Walking a Mile in Each Others Horse Shoes
We open today's story inside the Golden Oaks Library. There, Twilight Sparkle was in her basement laboratory with a pair of science goggles on her head, working on something with Spike taking notes. Multiple books were littered around her, along with science beakers that were filled with different colored liquids. Picking up a pair of beakers in her magic, one filled with a green liquid and another filled with a purple ooze, she poured half of their contents into an empty flask. As the two fluids mixed together and changed color, they sat there, unmoving.
Twilight let out a loud groan. "Mixture thirty eight, no visible reaction. Again."
"No...visible...reaction," Spike repeated as he wrote down what she had just said, "done." Spike looked back up, only to see a depressed, moaning Twilight. She stared at the flask, a tinge of anger in her eyes. "Uh...Twilight? Maybe we should take a break. We've been at this for a while now and-"
"No Spike. I will get this." Twilight interrupted, rubbing her eyes as she stopped staring at the flask. Placing a cork on the mixture, she moved it and the green beaker to the side and brought out a new beaker filled with a red liquid and another empty flask. "Mixture thirty nine," she commented as began lifting it and the previous purple beaker. "Let's see if-"
THWANG! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
"Aaah!" Twilight yelped as the sudden noise caused her to drop both beakers into the flask. The liquids quickly mixed, causing her eyes to grow in fear. "Oh no! Spike, look out-"
But it was too late. One second later, the mixture exploded, causing a thick small cloud of smoke to cover the room. "*cough* *cough* *cough* oh great! *cough* *cough*" Twilight hacked, swiping her hoof at the smoke cloud. "Stupid *cough* *cough* mixture. *cough*"
"You okay?" Spike asked as he moved over to her, swatting at the cloud as he did.
The unicorn's horn soon lit up and shot out a breeze of magic, pushing the smoke away. As it cleared, all that remained was a soot-covered Twilight, complete with a twitching eye and an anger filled face. She then wiped the soot off. "I'm fine Spike, *cough* but what just happened?"
THWANG! THOOM! THOOM!
The duo hopped in place as they heard the sound again. Only this time, Twilight figured out exactly what the sound was. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered this sound very well. It was an instrument, and it was being played at its highest volume somewhere in the library.
"Flash," she growled before heading upstairs. As she made her way up, the music got louder, making her face contort in rage. She was now certain that it was Flash and he was playing his guitar. Granted, it had been a while since she had last heard him play it, but she knew it was him. As she reached the door leading to Flash's room, she turned around and flexed her hind legs, ready to hit the door with full force. That is, till...
"AW YEAH!"
WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM!
A blaring soundwave blasted the door open, knocking Spike off his feet and making Twilight fall over in sudden shock. She quickly covered her ears and turned around, only for her eyes to go wide again. "What in the name of-"
What she saw could only be described as the true definition of a mess. Flash's room was completely destroyed. Feathers, comics, books and even some clothes (Despite the fact that Flash didn't regularly wear any) were littering the floor. As for the room's owner, he was currently flying with his back to her, playing his guitar and rocking his head to the loud beat. Springer was bouncing on Flash's bed, both arms up high and rocking his head as well.
"You have got to be-Flash!" Twilight called out, only to be drowned out by the beat. "Flash! FLASH!" She called out louder, only to be drowned out again. "Grrr...fine. You asked for this." Twilight's eyes narrowed as her horn lit up, an aura grabbing the pegasi's tail and quickly pulling him into the ground.
"Ow!" Flash yelped as he hit the floor with a thud.
"FLASH!" Twilight screamed in his ear, surprising him so much that he shot back into the air and slammed his head into the ceiling.
"Ow...again." Flash rubbed his head as he looked down and saw Twilight staring up at him in annoyance. "What the heck Twilight?! Don't you know not to interrupt a guy while he's rocking out?!"
"I was calling out to you," Twilight grumbled, still annoyed. "You were 'rocking out' so loud that you didn't hear me."
"Oh...my bad."
Twilight just rolled her eyes. "That's all you have to say?! 'My bad'?! Your loud music ruined my experiment!"
"Okay okay, sorry." Flash replied as he put his guitar on a nearby stand. "Jeez lousie Twilight, relax. Springer and I were just messing around. We've been training really hard lately, and we were just trying to blow off some steam."
"And you have to do it here?" Twilight barked back. "In a library?!"
"You closed the library today Twilight. That means we don't have to be quiet all the time." Flash countered, rubbing his head. "Besides, this is my room in our house, and I get to do what I want in it."
"Except what you're doing is messing up what I'm doing!" Twilight said before pointing her hoof at his floor. "And while we're on the subject, I don't know if you noticed, but your room is an absolute mess! I can't even take two steps without stepping on something!"
"Well excuse me," Flash shrugged. "We don't all have our own personal cleaning dragons."
"Can you please not bring me into this?!" Spike asked, only to be ignored.
Twilight's left eye twitched as she said, "I clean up too Flash. And at least I don't let my personal space turn into a pile of junk!"
Now, Flash rolled his eyes. "No, you would instead turn the whole public area into a forest of books."
"WHAT?! Why you..." Twilight began to shake one of her hooves in rage. "You better apologize to me over ruining my experiment right now Flash!"
"Only if you apologize for grabbing my tail like that! That seriously hurt!"
"I wouldn't have to hurt you if you wouldn't blast your music through the house!" Twilight then walked up to Flash, gritting her teeth as she did. "And I'm not going to apologize for pulling your tail because you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing in a library!"
"The library is closed Twilight!"
"I don't care! You still shouldn't have been blasting your stupid rock music!"
"Then you shouldn't have been doing your dumb experiments!"
The two were now inches away from each other, glaring at each other so much that Spike and Springer could swear they were seeing lightning sparking between them. Twilight's face showed an especially vicious frown as she continued, "At least I don't go leaving feathers all over the place."
"You try growing a pair of wings and see how easy it is to not leave feathers everywhere!" Flash countered. They then continued to glare at each other, until Flash turned away and headed out the door. "That's it, I'm done here."
"Hey!" Twilight barked as she turned and began to follow him. "Don't you walk away from me!"
"Watch me."
"Oh no you don't! You come back here and apologize to me this instant!"
As they both stormed out, Spike and Springer just stared at the door. Springer then spoke up, "Wow, that was weird. I've never seen those two argue like that before."
Spike just shrugged. "It's rare, but it does happen. Don't worry, it'll blow over soon."
"If you say so," Springer replied before the two decided to follow Flash and Twilight downstairs. There, they found them in the basement, where Twilight was beginning to try and fix her experiment while pulling Flash's ear with her magic.
"It wouldn't kill you to pick up after yourself." Twilight grumbled as she began levitating several beakers around before pouring some liquid into another empty flask. "But no, you want to be a slob."
"Who are you calling a slob?!" Flash hissed as he put both of his hooves over his ear. "And stop doing that!"
"You. That's who I'm calling a slob." Twilight glared, pointing at the pegasus in pain. "It would take little to no effort to keep things neat and tidy in your room, but no...you just decide to leave it as a big filthy mess."
"Did it ever occur to you that I have better things to do than clean up everything all the time?!" Flash barked back, rubbing his ear. "Like maybe keeping our home safe?! I'm a Defender of the Peace, not a day cleaner."
"Five minutes ago, you were playing your guitar and making a racket," Twilight deadpanned.
Flash let out a groan. "That was me unwinding Twi! Like I said, me and Springer have been training really hard lately and we wanted to have a bit of fun."
"So you decided to make a mess of your room and play super loud music to ruin my experiment?!"
"It was an accident Twi! I said I was sorry!" Flash barked back, his face now showing a hint of rage.
"No you're not." Twilight grumbled, looking away as she did.
"Oh come on! What is with you lately?! Every time I try to do something, you get angry and pull my ear like no tomorrow." Flash said as he began trying to revive his ear again. "What did I do?!"
"I do that to your ear because you keep being reckless and stupid!" Twilight barked back, waving her hoof around. "Its the only way I can keep you in line!"
"I'm not a foal Twilight. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."
"You were acting a foal in your room just now and your room is a mess that is worse than any foal could ever make Flash." Twilight deadpanned again, turning back to her experiment. She then began to pour the last bit of formula into the flask. "Just be quiet until my experiment is done and then you can go clean your room."
"You have got to be-" Flash tried to say, only to feel another tug on his ear. Realizing he wasn't escaping this, he tried to change topics. "Fine. What were you working on that's so important, that it has to destroy my me time?!"
"If you would like to know, I've been experimenting on the Heart's Desire flower." Twilight replied with a slight hiss. "I'm trying to see if it can be used to cure other afflictions without causing the Cutie Pox."
"That's it?" Flash asked, rolling his eyes. "That's what you're getting so uptight about?!"
One of Twilight's forehead veins looked like it was ready to pop. "What did you just say?!" she began to yell. "This is important research and you're just dismissing it like its nothing!"
"I'd hardly call it important." Flash deadpanned back. "If anything, its nothing more than a fun little side project."
"Side project?!" Twilight yelled as she locked eyes with him again and was now inches way from his face. "You're just jealous because you don't understand it. You're just an over arrogant meathead who's more interested in punching something than finding out how it works."
"Meathead?!" Flash barked back. He pushed his head forwards so the two of them were now buffering against each other. "Who are you calling meathead, ya bookworm!"
"Oh, real original." Twilight scoffed, pulling his ear with her magic again, causing him to falter back. "You know, I wish you could live a day in my life. At least then you might learn which muscle is actually the most important one."
While this was going on, Spike noticed that one of Twilight's potions was beginning to glow a faint gold color. "Uhhhh...Twilight? Flash? We might have a-"
"Well, I wish you could spend a day doing what I do too!" Flash barked, tapping his hoof on Twilight's chest. "I bet you wouldn't last an hour doing what I need to do."
"Flash!" Springer called out as well, trying to get their attention as the potion began to glow even more. "We have a-"
"Well you wouldn't last ten minutes." Twilight hissed, the glow on her horn now growing as well.
"Oh please," Flash scoffed, waving his hoof. "All you do is sit around reading. I could do that."
"Reading is one thing, meathead. You need to actually understand what the book said and remember it. Besides, how hard could it be doing what you do? What, exercise all morning and take strolls through town in the afternoon?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh, that sounds so hard."
"As I recall, you already tried doing my job." Flash said with a smirk. "And it ended with half the town needing to be rebuilt!"
"That wasn't my fault." Twilight grumbled, looking away. "That was the-"
"TWILIGHT/FLASH!" Spike and Springer yelled, catching their attention.
"WHAT?!" The two screamed in anger. But before they could get an answer-
BOOM!
A smoke cloud covered the room as the beaker blew up. As it did, Spike and Spriner covered their eyes, trying to make sure the smoke didn't enter their pupils. What followed was several coughs inside the cloud, only for the smoke to quickly dissipate. As it did, Flash coughed a few more times before flickering his eyes open, only to see Spike looking at him in concern.
"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike said, biting his lip as he asked.
"Twilight? What are you talking about?!" Flash replied, giving him a look of pure confusion.
Spike just blinked. "Uhh...you don't sound like it. Your voice sounds kinda...funny."
"My voice?" Flash asked, tilting his head before touching his throat. "What are you-my voice is fine Spike."
"No it isn't," Spike replied, shaking his head. "It's all deep, like Flash's."
"But I am Flash," he said as he tried to pick himself. As he did, he caught sight of his hoof and noticed it was the wrong color. "What the heck?!"
"Flash, are you okay?" he heard Springer say. Flash saw that Springer was on the other side of the room, looking at someone who he couldn't see.
"Flash?!" he heard Twilight's voice reply to Springer. "What are you talking about Springer? I'm Twilight." The pony finally stood up and Flash was able to see their face, which caused him to freeze in horror. Standing in front of him was...himself. Somepony who looked exactly like him was standing on the other side of the room. The Flash lookalike also looked around the room and saw him before freezing. Flash and his double slowly stepped towards each other, staring the other down.
"Are you two okay?" Spike asked as he glanced at the two.
"Flash?" The Flash duplicate asked, only for Twilight's voice to come out of his mouth.
An idea popped into Flash's head, which his copy seemed to have as well. They looked down at their hooves before moving over to some of the remaining beakers and picked them up. Looking into the glass, Flash saw his reflection and his face contorted to one of pure horror.
He looked like Twilight, which must mean...
"Twilight?" He asked as he turned to the pony who looked like him.
"Flash?" The copy asked back.
As reality began to settle in, the two just stood there, staring at each other. That is, till-
"AAAHHHHH!" They both screamed.
"Whoa!" Spike said as he and Springer covered they ears. "What's the matter?!"
"How did this happen?!" Twilight asked as she looked over her new body.
"How did what happen?" Springer asked her.
"We switched bodies!" Flash told him, grabbing his face in pure panic.
Spike and Springer stared at the two for a moment before glancing at each other in confusion and then back at them.
"You're kidding, right?" Spike asked.
"We're not!" Twilight replied, tapping at her now orange chest. "I'm Twilight!"
"And I'm Flash!" Flash cried, tapping his new chest as well.
Spike and Springer glanced at each other again before Springer closed his eyes and activated his aura. After a moment, his eyes shot open and he immediately took a step back in shock. "No way...It's true!" he said as he deactivated his aura. "Their auras...their auras have been somehow switched."
"So it's true?" Spike asked, pointing at the two. "They're uh...switched and everything?"
"It's true," Twilight said as she began a questioning rant. "But how is this possible? There's never been any record case of two ponies switching bodies, at least in terms of what I've read." As she did this, her new wings began to subconsciously flap and lifted her into the air. "Maybe this is some kind of mass hallucination, or some kind of transfer type of magic." she commented, completely oblivious to the fact that she had taken flight.
"Er...Twilight?" Flash tried to say. "You should-"
"That's it!" Twilight exclaimed, slamming one hoof onto her other. "The explosion just caused us to have a joint hallucination!" She continued to move higher and higher. "We're still in our actual bodies, but we're just seeing things. That or-"
"Twilight!" Flash yelled, but it was too late. With one final flap of her wings, Twilight's head slammed into the ceiling.
"Ow!" She cried as she held her head. Her wings stopped flapping and she fell to the earth, hitting the ground. "Ow."
"I hate to say it Twilight," Flash said as he helped her up, "but this is real."
"But...but how?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know, but we need to find out." Flash said before he saw a bright light coming from his forehead. "What the-"
"HEY!" He and Twilight turned to look at Spike, who was now surrounded in a purple aura and was floating in the air. "What are you doing?! Let me down!"
"Sorry buddy, just let me uh...uh..." Flash said as he poked his horn. "Um...how do you get this thing to work?"
However, instead of getting the dragon down to the ground, Spike began to spin around, gaining speed as the seconds passed. "I'm gonna be sick." he gulped, putting his claws over his mouth.
"Flash! Put him down!" Twilight barked, reflexing smacking him with her new wing.
"I'm trying!" Flash was thinking as hard as he could, trying to get his new magic under control. "I don't know how this works Twilight!"
"Oh, you have got to be-Flash!" Twilight yelled, grabbing his face and turning it towards Spike. "You need to calm down and focus. First, imagine Spike not spinning." Flash did what she told him, trying to se that image. As he did, Spike stopped in midair. "Good. Now, imagine him slowly, SLOWLY, moving towards the floor."
Flash did so and Spike slowly descended until his claws were back on the floor. "Thank Celestia," Spike moaned as he kissed the ground. "Don't ever do that again!"
"Sorry buddy," Flash shrugged. "I don't know what happened."
"You need to keep your emotions in check," Twilight told him, a hiss still in her voice. "Losing control of them will cause you to lose control of your magic Flash."
Flash just sighed. "I'm not a unicorn Twilight, I don't know this stuff."
"I know." Twilight grumbled, crossing her hooves as she did. "We need to fix this. Now."
A few hours later...
Iron Core was not happy. Granted, it was rare to see him happy, but he was especially not happy today. As for the reason why, Flash had not shown up for patrol, which was one of his many pet peeves. With this in mind, Iron had made his way to the town square, believing that Flash would probably be there due to him always hanging out with the other Mane 6. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but the rest of the group was, minus Twilight. As he found this, they agreed to help Iron and accompanied him to the library to find Flash.
"Sentry better have a damn good excuse for missing our patrol," Iron growled, his eyes twitching as him in the others got closer to the library. "First rule of being a knight, you do your job! That includes doing patrols and being on time for the patrols!"
"It'll be okay Iron." Fluttershy said as she patted his back with one of her wings. "Though, I hope he's alright."
"He's not gonna be okay after I find him." Iron grumbled, glaring at the library in the distance.
"Ah'm sure Flash has his reason." Applejack commented, tipping her hat at Iron. "Don't get so worked up."
"Yeah! Maybe he's been planning a party for you!" Pinkie chimed in, only for everypony to roll their eyes.
"I doubt that darling," Rarity added.
"Let's just get over there and find out!" Rainbow ended, pointing at the library. A second later, they were at the door, only to find it slightly open. After a quick glance at each other, the six stepped inside, only to see an absolute mess. Piles of books, beakers and paper littered the floor, so much so that not a single spot of wooded ground could be seen.
"What happened here?" Rarity asked in horror at the mess.
"It looks worse than when I crashed into here after attempting my Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow commented with crossed hooves. "And I thought my place could be bad with clutter."
"Hello?" Pinkie said as she jumped into the sea of books and began to do the backstroke. "Anypony in here?"
"No, no, no, no, no!" They suddenly heard Twilight's voice coming from the other side of a pile. Sharing a glance, the group waded through the books and scaled a complete hardback mountain, expecting to see her on the other side. Instead, they found Flash, sitting there while flipping through a book at high speed. "That's not it...that's not it either! Grrrr...." Flash then threw another book onto the pile, quickly grabbing another book. "This is impossible. Why is there nothing on mind magic that involves transference of whole brain emulation or substrate-independent minds?! AUGH!"
The scene made the six just look at each other in pure confusion. Seeing this, Applejack decided to speak up first, "Er...Flash? Yah'll okay there?"
Flash however, didn't reply. Instead, he continued to read the next book. "Okay okay...maybe there's a type of runic magic that could fix this. Granted, I don't know any type of rune that would transfer certain mental states, but they do have a type of runic teleportation through-"
Unfortunately, Iron had now decided that he wanted to know what was happening. By yelling, that is. "SENTRY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"Eep!" Flash shrieked, his body hopping in place. "WHAT THE-huh? Iron?" Flash yelped, turning his head and seeing the six on top of the pile behind him. "Girls? What are you doing here?"
"It should be obvious why we're here Sentry." Iron growled, hopping off the pile.
"Yeah," Rainbow added as she floated down, the others following with all confused looks on their faces. "Though I gotta ask, what happened to your voice? You sound like Twilight."
"Um..."
"Twilight!" They heard Flash's voice call out from upstairs, "I got those books you asked for. Though I gotta say, they-" The group then saw Twilight walk down the stairs, several books flying in the air above her as a magical aura covered them all. "Oh! Hey girls! What are you-whoa!"
At that moment, Twilight's horn let out a sudden spark. As it did, the books shot out in multiple directions, forcing the group to hit the floor. "WHOA! What the heck Twilight?!" Rainbow barked as she dodged another book.
"Sorry about that!" Twilight exclaimed, panic in her voice. A few seconds later, she was out of ammunition and finally walked down the final step.
As she did, Iron glared at her now. "Okay, now I'm really ticked. And what's with your voice?!"
"And why were you asking Twilight a question?" Pinkie asked as she threw her leg around Twilight with a big grin. "You're Twilight, duh!"
"Um...well uh..." Twilight stuttered, trying to think of what to say.
In that moment, Flash ran up to them and began pushing Twilight towards a nearby door. "Excuse us a moment." he said before shutting the door, leaving one very confused group.
"What was that all about?" Rainbow asked.
"Those two did seem to acting rather odd," Rarity added. "Did something happen?"
"It's possible," Applejack continued.
Pinkie then hopped back over to the group, raising her hoof in the air as she did. "Oh! Oh! I know, I know! Maybe they've been replaced by some kind of shape shifting half pony, half insect creature, and the real Flash and Twilight are trapped inside some creepy green slime cocoons!" The five ponies all stared at Pinkie, obviously thinking she was going nuts. "What?! It could happen."
Before anypony else could reply, the door reopened and the Twilight voiced Flash walked out. "Okay. After discussing it, we've decided to explain what's going on."
"Well, that's good." Iron growled as he crossed his hooves, rolling his eyes. "I was going to demand you explain anyways. So, what's going on?"
"Well," the Flash voiced Twilight replied with slight hesitation. "The fact is...um...uh...I'm...not really Twilight."
"And I'm not really Flash."
The group all raised their eyebrows at this, displaying looks of confusion and disbelief. That, and they were now all worrying that Pinkie may have been right. Seeing this, Flash and Twilight nodded to each other.
"Let us explain," Flash said. And so he, or she as they would soon learn, explained what had happened earlier. They talked about the experiment and how they had been arguing before the sudden explosion. After that, they found that they had switched bodies and were now trying to find a way to fix it. As their explanation finished, the six looked at each other in both disbelief and sadness, not sure how to react to the situation.
"That's...kinda weird." Rainbow commented first.
"How do you think we feel?" Flash, in Twilight's body, replied.
"So...you just woke up and you were in each other's body?" Rarity asked, gesturing at the two of them. "And you don't know why?"
"Yes." The real Twilight nodded. "And I don't know how it happened. I've looked into every book I have, and not a single one mentions any kind of magic that swaps bodies."
Applejack just shook her head. "Well, there has to be something that caused this. What were yah working on?"
The real Twilight let out a sigh as she put a book down. "I was working on the Heart's Desire Potion. According to Spike, it suddenly started glowing and then exploded on us while we were arguing."
"Heart's Desire?" Applejack replied in slight shock. "Yah mean that plant Applebloom used to give herself Cutie Pox?!"
She nodded. "I was trying to find a way to use it in other potions due to its strong effects. Unfortunately..." She pointed to her real body. "All it did was...this."
"And you stayed here." Iron commented while rubbing his head in frustration. "Tch, so that's why you didn't show up. That's just...freaky."
Pinkie however, hopped in front of him with a frown. "Say, what were you two arguing about?"
Flash and Twilight glanced at each other over the question. "Uh...why does that matter?"
Pinkie just shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the potion heard you or something?"
Twilight rolled her eyes with a slight groan. "Pinkie, that's ridiculous. Its an inanimate object. All I did was try to use the Heart's Desire for positive effects."
Flash then shrugged, noticing where Pinkie was going with this. "Maybe not Twilight. I mean, think about it. Remember what we were fighting about?"
Twilight thought for a moment, rubbing her now orange chin. That is, till she realized what he meant. "We were...we were arguing about doing what the other does for a living. Are you suggesting that's why this happened?"
"That does sound a little far-fetched darling." Rarity added. "Though I can't deny that it would explain things, especially with our already strange lives at times."
"I would agree Rarity, but the potion couldn't do this alone." Twilight replied, tapping her hoof in irritation. "Something must have caused it to increase in power."
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know," Twilight said with a shrug. "But even so, I can't find a way to reverse this."
"Maybe you don't have to." Pinkie chimed, only to get several deadpan stares.
"What are you talking about?!" Flash asked her in a slightly low tone. "We can't stay like this forever!"
"Ah don't think you do." Applejack added as she tip her hat with a smirk. "Ah think ah get what's happening here." She pointed to the switched duo. "Ya'll wished you could spend a day in each other's shoes, right? Maybe doing that might cause the potion's effects to wear off."
Twilight's now blue eyes shrunk at the thought. She pointed to her old body. "You mean...I need pretend to be Flash and do what he usually does?!"
"And I pretend to be Twilight?" Flash continued.
"Exactly," Applejack nodded. The two just gave her pleading stares before looking at each other in disbelief. Seeing this, Applejack shook her head before saying, "Come on ya'll. Its worth a try at least."
Flash shrugged again. "Well...I guess it's worth a try."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "If not, we can always message the princesses for help."
"Tch. I guess I'm babysitting Sparkle then." Iron slightly growled, tapping his hoof in impatience.
"And we'll stay here to make sure Flash does Twilight's usual work." Rarity added.
Flash nodded before cricking his now purple neck. "Sounds good to me. We'll start as soon and Spike and Springer get back from getting something to eat." He then stared at the door, "Though I gotta say, it sure is taking them a while."
Meanwhile...
Spike and Springer were walking through town, carrying a box of jelly filled donuts they had just bought from Sugarcube Corner. As they did, Springer put his paw in the box with a panting tongue sticking out of his mouth.
Seeing this, Spike just chuckled before looking back at the library in the distance. "Hope Twilight's found a way to reverse whatever happened to them."
Springer just snorted as he put the donut in his mouth. "I'm sure she will. I mean, this is Twilight we're talking about. I just hope it happens soon so me and Flash can do our jobs."
"Eh, don't worry about it." Spike said with a shrug. "I'm sure Iron can be Ponyville's defender until this all blows over." Spike then put his claw in the box. "But forget that, gimme a donut!"
Unbeknownst to them, a pony in a brown cloak was watching them from a nearby alleyway. He rubbed his chin in thought, watching Springer with narrowed eyes. "Its that dog-thing again. If I remember correctly, he's Flash's partner." He turned and looked at a destination behind him, smirking. "So...Flash might be having some problems, eh? Sounds good to me."
The pony quickly made his way out of town, making his way towards Ghastly Gorge. As he did, he found two other cloaked ponies standing on a rockery. Seeing this, the pony took off his hood, showing himself as a silver pegasus with a yellow mane. "I'm back."
On of the two ponies stepped forward and pull down his hood as well. There, he revealed himself as a green stallion with a brown mane and beard. It was Big Score, a criminal who Flash had defeated with the help of Twilight and Trixie. "Rickashay, what did you find out?"
Rickashay shined a cocky grin. "Sorry to say boss, but I didn't see Flash or either of the mares from the last time. However, I did find that dog-thing that's Flash's partner. According to what I overheard, looks like Flash Sentry isn't on patrol today for some reason."
"What's the reason?"
Rickashay just shrugged. "Not sure. But...this could be the opportunity we've been waiting for. From the tone of the conversation I overheard, I think Sentry is not up to par right now."
"Sounds good." Score said as he turned to the last pony. "Alright, you heard the pegasus. We strike right away." The last pony pulled off his cloak as well, revealing himself to be Big Score's other minion, Boulder the earth pony. Boulder just gave his usual goofy yet absentminded smile before saluting. As he did, Score let out a hearty laugh. "Let's go get us some revenge boys. Sentry won't know what hit him."
After Spike and Springer had gotten back with the donuts and they'd been told what the plan was, Twilight, Iron, Fluttershy and Springer headed out to the training grounds. Fluttershy was also tagging along because she had a feeling Twilight might need some first aid...and to help if Iron lost his patience.
"Okay...what's the plan?" Twilight asked as they got to the training grounds.
"The usual," Iron said with a shrug. "Just the basic training. We'll mainly do practice with our weapons and sometimes do weaponless combat."
"Right...weapon training." Twilight gulped as she held onto Flash's Celestic Gear. She had checked and Lightbringer did work for her, meaning she could use it to her heart's content, something she had wanted to do ever since learning about Celestic Gear. Though she had to admit she wasn't keen on pure combat training though. "So what's first? Sit ups, push ups? Practising my attacks on a tree?"
Iron just chuckled at her suggestion before tapping his weapon with his hoof. "The first thing you're gonna do," Iron said as he pulled Piecemaker out, "is fight me!" With that, he swung his spear, which changed into a sword. Twilght's reflexes immediately turned on, and she quickly pulled Lightbringer out as Iron charged her. The mare in a stallion's body was barely able to block his sudden attack, only to then be sent flying back into a tree.
"Ow!" she yelled as she felt her back crash into the wood. "What the heck?!"
"This is how we practice," Iron told her as he spun his weapon around, smirking. "Just like a real battle."
"But it's not a real battle," Twilight grumbled as she slowly got up, only to see Iron standing in front of her, still swinging his weapon around.
"You wanted to train the way Sentry trains and this is it." With that, Iron charged and struck Twilight's hooves, knocking Lightbringer out of her hooves. Twilight let out a yelp of pain as she tried to backpedal, only to see Iron change Piecemaker into a hammer.
"Oh no." Twilight gulped, only to then feel Iron's hammer hitting her stomach, knocking her into the air. As she found herself in the sky, she extended her new wings, trying to stop her soon descent. Unfortunately, she kissed the ground a few seconds later with another cry of pain.
"Oh dear," Fluttershy said as she and Springer watched, her hooves over her mouth.
Springer on the other hoof, just let out a sigh. "Oh boy...maybe this was a bad idea."
Twilight tried to pick herself up, but her body wasn't responding. As she did this, Iron watched her while spinning his weapon around again. He shook his head, "You wanna give up? Just say the word."
"No," Twilight said, finally managing to stand up straight. "If Flash can do this, then so can I."
"If you say so," Iron replied before transforming his weapon into a large spear. "Let's go Sparkle."
Meanwhile, at the library...
Flash was currently reading through the book Twilight had intended to study that day. He wasn't even done with a third of it and his head was already beginning to hurt. His attention span was already gone, his eyes slowly closing as the pure boredom of the information was starting to make him fall asleep. That is, till something hard hit him on the head.
"Focus!" Spike barked, having hit him on the head with a ruler.
"Hey! That hurts!" Flash replied back, rubbing his forehead.
"It'll hurt even more if you don't get back to reading." Spike countered with a glare. "You've got a ton of stuff to learn."
"I am learning Spike." Flash deadpanned.
"Oh really?" Rarity said as she picked up the book he had just been reading. "Then you won't mind if we have a little pop quiz then?"
"Knock yourself out," Flash replied with a roll of his eyes, crossing his hooves arrogantly as well.
"Alright, let's see here..." Rarity began flipping through the sections Flash had just read before stopping at a random page. "What is Starswirl's third law of magical transfiguration?"
"Um..." Flash tried to remember, though he knew he didn't have a clue. "C?"
"It's not multiple choice Flash," Rarity told him in a deadpan voice. She then flipped to another page. "What is the most common substance in a living organism?"
"Uhhh...water?"
Rarity lowered the book and gave him a raised eyebrow look. "You guessed that one, didn't you?"
"Still counts," Flash shrugged, a small smirk on his face.
"No, it doesn't. Tell me Flash, are you even trying to learn?"
"Not really." Flash put his hooves behind his head. "Give me a break, I'm not used to studying. I never went to school, remember?"
"Which is probably why you think so little about Twilight's studying," Applejack commented with a slight hiss. "That's low Flash, especially for you."
"Well excuse me, I'm not a bookworm Applejack!" Flash barked back, now crossing his hooves. "Heck, I've only been able to read for a few years, give me a break."
The residents in the room all looked at each other in slight confusion with the exception of Spike. Seeing their faces, the drake spoke up, "Twilight taught him how to read."
"She did?" Rainbow asked with an arched eyebrow before turning to Flash. "Wait a minute...are you saying you didn't know how to read till you met Twilight?"
Flash closed his eyes, biting his lip as he did. "Yeah. I didn't learn till Grand told me I had to learn. Then...Twilight volunteered to teach me."
"Whoa..." Rainbow, along with the others were taken back by this. After all, all they were told about Flash's early years was the fact that he lived on the streets for several years before he met Twilight and her family. Rainbow then scratched the side of her head. "Huh. Even I learned how to read when I was just a foal. Wow...no wonder you two are so different."
"Yeah. So back off, will ya?" Flash growled back, only for Applejack to step in front of Rainbow with a glare on her face.
"Oh stop it, yah idiot!"
"What did you call me?" Flash replied with a slight hiss.
"Ah said yer an idiot!" Applejack spat, rolling her eyes. "After all, if Twilight taught ya how to read, shouldn't ya be more grateful to her?!" She leaned down, a deadly look in her pupils. "Do ya really think that little of her?"
"I don't think little of her Applejack." Flash hissed, his eyes now glaring at her while being just a few centimeters away. "And you better back off right now, or else."
"Tch. Prove it then." Applejack goaded, a small smirk appearing on her face. She then tapped the book on Flash's lap. "Prove it right now." Flash wanted to bark back, but his eyes told him to look down at the book in his lap. Releasing a long sigh, he glanced back up at Applejack, who was still wearing a smirk as she said, "So you can't do it, can yah?"
"No...I can do it." Flash replied in a low, cold tone. "I can always prove that I think Twilight is so much more than me."
"HA!" Applejack scoffed, "Yer lying through yer teeth! Yah just told us that yah think little of her studying and mind!"
"You said that, not me." Flash said flatly before slowly standing up. He then pressed the book on Applejack's chest. "And I'm tired of hearing your garbage Applejack! I do not think little of Twilight!"
"Then prove it!" she yelled back, knocking the book aside. "Prove it right now! Tell the truth!"
"Fine! I will!" Flash started to yell, only for his tone to lower. "Fine...you're right. To be honest...I'm jealous of her." The others all looked at each other in slight surprise, intently listening as Flash continued. "I...I've always lived my life by listening to my instincts. Its...its how I survived on the streets and when I trained with Grand. I was always about pushing myself physically because I knew that was all I had." Flash let out a long sigh. "All I had...was me. That's all I was till I met Twilight."
"And she changed how you saw things, didn't she darling?" Rarity asked, only to get a nod in return.
"Yeah...I uh...I was always jealous of how she saw the world." Flash admitted, almost biting his lip as he did. "She's always thinking and...and learning about everything. To her, everything is there for her big brain to understand...and that's something I don't have."
"But yah wish yah did, don't ya?" Applejack asked with her returning smirk.
"Yeah...I do." Flash looked back at the book, melancholy filling his eyes. "I forgot how much Twilight means to me, didn't I?"
"Yah sure did, ya idiot!" Applejack said as she tried to smack Flash's head, only for him to instantly block the oncoming hoof.
"Back off Applejack." Flash replied before picking up the book again. "Alright...I gotta do this if I want to get back into my body." He opened the tome, his eyes glaring at the heavy pages. "If Twilight can do it, so can I."
"And we're here to help," Spike said as he walked over with another book, this one being a guide on studying. "So let's get things going!"
Flash nodded and began to study once again.
Back to Twilight...
Twilight's body was killing her. After Iron's constant assault on her, he made her run twenty laps, do thirty sit ups and then thirty push ups. Now, she was laying face first in the ground, her body screaming at her in exhaustion.
"You okay?" Fluttershy asked as she walked up to her, kneeling down to the broken unicorn in a pegasus's body.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Twilight mumbled, her voice muffled by the dirt.
"Well get used to it." Iron barked before taking a swig of water from a canteen. "Because unless you get back into your own body, you'll be doing this every day."
"I can't believe Flash can go through all that and not want to keel over." Twilight cried as she tried to pick herself up, only to flop into the ground again. After two more tries, she limped her body over to a nearby tree and sat there. "I never realized what Flash did in terms of training. Does he seriously do all this?"
Springer gave her a look of pure confusion. "Wait...he's told me that you've known each other for years. You didn't know he does all of this?"
Twilight let out a small cough. "Actually, I've never watched him train. I was always too busy with my studies." Twilight sighed, resting the back of her head on the tree. "All I know is that he would always come back home covered in bruises or soot. Heck, I always thought his training was nothing but fighting others."
"Then you've never seen how hard Sentry works himself." Iron scoffed, pointing a spear form Piecemaker at her. "I was amazed when I first saw it. No matter what, he gives it one hundred percent every time, working to improve any fault he has." Iron let out a low chuckle. "I always wondered why a wimpy, shrimpy string bean like him was Grand's apprentice, even after the stuff I saw at the Battle of Canterlot. And yet, these past few days that I've trained with him have showed me who he really is. I can completely see why Grand picked him." Iron showed a small smirk. "Say...do you know why he pushes himself like that?"
Twilight shook her head. "No. I have no idea."
"He's doing it so he'll be strong enough to protect those around him." Iron stated, as if it was just obvious fact. "He does it to protect you."
Twilight let what Iron said flow through her head, causing her to realize he was right. Flash was always striding to better himself, not for himself, but for those around him. How could she have forgotten that? As Iron watched her think about this, the sound of a snapping twig caught his attention.
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked when she saw Iron tense up.
Iron's eyes narrowed, quickly gripping his weapon. "We're not alone here." Iron replied, making everypony on guard. He looked around, trying to see if he could spot where the noise came from. "Alright, show yourself you-urk!"
Before Iron could react, something shot of the trees, tackling Iron at high speed. The earth pony flew into a tree, causing him to let out a groan of pain.
"Iron!" Fluttershy called out as Twilight and Springer took a offensive stance.
"That was fun."
They all looked up at what had slammed into Iron and gasped.
"Rickashay!" Twilight called out.
"Long time no see Sentry," Rickashay replied with a smirk. "We're here for payback."
"We?" Fluttershy asked.
"You didn't think he was alone, did you?"
They turned towards the forest and saw Big Score and Boulder step out.
Twilight quickly got up, growling at the sight of the three. "I won't ask how you three got out, but you'll be back behind bars soon enough!" With that, she closed her eyes and pointed her forehead at them, obviously forgetting she didn't have a horn right now.
"Er...Twilight-" Fluttershy called out, pointing to her head.
"Oh...right. Forgot about that." Twilight chuckled, embarrassment filling her face. Remembering she was now Flash, she picked up Lightbringer and pointed it at the trio. "Flash Force!" The beam of light shot out of the weapon's handle. As it did, the power quickly overwhelmed her unsteady hoof, knocking her back and making the attack miss the criminals entirely.
"My my," Score guffawed. "You are off today."
"He might be, but I'm not." Iron said as he began to pick himself up. He cricked his neck, spinning his weapon as he slowly walked towards the thugs. "I don't know who you jokers are, but you picked the wrong town to attack."
Score just let out a snort. "Boulder?"
"Got it boss." The earth pony turned to Iron and began to rush forward. Iron quickly changed his weapon to a hammer, ready to knock the opponent back. He spun it in his hoof once, ready to strike before he felt a certain tug.
"What the-" Iron looked back and saw a magic chain attached to his hammer, covering the head of the weapon. He looked back up, only to see a smirk on Score's face along with his horn now glowing with magic. One second later, he felt Boulder's attack, charging into him like a runaway carriage. Boulder hit him like a train, knocking Iron into several trees as his body blasted through the wood and splinters.
"Iron!" Fluttershy shrieked, only to see Springer hop in front of her and assume an offensive stance.
"With that out of the way," Score said before getting into a fighting stance. "Attack!"
Springer took this as a cue to attack, jumping into the air and creating a Bone Breaker. "Take this! Bone Breaker!" He cried as he swung the weapon, only for Rickashay to bum-rush him in the air, knocking the jakhowl down.
"SPRINGER!" Twilight and Fluttershy screamed.
"Now it's just you and us," Score said as he pulled out some ropes from his saddlebag to tie up Springer.
"Let him go!" Twilight screamed.
"Or what?!" Score asked with a smirk.
"HEY!"
They all turned towards the edge of the forest, where they saw several ponies in the distance. Score growled at seeing them, picking Springer up in his magic and turning to his cronies. "Change of plans boys. No way we can win against that many, we're bailing for now." He then turned back to Twilight. "If you don't want anything to happen to your little pet, you'll show up alone tomorrow where we first met at noon." With that, he and his cronies turned and ran into the forest. As they fled, Fluttershy helped Twilight up with a face trembling with fear.
"We need to do something," Fluttershy said before glancing at Iron, who was just now getting up.
"We can't do anything without them hurting Springer," Twilight told her, grumbling. "Ooohhhh...this is not good."
"Twilight!" They turned to see that their friends had just arrived. "What happened? We saw the light in the sky."
Twilight turned to him, her face showing nothing but fear. "We have a big problem."
One explanation and trip to the Golden Oaks Library later...
Spike was utterly surprised at how surreal the sight before him was. It was Flash in Twilight's body, pacing back and forth. It was a sight he had seen many times with Twilight, yet it was still different. Maybe it was the voice, despite the fact Flash was even talking like Twilight's usual panic/pacing talk.
"This is bad," Flash cried as he paced in a circle. "This is really really bad."
"How did those creeps break out of jail?" Rainbow asked with narrowed eyes.
"That doesn't matter right now," Applejack told her. "What we need to do is find 'em and save Springer."
"But um..." Fluttershy interrupted with a slight gulp as she wrapped some bandages around a knocked out Iron. "They expect Flash to show up tomorrow alone."
"Then that's what I'll do," Flash said, determination in his eyes. "I'll go where they specified and take 'em down."
Twilight then smacked the side of his head. "Except for one problem dummy. You're not Flash Sentry right now, I am! If you show up in my body, they'll think you chickened out and do who knows what to you and Springer!"
"Then what do we do?" Pinkie asked, her hair down.
Twilight rolled her eyes before replying. "The only thing we can do. I have to go and try to save Springer."
"But Twilight, you don't stand a chance against those three while you're in that body!" Pinkie exclaimed, her hair drooping down even more.
"We don't have a choice," Twilight said before turning to Flash. "You've fought these three before and you know what your body is capable of. We've got until noon tomorrow for you to teach me how to fight them."
Flash just crossed his hooves. "You know that's a horrible idea Twilight." Twilight just gave him a glare back, though there was obvious worry in his eyes. Seeing this, Flash let out a sigh, knowing he couldn't convince her otherwise. "Fine. I guess we gotta do this."
Twilight put her hoof on Flash's shoulder. "Don't worry Flash, I'll save Springer. I promise."
Meanwhile...
Springer didn't feel very good at the moment. Granted, he had been knocked out for sometime, as he was just now beginning to stir. There, he slowly opened his eyes, his body trying to move before he felt a small tug around his body. He looked down, only to see a full length of rope wrapping around himself.
"What...in the-" Springer tried to say, blinking at the ropes.
"Oh great, the furball's awake." Springer tried to find the sudden voice's owner, only to see Big Score and his cronies staring at him. Score then walked up to him with a large smirk on his face. "Don't even try to escape, you useless pile of fur. I'm quite the knot tier and those ropes are pretty sturdy." He let out a sinister sneer. "Amazing what trades can be taught to you in jail. Unfortunately, prison wasn't exactly my scene, so breaking out was a must."
"And getting revenge on Flash is also a must, I'm guessing?" Springer asked with a low hiss, his mind finally fully back on track.
"Smart beast." Score guffawed before leaning down at the jakhowl, a vile grin on his face. "Last time he won thanks to those two stupid unicorn mares, and I will have my revenge on them as well." He then leaned back. "But I'm going to start with Flash first. And this time, he'll be on his own."
Springer felt a tinge of despair as he saw Big Score laugh at him, his minions joining in. Seeing this, he closed his eyes to try and contact Flash through his aura, but he was too far out of range. With this, all he could do is wait.
Back in Ponyville...
"Okay, here's how this is going to work Twilight." Flash said as he circled the area of the training ground they were using for practice. In that area, Twilight was facing off against Iron, Rainbow and Rarity, who were substituting for Score and his cronies. "The key to taking these guys down is picking them off one at a time. Together, they make up for the others' weaknesses. So, if you can take one out, the rest will follow."
Twilight let out a small gulp. "Okay...how do I do that?"
Flash pointed to Iron. "Start with Boulder, the earth pony. He's incredibly strong and fast, but not the brightest tool in the box. If you can outsmart him, then you can take him down." Flash tapped the side of his head. "Out of the three, I suggest you use this to beat him. I know you Twilight, you've got ten times the brains he's got."
"Okay," Twilight said, nodding. "Brains first, got it."
"Now..." Flash pointed at Rainbow now. "Next is Rickashay. Rickashay's fast, possibly as fast as Rainbow."
"Hey!" Rainbow barked, only for Flash to wave her off.
"But unlike Rainbow, he can't turn at high speeds. I realized this in my first encounter with the guy." Flash walked up and tapped Twilight's 'new' wings. "I'm not the fastest guy in terms of pegasi, but that's not needed to beat him."
Twilight knew where he was going with this. "Let me guess, I should try to steer him into something he can't dodge? Have him chase me?"
Flash nodded. "You got it." He then saw Twilight do a small glance at Flash's wings, a nervous look on her face. He let out a sigh before tapping her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get through this."
"Right...thanks." Twilight nodded, slightly biting her lip.
Flash pointed to Rarity. "Alright, then there's Big Score. He's the tricky one. He's not very strong or fast, but he's smart...and has a mouth on him. Don't let him get under your skin."
"Got it. I...I got it." Twilight said with a final nod. "Let's...let's do this!"
Flash shined a small grin, turning to her three opponents. "Alright everypony, let's help her out. Ready?"
"Ready!"
And with that, the three charged at Twilight, who raised Lightbringer. Her whole body trembled in fear, but she readied herself as the trio rushed her, ready to strike. Tomorrow wasn't far away, and this was only the beginning.
The next day...
Noon was approaching. As the time came, Springer could feel a slight tingle down his neck. He could feel Flash's aura, though just barely but he couldn't interact with it. It also didn't help that Score's breath was pacing down his neck, a low growl coming from the unicorn.
"How long is he gonna take?!" Score hissed as he hit Springer's shoulder, causing the jakhowl to wince. "You better hope your friend shows up soon, or you'll be in trouble." Score then leaned down, whispering into his ear. "And I'm ticked off already."
"He'll be here." Springer replied in a low, flat tone. The jakhowl then shined a small smirk. "And when he does, you guys are going down."
Score let out a laugh. "HA! I doubt that mutt! Its three against one furball!" Score walked up and patted Boulder's shoulders. "And considering his performance yesterday, he's not on his game. This time, we'll make sure he takes a nice, long dirt nap."
Springer frowned, knowing he was right. He needed to find a way to escape, but he couldn't move. The bindings were so tight that he couldn't even extract a little bit aura into his paws to cut the ropes.
"Boss!" They looked up to see Rickashay flying towards them. "Sentry just entered the canyon."
"Is he alone?" Score asked, getting a nod in reply. "Good, let's get ready."
Twilight was terrified.
She really REALLY wished she was in her real body. Even after the training yesterday, learning how to do the basics of flying, (Which didn't help since Flash's wings were trained for stamina instead of speed, which made learning from Rainbow Dash incredibly difficult.) and how to use Lightbringer. The very thought of the weapon made her slowly glance at the sword, a slight gulp at the very notion of using the powerful blade.
Unfortunately, that was all she could do, as she saw her destination in the distance. As she did, she saw Springer tied to a large rock along with Score in his cronies standing in front of him. Another gulp went down her throat as she continue her pace towards them, only to see Score flash his hoof.
"That's far enough Sentry." Score said with a slight click of the tongue. As commanded, Twilight froze, her hoof slightly tapping Lightbringer. "So...you showed up. I kinda doubted you would, considering how much you're shaking." Score laughed, glancing at her shivering hooves.
Twilight took an inward breath. "That's where you're wrong Score. I'll always be there for my friends."
"And that's your weakness," Score said before turning to his lackeys, clapping his hooves. "You know the drill boys, ATTACK!!!"
With that, Boulder and Rickashay charged at Twilight. The unicorn in a pegasi's body raised her weapon and charged forward to meet them, hoping beyond hope she can by some miracle stop them.
Meanwhile...
"That's not good. That's really really not good." Flash commented as he tapped an invisible force field.
"Looks like those creeps came prepared." Iron added as he tapped the field with his own weapon. "You weren't kidding when you said these jerks were nothing but trouble."
"Yeah..." Flash admitted, hitting the field one last time.
Flash and company were currently behind where Big Score and his gang were squatting. They were going to try and surprise the criminals by attacking from the rear, especially making sure to avoid Rickashay's patrolling as they snuck around. However, as they noticed that the fight had started, they tried to rush at them, only to feel the force of the sudden force field Big Score had erected around where they were squatting.
"So...what do we do?" Fluttershy asked in a hesitant tone. "Twilight will be in serious trouble if we don't get through this!"
Flash stepped back, taking a fighting stance. "Get back everypony, maybe I can blast through this." He glanced at his new horn, gulping. "I hope." With that, his horn began to spark. He closed his eyes before shooting out a blast of magic from the horn, only for it to not even scratch the shield. "Shoot."
"Don't give up," Spike told him, patting his back. "You can do this. Try again!"
"Right!" Flash closed his eyes again, his eyebrow's narrowing as he began to summon magic once more. "Come on, come on...work!"
Back to the fight...
"Flash Cutter!" Twilight screamed as she swung her weapon, an energy wave quickly flying at Rickashay. The pegasus flared his wings and flew up to dodge the attack. As he did, Twilight tried to summon another cutter, only for the thug to slam into her, knocking her into a nearby canyon wall. "AUGH!" She yelped as she struck it, quickly falling to her knees. Twilight shook her head as the pain began to flow, trying to get her bearings. But as she did, she looked up, only to see Boulder charging head first towards her.
Thinking fast, she managed to kick up off the ground and spread her wings. Boulder missed her and struck the wall, causing an up draft which sent her flying up at high speed. "Whoa! Aaaahhh! Stupid wind!" Twilight yelled as she tried to flap her new ligaments, only to see a rock fly in front of her. Looking down, she saw Score with a collection of large rocks, all of them levitating around him. "Oh no."
WHAM!
A whole bunch of granite smacked her face, only for Score to take the rock he had missed with earlier and made it hit her back. The stone knocked her to the ground, a loud scream followed as she struck the dirt. "Oooh...wait I-urgh!" Twilight tried to say, only to feel Boulder's hooves in her back, pinning her down.
"Got ya!" Boulder said, applying more pressure as he did. "I got him boss!"
"Don't let up Boulder, especially with his wings." Score replied, trotting up to his crony. "Finish him."
"You got it boss." Boulder nodded and began to hit her feathers. Several screams of pain followed as the hooves slammed into her back, Rickashay joining as he landed by Boulder and continued to kick the downed pegasus. As this happened, a series of laughs camed from Big Score.
"You know...it's a shame Sentry." Score said as he now stood over Twilight, a huge smirk on his face. "I put so much effort into this revenge, but you not being on the ball is making it feel a little...hollow. Oh well, I'll get over it. After all, I still have your purple marefriend and that stupid blue mare. Once I'm done with you, I'll make them pay. Maybe they'll give me a bigger challenge."
Hearing this, Twilight just looked up at him, an icy glare in her eyes. "My friends will be here soon...then you'll be sorry."
Score leaned down, a huge grin shining. "Doubt it weakling. I have a little something I picked up on the black market that is keeping them at a safe distance. When I'm done with you, I'll tear them apart one at a time thanks to my little mutt hostage." Score looked back up, clapping his hooves. "Boulder! Rickashay! Finish him off!"
Boulder doubled his efforts, slamming down onto Twilight with both hooves. The very force from the hooves made it feel like her bones were close to breaking. As she felt this, she whispered to herself through the pain. "Flash...help me. I'm...I'm sorry."
Outside the force field, Flash stood there, his new horn sputtering as he collapsed to the ground. The grass embraced his body as he slumped over, panting. "I...I can't do it," Flash said through his pants. "The field's to strong. I can't break it..."
"You have to keep trying," Spike pleaded, shaking Flash as he did. "Twilight's in trouble!"
"He's right! Twilight and Springer are depending on you!" Rarity added, trying to help Flash back up. "Come on darling, you can't give up now!"
"You think I don't know that?!" Flash growled, stumbling as Rarity pulled him up. "I want to help them, but I can't use Twilight's magic like she can!"
"Then let's try something else," Iron said as he held out Piecemaker. "Iron Force!" A tornado of shrapnel shot out of the weapon, striking the force field. However, it didn't even make a dent, causing the defender to let out a low growl.
"I'll try too!" Spike yelled before breathing fire on it, also doing nothing. Rainbow and Applejack also did the same, hitting the field with their bodies, only for nothing to happen.
As Flash watched his friends, he couldn't help but feel useless. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been arguing with Twilight then none of this would have happened. "I'm sorry Twilight."
"I'm...I'm sorry Flash." Twilight whispered as she felt another blow into her back. "I'm so, so sorry."
And then it happened.
Twilight and Flash's eyes began to glow a bright gold, causing Score, his cronies and their friends to all back away from them.
"Now what?" Rainbow asked, pointing at Flash. Before anypony could answer, the two of them burst into an explosion of light which nearly blinded everypony. What nopony saw was a blue stream of light shooting out of Twilight's eyes, while a purple light shot out of Flash's body. The two lights flew into the air, through the force field and into the other's body.
Seconds later, the light show was done. As it ended, Score stopped his blinking fest before glaring back at the pegasus. "What the heck was-oh, who cares?! Boulder, Rickashay, finish this already!"
Boulder nodded before raising his hooves. He swung them down, only for his hooves to feel a sudden pair of hooves catch his attack. "What the-" He looked down, only to see a certain orange pegasus with a big cocky grin on his face.
"I'm back." he said, cricking his neck. "You guys are finished."
"What are you-" Boulder tried to say, only for an orange wing to smack his face, along with Rickashay's, knocking them both away. As the earth pony tried to steady himself from the sudden whack, Flash turned and positioned his back legs for a double back kick.
"Good night!" Flash cheered as both hooves slammed into the minion, knocking him into the air.
"WHAT?!" Score yelled as he saw the earth pony crash into a nearby tree before turning towards his pegasi partner. "Rickashay! What are you doing?! GET HIM!!!"
"On it!" He replied before shooting forwards, only for Flash to flair his wings, quickly hopping over the charging pony.
"My turn dirtbags!" Flash said as he flew over to his trusty weapon Lightbringer, raising it and pointing it at Rickashay. "Flash Driver!" He spun into a drill of energy, striking Rickashay into Boulder, knocking them into each other.
"What in the name of...what is going on?!" Score screamed, his horn now glowing with a surge of magic. "How are you suddenly so much better?! What's going on here?!"
Flash let out a long laugh before shaking his head, landing in front of the criminal. "Oh, nothing much Score. Let's just say...you're facing somepony who knows what there doing with this body."
Score growled as his horn began to levitate several boulders around himself. "Oh really? If that's the case, I'll just crush you with my own two hooves." The boulders began to spin in the air, all of them ready to fly towards the defender. "Any last words?"
Flash just shrugged, a cocky grin still on his face. "Yeah. You're late Twilight."
"Twilight?" Score asked, only for a blast of magic to fly overhead, destroying the floating rubble. At the same time, a certain purple unicorn hopped down, landing next to Flash.
"So I'm late huh?" Twilight asked in a snarky tone.
"Nah. Perfect timing actually." Flash replied with a slight shrug.
"Oh really?" Twilight playfully nudged him. "You know, That shield was a piece of cake to depower."
"Oh yeah? Only for you, bookworm." Flash chuckled before raising his hoof.
She tapped it with her's. "Oh shut up, meathead."
"You..." said another voice, causing the duo to look back at Big Score. He now had Boulder and Rickashay beside him. Score's eyes were bloodshot with rage, grinding his hooves into the dirt. "You're that blasted purple mare from last time!" He then glanced at his two minions. "That's it! Boys, kill them!"
"You got it boss!" Boulder and Rickashay yelled in unison.
"Guys!" They heard Rainbow's voice and saw her and their friends rushing towards them.
"Stay back and free Springer!" Flash called out before gesturing to Twilight. "Don't worry, we got this." Flash gave Twilight a small wink, "You ready?"
Twilight cricked her neck. "Always. Let's kick some flank."
With that, Boulder began a bum-rush at the duo, yelling at the top of his lungs. Rickashay took to the sky, quickly making a circle as he tried to get behind the two. As they did this, Score shot out a beam of magic, only for Twilight to shoot out her own. The two beams collided, causing them go into a standstill. "I got this! Take care of them!" Twilight yelled as she began to pour on the magic. Flash nodded, spinning his Lightbringer in his hoof.
"You heard her boys, you're all mine!" Flash taunted, raising Lightbringer into the air. He fired out a Flash Cutter at Rickashay, causing the pegasus to make evasive maneuvers in the air. At the same time, Boulder saw the opening and rushed towards Twilight, thinking he could help his boss. However, Flash quickly turned and faced the earth pony, sheathing his weapon as he did. Flash took the bum-rush head on. As Boulder was about to hit Flash, Flash quickly flared his wings, hopping over the earth pony as Rickashay swooped down at the pegasus.
CRASH!
"Oops!" Flash laughed as he landed, seeing the two ponies knock each other out in a single blow. Flash giggled as he pointed at the duo. "HA! Easy-peasy! Two down Twilight!"
Flash turned to ongoing magic battle, only to see Twilight winning in the standstill. As she continued, Score noticed that his minions were down, causing him to let out a low, deep growl. "You have got to be...blast it!" Big then cut off his magic, ducking under Twilight's beam. He quickly began levitating a nearby boulder, firing at the unicorn.
"Twilight!" Flash yelled as he watched the boulder fly at her, only to see it collide into her. "NO!"
"HA!" Score guffawed. "One down, one to go Sentry!" He pointed at the pegasus before lighting his horn again. "Time to die!"
A beam of magic flew out his horn, only for Flash to pull out Lightbringer, quickly unleashing a magic blast of his own. "Flash Force!" The beams connected, pushing each other back. As they did, Flash saw something in the corner of his eye, making him stop using his blade. When he did, Big Score's beam shot at him, only for Flash to quickly sidestep, dodging the blow.
"What the matter?! Giving up cuz you're marefriend is taking a dirt nap now?!" Score taunted, only to grow nervous as he saw Flash shine a small, sly smile. "What? Why are you smiling like that?" Flash began pointing up, which Score's eyes followed.
Above him were a pile of boulders, all in encased in a familiar looking magical aura. Score looked back down, only to see Twilight standing right beside Flash, unharmed. "How did-" Score tried to say.
"I can teleport." Twilight interrupted as her horn stopped glowing. "And...release."
"NO!" Score screamed, quickly summoning a shield of magic as the rubble began to bury him alive.
"Pound it!" Flash and Twilight said as they hoof bumped over their victory.
"Guys!" They turned to see their friends rush over to them, Rainbow being the first to reach them. "That...was...AWESOME!"
"Thanks!" Twilight said with a smile.
"Ah had no idea you two could fight so well together." Applejack complimented as she patted Twilight shoulder. "Heck, it was like you two were in perfect sync!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, bobbing her head up and down. "It's like you knew what the other was thinking!"
"Oh, We know each other thoughts." Flash said, waving his hoof.
"YOU WHAT?!" They all cried out.
"Sort of," Twilight chuckled as she placed her hoof over her mouth. "We've been together so long that its natural that we can understand each other so well."
"We just need to be reminded of that sometimes." Flash agreed as he and Twilight smiled at each other.
"OH YEAH?!" yelled a voice, causing them all to look back at the pile of rubble that Big Score was buried under. That is, till his head popped out of the rocks, rage filling his eyes as he tried to escape the stone prison. "This...this ain't over! I'm gonna kill you! I'm-"
"Hey Score. Guess who?" said another voice, tapping Big Score's shoulder at the same time.
"What is-oh no." Big Score looked at where the voice was coming from, only for his eyes to go wide. It was Springer, complete with a Bone Breaker in one of his paws. The jakhowl only said two words before winding up his weapon.
"Payback time."
THWACK!
A few hours later...
Score and his cronies were now locked up in the Ponyville jail cell, which Iron had to admit was glad he could finally use. Agreeing to wait for the Canterlot detail to pick up the criminals, Flash thanked him and retired to the library with Twilight. There, Flash was in his room with a quill and some parchment.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned today that even the best of friends can forget why they're best friends. Granted, that doesn't mean you should stop being best friends, but there's always times where you won't get along. Sometimes, you just need to see things from their point of view, to learn something new about them and remember everything about them that you love. No doubt I'll argue with them again, but from now on, I won't let that make me forget what truly matters.
Yours truly, Flash Sentry.
With that, he rolled up the parchment and took it downstairs, only to find Twilight, Spike and Springer waiting for him. He then saw that Twilight was doing the same, as Spike was now reciting what she wanted written to Celestia.
"Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike finished before rolled up the parchment and taking Flash's as well, sending them off in a burst of fire.
Seeing this, Flash turned to Twilight with a small, sympathetic smile. "So...what do you wanna do now?"
"I think I know," Twilight said as she levitated something towards him. Flash raised a slight eyebrow at the object, placing in his hooves.
"My guitar?" Flash gave it a small strum before looking back at her. "You sure?"
"Of course," Twilight nodded, levitating a small book in front of her as she sat down on a nearby chair. "After everything we've been through the last few days, I think some music would be perfect."
Flash chuckled before gently strumming the cords, a small melody coming out of the instrument. "So...any requests?"
"Oh...just something nice." Twilight said with a shrug.
Flash and Springer winked at each other. "Define nice."
Twilight gave him a icy glare. "Don't you dare."
"Oh, I dare." Flash replied, his eyebrows hopping up and down. He then cricked his hoof, ready to hit the strings with a mighty strum. "Ready to rock?"
"Flash..." Twilight growled, her horn staring to glow.
"Oh no." Spike groaned, faceclawing as Springer just laughed at the glaring duo. The drake then walked to the kitchen, muttering to himself. "Here we go again"
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The 'voices are mental' trope.
Seriously
Now, where have I heard that catchphrase before?
Also, this would have been weirder if they were humans. Just saying. However, since they're pastel ponies who normally don't wear clothes, this story is just the right amount of weird.
Really great job with this chapter. I’m still curious how Twilight and Flash will eventually get to the next part of their relationship since in this continuity they are more like brother and sister.
Also that Changeling foreshadowing by Pinkie was hilarious.
This was a great chapter. I loved the concept. I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter. Definitely worth the wait.
Freaky Ftuesday
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Eh, I'm pretty sure all the bickering these two do is making sure that won't happen anytime soon. Not that that's a problem. Just an observation.
For the Hearths Warming Eve episode, are you going to have Twilight and Flash under the mistletoe and have Twilight kiss Flash on the cheek?
8567092 I'm not doing that episode.
8564470
I know right, like it's the ship of Adrianette.
Through the whole story, I've always loved Twi and Flash arguing back and forth. They're like a married couple.
This reminds me of the episode of Teen Titans where Starfire and Raven ending up switching their bodies and souls (sadly I don't remember the name of that episode).
This doesn't seem like a very plausible chapter to me since if those three criminals have escaped then Ponyville should have been notified and that would mean that Flash would patrol more than normally rather than making loud music in his room.
Was it Friday?
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Miraculous Ladybug
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You heard it from Miraculous