//------------------------------//
// Slice of Life 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S5 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Today was a not a normal day in Ponyville. The village was known for crazed disasters and rampaging chaos, but this day was a different occasion. It was the wedding of Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda, a couple that had met decades ago and had finally found each other again thanks to Pinkie Pie. (Which events including a musical number, various misunderstandings and other complications) As such, the couple were about to take the next step in their relationship.

Unfortunately, thanks to the disaster area that is Ponyville, certain circumstances caused everypony to receive invites for the wrong date for the wedding. Matilda had discovered the error in the invites, and now found everypony was doing the wedding today when it should have been tomorrow, which made Cranky go and chew out the pony responsible for the mix-up.

Hopefully, that would be the only problem facing today's big even-

"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Everypony looked up into the sky, now seeing an orange blur descend to the earth before slamming into the dirt, skidding along the ground as his body dug a trench.

"Ugh..." he panted while slowly excavating himself out of the dirt. "Where do these things keep coming from?"

"Yo Flash!" He turned to see Thunderlane and his brother Rumble, the bigger pegasus giving the colt a ride. "What's going on?"

"Is Tirek back?" Rumble asked, his trembling body now making his brother shake.

"Nah, nothing that bad." Flash said as he shook his head, "Just your average, run of the mill monster attack. Nothing me and my friends can't handle."

The pegasus brothers raised an eyebrow at his calm face, the bigger one then asking, "What kind of monster is it?"

His response came with a nearby building exploded, revealing a bear-wasp looking hybrid. It was mainly colored black and white with some streaks of yellow. It had four arms, two black and two white, bright red eyes and antenna-like ears along with a pair of bug wings and instead of a tail, it had a long pointed stinger. The brothers gulped at the sight, Flash keeping a somewhat calm smile as he whispered, "You uh...might wanna take the long way home."

"Right!" The two quickly exclaimed before running away, Flash switching to a fighting stance.

"Alright bug boy, let's dance!" Flash flexed his wings before zipping into the air, only for the bugbear to dodge his incoming bum-rush. And as Flash turned around to strike again, a tornado of light appeared as armor began to form on Flash. "Flash Cutter!" the defender yelled as two energy blades struck the creature, only for no damage to be done. "Huh?! What the heck?!" The bugbear then charged at the pegasi, Flash dodging each swipe as the sound of running hooves could now be heard under him.

"Flash!" he looked down to see his friends climbing the wreckage.

"What took you so long?!" He barked back as he dodged another attack. As this happened, Rainbow bum-rushed the monster, only to be knocked away, Twilight magically summoning a net to catch her.

Iron, Lightning and Springer, now in his battle form, now all leapt at the creature, "Iron Saber!" Iron roared as he swung the sword at the beast, only for it clang off its skin, "What?!"

"Gatling Spark!" The crystal on Lightning's necklace shined as he unleashed a barrage of lightning bullets, the attack also bouncing off of the bugbear's hide.

"Aura Force!" Springer fired a beam of aura, no damage also happening. The creature turned to its attackers next, charging with its stringer thrusted out. Seeing this, Springer pushed both paws out, "Aura Guard!" A dome of blue energy appeared around his body, the bugbear's stinger bouncing off the shield.

The bugbear growled as it flew back, only to for a lasso to wrap around its arm. "Gotcha now!" Applejack grumbled through gritted teeth as she started trying to pull it back. But the monster simply roared as it swung its arm around, the earth pony now being pulled away, "Whoa nelly!" she yelped as she was flung away, Flash and Rainbow quickly catching her. "Thanks..."

The two gave her a nod before taking her to the rest of the mane seven, the defenders working to keep the beast at bay as Flash stared at his lover, "So what's the plan to take down ugly?!"

"I'm not sure yet. So far, nothing seems to be affecting it."

"Yeah, we noticed!" Iron grunted as he made a large spike of metal shoot out the ground, the bugbear instantly destroying it. "Oh, come on!"

"We can't do this forever!" Lightning yelled as he warped away from an attack of the bugbear's stinger, "This thing won't stop!"

Twilight let out a long sigh, "For now, we just need to keep it from doing too much damage until we can figure out a way to stop it."

"That won't be easy!" Flash responded as he took to the air, spinning like a drill as light consumed him, "Flash Driver!" The bugbear merely turned around and backhanded, "Yow!" Flash yelped as he swatted away, crashing into a nearby fruit stand. The pegasi let out a moan as a banana fell off his head while getting up, turning around to see a trio of frowning fillies, "What are you three doing here?!"

"Oh, nothing." Scootaloo replied, making Flash roll his eyes.

"Well do nothing away from here."

"But we wanna watch," Apple Bloom moaned.

"No! Now go!"

The three pouted as Flash shook off the rest of the fruits, only for Scootaloo to ask, "Hey, why aren't you using Lightbringer? Wouldn't an actual sword be useful right now?" This made Flash go red, the defender looking away, "Flash?"

"I may have...left it at home."

"What?! Why?!"

"I can use all my moves with the Sacred Light. I haven't really needed it."

"Until now," Scootaloo said with a raised eyebrow, only to get a glare from the defender, "We're going." With that, the three ran off as Flash grabbed one of the crates and threw it at the bugbear. The wooden box shattered upon impact, splattering a bunch of peaches on the creature.

"Of all the days for this to happen," Flash moaned as he stretched his wings. "Why'd it have be on Cranky and Matilda's wedding day?!"

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked as she fired her party cannon at the bugbear, "The wedding's not until tomorrow!"

This made the others all glance at her, Rarity asking, "Pinkie darling, did you not look at the wedding invitations?"

"No," Pinkie jumped up as the bugbear tried to sting her, hopping onto the monster's head, "Why?"

"Because they said the wedding's today," Rainbow replied, making Pinkie let out a gasp.

"Oh....that's not good. Alright, we need to finish this quick. I've got a lot of work to do."

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Iron barked back as he fired some iron lances at the beast, the knight then turning to his marefriend. "Can't you can talk to it?!"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Whatever this creature is, I can't seem to understand it. All I'm hearing are growls."

"Great..." Iron moaned as pushed her away to dodge an incoming attack.

"Let's just focus on damage control until we can come up with a plan to beat it," Twilight ordered as she fired a beam, the others nodding at her orders.

"I wonder how everypony else's day is going?" Flash asked as charged at the beast, only to be swatted away again, "Augh!" he yelped as he landed right by a garden, his form eating dirt as he skidded past a ton of fruit.

Inside the house connected to the garden was a light pink coated filly with a darker pink mane was sitting in her living room, reading a book. This was Piña Colada, daughter of the town's resident berry farmer and distributer, Berryshine. She was brought out of the book's world as a knock at the door happened, making her trot past a window that showed Flash get up and fly away. A second later, she opened the door, now seeing a certain unicorn, "Oh, hey Amethyst. Is something wrong?"

"Hello Piña, is your mother home?"

"She's down in the basement, working on the punch order for Matilda's wedding tomorrow."

"Please tell me she's almost done."

The filly shrugged before moving to a nearby door and opening it up. "Mom! Amethyst is here to see you!" They blinked as they could hear several hoofsteps, soon revealing an earth pony mare who's coat and mane were darker than her daughter's.

She let out a big yawn, "Hey Star. Sorry, can't talk much. I have a big order to fill out for tomorrow's event."

"That's actually why I'm here," Amethyst added as she started to twiddle her hooves, "You uh...well, would you be able to get it all done today. Like...around this afternoon?"

This question caused the mare to go glassy-eyed. "Come again?"

"There was a mix-up and uh...turns out, Matilda's wedding reception is actually today."

The mare's jaw dropped as her eyes grew the size of dinner plates, "Are you serious?! I can't make the amount she required this afternoon! I haven't even gotten half of it done!"

"You'll have to think of something," Amethyst replied, only to let out an 'eep' as an explosion rang out in the distance. "Just uh...make as much as you can and get it to the town hall before the ceremony begins. I got a few more ponies to inform about the...change in plans." With that, she ran away, the mother and daughter duo blinking as they both spotted Applejack riding the bugbear's back in the sky.

Berryshine moaned as she closed the door, slowly trotting back to her workshop. "Oh no...I can't get all that done before this afternoon!"

Piña watched as her mother head back downstairs, the filly frowning as she knew her mother would be tempted after hearing such news. Following her, she looked down the stairs and saw the giant machine filled workshop her mother worked with. The mare was using the juicing machine, a barrel of freshly picked fruits beside her as she worked to pluck or peel them. Piña then turned to see three full barrels beside the machine while five empty ones were right by it.

And so, the little filly hopped up and began to mimic her mother, Berryshine turning to her in surprise. She had always tried to keep Piña away from her life's work, afraid she may end up suffering from the same control problems she had when she was younger. Even now, she had the occasional lapse, something she knew her daughter should never see.

"Piña..."

"Let me help you mom." the filly instantly replied, the daughter glaring up at her with pure confidence on her face. "You need help."

"I don't need..." her daughter's glare didn't falter, making the mare sigh, "Alright. I know I can't tell you no right now. Just...keep doing that and make sure not to get any twigs or peels in it." With that, her daughter showed a big grin before nodding, Berry putting the fruit down as she then she leapt onto a treadmill that ran the machine. She began trotting at a brisk pace, a giant wheel now spinning as it sucked in the grapes and crushed them into a liquid that was poured into a barrel. The duo smiled as they watched the fourth barrel slowly fill up.





As they did this, a particular peach colored unicorn with a brown mane and tail was walking past their house before getting to the town's marketplace, soon trotting past the many stalls while wearing her usual neighpanese robe. This was Shichimi, daughter and employee of the town's new ramen restaurant. She was currently restocking their vegetable supply, needing twice as much as usual due to a recent business boom. This was mainly thanks to the Princess and Knight of Friendship, the duo having told everypony in town about them.

Since then, their restaurant almost couldn't keep up with the amount of customers they were getting. This included one of their best patrons, the jakhowl Springer. He had already become their most known regular, seemingly eating everything they had on their menu. As such, the mare was thinking about a next new item for the menu when-

"Watch out!" yelled a sudden voice, making her look up and see her best customer fly right by her, ready to crash into a nearby carrot stand. Seeing this, Shichimi's horn sparked, her magic catching the defender before floating him down. The flinching Springer opened his eyes as he was ready for the pain of slamming into Golden Harvest's livelihood, only for it to not happen. "What the heck?!" He yelped as he got up, now seeing what had happened, "Oh. Thanks, Shichimi."

"No problem Springer," the unicorn replied as she took some carrots off of the stall she had just saved. "But what in Equestria sent you flying like that?" The answer came from a mighty roar that filled the air, the bugbear flying by as three ponies chased the creature across the street.

"There's your answer." Springer moaned as he scratched his back, "Guess I gotta get back in there."

"Hold on there." Shichimi took a carrot out of her saddlebag and gave it to Springer. "Don't forget to keep your strength up."

"Thanks again."

"Of course. Now, I believe I need to get to my shop before...you know, that monster gets there."

"Got it. Stay safe Shichimi."

Giving the jakhowl a nod, she ran off as Springer chomped down on the orange vegetable. The mare started her way by going through an alley, only to suddenly find herself being blinded by a pink flash of light. A light blue mare with a silver mare and tail flew out of the burst, letting out a yelp as she crashed into the neighsian pony.

Both fell over, the world spinning around for the duo as produce and a large box wrapped with a golden bow now littered the street. "Ow...what happened?"

"Ugh...did somepony get the number on that carriage?"

"That carriage was me," Shichimi told her as the world refocused around her, "Where did you come from?! You just flew out of nowhere!"

"Owwww..." the mare replied as she started to get up, "Sorry about that. I'm still working on the targeting for my teleportation spell. Here, let me help you up."

"Thank you." She gave her hoof to the mare, helping her up. In response, Shichimi shook her head as she asked, "Um...not to be a bother, but who are you? Oh, and I'm Shichimi, nice to meet you."

"Me? I'm Trixie, and nice to meet you too." Trixie replied as she started to dust herself off. "Again, sorry about that. Now, I need...wait..." The mare began circling around, only to let out a sigh of relief as she spotted the large box from earlier, "Thank Celestia."

She picked it up, shaking it before giving a small smile as she heard nothing from the box. Blinking at the response, Shichimi asked, "Is that important?"

"Very much so. It's a wedding present my teacher forgot to bring, so Trixie's delivering it to her." In that moment, a loud explosion roared in the distance, making both hop in place. And as they turned to the sound, Trixie went wide-eyed as she saw the bugbear fly over a few houses. "What the-what in Equestria is that?!"

"Its a monster attack."

"I can see that. How long has it been going on?"

"No idea. I just found out about it." In that moment they saw Springer and Iron leap at the beast, the two using a combo of Bone Breaker and Iron Hammer into the monster's head.

"Maybe I should lend them a hoof," Trixie commented as they now saw Rainbow grip Applejack's lasso while flying around the bugbear at high speed, tying it up.

"I think they're good," Shichimi added. "You going in there might trip them up. Too many chefs can spoil the broth after all."

Trixie hummed at her statement. "True, though many hooves make light work."

"Don't you still need to deliver that present to your teacher? Why don't you find her first, then if they still need help, you can offer it."

Trixie rubbed her in chin in thought before nodding, "Yeah...that works." She then blinked at the half-destroyed town. "Though how am I going to find Princess Luna in all this?"

This statement made the ramen pony's eyes go wide. "Wait, your teacher is one of the princesses?" Trixie nodded back, making the other pony almost backpedal in shock, "Incredible...er-I mean, are they here for the wedding?"

"Yes."

"Then they'll probably be at town hall. That's where its happening."

"Got it. Thanks." With that, the unicorn ran off with her delivery in hoof. And as she left the ramen pony's sight, the bugbear got free of the lasso before smacking Rainbow across the sky.

The sight made Shichimi gulp, "Oh dear. Maybe I shouldn't have suggested she wait to help."





As Shichimi ran back down an alleyway towards home, she sprinted past a pair of barrels. Seconds later, the barrel lids were lifted off, revealing a pair of unicorn colts. It was Snips and Snails, the duo staring at the battle as Iron and Applejack bucked the bugbear into a building. With this blow, a young pony accidentally walked onto the scene, which led to Rainbow flying in and saving the poor thing from being crushed.

Snips growled as Rainbow got the kid to safety, watching the pony give the hero a thank you before running away, "Look at that Snails! All those heroes are getting all the love and admiration, just like always!"

"Yeah!" Snails added with rapidly nodding his head, "They're getting all the add-me...add-more...whatever you said."

Snips let out a long sigh, "Must be nice to be adored anywhere you go. Colts wanting to be you, mares wanting to be with you."

"Shouldn't that be the other way around? I mean...ain't there more mares than stallions in that group?"

"You know what I mean!" Snips snapped at him, "The only reason they get all the praise and attention is because they're always saving the day," he glanced back at his friend before beating his own chest. "I bet if we saved the day, we'd be loved by everypony in town! Heck, maybe the princesses will make us knights!"

"But I thought there was a reason we didn't put ourselves in unbelievable danger. Aren't the monsters really dangerous and they're trained professionals?"

"That don't matter! We can still try."

"Aren't we also unbelievable cowards?"

Snips growled at the statement, glancing back at the battle as Lightning hopped onto the bugbear's back before sending several hundred thousand volts into it. All it did was make the beast angry, the creature now frantically flying around to shake the unicorn off. That sight alone made Snails point at the battle and say, "See? Ain't that scary?"

"Oh please. We're not cowards Snails. We're just smart enough to not purposefully put ourselves in danger."

"Weren't we gonna go and find an Ursa Major last year? That didn't seem very smart."

"Whatever. We're way smarter now. All we gotta do is find a way to beat that thing without actually getting near it."

"How we gonna do that?"

Snips just smirked as he gave one final glance at the battle, "I have a plan. Follow me." With that, the two's heads descended back into the barrels before two sets of legs appeared on the bottoms before tip-hoofing away.

As this happened, Flash jumped onto his front hooves before beginning to spin like a top, "Flash Vortex!" He yelled as he formed a tornado of light at the monster, creating a sucking force that began to pull the bugbear. But before it could be overtaken, the creature's bottom arms reached inside and clawed the pegasi's hooves. "YOW!" Flash yelped as the tornado vanished, now giving a nervous chuckle to the beast, "Hey...lovely day, isn't it?"

"RRROOOOAAARRR!!!" it screamed before throwing the pegasi in a rage, the defender now slamming into the side of the town's bowling alley.

"Augh!" He cried as he landed in the bushes as the building's doors opened.

"Wait!" He heard the voice of Time Turner cry. "The flameless fireworks are extremely volatile! Without knowing what the trigger is, they could go off at any moment! That and...my word! Is that a bugbear?!"

"Yes, it is," Flash moaned as he pulled himself out.

"Flash! Are you okay?!" Twilight yelled as she ran over and helped him up.

"I've been through worse," Flash grumbled as he cricked his neck. "But seriously, I've been through worse. God-like creatures, insane supercharged unicorns and magic sucking centaurs. We beat all of them, so why are we having so much trouble with this thing?!"

Twilight just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure if this thing was created naturally or by somepony, but whatever it was, they did an incredible job."

Flash grit his teeth as he flared his wings, "Yeah yeah...come on. Let's focus on stopping it before we decide to admire it. Besides, we've still got a wedding to get too."

"Point taken. Let's go!"





As the couple ascended to the sky, ready to get back in the battle, they flew over the house of Berryshine and Piña. The family had just completed their last barrel, Berry letting out a long sigh, "Thank goodness that's over." She then hopped off the treadmill before putting the lid on the barrel. "Now all I gotta do is get these to town hall."

Piña nodded as she moved the bucket she was working with, gasping as she commented, "That was a lot. I need a drink."

"Same," Berry added as she headed for the door.

"Mom..." Piña instantly responded, "You can't-"

"Its fine." Berry interrupted with a laugh, "We have some grape soda in the kitchen. That's what I meant." She saw Piña raise an eyebrow before following her, Berry getting to the fridge before taking out two bottles of purple liquid.

Moving over to the table, she placed them down in front of Piña, the duo drinking in silence before the filly spoke up, "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you...still make punch?"

The question made Berryshine blink at her daughter, "Because it's my special talent."

"But aunt Cherry Berry said your talent was mixing different fruits. You could have made smoothies or jams. But...all you do is make punch, even after your...issues with it."

Berry shook her head, "Sweetheart, I'm not gonna fall off the wagon."

"But you just had a glass last night."

"And that was all I had. One cup isn't gonna make me fall back into how I used to be."

"But why have the temptation? What if one glass leads to a second...and a third?" The little filly looked down at the table, "I heard you and auntie talk about how you used to be before I was born. You were in a really bad place. Your work was always late and ponies would find you asleep in loads of weird places."

"Yeah..." Berry sighed. "Sometimes I can still hear the ringing from that bell." She then started patting the filly on the head, "But that part of my life is over now. I never drink more than one or two cups every now and again."

"But...why have the temptation?"

"Because it's better than going completely cold turkey," Berry responded before taking a sip of her juice. She then pulled her chair around until she was right next to Piña. "Honey, I know you think completely avoiding something like that isn't responsible....but its really not. The uh...the responsible thing is learn to enjoy the thing you like in moderation."

"Moderation?"

Berry did a small hum in thought before asking, "Let me give you an example. You um...you really like candy, don't you?" Piña did a slight nod, "But what would happen if you ate nothing but candy all the time?"

"My teeth would go bad...and Miss Colgate would be super angry at me."

"So would it be the responsible thing to simply never eat another piece of candy again?"

Piña looked horrified by this, "NO! I mean, it's okay if I only have a little candy every now and again-" she stopped talking as something clicked in her head. "Oh."

"Exactly. It's alright to have something that would be bad for you in large amounts as long as you can show the restraint to stop. That's the healthy, responsible thing to do. If you spend your whole life trying to avoid something you like, then it'll always control ya. But what I'm doing, it shows I have control, and...that's moderation."

Piña did another nod, "Alright mom, I understand."

"That's my girl," Berry gave Piña one last hug before finishing off the juice. "But if you ever think I've had too much, be sure to tell me. Moderation might be the right thing to do, but that doesn't mean it's always easy. That's why we have to rely on those we care about to help us see when we've gone too far."

"I will mom," Piña then turned to the kitchen's clock, "Shouldn't you be getting the punch to the hall?"

"Yeah." Berry put the glass up before going to her transport cart...only for the bugbear to suddenly crash down onto it, crushing the wooden device. "Well, that's gonna make things a lot harder." She quickly sprinted downstairs, grabbing the first barrel before heading back up, "Guess I'll just have to take them one at a time."

"You sure you can do that? Those things can be pretty heavy."

"As long as I pace myself, I should be good. Moderation, in everything." She gave her daughter a kiss before heading back outside with her punch barrel in tow.





As she ran down the main street, she passed by Snips and Snails, the colts putting their finishing touches for trapping the bugbear. "Perfect!" Snips exclaimed as he finished tying the last piece of rope. At the same time, Snails was preparing a barrel above them, which Snips smirked at, "With this trap, our road to fame and glory is assured!"

"Yeah..." Snails replied, only to look down with a half frown. "But how's this gonna work?"

This made Snips facehoof before yelling, "Let's go over this again..." He pointed at a rope he had just tied up. "Once the bugbear comes this way, I'll cut this rope, which will make several anvils swing down and hit it. That'll make the bugbear fall into the pit."

"What pit?"

"The pit that you just spent several minutes digging and then filling with super sticky super glue!" Snips screamed after facehoofing again.

"Oh yeah."

"Anyways....once it's in the pit, we'll come out and celebrate. That barrel you just tied up is filled with confetti, which will rain down on us as they accept our thanks and give us knighthood offers!"

"Wow...that sounds cool."

In that moment, the rampaging beast's roar filled the air, making them turn and see the charging monster, several ponies chasing it. "Yes! Here's out chance!" Snips announced as he covered the pit with a blanket, "Hide!" They jumped into a nearby alley as it got closer, Snips whispering, "Almost there. Just a little more, and...NOW!"

His horn glowed before the rope snapped, causing the several anvils that he had set up to swing down. The bugbear saw the first one coming and dodged it, only for second to smack him. Reeling from the blow, the next few slammed into the beast, knocking him into the blanket before falling into the pit.

"We did it!" Snips cheered before the two leapt out of hiding, "We're heroes!" He then used his magic to pull the rope connected to the barrel lid, "Now for the-"

SPLAT!

Before they knew what had happened, Snips and Snails found themselves consumed by a sticky white paste. "What the heck?!" Snips looked down before glaring at the sight, "Wait...this is the glue! Snails!"

"Yeah?" Snail asked, unable to blink thanks to the glue.

"What did you put in the pit?!"

"Uh...the stuff that was in the barrel you gave me."

"That's the one with the confetti! I gave you the one with the glue in it!"

"Yeah...but you gave me two barrels."

"What...I told you which one had the glue in it!"

"You did?"

Snips started to growl at him, only for a bigger growl to sound out. The two then turned to see a confetti covered bugbear with several bumps on its head. "Uh oh." The two tried to move, but the glue kept them in place. "SNAILS!"

But before the beast could enjoy some pony flavored toffee, Flash and Rainbow slammed into its head, knocking it away. "What are you two doing?!" Twilight asked as she used her magic to teleport them out of the glue. "You need to leave, right now!" The bugbear let out another roar as it lunged its stinger at the colts, only for a beam of magic to blast it back. "You heard me! Leave!"

"Yes ma'am!" they both replied in unison as they began to run away.

"Well that didn't go so well," Snails commented as they found another hiding spot.

"Well we're not done yet," Snips told him. "We're gonna catch that bugbear if it's the last thing we do!"

As he announced this, Iron thrust his spear into the ground, "Iron Pillars!" A barrage of metal spikes shot out and made a cage around the beast. As it struggled against the steel, Lightning ran up with electrical energy surging through his hooves.

"Double Smashing Volt!" He yelled as he slammed the two hooves into the cage, a storm of electricity blasting the prison. But as they did this, everypony watched as the bugbear grabbed two of the electrified poles and began bending them as it was zapped.

"Oh no you don't!" Flash held his hoof out, the light swords exploding off his back before spiraling into an orb that Flash caught. "Ultimate Final Move!" Flash pulled the sphere back before tossing it like a buck-ball. And as the bugbear pulled itself free, it backhanded the sphere away. However, Flash merely flew back, spinning like a wheel before kicking the orb with a rear hoof. The strike caused the orb to explode, causing a light to cover Flash as he charged at the bugbear with a huge grin on his face. The light began to spark off his hooves like lightning as Flash turned into what looked like an arrow of light. "SHINING IMPACT!"

The action took barely a second to perform before it smashed into the bugbear, causing a spectacular explosion. But as Flash leapt out of the cloud of dust created, him and his friends gasped as they all saw the bugbear still floating in piece. "Oh, come on!" Flash yelled as angry steam shot out of his ears, "What's it gonna take to finally take this thing down?!"





Another explosion shook the town as Flash went flying over town hall. While he flew over, Berryshine was bringing in the seventh barrel of punch, soon placing it down as she kept panting, sweat pouring down her face, "Heh...just...one left. I should...just make it...in time."

With that, she started to make her way to the door, passing by a certain light blue unicorn that was walking up to her teacher and Celestia. "Thank you Trixie," Luna said as she took the present from her student's hooves, "We appreciate you taking the time to bring us this. Definitely saved us a lot of embarrassment."

"Its no problem," the unicorn replied. "Trixie is happy to help, and it gave me the excuse to come to Ponyville." The roar of the bugbear made the whole building shake, the unicorn gulping at the sound, "That doesn't sound good. Teacher, shouldn't we go-"

"I can't believe you left it on the counter!" Celestia yelled at Luna.

"I thought you were bringing it!" Luna barked back before letting out a 'hmph'. "I handled the gift for Cadance and Shining Armor! You were supposed to do this one, remember?!"

"Well, we're just lucky you actually managed to teach your student a few good spells so I didn't need to think up an excuse!"

"Excuse me?!" Luna growled before leaning up to Celestia's face, "Are you trying to say me teaching Trixie teleportation was just luck?!"

"Well, now that you bring it up, I never thought you really had the patience to teach anything that isn't combat. I guess one non-combat student isn't too hard to mess up."

Luna glared back as her face started to turn red in anger, "I can teach more than combat! Besides, I teach plenty of ponies how to overcome issues that cause them to have nightmares! I'd like to see you try and do that."

"Oh please, like nightmares are anything to worry about."

"I'll remember that the next time your alektorophobia flares up." This made Celestia go wide-eyed, Luna chuckling as she continued, "Oh, how I wish I had a camera during that last nightmare of yours. Watching you be chased by a twenty-foot-"

She didn't get to finish as Celestia thrust her hoof into her mouth. "That's enough Luna!" she barked in a hushed whisper. "I mean it!"

As Luna's face now showed a giant smirk, Trixie had walked away form the argument. She reached out to open the town hall doors, only for them to swing wide-open. Backpedaling at his, the doors revealed Cadance and Shining Armor, the princess shining a small smile, "Oh, hello Trixie."

Trixie did a small bow, "Hello. I didn't know you two were gonna be here."

Cadance did a small giggle, "Oh, Cranky's been a friend of Celestia for a long time, so I've known him since I became a princess."

"Makes sense." Trixie commented before glancing at the outside as she asked Shining, "Aren't you gonna go help your sister deal with the monster out there?"

Shining smirked before shaking his head, "Eh, I think they've got it. They got two Royal Knights, the Elements of Harmony, and a three pretty strong fighters. I don't think there's anything I can add to help the situation."

"That doesn't sound like a very captain-like thing to do...or prince-like. No offense."

"That's because you're not seeing the big picture. While it's true that stopping something like that should be top priority, you should never put all your eggs in one basket."

Cadance nodded in agreement. "If we go out there and join them, they'll be nopony to act as a safety net in case it beats them."

"Huh...I never thought of it like that."

Shining patted her on the shoulder. "I know you wanna help, but sometimes the best way to help is to not help."

"Yeah...maybe you're right." Trixie began to walk to the door, "Well, I'll see you later."

"You're not staying for the wedding?"

"Oh, I wasn't actually invited. I was just delivering something the princesses forgot." She pointed at the two alicorns, who were now sitting back to back with crossed hooves. "Though uh...maybe I shouldn't have if they're gonna argue like that."

"Well, I'm sure nopony would mind if you stayed." Cadance added slinging her hoof over Shining's shoulders, "And you'll get to see Shining do his usual...emotional crying fit."

"Cadance!" Shining whined, the alicorn laughing.

"Oh come on, you know you're gonna do it. The only wedding you didn't seem to cry at was ours."

"Oh, I cried at that one too."

"When?"

"When I got the bill." The two broke out laughing at this, Trixie appearing to be forgotten as they moved to the seats.

Trixie just blinked at the couple, glancing back at the town hall doors. Soon trotting out, she now saw a cream colored earth pony wearing shades jumping from one building to another, a nervous look on her face. Another was a bulky pony covered in jelly that was walking beside a pony with a...questionable fashion sense. Many more ponies were soon filling the streets, looking strangely calm as Trixie saw the bugbear fly over the village again, "I'll never understand this town."

In that moment, she turned a corner only to find something sprinting at full speed, "Whoa!" She quickly grabbed whatever it was with her magic, lifting it above the ground.

"What the?!" She heard as she looked up at what she had levitated, now seeing it was a donkey mare...wearing a wedding dress. "Put me down!"

"Sorry," Trixie put her back down, "I uh...didn't want to get run into again today."

"It's fine," the donkey replied while patting her dress. "You actually did me a favor. Running into somepony else might have knocked me down and my dress would have been ruined."

"Glad to help," Trixie added, only for both to hear a roar. Turning, they now saw the bugbear staring down at her, "And let me do it again!" she yelped as her horn flashed, the two vanishing in a flash of pink light.

They then reappeared on a different street, both breathing a sigh of relief. The donkey turned around next, now seeing where she was. "Thank you, dearie. I'm actually closer to town hall then I was before. You've saved me quite a bit of time."

"As Trixie said before, glad to help."

The donkey let out a long sigh, "That's the one bit of good luck I've had all day. First the wedding invitations got the wrong date, then that monster came to town, and...who knows what else." She looked like she was about to start crying, "This wedding's gonna be a disaster."

Trixie blinked at this, trying to find some words, "Um...I uh....I'm...sure it'll be fine," she gently patted the mare's shoulder. "I mean, so what if a few things go wrong? Isn't the whole point of this so you can be with your future husband?"

"Well, that's what I thought," Matilda moaned. "But then somepony reminded me about all the ponies who took their time to come here, get dressed up and find gifts for us. If the wedding is a disaster-"

"Then I'm sure they won't care," Trixie assured him. "If they only cared about the wedding, I don't think you could call them real friends. I know if ponies came to my wedding and only cared about all the fun stuff, I wouldn't want them there."

Matilda blinked at this, tilting her head at the statement, "Doesn't that sound a little...selfish? I mean, what if they're your family?"

"Isn't it your wedding, though?" Trixie replied with a shrug. "Don't you think it's the one day you can be forgiven for being selfish? As long as you don't take it too far, then you can be forgiven for wanting things done your way. Sure, it's okay to try and make everypony else happy, but don't let it distract you from your happiness. That's the whole point of today, right?"

Matilda opened her mouth, trying to respond. But as she did this, her brain fully processed Trixie's words, now realizing that she could be married in a cornfield and she wouldn't care as long as they were married. "You're right. Thank you for calming me down."

"No problem. And hey, just because everything else isn't as important as you getting married, that doesn't mean we can't try and get it ready. Just don't panic over everything."

"I will," Matilda nodded as they arrived at Sugarcube Corner. "Well, I'd better get my wedding cake. Not sure if I'll be able to get it to the venue in time though. Not that it really matters."

"If it helps, I'll lend a hoof." The donkey gave her thanks as they headed inside, now seeing Mr. and Mrs. Cake finishing the layered dessert.

The two whistled at the sight of the cake, Matilda turning to the unicorn, "Do you think you could teleport us all the way to town hall?"

"Maybe. My aim isn't perfect, and it might make us drop the cake. Probably best to carry it."





As they began to take the giant dessert out of the store, Berryshine walked by, the last barrel tilting on her back. Her body was moving at a snail's pace, sweat pouring down her face. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" She cried as she put it down, wiping her brow, "There has to be an easier way of getting this blasted thing there!"

She slumped over as she looked around, trying to see if anypony around might help her. But all she saw was Pipsqueak and Filthy Rich, knowing the first didn't have the strength while the other would likely charge a small fortune. A long sigh happened after this, only for her body to feel a sudden rhythmic beating. Feeling it in the ground, she turned around and let out a gasp.

It was a literal DJ system on wheels, complete with a sofa on top. The machine was zooming through town, holding a bunch of shocked town ponies. Within seconds, Berry found herself knocked into the air, soon landing on the side with the last barrel. However, the mare couldn't even comment on the event as the machine turned a corner, the passengers now all spotting Matilda, the Cakes and Trixie walking down a alleyway. Mr. Cake had the large cake on his back, Trixie helping him keep it sturdy with her magic. She then turned to see the sound shattering device come for them, reflexes kicking in as her horn flared.

SHING!

A flash of pink light appeared at the wedding venue, four ponies and two foals now landing as the dessert on Mr. Cake's back began to tilt. And as it began to fall over, Trixie's horn flashed again, her magic gripping the cake just before it could slump over. Seeing this, Mr. Cake got his grip on the cake again, helping Trixie take it to a nearby table. "Phew!" they both sighed as they placed the sweets on the table, only for Trixie to feel the donkey next to her pull her into a hug.

"Thank you! You got us here just in time!" she then released the hug as she asked, "But...I thought you said it was too dangerous to teleport?"

"Well, when I saw that...thing coming at us, my instincts just took over. But what was that?" Before anypony could reply, a barrage of ponies started flying into the building, even the non-pegasi ones. As they did this, each one landed on one of the chairs that filled the room. The only ones who didn't were a pair of ponies that were carrying instruments, the two landed a little ways off from Trixie.

The whole group blinked at the sight just as the earth pony turned to the DJ unicorn, "Something like that might work."





As the ponies inside town hall started to get over the sudden event of them being flung inside, an orange blur could be seen just outside the window. It was Flash, now being hit into yet another tree. The rest of his friends were close by, all panting at the sight of the monster still flying over them.

"Good grief, how much punishment can this thing take?!" Lightning asked as he wiped his brow.

"I don't know," Flash replied as he got back up, "But I do know that if we don't finish this, the wedding's gonna be done and over with."

"ARGH!" Pinkie screeched at the monster, "Why won't you just be beaten already?! I GOT PLACES TO BE!!!"

"Wait!" Fluttershy pointed at the beast, the rest now seeing the bugbear start to pant, "Look....its tired."

"That means we can beat it!" Twilight declared with a big smile.

"But how?!" Applejack asked with a grimace. "Tired or not, that thing's one tough critter."

Flash nodded in agreement, "She's right. Even my best attack didn't hurt it."

"FLASH!" a sudden voice called, the group turning to see the CMC running up to them with a very familiar-looking sword. "Catch!" They tossed it into the air, Flash zipping up to put the sword into his hooves, a warm aura glowing off the blade.

Flash could feel the power radiating off it, Scootaloo's words going through his head, "Maybe..." he gripped the blade before turning to his friends, "I got an idea. Give me a few seconds."

They all nodded as they ran after the monster, firing a mass of attacks to distract the creature. And as this happened, Snips and Snails were watching the event from behind a bush. "Alright, here's our chance." Snips whispered as he turned to his partner, "Did you get the net?"

"I think it's got me!" Snails yelped as Snips saw that the colt was now upside-down, the net tangled on both his front and back hooves.

"SNAILS! We don't have time for this!" Snips yelled as he started to pull on the net, only for his hooves to get caught in the rope.

As this was happening, Flash let out a long deep breath before opening his eyes, "I'm ready! Everypony, stand clear!"

They all nodded as they fired one last attack, soon leaping away as Flash looked up at the beast. He let out a mighty roar as a burst of light exploded off his back, slamming his blade into the ground. Seconds later, the Sacred Light began to spiral around the weapon, forming a shining tornado.

Everypony went wide-eyed at the sight as they watched Flash reach into the vortex, pulling Lightbringer's handle out. But as he pulled it out, the blade now showed itself to be made entirely out of light. He then kept pulling back, the blade extending more and more before the tornado completely vanished, now becoming part of the sword. The blade was now roughly two and a half times longer than Flash was, but the pegasus had no trouble lifting it.

His friends awed at this sight as Flash leapt into the air. "Ultimate Final Move!" He roared while raising the sword above his head, "SHINING BLADE OF THE HEAVENS!" He then swung the sword down, the blade of light striking the monster with ease. The attack went right through it's body, a massive explosion following this.

"RRRAAAUUGGHHH!!!" it screamed before falling like a rock, swirls appearing in it's eyes.

Everypony stared down at the fallen monster, not noticing a certain earth pony smiling at the sight as they fell over in exhaustion. "I can't...believe...we did it," Rainbow panted.

Iron let out a long sigh, "That had to be one of the toughest battles we've ever faced."

"But it's over now," Flash told them before holding up his Celestic Gear. "And on the plus side, I now know I can combine my Sacred Light with Lightbringer." He patted the sword, "I guess I have been neglecting you a little bit. Sorry, bud."

As he did this, the others all stared at him, blinking as Springer whispered, "I think Flash might have hit his head one too many times today."

The others giggled at his statement as Flash turned to Scootaloo and her friends, smiling while patting her head. "Thanks sis, you were a big help. And just this once, I'm gonna overlook you disobeying me over jumping into a dangerous situation."

"Thanks bro," Scootaloo replied with shining a huge grin before pointing to the knocked out monster. "What are you gonna do with that thing?"

Twilight let out a long sigh. "I'll have Princess Celestia and Luna transport it to Tartarus after the wedding-"

"THE WEDDING!" They all screamed before running off to town hall.

As they left, Snips finally got the net off of Snails. "Alright!" He cheered as he spun around and threw the net in the direction of where the battle had been, closing his eyes at the same time. "Take this!" He yelled before waiting for a few seconds, already expecting his trap to fail and for the bugbear to roar at them. But when nothing happened, he cracked an eye open and saw the net was on top of the unconscious monster. "We...we did it. WE DID IT! Did everypony see-" He then started to blink as he now saw him and Snails were now alone, the entire town completely deserted. "Oh, come on!"





The group was in full sprint to the town hall, the clock striking the hour that the wedding was set to begin. "We're gonna make it!" Flash called out as the doors were slammed shut. "BLAGH!" He yelped as his face hit the doors, his whole form sliding down the frame, "Or not..."

Twilight walked up next, now seeing that the door was locked, "Hmm...looks like we're too late."

"Can't you teleport us inside?" Rarity asked as Twilight put her ear to the door.

The princess listened for a second before shaking her head, "Sounds like it's already started. If I teleport us in, we'll interrupt everything."

Pinkie's hair deflated at this, "So we won't get to enjoy the wedding?"

"Guess not," Applejack sighed as she turned around, "Blasted critter took the whole day away."

Flash moaned as he picked himself up, rubbing his nose. "We could just watch through the window." This comment got them all to turn around, all nodding before going to one of the windows.

They all looked inside, now hearing Mayor Mare speak up. "But I also see so many ponies from all trots of life, all brought together by love. Cranky searched all across this great land of ours to find Matilda, and no matter what obstacles kept them apart, love finally brought them together, just as it has brought all of us together now. It's remarkable to me how a story like Cranky's search for Matilda could fill this room with such a unique collection of ponies! It makes you realize that everypony is the star of their own story, and it's not just the main characters in our stories that make life so rich! It's everypony – those who play big parts and those who play small. If it weren't for everypony in this room and many more who couldn't be here today, Cranky and Matilda's lives wouldn't be as full and vibrant as they are."

The ponies outside all smiled in agreement. They may have been the ones who saved the day, all sitting in the limelight, but that didn't mean they weren't as important as other ponies. And without those ponies cheering them on, those obstacles made have never been overcome.

"And so, in front of all these loved ones," Mayor Mare turned to the male donkey. "Cranky, do you take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"You bet I do!"

Mayor Mare suppressed a giggle before turning to the female donkey. "And do you, Matilda, take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Matilda, who was beginning to tear up, replied. "I do!"

"Then I'm proud to say, I now pronounce you jack and jenny!" With that, the two donkeys stepped forward and shared a kiss, everypony cheering at the sight. In that moment, the strange flowers that were piled up beside them began to shake and glow before-

KABOOM!

They shot into the air and exploded, filling the hall with a spray of vibrant lights, making everypony gasp in awe. Back outside, the heroes watched the event unfold with smiles on their faces. Twilight gestured them to leave after this, all walking down the steps before looking out at the town, "You know something? We are so lucky to live in this town." Everypony nodded in agreement as they moved over to her, Twilight grabbing them in her magic. "I love you all!" With that, she pulled them all into a hug. "Thank you for being my-"

"Ow!" Rainbow cried, "That's where the bugbear bit me!"

"Sorry!"

With that, the hug ended, all of them moaning in pain before breaking out into laughter. As they did this, it truly showed that Equestria had many amazing ponies who risked their lives to protect it, but it also showed everypony was special in their own way. As long as they stood together and helped one another, Equestria would always be the land of harmony.