//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Flash Sentry Chronicles: Lightning Siege 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Four months had passed since the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Despite the disaster of her coronation, her reign had been going rather well, especially with the return of Flash Sentry, who had taken over as the new guard training officer in Canterlot. With him working to make sure the guards were well trained along with continuing to teach Heart to one day become a Royal Knight, Equestria was looking almost unbeatable.

But things weren't all sunshine and rainbows. In a small corner of Equestria within a rocky terrain surrounded by forests, a group of ponies were running through the rocks. They were dressed head to toe in black clothing, a black bodysuit covering every inch of them with only their heads appearing uncovered. But their heads had a black helmet on, which covered everything except the ends of their snouts. Their eyes were covered in a black visor, while their legs had straps wrapped around them, all of them holding knives and other weapons. Their chests had the same leather clothing around them, with many pockets that were filled with protective padding.

Some of them had bumps in their helmets, revealing them to be unicorns, while others had wings that were covered in black leather. Their tails had been cut almost completely off, leaving their differently color snouts as the only thing to distinguish them from one another. Where the pony's cutie marks should have been, a white mark was sown into the fabric. This mark was of a hammer, crushing a crown beneath it.

The ponies were running through the rock-scape and as they did, arrows came flying at them. Some were instantly shot down, unable to protect themselves while others used their weapons to deflect the arrows while others showed incredible speed and agility by dodging them.

And as they did this, they soon found themselves about to fall prey to bear traps, trapping a few in extreme pain. Next were razor wire trip lines, cutting the ponies, leaving them looking a lot shorter. Holes filled with spikes, nail covered swinging logs and even a few landmines were scattered everywhere ahead of them as well. Some of these ponies just weren't able to get through it, causing them to be left behind in horrible states of pain while the rest weren't looking much beter.

After this was a small lake with ropes going from one side to the other, though they weren't very far from the water. The first to reach these ropes leapt up and started pulling themselves across it, the others following, only for bite-acuda fish to swarm under them. The yellowish green fish with razor shape teeth leapt into the air, using their wing fins to get some extra height.

One managed to bite a pony in the back, making him scream and release the rope. They fell into the water and the rest of the bite-acudas went into a frenzy as they started swarming on the ponies and ripping them apart. The other ponies used this opening to pull themselves across the water, but some still lost their own grip and fell in as well, and any that even touched the water never made it to the other side.

The last of the ponies then made it across, followed by the others through the forest until they reached a rocky area that curved into a U-shape. Standing there was a single unicorn, dressed exactly how the others were dressed. But they weren't wearing a helmet and their face was revealed, a frown on his face. His coat was pale white, as if his entire body had been bleached. His mane was the same way, and it was so long that it curved down and covered the right side of his face. On the left side of his neck was the same mark that the other ponies had, only this one appeared to have been burned onto his skin by a branding iron.

The bleached pony stared at the others, his eyes shifting from one to the next as he counted under his breath. "Twenty-five. Not a bad crop. You've done well to make it this far. All your training and hard work comes down to this moment. Will you join my army of crushers?"

Movement made the ponies look up and see a bunch more ponies, all dressed like them, standing atop the U-shaped rock. Unlike the ponies on the ground, these ones were all perfectly identical. Their cuts were as bleached as the one commanding them so they all looked exactly the same under their helmets.

"Now," the unicorn turned to a cave behind him, "For your final test. If you can survive it, you will be welcomed into our ranks. And you will have power like no other pony. Even the Royal Knights and the great alicorn princesses won't stand a chance against the lot of you." He pointed at the cave and the ponies marched inside, not looking at all scared.

The cave wasn't very big. In fact, once the last pony was inside, there was only about three feet of open space. And that space was soon filled by a massive boulder, which was pushed against the opening of the cave and completely sealed the ponies in.

They waited, wondering what this next test would be. And they soon got their answer. The wall was lined with small holes, which suddenly started giving off a hissing noise. A white smoke shot out of the holes, filling the cave and causing the ponies to start coughing and screaming. Many couldn't breathe, the gas filling their lungs feeling like acid. Some looked like they were about to throw up, but they had nothing to puke out due to not being allowed to eat before this test. And many fell over, others pushed against one another to try and get more space. But there was no space.

Outside the cave, the commander stared at the large stone covering the cave. The other members of this army had climbed down and were waiting behind him as he seemed to be counting the seconds waiting for something to happen. And then, he turned to a bunch of earth ponies.

"Do it."

They stepped up and grabbed the boulder, pulling at it until the rock was freed from the hole. Some were expecting the white smoke to fly out of the hole, but it didn't. That meant it had all been absorbed by their new recruits. The commander looked inside as the ponies that had been standing began to topple out of the cave.

"Check for survivors," he ordered. The ponies began to make their way through the cave, pulling everypony out to check to see if any were breathing. Some were and they were pulled over to the rest of the army while the rest were thrown in a pile off to the side. And when the last pony was found to be alive, though looking delirious, the commander turned to the pile before his horn sparked and unleashed a blast of magic.

The magic beam struck the pile and caused the fabric of a pony to catch fire. Soon, the entire pile was ablaze. And as the commander watched, he turned to the still living ponies as they were beginning to come around. Unlike before they entered the cave, they were now impossible to tell apart from the rest of the army. Their coats had turned pale white, causing them to mix in with the rest of the group.

"Seventeen survivors. A very good turnout." Considering over forty ponies had started this test, that was saying something. "You are now part of the Crown Crushers, who will rid our kingdom of the outdated monarchy. Soon, a new Equestria shall be born. An Equestria that shall never again suffer from threats. An Equestria that will give itself to the strong. An Equestria where anything that could be a threat will be wiped out before it can become one. Are you ready?"

"YES SIR!" The other soldiers roared with the still delirious ponies giving a halfhearted agreement.

The pony smiled as he turned to walk through the forest. It was time to make preparations.





At the exact same time, in a small village, a festival was going on. It was full of ponies, all enjoying rides and sweet treats, including a certain Lightning Blitz. He was watching a colt win a toy whale at a ring toss booth when two of his friends stepped up to him. Solid Script and Wild Smile were carrying a bunch of things they had gotten from the festival, Wild enjoying some cotton candy while Script had saddlebags full of other stuff.

"This is great," Wild laughed, "I don't know about you, but I'm definitely coming back again next year. And I'm bringing Pinkie with me."

"Shame she couldn't come this time," Script commented.

Wild shrugged at this, "She was asked to help Twilight with something in Manehatten. Some kind of conference. Don't remember what it was about."

"The kirin," Lightning reminded him, "It's a discussion involving the kirin joining the U.F.C." They nodded back, knowing what that meant. If Twilight wanted everyone to have a good discussion, then having Pinkie there to keep the place from getting too serious and heated was just what one needed.

"Well, you'll just have to get her a souvenir." Script added as Wild's puppets repeated 'souvenir' over and over. And as they continued to look through the festival, an overhead speaker made an announcement.

"The sculpture competition is about to begin. Anypony wishing to observe, please make their way over to the viewing area."

"That's us," Lightning chimed, Wild stuffing the cotton candy down his throat before they rushed over.

They soon found a place filled with a large round row of seats, making a ring around a flat plot of land. The three sat down on the highest row of seats, all staring down at a bunch of stone blocks, a certain mare named Gorgenia standing by them. She glanced up and waved at them, only for somepony to walk up with a microphone.

"Welcome," he announced, "To this year's sculpture contest! The competitors will have two hours to sculpt the best statue, based on a random subject that will be chosen right before the contest begins. The competitor that creates the best shape, chips away the least amount of rock, and makes it able to stand on its own will be the winner."

Lightning and his friends smiled. Gorgenia's skill was so good, she could tick off all those boxes with her eyes closed. A mare stepped up next as the judge held up a box with a hole in it. "And now, the subject of the competition will be decided." The mare reached into the box and pulled out a small ball, which she handed to the judge. He took it in his hoof and opened it up, revealing a slip of paper inside. "And the subject will be, floral arrangement. The statues must look like an award-winning floral arrangement. I'm interested in seeing how this goes. Are the competitors ready?" They all nodded. "Then...BEGIN!"

With that, the ponies got to work. The earth ponies used their own strength to break away the stone pieces, while the pegasi and most of the unicorns used the standard hammer and chisel. But Gorgenia was different.

Calling upon her magic, the unicorn raised her hooves as they glowed. She then touched the rock and as she did, those parts began to melt into a clay-like substance. This clay is what she brushed away, leaving an impressive groove in the rock.

"That's new," Wild commented.

"Must have learned it in the Crystal Empire," Script added. "Didn't she start working with Mistmane after that mare returned?" Lightning nodded, wondering if the ancient unicorn had taught her that or they learned it together. Using this magic, the mare was able to reshape the stone to an incredible degree. She didn't just use it to remove pieces of rock, but also to reshape it. She would melt part of the rock into clay, shift it around, then reverse the spell and harden it back into rock.

Many of the sculptures were doing okay, though a few messed up and broke too much stone away, but their work had nothing of Gorgenia's skill. Her eye for detail was so incredible and even though she could have said she was done an hour into the contest, she kept going as she wanted to make sure her creation was absolutely perfect.

Several of the other contestants were forced to withdraw, their statues either being ruined by mistake or accidently fell over to shatter, leaving only a select few in the contest. And when the two hours were up, Gorgenia was the last to finish. Though only in the sense that she stopped working, since her creation would have been considered complete and perfect ages ago.

The other contestants turned to see her sculpture and instantly knew who the winner was. And sure enough, Gorgenia was soon accepting the trophy from the judge as everypony applauded. Everypony began to examine her creation from every angle, while Gorgenia ran over to the others. "I did it!"

Wild laughed as he hugged her, "Was there any doubt?!" Gorgenia hugged him back, then hugged Script and Lightning.

The group made their way out of the sculpture garden, laughing and enjoying their time while Gorgenia continued to hold her trophy close. And as they passed by a booth, a unicorn called them out. "Excuse me." They turned to him as he waved. "I couldn't help but notice the close friendship you all share." They smiled at this. "How would the four of you like a special souvenir?"

"What kind of souvenir?" Lightning asked as the unicorn opened up the door leading into the booth. The four shared a glance, but Lightning whispered that he could handle things if anything suspicious happened. And so, they headed into the booth and found it was similar to a professional photographer's workplace.

A single chair sat in front of a white sheet, hanging from the ceiling. "Take a seat." Gorgenia sat on the chair, the other three sitting around her. And as the unicorn took out his camera, they all got in close. "Say cheese."

"Cheese!" they replied with the unicorn taking a picture. But before they could move, he held up a hoof.

"Hold that pose." They all froze, wondering what he was doing. "Now, miss, can you step out of frame? Boys, stay perfectly still." They did so, Gorgenia getting up and stepping aside. The unicorn also moved the chair with his magic, making it look like the boys were around an invisible pony. The unicorn took another picture and asked Wild and Script to step out of frame.

They did and this just left Lightning, who had been at the back of the group, still holding the pose as the unicorn snapped the final photo. "Can I ask what this is all about?" Script inquired.

The unicorn just smiled as he took out the film in the camera and used his magic on it. He then took something else out: A quartet of flat plastic objects that were pill shaped. Lightning saw that they resembled military dog tags and each one was made of a clear see through plastic surrounded by a differently colored plastic border. The unicorn then used some kind of magic on them, connecting them to the film he had just taken out of the camera. And slowly, images appeared on the clear plastic of each tag.

After a minute of this, the unicorn had completed his work and the magic stopped before holding out the dog tags and each of them took one. Lightning's dog tag had a yellow border and showed an image of himself emblazoned on the see through plastic.

He turned to the others, all seeing their tags were the same red, blue and green color as their coats. And each one had an image of themselves on different sections of the plastic. "What is this?" Script asked as the unicorn laughed.

"It's an embodiment of your friendship." He took each of the tags and held them up before stacking them together, Lightning's at the back with Gorgenia's at the front. The unicorns stared at the plastic, all seeing them stacked together, the four images sitting perfectly aligned and made up the picture that had originally been taken of the four. "It may help you remember." The unicorn gave them back to the four. "That even when you're not together, your bond will always be there."

The four unicorns smiled before each placing the tags around their necks, paying the photographer for a job well done before heading out of the booth. They each looked down at their tags, smiles on their lips as they thought the same thing. They might never take this symbol of their friendship off. Not so long as they lived.





Over in Canterlot...

Iron Core was walking through the castle with a look of pure determination. While Flash was in Manehatten with Twilight, Iron was filling in with the soldier's training and the castle defenses. Luckily, nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The Royal Knight marched through the castle, his Celestic Gear on his back as he headed for the throne room.

And as he did this, He let out a sigh, wishing he was back home with Fluttershy. But he had his duties, and he wouldn't complain about them. As such, he turned a corner, only to spot another Royal Knight. "Cold?" Cold Steel turned to Iron, the unicorn holding a file in his magic. "Didn't know you were in the city."

"I just got back," Cold replied as Iron walked up to him, "I was going to inform Princess Twilight of rumors I heard during my last mission."

"Well, Twilight's not here right now."

"I know. The guards told me when I got here. I'm wondering if I should use the Rune Gate to get to Manehatten and inform her of the situation."

"You said they were just rumors, didn't you?"

Cold nodded. "True. But in my experience, you should never ignore a rumor. If there's a chance something bad's about to happen, we need to be ready for it."

"What exactly are these rumors?" Cold gave him the file, Iron stopping to open it up and saw a bunch of strange pictures depicting the same image. "What is this?"

"The apparent insignia of a group of ponies that I've been hearing about. Overthrow. According to the rumors, it's a group that believes the time of the monarch should have ended with Celestia and Luna. That continuing to allow ponies like Twilight to rule would only result in inequality."

"That's stupid," Iron scoffed, "Twilight's doing fine ruling. Great, even. Since she's taken over, we haven't had a single world destroying threat."

"Only because nothing's shown up," Cold countered, "But I don't think it's Twilight they have a problem with. Twilight might have been chosen by Celestia and Luna, but who do you think will be taking over from her when she gets too old to rule?"

"Um..." Iron took a second to think, only to remember the Crystal Empire and its current ruling class. When Cadance and Shining grew too old to rule, Flurry would take over. "Twilight's kids."

"Exactly. And with Flash back, it's only a matter of time before we have a new prince or princess in line to take over the throne. That's what this group wants to stop."

"They wanna stop a pony that hasn't even been born yet?" Iron asked.

Cold nodded. "Like I said, I've only heard rumours. But from what I was able to figure out, this group is a military faction. My guess is, they think Equestria would be better under authoritarian rule. Take out the monarchy and have the military rule it."

"Harsh," Iron sighed, "Why would they want something like that?"

Cold frowned and shook his head, "Not that I agree with them. But there are some things that would make a pony see this as the better option. For one thing, we have no idea what Twilight's heir will be like. With Twilight and Flash as their parents, it's probably gonna be a good kid, but what if they're not? Can you imagine a pony with Twilight's level of power, but having Tirek's attitude?"

"Wasn't that basically Shadow Corruptor?" Iron asked, "But yeah, I see your point. Even if the kid is good, it'll be stupid to expect every descendant of Twilight's to be good. Even if their offspring is an Alicorn who has Celestia's life span, they might eventually fall to darkness the same way Luna did."

Cold glanced away at this, "I'm hoping you're right about them being just rumors, but this Overthrow group could be a serious problem if it's real. Which is why I think I should let Twilight know about them."

"Maybe wait until after the conference," Iron suggested, "Twilight has a lot on her mind right now. Don't wanna overtax her. If all we're hearing about this group is rumors, they can't be that much of a threat yet. Once she gets back, we'll let her know about it and deal with it accordingly."

Cold nodded back, the pair continuing down the hall. Iron still had some work to do and Cold would use this time to study the info he had gathered. Twilight would need to know everything she could before they dealt with this problem.





Twilight was now in the same Grand Hotel they had had in the first meeting of the C.D.P.A. Which had once been attacked by the time travelling changeling Tragus. She walked around the large table, making sure everything was perfect. She shifted a chair a few degrees to the left, spun a water pitcher around and checked under the table to make sure nopony had stuck any gum or something onto it.

As she did this, the door opened to reveal Flash. The pegasus hero's new body still had that freshly made smell to it, his blue hoofs trotting along the floor as Lightbringer was strapped to his side. "Hey, would you relax? You do remember the meeting isn't for another few days, right?"

"I know, I know. I just wanna make sure everything's good. This is a very important meeting. Plus, it'll be the first one I'll be a part of as a ruler."

"I get that," Flash nodded, "But you have other ponies to make sure everything is perfect. You still have some of your own work that needs doing. Leave it too long and it'll be too late to do it when the meeting's over."

Twilight sighed, knowing he was right. Twilight was so glad Flash was back in her life. After being gone for six months, having him help her stay calm was a much welcome delight. The pair headed out of the room, only for a unicorn with a clipboard to walk up, "Your majesty, we've just completed the rooms exactly how you instructed. Fireproof magic for the kirin and dragon rooms, sugarless treats in the jakhowl's minibar, and sea scented cleaning supplies for the hippogriff's room."

"Excellent," Twilight replied, "Thank you for all your hard work."

"It was my pleasure," he nodded as Pinkie walked around a corner.

"Twilight!" she called out, "Are you sure I can't add a few party cannons to the meeting room? I'm sure a loud surprise will liven things up when they get bored."

"Sorry, Pinkie." Twilight shook her head, "You know how kirin are. If they get overexcited, they could accidentally set the whole place on fire. The last thing we need is Rain Shine deciding to walk through the stream of silence."

"Maybe we should discuss destroying that place." Flash remembered the story Heart had told him, about almost getting dunked in that river. "Better than leaving it there for some poor clumsy sap to trip into. And if more creatures are going to be visiting Kirin Grove, it might be smart to corner it off or something."

"We'll probably discuss that when they get here," Twilight responded, "Pinkie, I need you to make sure the guests arriving are well entertained before the start of the meeting. Keep them happy and open to negotiations when they start. Think you can do that?"

Pinkie saluted, "You can count on me." With that, she bounced down the hallway while Twilight let out a sigh.

Flash smirked and put a wing around her. "Come on. I'm ordering a thirty minute break for you to relax and recharge your brain. The last thing we want is for you to blow a circuit because you overdid everything." Twilight frowned at him, Flash knowing how much she hated him comparing her to a robot. But, she didn't fight it and they headed to their room.





Back with Lightning and his friends...

The festival was beginning to wind down. As such, the four had chosen to head out of the town, following something Wild had heard while getting his cotton candy. "I'm telling you, it's around here somewhere."

"Somewhere, somewhere. Around here somewhere." the puppets chimed as the others frowned, unsure if he was right or had been duped by whoever told him about it.

"Why the heck would a hot spring be in this area?" Script asked, "There's no volcanoes or anything that could cause a hot spring to appear."

Wild shrugged at this, "I'm just telling you what I heard. A few months back, a hole appeared in the ground and started filling with hot water."

They all shared a glance, Gorgenia about to tell him she wanted to go back, only to spot something. "Look!" She pointed in the distance and the stallions turned to see something blowing into the air: Steam.

"Alright!" Wild cheered, the puppets repeating his words as they all ran over. Soon they found a rocky area, the group soon finding a hot tub sized hole was waiting for them. It was full of water and gave off a refreshing scent, the four already feeling themselves relax as they breathed it in.

"I'm going in first!" Gorgenia exclaimed, the stallions crying out that that wasn't fair. They all ran to the water, Lightning taking off his cap and neck bracer as they slid into the hot bath.

The four let out a moan of pleasure as the warm bubbling water made them all feel like they were going to melt into a puddle of relaxation. "So good..." Wild sighed.

"I might never get out," Gorgenia added. They all sat there, feeling themselves being rejuvenated by the warmth. And after a while, they began to talk.

"So how have things been with your significant others?" Script asked, Wild and Lightning smirking at the question.

"Great," Wild replied, "And actually...Pinkie and I have been thinking of trying."

"Trying what?" Gorgenia asked, only to gasp. "You mean?" Wild nodded, making her scream in excitement. "That's amazing! I can't wait to meet them! Have you thought of names yet?"

"HA!" Wild laughed, "We haven't even got anything to name yet."

The others smiled, happy that Wild's life had turned out so well. They then all turned to Lightning, who just flinched at this. "Something wrong?" Script asked, "Are things not going well between you and Rarity?"

"Things are going great," Lightning replied, "In fact...I'm thinking of asking her to take things to the next level." That got a gasp from all of them, smiles quickly returning to their faces.

"Go for it," Wild cheered, "It was the best decision I ever made. You'll be glad you did it."

"Maybe," Lightning nodded, "And I know she'll say yes. But...every time I think about asking her...I don't know. I just lock up and can't bring myself to do it."

His friends all glared at him, Gorgenia sighing, "Lightning...this doesn't have anything to do with...what we did during the Fantasia Festival, does it?"

Lightning shook his head. "No. Despite what happened, I know I've made up for what I did back then."

"So what is it?" Wild asked, his puppets continuously asking about it. Lightning sat back and thought, his friends wondering what he would say. Then, someone appeared in his mind. Someone he hadn't thought of for a while.

"My mom." That made them tilt their head as he continued, "And...my grandmother. I might have never met her, but I know how awesome my grandmother was. And my mom. She was the best, most loving pony anyone could ever meet. I know she and Rarity would have loved each other."

"And?" Script asked.

"And what if it happens again?!" Lightning yelped, "What if me marrying Rarity is only going to doom her to some horrible fate?!"

His friends all leaned back at that, Script slowly asking, "You can't be serious. You think marrying you will get her killed?"

"Both my mother and grandmother died young through a completely random and unexpected event. What if marrying into my family dooms whoever's unlucky enough to catch our eye?" He sighed, thinking about Grand Hoof's past. "We don't know who my great grandparents were. What if my great grandmother died after giving birth and my great grandfather chose to leave gramps at the orphanage because he couldn't handle raising a child on his own?"

His friends opened their mouths at this, only to know they didn't know anything about Grand's parentage, so they couldn't deny that was what happened. That is, till Script said, "Lightning...you can't let what might happen stop you from making a choice now. Grand and your father might not have been able to save the ones they love, but you're different. You'll protect Rarity, no matter what might try and hurt her."

"But I can't be there for her all the time," Lightning instantly replied.

"That's what you have us for," Gorgenia added, "If you or Rarity ever need help, you know we'll be there to lend it. Always." Script and Wild nodded, making Lightning smile.

And in that moment, they all suddenly noticed something. The water in the center of the pool was beginning to bubble even more than the rest of the spring, white form filling the pool from the middle outward. The four shared a glance, only for the white liquid to explode outwards and upward with incredible force. The four unicorns screamed as the force of the water blast propelled them out of the water. They all slammed down on the ground around the pool, the white foam covering their bodies as they let out groans of pain