Amber Alert
The Equestrian Express was chugging through the badlands of Equestria, an area known for its small settlements like Dodge Junction and Appaloosa. Inside was Flash and Lightning sitting in a compartment, both waiting for their stop to come up as they thought back to their meeting with Celestia.
Yesterday...
As soon as they arrived at Canterlot, they had been escorted to the castle's throne room, the royal alicorn waiting for them as they bowed before her. She shined her usual smile as she spoke up, "Flash, Lightning, thank you for coming. I apologize for the sudden request, but I require your help in investigating a matter at one of Equestria's newest settlements."
"What seems to be the problem?" Lightning asked.
"The ponies living there have been experiencing a strange string of disappearances revolving around their livestock. Sheep, goats and the occasional cow have been found missing."
"Sounds like poachers," Flash replied.
"Or wolves," Lightning added.
Celestia let out a sigh at this, "That's what they thought as well, but some ponies have also gone missing when they went out searching for the livestock. This is why I want you to go help them discover the cause of these disappearances. I've also called upon some rare creature specialists that will also be meeting you there."
Flash and Lightning shared a glance at this, Flash then asking, "Okay. No offense Princess Celestia, but why us?"
"Quite simple. Its because this settlement is called New Omniara." Celestia responded, seeing both defenders' eyes going wide, "Now, do you understand your tasks?"
"Yes, your majesty." They responded before bowing, soon leaving the room.
The Present...
"Hard to believe they're having trouble already," Lightning sighed while polishing his knives. "First my dad captures them to work as slaves, and now this. They just can't catch a break."
"Which is why we have to make sure we solve their problem." Flash replied, Lightning nodding back just as the overhead announcer exclaimed that New Omniara was coming up. The two instantly grabbed their things, heading for the door as the train pulled to a stop.
And they walked out onto the platform, the train pulled away to reveal the town on the other side of the tracks. The place looked exactly like it was when they had once saved it from utter oblivion, almost like the ponies had picked up those buildings and dropped them on this spot. Every building was exactly where it had been before, though Flash and Lightning did notice several new ones behind the originals.
"Wow," Flash whistled, "Can't believe they rebuilt all of this in such a short amount of time."
"No kidding." Lightning added, "Looks just like Omniara...except no ocean in the distance."
"Yeah...I wonder if-"
"FLASH!" a voice called out, making them turn to see a pair of young ponies running up to them. Flash smiled at the sight, seeing they were Salt and Pepper.
"Hey you two," he waved as Salt ran up and tackled him in a hug, "Okay..." he groaned, "I'm happy to see you too."
"Dad said one of the Royal Knights was coming to help us!" Pepper exclaimed, "We were so hoping it'd be you!"
"Happy to help," Flash chuckled as he picked himself up. "Now, who do we need to talk to about getting more details?"
"Dad's waiting for you at the inn," Salt replied before wrapping his tail around his front leg. "Come on." He pulled the knight along, Flash following along as Lightning and Pepper laughed at the sight. And as they got to the kid's homes, the four walked in to see their old friend Great Taste, along with two other ponies.
One was a brown earth pony stallion as bulky as Big Mac, with dark purple hair while wearing a black hat and a white shirt. His cutie mark was a camera and map. The other was a pink pegasus mare who was quite tall, with blonde hair that wore a green shirt and her cutie mark was a compass and a gust of wind.
Great turned to them with a huge grin, "Flash! Lightning! It's so good to see you again!"
"Same," Flash replied as he went over and shook Great's hoof.
"Flash Relic," he heard an aussie accent say. "As I live and breath." He turned to the couple, the stallion getting off a stool as he walked up to the defender, "Always hoped I'd get the meet'cha. You've certainly grown since the last time I saw ya."
Flash raised an eyebrow, "Uh...sorry, but should I know you? And my name is Flash Sentry."
The mare giggled at this, "My word. It's almost like looking at a young Trail Blazer."
Those words made Flash blink, "Wait...you know my dad?"
"And yer mom," the stallion replied, "Trail and I were roommates back at school and got on like a house on fire. Name's Snap Shutter."
"And I'm Mane Allgood," the mare added, "We've been close friends with your parents for years. By the way, how's Scootaloo? Oh, she was the most adorable filly when she was young."
"She's...fine," Flash muttered out, almost backpedaling due to the duo knowledge, "But uh...how come I've never heard of you before? Mom and dad never said anything about you."
"HA! That's Trail for yah," Snap guffawed, "He's like a dog. Happy when yah come back, but won't even remember yah when yer gone."
Allgood nodded at this, "And we've never met before because Snap and I are always on long voyages. Luckily, we just got done with an expedition when Celestia contacted us."
"Wait..." Lightning spoke up, "You're the animal experts?"
"That's right," Allgood giggled, "We're some of the best experts on all creatures great and small, not to brag."
"Hence why you're here," Great Taste added as he unfurled a map on a large table before pointing at a spot, "We're here." He then moved his hoof to the west, "And the disappearances occur around here."
Flash and Lightning hummed at this, Lightning pointing to an area slightly west of that area. "What's that place? It looks like a ton of rocks."
"Yup. It's a series of canyons and rocks that make up a natural maze. We try to keep out of that area since we could easily get lost in 'em."
"Sounds like a good place for bandits to hide," Lightning grumbled while crossing his hooves.
"Ah can also think of half a dozen predators that would love to make their home there," Snap continued.
"Then we'll check them both out," Flash replied, "We'll start with the areas they disappeared in, then check the rocks." He turned to Snap and Allgood, "Don't suppose you know anything about tracking?"
"Of course," Snap responded, "It's half me job. But it would be good to have somepony that knows the area. It'll make tracking easier if we're informed about what we have to look out for."
"I think I know somepony who can help with that," Great assured before gesturing to them to follow.
Leaving the inn, they walked through half the town, soon finding a blue unicorn with a yellow mane and tail, wearing a red leather jacket and red stetson. His cutie mark was a lasso, and he had a belt around his waist with the same piece of rope.
"Flash, Lightning, meet Rancher. He grew up in this area and knows it better than anypony."
The unicorn tipped his hat, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He was then shown the map as Flash pointed to the area with his wing.
"We're trying to solve the mystery of the disappearances. Don't suppose you wouldn't mind showing us these areas, would you?"
"We'd be happy to pay of yer services," Snap told him.
Rancher looked over the map, blinking before responding, "Sure can. Follow me." He spun around and walked away, the group following them as Great went back to his inn.
"This seems a bit too easy." Lightning commented, making Flash roll his eyes.
"You're being paranoid." Lightning gave him a slight glare, making Flash wink at him, "Just be glad we might be seeing some real action."
"I guess." the unicorn said as they got to the end of the town. But as they got there, they saw a cart that was attached to a certain creature.
"Speed Stingers!" Flash gasped as the defenders went for their weapons, the beasts growling at their reaction while raising their tails.
"Wait!" Rancher yelled before jumping between them, "It's okay! They aren't gonna hurt you."
"Are you crazy?! Those things are super dangerous! They..." Flash's words drowned out as he glanced back at the Speed Stingers, now remembering his last encounter with them, "Wait...how are they not riving in agony?" He looked up at the sun, the ball of fire beating down as he glanced back at the Speed Stingers, now noticing they were bigger than usual and their skin was dusty yellow color.
Snap laughed at this, "Yah must be used to forest dwelling Speed Stingers." He moved over to them while holding out his hoof, "Yah don't need to worry. Desert Speed Stingers are a lot less hostile then their green cousins." He started petting one of the five lizards, who seemed to purr at his touch. "They only use their stingers in self defense."
"You sure?" Flash asked, Rancher and Allgood moving over to do the same. Lightning and Flash shared a glance, grimaces on both faces as Flash put away his weapon, "Well...alright then."
"But just to be safe," Lightning threw one of his daggers to a nearby house, embedding it into the wall.
Once that was done, the five ponies climbed into the cart as the Speed Stringers hooked up and got in formation. Now seated, Rancher flicked the reins, the five lizards running at high speed as they began to pull the cart. "Into the great beyond!" The unicorn cheered.
"Into the great beyond!" Snap and Allgood repeated while Flash chuckled as Lightning rolled his eyes.
The group quickly left New Omniara, heading to the desert around it, Allgood using her map skills to direct them in the direction that Great Taste had told them about. Flash and Lightning remained on guard, both ready for any attacks....only for nothing to happen as they got there.
"Alright," Rancher commented as he pulled the Speed Stingers to a stop, "This is as good a place as any to start looking."
The others leapt off the cart, Flash and Lightning looking around as they saw nothing but a few trees, medium-sized rocks along with some occasional bushes. The rest was nothing but sand and dirt, the defenders frowning at this. "I don't like this." Lightning added while Flash nodded back, "There's nothing here, so I'm guessing the ponies that came looking were probably thinking the same thing, then got caught when they least expected it."
"Same." Flash responded as he slowly pushed the sword out of his sheath.
"You make a good point Lightning." Snap said as he got down close to the ground, rubbing his hooves over it.
Flash got down next to him, "Is this tracking?"
"You betcha mate," Snap chuckled as he picked himself up. "The ground around here is too hard for anything ta leave footprints."
"But without any tracks, how will we know if anything's been around here?"
Rancher smirked at this while pointing to one of the nearby trees. "See that tree over there, next to the rock?" Flash glanced at it, raising an eyebrow.
"Look at its base." Snap added as Flash stared down, now seeing several broken branches. "These tell us that an animal pushed through here," he picked a stick up and gave it a sniff. "Not too long ago either. Smells like some kind of canine creature, maybe a coyote or fennec fox."
"I've seen a lot of those creatures around these areas," Rancher commented as a frown appeared on his lips. "But now that I'm thinking about it, the sightings have been decreasing as of late."
"Poachers don't usually go for creatures like that," Lightning added, "Let's keep looking around."
The others nodded at this, Snap gathering the sticks and putting them in his saddlebag. After this, the five continued their investigation, walking around the desert. But as they did this, they found no other tracks or signs that anything had been area for the past week or so. The only sign of life they managed to find in their three hours of searching was a rattle snake Flash accidently upturned, the defender letting it go before sighing, "This is nuts. How is it that an un-populated area this big has little to no life?"
"That in itself is a clue," Allgood told him. "If there aren't any animals around, that means there's either something their instincts are telling them to keep away from, or..."
"Or what?" Lightning asked as he spun around, his hooves walking over an area of undergrowth. But as he did this, the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, making him yelp, "WHOA!"
The others turned to him, only to see him gone, "Lightning?!" Flash gasped, quickly taking to the air. And as he tried to fly over to where Lightning was, he now saw a hole in the ground that the brush had hidden from ground sight. Looking straight down, he saw Lightning laid out on the ground about five meters down. "You okay?"
Lightning groaned as he picked himself up, "I'm fine," he growled while looking up, now seeing the others arriving at the side of the hole. "Would have been nice to know there was a hole around here."
"This is the first I've heard of it," Rancher commented as he reached down and rubbed his hoof against the side of the hole, "It's not wet. Maybe its some kind of water hole that dried up. But if it did, it must have happened a while ago."
Lightning looked back down, now seeing nothing but a long dark tunnel. As he told them this, Snap replied, "Do you see anything down there? Puddles of water or animal bones?"
Lightning shook his head, "No, there's noth-" His words came to a stop at this, the unicorn pulling back while glancing down, "Hello..." His horn lit up, trying to pick up something, making him frown.
"Find something?" Flash asked as he saw Lightning looked back up.
"You might wanna stand back." He then threw a dagger, Flash quickly kicking it to the side of the hole. A second later, the unicorn appeared in a flash.
"You think this is what's causing all the disappearances?" Flash asked while looking back down the hole.
"One easy to miss hole couldn't be the complete cause," Snap added, "The chances of every single one of them falling down it is slim ta none."
"Well maybe this has something to do with it," Lightning responded as he threw something at Snap. The earth pony caught it, now seeing it was some kind of amber, orange in color and slightly clear.
"Weird..." he commented while showing it to Allgood, "None of the trees around here look like they could make this stuff. So where'd it come from?"
"That's not the weirdest part," Lightning grumbled, "Watch." He sparked his horn as he tried to pick up the amber. But as soon as the light shined around the rock, it was suddenly absorbed, the amber's inner core glowing for several seconds before returning to normal.
"Magical absorption?" Allgood asked, "Incredible."
Flash took this moment to fly up, surveying the nearby area. And after about five minutes, he called out, "Over here!" The others turned to him, soon walking over to another hole. Flash flew down at this, the defender going inside and finding a pair of tunnels on either side. And as the others investigated this one, Flash took to the air, soon finding another hole half a mile away that also had two tunnels beneath it.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Rancher growled, "One hole I can buy not knowing about, but three?!"
"Yah fellas notice anything else?" Snap asked, getting shakes of the head from the others. "Look at the holes." They glanced back down, seeing they were just round holes. "See? They're all perfectly round. One hole that's that shape is unlikely, but three..."
"And they're the same size," Allgood added, "The tunnels as well. They're all the same size and shape."
"No way that could be done naturally," Lightning responded, "Something dug these holes."
Snap nodded, "Exactly...but what is it?"
As this question was asked, Flash stared down at the hole before looking back up, "Wait a minute..."
"Hmm?" Snap asked as he saw the defender glance around, "Yah figure something out?"
"Yeah, I think I did." Flash replied as he pointed his hoof at another hole, "Look. All the tunnels are leading in that direction." They all followed his hoof, now seeing the large bunch of rocks that Taste had told them about earlier in the distance. "If something's using these tunnels to get around unnoticed, then it would make sense that it would have to be connected to the rocks."
"Good eye mate," Snap chuckled before looking up at the sky. "But it's getting' late. Why don't we set up camp and check the place out tomorrow."
The others nodded back, all returning to the cart to collect some camping gear. And as the sun began to set, they worked to set up camp, Flash grabbing the sleeping bags while Allgood filled a pan with water so she could cook some beans. Lightning was keeping an eye for anything while Rancher unhooked his Speed Stingers and started feeding them.
"You sure it's a good idea to let them off their leashes?" Flash asked as he laid a sleeping bag out next to him, Rancher smirking as he scratched one under the chin.
"You've got to relax around them more. These guys won't go anywhere. I've done this a hundred times, and every morning I'd wake up and they'd be in the exact same spot."
"If you say so..." Flash replied before slowly walking over to another part of the camp. As he got there, he saw Snap was building a fire using some sticks. Once the pit was properly constructed, he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a large jar filled with a strange clear slime. "What's that?" Flash asked as the adventurer poured some of it onto the branches, then made a small trail off of the pit.
"Fire Snail Slime," Snap responded while taking out a match, lighting it before dropping it onto the end of the trail, causing the slime to combust. The flames shot up to the pit, the wood instantly catching fire while the slime began to dissolve.
"Cool," Flash whispered as he pulled out the last sleeping bag. Soon after this, the five were sitting around the campfire eating cooked beans, Snap and Allgood now telling Flash more about his parents.
"That's when Trail accidently drank the wrong tea," Snap chuckled, "Instead of getting a refresher, he ended up spending the next month speaking backwards."
The others laughed at that, Flash adding, "That's what you get for messing with Zebra potions without knowing what you're doing."
"You've made that mistake enough times to know," Lightning joked while the others laughed at Flash glaring at him.
"That's more Springer than me, and you know it."
"You're so much like Trail," Allgood commented between spoonfuls of beans. "Though I can also see a bit of Misty within you as well. The perfect fusion of the two."
"I still can't believe they never told me about you," Flash sighed, "Kinda makes me wonder how they feel about you....I know I had some problems when I finally met them."
"Oh, they care about us," Snap chucked, patting Flash's side, "After all, they entrusted us with the two most important things they ever had."
Flash turned to him, blinking as he asked, "What do you mean?"
"Simple. You and your sister's future." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "You looked confused. You see, when they came back to Equestria, before leaving you at the orphanage, they came to us and told us all about Misty's prediction."
Snap nodded at this, "And while they believed everything she saw would come true, they feared something might happen to them and both you and Scoots would never get to learn the truth. They lived a very dangerous life, exploring and searching for undiscovered secrets. That's why they asked us to be your...godparents if you will."
"If anything every happened to them, they asked us to take you in an look after you." Allgood chimed in, "To adopt the two of you and keep you safe. Of course, that never happened."
Flash sat back at this, slightly frowning, "I can't believe they trusted you with something so important. But if that's the case...why didn't you ever reveal yourselves after my parents did?"
"We uh...had a lot to do at the time. Unlike your parents, we kept in touch with Equestria a lot."
"Oh."
"Sounds like they thought highly of you though," Rancher chimed in.
"We like to think so too," Snap replied before staring right at Flash. "Sorry we were never there for yah in the past, champ."
"That's okay, I um...kinda expect it from this family." Flash responded, shrugging, "My life might have been hard, but I don't regret anything that happened to me. I wouldn't be the pony I am today without it." Everypony slightly smiled at this as they finished their supper, Rancher doing one last check up with his Speed Stingers before they all went to bed.
Despite laying on the hard ground, Flash found himself falling to sleep surprisingly easy. He quickly entered a dream of a world made entirely out of chocolate and marshmallows, drool pouring out of his mouth. But before he could start eating his own pillow, he suddenly found himself getting shaken.
"Sentry!" Lightning's voice called out, "Get up!"
Flash's eyes shot open, instantly getting to his hooves. "What is it?! Are we under attack?!"
Lightning shook his head, "No, it's the Speed Stingers!"
"They're gone!" Rancher cried out as he searched his cart over, "This isn't right! They wouldn't leave!" He spun around, "Zippy! Swift-Claw! Blur! Streak! Peppermint! Where are you?!"
"I thought you said they wouldn't run away?" Flash asked, Rancher turning to him.
"They wouldn't!" he repeated. "Something must have took them!"
"All of them?" Lightning asked, "What the heck would be fast enough to grab five Speed Stingers?!"
"And why didn't it take us?" Flash added as he took to the air.
"No idea." Lightning commented before looking up at the defender, "See anything?"
"No, but-"
"I got tracks!" Snap called out from a nearby tree, the others turning to him as he pointed to some broken branches. "Something hit this tree."
Flash descended down, humming at the sight, "But if something's been here, why didn't hear anything?"
"Not sure. Maybe-"
"Hey! Look what I found!" Allgood yelled, making them to turn to see her flying down while holding another clump of the amber stuff Lightning had discovered the day before.
"Where'd you find that?"
"That way," Snap pointed west to the rocks. "Looks like Flash's theory about the cause was right on the money."
"Then let's get going!" Rancher exclaimed as he quickly started to throwing stuff into the cart, "The longer we wait around here, the less likely it is to find my Speed Stingers before something happens to 'em!" The others nodded at this, soon packing up their camp before Flash and Allgood grabbed the reins and pulled the cart to the rocks.
"So what's the deal with this place?" Flash asked Rancher, "Any idea what might be waiting for us in there?"
"Could be anything," Rancher replied, "I haven't been to Swiss Canyon in a long time. Not my favorite place."
"Swiss Canyon?" Lightning asked as the rocks drew closer, "Weird name."
Rancher chuckled at this, "When you see the place, you'll instantly know why it's called that." He pointed ahead, "There's an opening into the canyon that way. We'll have to leave the cart out here. Some of the walls can get pretty narrow."
Half an hour after leaving their campsite, the five got to the entrance, pulling the cart to a stop. Once there, they glanced at at the walls of the canyon, estimating that they were roughly thirty-five meters tall. And as soon as their eyes shifted over those walls, the reason for the name became quite clear. The rocks was covered in round holes that were both big and small, some that could fit a pony in while others wouldn't barely fit their hoof. It looked just like a block of swiss cheese, and one of those holes was halfway through the ground, creating a tunnel that allowed the five to walk into the canyon.
Flash was the first to enter, the knight readying his sword as Lightning walked behind him. The two saw that the inside walls were just as high as the outside with just as many holes. But before they could start to explore, the group suddenly jumped when they heard a loud banging sound, spinning around to see Rancher hammering a metal nail with a ring on the end into the rock.
"What are you doing?" Lightning barked before seeing him tie some rope around the ring.
"This place is a natural maze. If we don't have some way to find our way back, we could be lost in here forever." They decided to not mention the fact they had two pegasus and a teleporting unicorn on their team, all now heading inside. With no tracks or signs of light to lead them, they began to wander aimlessly through the rocks.
"This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" Lightning grumbled, Flash giving him a deadpan stare.
"Its part of the job."
"I know." Lightning sighed, twirling a dagger in his hoof, "Just don't care for this much earth. Makes my magic less effective."
"You'll be fine." Flash replied before they took a turn and found a dead end. The fifth one since they started.
"I'm starting to think there's nothing in here but dead ends," Lightning growled as they spun around.
"Maybe it'd be better if I look over the place from the sky," Flash suggested, "Maybe I can find a clue or something."
"There's also a chance you could lose sight of us and can't find us again," Snap pointed out as they turned another corner.
But as they did this, they all went wide-eyed while gasping. A giant pile of spike white rocks lay in front of them, filling the entire canyon.
"Are those what I think they are?" Flash asked.
"Bones," Allgood gulped, nodding as Snap walked up to them.
"So many different creatures here," he commented as picked up several skulls, "Coyote, fox, meerkat. There's even a few cow and sheep bones." He then gasped and threw one of the bones away, getting the others' attention.
"What? What is it?"
He turned to them with a long grimace, "I can uh...I can safely say this is the cause of those ponies disappearing."
They all went wide-eyed at that statement, their eyes slowly going to the bones he just threw away. But as they did this, Lightning walked up and picked up a chunk of amber, "This stuff again? Why is-"
But as he said this, a loud scream filled the air, coming from the other side of the bone pile. The group turned to it, Flash asking, "Okay, what was that?"
"That mate, is a creature in trouble."
Rancher quickly ran into the bones, Flash flying after him and picking the stallion up. "What are you doing?!"
"That might be my Speed Stingers! I need to help 'em!"
"You're not gonna help them like that!" Flash yelled as he began to fly up, gliding over to the top of the mountain wall behind the bone pile.
"Let me go!"
"Just stop squirming and I'll help you over this, alright?" Flash said as Rancher tired to move, the sound of animal screams ringing out again. As this happened, Lightning teleported the group to where Flash was flying up to. And as a flash of light made them appear, they saw that beyond the bone pile was the center of the maze. Inside was a small mountain-like rock that was roughly twenty to twenty-five meters tall and had several large hole scattered around it.
But as they saw this, they went wide-eyed again as they saw a ton of amber of multiple types and sizes scattered around the ground, animals inside every piece of amber. All but their heads were encased within the large amount of amber. There didn't seem to be a single pony amongst them, but several loads of New Omniara cattle were obviously there.
"What the heck is this?!" Lightning asked.
Snap hummed at the sight, "Well...Ah'm certain now that this amber isn't naturally generated."
Allgood nodded, "Real sap wouldn't harden this fast. And there's no way the trees around here could make this much."
"So what are you saying?" Flash added as he landed with Rancher.
"We're saying that something or somepony is producing this amber, and using it to trap whatever living thing it can find." The others turned to her as she grimaced at her next words, "And...I'm guessing whatever it is....is eating them."
The others gulped before Rancher responded, "But what is it that's doing all this?"
And as that question came out of his mouth, a loud roar echoed out of one of the holes in the rock, making them turn before jumping behind either rocks or a trapped cow. Seconds later, the owner of the roar exploded out of the hole. It was a giant brown slug or snail creature, but it had a mouth with razor sharp teeth and three long tentacle-like whiskers on either side of its head. Everypony glanced out of their hiding places, Snap and Allgood gasping at the sight as the creature stared around before using one of its whiskers to reach down and grab a cow. Once it did that, it retracted the whisker, pulling its body and the cow back into the hole.
When they were sure it was gone, everypony stepped out of hiding, Lightning speaking up first, "Ooookay, does anypony wanna tell me what the heck that was?!"
"It's a loucarcolh," Snap whispered, "But that's impossible."
"What's a loo...car...coal?" Flash asked next.
"A creature that's supposed to be extinct. I can't believe there's a living loucarcolh here in Equestria."
"And it's what captured everything here?"
Snap nodded at this, "Studies have shown it was able to shoot some kind of substance from its whiskers, but what that substance was has been left undetermined...until now."
Lightning stared at the loucarcolh's hole, "Well, if you ever want to update the scientific community, I suggest we get out of here."
"Oh, no we aren't!" Rancher barked back, "I'm not leaving without my Speed Stingers!"
With that, he cut off into a sprint, the others sighing before following him. He began to yell their names, Flash turning to the group as he asked, "So did the loucarcolh make all these holes?"
Snap shook his head, "No, it couldn't have. Loucarcolh were believed to be diggers, but they could only burrow through soft soil. Rock and hard soil should be impossible for them."
Allgood nodded at this, "It was believed to act like hermit crabs, searching for places to act as a defensive home to protect its fragile body. If these holes are all interconnected, then it would be the perfect place for it to live. And the holes we found yesterday must have also been natural underground rivers that either dried up or were blocked, allowing it to reshape them to its liking and use to hunt for creatures out of this area."
"But those holes were miles away," Lightning chimed in, "There's no way something that big could fit more than one of its whiskers into 'em. How's it able to hunt?"
"No idea," Snap hummed. "It's possible it can stretch its body, making its whiskers long enough to move that far. Or maybe the tunnels get bigger further in. Honestly, ah'd rather not find out the hard way."
The others nodded as Rancher kept yelling, "Zippy! Swift-Claw! Streak! Blur! Peppermint! Where are you?!" It was here that he heard the familiar call of his Speed Stingers, running up to see a they were all trapped in a single blob of amber with only their heads sticking out. "No!" He screamed, "Hang on! I'll get you all out of there!"
"Wait! Get back!" Flash told him as he flew in front of him, his sword beginning to glow. "Flash Cutter!" He swung his blade down, but it simply bounced off the amber while the light was sucked into it. The amber glowed for a second before stopping. "Oh...yeah, forgot it did that."
"There has to be someway to get them out of here," Rancher added, only for another roar to suddenly ring out. They turned to see the loucarcolh's head shoot out of a hole and before any of them could jump for cover, it saw them and let out a screech.
"Not good," Flash gulped as the loucarcolh raised its whiskers, pointing the ends in their direction. "MOVE!" The ponies tried to scatter, the snail monster now spitting orange goop out of its tube-like whiskers. Blobs struck the ground, the goop then solidifying into amber in just a few seconds.
Lightning leapt onto one of the amber encased cows as his horn sparked, "Static Spear!" The bolt of electricity exploded out of his horn, hitting the loucarcolh in the side of its head, making it cry out, "Yes!" Lightning cheered before turning to the others, "Come on, let's get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving them to that thing's mercy!" Rancher yelled as he started to punch the amber holding his Speed Stingers.
Lightning groaned at this before hearing Flash's voice, "Lightning, watch out!" He looked back at the snail, the creature now pointing its whiskers at him before firing goop right at the unicorn.
"GYAH!" He cried as the slime hit him, knocking him off the amber and hitting the canyon floor with a thud. He then felt the substance begin to harden, sticking him to the ground. In mere seconds, everything but his head and tail was encased, the unicorn unable to move.
"Lightning!" Flash yelled before taking to the air, dodging a stray slime shot. "Hang on! We'll get you out of there!" But as he said this, Allgood's wing was struck by some slime, making her scream.
"Ahhh!" She cried as the liquid hardened around her wing, making her fall as the loucarcolh fired some more slime. The warm substance struck her body, quickly cooling and amberizing until it formed the cocoon around her. Like Lightning, only her head was free.
Rancher was the next one caught, the unicorn ranger still trying to free his Speed Stinger when the beast hit him in the back, pinning him against their cocoon before the slime hardened and struck to it. "Ahhh!" He exclaimed, "Oh, just great!"
Flash zipped over to Lightning, the unicorn sparking his horn to try and teleport out of the cocoon. But before he could, the light was sucked out of his horn and into the amber, making it glow. The knight saw this, grimacing as he saw the magic be worthless, "Keep trying Lightning!" he yelled before pulling a hoof back to punch the amber, "There's gotta be a way to get this stuff off of you. Let me-"
"FLASH!" Snap yelled just as the snail began to shoot some goop at the defender. The earth pony shoved him, the slime hitting him.
"SNAP!" Flash cried as Snap fell to the ground, only to hear the beast growling.
"Run!" Snap yelled from his cocoon, "Ya'll no good to us caught!" Flash nodded and took to the air, zipping to the exit while dodging several shots of slime. But as he took a turn around a canyon wall, he looked back to see the loucarcolh now following him, a glob of slime flying over his head. Flash began to sprint again, hovering over the ground as he continued to pick up speed. And as the defender left the eyesight of the others, Snap whispered out, "Be careful."
Flash kept himself just above the ground, zipping through the rocky maze as he kept looking back every few seconds. He knew he couldn't fly too high, knowing the loucarcolh could suddenly shoot out of a hole. And as he took a turn in the maze, the snail came right out of a hole, Flash ducking under a slime shot before pointing his blade, "Flash Force!"
He unleashed a laser right above the loucarcolh, the rocks breaking to pieces before avalanching down. The beast retracted his head at this, dodging the rock slide. As this happened, Flash spun around and zipped down another corner, making turn and turn. But as he did this, the loucarcolh's head shot out of some rocks in front of him.
It didn't see him, letting Flash jump into one of the holes before it turned to see him. He tried not to make a sound, the pegasus moving further into the tunnel as one of its whiskers moved in front of the opening. The whisker began touching the rock around the hole, Flash noticing several hairs covering it that were vibrating.
The sight made him see that the loucarcolh must detect pray using vibrations, so tried to stay as still as pony-ly possible. His heart raced as the whisker moved inside the tunnel, slithering up to him. He held his breath as the whisker stopped mere inches from him, his lungs burning as he tried not to let out any breath that it would detect.
But as this happened, the whisker then slowly pulled back, leaving the hole. Flash waited a few more seconds as the loucarcolh's growls remained, but then let out a breath once he heard it retract back into the rock. And once his breathing was back to normal, he spread his wings and flew out of the hole without touching the sides.
"Okay..." he sighed, "Amber spitting giant snail that can detect movement from underground. So as long as I stay in the air, it shouldn't detect me....I hope." He then flew back to the center of the maze, his mind now going over how to save the others from the amber. "Come on Flash...you gotta solve this now."
Meanwhile...
The group was still stuck, sighs all around as Rancher kept trying to squirm in the amber, "Raaaah! Where is Flash?! I knew he'd leave us!" His teeth grinded as he continued, "I need to pee!"
"He didn't leave us," Lightning barked back, "He'll be back." He then looked down, "If I could just reach my knives."
"It wouldn't matter," Allgood groaned as her squirmed back and forth, "Whatever this is, it's really strong. I don't think we can cut through it."
"If we can't cut it, then how do we get out of here?!" Rancher exclaimed.
"Everything has a weakness," Snap replied, "If we can just figure out what that thing is, then we can escape." But as he said this, Snap suddenly found himself getting slammed by something, knocking him back. "Whoa! What's happening?!" He yelped as the amber slumped back, making him look up at the sky before seeing a certain pegasus standing over him.
"Oookay," An upside-down Flash sighed, "So that's a negative on plan A: Ramming the cocoon open."
"Please tell me you have a plan B," Lightning moaned, only to see Flash rub his chin in thought, "Sentry, we need something here!"
"Give me a sec! I usually leave the thinking stuff to Twilight, remember?!"
Allgood sighed. "Well if it involves cutting, ramming or ripping, you might as well forget it Flash. Once it cools down, this stuff is as hard as any rock I've ever seen."
Those words made a light-bulb go off in Flash's head as he asked, "Cools down?"
"And hardens," Allgood added as Flash shined a big grin. "Got an idea?"
"I've got an idea," he instantly replied, "Nopony move." They all gave him a deadpan stare, "Oh...right." He spread his wings, quickly flying above the maze before rocketing over to the entrance. There he found Rancher's cart and their saddlebags, Flash beginning to rummage through until he found what he was looking for. "Gotcha."
When the defender returned, the others found he was now carrying a large jar that Snap and Allgood instantly recognized. "Good on yah mate!" Snap cheered as Flash began to cover them in the slime, "Now that's thinking outside the amber cocoon."
"I just hope there's enough slime," Allgood added, soon finding that Flash was able to cover all the ponies and the animals in the slime while also connecting the cocoons with trails of slime.
"So you're gonna set me on fire?" Rancher asked as Flash covered his chest in the stuff.
"I'm setting the slime on fire. It burns right off and will melt the slime enough for you to get away. It'll only sting for a few seconds...probably."
"That's not reassuring!" Rancher cried before a familiar roar rang out.
The loucarcolh's head shot out of the rock, Flash having leapt into hiding to wait for it to leave. The others stayed as still as possible, hoping that their lack of movement would put the creature off. The loucarcolh stretched out a whisker that began moving around the area close to Rancher, the unicorn struggling to keep his breathing in check as the tentacle got close. But as it did this, it then grabbed a cow just in front of him and pulled it up. The poor piece of cattle mooed as it was pulled into the cave with the snail monster.
With it gone, Rancher let out a sigh before crying out, "You have to hurry up! It just took the appetizer and I think I'm the main course!"
"Will you relax?" Lightning responded as Flash continued his work. "It could take hours for him to eat that cow." But as he said this, the group was suddenly shrouded in darkness as the loucarcolh shot its head out, staring the ponies down.
"OR SECONDS!" Rancher screamed as a tentacle came down to him and his Speed Stingers. "AHHHHH!"
The loucarcolh was about to grab him, only for a beam of light to shoot down and hit its head. The beast roared and turned to the source, seeing Flash smiling down with a pointed blade, "Hey there, remember me?" The snail roared and began firing at him, Flash taking to the air to dodge the amber slime.
Another roar came from the beast, pulling its head back into the rock. Flash raising an eyebrow at this, slowly moving down to the start of the slime trail, only for one of the loucarcolh's whiskers to shoot out of a hole, firing another blast of slime. "Whoa!" Flash yelped as he flapped his wings, barely dodging the slime.
"Okay...new strategy." Flash commented before pulling his sword back, then throwing it at a nearby wall. A loud clang rang out a this, the impact causing several sparks that flew down and hit the slime, causing it to ignite. Flash smirked at the sight, he and the loucarcolh watching as the flames shot across the field and heated up the amber cocoons. The others flinched at the heat, only to feel their prisons loosen. One by one, the ponies managed to break out of the cocoons.
"YES!" Snap cheered as the amber shattered, pushing himself back up, "It worked!"
"Yeah it did!" Lightning and Allgood exclaimed, followed by Rancher and his Speed Stingers. The other animals began to escape, the loucarcolh watching in horror as he began to ready his whiskers. But before it could fire anything, Flash shot up to his face and fired a beam right between its eyes.
"That's the way!" Flash laughed as the snail got knocked back with a cry of pain.
"FLASH!" He turned back to see Lightning, his horn flaring, "Let's get out of here!"
"Go!" Flash yelled before dodging a blast of amber. "I'm gonna make sure this guy doesn't come after us." He turned back to the loucarcolh as his body glowed, "ARMORIZE!" His body exploded as his Shining Guardian armor appeared, blinding the loucarcolh long enough for the others to run out of canyon.
Flash then flew into one of the nearby holes, the loucarcolh trying to give chase. The Knight of Friendship soared through the tunnel as fast as he could, turning a corner only to see one of the whiskers coming down the other ends. "Whoa!" He yelped before heading down another tunnel, the whisker following him as he zigged and zagged around. He then found himself coming down another tunnel, spotting another whisker coming down the opposite direction.
There was a tunnel right above him, making another bulb go off in his head, "Oh yeah." He fired a blast from his chest crystal that struck the whisker in front of him, causing the loucarcolh to growl in pain before firing a shot of amber. However, Flash just flew straight up, the amber striking the whisker behind him and trapping its end in a cocoon.
The loucarcolh roared again as the un-trapped whisker chased after him, Flash flying into another tunnel before finding another whisker. He did the same as before, one tentacle firing some amber that ended up hitting the other whisker, trapping it in amber. The tunnels echoed with its roar as Flash continued to fly through them, only to come up to a tunnel large enough that the beast's head was in it. "YIKES!" He cried as he ignited his wing boosters, accelerating fast enough to avoid the loucarcolh's biting mouth, zipping into a smaller tunnel.
The loucarcolh sent another whisker after him, Flash then coming out into a chamber with three holes. Each hole had a whisker coming out of it, making Flash grumble, "Not good." He bit his lip, his mind racing as the whiskers got close, "Wait...that's it!" He raised his hooves, firing a blast from each of his four boot-gems. Each one struck a tentacle, making the loucarcolh fire some slime out of each whisker.
Flash smirked before he stopped flying, dropping down and embracing the ground as the amber flew over him, hitting each other whisker. All four whiskers were trapped at the tip, making it impossible for the loucarcolh to fire amber. "And that's all she wrote." Flash chuckled as he pointed his sword straight up, his wing jets firing up. "FLASH DRIVER!" He spun into a drill, shooting straight up into the rock ceiling, tunneling right through it. But as he did this, he found himself digging right into another tunnel, quickly breaking out of his attack before flying out of the rocky maze.
At the entrance...
The others had gotten out of the maze, now at the cart. Rancher quickly hooked his Speed Stingers up, grabbing the reins as he got in his seat. "Where's Flash?" Allgood asked, only for the face of the canyon's wall to suddenly explode as a stream of light shot out of it. That light faded to show a still glowing Flash, staring at the wall.
"FLASH!" Snap yelled, "Let's go!"
"Almost done!" Flash replied as the light around him grew brighter, only to let out a mighty roar before it exploded off of him.
"Crikey," Snap whispered as the light took the form of a twenty meter alicorn with Flash in the center of the head. The avatar stared at the wall before spinning around and smashing its energy tail into side of the wall, causing it to break apart, filling the holes with a barrage of rubble. And once the holes were filled, the avatar began to flicker and fade away, Flash slowly falling down as his armor began to vanish. The pegasus let out a moan as he felt his energy leave him, only to suddenly start glowing yellow as Lightning caught him in his magic. As this happened, the unicorn pulled him to the cart as he, Snap and Allgood caught him.
"You okay?" Snap asked as they laid him out on the cart.
"Yeah..." Flash moaned, "It just...takes a lot out of me."
"No wonder," Allgood giggled before pointing to the damage the avatar caused. "Talk about power. No way the loucarcolh is getting out of there."
"But it can still use the underground tunnels," Snap added, "We shouldn't let our guard down until we get back to town." They all nodded as Rancher snapped the reins, the Speed Stingers cutting into a sprint as the group wanted to get away as fast as possible.
Luckily, the loucarcolh didn't attack again before they got back to town. Once there, they told Great Taste and the others who needed to know about the loucarcolh. The ponies were horrified to hear about the fate of their friends, some asking what they planned on doing about the creature.
"This enough?" A pony standing on a cart full of rocks.
"It should be," Snap replied, nodding, "Once we fill the holes with these rocks, we need ta pour cement on top ta make sure it can't get out."
"I still don't like the idea of that creature being there," Taste added, "What if more of our animals escape and run into it?"
"Don't you worry," Allgood responded, "Snap Shutter and I are gonna inform the Equestrian Board of Rare animals about the loucarcolh. Once they find out one's still alive, they'll work on relocating it to a nature preserve. There, there won't be anypony to accidently get close to it....though they might need to ask a few soldiers to help. The thing was more dangerous than we thought."
Over at the inn, Flash was sitting on the roofed area overlooking the porch while Lightning was leaning against a beam. "Looks like our work here is done," Lightning commented while twirling a dagger in his hoof, "Think it's about time we head back to Canterlot?"
"Not yet," Flash replied, "We should probably wait a day of two to make sure nothing bad happens until they've finished sealing up those holes. The loucarcolh might leave its home in Swiss Canyon and come looking for us." Lightning nodded at this. "Plus, it'll give Heart a little more time training with Grand."
"You make it sound like you want gramps to be Heart's mentor."
"Of course not," Flash responded, letting out a slight chuckle, "But if I come back and he hasn't made any progress, he'll probably feel bad. This'll give him more time."
"I guess. It is gramps were talking about." Lightning added before Salt and Pepper ran up to them.
"Flash! Lightning! We made dinner! Hope you two like stew."
"Who doesn't?!" Flash laughed before jumping down and landing next to Lightning. But when they walked inside, they found Rancher's Speed Stingers on the table eating out of a large pot that had had the stew in it. When they noticed they had an audience, the raptors pulled their heads out of the pot and turned to them before giving the best innocent smile it could give.
The ponies all laughed at this, soon trying to find something else to eat. Flash and Lightning's adventures in New Omniara had been an interesting one, filled with friends both old and new. They could only wonder how things were going back home, specifically Heart's training.
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Are cows sentient in this AU? I think they might be in canon, which makes the eating scenes feel pretty disturbing.
I think you mean... Alicronparents... ah
Is that a...
, yes it is.
Well, Flash, mi boi, it's sort of a cross between a slug and a dragon, but not a half-dragon slug.
A nice chapter, so what can we expect to come next?
Well, I finally know what was the mission that Flash and Lightning took part of.... nice chapter.
Loucarcolh sound like a creature you definitely don't want to mess with or else that thing will eat you up.
Nice interaction between Flash and his godparents and unlike his first encounter with his birth parents, he didn't hold a grudge to them and get along with them.
I laugh at Rancher being acting like Damsel in Distress, he think he's a badass cowboy and yet, he cries like a baby!
Here's highlights
Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood? I didn't expect both of you to appear so early.
Because Banshee didn't expect them to appear in the show and he didn't hint about their appearance in the fic, Flash.
Think of them as Remember the New Guy? Characters that wasn't mentioned before is established to have connection with characters.
BURN!!!!!
Gruesome.... no wonder why Flash said he PG'd the story to the kids.
Let's see.... 2 chapter left before the inevitable 2 part Season Finale and a certain villain is coming back for vengeance. 😈
That was a great chapter and one that explained Flash and Lightning's mission. It definitely shows how far they've come working together.
Glad we got to see Flash/Lightning's mission while Heart's training lessons were going on back home. Really getting some *Graboids* feelings with this loucarcolh fellow, hope it's the last one of those, especially after seeing what it did to those caught by it!
Cool touch as well at using Scoot's canon parents in a different way, at least Flash wasn't angry at them like his real folks when first met!
And up this trail we come across.......Highlights! :
Sheesh, tell me about it!
Huh, good use of the culprit in Spike's comic story here Banshee!
Welp, there goes my appetite for a couple hours!
Good adventure chapter Banshee, till the next one!
Glad we were able to see what Flash and Lightning's mission was. Was not expecting the citizens from Omniara to return, but the biggest surprise were Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood making an appearance. You gave a good alternate take on them, with them being Flash and Scootaloo's godparents.
That loucarcolh was very disturbing though, especially when they found all those bones. No wonder Flash needed to make his story "PG" for the kids, that thing is pure nightmare fuel.
Well you've given me a reason not to totally hate Mane and Snap. They're still irresponsible ponies though. I mean Flash and Scoots where orphans for years, and these two were suppose to come and take responsibility for them. And yet Flash didn't find out about them until after his own folks. They're not as bad as in cannon. But they shouldn't be responsible for children at all. Leave that to Lofty and Holiday.
Overall it was a nice chapter, pretty pleased with the explanation on Flash and Lightning's mission during Heart’s training. I did enjoy how you made both of Scootaloo cannon parents their godparents.
I’m such a fan of Httyd that these parts reminded me so much of the scene in Httyd Race to the Edge when they met the Death Song and the gang except Hiccup got captured.
Warning! NSFW reference coming up. The reference itself is clean, but the thing that's being referenced isn't. Anyway, I'm getting huge Gin and Joichiro vibes from this section.