Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S1

by Banshee531

Cutie Mark Chronicles

We open our tale on the outskirts of the woods, where Flash and Springer were facing off. Both were like statues as they stared each other down, ready to engage in a match that nopony in town would want to get in the middle of. Flash had Lightbringer in his hoof, ready for battle with the blade. Springer on the other hoof, was in an offensive martial stance, his aura charged as it flowed naturally around his entire body. The two continued their stare down as a small ticking sound could be heard. The noise was an egg timer, just a few feet away. Seconds felt like hours as the timer went 'tick, tick, tick', it's sound being the only thing that could be heard just outside the woods.

Then, the timer stopped. An ear piercing ring let out and the two shot forward.

Aura Blast!" Springer screamed as he shot the ball of energy at his partner.

"Flash Cutter!" Flash yelled back, swinging his sword as a familiar orange energy blade flew out. The Flash Cutter struck the Aura Blast and sliced it in half, allowing Flash to fly forwards and swing down at Springer.

The jakhowl did a spinning side step to dodge the blade. Once he had his footing, Springer put his paws together, causing them to glow. He let out a small pant as he said, "Bone Breaker." He pulled his paws apart and as he did, his aura slowly formed into a bone shaped energy weapon. It was the same technique he'd used against a criminal a while back. Over the last few weeks, Springer had been practising to master this new ability, and the continuous training had paid off. The bone could now grow until it was as long as Springer was tall. He then made it grow a little more, but only a small bit. Seeing it was finished, Springer spun the bone in his paws like a pinwheel before holding it in a battle stance. With this, Flash let out a hearty laugh as the he assumed a fighting stance as well.

"Now we're talking buddy!" Flash said as he pointed Lightbringer directly at Springer. "Give me everything you got!"

"You're going down!" Springer barked back before dashing forward, swinging his weapon around at blinding speed.

Soon, their weapons clashed against each other, Flash's Celestic Gear getting blocked by Springer's bone and vice versa. Flash spun his sword inside his hoof before yelling, "Flash Cutter!" As his words flowed out of his mouth, the blade glowed as he swung down and slashed the aura made bone. The very clash sliced the bone in half, pushing the jakhowl away.

Seeing he was in trouble, Springer swiftly jumped backwards, transitioning into a quick handstand before jumping back onto his feet. He began looking down at his broken staff, his eyes scanning them over. Giving a quick smirk, the jakhowl spun the two broken pieces around as his body glowed bright blue. He then thrust the two ends together as they suddenly extended and repaired themselves, becoming a pair of twin bone clubs which he held in one paw each.

However, seeing his partner double up his weapons didn't scare Flash, it just made him shine his usual cocky battle-loving grin.

The two rushed at each other once more as they began trading blows. Springer was on major offense this time while Flash was working defense, blocking every attack the jakhowl threw at him. Eventually, Springer swung both down in an X formation which Flash blocked before using his tail to swipe Springer's feet from under him and sent him rolling away.

Flash knew this was his chance and pointed the crossguard of his weapon at the jakhowl. "Flash Force!" The beam of energy shot out of the weapon and flew towards Springer, who had just gotten back on his feet and saw the attack coming. Springer quickly summoned his aura once more, this time creating a smaller pair of bones, each with a back handed grip. Using this, he blocked the attack, only for the beam to blast the bones to bits. With that, the blast stopped just as Springer was about to lose his footing due to the force of the attack. His paws trembled as he tried to summon another aura bone, only to fall to his knees from exhaustion.

Suddenly, he found the tip of Lightbringer's blade in front of his eyes as Flash stood above him with a serious face. "You yield?" He asked plainly.

Springer looked up at him before sighing in defeat and saying, "I yield."

Flash's serious demeanour was quickly replaced by a happy grin. "Great," he said, putting the sword away and helping Springer back up. With the battle over, the two walked over to where they kept their stuff. Going into his saddlebag, Flash pulled out a canteen and two apples, one of which he threw to Springer. "You're getting better at this buddy. That bone weapon of yours is really helping you." Flash told his partner.

"Thanks," Springer replied as he took a bite of the apple, "but I still lost."

"Grand Hoof used to say to me that every loss you learn from is its own victory," Flash commented as he drank down a splash of water from the canteen. "He also used to say that you've never really lost unless you stop trying."

"Well, I'm not gonna stop trying to beat you," Springer said before taking a swig of water from the canteen as well. “I'll beat you yet. Count on it.”

"Oh don't worry, I am.” Flash replied as he started to eat his apple. After a little while, they finished their lunch and glanced at the nearby town of Ponyville. “Well, I think that's enough training for today buddy, let's head back to town."

"Okay," Springer nodded before jumping onto his partner's back. The two were soon flying over the town, looking for anything that might be out of sorts as usual. After a few minutes, they heard a certain voice.

"Hey Flash!" he looked down and noticed the CMC scooting through the town and looking up at him. Seeing them wave at the flying pegasus, he gently floated down to them.

"Hey girls, what can I do for ya?"

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?" Scootaloo asked with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Sorry," he shook his head, "haven't seen her all day." Flash then looked back at Springer, "you know where she is?"

Springer closed his eyes and opened his aura, his ears flaring up as he did. However, after a few seconds, they flopped down again and he opened his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders with an apologetic frown. "Sorry, can't find her."

"Sorry girls," Flash said as he looked back at them, "I'll be sure to tell her that you're looking for her if I see her."

"That's okay," Sweetie Belle said.

"No it isn't!" Scootaloo barked back, "I wanna hear her story!"

"Oh stop whining," Applebloom told her. “You've been whining about that all day!”

"What's this about a story?" Flash asked, sounding intrigued.

"We thought if we heard somepony else's story about how they got their Cutie Mark, we'd get ideas on how to get ours."

"Oh really?" Flash rubbed his chin in curiosity. "You know girls, doing exactly what somepony else did isn't a guaranteed success. You do know that, right?"

"We know that," Applebloom replied, "but it couldn't hurt to know how they got theirs."

"We've already heard Applejack's, Fluttershy's, Rarity's and Twilight's," Scootaloo continued, "and none of them helped us. We need a pony of action like Rainbow Dash to tell us the right way to get one!"

Flash just chuckled at this before shaking his head. "There's no right way to get one girls. Everypony's story is different, trust me.” He crossed his hooves with a confident expression gracing his face. “Besides, it's only when you've realised what you're meant to be is when you get your Cutie Mark."

"Yeah," Scootaloo sighed, "but how are we gonna find out what that thing is?" It was at that moment that Scootaloo noticed Flash's Cutie Mark, and she looked up at him her eyes filled with wonder. "Hey Flash!"

"Yeah?" Flash asked, sounding nervous. He knew that look on Scootaloo's face. It was same one he saw right before what Flash called, 'The Renegade Farming Equipment Incident' happened.

"You must have an awesome Cutie Mark story!" she exclaimed as she pointed at his flank. "You're a Royal Knight, so you must have gotten your Cutie Mark in the most awesome way possible! Did you slay a dragon or save Princess Celestia from something?!"

"Well first off, I'm an apprentice knight. Secondly, I-"

"I bet when your Cutie Mark appeared, Grand Hoof asked you to be his apprentice right away!" Applebloom interrupted.

"Or did you get it when you became his apprentice?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Actually-"

"I'm telling you, it's gotta be something super cool," Scootaloo exclaimed again before turning to Flash, "right?"

They all looked at Flash and found that he now was busy preening his wings. When he looked around and eyed them, he asked, "can I speak now?" The three girls nodded their heads in agreement, sitting down to hear the story. Springer also sat down, wanting to hear this story. "We'll start simple with my story. First off, let me tell you right now that when I got my Cutie Mark, I didn't even notice I'd gotten it."

"WHAT?!" the girls screamed, getting some stares from passing ponies. The three all blushed and waved at them until they left, which at that point, they turned back to Flash.

"How could you not have noticed you'd gotten your Cutie Mark?!" Scootaloo said in a panicked tone.

"It's impossible!" Sweetie added.

"Well, I had other things to worry about back then," Flash explained with a shake of the head. "This was before I was Grand Hoof's apprentice. Heck, it was before I met Twilight."

"I thought ya'd grown up alongside her?" Applebloom asked, "isn't that what Applejack told me?"

"I did grow up with her, but I haven't known her and her family for my whole life."

"Huh. I had no idea.” Scootaloo replied with crossed hooves. “And you also don't know how you got your Cutie Mark? That's harsh."

"I didn't say that," Flash shook his head again, "I just said I didn't notice I'd gotten it at the time. It was a little later that I learned how I got it."

"How?" the three asked.

"You really want to know?"

"YES!"

Flash chuckled at their excitement. "Okay then, I'll tell you. It started when I had been Grand Hoof's apprentice for about...six months? Yeah, six months is about right. Anyways...”

---

Several years ago...

Canterlot...

It started out like any other day as two foals were walking towards Celestia's castle. There, Flash was walking side by side with Twilight. As they trotted down another street, Twilight's horn continued to glow as she levitated a book in front of Flash.

"Now read the first line," she told him.

Flash stared at the words, trying to remember what they were. "The...frog...hopped...over the...log. He...then lo...lo...uh, what's that word?"

“Looked.”

“Right.” Flash nodded. “He then looked...over...the...p...pon...pon...”

“Pond.”

“Pond. Right. The frog...saw...a...girl...frog.”

"Very good," Twilight nodded, "a little more and you'll be reading like a pro."

"Thanks," Flash replied, blushing. Everypony had recently discovered Flash couldn't read, so Twilight had started using their morning walks to the castle as a way to help teach him how to read. He needed the knowledge so he could read the books Grand Hoof needed him to read and life in general.

“Okay, read the next sentence and-”

The Present...

"You didn't know how to read?!" Sweetie asked, interrupting Flash's story.

"I'd never needed to know," Flash shrugged, "when you live on the streets, you learn a very different skill set."

"You lived on the streets when you were younger?" Applebloom asked.

“That's right.” Flash nodded before asking with a raised eyebrow. "I never told you that?"

The three shook their heads.

"A story for another time. Anyways..." Flash told them before giving them a slight glare, "Let's continue. And no more interruptions, alright?” The trio nodded at this. “Okay. Now, we were on our way to the castle and...”

The Past...

The two arrived at the castle and walked right passed the guards without a second look. Everypony in the castle knew about them, so they all just smiled and nodded. They went inside and navigated the corridors until they reached the outside of the library, where they found Grand Hoof.

"Hey kids," he waved.

"Hey Grand," Flash waved back, surprised that the military pony was at the library rather than the training ground. "So, what we doing today?"

"Actually, today's gonna be a little different kiddo." Grand replied as he patted Flash's shoulder, "Princess Celestia asked that I instruct you to meet her in the main hall."

"Why?" Flash asked, raising his eyebrows in concern.

"Not sure," he shook his head, "she said this was something only she could explain to you."

"What did you do?" Twilight asked Flash in concern.

"Nothing," Flash replying with a shrug, "At least not recently that is."

"Recently?"

"I'm sure you'll find out when you get there," Grand explained before handing Twilight a scroll of paper. "She also said to give you this."

Twilight took the scroll in her magic before looking over at Flash. "Good luck."

"Thanks," he said, though he was still a little nervous. Once Twilight had entered the library, he looked up at Grand Hoof, who nodded and left for the training area.

Now alone, Flash headed over to the main hall.

The Present...

Flash let out a small chuckle as he started this part of the story. “That was the most terrifying walk I'd ever taken.” The trio nodded, understanding what he meant with that as Flash continued. “All throughout my journey to Princess Celestia's throne, there were all sorts of ideas and horrors popping into my head about why Princess Celestia had summoned me, each more terrifying then the last. Was she going to say I couldn't be Grand Hoof's apprentice anymore? Or that I couldn't live with Twilight's family anymore? Maybe I was being banished from Equestria!” Flash let out another hearty laugh. “It sounds silly now, but when you're a kid, your imagination can get the best of you. Finally, I reached the doors leading to the main hall.”

“And then what happened?” Scootaloo asked, now fully invested in the story unlike the other stories she had heard today. “Did you get banished?”

“Scootaloo, here's still here.” Sweetie Belle deadpanned. “Obviously, that didn't happen.”

“Oh yeah.” Scootaloo blushed in embarrassment. “So uh...what happened next?”

“Well, I got to the throne room and-"

The Past...

Flash stood outside, shaking in fear as the doors slowly began to open. Stepping into the throne room was no calm manner as his eyes shook, glancing around that long hallway. He soon saw the guards standing to attention, one of which was Shining Armor, though he didn't look at him since he was forced to remain at attention. After some slow trotting, he arrived at Celestia's throne, where she sat there doing some paper work.

Once he had arrived, Celestia looked up from her work and saw him. "Oh, you're here." she said, putting down the stacks of paper. "Welcome Flash." She turned to the guards and other castle employees, "Leave us please."

"Yes, your majesty!" they a chimed in unison before shuffling out of the room, leaving Flash and the princess alone.

"So young Flash," Celestia asked as adjusted herself on her throne, "do you know why I have summoned you here?"

"No your majesty," Flash shook his head as his colt body kept shivering in fear, "am I in trouble?"

"Of course not my little pony," she said after chuckling, "I've summoned you here to help you with something."

"Help me with something? What do you mean?"

"I've been keeping an eye on your training my little pony. Your skills are impressive for your age, Grand Hoof has told me as such and I agree with him. But...I couldn't help but feel like you're not living up to your full potential. You never seem to be giving it your all and Twilight has told me that you've been...well, distracted recently." The very statement made Flash look at her in confusion. He thought she was going to tell him that he was a disappointment or he was somehow hindering Twilight, but it was none of these things. It was concern, and it showed on her face. "Tell me Flash, what's wrong?"

"I uh...I...nothing's wrong." Flash lied, looking down at the floor.

"Don't be shy Flash." Celestia said with a shake of the head, "I want to help."

Flash let out a long sigh before looking back up. "Its just...I love being Grand Hoof's apprentice and I enjoy everything he's teaching me, but...”

“But what?”

“I just...sometimes I wonder if maybe...maybe he made a mistake about picking me."

"And what brought this on?"

"Lightning Blitz," Flash grimaced as he started looking back down at the floor.

"Oh," Celestia said, frowning. She shook her head, knowing what a trouble-maker he was. "What did he do this time?"

"He keeps saying I'm nothing special and that Grand Hoof just took pity on me."

"You shouldn't listen to a word that pony says," Celestia told him sternly. She got up off her throne and walked down towards him, kneeling down and looking him in the eye. "You are a very special pony Flash. I know this, Grand Hoof knows this and Twilight and her family know this. Grand Hoof didn't pick you because he felt sorry for you, he picked you because you were meant for this."

"But how can I know that for sure?" Flash asked, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"Well, for one thing, your Cutie Mark shows that you are a protector," Celestia said, pointing to his flank, "remember what I told you when we first met?"

"But I don't even know how I got this," Flash replied as he looked at his back. "What if it means something completely different?”

Celestia thought about this for a moment and then gasped as an idea popped into her head. "If you want, there is a way to find out."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Celestia ignored his question, and instead walked over to a wall where a picture was. Using her magic to move it away, it revealed several shelves built inside the wall. There, there was a bottle of purple liquid sitting on the bottom shelf. Levitating the bottle out of the space and replacing the picture, she stepped back over to him. "This is a very special potion. It was brewed in Zebraca, which allows the drinker to see things in the past. If you drink it and concentrate on your Cutie Mark, it'll allow you to relive the event of how you got it."

"Really?" Flash asked, looking the bottle over before looking back at the picture on the wall. “But didn't you say you only have one? Should I really try this?”

"Do you wish to see it?" Celestia asked.

"Yes," Flash nodded.

"Then don't worry about such things." Celestia said as she shot a beam of magic at the bottle, causing it to shift from purple to white. "It is ready." she stated as she tapped the bottle with her hoof before glancing back at Flash. "If it is okay with you young one, I'd like to create a mental connection so I might see what you see."

Flash just nodded, glad that he wasn't the only one going in to see this. Taking a deep breath, Flash shivered as he put the bottle to his lips. A second later, a slight tingle shook his head as Celestia's mind spell started as the liquid poured into his mouth. As he finished the drink, Flash looked back up at Celestia, wondering when the potion's effect would happen.

That is, till his eyes suddenly began to glow bright gold, shocking Celestia for a second before the duo's bodies suddenly turned pure bright shining white. A second later, another bright light appeared, transporting the two to one of the busy streets of Canterlot.

"What the-what happened?!" he asked, looking around. "How'd we get outside?"

"We didn't," Celestia shook her head as she explained, "this is a vision that you and I are sharing. Our physical selves haven't actually left the main hall."

"So its like a dream?"

"If you wanted to see it like that, yes." Celestia replied with a shrug. “And before you ask, nopony can see us here, we're just viewing the past after all.”

"So...where in Canterlot are we?" Flash asked, looking around. “This looks kinda familiar...”

"I'm not sure. You were thinking about your Cutie Mark when you drank the potion, yes?" Flash nodded in response. "Then this must be where you were when you got your Cutie Mark."

"But where am I?"

"GET BACK HERE!" they both turned to see an earth pony running down the street, chasing a familiar orange pegasus colt. "When I get my hooves on you, I'll tear you limb from limb!"

The young colt, a perfect twin of Flash though this one lacked his Cutie Mark, continued to run with a brown bag in his mouth.

"Looks like we found you," Celestia chuckled, giving Flash a smirk as he gave her a sheepish smile. "We should probably try and follow your past self." She bent down, allowing Flash to jump on her back before they took to the skies. They easily followed the past version of Flash as he was chased by the earth pony. "None of this is striking a memory?"

"Not really," Flash shrugged. "This was a pretty regular occurrence for me."

"It amazes me that you did this for so long and I was never made aware of it," Celestia said before smiling, "though to be fair, if I was outsmarted by somepony so much younger than me, I'd want to keep it under wraps too."

They both laughed at this as they watched Flash's past self turn to an alleyway, only to find that it was a dead end. The wall wasn't very tall, but it was at least double the height of the young pegasus colt. They watched as he tried to scale the wall, but couldn't reach the top. That and his young wings weren't exactly working at the time.

"I've got you now." the earth pony said in a low, menacing tone as he walked into the alley. Past Flash looked around, panicking as the earth pony slowly charged forwards. It was there that the duo noticed past Flash getting an idea. The colt charged forward and suddenly slid on the ground, slipping right between the earth pony's legs. This caused the earth pony to look down, not realising the need to stop charging. A second later, his head kissed the dead end wall with a resounding 'thud'.

"That had to hurt," Celestia said with raised eyebrows.

The past Flash then ran up to the earth pony, leaped onto his back and used him as a spring board to reach the top of the wall. As he began to scramble his hooves, trying to get over the wall, the earth pony slowly got up as he rubbed his head. "You won't get away that easily brat."

"You think that was easy?!" Past Flash asked before finally getting over the wall, throwing the bag of food over the concrete. He then turned to the earth pony and stuck his tongue out, spitting raspberries. “Later jerk!” With that, he jumped down, successfully escaping the earth pony.

"Impressive," Celestia said as the followed after Flash's past self. They did this for a while until they reached a park area just outside a large building.

"I don't get what any of this has to do with my Cutie Mark." Flash said, crossing his hooves.

"Patience," Celestia told him. “Patience young one.”

They watched as the past Flash sat down on a bench and opened the paper bag, pulling out a slice of pizza while licking his lips. Celestia rubbed her chin as she and Flash floated over the past Flash.

"That's...not exactly healthy. Was that your usual meal back then?"

"I took whatever I could find," Flash replied, shrugging again. "Considering how much running I did back then, I usually managed to burn off the calories quickly."

“Eh, can't argue with that.”

As the past Flash began munching on the pizza slice, the current Flash was starting to think they'd never see how he got his Cutie Mark. “Are you sure this is the moment I-”

BOOM!

He and Celestia heard the resounding 'BOOM!', making them look up. There, the two gasped as the saw a beautiful burst of rainbow colours flying through the sky. The vision version of Flash also saw it, and his eyes went wide.

"Wait a minute...I remember this!”

“You do?”

“Yeah!” Flash nodded before looking at Celestia with a wide-eyed expression. “And I remember what happened next." Flash then turned away from the rainbow and pointed to a nearby rooftop, which suddenly exploded as the head of a giant purple and green dragon shot out of it.

"That's-" Celestia tried to say before a loud scream caught their attention. Looking down, they saw broken pieces of the roof begin to fall. As the rubble started to descend, the past Flash saw that it was heading straight towards a young light green unicorn filly. The debris started hitting the ground around the filly, causing her to freeze up.

"Hang on!" the past Flash yelled, abandoning his pizza slice as he shot forward, his wings suddenly starting to work. The younger Flash flew as fast as he could, but he soon found himself in the path of a piece of rubble, though he didn't see it. As the large rock fell right on top of young colt, Celestia gasped, thinking she had suddenly saw Flash die.

That is, till she saw something that made her eyes go wide.

Bright yellow lightning began to spark out of Flash's body, one bolt flying upwards and striking the debris right before hitting the colt. This continued as Flash flew towards the filly, seemingly unaware of the lightning surging from his body. Finally, he reached the filly and grabbed her, quickly racing away from the continuing disaster that was happening over the two.

Then it happened. Without him even noticing, Flash's flank shined a brilliant gold as the image of a blue shield with a lightning bolt on top of it appeared.

A fair distance away, past Flash put the filly down as the lightning around them suddenly faded. The younger Flash then noticed adult ponies running towards them, making him shoot back into the sky and disappear into the nearby park treeline. As he did, Celestia and Flash watched him slowly descend back to the ground, his colt wings now tired, before running away into the darkness of another corner of Canterlot.

"I think that's enough," Celestia said, a radiant light shining from her horn, which made Flash close his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked around and saw he was back inside the main hall. Celestia was next to him, and seemed to have a puzzled expression on her face.

"Are you okay princess?"

Celestia looked down at him and smiled. "Yes my little pony," she replied with a giant kind grin, "I'm simply thinking about what we saw."

"What was all that?" Flash asked as he looked at his hoof, now realising the empty potion bottle was still in it. "The rainbow and the dragon...and what was with that lightning? I didn't even realise it was happening back then."

"I seems you are more special then I'd previously assumed," Celestia told him, "I've never seen a pegasus pony create lightning like that before."

"Really?"

"Indeed," Celestia nodded, "but the most important thing, is that you now know how you got your Cutie Mark."

"Yeah," Flash replied, crossing his hooves as he just remembered why they'd done the whole memory trip.

"And what was it you did to earn it?"

"I...saved somepony," Flash said in a calm, bewildered tone.

"Exactly," Celestia chuckled, patting his head. "You didn't know them, you didn't have any reason to save them, but you did. And do you know why you did?"

Flash just shook his head.

"Because that is what you are meant to be," Celestia told him, leaning down to his level again. "You are a protector. And I believe, now more then ever, that Grand Hoof made the right decision in choosing you as his apprentice. I believe you are destined to one day become a member of the Royal Knights."

Flash looked back at his Cutie Mark and smiled. For a second, he felt like it somehow glowed for a moment, making his smile morph into a look of slight confusion. “Huh...well what do you know...”

"Now," Celestia said as she stood back up, "I think you should get to the training area for your lessons.” Flash did a small salute, hearing this command. After that, Celestia leaned down and whispered into his ear. “Also, if you don't mind Flash, please keep what happened here a secret about the mysterious lightning. Okay?"

"Okay," Flash nodded, "I won't tell anypony."

---

The Present...

"And I never told anypony about the lightning and how I got my Cutie Mark." Flash said proudly, before his eyes shot open and he looked down at the speechless fillies and jakhowl. It was here that he realised what he just said, and facehoofed. "Um...can I ask that you forget about that last part?"

"That was...AWESOME!" Scootaloo yelled, "I knew you had an amazing Cutie Mark story!"

"Thanks," Flash replied while patting Scootaloo's head.

"But what was that lightning?" Sweetie asked.

"No idea," Flash shrugged, "I've tried to awaken it again but I was never able to."

"Not ever?" Applebloom asked.

"Nope.” Flash shook his head. “Sorry, but like I said to Rainbow when she was trying to do the Sonic Rainboom, if I haven't been able to awaken it again, it's probably because I don't have a good enough reason for it."

"But maybe if you tried really hard and-" Scootaloo tried only for Flash to stop her with a raised hoof.

"You can't force these kind of things Scootaloo," Flash told her. "Besides, I don't really need it. I've got Lightbringer and Springer."

"Oh...I guess that's true."

"Now, why don't you three get going?" Flash said as he got up, dusting himself off as he pointed to Ponyville. "And I'll be sure to tell Rainbow Dash that you're looking for her."

"Okay!" the CMC exclaimed as they jumped back on the scooter and shot off.

As they watched the fillies leave, Springer jumped back onto Flash's back before they took to the skies again. Springer then spoke up as Flash started to fly over the middle of Ponyville. "You know, I never would have seen you as somebody who'd have doubts about themselves. After all the times you've helped our friends, I just thought you had it all figured out."

Flash just chuckled at this. "Everypony has issues they need to deal with buddy, even me. Besides, I was just a kid back then, and I was new to the whole knight thing. I know now that this is what I'm meant to be."

"I guess so.”

The two took another lap around the town before their stomachs told them it was time to eat. Deciding to obey their internal clocks, they decided to head to Sugarcube Corner for a snack.

"Hey Flash," said a familiar voice as he walked into the store. There, he saw Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow standing in the store with big smiles on their faces.

"Hey girls," he said before turning to Rainbow. "You know, Scootaloo and her friends are looking for you."

"So I hear," Rainbow laughed while she crossed her hooves.

"Did they ask you about your Cutie Mark story as well?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah," Flash nodded.

"What did they say when they found out you didn't know how you got it?" Twilight asked with a cocky grin. Flash just smirked at hearing this while the others looked at him with slight confusion.

A few seconds later, the CMC walked in and a frowning Scootaloo started to smile at seeing her idol. "Rainbow Dash! You're here!"

Flash and the girls all smirked as Rainbow stepped forward. "I hear you three are looking for my Cutie Mark story."

Scootaloo sighed in relief, knowing that Rainbow was going to tell them. "You have no idea what I've been through today to hear that story." With that, she sat down and waited.

And so, Rainbow began her story. She told the tale of how she was at flight camp and had been part of a race against a group of bullies who had been picking on Fluttershy. It was here that she learned how much she loved the thrill of racing and winning. As she continued, she also talked about how she had accidentally performed the legendary Sonic Rainboom for the first time, winning the race and receiving her Cutie Mark.

"And that little ones," Rainbow said proudly once the story was over, "is how you earn a Cutie Mark."

"WOW!" the CMC exclaimed in unison.

"Wait a second," Fluttershy said, getting their attention, "I heard that explosion and I saw the rainbow too. Rainbow Dash, if you hadn't scared the animals then I never would have learned that I could communicate with them and gotten my Cutie Mark."

"I heard that boom!" Pinkie added, "and afterwards, there was this amazing rainbow that taught me how to smile!"

"When I got my Cutie Mark," Applejack continued, surprised at the sudden connection. "I saw a rainbow that pointed me home. I bet it was your Sonic Rainboom."

"There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my Cutie Mark," Rarity said.

"This is...uncanny." Twilight said with a slight shiver. "If that explosion didn't happen when it did, I would have blown my entrance exam. Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn my Cutie Mark too."

Then everypony turned to Flash. "I remember seeing the rainbow," he nodded before scratching the back of his neck, "but I doubt it was connected to me getting my Cutie Mark."

"I thought you didn't know how you got yours?" Twilight asked.

"Celestia helped me find out, but she told me to keep it a secret." He told her before facehoofing again, "Why do I keep forgetting to do that?!”

"But you did get your Cutie Mark after the Rainboom, right?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "but like I said, unless the Rainboom caused a giant dragon to appear and break through the roof of a building, I doubt it has anything to do with getting my Cutie Mark."

"Giant dragon?" Twilight said quizzically before gasping, "a purple dragon with green spikes?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"That was Spike," Twilight smiled sheepishly, "during my entrance exam, the Rainboom made me lose control of my magic and it uh...made me use my magic to turn him into a giant."

Flash's eyes went wide as the pieces fit into place. "So Rainbow did help me get my Cutie Mark."

Everypony turned to the shocked Rainbow Dash, who was suddenly tackled by Pinkie as she gave her a big hug. "We all owe our Cutie Marks to you!" Pinkie cheered. “That's so cool!”

"Do you realised what this means?" Fluttershy asked with a big smile on her face. "All of us had a special connection before we even met!"

"We've been BFFs forever," Rarity gasped, "and we didn't even know it."

"Come here ya'll," Applejack chuckled as the seven of them all pulled each other into a hug. As Flash put his wings around Twilight and Rarity, he smiled. He should have known having such a great friendship wasn't just coincidence, but fate. That is, till he heard a voice of complainant.

"Ewwwww!" he heard Scootaloo say, "come on crusaders. Maybe we just need to try zip lining again." Flash looked over and saw Applebloom and Sweetie Bell pull Scootaloo into a hug, making him smirk at the sight.

"Hey, how about a song?" Fluttershy suggested as they broke the hug.

Everypony was in agreement at this until Scootaloo screamed, "NOOOOOO!"

A little while later at the treehouse, Twilight wrote a letter to the Princess about how everypony has a special connection with their friends even before they meet them. As she did this, Flash was relaxing in his room, thinking back to when he'd gotten his Cutie Mark. The memory he had of unleashing that lightning surged through his mind. He had told the CMC that he'd accepted not being able to unleash it again, but the irritation of not knowing what it was still bugged him.

Was it connected to all the other things in his life that made no sense? Like his immunity to the Poison Joke, or even how he managed to forge the Element of Courage? Those thoughts spiralled around in his head, his mind trying to make any sense of the puzzles. That is, till a certain voice spoke up, knocking him out of his thinking daze.

"What are you thinking about?" He looked over at Twilight's sudden question.

"Nothing important," he shrugged before giving a cocky grin. "So...you never actually told me how you got your Cutie Mark."

"Pot, kettle, black," the unicorn mare deadpanned.

"Okay, okay, fair enough." he said with a smile. "Tell you what, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. Deal?"

"Deal."

And so the two ended up telling each others Cutie Mark story, with Twilight growing more and more amazed as he told her the same story he told the CMC. At the end of the story, Twilight began looking through books about pegasi generating lightning, but Flash had a feeling that whatever it was he could do, it was something he wouldn't find in a book. He knew that he would find out what it was someday, but until then, he wouldn't worry about it.

Author's Note:

God bless you man who invented retcons.

What did you think of Flash's Cutie Mark story. It was the best way I could combine it with the Rainboom incident?

Comments

[Foxhelm]

Personally, I think Flash's cutie mark origins should be separate from the girls, but the actual story is good.

[Magi Tail Welkin]

I had a feeling it would get connected to the Sonic Rainboom. Nice way of doing it sir.

[Godslittleprincess]

Wow! I guess that you're a fan of the headcanon that pony!Flash can shoot lightning, huh? It's not the first time that I've heard of it, but it is the first time I've seen it in a story.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Nice origin for Flash. Looks like the season will be coming to an end soon. I hope the last few chapters are fun.

[SageBrony07]

Great job. I loved the possible volt tackle. This is great. I wonder what will happen in season 3 or Discord. I love your story. Great job.

[Kayceejr91]

IN THE FLASH SENTRY CHRONICLES EVEN BEFORE YOU'VE MET THEM YOU'D WOULD A FRIENDS TO LAST YOU A LIFE TIME.