Flash stared at the field as the teams from Canterlot High and Crystal Prep were getting ready. The flag hunting was about to begin. Principal Cinch was with them, giving a speech to the group in the cold and calculating matter in which usually did.
Flash was sitting in the first row of the bleachers with his friends, Micro Chips and Sandalwood, each one on either side of him. He looked at Twilight from time to time, but he was mostly staring blankly at the ground that was about to host the last event of the Friendship Games. Both of Flash’s friends could tell how upset he was. He held his head down, a frown drawn upon his face, as he mentally replayed what had happened a few hours earlier.
After a terrible wave of magic had accidentally been unleashed by Twilight at the Friendship Games rally, Sunset approached her in a heat of rage, and began furiously screaming at her. Flash was all too familiar with his ex-girlfriend’s wrath. He had been at the receiving end of several of them while he and Sunset were dating. Sure, she may not be as much of an evil mastermind as she used to be back then, but her essence remained, and part of that essence included an amazing capability of harming with her words. He had forced himself to be strong enough to bear with her cutting words several times. But he had come to know Twilight well enough to realize that she wasn’t going to.
“You’re supposed to be so smart,” Sunset yelled in Twilight’s face, “But you shouldn’t be messing with something you don’t understand!”
“But I want to understand!” Twilight cried, her voice broke and tears began forming in her eyes. That’s what made Flash realize that he had to step up.
“Leave her alone, Sunset! She didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Stay out of this, Flash! This is none of your business.” Sunset replied as she turned to glare at him.
Flash frowned at her. “Well, given that I’m helping Twilight with her research that led her to unintentionally gathering all that magic… I’d say yes, this is of my business,” he explained.
“You’re WHAT?!” Sunset stomped over to him. “Flash, you don’t have any experience with magic, either! But unlike her, you’ve seen how insanely dangerous it can get when it’s uncontrolled!”
“Yes, I have. I know this is probably not the brightest of ideas, but you shouldn’t be so hard on Twilight for wanting to understand something she’s interested in.”
Sunset walked behind Flash in order to face Twilight once again. “I should if that something puts the life of my friends in danger!”
Twilight sniffed, and the tears started to roll down her cheeks. “I’m sorry” she sobbed, ashamed of her actions, “I didn’t mean to…”
She covered her face and ran away, crying, her dog Spike following closely behind.
“Twilight!” Flash called out, reaching out for her but unable to get her attention. He looked at Sunset with an expression of regret and a bit of anger. “Seriously, Sunset? That wasn’t her fault!”
“Don’t try to defend her, Flash” she retorted. “You aren’t her knight. You’re nobody’s hero!”
All of Sunset’s friends gasped. Flash looked at Sunset in disbelief as she continued to scowl at him. He knew that glare very well. It basically meant “leave me alone, unless you want to die”. Flash sulked and clenched his fists as he turned away from his ex.
Of course she would say that, thought Flash. She and her friends always stepped in to save everyone with their superpowers. What fault did he have that he wasn’t linked to a powerful, magic-bearing guardian from another world? Or that he wasn’t from that other world and hadn’t been born with special, supernatural abilities? He just wanted to help! There was more to being a hero than blasting lasers out of your hands or sprouting pony ears and a pair of wings. At least that was what he believed. But Sunset would probably never understood that. No one in school would ever understand that. For them, Flash was just a regular guy, the leader of the band, the popular kid meant to have an average and uneventful existence. Nothing glorious or important upon his way. There was nothing he could do to convince them otherwise.
“You’re wrong,” he growled, before walking away. He held back the tears beginning to form in his eyes, not from sadness, but tears of frustration and anger of being useless.
“Hey buddy, isn’t that Twilight?” Micro Chips asked Flash as he nudged him slightly, breaking the guitarist out of his trance. He blinked a few times and then looked up to see the girl in question, who was making her way towards the center of the football field. She wore an apprehensive look on her face as she approached, clutching her magic-storing gadget close to her chest. He saw her Crystal Preps classmates were glaring at her. The pressure she was under at this moment was palpable. Flash felt a wave of uneasiness wash over him.
As Twilight got closer to the center, Sunset Shimmer walked slowly from the opposite direction, a few feet away. The spectacled girl gulped and, hesitantly, took the humming, glowing device off her neck and held it in front of her.
That’s when Flash figured out what was going to happen. He wasn’t quite sure if it was due to peer pressure or sheer curiosity, but he knew that Twilight was about to open her gadget and unleash all the magic stored inside of it. Some of it had already been released accidentally during the rally, and it nearly caused several students to get eaten alive by sentient plants.
He once again remembered what Sunset had said while reprimanding him and Twilight. He had never dealt with magic directly, but he had seen enough of it to understand that Twilight was about to release a dangerous amount of it.
He didn’t think or hesitate for a second. He instantly got up and began to run towards the girl before she made a huge mistake. His friends reached out in an attempt to stop him, but it was no use. Flash ran as fast as his legs allowed him to, but still it felt as if he was barely moving. He felt more useless than ever. If only he had super speed or super strength! If only he could grow some wings and dash over to her in time! He was just a small, human guy. No powers. No business to do with magic. Nothing. He was just Flash Sentry.
But Flash cared too much for Twilight to just do nothing. It didn’t matter that he had only known her for a day. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the princess from another dimension that he used to have a crush on. She was a great girl, and most importantly, she was his friend.
Twilight got out of the changing room, wearing her Crystal Prep archery uniform. She walked to a small separate area where she would pick up her bow and arrows. She had been dreading this event since the moment she had been obliged to participate in these Friendship Games. Not only was she pretty much mediocre in anything athletic, but all the pressure of having everyone looking at her and expecting her to excel at every shot made her feel petrified and nauseous.
And on top of everything, all that her mind could think about was her interrupted research. Flash had told her about the incredible occurrences that had taken place at that school during the past months. And not only that, but she had witnessed some incredible occurrences herself! In the short time she had been in that school, Twilight saw two girls go through some sort of transformation, growing pony ears, very long hair, and one of them even sprouted wings. But whenever this happened, her spectrometer absorbed the energy that surrounded them, and she couldn’t control it. And if even a bit of this energy escaped her device, it opened what could only be described as a portal, seemingly to another world, or at least from what Flash could explain to her. These portals had already put her dog Spike in danger. He was shot with a blast of energy, and thankfully was unharmed, but she was aware that something far worse could happen.
How was Twilight supposed to concentrate in this little archery competition when something far more important was happening right under their noses? She was aware that she wouldn’t be able to avoid this. Her knees were already shaking from anxiety.
“Hey, you okay there?” a familiar male voice asked from behind her. “You seem a bit… off.”
She turned around to see Flash standing a few feet from her. He seemed to have the ability of appearing out of nowhere when she least expected it, but usually, it was just when she needed it. He had been even more helpful to her search than she could’ve expected. Not only did he knew his way around Canterlot High like Twilight knew her way around her school’s library, but he informed her about basically all the events that had provoked the abnormal frequencies she had been detecting from this school for so long. The more he told her, the more she understood why they all referred to them as “magic”. This was unlike anything she or any other scientist had studied before.
But even more than a great informant, Flash had proven himself to be a great listener. Whenever something distressed her, whether it be because of the competition, her classmates, or something that didn’t go as she had planned, Flash was really perceptive on it, and listened to her without judging, even offering some comforting words. As hard a time as she usually had opening up to other people, she found it incredibly easy with Flash. She had even confided him enough to tell her about Principal Cinch, and how she was shamelessly manipulating her in secret. There wasn’t much Flash could do about it, but at least it felt nice to Twilight to have someone other than her dog knowing it. And it felt even better to know that he was there for her, no matter what. In such a short time, they had created a bond unlike anything the girl had had before in her life.
“Hey, Flash,” she answered, kneeling to pet Spike, who was beside her. She was still hiding him from everyone else, but they were in a secluded area, so she figured she could let him out of her bag to stretch his paws. “To be completely honest, I’ve felt better. Much better.”
“I know how that feels,” he said, sitting on the ground next to her, “I get super nervous before every performance. Having so many people looking at you at the same time can be scary, but it’s really not that big of a deal.”
“It’s not just that,” she said melancholily, putting her puppy on her lap, “I just… feel a lot of pressure. Everyone expects me to hit the bullseye perfectly, cause that’s the only way we’ll be able to win. But at the same time… I don’t like feel anyone believes I can do it. They all know I stink at physical activity, so they’ve probably lost all hope already. It’s just like when I won the academic decathlon. None of my schoolmates were impressed, because… well, they all know that’s all I’m good at.”
Flash looked at her with sympathy, thinking about how that situation related to him so well. He put a hand on her shoulder, making the girl look at him. “Believe me, I know how that feels too. When I told my friends what I was doing following you around everywhere, they were really skeptical, almost unsupportive. They think, since I’m not the one who stopped the sirens with a super powerful musical number, or the one who blasted Sunset Shimmer with magical rainbows when she turned into a giant monster… well, it’s probably better that I stay away from all this magic business. That’s how it’s always been. No one think I’m more than just the school’s music man. I mean, no one has said that to my face. But I can tell that’s what they think.”
For a few seconds, they sat together in silence, realizing they have more in common than they thought. “Well, I think they’re wrong,” the girl said at last, turning to look at him. “I think you’re a lot more than just a guitarist, or a popular guy. You’re super kind, helpful, trustworthy… and brave! Cause I think it takes a lot of guts wanting to get more into magic, even after all the catastrophes you’ve witnessed. So what if you haven’t been the one who solved them? There’s still chance for you to do great things”
Flash smiled at her, blushing a little bit at those wonderful words. “See? Just as you believe in me, I believe in you, too.” He got up and offered Twilight his hand. “And I’m sure you’ll blow everyone’s mind at that rally.”
Twilight smiled back at him and took his hand, as the boy pulled her up. He handed her the bow, and she took the small satchel of arrows. “Thank you, Flash. For everything.”
Flash shrugged. “No problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”
Twilight stared at him in a bit of a surprised, but a grin formed in her face as she processed that little big word. “Huh… I guess we are friends, right?”
“Yeah, of course!” he said happily. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“It’s just that…” she shyly said, looking at her feet and rubbing her arm. “You’re actually the first friend I’ve ever had. Well, other than my Spike, of course.”
Both of them giggled a bit. Flash looked at her dearly, with a warm smile across his face. He felt so honored to call himself her first friend, and he was glad to have gained her trust in such a relatively short time. He put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and ran it down her arm. They looked at each other’s eyes once more. The girl’s face had turned slightly pink.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, given that you’re technically the enemy,” he said, finishing of in a goofily dark tone, making the girl chuckle. “But I’ll be rooting for you.”
She nodded in thanks, maintaining her smile. Flash kneeled to quickly scratch Spike’s head, and then turned around. “Good luck out there, Twi.”
She waved at him goodbye. She still felt pretty nervous and unfocused, but talking to Flash had made her significantly calmer. She snorted to herself. Who would’ve thought? She came to this school this morning looking to make a report. And she ended up making a friend.
Flash would do anything for his friends. And if he let Twilight get harmed, or worse, without even trying to do something about it, he would never forgive himself. He didn’t care if he was no hero. Right now, all he wanted was to do anything in his power to make sure this girl was safe.
He was only a few feet away from Twilight. Flash had never felt time move so slowly. The girl’s arms were outstretched in front of her and she was holding her device carefully in her hands, slowly beginning to open it.
It all happened in an instant. Flash acted instinctively. He jumped towards Twilight and snatched the device out of her hands. He fell on his side, sliding a bit on the grass, and Twilight fell on her back. Flash quickly saw that the small gadget that he was now holding was open and beginning to glow more strongly, so he curled up and held it close to his chest, attempting to take the blow all for himself. It didn’t really matter if he got harmed.
Twilight looked to her side and saw her friend lying on the ground nearby. She froze, unsure of what to do. But less than a second later, a beam of red light and energy blew up from Flash’s position. The blast caused Twilight’s hair to fall from the bun it was tied in. Sunset Shimmer, who also attempted to stop Twilight from releasing the magic, fell back as well.
The beam of energy moved towards the ground and surrounded Flash, taking the shape of a red sphere with electricity sparkling in its walls. The sphere got smaller and smaller until it reached Flash’s hands. It started glowing even brighter, and began floating upwards, taking Flash with it. He opened his hands and dropped the gadget on the ground, but he could not move his hands or let go of the glowing spectrum that was lifting him.
He grew desperate as he struggled to free himself from this strange energy that he might as well have been drilled to. He looked down at Twilight, who stared at him helplessly. The worry and fear were visible in both of their faces. Twi gave Flash a look that wordlessly said: “this was a bad idea”; and Flash’s responded with a look that said: “I know”.
He grunted loudly as he managed to free his left hand, looking sideways as a result. Everyone was looking at him jaw-dropped. The light that kept holding on to him began to grow, consuming his arm and running down it, leaving a burning and painful sensation, making him cinch in pain.
“RUN!” He screamed in desperation, as the light consumed him entirely, making him yell painfully.
“FLASH!” Twilight called from the ground, extending up her hand to him in vain, as her friend became engulfed by the magic that she had released.
The boy found himself surrounded by nothing. He was floating in a blank space, and he felt a rush of energy flowing through his entire body. But this wasn’t just adrenaline. This burned and gave him physical pain. But at the same time, the more he felt that pain, the more his body got used to it and embraced it. He felt like he was becoming one with this energy. He felt stronger. Different. Exceptional.
Bright electric shocks started to emit from the left side of his chest. These small shocks became brighter and hotter, until they gave out an enormous spark and transformed into a giant black flame, which enveloped Flash completely. He felt the intense heat on every inch of his skin. The pain didn’t bother him. He let it run through his body, all the way into his veins. It felt amazing and thrilling to see that not even fire could harm him. He felt his mind synchronize with this fire, as if he were one with it and he could control it and bend it to his will. And so, he allowed the dark blazes to go up his body, leaving a new being behind.
As the blinding light diminished, all the students looked up to see where Flash had been and found something horrifying in his place. The young man was now wearing black clothes with red accents, and on top of that, he wore a light silver armor made of sizzling metal. His skin had become darker, a burnt shade of his previous color. He wore a metal headpiece that matched his armor, and his blue hair had been completely replaced with black and orange flames, similar to the ones that had enveloped him a few seconds earlier. He now had mangled, sharp, goblin-like ears.
And perhaps the most intimidating part of this transformation where the wings that appeared on his back. They were enormous, with a wingspan almost twice the height of Flash himself. The top part resembled a dragon’s wings, colored a gradient that went from dark scarlet to black, with red talons in the joints. And below it, were several silver blades that aligned in a feather-like formation. This made the wings extremely heavy and sharp, but that didn’t bother Flash, for he didn’t need to move them to remain in the air. But rather, he hovered in place.
Flash opened his eyes suddenly, and nearly everyone gasped in horror. A crimson smoke came out and flowed from the corners of his eyeballs. His scleras had become completely black, and against them stood out his previously blue pupils, which were now red and contracted, with reptile-like irises. He extended his black gloved hand and concentrated for a few seconds, and a small black fire appeared on it. He mentally commanded the flame to grow, and it did, covering his hand and forearm completely. This caused his mouth to twist into a sinister grin, allowing everyone to notice that now he had sharp fangs as well. He began to lowly chuckle, and this chuckle turned into a chilling and deranged cackle. That’s when everyone realized that this wasn’t Flash anymore. This was a demon.
“I knew I was meant for something far greater!” he screamed for everyone to hear. The demon had Flash’s voice, but it sounded lower, raspier and soulless. His voice echoed through the whole block. “What do you think now? WHO’S AVERAGE NOW??”
He charged both of his hands with red magic, and he shoot beams out of them to the ground, causing what they hit to catch a black fire that spread quickly. Students from both schools screamed in terror and ran from the deadly bonfire. Spike, who had also attempted to stop Twilight from opening her spectrometer, jumped in fear to his owner’s arms, who held him tight, protecting him from the flames.
Flash saw that a few students attempted to run away from the school. Before they could leave the field, several bolts of lightning arched in front of them and struck the ground, causing some dust to rise. When the dust dissipated, they saw the frightening demon standing before them, looking at them with an ominous grin.
“Going somewhere?” he asked them sarcastically, as he made more fire appear behind him, blocking their way out. They yelled in terror, running in the other direction. A male Crystal Prep student tried going around the flames in order to escape, but Flash extended his hand, and the fire obeyed his command, expanding and surrounding the field completely. “Don’t leave so soon!” he cynically told the guy, who backed down and ran back to his peers, getting away from the demon. “The fun has just begun!”
As he said this, Flash punched the ground with his fist, causing the floor to tremble. From his position, the ground began cracking and breaking. The cracks grew bigger and deeper, making their way to where all the students were. Some of them fell into these big ruptures, hanging on to the edge as much as they could, for they saw that there was burning lava at the bottom. The young people began helping each other, regardless of what school they were from, forgetting about their silly rivalry. Flash took off and hovered above everyone once again, looking down in delight at the horror he was causing, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
Twilight kept her gaze locked in the demon, terrified. “No, no, no, no…” she kept muttering to herself, as she slowly backed away, almost as if trying to deny that the evil entity towering above everyone was the same boy that had been nothing but kind and helpful since she got to this school. Since she wasn’t watching where she was going, she suddenly bumped into someone else so abruptly that she broke out of her trance and saw who it was: Principal Cinch, who seemingly was running away from the chaos.
“YOU!” The older woman pointed aggressively at Twilight. “This is all your fault, Sparkle!”
The sound of Twilight’s last name reached Flash’s ears, who stopped in his tracks and turned around to see where it came from. In the distance, he saw Crystal Prep’s headmistress, who was yelling angrily at the spectacled girl, who was frightened and confused. She held Spike tighter. The pup growled at the Principal, but this didn’t seem to intimidate her, for she kept shouting. Twilight could only lower her head and shut her eyes tightly, with tears forming in the corners. The sight of this made Flash’s blood boil and quite literally.
“If it hadn’t been for your ridiculous experiments, none of this would’ve happened!” Cinch continued, taking a few steps forward, and making the younger girl take a couple more steps back.
In the blink of an eye, a bright flash of light appeared between the two of them, making them both jump back in terror, Twilight falling on the ground and dropping Spike.
She looked up, and there he was, Flash Sentry, now transformed into a fire-throwing, metal-winged creature, stood protectively in front of her, facing Principal Cinch, who looked as if she was staring at a ghost, or rather, something far worse. The demon growled, as he looked furiously at the woman, and began to hover in order to gradually look more and more down at her.
“LEAVE. HER. ALONE!” he screamed at Cinch, black fire erupting from his hands, making the flames that covered his head to grow wild and expand to his nape and shoulders as he let out the final word.
The lady screamed in terror as she ran away from the monster. Flash extinguished the fire in his hands and back, and the one on his head became tamer. He landed on the ground and turned around to look at Twilight, who was still on the floor.
“Are you alright?” he asked in an almost tender voice, but not soft enough to resemble Flash’s regular tone.
When Flash had bumped into Twilight Sparkle earlier that day, he didn’t know this was the Twilight from this universe, and not the princess from another universe he had met on a few occasions in the past and shared an infatuation with. So, he was extremely disappointed when she brushed him off and walked, no, ran away in a hurry. Did he say something wrong? Was she mad because he hadn’t tried to contact her? Maybe he should’ve borrowed Sunset’s journal once or twice… but it seemed as if she didn’t want anything to do with him. That saddened him, yes. But still, he couldn’t help but feel that there was something off with Twilight this time. Not just her clothes and glasses, but something about her attitude didn’t seem like her at all. Rather than awkward but sweet, she seemed more serious and distant. It didn’t seem right, so he decided to follow her, from an enough distance that it wouldn’t seem too obvious or too invasive.
After witnessing an exchange that the girl had with the Rainbooms and the principals from both schools, Flash learned that indeed there was something off with Twilight. Because it wasn’t his Twilight. Just like there was, seemingly, another Flash Sentry in her land, this was the Twilight Sparkle that lived in his land.
However, instead of making him lose interest, this made him feel even more curious. The Twilight he had previously met have always been really intriguing to him, independently from the fact that she came from literally another universe or from the fact that she was beautiful, which of course, contributed to his initial attraction towards her. What really made him go back to her was her peculiar aura and unique personality. She wasn’t like any other girl he had met before, and he liked that.
This Twilight was also unique in a different way. From his brief meeting with her, and by watching her interact with his classmates, he could tell she was a lot more reserved and shyer. She was clearly also really smart, since Principal Cinch of Crystal Prep had referred to her as “her prized student”. Flash would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit into intelligent girls, but what intrigued him the most, without a doubt, was to find out what in the world she was looking for. She was wearing an odd artifact that glowed and hummed around her neck, and she ran away like there was no tomorrow when it indicated her where to go.
This was way too strange not to figure out what it was about, so he followed behind her again. Yes, maybe he was being a bit stubborn, but it didn’t matter to him right now. He just needed to know. Maybe she would need help. Flash was always willing to help those in need, for he believed that one had to treat others the way he wanted to be treated. This girl didn’t seem to be half as terrible as other students from Crystal Prep he had encountered before, but it wasn’t hard to guess that she probably didn’t have many friends, given the fact she was wandering around the Canterlot High halls all on her own.
Flash followed her, once again, from a reasonable distance. Once Principal Cinch walked away from the girl, Flash approached her.
“Uhm, hi again…” he said to her, taking her a bit by surprise. “Listen, about earlier, I wanted to apologize. That must’ve totally weirded you out. I confused you with somebody else…”
“Yeah, everyone in this school seems to,” she said with a bit of confusion but beginning to understand all the weird and seemingly random greetings, “But why? Who were you confusing me with?”
“Oh, it’s kind of a long story,” Flash said, rubbing the back of his neck with his right arm, “If I told you, you probably wouldn’t believe me, you’d think I’m talking crazy.”
“Crazy? Like, say, a strange energy that’s probably not even from this world emerging from your school and provoking unusual casualties strange?” she inquired, much more interested than before.
Flash was startled at this insanely specific description. “Woah, that’s… actually pretty accurate, yes.”
“So, you know something about this?” the girl questioned eagerly, showing the boy the device she was wearing around her neck, which was glowing intermittently, “This is a spectrometer I built to track abnormal frequencies and unidentified elements present in the area.” Flash blinked, dumbfounded. Twilight sighed. “Basically, it measures when something odd is going on.”
“Oh!” he exclaimed, slightly embarrassed at how she had to dumb it down for him. “Well, one thing’s for sure: you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for odd stuff happening.”
“You have to show me around!” the girl told him enthusiastically. “Tell me everything you know about the unusual events that have taken place here! Please, it’s for research.”
“You’re doing a research on magic?” Flash asked curiously.
The spectacled girl put on hand on her hip and the other under her chin, thinking. “Magic, huh? You guys call it that? I might have to think of another title for my final report to Everton, but I guess for practical effects, I can accept to call it that way, for the time being.”
“Everton?” the boy kept questioning, feeling as if the girl in front of him was expecting him to already have known all this information. “You want to apply to that super fancy school for geniuses?”
“Look, I’ll explain later, okay?” she said, putting her hand in front of her. “I have to go form with the rest of my school, or else I’ll get in trouble. But once all the students are inside, do you mind meeting with me so you can help me investigate?”
“I, well…”
Flash thought for a moment, unsure of whether or not to accept this. He definitely wasn’t the most knowledgeable of the whole magical ordeal, nor was he the smartest guy around when it came to anything scientific. But, if he didn’t assist her, who would? The rest of his classmates would probably either be too weirded out to see a Twilight who wasn’t actually Twilight or be rejective of her simply because she was wearing the uniform of the rivals. Just an hour ago, he wouldn’t have imagined teaming up with a Shadowbolt. Heck, he wouldn’t have even thought about embarking on a magic quest!
However, this very intriguing girl, looking alone and a bit lost yet eager to learn all that she could about this very strange (even for him) topic, made him less uncertain about this. Her interest was infectious, and he’d be lying if he said he never felt the slightest bit of curiosity about the how’s and why’s of weird events that have happened at his school during the past months. Maybe he, who had witnessed them first-hand and even fallen victim to a spell or two, and she, who had the means and intelligence to find logical, tangible explanations for them, wouldn’t be such a terrible team. Not ideal, but he wanted to be of help.
“Sure thing,” he finally answered, more convinced. The girl gave him a quick, thankful smile before turning away and running back to her schoolmates, who seemingly hadn’t noticed she was gone.
He saw a couple of people giving her nasty looks when she got into the line, and she only responded with a coy and nervous smile. Apparently, Flash’s assumption that she wasn’t the most popular girl in her school wasn’t that far off. It made him realize that, aside from a research partner, this girl could also use a friend around this place. And he would try his best to fill in for both.
“I…” Twilight struggled to find her voice. She couldn’t stop staring at those eyes. Those black, almost soulless eyes with piercing red pupils and crimson smoke coming out of them. “I’m fine I guess…”
Before she could think of anything else to say, Flash kneeled before Twilight, so that they would see eye to eye. “Don’t worry,” he told her in the same semi-soft manner as before, looking at her with tenderness and just the slightest hint of sorrow, “I will never hurt you.”
He then leaned towards Twilight and scooped her in his arms, carrying her as he took off again, hovering above all the people and the buildings. Twilight held tighter to Flash’s shoulders, taken aback by the sudden height.
“And I will never let anyone hurt you ever again,” he promised her even more softly, almost in a whisper. Twilight couldn’t do nothing more than to stare at him in confusion. Flash looked as if he were going to burn the entire block into a crisp at any given second. However, his approach to her was so delicate and caring, like he was her personal knight, quite true to his attire. And maybe she should be flattered by this? Her head felt in a turmoil. She was frightened but mostly concerned about his friend’s sanity and the well-being of everyone below them.
“You will never be alone ever again. Not while I’m here,” he continued, smiling at her reassuringly, “We’ll both run away from here, and we’ll never have to deal with all these stupid people again in our lives. They’ve belittled us long enough.”
As his words sank in, Twilight’s worry grew. “What? No!” she pleaded. “Flash, you can’t do this, this isn’t you! Please, stop all of this!”
Flash wiped the smile off his face. He looked at the girl with the slightest hint of disappointment because of her response. “It will be over soon,” he said, deadpan. He then flew to the main Canterlot High building’s rooftop, and placed Twilight on it, close enough to the center. The care with which she handled her was surprising to the girl. She had never felt so protected in all her life, and yet it made her uneasy, and for good reasons.
“Stay here,” he told her, beginning to fly away, “You’ll be safe.”
He floated back to the center of the field and kept throwing fire from his hands, rejuvenating the flames that were beginning to die out to grow once more. Twilight reached the edge of the building she was on, looking at all of this in horror, desperately trying to think of something to do about it. She blamed herself for all of this. She realized that her stubborn curiosity to mess with things she didn’t understand, as Sunset Shimmer had put it, had provoked all of this. It had corrupted the first friend she had in her life. She had to find a way to save him and everyone else.
She searched frantically for her dog Spike, whom she had dropped earlier by accident, praying that he would still be safe somehow. She sighed in relief when she saw him in the arms of a that nice girl, Fluttershy, whom she had met earlier and instantly connected with because of their love of pets and sneaking them into school. She knew Spike was in good hands, but she grew worried when she saw the pink-haired girl was frozen in place, terrified at what was happening around her. She had to be pulled by her group of friends in order to avoid getting burned by a nearby bonfire.
Twilight kept searching from the rooftop, until she spotted exactly what she was looking for: her spectrometer, which was lying closed on the ground near the center. Naturally, no one was there, for they preferred to get as far from the demon as possible and were attempting to remain at the borders of the field. A determined look drew on Twilight’s face. She looked back and spotted the roof’s exit door. She ran to it and opened it, climbing down the small set of stairs as fast as she could.
Sunset Shimmer was helping a student who nearly fell into a big crack in the ground, and when the student was safe and sound, the leader of the Rainbooms turned to look up at the demon, who was grinning evilly above everyone. She ran towards the middle to get his attention. “FLASH!” she shouted to get his attention, causing him to turn his face to see her, “Snap out of it! You can’t do this!”
“Ah, Sunset Shimmer!” the corrupted teenager sneered in a delighted and perverse manner, his smile twisting even more. He opened his right hand, which began to glow with a red aura of magic. The same colored aura appeared all around Sunset Shimmer, as Flash lifted her, bringing her in front of him. “You were right. I have never been a hero!” he howled in her face, maintaining his disturbing grin, making Sunset feel uneasy. Her face quickly went from determination to fear.
“Flash, listen, what I said before…”
“SHUT UP!” he shouted angrily, interrupting her. For once in his life, he would no longer feel daunted by his ex-girlfriend. He made her float even closer to him, intimidating the usually brave girl, who was nearly paralyzed because of his magic around her. “I’m the one who has the power now!” he paused for a second and smiled as unnervingly as before. “Which means, I can finally do this!”
He rapidly raised his fist that was glowing with magic, making Sunset quickly float upwards as well. She kept going higher, and higher, and higher. She didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. “F-Flash, just try listen to me!” she began shouting and nearly panicking, sweating and palpitating the more she was elevated. “I know how you feel, the same thing happened to me! When I put on the crown, I was overwhelmed with the magic it contained! Just like you, I felt powerful, like I could have anything I wanted…”
But Flash was having none of it. When Sunset was as high above as he desired, he opened his fist and the red magic around it disappeared, as well as the magic around Sunset Shimmer.
“WHY YOU LITTLE---!” she began when she realized she was no longer being kept afloat, but she got cut off when she began falling, naturally, screaming in terror.
“SUNSET!” All five or her friends exclaimed in unison. As she fell, they began running around with arms stretched, trying to calculate her position so that they could catch her. They were all moving hysterically except for Pinkie Pie, who simply stood still, watching carefully as her friend fell. When Sunset was a few meters from smashing into the ground, Pinkie simply gave a small step to her left and extended her arms. Sunset fell right on top of them, agitated and trembling, but alive.
“Safe and sound!” the pink girl exclaimed happily.
All of Sunset’s friends were relieved at the fact that she had survived, but their joy was short-lived, as Flash approached them from above, looking down at them in a mixture of bitterness and disdain.
“Well, well, look at them,” he began to say mockingly, “The heroic, magical Rainbooms! How very special they are! Tell me, girls. How does it feel like to be puny, defenseless, and pathetic for ONCE!?” He threw a fireball at them, which they quickly managed to dodge, inadvertently getting cornered by the demon against a building.
Meanwhile, Twilight finally reached the entrance of Canterlot High from the inside. She ran through the door and found herself in the middle of all the chaos. She scanned the field, looking for her spectrometer, and when she spotted it, right where she had seen it from above the building, she ran straight to it.
She kneeled and picked it up. It began to glow and hum, indicating her the source of the magical energy. The blinking light pointed to her right, and she turned to look. It was pointing at Flash, who was floating about 10 feet from the ground in front of the building, against which he had cornered the group of six girls that were going to compete in the last event on behalf of Canterlot High. They were huddling close together, looking up at the demon. Some of them looked terrified, and others were attempting their best to hide it. One of them, Fluttershy, still had Spike in her arms, which alarmed Twilight the most. She got up and ran to them as fast as she could.
“Go ahead, transform!” the demon sarcastically shouted at the group of friends. “Blast me with your friendship rainbows! Save the day as you always do!”
The six young girls were holding each other’s hands, tightly, getting closer as the flames that were burning around them grew by the minute. The demon let out a maniacal laughter as he saw them struggle. “Come on, girls!” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed to all the rest, squinting and sweating both from the effort and the increasing heat. “Concentrate! We have to transform!”
“See?” he began talking in a more serious and dark voice as he created a big black fireball in his hand, “Without your precious powers, you feel the exact same way I did before: like NOTHING!”
With a quick and agile arm movement, he eagerly threw the fireball at the Rainbooms. They all screamed and held on to each other, bracing themselves for the bitter end. In a split second, someone appeared right in front of them, attempting to shield them.
“DON’T!” she screamed, putting her hands in the air. The demon quickly recognized her and reacted instantly, rapidly closing his fist, making the deadly projectile vanish in the air mere seconds before it would’ve hit the girl before him.
“Twilight, what do you think you’re doing!?” he asked her with a mixture of worry and anger, descending to the ground to look at her in the eyes and take her firmly by the shoulders. “That would’ve killed you!”
The spectacled girl frowned determinately, not allowing herself to fear him anymore, “I’m not going to let you harm them!”
Flash frowned as well, elevating himself just a few feet from the ground. “Step away, Twilight” he told her firmly, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Twilight recognized that this wasn’t a menace, but rather a warning. He had made up his mind about the Rainbooms’ fate, but he was not going to put her in danger, so it was better that she backed away in order for him to finish what he had begun quicker. However, she didn’t concede to this, and took a step forward, without hesitating.
“I know you don’t,” she said, calmly, and she smiled at him compassionately, “And I know you don’t want to hurt anyone else, either.”
This response took the demon aback. The frustration in his expression was replaced with confused surprised. He stared at Twilight with wide eyes, not sure of what to say. She kept smiling at him reassuringly, so that he wouldn’t lose his calm. She slowly took out her spectrometer. Flash stiffened at the sight of it, looking at the small device with distrust.
“It’s ok,” Twilight assured her friend when she noticed his reaction, “It’s going to be ok.”
She stretched up her hand, offering it to the black-and-red-eyed boy. He was unsure of it. Instead, he lit his right hand with magic, raising the girl to his eye level. All the Rainbooms were a bit frightened at this, even though he handed Twilight far more carefully and slowly than he had done with Sunset.
Flash stared at her with a serious glance. “You want me to be just like everyone else? Feeble? Dull? Just like before?” Twilight could see tears starting to form in the demon’s eyes, although he was attempting to keep them at bay. “You don’t like me like this?”
“Not if you’re going to hurt others and cause all this damage,” she explained with tranquility and care, “Flash, it doesn’t matter to me how strong and powerful you are. You don’t need any of those things for me to like you. I like you because…” She paused for a second. Tears were forming in her eyes as well. “Because you’re the kindest boy I have ever met.”
This response left Flash speechless. His heart beat wildly in his chest. For a moment he forgot all about everyone and everything else. He just looked at the girl and listened. “When I got here, everyone was so nice to me because they thought I was someone else. But when they realized I wasn’t who they thought, you were the first one to be kind to me for me. You were so selfless and nice and pleasant... all in all, the best guy I’ve ever encountered.” By this point, her tears were fully flowing. She wiped them off and continued. “That’s what makes you special, Flash. That’s what makes you unique. Your heart of gold.”
He looked down, amazed and moved by these words, but then he caught sight of the Rainbooms. “But, they…”
“They may do amazing and incredible things, Flash. But that doesn’t make you any less valuable than them,” Twilight continued. She extended one hand and put it on Flash’s shoulder. “You’re actually more similar to them than you think. Just like you, all they want is to help others. It’s just that they do it in a different way.”
Twilight turned around and looked down at the Rainbooms. She smiled at them, remembering how they each had helped her and Flash in their unique way. “And they’re my friends, too.”
The group of six, plus Spike, all smiled at the spectacled girl. She turned to look at Flash again. “I understand you, Flash. I get what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong or that you’re meant for something far better and being willing to do anything to achieve that. But sometimes…” she thought about it for a second, realizing the weight of her words and how they also applied to her, “It’s not your surroundings that you have to change to be happy. You just have to change your point of view.”
The boy thought about this as he looked down once more at the people below. He saw the fear in their eyes, but they were watching and listening to his conversation with Twilight attentively. All the flames, that were originally under his power, were beginning to slowly diminish.
What was he doing? This truly wasn’t him. He didn’t want to murder people or burn them or even cause them fear. All he wanted was to prove to everyone that he wasn’t just an average and boring kid. But all this new magic felt so amazing; he felt strong and powerful. He had concentrated on his anger, and his insecurity had turned into a desire to take revenge, even on those who hadn’t done anything to him. He recognized that he had gotten carried away.
But there was still something bothering him. He turned his face to Twilight but kept looking down, embarrassed. “But if I give up my power…” he finally allowed one of the tears he was trying to suppress fall, “…I’ll be no one.”
Twilight took her hand off Flash’s shoulder and put it on his cheek, making him look at her. “You’re someone to me.”
The two of them shared a sympathetic smile. Another tear fell from each of their faces, but this tear was less for fear or sadness but more for happiness and comfort. He felt in his heart that she was right. It didn’t matter how ordinary or extraordinary he was. This girl believed in him. And he wanted him to believe in himself. And that was more than enough. What the world thought of him didn’t really matter.
Flash closed his eyes and smiled, taking Twilight’s hand in his and pressing his cheek against her palm. He opened his eyes to look at her once more, and the girl was overjoyed at the sight, for Flash’s sweet blue eyes had once again returned. She saw him again. It was as if his true, kind-hearted essence had been trying all this time to get out of the demon’s body but couldn’t, and her words had given him strength to resurface again.
She moved her hand in which she was holding her spectrometer in front of her and rested it on Flash’s palm. She used her other hand to open the device, allowing all the magic around to start entering it. The boy no longer held on to his power, instead letting it go from his body and his mind. This allowed the process to be significantly less painful. As the red energy waves entered the gadget and condensed into a small sphere, Twilight and Flash descended to the ground slowly, and all the fire gradually extinguished. When they reached the floor, Flash was completely back to normal apart from his slightly torn jacket and messy blue hair, which was still giving out a small bit of smoke.
He let go of Twilight’s hand and looked around. Everyone was gathering around them, keeping some distance. Their faces no longer expressed fear, but curiosity and a great amount of relief. Flash turned red and looked at his feet, scratching the back of his head.
“I…” he weakly began saying. He had to clear his throat to keep his voice from breaking. “I’m sorry, everyone. I think all that magic blinded me from… well, everything.” His eyes watered a little when he remembered his terrible behavior. “I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”
He felt an hand on his shoulder. He looked up and was surprised to see Sunset Shimmer standing in front of him, smiling at him sympathetically. “We know,” she said to him reassuringly, “You’re the last person who would do such a thing consciously. And going by my own experiences, they’ll forgive you.”
Flash didn’t know what to say. He had done the most terrible things to Sunset. And while yes, he had some resentment against her, it didn’t justify what he almost did. He truly regretted it, but it relieved him to know that she was aware of it. She was fully familiar with what a sudden insane amount of power could do to your head, after all. Flash smiled back at Sunset, finally making amends with her without another single spoken word needed.
Behind Sunset appeared Flash’s best friends, Sandalwood and Micro Chips. Their faces had no expression. The sight of them made Flash feel the most embarrassed.
“Uhm… hey?” he awkwardly greeted them, again scratching the back of his head, as he did when he felt nervous or unsure.
“Dude,” Sandalwood said at last, raising an eyebrow and cracking a small smile, “Now we know not to make you angry!”
This made Micro Chips burst into laughter. Flash just smiled speechless. He was not expecting that reaction. “So… you guys aren’t mad?” he asked shyly.
“Pal, we were petrified more than anything. But we’re just glad to have you back,” Micro said, friendly nudging Flash’s arm. The blue haired boy chuckled as he nudged him back, as well as Sandalwood. He felt so grateful to have such amazing friends.
Fluttershy approached Twilight and handed her Spike, whom she hugged happy and relieved, as the puppy barked joyfully and affectionately licked her face. The rest of the Rainbooms, as well as some of the Shadowbolt girls, surrounded Twilight and congratulated her for her bravery and compassion. Flash’s small group of friends joined them, and soon, all the school was cheering and celebrating. Flash and Twilight caught each other’s glance and shared a silent smile. Suddenly, the girl walked beside him and hugged him tightly. He blushed at this sudden gesture, but then warmed up and returned her embrace. There they were, just holding each other filled with joy, without speaking. Flash felt at peace, as if everything was alright in his world once again.
It was time for the Canterlot High and Crystal Prep students to bid each other goodbye. A day ago, they would’ve gladly parted ways, wanting to get as far from each other as possible. But the sudden catastrophe that forced them to help each other out had made them realize how stupid all their rivalry had been. It didn’t matter how much money they had or what school they were from. They were all teens, and they were all equals. That’s why Principal Celestia had declared everyone winners. This didn’t make Principal Cinch very happy, and she had threatened to report the whole incident to the school board, but her threat backfired as everyone pointed out to her how it all would sound like a tall tale and could possibly ruin her reputation, so she chose to keep her mouth shut. She was done with it all and had decided to quietly quit her position once they returned to Crystal Prep.
Twilight and Flash decided that it was best to hand the fully charged spectrometer to Sunset Shimmer, since she was the one most familiar with the use of magic. She told them than she was going to write to Princess Twilight about it, so that she could take it to her homeland, where it wouldn’t be a danger any more.
Both Wondercolts and Shadowbolts mingled for the remaining hours they had, and some friendships had quickly been born. They had to start saying goodbye, but promised to stay in touch, several of them exchanging phone numbers.
Flash of course wanted to bid Twilight goodbye. She was, however, talking to Dean Cadance on some steps, and he waited for her to finish by the Wondercolts statue nearby. Sunset walked by and noticed how lovingly he was looking at the spectacled girl and even saw a light blush in his face. She teasingly elbowed him, giving him a sly look. This made Flash realize that Sunset had seen his idiotic expression, and that made him turn even redder, grinning awkwardly.
“You know what I realized?” the red-and-yellow-haired girl said to him, leaning against the statue, “Even though the incident was, well, horrible, it all happened because you sacrificed yourself for Twilight. You didn’t know what was going to happen, and yet, you took the blow for her and everyone else. Guess I was wrong. You are a hero.”
Flash hadn’t thought of it that way, he looked at Sunset in both wonder and disbelief. He once again took his hand to the back of his head and scratched it, with an awkward smile on his face. “You really think so?”
“I do,” said a voice behind him. He turned to see that it was Twilight who had said that. She was holding her dog in her arms and smiling at Flash. He smiled back and turned red again, flattered. Sunset giggled to herself. After Twilight handed her Spike, she walked away, leaving Flash and Twilight alone.
“So…” Flash begun saying, taking a step forward, “Are you going to Everton now?”
Twilight giggled a bit and shyly rubbed her arm. “I actually decided to, well, stay in Crystal Prep.”
“You did?” Flash asked, surprised, “What made you change your mind? You seemed so sure about it…”
“Well, watching everyone come together and put their differences aside…” she explained while looking at some of her schoolmates from afar, “it made me realize that my classmates aren’t as horrible and self-centered as I thought. None of us are experts in friendship, but I think there’s a lot we could learn from each other.”
“Well, that’s good to hear!” the boy said with a smile, which vanished quickly, “I’m gonna miss you though… I mean, I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but, still…”
“Yeah,” she said, understandingly, “I know. But hey, don’t think this is the last time you’ll see me!” She friendly nudged Flash’s arm. “My research isn’t over, and I’m still going to need you to be my regular informant.”
“Seriously, you’ll keep going?” Flash asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrow, “Even after…?”
“Did I say what the research was for?” Twilight crossed her arms and looked at him with a sly grin.
“Oh!” Flash exclaimed as he suddenly realized the hidden meaning behind what she said. Of course, she couldn’t learn friendship on her own, and after all they had been through that crazy day, she probably wanted to keep learning more from him.
“In fact,” she said confidently, “how about we do a little research trip to the movies this Saturday?”
Flash blinked a few times, taken aback by the sudden invitation. “Uh, yeah, of course!” he finally answered, “Movies this Saturday sounds great!”
“Great!” she exclaimed, “Do you like documentary films? There’s a really cool one about the Cold War and its worldwide economic impact playing now.”
Flash opened his mouth, without anything to say. He was tempted to decline or make up an excuse, but Twilight’s wide grin kept him from doing so. “I, uh…” he muttered awkwardly. “Sure? Sounds, uh, great I guess…”
The grin in the girl’s face cracked when she burst into laughter all the sudden. “I’m just messing with you!” she confessed, making Flash laugh along with her. It was probably the first time he heard her laugh. She had a really cute laughter. “How about the new Daring Do movie?” she asked when she recovered her cool.
“Now you’re talking!” Flash said, far more convinced. “How ‘bout I buy the tickets and you buy the popcorn?”
“Seems fair to me” Twilight nodded. “Is five-thirty okay with you?”
“It’s a date!” Flash exclaimed happily. This statement made Twilight smile and blush. Flash’s face turned pink and he froze when he realized what he had just said. “SETTLED! I meant to say settled! N-not a date! I mean, you could say it’s a date, but not THAT kind of date! We’re not… right? NO! Of course not! Ha ha, we just met, plus it’s not like I want… and I’m not saying I’d mind it! That is, if you don’t mind it, if you do, then nothing has to…”
Twilight giggled and shook her head as Flash desperately tried to correct himself over and over. She walked to his side and got on her tiptoes, placing a quick peck on Flash’s cheek. He stopped talking and looked at her with eyes wide open and a completely flushed face. She beamed at him, and he returned the beam, slightly embarrassed.
“See you around, Flash,” she said, and then walked away towards her bus. Flash turned to watch her lovingly as she quickly bid the Rainbooms goodbye and joined her Crystal Prep group on the bus.
The blue-haired boy joined his Canterlot High classmates as they waved the Crystal Prep buses goodbye from the street, and the Shadowbolts waved back. The relationship between both schools wasn’t going to be the same from then on.
Flash caught sight of Twilight, who was already looking at him from the bus window. They didn’t get their eyes off each other until the vehicle had already gotten lost in the city horizon. The boy smiled to himself, thinking that maybe, something more than friendship could bloom between the two of them.