Elements of Redemption

by Draxonos135

Element of Karma

Flash Sentry fell down and landed at the front yard of a familiar building, this being Canterlot High School.

However, as soon as he stood up, he noticed the rest of the group were nowhere to be seen.

"Wallflower?"

He looked at his surroundings.

"Juniper? Vignette? Gloriosa?"

But he got no response: the most he got was a chill down his spine as the wind blew, a tumbleweed passing by as Flash noticed a very peculiar detail about the school.

It was deserted.

Completely deserted.

"Where's everyone?"

"Learning about their own elements."

Flash turned around and saw the donkey from before standing nearby, sporting a calm smile.

"The donkey?! I thought you were a one-time, throwaway joke!" Flash exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to serve as your guide to your element," the donkey spoke as he walked to Flash. "Just as how I'll be the guide for the rest of the group, once the time comes."

"The one who guides these "elements of redemption" is a donkey?" Flash scratched the back of his head. "I don't know whether to not be shocked, or find this the first weird thing I've encountered that's unrelated to Sunset Shimmer and the other world."

"Oh no, there's definitely a connection here. Sunset Shimmer and your element, I mean."

Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow, but before he could question what the donkey meant, a mirror emerged from the ground between the two, showing a familiar memory from the past.

This being, Flash Sentry breaking up with Sunset Shimmer.

"Sunset, I don't think this is working out."

"What are you talking about? We're considered the cutest couple, the majority of our classmates love us, we got the best notes, we're practically the perfect couple!"

"What kind of perfect couple has only one member of it benefit?"

Flash from the present grabbed his arm and looked away.

"Whatever could you mean, Flash?"

"I invited you to watch my band's show last week, and you never came. You asked me to teach you how to play the guitar, and I did, yet you never told anybody that I was the one who taught you!"

"Flash, let's be honest; that was the only thing you ever did for me."

Flash from the present clutched his stomach with his other hand, his grip getting tighter as the Sunset from the past spoke.

"I taught you the subjects you didn't understood so we would be equal in intelligence. I taught you the ropes on how to act like a couple so you wouldn't make us look like a pair of buffoons. I haggled with the music store clerk to get you the guitar you wanted, which, by the way, was the very thing that allowed you to start your stupid band in the first place!"

"I never told you I wanted the guitar! I already had a decent one-"

"That doesn't matter! Your opinions, your wants, nothing about you matters whatsoever! The only reason people even care about you, is because you're the boyfriend of the new student at Canterlot High School, who turned you from a nobody into a somebody!"

"I mean, let's be real here: Who was Flash Sentry before Sunset Shimmer?"

Flash from the present fell to his knees and took several deep breaths, while the donkey, his expression going from a surprised glance to a calm stare, continued watching.

"The fact you can't even answer that question says a lot about-"

"If that's how you really think, then maybe the sun can set without a flash."

Flash Sentry looked up, realizing what was about to come.

"Oh, Flash, there you go again, trying desperately to be funny. Just what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying you and me, are no longer a thing. No longer an item. And in case that wasn't clear enough: We're no longer boyfriend and girlfriend."

"...You... you're not... you wouldn't dare... to tell that to me... after all I did for you, after everything I sacrificed to get you where you are, after making sure people knew who your name even was, you're going to ditch me to the side!?"

"You would've done the same thing to me had I given you time to think whether I really meant anything to you. But I'm not giving you time. And most importantly, I'm not giving you the satisfaction of throwing me to the side."

With nothing else to say, Sunset Shimmer from the past stomped away, ending the memory.

"I was angry... I wanted her to feel the same pain I did, but... I could've gone about it in another way."

"Could it have been done another way? Yes," the donkey spoke as he approached Flash. "But the way you approached it brought forth the best case scenario, for this time, Sunstet Shimmer felt the power of karma for the first time."

Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow. "Like... the element of karma?"

"Let's see what happened next."

A set of mirrors popped up, this time showing what happened since then: Sunset Shimmer's transformation and conquering of the school, The Dazzlings' song cursing everyone, Midnight Sparkle tearing open holes in reality, and Gaea Everfree threatening Camp Everfree, among other things.

One thing these visions of the past had in common, was that Flash was either affected by the events, or not present at all.

"One way or another, magic caused several mishaps: and in every single one of them, you were present, as a victim, as a witness..." the donkey frowned. "But never as someone who did anything against it."

Flash Sentry's tone grew weak.

"I should've done something to help. I should've done something, anything, at all. But... I didn't."

The mirrors vanished and the donkey smiled.

"And now you're here, a few steps away from being able to redeem that."

Flash lifted his head, but before he could ask what the donkey meant, the stone statue of the school transformed, going from a large horse into a small, hovering hammer.

"What is that thing?" Flash asked as he stood up.

"You know how judges use their hammers to bring order to the court?" the donkey pointed out as both he and Flash walked up to the hammer. "As the element of karma, it'll be your job to bring order to the real world: judging the magical mishaps. The greater their offences, the greater the strike of your hammer."

Flash raised an eyebrow. "Is that just a fancy way of saying that becoming the element of karma means I get a hammer?"

"Not just the hammer, young boy, but the ability to make a difference," the donkey smiled. "Grab the hammer, become the element of karma, and you'll never have to worry about being powerless again."

Once at the hammer's site, Flash looked back at the hovering weapon, thinking for a few seconds what to do before he ultimately grabbed it.

This was followed by a surge of electricity going through him as the statue's horse sculpture returned, and Flash's left shoulder glew.

"Without karma, those who have done wrong can never pay for their misbehavior, and thus never be set on the path to redemption."

The glow on Flash's shoulder contorted into the shield shape from the rock.

"From now on, it'll be your job to be the reaction, that'll set them straight."

Flash took off his jacket and looked at the mark of the shield, before he turned to the donkey, who gave him a nod before he teleported out of the yard, followed by Flash being teleported out himself.

Comments

[Mist_Chaser]

You are a bit late since Legend of the Everfree already established elements in the human world, including the seventh one being empathy...

Good luck with the story though!

[Draxonos135]

9664155
This is an alternate universe, and besides, just because the elements of harmony exist in this world doesn't mean there can't be another set of elements.

Curses! I was gonna make a joke about how there always seems to be six elements!

Anyhow, are you enjoying the story so far?

Also, thanks for reviewing! :)

[Mist_Chaser]

9664184
I always liked Gloriosa and her "I got this!" attitude, so I see it having potential.

[Draxonos135]

9664191
Better make sure her chapter doesn't disappoint then! XD

[TasermonsPartner]

Umm...sorry, but I don't really see it.

Yes, Flash stood by relatively helplessly as the magical chaos unfolded. But so did everybody else who didn't have magical powers. Lyra, Bob Bon, Derpy, the Crusaders, the muscular "YEAH!" guy, pretty much the entire student body, etc. Vinyl helped some during the Battle of the Bands, but still... And that's just the students.

Did Celestia and Luna try to intervene? When magic showed up during the Friendship Games did they try to evacuate the students? Or what about Cadance? Did she do anything? Shining Armor? Any of the other teachers? Certainly not Cinch.

Flash didn't show cowardice, or even ineptitude. He just had no way of dealing with the situation, just like everybody else with no magical powers. Does he wish he could've helped? Sure. Does he have the power to help now? Yes. Was it his fault that he couldn't do anything to help in the first place? No. Does anybody blame him or accuse him of not ever helping? No. Does he need to "redeem" himself for not being able to help? No.

He'll help because he can do so now, and because he's always wanted to help, regardless of whether or not he could; not because he needs to "right a wrong" or "redeem" himself for some "past sin" (that doesn't actually exist).

[Pete100]

What does this all have to do with karma?