Flash Sentry, Crystal Darkness

by Banshee531

The Crystal Empire

As Flash stared out the train's window, all he could see was white. Blinking, he turned to the window to the left...only for more white, and in the window on the other side of car...even more white. It had been a long time since Flash had seen that much snow, causing him to comment, "Well, at least we know we're headed to the right place."

Rarity, who was sitting next to him while wearing a pink scarf, shuffled closer. "So Flash darling, when Celestia showed you the empire, was it really made entirely out of different gems?"

Flash rolled his eyes at the girl's one track mind. "Yeah, it was. Though if the place is like it was when this Sombra guy was in charge, you wouldn't think its...what's the word you'd use? Marvelous?"

Rarity frowned, letting out a huff. "I'll be the judge of that."

He chuckled a bit before hopping off the seat, making his way to the chair that Twilight was sitting at. She was staring out the window, a frown of pure dread on her face. There, he sat down and tapped her shoulder, "Nervous?"

The frown gave the answer as she replied, "A little. Princess Celestia seems to think I'll pass, but I don't know the first thing about this place. I'm going in completely blind."

Flash gave her a shrug, wrapping his wing around her. "We all are Twilight, that's why we're here to help. After everything we've been through, saving a city can't be that bad." Flash folded his wing back, letting out a sigh as he looked away. "I'm more worried about my task. I'm gonna be representing the whole Royal Knight faction to a solider that hasn't been in Equestria for a thousand years. If I mess this up, this Ruby mare won't want anything to do with any us."

Twilight put her hooves around him, giving a small hug. "Don't worry about it. You'll do great."

Before anypony could say anything else, the overhead speaker announced their arrival. The others looked up as Flash declared, "This is our stop." The group all nodded in unison as the hopped off their seats. The group began grabbing their stuff while Flash strapped his trusty LIghtbringer to his side. There, they made their way to the car's exit, Spike in the back, carrying the many suitcases that Rarity had decided to bring.

As the train came to a stop, the doors opened, only for the entire carriage to be suddenly filled with the freezing cold northern winds. The girls all began shaking and even Flash felt himself shiver slightly as they all stepped out onto the platform. Well, except Rarity, who was perfectly warm as she bragged, "Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves."

Spike quickly followed, still carrying the suitcases with a grunt. "I didn't say a word." But as soon as his foot touched the platform, he slipped on the icy surface and dropped the cases. They all flew open, all of Rarity's scarves flying out into the wind. Flash watched as the little dragon chased after them before turning back to his friends, who were all looking around the frozen wasteland.

"This is the Crystal Empire?" Rainbow asked, her hooves wrapped around her body.

"No, its just the closest train station to it." Twilight replied as her teeth chattered, "I'm sure once we've found a way to save it, Princess Celestia will commission a new station be built much closer to it."

"That's good to hear," Applejack said as she pulled her hat down, trying to make sure it wouldn't get picked up by the wind. "So...what do we do now?"

"I guess we should start by-"

"Twilight!"

Everypony turned towards the sound of the sudden voice, looking into the frozen nothingness. Everyone recognized it, especially Twilight, "Shining Armor?" she asked as she tried to see through the blizzard.

Flash did the same, only to then see a lone figure walking towards them the through the snow. There, the figure morphed into a bulky white unicorn, a black scarf and glasses covering his face. Once he was close enough, the unicorn's horn lit up and uncovered his face, a smile following the unveiling. "Twily! Flash! You made it!" he yelled as he rushed towards them, soon hugging his sister. Flash walked up as well and the two stallions hoof-bumped each other. Once that happened, Shining's face became serious as he turned back towards the way he came. "Come on, we'd better get moving. There are things out here that we really don't want to run into after dark."

Hearing this made the ever frightful Fluttershy begin to shake. "What kinda things?"

Shining's gaze hardened as he turned back to them. "Let's just say the empire...isn't the only thing that's returned. Let's go."

Nodding at this, the group followed the captain into the white void. As they trudged through the blizzard, Flash called out to his brother over the harsh winds. "Hey Shining! I know we're in a rush, but how about you tell us what exactly what we're supposed to be afraid off? I'd rather want to know what I'm up against!"

The newly crowned prince glared back at the defender. "Something keeps trying to get in! We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place."

"You mean King Sombra?"

"Yeah! The guy won't give up, and he might be the reason this blizzard is here too! Thankfully, he hasn't got through the empire's barrier yet."

This time, Twilight spoke up, "But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can't get in, doesn't that mean things are already protected?"

Shining looked like he was about to reply, only to come to a screeching halt. As to why he stopped, it was a sudden sound, one that caught the entire group's attention. The sound was...well, it didn't sound anywhere near friendly. The noise sounded like a beast in the blizzard, one that even gave Flash goosebumps.

Fluttershy started panicking, looking around frantically for anything that might attack them. "Th-That's one of the things, isn't it?"

Shining growled before turning to them, motioning them to follow. "We have to get to the Crystal Empire, NOW!"

But before they could even try to start moving, a loud shrieking sound made them spin around. Flash's eyes went wide, as he now saw what could only be described as the pure white of the snowfall turning to a pitch black cloud. The cloud spun into a tornado shape, and at the top, he saw a pair of eyes that he recognised from Celestia's story. The eyes stared down at them, forcing all but one to start rushing in the opposite direction. Flash glanced back to see that Spike was still standing, probably petrified by fear. Luckily, Shining was already on it and had grabbed the little dragon in his magic. Unfortunately, as Shining pulled the drake, Rarity's last suitcase was then lost to the arctic north as they ran from the dark cloud.

"Go, go!" Twilight screamed as Shining put Spike on her back and continued their mad dash. As they did, they spotted something in the distance. A light blue pulse of light, formed into an dome that they all quickly realised was actually the Crystal Empire.

"We're almost there!" they heard Shining say, causing Flash to glance back at the stallion. There, he saw that their group was suddenly one short. Realizing what happened, he turned and flexed his wings.

"Flash?" Twilight's voice said as she and the others passed by.

He pointed towards the bubble. "GO!" With that, he ran into the dark cloud, soon seeing Shining and the cloud facing off against one another. He watched as Shining fired off several magic blasts, but the purple beams simply flew straight through the cloud. Desperation covered the unicorn's face as the cloud 'grabbed' Shining, covering him in its shadow.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Flash screamed as he unsheaved Lightbringer and pointed it at the cloud. "FLASH FORCE!" He unleashed the beam of light, only to then see that the attack hit the shadow. Unlike Shining's attacks, the light burned into the shadow's cloud, causing it to let out a mighty cry of pain as it's grip on Shining loosened.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Flash re-sheaved his weapon and took to the air. He grabbed his adoptive brother and quickly turned around, bolting back to the city. However, as soon he started his bum-rush back, he heard the roar of the shadow creature behind him, causing him to flap his wings even faster. He then glanced back, seeing the creature was literally right over his tail. "No no no no! Come on Flash, you're faster than-"

SHING!

That was the sound of Flash flying through the empire's barrier, instantly making him crash into the new grassy ground under him. The tumble made Shining fly forward, both coming to a rolling stop.

"Ooooohhhh...that hurt. Did I make it?" Flash asked himself as he started blinking rapidly, raising his head as he did. There, his sight was bombarded by light and a brilliant warm breeze, causing him to go wide-eyed as he saw firsthoof the Crystal Empire. The beauty of the sight made him gasp as his eyes saw the array of crystals and light the land shone. "Whoa..."

"Flash!" He heard Twilight cry out, looking up to see her and the others rush towards them. Twilight's face soon contorted to a look of horror as she saw her brother, walking over to help him up. "Oh no...Shining Armor, your horn."

Flash looked up and saw what she was worried about, as Shining's horn was now covered in strange black crystals. By the looks of them, they were embedded into it. Shining looked up at his horn before trying to spark his magic, only for the glow to stop as soon as it touched the crystals. He kept trying for several seconds, but eventually he stopped and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Flash said with a grim look on his face. "I wasn't fast enough." However, he soon felt a hoof on his shoulder and looked up to see Shining smiling.

"Not your fault bro. You managed to get me out of there alive, that's what matters. Plus, your attacks seem capable of harming that thing. I'm not sure if its because of the Alicorn Magic or your light based magic, but its something we can use."

Flash smiled and nodded as he and the siblings moved over to the others, who were all standing under a crystal archway. "Sparkleriffic!" Pinkie cried out and as soon as Flash saw what she was staring at. He had to agree as he saw that the images he had seen from Celestia's illusion were nothing compared to the real thing. The Crystal Empire truly was the most beautiful place he had even seen, as each and every building shone a brilliant light. And the castle they were heading to was even more beautiful, causing a certain member of their group to cheer.

"It's gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity cried as she started making some incoherent mumbles at the sight around her. "There are no words!"

Her marveling was soon broken by Applejack, who tapped her on the shoulder. "Focus Rarity. We're here to help Twilight, not admire the scenery."

As Rainbow stepped past them, she spoke up. "Eh, I don't see what the big deal is. It just looks like another old castle to me."

Flash saw Rarity's face contort, mistaking the new color on her face for cherry red rather than actual red, with her being unable to make any sense with the words she wanted to use. "Another old-?!" She shot up to the pegasus. "Have you lost your mind? Look at the magni–" Her rant was stopped when both Rainbow and Applejack began to laugh before heading into the castle. She realized what was going on and pouted. "Very funny."

After seeing this exchange, Flash looked around again, only to notice something else. There was nopony out walking the streets. The whole empire...looked like it was empty. Flash turned around to ask Shining about why that hadn't seen any citizens, only for unicorn to speak up. "Come on inside. We're heading to the throne room so we can plot our next move."

The group nodded in unison as Twilight replied, "You got it BBBFF."

Shining continued to direct them through the castles corridors, which had an architecture the likes of which Flash had never seen before. The design and layout was nothing like Canterlot Castle, that being not a maze and made of crystals. He was already approving of the non-maze design, only for them to arrive to a pair of double doors, which Shining opened to allow them entrance inside. They stepped in and saw that they were now in the throne room, which had a purple carpet running from the doors to a large crystal throne. Sitting on that throne was the youngest of the alicorn princesses, a pink mare with a mane and tail of purple, pink and yellow.

When Twilight saw her, she smiled a brilliant smile. "Cadance!" She cried as she rushed over to her.

Cadance looked up and saw her, smiling as she got up and slowly ran up to her. Once they were next to each other, they did their traditional dance. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" The sisters-in-laws laughed, happy to see each other again.

However, Cadance's laughter stopped as she flinched in pain. As she did, the light outside seemed to flicker on and off for a second, only to become solid again as Cadance held her head. The alicorn let out a long sigh as she looked back at Twilight. "One of these days, we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance."

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, her lip trembling at the sight.

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah....don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good."

Shining stepped up next to his wife, putting his hoof around her shoulders. "Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light. That seems to be what is protecting the empire." His face turned to one of concern and sadness. "But she hasn't slept...and she barely eats."

"So that's why we're here," Flash said as he crossed his hooves. "To find a way to permanently protect the empire so Cadance doesn't have to put herself at risk doing it."

"Exactly. I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra."

"It's alright Shining Armor," Cadance assured him as she shrugged his hoof off. "I'm fine."

Shining shook his head at his wife. "You're not fine love. You can't go on like this forever, and if your magic fades..." Shining looked back at the group before poinitng to his horn. "Well, you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen."

Twilight shined a confident smirk. "That's why we're here."

"Why we're all here," Applejack corrected her as she and their friends stepped closer to them.

Seeing this, Shining continued. "Well, with Cadance putting all her strength into keeping her spell going and me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic, we haven't been able to gather much information from the Crystal Ponies."

"CRYSTAL PONIES!" Rarity screamed hysterically. "There are crystal ponies!?" At this point she noticed all her friends glaring at her, causing her to nervously laugh and regain her composure. "Please...continue?"

Shining nodded again. "Yeah, they keep uh...well, they're staying inside their homes right now. You probably noticed, but the streets are empty due to this. So far, we've only been able to talk to one of them, Ruby."

"The Crystal Knight," Flash continued, his face changing to pure seriousness. "She's the one I was sent to meet. Where is she?"

"She's been keeping the town safe. She's mainly been guarding Cadance's shield perimeter to make sure nothing finds a way in."

Twilight tilted her head as she asked, "Wait a minute, doesn't she know how to protect the empire? She did live here before Sombra took over."

Cadance was about to answer, only to smirk as she saw something behind them. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

They all gave her a confused look, only to follow the princess's eyes. Turning around, they saw a now approching unicorn. She had a coat and mane that were different shades of red, all which seemed to have a glossy shine to it. Around her neck was a red metal necklace with a snowflake shaped ruby attached to it. The mare saw the group and began to glare as she trotted towards them.

Cadance chuckled as she then said, "Everypony, this is Ruby Scarlet. The Crystal Knight."

Before anyone could respond, Ruby passed right by them nonchantly and bowed to the princess. "Your highness, I have found no disturbances in the empire. All is calm."

"Very good," Cadance told her, her smile still showing. "Please, let me introduce you to our friends." Once Ruby stood back up, the alicorn pointed towards each of them. "This is Shining's sister Twilight, and with her are her friends. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie."

Ruby gave them what could only be considered a bored expression. "It is very nice to meet you all." she monotoned before turning to Flash, spotting Lightbringer, which caused her to smile. "So at last, another Royal Knight has arrived to offer assistantance. What is your name colt?"

"Er...Flash Sentry," he said with a salute. "Pleased to meet you."

Ruby nodded. "So when will the rest of the knights be arriving?"

This statement made Flash suddenly feel very self conscious. "Um...I'm the only one who's been sent."

Ruby's eyes grew wide with surprise. "You must be a very powerful knight if the princess saw fit to only send you."

Flash gave a nervous chuckle, unsure how to tell her the truth. Luckily, Cadance was there to lend a hoof. "Actually Ruby, Flash isn't a knight yet. He's still in training."

Ruby's eyes went from wide to looking insulted. "Are you telling me that the princesses chose to send a squire to do something that requires every knight Equestria has?! Are you serious?!"

"Um...yes?" Flash replied with a gulp.

Ruby now went from looking insulted to angry. "So the princess has chosen to forsake the empire. Why else would she send a squire?!"

Flash slammed his hooves into the floor. "Would you please stop calling me that?! I'm an apprentice knight, not a squire."

Twilight then stepped up, giving the knight a strong glare. "And the reason he was sent was to help keep the empire safe until we can find a way to protect it. I suggest you-"

"Be quiet civilian!" Ruby barked as she stomped over to Twilight, glaring daggers into her eyes. "The only way to protect the empire is to destroy the one who threatens it!" She then backpedaled before pointing at Twilight and her friends. "The only way to do that requires the Royal Knights and the Alicorn Princesses. A squire and a bunch of civilians will do nothing to save it!" With that, she turned around and started to make her way out of the room. "I was a fool to think I'd be getting any real help. It is clear that I must stop the villain myself."

"Ruby, stop!" Cadance said as she flew over the group and landed in front of the knight. "You can't do that, Sombra is too powerful in his current state. Give Twilight and her friends some time, they've never failed before."

Ruby's eyes twitched as she stared at Cadance, soon letting out a sigh. "Very well, they have until sundown. After that, I'm taking him on whether you like it or not."

Twilight walked around the two, giving a now expectant expression. "If you're going to let us do this, we'd appreciate any information you have on how the Crystal Empire was protected before Sombra ruled it."

Ruby opened her mouth, only to shake her head as she replied. "I...can't. Whatever Sombra did to the empire...affected us crystal ponies. I...I can barely remember anything right now. Just small fragments that would be no use of you."

Everyone sighed at hearing this while Twilight looked down at the floor, "Oh...sorry."

"Its fine." Ruby muttered, looking away from the rest.

Flash tapped his hooves, getting everypony's attention. "If that's the case, we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Let's spread out and ask everypony we can find if they know anything. Somepony's gotta know something."

"He's right," Twilight said with a nod. "We'll search this city from top to bottom until we find something that might lead us to finding a way to protect the city." She turned to the others with a confident smirk. "You all ready?"

They all cheered happily, Pinkie already spreading confetti out of her mane. "Hooray! This is gonna be fun!"

This statement made Ruby glare back at them, her eye twitching in anger. "There is nothing fun about this!" She almost screamed. "Don't you get it?! If Sombra takes back the Crystal Empire, then everything we did a thousand years ago will have been for nothing! All the friends I lost will be for nothing!" She turned and proceeded out of the room, steam blasting out of her nostrils in frustration. "This is not a game. You fools better understand that."

Seeing her leave, Pinkie's face turned into a large frown. "Wow. That girl needs to lighten up."

"Hold on everypony, just try and see it from her point of view." Cadance told them as she walked in front of the group. "Imagine if Ponyville was taken over and you lost almost everything trying to get it back, only to suddenly find yourself a thousand years in the future. Everyone and everything outside of the town, all gone with no clue about what happened to them."

They all thought about that, remembering the friends and family they had outside of Ponyville. The idea that they would suddenly be gone from their lives, with no trace of what they did or how they moved on, made them all frown. It was here that Shining added, "Don't forget, she can't remember anything either. When we found her here in the castle, she would barely talk. She just kept telling us she has a duty to the empire and...well, that's all she knows."

"Ouch..." Flash remarked as he rubbed the back of his head. "That does sound rough."

"Ah guess we can't exactly understand her pain." Applejack added, crossing her hooves in thought. "Ah know ah'd hate to be in her situation."

"No kidding." Rainbow said as she put her hooves behind her head. "That would suck."

Cadance nodded in agreement. "And now think about how you would feel if the one thing that you sacrificed everything to stop suddenly showed back up and retook Ponyville. How would you feel?"

"Probably how she feels now." Twilight replied, frowning. However, her frown soon changed to a look of determination. "Well, if that's the case, we won't let her down. Come on everypony, let's get out there and save the empire!"

"YEAH!" the all cheered in unison. Everypony turned towards the door and rushed out, leaving only Flash, Shining and Cadance behind.

"Aren't you going with them?" Cadance asked him.

The defender just chuckled. "I know they've got this covered. I was sent here to help keep the empire safe until they find a way to do it permanently."

The royal couple nodded before Shining spoke up, "I'd better show you where everything is then. There's a balcony a few floors up, follow me."

"Sounds good to me." Flash replied before glancing at Cadance. "Don't worry about a thing, we're here to fix this. You just focus on staying as rested as possible."

Cadance gave him a knowing smirk. "I will. And you better make sure don't do anything stupid."

Flash gave her a coy smirk back. "Hey, this is me we're talking about."

"Exactly," Cadance replied, giggling. The two laughed before going their separate ways, Cadance returning to her throne while Flash followed Shining out the room. The two stallions traversed the corridors once again, coming to a flight of stairs that lead up to a higher floor. Once there, Shining directed Flash to a large balcony that let the two of them see the whole northern side of the city.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Shining asked him as they walked up to the edge.

"It sure is." Flash nodded in agreement. "In another life, I might have thought about living here."

"We'd be glad to have you," Shining replied, nudging Flash's shoulder as the duo chuckled. A second later though, Shining shook his head as he tapped his hoof in frustration. "Ruby has a point though. As long as Sombra's out there, the city will never truly be safe."

"But how the heck do we stop something like that?" Flash asked as he pointed to the blizzard outside of the city's barrier. "We barely got through that thing. Heck, I kinda wish we had just brought the Elements with us. One rainbow friendship blast and this whole thing could be over in twenty minutes."

Shining laughed at the idea as he tapped his horn, signaling Flash to look and frown. "It's never that simple Flash. You should know that by now."

"Yeah...sorry about that." Flash sighed, turning his head slightly away. "I should have been the one to hold him off while you and the girls got to the city."

Shining shook his head and slung his hoof around him, giving him a half-hug. "Stop that. I told you, you did what you could. You didn't know what you were facing, so of course you wouldn't want to face it. I'm glad you got me out when you did, but I would have called you an idiot if you didn't hold back." He then pointed to the city before him. "But the fact is, if Twilight's unable to find a way to keep Sombra out before Cadance runs out of strength...." He turned back to him, staring directly into the young defender's eyes. "You might be the only one capable of stopping him. Or, at least that blade of yours."

Flash frowned, not liking the pressure this put him under. Seeing this, Shining ended the hug before tapping Flash's chest. "I don't want to force you into anything, but I need you to promise me something. If the shield falls and what's out there gets in, make sure you keep Twilight and Cadance safe."

The next thing Flash saw was something rare from Shining. It was pure worry, plastered all over his face. Flash could see that he was trusting the safety of his family with him. Knowing he had that trust, it made Flash's heart swell. "I'll protect them Shining. All of them, I promise."

Shining shined a small grin before turning away from the balcony. "Then we'd better get out there and make sure everything's safe and sound."

Flash nodded and flexed his wings, taking off into the air as he began to patrol the empire. He spent the next hour surveying the city. As he did, he spotted more ponies on the street, all with the same gleam in their coat and manes as Ruby. But as he observed this, he decided to land down on a nearby street where he saw Ruby was patrolling. However, as soon as his hooves touched the ground, his ears perked up as he heard familiar voice.

"Flash!"

He turned around to see the voice's owner, only to see his friends running up to him. Twilight was in the lead as she held a book in her magic beside herself. Seeing this, Flash gave a slight frown as he asked, "Please tell me you've got something."

Twilight shined her usual confident smirk. "You bet we do."

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

Making friends with Ruby is turning out more difficult than anticipated.

[Foxhelm]

Sombra: " Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to Equestria."

Flash: "I'll never join you!"

Sombra: "If you only knew the power of dark magic."

I regret nothing!

[SuperSonicHeroes]

I hope Ruby’s attitude improves once they stop Sombra.