he lowered his hoof, only to see Twilight smiling at him. He didn't take long to realise what had happened, as he looked down and saw that he was now wearing his regular golden-plated guard uniform, complete with helmet. He looked at Twilight, who smiled proudly at this.

"Just a simple clothes-conjuring spell. I used it to make a tuxedo for Spike once."

Flash did his best not to question the purpose of giving a tuxedo to an infant dragon, and instead simply smiled at the gesture his mare-friend had done for him. He moved close to her, leaning forward before giving her a quick kiss on her cheek as a "thank you". Twilight blushed a little at this before turning her attention back to her own belongings. She approached the small pile of luggage and her horn began to glow once more, the suitcases now starting to float in mid-air, which was undoubtedly how she was planning to carry them. Flash afforded himself a quick chuckle at this, as it never ceased to amaze him how talented with magic Twilight could be.

The young princess then turned to face him, walking forward with her floating luggage in-tow.

"You know, just so we get there early, how about we take a short-cut?"

Seeing the mischievous smile on Twilight's face, Flash wasn't sure if he should be excited or worried about that prospect. However, he didn't have time to really respond to that suggestion, as Twilight's horn began to glow even brighter than before. To Flash's amazement, both she and he were now enveloped in the same purple magical glow as her horn. There was yet another flash of light and, before the stallion knew what was going on, the two of them were now in a completely different location. Specifically, they were at the front gates of the crystal palace.

Twilight could see from the look on his face that this was Flash's first experience with teleportation, and his reaction was about what one would expect of their first journey through such means. His head was darting about, clearly unnerved by what had just happened, a reaction which caused a brief giggle in Twilight. However, he quickly regained his composure, just in time for the two of them to notice that a group of ponies was approaching them. It was Twilight's friends, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Alongside them was Twilight's brother, Shining Armour, and Cadence.

Twilight smiled as they approached, she and Flash now walking forward to meet them. Once they were in the same place, Cadence spoke.

"Well, that's one way to be on-time". She said.

Flash and Twilight gave each other a quick glance. Doubtless, Cadence was referring to their sudden teleportation into the area. It suddenly occurred to them both that it would have appeared to others as a rather unusual way to get to the palace gates, rather than simply walking out with the rest of them. It was a sentiment shared by Shining, who now stepped forward.

"Sentry, I assume you were helping my sister get ready for her departure?"

His tone of voice made it clear that he suspected that this was not, in fact, what Flash had been doing with her, and the young guard looked over to Twilight in a rather nervous manner. The purple alicorn was not concerned however, and stepped forward and placed a hoof on her brother's shoulder.

"Yes, Shining. Flash has been helping me. So I thought I'd return the favour by helping him and me to get here early."

The prince's expression softened as he looked upon his young sister. The two siblings smiled at each other before they moved forward, embracing each other in a warm hug. They both knew that this would be the last time they would see each other for some time, so they took as much time as they needed to enjoy this shared family moment. When they eventually broke apart, Twilight turned her attention to Cadence, who stepped forward and gave her sister-in-law a similar hug. When that one ended, Twilight looked at both of them with an affectionate look on her face.

"This has been a great weekend, and I thank both of you for inviting us. I'll miss both of you."

Shining smiled at that.

"We'll miss you too, Twily."

The young princess smiled at the mention of her childhood nickname before stepping back from them, looking over at her suitcases and using her magic to levitate them once more. She gave a look and a nod to her friends, who nodded back before starting to make their way towards the train station. Before Twilight joined them, she turned around and looked at Flash. Although both were saddened that this time between them had to come to an end so soon, neither could possibly say that it wasn't an important moment in their lives. They smiled lovingly at each other and, in spite of being in full view of everypony else, they move forward and joined together in a kiss.

Shining Armour did his best to turn his attention elsewhere, still somewhat uncomfortable in thinking of his sister in this romantic light, while Cadence had to resist the urge to squeal with joy at this lovely sight. The two lovers, Flash and Twilight, broke apart soon afterwards, and the latter whispered to him.

"I'll miss you too......my love."

Flash's smile grew, if possible, even larger, upon hearing his filly-friend refer to him like that, and he moved his head forward and nuzzled the side of her head affectionately, in a similar manner to how Twilight had done to him earlier.

"I'll be sure to keep writing." He replied.

Twilight smiled at that before the two of them moved away from each other. They stared at each other for almost a full minute before Twilight finally managed to pull herself away, giving her brother and sister-in-law one final look and wave. They returned the gesture and Twilight began hastily making her way to join her friends, who were now a fair distance down the street. She could almost feel the eyes of her brother, sister-in-law and colt-friend on her as she walked along, and her mind was awash with all of the wonderful things that had happened to her over the course of the last few days.

And even though she lamented that this time had now ended, one thought gave her solace. A thought that she had no hesitation in voicing.

"Yeah.......this was a good visit."