Flash Sentry looked down at the flowers he held in his wing. He sighed, shifting his feathers. He’d been holding them for so long that they had started to droop. He had been standing in the Canterlot gardens for almost an hour now, trying to make up his mind.

“She won’t like flowers. No gives other ponies flowers, nowadays. It’s so dorky.” He paced over the stone walkway. “Yeah, she won’t want them. She’ll be all polite and be like ‘Oh, thank you Lieutenant, this is just what I wanted!’. But the whole time she’ll be thinking ‘Ah, gross! Hoof-picked (hand-picked. Not bought at the store.) flowers?’,” the soldier continued, pitching his voice as he imitated the princess. He looked down at the flowers and sighed again. “Yeah…” He raised his wing, about to throw the little blossoms away, but he stopped.

Trying to convince himself, he started ranting again. “I mean, there are already loads of lords and noblestallions already trying to court her, what chance does a guard have?” He shook his head. “Oh, come on, Flash! The princess is NOT that shallow!”

He snorted, pacing again. “But hoof-picked flowers?! What the hay was I thinking? That’s so last century. It’s so dorky and…and nerdy!”

“What’s nerdy?”

Flash almost yelped, spinning in a circle. There stood the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle herself. The two had talked a bit before, but never for very long.

“Your Majesty!” The soldier bent into a bow.

Twilight ruffled her feathers, feeling slightly awkward. “Flash! It’s Twilight with you and me!”

Flash blinked. You and me? “O-oh. Of course. My apologies, Your… er, Twilight.”

“So… what were you calling nerdy?” she asked again, smiling as she tried to ease the mood.

“Nerdy?” He was puzzled for a moment, then his eyes widened. “You heard that?”

She giggled. “Just ‘nerdy’, if you mean you were talking before I came over,” she assured him.

“Oh, good. I-I mean…er…” His head started shouting at him. Give them to her!!! What could happen?! “Here, I wanted to give these to you.” He held the flowers out, hoping she wouldn’t notice they were drooping a bit.

“Oh!” Twilight looked completely caught off guard. “F-for me?”

“Yeah. U-unless you don’t want them. It’s fine if you don’t. I just thought-”

She cut him off. “They’re so pretty!” Using her magic, she took them from his wing, looking up at him with a sincere look in her eye. “Thank you, Flash. They really are beautiful.”

Flash smiled, relief flooding through him. Is she blushing? he wondered. “I’m glad you like them.”