//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Gone Wrong // Story: Flash's Demon // by Nicktendonick //------------------------------// The royal guard stood in the brightly lit and completely empty hallway. For all the nightmare that had been the past few days, for all the chaos, it all lead to this. Absolute. Complete. Boredom. He could feel the weight of the day's events finally taking their toll on him. He was alone now, thank Celestia for that. With the silent freedom he had, Flash Sentry tried to clear his head of the gunk inside it. He sat down and placed his spear at his side, yet within reach should he need it. It had been a very eventful, very stressful evening. He prayed that dawn would soon come to end this miserable gloom. Flash lamented that he lacked a watch, yet he knew that he would have gone mad staring at a timepiece all night. He stood still as a stone statue, silently cursing at his lot in life. This wasn't what he wanted. He enjoyed protecting others, but not this. He was protecting none but himself, against… "Heyyy~ "  From the set of iron bars behind Flash, came a voice. “Figured we'd finish what we started. How about you let us out now?” It. "We know you can hear us, Flashy..." the voice trailed on. "The barrier's not up." Flash knew not to move. Not to make a single sound. "Heyyyy..... heeeyyyy....come and talk to ussss, it'll help you pass the time." He kept up the ruse. Talking to it was the last thing Flash wanted. "Come on, Flashy, don't make us beg. This was funny for a couple minutes, but you can stop ignoring us now." There was a moment of silence. No clatter of hooves behind him. Flash's mind raced that it might have left him alone. He dared not look back in case it was still there. He remained still for what seemed like a tiny eternity, tense in his wait. The voice broke the silence. "Flash..." The voice hardened. "Stop ignoring us," It demanded. "You will talk to us." Nothing. "We know you hear us, Flash." Flash paid it no attention. Eventually, it'll get frustrated and go away again. That, or… “Oi! Turnkey!!" A heavy clang rocked the iron bars. Flash winced at the terrible vibrations. His eyes went wide, his bluff was up. He heard a little giggle from the cell behind him and he knew his evening was about to get even worse "Seeeeee~" the voice giggled. Her tone now childish once again. "We knew you could...you know just how much we like our little talks. Don’t you enjoy it too?" Oh hay... he thought to himself. “I don't,” Flash said, breaking his silence for the first time that night, still keeping his back to the bars. "I just want to go home." “Well, that won't be happening anytime soon. You are here all night, aren't you?” the sly voice said. “You chose this, right?” Nothing but a long silence was Flash’s response. A low growl rose from behind the iron bars. Annoyance, that was wasn’t getting her way. Knowing he wasn't going to reply to her, the prisoner decided to go on. "Just you and us, in this unfortunate little situation we're in,” she began “I sit here, in our gilded cage and you sit there guarding us for... whatever reason. Truth is guarding me is a fool's errand but that's not the point. You see Flashy, We're both prisoners here, both forced to do something we don't want to do. So why not make the best of it together? Like we've told you a thousand times, you learn to enjoy your-” the voice paused. " 'Situation'." Flash refused to turn around and face his prisoner. "And like I've said a thousand times and more, I never will. You're the one who's caused all of this. You're why I'm here. You're the reason for all of the hell I've been through this past week. And all I need to do is wait until the next guard comes to relieve me of this, and then I'm done with you for good. I can move on with my life and forget a monster like you even existed." Flash heard a the prisoner chuckle behind him, "Oh Flash," She gleefully said "Thanks for the compliment, but don't you know we're never done. We don't want to be done with you. You're so much fun, why would we ever want to let you go? This is only the beginning, Flashy..." "That's why I'm ending this as soon as I'm done here. I’m telling them everything.” He refused to budge or move. ”Once they know what you’ve done to me, they'll break your hold over me." The voice only laughed in response. “Oh, keep saying that, Flashy. Keep deluding yourself that she means well. Do you really expect that bitch and her pawns will break our beautiful bond and just let you walk away? You know they won't. They'll destroy you too. That liar will never hold true to anything she says. You see, we have your best interests at heart she does not. Oh we wish we could see the look on their faces when they discovers all the things we've been telling you... because we know for a fact she won't let you return to your old life... you know way too much now.” “They’ll fix the barrier, and she will hold true to her word.” Flash said hotly. “And once I'm done with all of this, I can finally go home.” “Well, if that's so important to you then, then we know a fast way you could go home,” said the voice in a cutesy tone. Flash gave nothing, so she could take nothing. He knew she stood there, right on the other side of the bars waiting for him to open his mouth. Waiting for him to give her something. Flash fought with himself not to speak. He tried to find something else to keep his attention. His eyes scanned his surroundings for the one-hundredth time that night and found everything exactly the way it was. Nothing but a pedestal, a rack for a coat, a place to put his spear securely, and the mural in front of him depicting Flash's very own goddess Celestia, and her younger sister Luna, doing as goddesses do, moving the sun and the moon. “Flash, we want you to know that we know a fast way you could go home,” repeated the voice in her cutesy tone. "Oh Celestia, how do I get out of this?" Flash began to lament in his head, until he heard that cutesy voice from behind him speak again. "Don't you wanna hear it? Don't you want to go home? We know how you could go home now." the prisoner said. Flash thought, sighed, and gave in to entertaining his prisoner. “Really....” he deadpanned. “Yes really,” she said. “It involves you opening those bars and letting us out. Clearly, that's the fastest way to get out of your boring job. No prisoner to guard? You’re done!” A red hoof with a purple coat extended from the shadows of the cell. “Come on. You know we’re harmless, Flash. We wouldn't even hurt a parasprite. Let me out, Flash. We're sure we could go somewhere. Get something to eat, it'll be on us. We hear the flowers of the Canterlot gardens are beautiful this time of year, we so wish we could-” “It's winter,” Flash interrupted. The hoof retracted itself. “Oh...is that so?” said the pony in the cell. A red horn lit up in the darkness “Well, that's a pity. We wanted to see Canterlot's gardens. It's been sooooo long since we have. We suppose it makes sense you know the seasons and we don't. We’ve been in here so long...so lon-” “Shut up,” Flash said. In addition to the horn, a pair of eyes lit up from the cell. Both illuminated with a bloody red. “Now that's just plain rude,” said the imprisoned pony. “Did your mother ever teach you manners?” Flash Sentry grimaced. “That and a whole lot more. Like to know not to talk to monsters.” The coy voice continued. “But Flaaaash. We’re not a monster. We're friends, you and us. And as a friend, you should help a friend out-” Flash stomped his hoof on the ground. “We are not friends,” he said to the convict. The illuminated lights of horn and eyes ceased. “Then what are we, Flash? We thought we were friends? Oh, could that mean we're something more?” Two hooves, now pure red in hoof and coat emerged out of the darkness of the cell and came behind Flash. “You did say we were pretty...” Flash felt her hooves touch his tail, and made no reaction. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction. “I mean... we are a single mare. A very lonely single mare, who would be more than happy to see a handsome stallion like you by our side... we mean... if you came in here... we wouldn't say no.” He refused to act... until he felt her hooves touch his rear. Acting out of instinct his tail swatted away the hooves, the mare's hooves hitting the bars as she retracted. “Ow!” said a echoed voice. The hooves retreated inside the cell. Flash turned around to see what his instincts had wrought. The twisted face of a mare came from the shadows. Slit yellow eyes bulged with a blood red mane, cracks of pulsing yellow extended from her eyes and spread along her face. A bleeding, twisted unicorn horn on her forehead, as two draconic claws gripped against the cell bars that trapped her inside her cage. “THAT. HURT!” cried the demon. The demon huffed against the wall, her burning anger as she stared down at the lone guard.  Flash could hear her heavy breath, and and knew the anger that was teeming from her eyes.  “These bars can't hold us, Flash, they can't hold us forever!” said the demon, her voice sounding like a vile mash of distorted mares speaking as one. "You're gonna have to choose which side of these bars you're gonna support. Cause one of them is gonna kill the other.” “I've made my choice,” Flash Sentry said, firm and unmoving, glaring into the demon's slit, cracked yellow eyes, meeting it stare for stare… The showdown continued for a moment or two, before the the demon relented and retreated back into the darkness of the jail cell. The demon poked its head back out of the shadows, this time as a unicorn mare with a snow white coat and a sweet face that poked her head from the shadows. The demon's voice returned to that of a young mare. “Flassshhh...” it whined. “Leeet meee ouuuuutt..." He didn’t answer back. The demon continued talking. “We'll go see the world, you and I. Together out there in that crazy amazing world that we both want to see. Oh, Flash, it's gonna be amazing.” He turned around. Flash Sentry knew it was going to be a long night, and he couldn't be more miserable. Flash's Demon By Nicktendonick Chapter 1 – Gone Wrong -One Week ago: Canterlot castle- Flash Sentry woke up, and immediately pretended he was still asleep. You're not supposed to be sleeping, he thought to himself, sighing. Do you want someone to catch you? His eyes darted around to survey the room to see if he was caught. When the coast was clear the stallion resumed his casual stance, leaning against the enormous stone pillar he had been resting by. Being a royal guard of Canterlot Castle meant a lot of things. Not sleeping on the job was one of them. Even if he had to sit here for hours. Still, motionless, and unmoving he—" Flash heard the clip-clop of pair of hooves. Oh no. A pony turned a corner and came into Flash’s view. Another guard, his friend June, an orange unicorn mare decked in an similar armor, a mare whom he was more than familiar with.  She sent a smile as she passed by. As June left his vision Flash closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. June of all people would have tattled on him, or worse. He was glad for that. “At least she didn’t notice.” It was at that moment he realized June’s hoofsteps had stopped. “Is that so?” June whispered into Flash’s ear. “Gagh!” Flash shoot up from his lax position, all composure gone as he, literally shooting up into the air as his spear hit the ground. Flapping his wings as about as fast as his heart was beating, he turned around to see June giggling. Flash crossed his forehooves, glaring at the mare. “Not funny, June! What if Captain Armor saw that?” “Well, I guess he’d see his star pupil sleeping, then screaming like a filly,” she said, causing Flash’s wings to stop mid-flight in shock. He quickly landed and in hushed tones asked “You saw?” “How could I not? You’ve been sleeping for over an hour, Flashy. That's reeeal bad behavior for a new guard,” June said with that smirk still on her face. She had him. Flash knew he had be got. The stallion sighed, resigning himself to his fate. “What do you want, June?” June pouted. “Oh come on. Don’t give me that look. You were the one who broke up with me, remember? We’ve always been friends, you and I. Just, you know, maybe you and I just aren't a good couple.” Maybe we might have been if you didn't split your legs for every other stallion while we dated... Flash again wanted to say, but his better judgment won out. Before he could say anything, June took the advantage and placed a hoof on Flash’s shoulder. “Flashy, if there's anyone I can trust I know it's you. That, and I know you can totally do what I have in mind,” June said. Flash sighed as every alarm in Flash's head went off. He should have known. Scratch that, he already did. At least a guard or a paladin would just scold him or report him to Captain Armor. But her? No... his gut told him whatever June wanted, it would be worse than getting in trouble. It'd be worse than raiding the royal chambers and putting on their majestys’ undergarments and parading around in them during the middle of the Grand Galloping Gala. How'd she have this power over him? Flash lamented in his head that still, he still couldn't say no to her pretty face. The pair of orange royal guards trotted down the halls. Flash was a little disappointed in that nopony had stopped them. Maybe June was right everyone was pretty much on vacation. Heck, even the throne room was empty. “...And it's crap that they leave us to guard an empty wing while everyone else gets free food on the other side of the castle. I mean, where's the sense in that?” finished June. Flash had to agree. “Well, true. I suppose on the bright side us having to work the lunch shift does have a perk.” “And what's that, Flashy?” “We lose a few pounds.” Flash said back. June stopped. Flash took notice and turned around at her. “Are you saying I'm fat?” DO NOT SAY YES DO NOT SAY YES. Flash froze realizing what he said. June scrunched her face, staring at Flash... before the unicorn mare broke into a little giggle, the fake tension all gone. “See? So much fun. That's why I love ya, Flashy, ” June said before giving him a pat on the back with her hoof and then trotting to the center of the big room. “Besides, I know you love a girl with a little meat on her.” she said, leaving Flash flustered as they entered into big open room. Shaking it off in a flash, Flash Sentry took in his surroundings. Three other royal guards were in the room, Two alien faces, a brown earth pony he didn't know and red unicorn mare he'd never seen before. Steel Wings was the only familiar face, a pony he’d be able to recognize from anywhere. He was perched on a small pillar in the room observing and playing lookout. The two he didn’t know where on edges of a spell circle chalked out on the marble of the castle floor. Next to the circle was a children's set of chalk and a bucket of water with soap. “A teleport spell?” Flash asked. “With chalk?” “Yeee-ep, quick to make the runes and easy to clean up,” June said with a smile. “Who says they get to have all the good food? My brother's got a rune on the other side of the castle near the party. Once we open this warp up, you four travel back and play lookout while I swap places with my brother and grab some food for us and warp back, then we clean up the chalk before anypony notices.” “Jun’s over there? Couldn't Jun just bring us stuff?” questioned Flash. He turned up to his friend perched above. “Steel, buddy, help me out here before June gets us all thrown in the brig.” “Sorry dude, but June’s right. I’m with the twins on this one.” Flash felt like an arrow struck him. “Oh Celestia, seriously Steel, not you too.” “And how cold would you like your pizza then? Our only break is in four hours, there’s gonna be nothing left but scraps for us. I'd rather get at least something decent,” said Steel Wings. Flash facehoofed. “How did you survive Instructor Fury’s starvation training?” Flash muttered. Steel Wings, of course, overheard and frowned. “Hey, dude, that was then, this is now. I spent all night studying for that test I aced this morning. Haven't eaten since sundown last night and you know they don’t care if one guard sneaks us some food. Besides, I think I deserve this. You probably do too. By the way, how'd you do?” Failure was the answer. “I'm still waiting for my results,” was what Flash said. “Come on, you ponies, let's get this working,” said the earth pony he didn't recognize. “If we don't do this soon I'm going to the nearest paladin.” “Castle Crest, hold your gears, okay?” June said. “We only have a little bit before someone notices us missing. Do this, and I won't tell anyone what I caught you doing in the royal chambers.” Before any more details could be told, the red mare spoke up. “Good. Let's get this over with. Oh Celestia, I hope we don't get in trouble.” June immediately wrapped a hoof around the introverted mare, making her face light a bright pink. “Come-on, we’re not. Once we get the portal, I grab us a bunch of food, warp back and clean up this portal. In and out in five minutes. Nopony’s gonna notice.” “Um...if you say so,” Said the red mare. “Dang straight, private.” June smiled, triumphant. With that settled, June got to barking her orders. “All right, Flash, Steel, you boys take a place on the runes. Most of the spell is so nopony can detect it, but I need you four to give it a little more juice to make sure this spell works. We only got one chance to get this right, okay?” June said, trotting to the center of the spell circle. “I can't believe I'm doing this...” muttered Flash as he placed his hooves where June motioned to. It took the ponies a minute for the five royal guards to get in position. Each began letting magic flow into the runes as June commanded. The chalk started to glow as June raised her horn and initiated her spell. “Alright! Free food, here we come!” She exclaimed in joy. The spell continued to gather power. Flash began to feel relieved. Maybe this might work out. Maybe he could work things out with June. Maybe this wouldn't go horribly wrong. “WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME ARE YOU DOING!?” Flash mentally scratched that last one off the list. He cocked his head and saw another pony, one wearing a very different armor. Flash's jaw dropped as his mind turned to horror. A paladin. A Solar Paladin. A Celestia-damned paladin had spotted them. Captain Armor's strongest soldiers, Equestria’s top elite, and the ponies that usually have the largest stick up their plots. Especially the one that was running over to them. Especially the paladin named Sterling Conduct. Sterling Conduct shouted to the young guards. “What in Tartarus are you doing!? Stop that this moment!” He shouted as he was making his mad dash to the five young guards and right towards the spell circle. “Can’t stop!” June yelled over the swirling torrent, “The spell’s been cast!” Flash noticed the chalk getting smudged by Paladin Conduct's hooves as he entered the circle. “Wait! NO! Don't step in and mess up the r-!” was all June could say before a aura of white magic enveloped them all. Before the light of a messed up warp spell enveloped Flash, he had one single thought. Buck... Flash Sentry felt his head hit the floor. His body landing in a heap on a carpet. “...me...” he muttered to himself. Flash Sentry began to get up on his hooves and in a flash, the sentry had a good idea of where he was spirited away to. He was in a library: one of the grand royal libraries of Canterlot Castle. They contained a near endless amount of scrolls and tomes all brimming with information. Something was off, though. Too much dust hung in the air. Looking to his side he saw a bookshelf cart, and beyond that the indented shelves that made up the walls of this library. The amount of books the the walls contained seemed endless, towering high into a darkness that the dim light around him couldn't pierce. This was a library he had never seen before. And that worried him. To a normal pony, being in a library one had never been in before would not be anything new. But to a royal guard it was cause of alarm. Flash had seen the castle, he knew the castle inside and out, memorizing every single nook and cranny. Nothing less would be acceptable for one who wanted to join the royal guard. Flash had to know every part of the castle, and he knew this library wasn't a part of it. An interrupted warp spell would have sent him somewhere between point A and B somewhere in this castle. Somewhere in this castle was a dimly lit library that he knew nothing about. Concern growing, Flash flapped his wings and took to the air for a better view. He saw small light spell-lamps littered across the seemingly endless area, giving the faintest of illuminations inside the pitch black library. All except for one strong light that pierced the darkness. A few feet from where he had landed, there was a brightly glowing lamp. If anybody could tell him where he was, that would be the best place to start. The royal guard flew to the light and landed, folding up his wings and beginning to inspect the area. Flash was half-right. Someone was there. Was. Inside this much more lit area, there was a tray with what seemed like a half-finished sandwich. A sniff identified it as still fresh. It seemed to have been abandoned, along with the open book which to Flash's trained eye, was sheet music. A beginners’ book. Flash lit up a bit as his eyes picked a guitar to the side, gently resting against a bookshelf. “Hmm, I guess somepony was learning how to play the guitar,” he mused. Taking the instrument in his hooves, he gave it a look over. “Hmmm, not bad. Great condition too, if not a bit dusty” he muttered to himself. “Bet I could play something nice on this. I wonder if it's in tune...” The thought to strum it instantly came to mind. Play it. The thought swirled from left to right as Flash thought about it to himself, before “Where the heck am I?” returned to him. If he played it maybe he could get the attention of somepony else in here. Only question was, did he want whatever was in here to know he was there. Flash smiled, and was about to strum when a hoofstep in front of him caught his attention. Paladin Sterling Conduct was in front of him. Apparently, Flash had been found before he even began to search. “Sir? Do you know where we are? What's goin-” Flash found his answer in the form of a hoof gauntlet pressed against his mouth. Paladin Conduct's hoof silenced Flash as Conduct gave a “shhhhh” to him. Conduct's eyes were wide. Something was wrong. “Don’t speak. Follow me.” he quietly ordered. Flash obeyed. Flash noticed that his fellow guards were with Conduct. As soon as Conduct gave the signal, they all came into the brightly lit area. Seems like I'm the last of the party to be found, Flash thought to himself. With the gang all back together, June smiled and began to speak. "Good. Everyone's here. Let me make the runes so I can teleport us out of-" June immediately found her mouth also silenced by Castle Crest's hoof. "Shhh. Again." Castle Crest hissed "He said be quiet, and no magic." With the brown hoof on her mouth, June could only give a cute little glare... until Paladin Conduct interrupted them both. "I said, ‘no speaking’. Follow me, and keep quiet."   With the rookie guards all forming a line they silently walked through the library. June in the back, Flash behind her, followed by Steel, the other two guards, and ending with Sterling Conduct leading them. He cautiously watching every shadow, waiting for one of the shadowing to be more than just a trick on his mind. June, on the other hand, instead of keeping formation moved a bit forward to Flash’s side, and gave him another one of her irresistible smiles. “Flash... got any clue what spooked him? Conduct doesn't scare like this easy," she quietly said to Flash. Flash winced. The paladin who clearly knew what the hell was going on had told them to be quiet, but... Flash internally sighed. June would be June, and she wasn't the type who could be controlled so easily. “No,” he curtly said. “Well, at the least I know I'm in your capable hooves, Flash,” June said, giving him a warm smile. Flash looked away from June and in front of him. They saw bars. Bars and light! On the other side of the bars was a hallway Flash wasn't familiar with, with what he assumed was an alcove for light to fall in. Flash smiled. Finally! A way out. Let’s get the heck out of here! “Wait... bars... that means...” Castle Crest muttered. “They're keeping something in here.” “And that's exactly why I said stay quiet. Now hurry before we're noticed,” Paladin Conduct said. “Good,” June said, putting her hoof down. “I can't wait to get out of this stupid library.” “Is that so?” Everypony froze. “The buck was that?” Steel wings said. A distorted voice answered back. “You really don't like our library?” As if on cue, all the lights in the library went out. “Too bad.” boomed the voice, it seeming to come from everywhere. An unnatural pitch blackness surrounded the ponies, Flash’s instincts told him exactly what this was. This was a darkness spell, A simple and basic spell used frequently by Luna worshipers and by thieves in the night to escape their pursuers. He'd seen it before in training, and so had Steel and June. . speaking of, Flash had expected June to say something back and light the room up. He of all stallions knew she was a talkative mare, so why wasn't June saying anything? Instead of June, it was the red mare among them who lit up her horn, creating a small little orb of light to illuminate the six ponies. A shining light which only revealed five. Flash turned around and froze. Nopony was behind him. June was gone. “June!” Shouted Steel and Flash. Their eyes darted around in the darkness, trying to find their disappeared friend. "June! Where are you? Come back to the light!" Steel shouted, his vision looking where Flash’s wasn’t in the hopes of seeing where June had vanished to. “Too bad. You get to stay,” The voice boomed. The five remaining ponies looked up, and dodged the incoming falling object. A stone object fell between them, smashing the ground upon impact. The royal guards were shaken, but alright… that was until they looked closer at what had been dropped on them. A realistic stone statue of a pony with eyes wide of fear, a mouth open in a gasp. “June! HOLY CRAP!” Between them, was June's petrified body. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit,” the red mare said, backing up to the wall. “June's dead oh Celestia  June's dead.” The blackness that had consumed them began to laugh. “You get to stay. You all get to stay! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Chapter 1: Gone wrong – End.