//------------------------------// // Hardcore, Pt.1 // Story: Flash Sentry, Savior of the Universe // by redsquirrel456 //------------------------------// “So let me get this straight,” Flash said. “Get your driving straight!” Brad squealed, gripping his seatbelt like a lifeline as Flash swerved around another late-night driver. They were gone before the driver’s honking reached them. Flash knew how to drive and do it well. He also knew how to drive fast—never so fast a pegasus on the wing would even notice their mane flapping in the breeze, as he never committed the crime of speeding. But somehow, down here on the ground, Brad never felt closer to dying as Flash careened around corners and revved the engine on straightaways. It was loud and disorienting and Brad decided he did not care for the sound of a car engine at all, no sir not one bit. “You came from a place called Canterlot Castle,” Flash said, frighteningly calm. He took a sharp turn and barely missed running a red light without blinking. “Yep!” Brad squeaked. “And in this castle there’s a portal that leads to the statue outside my school.” “Pretty sure!” Brad said, clutching his seatbelt. Tires squealed and streetlights strobed past the windows. “You knew about this portal, you knew about this other world, you knew about me. Why did you do it, Brad? Why did you come here, really?” “It’s kind of hard to talk when you’re flinging this death machine all over the street!” Flash stepped on the gas to run a yellow light. He didn’t question how his good fortune kept any sharp-eyed cops off his tail. “Give me the abridged version, man! Lives are on the line!” “I can’t!” Brad squealed. “Why not?!” “It’s embarrassing!” “Brad, my life is embarrassing!” Flash said, slapping the steering wheel. “Haven’t you seen what it’s like the last few days? I have money and nothing to spend it on, a car and nowhere to drive it, a girlfriend who doesn’t respect me in the slightest and no backbone to do anything about it, and one of these days I’m gonna have to fess up to my parents I have no idea who I am or what I’m doing with my life!” He accelerated, flattening Brad into his seat. “And right now I’m so confused and angry about everything I’m pretty sure I’m driving straight towards a raging demon of death for all the wrong reasons! So stop with this ‘too pure for the world’ crap and be straight with me, man!” “Okay, okay!” Brad squealed. “Flash, you know how Equestria is a really neat and cool place where ponies get to be whoever they wanna be without judgment or disapproval from others?” “Can’t say I know how that feels,” said Flash. “Earth isn’t big on the whole ‘live and let live’ thing.” “Okay, well, sometimes…” Brad gulped, looking around as if he expected someone to jump in and stop him at the last moment. “Equestria isn’t like that. It’s really not like that at all. That’s why I’m a Royal Guard, to try and keep it safe. And it’s pretty dangerous and cool, except sometimes, there’s some really lame ponies who just can’t get it together, you know? And it’s not really their fault, they just don’t have the lung capacity for long patrols or the upper body strength to wear armor twenty-four-seven like mister ‘Shining Armor’ over there—” “Brad!” “Sorry! Sorry. So let’s say, hypothetically, one of these deficient ponies just maybe kinda sorta couldn’t fit in no matter what they did, and you’d think ‘wow! I’m a magical horse living in a magical land of sparkles and friendship, surely something will happen that will fix me’—uh, them. And it doesn’t, and things just get worse and worse and their commanding officer would get really mad at them and say really mean and uncalled for things." Flash blinked and opened his mouth to comment, but Brad talked right over him, eyes tightly shut and a humiliated blush on his cheeks. "And then they’d have to worry they’ll lose their job, and then they’d have to tell their family what a failure they are, and after a lot of yelling over dinner they’d stare at the ceiling all night wondering where it all went wrong and how nopony respects them and they’d just feel so, so frustrated with themselves that maybe leaving forever might not be such a bad idea and my apartment is lonely at night and it sucks Flash, it really really sucks, and I’m not going back, okay?! I’m not going back until I finally prove I can do something with my life!” Flash hit the brakes. The tires screeched in protest as boy and pony leaned forward and then thumped back into their chairs as the car ground to a halt. Overhead loomed the dark shadow of Canterlot High School. One of the second-story windows had been smashed open. Flash stared straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel. “You came here to make me a success… because you think that will make you a success?” “I just thought, you know, we have the same name and hair and everything, we’re basically the same person…” Flash slowly turned to Brad. “Are you really a Royal Guard?” Brad peeked out from between his hooves. “Uhh,” he said, grinning nervously, “well, I mean, technically I was when I left, but I might also, sorta, maybe, have been put on…” “On what?” “... Probation,” Brad squeaked. Flash raised his eyebrow. “So you’re not here for some big magical reason of ultimate destiny, but because you were grounded by the army and it made you feel bad.” Brad nodded miserably. Flash sighed, sinking into his chair. “Yeah,” he said. “It figures my fairy godmother would be on the verge of washing out.” They sat in uncomfortable silence for several long minutes. “What do we do now?” asked Brad. Flash drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I was kind of hoping you would tell me. You’re the monster expert.” “Well, I personally can’t cast any magic spells. And the book says that protocol is to wait for the Princesses to sort it out, and failing that we lay down a magical trap specially tailored for Furies. To lay one you need to draw specific runes on certain surfaces. Now, I do know how to draw one of those, but it requires magic to actually be in the area for it to work. Quite a lot, I imagine, to hold a Fury.” “And I’m guessing there is none of that to be found around here.” Brad tapped his hooves together, staring at Flash. “What?” asked Flash. “You’re saying…” “You have the Sparkle,” Brad said. “You summoned that shield. I have some magic, but it’s… it’s personal, you know? I use it to fly and be adorable. But you, Flash? I’ve never seen that before.” “What, that?” Flash scratched the back of his head. “Nah, that was… I didn’t really mean to do it. It just kind of happened.” “That makes it even more special! I haven’t seen anyone just naturally summon a weapon like that apart from our most powerful wizards!” “Look, man, I’m not gonna say I can do that kind of thing on command now,” Flash said, shrugging haplessly. “And it would be stupid to depend on it. That monster just kicked our butts from here to Timbuktu. My face is going to look like an overripe avocado for weeks! And is your wing doing okay?” Brad flexed the injured limb, wincing. “I can fly, but it’ll be hard. Don’t worry, I’ve flown on worse back in boot camp.” “That’s not super comforting.” “Well, neither was boot camp.” Brad slipped outside, with Flash close behind. “We need to get inside, find the Kindly One, and neutralize her. There are symbols, Flash. Sigils you can inscribe that will take in ambient magic. And unfortunately, the only magic we have is… yours. The lines you draw kind of channel it. That’s about all I understand apart from knowing they work.” “And you can draw those symbols?” Flash asked, exiting the car. “You got a marker?” Flash tossed him one. “I can draw those symbols,” Brad said, holding the marker with confidence. Flash tilted his head. He stared at the marker. He stared at Brad’s hoof. Mostly, he stared at the way the marker seemed to grip Brad’s hoof more than the hoof gripped it. Flash pointed at Brad. “How are you, uh…” “How am I what?” “How are you holding that without fingers?” Brad stared at Flash. Slowly, his eyes turned to his hoof. “I’m just… holding it? Like a normal pony?” He turned his hoof upside down. The marker stubbornly clung fast. Flash gawked. “But you’re just… it’s not even attached to anything, man! It’s freaking me out!” “But it’s attached to my hoof!” Brad said, his eyes wide and innocent. “It is clearly not…” Flash pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting the oncoming headache. “No. No. Just… forget I said anything. I’m finding a way inside.” “Would it help if I did this?” Brad said, curling his wing feathers—feathers Flash knew could not in any way bend like that—around the marker instead. Flash threw his hands in the air and stomped away. “Never mind, Brad!” “Look, I’ll just write stuff down with my mouth instead. I put it against my tongue like this and--” ”Never mind, Brad!” ---- The inside of the school was cavernous enough during the day, when huge banners spilled from high-vaulted ceilings and its halls echoed thunderously with the sound of stampeding herds of teenagers. At night, the halls seemed to go on forever; endless conduits running into maws of gaping darkness. Lights shone like islands in the pitch black, but instead of comfort they lent a terrible air of unknown habitation to the place. Flash had already learned the only thing more frightening than an empty building was finding it not so empty after all. “She could be anywhere in here and we’d never even know it,” Flash said, searching a locker-lined hall with the thin beam of his phone light. “We usually just follow the screaming,” Brad said. “If there’s any screaming we might be too late,” Flash sighed. “Shouldn’t we have waited for the rats?” Brad asked. “They know where we’re going, I shouted it at them on the way out,” Flash said. “If they’re as duty-bound as they say they’ll be here. They specified ‘for tonight,’ and the night’s not over until it’s over.” The thought of reinforcements should have been comforting, but all Flash felt was cold dread sitting like a stone in his belly. “We need ideas on how to draw the Kindly One to us,” Brad whispered. “Well, I can’t say I’ve enjoyed a lot of your ideas lately, considering where they’ve led me,” Flash said, with a meanness he didn’t really intend. Brad shrunk away, ears wilting. “I know I don’t really deserve a lot of trust right now, Flash. I came here without thinking. I came here without a plan. Without even knowing what the consequences might be. The Kindly One is my responsibility. I see that now. And I may not be a real Royal Guard… I guess by now they’ll know I abandoned my post and discharge me in absentia or something… but I know Guard material when I see it. You’ve done way more for me and this whole situation than anypony ever should.” “Don’t I know it,” Flash grumbled. “Look, enough with the sappy talk, okay? The more I think about this the less I’m willing to go through with it. Let’s just get She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of the way first.” Flash stopped in the middle of the hall. “Hey, speaking of, if we say her name she knows where we are, right?” “Yeah,” Brad said. “You think if we say it enough it’ll annoy her off the trail of her target?” “It’s all we really have to go on, dude,” Flash said. “We need a way to draw her out into that marker-trap thing you’re gonna draw. Is there anything else you can tell me about them? Anything else that will make her show up?” “Uhhh…” Brad squinted thoughtfully. “Well, we know that there’s magic rituals that can summon creatures from the Gaian Abyss—” Flash shuddered. “Why does so much pony stuff sound terrifying?” “—but they don’t really teach Guards the specifics,” Brad continued. “The book did say that Kindly Ones feel a particular compulsion to appear to those who have a score to settle.” Flash ran his hand over the walls. “So one of us has to have a beef with someone. A situation dire enough that it needs a Kindly One’s attention. We need some raw, red-hot hatred.” “Yeah, but I don’t hate anyone,” Brad said, horrified at the very thought. “That’s like, the opposite of being a pony.” Flash closed his hand into a fist, and thumped it against the bricks. “... What if my beef is with her?” ---- Drawing the wards took less time than Flash thought. Watching Brad zip around like a hummingbird, slashing strange symbols any mother would think were from the devil and rock concerts into the linoleum, was oddly calming. It helped him stay focused. He needed that right now. Brad tried to talk him out of it at first. Being the bait for trapping a goddess of fury wasn’t exactly conducive to one’s well-being, or continued existence in the mortal plane. But Flash was insistent. It had to be him. Of course it had to be him. Of course it was Flash Sentry, the cool kid with nothing going on behind his pearly white teeth and his beautiful car. The kid who had everything and deserved none of it. Of course he’d be the one to see magical creatures. He had everything else that other people didn’t. Flash was more attentive than his peers thought. He heard the rumors. He heard what people whispered when he wasn’t looking. Who is that guy, anyway? Does anyone really know him? Is there anything to even know? Why does he get to be Sunset’s boyfriend? Why does he get the mansion outside town and the girls pining after him for no reason? He knew why nobody tried to steal him away from Sunset. They weren’t afraid of her. They were afraid the illusion would be broken. If they got too close, they might find something worse than Flash not being cool. They might find a normal boy. They might find someone... not special. And that’s why he was the bait. “We’re ready, Flash,” said Brad. Flash entered the arcane circle on the floor. “So I just stand here, and my Sparkle-magic will power the whole shebang?” “Pretty much. Remember to say the words like I told you, and then back out of the circle as fast as you can. And try to get angry. Really, really angry.” Flash took several deep breaths. He tried not to think, which just made him think even more. He was standing in the middle of a school taking on a monster that could cut through concrete. More than that he was about to offer himself to it on a silver platter. What would they all say now, those kids who whispered behind his back? If they saw him here, risking his life for them? Would they like him? Respect him? Throw him into the trap themselves? If he died here, and everyone came in tomorrow to find his guts strewn over the walls, how many people would care that he died, and not Flash Sentry the icon? Oh, no. What would his family think? What would his mother-- “Alecto!” he shouted into the darkness. “I am heartsick with remorse! My soul cries out for reparation!” The shadows in front of him shifted, murky tendrils swirling restlessly. Was she already here? “Alecto!” he called again. “A spiteful villain has injured me beyond the ken of mortal sphere! I seek the oldest justice in the world! I seek hateful vengeance and her Furies!” Nothing but darkness. Flash felt his humiliation rise along with his gorge. His fist clenched, squelching the cold sweat on his palm. The terror mingled with anger into a heady concoction that made him feel faint. “Alecto!” he squeaked. “There is, uh… there’s a…” He glanced over at Brad. “... Line?” “An insult that ten ages gone by cannot cover,” Brad supplied. Flash shouted the words down the dark hall. Nothing. Flash huffed. Now the anger started to overtake the fear. Here he was putting his life on the line and Alecto wasn’t even going to show up? Here he was getting actually heartsick with the terror of willingly confronting a monster, and she thought so little of him she just brushed aside his heartfelt plea? Eff. That. “ALECTO!” he shrieked, stomping his foot. “I got a bone to pick with you, woman! Get your raggedy dog-ass out here because it’s you I got a grudge against, you hear me?! It’s you! You and your ugly face! You and your horrible breath and the way you dragged a grudge across the universe into my life! Into my school! You hurt my friend, you threatened my classmates, and you don’t even care?! That is just messed up! I hate the way you smile when you hurt people! I hate the way you swagger around thinking you’re sooo great, you’re sooo right about everything that nothing you do can possibly be wrong when everything you do is just… just the worst possible thing you can do to people! And I’m sick of it! You hear me?! I’m sick right here!” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “Now you get out here! You get out here and let me tell you to your face what a wicked witch you really are!” He almost fell over, staggering against the wall. His breath failed him. His legs felt like lead. He had a headache. Brad put a hand on his shoulder. “... Sorry,” Flash mumbled. “I didn’t mean to—” Wait. A hand? “If you want my attention that badly,” Alecto purred, leaning over him and baring her teeth next to his head. “You just needed to say please.” Flash saw her claws rush up to his face. He saw them stop in midair, arrested by a chain of sparkling lights. The grip on his shoulder did not tighten. Flash threw himself over the edge of the circle, which erupted with a powerful white light that lit up the hallway like a beacon. Brad stood next to him, smugly capping his marker. “Trap. Sprung,” he said. “Is that it? Did we get her?” Flash asked, his heart hammering against his ribs. “Pretty sure!” Brad chirped. “Wow, that was easy!” “I almost died,” Flash said. “But you didn’t!” Brad answered with a dopey smile. Flash rolled his eyes and stood up, peering back into the blindingly bright light. Even with the brightness of the magic cage, it wasn’t hard to spot the massive shadow that was the Fury, frozen like a statue, midway through a lunge. It was only now Flash saw her truly. Muscles bulged over a body the color of pitch covered in patchy fur that reminded him of wisps of smoke. She was easily two heads taller than Flash, larger than any grown man. He already knew the massive wings half-unfurled behind her could easily spread across the hall. Long ropes of drool hung from lips, peeled back over long white fangs trapped in a rictus grin, tangles of shadow-hair falling around her face like snakes in their death throes. “... So, what now?” Flash asked. “Hm,” Brad said, tapping his chin. “You know, I don’t really know.” “What?!” Flash barked, whirling on the pony. “What do you mean ‘you don’t know?’ We can’t just keep her here!” “Flash, Flash, relax!” Brad said, raising his hooves. “There’s no way we can banish her, but with her trapped, we have all night to search the school and find out what she’s here for. Then all we need to do is solve whatever needs solving, and the Kindly One will be compelled to leave.” “You say that like it’ll be easy,” Flash grunted. “Well, we already got the trap covered, right? By the way.” Brad fluttered up to his shoulder and punched it. “You were amazing.” Flash scoffed, but he couldn’t hide his smile. “Yeah, I guess. I wasn’t really expecting that to be all we had to do, though—” “Hrrrrkkkggh.” They froze. The noise, a wet, ugly cough, had come from Alecto. Her crimson eyes, bulging from her head with sheer rage, turned towards them. Brad took a step back. “That… that’s not—” But then, through some terrible effort, Alecto’s jaw twitched. Her bones cracked and groaned. Her entire head swiveled slowly, jerkily, like bad claymation from an old movie, until she faced them. “G-g… goooot meeeeee?” she rasped. “No. Got… you.” The claws on one hand twisted and turned, pointing to Flash. “Figured… you… out!” “Why is she moving?” Flash demanded. “Brad, why is she still moving?” “She’s strong,” Brad said. “Very strong. There might not be enough magic to hold her. We need to find out what she’s after before she breaks out!” Alecto’s jaws sprang open. Cartilage cracked like a gunshot. The Fury licked her lips, though the rest of her stayed immobile. “No need to look far,” she purred. “I’ll tell you.” Flash and Brad shared a look. “Tell us?” Flash asked. “What, so you can kill time until you break out?” “Little child,” Alecto tutted, “I am the daughter of a god. If you want to match me, you should have brought an army, or perhaps an alicorn or three. I can snap this paltry cell like matchsticks. But if there’s one thing I enjoy more than vengeance… it’s irony. And you are as drenched in it as you are in magic you cannot use. Your persistence in distracting me from my mission is…” She seethed. Her eyelid twitched, and a growl like grinding stone rumbled from her throat. “... Captivating,” she hissed through gritted teeth. The sheer hatred in her gaze made Flash step backwards. “If I must kill you, I shall tell you the truth of why I am here. Call it professional courtesy. You do not defend one who is worthy.” “She’s just wasting our time, Flash,” Brad said, tugging his jacket. “We need to get going, now!” “You won’t find what you’re looking for in time,” Alecto said. “I will break free very soon no matter what you do, and you will die none the wiser. I will gift you the name of my target, and even why she is hunted. Honestly, you won’t be able to fix what she broke, even if you were on the other side.” “Flash,” Brad said, tugging more insistently. “Come on! Don’t listen to her!” “No,” Flash said. A chill came over him. A sense of dread foreboding. He stared into Alecto’s eyes. They held many things: anger, horror, disgust; murderous, all-consuming rage. But dishonesty? He didn’t get that vibe. “I’ll hear her out.” Alecto chuckled. It was a horrible noise, like the closing of tomb doors. “Then let me tell you a story. “Long ago, in the land of Equestria, there lived a mighty wizard obsessed with the exploration of the arcane. Like all wizards, he thrived in solitude, and though he was no madpony, he was never happier than when he was surrounded by books, delving into the bizarre, the unknown. A lonesome pioneer he was, saddled with knowledge only he could truly understand, for he sought one of the greatest spells imaginable: opening doors to other worlds, to use energy from across the cosmos for miracles beyond imagining. “His work was unparalleled, his accolades unmatched, yet all his discoveries came with a price. The wizard paid it gladly at first. First his friends, then his family, and finally… his love. All were considered distractions at best, and useless frivolity at worst. One by one, they left him, or were turned away, until at last the wizard realized that in raising himself up, he had abandoned all he once knew. He was showered with praise at every turn, and yet he found it meaningless prattle, and insulted anypony who even came near him. Desperate to rediscover meaning in his work, the wizard returned one day to those he had wronged, and asked forgiveness of them. “He found nothing but scorn and broken hearts. Burning with shame, he left Equestria even as his fame reached its peak. He retreated to a keep he built with magic, and there buried himself deep in his work, for it was the only thing left he could truly say he loved. For many years he remained thus, a prisoner of his own making. Even news of a runaway from the Princess’ own care, a Princess whose glory he once worked to elevate, failed to move him. “Until one night a young unicorn filly stepped over his threshold, seeking shelter from her travels. The wizard let her in, at first intending only to let her sleep in the foyer. But chance remarks caught his interest, and he realized she was intelligent. Extremely so. Remarks became conversation, and conversation became fulfillment. For the first time in ages, the wizard found someone who understood what he spoke of, who pushed boundaries at any cost, whose intelligence rivaled his own. She reminded him of himself, one of the highest compliments he could think of. “Thus she remained longer than intended. Days. Then weeks. Inquiring endlessly. Joining his experiments. Understanding his work innately. Intimately. And gradually, the wizard dared to feel hope. Perhaps, he thought, just perhaps, here he might find salvation; to nurture a prodigy, and turn her away from his self-destructive path. Weeks turned to months and his affection for the first real friend he had in years grew. When pressed for why she left Equestria, she said only that her former teachers had failed her, and Equestria no longer offered her anything she desired. And the wizard thought, perhaps here was one who would understand him. Perhaps one whom he could let stand close to his heart. Even, perhaps, call her more than a friend. Out of desperate compassion, he gave her more. More time. More care. More books. Yet ever she pressed him about a particular section of his library: the one where he kept his notes from his old work of other worlds. But these he would not give her, for the shame was still too close. “But one night, a soldier of Canterlot came, asking after his guest. But she was one step ahead of them all; the moment the soldier arrived she had broken into his forbidden archives. When the wizard found her she gladly revealed she was the fugitive he had heard about so long ago, and had used him for shelter and to increase her knowledge of magic without the eye of the Princess over her shoulder. In truth she knew who he was the moment they met. And like the Princess, she would take the power given to her and use it for her own vision. In the end, she attacked him. Their clash was mighty and heart-rending. During the struggle a fire caught hold and spread through the tower. As he ran to save his home, there she left him, to die or to weep, she cared not for his fate. “By the time the blaze was under control, most of the wizard’s house was razed, the mare had fled, and his books were destroyed. On the path outside, he found the tome she had stolen… and the stumps of torn pages. From a section he remembered well: his old work in breaching the gates of other worlds. All the formulas, all the things he hoped to keep from the wrong hooves, the sum of his greatest achievements stolen away, and his last refuge from the world naught but ash and cinder. In a single night the mare had abused his kindness, destroyed what was left of his happiness, and taken the greatest of his secrets. In opening his heart, he had only welcomed ruin and confusion.” “Wow,” Flash grunted uncomfortably. “Talk about your hashtag relatable.” Alecto sniggered. “You have no idea. The wizard’s grief was great, and so he called upon the darkest powers he could imagine as a balm for his grief. He called on the ancient blood that screams from beneath the soil, the anguish dulled not by time or distance. The wolf-howl of blood-red rage. He called for one whose heart was as cold and empty as that of his betrayer.” Her lips split into a savage grin. “He called for a monster. And so… here I am.” “Wait a minute!” Brad yelped. “You’re saying this is the mare you’ve been chasing, the mare who came here, and if she’s the same one who ran from the Princess—!” “Oh, I thought the boy would realize it first,” Alecto groused. “Though technically, I’m still right.” And then Flash knew. “Sunset,” he said, and her name parched his tongue. “Poor child,” Alecto said, her voice as cold and pitiless as iron. “I hear the pain in your voice. You must care for her as the wizard did. To love a deception is one thing. To know you are not even the first? Hmm, hmm! Your sorrow has such tang to it!” “Flash,” Brad said, but his voice seemed to come from far away. His steadying hoof not even noticed. “Flash, stay with me.” “It all makes sense,” Flash muttered, staggering against the wall. His vision blurred and his stomach roiled with nausea. He put out his hand and didn’t even feel the lockers he leaned on as he bent over double. “Only seeing her in school. Never answering personal questions. Talking about her home troubles. I… I’m such an idiot. I knew she was hiding something, but… but this, I… Oh, god. Oh, man. Oh god, oh man...” He covered his face with his hands, trying to breathe, to sit, to run. He didn’t know which way was up or down. The light from Alecto’s cage hurt his eyes. It dimmed as he sat heavily on the ground and hugged his knees to his chest. “Flash!” Brad cried, shaking his shoulders. “Snap out of it! The cage! It’s failing!” “Oh, god,” Flash hissed. “I kissed a friggin’ teddy horse.” Brad whimpered as he turned back to the cage. Alecto furrowed her brow, and her eyes flicked to her hand. With only a little effort it seemed she flexed her fingers and pushed. They heard a sound like glass crinkling underfoot. The light around her seemed to flex, to bend, to give way as Alecto strained bodily against it. Then, with an almighty crash it shattered and flew outward in a shower of dust-motes of light, sparking and fizzling away to nothing. Alecto stood over Flash, flush with wicked triumph. “Now tell me, boy,” she whispered. “Is your grudge really still against me?” Flash gave no answer, clutching his head in his hands. “What?” Alecto said. “No mighty battle cry this time? No appeal for mercy?” Flash shuddered, his breathing uneven. “No friendship to warm your heart and make a shield between me and the mare who trampled on your feelings?” Brad spoke up to say something. Alecto swatted him like a fly and left him dazed on the ground, her eyes never leaving Flash. “As I thought,” Alecto said. She reached down and wrapped her claws around his head, jerking his face up to hers. Hot breath washed over his face, sharp with the scent of old blood and tears. “You have the magic of aeons within you, but you are too fragile to use it. You do not even understand what happened to you. You are an unworthy heir to divine power. A small, cowering thing, who can only be brave when he is backed up by sweet sounding lies. There is no true friendship in you, nor in any of your meager, magicless kind. I can see why she picked you. You’re like a little pup, begging to be counted among far greater peers, strutting about with glamour you do not truly possess. Now just lay there and let Alecto solve all your problems for you, little boy. I will find her hiding hole and visit fury on her. As she has torn others… so I will tear into her.” She roughly tossed him aside and strode down the hallway, idly dragging her claws across a row of lockers. The metal shrieked as she scored it with long, jagged grooves. “One day you will know this is mercy,” she said over her shoulder. “This way… you needn’t do anything for her ever again.” “No,” he said. Alecto stopped. She turned her head. “... What.” “I said no,” Flash said, standing up. Rising through the ache in his legs and his chest. Rising through the horror and fear and confusion. Standing where nothing made sense, but it also didn’t matter. “I’m agreeing with you, by the way,” he said, speaking quietly. Comfortably. If he raised his voice the crawling snake in his gut would scream with him. “About not doing it for her. I’m not doing this for Sunset. I’m doing this because…” He raised his arms helplessly, and let them drop back to his sides. “Because I know helplessness. I’m a teenager. I know what it feels like to be confused and powerless and scared all the friggin’ time. And… And I met a kid earlier today. A kid who saw your handiwork with all those dogs and cats and stuff. She was so scared of what she saw she didn’t even know to be scared. And I helped her out and she was actually kinda cool. And man, thinking of her getting killed by you? By some smack-talking furry cosplayer?” He shook his head. A tingly feeling grew around his fingers, spreading up his arm. “That just doesn’t fly with the Flash. I’m already scared of the future. If I can keep someone from being more scared than they have to be… well, that’s just what I’m gonna do. Because that’s just who I am.” “She lied to you! Manipulated you!” Alecto shrieked, grabbing a locker and tearing it from the wall to let it clatter to the floor. “She deserves everything I am about to unleash!” Flash scoffed. If he looked, he’d see his arm starting to glow. “I already told you I’m not doing this for her. If I’m gonna start doing things for myself… I guess this is where I start. I’ll deal with Sunset my own way. In my own time. Not the way you think is best.” He was still talking when Alecto lunged at him. “For all the kids in this school--HOLY CRAP!” He fell backwards, raising his arms instinctively. The world exploded with golden light as Alecto’s claws shrieked over his shield, materializing just in time to keep his arms from being torn to ribbons. It didn’t save him from falling right on his butt, or from scrambling backwards while screaming like a frightened rabbit. Brad raised his head just in time for Flash to grab his mane and yank him away from Alecto’s rampage. The Fury screamed obscenities in her old tongue, calling down dark curses from another age. Brad screamed with unholy terror. Flash yelled at him to shut up as he swung the shield wildly. Alecto lunged to bite his neck, but his mad flailing caught her under the chin. Her howl of rage almost loosened his bowels as he turned and ran. Flash heard her bellowing as he pelted through the halls, clutching Brad under one arm. “You do not understand what you wield!” Alecot said. “I will tear it from your chest and return it to the world from whence it came!” Flash didn’t stop running. He hurtled between islands of light in the dark hallway, never looking back. Brad, bundled under his arm and facing the rear, had no choice in the matter. Each light they passed seemed to bring Alecto’s snarling visage closer. First she was on the ceiling, then the floor, loping like a dog, now in the air, beating her massive wings. One moment she was at the other end of the hall, the next she was right behind them, her arm rising between flashes of light, ready to come down-- “DODGE!” Brad yelled. Flash threw himself at the nearest set of double doors, feeling Alecto’s claws catch on his jacket and slice through the fabric. They protested with a mighty crash as he slammed into them and led into an even darker hallway than the others. Flash didn’t care. He just ran, on and deeper into darkness and down stone corridors, until Alecto’s screeching faded to silence. He slumped against the wall and clutched Brad to his chest. His heart thumped like a sledgehammer. No breath in the world was big enough to get air to his lungs. He dropped all the way to the ground and still his legs protested, jittery and shaking with excited terror. His shield clattered as he dropped it to the ground; for an agonizing moment he thought Alecto would hear it, but she did not appear. “How are we still alive?” he whispered. “The Kindly One was mad,” Brad answered. “Really mad. But she must think killing us is a waste of time or she would’ve tried harder. Or maybe she was scared of the shield.” It was the only light in that dark place, glowing like sunlight through a window, bloomy and forgiving to look upon. Brad put his hoof reverently on the polished metal. “This baby is a life-saver,” Brad said, caressing itl. “I’ve never heard of anything short of an alicorn spell that took a Fury’s claws dead-on and survived.” Flash stared down at the lightning bolt engraved on its surface. His eyes turned to Brad’s cutie mark. It glowed with the same calm radiance as the shield, but the pony was transfixed and did not notice. Was his chest tingling, or did Alecto’s claws rake his skin? He looked down at his shirt. In the light of the shield it was hard to tell but he thought he caught a glimpse of candy-wrapper gold there, too, shining from the lightning bolt on his “Where are we, anyway?” Brad asked. Flash shrugged. “Some halls that go to the boiler, probably meet up with the kitchen. School’s big and has lots of staff so they get their own warrens to run around during the day. There aren’t many of them though. If Al-... if the Kindly One wanted to, she could find us in a few minutes. I’m surprised that door wasn’t locked either. Not ungrateful, just surprised. I didn’t think janitors stayed this late.” “Maybe they just forgot?” “Probably,” Flash said, shrugging. “Either way, we need a plan. Or at least somewhere to hide. The shield is nice, but it’s not like it’s a great offensive option.” “Well then,” Scuff said from behind him. “Perhaps a new approach is needed.” The rat did not flinch as boy and pony hurled themselves against the opposite wall, squealing loudly and holding the glowing shield in front of them. Scuff stared like one who had seen the divine, eyes wide and whiskers twitching. “Oooooh,” he said. “That is the Sparkle, plain and simple. It shines like cat eyes in the night. Dangerous and alluring.” Flash sighed. “Do you mean to sneak up on people and be vaguely creepy about everything, or is it just a rat thing you guys do?” “We only go where our friends go, my friend,” Scuff said, bowing without taking his eyes off the shield. “It’s a good thing we rats can run so fast, or you would be out of options. The Fury rages through the school, hunting for a hint of the Sparkle. But we found it first.” “How long have you been here?” Brad asked, narrowing his eyes, but Flash talked over him. “You found pony magic besides this?” he said, holding the shield up. “Only a taste,” Scuff murmured, tilting his head. “Like dew on the whiskers, or the faintest whiff of old cheese after the trash is long gone. It is… exquisitely fragile.” “Take us to it,” Flash said.