Artist's Description

"Flash!"

Twilight called, and a familiar golden stallion glanced up. Twilight hadn't expected to catch a friendly face this far out on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. Of course, she and Flash Sentry had perhaps been more than friends…some time ago, she'd timidly allowed Cadence to set her up on a few dates with with her then-crush. And Flash had been a perfect gentlecolt, and they'd had a decent enough time together, but she'd found that beyond her silly filly crush, the chemistry just hadn't been there. The two had agreed to move on, and years had passed…but still, Twilight leapt at the chance to catch up with an old friend.

Flash, ever the golden boy, dropped into a respectful bow. "Princess Twilight, ma'am." He greeted her with a smile. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted." Twilight snickered at little at his formality.

"Been a while, Sparks." Cheerfully, he bumped his hoof against hers. "How've things been back in Ponyville? We got word that Princess Celestia officially knighted your friends a few months ago."

"Yeah, but it was mostly just for ceremony." Twilight mused. "We're certainly not going to be picking up broadswords and battling to save Equestria anytime soon."

"No more than you already do, at least." He winked. Twilight scoffed, but it was playful.

"Well, saving Equestria is fairly simple when it just involves friendship speeches and magic rainbow beams. I've only occasionally needed to kick a monster in the face. I'd prefer to leave the actual violent knight battle and bloodshed stuff to ponies like you." She smiled. "How've you been, Flash?"

"Pretty good, Sparks, pretty good." His voice became a conspiratorial whisper. "….Don't tell anypony, but Sunburst and I have been talking about adopting a foal. Shush. It's a secret."

Twilight beamed brightly. "Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you both! I mean sure, children are little balls of chaos, but raising them can be so rewarding-"

Quite suddenly, Twilight realized that her own child, who'd been accompanying her, hadn't made so much as a peep since she'd called over Flash. She glanced behind her shoulder, to find that Pandora was curled into a tiny floating ball, her crimson face hidden in her paws.

Flash pricked his ears, curious. "That one yours?"

"…Yes." Twilight paused, concerned. She'd never seen her daughter so quiet and still. "Panny, are you okay?"

Flash approached the tiny draconequus, and flashed his warmest smile. "Hi, little princess."

Pan peered up at the stallion just once, from between her paws-and then she let out a happy, girly giggle, the likes of which Twilight had never heard before. "….H-hi." She turned up to face her mother, little face flushed deep red.

"Mom." She whispered loudly, awestruck, "….He's so pretty."

Flash had heard, and he let out an amused chuckle. Twilight glanced from her daughter to Flash, and back again, wide-eyed. Panny giggled again, and wrung her tail with nervous paws, and Twilight let out a sigh.

Celestia above. Like mother, like daughter.

~

headcanon: When Pan was little she had a brief puppy love crush on Flash Sentry. Even from childhood Pan had a thing for military ponies cough cough cupcake cough

btw, discord thought this was hilarious when twilight told him about it

flash is pretty, he's wearing eye shadow bc i headcanon that crystal make-up is popular with crystal empire ponies of all genders