//------------------------------//
// Ponyville's New Defender 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S2 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

We open today's story in a town where most stories happen, Ponyville. Today, Flash, Springer, Twilight and Spike were all trotting down a nearby street to do some much needed shopping. It had been a crazy past couple of days for the four, especially for one certain unicorn named Twilight, who had her head down as they shuffled down the street. It was the first time she had been outside in a week, and she was honestly considering going back home and holing up there for another week and a half.

As for why she was like this, she had recently had a near mental breakdown over not finding a friendship lesson to send to Celestia, believing that she had to find one every week. It also didn't help that after Flash had found out that his original name was 'Flash Relic', he had decided to stay in Canterlot for the past few days, as Celestia had requested for several ponies over the Equestria censuses to help him with this new information. Now that they had his full name, they could look up the records of anypony recorded with such a name or anypony associated with the name. Unfortunately, this was another dead end, as they soon found out that besides a few legal papers from the orphanage, there was nothing over a 'Flash Relic'.

Flash then came back to Ponyville a few days later, just in time to see Twilight have the previously mentioned mental breakdown. The breakdown, which included a mass hypnosis on the entire town due to a spell over an old doll of Twilight's that was also another spell of magic that didn't affect Flash, was just another day for Flash as the Ponyville's main protector. Flash was particularly glad that the spell didn't exactly affect him, allowing him to mostly stop the almost rampage that happened from the mass hypnosis, which included a hypnotized Springer fighting a crazed Big Macintosh.

With all that being said, it was now safe to say that Twilight was not to thrilled about being outside right now. But, after one week of holing up in the library, rereading the entire Equestria encyclopedia three times in a row as she did, Flash had had enough. He then proceeded to literally drag her out of the library, telling her that it was time to face the music. That, and do some simple chores while they were out.

Now, they had arrived at the main marketplace of Ponyville, where Flash bent down and whispered into Twilight's ear. "See? Nopony's even looking at you."

"I guess," Twilight gulped, her eyes scanning everypony around her while she tried to hide her face behind her mane. "Still, I don't want to-"

"Hey ya'll," said two voices, making the four turn to see Applejack and her little sister Applebloom manning a nearby stall.

"Hey AJ, Applebloom." Flash replied as they moved over to her, "How's business?"

"Going great!" Applebloom exclaimed, a big goofy grin on her face.

"Finally managed to get her outside, huh?" Applejack asked as she nodded at Twilight.

"Yeah," Flash said with a smirk, "though I'm praying nothing happens to make her teleport back to the library."

Twilight let out a small grumble at this. "Can you two stop talking like I'm not here?"

"Who said that?" Applebloom replied as she started looking around in exaggeration.

"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight growled, rolling her eyes.

The others chuckled at this, before Applebloom turned to her sister. "Applejack, can I head out now? Me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were gonna hang out at Sugarcube Corner."

Applejack just nodded. "Sure sugarcube, go have fun." Applebloom smiled before rushing off down the hill, laughing as she did so. As she disappeared into the distance, the farmer turned back to the four. "So, what are ya'll up to today?"

"Just a little shopping," Twilight replied.

"A little?" Spike commented, before pulling out a scroll that got done unravelling three feet away from them.

"Okay, fine." Twilight said with a hiss. "We gotta do a lot of shopping. Haven't had time to do any in a while."

"If you let me do it, we wouldn't have this problem." Flash commented with a slight glare.

"Like I'm gonna trust you with shopping after the last time," Twilight snapped back, gritting her teeth as she did. "Do you not remember what happened last time?!"

Flash rolled his eyes this time. "I thought we agreed to never bring that up again. You know, I didn't know that the stuff I bought would be connected to quesad-"

"Quiet!" Twilight barked, causing Flash to almost start backpedaling. "You just said to never bring it up again, so don't bring it up!"

Applejack just rolled her eyes with a smirk while Spike and Springer giggled at the sight. Twilight then started barking at them for chuckling at this, while also pulling Flash's ear with her magic. That is, till they heard a familiar voice.

"Hello everypony."

The five turned at the sound of the quiet voice and saw Fluttershy slowly trotting towards them, a saddlebag of different animal foods on her back.

"Hey Fluttershy," Flash said with a slight wave, "shopping for your animals?"

"Just the ones that can't feed themselves."

"Want some apples for ya'h little critters?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe just a few," Fluttershy replied, opening her saddlebag as she did. Applejack nodded and began bagging her some fruit. As Applejack did this, Fluttershy looked back up, only to see something in the corner of her eye. It was a cart at the edge of a hill in Ponyville, unanchored and unoccupied. That, and another pony was able to hit it, as they were currently moving backwards as they moved something along the ground, not noticing the cart behind them.

"Look out!" She called out, but it was too late. The pony nudged the cart, causing it to move just enough for the weight to shift over the hill. The laws of gravity kicked in, and the heavy cart began it's descent down the hill, quickly picking up speed as it did.

At this point, the others also saw what was happening. However, it was the sight on the bottom of the hill that made all of their eyes go wide in horror. At the bottom of the hill was one familiar looking filly, also not noticing the incoming cart.

"APPLEBLOOM!" Applejack screamed.

The little filly was happily trotting down the hill towards Sugarcube Corner, when her ears picked up at the sound of somepony screaming her name. "Applejack?" She quickly tried to turn towards the voice, only for her eyes to see a certain large wooden cart which happened to be four times her size. Her eyes shrunk as she saw the rolling object speeding towards her, her body stiffing like a board in fear.

"Applebloom! Watch out!" Applejack screamed again, quickly trying to hop over her stand in a mad rush.

Seeing this, Flash leaped into action, spreading his wings as he tried to quickly sprint into the air. However, the cart was already two steps ahead of him, causing the Pegasus to slightly start panicking as well. "Shoot!" Flash yelped as he looked at his side, seeing he had not brought Lightbringer with him. "Applebloom!"

At the same time, Applebloom still stood there, staring at the incoming wooden weapon. As she did, she tensed up, closing her eyes as the cart drew closer. That is, till her ears picked up a peculiar sound. It was the sound of something piercing the wind, whizzing past her in an instant. Despite this, she continued to have her eyes closed, not wanting to open them in fear of seeing her demise firsthoof.

But it never came. For several seconds, nothing happened. Feeling these moments inch by, she slowly opened her eyes, noticing that she didn't feel a lick of pain from the incoming collision.

As she opened her eyes, they soon went wide at a new sight. In front of her was a large black metal spear, embedded into the ground like a thrown javelin. Her jaw gaped at the sight as she looked it over, seeing that it had stopped the cart like it was nothing.

"What in the-" Applebloom gasped as she felt her hooves let out, her flank dropping into the ground.

"APPLEBLOOM!" She turned to see Applejack and her friends rushing over to her, before pulling her into a hug. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"I'm fine Applejack," Applebloom said once they pulled apart, "but how am I fine? Where'd that spear come from?"

"It sure looks familiar." Fluttershy commented, shaking like a leaf as she stared at the weapon.

Flash took one look and he knew what it was. "That's not a spear. That's Piecemaker."

"Piecemaker?" Applebloom asked, turning towards Flash. "What's that?"

"A Celestic Gear," Flash replied with a slight grimace, "and if it's here, then-" Flash stopped when he and the others heard a deep grunting laugh, making them all look around for the source.

"They weren't kidding when they said there's never a dull moment in this town."

The five quickly turned towards a nearby alley, where a familiar gray and black earth pony was standing. He slowly walked out, a small smile on his face as everypony's eyes went wide at his appearance.

"Iron Core?"

Iron Core, the apprentice knight and student to the Knight of the Winds, Skybreaker, slowly trotted up to the group. Once there, he reached out and grabbed his Celestic Gear, yanking it out of the ground and reattaching it to his side. "What's up shrimps?" he asked with a dark, almost sinister smirk on his face.

Flash's face immediately turned into a scowl. "What are you doing here?"

"Not that we aren't happy to see you," Twilight interjected, stepping in front of Flash. "Its just a...surprise to see you here."

Iron just rolled his eyes. "Well get used to it, because you'll be seeing a lot of me from now on."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

Iron didn't reply and simply reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a rolled up scroll, which he handed to them. Twilight took the scroll in her magic and unfurled it, seeing the Canterlot Royal Seal as she did. She began reading it aloud.



Official Notice:

I, Princess Celestia, hereby appoint the apprentice knight Iron Core to join Flash Sentry as Ponyville's Defender of the Peace. The two of you will work together to deal with any problem that may face the town, with Flash Sentry in command until it is agreed that Iron Core is up to speed with the routine. Accommodations have been made for the apprentice knight, and until further notice, he will be stationed in Ponyville.

Yours faithfully, Princess Celestia



As Twilight finished reading the scroll, the group turned to Iron Core with raised eyebrows. That is, expect Flash, whose jaw wanted to hit the ground in disbelief.

"Wait a minute...I have to work with you?" Flash yelped, pointing at the earth pony.

"Trust me, it wasn't my idea," Iron growled, crossing his hooves after taking the paper back from Twilight. "Skybreaker and Grand Hoof have been communicating and agreed that I need to start learning how to...work on my own." Iron rolled his eyes at his next statement. "They said I need to learn things without my teacher watching over me...and they both agreed that working alongside you would be the 'best option'."

"So you're gonna be staying here." Twilight concluded, a slight glum smile on her face. "For how long?"

Iron shook his head. "No idea. Though I'm guessing its until Skybreaker decides I'm ready to be a solo Defender of the Peace. Then I'll probably be sent someplace else."

"So...I'm guessing you just got here then?" Flash asked as he looked at Iron's saddlebag, noticing it was a bit stuffed for a small bag of its size.

"Yeah."

"Okay...this is gonna be different." Flash replied as he began rubbing his chin, not sure on what to do about the situation. A few seconds later, he looked back at Iron, blinking. "Errrr...okay, I don't know how to start this, so...why don't you get yourself settled and we'll start tomorrow. That okay?"

"I guess," he shrugged before pulling out a map from his bag, "if I can find the house I'm supposed to be staying at."

"Let me take a look at that," Twilight said as she magically took the map and quickly scanned it. A small red circle was written on the map, which Twilight glanced at before noticing the building right by the circle. She then levitated the map to Fluttershy. "Hey Fluttershy, isn't that your house right by that circle?"

Fluttershy looked over at the map and nodded. "Yes, that's my house." She looked at the circled location and her eyes went wide. "Wait...I know what that is. That's the old shack nearby." She then glanced back at Iron. "You're going to be living at that old thing? Its really run down."

Iron just shrugged at this. "Tch, as long as it stays upright, I'll be fine."

"Well then," Twilight said as she gave the map back to Iron and then turning towards Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, do you think you can take him over there to get settled, or do we need to help?"

"No, I can do it."

"I guess that's a plan," Iron chuckled before turning to Fluttershy, "let's get going shrimp."

With that, he turned and started walking away.

"Um...Iron," Fluttershy said before pointing in the opposite direction he was going, "it's actually...this way."

"Right, right...I knew that." Iron grunted as he walked past them again. As he did, Fluttershy began staring at the ground before following him. Seeing this, the others just looked at each other with slight hesitation.

"Are we sure that him going with Fluttershy is a good idea?" Spike asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I mean, it is Fluttershy, right?"

Flash just shrugged. "It's fine. Iron might be gruff, but he's good on the inside. He is the apprentice of Skybreaker after all."

"If you say so," Spike said, rolling his eyes. That is, till he started coughing, only to burp a load of green smoke with quickly transmogrified into another scroll.

"A letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed before taking it in her magic. She was about to unfurl it until she saw that the scroll had Flash's cutie mark sketched onto it. "Oh...it must be for you," she said as she handed it to him, which he quickly unraveled to read.



Dear Flash,

By now, I'm sure Iron Core has arrived in Ponyville and met up with you. I thought it would be best not to have Iron deliver this message, for fear of him deciding to read it. The real reason Iron Core has been assigned to Ponyville is because Skybreaker is worried about his attitude. I'm sure you know by now that Iron isn't a bad pony, but does give off a particularly intimidating aura. It's our hope that you and your friends will be able to help him open up and learn to show more than just this one emotion. It is also my belief that you and Iron may be able to teach one another for your growth as apprentice knights.

I have ever the confidence in you,

Grand Hoof



"So that's it," Flash commented as he finished reading. "He's here to learn how to be nice."

Twilight nodded at this. "I guess it would make sense. Sure, he needs to be intimidating at times, but he'll never be able to truly be a Royal Knight if those he's meant to protect feel scared around him."

"So it's our jobs to teach him to be friendly?" Applejack asked with a slight frown. "That won't be easy. The varmit didn't want anything with helping at the festival a while back."

"I agree but...we still got to do this." Flash replied as he gave Spike back the scroll. "We'd better let the others know about this, especially Pinkie. Who better than her to help open a pony up?"

Several nods followed before the group rushed off to gather their friends.





Meanwhile...

Iron and Fluttershy had finally arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy had quickly learned that Iron didn't have the best sense of direction, as he went off the path several times. Even when she pointed the direction they needed to go, he would sometimes mess it up. Despite this, he never got mad at her when she pointed out his errors, causing Fluttershy to loosen up a bit while walking with him. That is, till they arrived, where Iron had quite the look of skepticism on his face as he stared at the cottage filled with animal friends.

Iron looked around at the place, his hoof almost pointing at a bird house as he raised one of his eyebrows. "You live here?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said meekly with a small nod. "It's usually quiet and peaceful, so the animals are comfortable here."

The answer made him put his hoof back on the ground. "I see. Plus, the fact that it's in an area that most ponies won't go to must be a bonus for somepony like you."

"Like me?" Fluttershy asked, wondering what he meant.

"A pony who likes their space," Iron replied, looking back at the cottage. "You wouldn't be out here if you didn't like that."

"Oh," Fluttershy said in surprise, having been expecting some kind of insult.

"So...you gonna be showing me this old shack I'm staying at?" Iron asked, his expression becoming slightly serious again.

"Oh! Of course, just give me a minute to put my things inside." Fluttershy nodded before heading inside, Iron following her. Once inside, Iron took a long look around, staring at the insides of the cottage. Though he wouldn't admit it, it looked pretty cozy.

"Hello Angel," Fluttershy said as she patted a white bunny on the head. "Now I know I just got back, but I promised to help show Iron his new home." It was at that moment, the rabbit turned to see Iron and quickly hopped over to the earth pony, glaring up at him as he did. In response, Iron leaned down and glared back, showing a small smirk as he did. Seeing this, Fluttershy's eyes shrunk, already thinking that things were about to go downhill.

They continued their little staring contest, leaning in further and further as they did. That is, till Angel blew a raspberry into Iron's face. Fluttershy's heart rate sky rocketed at this, her mouth opening as she was about to scold her pet bunny, only to hear the sound of laughter.

"Heh heh heh...hahahaha!" Iron guffawed, wiping his face as he leaned back. "You got guts hairball, I can respect that."

Fluttershy and Angel's jaws dropped, surprised at his reaction. Angel then smirked, turning and nodding at Fluttershy as if to decide he liked the earth pony. Fluttershy sighed in relief at this, happy a fight wasn't going to break out in her home.

"So," Iron said as he turned towards the door, "we going or what? I need to see my new place."

"Right. Sorry for making you wait." Fluttershy then trotted towards the door. In that moment, Angel jumped onto a nearby stool and onto Fluttershy's back, indicating his wish to go with them. Fluttershy did a slight hop in place before glancing at her now occupied back. "Oh, okay then. Just promise to stay by my side. Where we're going is dangerous for a bunny."

Angel just rolled his eyes as the three of them left the cottage. It was a short walk to where Iron was staying, as the shack was located right by the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy had always been close to the forest, as it helped some of her animal friends, but never too close like the rundown shack. Iron however, was not a pony that would mind such a place. That is, till he saw the shack.

"Wow," Iron said as he looked at his new accommodations. There was only one word that could describe it: Rundown. It was a simple wooden shack, metal sheets covering the top as it's roof. However, a series of nails hung outside of its walls, several pieces of woods also hanging on the side and every window was broken. There was a small hole in the roof, though it looked like sompeony had tried to patch it up, though it poor two-bit job with the patching. The shack also had a small porch, but it's floor was half broken and the front door had only one hinge. "Now this is a dump."

"You have to live here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Eh, it doesn't look too bad. Probably nothing some old elbow grease won't fix." Iron commented as he walked up to the porch, only for his hoof to smash right through it. "Or not."

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said as she put her hooves over her mouth. Iron began growling, pulling his hoof out. He then reached for the door, only for it to fall to the floor the second he touched it. Iron let out an even bigger growl, causing Fluttershy to shake as she saw his anger rise. She did a slight gulp before speaking up, "Umm...maybe you should stay someplace else. At least, until this place gets fixed up."

"Grrr...yeah. I guess you're right." Iron agreed as he stepped away. "I'll just take a quick look around to see what I gotta do to fix it."

He began walking around the building, glaring at every bit as he did. While he did this, a small red bird flew up to Fluttershy. The pegasus hopped in place before lifting her hoof, letting the bird land on it. "Oh, hello Constance," she said with a smile. The red bird chirped a few times and Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, I see! Very well, tell Pinkie we'll be there soon." With that, the bird flew off, just as Iron came around from the other side of the shack.

"I was right, this place is a dump," Iron grumbled, clutching his saddlebag as he did. "It'd probably be easier to knock it down and rebuild it."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "Why don't we go back to town and I'll show you where everything is? Maybe we can get a better idea on what to do about the shack there."

Iron just shrugged. "I guess it's better then nothing."





One transition to town later...

After dropping Angel back at their house, Fluttershy tried to begin a tour of Ponyville for Iron. However, her timid nature made it...difficult for her to accommodate his gruff, unmoving personality. It also didn't help that just about everypony they met on the street was meet with a large, angry scowl on Iron's face, scaring them away as he walked down the street.

"That's Fresh Yeast's bakery," Fluttershy said, pointing at the building. "They make lovely bread. And over there's the Minuette's dentist office, and that's-"

"Could you just tell me where I can get some wood and nails for the shack?" Iron asked in a low grumbling tone. "I don't need to know anything else right now."

Fluttershy shined a small frown. "Oh...I'm not sure. You could ask Burnt Oak, he sells fire wood, so he might know where you can get some. Or maybe my friend Applejack? She runs a farm and they always seem to have spare lumber."

"Then I know who I need to talk to. Where do I find this Applejack or Burnt Oak?"

"Oh! Umm....the best way to find one of them is..." Fluttershy began rubbing her chin in thought, looking around as she did. Here, her eyes saw a particular building, causing her to point at it. "Um...I know this is off-topic, but that's the Golden Oak Library. Flash and Twilight live there."

"Sentry lives in a tree?" Iron asked, almost laughing as he pointed at it. "Seriously?! Why does he live there?!"

"Oh um...I think its because him and Twilight have always been together." Fluttershy then gave Iron a slight glare before walking up to the building. "But you shouldn't laugh at it, the place is very nice." She then opened the front door, motioning to Iron to follow her. "Here, take a look."

Iron just cocked an eyebrow, wondering what she was playing at. But, he knew she was harmless, so he just shrugged before following her, knowing that he would probably need to be familiar with the building if it was the place Flash was living in. As he stepped inside, he quickly noticed that all the lights were off, causing him to glance around. As he did, Fluttershy slowly shut the door behind him, a small smile on her face as she did.

Then, the place lit up, light filling up the building.

"SURPRISE!"

Iron reached for his weapon, ready to strike. That is, till he saw what was in the library as the light covered the building. It was everypony that he had seen in town that day, along with party steamers and ballons covering the main room.

"HI!" Pinkie screamed as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "So what do you think? Isn't this the best welcome to Ponyville party you've ever seen?"

"Err..."

"I'm so excited!" Pinkie yelled, ignoring his stutter. "When Flash and Twilight came by and told me about the new pony in town, I couldn't wait to throw you an awesome party so you could get to know all your new friends! HOORAY!"

"Friends? What are you-"

"Hello again darling," Rarity interrupted as she, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped over to him. "How have you been since the 'incident' in Canterlot?"

"I'm been fine." Iron grumbled, still trying to figure out what was happening. He then felt a hoof tap his shoulder.

"Never really got to thank ya'h for the save on ma'h sister earlier," Applejack added as she put her hoof off of him, tipping her hat. "So thanks."

"Eh, I was just doing my job. Now what was-"

"So we heard you're moving in," Rainbow finished, flying beside Iron.

"Yeah, and I'm-"

"Hey," Flash said as he, Twilight, Spike and Springer moved stepped over to him. Iron's eyes were now twitching, as his patience was wearing thin over that he couldn't seem to talk in this situation. Instead, Flash just crossed his hooves and smirked. "Hope you like your surprise. Pinkie throws a hell of a party huh?"

"What is..." Iron replied, trying to find words. He then rubbed his face with his hooves, slightly growling as he did. "Okay...slow down here..." Iron then glared at Flash. "First off, why?"

Flash just let out a chuckle. "It's tradition. Whenever a new pony arrives in town, Pinkie throws them a party. It's a way to get to know your new neighbours. It was a little last minute, but I think she did great."

"Oh you charmer," Pinkie said with a wave of a hoof, faking a blush.

"So what do you wanna do first?" Rainbow asked with a cheeky grin, "games, food or do you just want to talk to somepony?"

Iron however, just turned around, an almost death stare showing on his face. "I want to find somepony who can get me supplies to fix up my shack, and then get the heck out of here. And I'm guessing what I'm looking for isn't here." With that, Iron walked back to the main door. Once there, he stopped for one second before glaring at Flash. "I assume you begin work at sun up?"

"Uh...yeah," Flash slightly nodded. "But don't you-"

"Then I'll be here by then," Iron interrupted, quickly slamming the door behind him. As the door made a resounding 'slam' sound, the others just stood there, blinking.

"Well," Flash said once Iron was out of earshot, "that could have gone better. Then again, I gotta give the guy props, he darted out of here quickly." This comment resulted in Twilight trying to smack him with her tail, only to miss.

On the other side of the room was Pinkie, who's mane deflated at the sight. "He didn't like my party," she said with tears beginning to fill her eyes. "And that was the fastest party I've ever set up."

"Oh darling," Rarity added as she and Applejack moved over to her, "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I just get the feeling he doesn't like parties in general...though I will admit that this was a bit sudden."

Twilight nodded at this, "He certainly isn't going to make it easy, that's for sure. Guess Grand Hoof was right."

"Make what easy?" Fluttershy asked. "What's this about Grand Hoof?"

"After you and him left, we got a note from Grand Hoof. Turns out, the reason Iron was sent here was so we could help him become more open. We thought this party would be helpful."

"We didn't think he would so flatly refuse to even stay," Rarity said as she and Applejack continued to console Pinkie. "He didn't even try."

"That guy's just a jerk," Rainbow commented. "Why is he an apprentice knight?"

"Obviously Skybreaker saw something in him," Flash said with a slight shrug, "like how Grand Hoof saw something in me."

"Well maybe he made a mistake," Rainbow replied with a slight showing of disgust.

Flash just shook his head. "No, I know him. I know there's good inside his heart. I saw it back at The Battle of Canterlot." Everypony grimaced at the memory of that horrible time as Flash continued. "When I was fighting Lightning, I didn't stand a chance. At one point, Lightning had me down and was set to end it...but Iron swooped in and saved me. Even when we were fighting on the roof and Lightning was about to kill me there, Iron risked his own life to save mine. He took a supercharged bolt of lightning for me, even though he didn't have to. There was probably a million other ways to save me, but he didn't hesitate to do it." The group all went silent at this, obviously finding what Flash had said to be hard to believe. Seeing this, Flash pointed to a certain pony. "Flutterhy was there, she saw it happen too."

They all turned to the yellow pegasus, who quickly tensed up at all the attention. She did a slight gulp before meekly saying, "I did see him do that, and he seemed kind of friendly when we were together earlier. Angel also seems to like him and he never takes a liking to anypony when they first meet."

"That's true," Rainbow and the other girls all remarked, remembering their first time when they met the 'adorable' little creature.

Applejack then spoke up, her hooves crossed as she did. "Okay, we'll agree with that. But ya'h gotta admit, the guy doesn't exactly scream huggable. Ah mean, look at how he reacted to being thrown a party."

"Actually," Springer spoke up, "he wasn't so much angry, and he seemed...I don't know, scared." The others looked at the jakhowl in confusion, which made Flash quickly translate what he said.

"Scared?" Rainbow asked with raised eyebrows. "What's so scary about a party?"

"We don't know because we don't know him," Twilight replied before glancing at Flash, "it's like Flash said when we met Zecora. We can't judge somepony until we know everything about them."

Flash nodded at this. "Exactly. Iron may take some getting used to, but he's got a good side. We just need to find a way to bring it out...which I'm guessing doesn't involve a party."

The others all shared a glance, before turning back to Flash and nodding in agreement.





That night...

Iron had returned to the shack and was currently sleeping on an old, moth eaten bed. Despite his inability to follow basic directions, he had been able to find a hardware store with the supplies he needed for the shack. With it, he tried to start the repairs on the shack, only for his body to give out in a few hours. Now, he was on the bed that was already in the shack, though he was seriously considering getting a new one tomorrow as he felt the fabric almost start to rip from him just being on it. To say he was having a hard time sleeping was an understatement as he constantly shifted around in the terrible bed.

That is, till his ears did a slight twitch. There was the sound of trees rustling outside.

His eyes shot open, his hoof grabbing the bag right beside him. Inside was Piecemaker, which he clenched into his hoof as he hopped out of the bed and glanced outside. His eyes scanned the area, glancing around the pitch black night.

Nothing. Nothing but the darkness and the sound of late crickets.

Seeing this, he decided that he had just imagined it, and returned to his bed. Had he remained however, he would have seen a pair of glowing yellow eyes in the distance now appear. Seconds later, another set appeared, followed by several more.

Then, as they appeared, the eyes zipped through the night. As they did, they sprinted back into the forest, quickly vanishing into the woods.





The next morning...

Flash and Springer woke up at their usual early time, Celestia's sun just starting to rise over the horizon. As they headed for the door, tiphoofing to make sure they didn't wake up Spike and Twilight, Flash whispered to Springer. "Okay buddy, remember what I told you." Flash then opened the door, "We have to-oh!"

The duo found themselves face to face with Iron just outside the main door, a slight scowl on his face.

"Errrr....morning." Flash said with a look of slight surprise. "Been waiting long?"

"Let's go." Iron grunted, turning around as he did. Flash and Springer just glanced at each other before Flash motioned for the jakhowl to hop on his back. A few seconds later, Flash walked up to Iron, trotting beside him.

"So...I start the day with a patrol of the town," Flash explained with a small smile. "Though I usually fly over the town, but since you can't, we'll do it by hoof."

"Okay." Iron growled, a slight grumble in his voice. "Once I've memorized the town layout, we should probably divide the patrol between the two of us..." Iron then eyed Springer. "And your..."

"Partner. Springer's my partner." Flash replied with a slight glare.

"Right." Iron looked away. "I'm not judging. I just didn't know what he was."

"Fair enough." Flash shrugged as they began their walk through the town. Silence followed them as they started their survey of the town, as even Springer didn't speak up as walked down one of the streets. As the minutes passed, Flash felt a slight poke on his neck, causing him to turn around. It was Springer, who was motioning his head toward Iron with a face that said, 'Talk to him already!'. Flash nodded and glanced at Iron, who was wearing a stone-faced stare. Blinking at this, Flash let out a small sigh before saying, "So...about yesterday-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Iron quickly interrupted.

"You know, you hurt Pinkie's feelings when you just left like that." Flash said anyway, glaring at Iron's comment.

"Her own fault." Iron replied with a roll of the eyes. "Wasting her time on such a stupid thing."

"There's nothing stupid about welcoming somepony to the town," Flash said sternly, "Pinkie just wanted to help you meet everypony so you don't feel like an outsider." Iron didn't reply and simply kept walking. Seeing this, Flash came to halt and shook his head. "You know, I don't get you sometimes. You act like you don't care about anypony, but I know that's not true. You saved Applebloom and you helped me during the Battle of Canterlot. So why are you so determined to make it so everypony thinks you're a big jerk?"

Iron stopped and turned back to Flash, a dark glare in his eyes. "Look Sentry, let's get one thing straight. I didn't come here to make friends. I'm here because I have a job to do, which doesn't involve making friends." He then pointed to the nearby buildings. "When push come to shove, I'll put my neck out for any of these weaklings. But that doesn't mean I'm going to cozy up to them and become friends."

"And what's wrong with making friends?" Flash asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Simple. I've never needed them before, don't need them now. So what's the point of having any?"

Flash just smirked, shaking his head again. "Wrong. You do have friends Iron. What do you call Skybreaker?"

"My mentor," Iron flatly stated.

"And why is he your mentor?" Flash asked before his smirk turned into a grin. "Because he cared about you. Because he's your friend." Iron didn't seem to have a response for this, causing Flash to continue. "Then there's Grand Hoof. He obviously cares about you and sees you as a friend."

Once again, Iron didn't have a comeback. Instead, his glare just grew darker. Seeing this, Flash's grin just grew wider.

"And there's also me. I'm your friend." Flash confessed. This got Iron's attention, causing his glare to soften in surprise. "After everything we went through against Lightning Blitz, I know I can trust you with my life and I also know you feel the same way about me. That trust, that can only come from friendship. So like it or not, we're friends."

Iron remained quiet, before turning away and started to walk off. "I think I'll just patrol this section of the town on my own." With that, Iron started walking away, as Flash just stood there. He wasn't sure if he should follow Iron, as the reaction wasn't exactly what he expected or wanted.

That is, till Springer poked him again. Flash then turned to his partner. "What did you get buddy?"

"Hard to be sure," Springer said while rubbing his chin in thought. "A little more fear and mild annoyance, but...when you told him you were his friend..."

"What? What did you get?"

"It was just for a moment, but I felt a powerful surge of happiness." Flash didn't know what to think after hearing this. He started rubbing his chin as well, trying to figure what that meant. Springer then poked him again. "So...any ideas?"

"Not sure. Kinda reminds me of somepony I know..." Flash commented, his brain going through his memories. That is, till a certain memory popped into head, causing him to say one word. "Twilight..."

"Twilight? What about her?" Springer asked, surprised at hearing her name.

"He reminds me of Twilight when we first got here buddy." Springer gave him a slight look of surprise, causing Flash to chuckle. "It was before we met. Twilight was...very antisocial."

"Isn't she usually like that?"

"Eh, it was worse back then." Springer gave him another glare, which Flash just waved his hoof at. "Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is..." Flash looked back to the direction Iron had walked away into. "I get the feeling that he wants friends, but he just doesn't know how to act around ponies."

"Well...what do we do about it?" Springer asked.

"Nothing yet. We won't act until we know more." Flash just smirked at his partner. "For now, let's just get back to work."





Later that day...

Applejack was doing her usual busy work at Sweet Apple Acres. Bucking apples, feeding the farm animals and other work as she walked through the south field. "Whew..." she said to herself as she put some buckets around a tree, bucking the apples out of it in a single strike. "Big harvest this season. Ah need to-"

Her thought was stopped as she heard a series of loud grunting noises. Her ears twitched as she turned to noise, quickly trying to find out where it came from. A few seconds later, she found her answer.

It was Iron Core, who was currently swinging his Celestic Gear around in an open field just outside the farm. The earth pony was hard at work, transforming it into a spear and spinning it around for several minutes. Seeing this, she decided to watch, seeing Iron thrust the weapon around as if he was dancing, a metallic and rough grace following him as he practiced. He then turned it into a hammer, which he began swinging with excellent precision. This went on for several minutes like the spear before Iron changed it into something else. A few weapons later, Iron put the weapon down, let out a low growl as he did.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" He asked Applejack, his back turned to her.

Surprise filled Applejack before she tried to reply, "How long did yah-"

"Since you got here." Iron interrupted, still not looking at her. "But I wasn't gonna end my training because of somepony staring at me."

"Oh...sorry." Applejack replied, staring at the ground as she did. A second later, she looked back up and asked, "Um...if yah don't mind, could yah tell me why yah training on the edge of ma'h farm? Flash has his own training area, yah know."

"I wasn't in the mood for dealing with Sentry," Iron hissed, gripping his weapon again.

"He giving ya'h the third degree?" When Iron didn't reply, she knew she had her answer. "A'm guessing yer not used to being around other ponies?"

"Usually its just me and Skybreaker," Iron admitted, a certain type of gravel in his voice. "The few times we were around other ponies was when we were getting supplies or on an assignment."

Applejack just shrugged. "Makes sense. Being around so many new ponies might be a little scary."

"I'm not scared," Iron said forcibly as he turned towards her.

Applejack just raised an eyebrow at this, obviously not convinced. "Yah know I'm the Element of Honesty, right?" She asked him, "Ah can tell when somepony's hiding something." Iron growled at this, his dark glare returning to his face. Seeing this, Applejack slightly backpedaled. "Fine, ah'll drop it. But Ah'm guessing yer also here for something other than just training away from Flash."

"I was told you're the pony to come to for wood." Iron answered, slight skepticism in his voice now that he had met her face to face. "I need some to fix up my shack."

"Oh!" Applejack lit up. "Sure, just follow me." Applejack motioned him to follow her. The duo headed towards her barn, which she then lent him a cart to use, along with a good pile of wood. She also told him where to buy some nails, as she recently had to buy a surplus supply of them due to what she called: 'Cutie Mark Crusader Antics'.

"Thanks." Iron said as he began making his way towards the exit of the farm.

"If yah need anymore, don't hesitate to ask." Applejack replied, smirking as she did. "Just remember to bring back mah cart."

"Yeah sure." Iron nodded before turning back on last time. "I'll bring the cart back later. Probably tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Eeyup." Applejack nodded with a wink.

With that, he began making his way back to his shack after purchasing some nails. As he got to the shack, his ears picked up a new sound. It was the sound of a pony yelling in anger and it was coming from Fluttershy's cottage. Quickly glancing at the cottage, he uncoupled the cart and rush toward the house and what he saw made him freeze.

Fluttershy was attacking a bear. The pegasus that he had only seen as a timid, scared pony was now beating on a bear, pounding into his back as laid on the ground. She let out what sounded like a battle cry, quickly slamming her hooves into the bear's back, causing him to let out a groan of pain.

"Holy-Hold on!" Iron yelled as he pulled out his weapon and charged towards the two. Fluttershy and the bear's attention turned to him, only to let out cries as they saw him about to swing his weapon at them. The bear shot up, flinging Fluttershy off his back before backing away as Iron pointed his spear at him. "Back off!" Iron growled as his weapon changed into a blade.

"Wait!" Fluttershy almost screamed as she flew between the two.

"Are you nuts?!" Iron told her, "Get away from that thing!"

Fluttershy frowned at this, glaring at him. "That thing...is one of my friends."

"But...you were...fighting?"

"Oh," Fluttershy said as she realized what he meant. "Sorry about that," she then backpedaled and started stroking it's head, "Harry's been having back issues. I was just helping him." Iron just blinked at this, having a hard time believing what he was hearing. Seeing this, Fluttershy put her hoof over her chest as she gave a kind smile. "I'm sorry we surprised you. We didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's fine." Iron said as he put his weapon away and turned back to the cart. That is, till he felt a drop of water on his head. He then looked up, seeing dark clouds now covering the sky.

"Oh...I forgot it was supposed to rain today." Fluttershy commented as she stared at the clouds as well. She then saw Iron glaring at the sky, as his shack's roof had several holes in it, which Fluttershy also knew about. "Um...Iron?" He looked back at her, the glare still on his face. The stare made Fluttershy backpedal, making slightly gulp as she began to say a suggestion. "Um...uh...if you want...you could stay at my cottage until the rain stops."

Iron wasn't sure how to respond to this. He would like to be out of the incoming rain, but he didn't want to appear weak.

"It's okay if you don't," Fluttershy said, seeing his unmoving expression. "I just thought you would prefer that. And...I'd be a lot happier knowing you weren't out in the rain like this."

Something inside Iron cracked at that. "Sure..." he grumbled, swatting his tail as he felt drops of water tap it. "If it makes you feel better."





Meanwhile...

As the rain began to pour, the forest trees of the Everfree were rustling with the wind. Water began to cover the top of the land as more and more clouds started blanketing the sky.

Then, a creature emerged from the bushes of the forest. It was reptilian in nature, as it had light green scales on its figure and it stood on two legs. The being featured two short arms with three sharp claw at the ends of each arm and had a height of about four and a half feet. On its head and down its back was a bright red fin that went down to the tip of its tail, which featured a long, sharp, red stinger-like appendage. The creature continued to step further out of the treeline until it look up at that sky, as if it was looking for something, before turning its head back towards the forest and letting out a high pitched screech.

Seconds passed, as it stood there. Then, as if on cue, even more of the same creatures came out of the forest, though they were slightly shorter and had green fins instead of the red one. Eventually, the number of creatures that came out ranged between twenty five to thirty, all looking towards the red finned one for instructions. The red finned creature, most likely the alpha, turned towards Ponyville and let out a high pitched cry before it shot off at high speed towards the town. The rest of the pack soon followed suit, racing towards Ponyville.





Back at Fluttershy's cottage...

Silence was almost everything in the cottage filled with animals. You could hear a pin drop as the silence continued to linger there, the two ponies in the house not making a single sound. One of them was Fluttershy, who was sitting on her sofa, reading a book for the weekly Ponyville book club that she had started to attend with Twilight a few weeks back. Iron on the other hoof, had borrowed a cloth and was busy cleaning his Celestic Gear on the floor opposite her.

Every now and again, Fluttershy would look up from her book and glance at Iron for a millisecond before looking back down. As she did this for the fourth time in a row, the silence broke.

"What?" Iron asked without looking up from his work.

"Oh! Um..." Fluttershy said as she quickly hid behind the book again, "its nothing."

"It's obvious you want to ask me something," Iron countered, a slight grumble in his voice. "Out with it shrimp. What do you want?"

Fluttershy closed her book before getting off the sofa and sitting on the floor. "Why do you avoid other ponies?" The question made Iron freeze, the cloth now just dangling on his weapon. Despite this, he didn't move, just staring at his Celestic Gear instead.

"Why do you act so scary to others?" Fluttershy asked, her voice trembling as she did. "I know you're um...I know you're not really a bad pony. So uh...why do you try so hard to make everypony think you are?" She began to twiddle her hooves as she looked away from him, fearing she had already messed up. "Um...what I'm trying to say is...why don't you let ponies be your friends?"

Iron remained silent, his face stoic as his eyes continued to stare down at his weapon.

Fluttershy frowned and looked down at her own hooves. "I'm sorry," she said, "I just thought if I knew, maybe I could help you fit in better."

Still nothing.

"I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

Fluttershy turned back to get back on the sofa. As she did, a certain voice spoke up.

"When I was younger, before I even obtained my cutie mark, I lived in a small mining village at the base of a mountain." Fluttershy looked back at Iron. He was still looking down at his weapon, his face remaining still. Despite this, he continued, "We mined iron ore to be distributed around Equestria, and we were known for our metal work." He slowly turned to look out the window, staring at the rain. "My parents ran a blacksmith shop, and they were the best forgers in all of Equestria. They made tools that ponies from all over would come to buy, or even come to hire them." Then, Iron stopped staring at the window, his eyes now glaring back at his weapon. "But that all changed when he came to town."

"He?"

"His name was Longhorn. An outlaw with a rap sheet a mile long. He had come to my parents to order weapons to use against the law, but they refused." Fluttershy smiled at this. Obviously Iron's parents were ponies who wouldn't back down to bullies.

"I thought that was the end of it," Iron said, his voice now descending to a low grimace-filled tone. "But the next day...that was when everything changed."

"What do you mean?"

Iron gave her a slight glare, causing the shy pegasus to backpedal onto her sofa, a small 'meep' escaping her breath. Seeing this, Iron looked back at his gear, sighing. "I was just a colt back then." he began to explain. "I had just finished my lessons in school that day, and I had just aced a test. I was so happy...how naïve I was back then."

Fluttershy didn't like where this was going, she could tell just by his lowering tone of voice. Despite this, she gulped and asked, "What happened?"

"I returned home." Iron replied, a dark shadow covering his eyes as he began to recount his memories. "And I saw it in the distance. I instantly knew that something was wrong." He bit his lip as he said those next words. "My parents may have ran a giant forge...but they never had that much smoke coming out of the house, no matter what the order was. I...I knew that something had happened to them."

Fluttershy's heart sank as she heard this. She knew exactly where this was going.

"He burnt the entire house down. There wasn't a single ash of my family left." Iron's next words were as heavier than iron itself. "He made sure there wasn't a spit of evidence that he did it."

Fluttershy froze, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I've been hurt many times since that day..." Iron growled as he began the next part of the story, "but none of them have ever outdone the pain I felt that day."

Fluttershy had her hooves to her mouth, tears now flowing down her face.

"I knew instantly who had done it. There wasn't anypony else that it could be." Iron's eyes turned a shade of blood red, his expression was one of pure rage. "and I wanted payback. I wanted him dead for what he had done...and a few days later, I found my chance. I had heard rumors that Longhorn was hiding out in an old mine shaft outside of town. So I went to it...but I was too late."

"He got away?"

"No," Iron replied, shaking his head as he let out a draining chuckle. "Skybreaker had already captured them. He'd been assigned to bring them in and he had taken Longhorn and his cronies out within seconds. He made them look like they were nothing." Iron let out a long sigh. "But...I still wanted revenge. When I got there, I instantly saw Longhorn, sitting in a corner while being wrapped up in ropes from the soldiers. The others saw that a colt had rushed into the crime scene but it was too late." Iron's face then showed a large, vicious smirk. "I rushed over to him, taking Skybreaker's weapon from him by surprise and...I hopped on top of Longhorn, threatening him with everything I had." Iron let out a roar. "I wanted him to admit what he'd done to my parents! I wanted to make him pay! And yet...and yet...he confessed right there....with a smile on his face. He...he said they deserved it because they refused and it was just business."

Fluttershy gasped, his eyes fully wide as she heard this.

"I was so angry...I wanted to make him pay so bad!" Iron growled, gripping Piecemaker as he continued. "I wanted to make him feel the same pain he caused me. I raised the weapon high, ready to strike him down!" Iron quickly turned around, a dark glare in his eyes as he explained the next part. "It would have taken just one swing. That's all I needed..." he hissed, turning back to Piecemaker. "But I couldn't. I dropped the weapon and stepped away. No matter how much I wanted to, I knew my parents wouldn't want me to stoop to his level and take revenge."

Fluttershy smiled at this, happy he didn't darken his soul with vengeance.

"Skybreaker took Longhorn to jail and I thought that was it. My life was ruined and there was nothing I could do about it." he chuckled, rubbing Piecemaker with the cloth again. "But a week later, Skybreaker returned and seeked me out. He wanted to take me under his wing and become his apprentice. I didn't have anything else in my life, so I accepted...and a week later, I got my cutie mark. Turns out, the solider life was perfect for me." Iron glanced at his flank for a second, seeing his mark of a shield with two spears cross over it before looking back at his weapon. "But I swore to myself that day that I'd never let myself feel the pain of losing somepony I care about again."

"So you never let yourself get close to anypony," Fluttershy finished for him.

Iron remained silent, as if nothing else was needed to be said. That is, till Fluttershy walked up to him and threw her hooves around his chest. "I'm sorry that happened to you, but you can't lock away your feelings. Losing ponies is a part of life, but that doesn't mean you stop letting them in."

"I..." Iron wanted to shrug her off, to bark at her for doing this. But, he couldn't. He just didn't know how to respond to this.

So silence lingered instead. They just sat there as Fluttershy continued to hug him while Iron didn't move a muscle. Nothing needed to happen. Nothing at all.





Meanwhile...

It was a normal afternoon in the Golden Oak Library, as it's four residents were sitting inside, playing a board game. That is, till an orange pegasus let out an angry yell at a certain purple dragon, who had a big cocky grin on his face.

"And I say I only have to pay 500 bits!" Flash yelled as he slammed his hoof onto the table, causing the figures on the board to slightly hop.

"Stop that Flash, you're messing up everypony's placements!" Twilight barked back as her magic made all the figures go back to their original pieces. "You landed on the Manehattan property and Spike has two houses there. You have to pay the amount on the card!"

"No I don't! You're all a bunch of cheaters!" Flash growled before glaring at Springer. "And stop chuckling Springer. You're not even playing the game!"

"That's cuz I can only talk to you Flash." Springer countered with a smirk. "So stop being a sore loser to...what is it called again? 'Pony Property Possessors' or something?"

"What did he say?" Twilight asked with a deadpan stare.

"He said he doesn't like 'Pony Property Possessors'." Flash lied, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh really?" Twilight cocked her eyebrow before glaring at the jakhowl. "And why don't you like 'The Board Game of Monopolies'?"

"I did not say that, you liar!" Springer barked at Flash, raising his paws in the air. "And she just called it something else!"

"Its not called that Twilight." Flash deadpanned as he ignored Springer. "The box for the game clearly says-"

"That's just what the newer editions are called!" Twilight countered. "The original was called-"

BOOM!

"WHAT THE HAY?!" Twilight yelped as the sudden sound rocked the whole library. The board game they were playing flew into the air before every piece landed on Spike, making him let out a groan of disappointment. Flash and Springer quickly sprinted to the window, trying to see where the sudden explosion came from. That is, till they saw a blur flew by the window.

"What was that? Rainbow Dash?" Flash asked as he tried to follow the blur.

"I didn't sense her aura." Springer said as he closed his eyes, enhancing his aura as he did.

However, the blur passed them again, and this time Flash got a glimpse and saw something green. "That's not Rainbow Dash partner...and whatever it is, I don't think its anything good-" Suddenly, another blur zipped by, and this time, a loud scream followed. "That's not good."

"Flash, go!" Twilight yelled, pointing to the front door. Flash and Springer nodded at her, Flash quickly grabbing Lightbringer while Springer hopped onto his back. They rushed out of the library, only to hear another scream. They turned towards the yell, only to see Bon-Bon's candy store's main door open. Rushing towards it, they both peeked inside the building with slight hesitation.

"Somepony in there?" He asked as he stepped inside, only to freeze at what he saw. Inside the store were large dinosaur like creatures. They were eating anything they could get their claws on and wreaking the place while doing so. Not sure what they were, Flash and Springer backed away very slowly until they were out of the store. "Okay...not sure what's going on here, but it can't be good."

"HELP!"

Flash and Springer looked up and saw an open window on the higher level of the building. Flexing his wings, Flash took to the sky and flew up to it, where he saw Lyra and Bon-Bon propped against the door.

"Flash! Oh thank Celestia!" Lyra exclaimed after seeing him, "You've gotta help us, please!"

"What's happening?" Flash asked as he stepped inside.

"We don't know," Bon-Bon yelped. "We were just waiting out the rain when we heard a noise coming from downstairs. We went down to check and saw those...creatures, which chased us up here when they saw us."

Flash nodded. "Let's get you two out of here." He then saw Bon-Bon's nearby wardrobe and rushed over to it, quickly pushing it towards the door, barring it. The pegasus then flew the duo out of the window and over to town hall. After this, he and Springer flew back to the library, only to see Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity on the library balcony.

"Twilight!" he said as he landed on the balcony. "Please tell me you know what these things are and more importantly, how to beat them."

"They're Speed Stingers," Twilight explained as she flipped through a book with her magic before showing a picture in the book to him. "They're vicious scavengers who can move at over a hundred miles an hour."

"That explains the speed part of their name, but what about the stinger part?"

"Well, they-"

"Get back yah varmints!" yelled a voice behind Flash. He quickly turned around, only to see Applejack at the end of the nearby street. There, she was using her lasso as a whip, trying to fend back a Speed Stinger while the pony behind her tried to get to the town hall. However, as soon as the whip almost hit the monster, it dodged and shot forward, striking Applejack with it's stinger tail.

"OW!" Applejack yelped in pain, only for her body to suddenly become wobbly and she collapsed.

"APPLEJACK!" They all yelled, Flash quickly gripping his Lightbringer in anger. As he readied himself to bum-rush the creature, a blue blur zoomed through the sky, quickly grabbing the downed earth pony.

"Gotcha!" the blue blur said before bringing Applejack to the library's balcony. "Here, help her!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed, joy on her face as she saw that she had saved their friend.

"Good job." Flash complemented, spinning his blade in his hoof.

"But of course." Rainbow grinned, patting her chest in pride. She then glanced at Applejack as Twilight but her on the couch inside the library. "Is she okay?"

"Don't worry, she's just asleep." Twilight replied as she rubbed Applejack's forehead. "Its part of the Speed Stinger's method of attack. They inject a sleeping agent into their victims through their stingers."

"Is it dangerous?"

"In mass, yes." Twilight nodded as she turned back to her friends. "But she was only stung once. She'll wake up in a few hours."

"I don't get it," Spike asked as he looked over the balcony. "Why are these things attacking now?"

Twilight just shook her head. "No clue. What I've read about them was very brief. Their speedy and vicious nature make it very hard for ponies to study them."

"So you've no idea how to stop them?" Flash asked, panic slightly creeping onto his face. Twilight shook her head 'no'. "Oh great...guess we'll have to just focus on defense then. First, we need to-"

BOOM!

They all looked over at where the Doc's lab was, seeing him running away from the now smoking building as three Speed Stingers chased him. That is, till a stinger struck his side and knocked him instantly asleep. Seeing this, Flash shot a quick Flash Vortex at the three, spooking the trio as they dodged the attack.

"Save the civilians Rainbow! I'll keep those monsters at bay!" Flash yelled as he shot another Flash Vortex. Rainbow did a small salute before flying down and grabbing Doc and flying him to the town hall. Flash then turned to Springer as he shot off another attack. "You stay here bud."

"Why?" He asked.

"You saw what their stings did to fully grown ponies. I'm not gonna risk finding out what it does to something your size." Springer wanted to pout, but nodded anyways. Seeing this, Flash pointed to Twilight. "Stay here and protect the library and Twilight buddy. And Twilight? Try to find a way to stop them."

"Right," she replied before Flash flew off.

The next few minutes were filled with nothing but Flash fighting off the zooming monsters while Rainbow continued to safely guide ponies to the town hall. Every now and then, they also had to grab a few unlucky stung ponies as the situation continued, causing Rainbow to slowly start panicking.

"There's too many of them!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew back up to Flash after carrying a stung colt to the town hall. "We can't keep this up Flash!"

"Don't give up," he replied, surveying the town as he tried to watched a Speed Stinger's attack pattern from the sky. "There's got to be a-"

"HELP!"

They looked down and saw the school pony Twist in an alley, cornered by several Speed Stingers.

"Hold on!" Rainbow yelled, but in that moment the Stringers shot forward and were about to strike her. However, in that moment, the ground beneath her cracked open and a large metal pole shot out and lifted Twist into the air, where Rainbow caught her. "Gotcha!"

"Thanks!" Twist cried as she hugged Rainbow, "but where'd that pole come from?"

Flash and Rainbow both had a good idea, as a certain pony just down the street was responsible for the pole. It was Iron Core, who had struck his Celestic Gear into the ground and transformed it inside the dirt, causing a pole to lift out in another place. "Good catch shrimp." Iron complimented as he walked up to them, retracting Piecemaker as he did.

"Great timing," Flash said as he landed next to him. As soon as they did, the two quickly took fighting stances, as three more Speed Stingers appeared right in front of them. That is, till another three appeared behind them, causing the duo to stand back to back as the creatures began to encircle around them. "And...not so good timing."

"Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Have to wait. Whatever you do, don't let them sting you."

"Got it." Iron said, twirling the weapon in his hoof. "There really isn't a dull moment around here, is there?"

"Nope." Flash smirked as he spun his blade as well. "Get ready, here they come!"

What followed was a true battle of speed. The Speed Stingers had ran out of targets thanks to Flash and Rainbow's earlier efforts, causing them to get angry over the lack of victims. With this, Flash and Iron began to fight the monsters, deflecting their stingers as a series of stingers and claws attacked the duo. As they did, Rainbow watched their battle for a second, only for Flash to quickly yell at her, telling her to save everypony while they distracted the creatures.

A few minutes later, Rainbow had evacuated just about everypony. As she went back to the duo, she saw that more Speed Stingers had shown up, causing Flash to take to the sky with Iron in hoof. Flash quickly placed him down on a nearby rooftop, the two now using the moment to catch her breath.

"There's too many of them." Iron panted as he retracted Piecemaker again. "We're not gonna win like this."

"There has to be a way to stop them," Flash replied, wiping his brow. "We just need to find out why they came and what their weaknesses are."

"Maybe they just arrived here now."

"Maybe..." Flash crossed his hooves, scrunching up his face in thought.

Before they could make any theories, a loud scream caught their attention. Both their eyes went wide, recognising that voice from anywhere. "That's not good." Flash commented as he turned and saw the voice's owner. "Fluttershy!"

She was currently on the ground, her eyes shrunk in fear as she watched several Speed Stingers surround her. Her left wing was bruised, as while she was trying to follow Iron despite his warnings from earlier to not follow him, she had accidentally got hit by a Speed Stinger's claws as she glided near the ground. She had tried making it to safety on hoof, only to find herself backed into a corner with several Speed Stingers surrounding her. There were lined up in a semicircle, which had her against a building wall. From out of the line stepped the Alpha Stinger, which stared at Fluttershy for several seconds.

"Hello," she whimpered, trying to hide behind her wings. "Please stop this. You don't really want to hurt us, do you?"

The Alpha let out a powerful cry as it and six other Stingers raised their tails.

"No, please-" She couldn't finish as the Speed Stingers shot forward, all their tails ready to strike. She flinched and covered her face with her wings, waiting for the pain of the stings...but they never came.

Opening her eyes, she saw something blocking her vision from the Stingers. It was Iron Core, with seven Speed Stingers tails stabbed into his side. "Iron?" Fluttershy cried, her eyes wide as she saw Iron stand there, his face contorting in pain. Then, the stingers retracted and the pony fell like a brick.

"IRON!" Fluttershy screamed as she watched him fall.

The Alpha cried out as he readied his stinger again, only for Flash to land between them and Fluttershy and raised his sword. "Back OFF!" He called out as Lightbringer burst out a bright light. "Prepare to-huh?"

Then, something unexpected happened. The Speed Stingers all cried out. Not in fear, but in pain as the light from weapon made them step back. Seeing this, Flash shined a cocky grin as he looked up, seeing the murky, covered sky. Flash then continued to swing the shining sword at the monsters, making them scream out in pain again. "That's it. That's why you're here right now. You don't like the light, do you?"

The orange pegasus flared his wings, ready to take flight. "This ends here." he remarked before zipping into the sky, bum-rushing the clouds. The clouds quickly dispersed, causing a ray of sunlight to shine down over Fluttershy and Iron, making the Speed Stingers step back.

Seeing this from a distance, Twilight's eyes also went wide. "They can't stand light, can they? No wonder they attacked when it started to rain." She quickly turned and stared at Rainbow, who was carrying another knocked out pony. "Rainbow! Bring that pony over here now and start taking out all the clouds!"

"Huh?!" Rainbowr replied back, flying over to her with the pony. "What are you talking about egghead?"

Twilight pointed to the clouds, "These things hate light. So open the clouds and let the sun shine!"

"Oh...oh!" Rainbow shined a cocky smirk before saluting. "You got it!"

She shot into the sky at top speed, her and Flash destroying every cloud they could get their hooves on. All over town, the ponies of Ponyville watched as Rainbow and Flash worked to destroy the clouds, allowing their little town to be illuminated once again. As they did, the Speed Stingers all screamed as they were bathed in the light of the sun, rushing for the cover of the forest as pain coursed through their bodies from the sunlight. Soon, the whole town was free of the Stingers, who were now on the edge of the forest.

The Alpha hissed at Ponyville, before Flash landed on the ground. "This is your one warning," Flash said as he raised his sword which glowed, "don't come BACK!" He swung a Flash Cutter, which struck the ground in front of the Alpha. It screamed in pain before rushing into the forest, never to be seen again.





A little later...

As the sun began to shine again over the town, Twilight had arranged a team to take the stung ponies in town hall to the Ponyville Hospital. This included Applejack, and a few others that had been placed in the library thanks to Rainbow and Flash. However, one was placed in the library that didn't go to the hospital, as they feared this one needed help more than anypony else.

It was Iron Core, who had been stung seven times. Because of this, they had called Zecora for help, who was still trying to get to the library to help. As they waited for her, Fluttershy sat by his side, tears flowing down her eyes as she watched him lay on a nearby couch.

"Oh Iron..." she whimpered as she laid her head down on the couch. "Please be strong."

"I thought you said it was just a sleeping agent?" Rarity asked Twilight in a whisper.

"He got injected with seven loads at once," Twilight replied, biting her lip. "Who knows what effects that could have on him. That's why we're getting Zecora over here. She'll be able to help him quicker than the now patient-filled hospital."

Flash then walked up to Iron, a grimace on his face. "Don't you give up Iron. You're too stubborn to lose here."





The first thing Iron saw when he woke up was Fluttershy. As he saw this, his eyes squinted as he tried to remember what had happened to him. That is, till he saw the tears form in Fluttershy's eyes.

"You're awake...thank goodness." Fluttershy whimpered, putting her hooves over her mouth.

"Wha...what happened?" He asked as slowly started to sit up. Fluttershy tried to stop him, thinking he should rest some more, but he refused. As he did, he then realized that he was in the library on a makeshift bed. "What in...why am I here?"

"You got stung seven times." Iron looked around, only to see Flash and Twilight enter the room. As he saw them enter, Twilight continued to explain. "Your entire body almost shut down..." She made a slight shudder as she finished the next part. "You almost didn't make it."

"Luckily, our friend Zecora was able to make an antidote for you," Flash continued as he walked up to the bed, a smirk on his face. "Though you've been out for a week."

"What of those creatures?" Iron asked.

Flash waved his hoof. "The Speed Stingers are gone, and hopefully they won't come back."

"That's good," Iron said, laying back down with a thud. "At least I did my job."

"We were really worried about you," Fluttershy said as she watched him fall back into the bed.

"I'm fine," Iron grunted before closing his eyes.

Twilight let out a huff as she glared at Iron, seeing that he was already back to ignoring everypony around him. "You know Iron, she hasn't left your side once while you were out." Twilight said in a slightly commanding voice, making Fluttershy blush. "You could at least thank her."

Iron opened his eyes for a slight second before glancing at Fluttershy. "Thank you."

"No," Fluttershy shook her head. "Thank you, for saving me. I might not have survived."

"Eh, I was just doing my duty."

Flash and Twilight shared a knowing glance, before turning back to them. "If you're up for it," Flash said as he crossed his hooves with a smirk. "There's something we want to show you."

Iron let out a grumble, showing he already didn't want to reply. But, he also knew they were going to show him anyways. A few minutes later, he got out of the bed, though he needed some other ponies' help to keep him steady. With that, they left the library and walked through town, which was still being repaired from the Speed Stinger attack. As they did, Iron noticed something new. The townponies were no longer acting scared around him, instead waving at him with a smile or asking him how he was doing.

Seeing this, Flash smirked as he explained, "We told everypony what you did. They're really grateful to you for saving Fluttershy and helping me fight off those monsters."

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Iron growled, giving him a slight glare.

"Partially," Flash shrugged, a cocky grin slowly appearing on his face.

They continued onwards, heading out of town and were soon at Fluttershy's cottage. When they got on a particular road, Iron realised where they were going. They had arrived at Iron's shack, but it was completely different. It looked like it had been completely rebuilt. The walls of the shack were no longer rotten and cracked, the porch now looked sturdy and the windows had glass in them. It was now painted a dark brown, which Iron quite liked, and the roof was equipped with a new sheet of metal.

Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie were standing around it with a smile on their faces.

"You did this?" Iron asked.

"Everypony in town chipped in." Flash replied, nudging his shoulder. "Even the younger ones, they helped paint it."

"It's our way of really welcoming you to our community," Rarity said with a nod.

"And an apology for how we acted," Rainbow continued.

"We know friends aren't your thing," Pinkie said as she cartwheeled over to him.

"But we hope ya'll at least consider us yer friends," Applejack finished.

Iron smiled at this, before turning to them all. "Tch...I guess don't have a choice, do I?" Iron scratched the side of his head before his smile got a bit bigger. "If that's the case...thank you. Thank you, my friends."

Everypony smiled at this, happy that they had finally helped him open up.