The sound of young colts and fillies playing echoed throughout the park in the middle of Canterlot, and the sight of all of them laughing together brought a warm smile to any of the accompanying adults who'd come with them. Though Canterlot did not sport the largest of such parks, it was still a nice place to be, especially for the children. And speaking of whom, those youngsters were having a blast here, playing all sorts of games. Tag, hide and seek, you name it. But, among all those chasing each other about, there was one lone filly who was sticking with her own company. Twilight Sparkle, who stuck out like a sore thumb sitting to one side with her nose in a book. The other children paid her no mind, which she was perfectly fine with, since she preferred just being left with her reading. After a time, however, one figure did indeed begin to approach her, though Twilight herself did not notice. That is, until said figure finally spoke up.

"Hi there."

It actually took a moment for Twilight to realise that somepony had spoken to her, and even after she did, her movements were slow, using her magic to lower the book to see who it was. It was a pegasus colt, about her age, with orange-yellow fur and a somewhat scruffy blue mane. He smiled to her, looking as happy as all the other kids there.

"Watcha reading?" he asked eagerly.

Twilight, who was used to being the only pony her age who ever showed any interest in books, stumbled for a bit at the unexpected question. But she was a smart filly, and so she was thankfully able to respond shortly afterwards.

"It's a book on the history of all the best magic-users in Equestria."

The colt blinked.

"Huh...I was thinking maybe it was a book on dragons or sword fights or something. You seemed to really like it."

Twilight, though briefly miffed that somepony would assume she would read a simple children's story, soon assumed a more professional tone.

"Oh no, I'm studying for the entrance test for Princess Celestia's school. I've got to learn about all sorts of things."

Hearing that, the colt's face lit up, and he started sounding genuinely interested in the book all of a sudden.

"Wow! Really? That sounds super cool!"

Twilight, who naturally shared that enthusiasm for the prospect of getting into the school, cracked a smile for the first time in this encounter.

"It will be! If I get in."

Then, to Twilight's slight surprise, the colt stretched out his hoof, offering it to her.

"My name's Flash. Flash Sentry!"

Twilight, clearly not expecting anything physical with any of the other kids here, stared at the hoof for a bit before nervously accepting it.

"Um...I'm Twilight."

The colt giggled, walking around so as to look at the book she was still holding.

"So, is there lots about wizards and stuff in there?"

Though unused to having somepony speak so casually about such things, Twilight was more than happy to talk about one of her favourite subjects.

"Um, yes. There's one, Starswirl, who was one of the best in all of Equestria. They say he taught Princess Celestia herself!"

Flash's eyes grew wide.

"Wow! That's awesome!"

Twilight nodded.

"Indeed. It just shows how high the standards of the school must be if this was the kind of teacher the Princess had."

Here though, Flash started to look a little down.

"I hope you get in...but I know I probably couldn't."

Twilight looked to him, confused.

"Why not?"

Flash looked to her with as much incredulity as a lad his age was capable of mustering, and he stretched out one of his wings before pointing to it.

"Pegasus. Not unicorn."

Twilight's ears drooped, and she took on a blush, though largely due to embarrassment at having missed such an obvious point.

"Oh...sorry."

Flash shook his head, smiling again, though not with as big a one as he'd had before.

"It's okay. I know there's stuff unicorns and pegasuseses can do that the other can't."

Twilight giggled here.

"Pegasi."

Flash tilted his head.,

"Huh?"

The unicorn filly pointed to him.

"It's pegasi, not pegasuseses."

Flash paused, then started to blush.

"Ah...right."

The two children laughed together, and Twilight, in a first in such situations, actually set her book aside so as to focus properly on her fellow youth.

"So, what kinda stuff do you wanna do when you grow up? Maybe join the Wonderbolts?"

Flash thought on that, then shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. They're really cool, and I like going to see their shows with my Dad, but I don't know if that's really for me."

Twilight looked to him with curiosity.

"What then?"

Here, Flash fumbled, and he resumed his earlier blush.

"Well...er..."

He looked away.

"No, it's silly."

Twilight smiled to that.

"If there's something you wanna do when you grow up, I don't think it'll be silly. You don't seem the silly kind of colt to me."

Though certainly flattered by the remark, at least if his suddenly-greater blush was anything to go by, the colt still didn't look to her.

"It's just...well..."

Gathering his courage, Flash took a deep breath, then looked her right in the eye.

"...I wanna be part of the Canterlot Royal Guard!"

Here, Twilight gasped, and Flash again looked away.

"I told you it was silly!"

But Twilight shook her head, reaching forward and putting her hoof on his shoulder.

"No! It's not silly at all!"

Slowly, Flash looked back to her.

"Y...you really think so?"

Twilight nodded enthusiastically.

"I do! My own brother's trying to be in the guard too!"

Flash's ears perked up, and he seemed more interested than ever.

"Really?"

Twilight nodded again.

"Yep! He's actually signing up for the entrance exams right now. I know he's still a bit young, but they decided to try him out. I think he's got a good chance of being accepted!"

Flash had stars in his eyes at this point.

"That's so awesome!"

Twilight's chest puffed out with pride a little.

"Well, we are taking about the world's best big brother ever!"

Then, she regarded her companion.

"You know...you're kinda like Shiny!"

Flash seemed flattered by that.

"Really?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yep...only littler."

The two shared another laugh, and when they finally stopped, Flash took a step closer to her.

"Hey, wanna play?"

Twilight hesitated here, looking back to her book. She would normally refuse such an offer, preferring instead to keep to her studies, yet she felt somehow compelled not to do so here. Maybe it was because she was having fun with this colt, or perhaps some other reason, but either way, she soon smiled back to him.

"Sure. What do you want to play?"

But Flash already knew his choice, and reached out with his hoof to give her a quick boop on the nose.

"Tag! You're it!"

And thus, he was off, running and laughing while a still-bewildered Twilight collected her thoughts. Flash's surprise boop may have been unexpected, but that wasn't enough to deter her from smirking and starting to chase after him. The sound of their laughter mingled with that of all the other children here, and after turning one corner around the swing-set, Twilight lit up her horn, using her magic to take hold of Flash's hind leg, stopping him.

"Hey! No fair!" the colt protested.

Twilight giggled, then casually trotted up to him before giving him a similar boop on his own nose.

"Tag, now you're it!"

Again, the two laughed, but their time together now proved to be short-lived at this point, as the sound of somepony clearing their throat alerted them to the fact that they were being watched. Turning, the two children saw that it was an older white unicorn stallion, who regarded the two with curiosity.

"Well now, I wouldn't have expected you to be having this much fun out here, Twily."

Twilight's face lit up, and she rushed over to this new arrival.

"Shining! I made a new friend today!"

Shining nodded, looking over to the colt as he walked alongside his sister.

"Really? And who might you be, kid?"

But Flash seemed somewhat sheepish all of a sudden.

"Um, I'm Flash, Sir. Flash Sentry."

Shining chuckled at the honorific, before reaching out and tussling the kid's mane.

"Well, thanks for keeping my sister company today, but we really have to be off."

"Awwwwwwww!" the two kids disappointingly exclaimed at once.

Another chortle from Shining.

"Come on, Twily, you can play with him another day. Mom will be getting her stew ready to serve. And besides, I can't wait to tell you about the sign-up I did today."

Twilight sighed, using her magic to levitate her set-aside book back over to her.

"Okay, BBBFF."

Shining nodded, turning to walk away, while Twilight gave Flash a sad look before waving goodbye to him.

"See you later, maybe?"

Flash's ears drooped.

"Yeah...see ya."

"Flash!"

The voice of a nearby mare drew the colt's attention, and he began to run off in her direction, suddenly perking him up a bit more.

"Mom! I met a new friend today! Her name is Twilight!" he began to explain.

Twilight smiled to see he was still enthusiastic about her, but she soon got back to the business of chasing after her brother. As she did this, however, she continued to hear the conversation Flash was having with his Mother.

"So, what was she like, sweetie?"

"Oh, she's really smart! And really pretty too!"

Here, Twilight halted, shaking her head as though she hadn't quite heard that one.

"Wait, what did he say?"

Shining, becoming rather nervous all of a sudden, held his sister close as they continued walking.

"Oh! Um...I'll tell you when you're older."