//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Pony Hunter // by noncommittal brony //------------------------------// Lying on the floor of the cave with his hands tucked under his head, Flash stared at the ceiling, once again lost in thought about his teenage life. A fire was burning nearby, and a little further away lay the carcass of a deer he had previously killed.  Hunting was one of the few activities that could entertain the young man for a while.  Tracking down prey and giving chase - all this made you feel like a predator and gave you the right mood for training. But when your speed allows you to overtake the fastest cars, chasing ordinary animals ceases to be difficult for you, taking away your already weak excitement.  "Maybe bear hunt?"  The idea that flashed in my head was immediately discarded.  "These woolly freaks are easier to catch than deer, and the meat isn't as tasty." The familiar signal of his wristwatch made the young man look away from his thoughts. With an unhappy sigh, Flash jumped to his feet. After putting out the fire and burying the remains of the deer, the teenager headed back to the city. There were thirty minutes left before the start of the first lesson.  And if he wanted to arrive on time, he needed to speed up. Of course, Flash wasn't too worried about his punctuality.  But a morning run, in his opinion, could be a good opportunity to clear his head from obsessive thoughts about his past life. Without hesitation, Flash got into a running pose. ___________________×××___________________ Apple Jack sighed tiredly. Preparing for the school prom took much longer than she had originally expected. And that’s all, and for the dissatisfied Sances Shimer, who, as it turned out yesterday, couldn’t stand apple fizzybrew. Having told this to my family, who were also preparing for the ball, it was decided to replace the fizzy drink with regular juice. "That's crazy."  The girl was angry. She and her family were forced to run to the tune of this red-haired bitch. "Calm down. This will all end soon."  Taking a deep breath, Apple Jack exhaled, trying to suppress her growing irritation. The girl gripped the steering wheel of the pickup truck tighter and focused her gaze on the road ahead of her. There weren't many cars on the highway, but, according to Apple Jack, that didn't give her the right to take the road lightly. God protects the careful. "It's good that this will end soon. Isn't it, Mackintosh?" Having received no answer, the girl turned her gaze to her brother in bewilderment.  Who, to even greater confusion, sat with widened eyelids and a slightly open mouth. "Is something wrong, Big Brother?" As soon as she followed Mackintosh’s gaze and realized where he was looking, Apple Jack immediately opened her eyes in shock. There was a man running beside their pickup truck. Somehow suppressing the shock, the girl managed to recognize the face of the man in front of her. "Flash?" The young man himself outside the window did not even pay attention to the shocked girl.  Its speed seemed to increase until it overtook the pickup truck and disappeared beyond her vision. ___________________×××___________________ The doors to the main entrance of Canterlot School swung open, letting a slightly road-dusted Flash inside. Looking at his wristwatch, he clicked his tongue in displeasure. The path from the forest to the school took twenty minutes, which did not at all correspond to the result that the young man was striving for. Even if he wasn’t late, the young martial artist’s mood was ruined. As he expected, the training ceased to bear significant fruit. If he wants to progress, he needs to find a worthy challenge for his body and spirit. In his past life, Garou was on the verge of death more than once during battles with opposing forces. Which made him much stronger later. With such thoughts, he headed towards the corridor still filled with students. "Hmm?" Only now he noticed that everyone was looking at their sensor devices, whispering about something and giggling at the same time. Curiosity got the better of him, and he approached the group of teenagers and looked into one of the sensory gadgets. What he saw made the young man immediately open his mouth. The students, previously captivated by watching the video, finally paid attention to Flash. A little surprised and clearly frightened, they, not knowing how to react, decided to remain silent in the hope that the young man would leave after some time on his own. The video lasted no more than a minute, and all this time the students, in tense silence, were afraid to do something wrong, so as not to bring down the wrath of the famous school bully. Hit. Flash's fist passed through the iron door of a nearby school locker. The teenagers standing in the corridor then turned their shocked glances to the young man. It's your turn. Pulling out his hand, Flash immediately headed down the corridor to an unknown destination. ___________________×××___________________ Flash stared at the mirror over the sink in the men's room.  Making sure that there was no one nearby, the young man sighed, trying to normalize his breathing. This aggressive behavior was also caused by the content of the video he watched in the corridor. A girl with purple skin who walked on all fours and carried various objects with her mouth.  If it weren't for the voiceover, which clearly belonged to Sances Shimer, and the background in the form of a school library, Flash might have thought that this was one of those stupid videos from the Internet.  Where a person deliberately behaves inappropriately in public places.  However, the video was created deliberately to insult and shame the girl in it. This made Flash angry.  At the moment of watching, not the most pleasant memories from Garou’s life flashed through his head. Immediately shaking his head.  Flash frowned angrily. "Be that as it may, these are not mine Problems.  Let that girl figure it out on her own." Having said this out loud, the young man headed towards the exit. ___________________×××___________________ "Oh! Hey Flash! Is something wrong?" “Pinky. At least for this week, can you leave me alone?” - Flash answered without turning around. Three lessons had already passed, but the young man could not forget about the video he had watched.  This was very infuriating. And Pinkie Pie's presence only spoiled the already bad mood. "Come on. You look upset. I just want to know what happened." The girl immediately stood in front of the dissatisfied young man. "Pinky... I beg you to leave me alone. I'm in a bad mood right now." However, what was said did not have the effect that Flash expected. Instead of leaving, the girl looked at the young man with concern. “Why didn’t you tell me right away? It’s my duty as your best friend to cheer you up. And I know how to do it!” Flash rolled his eyes, already knowing what the girl was up to. "Let me guess, it's a party?" "Yes! " Realizing that he was unlikely to be left alone any time soon, Flash decided to make one last attempt to get rid of the annoying girl. "Shouldn't you be helping prepare the gym for the ball with Apple Jack?" "No! The hall is completely ready for use!"  The girl smiled. However, after a second, the smile disappeared, and Pinkie Pie's face took on a thoughtful look. "Oh, sorry Flash, I remembered that I have things to do. Don't be boring!" Having said this, the girl hurriedly left. After following her with his eyes for a couple of seconds, Flash smiled gleefully.  "Lucky..." ___________________×××___________________ Flash wandered around the football field in the backyard of the school.  It was here that Rainbow Dash set up a meeting and location for their rematch.  Not to say that he was happy that he had to waste his time on meaningless ball games, but he had already made his promise to the girl. "Hey Flash!" Turning around at the scream, the young man saw Rainbow Dash standing at the gate, waiting for him.  “You were almost late! Did you fall asleep somewhere under your desk again?”  Ignoring what was said, Flash approached the girl with a grin.  "Ready to lose again?" "Don't be so cocky!" Exclaiming this with displeasure, Rainbow hit Flash on the shoulder. A minute later, both were already standing in the middle of the field, ready to start the game. Rainbow held the ball in her hand and was clearly tense looking at the young man in front of her. Flash could rightfully be considered the most worthy and at the same time the most difficult opponent she had ever met. Memories of their first meeting appeared in her head... ___________________×××___________________ Rainbow Dash smiled gleefully. After another goal against the enemy, the students in the physical education lesson looked at her with admiration and envy while her next defeated opponent left the football field in disgrace. "Who wants to challenge me next?!"  Rainbow looked around the entire field. "Maybe you?!"  The girl pointed her finger at one of the students, who, after her proposal, immediately shook her head furiously from side to side, clearly not eager to join the game. This made Rainbow's smile even wider. "Wow, those are muscles." "You think he's on steroids?" "How beautiful he is..." "Showing off." Turning in the direction of the voices in bewilderment, Rainbow saw Flash, to whom all the students’ gazes were now focused.  And it was clear why.  The young man was dressed in a white tank top and red shorts, allowing his incredibly sculpted body to be seen.  Rainbow herself even mentally compared him to Big Biceps.  However, the differences were great.  Flash's body was covered with many reliefs and seemed more graceful.  Big Biceps's body, on the other hand, was rather clumsy. Shaking her head and driving away these thoughts, Rainbow looked angrily at Flash, who, in turn, ignoring those around him, performed various gymnastic exercises.  The girl was aware of Flash's reputation, so seeing the notorious badass receive so much positive attention was, to say the least,... unsettling. Deciding not to stand on the sidelines any longer, Rainbow approached Flash. In her opinion, it was necessary to teach the young man a lesson. And she knew how. "So are you Flash? How much pride does it take to bully those smaller than you?" To the girl’s displeasure, the young man continued to warm up, completely ignoring her. "Didn't you hear? I'm talking to you!" The young man ignored her again. Which started to make Rainbow a little angry. "I came to see if you would like to play with me? Of course, you can refuse. I doubt that someone like you would have the courage to do anything." Flash finally stopped warming up.  "Rainbow Dash... You're too weak." Realizing what she had heard, Rainbow felt anger filling her. Is she weak? Did they just call her weak? “Well, repeat what you said there!” “I’ll repeat it as long as it takes to get it through your little brains. You’re a weakling.” After the words were spoken by the young man, the girl immediately threw the ball that had previously been lying under her right hand into the air. Jumping and spinning in the air, she kicked the ball, sending it straight to Flash's head. However, instead of hitting its target, the ball fell to the ground where Flash was standing a second ago. "Where did he go?" Rainbow began to look around in shock until she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder.  Immediately turning around, she looked with shock and horror at Flash, who, unknown to her, was behind her. "Too slow." Raising his hand to the girl’s forehead, Flash with a light poke of his finger made her fall to the ground in surprise. Still shocked, Rainbow continued to look at Flash with her eyes open. "Now that's all, I'm leaving." Turning around, the young man headed towards the door of the men's locker room. "Wait!" Stopping, Flash turned to the girl. "What do you want?"  The young man asked with obvious irritation in his voice. Moving away from the shock, Rainbow looked at Flash with anger and determination in her eyes. "Shall we play football?" ___________________×××___________________ Half a year has passed since that day, but Rainbow Dash, no matter how hard she tried, could not defeat Flash in any sports game. The young man's speed was absurdly fast. Which made the girl wonder sometimes. Is an ordinary person capable of something like this? The answer was obvious. However, this raised another question. Can Flash Sentry be considered human? Rainbow Dash pushed unnecessary thoughts aside. If Flash could achieve this, then she can do it too. "On the count of three..." Rainbow began the report, getting ready to throw the ball on the ground and start the game. But, before she could continue, the girl noticed the young man’s gaze directed at something behind her. Turning around, she sighed irritably when she saw Apple Jack heading towards her.  "And what did she want here?"