//------------------------------//
// Keeping Your Guards Up 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S9 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

In the badlands of Equestria, its few creatures that lived there were roaming around as it looked like it was going to be another normal day. But as they did this, an unusual amount of visitors walked into the place, four ponies to be exact. One was a red pegasus mare with a black mane that had a streak of pink running through it. The second was a bulky looking blue unicorn stallion with a silver mane and tail, while the third was a smaller but still bulky green earth pony stallion with a yellow mane and tail.

They were following the fourth member, the trio grumbling as they did so, "Ahhh!" The mare cried, "It's so hot! Why is it so hot?!"

"This area isn't under the control of the weather factory," the green stallion replied, "So there's no cloud cover or wind."

"This is ridiculous," the blue stallion moaned, "Why are we out here? When my father hears about this, he'll be sure to give the princess a piece of his mind! Making me come out here, when I should be in Canterlot Castle where it's nice and cool!" He glared at the leader, who had just leapt onto a rock to survey the area. "Why are we out here?!"

The figure, whose form was hidden by the glare of the sun, turned to them and they flinched at the light behind him. "Because this is the only way you three will ever make it as guards." The figure jumped off the rock, revealing one Flash Sentry. "So if you don't want to be kicked out, you need to impress me."





Three days ago...

Flash had just finished his patrol of the town and as he flew back to the castle, only to see Grand at the entrance with some papers on his back. "Grand!" The older pony turned to see Flash land, "What cha got there?"

Grand smirked as he took the folders off his back, "Celestia's asked me to come to Canterlot and help with some problematic guard recruits. Apparently, they have a lot of potential, but their attitudes aren't great."

The pair headed inside at this, now seeing Twilight, Iron and Fluttershy there, Grand explaining the problem to them as well. "You want to use the Rune Gate?" Twilight asked as Grand placed the folders on the table. "Of course you can use it. But what exactly is so important about these knights that you think they need special help?"

"We get these recruits every few years," Grand sighed, "Recruits that have something promising about them, but are also lacking the stuff that they need to become true guards. This is the first time it's happened since I left the guard, and Celestia's been having a hard time finding a good enough replacement that can handle this kind of thing."

Flash nodded at this, "Too bad Magnus chose to become the defender of that small town. He probably would have made a great teacher once he was up to speed with modern guard training." He turned to Grand, "So you're gonna head to Canterlot and help them train?"

"Not train. Test." Flash tilted his head at this, "The best way to help them is to make them face their shortcomings. Putting them through a gauntlet with the only way to overcome it being to push past their limits and fix the issues they have."

"Sounds tough," Iron commented as Grand sighed again.

"You have no idea. I thought I was done with these kinds of things when I retired, but I can't just let these promising recruits fall to the wayside. With what happened recently with Shroudheart, Equestria needs all the guards it can find." He looked down at the files, "And seeing what happened with Swift Wing...I don't want that to happen again. But, we also can't just let anypony become a guard. Quality over quantity. That's why it's important I help these three grow into ponies worthy of being guards."

Flash frowned as he stared at the files, "If you want, I could do it." They all turned to him as he shrugged, "I've done enough of your training gauntlets to know what to look for. Just tell me what you need them to overcome and I'll find a way to make it happen."

Grand shined a grin at this, nodding, "Alright then, I'll leave it to you."





The Present...

Flash glanced back at the three ponies that were at risk of flunking out of the guard. "Crimson Nimble!" He told the pegasus before focusing on the unicorn, "Cobalt Crash!" He pointed at the earth pony, "Rough Riot! You three are here because while you all have the potential to be guards, you're lacking in certain areas that hold you back from achieving that potential. We're here to help you three overcome those limits and become the ponies you were always meant to be."

"I don't need any life lessons," Cobalt instantly replied, "I joined the guard because it would help me achieve the kind of standing my father has. Give me one reason why I even agreed to come here?"

"Because your fate is in my hooves," Flash responded, "I decide whether or not you make it into the guards. So you have two options. Do what I say and try to impress me, or give up and go home. But that also means you leave the guard, and we won't be accepting another application from you, no matter how important your father is."

Cobalt glared at him, but didn't say anything back as Crimson Nimble ran up next, "Whatever," she growled, "Can we go now? The sooner we get this training session underway, the quicker we can pass it, and the quicker I become a guard." She spread her wings and shot off, flying off in a direction with speed that almost matched Rainbow Dash's.

Rough moved over to Flash, watching as she disappeared over the horizon. "Um...shouldn't we go after her?"

"Wait for it," Flash replied, only for Nimble to fly back down at them.

"Which way are we supposed to be going?" Flash pointed to the left, making her huff and fly off in that direction. Flash laughed at this and followed after her, Rough and Cobalt bringing up the rear.

"Is it really a good idea to be out here?" Rough asked as his eyes darted around, "I mean, who knows what could be waiting for us?! Poisonous animals, unstable cliffs and who knows what else!" He then heard a tiny noise, making him let out a squeak as Cobalt rolled his eyes and Flash kept a stoic face.

'This is gonna take a while.' Flash thought as his mind went back to three days ago.





"Crimson Nimble, Cobalt Crash and Rough Riot," Flash read the names on the files. "These are the ponies I'll be teaching?"

"Yes," Grand nodded. "They have a lot of skill and would make excellent guards if they can graduate, but their personalities clash with those of a normal guard." Flash opened the first folder, showing Cobalt's profile. "Cobalt Crash is the son of a famous entrepreneur in Manehatten, who partly owns dozens of different businesses inside the city that has made him one of the richest ponies in Equestria."

"Impressive," Iron commented, "So why is he in the guard? I would have thought he'd either be living off daddy or preparing to take over his business."

"He would probably like to do that as well," Grand replied, "But after looking into him, I've discovered his father has cut him off." This made everypony raise an eyebrow, "He was a self-made stallion who's worked tooth and hoof to get where he is. Starting in the guard himself before leaving and using the connections he made to open his first successful business. Because of that, he refused to let his son have a single bit after he came of age. The only way Cobalt will get back into the family checking account is to prove himself worthy of it."

"I get it," Twilight nodded, "Cobalt's trying to prove to his father that he's got what it takes to be just like him."

"However, having a rich and famous father has given him a serious superiority complex. He thinks being a guard is too good for him and thinks that because of his father, he should have already been given a high ranking position in the guard that requires barely any work."

"You've got to be kidding," Flash groaned, "And you want this guy to be part of the guard?"

"He might have an attitude problem, but he's actually incredibly smart with an amazing mind for strategy. Plus, he's skilled in multiple forms of magic such as body manipulation magic. He can create a magical thread that connects him to another and allows him to control their bodies. If he can get over that holier than thou mindset, he could be a great guard and might even make a rank higher than his father."

"Alright," Flash turned to the next file, "Crimson Nimble."

"Yes..." Grand bit his lip at this, "I honestly think she could have been a Wonderbolt if she tried, but she has her sights set on something a little higher: A Royal Knight."

"She wants to be a Royal Knight?" Flash responded as he stared at the papers, "Hmm...yeah, her stats are pretty good. They're almost like mine at that age. What's the problem?"

"Patience. She has zero of it. She wants to be a Royal Knight, but doesn't want to wait for it. She tries to get everything done as quickly as she can, even attempting to perform several tasks at once hoping to get them done faster. She can't sit still for a second. Not good qualities given that guards are normally meant to spend hours standing in a single place with nothing happening."

"Yeah, that could be a problem." Flash picked up the final file, "And Rough Riot." With that name, he expected some kind of tough bruiser or something. But when he opened the folder, he found it had a bunch of notes talking about the various ailments he claimed to have. "Anemia, asthma, bell's palsy, bile duct infection history, bronchitis, cirrhosis, cryptogenic cirrhosis..." The list went on, the sight making him turn to Grand, "What the-how can somepony like this want to be a guard?!"

"Simple. He doesn't have any of those problem," Grand replied, "He just thinks he does."

"So he's a hypochondriac," Twilight chimed in, Grand nodding back.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy gulped, "I would hate to constantly be worrying about my health."

"Yes, and he suffers from many issues involving his own safety. Apparently, his father was a guard who caught something when Rough was young and died. Ever since, he's wanted to walk in his father's hoofsteps, but is terrified of sharing his fate. But when he's not worrying, his fighting skills are supposed to be amazing and he has medical knowledge that First Aid would see as impressive."

"I see," Flash glanced back at the files. "Three ponies with a bunch of potential, but all with issues they need to overcome. This could be tricky."

"You think you can handle them?" Twilight asked, Flash nodding back.

"Sure. Just watch me. I'll get those three straightened out in no time."





'This is gonna take a while.' Flash thought as he stared ahead, only to see his destination. It was a large collection of mansion sized rocks close to one another that formed a labyrinth. "Alright, here's your first task. A trio of gemstones is located inside this maze. Each one is a different color, and you've each been given a color. Your task is to find the gemstone of your color and bring it back here."

"That's it?" Cobalt asked, "That's how we're supposed to prove ourselves worthy of the guard?"

"It's one of the ways," Flash replied.

"Why do we need to do this?"

"As a guard, you'll be responsible for many tasks. Some of them, you won't know the purpose of. All you need to focus on is getting your task done. Now go!"

The three charged in, Nimble racing ahead first. She zipped around everywhere, looking for a red gem while Cobalt walked below her in a slow pace while letting out a yawn as his eyes drifted around for a blue gem. As this happened, Rough tiphoofed inside, his eyes darting everywhere as he looked like he was searching every little thing, but also worried something was gonna leap out at him from behind a corner.

Seeing this, Flash flew onto one of the rocks, watching as the trio began their search, "Alright you three, can you find the hidden meaning behind this exercise?"





Meanwhile...

In a cave located on the side of a mountain in the badlands, a small group composed of a red griffon that appeared to be a mix of a tiger and a kestrel, along with a dark orange diamond dog and a yellow unicorn stallion that were all looking over a map on a table. "Alright," the unicorn used a stick to point at the map. "The base is located right here, and the wagon transport should be taking this route to it. If we can intercept the transport, we'll be let into the base, and then it'll be a free route straight to the vault."

"Why did your princesses even put this thing in the middle of nowhere anyway?" The griffon asked.

"It's meant to be an emergency reserve of gold and gems. Whenever there are leftovers from taxes or other money raising events, the excess is placed here. That way, when a situation occurs, they can take money out of this reserve and fix everything without needing to bankrupt the country."

"I see," the griffon hummed while the diamond dog jumped up and down.

"Scoop want gems! Scoop want gems now!" He started panting at this, the other two rolling their eyes.

"Will you relax," the unicorn grumbled, "You'll get your gems, and we'll get the rest of the bits."

"And I'll get the most important thing of all." They turned to a figure standing at the back of the cave, one that was humanoid in appearance, "Don't forget, I'm the one who's gonna make this all possible. Those magic barriers surrounding the base would be impossible for you to get past if it weren't for me. So remember, my wants come first."

"Don't worry," the unicorn replied, "We understand. You'll get what you want, and once you do, we'll make off with the rest before anyone can do anything to stop you."

"Good." The figure stepped forward and revealed themselves to be a large gorilla-like creature. It had large arms and hands that it used to stabilize its top-heavy body, while was completely bald above the waist. The fur on his waist and legs was black, while his skin was a grayish blue. Its head was that of a gorilla, but had a bunch of black hair sticking out the top and running down the back of its head, and in the center of its head was a single, massive, eye that was pink in color.

The creature stared at them all, being twice their size and looking like he could crush each of them in his colossal fists. "As long as we work together, nothing will be able to stop us."





Back in the maze...

All three were now in the labyrinth, Cobalt coming to a stop after a while and growling while Nimble suddenly appeared and tried to fly past him. But as she did this, he grabbed her tail in his magic, causing her to bungee back to him. "HEY!" She yelped and glared at him.

"Have you seen my gem anywhere?"

"No. Why would I be looking for your gem?"

"Did you happen to see it while looking for yours?"

"No, I told you. Have you found my gem?" Cobalt shook his head, only for her to then ask, "Isn't there a way for you to use your magic to find them?"

"I do know a search spell, but the recoil gives me a major headache." He replied, only to see her glare at him. Sighing at this, his horn began to glow, "Fine." He unleashed a pulse of magic as he closed his eyes, letting him see the entire area, quickly finding three items that stood out from the rest. "Got 'em." He stated before screaming in pain.

Nimble watched him clutch his head, "Well, where are they?"

Cobalt moaned and pointed his hoof, "Red one's on the ground. Left, right, second right and left." Nimble shot off at this as Rough appeared around a corner. "Your gem's down that way. Third left, second right, left and second right."

"Oh...thank you." He walked off at this, Cobalt groaning as he sat there in pain for another minute before getting up.

"Now, where's my gem?" He whispered as he began to walk away, only to get to an area filled with rocks. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." He looked up at one of the rocks and realized it was on top of it, out of his eyeline and thus unable to be picked up by his magic. He sighed and started to try and climb, only to find that the rock was too smooth, making getting a grip almost impossible.

And as he did this, he lost his footing and fell back to the ground with a yell.





Meanwhile...

Nimble followed Cobalt's directions and turned the last corner, expecting to see her rock on the ground.

But instead, all she found was a smaller but still hoofball sized rock. "Are you kidding me?" She looked the rock over, only to realize her gem had somehow been placed inside of it. The pegasus tried to push it to the exit at this, only to find it was too heavy.

"Great. Now what do I do?"





Rough followed the directions and turned the final corner, gasping when he saw a green gem on the ground in front of him at a dead end.

He raced for it, only to come to a stop when he suddenly found himself on the edge of a hole in the ground. "What?" He looked down and saw the hole was several meters deep and too wide for him to jump. "How am I supposed to get to it?" He glanced back up at the gem, "There's nothing to use to get over there...maybe I could ask Cobalt or Nimble to get it for me?" He shook his head at this, "No, they're too busy with their own tasks."

And as he said this, he sat there, staring at the gem just out of reach.





Flash couldn't believe what he was seeing. Cobalt had given up on trying to climb and was throwing rocks now, trying in vain to shake the rock and make the gem fall over the edge. Nimble was still trying to push the heavy rock toward the exit, but it wouldn't even move an inch, while Rough just sat there doing nothing.

"Oh geez." He gave them an hour after finding their crystals, hoping one would do what he had hoped. But after that, he let out a long groan and yelled, "Alright!" He flew over the maze and spoke loud enough for them all to hear. "That's it! Time's up!"

The three frowned at this as Flash guided them to one place. "How could we do this?" Cobalt asked first, "There's no way I could have gotten my gem from up there!"

"True," Flash replied as he flew down to their level, "But who said you had to be the one to get it?"

"You did," Nimble responded, "You said-"

"I only said you had to bring the gem of your color to me. I never said you weren't allowed to touch the other ones." The three flinched at this as Flash pointed to Rough, "You seemed to have this thought, but instead of suggesting it to the others, you just gave up without even trying." Rough shrunk back at this, "Had you asked Cobalt to retrieve your gem for you, you could have used your earth pony strength to break Nimble's rock and free her gem. Then she might have been able to get Cobalt's gem for him."

"You could have suggested that!" Nimble barked back.

"I'm not always gonna be around to give you the answers," Flash countered, "As Royal Guards, you'll each be responsible for finding the answer to a problem you might face. And sometimes, the best answers are the simplest of ones."

"Your instructions weren't clear," Cobalt replied.

"My instructions were perfect," Flash countered again, "It was up to you to figure out what they meant. The world doesn't spoon feed you solutions. You need to actually look instead of expecting somepony else to give the answer to you." Cobalt glared at him at this, only for Flash to point at Nimble next, "You need to be patient and take the time to think about the task and the limits facing you." Nimble rolled her eyes in response before Flash turned to Rough, "And you need to be willing to admit you need help when it's obvious," Rough flinched at this, "These are all things the three of you need to learn. Without them, you'll never make it in the guard."

The three all shared glances at this, only for Flash to point at the unicorn of the group, "Cobalt, you were willing to help the other two locate their gems. Why?"

"Well...I knew where they were. I'd have to be a pretty big jerk not to tell them. Besides, who knows how long it would have taken them to find them on their own!"

Flash nodded, "And would you have agreed to it if Rough had asked you to get his gem?"

"Maybe. I would have asked if he knew how to get mine first before agreeing. But I don't think he would have been able to."

"True, but he might had realized Nimble could. And when he asked her, he would have figured out he could free her gem with ease." He turned to Rough, "You shouldn't doubt yourself. There's no such thing as a bad idea. Next time you have a thought that you think might work, don't keep it to yourself." Rough looked down at this, "Nimble had that thought."

"I did?" She asked.

"You asked Cobalt if he had any magic he could use to find the gems. He might not have, but you chose to ask anyway. And because you did, you were able to find the gem that would have been impossible for you to track down without it. If you had done the same thing and asked Rough if he could break the rock, you could have each gotten your gem without issue."

Nimble bit her lip at this, only for Flash to spin around, "You all have the potential to be great. That's why you were all given this chance to prove yourself. But unless you can look past yourself and push beyond what's holding you back, you'll never get into the guard."

He began to walk off at this, leaving the three to stare at the knight.





Many miles away...

A transport wagon was being pulled through the badlands by an earth pony as two pegasus royal guards walked beside him. As they did this, the earth pony looked back at the barrels currently inside the wagon. Another delivery for Equestria's wealth reserve.

But as they did this, a sudden voice rang out, "HELP!" They turned to the noise, only to see a unicorn running out from behind a rock. He was being chased by a diamond dog, who was barking like mad. The unicorn then turned to them and ran over, terror on his face. The guards quickly flew over as the dog leapt at the unicorn, one of them thrusting their leg into his chest and kicking him away. The mutt hit the ground and saw the two spear carrying ponies, then turned to scamper away.

The pair sighed at this, only for the unicorn to grab them by the tails. "Please!" He cried, "My brother! He was with me when we got attacked. We got split up and he's still out there. Help him!"

The guards shared a glance at this, both frowning before another voice rang out from behind the rocks. "AUGH!" It screamed, the guards spinning around and flying over to the rock. But as they did this, a sudden giant fist wielded by a one-eyed creature slammed into them, knocking both to the ground.

"Nice shot Odin," a griffon laughed as he appeared behind the cyclops. He then held out a pair of red crystals, which he placed on the pegasi. In a flash of light, they suddenly vanished. He then put one of the crystals around his neck and in a flash, he was transformed into a perfect copy of the guard.

Scoop did the same to with the other crystal and was also transformed into the other guard. "Yeah!" He cheered, leaping into the air. "Scoop can fly!" But instead of flying, he crashed into the ground face first. "Ow."

The griffon rolled his eyes at this, "We're not changelings. These crystals only let us mimic the form of the ones trapped within. Beneath, you're still the same slobbering mutt you've always been." The disguised diamond dog moaned as he picked himself up, the three beginning to make their way around the rock. When they did, they spotted the unicorn had the earth pony raised in his magic. He then lifted another crystal up and placed it on the earth pony, who disappeared in a flash of light.

"Phase one, complete." He turned to the cyclops as he placed the crystal over his neck, transforming into the earth pony before taking out a blue crystal. "Are you sure you want to do this? If something goes wrong, you could be trapped in here for who knows how long."

"I'll be fine," he replied, "Just do it." The pony nodded and touched him with the gem, which enveloped the beast in a bright light before he was sucked into the crystal. With that done, he nodded and put the crystal away. He then looked back at the wagon, as Scoop opened up the barrel and finding it was full of...vegetables.

"No gems?"

"What did you expect?" The griffon chimed in, "You really think the princesses would fill a wagon full of gold and only have two guards to protect it? This is a supply run for the base, so the guards working there don't starve." Scoop moaned at this, "Relax. There'll be plenty of gems for you when we pull this off. But we need to actually do it to get those gems."

"Exactly," the unicorn added, "Now come on. it's still a long way to the base and I'd like to get there as soon as possible." They nodded and the three began to head in the direction the wagon had been heading, devilish grins on their faces as they strided through the badlands.





Flash sighed as he and his group sat down to have something to eat, the four having packed rations they would need to survive on until the test was over. He had to admit, these three weren't having the best of luck with the trials. He could tell they were trying to take what Flash had taught them in, but overcoming personality flaws wasn't really something you could do in one day. And as he sat in the shade of a large rock, he watched the three eating and thought about their actual skills. There were so many other fields they could have joined and done well in, even with their flaws, which made him ask, "Why do you want to be guards?"

They turned to him with raised eyebrows, "Why do you want to know?" Cobalt asked.

"If I knew why you wanted to be guards, maybe I could help you better. I have a basic idea of why you want to become 'em, but I want to hear it from you." He pointed at Rough, who seemed more interested in his ration bar than looking at him. "We'll start with you. Why do you want to be a guard Rough?"

The pony took a bite of the bar before replying, "My father was a great guard. He taught me that there was no greater honor than serving the kingdom. He wanted to get as high as he could in the ranks, so he could use it to help those in need. But before he could make any real progress, he got sick and...his dream came to an end."

"So you want to be a guard in order to honor your father's memory. To do what he couldn't." Rough nodded, "I read up on your father. He was quite the amazing pony. He didn't seem scared of anything, even once rushing into a burning building in order to save as many ponies as he could."

Rough shook his head at this, "If he hadn't been so fearless then he would still be alive. The smoke he inhaled damaged his lungs and when he got sick, that damage made fighting it off impossible."

"He knew the risks," Flash countered, "Being a guard isn't a safe job. If you're not willing to put your safety on the line, then you have no place in it."

Rough flinched at this, only for Nimble to speak up, "I'm not scared of a little fire," Flash turned to pegasi, "With my speed, I'd be in and out of that building before you could even blink!"

"You also might also be going so fast that you'll miss somepony trapped inside or make a mistake that could cost you your life and the lives of those you're trying to help." Nimble glanced back at him, frowning as Flash continued, "You want to be a Royal Knight, and that's an admiral goal if it's for the right reasons. But why are you so impatient to become one?"

"Easy for you to say. You got to start training as a kid! If you had been my age when Grand Hoof started training you, how long do you think it would have taken you to become a knight?" Flash opened his mouth at this, only for nothing to come out as Nimble added, "Our time on this planet is limited. I can't waste the precious little time I have here taking things slowly. If I want to be a Royal Knight before I'm too old to do anything with the title, I've gotta get good enough fast."

"I can understand your point. But if you spend your entire life rushing towards a destination, you'll miss out on all the amazing stuff waiting for you on the road getting there. Yes, I worked hard to become a Royal Knight as soon as I could. But it was everything I did getting there that made me worthy of the title. Remember that."

Nimble shrunk back at this, only for all three to stare at the last member of their group. Cobalt remained silent as he ate his ration bar, only to mumble out, "I don't want to be a guard. I'm only doing this because my father refused to let me back home unless I make something of myself."

"Your father worked hard to get where he is now," Flash replied, "You got to grow up living a life of luxury because of his hard work."

"Then he cut me off and told me I didn't deserve to inherit his fortune."

"Well, what have you done to prove you're worthy?" Flash asked, Cobalt glaring at him in response, "Your father was probably worried you couldn't handle inheriting his investments and earnings. You've done nothing but waste his money and never tried to show you had the same determination he had in order to run his business."

"I could have shown him I was worthy!" Cobalt barked back, "But he never gave me the chance."

"Didn't he?" Flash asked, "Did he ever give you money?"

"All the time."

"And what did you do with it?"

"Spent it."

"Exactly," Flash pointed his hoof at him, "Whenever your father gave you anything, you used it right away. You never saved it, never tried to invest it. You used it as soon as you got it. He was probably terrified that if you were given his business, you'd bankrupt it in a month. That's why he had to cut you off. You don't know the true value of money until you've had to work to earn it."

Cobalt tensed up at this, glaring at the knight as the rest continued to eat. And as they finished, they packed up their trash and began to head out again, Flash planning to take them to another location for another trial. But as they did this, they walked up a hill and Nimble pointed at something out in the distance. "What's that?"

Flash raised an eyebrow, only to reply, "Oh yeah. The gold reserve is nearby." The three went wide-eyed at this, only to see that the object in the distance was a moving wagon surrounded by guards. "Huh. Wonder why the pegasi guards aren't in the air over the wagon? Its the best way to get a vantage point."

"What do you mean?" Nimble replied, "Maybe they're tired?"

"No." Flash shook his head, "They'd take shifts if that's the case." He gestured his hoof to the three, "Follow me, and let me do the talking."

The four went down the hill, the wagon group soon seeing Flash walk up to them. And as they saw them approach, they began to talk, Flash seeing unusual worry painted on one of their faces.

"Greetings..." the flying guard stated, "Citizens. I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to leave this area. Important...guard work to be done here."

"No need to worry about that," Flash responded, "I'm Flash Sentry, the Knight of Friendship." They almost flinched at this, the knight seeing a second of fear fly across their faces. Raising an eyebrow at this, he pointed at one of the pegasi guards, "Don't I know you?" He asked, "I'm pretty sure we met at the last Grand Galloping Gala. You were on guard that night."

"Um...yes," the pegasi nodded. "Me on guard."

Flash's eyebrow slowly descended as he added, "Yeah, that was a wild night. Especially when Discord made the silverware come to life and do that elaborate dance number. Remember when it went out of control and they started fighting one another? We had to duck to avoid getting hit by a flying dinner plate."

"Yes. Close one."

"I bet it was." Flash commented before drawing his sword, making everyone flinch.

"Flash?" Nimble whispered, "What are you doing?"

"These three aren't who they say they are. I've never met that pegasus before, and Discord's dinner dance was a perfect display." He pointed the blade at them, "That means you're lying."

"W-w-well," the earth pony stuttered out, "I'm sure he just misremembered and-" He didn't get to finish as the pegasus in question suddenly leapt at Flash while ripping something off his body. In a burst of light, it transformed into a diamond dog.

"WHOA!" Flash leapt back as the dog hit the dirt, the trio behind the knight now seeing what Flash meant.

"Damn it!" The earth pony took off his gem and reverted back to unicorn form, the griffon doing the same. And as soon as they were back to normal, the unicorn began firing beams of magic. The three cried out, only for Flash to zip up in front of them and deflect each blow with Lightbringer. Seeing this, the diamond dog leapt at the knight, only for Flash to spin around and thrust the butt of his sword into his gut, making him wince before Flash spun again and kicked him in the head.

The three saw this and all charged, Cobalt planning to use his magic to create a shield that could block the other unicorn's magic. But before he could do that, Nimble shot forward. "Wait!" He cried, but she didn't listen and aimed right at the griffon, only for the bird to dodge her punch before grabbing her by the neck. She gasped as she tried to squirm out of his grasp, Cobalt then firing a beam at the griffon, only for the other unicorn to summon a shield, blocking the attack.

"Not gonna happen!" The pony yelled, only for Flash to appear and slam his back hoof into his face. "Augh!" He yelped as he stumbled back, Flash then firing a Flash Cutter at the griffon.

The bird released Nimble at this, quickly pulling away before taking out a blue crystal. "Sorry, but we need your help!" He held the gem out and it unleashed a bright blue light.

The knight leapt back at this, only to see Odin came crashing down in front of them. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He roared, seeing the four ponies and quickly swinging his large fists around.

"WHOA!" Flash yelped as he jumped back, "What is that thing?"

"Big and ugly," Nimble commented.

"What's going on?" He asked, growling at the sight of no base.

"That's a Royal Knight," the griffon pointed at Flash, "He figured out we weren't guards." The creature turned to the pegasi, "You gotta stop him!" Odin sighed and threw a punch, Flash blocking it with the side of his sword.

The knight felt the blow push him back before yelling, "Flash Force!"

A laser exploded out of his sword, only for Odin to stand there as his eye glowed before a light flew out and formed a small vortex. When the Flash Force hit it, it stopped and was then sucked into the whirlpool before going into Odin's eye. "What?!" Flash gasped.

"He just absorbed Flash's attack?!"

"That's not all I can do," Odin laughed as the vortex vanished. His eye started glowed the same color as Flash's light, a beam then flying out like a Flash Force.

Flash was so surprised by this that he didn't block and was struck in the chest. "GYAH!" He was knocked into a rock, the others gasping as Flash slumped over as Odin and his team charged at the rest.

What happened next was a massacre. The three guards tried to fight back, but they were no match. Rough found himself get cut over and over by the diamond dog's claws, Nimble was pulled out of the sky by the tail and her wings stabbed by the griffon's talons. Within seconds, the two were knocked down, Odin easily firing Cobalt's magic back at him, "What are you?" The unicorn asked as the creature chuckled.

"Just a creature that wants to be as powerful as he can be." With that, his eye glowed before unleashing the same blast Cobalt fired at him, the laser hitting all three, slamming them into the rock Flash had hit before slumping over. Odin laughed at the sight, "Good, now that that little distraction is out of the way..." He turned to the others, "Let's get out of here."

They all nodded and put their disguises back on, the unicorn lifting up the blue gem and sucking Odin back inside. They then turned back to the four, the griffon suggesting they should finish them off, only for the unicorn to remark, "They're down and out. They'd be stupid to come after us again now that they've seen what Odin can do. Besides, if we don't get to the base soon, they'll question why the wagon was late."

"Yeah...okay." the griffon added as they left.

As such, Flash and his three charges remained where they were. An hour or so passed before one of them began to come around. It was Flash, who moaned as he opened his eyes, his body was screaming at him as he picked himself up. He then saw the other three knocked out, the pegasus quickly checking them over, "Hey, wake up! Come on!" After a few moments, the three began to come around, "You all okay? Anything broken?"

"Just my ego," Nimble groaned, "What the heck was that thing?"

Cobalt sat up at this, "I think...I think it was an Eye-clops. I've read about them, but I didn't think creatures like that actually lived in Equestria. Legends says they had the power to absorb magic and launch it back, but I thought it was just that. A legend."

"The legend had to come from somewhere," Flash replied before getting up and grabbing his sword, "But that doesn't matter."

"Where are you going?" Cobalt asked.

"I'm going to stop them," Flash responded, "We have to stop them before they get to the base and does who knows what."

"Are you nuts?!" Nimble cried, "Why would you wanna face that monster again? He almost killed you!"

"I have to," Flash replied, "I'm the only one that can stop him!"

"You don't stand a chance against him," Rough added, "He launched your attack right back at you. What do you think you can do against something like that?"

Flash didn't answer and kept walking, Cobalt pushing himself to his hooves. "You can't win. You have to know that. That thing is too powerful! You can't win, so what's the point in even trying? All you'll do is throw your life away." Flash stopped at this, only for Cobalt to add, "You got beaten, accept it. Trying to get revenge on that monster is just gonna end the same way it did last time. Just run away."

But as those words left his mouth, Flash spun around, "Winning?" His eyes narrowed at this, "Is that what you think it's about?!" The three flinched at his expression as he walked up to them, "I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat somepony, or because I hate somepony. Or because...or because I wanna blame somepony! It's not because it's fun, Celestia knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works, cause it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right!" They all flinched at the outburst, "Because it's decent. And above all, it's kind. Just that." The three sat down at this, only for him to slowly add, "Just kind."

Flash stared at them, steam slightly coming out of his nostrils. These three were willing to give up and let others get hurt, even when they wanted to be guards. Pathetic.

"If I run away today, good ponies will die. But if I stand and fight, then some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. And maybe there's no point in any of this at all. But it's the best I can do. So, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna stand here doing it till it kills me. Because that's the path I chose to walk. Being a guard means putting others lives before your own. This is who I am, and who I am is where I stand...and I fall." He looked them all in the eye, "What would you all fall for?" With that, he spun around, "Stay here if you want, but I've got a job to do." With that, he shot into the air and flew off.

As he disappeared, the three stared at the fleeing Flash, only to remember the monster part. But as they thought about it, Cobalt and Nimble saw Rough picking himself up. "Where are you going?" She asked as the earth pony turned to them.

"I'm going to help." They both went wide-eyed at this, "Flash is right. I want to be a guard, and this is what a guard is supposed to do. I'll help, even if it means I'll get hurt. Just like my father did."

Nimble smirked at this and picked herself up as well, "You're right. I wanna be a Royal Knight. I can't be one if I'm too scared to face something like this. Let's go help him." The pair then turned to Cobalt, the unicorn glancing away in response.





The Equestrian Gold Reserve. A large base that had ninety percent of the building located below ground. The entrance was a single gate the size of a standard ponyville house, surrounded on all sides by four ten foot walls made of reinforced concrete. Multiple guards could be seen protecting the building, most being on the walls of the perimeter along with severally designed magic weapons used to protect the reserve from attack.

The head guard stood atop the wall, soon catching sight of a wagon in the distance, "Good, the transport's arrived." They had been running low on food and water at this, "Get ready for inspection." The guards on the ground headed for the doors, all opening it so a few guards could walk out before closing again.

And as the wagon arrived, the guards held up a clipboard showing the image that had been sent to them of the ponies that would be making the delivery. "Morning," the guard told the earth pony, "What direction does the dove fly at sundown?"

"To the east, with the sun's light upon its back." The guard nodded and the disguised unicorn was glad their informant knew the correct code.

"Just need to check the wagon to make sure you guys didn't accidently pick anything up that could be dangerous." The guards started searching the wagon, checking the contents of the barrels and looking under the vehicle. After a bit of searching, they nodded. "All's good. You're free to go in." He looked up and nodded at the guard, who nodded back before opening the gate.

And as the doors began to open, the three started to head in, reaching the other side of the gate, somepony shot over the wall. "HALT!" The pony landed right in front of them, the three go wide-eyed as Flash pointed his sword at them. "These three are imposters!"

The other guards flinched at this, the unicorn of the trio growling before pulling out the blue gem and throwing it to the ground. "Everypony move back!" Flash yelled as the bright light exploded from the gem and took shape, Odin appearing as one of the guards on a wall corner pointed his magical weapon at him and fired.

The weapon was a giant crossbow of sorts, only designed to fire arrows of magic. The green energy bolt exploded off the device and shot toward Odin, who looked up it as his eye glowed. Flash frowned when he saw the vortex appear and sucked the arrow inside, Flash quickly pointing his blade at the monster, "Flash Force!"

But as he fired the laser, Odin quickly spun around, facing the beam, only for a force field to appear in front of him thanks to his unicorn friend. Flash growled at this as the giant crossbow on the other corner of the wall fired its own energy arrow, only for Odin to stare at it and absorb the magic into his eye as Flash fired another beam, but the unicorn continued to keep the shield up as Odin focused on the crossbow.

The first crossbow was almost ready to fire again, but Odin's eye glowed as the green arrow exploded out of it. The magical projectile slammed into the crossbow, the guards magically loading it leaping away as the attack struck and exploded. Odin then spun around and did the same to the other crossbow while Flash charged directly at the monster. But as he did this, the griffon suddenly appeared and tried to slam his lion foot into his side.

Flash quickly spun at this, dodging the attack before ducking under a beam from the unicorn, the pegasus landing as Scoop charged and slashed at him. "Not good." He commented as he blocked the claws, thinking about using his Sacred Light, only to realize if Odin got that, he could really do some major damage. "No other choice. Theta Mode!" As Scoop's claws came for him again, the knight's eyes turned white before easily dodging the next attack, only for the griffon and unicorn to join in as well.

All three kept trying to hit him, the pegasi dancing around each blow. And as he did this, he tried to move in a way that the unicorn's blasts could hit the other two, but the three didn't fall for it, with either the unicorn or the other two always moving so they weren't in each other's way.

As this happened, Odin had been making quick work of the guards. He swung his colossal fists around, slamming into earth pony and pegasus guards while using his eye to absorb and return the unicorn guard's every attack. Magic shot out from his eye, causing parts of the ground to explode and knock the guards down. Eventually, all the guards were taken out as he turned his attention to the building.

"Finally," he smirked, "I'll have what I need to become invincible."

And as he began to make his way inside, Flash smacked the two away before flying after the monster, only for a wall of magic to appear in front of him, "Oh, come on! Out of my way!"

"No way!" The griffon yelled, "Odin will get us a mountain of gold and gems. We're not gonna let you stop him!" The other two nodded as Odin reached the building.

"Knock, knock." He raised his fist, ready to punch his way through the wall, only for a string of magic to suddenly wrap around his wrist, yanking him back. He stumbled at this, quickly hitting the ground with another pull before the magic unwrapped itself and returned to the caster.

Everyone followed the string, which retracted into the horn of a familiar unicorn that stood at the entrance of the base. "Cobalt?" Flash yelped, only to see Nimble and Rough appear beside him.

"You three!" Odin picked himself up, "I thought I already dealt with you!"

"Well, you didn't do a good enough job," Nimble barked back as the monster stood tall.

Rough's entire body shook at the sight, only to say, "W-w-we won't let you do whatever you're planning!" Odin just laughed at this, only for Cobalt to fire a beam of magic at him. But Odin simply absorbed it into his eye as he charged, the three leaping away in response.

The monster started swinging his fists around next as Nimble took to the air and started flying around him at high speed. "Can't catch me!" She giggled, Odin growling as he kept missing his punches.

As she did this, Cobalt and Rough rushed to his feet. The unicorn used his magic to create another rope, wrapping it around his foot and holding it tight. Rough then leapt up and used his earth pony strength to slam him in the chest, knocking him back, giving Cobalt the opening to pull his foot out from under him.

"AUGH!" He roared, falling to the ground yet again.

The other three gasped at this, Flash using this opening to slam into the griffon and knock him to the ground before taking to the air. "Flash!" Nimble cheered as he landed in front of them.

"What are you three doing here?"

The three smiled at one another, then at him. "We couldn't just leave you to beat this guy on your own," Cobalt replied, "I know we're not guards, and we probably won't be, but we still want to help." The other two nodded as Flash smiled back.

"Raaaah!" They turned to see Odin picking himself up, "How sweet. Too bad you're all gonna die together now!" His eye then fired the spell Cobalt had used earlier, only for Flash to block it with his sword.

Flash glared back at him, only to see the other criminals now appear beside the monster, "Can you keep those three off me long enough to take this monster down?"

The three went wide-eyed at this, "You really think you can take him down by yourself?" Rough asked.

"I think I know how now. But if those three get in my way, I won't be able to. You up for helping him with those three?"

The trio nodded before turning to the other three and charging, Nimble exploding off the mark and shooting straight for the griffon. The bird cat glared at her, ready to stop her like he did before, only for Nimble to remember what Flash had told her. "Patience. Don't let my body move faster than my mind."

And as she got close, an idea popped in her head. She suddenly started spinning like a top, the action surprising the griffon, allowing her to fly past him before he could catch on. She then grabbed him by the tail and increased her speed, moving fast for a few seconds and pulling him along before stopping. This sent the griffon rocketing away and crashing into the side of a wall.

"AUGH!" He squawked, falling over in a clump.

At the same time, Rough and Scoop collided, the Diamond Dog slashing at him. Every fiber of his body was telling him to run away, that even if the dog didn't kill him with a cut, an infection could doom him, only to find he was done listening to his fear. He would stop this criminal and help others, just like his father. Scoop's claws went straight for his face, the diamond dog expecting him to pull away, only for Rough to bring up his hooves. Before Scoop's claws connected, they were knocked away and Rough continued to charge. He then threw a punch right into Scoop's face, using enough strength to knock him flying.

And as this happened, Cobalt began exchanging spells with the unicorn, "You know," the unicorn told the guard hopeful, "There's plenty of gold in there. Imagine how rich you'd be if you helped us. You'd never have to work a day in your life again. Just help us kill all these ponies and you'll be off scott free."

Cobalt glared back at him, "I don't want money I had to kill in order to earn! Why would you pick that over getting a real job?!"

"Who wants a real job," the unicorn scoffed, "This gig will set me for life. I'll have all the bits I want and never have to raise a hoof ever again."

Cobalt flinched at this, seeing how casual he was about it all. It made him feel sick now as he responded, "Those bits aren't for making your lazy life easier. They're meant to help ponies who are in need."

"I'm in need. In need of never having to work again. And if I have to take you down to earn it, so be it."

The pair pushed against one another with two magic beams at this, turning the fight into a stalemate. While this happened, Flash began flying around Odin, trying to slash at him with his Flash Cutter, Grinder and Driver. But Odin's skin was like steel, blocking each quick attacks. The knight growled at the sight, now seeing he had to use some super strong attack...but it would also give Odin fuel.

"Face it," Odin hissed, "You have no hope of defeating me. I'm unstoppable."

"Not true," Flash replied, "You've got plenty of weaknesses."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. For one, you can't hold more than one kind of magic." Odin frowned at this, "I saw it when your friends shielded my attack. He defended you because you'd absorbed the magic arrow before. So what happens if you try and absorb two different magics?"

"Like I'd tell you!" He threw a punch at this, but Flash easily leapt up to avoid it. "Soon enough I'll have what I need to stop that weakness."

"You're not winning today." Flash replied before glancing over and seeing the other three keeping Odin's friends busy, but he knew it might not be enough. "I'm gonna make you regret attacking this base. When this is over, you'll wish you never came here."

"Don't make me laugh!" Odin roared, "You're one pony, and while it's true I can't absorb more than one type of magic, you only have one type of magic. You can't beat me!"

Flash smirked, "You sure?" As he said that, his entire body exploded into light. Odin roared in pain, the light hurting his eye as Flash's Shining Guardian armor appeared around his body. The Knight of Friendship charged at this, the jets on his wings opening up and unleashing the Sacred Light.

Odin then saw through the blinding light and saw Flash as the Sacred Light flew into Flash's hoof and formed a golden sphere. "Idiot!" He yelled, his eye glowing as Flash reached him.

"Take this!" Flash thrust the golden sphere at him, Odin's eyes then unleashing the vortex. The sphere's energy was sucked inside, but it didn't get any smaller. Instead, it grew larger as Flash just kept pumping more power into the orb.

"What?!" Odin yelped, absorbing more and more energy from out of the orb. "You really wanna power this up? All you're doing is giving me more power to blast you with!"

"I don't mind," Flash laughed, "You can have all the power that you want. I've got plenty to spare." The orb was now as large as Flash was and not shrinking at all no matter how much energy Odin sucked out of it. "Still want more? I'm happy to up the power if you want."

Odin stood tall at this, now showing a tiny bit of sweat going down the back of his head, "How much power can you have?"

"Hopefully, more than you can handle." That statement caught everyone else's attention, Flash adding more power to the orb and growing it to the size of Odin. "I realized something during the fight. Every time you hit me with my own attack, it was the exact same strength I launched at you." Flash smirked at this, "That means the power you absorb doesn't decrease. It's all stored inside your body somewhere." The orb grew larger again, "And that means there's a gotta be a limit to how much magic you can absorb!"

"Ahhh!" Odin cried, the stress of absorbing so much magic starting to hit his body.

"Plus, you can only release the energy you fire from your eye. So that means you can't release it while you're absorbing magic."

'He's got me,' Odin gasped, 'If I stop absorbing his attack to fire, he'll hit me with that massive orb...what do I do?!'

Flash started to chuckle at this, "Now, what'll hit it's limit first? The amount of magic you can absorb, or the amount of power I can blast you with? Spoiler alert, I'm nowhere near spent."

Odin began to shake at this, only to see Flash wasn't even sweating.

"We need to help him!" The unicorn criminal cried, but Cobalt got in front of him.

"Not gonna happen!" He yelled as fired another beam of magic, the crook having to block it in response.

The griffon tried to fly over Nimble next, only for the pegasus to grab his tail again, "You're not going anywhere!" She spun around and smashed him into the wall of the base again, making him cry out in pain.

Scoop kept trying to hit Rough, but the earth pony bit back his fear and remained where he was until the last moment. He then dodged the slash and grabbed Scoop's wrist, swinging him around and pinning him down to the ground. "Play dead!" He yelled.

The three would-be guards looked back at Flash, who was still pumping a ton of power into his attack. The pair kept this up for one more minute, only for Odin's eye to start watering. And eventually, the light vortex started shaking before it broke apart. "AUGH!" He screamed, having finally hit his limit. His eye screamed at him, forcing him to close it...which meant he couldn't use it to fire the magic he had accumulated. As such, the giant energy sphere slammed into him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The sphere connected and a massive explosion filled the air, the force of it blowing the six others flying away. Rough quickly grabbed onto the edge of a previously made crater, holding on for dear life as Nimble and Cobalt grabbed his tail. The three had no idea if Flash's attack had worked or not, but the smoke from the blast began to die down along with the shockwave. And when it did, the three fell to the ground before looking up to see where Flash had been.

As the last of the smoke faded, Odin was revealed to still be standing. "No way!" Nimble cried.

But then, the gorilla creature began to sway before falling over, his eye now smoking. And as he flopped over, Flash chuckled at this before glancing up at the trio, "Not bad. Not bad at all." He walked up to them and saw the three other crooks had been pinned to the wall and embedded into it by the force of the blast. "You three did great."

"Not as great as you," Nimble replied, "You managed to take that monster down, even when we thought it was impossible."

Flash continued to chuckle at this, "It would have been impossible if the three of you hadn't helped." This made them go wide-eyed, "The only way I was able to beat him was because you kept those other three off of me. You gave me the opening I needed to stop him." The three smiled at this, Flash nodding back with a big grin.





Hours passed as the guards who had been knocked out all recovered and were able to get a bunch of rope needed to tie them all up. "Are you sure that's gonna be enough to keep him contained?" Cobalt asked, seeing Odin was wrapped up tightly...but they also knew about his true strength.

"Don't worry," the guard replied, "These cables are made of a specially reinforced metal that won't be so easily broken. He's not gonna be getting out of there."

The three nodded back, only to see Flash walk into the room with the head guard, the unicorn carrying a green crystal the size of his head in his magic. "What's that?" Rough asked.

"We think it's what Odin was after," Flash replied, "This gem has the ability to absorb magic out of something and fire it in a powerful beam. If Odin had gotten his hands on this, he might have actually become invincible. He would have been able to absorb magic with his eye and use this to fire it back out."

"Yikes," Rough gulped, "If he was after something like that, he had to have been up to no good."

Flash nodded, "If he had gotten it, who knows what he could have done next. Equestria might have been his for the taking." The three gulped at that, "I'll have to talk to Celestia about putting this somewhere more secure." He then smiled at them, "You three did well. You put your own safety aside and worked to keep Equestria safe. You should be proud."

"Thank you," Cobalt nodded, "I know we probably won't become guards, but...maybe my father will be proud of me now."

Flash smirked and shook his head, "It takes more than one act of heroism to prove yourself worthy of something like that." Cobalt sighed, the others looking down as well. "But you'll have other shots. Especially once you're in the guard." The three looked up with wide eyes, Flash laughing at their reactions, "You've still got a way to go, but if you keep what you've done here, I think you three can go far."

"We're gonna be guards?" Nimble asked, Flash nodded as she screamed to celebrate. She grabbed the other two around the neck and pulled them in for a hug, the stallions chuckling. They knew they still had to work on overcoming their flaws, but Flash had seen they had the potential to do just that.

"Thank you Flash," Cobalt said as the group prepared to head back out and get in contact with the rest of the guard so they could come and take these criminals someplace they deserved. "I know we weren't exactly the easiest group to teach."

"You're right about that," Flash laughed, "But I've taught harder. You guys are nothing compared to a bunch of kids at the School of Friendship."

"It's a shame we didn't have somepony like you at the castle," Rough sighed, "The instructors we had were alright, but they just didn't have that...spark that makes you wanna listen and learn."

The other two nodded as Flash smiled, "You really think I'm a good teacher?" They nodded again, "Then that's what I'll be."

"Huh?"

"At some point, Twilight's gonna be taking over for Celestia and Luna and we'll have to leave Ponyville. I never considered what I'd end up doing when we moved back to Canterlot, but know I know. I'll take up Grand's old position and train the next generation of guards." That statement made them go wide-eyed again, only to smile a second later. "And I'll be around to kick you all up the backside if you ever slouch in your duties. Don't go thinking you can fall back into old habits. Not when I'm around." They all laughed and nodded before they began their trek over the badlands.





Hours later...

Back at the base, the guards stared at Odin as he woke up. The creature soon found he was unable to break free, and he couldn't see a thing. His eye was still damaged from overuse, making everything he saw very blurry. "You can't hold me forever!" He roared, "I'll find a way to escape!"

"Oh, can it!" A guard yelled, "You're not going anywhere except tartarus prison."

Odin growled at this, only for several guards higher up called something out, "Somepony's coming!"

"Already?" The head guard replied, "That's fast."

"I don't think it's the guard," somepony responded, "They're-AUGH!" The sound of combat hit Odin's ears at this, his blurry vision still blocking everything as he began to hear screams and roars of agony, followed by the sounds of bodies hitting the floor. It was over in just a few minutes. Soon, the entire base's guard detail was dispatched.

"Who's there?" Odin yelped as a dark blur appeared in front of him. "Who...who are you?"

The blur stared at him, "My name is Armalum." Odin just frowned at that, confusion on his face, "The pony you fought, Flash Sentry. Do you hate him?"

"More than anything! He blinded me! When I get him, I'll make him pay!"

"Don't worry," Armalum chuckled, "I will make him pay for you. But first, I need your hatred." And before Odin could say anything else, a dark cloud exploded out of him and wrapped around the eye-clops. Odin's screams filled the air, but nobody was there to hear them