//------------------------------// // Slothspawn // Story: A New Flashlight // by Neroson40 //------------------------------// Flash Sentry POV I was told that diving into Breaklands Deep would give me an experience of what my true outlook on reality was… I gotta admit… it was weird. Not Pinkie Pie weird, where everything would probably be balloons and cake and pranking supplies, it was digital techno meets steam punk. There were pipes running along the buildings (all of which I recognized as real world) that would let off a puff of steam or a drop of water every now and then. All of them ran into the buildings, which looked like they came from 1830’s Manehattan, or under the streets for the trollies and trains. The lights in the buildings, along the corners of the buildings and the streets, and on the people’s freaking clothes, along with the blue hue coming of the sky with no apparent stars, moon or clouds made the entire thing look off. The only things I didn’t recognize as a real world setting put into my perception were the two giant bronze statues in the middle of the east- and west-sides of the city. To the east… we had a Pegasus, dressed in battle armor that looked like it would fit in at a coliseum. There was a picture on the things flank… it looked like the logo that was on all my clothes, but I couldn’t really tell with this horrible lighting. The other statue, to the west, was supposed to be me, I could tell because of the guitar. But I couldn’t see my head from this distance (again, it was the light) and the clothes looked like they would fit on a video game character from overseas, a duster with the left side of the trail missing, baggy pants with combat boots, shoulder pads that ha screws coming out of them. A door appeared next to me, and Chief walked through it… What the hell was he wearing!? He looked down at himself and didn’t even flinch at the shoulder-less shirt wrapped around his torso, or the baggy pants that covered his boots, or the sword obviously strapped to the back of his waist. “Never thought I’d be seeing these duds any time soon,” He said. “Those are normal for you!?” I exclaimed. He looked at my face, and then the rest of me. “Yeah, but I have no memory of you getting an outfit like… that,” He said. I had to look down and… Why was I wearing what the statue had in black and steel that could stop a point blank sniper bullet!? Okay, the guitar strapped to my back was mine in the real world, at least I had that. Yeah, I thought it was kinda cool, but I still hoped this look was temporary, if not occasional. “Well… okay, you got me beat,” I admitted. “When did we change clothes anyway?” “That’s an… instantaneous occurrence,” A voice echoed from the distance. A black, shadowy figure rose out of the corner. The logo that Twilight wore on her skirt was hovering over his back, like it couldn’t make contact, but it had to stay near him. “Who are you?” Chief asked. “I’m Slothspawn, your guide through this endeavor,” he said. “You want to restore your memory, you need me.” “Slothspawn?” I asked. “Like… Deadly Sin number five?” “The same,” He said. “But we preferred to be called the ‘Seven Fatal Flaws’ if you don’t mind.” “If you’re a Fatal Flaw, why do you have Twilight’s Cutie Mark on your back?” Chief asked… Cutie Mark? What!? “I am her Fatal Flaw, I’ll Explain later.” He stepped towards the edge of the roof we were on, raised his hand and a diverging, translucent path appeared in the air. “Flash Sentry, you must go to the Pegasus Statue, Master Chief Flash Sentry, go to the Guitarist statue. I will meet each of you at the end of the road to teach you the skill needed to move on.” Twilight Sparkle POV It had been a little while since Flash yelled out to the World that we were expecting parents (Honestly if it weren’t for the shock of the news, I’d’ve been more embarrassed). Councilor Gateway, Or Inferno as he insisted we call him, tried to get us to stop treating him like a Councilor. If the news he told Base were something I knew, it’d probably make sense, but even Base was stone silent on the topic, only saying “You won’t be able to believe it,” whenever we asked him. Cadance’s Pregnancy reached month three and she was starting to form a baby bump which she would proudly show off. And for some reason, she decided, I kid you not, to set Applejack up with Ironsparks… even this wasn’t like her, I mean yeah it’s clear that they like each other (Applejack more subtly than Ironsparks) but she would normally wait for a confidential confession! I decided that it was for their own good that I warned them. “Princess Cadance’s gonna set me up wit… Ironsparks?” Applejack looked out the corner of her eyes, a light blush across her cheeks. “Well… that don’t sound too bad…” “She decided out of nowhere… unless you told her something,” I suggested thinking it was ridiculous. “I think she came up wit it on ‘er own,” she said. “I have to admire her eye for matchmaking.” Wait… What!? She actually liked him!? I didn’t see that coming! If there were any signs that she liked him I didn’t see it, but it couldn’t be more obvious if there were a neon sign hanging over Ironsparks’ head that said “I like Applejack!” “You… What!?” “Don’t ‘xpect me to outright say it unless I still feel it when it happens.” I raised up my hooves in surrender, deciding not to tell Ironsparks about Cadance’s little idea.