~FLASH~
Chapter 3: A New Kind of Meta
The day Barry first met with ponies was quite the shock for the Forensic Scientist/Hero Speedster. To say that his brain began to hurt like hell for it didn’t help much. It is like his skull has been cracked open and a worm kept digging itself deep ever since he woke up. If Barry had to guess, he would rather think he was still dreaming, or hallucinating even as he tried make sense of things once truth came.
It all started in that room...
With a gasp of breath, The Scarlet Speedster first shot straight up from the bed awake in a rush. His sight was blurred and unfocused, his body, rigid and clamped. It took a few second shaking his head for him to recollect himself and realize he was not in the cortex, being assisted by his friends in Star Labs, as it should be. In fact, he woke up in some bedroom, covered by a single blue blanket.
“What the… Where am i?” Suddenly finding himself in this unknown place, Barry was quite disoriented. Fear and alarm started to kick in and luckily, the memories came in fast: The test; the lightning; the speed; it all happened in a blink of eyes. He was running, testing Cisco's chest thingy when the said thing simply burst out his torso and made the world stop or something like that.
“Oh man...” He groaned grasping his face. A headache was quick to form in response. Throwing the blanked aside, Barry stood up and assessed the situation. From the looks of it, he still got his mask covering his face, not that his identity was actually secure. Barry was quick to remember the dangerous issue of his real identity being spread out.
Could have someone uncovered it? He was unconscious sure, but for how long? Looking around, there was a clock nearby and… It seems he was out for hours already. Unconscious and helpless, for everyone to play with. The implications were many and they all brought result enough to make anyone worried sick.
“Cisco, are you there?” He hastily linked up his ear comm.
“...”
“Hellooo? Wells? Guys? Come on answer me...” He begged on to no avail. Unfortunately, not a single sound came out of it, not even static noise.
“Great… just great...” Barry shook his head again. He was now stranded in an unknown scenario, cut off from his friends without support. Plus, to complicate further, his chest emblem’s gone, along with the Cisco’s blasted device. Yay. Oh well, at least he isn't trapped or locked away, which is a plus. In fact, seeing that the door and windows exposed felt like a good sign. Whoever rescued him apparently had no bad intentions to be seem yet, or so Barry hoped it to be.
Leaning up in the wall, he made his way to downstairs, finally deciding to meet his would-be rescuers downstairs.
It was then that the Scarlet Speedster stumbled into a shocking discovery.
“Oh boy...” Barry just stared. He stood there as the world around him slowed to a crawl so that he didn't miss a detail from the unfathomable creatures that now stood before him.
Horses. Pastel colored horses. Erm... They did resemble them, kinda, but rather deformed in certain way, having something extra to add. Some had wings, others had horns, two of them with both rather, all with their eyes and head cranium sizes matching nothing shown in any biology study he ever knew.
“...”
“Well, he looks fine to me, Sister” Spoke the darkest of the equines breaking the ice that had installed. When she spoke, Barry just let his jaw fall for a second.
“So it seems…” Addressed the polar opposite one in a quite serene voice. She looked at him, her very expression reflecting the white sun itself, “Now, don't be afraid. I'm pretty sure you must be very confused by now but I assure you, we don't mean to scare. Why don't we just come by and ask some questions?”
Barry’s mouth however, was already moving in shock, “Who-Wha-How-D-Did I hear that horse just talk?” He blurted agape, pointing fingers.
“Hey, that's the princess you're talking to!” Shouted out a flying cyan horse with a crazy rainbow style mane, startling him. Clearly, a pegasus if he ever seen one.
“Rainbow Dash!” A purple foal berated her, flaring some kind of light from her... horn; which means, unicorn. Whatever it is, said unicorn managed to silence the pegasus in a wrap, who’s now encased by some luminous force, not only immobilizing her but also dragging her body back like a solid block, somehow remaining floating still without the equine flapping it's wings.
“Wookay, you DID talk, that's... weird” Barry concluded, yearning him an awkward silence from them, “I-i mean, not that I didn't seen weird before, it's just, different, I think...” He exclaimed, trying to salvage himself from being rude. Granted, since this might be the first time he seen anything this kind of... meta, as he quickly choose to believe. It’s the only way to explain all this kind of situation really. Barry quickly pondered on what kind of bizarre situation they were at when the particle accelerator’s explosion happened.
“Hmm, not the reaction I was expecting but it's better than most. Usually your kind tends to panic quite often when they first see us ponies” The moon drawn equine concluded with an amused smile.
“Well, I am talking to, talking ponies... I mean there's a Pegasus, Unicorns and some mix of both, I think” He affirmed, trying to keep things casual.
“There is also a dragon here!” Affirmed a cheerful young voice belonging to a certain scaly lizard beside the purple unicorn. How did he not see that!?
“R-right, of course there is… So, who are you guys again?” He reluctantly asked trying to ignore the whole mystical theme around him.
“Why, where is my manners? I’m Princess Celestia, an alicorn of if you will. This is my sister, Princess Luna; my prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle; the young dragon, Spike; and lastly, Rainbow Dash” The Sun Royalty smiled as she introduced everyone using her wings like limbs to showcase them.
Barry raised an eye brow at Celestia, or more specific, her name. It was curious to him. With names like these he just heard, one can only assume they’re hiding something. Then again their appearance does give credit to the nicknames due to all the bright colors and symbols they have. Just look at Rainbow Dash. Even Cisco would agree it’s a fitting name with that RBG-like hair, and given she’s kept hovering above ground wasting her energy with her wings instead of just sitting down suggests she might be someone athletic, hence the Dash.
“Uh, nice to meet you all then, I’m… The Flash” Barry greeted his name somewhat taken back. He hastily kept wondering when they bring out the matter his identity for a second. For now he just got a few nods and a watchful glare from the cyan pegasus.
“Well Flash, now that introductions are out of the way, I suppose you do have questions of you own in mind, right?” Suggested Luna.
“Uh, yeah, many” He played along, “For starters, where am I and how did I got here?” He motioned, addressing the oddly shaped library they were in.
The Moon princess just glanced at her sister, who just replied, “It’s a long story...”
“Spike, could you fetch us some tea, please?” Suggested Twilight to the young lizard.
“Right away!”
Barry just arched an eyebrow...
~FLASH~
Moments later, Flash was using the very stairs were he came from as a chair to sit down, given the appropriate utensil didn’t serve his large human body. He stared the ponies, who were just drinking tea, with quite disbelief in his face.
“…So you’re telling me that I’m in this land you call Equestria, that you two rule over in a Diarchy and that because of some freak magical weather accident, I just happened to simply puff my way here via some... magic weather explosion, like, from nowhere?” He recapped, word by word the answers he got.
“Putting it simply, yes, that’s pretty much it” Celestia just nodded short, as a matter of fact.
Barry couldn’t resist massaging his sinuses, “How long I was unconscious, again?” He asked staring intently at Twilight, who was surrounded by tons and tons of parchment she just sparked out of nowhere during their chat. The unicorn was furiously writing on it with feather quill, using her... magic, to do the job.
“A few hours at most, why?”
“Just asking...” Barry feared his mind state. Was he hallucinating? He did get shot with lightning after all so it's not hard to imagine another nine months of sleeping could do to his head… All that power, messing with his body and brain once more. It frightened him just thinking of it.
“It must be a shock for you, waking up in unknown world so far from home and friends. Trust me, I know that feeling” Luna affirmed relating.
“Indeed, this is indeed quite an unknown situation. None of us would imagine things would go to such extent” Commented Celestia taking sip of her tea, also with her glowing magic horn.
“Oh you have no idea” Barry snorted with a snark smile. Going by their word alone, what he just heard and saw not only defies every logic he knows for granted but also challenges the very definition of the word. It's funny though as there's this nigh possibility that these girls might be interpreting their powers in the wrong way, believing everything to be magical instead of considering a scientific perspective. Barry just didn't know how.
Hell, Clyde Mardon, AKA the first Weather Wizard, believed himself to be a god only because he could manipulate atoms through their electrons to create, shape and control all sorts of dangerous weathers. His nickname reflects that at least, therefore it makes sense that these... ponies, would think similar in that sense. That is, considering they were human in first place.
“It is a sudden unwanted change of pace but alas no need to worry though, we will make sure that your stay remains as hospitable as you wish to be” Luna assured him with a smile.
“Wait, I'm/He's staying?” Both Flash and Rainbow Dash voices blended, causing them to glance each other.
Barry was about to speak but the pegasus beat him to it, “Why we're keeping this thing here?” She pointed out harshly.
“He’s not a “thing”, Rainbow, he has a name. Plus, we have little to no idea of how Flash ended up here. If what princess said is true, he doesn’t have anywhere to go right now, considering...” Twilight argued.
“You don't know that! If anything, that weather disaster might be right his fault actually, he was there too!”
“Hey, I didn't do any hocus-pocus okay? I didn't even know what actually happened in first place…” He retorted, not happy with were this was going to.
“Hmph! I'm still suspicious. I mean, you just show up in some weird, science experiment that also screwed with weather? That's a reeeeally coincidence you know? I think he's hiding something!” Accused Rainbow Dash crossing her arms/forelegs… somehow.
Hearing that, Flash frowned, “Me, hiding something? Look who's talking! All the this nonsense of magic and kingdoms. I mean, do you really want me to flat out believe there’s an entire pony world outside these walls?” He confronted her.
“Well, yeah! You think the Princess would lie!?” She barked back.
“...”
“...”
“I-In that case, how give you a tour around the town? That way we could prove our point” Suggested Twilight breaking the cold. The unicorn glanced at her mentor, who nodded in approval.
Barry however, just snorted, “Heh, you know what? I have a better idea. I’ll go out and meet my friends on my own, if you don't mind” He proposed, standing up to his feet.
“W-what?”
Having heard enough, Flash just walked toward the door when the cyan pegasus blocked his path. She was really out against him for some reason.
“You’re not going anywhere, bugger” She threatened.
Only to deal with his grinning face, “Try me” He dared, blinking his eyes once before just vanishing before her very eyes.
“!?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t even gasp as his body instantly vibrated into a blurring mesh of red, darting out of the room so fast that he left nothing but a gust of wind and trail of yellow lightning. The others could only stare agape in that second.
And just in time that Spike had arrived, carrying some lunch.
“Sorry for the wait, it took me a while to bake them but here’s some cookies!” The little dragon looked proud for a moment before noticing their faces, “What?”
“H-he’s gone!?”
~FLASH~
“Barry’s is... gone?” Parroted a voice that made Cisco flinch as he and Doctor Wells faced the wrath of a certain police officer back at Star Labs.
Joe West, a long standing detective; a loving father; a good friend. He went through many trials in his life his wife left him; his best friend got jailed; and the mother of his now adoptive son was killed by something that can only be considered an enigma. These and many other crazy things happening on Central City left Joe to become a very protective person of his few beloved.
“Uh, yeah, he just… disappeared” Cisco shrieked under the detective’s glare, “I-i mean, there's no sign of his presence anywhere, no signal, no comm. Things just went dark for no reason”
“Oh really?” Joe frowned, not exactly happy to hear that.
“I'm looking at these specs you guys developed and there's this minimal possibility that the device could either go from burn out all muscles and organs to total molecular disintegration, so…” Added another scientist in the group, Caitlin Snow, the once bio-engineer of Star Labs and now another member of Team Flash, carrying a tablet pad of sort.
“Yes, a possibility of 1 in every 570.000 simulations in the worst scenario. So, while a potential threat indeed I have to say that the odds are extremely, extremely, unlikely. Or at very least unlikely, compared to what we could have won as result” Wells explained with a composed face, treating the whole situation as it is, an experiment. Both Cisco and Caitlin were rather shocked by his cold outlook while Joe shakes in denial.
“You bastard!” The detective swears in anger, going all the way to grab the crippled man by his collar, “That was my son you screwed with!”
“Joe, Joe wait!” Cisco tried to ward out the angered father but a single glare from Wells made him stop.
“That obsession with Barry; His speed powers; Always with the experiments! I don't know what you want from him but once I find out...”
“Don't worry, Detective. Barry is out there somewhere. I'll dedicate all my resources to find him, wherever he is, I promise you that”
“You better or I’ll make sure you never walk free ever again, wheelchair or not” And then, dropping the doctor down, Joe took calming breath, his eyes surveying around before stopping a Cisco, “You guys fix this mess… fast” He demanded, leaving the room.
Silence installed still for a second. Even when facing the man's grief, Wells just assured him of his efforts in the most calm form possible, to the point most would just consider him an, amoral man who only cause problems. Cisco and Caitlyn however knew him better, realizing that this all just an act for him to take the blame for all the disaster that had just happened.
Or at least, it's what they believed.
“Dr. Wells… I-”
“Don't, Ramon. I know very well how you're feeling but we need to focus first, go and prep out satellite to search for any abnormalities on Barry's last known signal. Caitlin, I need you to get our van and equipment on it. Any other questions, let me know...” The Doctor gave out his orders and dismissed them, driving his chair away from the cortex and leaving the scientists by themselves.
Out of sight, the man known as Wells frowned as he crossed the corridor alone. His chair stopped on some section, just beside some random wall. However, when passing his hand on it, a light came forth from it and seconds later the wall itself began to dismantle, giving way to a hidden room, pad in a mysterious white dotted design.
The Time Vault was open and Wells, or more exactly, the Man in Yellow could finally be alone to reflect on the questions plaguing his mind since the incident.
“Hello, Dr. Wells. Not a good day I assume?” Greeted an electronic tone of voice taking form at his presence. The white dot design of the walls began to glow in the Vault, creating a hologram of lights in the shape of a seemly human head.
“Not its not, Gideon. Now please, show me the future” He asked the artificial intelligence, causing the hologram to change, formulating into some sort of press journal. The news of Central City Citizen from April 25, 2024 revealed itself, picturing the same thing Wells had seen over and over.
FLASH MISSING
VANISHES IN CRISIS
“And yet, what had happened?” He whispered in thought. As far as he knew, Cisco's theory was but a joke compared to what he truly knew for results. While a sound proposal, the Speed Force isn't drawn into someone that easy, not without the ideal solution of Tachyon Particles themselves at very least. Only an event as catastrophic as the particle explosion could generate a process powerful enough to grant such effect.
“Gideon, search Tachyon particles, find me any evidence of Time Travel” He suggested, already thinking on some options. Something else must had interfered, some unknown parameter or situation.
“No signatures detected”
Wells arched an eyebrow, “None? That can't be… Search for any references of Flash or Barry Allen”
“Searching… ! There are infinite references in the potential future” Responded Gideon.
“So nothing had truly changed? Hmm...” Getting his results, Doctor Wells could only sit down and cross his fingers in face of this unusual situation.
“Given my observations, I assume you seek me to keep an eye for any changes?” The AI formulated, already processing many instances of Flash's presence across the time-line of the future.
“Yes indeed… Now, where are you hiding, Flash?” He muttered, curious to know where his prize is at.
~To be continued~
!Author Notes!
Third chapter guys… Man this one was nightmare to write. Jesus, after reading some many fics out there I thought that writing main character first encounters would be easy! Like, you just had to know how the characters would behave and write reactions from there but damn, this one was hard for me.
I rewrote this chapter many many times… It took me a while to finally fit Barry's goofy personality to create a convincing encounter while trying to preserve his analytical mind. It's like I can't just get it done. Even now I still think these chapter can be written better somehow but I’m really trying to avoid it as i fell the narrative going off at the end. Maybe it's because i like to take it slow...
Then again, I just discovered that I am kinda of a detail freak of sort. I can't help but to trying picture the whole scene for my readers in every aspect. This is a problem as it can conflict with the “flow” of a narrative. I get that I must “show and not tell” but… its hard >_<! I ask you guys to help me with criticism on that... Is the story going too slow? Is anything out of pace? Anything helps.
Anyway, thanks for reading and joy for all…