Aura Brothers
"Tent?"
"Check."
"Sleeping Bags?"
"Check."
"Thermal clothing?"
"Check."
"Blankets."
"Check."
"Backup blankets?"
"Check."
"Backup backup blankets?"
"Check!"
"Okay," Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll, "I think that's everything."
"Thank Celestia," Flash moaned as he closed a travel saddlebag.
"Maybe we should go through it again and make sure we didn't miss anything out?" Twilight suggested, making Flash roll his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure if we missed something, we would have noticed the last three times we checked. We're good Twilight," he replied, putting the saddlebag on.
Twilight began twiddling her hooves as she opened the scroll again. "But...when preparing for a trip, you need to at least triple check your belongings for safety's sake. I don't want you to get there and find you've left something you really really need."
Flash let out a long sigh before patting Twilight's shoulder. "Listen Twilight, we're good. We have everything we need."
"But-"
"We'll be fine." Flash interrupted, winking at her as he did. "Trust me."
"But Flash...I don't know...I'm still leery about this." Twilight replied, looking at the floor as she did. "Are you sure you have to do this?"
"Yes. I want to do this and I promise things will be okay." Flash raised her chin with his hoof. "And this promise, I will keep."
"Fine." Twilight sighed, batting his hoof away. "Don't blame me if you forget something."
"I won't. Trust me, you made sure of that."
"Tell me again why you're going on this trip?" Spike asked as he and Springer walked in from the library kitchen. Springer had a bag on his back with two straps that was over his arms. This was something Rarity had made especially for the jakhowl that they had named a backpack.
"I told you this Spike. During our battle against Discord, me and Springer were able to talk to each other through our aura," Flash explained as he pointed to his partner. "Since then, we've been testing this ability and so far, we can hear each other from over a mile away. So we're going on this trip to try and help strengthen it."
Spike let out a small sigh before shrugging. "Okay, that I get. What I don't get is why you have to go all the way to a snow caped mountain to do this."
"It was Twilight's idea." Flash chuckled, pointing his head to Twilight.
"It was not!" Twilight barked back, growling. "I just mentioned that your aura connection seemed to strengthen whenever one or both of you is in a stressful situation." She then rubbed her forehead in frustration. "I did NOT suggest you going to a mountain!"
"Well, you might as well have," Flash teased, sticking his tongue out. "Come on, we both know you at least theorized my response to what you told me, before you did so."
"Point made..." Twilight grumbled, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "But I still told you because I thought you would be responsible enough NOT to do something crazy like this!"
Flash started chuckling, shaking his head. "It actually hurts that you've known me for this long and you still can't keep up with me." Twilight just glared at him, making him slightly backpedal at her approaching death stare. Flash took a deep breath before continuing. "Anyways, its not like its gonna be dangerous. I checked with Rainbow, and there isn't any snow or rain scheduled while we're there, so it'll be fine." Flash then hugged her shoulder, a small smile on his face. "I promised you that I wouldn't be reckless anymore, and I won't be reckless there. Okay?"
"If you say so," Twilight harrumphed, crossing her hooves while looking away. "I still don't like this and-"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Hmm?" Twilight muttered as everyone looked at the door. Twilight quickly went over and opened it up, revealing the local mailpony, Derpy Hooves.
"Mail call Twilight!" Derpy exclaimed before pulling something out of her saddlebag. "Package delivery!"
"Ah! Its here! Thank you Derpy!" Twilight cheered as she used her magic to levitate the package out of Derpy's mouth. "Do I need to sign anything?"
Derpy shook her head. "Nope! Have a good day!"
"You too." Twilight replied before softly closing her door. As she did, the magic aura over the package began to morph, tearing the wrapping paper off in a breeze.
"What'd ya get?"
"It should be-ah!" Twilight said before all the paper fell off. There, it revealed a book titled 'Galloping Mountain and Everything You Would Want to Know About It'. Flash gave her a questionable look as she levitated it in front of her, showing he wanted an explanation. Twilight did a small cough before saying, "Yeah...I uh, bought this book when you told me you were gonna go there." she explained with a blush. "There's supposed to be a lot of unusual plants and animals you don't normally see anywhere else on that mountain and...yeah. I thought it would help you...but the parcel got delayed in the mail."
Flash chuckled, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Twi."
Twilight smiled as she hugged back, muttering, "Sorry. I was just worried."
"I know." Flash replied, patting her back as the hug continued. That is, till he saw a large smirk on Springer's face. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Springer giggled before turning around, heading to the door. "You ready Flash?"
Seeing this, Flash broke the hug with Twilight before telling her, "Listen. Don't worry so much. Me and Springer will be fine." Flash then headed to the door, his saddlebag now snug on his back. "Come on, you can see us off at the train station with others."
Twilight released a long sigh. "Okay."
Later, at the train station...
Flash and Springer were packed up and ready to go, with their friends there to see them off. Among them was the usual ponies, along with Iron Core, who had his weapon sitting on his shoulder. "Well, this is it," Flash said to them as they stepped onto the platform and turned to his friends. "Iron, good luck keeping this crazy town in one piece. Remember, we're gonna be gone for a full week on this training resort, and this town can literally flip upside down in one day. Trust me."
"I can handle it," Iron replied with a smirk on his face. Since his arrival into town, Iron Core had slowly grown more and more accustomed to his work as Ponyville's Defender of the Peace. Flash found that he had to teach him the whole town's layout a few times, as Iron had directional problems. That and Flash had the repeating problem of Iron constantly wearing a scowl on his face, which didn't help when they did the defender's job of helping the citizens throughout the day. Despite this, Iron was starting to warm up to the friendly ponies of Ponyville, and Flash felt confidant enough to leave him to look after the town on his own.
"Well, just in case," Flash pointed to his friends. "Twilight and the others will be there if you need help. Remember, we all help each other in Ponyville."
"I'll be fine." Iron grumbled, turning around to go back into town. "Get going shrimp."
"We'll be fine Flash," Twilight commented as she walked in front of Flash. "You two need to look after yourself."
"And Spike," he said to the dragon, ignoring Twilight. "Do yourself a favor and don't stay up late reading horror comics. I won't be around to help you hunt Zombie Hamsters."
"That was one time," Spike pouted as everypony else giggled.
As they did, Springer walked up to Rarity, a big grin on his face. "Thank you for the backpack!"
"Hmm?" Rarity looked to Flash. "What did Springer just say?"
"He's thanking you for the backpack."
"Oh!" Rarity put her hoof to her chest, smiling. "You are quite welcome darling. I do hope its snug on you." Springer began nodding. "Good."
Seeing this small exchange, Flash then sighed. "I feel like I'm forgetting something."
"Relax dude, we got this." Rainbow walked up and patted Flash's shoulder. "We'll keep Ponyville safe."
"This is Ponyville." Flash flatly stated. "You do realize that, right?"
"Well...yeah. But we can still handle it."
"I agree." Twilight continued, walking up and giving him one last hug. "We'll be fine. If anything comes up, we'll handle it. You go off and enjoy yourselves."
"Alright. We'll get going then." Flash said with a salute. With this, the duo hopped on the train, quickly finding a seat as the train started moving. There, he stuck his head out of a window. "Goodbye everypony! See you all in a week!" he yelled as he waved his hoof, Springer waving his paw. He heard all his friends saying their goodbyes back, waving as well as they got further and further away. As the last of Ponyville left his sight, Flash swore he heard Pinkie's voice.
"Don't forget to write!" Pinkie screamed, a megaphone in front of her mouth.
Back at the train, Flash removed his head from the window, sitting down with his partner on the train's seat. "Well Springer...looks like it's just you and me."
"Yep," Springer replied, nodding. "So...what's the plan?"
"No real plan," Flash shrugged, giving him a small wink. "We're just going to be training in the mountain. If Twilight's right and our connection increases whenever we're in a stressful situation, then this should help us strengthen that connection."
"And what if she's wrong?" Springer asked, a slight frown on his face.
"Then at least we know, and the training will be good for us either way."
And so, they sat back and enjoyed their journey. Springer decided to mainly watch out the window, admiring the sights outside while Flash took out the book Twilight gave him and began reading it.
Some time later...
Galloping Mountain was part of a mountain range that was east of Canterlot. Though not the tallest mountain in Equestria, it stood at an impressive twelve hundred meters in height, and it was home to many unusual animals and plants, the plants of which is why the mountain is so well known. The herbs and roots that grow there were famous for their uses in medicines and potions, which was why so many ponies climbed it to gather them.
At the base of the mountain was a small village, complete with a lodge where hikers could rest and different shops where they could get any equipment they would need. At the front of the village was a train station, where Flash and Springer's train was pulling into. As it did, the metal box skidded down the iron rails, sparks tapping the ground as the duo finally arrived.
"We're here," Flash said as he and Springer stepped off the train, already looking at the intimidating mountain and it's village in front of them.
"Look at all these ponies," Springer remarked, pointing at a few of them. The ponies all appeared to be rough and tough types, all having a similar body style to Iron and Mac, and some appeared to have scars in places. "They look tough."
"These ponies make their living climbing the mountain," Flash replied, his saddlebag accidentally nudging his partner. "They'd have to be tough to live here."
Seeing this, the duo made their way out of the train station, quickly entering the village. As they did, they soon noticed several judgmental stares from the locals, causing Springer to tense up. "Um...Flash? I don't like the looks they're giving us."
"Obviously, they don't think we belong here," Flash said with a slight roll of the eyes. He patted Springer with his wing. "Don't worry buddy, just ignore them." Flash then looked up and saw a nearby convenience store, causing him to point at it. "Come on, let's go get ourselves a map of the place. I'm betting that store should have one."
With that, they proceeded inside, quickly looking the place over. There, they saw the shop's clerk, an elderly gray unicorn stallion with an eye patch, who eyed the two suspiciously when they walked in. "So what do we have here?" He asked as Flash stepped up to the counter, "get off at the wrong station, did we?"
Flash shook his head. "Nope. I'm looking for a map of the mountain. Got one?"
"Of course," the unicorn said as his horn glowed brown. Off one of the shelves behind him flew a rolled up parchment, which floated down and landed into the unicorn's hooves. "This is one of the best maps we've got. Features every nook and cranny of the mountain."
"Perfect," Flash replied as he took it and unravelled it.
As he looked it over, the shopkeep spoke up, "Might I ask, what brings you to Galloping Mountain? You don't seem like the type of hikers we usually see around here."
"Training. We're here to work on our teamwork."
"You and your little pet there?"
Springer growled at this.
"He's not a pet," Flash said with a glare, removing his eyes from the map.
The clerk rolled his eyes. "Well whatever he is, you two might want to rethink going up this mountain. It's not very forgiving to those who don't know it."
"We'll be fine," Flash replied, dropping a few bits on the counter as he rolled up the mat. "Don't worry about us." With that, the two headed towards the door.
"Word of advice feather-boy," he called out, "don't try flying up at the start of the climb. You'll want to save your strength for higher up."
Flash nodded before they stepped outside. With that, the duo made their way over to the mountain. As they reached its base, they quickly noticed several shacks and sheds scattered throughout, but only a few roads in terms of where to start climbing. Seeing this, Flash looked to his partner. "You ready? We need to find a place to set up camp before the sun sets."
"Got it. Let's do this!" Springer replied.
And with that, the two headed up the snow-caped behemoth.
The trek was surprisingly easy to begin with. As said before, they took one of the roads at the bottom, finding it to be a basic upward dirt path. It wasn't until a half hour and passing several folks along the way is when things started to get rocky. It started when the original dirt path they were following ended in front of a pile of rocks that blocked their path. Deciding to follow the storekeep's advice, Flash and Springer chose to climb over it in place of flying. Springer proved his skills in jumping and agility with this and was already at the top of the pile while Flash was about half way.
After that rock pile, the terrain was no longer the nicely done paths they started on, and was instead a rocky and unstable group of rock ledges. This was also a bit of a challenge, as Flash decided this would be the part where he would use his wings. Springer rode on him as well, and the two flew up the side, quickly finding themselves passing a series of ridges and unstable land. It wasn't until they found one of the mountain range's lower peaks is where they finally landed. There, they found a small forest on the tip, along with a nice sheet of snow. Seeing this as a good stopping point in terms of going upward, the duo went into the rocky woods, soon noticing the snow getting thicker as they went through the greenery.
"Good grief, its cold," Springer said as he shivered, wrapping his paws around his body.
"And it's bound to get colder as we get further up buddy." Flash commented as he cut a bush in front of them with Lightbringer. "That's why there's snow here. Remains of the winter snow that never melted."
"Why don't they get rid of it like they do in Ponyville?"
"A mountain this size would take weeks to do, even with magic," Flash explained as he sheathed his blade. "Besides, they keep it like this because the herbs they farm here grows better in snow."
"Really?"
"You'd be surprised what tends to prefer the snow," Flash said with a smirk. "That and other facts in that book Twilight gave me."
In that second, the two froze when they heard a rustling coming from a nearby bush. The two quickly got into a battle stance, Flash re-pulling out Lightbringer and Springer forming a Bone Breaker as they prepared for whatever might leap out and attack them.
That is, till it came out.
What came out was a small ball of pink fluff, roughly the size of a buckball, with large blue eyes and a pair of long wiry antenna which both had pink puffballs on the end. The two glanced at each other as they watched the creature just sit there and stare at them. After blinking at few times, Flash and Springer put their weapons away.
"What's that?" Springer asked as his Bone Breaker dissolved. "I don't sense any ill intent with my aura...just obliviousness."
"Errr...hold on." Flash pulled out the earlier mentioned guide and shuffled through it's pages. A few seconds later, he found what he was looking for. "Oh. Its a Flufflepuff."
"A what?"
"A Flufflepuff. They live here on Galloping Mountain."
"How can anything live here? Its freezing up here!" Springer asked as the Flufflepuff bounced over to them. He bent down and patted the little creature on his head...body...whatever it had.
"According to the guide, they actually find the environment quite nice," Flash explained as he put the book away. "Their fur keeps them well insulated, so they don't feel the cold."
"That's cool," Springer said as he picked up the Flufflepuff. The little ball of fur purred as it rubbed up against Springer's cheek. "Sure is a friendly little guy."
"They're known to be very approachable." Flash commented as he walked up and began scratching the creature's head. "But they usually travel in packs. Wonder where the rest of it's friends are?"
As if on cue, the bush rustled again and four more Flufflepuffs jumped out. They saw the two and hopped over to them, causing the other to hop out of Springer's paws. The five began bouncing up and down around the two, as if playing with them.
"They're kinda cute." Springer said as one hopped up and starting bouncing on his head. "Really soft too. Bet the girls would like these guys."
"Like I said," Flash said as one bounced on his outstretched wing, "very approachable. And I agree with you there." Flash then looked to the sky, his eyes now seeing Celestia's sun. It was getting close to the horizon, maybe an hour or two away from setting. He retracted his wing and pointed to a nearby nest of trees and bushes. "Why don't we make camp here? This place is pretty good...its flat and there doesn't seem to be much here that could bother us."
"Sounds good to me." Springer replied, nodding.
The two quickly got to work, putting up the tent and unwrapping their sleeping bags while the Flufflepuffs watched. As the sun began to set, the two's camp was soon complete and they enjoyed a delicious supper of baked beans that Flash had brought along. Grand had taught him how to cook basic meals as part of his training.
As they continued to eat their supper, Springer spoke up. "This is nice. I like sleeping in the library, but it's fun being out here."
"Yeah," Flash replied as he looked up at the stars. "Reminds me of the time Grand Hoof took me and Twilight camping."
"Was it like this?" Springer asked.
"In a way," Flash chuckled, smirking as he did. "We were doing survival training, learning how to make a fire and what kind of food that's safe to eat. Twilight decided that she needed ten different guides over what type of plant, animal and food with would encounter. That and an argument with Grand over 'the ethics of using certain types of lumber for firewood'." Flash said, making air quotes as he did. He then gave Springer a flat stare. "She believed that Grand just wanted to make forest fires."
"Sounds like fun," Springer giggled. "And totally what Twilight would do."
"It was. It was also the only time I fell asleep thanks to an argument. It bored me that much!" Flash laughed as he finished the last of his beans. "Welp, we better get to sleep. We've got a long day of training tomorrow and we'll be starting early."
"Right," Springer replied as he munched down all of his beans as well.
The two got into the tent and wrapped themselves up in their sleeping bags, before slowly falling asleep.
Meanwhile...
It had been an unusual day for Twilight. She had only read one and a half books, which was considered to be a truly unusual event for her. Granted, she had acted this way somewhat when Flash was away in Canterlot, trying to find clues of his birth with Celestia and census ponies, but this time she knew better. This time, she knew Flash could actually be in trouble at any moment, which made her feel nothing but anxiety. As she did, she was now sitting at one of the library's windows, watching the night stars in the sky.
"You worried about Flash?" Spike asked as he stepped into the room, carrying a tray with two cups of hot cocoa.
"A little," Twilight said as she turned away from the window and took one of the cups in the magic. "More than anything, it just feels weird that he's not here. Ever since he came to live with us, we've always slept under the same roof. Even when I was studying late back in Canterlot, he would come to my attic and keep me company."
"So you're saying you can't sleep because you miss him?" Spike asked with a smirk.
Twilight shook her head. "Of course not. He's been gone before. It's just...it takes some time to get used to."
"Well, he's just gonna be gone for a week," Spike said as he took a sip of his cocoa. "Plenty of time to get used to it...like that time a few days ago."
Twilight let out a sigh. "You're right. And it's most likely this won't be the last time he'll be gone for a long time. If he's ever summoned to do a Royal Knight duty, it'll be likely that he'll be gone for weeks, possibly months."
Spike let out a small snort. "Wow, I never even thought of that."
"Exactly. And that'll be if he comes back at all." Twilight grumbled.
"Twilight..."
"I can't help it!" she replied, glaring at the young drake. "I just worry about these things! Look at all the tough battles he's already been through, and he's only an apprentice knight! I don't want to think about the dangers he'll have to face when he's a full knight."
"You can't let this sort of thing get to you," Spike told her, patting her side with a smile. "This is how we ended up with the Smartypants incident, remember? And Flash was just in Canterlot and not on some dangerous mountain." Twilight just rolled her eyes at the mention of that, causing Spike to chuckle and continue. "You know, if you're so worried, maybe you should talk to somepony about this." Spike suggested, "like that therapist or even Celestia."
"Maybe," Twilight said before finishing her cocoa, giving him the cup back with a slight glare. "I'll think about it."
"Good," Spike replied as he did the same with his cup. "I'm going to bed. Night."
"Good night."
As he left the room, the unicorn took one final look up at the stars, before deciding to follow Spike's lead and go to bed.
The Next Morning...
"Okay buddy, wake up." Flash said as he poked Springer's face, who was still curled up in his sleeping bag. "We got training to do."
"Mmm...five more minutes." Springer moaned. "I need....four more minutes."
"Oh really?" Flash smirked, crossing his hooves before glancing at one of his saddlebags. "And I'll just use these few minutes to, let's see...eat your special bag of food Fluttershy gave you?"
Springer immediately shot up, growling. "Don't you dare touch that! Those treats are mine!"
"Ah, you're awake." Flash chuckled, patting Springer's head. The jakhowl growled back, but Flash ignored him and turned to leave the tent. "Come on buddy, training time."
"Grrr...fine." Springer grumbled, following him.
With that, they two began their training.
First, they found a field of large boulders in the mountain's forest, deciding to have a competition where they would try and see how many they could break in an hour. It had been close but in the end Springer managed to win by just one boulder, which had broke a second before the alarm clock they usually used for their usual morning training went off. Flash had been a few more swipes from breaking his when this happened.
Their next training exercise was a race on climbing another part of the mountain, specifically it's ledges. In the idea of fairness, they used some rope to tie up Flash's wings so he couldn't easily fly to win. However, despite this restriction, the young pegasus managed to beat his partner to the top of the ledge by only a few seconds.
The two continued to spend the day challenging each other, beating each other over and over. Flash would win any type of fighting challenge, while Springer had better luck with the speed competitions. However, as the end of the day neared, the two were laying on the ground, breathing heavily from exhaustion as they had just reached a tie.
"So you wanna call it a draw?" Springer asked as they finally caught their breath.
"You nuts? No way!" Flash replied,
"So what do you wanna do to break the tie?"
Flash raised his head, staring at the forest around them. Looking at the standing lumber around him, Flash just smirked as an idea popped into his head.
"How about a race back to the tent?" He suggested, slowly ascending from the dirt. "We jump from branch to branch as a race."
"No wings?" Springer asked, pointing at Flash's back.
"We'll tie them up again."
"Then let's do it. Fly me up there and we'll start."
After flying up to the trees, Springer tied up Flash's wings and the two prepared for their race.
"You ready?" Flash asked, a cocky grin shined his face.
"You bet," Springer replied, nodding.
"Alright," Flash said as they turned to look forward. "Okay, three...two...one...GO!"
With that, the two began jumping from branch to branch, laughing their heads off as they raced. They went on like this for what seemed like hours, even though it was only ten minutes, enjoying the pure exhilaration of their game. The competition didn't really even matter to them as they hopped branch to branch, just feeling happy to get away.
That is, till Flash felt some strange. A patch of dizziness struck his head as he leaped to the next branch, causing him to stop, putting his hoof to his head. "Wha...."
"Flash?" He heard Springer call out. Turning towards his partner, he saw Springer looking at him and as their eyes locked, something happened. Everything went completely white, only for a second to pass and his vision suddenly cleared, his vision already returning.
However, something was wrong. He wasn't looking at Springer anymore.
He was looking at himself.
He wasn't sure what happened next. It felt like time had frozen in that moment, his body now moving through the air as he hopped to another branch. And as he started moving again, he looked to his hoof...only to see a familiar paw reaching out from the side of his vision. As he saw this, he knew instantly what was happening. He was looking through Springer's eyes.
"Flash, look out!" He heard Springer say, still staring at Flash's body.
With his focus on what was happening, Flash's body wasn't paying attention and his hoof was about to miss the next branch. As the danger showed itself, Flash's vision returned to his body. Unfortunately, he was a second too late, causing his hoof to miss. With this, he fell like a rock, hitting several branches as he fell to the ground, grumbling in pain as he did before coming to an undignified stop, slamming into the ground at full force.
"FLASH!" Springer yelled as he slid down a tree's trunk, landing near Flash's downed body. He then ran over to him, quickly removing a pile of branches that had followed Flash in his fall.
"That hurt," Flash moaned, pushing one of the branches off of him.
"Are you okay?" Springer asked in concern.
"I think so," Flash said as he tried to pick himself up. However, as he did, a jolt of pain surged through his left wing, causing him to tense up. "Spoke to soon." Seeing this, Springer quickly undid the rope around them, allowing Flash to painfully spread his wings and check the damage. "Looks like a sprain."
"Is it bad?" Springer asked.
"Nothing major. Just needs some rest." Flash then looked back at Springer, his face wincing as he could still feel the pain in the wing. "Maybe we should finish up for the day partner."
"Sounds good to me."
Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner...
"Over twenty four hours since he's left and the town's still standing," Rainbow said as she leaned back in her chair. In front of her was the rest of her friends, all of them glaring at her comment. "See? Nothing to worry about egghead."
"Yeah sure." Twilight grumbled, taking a sip of her milkshake. "Because I'm not careful or a mare that tries to plan ahead."
"Yup. That's you egghead." Rainbow chuckled, putting her hooves behind her head.
"Why you-" Twilight got up, only for Rarity to put her hoof in front of her.
"That's enough darling." Rarity remarked. "Remember, we're here to help Iron while Flash is gone, and we're taking a break. Calm down Twilight."
"Yeah yeah..." Twilight looked away, still grumbling.
"Besides...Iron seems to be doing well," Fluttershy said, fiddling with her drink. "And nothing bad has happened. That's a good thing, right?"
"Yeah," Applejack shrugged. "Though sayin somethin like that is just askin fer trouble."
"Oh come on," Pinkie waved her hoof. "What could go wrong with just saying that?"
"Hey Rainbow, you in here?" They all turned to see Thunderlane at the door of the bakery, looking around until he saw Rainbow. "There you are," he said as he walked in, "I've been looking all over for you."
"Hey Thunderlane, what's up?"
"We just got news from Cloudsdale that this week's rain cloud delivery will be late," he explained.
"What?!" Rainbow asked in confusion, hopping out of her seat with a small frown. "Why?!"
"There was a malfunction at the factory when it was over Canterlot and the cloud shipments got blasted away," Thunderlane explained, slightly grumbling as he did. "It got blown eastwards and they couldn't recover it."
"Ugh...that's not good." Rainbow replied, facehoofing. "Well, at least we'll get a few days off. Though we need to send a message to Cloudsdale for some extra clouds."
The others all nodded in agreement, until Twilight thought about what Thunderlane had just said and her eyes went wide. "WAIT!" She almost screamed, "it's heading eastward from Canterlot!?"
"Yeah," Thunderlane replied with a shrug. "The team isn't exactly worried since there's nothing that important east of Canterlot. The clouds will had dissipated by the time they reach anyplace important."
"Wrong!" Twilight said as she slammed her hooves into the table. "There's a large mountain range in that direction. The one that Flash and Springer are on right now!" Everypony's eyes went wide at this, realizing what she meant. That is, till she continued. "And it gets worse..."
"How could it be worse?" Pinkie asked.
"The snow on that mountain will be so cold, it'll lower the temperature enough that the rain in the clouds will turn to snow. And if those clouds are meant for a whole town of ponies."
They all quickly began to catch on to what she was saying. Flash and Springer were being sent a blizzard and they didn't have a clue about it coming.
Meanwhile, back on the mountain...
Flash and Springer had just finished bandaging up the pegasi's wing. As the jakhowl completed the work, he looked up to his partner and asked, "How's that feel?"
Flash flexed his wing and nodded, happy with the work. "Not bad partner. If being a defender doesn't work out, maybe you can become a nurse."
"Very funny," Springer deadpanned as he put away the medical supplies. "I still don't get what happened Flash. Why did you suddenly lose focus like that?"
Flash thought back to what had happened and tried to put the experience into words. "It was weird. It was like...for a moment, I wasn't looking through my eyes."
Springer turned his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Whose eyes were you looking through?"
Flash turned to the jakhowl and stared him dead in the eye. "Yours."
"What?!"
"I'm serious," Flash nodded. "It was like I was looking through your eyes. Seeing what you were seeing."
"Weird," Springer replied, crossing his paws. "Do you think it has something to do with our aura connection?"
"Can't be anything else." Flash shrugged. "On the plus side, it does show our training is paying off. Though its far from perfect, at least we know we're getting somewhere."
Springer nodded before he saw something in the corner of his eye. He looked up, causing his eyes to widen. "Hey uh...hey Flash?"
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you say the weather was supposed to be really good here?"
"Yeah, it is." Flash replied, nodding. "There isn't anything scheduled in terms of harsh or bad weather."
"Then what's that?" The jakhowl pointed up and Flash turned his head. Up in the sky and heading towards them was a large dark cloud, which was approaching fast.
"Oh no...that's not good." Flash said as he scrambled to get up. A second later, the first few flakes of snow began to fall, a sign for what was to come. "We've got to find some shelter and fast."
"Can't we just put up the tent?" Springer asked.
"No time," Flash replied as he motioned for his partner to hop on his back. "Besides, one strong gust of wind and it'll be blown away. We need to find a natural shelter, like a cave."
Nodding at this, Springer leapt onto Flash's back and the two quickly made their way through the woods as the snow continued to fall and intensify. Within minutes, the blizzard was upon them and the path ahead was almost completely white.
"I can't see!" Springer said as he covered his eyes from the snow.
"I can." Flash stated, his eyes narrowing as he ran into the thick of it. Luckily, his knight training had trained his eyes to be strong, as Grand Hoof had taught him early on how to use eyes even when things were covering his vision. Grand had used mud as the main basis of the training, which covered Flash's eyes, making him rely on his other senses. This alone made the snow harmless to Flash's eyes, those his body was quickly feeling the affects as numbness was already settling in. They needed to find cover, and fast.
It was in that moment that Flash saw it, a cave which looked like a prefect spot for them to wait out the storm. Moving quickly, they rushed inside, finding the cave was big enough to fit them and maybe another pony if the need arose. They placed their bags down and shook off the wet that clung to their fur, leaving them cold but alive. As they did, Springer pulled out several blankets, wrapping them around himself.
"Geez that's cold!" Springer yelped as he finished wrapping himself up.
"And we've got nothing that could make a good fire," Flash commented as he looked through their bags. "Couldn't grab any firewood with the sudden snow. Looks like we'll just have to wait out the storm."
"Okay. Sounds good to..." Springer tried to say, only for his ears to flare up, making him gasp as he looked back outside the cave.
"What is it?" Flash asked.
"There's...there's something out there." Springer said with a slight gulp. "Something crying out for help."
Flash just stood there, blinking for a second. He then narrowed his eyes before motioned to his back. "Hop on."
Springer nodded and leapt up onto Flash's back, discarding the blankets as they rushed out of the cave. The duo began to follow the voices, Springer feeling the aura of the crying victim. Roughly five minutes later, Springer spoke up, "The aura's getting stronger, but I can't see what's making it."
"We need to be careful." Flash said as he continued to walk forward. "Who knows what dangers could be out here." He was quickly proven right, when his hoof suddenly found itself treading on air. Instincts kicking in, Flash managed to pull himself back before a clump of snow disappeared underneath. Flash quickly gasped as he started backpedaling, realizing they had reached the edge of a cliff. "WHOA!" He said, moving backwards until his back hit a tree. "Yikes. End of the line that way."
"But the voices...they're still here!" Springer exclaimed before feeling something new. He then looked up, only to see a familiar sight. There, on a tree branch overlooking the edge, were five familiar looking pink balls of fur.
"The Flufflepuffs..." Flash gasped.
"They must be who were calling out for help!" Springer cried, pointing at them.
"No doubt," Flash said before frowning. "If only my wing wasn't injured. Then I could fly up and grab them."
"You might not be able to fly," Springer replied as he leapt off his back and onto the tree trunk, "but I can climb."
"Just be careful buddy, I'll direct you." Flash's eyes narrowed as he looked through the snow, opening his mental link with Springer. He then mentally directed Springer, as he easily talked to Springer with his mind, telling him which branch to climb.
"It's okay little guy," Springer said as he grabbed the first Flufflepuff before slowly climbing back down and depositing him on the ground. They did this three more times until only one of them was on the branch. "Hold on...I'm coming to get you." Springer said as he started the final climb. As he reached the final Flufflepuff's branch and began to slowly shuffle over to the creature, he repeated what he had said everytime before. "It's okay little guy, I'm here to help."
That is, till he felt a certain chill down his body. Before he could do anything else, a sudden gust blew through the air, knocking the Flufflepuff off the branch, its body quickly heading towards the cliff.
"NO!" Flash and Springer screamed. Before the two could even think of a plan, Springer leapt off the branch and began to plummet down after the Flufflepuff.
"SPRINGER!" Flash cried out as he looked down the cliff and saw his partner and the Flufflepuff fall out of sight. "SPRINGER!"
"I want to save it."
Flash heard Springer's thoughts in that moment, causing Flash to close his eyes. He knew what he had to do. "So do I partner." he replied as he began to concentrate. "And we will," he reached out to Springer, connecting to him like never before. "Together!" Something sparked in his soul and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was once again looking through Springer's eyes.
"I can't see!" Springer cried as he fell into the white abyss.
"But I can partner. I'll be your eyes." Flash replied, then motioning Springer to look down as he began his plummet. As he did, Flash saw the Flufflepuff right in front of him. "You can reach it buddy. He's right in front of you, grab it!" Springer did, grabbing the furball and clutching it to his chest before looking back down. Flash looked carefully for anything dangerous and saw something quickly heading their way. "Incoming branch! Destroy it now!"
Though he couldn't see it, Springer held out his paw. He created an Aura Blast, which he threw right in front of him. The sphere struck the branch, destroying it as he continued to fall. As he did, Flash spoke up again. "Two more, side by side. Straighten up and you'll go straight through them."
Springer did as he was told, straightening out his body and falling feet first. Just like Flash said, two branches roughly a foot's difference away from each other flew right past him. As he did, Flash spoke up one more time. "You're close to the ground but you need to slow down. Use Bone Breaker into the cliff!"
Springer did so, holding out his hand and creating an aura bone. With all his strength, he jammed the weapon into the side of the cliff, using it to slowly decrease their speed.
"Now jump!"
Springer did. Releasing the bone and jumping off the side of the cliff, he spun around in midair a few times until he felt a pile of snow, instantly stopping him in a wet yet soft embrace. As he felt the ground finally touch his body, Springer and Flash both cried out in unison. "WE DID IT!"
Everything felt like a blur after that. Flash directed Springer back up to meet them and together, the two managed to get the Flufflepuffs back to the cave.
"One, two, three, four, five..." Flash counted as he pushed them inside. "That's all of them. We saved them all."
The Flufflepuffs all bunched together at the back of the cave, while Flash and Springer sat down and faced one another. They stared at each other for what felt like a life time, before they both smiled and began to laugh.
"Heh heh heh...hahahahaha!" Flash bellowed. "I can't believe we did that! It's like we were one mind!"
"I know, right?!" Springer replied, chuckling as well. "It was weird. It was like, even though I couldn't see, I was seeing things in a new way. I was seeing things the way you see them."
"Same with me buddy...same with me." Flash said as the two then looked out the cave mouth and into the storm. Flash then put his good wing over his partner and hugged him. "Springer, I'm really glad I met you. You're one great partner, you know that?"
"Same here." Springer said, returning the hug. "For as long as I can remember, I was just drifting aimlessly through the world. But then I met you and my life suddenly had a purpose."
Flash just let out a chuckle. "Yeah...that's how I felt before I met Twilight and my friends. We're the same, aren't we?"
"We are," Springer nodded.
"Two souls who had nothing," Flash continued, "but through our friends, we found our purpose."
"And its a purpose I'm proud to have," Springer finished, patting his chest.
"Same," Flash said with a smile before turning back to Springer, "and you wanna know something else?"
"What?"
"Everything that's happened since we've met and everything we've been able to do...it uh... it makes me think our meeting wasn't just dumb luck."
"You think?"
"I know," he replied with a nod. "We were meant to meet. To become friends and partners." His smile grew wider. "It was destiny."
Springer's own smile intensified before hugging him again. As they did, the Flufflepuffs saw this and all bounced over to them, cuddling up to the two. The seven remained there together, each keeping the other warm as they all slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning...
The train at the bottom of mountain came to stop. As it did, one of it's doors open and six ponies with a dragon burst out. It was Twilight and friends, and the young purple unicorn did not look happy. She then turned to her friends with a look that was a mix of determination and worry. "Applejack and Pinkie, gather as much equipment as you can find. Rainbow and Fluttershy, see if you can find a place to get a map. Rarity, Spike and I will ask if anypony knows which way they went."
As she issued her commands, a gruff stallion with a bunch of similar looking ponies walked over to him. "Hey little fillies, this ain't no place for you. Go home and play with your dolls." They all began laughing, until Rainbow got in the talking stallion's face and stared him down.
"Listen bub," she said as she tapped his chest with her hoof, a death stare in her eyes. "Our friends are up that mountain and were trapped in a blizzard. So we're going up there to find them and bring them back no matter what." Rainbow then grabbed his neck. "And unless you guys have any info about them, BACK OFF!"
The stallions all cowered in fear, seeming to shrink as she yelled at them. As they did, Twilight walked in between them. "Our friends are an orange pegasus and his partner, a jakhowl. Did you see them come around here?"
One of the stallions gulped before saying, "I-I-If you're talking about the pegasus and funny dog, they went up two days ago after getting a map from the Mountain Pass store."
"And where is this Mountain Pass store?!" Rainbow asked.
They all pointed to the shop in question.
"Good," Rainbow growled, letting go of the stallion. With that, she and the others all headed towards the shop, leaving the ponies still shaking.
As they entered and told the unicorn clerk, he let out a groan before grabbing a copy of the map he gave Flash. "I told that colt it was dangerous, but would he listen? NO! No he wouldn't, the stupid colt..."
"Do you know which route he took?" Twilight asked, growling out his casual insults.
The clerk shrugged. "Afraid not. Sorry ladies."
"Ugh...of course." Twilight said as she purchased the map, quickly turning around. "We'll just have to look all over the mountain."
"Be careful now," the clerk mocked, chuckling as he did. "It's a dangerous place, Galloping Mountain that is."
"We'll be fine." Applejack barked back.
"That's what your friend said," the unicorn replied, laughing. "And look where that got him."
With that, the seven left the store. As they did, they went to the base of the mountain, only to see the gruff stallion from earlier. "Um...excuse me." he meekly said.
"What do you want?" Rainbow growled, making him flinch.
"You're friend, the orange pegasus? Um...somepony thinks they've just spotted him coming down the main route."
"WHAT?!" The girls all yelped as they all looked up the mountain. As they did, Twilight pulled out a pair of binoculars from her saddlebag and looked through them. As she did, she saw a small orange dot descending the mountain.
"It's Flash!" She said happily. "He's okay!"
The rest of them all cheered after hearing this. They then waited as Flash continued to get closer and an hour later, Flash and Springer trotted into town. As he reached the bottom, let out a long yawn, still unaware of their presence.
"Quite the trip, eh buddy?" Flash asked Springer.
"Yeah. Too bad that blizzard wasted the top of the mountain. Looks like we'll have to-"
"FLASH!" The duo turned and before they could process who had said that, they were tackled to the ground by six mares.
"Girls?" He asked in confusion. "What are you all doing here?"
"We came to save you!" Twilight said as they got up, "You know, from the storm?!"
Flash chuckled at hearing this. "Little late for that. The blizzard's already over."
"Well, we wanted to be here sooner, but..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Flash waved his hoof, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."
"No you're not. You're hurt!" Twilight said, crossing her hooves before pointing at his bandaged wing.
"That happened before the storm," Flash deapanned, tapping Twilight's hoof away. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Actually, the storm really helped."
"How?" Twilight asked. "Did you manage to discover a new aura power?"
"You bet," Flash nodded, winking.
"And it was awesome!" Springer cheered, raising his paws into the air.
Flash smiled at this as he turned his head and pat his head, before turning back to the girls. He then noticed that they had all gone completely stiff. "What's up?" He asked them.
"Flash," Twilight said, pointing her hoof to the jakhowl. "Springer...just talked."
"Well of course he just talked. He talks all the time Twilight. How else do you think me and him communicate?!" Flash deadpanned, pointing to his partner.
"We mean he really talked," Rainbow said, her tone showing nothing but surprise.
"As in...he was speaking perfect Equestrian darling." Rarity continued.
"Wait...are you saying..." Flash blinked, looking back at Springer in amazement.
Seeing where this was going, Springer pointed to himself. "Can you all...understand me?"
The girls all nodded at this, causing Springer to smile. "I can talk? As in...I can really talk to you all as well?!" They nodded again, making him shake. As he did, the others started to grow concerned, until he leapt into the air with a big cheer. "I CAN TALK!"
"You sure can," Spike grumbled as he covered his ears.
"But how can he?" Applejack asked. "Wasn't it only Flash and Fluttershy that could understand him?"
"It must be the aura connection he shares with Flash," Twilight replied as she rubbed her chin in thought. "Incredible. Could other jakhowls do this back when they were many of them in Equestria?"
"Eh, whatever." Rainbow shrugged, flying over and putting her hoof around Springer. "Who cares how it happened. We can understand the little guy now!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, confetti flying out of her hooves. "Springer can talk now! That means we need to celebrate with a party!"
Everypony was in agreement and headed back to the train station. They were gonna throw the biggest party Ponyville had ever seen, celebrating Springer's new ability. Flash and Springer's connection has now grown once again, this time with amazing results. And as they returned, they knew it would grow even more.
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... I don't know if anyone else does, but I this reminds me of the scene from the animated film adaptation of Charlotte's Web from 1973 by Hanna-Barbera, when Wilbur discovered he could 'talk' to the other animals?
Okay, let's be clear I grew up with it on VHS...
I am not helping my case...
But I can't be the only one to make that connection?
8495418
I remember that...but I never made the connection.
More development for Springer yay! Now that he can talk it may make things easier for him, not needing to rely on Flash to translate.
A chapter based on an episode next time huh? This early I would guess it would be Luna Eclipsed, that is a fan favorite and one of my favorites from season 2, though I’m not 100% sure it would still work given what we have seen of Luna so far in this continuity.
8495540
Well, Halloween is in two weeks and Nightmare Night is that world's equivalent. Granted it would make sense to publish that on the 31st, and these tend to be weekly...
8495418
I remember that movie and that scene and the cute song that went with it and all the annoyed animals.
8495576
I KNOW RIGHT!!! oh childhood... how I mmiss those simpler days.
Wow. That reminds me of Ash's and Greninja's abilities. Great job. I think you did a great job. I can't wait to read when the episodes remakes occurs.
8495841
Who
8495418
I remembered it but couldn't remember Where from. Good old vhs. Still have a boxful of tapes and a couple players.
8496302
This is the scene in question that came to mind when Springer realized that he could speak Equestrian
8497422
Yeah, I remembered as I read your comment. A classic movie.
IN THE FLASH SENTRY CHRONICLES YOU CAN BR SURPRISE OF WHAT YOU FRIENDS CAN DO