At his current pace, and even with the aid of Sunset, it took Flash quite a while to make it down a single hallways in this place. But, his girlfriend was patient with him, and very much sympathetic to his situation, having been in his position herself some time ago. However, just as she'd said to him, he eventually managed to get more confidence in his movements, eventually to the point where he could walk at a fairly decent speed. Though he took great pains to appear as composed as possible, there was no escaping the nervousness plastered all over his face, especially when, at the end of the hall, a magnificent door awaited them. By way of almost a sixth sense, Flash knew what awaited him on the other side, and when he reached it, he stopped, taking a few deep breaths. Standing beside him, Sunset gave him a reassuring look.

"You ready?"

Sighing, Flash nodded.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

She smiled, before then turning to the door and lighting her horn up. The door's handles became bathed in her aura, and with a single push of her magic, they opened. Beyond was a room both vast and regal, with walls and floors of shining crystal; the central chamber of the Friendship Palace. Naturally, Flash was in awe of this place, his eyes never straying to the ground as he took it all in. Sunset was amused by this reaction to what, to her, was a perfectly normal thing. But, eventually, she cleared her throat, gaining his attention.

"Let's not keep them waiting."

At first, Flash was unaware of what she meant, but then, after a few moments, the memory of his true purpose here was remembered, and he looked straight ahead. There, in the centre of the chamber, was a great round table, surrounded by seven crystal thrones. And on the far side, two of those thrones were currently occupied. To Flash's eyes, they appeared to be further unicorns, but that notion was dispelled when, after a few steps closer, he realised that the two figures both bore a pair of wings, much like himself. One was tall, a bright white in her fur and a startling rainbow mane, which bore a golden crown atop it. The other was smaller, more Sunset's size, and coloured a light lavender, with a darker purple mane. The former looked to the two of them with seriousness, while the other bore an affectionate smile.

"Sunset. Flash. A pleasure to have you both with us."

It was the taller pony that had spoken, and her voice, while certainly courteous, was nevertheless cool and reserved. She was analysing him, that much he could feel, leading to a single drop of sweat falling down the side of his head. But, as Sunset approached the table, so too did he, and the whole room was silent as the two drew closer. Eventually, they made their way to the table, and after a bit of difficulty on Flash's part, he eventually took his place on one of the thrones, as did Sunset. There was further silence for a time, during which, the taller pony kept her eyes on the stallion. Naturally, Flash was more than a little nervous over this, but, thankfully, he found that the silence was soon broken, by none other than the smaller of the two before him.

"It's...it's good to see you again, Flash."

The moment he'd heard those words, his new ears perked up instinctively. His head snapped in her direction, and for the longest time, he stared at her. He looked to her features, her eyes, the shape of her mane, her colours, even the way she looked to him with a degree of affection. Disbelief crossed Flash's face, which eventually morphed into familiarity and shock.

"Tw...Twilight?!"

The mare blushed slightly, giving a brief nod.

"Yeah, um...I guess this is the first time you've seen me...well...like this."

Flash stared at her, until he eventually realised that his mouth was gaping open the whole time. Sunset stifled a giggle at this, and the stallion soon shook himself out of that state, looking to his former girlfriend with a mix of both genuine happiness and awkwardness.

"It's...it's good to see you too, Twilight."

Her smile widened after hearing that, as indeed did his own. But, before anypony could say anything else to each other, they all turned to the sound of somepony clearing their throats. And Flash suddenly felt nervous again as the larger pony began to fix her gaze upon him more seriously.

"Flash Sentry, yes?"

Gulping, Flash gave a brief nod, prompting the other pony to continue.

"Well met. I am Princess Celestia. One of the rulers of Equestria."

Flash's eyes darted left, then right, before offering a small smile and a wave of his hoof.

"It's...nice to meet you, your highness?"

Celestia raised her eyebrow, and Flash, all of a sudden, began to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Oh! I mean...your majesty? Your...eminence? Your..."

Slowly, he leaned over to Sunset, whispering.

"What am I supposed to call her?"

Sunset placed a hoof upon her forehead, but before her words could get out, the elder Princess spoke once more.

"When I heard that my former pupil was involved with somepony, I knew I had to meet him. And now...here you are."

Looking to her, Flash chuckled nervously.

"Yes...well...it's an honour to meet you too, your...your Princess...ness?"

Again, Sunset slapped her forehead, as indeed did Twilight. But, neither said anything as Celestia continued.

"In fact, if what I've been told is true...you have, in fact, courted both of my students in the past, correct?"

Flash's pupils shrank slightly, and he glanced over to Twilight, who gave him a gesture that screamed "just say something" to him, which he then elected to do.

"Well...yes, I have. I was very happy with Twilight, even if it was only for a brief time. But...circumstances being what they were...we both decided that the relationship...well...couldn't last."

Celestia gave a short nod.

"Indeed. I have heard the tale. And I trust, Mr Sentry...that you do not plan no ending your time with Sunset anytime soon?"

His eyes widened, and he shook his hooves in an almost defensive gesture.

"No! I'm not going to leave her!"

Celestia kept her eyebrow well and truly up at those words.

"Oh? You left her once before, did you not?"

Flash stumbled for a moment, doing his best to get his words out.

"That was...things were...we were both different people back then!"

Celestia continued to stare at him, as if gazing into his very soul, and Flash, for his part, did his best to try and match her, stare for stare. There was a silence as dead as a graveyard during all of this, but, in the midst of it all, Flash began to hear something that, he knew, couldn't be going on right now. It was, without question, the sound of giggling, albeit rather stifled giggles. Slowly, he cast a glance to his left, and saw, to his confusion, that both Sunset and Twilight were covering their mouths with their hooves. Looking to them with uncertainty, Flash then saw them eventually just drop their hooves, and the giggles came thick and fast. After a few moments of this, however, the laughter died down, and Sunset looked to her teacher with a smile.

"Princess Celestia, please, you're just torturing him at this point."

Flash's head snapped back in Celestia's direction, just in time to see, for the first time, the older pony actually start to crack a smile. After letting out a brief chuckle, she leaned back into her respective throne before starting to speak to him yet again. But this time, things were different. Because unlike before, when her voice was rather cold and somewhat pointed, this time, it was calm, sounding almost like what a Mother might sound like.

"I do apologize, Flash. In all my years I have never had one of my student introduce a coltfriend to me. And I suppose I've just always wanted to play the "disapproving parent" role just once in my life."

Taking all of that in, Flash's expression was one of both disbelief and confusion. But, in the end, he let out an exhale that was so long that it honestly sounded like he was letting out more air than his body was even capable of storing. At the end of this, he rested his head upon the table, looking, understandably, quite relieved this his interrogation had come to an end.

"That...that wasn't nice," was all he could manage to say.

Reaching over, Sunset gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

"Sorry, sweetie. I guess we just couldn't help ourselves."

Looking up, Flash gave her a brief frown, before simply sighing again. He got back into an upright sitting position, just in time to see Celestia lean close, looking to him with interest.

"Sunset and Twilight have told me much about you. If even half of what they say is true, then you are a fine lad, Flash, and one that I'm happy my students were able to find for themselves."

A blush crept onto his face at that.

"Well...thank you, Miss."

Celestia chuckled to that.

"Please, just call me Celestia."

Here, Flash formed a smile of his own.

"You know...we actually have a Celestia back in our world. She's the Principal at our school."

Celestia nodded.

"Indeed. I have been told as much. Tell me, is she a few thousand years old as well?"

Flash paused, staring at Celestia, with disbelief once more his prime expression. After thinking things over for a moment, he eventually just gave an answer.

"Erm...I can honestly say she isn't."

Celestia nodded.

"Hmmm, interesting."

Flash thought long and hard about the matter, before looking to the older Princess with curiosity.

"She...she does have a sister, though. Do you?"

A smirk crept onto Celestia's face.

"Indeed I do. In fact..."

But, she did not get the chance to finish her sentence, as then, in that very moment, a nearby set of doors suddenly opened by way of further magic. All heads turned in its direction, and Flash saw, to his surprise, yet another winged unicorn made her way into the chamber. This one, however, was of a darker colour, all blues, with what appeared to be the night sky itself within her flowing mane. Naturally, he found this an impressive sight. As the newcomer made her way further and further into the chamber, both Twilight and Sunset gave her a smile and nod in greeting, which was promptly returned by the former. But then, she fixed her eyes upon Flash, and the stallion, of course, suddenly felt his nerves returned with a vengeance.

"Ah, this must be the human lover we have been told about."

Flash looked around himself, only to remember that it was him that she was talking about. The larger mare approached him, walking around the table to get a closer look, much to the embarrassment of Sunset, who covered her eyes with her hooves. When Luna was finally within reach of Flash's chair, her eyes looked him over very carefully, and she even resorted to starting to slowly walk all around him as she analysed him. As one would expect, Flash suddenly gained a healthy respect for the victims in shark-attack movies in this moment, as Luna circled him with intent. Eventually, and to the relief of everypony there, the Princess of the night finally broke the silence.

"Yes...we can see why Sunset would choose you, Sir Sentry."

Turning to her, Flash struggled for a moment on how to respond.

"Um...thank you?"

Luna nodded.

"Indeed. You are both handsome and in good health, and your wingspan in most impressive for one of your age."

Instinctively, Flash turned to his new wings, glancing at them briefly before looking over to Sunset.

"Is...is my wing-size a thing here?"

Sunset, as before said nothing just giving him a quite look of comfort as Luna continued her deconstruction of him.

"I believe Sunset is most fortunate. No doubt you will be able to provide her with many a healthy foal in your time together."

Now, it was largely accepted that the phrase "as red as tomato" was the best thing to say when describing the faces of those who were currently embarrassed about something. But that was by no means the case here. No, for in this moment, the shade that Flash and Sunset now had upon their faces was a different kind of red. The kind of red that seemed to be what you'd get if the universe itself was asked to think long and hard on what the colour of embarrassment and mortification should be. That was their faces, and they stared at Luna with the same expression that, in ancient days, would have largely been reserved for those who had uttered the most obscene of blasphemous statements. As for Celestia, however, she simply slapped her forehead.

"Luna! We've talked about this!"

The night-mare turned to her sister, raising an eyebrow and, for a time, looking confused. But, as the moments of silence passed by, she seemed to gain a sense of understanding, looking to Flash once more.

"Ah...in that case, as the kids would say nowadays...my bad."

Flash looked to her with utter incredulity, opening his mouth to speak. But, sadly, he didn't get the chance, as Luna then raised her hoof, halting him.

"Apologies, but it seems as if this current discussion is not the kind that should involve you. So, if you'll pardon me..."

The stallion would have, naturally, wanted to ask further about that, but, as before, was kept from doing so when Luna's horn began to light up. Before he could do anything to react, he found that a light-blue magical bubble had suddenly formed around his head. Though alarmed, he found, to his shock, that he could no longer hear anything taking place outside of that bubble. And soon afterwards, he watched as all of the mares began to look at each other, discussing matters that, unfortunately, he was unable to take in. He turned, looking to Sunset, who gave him a sympathetic look, reaching over and placing her hoof upon his shoulder. Flash sighed to this, giving a reluctant nod, which resulted in Sunset smiling to him in appreciation, before then getting back to the business of joining the discussion with the other mares.

As Flash sat in silence, unable to hear what they were saying about him, he let out a deep sigh within his bubble, speaking aloud his feelings about this entire predicament.

"This...this is gonna be my whole day, isn't it?"