Relics of the Past
Fire.
Fire everywhere.
Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but the flames that surrounded him. A pure inferno danced around him, the blaze spinning around the colt. But that wasn't what scared him.
What scared him though, is the fact that he couldn't move. Two broken and scorching beams were on top of him, pinning him into the floor. With this, the colt tried to escape, his body struggling as he could feel the flames stinging his wings on his back. As the heat singed into him, he let out a scream of terror, pain starting to flow through his body.
"AAAAAaaahhhhhh! HELP ME! SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!" he screamed, only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears. As he continued to panic, he began to look around, tears falling from his eyes as he did. He had to find a way out, he had too. And yet, his ears picked up a new sound among the blazing inferno.
It was the sound of wood cracking. Right above him.
The colt looked up, and his eyes went wide. The large support beam, holding the whole ceiling above him, had cracked. His eyes kept widening as he saw the crack in the wood grow. Then another crack appeared on the beam. And another. And another.
"No....NO! Somepony help!!!" the colt cried as he watched the beam break. "SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!"
Then it happened. The beam broke, and with it, the entire roof began to fall. And as the segmented wood above him cracked and split, all of it fell down, ready to strike the colt.
Only a miracle would save him now.
But the miracle never happened. His eyes just grew as he saw the beam charged toward him. A blaze of fire and wood prepared itself to strike colt, ready to end his young life. As it did, he let out one last scream.
"SOMEPONY HELP ME!!! AAAAAAA-"
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Flash screamed as he shot up out of bed.
"Flash!" yelled another voice. The pegasus quickly looked for it's owner, only to see his jakhowl partner Springer, who was now standing next to his bed. "Are you okay?"
"I...I..." Flash panted, his breath now heavy as a waterfall of sweat flowed down his forehead. He put his hoof on his head, his eyes shaking and blinking as he shook his head from his awakening. A second later, Flash looked back at Springer and back down at the bed. "I'm okay buddy...I'm okay."
Springer just shook his head, knowing he was lying. "It was that dream again, wasn't it?" Springer asked, crossing his arms as he did. When Flash didn't reply, Springer knew that he had hit the nail on the head. "That's the fourth time this week Flash. Maybe you should get some help."
"Its just a nightmare Springer," Flash said as he laid back down, not looking at Springer as he did. "I've had them before, and they've all been just that...bad dreams."
"Except you've been having this nightmare every night for the last three weeks!"
It was true. It had been a month since the battle against Discord and his world of chaos. Since then, Flash had been plagued with dreams of being trapped inside a burning building. The first time it had happened, Flash had just brushed it off as a normal nightmare, but as the nights passed, he started having it more and more frequently, until he now had it four nights in a row.
"I'm fine Springer," Flash grumbled, trying to close his eyes. "I'm not gonna get worked up over a stupid dream. I just need to cut out the cheese eating before bed."
"But you don't like cheese," Springer deadpanned.
"You know what I mean," Flash growled. He laid there for a second, still grumbling. He knew that Springer was still standing there, he could feel it...and he hadn't heard the footsteps of him going back to his bed. Knowing Springer wasn't going to stop, Flash poked his head out of the covers. "You know what? We're already up, so why don't we get to work?"
Springer just raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" Springer asked as he looked over at the clock on the wall, "there's still an hour before we usually get up...and the sun isn't up yet. Why not get a bit more sleep?"
"I don't think I could get back to sleep right now," Flash lied, shuffling out of the bed. In actuality, he was fighting to stay awake. The past four days of bad dreams had taken just about every ounce of energy from him, though he knew that he didn't want to go through a fifth bad dream before starting the day. With this, he trotted over to where his Celestic Gear Lightbringer was resting and picked it up, strapping it to his side and heading for the door. "Come on buddy, let's do some training." he said as he fought back a yawn.
Springer watched his partner exit the room, sighing as he followed him. The jakhowl had really hoped that the bad dreams would end soon. He had wanted to tell someone, but being unable to speak to most of the town didn't exactly help his cause.
A few hours later...
Ponyville was now awake and active, ponies going about their day to day lives.
One of these ponies was a young pegasus filly, who was zipping through the streets on her scooter. It was Scootaloo, a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who was on her way to the crusader clubhouse to talk about what they would be doing to try and earn their cutie marks. As she did, she looked up and smiled as she saw somepony flying above the town. It was Flash Sentry, and ever since he and his friend Twilight had moved to town, Flash had grown to become something of an idol for the little filly, (Though Rainbow Dash would always be number one) and she often enjoyed seeing him around.
"Flash!" She called out, trying to get his attention as she watched him fly over. However, the orange pegasus seemed to be ignoring her as she continued to yell his name. That had never happened before. "Flash!" She tried again, but still no response. She then looked ahead to see where Flash was flying, only to see something very concerning. "Flash, look out! Look out for that-"
But it was too late.
Flash slammed head first into the side of a building, causing him to go tumbling down towards the ground and landing with a loud crash into a load of trash cans. "Flash!" Scootlaoo yelled as rode up to him and got off her scooter. She then started moving the trash cans away, removing one of them, only to find a familiar creature rubbing his head. "Springer!" she said as she helped pull him up, "You okay? What happened?"
Springer seemed to just groan as he moved over to where the trash was and moved a bag, revealing Flash Sentry fast asleep in the garbage. "Is he...asleep?" Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked over the situation. Springer just rolled his eyes and nodded, though he didn't look to happy as he pulled a banana peel off his fur. Scootaloo on the other hoof, looked back at Flash and asked, "Wait...was he flying while he was asleep?"
Springer replied by shrugging his shoulders, giving her a look that said 'probably'.
"How do you fall asleep while flying?" Scootaloo asked in bewilderment.
Springer repeated the action, this time his face saying 'I have no idea'.
"What's going on here?" The two turned to see Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Rarity enter the fray, all looking confused at the situation. "We were out shopping and heard a loud crash. What happened?"
Scootaloo and Springer both just turned their gaze towards the pegasus sleeping in the garbage, making the other three follow suit. Rarity gasped in horror at the sight, Spike just scratched his head and Twilight raised an eyebrow before trotting over to him.
"Flash!" She said as she magically lifted the trash off his body, "Wake up!" Flash's eyes suddenly shot open, causing him to look straight in the face of his best friend. The two shared a glance of several seconds until Twilight broke the silence. "What are you doing?" She asked plainly.
"What am I doing?" Flash repeated, "What are you doing here? Why are you in my room?"
"We're not in your room," Twilight replied as she gestured to the surrounding area. "You're outside...in the garbage."
"What the-" Flash asked as he looked around, "how'd I get out here?"
"You fell asleep while flying. I watched you crash head first into that building." Scootaloo explained as she pointed to the spot Flash had hit, making the pegasus raise an eyebrow. "Then you landed in the trash cans."
"I doubt that happened," Flash said as he picked himself up.
"I watched you!" Scootaloo almost screamed.
"It would explain why you're in the trash," Spike deadpanned, pointing at the garbage on Flash's coat.
"And why you look like you haven't slept in a week," Rarity continued.
"He hasn't," Springer grumbled. Everyone looked down at him in confusion.
"What did he say?" Scootaloo asked.
"Nothing important," Flash replied, making Springer almost growl at him.
"Flash," Twilight said, sounding worried, "are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," Flash shrugged, cricking his neck from the pain of the previous impact. "Must have just stayed up too late last night."
"You went to bed two hours before I did." Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. "And you took a nap a few hours before that."
"I'm fine," Flash growled as he flexed his wings and knelt down for Springer. Springer just rolled his eyes and leapt onto his back. "See you all later. I got stuff to do." Flash said before leaping into the air, leaving the four behind.
Once he was gone, Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Scootaloo shared a glance at each other. "Did anypony else get the feeling that Flash wasn't telling us everything?"
"He did seem like he was trying to keep something a secret," Rarity agreed, tilting her head in curiosity. "But it's not like him to hide something from his friends."
"Unless he thinks it'll just make us worry," Twilight stated, rolling her eyes. "He's always been like that, especially with my family."
"So how do we figure it out?" Scootaloo asked.
"Springer might know what's going on," Spike suggested, rubbing his chin as he did. "If only we could understand him."
"We can't...but I know somepony who can. Come on," Twilight montioned to her friends as they began to follow her. "I know just the pony to ask."
A little while later...
"I'm fine buddy, stop worrying." Flash groaned as they landed in front of the library. "We washed off the trash and we did a full thing of training with no sleeping. I'm fine."
"Yeah yeah, you said that five minutes before you crashed into that building earlier today." Springer growled, his paws crossed. "Come on, stop being so stubborn and ask for some help!"
"I'm fine!" Flash barked back, rubbing his temple as he did. "I just need some extra sleep, that's all."
"Yeah sure, if you can get some." Springer shook his head, hopping off of Flash. "I still say you need to ask for help."
Flash then opened the front door of the library, trying to fight back a small yawn. He poked his head inside, noticing that nopony was inside. "Twilight?" Flash called out as he looked around, "you in here?" Springer looked inside as well, only to also see nothing. The duo shared a glance before slowly walking in, surprised that Twilight wasn't in here.
"That's odd." Flash said with another look around the library. "Is she still out shopping?"
"Nope. We're all in here." a voice called out. Flash and Springer followed the voice's origin, only to see a gang of ponies come out of the kitchen. It was Twilight, followed by Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Hey girls..." he said as he looked around at them, only to see them all staring at him with very serious looks. Well, five of them, as Pinkie was never serious and Fluttershy was well...Fluttershy. Flash blinked at this, confusion slightly settling in his mind. "Okay...is there something going on here, or...."
Twilight was the first to speak, her hooves crossed as she did. "We want to know what's going on."
"What are you talking about?"
"Twilight told us about your little incident today," Rainbow replied, landing beside Flash with a dark stare on her face.
"And we all want to know what's happening darling." Rarity continued.
"Does this have anything to do with me catching you sleepin on mah barn roof the other day?" Applejack asked next. "And when you took a nap in one of south apple trees on mah property?"
"Yeah! Or when you came into Sugarcube Corner looking like a zombie and bought one of my super sugar muffins?" Pinkie added.
"Isn't that the one that makes whoever eats it to go super hyper?" Spike asked.
"Yep!" Pinkie nodded in a cartoonish fashion before pointing at Flash. "And all that happened when he ate it was him waking up! It was like an alarm clock muffin!"
Spike blinked at this before glancing at Flash and then Springer. "But...I thought you swore to never touch one of those muffins after the..." Spike shivered at his next words. "'Wild Sugar Springer incident'."
The Past...
"Flash! Calm him down! Now!" Twilight yelped as she dodged an Aura Blast by ducking, the blue sphere almost hitting her face. "What is wrong with him?!"
"I don't know!" Flash yelled back as he dodged two more Aura Blasts. He then glared at Pinkie. "What did you give him?!"
"He just took one bite of my super sugar muffins! I didn't know he would-watch out!" Pinkie screamed as she pointed at Springer, who had now summoned a certain aura weapon.
"Oh no, put that away Springer! Don't do it!" Flash commanded as he quickly unsheathed Lightbringer, using it to block another attack. "Calm down Springer! Calm down!"
"I'LL GET YOU, YOU BLASTED YELLOW ELECTRIC RAT!" Springer roared as he swung his Bone Breaker around, Flash quickly blocking each attack to make sure nopony would be hurt by it. The jakhowl continued to yell as he rampaged with more attacks. "I'LL GET YOU AND YOUR WEIRD RED CIRCLE CHEEKS! I'LL DESTROY YOUR POPULARITY, YOU BLASTED ELECTRIC MOUSE! RRRAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!"
"Springer, you have to-ow!" Springer's attack whacked Flash's chin, knocking him slightly back. The pegasus began to backpedal, only to see the jakhowl desummon the bone and charge another Aura Blast. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Everypony, get out of here now!"
"Grrr....stinking yellow rat!" Springer hissed as he summoned another sphere. "Get out of my way!"
Flash just let out a huff, shaking his head as he did. "I didn't want to do this." Flash spun Lightbringer in his hoof. "When this is over, you're never having that much sugar ever again!"
The Present...
"Thank goodness you were able to knock out Springer before things got to out of hoof." Spike added. "That could have gotten a lost worse...but why did you eat one? You know how bad it went last time one of those muffins was involved."
"Yeah, well...I just thought I should at least try the muffin myself and-" Flash tried to continue, only for Twilight to stomp her front hooves.
"Don't change the subject!" she yelled, "Tell us what's going on Flash!"
"I told you, it's nothing. I'm fine."
"Oh really?" Twilight deadpanned, crossing her hooves. "Then you wouldn't mind us asking Springer a couple of questions?"
"Go ahead," Flash said with a triumphant grin on his face, "not like he can tell you anything." However, a quiet cough made him shift his gaze over to where Fluttershy was sitting. "Oh...right." he grimaced as his ears dropped. "Forgot about that."
"So Flash, is there anything you would like to get off your chest before we ask him?"
Flash glared over at Springer, who in turn, gave him a look that Flash knew meant the jakhowl would spill everything unless he did it first. "Fine," he said with a sigh before turning to his friends, "I've uh...been having bad dreams lately."
The six mares and one dragon all blinked, having not expected that.
"That's it?" Rainbow asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Just some bad dreams?"
"Rainbow, take that back!" Fluttershy scolded, "Bad dreams are nothing to be ashamed of!"
"Fluttershy, I didn't not tell you because I'm ashamed, I didn't tell you because there's nothing to tell." Flash continued, shrugging as he did. "I've been having some nightmares, that's all. There's no problem with that, right?"
"There could be plenty of problems if it keeps happening." Twilight commented in a deadpan tone. "How long have they been occurring?"
"They started a few weeks ago. Though, I will admit that they have been happening more lately."
"And you still thought that they were nothing to worry about?!" Twilight barked back, now getting annoyed.
"I told you that they're just dreams!" Flash replied, glaring back at Twilight. "Eventually, they'll stop. That's what all dreams do!"
"And if they don't?"
"Errrr..."
"If you don't get a good night's sleep, you'll end up doing something a lot worse than flying into a wall Flash! You need help!"
"Maybe you could go see that new therapist," Spike suggested, "what's his name? Doctor Hound...Doctor Pooch...Doctor Wol-"
"I'm not going to see a shrink," Flash interrupted, "I'm fine."
"Well we think otherwise," Rarity said.
Flash just rolled his eyes at this, but said eyes shot wide open when Twilight magically grabbed his ear and pulled him towards the door. "Ow! What the hay?!"
"You and I are going to go see somepony and get these dreams sorted out!" Twilight said as she pulled him along.
"But-"
"No buts! We're solving this now!"
One transition to a certain zebra's hut later...
"So that's the situation Zecora," Twilight explained, her magic still tugging Flash's ear. "I wasn't sure who else to come to. I've never heard about anything like this in any of the books I've read on dreams, so I thought an outside source would help."
Zecora just nodded as she finished her cup of herbal tea. "It warms my heart to know you believe, that I would have your situation's remedy."
"Do you think you can help?"
"I have the perfect thing I think, to help him get his forty winks." Zecora moved over to one of her shelves and began searching for something, eventually finding it as she took it off the shelf and brought it over to the duo. Placing it on the table, the two saw that it was a bottle of navy blue liquid.
"What is it?" Flash asked as he looked at it suspiciously, Twilight's hold finally releasing from his ear.
"An ingredient to make a tea, that will make your sleep nightmare free."
"So I just pour this into my tea and it'll stop me from having bad dreams?" Flash asked before looking up and seeing Zecora nod.
"Three drops in the mixture will make it work and stop your dreams from going berserk. Take it for a week and the dream should stop-"
"Before seeing if it was a total flop?" Flash finished for her, a cheeky grin on his face. Zecora however, just raised an eyebrow at this while Twilight glared at him. Seeing this, Flash slightly shrunk back, sheepishly saying, "Sorry. Couldn't resist."
"Thank you Zecora," Twilight nodded before glaring at Flash one more time.
Zecora shook her head with a small smile. "No need to thank this simple druid. To help a friend, I'm happy to do it."
Later that night...
As Flash and Twilight prepared for bed, Spike was busy making his own version of herbal tea. Twilight had set up a few spells on Flash's bed, mainly to help him get extra comfortable. As the setup was happening, Springer just watched them, his nose slightly twitching as he did.
"Here it is," Spike said as he poured some tea into four cups before bringing it over to where the other three were sitting.
"Thanks Spike," Twilight replied as she put down the book she had been reading about dreams after casting the bed spells. She wanted to figure out a few more spells to help, and some calming tea would definitely help with the thinking. Bringing it to her lips, she sipped at it before sighing, "delicious as always."
"Thanks," Spike grinned as he handed Springer his cup before putting Flash's on the table.
Flash on the other hoof, just stared at the cup before pulling out a small bottle. He then uncorked it, letting out a small sigh. "Here goes nothing." With that saying in mind, Twilight came over to him and poured the potion into a science baster. With this sample, she carefully deposited three drops into Flash's tea, which he thanked her for. A second later, he took a sip.
"How is it?" Spike asked, seeing Flash's face scrunch up after he finished sipping.
"Bitter," Flash croaked out.
"It doesn't matter how it tastes," Twilight deadpanned as she pointed at the drink, "you need to drink all of it."
Flash glared at her, but finished the drink anyway. "Welp, time to see if that even worked."
"I'm sure it will," Twilight replied as she put the baster away, "Zecora's remedies have never failed before." She then turned around and stared at the still slightly twitching pegasus. "Now go to bed. You need some sleep."
"Yes mom." Flash rolled his eyes as he got up and started to go upstairs. As he did, Springer quickly finished his own cup of tea, ready to follow his partner up to bed. That is, till Twilight tapped his shoulder.
"Springer." he turned his attention toward her, quickly noticing a very serious look on her face. "If for some reason that doesn't work and he has another nightmare, come get me. Okay?"
Springer smiled and nodded, before turning and heading upstairs.
Fire.
Flash opened his eyes, and all he saw was fire.
Once again, Flash was trapped within the burning room. As his eyes saw this, he began to look around again, seeing the building fall apart. It was the nightmare all over again.
"No...darn it!" he yelled as he started to try and escape the same piece of burning wood still pinning him to the ground. "Augh! Somepony help! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"
But his screams of terror fell on deaf ears.
Just as before, his ears slowly caught the sound of wood cracking. As it did, he looked up again, only to see the same piece of lumber splitting apart like last time. One crack appeared...then another, and another. Then, the last crack appeared, as a flame surrounded the wood.
One second later, it split. And with that, the roof came crashing down.
"No....NO! SOMEPONY HELP ME! AAAAAAAAAAA-"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Flash screamed as he shot up out of bed. His eyes almost bulged out of his head as his wings shot open, fear still capturing his mind. "NO! No....no...." Sweat poured down his face as he put his hoof up to his forehead. "Oh...it was a just a dream....just a dream..."
"Flash!" Twilight screamed as she and Spike rushed into room, causing him to jump in place. "Are you okay?! Did you have another nightmare?!"
"Whoa! Don't rush in here like that!" Flash barked back, trying to focus his still asleep eyes. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"You just screamed Flash, you're obviously not fine." Twilight pouted, crossing her hooves as she did. "Did the remedy not work?"
"I uh...no." Flash groaned, rubbing the side of his head as a small sting of pain hit his skull. "Ugh...my head. Why do I feel like my brain was smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick?"
Twilight just shook her head. "Maybe we should go see Zecora again. Even if she can't figure out why the potion failed, she might be able to get you something for your headache."
"That sounds like a good idea, but maybe we should wait." Flash said as he got up out of bed. He looked outside and saw it was still night time. "Zecora will probably still be asleep if we go there now."
"Okay, but no patrolling today. I don't even want to think about what might happen if you went out in your current state."
"Sure." Flash agreed, hoping that nothing bad would happen today. With that, the library's residents all headed downstairs, where Twilight was making Flash breakfast and Spike made them some more herbal tea. Springer was just waiting at the dinner table, kicking his feet with a small smile on his face, as he couldn't wait for the herbal tea.
"Hey Flash, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked as she set Flash's scrambled egg on toast down in front of him.
"You just did, didn't you?" Flash replied cheekily.
Twilight rolled her eyes as she placed Springer's breakfast down. "I want to ask what the dream is about. Maybe if we knew what happens in it, we can find a way to help."
Flash looked hesitant at the thought of explaining his nightmare. But, he also knew the nightmare almost in and out, having experienced over and over again the past few weeks. Remembering this, he decided to take a chance, thinking it would make things easier for him.
"Everytime it's the same. I open my eyes and I'm in a room filled with fire. And uh...I'm stuck. I can't move because there's a bunch of heavy wood on top of me." Flash explained, staring at the toast, trying to figure out the best way to explain the dream. He looked back up, only to see the other three's eyes grow wide. However, they remained silent, signaling him to continue. "Then...I start to look around for a way out and...and I realize I'm a colt again. I don't why I'm a colt but...it explains why I can't move under the wood. Anyways, as I continue to try to escape the fire, I start to scream and yell, calling for help." He let out a long huff as he explained the last part of the dream. "But nopony comes. And as I'm laying there, yelling...my ears pick up a sound. I look up and see a large support beam above my head...and it begins to break. It snaps again and again until...it breaks."
"Then what?" Spike asked, gulping in fear of what happens next.
"Then the roof collapses on me...and I wake up." Flash admitted, his eyes now staring back at the toast. "It always ends at that moment. I don't know why...but it does."
The three remained silent, not knowing what it could mean. Even Twilight was dumbfounded, fear showing all over her face as she rubbed her chin in thought. With this sad dark story over their heads, they finished their breakfast. As they did, they noticed that the sun was now up. Seeing this, Twilight suggested that they head over to Zecora, but not before bringing their friends along. Flash was a bit against this, but Twilight believed he needed all the moral support he could get.
"And that's what happened," Flash finished. After arriving at Zecora's and telling her the potion failed, Twilight had suggested retelling his story to her and the rest of his friends. Most of them showed faces of fear or despair, especially Fluttershy.
"Now I get why you can't sleep," Rainbow commented, a slight grimace on her face. "Even I'd be creeped out by something like that."
"It is truly horrible darling. I've never had a dream like that before." Rarity added before looking at the others. "Have any of you?"
They all shook their heads 'no' except Twilight and Zecora. Those two were going over the ingredients of the previous potion, both perplexed as to why the remedy had failed. "A puzzle I'd call your situation," Zecora grumbled as she flipped over a page in her book, "I cannot determine the potion failure causation."
"I know," Twilight replied as she pointed to an illustration, "the ingredients look right. By all appearances, the remedy should have worked."
Hearing this, Pinkie perked up as she suggested, "Maybe the problem isn't the potion."
"What do you mean Pinkie?" Flash asked in confusion.
"Well...maybe you're the problem Flash."
"Huh?! How am I the problem?" Flash barked as he pointed to his chest. "I'm the one having nightmares!"
"Actually...Pinkie might be on to something there Flash." Twilight said as she scratched her chin. "Maybe you are the reason this is happening."
"Not you too. I am not to blame for this!" Flash countered. "Why would I want to give myself nightmares?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Agreed." Zecora nodded before continuing. "I concur with your proposal. That may be the answer's exposal." She thought for a moment, then her eyes flashed with sudden realization. "Remember when you pony folk, stumbled into poison joke?"
"How could we forget? The girls literally believed you had put a hex on them." Flash deadpanned, only to receive six angry glares. "Sorry sorry...I was just kidding. I'm having a few bad days here, give me a break."
"Each of you had a strange affliction," Zecora continued, "but young Sentry had no such restriction."
"Hey! Yeah...yeah, you're right Zecora!" Twilight said as she turned to him. "The poison joke didn't effect you...and didn't Discord's magic have problems affecting you?"
"Yeah, it did." Flash replied, scratching the side of his head. He then turned and stared at the zebra. "And you told me that the only way I was immune was because of some kind of magic, right?" Zecora just nodded at this. "Well, that does make sense but..." Flash shook his head. "I've had potions before that have worked. Like the one that Princess Celestia gave me to help me discover my cutie mark, and what Grand Hoof gave me for that test to prevent me from flying. Why have those potions worked, but this one didn't?"
"That's a good question." Twilight remarked, rubbing her chin in thought. "If we only had one more clue than that."
"Maybe whatever causes it can pick what happens to Flash?" Pinkie suddenly asked, causing them all to look at her.
Rainbow just rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, like there's a type of magic that can make choices like that." She then turned to Twilight with a questioning gaze. "Is there?"
Twilight gave a confused shake of the head. "I'm actually not sure about that...but that's a question for another day. Right now, we need to find a way to help Flash with these nightmares. Now, we know that it repeatedly happens, and the potion didn't work despite that. If that's the case..." A certain thought floated into her head. "Wait a minute, maybe we need another opinion here."
"Another opinion? But who would know how to solve this?"
Twilight gave a knowing smirk. "Simple. We ask somepony who knows a whole lot more than we do." Twilight turned to a certain purple dragon, who was now finishing his tea. "Spike, take a letter."
Hearing the command, the dragon quickly conjured up a quill and scroll. "Ready Twilight."
"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight recited, "I am writing to you in a hope that you might know the answer to a problem we're facing. We have recently discovered that Flash has been suffering from nightmares for the past several days. They've gotten so bad that they've begun to interfere with his work, and this morning caused him to awaken with a terrible headache. All our attempts to stop the nightmares have been useless. We hope you might know of someway to stop them before they begin to put Flash in serious danger. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
Once Spike had jotted down the last bit, he rolled up the scroll and blew fire on it. The ashes of it flew into the air and out the window, off to reconfigure in Canterlot. Several minutes after it was sent, Spike started coughing until he burped out a cloud of smoke. Said cloud then magically transformed into a scroll, which Twilight quickly grabbed with her magic and unravelled. She began reading it quietly, Flash watching her lips silently move, knowing she was really interested in what Celestia had to say.
"So what's the news egghead?" Rainbow asked once Twilight had finished.
"Celestia wants Flash to come to Canterlot," Twilight explained as she rolled up the scroll. "She says she knows somepony who might be able to help with his situation."
"Who is it?" Flash asked, wondering who in Equestria could help with recurring nightmares.
"It doesn't say. I guess we'll find out when we get there."
"We?" Flash asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I'm going too." Twilight deadpanned as she stared at the pegasus. "What, you think I was just gonna let you deal with this on your own?" Twilight then turned to the others. "Right girls?"
"You betcha! We're coming to Flash, whether you like it or not!" Applejack said as the other girls nodded.
"Ah yeah! Road trip!" Pinkie cheered. "Can't wait to visit Canterlot again!"
Flash smiled at them, happy to have such caring ponies as friends. He then got up and headed for the door, knowing they would want to get going as soon as possible. As they did, Zecora spoke up, "Good luck in your quest my young friends. I hope you figure out how to bring Flash's nightmares to end."
"Thank you Zecora," Twilight replied with a wave goodbye. "Thanks for the earlier help!"
One transition of seven ponies and a dragon getting on a train later...
The journey to Canterlot was highly uneventful, with very few ponies on the train due to the late hour. Twilight had already decided to make a checklist of things to ask Celestia, which Rainbow took from her as a prank. As the two decided to bark at each other over this, Flash just looked out a nearby window, a glum look on his face.
"Um...are you okay Flash?" Fluttershy asked as she appeared right beside him. "I understand if you're worried about leaving Springer to protect the town."
"Hm?" Flash had just now acknowledged her, turning his head toward her. "Oh, I'm not worried Fluttershy. I trust Springer completely."
Fluttersy just frowned at this. "Then why do you look so sad?"
"I..." Flash bit his lip, hearing this question. "I'm just worried that this won't go away."
"Oh...I see." Fluttershy's ears drooped down, a glum look on her face now. A second later, her wing nudged his side. "Well, don't worry Flash. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Yeah...here's hoping."
Eventually, they arrived at Canterlot. The eight hopped off the train before making their way to the castle. As the castle came into view, Celestia started to lower the sun, the last of the day's light shone on the main gates of the palace. As they arrived at the gates, they soon found themselves getting a salute from the guards who had been expecting them.
"Hey!" yelled a certain voice beyond the guards. They all looked back down from glancing at the sunset, only to see a certain familiar blue unicorn. "About time you all got here!"
"Trixie!" Twilight and Flash said happily as they rushed over to the unicorn. Twilight and Trixie quickly shared a hug while Flash asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I live here," Trixie countered with a raised eyebrow. "But if you're wondering why I'm here right now, Celestia asked me to bring you all up to her."
With that, Trixie lead them into the castle. The group quickly went through several corridors, Flash and Twilight starting to remember just how much of a maze the castle could be at times. Eventually, they arrived into an area Flash and Twilight recognised as Celestia's personal chambers, where Trixie knocked on the door. Several seconds later, the door was magically opened, causing the group to walk in.
"Hello my little ponies," Celestia voice spoke once they walked inside. As they did, they noticed Luna was also in the room.
"Hello princesses," they all said in unison as they bowed their heads.
"Come, sit down. We have much to talk about." Celestia commanded, pointing to a group of cushions on the floor. The eight ponies and dragon took their seats. As they did Celestia and Luna both stared at Flash before the princess of the sun spoke up again. "I would like to have a casual talk with you all but...I suspect we need to figure out this problem first. So Flash, tell us about these dreams."
Flash nodded and began retelling his dream. He told how he was a colt again in the dream, how he was trapped in the burning building, and how he felt pure fear of helplessness in the nightmare. As he continued to talk about his dream, Celestia and Luna shared glances at each other, both slightly nodding at each other as Flash kept telling his tale. After a few minutes, he was done, and waited for their opinion.
Celestia slightly shivered as she responded first. "A truly horrifying dream Flash, I won't deny that...but I'm happy to say that there's no doubt in my mind that the specialist I mentioned earlier will be able to help deal with them."
"Who's the specialist?" Flash asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
Celestia smiled and turned her gaze on her sister. Everyone followed that gaze and saw an uncomfortable look on Luna's face. She slowly spoke up, "Sister, I'm still not sure about this. I haven't used that power since my return."
"It'll be okay Luna," Celestia assured her sister, patting her side with her wing. "Your power has grown significantly since you got back. There's no doubt that you'll be able to pull it off."
"Pull what off?" Twilight asked. "How do you believe Princess Luna can help Flash?"
Celestia beamed a smile at them. "My sister has an amazing ability my little ponies. This ability allows her to enter the dreams of ponies and interact with them." Their eyes went wide hearing this. As they did, Celestia continued. "When Flash has this bad dream again, we will have Luna enter his dream and help him overcome it."
"If I'm able to," Luna said in a glum, nervous-filled tone. "It has been a thousand years since I've even attempted this."
"I'm sure you can do it princess," Trixie cheered, walking up and giving her teacher a hug. Luna creased a small smile as she returned the embrace.
"Thank you my student..." Luna replied before she looked at the others. Her eyes watched the happy smiles that appeared on the other ponies' faces. She could see that they were all here to help, even if they knew that they couldn't use her magic. With this in mind, she turned and stared at Flash. "Are you ready?"
Flash just nodded. "Sure. I'm up for anything if it ends these dreams."
"Very well. I will try my best."
"That's all we ask of you Luna." Celestia said before turning to the rest of them. "Shall we all retire?"
They all nodded and got up, before Celestia showed them towards the place they'd be staying. It was a large room filled with beds, which made Flash cock an eyebrow in confusion. He turned to the others and said, "Uhhh...you know, you all don't have to be here. I thought this was about me...and Luna helping me."
"Nonsense darling, we're here for emotional support." Rarity replied as she patted his shoulder. "Isn't that right girls?"
They all nodded as Applejack added. "And if it looks like things ain't go-in right, we can all wake ya'h up."
"I guess...though I'm still thinking we're overreacting over my bad dreams." Flash said as he rolled his eyes.
"Ugh...just get in one of the beds Flash." Twilight grumbled, pointing at the mattresses.
"Fine fine..." Flash growled as he hopped into one of the beds, a deadpan stare on his face.
Luna then walked up to the bed Flash was on. "Alright Flash, for this to work, you'll need to first fall asleep. I can only enter dreams, making ponies sleep isn't something I can do."
"I'll try," Flash said as looked at the nine ponies and dragon staring at him, "but I'm not sure I'll be able to with all of you watching."
"Want us to sing you a lullaby?" Pinkie asked as she hopped onto another bed, a big grin on her face.
"No." Flash deadpanned, glaring at her. "I don't need a lullaby." He then looked at the others, a frown appearing on his face. "In fact, I don't need any of you watching me sleep. Just-urk!" Flash felt a certain familiar pain in his ear, recognizing it to be the Twilight's magic grabbing him.
"Stop complaining Flash!" Twilight barked, causing him to slightly backpedal on the bed. "Just close your eyes, lay down, and go to bed!" The other girls started to giggle as they saw her yell at him. Hearing this, she turned to them, her horn no longer showing a magic aura. "Don't laugh at this! We need to figure out-"
Twilight tried to say something more, only for her ears to hear a familiar sound of snoring. She turned around again, only to see a certain sleeping orange pegasus with a big goofy grin on his face as he laid on the bed.
"Awwwww," the females of the room said as they watched him.
That is, except Twilight, who just facehoofed. "You have got to be kidding me. He made all that fuss and then he goes and-"
"That's enough my dear student." Celestia remarked, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight immediately closed her mouth from this, which made Celestia nod. "Now, let us all be silent." Celestia pointed to Luna. "Go ahead Luna. We will all be quiet so you may begin."
"Very well." Luna then let out a small sigh. "We'll give him a few minutes to get into a deep sleep. That will help in this...dreamwalk."
A few minutes later, Luna moved over to where Flash laid and her horn began to glow, a stream of magic rope appearing out of her head. The rope then tapped Flash's head, which caused Luna to be enveloped by a sphere of light.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Rarity asked with a slight grimace.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, she's entered the dream world and has a path into Flash's dream. Once the nightmare begins, she'll hopefully be able to help Flash end these dreams once and for all."
"Let's hope," Twilight said as she looked over at the two. "Princess Luna...please help him."
Luna opened her eyes, a realm of stars and lights in front of her. Her pupils widened as she looked around before saying with a sigh of relief, "Whew...I made it." She then looked down, seeing a small rope of magic under her. She quickly followed it, only to find it attached to a large orange door with a familiar lightning shield cutie mark.
"Here goes," Luna took a deep breath as she braced herself for what would be on the other side. A second later, she gently opened the door, a slight breath of air releasing from her nostrils. As soon as she did, her wings reflexively blocked her face as she felt a surge of heat embrace her face. As she hid behind her feathers, her eyes widened as she saw the blaze in front of her. "Great moons!" she yelped before a click in her head went off. "Flash!"
As she mentioned his name, her ears picked up a loud cry that could be heard from within, making Luna flex her wings down. "Hold on, I'm coming young Sentry!" She shot forward, planning to fly into the room. However, as soon as she tried to enter the flames, she felt a force hit her back. Her whole body bounced back, barely preventing herself from falling on her rear. "What?!" She asked as she moved over to the door and tried to walk through it, only to hit some kind of invisible barrier, which briefly shone a touch of gold when she touched it. "What the-what is this? Why can't I enter this dream?"
She then heard Flash's voice cry out again, making her slam her hooves against the barrier reflexively.
Fire. Screams of terror. A burning building. A colt caught in pure distress and danger.
It was happening again. Flash was once again trapped under a burning pile of wood, his body now a colt. As the nightmare began, Flash began to scream out, fear covering his face. "HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" he cried as he tried to escape the blaze. "HELP! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"Flash!" yelled a voice in the distance.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! HELP!"
"Flash!" the voice yelled again, trying to pierce the colt's ears.
"SOMEPONY HELP ME!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!"
"FLASH! LISTEN TO ME!!!" the voice yelled one more time. "YOU MUST LISTEN!!"
This time, the voice pierced the flames, causing Flash to stop. His eyes shrunk as he recognized the voice. "Princess Luna?" He called out, fear still in his voice. "Is...is that you? Where are you?! HELP ME!"
"Flash!" Luna called back, "You must fight the nightmare yourself!"
"But why aren't you in here helping me?! I can't move!" he cried out, tears starting to appear under his eyes.
"For some reason, I can't enter your dream. But that doesn't mean I can't help you." Luna yelled back, taking a small breath afterward. "Even so...you must stop the nightmare yourself Flash!"
Flash looked at the fire around him, gulping as he continued to shake his body in fear. "H-h-how do I d-d-do that?"
Luna creased a small smile, knowing she had got to him. "Sometimes dreams have a reason behind them, especially recurring dreams. You need to find what the dreams are trying to tell you, then they'll stop."
"But there's nothing here..." Flash cried, almost biting his lip as he looked around. "Nothing...nothing but fire."
"Ignore the fire Flash. Ignore it and look past the flames."
Those words entered his ears, causing him to stop shaking. Fear was still there, but his eyes started to look beyond the terrors. Flash began looking around, trying to find something, anything to end the recurring nightmare. His eyes shook like a leaf as his pupils zoomed around, trying to find any clue. "Gotta ignore the fire...gotta ignore the fire..." he said to himself, his mouth shivering as he did. "Come on...come on...there's got to be something..."
Then he saw it. His pupils shrunk as he saw two words that were sitting on a nearby wall.
"No way. It can't be..."
Then, just like every time before it, the beam above Flash broke. Hearing this, Flash looked back up and saw the incoming burning lumber.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Flash and Luna screamed in unison, both of them popping back up in the room. The resulting cries caused the others to jump back in surprise.
"Flash/Luna!" Twilight and Celestia called out as they rushed over to them. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"
"I...I'm not sure." Flash replied, gasping for air as he did. He then rubbed his forehead before glancing at Luna, his eyes shaking as he did. "Hey Princess Luna...is that...was that for real?"
"I...don't know." Luna said as she rubbed her head as well. "Regardless, did you see something? Anything?"
"See something? What's she talking about Flash?" Twilight asked as she glanced at Flash and Luna.
Flash just ignored her as he continued to pant, gasps constantly exiting his mouth. "I...I think I did. I think I know what the dream is now."
"Good." Luna said as she stood back up, no longer panting or gasping. Instead, she walked up to Flash with a small grin on her face. "Do you know how to answer your question over the dream?"
Flash nodded. "I think I do." He then turned his head, looking out at a nearby window. "And I think I can solve it all tomorrow."
The next morning...
"Are you sure this is the place?" Twilight asked Flash as her and their five friends all walked up beside the orange pegasus. Spike was with them as well, though Trixie had decided to stay in the castle along with the royal sisters, as Luna had a few lessons for her student today and Celestia had her usual duties. With this in mind, Twilight pulled out a small report she had requested from Princess Celestia before looking back up at the building Flash had brought them to.
"Yup." Flash nodded. "This is the place, I'm sure of it." Flash had told them last night that in the nightmare, he had seen a sign in the building. The sign had two words that had shocked everypony last night when he told them about it.
Canterlot Orphanage
"Though I got to say...it doesn't feel familiar." Flash said as he looked the building over. It was just a basic stone building, three stories high and hidden away in the northern sector. "Though this one is made of stone."
"Yeah...that's why I was asking." Twilight mumbled as she put the report back into her saddlebag. "According to the report, the original building burned down over fifteen years ago. Apparently, a rogue thunderstorm cloud got blown over the building due to a pegasus scuffle and a lone bolt struck the place. A fire soon followed, and burnt the whole thing down. They then rebuilt it out of stone..."
Twilight's friends then noticed a slight grimace on her face, causing Rarity to speak up, "Sounds like you're not telling us everything darling. Did something else happen that day?"
Twilight sighed as she recounted the last part of the report. "Apparently, a young pony was left unaccounted for and was said to still be trapped inside that day. The building was evacuated rather quickly that day, but since the fire came out of nowhere and suddenly consumed the building...nopony was fast enough to go back inside and save the foal before the building collapsed." Twilight stared at the ground as the last words came out of her mouth. "They never found a body. They thought the foal was turned to ash in those flames."
Everypony gasped at hearing that, Fluttershy's eyes beginning to tear up. Flash on the other hoof, continued to stare at the building, which still seemed unfamiliar to him.
"Hello?" The group turned and saw an elderly unicorn standing a ways off, two shopping bags in her hooves. She had a pink coat and puffy graying hair, along with a pair of round spectacles on her nose. "Can I help you?"
"Hello," Twilight said before pointing to the building, "do you work here?"
The unicorn nodded. "Yes, the name's Clarity. I've worked here for almost fifty years. Its what I was made for." She then motioned to her back, showing a cutie mark of a foal's milk bottle. "How may I help you?"
"You might know what we're looking for." Twilight remarked before turning to Flash. She noticed the nervous look on his face, causing her to roll her eyes before lighting up her horn. Flash felt a certain force push him forward as she commanded, "Go on, ask her."
"Okay okay..." Flash replied, causing Twilight's magic to stop. He did a slight gulp before walking up to the unicorn. "Um...could you help me? I uh...I think I might have lived here once, but I don't remember."
Clarity stepped closer to Flash, magically lifting her spectacles to help take a closer look. After several seconds, her eyes slowly grew wider as if she had seen a ghost. "What's your name?"
"Flash," the pegasus replied, not giving his second name because he didn't have it back then. Clarity's breath became staggered as she stepped back, her eyes widening as she tried to stabilize herself. Seeing this, Flash quickly asked, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"
"Impossible...its a miracle," she gasped before turning towards the building. She then motioned them to follow her. "Come with me, quickly." The group followed the elderly pony into the orphanage, up several flights of stairs and all the way to the top floor. There, Clarity pointed to the furthest door on the right. "In there. I believe what's in there is the answers you seek."
Flash and his friends shared a confused glance, before moving over to the door. There, they saw a bronze plaque with writing carved on it.
Dedicated to the memory of Flash Relic, whose life was lost far sooner than it should.
Bellow the text was some numbers, a set of two dates that were six years apart.
Twilight looked at the dates and scowled at the second one. "That's the night of the fire," she said before looking over at Flash, "five years before we met."
"Yeah...we use the day I joined your family as my birthday, right?" Flash asked as he glanced at Twilight. She nodded. "Huh."
Flash took one last look at the door, a small gulp going down his throat. A second later, he opened it. Inside was a dusty medium sized bedroom painted light orange, with a simple little bed in the corner and a bookcase in the other. Up on the wall was a large sign for the orphanage, but it was covered in smiley faces and drawings of different animals using color paints that look like it had been done by a foal. Flash was the first to step into the room, his eyes looking the place over. As he did, Twilight and the others noticed that he seemed lost in thought, yet they could tell he had figured out something.
"Flash?" Twilight asked in a low, careful tone. "You okay?"
"Yeah...yeah, I think am Twilight." Flash said as continued to stare at the room. His eyes kept blinking as he slowly spun in a circle, looking at every bit of place. "I...I remember. I...I lived in a place just like this."
The Past...
Thunder.
Thunder roared outside as a certain young colt was laying on his bed, curled up in a bright red blanket. Strike after strike of lightning flashed outside the window as the colt laid there, unmoving. He was fast asleep, his ears folded over his head as he continued his slumber. That is, till his nose felt something. A smell. A pungent, disgusting, consuming smell. The stink caused his face to contort, his nose twitching as he continued to smell it.
Then, he woke up.
"Ugh...what is-"
BOOM!
"AAAAAHHHHH!" he yelped as he the sound a bolt lightning struck, the thunder piercing his ears. As he heard this, the colt flew out of his bed, fear instantly covering his being. "What was that?!" he yelped, quickly scooting to a corner of the room from the noise.
As he sat there for the next few minutes, he held his blanket close, shivering at the sounds outside. That is, till his nose picked up that scent again. This time though, he recognized it. Smoke. The colt had felt it before, when the orphanage had done a bonfire a few weeks back. But this was different. This smell of smoke felt nasty...and big. That, and he could tell where it was coming from. It was coming from outside his room.
Glancing at his door, the colt slowly approached the wooden structure, his whole body shaking like a leaf. Then, his hoof slowly turned the knob, a gulp descending down his throat. But his carefulness wasn't enough. As soon as he barely opened the door, a rush of smoke flew into the room, knocking him back. He let out a small scream as he tumbled across the room, rolling into the center.
As he did, he felt a sudden weight on his back. Before he knew it, several pieces of wood were pinning him down as they fell onto his back. He looked back up, only to see a fire outside his door, an inferno of flames twirling around as they began to eat away at the lumber. The very sight made tears of fear flow from his eyes, and a scream from his mouth.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! SOMEPONY HELP ME!" He cried as he tried to escape the wood on top of him. He continued to yell, his body wiggling inside the weight above him. "HELP ME! SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!"
As he did, more and more pieces of the ceiling began to fell. Shards of wood hit the floor, falling in front of him as he saw the flames grow in size. "No....no...." he gasped, tears still flowing down his cheeks as he watched his whole room go up in flames. As it did, he saw another flaming shard fall on top of his favorite blanket as it sat on the other side of the room after it had been knocked away when the smoke had pushed him away from the door.
Then, his ears picked up a sound. It was the sound of wood cracking. The colt looked up, only to see the large support beam above him beginning to breaking. Crack after crack appeared on the wood, causing his eyes to widen at each sound.
Then it stopped. The wood had split in two.
Then it fell.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" he yelled one last time.
Then it happened. As the beam fell, his body suddenly burst into life. The weight above him felt like a feather as he slipped out from under it, his whole body zipping out of the trap. As he did, another blast of flames hit him, knocking him to another side of the room. He let out a grunt of pain before realizing where he had ended up. He was under the windowsill, which had been broken by a shard of wood.
Seeing this, he looked back at his room, only to see half of it now consumed in flames. Knowing it was his only hope, he opened the broken window and climbed out. There, he sat on the roof, his body shaking as he saw the flames already marching around the side of the building. Taking a deep breath, he flexed his tiny wings, praying this would work.
With one leap of courage, he leapt into the air, flapping his tiny wings.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Like a rock, his body sped towards the ground, causing him to let out another scream of terror. As he did, his whole body smashed into a puddle of mud, one made by the thunderstorm. And when his body hit the ground with a thud, he quickly lifted his head up, his eyes spinning in pain as he felt the force that he had just been hit with. There, he looked back at the burning building, only to see a bunch of ponies beginning to file out of the orphanage. As he watched them, a burst of flames fell in front of him, causing him to backpedal away from the other unnoticing ponies.
Then, as if destiny itself had decided for this to happen, another bolt of thunder struck the ground. As it did, the bolt struck right in front of him, causing him to let out one last scream before his survival instincts kicked in.
He ran away, fear and survival in his mind as he ran into the darkness of the night.
The Present...
"And I never stopped running. That bolt scared me so much, I ran into the small forest behind the orphanage and then...well, as I said, I kept running." Flash explained before turning to Twilight, "I kept running until the day I met you."
His friends and Clarity were all speechless after hearing his recollection, unable to believe that such a thing could happen. The group was now in the orphanage's dining room, sitting around a large oak table as Flash recollected the tale. They had felt that it would be a better place to talk instead of the tiny colt's bedroom where Flash had regained his memories.
"Incredible," Rarity commented, unable to say anything else.
"Ah'll say," Applejack agreed.
The others just nodded.
Spike then raised his claw. "Hold on. Why didn't you remember this before? I mean, something like that..." Spike shook his head as he shivered at the thought. "Wouldn't that be like...burned into your memory or something?"
"Flash was a foal Spike." Twilight replied back, a slight frown on her face. "Foals' memories aren't as good as fully grown ponies."
"And such an awful memory," Fluttershy commented, covering her mouth with her hooves. "I'd want to forget it."
Twilight nodded at this. "Flash must have suppressed it until now. Thanks to that, the memory would have probably stay hidden." She then turned to Flash. "But then you started dreaming about it. I guess the dreams must have broke those suppressions. That and I'm betting that seeing your old room caused the suppression to shatter and let you remember completely."
"I guess," Flash replied, scratching the side of his head as he heard that.
However, before he could say anything else, Clarity walked up and placed her hoof on his. "I'm so happy to see you're alive Flash. I was heart broken when I thought you died." Flash smiled and nodded at her, a small tear almost forming under his eye. Seeing this, Clarity hopped in place. "Oh! I just remembered something." She leaned down with a little grin on her face. "Give me one moment dear." She quickly left the room, causing the others to glance at each other with questioning looks. Then, she returned while carrying something in her hooves. "Here Flash, you should have this."
She placed something on the table and Flash looked at it closely. His eyes went wide seeing it, quickly picking it up. It was the red blanket he had been holding when the fire started, but it didn't even have a burn mark on it. He knew it should have been burned to a crisp, but it looked untouched. Taking a closer look, he saw a stylised 'F.R.' sowed on it under a set of numbers Flash recognised as the same date that had been on the door upstairs. "This is-"
"You loved that thing," Clarity interrupted, "you never went anywhere without it."
"You had a blankie?" Rainbow asked while trying to hold back a laugh.
"Rainbow, don't laugh! There is nothing funny about that!" Fluttershy barked, causing Rainbow to wince.
"It's fine," Flash said while flashing his hoof, his eyes still on the blanket. "but I gotta say...something about this thing, it gives me a weird feeling. I can't even remember where I got it from."
"You were found with it," Clarity told him.
"I was?" Flash looked up at her, now realising a question he should have asked earlier. "Say...where did I come from?"
Clarity smiled at that. "I found you twenty one years ago, wrapped up in this blanket on the doorstep."
Everyone sighed, hoping they'd finally get some info on Flash's parents or even his background.
"It was late one night," Clarity continued, "I had just gotten the foals to bed when I heard a loud banging coming from the front door. I was afraid that whoever it was would wake the foals, so I quickly rushed to the door and opened it. That's when I saw you Flash, laying on the doorstep, wrapped up in that blanket." Hearing this, a small cloud of despair hung over them. Flash in particular, saddened that somepony would just abandon him as a foal like that. Seeing this, Clarity let out a small sigh before finishing, "I raised you myself and...and after the fire, I couldn't believe you were gone. I kept that blanket to remind me of you." She pointed to the piece of cloth. "Though I have to say, I'm still intrigued by it. After the fire, we found it in the middle of the pile of ash that was the old orphanage...but it didn't have a single burn on it."
"Must be made of a heat resistant cloth," Twilight commented, glaring at the fabric. "Interesting..."
"I've never heard of such a thing," Rarity also said, a shine in her eyes. "Though that does sound like a good material for a fashion line I could make..."
As the others rolled their eyes at Rarity's comment, Flash just stared down at the blanket, his mind racing as he did. Seeing this, Fluttershy walked up to him. "Flash? Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Flash barely acknowledged her, before just giving a tiny nod. "Yeah...I'm just a little...overwhelmed."
"I can definitely understand that." Clarity remarked before a lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh! That's right! There was one more thing when I found you that night."
"There was?"
"Yes." Clarity nodded before rubbing her chin in thought. "You also had a note with you in the blanket. Unfortunately, the note was lost to the fire, though I do remember some of stuff that was written on it." The other quickly gave stares that read 'Please tell us', causing Clarity to let out a small sigh. "If I remember right, all it said was: 'This is our beloved son Flash Relic, please take great care of him.'"
Hearing this last hint, Flash's ears flopped down to their sides, depression showing on his face. Another clue, lost to time and flames.
"I'm sorry you didn't find the answers you were looking for." Clarity replied with a frown. "If it helps, you may keep the blanket. It is yours after all."
"Yeah...thanks." Flash replied, squeezing his blanket with his hooves. "And uh...don't worry about the answers thing. I was just...looking for something that I already have." Flash said as he looked at his friends with a smile, "A family."
The others all smiled, knowing they didn't need to say a thing.
An hour or so later...
"Thank you for coming," Clarity said as Flash and his friends were now standing outside of the orphanage. "It was good to see you again Flash. I'm so glad you're alive."
"Yeah...and thanks for helping me." Flash replied before he pulled her into a hug. "Is it okay if I come back here sometime?"
"Of course," Clarity chuckled, returning the hug. "I would love that."
With that, the group turned and left. As they headed toward the castle, ready to tell Celestia, Luna and Trixie of their findings, Rainbow spoke up, "Huh. Who would have thought that trying to get rid of a bunch of nightmares would lead to this?"
"I agree darling." Rarity said with a nod. "Its still hard to believe in my opinion."
"I think its the most unbelievable for myself." Flash commented as he looked at the blanket in his hoof. "Guess I always alone back then..."
"So..." Twilight said in a cheeky tone, trying to change the subject. "Flash Relic, huh? That's a different name."
"I think I'd prefer to remain Flash Sentry," he replied, giving her a slightly playful glare. "I'm pretty sure that's who I am today, not Flash Relic." Flash then took one last look at the orphanage. "After all, I was just looking for answers to who I was, but I still don't have them. Until then...I think Flash Relic will stay there, lost to that fire all those years ago."
"We understand," Twilight said as she patted his back with her hoof. "And we'll be there to help when you find out the truth."
"Thanks girls. That's means more than you could possibly imagine.
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... Somepony has unresolved issues with Pikachu.
, Well what did you expect, you keep acting like his mother, he's going to act like your child.
Nice to have a taste of Flash's early history, so no 'Lesson-Zero'. Well wait and see what parts of Season 2 of the show proper makes it's way it. Here hoping for "Sisterhooves Social"
I loved this chapter.
The sugar muffin incident was hilarious. I'm excited about the next chapter. I understand that it will be a long chapter and will take time to complete, but I'm looking forward to it.
Well that's one way to start a new story. Now Flash knows his real name and where he was before he met Twilight. I hope he'll meet his real parents one day and finally get some real answers.
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Maybe "Lesson Zero" happened off-chapter. I know in S1, "Look Before You Sleep" and "Over a Barrel" were off-chapter.
8450220
But Twilight's descent into madness is so funny.
Hold on. Is this story featured on your fimfiction home pages? It is in mine.
I mean, home page as in fimfiction.net, not my profile page.
Sees 8450304's post, checks it out...
8450304
It is in the popular list instead of the featured list, but it is still awesome to be in either.
Loved the Dr. Wolf reference
8455115
? Where's that?
8455235 Sorry man. It came to me just as I was about to publish and I added it in.
8455386
Why do I get the feeling that this chapter will lead into a story arc?
IN THE FLASH SENTRY CHRONICLES THINGS CAN EATHER BE DREAMS OR MEMORIES
Guess he's not a pikachu fan.
Yes, a moment with Doctor Wolf would absolutely do him some good. Somepony get him there pronto, and Firebrand will make sure he doesn’t leave