Now, the very idea of a building made of crystal was, it has to be said, something of a novelty to Flash. Now that he had some time to himself, with the others mares doing whatever it was they wanted to do now that the initial meeting had ended, the stallion had chosen to give himself a tour of the palace. Naturally, he found pretty much everything a wonder to behold. The glistening walls, the way the place went on and on like one of those fairy-tale castles in books, or the sheer fact that he was walking around the place as a pegasus of all things. All of this simply kept a big grin on his face with every step. And speaking of which, his walking had more-or-less managed to become about on-par with that of regular ponies, so, to his delight, he no longer found himself tripping over his own hooves every few steps.

"Won't have to be used to all this for long though," he said to himself.

Eventually, and after much endless walking, he stopped, gazing upon a particular portrait that now hung from one of the nearby walls. Upon it was Twilight, smiling down at whoever chose to look upon the painting, and beside her were many other ponies, including another stallion. This one was bright white, with a dark-blue mane, who had his hooves wrapped around the young Princess with a big smile upon his face. Tilting his head slightly, Flash kept his eyes on that picture, until the moment when a familiar voice called out to him.

"He's my brother."

Turning, Flash cracked a smile as he saw Twilight approaching him. The sentiment was returned in her own expression, and before long, the former couple were standing beside one another, looking up at the picture together.

"You know, I was actually pretty tempted to ask him over here today, so he could meet you."

Flash considered that for a moment, before looking to his ex with a raised eyebrow.

"No offense, Twilight, but I think things have been awkward enough today without adding protective older brothers to the mix."

The alicorn giggled to this, before letting out a sigh and nodding her head.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Although..."

Looking to the stallion, Twilight bore a slight smirk.

"...if you were worried he'd be bad, you should just wait until you met my sister-in-law."

Flash turned to her with curiosity.

"Oh? Is she more protective or something?"

Twilight shook her head.

"Not exactly. She just always wanted to meet you. The moment she heard that I had somepo...um...someone in my life, she was ecstatic! Kept going on about things like marriage and stuff."

For a moment, Flash was taken aback by that, leading to Twilight raising a hoof to him.

"Don't worry, I calmed her down. She just...really has a thing for romances."

A brief chuckle escaped the stallion.

"What, is she some kind of relationship expert?"

A knowing smile crossed Twilight's face.

"You could say that. She's...the Princess of Love."

There was a pause, and a notable silence between the two, as Flash stared at her with incredulity.

"A Princess of...love? So...love is something someone can just have dominion over in this world?"

Sighing, Twilight began to rub her temples.

"It's one of those things we probably shouldn't think about too much."

Flash cracked a smile in spite of his earlier sentiment.

"Hard to imagine you not wanting to think hard about stuff."

Again, Twilight giggled, and again, there was silence between the two youths. This one lasted almost a full minute, however, and when it ended, it did so when Twilight turned to Flash in a slow manner. She mentally weighed her words carefully, giving him an affectionate look as she finally spoke up.

"You know...I really have missed you, Flash."

The former human looked to the mare, his expression softening considerably as her words sank in for him.

"I...I've missed you too. I mean...we haven't really spoken since...well..."

Twilight nodded, still smiling.

"I know, not since you told me you and Sunset had decided to get back together."

Flash remained quiet, simply giving a slight nod in response to her. A few moments passed, and Twilight turned back to the nearby painting. And it was here, keeping her eyes on that picture, that she continued to speak to her ex.

"Flash...I don't want this to be the way things are every time we meet up again. Just...silence and small talk."

Flash exhaled, nodding more intently.

"I know. I wish it wasn't like this either, but...something things are...just difficult."

Twilight turned to him, smiling and reaching forward, gently placing her hoof upon his shoulder.

"Flash...we're still friends, remember? No matter what might have gone on between us in the past, we're still friends. And if there's one thing I've learned about friends over the years...it's that being together shouldn't have to feel difficult."

Slowly, Flash looked to her, giving a small smile after she'd spoken to him.

"I guess we both should have known this meeting wasn't going to be easy. Some things don't really go away. But...yeah, you're right. We shouldn't feel so uncomfortable when we're close like this."

Twilight nodded, then, seconds later, her face lit up, and she clapped her hooves together.

"Oooh! You know what might be fascinating? Going to meet the other you!"

Flash stood there, confused by her words, prompting her to explain.

"I mean the Flash Sentry that lives in this world. Having two of the same person meet would be quite a sight!"

The stallion looked away, considering that for a moment, before eventually letting out a slight chuckle.

"I don't mean to burst your bubble, Twilight, but...I think getting transformed into a completely different species is going to do enough to my head for one visit. Lord knows what'd happen if I met another me."

While Twilight's smile faded a little at first, she soon gave a nod to that, giggling slightly.

"Yeah. Remember when I met that other Twilight? Just after your Friendship Games? Now that was an experience I'll never forget!"

Together, the two shared laughter over this matter, which, as one would expect, did a lot to relieve some of the tension that had been underlying this little meeting. In fact, so engrossed were they in their light-hearted moment together, that they failed to notice Sunset, who was walking right towards them. She smiled at the sight of the two laughing together, and once she was close enough, she raised a hoof to her mouth, clearing her throat to gain their attention.

"Sorry to interrupt. But Princess Luna wanted to talk to you, Flash."

A look of concern crossed his face.

"Oh...really?"

The unicorn gave him a sympathetic look.

"Afraid so. Turns out she's rather curious about her human counterpart, and wanted somepony to talk to her about her."

Flash sighed, giving Twilight a quick smile.

"Well...duty calls, I guess."

Twilight smiled back, giving him another pat on the shoulders as he, at last, made his way away from the two of them. The mares watched as he walked further and further away from them, looking, understandably, a little confused on where to go after this. But, in the end, he walked off in the right direction, leaving the two alone together. Once they were sure he was out of earshot, however, they turned to one another, with Twilight bearing a slight smirk.

"Okay, so...if I recall from your messages...you and he have...?"

For a moment, a slight blush crept onto Sunset's cheeks, and she gave a nod.

"Yeah...we kinda did."

Twilight turned, making doubly sure that Flash was no longer present, before looking back to her, taking a step closer and keeping her voice to a hush.

"So...?"

Sunset looked around in a likewise manner before speaking in a similar tone.

"...Totally worth it."

Twilight did her best to stifle a giggle at that.

"Oh my. I must confess, I'm rather regretting that I didn't hold off our break-up until a little later."

Sunset chuckled in response.

"Hey, I'm not complaining."

The laughter, though they attempted to keep it quiet, nevertheless carried on for a minute or two, as they both revelled in this juicy bit of gossip they now shared amongst each other. However, when that laughter ended, Twilight smile faded a little as she kept her eyes upon her friend.

"Look...about that stuff Luna said...when Flash couldn't hear..."

The unicorn nodded to this, already knowing what her companion was going to say.

"I know. It was...unexpected."

Twilight gave her a glance.

"How...how do you feel about it?"

Sunset paused for a moment, then sighed.

"Well...it's something to think about. I mean, I hadn't really thought about it, but...I can't really say it's a bad idea per se. I suppose we'll just have to play it by ear."

Twilight nodded to that, thinking things over for a bit.

"I'll admit, I'd have never even thought about it when we were together. But, in fairness to her...it's not exactly unprecedented."

But, moments after she'd said that, she shook herself out of her more thoughtful state, before perking up slightly.

"Still, there's plenty of time for all that later. There's other stuff to discuss first. For instance...I hear you'll be visiting his family next. How do you think it'll go?"

A brief grimace crossed Sunset's face.

"I guess...we'll have to wait and see about that too."

Twilight giggled.

"Oh come on, Sunset. Do you honestly think it's going to be more difficult for you than this visit was for Flash?"

Sighing, Sunset looked away from her friend.

"I...I really hope not."