Canterlot, ten years ago.
On the streets of Canterlot, most would consider it to be a quiet city at the end of the day. The high-class ponies were busy living their luxurious lives when something caught their ears. They turned their heads to see a screaming earth pony run down the streets.
"GET BACK HERE!" He roared, the others now seeing he was chasing a young foal who was quick on his hooves. He was a pegasus pony with an orange coat and a dark blue colored mane and tail. In his mouth was a brown bag, obviously filled with delicious food, "When I get my hooves on you, I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The young colt said nothing as he zipped into an alleyway, only to find that it was a dead end. The wall wasn't very tall, but it was at least double the height of the young pegasus colt. He leapt up to grab the edge, but it was just out of reach, as his wings were currently useless.
"I've got you now," the earth pony said in a low, menacing tone. The colt looked back at the towering adult, only for a bulb to go off in his head. As the earth pony charged at him, the colt slid through the ground, going right between the earth pony's legs. This caused the earth pony to look down, unable to stop himself as he then kissed the dead end wall with a resounding 'thud'.
The colt smirked before hopping onto the earth pony, using him as a springboard to reach the top of the wall. As he began to scramble his hooves to try to get over the wall, the earth pony slowly getting up while rubbing his head, "You...you won't get away that easy brat!"
"You think this is easy?!" The colt yelped as he got over the wall, throwing the bag over the concrete. He then stuck out his tongue, spitting raspberries, “Later jerk!”
With that, he hopped down and ran down another alleyway. It wasn't long till he reached a small park area, hopping down on a bench as he pulled out a slice of pizza out of the bag. "Nice one Flash. Here's to lunch."
Cloudsdale...
Rainbow huffed as she stood on the starting block, leaning down as she readied herself to begin her race against the bullies. She watched Fluttershy in the corner of her eye, the filly waving the flag to begin the race. And as soon as the flag went down, Rainbow shot off through the course.
Up above her, a cloaked figure stood watching, his eyes darting around as he switched between the race and a group of ponies. He watched as he saw the unicorn known as Starlight Glimmer hold out the key to his future in his magic. She was talking to the alicorn Twilight, her magic slowly beginning to tear the scroll.
But as he watched, the unicorn began to put the scroll down, making him sigh. Shaking his head next, he looked back at the speeding filly as a shadow consumed his hooves. The darkness soon took the shape of a bow, which he pulled back as he formed a shadow arrow.
And as he released his hoof, the projectile shot through the air, instantly piercing the racing pegasus filly through the heart.
Meanwhile, back at Canterlot...
Flash moaned as he finished off the slice of pizza, licking his lips while sitting back on a bench. The park was no different from any other time he had been there, nothing out of the ordinary happening. He then spotted a green unicorn filly play off in the distance, not a care in the world.
Shrugging at the sight, Flash threw the bag away before heading off to find his dinner. His flank was still completely bare, free of any distinguishing marks. Once again, time had been rewritten.
Two weeks had passed since that day, Flash the colt now walking to his treehouse home after another successful day of swiping food from another restaurant. He had already eaten his bounty, now taking a leisurely stroll through the park with not a care in the world.
"My books!" He stopped at the sound of the voice before turning around. There he spotted a purple unicorn filly who's saddlebag was being tossed around by a bunch of older colts, tears pouring down her face.
There was one universal constant in the world. You could simulate this exact scenario again and again over a million times, and each time, you'd get the same outcome of Flash seeing this. With or without a cutie mark, the colt would rush over and try to help the filly. And in over a million different universes and timelines, the number of times Flash walked away from this situation without helping...is one.
"Nah. Its not like its my problem." Flash whispered to himself as he spun around, walking away as a long yawn escaped his breath. In his mind, he knew that helping her wouldn't change anything in his life. There were more important things to worry about in his life after all.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Two months later...
"AUGH!" Flash yelped while rubbing his stomach, groaning as he trotted through the town. He hadn't eaten anything in five days, as the restaurants had all gotten smarter. They had all employed some brainiac to use some kind of magic he couldn't even pronounce: rone, run, ron, whatever it's called, to make a barrier that Flash couldn't get through. As such, food was unobtainable, and without it would mean the end of his little colt life.
Reality was now settling in, the colt seeing that he had overstayed his welcome in Canterlot. There was no way of getting any food, which meant he needed a new solution. But as he wandered around, a new idea came to mind. It started with the blowing of a whistle, making him turn and see a train come into the local station.
Flash blinked at the site as he snuck into station, wondering if there was any food there, only to see a barrage of ponies boarding a train. He then noticed a line of children getting onboard, likely part of a school, "Perfect." He slowly snuck up to the line and spotted the teacher ticking names off her clipboard as they got onboard. Seeing this, he went over to a large pile of suitcases near the line and pulled one loose, quickly zipping back to the line. The noise of the pile's collapse soon caught everypony's attention, allowing him to sneak behind the distracted teacher.
"And now...I'll just pretend to be a schoolcolt." he said to himself as slipped into a carriage and began to go to the very back car. It wasn't long till the train pulled away from the station, the colt now successfully sneaking to the final carriage's balcony. Here, he watched his former house get smaller in the distance, "See ya Canterlot. When I come back, it won't be as a street rat. I don't know what I'll be, but it'll be somepony important."
And so, Flash began a new life as a travelling wanderer.
Instead of simply staying in one town or city for a long period of time, he chose to stay for about a month at a time while experiencing as much as he could. He did everything he could to stay alive, starting off by returning to his old ways of sneaking into restaurants to nab food. But as the years went on, he found himself unable to just be a small food thief. As such, he became a pickpocket, purse thief and whatever else he could do to get money while travelling around Equestria. He had hoped by travelling all over the kingdom, maybe he could finally find the place where he belonged.
But no matter where he went, he still couldn't find a place he felt comfortable spending the rest of his life. Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Applewood and so many small towns not worth mentioning....none would satisfy him.
The cold, frozen north...
The Friendship Express cut through the snow until it reached the northern most station, coming to a stop in a frozen wasteland before one of the carriages opened up. "End of the line!" The conductor yelled as he and several train workers tossed something out, that being a pony as he slammed into a pile of snow on the station while letting out a loud, "Blaugh!"
"Don't let me catch you riding without a ticket again!" The conductor told the pony in the snow, the figure revealing to be an older Flash.
"Hey, come on!" He yelled back at them, "You can't leave me out here! I'll freeze to death!"
"You got any bits for a ticket?"
"No."
"Then you're not riding." With that, the conductor shut the doors before the train pulled away to reverse back down the track. Flash cursed in the wind, causing snow to fall off the station roof and bury him.
"Dang it!" he screeched as he pulled himself out of the snow. Now being older, hiding in trains had gotten harder, and as such...his luck ran out. Now he was stuck on a blank station in a frozen wasteland, no other pony around for miles.
"Aw crap..." the stallion whispered as he folded his wings over his body, the chilling snow wind now embracing his body. He then spun around, seeing nothing but snow...a pure white land everywhere.
"So cold..." he said as an hour passed, his body now going numb as he sat at the station. His eyelids were growing heavy, the stallion slowly beginning to drift in and out of consciousness. "Am I...gonna die?"
As he asked this question, something suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye. Turning to the sight, he saw a bright light shine in the distance. His eyes went wide next, now seeing a beautiful crystal city appear in the horizon. "What the heck?!" Flash gasped as he picked himself up, his eyes twitching as he wondered if he was hallucinating.
However, the chills of icy wind hit him again, making him realize only one thing. The city in the distance might be his only savior. As such, he began to trudge through the snow, his body barely moving as most of his energy was already sapped. But as he did this, time seemed to slow down, his body somehow going through the snow with ease. And as he got halfway between the station and the city, he felt something. It was like a presence, a dark ominous shiver down his spine as the snow swirled around him.
It was here that he heard it, a sound that made him feel like death was close by. The noise sounded like a beast in the blizzard, one that made his hairs stand on end, "Who's there?!" He yelled into the storm while spinning around, "Come out!"
But as he asked this, the ground around him began to shake. Flash's body froze at the shake, only for his eyes to go wide as he saw a new sight appear right in front of him. Before him was a giant pitch-black cloud, the fog spinning in a tornado shape as a pair of eyes lingered over the top of the mist. The eyes were red and green with purple smoke around the edges, a red curved horn now appearing along with a giant sinister smile.
The creature laughed as the tornado flew at him, Flash screaming as he tried to run away, only for the smoke to quickly engulf him. "AAAAHHHH!" He screamed as he felt something grab him, pulling him into the dark cloud, "Lemme go!"
"No."
The voice was booming, the sound making Flash's eyes go wide as he looked back at the eyes in the dark fog. "Wha…"
"Hello young one, I am Sombra, Equestria's rightful ruler."
"Som...bra?" Flash whispered, only for a black tendril to appear and slam into his chest. He spat out a blob of blood as Sombra threw him into the snow. "BLAUGH!"
"Be silent. You are before a king."
"Uhn…" Flash moaned as he just stared up, now seeing the dark fog morph into a dark unicorn. The unicorn's body wasn't fully formed though, his back hooves and tail still like a dark mist. The sight made him go silent, fear consuming the stallion as the dark pony shined a huge smile.
"Excellent. Now young stallion, with your help, I will retake my kingdom faster than I was expecting."
Those words made Flash's eyes go wide, "My help?! What are you-mmph!"
A black tendril smacked his face, Sombra stomping a hoof on Flash's chest, "Be silent! You will help me by giving me your body. With it, I won't have to spend days rebuilding mine, and then I can take the Crystal Empire back with ease."
Flash wanted to respond, but he couldn't even breathe. Sombra's black tendrils had now stabbed his chest, black veins covering his body as Flash felt his consciousness slip away, "No..." was all he could mutter out as his orange fur began to morph into a bleached gray color. As for his mind, the flame of his life grew dimmer until it was just a single ember.
But before that light could extinguish, something happened. Flash's eyes shot open as a bright light appeared within, Sombra screaming as the light spread up and began to infect the tornado, "WHAT?!" he yelped as the light grabbed him, "RAUGH! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
The light then reached his face, screams echoing across the wasteland as the light began to consume him. His mind quickly melted, only to fall over as the light sucked him into Flash's body. Both light and shadow then appeared within the snow, creating a pillar of power that made both dance around the ice.
And as the shadows and light fought...the darkness slowly ate the light, soon consuming the light as a singular body sunk into the snow. It was here that a full minute passed, only for a certain pegasi head to suddenly lift up. Pain was nonexistent as Flash began to pick himself up. His eyes were closed as he got up, the feeling of the cold snow not even affecting his body.
There was no pain. Instead, there was something else going through the pony's body: Memories. Knowledge and ideas of a whole another life flashed before his mind. His eyes opened next, reveling them to be bright red and green while purple smoke steamed off to the sides. He then looked down, whispering, "What...is happening to me?" As he asked that, black smoke appeared on his hooves, making him gasp.
He then saw the smoke swirl around his hoof, soon pointing it down as the shadow shot out of his hooves and blasted the snow beneath him. "Whoa..." he gasped, glancing back at his hooves as the shadows began to morph around it. They then turned to a claw, the pegasus chuckling at this. "Cool."
The pegasi began to play around with the shadows, making swords, shields, tendrils and even arrows with ease. "Wow...this is awesome. This power..." He clenched his hooves, "I can't believe it."
But as these words left his mouth, a new thought popped into his head. This one surprised him, the idea swirling in his mind as something new came to mind. Desire. As this happened, a giant grin began to grace his face.
However, this would be interrupted as a flash of light caught his attention next, making him look back at his flank. The back had always been blank ever since he was a foal. But now, an image proudly displayed itself upon his rear. That image was of a shield what had been broken into four by a shadow arrow.
Flash smirked as he looked back at the city, more of Sombra's memories appearing in his head. Ruby, the Crystal Heart, everything. He knew what he had to do.
"I know what I am now...my desire...I will conquer all there is."
And so it began.
"AUGH!" Ruby screamed as Flash pinned her against the wall of the castle's throne room, his shadow claws wrapping around her neck.
Flash laughed as he began to tense up the shadows, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. I'll ask you again Ruby, will you stand beside me as I take Equestria for myself?"
Ruby gargled out a breath, still weak from waking up just like the rest of the crystal ponies. If she was at her full strength, this colt wouldn't stand a chance against her, but now she was helpless, her horn covered in the black crystals Flash had learned to create from Sombra. "I'll never...join you."
"I see. Such a shame." With that, he tossed her across the room, her body smashing into a wall before slumping over. A bunch of crystal ponies ran over to her next, all of them having been in the room with her when Flash had arrived. "Well don't just stand there," Flash trotted over to the throne, "Bring me your strongest chains. If she isn't chained up in the next hour, I'll find a more permanent method of preventing her from getting in my way...and you will join her." The ponies all ran off in fear, Flash smirking as he sat down, his back feeling the smooth cushiony throne, "Ahh...this feels so good. I could get used to this."
That was just the beginning. Ruby spent two days chained up until Flash found Sombra's control mask, the knight now being the first to have one placed on her. The rest of the Crystal Empire soon followed, quickly enslaving the whole populace by the time Cadance and Shining Armor arrived with a small army. Flash just laughed at the sight, cocky enough to meet them on the battlefield with his own army.
The pegasus had also found Sombra's wardrobe along with the helmets, haven taken to wearing Sombra's armor but finding the cape tacky. Instead, he had one of the city's blacksmiths build him a mask. It was made of the empire's toughest metal, ultra-strong and had light special ruby lenses to protect his eyes and a filter system to fight poison gas. The Crystal Empire was seriously advanced for being a thousand years behind the times.
The battle raged for three days before concluding, Flash being victorious. It hadn't been easy, but his shadow powers were something Shining and Cadance couldn't find a way to stop. Having inherited Sombra's knowledge of battle tactics, he easily gained advantage by having Ruby create a wall of crystal, Flash using this to get to one on one fight with Cadance. And after a long fight with the alicorn, he emerged victorious, complete with her as his new hostage.
Shining Armor was eager to surrender after that, Flash's army capturing and planting control helmets on them all. Flash might have lost a good portion of his army, but he now had new Equestrian soldiers. Cadance was then locked in the castle, Flash knowing she would have other uses. He then began his conquest by going south, gaining more experience and control over his shadow magic with each fight. The more he fought and conquered, the more he recruited to his ranks.
The biggest obstacle had been the Royal Knights, each one proving difficult in their own rights. But as each came, he slowly defeated them all. The last knight, Grand something, had fallen by his hooves on the eve of Flash's attack on Canterlot. It wasn't very much an attack though, more like a simple march through his former home.
And what a joy it was for him. He would never forget the sight of his hometown being leveled, leaving only the castle as Celestia began to face him. Flash knew she would be his toughest opponent, but that was why he had kept Cadance safe. Celestia heard his ultimatum, surrender or she dies, knowing the fear of losing her niece to be just enough for Flash to land a hit in their battle. With this strike, Celestia's horn was encased in crystal, sealing her magic as Flash beat her down.
And so, Equestria had fallen to a pony barely over the age of twenty.
Celestia and Cadance were both kept under lock and key, their horns remaining crystalized and their wings bound. Flash now had complete access to all of Canterlot's knowledge, spending many of his early days reading through the books and scrolls to amass more power. He had to admit, Sombra's memories were quite helpful in teaching him to be literate.
The pegasi also spent much of his time dealing with potential threats. He shattered a certain draconequus statue before heading down to Tartarus to slay all the prisoners. Griffons, changelings, yaks, minotaurs...these races were all nothing to his army. He had even learned that Celestia had recently resealed Nightmare Moon back in the moon, so she wouldn't be a problem for a while, but he wasn't worried. All that was left was a few small token resistance groups, which he went on a march to snuff them all out.
Destruction was everywhere he touched, towns and cities turned to burning rubble as he continued to roam the land. And as he destroyed that last town he could find in Equestria, he found a nice blue cloak in a clothes shop that he took for himself before levelling everything.
Flash's life was everything he had ever wanted. He had left Canterlot a filthy street rat, and returned a king. He couldn't be more happy.
But he always felt like he could have more. It was here that he went back to the ruins of Canterlot, searching through the Royal Library as he wanted to see if there was anything he had missed. He had all the time in the world after all, and as he went through some scrolls...one of them lit, covered in a weak blue light.
"Hmmm? What's this?" He asked while removing his mask and picking up the scroll, unfurling it, "This is...time travel?"
As these words left his mouth, a bright light blasted into his eyes, "AUGH! What the-" he could respond to what happened next, the scroll summoning a portal above him. Looking up, he felt his body start to be sucked up into the wormhole, "What is...NO!"
And in a blink of an eye, he was gone.
The Present...
"GIVE IT TO ME!" Flash screeched as his shadow tendrils shot at Twilight, the alicorn staring in shock at the sight of her boyfriend's dark counterpart.
"Twilight!" Spike cried as he saw this, "Move!"
But she couldn't. The alicorn could only stare as the tendrils got closer, only for something to slam into side, knocking her aside. She then felt a blue light consume her, teleporting her away as she saw where she once was now being covered in shadow spikes.
"You okay?" She turned to the voice, now seeing Starlight pick herself up.
Twilight's brain finally turned on as she asked, "You...you saved me?"
"Yeah," Starlight panted as she helped her up, "I uh...I guess I did." Her ears spiked up next as shadow arrows flew through the air, making her summon a domed shield. And as the attacks bounced off the dome, she added, "But I can't do it forever! Please wake up Twilight!"
Spike then grabbed the alicorn's shoulder, "Twilight, what's wrong with you?! Why were you just standing there?!"
Twilight didn't answer, instead just glancing at Flash, "But...that's Flash. How could he do this?"
Spike looked between her and Flash, only to grab Twilight's face and pull it in front of his, "Twilight, that's not Flash." Twilight just frowned at his statement, making the drake sigh, "Okay, it is Flash. But it's not our Flash. He may look...sorta like him, but he's not the same pony our Flash is."
Starlight nodded, though she quickly looked back at Flash as he attacked the shield again, "You heard what said before. In every other timeline, Flash Sentry is good. He's the one exception!"
Spike nodded back, turning back to Twilight, "You know Flash, our Flash, wouldn't try to attack you. That's...not...Flash."
Twilight stared at Flash, the pony now close to shattering Starlight's shield while seeing the sinister look emblazoned on his face. There was pure hatred, violence inside those eyes. Nothing that would be on her Flash's face. "What am I doing?" she whispered, now seeing that this Flash was no different from the Rarity and Rainbow Dash that had followed Nightmare Moon. These ponies were nothing like the ones she knew.
Starlight groaned as she felt another crack appear in her shield, Flash's shadow claws beginning to slowly pull it apart. "I'll say it again. Give...me...THE SCROLL!" Starlight didn't respond, all her focus on the shield.
"Here's your answer!" The alicorn screamed as she fired a blast at Starlight's shield, repairing the cracks and pushing Flash's shadow claws away. She then teleported out of the dome, reappearing in front of Flash as they both stared each other down.
"You...you want the scroll to travel back to the past, change things, then return to the future so you can kill that world's Flash Sentry?!"
Flash shined a huge grin, "That's right. It sickens me to think there are versions of me out there that waste their time looking after others. I won't stop until every last one is gone. I won't rest until I am the only Flash Sentry."
Twilight's eyes narrowed as she replied, "You can't seriously think you can wipe out every other Flash in the multiverse. Every action anypony has ever made creates a new future. You could keep travelling through the multiverse until the end of time and never even go to over one percent of the worlds out there."
"I have to try," Flash growled before more shadow claws formed around of his body. "Now give me that scroll."
He started firing shadow arrows at Twilight, the alicron taking to the sky as she dodged each before starting to block them with her magic. She then unleashed a barrage of magical blasts, but Flash summoned a wall of shadows, blocking her attacks as well. The pegasi formed a sword of darkness in his hooves next, sprinting at Twilight as a blast of blue magic suddenly flew at his side. His shadows blocked the magic, making him turn to Starlight as she started attacking him, "Oh? Have you come to give me the scroll?"
"No way!" Starlight fired another blast, Flash deflecting it with his shadow sword, "I brought you into the past, meaning I need to be the one to put an end to you!"
Flash let out a mighty laugh, "You think you can stop me?! I've defeated entire armies, the Royal Knights, and even alicorns! You think a basic, simple unicorn can stop me on her own?!"
"Except she's not alone," Flash turned to Twilight as she launched another beam of magic, Flash smirking as he held out a hoof as shadows shot out and blocked both ponies' attacks. The mares quickly glanced at one another and nodded before flying around Flash erratically, launching blast after blast at him that he began blocking with ease.
"USELESS!" Flash screeched as he shot up to hit Twilight with a shadow claw, the alicorn just managing to dodge him. But as this happened, Flash summoned a ball of shadows, firing it next.
"Twilight, look out!" Spike yelled, but it was too late. Twilight was struck by the sphere in an instant, which exploded into shadows that wrapped themselves around her.
"YAUGH!" Twilight screamed as her wings and front hooves were pressed into her body, preventing her from flying before gravity took hold, "AAAAAHHH!"
Starlight and Spike gasped, Starlight unable to help her as Flash launched a stream of shadows at her like a flamethrower. All she could do was form a shield, the force of the shadows pushing her back. And so, Twilight was helpless as she fell towards some rubble. She tried a teleport spell, but the shadows came along with her, making her wings still useless. And seconds before she hit the rubble, her horn shined as she casted a wind spell, slowing her down until hitting the pile. "Ow!" she yelped as scratches covered her body, "Owwwww…"
"Twilight!" Spike cried as he ran over and started digging into the pile of rubble. Twilight groaned as she tried to pull herself free, the shadows pulling on her body. She then started to summon her magic to push the darkness away, but her horn could barely get a spark.
As this happened, Starlight now found herself buckling against Flash's attack again, her shield cracking once more, "Too...strong." And as the shield came close to breaking, Starlight quickly reacted, teleporting away as Flash's shadow claw cut the shield in half.
Flash growled at the sight, "You can't hide forever..." He then turned around, now seeing Spike digging on top of the pile of rubble, Flash grinning as he summoned a shadow arrow before aiming at the drake.
"Hang on!" Spike as he pushed the last bit of rubble away, now seeing the shadows binding Twilight. He then grabbed hold of the shadow, his claws now pulling at the darkness as Twilight began to get out of the rubble. As they did this, Twilight glanced over to Flash, now seeing him aim the arrow.
"MOVE!" Twilight screamed as she grabbed Spike in her magic and tossed him away, the arrow striking the pile and knocking both into opposite directions. "Aaahhhh!" She cried as she started rolling down the pile, soon flopping in front of a certain somepony.
A black tendril pulled Twilight's back hoof before pulling her up, now face to face with Flash as he tapped her chin, "I thought you looked familiar. There was a pony who looked just like you that worked in the Canterlot Library...but she didn't have those pretty little wings." He smirked before whispering in her ear, "I wonder if you'll scream the same way she did." Twilight's eyes went wide before narrowing, the alicorn roaring as she summoned a blast of magic, making Flash quickly leap away, "Oh? Feisty, aren't we?"
"Spike was right! You're nothing like the real Flash!" She screamed as she fired another blast, Flash smacking the beam away.
As he did this, anger covered his face as he yelled, "I am the real Flash!" He then formed a shadow claw and slashed at Twilight, the alicorn teleporting before he could strike. Flash growled at this, quickly taking to the sky before looking down to see Twilight now on the other side of the pile.
She had teleported over to Spike, helping him up. "Now, you're going to-RAUGH!" Flash yelped as a blast of magic struck his side, making him to turn to see Starlight flying at him with a sharp piece of metal in her magic. She swung it at him next, Flash simply blocking it with his shadow sword. Starlight tried to push through, but then saw the metal was beginning to melt, forcing her to pull back.
"AUGH!" Starlight screamed as he thrust the sword next, the sword's tip now hitting her shoulder, causing a burn that made her fall to the ground. But as she fell, Twilight swooped in and caught her, her magic now gripping the rubble around her before tossing them up at Flash.
The pegasus's hooves became wrapped in shadows that formed giant fists, shattering them with ease as Twilight put Starlight down. "You okay?"
Starlight hissed as she held her shoulder and nodded, "I'll be fine." She looked up at Flash, the pegasi now finishing the barrage of rubble. "He's so strong. We...we have to get out of here! We have to get back to the table!"
"That won't work." Twilight replied, only to teleport her and Starlight away as Flash unleashed a wave of shadow arrows, the stallion roaring as he saw he missed. While he did this, they reappeared by Spike, the drake hiding behind a pile of rubble. There, she continued, "If we go back to the past, he'll just be pulled back with us and stop the Rainboom again." She glanced over the rubble as saw Flash destroying a bunch of rubble with some shadows, now spotting his time scroll in his cloak's pocket, "Our only hope is to get our hooves on his scroll."
The two nodded, but before they could even get to a strategy, a shadow beam shot from the distance. It carved a trench along the ground as it got close, Twilight grabbing Spike before she and Starlight teleported out of harm's way second. An explosion came next, Flash taking a deep breath as he stared at the now forming smoke cloud.
"Hmm...did I get them?" he commented, only to turn around and see Twilight hop from behind a large rock, the alicorn unleashing a burst of magic right at him. "Tch, how pointless." He raised a hoof, shadows now forming a protective shield to block her magic. The two forces clashed, Flash quickly finding Twilight's magic push his barrier. "Hmm? Now this is a surprise. Are you actually trying to overpower me?"
Flash chuckled at this, his eyes soon seeing something in the corner of his eye. It was Starlight, firing a beam as well, which Flash summoned another wall of shadows to block it. All three were now pushing and pulling, Twilight and Starlight's magic now pushing back Flash. His relaxed face began to fade, feeling his hooves twitch as he kept his shields formed.
"You...can't win." Twilight growled as she kept pushing her spell, Flash now fully holding his focus between the two.
As he did this, a certain dragon slowly creeped around behind the rubble, tiptoeing as he whispered, "Almost there..." he hopped behind a piece of broken wall next, glaring at Flash, "There it is." He was now staring at the pegasi's cloak, the scroll now poking out of a pocket.
The three ponies were now beginning to sweat, Flash showing a bit more strain due to splitting his focus. But as he did this, his shadows began to strengthen, anger now appearing on his face. However, before he could say something, the sound of a tiny piece of rubble fall over entered his ears, making him turn to see Spike breathing in for the biggest fireball he could make.
"NOW!" Twilight yelled as her and Starlight poured all the magic she could, Spike spitting out a sphere of green flames. Flash quickly shifted the shadows into a cocoon, protecting him from all sides. "Don't let up!" Twilight added as she kept firing her magic beam, Starlight doing the same while Spike breathed a long stream of fire.
Inside, Flash closed his eyes as he felt his shadows shrink from pressure, "These scum..."
"This can all be over!" Twilight told him. "Just give us your scroll!"
And as these words hit Flash's ears, his eyes narrowed as he growled, "What did she just say?!" he hissed, his tone at the sound of a whisper, "These insignificant...how dare they think they can beat me!" He then clapped his hooves, shadows swirling around his whole body as he yelled, "ENOUGH!"
A wave of black shadows poured out of cocoon, an explosion following this as the darkness knocked all three back. And at the center of the blast, Flash appeared while panting. He quickly spun around, now seeing the two mares groaning on the ground before seeing Spike also kissing dirt. And there, hanging out of the drake's open backpack, was the ripped scroll he had been seeking.
"So..." he began trotting up to him, "You had it."
Spike slowly looked up at him and went pale as the pony began to summon a shadow sword, "SPIKE!" He heard Twilight scream, Flash now putting the sword to the drake's neck.
"Give it to me, or I'll turn you into a quartet of boots." He watched the dragon shiver, his eyes shrinking...only for him to yell:
"Bite me!"
Flash growled, raising the sword. "Very well. I'll enjoy wearing you." But as he lifted the blade, he could feel something coming. Making him turn, a giant rock was magically thrown at him, making him slice it half with his sword.
And as he did this, a purple flash appeared behind him, Twilight now appearing to grab Spike before warping away. Flash turned around again, this time seeing Twilight and Spike appearing beside Starlight, Twilight's horn shining one more time for teleportation. The three vanished in an instance, Flash now glaring at an empty space.
But as readied for another attack...nothing happened. They were gone.
"RAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" He screamed as his shadows started thrash the area around him, tearing what little was left of the town.
Meanwhile...
Twilight, Spike and Starlight all groaned as they reappeared, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop. Spike rubbed his head as he moaned, turning to smile at his adoptive big sister, "Thanks for the save."
"No problem," Twilight replied as she picked herself and shook her head. She then looked up and her eyes shrunk at a new sight, which was nothing but a giant pile of rubble, "No...even this place?!"
"Where are we?" Starlight asked as she rubbed the side of her head.
"The first place that popped into my head to hide out in: The castle of the two sisters." Her head drooped as she continued, "But...it looks like not even this place was able to survive him."
"So what do we do?" Spike asked, "He might come looking for us. We need to go somewhere far away and safe."
"Except we don't know what place is safe in this world," Starlight replied, "He said he did something to Canterlot, so that place is out."
"No kidding." Spike added, "I mean, if this Flash is that powerful...it makes even the Everfree not seem safe from him."
Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, only to clap her hooves, "I got it. Follow me." She put Spike on her back before spreading her wings, Starlight following as they flew through the forest and into a gorge. There, they soon found themselves in front of a giant cave.
"What is this place?" Starlight asked as they went inside.
"The home to the one thing I know that can protect us." She commented as they continued inside, only for the alicorn to come to a stop as she gasped, "No...it can't be."
In front of her was the Tree of Harmony, which was once bright and beautiful, was now...dark. Its crystal structure was full of cracks, its shades of colors no longer visible.
"What's wrong with it?" Starlight asked.
"It's dying." Twilight turned to them with a huge frown, "In this timeline, my friends and I never found the Elements of Harmony....that means we never returned them to the tree, so now it can't survive on its own."
"Hey, look at that." Spike commented as he moved past the ponies, now pointing at the trunk of the tree. Inside was a gray egg-shaped rock, the drake leaning down and placing a claw on it, "Is this-"
But as he touched it, the rock instantly crumbled to dust, making him gasp. Starlight just blinked at the exchange, now seeing tears form in both Twilight and Spike's eyes as the dragon said, "This future...it's the worst one of them all."
Twilight could only sigh in agreement, only to then hear Starlight also sigh as she moved over to the cave wall and sat down. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't created that stupid spell, we wouldn't be in this mess." But as she said this, Twilight's shadow loomed over her, making her look up to see Twilight giving her small smile, "Don't bother." Starlight replied as she looked away, "You're just gonna tell me this isn't my fault and I shouldn't blame myself, aren't you?"
"No, this is your fault." Twilight responded while shaking her head, making both Spike and Starlight glance at her in surprise, "If you hadn't used that spell, none of this would have happened. That is definitely true." Starlight looked back down, only to feel Twilight's hoof grab her shoulder, "But that's in the past, and you can't change-" She stopped before shaking her head, "Err...anyways, what matters now is how you'll react to the consequences of your mistakes. You can stay here and wallow in your own misery, or you can help me fix it." She then released her grip on Starlight's shoulder, making the unicorn glance up as Twilight shined a huge smile, "Now, what'll it be?"
Starlight blinked at the princess, only to nod as she took Twilight's hoof, "Okay. What's the plan?"
"That's why we're here," Twilight replied, "This place will be safe for a while so can come up with something to get that scroll from that fake Flash and return to the past without worry."
"But how?" Spike asked. "This Flash is insanely strong. If he was able to conquer Equestria, who knows how much power he was holding back."
Twilight shook her head, "No, I don't think he was holding back. I think we came close to overpowering him at the end. Besides, we don't need to be stronger than him. We just have to be smarter."
Starlight nodded in agreement. "We don't have to beat him to win, we just need to get that scroll."
"That's the idea." Twilight added before shining a huge smirk, "Now, let's get started..."
One hour later...
Flash was now sitting on the map table, a low growl coming out of his mouth. He was rubbing his hooves, his mind thinking about all the other versions of himself and how he would kill them. But as he thought about this, he began to tap his hooves on the map, "Where are they? They'll have to come back here...they can't get home without this thing."
"Hey!" The dark pegasus blinked at the voice, turning to see Spike standing on top a pile of rubble. The little dragon was just sitting there, waving the object of his desire. "Looking for this?" he unfolded with a cocky grin, a dark aura instantly consuming Flash as he saw the scroll.
"Give that to me!" Flash roared as he leapt off the table, Spike rolling the scroll back up before jumping down the other side of the rubble. A shadow quickly zipped above the drake, the pegasi almost near the pile, "You think you can escape me?!" He flew down to the dragon's level, encasing his hooves in shadow claws, "You won't get away!"
Spike looked back and saw how close Flash was, pulling his tail to protect from Flash's swiping claws. Seeing this, he spun around, "Fine. You want it?!" He then threw the scroll over Flash's head, "Go get it!"
Flash pulled himself to a stop, spinning like a top before lashing out a shadow whip to grab the scroll, only for a purple blur to fly by, snagging the paper, "Thank you kindly." Twilight added as she flew away with the scroll, Flash growling as a blue light behind him teleported Spike out of harm's way. He spread his wings to take to the air, quickly zipping up to Twilight.
But as he got close, Twilight turned and shined a huge aura of magic on her horn. Flash swiftly tried to counter with a tendril of shadows, only for Twilight to vanish in a blast of magic. Seeing this, Flash saw Twilight now in the distance, making him roar as he charged after her. This continued with Twilight teleporting again, this time getting to the destroyed remains of Sweet Apple Acres, only to hear another roar from Flash, "GIVE IT TO ME!" He screeched as he unleashed a shadow beam into the deceased farm.
"Whoa!" She yelped as she narrowly dodged it, an explosion following this as he fired another beam. He kept unleashing one shadow blast after another, Twilight swiftly flying around the attacks. But as she did this, one blast caused a gust that pushed her out of flight control, "Eep!" She screamed as the scroll slipped out her grasp, "No, no, no!"
"YES!" Flash laughed as he divebombed at the scroll, his vision now squarely focused on it. But as he was about to grab it, the scroll became wrapped in blue light before vanishing. "NO!" he yelped before instantly seeing dirt, his face eating the ground before slamming into a tree. "Blaugh!"
"AHAHAHAHA!" giggled a voice, making him growl as his shadows quickly destroyed the tree before getting back up. Here, he turned to the voice's owner, now seeing Starlight with the scroll floating in her magic beside her.
The pegasus kept growling before yelled, "ENOUGH!" A flare of darkness consumed his back, the pegasi instantly flying at her, but the mare teleported away instantly.
"Yoohoo!" He turned around, now see Starlight a distance away, which he charged at her again. But as he did this, she kept teleporting around, Flash almost getting her everytime. And as this happened, Flash began to notice Starlight starting to pant.
"Give up!" He laughed as he landed in front of her, the unicorn now seeing him summon a barrage of shadow tendrils, "Teleporting isn't a spell you can spam without drawbacks. I doubt you have enough in you for any more than one or two teleports. Now...are we going to keep doing this, or-"
Starlight just gripped the scroll before flinging it behind her, making Flash stop talking as he tried to grab it with a shadow hoof, only for Spike to appear on top of Twilight, catching it in a claw, "Keep away!" The little dragon cheered, Twilight laughing as they flew off.
Flash slammed his hooves into the ground in anger, the ground trembling as Starlight teleported to safety. The evil pegasus took to the skies again, chasing after the two as Spike spun around. A volley of fire came from the dragon's mouth next, making Flash block it with a shield of shadows. And as Flash tried to counter, Spike kept firing flames.
"Enough!" Flash roared as he unleashed a shadow beam at them, Spike's flames nowhere near enough to fight it.
"TWILIGHT!" The alicorn glanced back, her horn reflexively summoning shield. But as the blast hit the barrier, the attack pushed both back, making Spike lose his grip and fall off.
"SPIKE!" Twilight cried, only to feel a burning impact in her back. "AUGH!" she screamed, barely glancing back to see Flash had kicked her with a hoof covered in his shadows.
The pegasus laughed before kicking off the alicorn, sending her flying upward while rocketing towards Spike. Gulping at the sight, Spike glanced at the scroll, only to show a look of confidence as he thought up one thing. Running behind a pile of rubble, Flash quickly zipped around, only to go wide-eyed as the pegasi saw what happened next. It was Spike now taking a deep breath, "Wait...NO!" he yelled, only to now see the scroll turn to ash in the dragon's fiery breath.
"YOU BLASTED LIZARD! Do you have...any..." he came to a stop as he saw the scroll's ashes began fly around, quickly drifting away into the wind. He then blinked at the sight, now seeing the ashes were...sparkling, "Magic..."
Flash took to the sky after the ashes, Spike now feeling his back fall onto Twilight's. "Ow." he moaned as Twilight helped him stabilize himself, "That was scary."
"You okay Spike?"
"I'm fine," Spike groaned while shaking his head.
"What did you do with the scroll?"
"I sent it to Starlight."
Twilight nodded before looking over in the direction the scroll and Flash flew, "Then let's hope she can finish this."
Flash continued to follow the ashes, though they moved much faster than even he could fly. And as he followed, he saw where it was headed, that being the one piece of Ponyville Flash decided to leave untouched, the Ponyville dam. He blinked at the sight, only to glare as he saw a certain unicorn standing on the dam as the ashes floated over to her before reforming the scroll.
"Give that to me." Flash instantly demanded as he landed on the other side of the dam.
"Sorry to say, but no." Starlight replied, only to float the scroll over to the water with her magic, "Instead, how about I give you a choice?"
Flash's eyes went wide, now noticing what she was going for, "You wouldn't."
"Try me," Starlight countered, "Give me your scroll or it goes in the drink."
Flash's face turned back into a glare, only to smirk, "Oh please...you don't have the guts. You have far more to lose than I do." He started to step forward, but Starlight remained still as she lowered the scroll close to the water.
"Don't test me. You might be fast, but not fast enough to stop me."
Flash came to a stop, sighing before shaking his head, "Alright...then tell me this: Why are you doing this? Why risk your only way home?"
"Because there's no way I'm letting you mess up the past."
"Like how you messed it up?" Flash barked back, pointing at her, "You know this is all your fault. You wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't been messing around with forces you can't possibly understand."
"I know," Starlight sighing as a look of shame now appeared on her face. "But if this is what I have to do to make up for it, then so be it. You said it yourself, my timeline still exists. The only difference is it won't have me or Twilight in it."
"And you're okay with that? You're okay with being trapped in this world, even though you could be living in a world where you have everything you could ever want?"
This made Starlight's magic stop lowering, her eyes twitching, "What?"
"Think about it. You have the power to go anywhere in time, change anything you want, and create any future you can imagine. Why not create one for you and Sunburst?"
"Sunburst?" Starlight gasped, her face switching to a glare, "What do you know about Sunburst?!"
"You're forgetting, I was pulled back to any time you've travelled to. That includes when you showed the alicorn your past. I saw how you lost your friend." Flash's face began to morph to a big smile, "But it doesn't have to be that way." He could see a look of intrigue on her face, the pegasus restarting his movement up to her, "Every possible future exists somewhere in the multiverse. Including one where you and Sunburst are together."
Starlight glanced back at the scroll, her mind now going over what she had just heard. Images of Sunburst now going through her head, happiness in those thoughts. "That's..."
"Join me," Flash held out a hoof. "I'll give you everything you could ever want. We can travel back to the past and work together to create a world you can be happy in. All you have to do is give me the scroll." Starlight pulled the scroll back over to her, holding it in her hooves.
"But Twilight-"
"Do you honestly think that princess cares about your happiness?! After everything that's happened to you, what do you think she'd do if you returned to your world." He didn't give her time to think as he continued, "Lock you up and throw away the key." Starlight looked away, now not seeing Flash getting closer, "Oh don't be so naïve. Do you honestly think she sees you as a friend now? Face it, she'll never be willing to forgive you for what you've done...But I would."
Starlight spun back around, confusion and shock on her face.
"You haven't done anything to me. In fact, you gave me something I didn't know I needed. A new purpose." He held his hoof out again, "Join me, and we can both have what we want. Twilight Sparkle be damned!" Starlight glanced back down at the scroll, her hoof shaking as Flash took another step. "Just give me-"
"Starlight!" They both spun at the voice, now seeing Twilight and Spike landing on the dam just a ways off. "Starlight, what are you doing?"
"Stay out of this! This has nothing to do with you!" Flash barked back turning back to Starlight, "So, who will you side with? The mare that has every reason to hate you, or the stallion that can give you everything you've ever wanted."
Twilight and Spike glanced between the two, their eyes shrinking as she whispered, "Starlight...please don't..." Starlight gave Twilight one last glance, only to slowly hold out her hoof to Flash. And as this happened, Twilight screamed, "NOOO!"
Flash's face shined a huge grin, his hoof thrusting out for the scroll. But as his hoof came within inches of the paper, Starlight jerked her hoof back, spinning around before tossing the spell out into the water, "NOOO!" Flash screeched as he pushed Starlight and leaped at the scroll, grabbing it seconds before it hit the water.
"NOW!" He heard Starlight scream, spinning around to see both she and Twilight unleash a giant magic beam. The pegasus barely managed to summon his shadow, forming a shield before being slammed into the drink. Water tried to go down his mouth as he quickly used his shadows to push him back up to the surface, making him cough up some water as he got back to air.
Starlight smiled as she wagged her tail, Twilight walking up to her as she asked, "What, did you think I'd actually take his offer?"
"I'll admit, you had me a little worried for a moment." Twilight replied, only for a giant splash made them turned to see Flash ascending from the water before flying back to the dam.
Now soaked to the bone, Flash stared down at the soaking remains of the scroll, the paper turning to mush as he growled, "What...have you done?!"
"We stopped you from getting anywhere near our timeline or any other timeline," Starlight instantly replied.
Flash glared at her, a dark aura consuming his back as he growled, "I wasn't lying. I would have helped you. You could have had everything you ever wanted!"
"Maybe...but I don't think I could live with myself if it meant helping you." She turned to Twilight with weak smile, "I...I can't ignore what I did, or the pain I caused. I can't just...forget that it all happened. I have to live with my mistakes and learn from them."
Twilight did a nod back before turning to Flash, "You see? That's the difference between you and the other Flashs in the multiverse. Unlike you, they don't use the bad things as an excuse to do worse. They were able to become something more than what they were at the start, all of them pulling themselves up from the mud and finding ways to help ponies. They let their past teach them what was right, just like Starlight." She put a hoof to her chest, "The Flash I know...is a true hero, just like the rest. But as for you..." she just sneered at him. "You just became bitter. You became a monster."
"Everypony is a monster!" Flash screeched as dark tendrils shot out of his back, "Give ponies enough free range, and they'll always turn out like me!"
Twilight shook her head in response, "No, they wouldn't. Sure, there are bad ponies in the world, but not everypony is destined for evil. Only those too weak to resist doing bad things, like you." Flash hissed as he pointed a tendril at her, making Twilight smirk, "Don't think you can hide anything from me. I grew up with a pony just like you. I can tell exactly what you're thinking, and I know why you're so obsessed with destroying every other Flashs in the multiverse. It's because you can't stand being the worst version of him."
Those words made his eyes shrink in rage, "Worst?! WORST?! I am the best version of him! I have more power than any other Flash! I am the pony who vanquished Sombra, the pony who conquered the Crystal Empire and the rest of Equestria! I am the one that defeated Celestia! I-"
"Am nothing but a sorry excuse for a pony that needs to hurt others just to make yourself feel better. You wanna destroy all those other Flashs because you're just jealous that they were able to become the amazing ponies they were. Each of them faced the same hardship you faced, living on the streets and needing to do things they regretted to survive. And like I said before, they all managed to become something more. Maybe they didn't all become beloved heroes that saved Equestria, but they all chose to protect it in some shape or form. All of them...except you." Flash continued to growl as she pointed at him, "I've seen all the timelines you have, and even if I didn't see every version of Flash there...I know they're better than you."
"Nopony is better than me..."
"Everypony is better than you. You may be a Flash, but you're no Flash Sentry. You're just some...sick, twisted copy of him that could never stand a chance against the real thing!"
"I AM THE REAL THING!" Flash roared as he created a giant shadow sword, this one the size of half the dam, "And I will prove it..." He then pointed the sword at Starlight. "You created that spell once. You will do it again."
Starlight smirked as she and Twilight grabbed hooves as the alicorn sparked her horn, "Not gonna happen. We're leaving this accused world forever."
This made Flash come to a stop, blinking as he asked, "What are you talking about? The spell is destroyed."
"Who said that was the spell?" Spike replied with a cocky grin, "We just needed to get you in the water."
"What?" was all Flash could say before looking back at his cloak, only to go wide-eyed. "No..." he whispered as he put his hoof into his soaked cloak...and found that his scroll was nothing but a lump of paper mache. "NO!" he quickly glanced back at the trio, only for a flash of light to consume them all, vanishing in an instant. "NOOO!!!"
Back at the map, a flash of purple light announced the return of the three. "Phew," Twilight panted while shaking her head. "I am so tired." She then turned to her assistant, "Spike, do you have it?"
"Right here," Spike crawled under the table and returned a second later with the real scroll. "Right where I sent it. He never saw me switch it to the fake behind that pile of rubble, just as planned. Gotta say, I'm glad that distraction worked."
"Good. Let me see it." Twilight replied while taking the scroll in her magic, Starlight walking over to help. But as she was about to speak up-
THOOM!!!
The earth shook as they heard that sound, Spike stuttering out, "Um...w-w-what w-w-was t-t-that?!"
They all turned around, now hearing the faint sound of water rumbling in the distance. Gulping at that, Twilight responded, "I uh...I think he just destroyed the Ponyville Dam."
As she said that, they all looked up, now seeing a dark figure in the horizon getting closer, "He's coming!" Spike screamed, "Hurry! Do the spell!"
"Got it!" Twilight slung Spike onto her back, "Let's go Starlight!"
"I hope this works," Starlight replied as they both sparked their horns.
And as they summoned the portal, Flash was now about to be above them, "NO!" He yelled as the portal opened, the trio now being sucked inside, "You're not getting away!" He then sent his shadow at the wormhole, the dark cloud-like entity taking the shape of a hand as it flew into the portal.
Inside, Twilight, Starlight and Spike were all holding onto the scroll as they flew through the tunnel, sighing in relief. "Thank goodness that's over." Spike commented as he slumped over on Twilight's back. "I don't wanna ever-"
"AAAAH!" Starlight suddenly screamed, her hooves now loosing hold of the scroll.
"Starlight!" Twilight yelped as Starlight grabbed her back hoof. They all looked back, the three soon seeing Flash's shadow now pulling Starlight's back leg. "Oh no..."
As the shadow continued to hold its grip, Flash appeared out of the portal they had just created, now climbing his shadow like a rope. "Give...me...the scroll!"
"Hang on!" Spike told her.
"We're almost there!" Twilight added as they glanced ahead of the tunnel, now seeing the end just a little bit away.
"Don't you dare! Only I have the right to control time!" Flash screeched as his shadow continued to tug on the unicorn, "Give me the scroll! Give it to me so I may take my place in time as the only Flash!"
Starlight kept looking between the exit behind Twilight and Flash, a huge frown now appearing on her face. A single thought came into her head, making her slowly loosen her grip with Twilight's hoof. The alicorn instantly felt what she was doing, speaking up next, "Starlight...what are you-"
"It's the only way," Starlight replied as she fully released her grip on Twilight. "Goodbye." With that, both she and Flash began to fall down the time tunnel. Without holding onto the scroll, there was nothing pulling them through it. And as she did this, she began to close her eyes while a look of acceptance appeared on her face. She was okay with this.
"NO!" Starlight suddenly felt something grab her hoof, the unicorn reopening her eyes to see Twilight, Spike now holding onto both the scroll and her wing, "I'm not letting you go."
"Twilight, this is the only way."
"Abandoning your friends is never the way!" Twilight yelled, Starlight's eyes widening a she heard a certain word, only for Twilight to repeat it, "You're our friend Starlight, and you're coming back with us! You still have so many new friends to make back in our world." She then glared down at Flash, the pegasi now growling as shadows began to form off his back, "But you're not welcome there. Get OFF OF HER!" She then fired a magic blast, Flash quickly shaping his remaining shadows into a shield. Her eyes narrowing at the sight, she glanced back at the unicorn, "Starlight! Help me!"
"I'm...your friend? Really? Even with what's happening here?" Starlight whispered, Twilight doing a quick nod in return.
"Of course I am. Now...help me get rid of him!"
Starlight's face quickly morphed into a confident grin, making her nod back before turning and firing a magic beam at Flash's shield, "GET OFF ME!" She roared as she fired beam after beam, only for the shield to remained unbudged by their efforts.
"Girls!" Spike yelled, "We're almost there! HURRY!"
The two stopped their attacks and looked at one another, Twilight nodding again at Starlight. "Together." She pulled Starlight closer until their horns were touching, Starlight nodding back.
"Together!" With that, they both surged their horns, purple and blue magic wrapping around them. Their magic now synchronizing, Flash let out a roar as he summoned every shadow he could into his shield. But as he did this, the two girls yelled, "GET OFF!"
They unleashed their combined magic right into the shield, the magic instantly breaking the barrier. "AUGH!" Flash screamed in pain, the magic searing his entire body. But as it did this, his one shadow kept its grip on Starlight, the pegasi holding on as the duo saw what he was doing. Quickly shifting their horns' positions, the magic beam zapped the shadow, snapping it like a rope.
"NO!" Flash roared as he felt himself falling back. But before he could counterattack, one last beam of magic slammed into him, sending him flying back through the tunnel. And as he felt himself fall, he yelled out into the timestream, "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I WILL-"
His words were then cut off, the trio now flying through the end of the tunnel. They didn't have time to process what had happened, all three screaming, "WHOA!" Twilight then spread her wings, catching Spike while Starlight used her magic to float onto a cloud.
Spike started to hyperventilate as he asked, "Do you see him? Did we do it?" They all glanced around, Twilight spotting a still alive Rainbow about to start her race.
"I uh...I think we did it. He's not here. We...we won. We beat him."
"That's a relief," Starlight sighed, only to do a small gulp, "Though um...if he's gone, where do you think he went?"
Twilight did a small shrug, "I don't know. It's possible he was knocked out into a later point in time, sometime between now and the present...but we can't know for sure. We'll have to wait until we get back to the future to be sure."
Starlight nodded back, only to grip her own forehoof, giving Twilight a big frown, "Um...Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you." Starlight whimpered out, "I...I can't believe you did that for me...you risked the future for me, even after everything I did."
Twilight shook her head with a big grin on her face, now placing a hoof on her shoulder. "It's like I told you, friends don't leave friends behind."
Starlight looked away at this, "So...we're really friends?"
"If you wanna be."
"Same here," Spike added from the alicorn's back.
"I would uh...I'd like that." Starlight replied, Twilight pulling them into a hug. As they did this, a familiar boom and explosion of color went off before the portal formed above them. They were pulled back through next, smiles on every face as they went through.
That is, till they landed.
"Blaugh!" they all said as they fell onto the map, the scroll pulling out of Spike's grasp as they did this. They all looked up at the sight of the paper suddenly being consumed by a blue light, a new portal appearing before sucking the scroll into it.
"Uh...what just happened?" Spike asked, Twilight shaking her head at the sight.
"The spell must be fixing the timeline." Twilight replied, only to see Spike let out a cheer as he saw his surroundings, hopping off the map and started kissing the floor.
"YAY! One Castle of Friendship, check!"
"What in Equestria was that?!" They heard as the doors to the throne room opened, revealing five very familiar-looking mares.
"Is everypony okay?" Fluttershy asked while Applejack just showed a frown, now seeing Starlight with the two.
Her question was halted when Pinkie let out a squee, "Can you do it again?"
Spike cheered again, "One group of amazing friends, check!"
"Yeah, Spike," She patted his shoulder, "It looks like we're home! Thank-"
"Uh...what's she doin' here?" Applejack interrupted while pointing at Starlight, the unicorn mare flinching at her tone.
Twilight then put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, shining a reassuring smile as she spoke up, "Hang on there Applejack, it's kind of a long story." Twilight then went on to explain their little adventure through space and time, Starlight asked to wait outside while they discussed it. As they did this, she paced nervously around, biting at her hooves as they went over everything.
"Wow!" Rainbow exclaimed once the story was over. "I mean, I knew my rainboom was awesome, but I never thought all of Equestria depended on it!"
"Or on us!" Pinkie added.
"I think it's more than that," They all turned to Twilight. "Friendship connects all of Equestria, and undoing one group of friends made its magic less powerful."
"I just can't believe there's an evil version of Flash," Rarity continued with a shudder, "Of all the ponies in the world, he's the last one I would guess becoming something like that."
"Maybe, but he was only one in a billion, trillion quadrillion versions of Flash. Everypony has darkness within them, and given the right circumstances, anypony could turn to the dark side. Each of us probably have an evil doppelganger somewhere out in the multiverse."
Everypony shivered at that thought, Applejack now commenting, "Ah just can't believe y'all were able to travel through time like that."
Pinkie nodded, "That Starlight must be pretty magical!"
Twilight nodded in agreement, "She has more talent for magic than almost anypony I've seen. I mean, my magic couldn't stop her, so I had to convince her to stop on her own. Once I realized that, everything fell into place."
They all nodded as Applejack went on, "But if she's as powerful as all that, we can't just send her on her way, can we?"
"Actually..." Twilight and Spike shared a smile, "I have something else in mind." Spike jumped out of his throne before running over to bring Starlight in.
As she walked inside, she saw all the stares, gulping as she began, "Um...I uh...I know there's no excuse for what I did...but I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair."
"We know, and I've been thinking a lot about how badly Equestria fared without just one group of friends," Twilight replied, "Because even when one friendship dies, the results can be disastrous."
Starlight nodded back, "I know first-hoof how true that can be."
Twilight then got off her throne and trotted over to her, "And that's why I've asked you here." She placed a hoof under her chin and pushed her head up, Starlight and Twilight both locking eyes. "If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach you what I know." She then pointed to her friends, each one smiling, "You'll have the power to make Equestria an even better place."
Starlight's eyes shrunk at this, gasping as she realized what Twilight meant, "You mean...I can...how...how do I start?" She asked her new teacher in a hushed whisper.
"Starting is easy! All you have to do is make a friend!" She pulled her into a hug, "And you've got seven of them right here." The rest of the mane seven, at least the female members, gathered around to once again introduce themselves to the new pony.
Thus began Starlight's new life.
Over the next few days, she began to get settled into Ponyville and get to know her new friends better. She and Rarity made a dress together, Fluttershy introduced her to all her animal friends while the unicorn had a race against Rainbow with her flight magic. She then helped Applejack with bucking apples and made some delicious cupcakes with Pinkie. Finally, she began to learn magic under Twilight, the princess soon inviting her to meet Celestia and Luna and introduce her as her first student.
A little later...
"An evil version of Flash?" The alicorn of the sun asked as they sat around a table while enjoying some tea, "Hard to believe something like that is possible."
Luna nodded before turning to Twilight, "I had wondered what would have happened if you'd never taken Flash in. Seems now we know."
"But that was only one possible future," Twilight told them while shaking her head, "There were millions more where Flash remained the amazing pony he is. According to him, he was the only Flash that turned evil."
"I can believe that," Celestia nodded before taking a sip, "And you have no idea what happened to him?"
Twilight shook her head again, "No. I hate to say it, but my knowledge of time travel is too limited to know what happened to him. We may never see him again, or he might show up next week. We'll just have to be prepared for when he does show back up."
"Understood," Celestia added before turning to Starlight. "So Miss Glimmer, I understand you caused a lot of trouble for a lot of ponies." Starlight gulped as she nodded to the alicorn. "You understand that under normal circumstances, your actions would be met with severe penalties."
"I...I know your highness."
"However, since your actions were mostly based around Princess Twilight, I can accept her decision to deal with what happened in her own way."
"Thank you, princess. I promise you, Starlight won't disappoint." Twilight replied, only for Luna to tap her hoof on the table.
"Hold on there. Even if you feel good about this sister, I still think there should be at least some form of punishment. Even something as simple as community service would suffice."
"I can live with that," Starlight added. "I mean...it could be so much worse."
Twilight slung a hoof around her and patted her shoulder, "It'll be okay. I can talk to Mayor Mare when we get back...but it'll have to wait until after we get back from your old village." Starlight did a huge gulp at that, now remembering what Twilight had said before. The princess had told her that in order to start over anew, she needed to wipe her slate clean...which involved returning to the town she had taken over and apologizing for everything.
But before Starlight's imagination could start creating multiple scenarios of her old friends yelling at her, they were interrupted by the sound of a guard bursting into the room. "Your majesties!"
The four mares and one dragon all turned to him. "What's wrong?" Celestia asked, "Breathe and tell us calmly what's going on."
The guard nodded and took a moment to catch his breath. Once that was done, he stood to attention. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight-"
"Get on with it!" Luna barked, making him hop in place.
"A bright flash just occurred in the castle gardens! Several guards and I went to investigate and found the light to be some kind of teleportation magic, as a group of ponies could be seen there!" He then turned to Twilight, "One of them was Sir Flash Sentry!"
Twilight gasped, Luna then asking, "Who else was there?! Tell us now!"
"I do not know all their names," the guard replied, "All I know is that seven others were with Sir Sentry when they appeared."
Everypony glanced at one another, Celestia then ordering, "Bring them all here at once."
"Right away your majesty." With that, the guard ran out of the room, the five exchanging glances.
Twilight wanted nothing more than to rush out and hug Flash, but then the guard's words hopped into her head, "Wait...did he just say seven? Flash left with five ponies."
Celestia let out a hum, "He did say that. Just what happened to Flash and the others?"
"Whatever it is, I just hope they're all okay. I hope nothing has happened to Ruby or Trixie." Luna replied while slowly ascending from her seat, "Come, I have a feeling this is going to be a long explanation."
<The End>