It was yet another beautiful day in Ponyville.
Things had been rather peaceful in the little town for the past few days. As for what had been recently happening, the Ponyville's Equestria Games flag bearers had recently been chosen, and the ponies of Ponyville had finally finished the repairs from the Everfree Forest incident.
As for today, the story begins inside the Golden Oak Library, where Princess Twilight Sparkle was busy shifting through various books. Currently, she was reading the special journal she and her friends had decided to write in after the events of their overnight stay at the Castle of the Two Sisters. She had it open to the page Scootaloo had written in after she had gotten back from the Crystal Empire.
Twilight giggled as she remembered how Flash had been shocked when Rainbow told her about Scootaloo's little freak out about not being able to fly. This was followed by Flash going to Filthy Rich and giving him a piece of his mind about disciplining his daughter for bullying the physically challenged. Thankfully, the issue was diffused by his little sister, as she convinced Flash it just wasn't worth it when it came to Diamond Tiara.
As for Twilight, she was reading a book because she had just given up for the day over her most recent puzzle she was trying to solve. This riddle was the mysterious puzzle box that the Tree of Harmony had gifted her, which she was now going over several old tomes from the Castle of the Two Sisters. Unfortunately, this also gave no clues, not even close to what she was looking for.
The alicorn then let out a calm sigh as she sat back and continued to read, enjoying the peace and quiet that was very rare around her home. With Flash and Springer out training, Scootaloo having school and Spike out getting the supplies he needed to bake a new cake recipe Pinkie had lent him, Twilight was having no trouble tuning out the rest of the world. "Most ponies would use this rare opportunity to read a storybook. What fools these mortals be," she giggled to herself at her own little joke, remembering one of the first questions she had asked Celestia. Twilight might now be an alicorn, which did result in a mild longevity, but she was far from immortal. "Now let's see, where was I? Ah yes, nothing to spoil my me time. Me and my books."
That is, till she flipped that next page.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Of course," Twilight groaned as her book went below her eyes, soon turning to the door. A long sigh following, she hopped off her chair and went to the wooden frame, opening it to be met with the image of two cloak wearing ponies standing side by side. "Can I help you?"
"I hope so," the first said as the ponies removed their hoods. Doing so revealed a silver unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail, which quickly bowed, "Greetings Princess Twilight. I apologise for interrupting anything you were doing, but we're new in town and was hoping for your assistance in locating our children. We believe you know them very well."
"Um...okay?" Twilight blinked at this, soon backpedaling, "Err...please come in."
"Thank you," the second pony remarked as he removed his hood. As soon as he did, Twilight almost mistook him for Flash. He was an orange pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail, his wings hidden inside the cloak. But unlike Flash, this stallion was not muscular, while also being a few inches taller. The duo then stepped inside and took off their cloaks, revealing the mare's cutie mark to be a triquetra-like symbol while the stallion's was a map that appeared to be on fire. Twilight gestured to a nearby coat-rack, which they put their cloaks on before walking over to a table.
"Please take a seat."
"Thank you princess," the mare replied as the stallion pulled her chair back for her to sit on.
Twilight sat down opposite of them, "So...first things first. Introductions. I'm Twilight Sparkle, as you already know. And you are?"
"I'm Misty Veil," the mare then gestured to the stallion. "And this is my husband."
"Trail Blazer."
"It's very nice to meet you both." Twilight gave a small nod after this, her eye on the stallion in particular. She just couldn't stop staring at him, just seeing the resemblance between him and Flash being purely uncanny. Regaining her focus a moment later, she turned to Misty, "So, if you don't mind me asking, why come to me?"
"Because we believe you know them both very well. In fact, we are sure of it."
"You are?" Twilight tilted her head in slight confusion, her brain not sure what to make of the statement. "Okay...can you tell me something about your children? Anything that might help me locate them, like when was the last time you saw them?"
Trail spoke up next. "Well, we haven't seen our son in over twenty years, and our daughter in over ten years."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "How old our your children?"
Misty slowly tapped the table. "Our son turned twenty-two a few months back, while our daughter is going to be thirteen soon."
Twilight stiffened at this. Her brain told her that she knew those ages. But as she thought about this, she glanced at Trail Blazer again, causing her to go wide eyed. "Um...when you say you haven't seen your children in over ten and twenty years...well, what do you mean?"
Both Misty and Trail exchanged glances, unified sighs following as they soon stared down at the table, "Its...hard to explain. We had to...we had leave our children at orphanages when they were foals."
Trail looked back up, a tiny combination of smile and frown on his face, "But we know they recently found one another, and thanks to...circumstances, we believe we're able to see them now, if we can find them."
Twilight did a slight gulp, her brain now putting the last piece of the puzzle in her mind. She had a feeling she knew the answer to her next question, but asked anyways, "Uhhh...what are your children's names?"
Misty stared into her eyes, a small tear going down the unicorn's face, "Their names are Flash Relic and Scootaloo."
Meanwhile...
In their canyon training ground, Flash stood beside Springer as they faced a large boulder. Iron and Lightning were standing off to the side, both yawning at the sight. As they did this, Flash spun his Celestic Gear in his hoof as he glanced at Springer, "You ready bud?"
"As I'll ever be," Springer replied as a blue flame consumed him, his battle form soon appearing. "Let's do this."
"Alright....step one, GO!" Flash yelled as Springer created a large Aura Blast, both paws now making the sphere despite being in battle form. "Good. Now, let's do step two. Throw it!"
"Hiyah!" Springer spun like a top, slinging the orb straight up into the air.
Flash crouched down onto his back legs, pouring all his power into his legs, "Step three...go!" Flash kicked off into the air, his blade flaring with light. He then lifted the blade above the aura ball, a roar following, "Flash Cutter!"
He swung the blade at the Aura Blast, slashing it with all his strength. Time seemed to slow down as the spinning ball of aura grinded against the shining sword's sharp edge. But as it hit this, the orb suddenly flustered, and-
KABOOM!
Springer, Iron and Lightning all flinched as they watched the combo attack fail, sending Flash rocketing across the canyon while letting out a less than stallionly scream. "AUGH!" Flash yelped as smoke flew out of his mouth, his form crashing into a garden of rocks with a loud thud.
The trio soon went over to Flash, the defender now laying face down in a spread eagle position. "Flash? You okay?"
"I feel like a rainbow!" Flash mumbled into the dirt.
"He's fine," Iron chuckled as they watched the pegasus roll over.
Lightning titled his head while biting his lip, "That's the third time today. Maybe you should stop trying this before you get yourself killed."
"No..." Flash groaned as he slowly lifted his head up, shaking it as he flared his wings. "I'm not giving up. It took me forever to master the theta state, but I kept at it. Besides, if I gave up every time I tried to do something I couldn't get right away, I would have never made it this far. We just have to keep trying."
Iron shook his head at this. "You've been trying this all week Sentry. Maybe your element just isn't compatible with Springer's attack. You ever thought of that?"
Flash rolled his eyes as he hopped up to his partner. "I know, but I also know that we can get this right. Springer just has to make his Aura Blast perfectly, throw it up at the perfect angle while I hit at the perfect time and in the perfect spot with the perfect amount of power." He finished, a giant goofy grin on his face. "See? Nothing to it."
The three just gave him a series of flat stares. "You do realize adding the word 'perfect' to something usually makes it ten times harder, right?"
"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," Flash picked up his sword and turned to Springer. "You ready to try again bud?"
Springer just shrugged, now back in his regular form. "Hey, you're the one getting blasted and I'm getting more training on keeping my battle form going. I'm game."
Flash nodded at this before they got back into position, Iron and Lightning now watching the fourth try. That is, till Iron let out another chuckle, "You know, you're lucky Sparkle has more important things to do then come watch you train. If she saw you do this, you'd be having a three hour lecture before getting royally ordered to not do it."
Springer and Lightning both started laughing as Flash glared at Iron. "Well luckily, she doesn't come watch me, which is also thanks to you when you ran her ragged back when we switched bodies." Flash then pointed his blade at the defender, "And until we get this attack down, she's not gonna know about these training sessions. Got it?"
"Got it." Iron added before pointing behind Flash, "Though you might want to ask her."
"Huh? What are you-" Flash then turned around, only to see a purple flash of light. When it faded, a very frazzled and highly hyperventilating Twilight stood a few feet away. "Twilight? What are you-"
The alicorn looked up at the pegasus, "Flash!" She teleported again, this time putting herself in mid-air as she grabbed his shoulder, "Flash! Come...quickly! Reading...knock...door...open! Looking...children...YOU!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Flash grabbed the twitchy princess by the hooves and pulled her back to solid ground. "Calm down for a sec Twi." Twilight just stood there, heavy pants now expelling from her mouth, causing Flash to put both hooves on her shoulders, "Twilight, you're scaring me. Please, just calm down and tell us what's going on...slowly."
Unfortunately, his plea fell on deaf ears as Twilight's horn began to glow, making Flash yelp out, "Wait Twilight! Don't-"
But it was too late. A second later, they were gone, consumed by a blast light before disappearing. After a series of blinking from the aftermath of the teleportation, Springer, Iron and Lightning turned to one another. "What was that all about?"
"I have no idea."
Lightning did a small gulp, now remembering what Twilight had told him about disasters that just one pony can cause in Ponyville. He then turned to the two with a grimace, "So uh...what's the protocol here?"
In response, the two simply shrugged. "No idea."
It was well known that Twilight, the main librarian of the Golden Oak Library, would use teleportation outside of the building. As such, flashes of purple light would constantly appear around the library, mainly at the front. However, that was a bit different today, as a yell of pain followed from the recent flash of purple.
"TWILIGHT!" Flash yelped as he rubbed his eyes, "Warn a guy the next time you're gonna do that! I prefer my retinas un-burnt, thank you very much!"
"No time for jokes Flash," Twilight tapped her hoof as she started to pant. "I need to go get Scootaloo from school and you need to stay here!" The alicorn's horn flared, an aura gripping his neck as she leaned up to the defender's face, "And whatever you do, don't go into the library until I get back!"
"Uh....Twilight? You okay?" Flash gulped as he slightly backpedaled, "You're kinda freaking out and....why can't I not go in-"
"No time!" That last scream was all Flash heard before she disappeared, the purple light once again burning his already irritated eyes.
"AUGH!" Flash moaned, the defender now rubbing his eyes, "Alright....not the worst freak out she's had, but definitely somewhere in the top twenty." He then turned to library, blinking at the sight. "Now, what's going-"
"Flash!"
"Ack!" Flash yelped, hopping in place at the sudden voice. It was here that the pegasus turned to see Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rarity walking up to him. "Hey girls. What's up?"
Rainbow landed in front of him, "You tell us. We spotted Twilight's magic flashing all around town and got worried."
"Ya'll weren't tha only ones. She popped up on my farm asking for you, and then teleported away before I could reply!" they turned to see Applejack, Pinkie and Spike coming up from the other side. "So what's Twilight freaking out bout this time?"
Flash scratched his head, sighing at the same time. "I'm...not sure. She just showed up at the training field before warping us both here, then she said she's gonna go bring Scootaloo."
This got everypony to raise an eyebrow as Rarity spoke up, "Twilight, as in Twilight Sparkle, is planning on taking somepony out of school?" Flash's only reply was a quick and simple nod. "This must be serious."
Before anypony could say anything else, another flash of light appeared in front of them, fading to reveal Twilight and Scootaloo. "AUGH!" Scootaloo screamed as she covered her eyes, "Seriously Twilight?! I already can't fly! You trying to make it so I can't see either?!"
Twilight blushed at this, "Sorry, but this is an emergency! I need both you and Flash to go inside and-"
"Twilight, calm down!" Flash interrupted, putting his hooves on Twilight's shoulders. "Take a deep breath." The alicorn did so, a long exhale following, "Good. Now, will you please just tell us what's going on already?"
"Yeah Twilight," Pinkie added. "You're acting weird."
Rainbow nodded. "And you know that's the truth when Pinkie of all ponies says so."
Twilight let out a low growl, knowing she didn't have a retort to that. A long sigh following, she pointed to the library's front door, "I think it'll just be easier to show you." With that, her magic opened the door before nodding at Flash and Scootaloo.
The two pegasi stepped inside first, looking in to see what had put Twilight in such a state. It was then that they heard hoofsteps, which made them spot Misty and Trail walking towards them, only for the duo to freeze up as they saw Trail Blazer. But while they stared at the older mirror image of Flash, Misty's eyes filled with tears as she whispered, "Oh...oh my goodness. Look how big you two have gotten...."
Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Do uh...do we know you?"
Misty wiped her eyes as she replied, a small sigh following, "No. The two of you were only foals when you last saw us. But I must say...its so good to see you both face to face, Flash and Scootaloo."
Scootaloo's eyebrow raised to match her brother's as he spoke. "Flash?"
"Scootaloo?"
"How do you know our names?"
Trail Blazer chuckled at the question. "How? Well, that's because we're the ones who named you two."
That statement, mixed with Trail's similarities to Flash, caused a click to go off in their brains. Before they knew it, the siblings froze up while outside, the rest of the group were also wide eyed as they figured it out.
"No way..." Rainbow whispered.
"This is gotta be a trick," Applejack added.
Rarity shook her head, "I don't think so darling."
"Oh my..." Fluttershy finished, covering her mouth with her hooves.
Flash felt his heart racing a mile a minute. "No...you can't be."
Misty gave them a small smile, "Oh, but we are. We're your parents, Misty Veil and Trail Blazer."
Flash couldn't breathe. He could feel a turn in his stomach, his whole body churning as a mix of emotions swirled in his head. Scootaloo wasn't doing much better, her whole form shivering at her parent's words. Flash's eyes then flicked towards Scootaloo, the defender noticing the pure confusion on her face. This made Flash blink as his breathing started to increase in pace, causing him to turn back his parents.
It was here that Trail started to walk up to the siblings, "Now, I know this is a lot to take in."
"Indeed. We have waited so long for this moment, the moment to be with you two."
"And there's a long story with that. As such, we would like to sit down and explain why-BLAUGH!" Trail's eyes went almost completely white as the wind was knocked out of him, his pupils looking down to see Flash's hoof now in his stomach.
Everypony gasped at this sight, Flash himself staggering slightly back in disbelief as well. His body had just moved on reflex, causing him to shake as he stared at his hoof. The sound coughing could be heard next, causing him to look up and see Trail putting his hoof over his mouth, "Wait...we can...explain-"
"Explain.....EXPLAIN?!" Flash screamed as that word came out of Trail's mouth. Before he knew it, another hoof came for the stallion, this time dodging it by a hair. "Are you freaking serious?!"
"Flash!" Twilight yelled as her horn started to glow, "What are you-"
"Shut up Twilight!" Flash barked back, causing her backpedal. She had never heard Flash say that to her before, the words making her freeze up. As for Flash, he glared back at Trail while steam poured out of his nostrils, "You want to explain why you threw me and Scootaloo away?!"
"We didn't throw you away, we-"
"Shut up!" Flash interrupted as he shot forward, instantly tackling the stallion into the wall. The sight made everypony gasp as Flash pushed him into the wood, "You threw us away when we were foals!"
It was here that Twilight shook her head, now refocusing as her horn started to glow again, "Flash, you need to-" but before her magic activated, she felt a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up and see Misty Veil.
The unicorn was shaking her head. "Don't. We expected this."
"But-"
"She's right! Don't-grk!" Trail yelled as he saw the exchange from the corner of his eye. He then stared at Flash as he felt the defender's hoof pressuring him into the wall, "I'm...sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Flash barked as he threw a punch, this one smacking Trail across the face, "Why were the first few years of my life nothing but pain and loneliness! Why did you throw me away like trash to burn?!" Another punch smacked the stallion's face, "Why didn't me and Scootaloo even know we were brother and sister until she almost DIED?!" Flash readied another punch as he screamed, "HUH?! TELL ME! TELL ME YOU-"
"STOP!" Flash's hoof stopped mere inches from Trail's face.
He turned and saw the voice's owner. It was Scootaloo, completely recovering from the earlier shock. "Scoots...why are-"
"Because I have questions Flash, and I'd rather not have to guess what he's saying through broken teeth."
This statement alone made Flash come to a stop. A large sigh followed as he stared back at his father, a glare of pure anger on his face as he stepped away and trotted over to Scootaloo. "Alright...I can at least agree to that."
Trail breathed a sigh of relief as Misty went over and placed a hoof on his shoulder, making sure he was alright. When he nodded, the two walked over to the room's table and sat down. It was in this moment that the rest of their friends started to speak up, Rainbow going first while wearing a face of pure skepticism. "So....you're Flash and Scoots' deadbeat parents?"
Trail let out a hiss at the jab. "I wouldn't call us deadbeats."
Applejack slammed her flank down at the table, rattling the furniture as she growled, "Oh really? So what would yah call parents that abandon their foals before they can even walk? Ah know it sure ain't family."
Rarity nodded in agreement as she sat next to Applejack. "I couldn't agree more. In fact, according to what we've been told, you didn't even stick around to make sure they were found." She batted her mane back as she gave the duo a death stare, "We were told you just left them on a doorstep. They could have frozen to death back then."
Misty growled at this as well, "Hey! We waited until the door opened before we left!"
"Oh, and that makes it so much better," Fluttershy spat, a surprisingly low hissing tone in her voice. "You should be ashamed of yourselves for just abandoning your young! I know animals more responsible than you!"
Pinkie was the last to sit down, her hooves crossed with a big frown on her face, "You know, if I was throwing a party for world's worst parents, you'd be one of the first ponies I'd think of inviting. And even then I wouldn't do it, because ponies like you don't deserve parties!"
Both Trail and Misty wanted to reply, but they knew they couldn't say anything. In response, both stared down at the table, unable to respond. It was in this moment that Twilight chose to interject. "Alright everypony, we need to calm down."
"You're defending them?! Seriously?!" Rainbow demanded, only to get a glare from the princess.
"No, I'm not. I'm honestly fighting internally over just throwing them out right now, but I know better, and I also want answers. Besides, if we want to know why they did what they did, we need to give them a chance to speak. So, let's all calm down..." The princess gave everyone a quick glare, a long one especially at Flash, "And we also need to make sure we don't use any more violence, got it?!" Flash let out a sigh before nodding, his form sitting down with Scootaloo right by him. "Good. Now, please explain yourself you two."
"Thank you princess," Misty said with a bow.
"Don't." Twilight growled as she crossed her hooves, "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, but don't think for a second I approve of any of this. That being said, please....begin."
"I understand." Misty replied before turning to her children. "Now, before we begin...I know I have no right to call myself your mother yet, but I want you two to know that we have always loved you."
Scootaloo's face morphed into a huge frown, even when Rainbow's wing patted her side, "Then...why did you give us up?"
"Because we had to," Trail responded as he put his hoof in Misty's, "In order for what your mother foresaw to come to pass."
"Foresaw?"
Misty nodded at this. "Ever since I was a foal, I've always had a strange ability. I...well, I could see the future."
Everypony's eyebrows slowly rose at hearing this, some not sure what to think after hearing this as Twilight chimed in, "No offense, but that's impossible. Even basic unicorns know that spells over time, specifically futuresight, are...dangerous. Even if they know the consequences, the ability to even cast the spell would mean the unicorn would have to be at a incredibly high level of skill and magic power."
Misty just chuckled as she waved her hoof at the princess. "I used to think the same thing, but my ability is no unicorn magic spell. Its something I've always had within me." Twilight was about to reply to this, only for Misty to lift her hoof, "Let me explain. When it started, I just shook it off as déjà vu. At first, I would only see a few seconds into the future. But as time went on, I could see further and further until now, where I can see exactly two minutes ahead."
"Only two minutes?" Spike asked next. "That's not very long."
"Long enough in most circumstances," she turned back to Flash and Scootaloo. "Like the circumstance of when I met your father."
Trail laughed at the memory. "Ah, I remember that day. I was walking under a piece of construction equipment when the rope snapped. A whole ton of metal was ready to bury me..." He stared at his wife, a small kiss following this. "If you hadn't intervened, I'd be a dead stallion."
Misty kissed him again, "And after that, things just happened until we were eventually married."
Seeing a now third smooch, Flash tapped his hoof in frustration. Twilight noticed this, now seeing the defender grit his teeth in irritation before Flash almost yelled, "So...what does this have to do with why you threw us away?!"
Misty looked back at her son and sighed. "I was getting to that, and we didn't throw you away. You see, your father and I are both archaeologists. We live to study the weird and wonderful of this world, my premonitions being one of the many mysteries we've tried to solve. We've travelled all over Equestria, searching for the answers. It was on one of those expeditions that I discovered I was pregnant with you."
Flash took this moment to interrupt. "Let me guess. You didn't want a kid cramping your style and stopping you from going on more wild adventures?!"
"Of course not!" Trail barked back. "We loved you and were excited to become parents!"
"Then why did you leave us?!" Scootaloo asked as she almost slammed her hoof on the table.
"Because when Flash was born, I had a vision like nothing I had ever had before!" Misty quickly spoke, causing everyone to hop in place. A small sigh followed as she stared at her son, "Listen, like I said before, I've only ever been able to see about two minutes into the future." she then pointed her hoof at Flash, the frown on her face trying to turn into a smile, "But...but when you were born Flash, a saw a barrage of visions like no other. I saw almost everything!" the smile started to grow, "I saw an incredible life for you Flash! The first vision was of us leaving you at the Canterlot Orphanage, then it showed you meeting Twilight and living with her family. I saw you become Grand Hoof's apprentice, come here to Ponyville, become the Element of Courage….all the adventures you've had!" She turned to Scootaloo as tears started to fall down her face, "Even meeting your sister."
Scootaloo looked away, unable to stop herself from smiling.
Misty turned back to Flash. "Your battles against Nightmare Moon, Lightning, Discord, Doom, and the others. I saw them all...that is, till I was shown the last image. It was...well, you giving up your Element."
Twilight spoke up at this. "So you gave Flash up because you saw him becoming the pony he is today?"
Trail nodded. "That's right. If we hadn't left him there at the orphanage in Canterlot, he might not have ever met any of you. He wouldn't have become the pony that has helped save Equestria so many times."
The group of friends all glanced at each other, looks of both discontent, disgruntlement and slight anger on their faces. Flash was especially showing anger, his once tapping hoof now shaking instead. All were soon in agreement that they weren't convinced, Rainbow piping in next, "You don't know that."
Rarity nodded. "Indeed. I'm sure Flash would have met us eventually."
Misty shook her head in response. "How? Trail and I were both born and raised in Manehatten. If we did keep Flash, we would have raised him there. Were any of you living in Manehatten when you were younger?"
Applejack raised her hoof. "Ah was, at least for a little bit."
"And did you ever go to the Museum of Equestria while you were there? Or maybe in its surrounding neighborhood?"
Applejack lowered her hoof, "No....ah didn't."
"Exactly," Trail replied as he slightly glared at the group. "If we didn't leave Flash, none of you would have ever met him. And even if you did, do you think you'd have forged a bond like the one you have now?"
Everypony glanced at each other again, unable to reply to this. "I guess you have a point," Twilight admitted as she crossed her hooves in thought, "I honestly never left Canterlot till I had to go to Ponyville." She looked back at the parents, "But that doesn't justify what you did."
"But it does princess. We had no choice." Misty remarked as she sighed again, "What I saw...I knew I had to make the visions come true. If I hadn't-"
"Hold on!" Rainbow interrupted, slamming her hoof on the table, "What about Scootaloo?!"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo yelled in agreement, "Why'd you leave me here?!"
A new stream of tears went down Misty's face. "That's...that's because when you were born, I instantly recognised you from my visions. One showed you and Flash outside the orphanage we left you at. When I first saw it, I figured Flash just got close to a random filly and later took her in. But...well, let's just say the second pregnancy came as a surprise." Misty admitted while staring at her husband, a light blush on both faces before Misty looked back at Scootaloo, "When you were born, I knew you were the one from the visions, the filly I saw Flash adopt. Seeing this, I knew that in order for Flash to become the pony he is today, you needed to be in his life as well."
Scootaloo tried to reply, only for no sound to come out of her mouth. She didn't know what to say as she glanced at her older brother. However, there was no comfort there, as Flash continued to glare at the duo, "So...you foresaw everything I went through?!" Flash barked back. "Including all those years I was forced to live on the street?! Or perhaps when I was almost burned to death at the orphanage?! Was that in your visions?!"
At this, Misty and Trail looked down in shame. "I...I never said I saw everything. Its true that I didn't see those years on the street for you Flash...and the fire. It um...it wasn't until a few years later that we learned about what happened to the orphanage." Misty gave a shivering glance at Flash's scar-ridden chest. "And because I suspect you'll ask about what else I didn't see...I also never saw your battle with Sombra."
"You mean when I almost died." Flash hissed as he kept trying to hold himself back. It was here that he slammed his hoof down again, "So let me get this straight...if you really foresaw all of this, why didn't you try and stop the disasters?! You could have gone to Princess Celestia! She would have believed you when you warned her about Nightmare Moon, Lightning, Discord and all the other stuff that almost killed us!"
"We thought about that..." Trail added.
Misty nodded again, "But we realised that I must have been shown those images for a reason." She reached her hoof out, only for Flash to flinch away from her touch. Seeing this made her rub her hoof as she continued, "You...you're a very special pony Flash, but you might have never achieved your full potential if you didn't go through all those events I saw."
Flash leaned back, his eyes now closed as he grit his teeth. "This has got to be some kind of trick." he whispered to himself, his brain hurting from all the new information.
However, his mental questions came to an end when the library doors opened and revealed Springer, Iron and Lightning. "Does somepony wanna tell us what the heck is going on?" Iron asked as he walked inside, pointing at the two newcomers, "Who are these two?!"
Before anypony could speak, Lightning shined a huge grin with wide eyes, "No way! Its you two!"
Misty and Trail tried to give him two small smiles, "Hello Lightning. It is good to see you again."
"Same here. How you two been?"
This caused many eyebrows in the room to raise in confusion as Rarity spoke up. "Hang on darling. You...know these two?"
"Heck yeah I do!" Lightning replied, a happy nod following a big grin on his face, "They were the ones who gave me my teleportation spell and sent me after my father." This caused a new wave of shock and confusion to spread through the room as they turned back to Misty and Trail.
"Another one of your visions?" Twilight asked.
Misty nodded. "Yes. I saw Lightning saving Flash while facing his father. We gave him the spell to help."
"Oh really?!" Flash spoke up, "I see you don't mind helping him. You know, somepony you also saw me fight!"
Misty turned back to her son. "Flash, we had to stay away. If we hadn't-"
"I wouldn't have fulfilled my great potential. Yeah yeah, I know." Flash interrupted, venom now in tone. "Say, what was stopping you from being there for me between those events you saw? If you knew they were coming, you could've still been there and made sure you were out of the way for the visions." He then leaned forward, anger burning in his eyes, "Or am I right from the start, and you actually don't care."
"How dare you! We love you Flash Relic!" Misty barked back, more tears bursting down her face, "You may not believe it, but-"
"I don't believe it!" Flash interrupted as he hit the table again, "You two threw me away instead of facing your problems head-on! You could have gone to Celestia and told her all this crap about my destiny! Heck, you could have just gone to Canterlot and made sure I met Twilight around the age you saw her in the visions! After all, I'm pretty sure you could just use the 'orphanage vision' as an excuse to get rid of me! Instead, you threw me away because you 'didn't see everything', which sounds like the biggest load of horseapples I've ever heard in my entire life!"
Before the two could reply, Twilight chimed in as well. "Wait a minute, you did say you didn't see everything. If that's the case, how do you know about Flash's fight with Sombra? That information wasn't exactly made public, so how do you know about it if you didn't foresee it? And how did you know to come here now?"
"She's got a point. That's another question on the books." Flash grumbled as he crossed his hooves again, "Well?!"
Misty and Trail glanced at one another, both nodding as Misty's horn glowed purple. In a flash of purple light, a silver dish-like object appeared onto the table. Everypony stared at the device before Flash picked up and examined the dish, "What's this?"
"A relic we discovered several years after we left you at the orphanage," Misty explained before turning to Twilight. "Princess, please think of somepony who isn't here and channel some magic into the dish."
Twilight blinked at the device, slightly taken back by the request. A second later, a simple streak of magic was fired into the dish, only for it to show the image of Princess Celestia. She was sitting on her throne, writing on a piece of paper that hovered in front of her. "How in the-"
"This dish allows you to watch what anypony you can think of as long as you have a strong enough connection to them."
Misty nodded in agreement. "When we found this, we used it to keep track of Flash and Scootaloo. We've been watching the two of you and everything you've done over the last few years."
Flash stared at the dish as these words entered his head, clicks and pieces assembling in his brain. Before he knew it, the anger consumed his face as he jumped to his hooves and tossed the dish away. "LIARS!" Everypony flinched at the sudden outburst, Twilight especially wide-eyed. She had never seen him this angry. It was here that Flash turned to his friends, screaming at the top of his lungs as he pointed to the dish, "Don't you see?! They're lying to us! She didn't have some vision-seeing garbage! They've just been spying on us!" He turned back to the duo, his wings flared as his hooves trembled in rage, "Let me guess, you just finally decided I was worth something since I'm an apprentice knight and decided to come up with this whole story to get back into our good books. That's it, isn't?!"
Trail let out a low sigh before flatly staring at Flash, "We're not lying son."
Misty stood up next. "Flash, please." She lifted her hoof out again, only for Flash to swat it away.
"I'm not listening to anymore of your wild stories about seeing the future and abandoning me for my own good! You say you want back in our lives?! Well too bad!" He then pointed to Twilight, "I already have parents! Their names are Twilight Velvet and Night Light, which are definitely not you!" the defender then turned around, steam blasting out of his nostrils, "You lost the right to be part of our family when you threw me away!" With that, he hopped off the table and headed for the door.
Misty quickly went around the frame, "Flash Relic-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Flash screamed as he spun around and stared into her eyes, hatred burning in his pupils. "MY NAME IS FLASH SENTRY! FLASH RELIC IS DEAD, AND HE DIED WHEN THE ORPHANAGE YOU ABANDONED HIM AT BURNT DOWN!" Misty and Trail both backpedaled at this, shame and fear obvious on their faces. "If you think I'm ever gonna forgive you and let you back into our lives just so the two of you can hurt us again, then you're insane!" He pointed between himself and Scootaloo, "You don't get to have this family! You don't deserve it, so why don't you just do us all a favor, and leave!"
"NO!" Flash turned to his sister, who had been oddly silent during their conversation. "I don't want them to go. I admit I'm mad at them, but I don't think they're lying."
"How can you say that?! Did you not just hear all that stupid crap they just said?!"
Scootaloo just shrugged. "I...I don't know, I just do." She then turned to Springer. "You can tell when ponies are lying, right?"
Springer nodded. "Yeah. It causes their auras to darken."
Scootaloo pointed at her parents, "Well, are their auras dark? Have they been lying?"
Springer turned to Trail and Misty before closing his eyes and scanning their auras, being very precise as he checked. Eventually, he stopped and opened his eyes. "Their auras are clean. Neither of them has said a lie all day."
Scootaloo turned back to her brother. "See? They're telling the truth." She stepped up and gave him her most pleading eyes. "Please, let them stay. I've waited for this moment my whole life."
He looked back at his parents, his teeth gritting as he hissed, "I still think you're lying. No, I'm sure of it, even if Springer says otherwise." The defender then stared down at his sister, seeing how much she wanted this. A loud groan followed as he glared back at Trail and Misty. "One day. That's all you two deadbeat parents get. Do whatever you want with Scoots, but after that, I never want to see the two of you ever again." With that, he walked out the door, his form instantly taking to the sky.
As he did this, the duo Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were trying to get to the library after school, both wanting to know why Scootaloo was taken out earlier. However, as they arrived, they were pushed back by the sudden draft of wind from his takeoff, causing Applebloom to yelp, "What in tarnation?!" She soon got back up and walked into the library, only to see everypony inside wearing giant frowns on their faces. "What's going on? Who are they and why did Scootaloo leave class early?"
Iron just shrugged. "I'm still not sure about that myself."
Twilight's horn flared at this, her magic now engulfing everypony except Scootaloo and her parents. "We'll explain properly outside Applebloom. Right now, let's leave them some space while I'll go see if I can get Flash to calm down."
"You don't have to do that princess," Misty told her as she wiped away her tears. "We...we were afraid this would happen, yet we were also ready to accept it if it did. Flash...Flash has made it quite clear that he wants nothing to do with us." Another tear appeared, causing her to sigh again as she wiped it away, "I just wish it didn't happen, but he is not wrong. This is all our fault."
Twilight shook her head at this, giving the mare a sympathetic smile as she put her hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "Mrs. Veil, while I...I don't fully agree with what you did, I now believe I understand why you did it. As for Flash, I've been with him for a long time, and I know he's not in his right mind right now. Granted, I don't think I've ever seen him this angry...but that doesn't mean I can't calm him down." Her grin grew as her words made Misty start to smile again, "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure and see if I can speed up the calming down process."
Before anypony could say anything else, they all vanished in a flash of purple light. As such, the three ponies stood quietly in the library, Scootaloo then turning to Misty and Trail, "Wanna go up to my room?"
The two gave looks of surprise at the suggestion, only for them to smile as Misty replied, "That would be lovely."
Trail nodded in agreement. "Lead the way squirt." Scootaloo gestured form them to follow, the three soon entering as Trail commented, "Cool style." he glanced at the many Wonderbolt posters and spotted several of them were either torn or crinkled. "What happened here?"
"Don't ask," Scootaloo grumbled.
Misty then spotted something on her bed, a red blanket with a stylized sowing of Scootaloo on it, along with dates that showed her birth. "I haven't seen this in such a long time," she picked it up in her magic and looked it over, "Looks as good as the day I finished making it."
"You made that?" Scootaloo asked her, getting a nod from her mother.
"From the same material I made your brother's out of. We discovered it on one of our adventures," she turned to Trail. "Which one was it again?"
Trail rubbed his chin in thought, "I...can't remember. Sorry."
"Strange...neither can I." She looked down at the blanket again, "The material is like nothing I'd ever seen before. Completely indestructible, which is why I made them into the blankets we...left you in."
"Right...yeah." Scootaloo whispered as she watched as Misty put her blanket down.
Misty then turned back to Scootaloo, "Scootaloo...I know that we have no right to ask for your forgiveness."
"But all we want is to really get to know you," Trail added.
Scootaloo looked away, thoughts racing through her head. She knew they would want her opinion, and as she folded her non-flying wings, she started to say, "For the longest time, I wondered why you left me at the orphanage. Ms. Blossom would tell me it was because you thought you wouldn't be able to look after me, so you gave me to her to keep me safe. I believed that for so long, but then..." She didn't answer, instead turning her head around to glance at her wings.
Both Misty and Trail's eyes went wide as they realised what she was thinking. "Oh sweetheart," Misty's horn flashed before pulling Scootaloo towards her. Before the filly could react, she found herself in her mother's embrace. "Never, ever, think we wanted to give you up. There wasn't a day that went by that my heart didn't break from thinking about all the things we missed. After we watched the doctor tell you about your wings, I cried for a week straight. I...I wanted nothing more than to come comfort you." More tears began to flow down her face, some of them now dropping on Scootaloo's mane, "Flash was right...I should have came to comfort you."
Trail then placed his wings around them. "She's right Scootaloo. We love you. Never...please, never forget that."
As the warmth radiating off her parents consumed her, Scootaloo's eyes began to water. Something inside her clicked into place in that moment, something that had always felt out of place her entire life. The tears finally broke free as she began to sob in an uncontrollable manner. "Mommy...daddy, I forgive you."
The amount of joy that the two ponies felt after hearing that was like nothing they had ever felt. Both parents began to cry more and more after this, now knowing they had their daughter back. And as time melted in those moments, Trail soon pulled away from the hug before using his wings to wipe his daughter's eyes. "So kiddo, what do you wanna do together?"
Scootaloo thought for a moment, then smiled. "You two are archaeologists, right?" The reply she got was a pair of nods, "Then I know exactly what I want to do."
After teleporting everypony out of the library, Twilight directed that everypony else go to Sugarcube Corner to explain the situation to the latecomers before heading out to find Flash. Luckily, Springer was able to locate him with his aura, and found him at the forest training ground. Deciding to walk instead of flying or teleporting, she did this in hoping it would give Flash more time to calm down.
When she finally arrived, she spotted her best friend slamming his hooves into a tree. "What'd that tree ever do to you?" She let out a small laugh at her own joke, as Flash came to a stop but didn't look back, "What? No witty come back?"
"Go away. I'm not in the mood right now Twilight," Flash growled as he began to hit the tree again.
Twilight let out a huff as she got closer to the defender, "I figured." she then crossed her hooves with a slight glare, "Flash, I think you might have been a little hard on your parents."
Flash once again stopped hitting the tree and turned to her, a look of shock and anger on his face. "How...how can you say that?! Didn't you-"
"They did what they thought was for the greater good." Twilight interrupted, flashing her hoof at the defender. "That was their choice."
"Oh please! How can leaving their children on the street be for the greater good?"
"They never left you on the street, and they didn't know about what happened at the orphanage."
"Then why didn't they come get me when they learned?!"
"Maybe they did," Twilight deadpanned as she crossed her hooves again. "Maybe when they found out where you were living, they came to get you, but by then you were already living with us."
"You don't know if that's what happened."
"And you don't know if that's NOT what happened because you stormed out of there before you could get all the details." Twilight's horn began to flare, pulling the defender over with her magic before staring him straight in the eyes, "Listen, I don't agree with what they did either...but I know what they said was genuine. If they really didn't care, they wouldn't have come here, and they wouldn't have gone through their own hardships on giving you and Scootaloo up." She put her hooves on his shoulders, "Flash...they've suffered too, and...you need to at least try and forgive them."
Flash swatted her hooves away, growling as he looked away, "How can you say that? Heck, how I can do that? What if I forgive them and let them back into mine and Scootaloo's lives, but they just leave us again. It'll break Scoots heart, and I don't want that to happen to her."
Twilight just shook her head at this, her magic spinning him back in front of her, "You really are a meathead, you know that? What you really mean is that you don't want that to happen to you." She watched as Flash raise his eyebrows in surprise, "Don't try and hide it. I can see it in your eyes, and I know how you are when it comes to family." She looked down at the grass as she admitted, "I know you've always felt out of place in my family, all of us being unicorns and everything." She glanced back up at the defender, "But I know you Flash. You're scared to forgive them and let them into your life because you're scared they'll leave you again."
Flash pulled himself away from her magic as he grumbled, "I'm not scared."
"Yes, you are," Twilight sternly told him. "And you're letting your fear dictate your actions. That doesn't sound like something a knight or the Element of Courage should ever do." Flash glared at her for this, his hoof shaking in anger. He wanted to scream and tell her she was wrong, but he could feel a horrible pain in his chest. Despite this, Twilight continued to speak, "I know you might hate me for saying this, but..." She looked hesitant at her next words, but took a deep breath and spoke. "I've been thinking while I was making way here and...though I will admit I don't agree with what they did in the slightest in terms of...abandoning you on a whim. But despite that, I'm...I'm glad for what they did." Flash froze at hearing this, his eyes going wide as he saw Twilight's eyes fill with tears. "Because...because I don't want to imagine my life without you in it."
Flash blinked at the sight, gasping as he saw the tears start to form on the princess's face, "Twilight?"
"Don't deny it Flash. If they hadn't left you like they did, we might have never met. And even if we did, we might not have the same bond we share now. You would have never met Grand and become a knight, or come here to become Ponyville's defender. Springer would have likely been killed by the Timberwolves, Iron might not have been sent here. Lightning, if he did get banished, wouldn't have been offered a place here to repay his debt, and Scootaloo would've never known her friends."
Twilight's words echoed through his head, causing Flash's imagination to run wild as he thought about what might have happened if he hadn't been there in those events.
"And its not just that," Twilight's tears finally broke free as she continued. "Think about how all of our fights would have ended if you hadn't been there. We defeated Nightmare Moon because you forged the Element of Courage. You kept Discord occupied so I could reverse his spell on our friends. If you hadn't been with me and Cadance, we would have had to fight the Scorpentine and might not have made it to the wedding in time to stop Chrysalis. You saved Ruby from Sombra and stopped him from entering the Crystal Empire. And you helped me when I went after Sunset Shimmer." Twilight panted heavily after listing all the events, Flash's silence letting her catch her breath and wipe her eyes with her wing before continuing. "None of that would've happened if they hadn't left you at the orphanage. What they did may have seemed selfish at first, but in the grand scheme of things....well, they selflessly gave you up for the good of Equestria." She placed a hoof on his chest. "So please, at least try and spend some time with them before shutting them out of your life for good. You might think not having them here is right, but...but down the line, you might end up regretting it."
Flash remained completely silent, unable to respond as Twilight got up and walked away. He felt his legs give out before he fell back onto his flank, leaning against a tree as the alicorn's words ran through his head once again.
Meanwhile...
Flash's sister was leading her parents through the town now. Scootaloo hadn't yet told them where they were going, but they honestly didn't care at the moment. They were too busy watching her zoom through the streets on her scooter, showing them several of her stunts before coming to a stop. Trail chuckled at the sight, "Wow...I gotta say, you got mad skills kiddo."
"Thanks," Scootaloo replied with a slight blush. "I might not be able to fly, but nopony can beat me on a scooter."
Misty giggled at this. "Seems I was right to name you Scootaloo then. My vision was bang on."
Scootaloo blinked at this, her head slightly leaning back, "You named me after a vision?"
Misty nodded. "We had no clue what we were gonna call you before you were born. But when you were, I instantly recognized you from my visions. I remembered seeing you on that scooter and the name just popped into my head."
"Cool...." Scootaloo smirked at this new piece of info, "What about Flash?"
Trail spoke up this time, "I always wanted to name my son Flash, mainly due to a distant ancestor of mine named Flash Magnus."
"Flash Magnus?"
"I'll tell you the story some other time," Trail remarked as he leaned down with a wink, "Its a long one, and I bet you wanna show us something more interesting."
"Okay!" Scootaloo cheered before turning around, a big smile on her face as she saw the sight in front of her, "Oh hey, we're here!" The two older ponies looked up and saw they were now on the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Scootaloo….why are we next to this death trap?" Misty asked with a slight gulp.
Scootaloo's tail started to wave in excitement, "You said you two were archaeologists, right? If that's true, we're gonna do some archaeology! Maybe I'll get my cutie mark...though maybe I should go get the other crusaders..."
Trail raised an eyebrow at this. "Alright, but why are we doing that here?"
Scootaloo just giggled at the question, "Because in there is probably the oldest building in Equestria, The Castle of the Two Sisters! Me and Twilight and Flash all went there a few days ago and they've been going over there a bunch!" her wings began to beat. "Now, follow me!" With that, she shot into the trees and left her flabbergasted parents standing there.
They both blinked before Misty said, "She gets this from your side of the family." Trail wanted to reply, but the mare rushed in after her daughter and he quickly followed. The two of them moved through the trees at their top speed, hoping to find Scootaloo before anything else could. It was only about ten minutes in of searching that they spotted her standing beside her scooter, the filly now looking for them.
"Scootaloo!" Misty cried as she hopped in front of the filly, anger now evident on her face. "What were you thinking of running away like that?! You know what this forest is!"
Scootaloo looked down in shame, "I'm sorry. Its just, I was so excited to be with you all and go on an adventure and...I guess I got a little overexcited."
Trail sighed before smiling, using his hoof to ruffle her mane. "It's alright kiddo, we're excited too. But take it from ponies who've been on lots of expeditions, you need to keep a clear head and make smart decisions before anything else."
Scootaloo nodded. "Alright. Sorry about that. Let's get out of here." She then spun around, blinking, "Though uh...which way leads back to Ponyville?"
Trail and Misty started to looked around, trying to remember from which way they had come. "I'm...not sure," Trail turned to his wife. "I could fly up and see which direction the town's in."
Misty looked up and saw how thick the tree's canopy was, "I don't think you can. But...I have a compass we can-" She stopped as her eyes went wide, causing Trail and Scootaloo to stare at her, blinking.
"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked.
Trail just chuckled in response, "Only one thing kiddo. She's having a vision."
"She is?"
"Yeah. It won't take long, as its usually-"
"Aaah!" Misty gasped, her body shivering as she came out of her frozen state, "We have to get out of here, NOW!"
"Why? What's going on?" Scootaloo didn't get an answer, instead finding herself enveloped by her mothers magical aura and lifted up into the air.
"No time to explain!" Misty and Trail began to run in a random direction, only to stop when they spotted a pair of glowing green orbs floating in shadows of the trees. "Oh no...."
"A Timberwolf," Trail whispered as the orbs moved closer, revealing themselves to be the eyes of the growling wood beast. They backpedaled at the sight, only to hear another growl, confirming a second Timberwolf behind them.
Another wolf then appeared from the left, then one from the right. With each passing second, more and more Timberwolves appeared until the three found themselves surrounded. Misty turned to Trail, "What do we do?"
Trail took in a deep breath, gesturing to his wife to get behind him, "Whatever happens, keep Scootaloo safe." The mare nodded, her horn flashing as a magical bubble encased her and Scootaloo. Seeing this, the pegasi into a fighting stance, hissing at the wooden beasts.
It was here that the first monster charged ahead, Scootaloo letting out a scream at the sight. Seeing this, Trail slammed his hooves into the beast, smashing it into pieces. But as he did this, two more slashed their claws at Misty's shield, both bouncing off in response. Trail saw this and flew into them, turning them into toothpicks. He then looked back at his wife and daughter, seeing they were both safe, but could tell Misty was straining to keep the shield up. That is, till he saw another Timberwolf ready to strike, only for an orange blur to pass by and destroy the monster.
Scootaloo shined a huge grin, recognizing the blur, "Flash!"
Flash Sentry pulled himself to a stop, analysing the situation as he cricked his neck. "Okay....looks like we're surrounded." This was lead by a growl, causing Flash to enter Theta Mode as he dodged a wolf's claw. This was met with a spinning kick, smashing another wolf with ease. The sight made the other wolves backpedal for a second, causing Flash to close his eyes for a second. "Come on...got it." Flash reopened his eyes and turned to the trio, "I sent a mental message to Springer. He'll be here soon with the others, so we just have to hold them off."
Trail nodded as they turned to the Timberwolves, only to notice that the broken pieces of wood were now floating up before reconstructing themselves back into the monsters. "That might be tricky. Especially since you don't have your Celestic Gear."
Flash let out a groan, remembering he had left Lightbringer at the library when he stormed out. "It'll be fine. Let's just do what we can." With that, he and Trail dove into the Timberwolves's mob, both smashing through five more each with a single bum-rush. But as they turned to take down another few, the others started to reassemble themselves.
Meanwhile, Misty felt her legs give out as she fell onto her flank. The shield she was creating flickered for a moment, causing her to gasp as she redoubled her efforts to keep it solid. Scootaloo saw this and gasped when she spotted blood coming out of her mother's nose, making her even more scared. "Mom..."
Misty turned and gave a weak smile. "I'll be fine sweetheart. We have to...believe in them."
Back outside of the bubble, Flash and Trail were still going strong. All but three of the Timberwolves had been smashed, but this trio simply stared at them before looking over the remains of their fallen brethren. They then unleashed a powerful howl, causing the debris to float up and fly towards them.
"What now?" Flash asked through his panting. The family of four watched as the debris stuck to the wolves, causing them to grow bigger and bigger. Eventually, a trio of Timberwolves three times larger than usual stared down at them.
"Oh, come on!" the two male pegasi yelled in unison. One of the giant Timberwolves then raised a paw, soon slamming the ground, forcing the two to leap back. Flash then flexed his wings and kicked off the ground, rocketing at the beast in a vain hope to rip through it. But all that happened was him bouncing off, falling back to the ground with a thud.
Trail saw this and gasped as the Timberwolf readied a claw at the fallen defender. "FLASH!" He screamed as he ran up to his son, soon pushing him out of the way. A second later, the giant paw struck him, knocking the pegasus into Misty's shield. The crash caused the shield to finally give out, Trail dropping like a rock next to the two mares.
Flash shook his head and picked himself up as he heard Scootaloo call out. "DAD!" He turned and saw Misty laying next to Trail, the mare still bleeding as she tried to get up. But then he saw Trail, now seeing a giant bleeding claw scar down his back.
And as the large Timberwolves slowly walked towards the three, Flash zoomed over and whispered down to his father. "Why? Why did you..."
Trail moaned as he opened an eye, staring up at his oldest child. "Because...you're my son."
Hearing this caused something in Flash's heart to shift, as if all the resentment and fear he had been holding onto just vanished. In that moment, a single beam of light managed to find its way through the canopy, the light shining down on the four with a refraction that seemed to make them glow a rainbow sheen.
And as this happened, Flash eyes went wide before a rainbow reflected in them.
But before he could do anything else, the growling of the Timberwolf caught his attention. He turned to the beast, his whole body shivering as he tried to figure out what to do. He could only stare at the sight, trying to get an answer, only for his brain to suddenly be filled with pain, causing him to close his eyes and clutch his head as he cried out.
He heard Scootaloo cry out to him, but then nothing. Nothing but silence was all that followed.
It was here that the pain disappeared, Flash opening his eyes to find he was no longer in the forest. Now he was in a white void, the same one he had found himself inside during his fights against Discord, Sombra and the Scorpentine. "This place again. What am I doing here?"
A flash of golden light was his answer, causing him to hold his hoof up to block the light before he squinted at the source. That source turned out to be a giant golden sun like orb that floated above him, letting out a radiant glow that pulsed like a heart beat.
"Flash."
The pegasus hopped in place, surprised at the calm sudden voice as he looked out at the void. Unable to see any figure except the orb, he asked, "Who's there? What is this?!"
"Flash." He looked up this time, realising where the voice was coming from now.
"Who...who are you?"
"The time has finally come for you to unleash the full power that dwells within you. But be warned, this power comes with many great challenges. With it, you will have the power to protect everypony you care about, but there will be trials if you choose such a destiny. Do you accept?"
Flash's mouth stopped for a second, not able to figure out what he should say. But the memories of his current situation made him make up his mind. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you can help me keep those I love safe, than sure. I accept!" The mysterious voice didn't reply, the floating sun simply lowering itself before him.
As soon as it got within range, Flash's hoof moved without thought, touching the sphere. As soon as he made contact, the sun exploded, releasing an explosion of light that surrounded the pegasus, floating into his eyes, mouth and nose. New power flooded into him as the light blinded him.
Twilight was running as fast as she could towards the area Springer had detected Flash. As soon as the jakhowl had gotten Flash's message, she and Lightning had teleported them to forest's entrance. With this, they were now rushing through the forest, Springer on Twilight's back as he pointed ahead, "We're close. They should be beyond that clearing."
"Then what are were waiting for?" Rainbow exclaimed as she doubled her speed, the others nodding in agreement.
Within the second they broke through the trees, they spotted Flash and his family along with three giant Timberwolves. Twilight's focus turned to Flash, who appeared to be clutching his head in pain. "FLASH!"
Flash's eyes shot open as he looked up at the Timberwolves, all of them snarling at the ponies. He lowered his hooves and quickly glanced back at Scootaloo, Misty and Trail, then at his friends before turning back to the monsters. A weak glow of golden light started to radiate off his body, which began to grow in strength by the second. Everypony stared at him in worry and confusion as his calmly spoke up. "Get...away...from my...FAMILY!" And with that last exclamation, it happened.
The slowly brightening light exploded off of him, causing everypony to look away in fear of going blind. Twilight was the only one who tried to see through it, watching as the light started to wrap around Flash's body and form a tornado of sorts. As this happened, Flash felt something encase his hooves, chest and head. He was wearing armor.
It was here that the most of the light died down, though the tornado remained and covered his body, allowing the others to see Flash's new state. They all gasped as the tornado of light shined all around his form, the pillar of light going up into the canopy as he stared at the wooden beasts. As for the monsters, the Timberwolves had recovered from their initial shock and once again started their stride towards him.
Flash then opened his eyes, not phased at all by the light surrounding him, and rushed the beasts.
To everypony else, it looked like the tornado had morphed into a golden bullet. It shot through the far left Timberwolf first, shattering it to pieces instantly before doing a midair curve. The next target was the far right beast, the golden bullet blasting the wolf's back, splitting him in two. It was here that he landed, the tornado now towering over the central Timberwolf. Said Timberwolf raised its paw to slash at Flash, only for the claw to bounce off it like it was bubble. The tornado then shot up into the air, hovering above the monster before reversing its course. Like a shining golden meteor, Flash slammed into the last Timberwolf, shredding it to bits.
Everypony was silent as they watched the golden blur hop away from the remains and land in front of Scootaloo and her parents. The tornado formed again, but quickly exploded to reveal Flash's glowing body. The light then faded to show Flash was back to normal, only for him to stagger onto his flank, his mouth now panting.
"Flash!" Twilight and the others ran over to them, now finally out of their states of shock, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Flash turned to the remains of the monsters he'd defeated. "Let's get out of here before they reform." Twilight nodded as her horn sparked, enveloping them in a veil of purple light before they disappeared.
Back on the edge of the forest, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Spike were waiting for their friends to get back. That is, till a sudden purple flash caught their attention, announcing their friends return. Spike was the first to run up to them, "Twilight! Are you all okay?!"
"We're fine," Twilight grumbled as she stared down at Flash. "What...what did you just do?!"
Flash just let out a series of pants. "I...I have...no idea. I just...did it."
"And it was awesome!" Rainbow cheered before trying to reenact what had happened with her hooves. "You were like, wham! And they were like, smash! And then you were like, kabang!"
Flash laughed at this, only for his eyes to fall on Scootaloo and his parents. Managing to pick himself up, he walked over to the two older ponies. "You two alright?"
Misty and Trail both nodded, "We're okay."
"I've had worse," Trail grumbled as he slowly picked himslef up. "Though I think we might need to get myself to the local doc here."
"Good...I'm glad." Flash replied, now helping his father up, "Sorry I messed up back there."
"Don't. It wasn't your fault."
"You know that's not true." Flash admitted as Twilight started to help Misty up. "Come on, let's get you some first aid. That and uh..." It was here that Flash let out a sigh, feeling a lump in his throat as he said, "Um...could I say something to you two first?" Misty and Trail glanced at each other, both nodding in silence. Seeing this, Flash sighed again and mumbled out, "Listen...I uh....I'm....sorry."
"You...are?" Misty whispered, blinking at the words.
Flash nodded this time. "Yeah. I uh...I shouldn't have reacted like that before. I...I don't know. I guess I was just...just scared that you didn't really care about us. About me."
Two huge frowns appeared on the duo's faces, Misty replying, "After what we did, we don't blame you. We fully understand you would think we didn't care about you and-"
"But I was wrong," Flash interrupted as a small tear went down his face. "You risked your lives to protect Scootaloo and you took that hit for me. Granted, I want to know why you were in the Everfree Forest-"
"That was my fault." Scootaloo chimed in, causing Flash to turn to her with a big frown. The sight made her shrink back, "Um...yeah. Sorry."
"Okay. We'll defintely talk about that later." Flash grumbled as he looked back at his parents. He could feel the lump in his throat returning as he continued, "Anyways, as I was saying...I understand now. I...I see that you really do care about us." He glanced at the ground, his tone staying in a glum mood, "I...I still don't accept the vision stuff, but...I don't know. I don't know what to think. But even if I don't know, I do know one thing." He looked back up with a half-smile, "I think I understand what you meant when you felt it was the right thing to do."
Both Misty and Trail gasped at this, Misty putting her hooves over her mouth, "Flash...are you-"
Flash gave a slow nod. "I don't...I don't know if I'm ready for this, but...I forgive you."
The parents' eyes began to fill with tears as Misty ran up and enveloped him in a hug. "Thank you! Oh thank you Flash!" Scootaloo soon joined the two, Trail then pulling his wings over them to complete the quartet.
Everypony watching this smiled, some having tears in their eyes at the reunion between the family. Today marked a very special day, and was one that none of them would forget for a very long time.
The next day...
After the events of the previous day, complete with a doctor visit and bandages, Trail and Misty had stayed with their children at the library. Twilight had sent a letter to Celestia, telling her about Flash's parents and what had happened with the Timberwolves. To say she was interested was an understatement.
Now, it was time for Misty and Trail to leave for Manehatten. They were currently at the train station, Scootaloo whimpering at this, "Do you really have to go?"
Misty sighed as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. "We have to sweetheart. We still have much to do in Manehatten, but we'll see each other soon."
Trail nodded as he turned to Flash. "After seeing what you did, we need to find out as much as we can about these unusual abilities of yours. Manehatten is the best place for us to find that information. That and we have a few ideas from...well, earlier expeditions."
"I understand," Flash replied before smiling. "But if you ever find yourself close to Ponyville, come and visit alright?"
Misty gave them a hug. "We'd love that. And if you're ever in Manehatten, we can show you around and spend some time together."
Scootaloo shined a huge grin. "We'd love too!"
Misty and Trail both nodded before turning to Twilight. "Look after them."
Twilight giggled at this, "Of course."
It was in that moment the train arrived, causing them to give one last hug. The two ponies then nodded to each other in agreement before Misty's horn flashed, the dish from yesterday soon appearing. "Here. Before we leave, we want you to have this."
Flash took the dish and looked it over before glancing at them, "Um...okay. Why though?"
"We used to use it as a way to stay connected with you, but we don't need it anymore. Now whenever we miss you, we can actually come see you in person."
Flash and Scootaloo both smiled as Twilight took the dish, allowing the four of them to share one final hug. As they did this, Trail whispered into Flash's ear, "And kiddo, don't ever stop being yourself. Though you should figure some things out with you and Twilight already."
"Huh?" Flash tried to reply, his father's words confusing the young stallion.
It was here that the hug ended, Misty and Trail now hopping onto the train. And as the train pulled away, they popped their heads out of the window and waved their goodbyes. Flash and Scootaloo waved back, yelling 'goodbye' at the top of their lungs until the train was out of sight.
Flash then looked down at his sister, seeing the frown she now wore, and put a wing around her. "Don't worry, we'll see them again."
Scootaloo glanced up at her brother, the frown quickly changing to a smile. "Yeah, we will." With that, the group headed home.
That night...
Flash was in his bedroom after having tucked Scootaloo in. Springer was already asleep, but Flash was busy writing in the journal he shared with his friends.
Growing up as an apprentice knight, I was taught how to control my fear. Since then, I've faced a lot of scary situations in my life, monsters that were beyond anything that a normal pony should face. I've probably been scared more times than I've had baths, but I've always been able to keep that fear from controlling me. But no danger, no matter how scary, has ever made me more scared then I was to let my parents back into my life.
But that's the thing. You can face life threatening dangers and not bat an eyelash, but when it comes to emotional fear, you can't help yourself from cowering. But thanks to my friends and a couple of Timberwolves, I was finally able to look past my fear and open my heart to my mom and dad. Only time will tell what'll happened between us, but something tells me it'll be alright.
Flash stopped writing as he closed the book, placing it on his desk next to the dish his parents had given him. He smiled one last time at it, then switched off the lamp before rolling over to go to sleep.
A second after he did, a rainbow colored shine reflected off the dish