Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S3

by Banshee531

Games Ponies Play

Rewind to that morning, where Flash and the girls stood on the platform as Flash stood in line to buy their tickets. Once he had them, the pegasus knight moved over to his friends as Twilight and Rainbow arrived on the platform. "Oh, this is gonna be a real treat," Applejack said as she took off her hat and dusted it with her hoof. "Princess Cadance said she'd never seen the Crystal Ponies so excited."

"Duh!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew around them. "Of course they're excited! They're up for the Equestria Games," she flew up onto the station's roof. "It's only the biggest sporting event in all of Equestria!"

"Didn't Cloudsdale host the Equestria Games one year?" Rarity asked.

Rainbow's previous excitement quickly disappeared. "No, Cloudsdale should have hosted the games one year." She walked off the roof and slowly descended to the ground, a huge frown on her face. "I'll never forget when we got the bad news."

She then told them about how her uncle Blitz had taken her to the announcement, the young filly being overly excited at the prospect, only for her excitement to be squashed. It turned out that Fillydelphia had been chosen as the representative, which caused her to yell out at the top of her filly lungs. The group were all amazed to see Rainbow's eyes actually tear up from talking about the memory, only for the tears to disappear and be replaced with a look of sheer determination. She took to the air once again as she puffed out her chest, "These Crystal Ponies lost a thousand years to an evil king's curse. They've had enough bad news. No way we're letting them experience the pain of losing out on these games!"

Flash nodded at this. "Well said. Plus, it'll allow the Crystal Empire to really be seen as part of Equestria. Some ponies have probably already travelled to see it, but many others haven't. This'll force them to see it, if they want to watch the games that is."

"Exactly," Twilight agreed with a nod as well. "Princess Cadance is counting on us to convince the games inspector to choose the Crystal Empire." She turned to them all with a big confident smile. "And we're not gonna let her down, are we?"

Pinkie took this opportunity to be Pinkie, by sliding to her knees, closing her eyes and crying out. "NOOOOOO!" When she opened her eyes, she saw the rest of the group staring at her in confusion. "What? I was just answering Twilight's question."

Flash let out a long sigh, shaking his head as she walked up to the party pony and patted her shoulder, "Pinkie, let me give you a word of advice. Maybe tone down the Pinkie-ness in front of the games inspector."

"Really?" Pinkie asked, her eyes bugging out while her neck extended back.

Flash nodded. "We may need you to do your stuff, but just keep in dialed down mode. Right now, you're at a ten, we need you at a six."

"Got it," Pinkie replied before pulling her mane aside to reveal the back of her neck. On said neck was an actual dial, which she spun so the arrow pointed at a six. "Done." With that, she bounced towards the train, leaving her friends perplexed.

Flash was the most confused. "I...I just....I don't," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it."

The others all nodded in agreement to that statement and boarded the train. For the next three hours, the seven of them sat in a car and went over their plans for impressing the games inspector. The only one not in the conversation was Flash, who had been called to the empire for a different reason. With the crystal guard still in the works, Cadance was worried that Ruby might not be able keep the place in order. She didn't want anything bad happening today, so she had requested Flash to help out until the games inspector left.

So now, Flash was walking down the train, looking for the snack trolley as he had been forced to have a small rushed breakfast. He soon found the vendor, who was pushing a trolley full of donuts, causing him to lick his lips. "Two please." The vendor nodded and took out two, which he handed to Flash in exchange for the bits. Flash hummed happily and turned to head back the way he came, only to feel himself run into something. He barely managed to save his donuts from falling to the floor, his quick reflexes coming in handy. Once his snack was safe, Flash looked up to see what he had hit.

It was a unicorn mare, with a lightning blue coat and yellow hair. Her cutie mark was that of a black storm cloud, with three rings of electricity around it. The mare turned to give him an angry glare. "Watch where you're going dork!"

Flash held up his forelegs in defense, "My bad. I apologize, I didn't mean to hit you."

The mare continued to glare at him, only for another unicorn mare to step up next to her. This mare's coat was silver in color, while her mane and tail were a combination of black and white strips. Her cutie mark was that of a window with glass shattering. "Electra, chill out."

The mare named Electra turned to her friend and pouted, but nodded. "Whatever." With that, she pushed past Flash and walked down the car, the other mare following after. Flash stared at the mares as they disappeared, a funny feeling shuddering through his body as he did. After a few more seconds, he shrugged and flew in the opposite direction towards his friends.

Three cars later, the two mares sat down with Electra crossing her hooves in annoyance. "Not cool Banshee. You should have let me fry that nerd."

The unicorn named Banshee rolled her eyes as she sat down. "And draw attention to ourselves?! We're trying to stay as under the radar as possible until we hit our target."

"Whatever," Electra hissed, glancing at a nearby window with a low growl. "This place better have the loot we're looking for."

Banshee's eyes rolled again as she tapped Electra's shoulder, "It's the Crystal Empire, Electra. No doubt it's main product will be gem based. We get our hooves on some, hightail it and sell them on the black market, and we'll be on easy street. Plus, this place is a thousand years behind the times, so whatever magic it's protectors have will be no match against us."

Electra let out a low chuckle at this. "As long as I get to have my jolts."

"Oh, you will." Banshee's mouth morphed into a sinister grin. "And if we manage to get our hooves on some Crystal Empire relics, all the better. Maybe we can swipe that Crystal Heart that everypony's talking about."

Electra raised an eyebrow at this. "Aiming a little high, aren't we?"

Banshee smirked as she sat back, resting her hooves behind her head. "A girl can dream, can't she?"

---

As Flash finished his donuts and reentered his friend's car, he was greeted with the sound of them all singing. "Four, three, two, one! The Crystal Empire, that's the one!" They sang in perfect harmony with each other, finishing before Pinkie pulled out a megaphone, "OKAY EVERYPONY, GREAT JOB! SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE READY!"

They all cheered, Applejack and Fluttershy actually high hoofing at this. The only one not convinced was Twilight, who then said, "One more time, from the top."

This was met by moans from the others, Rarity speaking up first, "Oh please. I think that was perfect."

Applejack sighed as she turned to the unicorn mare. "We've run this like, twelve times already Twi. I think we've got it."

Pinkie turned to Flash as he sat down. "Will you talk to her? Please?"

Flash just rolled his eyes. "If I knew how to get her out of crazy worry mode, don't you think I'd have done it before now?"

Twilight rolled her eyes as his statement but kept her focus on the others. "Cadance said the games inspector really puts folks through the wringer on her visits. There's no margin for error here." She hopped off her seat, pure determination on her face, "And this time, we need to practice the steps."

"On a train car?" Applejack asked.

They all looked around, noticing the many ponies sharing the car with them. By the looks of things, they had not been too happy about their previous repetitive singing. Adding a dance number into that might cause problems. Rainbow though, didn't seem to care about this. "You heard the pony," she flew behind Pinkie and Applejack and pushed them off their seats. "On your hooves!" Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy quickly following.

Flash smirked as he sat back to enjoy the show, only for the corner of his eyes to notice something. He turned back to the group, "Er...girls. The station's-"

He didn't get to finish, as in that moment, the mares began their routine. Pinkie and Applejack jumped next to each other and held up one of their hooves, which Twilight warped herself and Rarity onto as Rainbow and Fluttershy flew onto their backs.

"Two, four, six, eight–AAAHHHH!!!" They all yelled as the train came to a stop, instantly topple the tower of ponies.

"Oow!" Flash grimaced as he stood up, "wipe-out."

The door of the leading train opened and the engine pony's head popped out. "Crystal Empire ladies. Watch yourself on the way out." He then noticed the condition of six of his passengers. Pinkie had landed on top of Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow were bent over some chairs while Fluttershy was plastered to the wall. The one in best condition of the group was Twilight, who Flash was helping back to her hooves.

Applejack sighed as she tried to lift a very dizzy Pinkie's flank off her head. "Probably should've watched our step while we were still on it, too."

"I did try to warn you," Flash told them as he pealed Fluttershy off the wall.

"Well next time," Rainbow picked herself up and glared at him. "Warn faster!"

Flash just let out a huff from this, soon grabbing the group's luggage and stepping off the train with the group. As soon as the train pulled away, the ponies were greeted with the amazing sight of the Crystal Empire. "Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed as she and the others looked over the city. "The Crystal Empire looks crystallier than ever!"

She was not kidding. The place looked so clean, you could eat off of any surface. No matter where you look, the crystalline structures shined a brilliant shine. Flash had to squint so as not to be blinded by the light, which was reflected off the city. "Of all the days to forget my shades..."

As they stepped into the city, they saw the many crystal ponies cleaning the place. Some were polishing the crystal, others were sweeping the grounds and Flash even spotted a few cleaning the outside of the castle like a window cleaner. "They must have everypony in the Empire out sprucing it up!" Applejack said as they walked down the street.

"This must be why we were asked to handle the welcome committee routine," Twilight told them as she rubbed her chin at the sight. "At least things will be clean before the inspector gets here."

"And its probably also because we'll be awesome at it," Rainbow finished as they passed by the Crystal Heart.

In that moment, a pair of crystal fillies rushed by with a crystal empire flag in each of their mouths. "Princess Cadance was right," Applejack said as they watched the young crystal foals running around. "These ponies do look pretty darn excited."

Rainbow smirked as she picked up one of the fillies. "Yup, I remember that feeling." He face then turned to one of disappointment. "But not as much as I remember the crushing wave of disappointment that came when things didn't work out."

Flash grabbed the filly and pulled her out of Rainbow grip. "Seriously?! Ever hear of stranger danger?!"

He put the filly down next to her friend as a sad expression appeared on her face. Rainbow pointed at said sad expression. "That right there. That is the face I do not want to see."

The others all agreed with this as Twilight enveloped them all in her magic and pulled them further down the street to catch up with her. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

"If you're looking for the princess, you should check the spa." The group spun around and smiled as they spotted a familiar crystal unicorn wearing a certain snowflake-shaped necklace. Ruby Scarlet smiled at the group, her coat just as sparkling as the other crystal ponies.

"Ruby!" Twilight cheered as they rushed over to her.

"Hello everypony," Ruby said as he grin began to grow. "I'm guessing you're the welcoming committee the princess told me about."

"You betcha," Pinkie answered, nodding.

"And I'm here to help keep the place in one piece," Flash added.

"Getting sent a squire again, huh? Guess Grand still hasn't figured out how to be responsible with sending actual soldiers." Ruby growled with a frown, her hooves crossed with a huff. Flash slightly froze at this statement, but before could he reply, her frown morphed back to a smile as she giggled. "Just kidding. I'm glad to see you here Flash. With everything that's going on, I'd hate to see the crystal ponies' hopes be dashed by something unexpected."

"Well, while you do that, we'll make sure the games inspector decides to pick this place," Rainbow told her as she hopped in between Flash and Ruby.

"Then we'd better get to the spa," Ruby told them as she turned around, motioning them to follow.

"What's Cadance doing there?" Twilight asked.

"Getting her ceremonial headdress done," Ruby replied.

At the sound of those two words, Rarity's eyes went wide. "Ceremonial headdress?"

Ruby nodded. "When meeting with important guests, it was tradition for rulers of the Crystal Empire to weave crystals into their manes in a very specific way. According to Cadance, the games inspector is known for doing her homework. She'll certainly be expecting the princess's look to reflect the importance of her visit." Hearing this explanation, the group followed Ruby through the town, eventually arriving outside a large crystal building that reminded them of Lotus and Aloe's spa. Ruby then opened the door and said, "We're here."

They quickly spotted Cadance sitting on a sofa chair, the princess looking up and smiling as she saw the group, "There's my girls."

"Hey," Flash added with a small wave.

"And my boy," Cadance hopped up and pulled him into a hug before turning to Twilight, the two soon doing their traditional greeting. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

While this was going on, Rarity was looking around the spa and saw all the crystal variants of modern day spa techniques. Even a casual spa goer like Flash could tell these skills likely evolved into the ones used in Equestria today. "Oh my," Rarity gasped. "This is spectacular. Please everypony, stand back! I need air!"

Cadance giggled as she walked up to the unicorn. "Go ahead and try whatever you like," she said as she placed a hoof around Rarity's neck. "It's all complimentary for the welcome committee."

"Nice," Flash grinned as he rubbed his hooves together. That is, till he felt a hoof tap his shoulder, causing him to turn and see a deadpan stare from Ruby.

"Not you Sentry. We've got work to do."

Flash let out a long sigh before Cadance then walked up to the duo, "Now now Ruby, I'm sure nothing bad would happen in the hour or so it would take for him to enjoy some of the spa." She put her hoof on Ruby's shoulder, "You especially might want to try some yourself. You'll never be at your best all stressed out...which I've noticed is all the time."

Ruby's glare increased, only to also let out a sigh as she nodded, "Very well your highness. We can spare...twenty minutes or so."

"Excellent. Maybe you'll get that super relaxed face you had after coming back from Canterlot a few days ago. Now, everypony follow me." Cadance replied as she motioned the group to follow. She lead them over to a nearby pool like area, which was filled with an odd green liquid. "This is a crystal mud bath, which relaxes your body and rejuvenates your coat." She turned to them with a smaller smile, "Now, I realize it can be kind of strange to climb into mud, but if you'll just give it a chance, I'm sure–"

"WOO-HOO!" Pinkie cheered as she leapt into the air, curling herself into up as she tried to cannonball the liquid.

"Pinkie no!" Twilight cried, expecting the cannonball to send the mud flying. But as Pinkie hit the mud, it seemed to act like a trampoline and stayed in one piece, Pinkie's body suddenly slowly sinking into it, causing her to sigh contently.

"Ahhhhh…." she moaned as her head slowly disappeared, "so relaxing!"

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight rushed to the side of the pool as Pinkie's head reappeared, her eye twitching at the sight, "Honestly! Don't do that!"

Seeing this, Cadance stepped up to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Noticing this, Twilight turned around and now felt Cadance's hoof on her chest, Cadance now taking a deep breath in. Twilight mirrored her, instantly calming down. Flash's jaw dropped at this, making him point and yell at Cadance, "Cadance! Did you just instantly calm her down?!" Cadance just nodded at this with a cheeky smile, "Then why was I not taught that trick years ago!? Do you know how many panic attacks and over-the-top situations I could have avoided if I had at?!"

Cadance just laughed at this as she moved over to the sofa chair she had previously vacated. "Go ahead girls. Have a good time while I get my ceremonial headdress done."

"Ooh!" Rarity squealed, "I would love to watch!"

"Sure." Cadance told her, only to hear the spa doors open and they then saw a crystal mailpony enter.

"Princess!" she rushed over to Cadance and quickly bowed, "If I may have a word."

"I don't like the sound of this," Flash commented before Twilight and Ruby shushed him.

"I-I have two pieces of news for you. First, your mane stylist has the flu and won't be able to make it for fear of you catching it, too."

Cadance looked shocked at this news. "Oh. Well...I hope she's better soon." She turned to the spa ponies. "Do any of the other stylists here know how to do the traditional royal ceremonial headdress?" The respond was a bunch of uneasy nos, the crystal ponies looking embarrassed by this detail. "Oh...that's not good." Cadance said before once again doing the breath in breath out thing, "Well, the headdress is just a small detail, so-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rainbow interrupted as she flew right into her face, "You're trying to land the Equestria Games here! There is no such thing as a small detail!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight warned her, only to see an orange hoof appear in front of her.

"I agree with her Twilight," Flash told the unicorn. "If the games inspector's really expecting this ceremonial thingy, then we can't not show it to her."

In that moment, Rarity stepped up to them. "I suppose...I could give it a shot."

Cadance smiled hearing this. "Rarity? You would do that for me?"

"Way to step up, Rare!" Rainbow cheered.

Cadance let out a small comforting sigh, "Fortunately, I have all the precise instructions right here." The crystal ponies pulled out a chest that she magically opened it, levitating a scroll into the air. The scroll reached the roof before unfurling itself until it almost reached the floor.

"Oh, my..." Rarity gulped as she inspected the scroll.

Flash turned to Ruby. "You must have seen this head thing before. Is it really so amazing that it needs all that?"

"You have no idea," Ruby deadpanned, a low breath of air coming out of her nostrils.

Cadance stepped over to Rarity, a slight glance going to the scroll as she asked, "You sure you're up for this?"

Rarity turned towards her, the flames of determination burning in her eyes. "Working on the hair of royalty on such an auspicious occasion is the opportunity of a lifetime! I will give it everything I've got!"

"See?" Twilight said as she stepped between Cadance and Rarity, "no worries."

"Besides, the Games Inspector isn't expected for several hours." Rarity commented as she stepped up to the scroll and took a closer look at the steps. "I'll have plenty of time to figure out exactly how to...do...this..."

"Oh Rarity, that's wonderful!" Cadance said before turning towards the mail pony. "Now, you said you had a second bit of news?"

The mailpony stood to attention and nodded. "Yes. The games inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving on the...next train."

"WHAT?!" Everypony cried in shock.

Rainbow flew up to her and got right in her face. "You couldn't have told her that news first!? That's fifteen minutes from now!"

The rest of the group began to panic, Fluttershy shaking while Applejack rushed to the door and looked out of it. Flash himself was about to start panicking, turning to see what kind of state Twilight found herself in. But despite looking worried at first, he watched as she did the breathing tactic and instantly calmed down before turning to Rarity, "How long before Cadance is ready?"

Rarity hummed as she looked over the scroll, "I'm sure to find some shortcuts Twilight."

"Can you have her back at the castle when we're done?"

Rarity nodded and smiled. "Done."

Twilight nodded back before levitating the note from the mailpony, reading it quickly. "Okay, we'll be fine." She turned to Flash and Ruby, "you two do what you can to stop any problems that the games inspector might not like."

Flash saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

"We won't let you down," Ruby added with a salute as well.

Twilight nodded before she and the others stepped over to the doorway. "Everypony, just be on the look out for the pony with the flower print luggage." She then shut the door and they were gone, as Rarity got to work on Cadance's mane.

Flash turned to Ruby. "Let's do this, partner."

Ruby nodded before they rushed out the door. "You go high, I'll go low. We'll deal with any situation no matter how small. We can't let anything escalate."

"Got it!"

---

One hour later...

Downtown, Banshee and Electra were scouting out their first target. Right now, they were in a jewelry store, or at least Banshee was while Electra leaned against the door. Banshee looked through the store's collection, mesmerized by the beauty of them all.

It was here that the store pony walked up to her. "See anything you like?"

"Oh yes. It's all so beautiful." Banshee replied as she reached out and brushed her hoof on a crystal necklace, "I've always had a love of shiny things. Makes sense since my parents decided to name me Magpie...before abandoning me."

"Oh," the sales pony said as he almost backpedaled from the sudden statement, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm sure you are," Banshee hissed as she looked up at her, an icy dead glare in her eyes.

---

Outside the store and down the street, a mare with a brown coat, yellow mane and tail along with a trophy for a cutie mark, was dragging a suit case along the floor. This mare was named Ms. Harshwhinny, the games inspector for the Equestria Games. Harshwhinny had been expecting a big welcome when she arrived, only to receive nothing as she now hauled her heavy suitcase through the empire.

"They'd better have a good excuse for this," she groaned with great difficulty since her mouth was currently full of her suitcase's handle. She was also walking backwards, making it impossible for her to admire the empire as she kept pulling. That is, till she felt her flank run into something.

"HEY!" Harshwhinny spun around and saw she had run into Electra, who was glaring at the mare. "Watch where you're going, grandma!"

Harshwhinny narrowed her eyes at this, "How dare you! I know I ran into you, but there's no reason to be so rude!"

"Whatever, ya stupid hag!" Electra barked back, "Now beat it!"

Harshwhinny let out a small snort, ready to retaliate, but she then noticed something. The mare that insulted her wasn't a crystal pony and obviously not part of the party she was supposed to be greeted with. By the looks of the mare, she was probably just a tourist, and she knew she shouldn't judge her experience from the mare.

"I will go, but I suggest you-" Harshwhinny hissed out before her mouth suddenly stopped, her eyes widening as she took a closer look at the mare. "Wait, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"I doubt it hag." Electra replied, looking away with an uncaring glance.

Harshwhinny racked her brain, trying to remember where she had seen her face. Then, she remembered the newspaper she had read on the train to the empire and seeing her in it. "You...You're Lovely Rose." She saw Electra's eyes go wide, her face slowly looking back at the earth pony. "You're a criminal, wanted for theft...and assault."

Electra's eyes narrowed. "You should have left when you had the chance lady." Her horn flashed, electrical sparks flying off it. Harshwhinny quickly spun around, only to backpedal as she found her path blocked by pillars of electricity. She let out a gulp as she felt Electra's hoof grab her shoulder. "Nowhere to run hag," she told her before pointing at the store. "Inside. Now."

Harshwhinny frowned with her lip trembling but did as she was told, entering the store as the ponies inside turned to them, Banshee then asking, "What happened?"

"Grandma here recognized me," Electra growled as she nudged Harshwhinny to move. "Didn't know we had any wanted posters."

Banshee just shook her head. "Typical. Looks like we're done window shopping." She turned to the store pony, "Alright, I'll take it all."

"All?! But that'll cost-"

"Nothing," Banshee finished for pony. In that moment, her horn glowed as she took a deep breath in while Electra levitated a pair of earplugs into her ears.

Everypony wondered what she was doing, but they soon got their answer as Banshee let out a mighty scream. "WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Her scream had been enhanced to the levels of Celestia and Luna's Royal Canterlot voice, though this was far more high pitched and seemed to shake the entire building. Everypony cried out in pain as they held their hooves to their ears, the force of the scream pushing them all into the back wall.

A minute so later, Banshee stopped screaming and the ponies dropped to the floor, small bits of blood now dripping from their ears. Seeing this made Electra laugh as she removed her earplugs, "I'd stay down if I were you. Though you probably can't hear me."

Banshee moved over to the store pony and grabbed the pony's mane in her magic, pulling her up to her hooves before grabbing a nearby sack. She shoved it into the store pony's hooves and pointed to the jewels, "Fill this up with everything of worth. Now."

The store pony just shook there, fear completely taking her over. Banshee opened her mouth again, pointing to it as a warning to the ear-bleeding pony. She did a small nod and went to the displays, quickly filling it with jewels. At the same time, Electra turned towards the door and saw ponies beginning to step closer to the store. "I'll keep them from getting any closer," she said before walking outside.

---

Across town, Flash and Ruby were continuing their patrol when they arrived at the crystal stadium.

"Wow," Flash commented as he looked around, "looks better than when I was here last time. Granted, it was just me and Rainbow cleaning the place up."

Ruby turned to him with a small smirk. "Prince Shining Armor had it fixed up so we could work on getting the soldiers for the crystal guard prepared."

It was then that they heard a familiar voice, causing them both to look down and see the pony they were talking about. "Speak of the devil," Flash said before he leapt into the air. "Shining!"

Shining Armor, who was coaching several crystal ponies in preparation of the games, looked up and waved to the landing pegasus, "Hey Flash, what's up?"

"The sky," Flash joked. "And the clouds, the birds....want me to go on?"

"Haha, funny guy." Shining turned to Ruby, "How's everything going? Any problems?"

"None so far," Ruby said as she walked up to them. "Let's hope we can keep it that way."

"Don't we all," Shining grumbled, only for his ears to hear the sound of a door opening. They turned to see a unicorn walk up to them from the stadium's entrance from the castle, "Twily!"

"Hello there!" Twilight replied as she walked down the stairs and up to her brother. "Shining Armor, you've gotta help me."

Shining's response was to grab the whistle around his neck and blow it, causing the crystal ponies to start running around the track. "Everything okay?"

"I left the other ponies behind after giving the Games Inspector the worst castle tour ever."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this. "And you're not hyperventilating? Wow, that breathing trick must really work."

Twilight frowned at him, but in that moment, Shining called out to the crystal ponies. "Come on gang! Are we gonna gallop, or are we gonna trot!?" He turned back to his sister. "Castle tour, huh? I'm pretty sure I can give you a hoof with that." Once again he turned to look at the athletes. "Let's move, move, move!" And one more time towards Twilight. "Everything's gonna be okay."

In that moment, a loud crashing sound filled the air. They all looked around and saw it was the doors Twilight had come out of, which had be thrown open. The cause of that was a yellow mare with a green mane and tail, wearing a pink top and had a chicken for a cutie mark. The mare took in a massive breath. "I'm outside!" She cheered before rushing down the stairs onto the track, knocking the crystal ponies out of the way as she did. "Feels so good to stretch the old legs!"

Shining Armor shined a look of confusion on his face. "Uh, what the–"

His question was answered when Rainbow and the others rushed to Twilight's side. "Turns out the crystal castle doesn't have a gymnasium," Rainbow told her.

Ruby turned to Flash in confusion. "I haven't been in this dimension in a while. Do modern day castles have gymnasiums?"

"Not to any I've been in," Flash replied.

"Watch it!" Shining cried out before they all heard a loud crashing sound.

"Woohoo!" The mare cried as she continued to rush about like a headless chicken.

Shining turned to Rainbow. "Make her...stop!"

"Wait!" Rainbow yelled as she flew down next to him, "That's the Games Inspector! Let her do her thing."

Flash, Ruby and Shining turned to look at the mare, all not convinced by what Rainbow had just said. "That's the games inspector?!" Flash asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Twilight moaned, her head drooping to the ground.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "I don't think I'll ever get this time period."

"Good!" The mare cheered again, "oh these hooves! I'm outside!"

"She's not what I expected," Shining said as he turned to Rainbow. "Why is she doing all this?"

"I have no idea," Rainbow told him with a nervous smile. "But she's in charge of choosing who gets the Games, and we're not."

They continued to watch as the mare as she broke through the hurdles on the field one at a time, the last one knocking a flower pot in the air. Seeing it fly up then back down towards the mare, Flash acted quickly and flew up to catch it. "Gotcha!" He said before flying down and smirking at the mare. "Wouldn't want you getting a concussion."

"Oh, you're too kind."

"Just doing my job ma'am."

The mare smiled at him, but before anything else could be said, the ground shook as a loud booming sound filled the air. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Flash replied as he flew up over the stadium, only for his eyes to go wide. He saw a surge of lightning, bolts flying through the city as a series of explosions. "What in the name of-"

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like trouble." Flash replied as he looked down, his eyes staring at Ruby. "Ruby and I'd better go check."

"Let's get going then." Ruby yelled back before pointing to the 'game inspector' mare, "Whatever you do, don't let her out of the stadium."

Another crashing sound caused them all to turn to her, seeing her racing around the track. "I don't think that'll be a problem," Fluttershy commented.

Flash and Ruby nodded before Flash flew down and grabbed Ruby, lifting her into the air. She soon saw the bolts Flash had seen, "That's definitely trouble. Let's go!"

"Right!" Flash replied as he shot forward, his form flying over the city with Ruby in tow.

"Maybe I should go too," Shining said, only to feel Twilight's hoof on his shoulder.

"They'll be fine," Twilight added as she pointed to the inspector, "Let's just focus on getting the games inspector to pick the empire and leave whatever that is to the professionals."

Shining hated to agree, but Twilight was right. "I just hope whatever this is, its not too much for them."

---

Downtown...

The Crystal Empire was in a state of chaos.

Lightning bolts flooded the streets as crystal ponies were running for their lives, Electra and Banshee destroying everything in sight. Electra stood in front of the jewelry store, firing off multiple bolts to scare off anypony who got to close while Banshee stood in the store, watching the store ponies fearfully fill her a sack with all their best merchandise.

In the back corner of the store, several other hostages sat in fear of what these mares might do to them. One of them was Ms. Harshwhinny, who sat at the front of the group glaring at the two. "You'll never get away with this. The crystal guard-"

"The crystal guard doesn't exist," Banshee interrupted. "Before this city showed up here, it was in the middle of a war. You really think their military's gonna be in the best of shape after that?"

"I know that," Harshwhinny replied, her eyes narrowing. "But from what I looked up, they still have one warrior that will stop you. Ruby Scarlet, the Crystal Knight and protector of the city."

Banshee let out a dark laugh. "Yeah, I've heard of her. At least, what I read up on this gold mine." She then leaned down in front of the earth pony's face, "But she's a thousand years behind the times. Her magic won't compare to ours."

Harshwhinny frowned at this, fearing she might be right. Seeing her captive falter, Banshee smirked before turning back to the clerk, only to find that the store pony had finished filling the sack. She soon took it in her magic, grinning as she saw how full it was. "Nice. Next stop, easy street." She turned towards the door to leave, but stopped as a bulb went off in her head. She turned back to Harshwhinny and said, "Get up."

"What?!" The games inspector yelped.

"I said...get up!" Banshee took a deep breath, preparing to once again unleash her voice.

"Wait!" Harshwhinny cried as she picked herself up. "I'll do as you say! Just don't hurt these ponies!"

Banshee closed her mouth with a smile before gesturing to the door. "Good. Now, walk out to my associate."

Harshwhinny glared at Banshee but did as she was told, walking towards the exit in a slow trot. Electra noticed her walking out and was about to fry her, only to she her partner following in a calm manner. The electric unicorn knew Banshee too well to know she would let any hostage escape. "What's with the old mule?" She asked Banshee, smirking at Harshwhinny's horror of being called both old and a mule.

"Insurance," Banshee explained as she slung her hoof around Harshwhinny, a shiver going down the hostage's spine as she continued, "I'd prefer to not have to fight if I can help it. No way they'd attack us with a hostage, and if they do..." Banshee's grin grew, "Well, you said you wanted some jolts."

Electra let out a soft laugh at this, one Banshee joined in with. The only one not laughing was Harshwhinny, who was fearing for her life as she felt the hoof tighten around her shoulder.

But before anypony could say anything else, something shot down from out of the sky, kicking up a dust cloud across the street. Banshee and Electra got into a fighting position, while Harshwhinny just froze, her body still as a statue. They watched as the cloud faded, revealing what had kicked it up.

It was Flash and Ruby, standing side by side in preparation of battle.

"Hey sparky," Flash called out to them, "shrieky. Hi." He waved nonchalantly as the two began to step closer to the three, soon seeing the hostage between the criminals. "What do you say stepping away from that lady there and we settle this like mares?" That statement got confused looks from all of them, even Ruby who raised an eyebrow at him. Flash rolled his eyes at this, "What?! There's more of you girls here than me!"

Ruby shook her head with a smile as she turned back to the other mares. "Okay, listen up you two. There are two ways we can do this. You can give up and let the hostage go and be taken to prison quietly. Or those exact same things, plus far more pain for you two." Her necklace then shined, creating a giant crystal double-sided battleaxe, which she slung around her shoulder with a big smile, "And I'm in a good mood today, so please choose the latter."

"Listen to the Crystal Knight." Flash added as he pointed to the Ruby, "Trust me, you'll want to chose the latter."

Electra and Banshee however, weren't intimidated. Instead, they smirked at each other as the blue unicorn stepped forwards and pointed her horn at them. It then unleashed a burst of electrical energy, which flew at the two heroic ponies. Seeing this, Flash leapt in front of Ruby as he unsheathed his sword. The blade quickly blocked the bolt, deflected into the sky.

While this happened, Ruby's magic kicked in as the battleaxe morphed into a platform of crystals, which teleported to appear under Harshwhinny's hooves. They then shot her into the air, out of harms way as the platform morphed into a slide, pushing the hostage down the street.

"Eeeekkkk!!" she yelled as she slid down the street, Banshee soon trying to follow only for a wall of crystals to appear around all four ponies. The walls sealed them in, insuring the hostage was now safe. Seeing this, Electra stopped her attack, soon backpedaling up to her partner.

Flash smirked as he lowered his weapon while Ruby stepped up next to him, the two smiling at one another. "Nice move," Flash told her.

"Yours too," Ruby agreed. "Didn't know you could do that."

"Same here."

Electra turned to Banshee. "What now!?"

Banshee frowned at the two knights before turning to Electra. "Earplugs." Electra smirked as she put the plugs in, while Banshee's took and deep breath while her horn glowed. Flash and Ruby prepared themselves, believing they were ready for anything.

They were wrong.

"WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The two cried out as their hooves rushed to their ears, trying to block out the sound while the force slowly pushed them back. Ruby's horn soon began to shine, though only in sputters as Ruby tried to concentrate. As she did, a cluster of crystals shot out of the ground, creating a shabby, makeshift tent-like structure that they could hide in. Banshee looked at the cover and laughed, quickly firing another sonic wave at it. But luckily, the crystals drowned out most of the sound, allowing the two knights a chance to recover.

Flash hissed in pain as he lowered his hooves from his ears. "The one time having awesome hearing sucks."

"Agreed," Ruby groaned as she rubbed her ears, "We need a strategy. Any suggestions?"

"Yeah. In fact, experience is gonna help me here." Flash commented as he rubbed his ears as well, "Luckily, this isn't the first time I've fought a unicorn with lightning abilities. Same with sound abilities as well."

"How did you beat them?"

"For the lightning unicorn, I broke his source of power, which was a magic amulet he had around his neck."

Ruby glanced at Electra, "I'm guessing this mare is less powerful then?"

"Probably. I do know that lightning magic takes a lot of stamina to use, which is why the guy had the amulet in the first place. Its also a kind of magic that can be knocked off balance if you can react faster than the pony."

"And the sound unicorn you fought?"

"Well, for the sound unicorn, I dropped a building on top of him." He saw Ruby raise an eyebrow at this, "it was condemned."

"Well, we don't have any condemned buildings here," Ruby grumbled as she let out a low breath, her horn now fulling glowing. "We'll just have to go with what we've got." She then summoned a crystal sword, "Let's split up. You go after the zappy one and leave the noisy one to me."

Flash just nodded at this, gripping his blade in his hoof.

Back outside the tent, Banshee and Electra were getting bored, Banshee soon turning to her partner. "If they won't come out and face us, let's just get out of here." She lifted the sack over her shoulder, only to hear the sounds of the crystal structure cracking. Turning towards the sound of breaking crystal, the two criminals suddenly felt a rush of wind shoot passed them. They once again turned, this time towards where the wind had gone and saw Flash standing with a huge smirk on his face, his sword resting on his shoulder.

"Hello ladies. I'd take a glance at you loot if I were you." The two blinked at this, soon looking back at said sack and saw Flash had cut a large hole in it, the stolen goods already embracing the ground.

"NO!" Banshee cried as she began to grab some of it in her hooves before turning back to Flash, only to notice he was gone. She then looked up, only to see the pegasi floating in the air with a look of pure confidence on his face.

"I doubt your voice is that strong at a distance," Flash said as she gestured to the mare. "Well? Gonna try your luck?"

Banshee let out a low growl as she turned to Electra. "GET HIM!"

"Watch who you yell at," Electra barked back as lightning sparked around her body. Then something happened that Flash was not expecting. Electra shot into the air, seemingly riding on the electrical current around her hooves.

"She can fly!?" Flash yelped in shock before quickly dodging a bolt of lightning.

"You got that right!" Electra yelled as she shot a volley of bolts at him, the pegasi quickly taking evasive maneuvers.

As Electra continued to attack Flash, Banshee grabbed more of their stolen goods, only for a crystal sword to appear right in front of her. She slowly looked back up from the blade, soon looking up and seeing an angry Ruby Scarlet staring at her.

"What's the matter?! Surely you didn't forget about me, did you?"

Banshee let out a low gulp as she saw the sword levitate back to Ruby's side. She then began to pant angrily before her horn glowed, soon taking a deep breath while Ruby's horn and Crystal Promise glowed as well.

"WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The high pitched scream struck Ruby, slowly pushing her back. But as it did, Banshee quickly noticed that Ruby wasn't in pain, causing her to cut her assault short, "HEY! How did you....oh no." she said before noticing something on Ruby's ears.

Before Banshee had attacked, Ruby had created a pair of crystal headphones that had completely blocked out the sound. Ruby smirked at the horror that appeared on Banshee's face. "What?" She asked loudly due to her headphones, "you lose your voice?"

"NOOO! RAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!" Banshee screamed as she rushed towards Ruby, only for the Crystal Knight to sidestep the unicorn and use her sword to trip her up. "Augh!" she yelped as she kissed pavement.

"Give up," Ruby told her as she slung sword over her shoulder. "Without your magic, you can't win."

Banshee let out a low growl, quickly stumbling to get back up as she yelled, "Never!"

---

Meanwhile...

Up in the sky, Electra and Flash's battle continued to rage on. Electra was constantly firing electric bolts, the lightning lighting up the sky as Flash spun through the air, his blade deflecting every blow away. As he blocked the fifth bolt fired at him, he swung his blade, "Flash Cutter!" an energy blade flew at the mare, causing her to lift herself higher, barely dodging the wave. As she did, another stray bolt flew out of her horn, this one whipping through the air. The bolt then suddenly curved, singing a few tip feathers on Flash's left wing.

"GAH!" Flash hissed, quickly flapping his wings from the pain. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes in reaction, "Theta Mode!"

Electra raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what he was doing before firing another bolt of lightning. But as the bolt just exited her horn, Flash's eyes opened to reveal themselves as blank, only for his form to shift away from the attack effortlessly.

"Too slow," he said as he then dodged three more bolts, his body quickly making its way to her.

Electra let out a low growl as she fired again and again, only to see Flash easily dodged them all. "What the-grrr...DIE!" A electrical surge covered her body in response to her yell, only for Flash to appear in front of the mare, Lightbringer blocking every stray piece of static coming off her body. As he did this, Electra noticed the massive grin plastered on Flash's lips. "What are you smirking at!?"

"Oh nothing," Flash replied as he spun the blade like a fan, knocking every bit of electricity away. "Just keeping a promise."

"What promise?"

Before Flash responded, he stopped his blade and struck down, his blade now cutting through the surge around Electra's body. As it did, he said, "That no matter who or what I face, no matter how bad the situation looks, I'll always face it with a smile on my face."

As those words finished, the blade began to glow, only to push Electra back, instantly knocking her electric footing off. "Augh!" Electra cried as she lost her midair balance. But before she could recover though, she saw Flash spin his sword around until the crossguard was pointed at her.

"FLASH FORCE!" The crossguard shot out a burst of orange light, which changed into a beam that flew right at Electra. The beam instantly hit her chest, her electricity surge completely neutralized. And as the lightning dissipated, her body dropped like a rock, soon slamming into the ground with a loud thud.

Flash quickly flew down to where she had landed and found her moaning in pain as she tried to pick herself up. She looked up at Flash and glared, only for her eyes to roll into the back of her head, instantly losing consciousness. Flash smirked at this as he picked the unicorn up, wondering how Ruby was doing.

---

Ruby was doing fine.

With her sonic attack pretty much neutralized, Banshee was no match for Ruby. She charged at the Crystal Knight with a hoof prepared to strike her, but Ruby was ready.

"Crystal Guard!" a crystal shield appeared in front of the oncoming punch, Banshee screaming in pain a second later at her almost broken hoof. Ruby then crumbled the shield and created a pair of swords, "Crystal Sabers!" She began to swing them at Banshee, forcing the unicorn to start leaping backwards.

Banshee winced as she continued to land on her injured hoof, already feeling the blow slowing her down. But as she did, her horn began to glow again as she took another deep breath.

"WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The soundwave flew through the streets, making even the ground shake. But as it did, Ruby just stood there, her headphones blocking every bit of sound as her horn continued to glow. As she did this, she levitated the crystal blades and magically fused them, soon spinning them like a top. The blades soon made a small tornado, which flew at the mare.

Seeing this, Banshee stopped her wail, letting out a small gulp before taking another deep breath. Her horn shined again as she shot another sonic attack, only for it just dissipate the small tornado. But as she did this, her eyes went wide as she saw the blades stop spinning.

"What are you...*huff* *huff* doing now?" Banshee asked as she tried to catch her breath.

Unfortunately, the headphones made it impossible to hear the mare, so Ruby instead stopped spinning her swords. The blade then broke apart, only for a new glow of magic to spark out of her horn and create a small cloud of shining crystals. As it did, Ruby raised her hoof and yelled, "Crystal Shot!" The cloud faded, only to reveal a volley of crystal arrows, all of them flying at Banshee at high speed.

The mare panicked and tried to dodge the arrows, only for her mane and tail to get cut by two of them. Landing on her injured hoof, Banshee cried out as she lost her footing and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Ruby levitated the blades together again, only for them to morph into a mallet like weapon. Banshee looked up and saw this, only for her ears to hear, "Crystal..." Banshee tried to scream, yelling 'No!' to the knight, only to fall on headphoned ears as Ruby exclaimed, "HAMMER!"

The mallet instantly struck Banshee's chest, "AUGH!" She cried as she was sent flying into the air.

Ruby dissolved her weapon and pointed her horn at Banshee, the Crystal Promise glowing brightly as she did. "CRYSTAL FORCE!" A gem laced tornado shot out of her horn and consumed Banshee, spinning her around and scratching her with the small crystals.

And as the attack soon ceased, Banshee fell to the ground, only to land on Ruby's back. Ruby panted heavily after rushing to where Banshee would land, not wanting to cause and more harm than necessary. She then dropped her to the ground and looked her over, now seeing that she was unconscious and covered in scratches. Not wanting to take any chances, her horn glowed as Banshee's body was soon sealed in crystal, from her hooves to her neck. Finally, a crystal muzzle overtook the mare's face, sealing off her wail.

She sighed in relief as she took of her headphones, allowing sound to once again travel into her ears. "There we go..." she moaned as she rubbed her ears, "Don't want to go through that again."

"Think you can do mine as well?" She turned to see Flash walking towards her with Electra on his back, who he quickly dropped to the ground. "I think she'll be out for a while, but better safe than sorry."

"Agreed," Ruby said as she got to work.

"Flash, Ruby!" The two of them spun around and saw Twilight and the others rushing towards them, all looking worried.

"You guys okay?" Shining asked them.

"We're fine," Flash replied as he tapped the hilt of his blade. "Just another day as a solider."

Twilight stepped up to him, worry on her face as she pointed her hoof at him. "Your wing."

Flash turned to see the now blacked feathers on his wing. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the heat from them was beginning to itch but not wanting Twilight to worry, he turned to give her a smile. "I'm alright. This isn't as bad as it looks."

Twilight didn't look convinced, but knew now wasn't the time to argue. Instead, she glared at the two now sealed mares, "These were the ones causing the commotion?"

"Yeah," Flash replied as he tapped Electra's crystal seal, "if you call endangering lives commotion. At one point, they had a few hostages, but we managed to get them to safety."

"Which reminds me," Ruby moved over to the store she had sealed shut before with the crystal wall, which she soon lowered. While she was doing that, Flash explained everything that happened.

"That sounds awesome," Rainbow said first.

"Such a shame," Shining added as he looked over the criminals. "All that power and they chose to use it for their own gain."

"Hopefully they'll see the error of their ways," Fluttershy said next, shivering at the sight of the knocked out mares.

"Maybe...." Flash replied as he looked around. "Hey, where's the games inspector?"

The group suddenly all froze, as if looking embarrassed by something as Pinkie spoke up, "Yeah....about that."

Flash raised an eyebrow, obviously sensing something was up. "Alright, what happened this time?"

The group still remained silent, until Pinkie finally snapped. "We got the wrong pony!"

Both of Flash's eyebrows raised at this. "What do you mean, you got the wrong pony?"

"She wasn't the games inspector," Twilight explained with a huge gulp. "It turns out she just had the same flower luggage as Ms. Harshwhinny."

Flash quickly facehoofed, his hoof slowly going down his head, "You have got to be kidding me." He then leaned towards Twilight, his smile he had tried to keep the entire time now gone, "So, where's the real Ms. Harshwhinny?"

"We don't know," Fluttershy replied. "We were just about to head to the train station when we heard all the commotion."

"I doubt she's still gonna be there now," Shining added.

"Well, she's gotta be around here somewhere. We'll just have to split up and look around."

In that moment, Ruby returned to them while levitating a suitcase. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Don't ask," Flash replied before noticing the suitcase. "What's that?"

Ruby looked at the case and held it up to them. "Oh, it belongs to that pony we saved from being taken hostage. You know, the one I had to use that makeshift slide to get her out of the situation. I thought I'd try and track her down to return it to her, if I can find a name on it." She held it up for a closer look, "Wait, here we go. Its a Ms...Harshwhinny?"

Everypony froze hearing that, Rainbow actually falling to the ground in a faint. Ruby blinked at their frozen faces, "Is something the matter?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Twilight cried as she fell to the floor. "Not only did we not give Ms. Harshwhinny the greeting she was expecting, we also let her get taken as a hostage! She'll never pick the Crystal Empire now!"

Flash wanted to say something that would cheer her up, only for his mind to go blank. He quickly noticed that Shining and Ruby were thinking the same thing, causing him to gulp. They were in trouble now.

In that moment, Rainbow revived and got back on her hooves. "We're not done yet!" She cried out as she leapt into the air. "Here's what we do! We split the Empire up into five sectors and each of us search one of 'em!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie chimed in, "Except for the spa. What's the point of checking there since that's where Cadance is." She then showed a small grimace, "Though if Ms. Harshwhinny is there, well then, game over, right?"

Everypony took in what she said and gasped, realizing she was right as Rainbow yelled, "We need to get over there. Right...NOW!"

They all nodded and rushed towards the spa, Shining Armor staying behind to guard the criminals. "Why would she have gone to the spa?" Ruby asked them.

"You said she'd been held hostage, right?" Twilight replied.

"Where else would you go to relax after a stressful situation?" Flash finished.

Ruby blinked at this, only to nod, "I guess you're right."

Soon enough, they all arrived at the spa and Rainbow plastered her face to the window for a second before pulling away. "I don't know what she looks like."

Flash stepped up and looked inside, soon spotting and pointing at the pony he and Ruby had saved. "There. That's her."

Rainbow followed his hoof and saw Ms. Harshwhinny before seeing Rarity next to a screen. "We're in luck! I don't think either of them knows yet that the other one's here!"

Twilight nodded and stepped into the building, the others following after her. Rarity soon noticed them and smiled. "Wonderful news!" she told them as Cadance stepped out from behind the screen. "Look! Princess Cadance, better than new!"

She wasn't kidding. Cadance was now dressed in a blue dress and her mane was done in an almost unbelievably beautiful way. Ms. Harshwhinny heard what Rarity had said and sat up, the cucumbers on her eyes slowly falling off. "Princess Cadance?" She spotted the alicorn and began to walk towards her. "So this is where you've been! I will have you know that this is by far the worst welcome I've had in all my years!"

Cadance was shocked to hear this. "I-I can't believe-what was wrong with your welcome?"

"There wasn't one!" Harshwhinny barked back. "Not to mention I ended up getting attacked while visiting this place!"

"Attacked!?!" Cadance yelped as she turned to the others, "what is going on?! How did she get attacked?!"

Twilight stepped up to explain, only for Rainbow to stop her. "Princess, we gave our welcome to the wrong pony, left the right one waiting at the station, and completely ruined everything."

"And as for the attack," Flash continued. "Well, you can't really blame that one on the empire since the criminals aren't from the empire."

"Criminals?!" Cadance exclaimed, her eyes now as wide as dinner plates.

"Long story," Flash replied with a nervous smile.

Rainbow then continued her speech. "When I was a little filly, I wanted so badly for Cloudsdale to win the Equestria Games. But it didn't happen. So I thought I could make up for that disappointment by helping the Crystal Empire win the chance to host the Games....but it looks like I ruined your chances instead. I'm sorry." Her gaze fell to the floor, tears almost ready to appear.

"Not so fast speedy." They all looked up to see the pony they had mistaken for the games inspector.

Harshwhinny smiled at them all as she pointed to the pony. "I just finished hearing about how this pony was just treated to the warmest, finest, most fabulous reception she ever had."

"Darn tootin!" The pony replied.

She then pointed to Twilight and the others. "Courtesy of these fine ponies right here. Which, in my expert opinion, amounts to the first ever unvarnished, unrehearsed, and unbiased appraisal of a potential host of the Equestria Games. Which can only mean one thing. I've found the host of the next Equestria Games!"

Everypony's eyes went wide hearing this. "Are you serious?!" Rainbow asked.

"Of course I am," she then turned to Cadance as she also pointed at Ruby and Flash. "Though I do expect increases in security. What you have now is fine but I expect more than fine for a host."

Cadance nodded. "Don't worry. My husband is working on training new guards as we speak. They'll be more than ready when the games arrive."

"Good to hear," Harshwhinny replied as she turned to Flash and Ruby, noticing her suitcase in Ruby's possession. "I believe that's mine."

"Of course," Ruby nodded as she gave it to her. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

"Thanks to you two. Excellent work, the both of you."

Flash and Ruby smiled and saluted at the praise.

---

The rest of their time at the empire was a blur. Electra and Banshee had been placed in the empire's magic proof jail that Ruby assured them was secure. Cadance soon announced to the city that would be hosting the games and soon enough, the group were back at the train station.

Rainbow sighed happily. "You know, it feels good to help others get something you always wanted but never had. Almost as good as getting it yourself." She then frowned, moaning, "almost..."

Twilight giggled at this as the train signaled that it was ready to be boarded. "We'll still be able to come back here and watch the games when they're played."

Rainbow's smile instantly appeared. "You're right. That'll rock!"

They all boarded the train and moved through the carriages to find an empty car. "I think this car's empty," Twilight said as they stepped inside and Applejack rushed to one of the seats.

"Whooeee! My dogs are barkin'." She sat down, only for the sound of a dog's bark to fill the car. Everypony blinked at this while Applejack looked down at her hooves, "Did ya'll hear that? They really are."

As Flash sat down, Twilight spotted him patting his wing. "Are you sure you're okay Flash?" She asked as she moved up to him, "Maybe you should have gone to the hospital."

"Relax Twilight. The best she did was clip my wing. I'm fine...though my ears are still ringing."

Twilight let out a long, familiar sigh. "If you say so."

"Bummer Spike had to miss out on all this," Rainbow said as she and Fluttershy stepped into the car. "He woulda' had fun here."

"I'm sure he's having a great time watching all the critters back at home," Twilight replied as she sat down.

"Think he's still got a handle on things?" Applejack asked.

Twilight took a deep breath and looked out the window. "If he's staying calm and collected, I bet he's doing a terrific job as a leader."

They all nodded in agreement as Flash sat back to enjoy the ride home. That is, till he noticed a flash of white and green running along the floor. Flash quickly went into Theta Mode and caught sight of the flash, realizing it was a rabbit. But not just any rabbit, it was Angel Bunny, who was also carrying a gem he recognized as one Spike had been holding that morning.

As he watched Angel now rush underneath Twilight's seat, he then heard the sound of a rumbling stomach.

"Did ya'll hear that?" Applejack asked.

They all listened, but nothing else could be heard. As the train pulled away, Flash switched off his Theta Mode and shrugged. "Guess it was nothing."

The others all seemed to agree and began to enjoy the journey, but Flash closed his eyes concentrated. Though faint, probably because he was trying to keep the connection closed, Flash could sense Springer's aura.

Oh, he was gonna enjoy hearing about this when they got home.

Author's Note:

Well, that was fun. Hope you liked the new villains.

So what's gonna happen next?' You'll have to wait and find out.

Comments

[Foxhelm]

Ruby shook her head with a smile as she turned back to the other mares. "Okay, listen up you two. There are two ways we can do this. You can give up and let the hostage go and be taken to prison quietly. Or those exact same things, plus far more pain for you two." Her necklace then shined, creating a giant crystal double-sided battleaxe, which she slung around her shoulder with a big smile, "And I'm in a good mood today, so please choose the latter."
"Listen to the Crystal Knight." Flash added as he pointed to the Ruby, "Trust me, you'll want to chose the latter."

Former! The option for the two surrendering without injury was the first given, hench 'former' not 'latter'.

Well, I did enjoy the change in focus and the development of the relationship between Flash and Ruby. So now Flash will question Spike and Springer.

[KingJoltik]

9022261
Ruby wanted them to choose the latter because she wanted to fight. That's why she has that big smile on her face when she summons the battleaxe. Flash saw this and went along with it.

[Foxhelm]

9022353
okay... still doesn't work. Because if she was in a good mood, that's why there's the offer. Had she said, "I am really bored..." then it would work, but as it stands, it doesn't.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

"Hey sparky," Flash called out to them, "shrieky. Hi." He waved nonchalantly as the two began to step closer to the three, soon seeing the hostage between the criminals. "What do you say stepping away from that lady there and settle this like mares?" That statement got confused looks from all of them, even Ruby who raised an eyebrow at him. Flash rolled his eyes at this, "What?! There's more of you girls here than me!"

Nice Supergirl reference!
I'm guessing Springer might get a solo chapter next. In the other seasons he got one right before the the climax of the season.

[Joeyjambo122]

I really hope you actually have Flash's cutie mark be affected when the finale rolls around, because what happened with Discord in the maze kinda disappointed me.

[Godslittleprincess]

So, we have unicorn Lightning Dust and (long pause) was that other mare supposed to be a self-insert of sorts? She shares part of your username. Hmm. (shrugs) This is the fastest that I've seen Flash take down a villain in this series. It's awesome.
9022418 I love the Springer chapters. I wonder if we'll get the return of Springer's hallucinatory yellow mouse.

[Banshee531]

9022747 No, it's just the only sound based name i could think of for a mare. Siren's already taken.

[Godslittleprincess]

9022756
Hmm, I see. Well, you could always go for a type of songbird, but I guess songbird names aren't villainous enough. How about "Harpy" like the eagle or the mythical creature? "Vulture"? Then again, she's a unicorn, and bird names would probably be more fitting for pegasi? Yes? No? Oh, her given name is also the name of a bird, so it makes sense that she wouldn't want a bird alias. I'm pretty sure "Echo" is unisex, but it also doesn't quite sound scary enough. I'm just running ideas by you just in case you come up with any more sound-based villains.

[KingJoltik]

9022747
Thank you for liking the Springer chapters. I'm really proud of them.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

9023337
I admit it was confusing at first, but I think the name fits, especially since she is apparently based off Silver Banshee from DC. Probably a more specific example would be Silver Banshee from the CW Supergirl show.