//------------------------------// // Near-Death Experience // Story: Answers // by MIKEANTHONY321 //------------------------------// “There has never been a bigger challenge for me. Ugh, what should I do? If I do something wrong, I’m gonna here it for about a week! …hmm…which one?” Flash stood in front of the pantry, troubling himself over a snack choice for the hungry and demanding foal sitting behind him. This wouldn’t have been such a challenge for him, if Rainbow’s three-day-old foal were still feeding off of milk. Blaze walked into the room, carrying a cigarette lighter and a stick of TNT. “Hey dad, whatcha doin?” He asked. “Trying to decide on a food choice for your little brother.” Flash answered with a thoughtful look on his face. “What are you doing?” Blaze looked down at the explosive weapon he held in his hoof. “Umm…” “What do you mean ‘um’?” Flash asked, turning to Blaze. Flash stumbled backwards, and gasped loudly. “Blaze!!! Where did you get that?!?!” He yelled. “Well, you know that bag of firecrackers I had in my room? I forged some of them together, and added a long string to it for the fuse! I call it…The Catastrophe!” He said with a big grin on his face. Flash started panting heavily. He didn’t even bother asking how Blaze managed to forge together dangerous explosives. “Blaze…you have to get rid of that thing. NOW.” The foal looked at what Blaze was holding, and giggled. His eyes closed, and his horn began to glow. Suddenly, the fuse on the Catastrophe lit up, and began to burn shorter. “W’uh oh!” Was all Blaze said. Flash cried out in shock. He ran over to Blaze, pushed him off his hooves, grabbed the explosive, and ran to the front door. He opened it, and hurled the explosive as far he could. Lucky for him, Rainbow Dash was just returning home, and the explosive hit her in the face. It plopped down on the front porch, and the fuse fizzled to its shortest length. “Ow! Flash, what was that for?” Rainbow asked. “HIT THE FLOOR!!!” Blaze and Flash shouted simultaneously. A small amount of smoke sizzled out of the explosive. Rainbow picked it up, and chucked it backwards behind her in a panic. The raw power of the resulting explosion blew Flash’s entire house several yards backwards, and all the windows in Ponyville shattered simultaneously. Rainbow Dash lost her balance, and went toppling over the edge of Flash’s house, yelling on the way down. “No! Rainbow Dash!” Flash yelled. Flash leaped off the porch, and soared down at rocket speeds to save her. He only had to close about twenty feet of distance to reach her. She was flailing her hooves around, trying desperately to touch him, or anything else willing to halt her horrifying descent. When a pegasus is not falling head-first, they’re unable to gain control of their wings. There was nothing Rainbow Dash could do. The only other time Flash had flown this fast was when he tried to retrieve an explicit snapshot from Blaze. A snapshot containing……passionate material of him and Rainbow Dash. Flash was beginning to gain on her. Only ten feet to cover…nine…seven… Suddenly, they passed the cloud barrier, and the ground came into view, getting closer too fast for comfort. Flash gave the last of his energy to thrust himself forward, and he caught Rainbow’s hoof. Then, he began to pull up with all his might. Slowly and steadily, their descent began to slow. Just before Rainbow hit the ground, their descent stopped. He saved her. Suddenly, Rainbow jumped up and clung to Flash like a little girl does to her mother during a Halloween movie. Panting, Flash managed to chuckle. “Rainbow Dash, you aren’t scared are you?” He asked. “What? No! I’m just…happy you’re alive, that’s all.” She lied. Flash laughed this time. “Yeah, I bet you are. Because your own life didn’t matter at all at that time.” He joked. He was also serious. “Yeah, uh…whatever. Let’s just get back to the house.” She responded. “Do you want me to carry you up there?” Flash asked. “Why would I let you do that?” Rainbow asked, almost sounding disgusted. Flash gave Rainbow a loving and caring look. Rainbow sighed. “Fine…” ………………………………… Starlight wandered out of her room with dreary eyes. “Blaze? What was that loud explosion?” She asked. Blaze chuckled. “That was my newest explosive: The Catastrophe!” He announced proudly. “What are you feeding the foal?” She asked. “Oatmeal Bran cookies. The little dude seems to get a serious kick out of these.” Blaze replied. Starlight just shrugged, and walked toward the front window. Outside she could see Flash flying up to their house, carrying Rainbow Dash in his arms like a groom does to his newly-wed bride. She gasped. “Blaze, there’s mom and dad!” She exclaimed. Just then, Flash and Rainbow walked in the front door. They both dusted themselves off. Rainbow got in Flash’s face. “You will never speak of this again…” She whispered threateningly. “What, the way you let me carry you up to the house, or the way you clung to me like freshly-done laundry?” He chuckled. Blaze and Starlight turned in surprise. “She did what?” They exclaimed simultaneously. “After I saved Rainbow, she held close to me, like if she were scared.” Flash replied. Rainbow covered her ears, and her face turned red. “La la la! I can’t hear you! La la la!” She exclaimed. The foal giggled and clapped his hooves together. The rest of the family laughed as well. Everyone except Rainbow Dash, who was thoroughly embarrassed. “Oh come on, Rainbow. It’s all in good fun!” Flash said. “Yeah, that’s what I said on last year’s Nightmare Night when I went around zapping ponies, but they didn’t enjoy that at all.” Rainbow pouted. “Just be glad I saved your life.” He added. There were a few seconds of awkward silence where only the foal could be heard. “Yeah, well…Soarin suggested a possibility as to why we had an alicorn.” Rainbow mentioned, desperately trying to change the subject. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. What’d he say?” Flash asked. “He said something about the two of us possessing immense power. Do you know what that means at all?” Flash thought for a moment. “No…I don’t think so. Do you know what kind of power he might have been talking about?” “He said we’re both well-known all around Equestria, and that we have superb talents. Do you think that could be considered power?” She asked. “……I guess it could. Not exactly energy, which is a totally different thing. But I think I can see why that would be considered power.” Rainbow nodded. “I suggested contacting Princess Celestia. Maybe tomorrow or something I can visit Twilight’s and have her write a letter.” “That sounds like a good idea.” Flash finished. There were a few more seconds of silence. Suddenly, Flash chuckled out loud. “What is it?” Rainbow asked. “It’s just funny how scared you were back there, and how you hung on to me.” “Hey, shut up!” To be Continued… Author Notes: What goes on! I originally planned on this chapter being related to contacting Princess Celestia, but I was getting too many ideas. At least that’s a good thing! Also, if anyone wants to see what Thunder Flash looks like, please visit General Zoi’s Pony Creator, and type in this code: 393G1J40204F4F4FFEBD9E00000DD9800UN1B3120B000001H0CCFE00FF7FFF0Y107F3FCC004CB2 This is the image for his cutie mark: Nothing more to say, except I’ll see you in the next chapter!