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Prologue1,576 words
Chaos in Ponyville1,575 words
Discord3,305 words
Flash's Corruption6,200 words
Storm of Chaos3,201 words
Broken Friendship3,887 words
Showdown at the Chaos Corral7,575 words
Epilogue1,609 words

Flash's Corruption

Flash was rushing through the Canterlot Maze, searching for both his friends and the stolen Elements of Harmony. When Flash had first entered, he'd been sure that he could easily navigate his way to the center since Grand Hoof had used this place hundreds of times for training. He had practically memorised the whole layout, every twist and turn and where it led. However, he soon found that things were now what they seemed.

"Okay," Flash said to himself as he looked up, gauging where the sun was. As he did, he remembered what time it was, causing him to know that the sun was currently where the direction north was. With this, he began to take another turn down the maze. "Let's see...left, right and then right again. That should be-" But when he made that final right turn, he had to come to a halt as his eyes now gazed at a hedge wall in front of him. "What?!" He yelped in confusion, "there shouldn't be a wall here. It should have been a second right...and then three more lefts. What did..." Thinking it over, he came to an obvious conclusion, "Discord. He must have used his magic to change the whole maze around. Should've guessed that at the start Flash."

With this new knowledge, Flash found himself now walking back to where he was before, trying to make sense of the new maze. As he did, he soon realised that the left turn he had took before was now replaced with a new wall. "Hmm? Did he switch the way when I passed through here?" Blinking, Flash turned around, only to see the hallway he was once going down suddenly gone. All that was left was one path. Seeing no other option, Flash went down the path, only to end up in a wide-open area with four new branching paths.

"Oh perfect," he whined sarcastically, "now which way do I go?!"

"I would have thought the answer would be obvious."

Flash froze, recognising the voice before slowly turning his head to see the a certain jakhowl leaning against the wall. "Springer!" He cheered as he ran towards his partner, quickly hugging him. That is, till he stopped the hug and leaned back, a questioning look on his face. "Not that I'm not happy to see you bud, but what are you doing here? I thought I asked you to stay in Ponyville."

Springer just frowned. "So I'm supposed to just do whatever you tell me? I'm not just some lapdog who will do whatever you want me to do?"

"I know that buddy." Flash replied, tilting his head in slight surprise due to Springer's sudden negativity. "But somepony needed to protect Ponyville and you're the jakhowl for the job!"

"I thought that was your job," Springer growled back, glaring at Flash with a venomous stare. "But you're obviously too ill equipped to do it, so you tricked me into doing all the hard work."

"That's not true," Flash replied, shaking his head. "We're partners. We work together to protect our home."

"Yeah right, you just want me around because I can make your life easier. Isn't that the way you do things? Mooching off others?"

"No," Flash shook his head again, slightly backpedalling at the last remark. "I never-"

"It's true."

Flash spun around to see a brown earth pony enter the clearing, who Flash recognised as a restaurant owner he used to steal from when he was living on the street. "Royal Knight," the earth pony spat, glaring at the orange pegasus as he did. "Bah. You're nothing but a thief."

"No," Flash kept shaking his head, his voice slightly lowering. "I didn't want to steal. I didn't have a choice."

"Sure you didn't," another new voice spoke up, making Flash to start looking around to find it's owner. As he did, pony after pony that he recognized from his street days began to appear around him, all of their faces showing nothing but anger and rage. It wasn't long till the whole area was filled with them, causing Flash to backpedal into the nearby wall.

"This isn't real," he panted, his voice trembling as a sea of angry yet familiar faces stared down at him. "This can't be real."

"Oh, it's real." said another voice. Flash let out a small gasp as he saw it's owner appear out of the crowd, a scowl on the owner's face.

"Shining?" Flash gasped, his eyes twitching at the even more familiar face in front of him. "What is-"

"What's the matter?" Shining interrupted as his face became darker, his hooves ascending and began pointing to the crowd. "Is the truth to painful for you?"

"What are you-"

"You can try and forget your past Flash, but you'll never escape it." Shining chuckled, shaking his head as he did. "You've tried being a hero, hoping ponies will forget about all the bad things you've done in the past. But let's be honest, Lightning was right. They'll never see you as anything other than a pathetic street rat."

The ponies began yelling insults at him, bombarding him with names and cruelties.

"Thief!"

"No purpose for living!"

"Go find a dumpster to jump in, that's where trash like you belongs!"

"You stupid piece of gutter trash!"

"Stop it," Flash whispered as he covered his eyes and put his hooves over his ears, shaking his head as he did. "I'm not-"

"You know it's true," Springer spat as he jumped on top of Shining's back. "That's what you are Flash."

"No. That's not what-"

"To think he actually thought we cared about him." said a new voice, one that Flash instantly recognised. His eyes quickly opened as he now saw Twilight Velvet and Night Light amongst the crowd.

"We only took him in because Twilight begged us," Night spat as he lifted his chin, staring down at the orange pegasus with a stare of contempt. "We were planning to ship him off somewhere the second we got the chance. Let him be somepony else's problem."

"You...you were?" Flash asked, his eyes shrinking as he heard this.

"The only reason we decided not to was because we heard he'd been made an apprentice knight," Velvet shrugged with a smirk. "Thought he'd come in handy someday."

"But boy were we wrong," Night shrugged, looking at his wife with an agreeing nod. "He'll never become a real Royal Knight."

"No," Flash gasped as he closed his eyes, putting his hooves over his ears again. "That's not true. That's-"

"What was I thinking when I asked him to be my apprentice?" Flash's eyes shot open at that voice. No, not him. Looking back up, he saw Grand Hoof enter the fray, a disappointed look on his face. "Biggest mistake I ever made."

"NO! This isn't real...this can't be real..." Flash yelled as his legs gave out and he fell down, covering his face with his hooves but the voices kept coming. But then they stopped and a new voice replaced them.

"So sad, isn't it?" A voice whispered in his ear. Flash removed his hooves and looked up at the ponies, seeing them still yelling at him. As he did, he saw the voice's owner as he floated over the crowd with a big grin on his face. "To think the ponies you would risk your life for, they don't even care about you."

"You did this," Flash growled, trying to get up as his ears keep hearing the constant yells. "They're not real. You created them."

"Oh no Flash," Discord replied, shaking his head with a shrug. "I didn't create them, you did. These ponies were created from your own self doubt, from the fears you hide inside your own heart."

"No," Flash whispered again, starting to shrink back into the ground. "No it can't be. That can't be true. I'm not-"

"You say your courage comes from the ponies around you," Discord replied, snapping his fingers as more and more ponies appeared around Flash, all of them yelling at him. "That wanting of their safety allows you to overcome any fear. That thought about them always being there for you is the only thing that gives you courage." Discord then leaned down, his eyes at Flash's level as a huge wicked grin covered his face. "Well what about now? Why should you risk your life for ponies who couldn't care less about you? Accept it, you're not brave because you have nothing to be brave for."

"Nothing..." Flash said as his eyes began into spiral different colours, "to be brave for." Though Flash couldn't see it, his coat was begin to lose its colour and began to turn into a gloomy gray. He closed his eyes as the words continued to take effect. "Nothing...nothing at all..."

Up in the sky, Discord was floating above the apprentice knight, rubbing his hands together in glee. "That's five down, let's see who's next." The monster snapped his fingers, summoning a small list in front of him along with a pair of glasses over his eyes. "Let's see...next is to pick up some milk-wait." Discord snapped his fingers again, the list changing as he did. "Ah, here we go! Looks like its time to give a certain pegasus her wings back so I can win the game!" Discord snapped them again, causing the list and glasses to disappear.

"But first," Discord summoned a glass of chocolate milk, only to 'sip' up the glass. "Mmm...just like good old chaos momma used to make. Now, time to win the-hmm?" A certain sight caught the corner of his eye, causing him to turn around.

Turning back around and looking down at Flash, Discord saw that Flash was...glowing.

"What's this?" Discord asked as he leaned down, glaring at the still cowering pegasus. "Is my chaos magic still off?" Discord snapped his fingers again, trying to get rid of the 'glow' inside the pegasus. However, after three snaps, the glow around Flash was still there. "What in the-what is this?! Why isn't my chaos working?!"

Flash opened his eyes, but all he could see was darkness.

He looked around, but there was nothing but pure black nothingness in any direction he looked at. "What's happening?" He asked, "Where am I? Why am I here? Where is this?"

He just sat there, blinking several times as he tried to get his bearings. It felt like a days passed as he sat there, wondering why he was in some infinite dark space. That is, till his eyes caught sight of something other then the darkness. "What is...is that light?" Flash squinted his eyes as he saw a small glimmer of light in the distance. However, before he could do anything, he noticed that the ball was getting bigger, quickly realising that the light was getting closer to him.

Eventually, it was within hooves reach of the young pegasus, and he noticed that it was a ball of light. Flash tilted his head, confused at the sight in front of him. "What is going on? What is this?" Flash said to himself as he lifted his hoof, wondering if it was safe to touch it. After a second of hesitation, he felt that something about the light seemed familiar to the young stallion. With this, Flash tapped the ball of light, ready to see what happened.

But no sooner had his hoof grazed it, the ball of light exploded! The light surrounded Flash, who in turn began to panic as he looked around him, seeing several orbs appearing out of nowhere and surrounding him. "What the heck?!"

However, as his question began to linger, Flash's eyes stared at one of the new orbs of light. The pegasus then walked up to the orb, leaning over as he saw something new inside one of the orbs. It was an image of him, though it was a younger version of Flash. "Is that me? And I'm a...colt? Huh?!"

As if by instinct, Flash reached out and touched the orb, which also exploded, causing Flash to freeze as a scene played out before his eyes.

"I have to read this?" A young Flash asked as he looked up from an open book that was sitting in front of him. He, along with Twilight, Celestia and Grand Hoof were in the castle's library. It had been a week since Flash had been made into Grand Hoof's apprentice and the earth pony had been putting Flash through the ringer with basic training, trying to get a handle on all of Flash's abilities. Now that he did, the real training was about to begin. Though that was true and he was ready to begin the path of knighthood, he wasn't expecting this to be the first step.

"Not all at once," Grand replied as he tapped the book with a small grin. "Just a few chapters every now and again."

"But I thought I was gonna learn how to fight and use weapons?" Flash asked back, a frown popping onto his face as he looked at his new mentor. "Not read a book that might actually be tree times my size."

"A Royal Knight's duties involve more than just fighting," Celestia explained as she walked around and stood behind Grand, "A Royal Knight's duties also include fixing disputes between other ponies, doing volunteer work, and every now and again, acting on the behalf of the princess when they cannot be there."

Flash just gulped after hearing all of this. "Maybe I'm not cut out for all of this." he said, trying to slightly backpedal away.

"Nonsense, you'll get the hang of it." Grand shook his head before patting Flash's shoulder. "Now first things first lad, I'd like you to read the first three chapters. The chapters will go over the basics of certain weapons and their fighting styles over them."

However, Flash went pure pale as he heard this. Seeing this, Twilight quickly walked in front of Grand, cocking an eyebrow as she asked, "Um...are you alright Flash? Its just some reading, its not that bad."

"I uh...yeah." Flash tried to force a smile, chuckling nervously as he did. "I um...I...I don't think I'm cut out for this."

"Why not? You were really excited about it last night." Twilight replied as she tilted her head in confusion. "You talked about it all through last night's dinner with Mom and Dad."

"Well uh..."

Before Flash could respond, Twilight clapped her hooves. "Wait a minute! This isn't about what that Lightning guy told you the other day, is it?"

"Lightning?!" Grand blurted. "What is-"

"No!" Flash interrupted, crossing his hooves as he did. "Its not that...its just..."

"Its something about the book, isn't it Flash?" Celestia asked, leaning down to the colt. "Why are you afraid of the book?"

"I...I..." Flash quickly looked down when Celestia leaned down and stared at him. The colt just looked away, trying to hide his fear. However, he knew he wasn't convincing anypony, and let out a long sigh. "Okay! Okay...fine."

"What's wrong? Just tell us Flash, we won't be mad or angry."

"I...can't read." Flash barely whispered. "Like...at all. I don't know how to read."

The three's eyes all went wide after hearing this. Celestia and Grand glanced at each other while Twilight then blurted out, "What do you mean you can't read? How do you not know how to read?"

"I never needed to know." Flash shrugged, slightly glaring at Twilight as he did. "I had...other problems at the time. Like what my next meal was gonna be."

"Hold on there lad." Grand raised his hoof, skepticism on his face. "So, you don't know any words?"

"I know a few from hearing ponies read them out loud...but not a lot." Flash admitted with another shrug. "That was all I needed back then, simple as that."

"Oh dear," Celestia put her hoof to her face, still surprised at the reveal. "Maybe we should have thought of that. Don't worry, we'll find you somepony to teach you."

Hearing this, Flash showed a small pout on his face before trying to say, "Now wait a minute, I don't-

"I'll do it!"

They all looked at Twilight, who was smiling up at them as she had just spoken up.

"I'll teach him how to read," Twilight admitted with a big grin on her face. "I've read enough books to know how to teach him."

Celestia just smiled at this, slightly giggling as she did. "Very well Twilight Sparkle, you may try and teach him, if Flash is willing."

Flash immediately shook his head. "What?! No way, that's embarrassing! I don't want somepony my age teaching me how to read!" Twilight just rolled her eyes and lit her horn, grabbing Flash's tail with her magic as she started to pull him out of the library. "HEY!" Flash yelled as he was dragged away, trying to scrape at the ground to save himself. "Lemme go!"

"I can't imagine what's so embarrassing about a vocabulary lesson," Twilight grumbled as she dragged him towards the door.

"Somepony help me!" Flash yelled towards the adults, who all just laughed at his plight.

"Princess," Twilight called back, "I'm gonna need some time off to help him learn."

"That's fine Twilight," Celestia said through her laughter, "take all the time you need. Teaching in itself can be an excellent learning opportunity."

"I won't need that long," Twilight replied before rubbing her chin in thought. "Let's see...give me two weeks. That should definitely do it. I'll have everything he needs nailed into his head by then."

"Heh heh heh...now hold on there lass." Grand flashed his hoof, causing her to stop. "I still need him to come to the castle for physical training. I can't have him stop now, he needs to train everyday that I can get him in."

"Oh...that makes sense." Twilight remarked, feeling the tug of Flash's tail with her magic. "Um...if that's the case-"

"We'll continue your studies as well my student." Celestia interrupted, walking up to the two. "In fact, why don't we use the two weeks for me to instruct you over certain teaching techniques to help you complete the process while Flash is doing his physical training?"

Twilight nodded at this. "Okay, that sounds good. Though I better take the rest of the day off so I can see where I need to start with him. Is that okay?" Celestia then nodded at this. "Alright, now...where do I begin with-ah!" A sudden light bulb went off in Twilight's head. "Say princess, is there any starter books I could use here in the castle library?"

"Hmm...I suspect so. Give me a moment." Celestia then turned and walked down a nearby aisle.

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?!" Flash yelped, still trying to escape the magic tug in his tail.

"NO!" Twilight barked back, causing Flash to let out a tiny whimper. "You're learning how to read and you're going to learn right now!"

Over the next two weeks, Twilight made sure Flash was almost always in front of something to read. The only exceptions were training, and a time where he was summoned to Princess Celestia over a certain problem. Despite this, Flash had initially believed that she would have him try and read the large tomes he'd seen her love to read. Expecting a two week expedition of reading overly complicated words, he tried every way to avoid the exercise.

That is, till they got home on that first day. There, he found that she was going to use something else entirely. Comics.

Borrowing her brother's collection, she and Flash went through them, using the pictures to help Flash understand. She had seen that he was fascinated with them when she had woken up early one morning a week before, only to find Flash looking through them as Shining Armor had left a day before and wouldn't be back for some time. With this, they went through the comics rather quickly, as it took a good two days for Flash to memorise a good majority of words when they were done with Shining's collection.

The next day, they moved onto actual books, though they were for much younger ponies, but Flash didn't mind. With this, two weeks passed rather quickly, as Flash found himself leaving the kindergarten books at the end of week one. By the time the two weeks were up, Twilight wasn't fully able to yield the results she had hoped for, (She wanted him to be able to read one of the tomes she usually reads) but she deemed it to be enough for his training and Grand approved.

As the images stopped, Flash shook his head. "What was that?" Flash asked himself, rubbing his temples as he did. "Why am I remembering that of all things?"

Flash looked back at the orb, seeing that it was now replaying the events he had just watched. The very sight made him remember how grateful he had been to Twilight, who was even willing to put her own life on hold to help him. With that in mind, Flash changed his viewpoint to the other orbs, seeing that they were showing images of his past. "What is this? Why are my memories here and why do they look like this?"

Curiosity getting the better of him, Flash reached out and touched another orb. Another explosion followed, playing a memory as it did.

"Ow!" A young Flash cried as he laid on the couch of the Sparkle homestead. His left wing was wrapped in a cast, which was strapped around his body to stop it from moving. An accident during training had caused Flash's predicament, leading to him being bedridden for the next three weeks until his wing healed.

"I know it hurts," Twilight Velvet said as she stepped over to him, levitating a jar of medical gel as she approached him. "But you've got to endure it for now."

"I'll try," Flash whined, wanting to scratch an itch inside the cast, knowing that he couldn't reach it. That is, till he saw the kind smile on Twilight Velvet's face. Seeing this, he looked away with a slight grimace. "I'm sorry I'm being such a nuisance. I know you had to cancel that book signing because of me."

"Oh, don't be silly," Velvet told him as she patted his head. "Making sure you get better is far more important then some silly book signing. Besides, I can always reschedule." She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before turning away and heading into the kitchen. "Now you rest up, I'll make you something nice to eat."

"Thanks...mom."

Velvet stopped for a slight second after hearing this, before turning and shining an even bigger smile. "Of course son. I'm always here to help."

Once again, the memory faded and Flash was back in the cocoon of light. Hesitation was non-existent for the young stallion, as he quickly reached out and touched another orb.

"Good grief..." Flash moaned, his whole body feeling like it was on fire as he walked down a certain Canterlot street. "Grand Hoof is a slave driver today. My aches have aches..." he complained as he wobbled back and forth after saying the statement. He had spent an extra-long day with his mentor, who had really pushed him to his physical limits. So much so, that Twilight had already gone home over an hour ago, which showed how long it took since they usually went home together. Because of this, Flash decided to take a slightly different route home, and went through the local park.

A few minutes later, he was in the middle of the park, where he saw a unicorn with a stack of papers. Before he pass him, the unicorn noticed the young colt and spoke up. "Hey kid!"

"Huh?" Flash replied, not fully paying attention due to how tired he was.

"I've never seen you around here before. Here, take this." the unicorn walked up to him, levitating a sheet as he did. He then took the floating paper and showed it to the orange colt. "Why don't you and your dad come to our annual father and son picnic here at the park. Its this weekend and there will be plenty of games and good food here. In fact, its kind of a tradition here at this park."

"Really?" Flash replied, looking at the sheet with slightly dazed eyes.

"You bet. Here, take a copy."

With that in mind, Flash took the paper and looked it over. "A father and son picnic huh?" Flash then stuffed it in his saddlebag. "A father..."

A few days later...

"So...where are we going again?" Flash asked as he walked behind Night Light. Night had asked Flash to help him with a few errands, and Grand had given him a day off due to...family business. So, the duo were now walking down a street of Canterlot, a look of confusion placing itself on Flash's face.

"You'll see when we get there." Night replied, chuckling at Flash's curiosity.

Flash just shrugged at this, continuing to walk beside Night Light in slight confusion. That is, till he saw a familiar sight. It was the local park, though it was now filled with both young and old stallions of every race. Flash instantly realized what this was, the father and son picnic.

"How-" Flash started, only to see a certain scrunched ball of paper levitating in from of Night.

"Velvet accidently knocked over your bag and this rolled out," he explained with a slight smirk.

"Oh..." Flash almost gasped, his whole body in shock as he did.

Night just smiled at this, quickly picking the colt up with his magic and plopping him onto his back. "Come on, let's go have some fun."

"Mom...Dad...Twilight..." Flash muttered, a small tear going down his cheek. The young stallion then chuckled to himself as he looked at the sea of orbs in front of him. "That's right. How did I forget all that?"

Another orb floated by him and he touched it.

Flash was in the backyard, practising with a wooden sword. He swung the pretend weapon around, trying to understand what Grand wanted him to learn. That is, till he lost his footing and went crashing into the ground. "That sucked," he huffed as he picked himself up, dusting himself off as he did. "I'm never gonna get this."

"You're trying too hard," Flash turned around and saw Shining standing by the backdoor. "You've gotta let the movements come naturally."

"Easy for you to say," Flash grumbled, glaring at the older stallion as he did. "You can just hold the sword in your magic. I can't."

Shining just raised an eyebrow and moved over to him, picking the wooden sword up in his hooves and began swinging it around perfectly. Flash went wide-eyed at the skill, he had never seen a unicorn move like that.

Once Shining was done, he handed the sword back to him. "We soldiers learn how to fight without magic you know. Never know when you might have to do so."

"Whoa...no way." Flash gasped, slight backpedalling at the sight. He then took the wooden sword back into his hoof before shining a sheepish smile at Shining. "Um...sorry I said the whole unicorn comment. You uh...don't suppose you'd be willing to show me a few pointers?"

Shining just smirked before nodding. "Sure. And don't worry about the comment."

The two trained until sunset, working on Flash's footing, his grip and even how much slack to put into his hoof. The next morning Flash went to Grand Hood and showed his new skills, which the earth pony said were close to perfection.

"That's right..." Flash chuckled to himself, remembering that moment. "Shining taught me everything I know about swordsmanship. I probably wouldn't be so good with Lightbringer without him."

More and more orbs flew around him, all showing images of the friends he cared for and who in turn, cared for him.

"Well hello there Flash." said a certain pink alicorn as she entered Twilight Velvet and Night Light's home. Flash looked up, staring with a confused look on his face. He was sitting in the living room, trying to read one of Shining Armor's comics. However, before he could say anything, a certain filly Twilight Sparkle appeared in the room.

"Cadance! Cadance is here!" she cheered as she ran up and hugged Cadance's leg. The alicorn giggled at this, patting her head.

"And hello to you too Twilight. How have you been?"

"Great!" Twilight exclaimed, releasing the leg and starting hopping up and down. "Are you here to foalsit me? Are we gonna have cookies and smores again?"

"Oh yes." Cadance replied, nodding.

"Foalsit?" Flash asked, walking up to the two.

"Oh yes. Didn't your parents tell you what I do with Twilight?" Cadance asked, only for Flash to shake his head 'no'. Seeing this, she walked up to the young colt, quickly grabbing and hugging him. "I'm here to foalsit you two tonight! And since this is our first time together as your foalsitter, I hope you're ready for some fun!"

"So...what is this?" Flash asked as he pointed to a crib in one of the rooms in Canterlot Castle. "A dragon?"

"That's right!" Twilight replied, pointing at the small sleeping purple dragon. "This is Spike, I hatched him on the day I became Princess Celestia's student!"

"You hatched him?" Flash tilted his head at this statement. He then leaned over the crib, blinking at the sight. "Huh...he's a tiny little guy, isn't he?"

"Yup." Twilight nodded before walking up to Flash. "And one day, he'll be my assistant."

"Huh. Guess I'll have to make him my friend too, won't I?" Flash asked with a smirk.

"Wonderbolts?"

"Yeah, you have heard of them, right?" asked a certain blue pegasus as he slightly glared at a young Flash. "I mean, you're a pegasus. Of course you have."

"Er...no. I haven't." Flash shook his head.

"WHAT?!" the blue pegasus's jaw dropped in pure shock at this. He then walked up to Flash, tapping his chest with some force. "You're joking, right? Tell me your joking."

"No." Flash replied, not even blinking as he did. "Never heard of them."

"Okay...this is weird." the pegasus scratched the side of head, now realising that Flash was not lying. "If that's the case, I guess I'm gonna have to introduce you to them." He then extended his hoof, showing he wanted to shake Flash's. "I'm Soarin, the newest member of the Wonderbolts."

"Well howdy do Miss Twilight!" the earth pony cheered as she shook Twilight's hoof, "A pleasure making your acquaintance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends!"

"Let me guess." Twilight groaned, wiping the mud off of her muzzle, "You're Rainbow Dash."

The blue pegasus smirked as she bragged, "The one and only. Why? You heard of me?"

"Well, come with me dear." she said as she began pushing Twilight towards the door, "Rarity will have you looking better then ever."

"Hello." Twilight said before Flash could reply, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. The princess assigned me to watch over the music preparations."

The Pegasus whispered something under her breath which only Flash could hear.

"Fluttershy?" Flash asked, not sure he got her name right, "Your name is Fluttershy, right?" she then nodded, causing Flash to smile.

Suddenly, the pink earth pony they had met earlier appeared in front of them, "Surprise!" she said again, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you!"

"Okay little guy, go ahead rest on this bed until Fluttershy gets back." Flash said as he took a certain jakhowl off of his back, laying him down on the mattress. "Just get some rest. And..." Flash rubbed his chin, watching the creature try to get comfortable. "You need a name, don't you?"

The jakhowl just let out a small confused bark.

"Well...how about Springer?" The name made the jakhowl instantly let out a happy bark. "I'm guessing that's a yes. Nice to meet you Springer."

Flash smiled as the last memory flowed through his head. He could feel several tears stream down his face, his memories making him remember how he met all his closest friends. The good times, the bad times, and all the adventures. Then, as one last tear went down his cheek, a certain thought went through his head.

"What...what am I doing?!" He asked himself. "Why am I doubting my friends like this?! After everything we've been through, I know they care about me!" As he yelled this, the light in the orbs disappeared. Instead, his body began to glow with the same light. With this, Flash continued his thoughts. "And I...I...I won't let Discord try and make me forget that! You hear me Discord?! You can't trick me, you monster!"

Flash's body then started to glow all over, the light fully encasing the darkness around him. Flash took one last breath and yelled, "NOW...GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Meanwhile...

It had been a long time since Discord had been this frustrated. Sure, there had been the whole 'trapped in a statue for centuries' bit, but it was nothing like this. Even at his lowest points, chaos was always on his side. That is, till today.

"Oh come on! Why isn't this working?!" Discord complained as he snapped his fingers again, only to see the 'glow' inside Flash still not go away. "Grrr...that's it! Time to pull out the old chaos magic manual!" Discord snapped again, causing a wrinkly old book to appear...and immediately turn into a pile of dust. "Oh...right. Centuries old manual. Alright, time for plan B."

Discord snapped once again, this time creating a second 'Discord'. This one was dressed in medical garb, complete with a small chair for the first Discord to sit in. He quickly hopped into the seat and spoke up, "Hey doc, I need you to examine me and my chaos magic."

"Sure thing." replied the 'doctor Discord', quickly summoning a giant scanning machine. Two seconds later, the machine had scanned Discord and spit out a long line of paper.

"What's the problem doc?"

"Well..." the 'doctor' grabbed the paper and began to read aloud. "Let's see here, looks like your three livers and eight hearts are completely normal. That's good. You've also constructed enough pylons, lost five pounds thanks to your 'all mayo and random jelly flavors' diet, and your left middle toe is now slightly bigger than your right one...and that bothers me." The 'doctor' then did a slight shrug. "Otherwise, you're fine. No problems with your chaos magic or anything."

"Then why can't I get rid of that?!" Discord exclaimed, pointing at the still cowering yet glowing Flash Sentry. "Why is my chaos magic not working on him?!"

"I don't know. I'm you, remember?" the 'doctor' remarked back, shrugging again.

"Oh yeah." Discord snapped his fingers again, causing the 'doctor' to go away. "This must be getting to me. I'm actually using..." Discord's body shivered at the next word. "Logic."

Discord then made the chair he was sitting on go away. "Alrighty, time to try something else. Maybe if I-" As he said this to himself, Discord turned back to Flash, only to see that his body was now fully glowing all over. "Hmm? What's this?"

His question was soon answered as the a burst of light suddenly exploded out of Flash, causing Discord to quickly make a shield to protect himself. A few seconds later, Discord lowered the shield, only to see a now standing Flash Sentry, his original orange coat starting to reappear on his body.

"What the-WHAT IN THE NAME OF CHAOS IS HAPPENING HERE?!?!" Discord yelped, confused at the sight. Flash on the other hoof, turned his head and glared at the master of chaos.

"YOU!" He called out, pointing at the monster while steam blew out of his nostrils. "What did you do to me?! What was that?!"

Discord didn't reply. Instead, he simply turned away. "I don't know what you just did, but it won't help you. The rest of your little friends will soon fall under my spell, and when they do, you'll all be finished." With that, he snapped his fingers, causing him to disappear in a flash of light.

"HEY! Come back here!" Flash called out, trying to charge at him, only to be one second too late. Seeing this, Flash found himself alone again. Blinking for a second, he tried to get his thoughts together. "Okay...what just happened? Why was I able to do that?" he asked himself, rubbing his chin as he did. That is, till a certain thought entered his head. "The girls! He said he was going to go after them next!"

Unsure over what had just happened, Flash decided that he would need to push his questions aside for now and find his friends before it was to late. With that thought in mind, Flash dashed down another corridor of the maze, hoping he could find his friends soon.

Author's Note:

Bet you guys weren't expecting that huh?

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