The Mean Seven
Flash Sentry smirked as he finished packing the last of his supplies into his saddlebag while going over everything he had been asked to do by Twilight before leaving. "Make sure Scootaloo has her toothbrush for staying over at Applebloom's, check. Hide the sugar so the jakhowls don't bake anything and wreck the place, check. Make sure the lights are all turned off in every room not being occupied..." He stopped and turned his room's light off, "Check." He rolled the scroll up, "Everything's done."
He walked out of the room and found Springer staring at him, "You ready to go?"
"Yup," Flash nodded. "And just in time. If Twilight's trip gets delayed, she's gonna start panicking."
Springer laughed at this, "Trust Twilight to turn what's supposed to be a relaxing vacation into a stress inducing event. I'm not gonna be surprised if you're gonna need a vacation after the vacation." Flash laughed back. "So..." Springer tapped his claws together, "I kinda need your help. I wanted to hide something from Spike, but I can't think of a place he wouldn't look. Any ideas?"
Flash rolled his eyes, "Nice try. I'm not telling you where the sugar is."
Springer sighed, "Come on. You all get to have some fun, why can't I?"
"The last time we let you have fun, it took us a week to fix the hole in the wall." Springer grumbled at this as Flash flew out the window before he could complain, the pegasus heading for the school and making a beeline for Twilight's office. "Hey!" He waved when he arrived and found he was the last one there, Starlight and the rest of the Mane Seven already there. "We ready to start camping?"
"Soon," Twilight replied, "But first we need to get our pictures taken."
"For what?" Twilight responded by taking out a scroll that Flash took and read. "Dear Princess Twilight, we at the Canterlot Historical Society have heard about your School of Friendship's many excellent accomplishments so far and would like to document the teachers that work there. This will ensure that for years to come, ponies will remember all that was done by you and the lessons you have passed on to other generations." He shined a big grin at this, "Wow. That's cool. Though considering everything we've through, I think we're already gonna be remembered for years to come."
"Well, this can just be added to our awesomeness," Rainbow chimed in, "I can see it now...hundred years from now, ponies will remember the great Rainbow Dash! Wonderbolt, Element of Harmony, super awesome teacher-"
"And one of the two best breakdancers ever!" Pinkie screamed as she and Rainbow started breakdancing in perfect sync before striking a pose, the others clapping.
"So...is this gonna take long?" Flash asked, "I'd hate for your trip to be cancelled because we have to spend all day getting interviewed."
"The interviews come later," Twilight took the scroll back and read it. "According to this, they just want to take pictures of us today. The time they're supposed to arrive is twenty minutes before we're set to leave." Flash nodded and they all began to wait...and wait...and wait. The time they were supposed to arrived came and went, Twilight beginning to pace. Every minute that passed, Twilight grew more and more nervous. "Oh, come on!" She cried thirty minutes after they were supposed to arrive. "I've been planning this retreat for weeks, and we're already ten minutes behind! Where is that photographer?!"
As soon as she said that, they heard a voice coming from the hallway. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no!" The door suddenly slammed open to reveal green unicorn mare with a two toned brown mane that had a camera around her neck. "I'm so sorry!" She cried, "Can you forgive me? I don't expect you to forgive me. Forgive me?" She shined her best puppy dog eyes, making Twilight moan as Starlight stepped up.
"Of course," the unicorn assured her, "I'll help you set up your-"
"Princess Twilight," the photographer leapt past Starlight and focused on the alicorn. "Thanks so much for this! The Canterlot Historical Society is thrilled to document the friendship work your teachers do!" Twilight smiled and was about to talk, but then the unicorn spoke faster than she could. "Let me just pretty you all up!" With that, she started ruffling Twilight's mane and even pulled a hair from her. She then shot over to the others and did the same, pulling a strand out of their manes or tail. The only one she didn't do was Starlight, the last one she inspected being Rainbow.
"Ow!" The pegasus yelped, glaring at her. "Hey!"
"Don't want a single hair out of place, do we?" the mare replied, "This is for the history books! Now..." Before any of them could try and pose, the mare started taking photos of them, not paying any attention to Starlight and was about to snap one of Flash.
"Um...you're not by any chance a fake pony created by a spider monster looking to suck me into the photos, are you?" The mare went wide-eyed at the question, "You'd be surprised how often that happens." The mare rolled her eyes and took the photo of him, quickly adding his picture to the others.
"Well, that's that! Bye!" She turned to leave, but before she could, Pinkie leapt into the doorframe.
"Waaaait!" She exclaimed, "You forgot Starlight! She needs a picture too!"
Starlight smiled and the mare frowned. "Kay." She snapped the photo, not looking as careful as she had been when taking the other's photos. "Now I'll get out of your manes. I know how busy you are." With that, she turned and ran away, all blinking at the sight.
"Is it just me, or was she acting kinda funny?" Flash asked.
"How can you even tell anymore?" Rainbow added.
"Point taken. After all the weird ponies we meet all the time, I really shouldn't ask. So, we gonna get this trip underway?" They all nodded back. "Good. Then let's get going!"
As soon as the mare was out of the school, her cheerful bubbly demeanor completely vanished as she shot into the forest. The mare smirked as she looked down at the photos and hairs she had acquired, "Now I have everything I need." She was then suddenly consumed by a burst of green fire, soon reappearing as the changeling queen Chrysalis.
She trotted through the Everfree Forest next, occasionally blasting anything that moved so as to not cause her any troubles before arriving at a collection of trees in a circle. "Yes..." she told the pictures as she started pinning them to different trees, "I know! We have been planning this for quite some time." She let out an evil laugh as she stuck the hairs to the pictures of the ponies they belonged to. "Oh, thank you, Applejack. My spell can create a copy of anypony I desire. All I need is an image and a piece of the pony." She then sniffed the air before smirking. "Oh, and this."
She blasted the tree truck, causing a very familiar trio of apples to appear below the picture. She then turned to another picture and moved up to it, "Why copies, Rarity? Because Princess Twilight and her friends control the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful weapon in all Equestria." She blasted the tree and created three diamonds to appeared. "Which means you-will-be-able-to-use-them-too!" She skipped along with each word she spoke, then blasted a tree with three balloons. "And serve me!" She shot a butterfly brand into another tree. "Together, we will destroy Twilight Sparkle and her meddlesome friends!" She blasted Rainbow's tree with her cutie mark, then acted like she heard something and turned to the picture of Twilight.
"Of course I haven't forgotten Starlight Glimmer!" She blasted Flash's tree with the lightning shield next, "She stole my hive! Turned my subjects against me! So, I'll take her friends away while she watches! And then, I'll destroy her!" She let out a maniacal laugh and burned the six-pointed star into the tree, then stepped into the center.
"With the Elements under my control, I'll build a new hive of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi." Her horn glowed, a circle of green magic appearing around her. "And I will rule as Queen once again!" With that, she fired seven beams that hit the marks. Each mark then fired a beam at the tree to its left, forming a large magical circle as Chrysalis smiled.
The trees then began to crack, green light filling those cracks before the tops peeled downward. Once the peels had rolled themselves all the way down to the ground, green orbs of light could be seen hidden within. Those spheres quickly began to take pony shape and the light soon faded, revealing near perfect copies of the seven heroes of Equestria.
Twilight, Flash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood around the changeling queen, who took them in and quickly noticed a few differences between them and the real things. Their manes and coats looked a little faded, but in the dim light of the forest, it was barely noticeable. Their cutie marks, however, were a different story: Applejack's apples were green, Fluttershy butterflies were blue, Rarity's gems were dark blue boarding on black, Pinkie's balloon's were in a different arrangement, Rainbow's cutie mark was upside down, Flash's shield was yellow and the lightning was blue, while Twilight's six-pointed star only had three white ones around it.
"YES! It worked!"
With their photographs taken, the seven ponies set out on their retreat. Like the one who had stolen their image, they all headed into the forest. "Hmm," Twilight stared at her scroll and nodded, "At least our retreat isn't too far behind schedule. Get ready for some fun!"
"Are we talking fun fun, or learning pretending to be fun?" Rainbow asked, Twilight giving her a smirk back.
"Both!" She cheered, "We've all been so busy teaching, we've hardly had a chance to hang out with each other. And I may have scheduled some friendship activities as well!"
She sang that last part, as Pinkie bounced up. "Count me in! We can do friendship trust falls and pony pyramids! Oh! And hide and seek!" She shot away at this, "Quick! Find me!"
"Don't go too far!" Flash yelled, the rest just shaking their heads before seeing the path in front of them, which was filled with flowers. "This might be a prettier part of the Everfree Forest, but it's still the Everfree Forest." He patted his Celestic Gear, "We could still run into cragadiles or timberwolves."
"Oh, don't worry so much Flash," Twilight chimed in, "I chose this path because it appears to be the least populated area of the forest. We shouldn't have any monster encounters on this retreat."
Fluttershy smiled at this, "Well, I love the idea of some quiet time with my best friends."
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Fluttershy jumped and shrank down to mouse size when Pinkie leapt out of a bush, a giant grin on her face. "You found me!"
"Yeah..." Flash picked the tiny Fluttershy up, "I don't think quiet is ever gonna be part of the agenda with something involving Pinkie Pie." The mare giggled at this, jumping out of the bushes and bouncing away, Fluttershy sighing. "Maybe we should have brought headphones for you."
Fluttershy then returned to normal size as Rainbow flew over to Applejack and Rarity, seeing Applejack pulling a wagon full of stuff, "Rarity, why is Applejack carrying all your stuff?"
"Oh, that's not mine." Rarity replied before pointing to a very small saddlebag strapped to her side. "Yes, I used to overpack a tad, but now it's just the essentials for me. I'm a simple filly."
Rainbow smirked at this and turned to Applejack, "Normally I wouldn't lug so much gear, but did y'all know this is Starlight's first time campin'?"
They looked back at the unicorn, Starlight rubbing her leg at this, "I just never really felt the need to...hang out. In nature that is." As she said that, a bunch of flies and other insects began buzzing out of the bushes toward her. "Home has books, tea, fewer bugs, a roof..."
"That attitude right there is why I brought the whole kit and caboodle."
"What's a caboodle?" Flash asked, "And will the kitten be okay without it?" The others laughed at this as Applejack rolled her eyes and pulled out a green poncho that had red smudges on it.
"I'm givin' Starlight the full Apple family campin' experience!" She threw the poncho over Starlight's head, the unicorn unable to see before pulling her head through the hole in the front, forcing her to wear the thing.
"Nice," Flash laughed, "Too bad the photographer couldn't get a picture of that."
"Funny," Starlight rolled her eyes.
Fluttershy stepped over to Twilight. "Um, where are we camping?"
"Right next to the Elements that brought us all together in the first place. The Tree of Harmony!" They all smiled at this, glad they would be next to something so special. The Tree of Harmony had protected Equestria for so many years, and would continue protecting it for decades to come. Nothing could be more special.
But as they continued to walk toward the tree, Chrysalis was standing over her new minions. "Listen to your queen!" She exclaimed, Rainbow currently leaning against a tree looking unimpressed while Pinkie was laid out on the ground looking bored. Fluttershy was pulling grass out of the ground, Rarity glaring at the group while Applejack just sat there, and Flash looked very uncomfortable. "We must retrieve the Elements of Harmony!"
The mares all glared at her while Flash gulped. Pinkie then sat up and crossed her hooves. "Hunting down some lame Elements? This is the worst day ever!"
But as she said that, Fluttershy flicked some mud into her face. "No. Now it's the worst day ever!" She let out a cruel laugh as Rarity ran up next to Chrysalis.
"Those Elements are mine!" She exclaimed before lifting up a small object, "Along with this rock! Oh, and that twig!"
Applejack slid up beside her next. "I got all kinds o' Elements right here under my hat. I'll let you see 'em for five bits."
"Do we have to go get those elements?" Flash asked, now shaking like a leaf like when Fluttershy was terrified. "All that power sounds like it could be a lot to handle. What if we lose control and blow ourselves up?! I don't wanna be blown up!"
Hearing this, Rainbow scoffed, "Losers."
Chrysalis blinked at the sight. She had expected the ponies she created to be different from the originals, but she thought the only difference would be loyalty to her. And as she was about to speak up, Twilight's voice rang out, "Why didn't you just attack them?"
"Excuse me?" She turned to the fake alicorn, who glared back at her.
"You were close enough to pull hairs from their manes. Why not just take your revenge then?"
"They defeated my army," Chrysalis deadpanned, "I know better than to strike alone. I need-"
"Friends?" The evil Twilight interrtuped, looking ready to start laughing until Chrysalis glared at her.
"Servants!" She roared, "And the power of the Elements!"
"Right," Twilight replied while rolling her eyes, "So where are these Elements of Harmony?"
"The location of the most powerful weapon in Equestria isn't something made known to just anypony!" Chrysalis growled before starting to march through the woods. "I learned they were hidden somewhere in this forest."
"Yeah, well, it is a big forest," Twilight spat as she walked away. Chrysalis hissed at this, staring at the ponies she had created.
"You!" She pointed at Flash, who screamed and scuttled back.
"Me?!" Chrysalis slowly stalked over to him, the rest of the ponies all laughing at the sight of his shivering form.
Chrysalis's eyes narrowed as she leaned down to his level, "You have the power of the Sacred Light. You can defeat anything and everything that's in this forest that could cause us problems. Activate it and lead us through the woods."
"You...you want me to activate it?!" Flash squeaked out, "I-I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't know. T-t-t-that sounds like a lot of power, and if I-I-I can't handle the Elements with seven of us, how am I supposed to control this power all on my own?!"
"The real you has done it, so you can do it too!" Chrysalis roared, "Now activate the Sacred Light! Armorize!"
Flash gulped and took a deep breath, "Armorize." As he said, nothing happened. "Armorize. Armorize!" They all rolled their eyes at this, Chrysalis facehoofing.
"Sweet Celestia," Twilight sighed. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm pathetic." Flash muttered before looking back up at Chrysalis, "Does this mean you don't want me to go get the Elements so I can go home?!" He turned to run off, only for Twilight to grab his tail in her magic.
"Oh, I don't think so," she yanked him back at this, "You might worthless right now, but I'm sure getting the Elements should make you a little more useful."
Chrysalis nodded, "Indeed. Now, let's move out. I want to find these Elements before it gets dark."
"Dark?!" Flash screamed, "No! I don't wanna it to get dark! I wanna go home!" They all sighed before Chrysalis walked away, the rest following her as Twilight dragged a whimpering Flash behind them.
The others were now trotting down the path, the birds singing, the sun shining through the trees and the many rose bushes that lined the path gathering an elegant scent. "So peaceful," Flash sighed as the others nodded.
That is, till Pinkie suddenly leapt out of the bushes, "Everypony, stop!" They halted and Flash reached for his sword, only for her to say, "And smell these roses!" The earth pony turned to the closest bush and took a whiff, then let out a sigh. "Oh, yeah!" She jumped onto the bush and rolled around on it, not at all bothered by the thorns they had while Twilight gave a nervous giggle.
"Right. Roses. Fun." She continued walking at this, "Now, let’s try and stay on schedule."
And as they started again, Rarity put a hoof to her mane, now feeling it to frizz in places. "Applejack, darling, anything in that wagon for mane maintenance?"
"Uh..." Applejack glanced back at the cart, "Let's see here. Um...here we go! Ah got a bandana!" She held up a green cloth, Rarity cringing at the sight.
"Ugh, an entire wagon and no anti-frizz? Darling, you're not even prepared."
"Ah am too prepared!" Applejack threw the bandana back in the wagon, "For campin'!" She looked behind the cart next, "How ya doin', Starlight?" Rarity glanced back as well and saw the unicorn trodding along. She was still wearing the poncho, only now it was joined by a wool hat and a large backpack one would usually see somepony wear when they were going on a six-month expedition.
The unicorn tripped over a rock next, making her almost fall over before spreading her hooves wide. "Great..." she flatly said.
And as they continued down the trail, Flash heard a tweeting sound and looked back to see Fluttershy had stopped, "Oh, no!" She was talking to a young bird, "You and your sister fell out of your nest and got separated? That's terrible! Here." She offered her wing and the bird climbed onto it, "I'm sure your home isn't too far away."
She began walking into the forest, Flash glancing back at Twilight and saw she was staring at her schedule before looking back at Fluttershy. Quickly walking after her, he began marking the trees behind himself while doing so. "I got a bad feeling about this..."
Meanwhile...
"I'm sooooo bored!" Pinkie moaned behind Chrysalis, falling to the ground with a huff. "Are we there yet?"
"Where yet? We don't even know where we're going!" Twilight barked at her.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes at this while still marching, "Just keep moving! The quicker we search the forest, the quicker we find the Elements."
But as she said that, Applejack smirked as she walked through a bush. "Ah know where the Elements are," she exclaimed with Flash gasping hopefully at her. "This, uh, here boulder just told me. Ah swear."
Flash slumped down at this, only to feel Twilight pull his tail. And as they continued to walk through the forest, they didn't hear a certain Fluttershy as a bird began to tweet at her. "You tried to fly out of the nest, but you fell and got lost?" The bird tweeted back to her, causing her to let out a cruel laugh. "Hope you like walking!" She laughed again as the bird walked away, then gave it a good kick to make it feel bad. And after a few seconds, she decided to follow it. Watching the bird struggle to get home was gonna be fun.
As this was happening, Rainbow let out a yawn. "Come get me when I should care." With that, she flew off, the remaining members of the group still going. At least, until Chrysalis glanced back and saw she was two minions short.
"Where...are...the others?!" She roared at Flash and Applejack, the pegasus quivering and looking like he was about to water the grass he was standing on.
"Uh..." Applejack replied, "A, uh, a bugbear in...plaid socks flew down and, uh, g-grabbed them!" She nodded at this, "Then disappeared! Huh. Craziest thing ah ever did see!" .
Chrysalis growled back, "Turn around. We're going back."
"No," Twilight instantly replied, "Keep searching. Flash and I will find the others."
"We will?" Flash yelped, only for to feel Flash yank his tail, "Eep!"
"We can accomplish more if we split our resources."
Chrysalis stared at her for a moment, only to sigh, "Very well. You have my permission." Twilight nodded and took to the air, pulling Flash behind her and forcing him to fly alongside the alicorn.
"Permission..." she spat, "She needs us way more than we need her."
"You shouldn't say that," Flash whimpered out, "She might hear you and reverse the spell. I don't wanna be turned back into a tree. Termites hurt."
Twilight rolled her eyes at this as they continued on, "The others are fools. But with me to lead them, there's no reason we can't find the Elements and keep the power for ourselves."
"You...you really wanna betray our creator?!" Flash gasped.
"Our creator is a washed up fool," Twilight hissed, "Why should we follow a leader who got overthrown by a bunch of losers and has to create copies of them to try and take back whatever power she had? It's like she said, we control the Elements, not her. Once we have them, we'll blast her away and then do the same to any other fool that tries to get in our way. Eventually, we'll rule Equestria." She turned to glare back at Flash, "Are you gonna continue being a sniffling wimp and follow her, or are you gonna actually grow a backbone and help me conquer this world?!"
Flash flinched at this, only for Twilight to put a hoof to his chin. She showed him a seductive smirk, batting her eyes as he felt his mind just melt in front of her. "I...I'll help you conquer this world."
"Good boy," she replied before waving her hoof, "Come on." They both flew back down and landed, only to hear somethign rustling in the grass. Twilight was about to blast it, only for something to shoot out and tackle her.
"You're it!" Pinkie exclaiming, "Hey, how'd you two get ahead of me? You're fast!"
"Urgh!" Twilight pushed Pinkie off and got up, batting her sides with her wings while Flash stared Pinkie's flank, "I'm looking for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."
"Aren't they back there?" Pinkie pointed the way she came, making Twilight blink at her.
"They are?"
"Sure!" Pinkie nodded, "Unless they're already at the Tree of Harmony."
Flash and Twilight shared a glance at this before Twilight asked, "What is the Tree of Harmony?"
Pinkie raised an eyebrow before giggling, "Oh-ho-ho. This is one of your 'activities', right? Like a friendship quiz? It's the crystal tree that holds the Elements of Harmony. Boom!"
Twilight went wide-eyed, only for Flash to lean up and whisper into Twilight's ear, "I think this is the real Pinkie. She must know where this tree is located."
"I see. Where is it?" Twilight asked, Pinkie pretending to hit a buzzer button as she made the sound.
"It's at the bottom of the stairs in the ravine by the Castle of the Two Sisters. Double boom!"
"Very good," Twilight responded, "Now, take us too it the fastest way you can."
"But I thought you were looking for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asked, Twilight frowning for a second.
"Err...Flash can find them," she pushed the pegasus forward with her magic. "Then he'll catch us up with the other two." Flash looked ready to start hyperventilating, Twilight leaning up and whispering in his ear. "Pretend to leave and follow us from the sky. Once we have the Elements, we'll get rid of this fool."
"Oh...okay." He walked through the bushes, slowly disappearing before leaping behind a tree.
"Okay Pinkie, you want a harder question?"
"Yay! I reached level two! Go on Twilight, hit me with your best shot." Twilight asked her to tell the alicorn everything she knew about the elements, specifically how they worked. "Oh, well it all started long ago when I was just a filly with a dream." And as they got out of earshot, Flash took to the air, trying to follow them.
While this happened, the real Flash continued to make his way through the forest. He had thought keeping an eye on Fluttershy would be simple, but the constant stopping to mark trees had slowed him down enough that the shy mare had got away.
"Oh, great." He muttered before taking a deep breath, "Fluttershy! Come, we have to get back before we get lost!" But as he yelled this, he got no reply, "Come on...Fluttershy..." And as he said this, he saw something yellow walking by, "There you are!" He quickly zipped into the trees, not marking his trail as he followed the yellow figure...only to soon lose it, and the trail. "Oh, great."
It was then that he heard laughter up ahead, the pegasus blinking at it as he recognized the voice was Fluttershy's. And when he got closer, he didn't hear Fluttershy's usual gentle and calm laugh. "Fluttershy?" he asked, only for the mare's head to suddenly appear out of a bush, "Fluttershy! Thank goodness I found you! We need to get back before you start panicking."
"Why would I start panicking?" Fluttershy spat, her tone showing a bit of disgust that made Flash flinch.
"Well...you're in the middle of the woods...alone...with no idea which way home is. That's usually the kind of stuff that gets you to start panicking."
"Aww...how sweet that you'd care." She then swung her leg and sent some mud splatting into his face, Flash flinching before using his wings to wipe it out of his eyes. And as he did this, Fluttershy burst out laughing.
"What are you doing?!" He yelped as Fluttershy continued laughing, wiping her eyes with her wings to remove the tears. "Fluttershy?"
"What?" She cackled, "Did I hurt your wittle feelings?!" She showed him a pair of puppy dog eyes, only to simply burst out laughing again. Flash leaned back at this, his eyes going wide before noticing Fluttershy's mane and coat weren't as vibrant...and her cutie marks was the wrong color.
"Did you fall into some poison joke?" He replied, only for his brain to tell him what the flower actually did the mare. "Wait...is this Discord's doing?!" His eyes darted around at this, "Discord! Come out here right now! This is your only warning!" But as he yelled this, he looked back at Fluttershy ripping up some flowers while laughing as the petals began dropping. "I've gotta find a way to fix her."
The other Flash continued to watch as Pinkie and his Twilight made their way through the forest. The pink party pony was currently at the part of the story where they were searching for the Crystal Heart to defeat Sombra, Flash doing his best to listen in without drawing attention to himself. Twilight was clearly starting to regret asking Pinkie of all ponies for the lowdown, since she went over every little detail about what the real them had done since becoming the Elements of Harmony. This even included some of the details about what the real Flash's sister and what her friends got up to despite it not having anything to do with the main story.
Flash landed on a branch at this, his weight causing it to bend and eventually snap. He gasped and jumped off as the branch fell to the ground, quickly ducking behind a tree.
"What was that?" Pinkie quickly asked.
"That tree's rotten," Twilight responded, "A strong wind must have finally gotten to it. Now come on, we have to keep going."
"Okay!" Pinkie cheered before they continued, Flash hyperventilating before slowly taking to the air again.
But as he tired this, he flinched, "Ow!" he looked back and saw his tail had gotten caught around a branch. He didn't want to pull his tail-hairs off, making him slowly untangle it, "Ow..." he pulled a little too hard, "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" He eventually managed to pull his tail free, sighing before looking back and saw he had lost Twilight and Pinkie, "Oh no..." He gulped before taking to the sky, "Not good, not good, not good, not good!" He then called out, "Hello? Is anypony there?" But there was no answer, causing him to squeak out, "Help."
"Come on!" Flash pulled Fluttershy by the tail, but the mare kept resisting.
"Let me go!" She barked, trying to kick him with her back legs. "I don't wanna go with you! I wanna find another small animal and make them miserable!"
"Which is exactly why we need to get you to the Tree of Harmony!" Flash yelled, "Hopefully Twilight can cure you of this curse like she did before. Now stop...struggling!"
"Let...me...GO!" Fluttershy roared before spinning around and grabbing Flash's sword, pulling it out and swinging at him. Flash had to let go of her tail, quickly hopping back as she swung the weapon around.
"Are you nuts?!" He yelped, "Alright, you asked for this! Armorize!" His entire body exploded into light, the Shining Guardian Armor appearing. As soon as his horn formed, he forced his magic on the sword, yanking it out of Fluttershy's grip.
"Hey!" She cried, trying to grab it back, only to find herself get trapped within a golden bubble. "What the-Let me out!" She started hitting it, Flash sighing at the sight.
"Sorry," he shook his head, "But you're on time out until I can get you some help." He spread his wings and took off, pulling Fluttershy along with him. "Now," he asked once he was above the trees, "Which way to the castle of the two sisters?" He glanced around, looking for landmarks as Fluttershy kept punching the bubble, "Hmmm...maybe that way?"
The other Flash was biting at his hooves at this, "Oh no, oh no, oh no! Come on Flash...pull yourself together. You're the clone of one of the most powerful ponies in existence. Just because you don't have any of the power he has...or the weapons skills...or the...courage." He shook his head, "You can do this. Just need to stay calm and-"
"I KNEW IT!" He yelped before leaping into a bush, hearing somepony scream nearby. He then poked his head out, soon following the screams, "I knew you wanted it all for yourselves! You can't have it! It's mine, you hear me?! All MI-HI-HI-HI-HI-HI-HINE!" He then saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Rarity ran off with a bunch of random stuff at this, laughing like of psychopath the entire time.
Rainbow and Applejack stared at the sight, confusion on their faces as Flash saw they had two different cutie marks to the ones he had seen before. "They're the real ones..."
The duo then spun around and frowned, "There ya'll are! What the hay were yah thinking, wonderin' off like that with Fluttershy?"
"Huh?" Flash barely replied.
"Where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow responded, "Don't tell me you lost her too?"
"Um...no," Flash shook his head, his eyes darting back and forth, "I was...well..."
"Well, we'd better find her soon," Applejack sighed, "And then we gotta figure out what's up with her?" She pointed at the direction Rarity had run off to. "What in tarnation was that with Rarity?"
And as she asked this, Flash glanced up...and saw himself. The sight made his heart stop, his eyes going wide as his ears dropped. The flying Flash was wearing a bunch of golden armor, dragging a bubble behind him that had his Fluttershy inside.
"Alright..." Flash gulped as he glanced back at Rainbow and Applejack, "Um...why don't we split up to look for everypony? I'll go look for Rarity while you go look for Fluttershy." The mares shared a glance, Flash's eyes darting between them and his other self as he slowly began to fly away.
"Fine," Applejack sighed, "We'll split up. But ya'll better not get lost again." Flash nodded furiously and rushed off, the two ponies watching him with raised eyebrows.
As for Flash, he contined to run as fast as he could, watching his slowly flying twin before grabbing a vine off a nearby tree and a sturdy looking Y-shaped branch. "I gotta stop him! If he sees my Twilight...I don't know what I'll do!" He then made a rudimentary slingshot with the vine and branch...and aimed a rock.
Flash was getting a serious headache as he tried to maintain the bubble, admitting that it wasn't as easy as Twilight or Starlight made it look. It didn't help that Fluttershy was being a pain in the flank, constantly punching and kicking the bubble while also screaming as loud as she could. And as soon as he figured out what was making Fluttershy act this way, he was going to let out all his building frustrations on it.
"We've gotta be close by now," he growled, only for something to shoot up and hit his wing, "YOW!" He yelped, his wing armor catching the object between its sections. He glanced back and saw it was a rock, which was starting to get crushed within the metal. That didn't do the wing any good, as it started having trouble flexing. A moment later, another rock hit his other wing, crushing it as well. With both wings stiffening up, Flash began to lose control of his flight.
"We're going down!" Flash yelled, the bubble now flickering out of existence before the pegasi began to fall.
"Happy landings," Fluttershy waved before bursting out laughing. She watched as Flash crashed through the foliage and multiple snapping sounds filled the air, followed by Flash letting out a cry of pain. "Ouch! That had to hurt!" She giggled before flying off, only to come face to face with the very pony she had just seen fall. "Ahh!"
"AHHHH!" Flash screamed as he flew back and covered his face, Fluttershy blinking at the sight before looking back down at the ground.
"How did you get back up here so quickly?! You just crashed!"
"Oh, uh..." Flash slowly replied, "That um...wasn't me. It was the other me." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at this, "The real Flash Sentry that I was made from. He and the rest of his friends are all in here."
"Huh. I wondered why you'd suddenly stopped being a sniveling coward."
"I wouldn't call myself sniveling," he responded before screaming as Fluttershy mocked a punch at him. "Okay, okay. I'm a sniveling coward! But this sniveling coward is the one that freed you from that bubble." Fluttershy frowned at this, "I think we should get out of here before he recovers and flies back up."
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, only to nod before the pair began to fly away, only to suddenly find their tails being grabbed by a green light. "WHOA!" They both cried as they were slammed down into the ground, right at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis.
"There you two are," she growled, Flash shrinking back before seeing that the other clones were all there except Applejack. Twilight glared at him, clearly not happy he lost her earlier and left her with Pinkie. "Good. Now we just need the last one and we'll be able to get those elements."
"Yes, your majesty," Flash bowed, "Um...don't know if Twilight told you this, but the other ponies are here too."
"Others?" Chrysalis asked with a raised eyebrow, turning to Twilight, who shot another glare at Flash.
"It's just the stupid one that's in here," she replied, "Nothing we need to worry about."
"It's not just her," Flash chimed in, "All the ponies we were cloned from are in this forest. And I think they're all heading to the same place we are. The spot where the Elements of Harmony are located."
Chrysalis' eyes went wide hearing this, the changeling turning to march off. "We need to hurry!" She yelled before sprinting, the others following her before finding Applejack along the way. And with that, they descended deeper into the woods.
"Great...I got knocked down by two rocks." Flash moaned as he walked through some bushes, "So much for super powered armor. I can just get beat that easily..."
He glanced around at this, now seeing that Fluttershy was gone. The sight made him sigh, only for his ears to perk up as he heard some new voices, that being Twilight and Pinkie's. And before he could move over to them, he heard a round of screams. Looking up, he gasped when he saw two unicorns sliding down the side of a cliff, the pegasus barely managing to jump back in time to avoid getting flattened by them. And as the dust they kicked up cleared, he saw it was Starlight and Rarity. "Are you two okay?" He asked, the girls looking up at him.
But before they could answer, Twilight's voice called out, "Of course I care about Fluttershy!"
They turned to the voice and saw the two ponies and Fluttershy there. "Then you've got a super weird way of showing it!" Pinkie barked back.
"W-What in Equestria's going on here?" Rarity asked as the three ran over to Twilight and Pinkie.
"Twilight is so into her retreat that she doesn't even care if her friends are upset!" Pinkie exclaimed, "She just wants us to stay on schedule!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Pinkie! If I knew you thought this was a 'boring, lame, no-fun retreat', I wouldn't have invited you in the first place!"
"I NEVER SAID THAT!" Pinkie screamed, only for Rainbow and Applejack to appear to their side, stepping out of the trees.
"Sorry y'all. We would've been here sooner, but we had to take the long way after Rarity ran off with all my stuff."
"Wha-?!" Rarity gasped before glaring at her, "I most certainly did not do that!"
"What?!" Applejack yelped, "You know I ain't no liar! Flash was there and saw you!"
"What?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow, "No I wasn't."
"Sure you were," Rainbow growled, "You showed up right before Rarity ran away!"
"What are you-I haven't seen you girls since I went after Fluttershy!" Flash responded, only to go wide-eyed. "Oh shoot. Fluttershy!" He turned to her and noticed she was crying on the ground. "Wait..." He saw her coat, mane and cutie mark were as they should be, "She's back to normal?"
Fluttershy sniffed and looked up at him, "What do you mean, back to normal?"
"Don't you remember? You were acting really weird just a few minutes ago. You were ripping up flowers, laughing at others misfortune and you even tried to cut my head off!"
The others went wide-eyed at this and Fluttershy looked horrified, "I would never do something like that!"
"I know! That's why I was so worried! I thought Discord or something else had brainwashed you or something. I grabbed you in my magic and tried to pull you to the tree of harmony, hoping Twilight or the Elements could fix you. But then I crashed and you disappeared."
"But none of that happened," Fluttershy replied, "I've been all alone since I wandered off to help a bird."
Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "But...that's..."
"Flash...ya'll know Fluttershy would never do that." Applejack chimed in, "Did yah hit yer head. Yah said yah crashed, so maybe it knocked yah out and yah dreamed of seeing a psycho Fluttershy." She frowned at Rarity, "I'd offer yah something to help with concussion if Rarity hadn't stolen mah stuff."
Rarity glared back at her. "I told you, I didn't steal anything!"
"Yes, you did." She then turned to Starlight Glimmer, now seeing she wasn't wearing any of the stuff Applejack had given her. "Where's all your gear?"
Starlight glared at her, "Why? So you can laugh at me some more?!"
"Hey, hey," Rainbow waved her hoof between them, "We're all friends here!
"FRIENDS!?" Fluttershy screamed, "You left me alone in the woods!" She burst out crying, causing the group to start arguing even more. Twilight could barely make out one argument over another, the princess's eyes darting back and forth before taking a deep breath.
"Everypony, quiet!" The arguments came to a complete stop, all turning to the alicorn as she smiled at them. "Listen. We know each other really well, the great stuff, and how to get on each other's nerves too." They shared a glance at this as she continued, "I wanted a fun trip with my friends. But instead, I got carried away with plans and ruined everything." She let out a long sigh, "If you want to forget it all and head home, I won't be offended. I just want us to stop fighting."
They all turned to one another, Applejack eventually speaking up to Starlight. "Hey, sorry if I got carried away with all that campin' stuff."
Starlight nodded back. "I'm sorry too. I should've just told you I'll never like camping. Also, I'll never like camping."
"Well," Rarity spoke up, "If we're all being honest." She grabbed her little saddlebag and held it up, "I can't survive with just this tiny yet fashionable little saddlebag! I miss my things!" She looked ready to start crying as Pinkie turned to Twilight.
"I'm sorry that you thought that I thought your plan was lame." She pulled Twilight into a hug, "Your plans are the most un-lamest!"
"And I always have fun when we're all together," Rainbow spoke up. "Even if it's learning pretending to be fun."
They all smiled before turning to Flash, making him wave his hoof, "Hey, I didn't get annoyed with any of you. I just thought Fluttershy had been hexed." He rubbed his head, "But if I did imagine it, how did I crash in the first place?"
Twilight shook her head before walking in front of her friends, "So...does that mean you still want to have the retreat?"
"YES!" Everypony except Fluttershy rushed over to hug her, the group then turning to the teary pegasus.
"If everypony likes me again." That statement was met with them tackling her to the ground, all hugging before breaking apart and laughing as they all laid on the ground.
"Let's get to that Tree," Twilight replied, "I have the whole campsite set up and ready."
By the time Chrysalis and her minions arrived at the ravine, the sun had set and the moon barely illuminated the dark forest. They found the stairs at this, only to find a bunch of tents sitting in a semicircle around the mouth of the cave. "What's this garbage?" Pinkie asked, Applejack smirking at this.
"Badger installation art!" She stated, "Ya see-"
"JUST RETRIEVE THE ELEMENTS!" Chrysalis roared, the ponies pouting as they continued down the stairs. And as they reached the campsite, Fluttershy started ripping down the tents as Rarity grabbed as many things as she could with her magic. Rainbow even kicked down a tent with as little effort as she could muster while Twilight stopped Pinkie from flopping over from boredom.
"Once we get the power of the Elements, no creature, not even her Majesty, can tell us what to do. Just follow my lead. Got it?" Everyone except Flash began to giggle their evil giggles as they headed into the cave.
And as they got there, Flash went wide-eyed, "The Tree of Harmony. I can't believe how amazing it looks..."
"Who cares about the tree," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Let's just get those Elements and get out of here." As she said that, Rarity spotted the Element shaped like her cutie mark.
"Ooh! That one's mine!" As she said that, something happened with her Element. For the briefest second, it flashed black. Rarity rushed forward to grab it, but Fluttershy held out her leg, tripping the unicorn.
"Oops," Fluttershy cackled, "I'd say sorry, but I'm not!" Rarity glared at her as the Element of Kindness flashed black, the unicorn grabbing the mare before tussling with her.
"Stop it, you fools!" Twilight roared as Applejack and Pinkie moved over to the tree and started hitting it. "We need the Elements to take out Chrysalis!"
But as she said that, the fake alicorn noticed a tall shadow behind her, gasping and spinning around to see the changeling glaring at her.
"How dare you!" She screeched, "I created you!" Her horn glowed green and unleashed a powerful burst of light, Twilight quickly putting up a shield as Flash quickly retreated behind a rock. He watched as Twilight was constantly assaulted by the beam, his eyes darting around as he shook.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no...what do I do?!" he squirmed while Applejack and Pinkie Pie continued to hit the tree, causing their elements to both flash black. Rainbow didn't do anything, instead curling up to take a nap, her Elements going black as well.
Twilight grunted as she fought to keep her shield up, then smirked before retracting her shield to only the spot that was being hit by Chrysalis' spell. The shield then morphed into a beam, with began to fight against the changeling's. It pushed the green spell back at the changeling, who gasped at this as the Element of Magic flashed black. And that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
The Element of Magic expelled the black light that travelled through the tree and into the other Elements, which began to unleash tendrils of white mist-like light. Nopony noticed this however. Nopony except Flash.
"Look out!" He cried, pointing to the tree. But nopony heard him as the tendrils flowed down and grabbed the fake ponies, first the ones at its base followed by Twilight. She gasped a this, her magic cutting out as she was lifted into the air. The only member of these ponies that wasn't lifted into the air was Flash, who continued to hide, but his element didn't try to destroy him.
"Imbeciles!" Twilight screamed, making Flash gasp as he saw the mares begin to turn old and withered. "You ruined everythiiiiiiiing!" That was all she could say before the tree unleashed a bright light that consumed the mares, blinding Chrysalis as Flash continued to hide behind the rock.
And after a few seconds, the light began to fade, making Flash look back and see several objects hit the cave floor. He gasped again as he now saw a bunch of wooden logs. Logs that used to be his friends. He did his best to control his breathing as he hid again, praying that the tree had forgotten he was there.
"Servants always fail you in the end!" He heard Chrysalis hissed, "Just wait, Starlight. I will have my revenge!"
A moment later, he heard her transform before a buzzing sound filled the air. That buzzing headed toward the exit and was soon gone, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief before stepping out from behind the tree. He stared at the logs that used to be his...well, friends wasn't the right answer. Even so, seeing them in such a state broke his heart. "Do I even have a heart?" He asked before shaking his head and picking up the purple log he knew used to be Twilight. "I'm never gonna get to hear your voice again, am I?"
"Are you kidding me?!" He gasped and dropped the log at the sound of Twilight's voice, the pegasus quickly rushing back behind the rock. He slowly peeked back out, his eyes going back to the log before hearing another voice.
"Must have been a wild animal," Flash heard his own voice speak up. "Though it doesn't look like timberwolves or a cragadile did this. Maybe puckwudgies?"
He then heard Pinkie begin to laugh as she added, "This was...the worst...day...ever!" Multiple voices filled the air, including one Flash recognized as Starlight's. It was then he realized what must have happened: The real ponies had arrived.
"Come on, everypony. We can fix this campsite in no time."
"Spoken like a true camper," Applejack chuckled.
"Eh, don't push it," Starlight replied before they both laughed.
He felt a long gulp go down his throat as he shrunk down behind the rock, still shivering as he heard Twilight speak up, "You know, if we can survive a day like this, I think our friendship is strong enough to handle anything the world can throw at us." The others all nodded as they continued working, leaving him trapped in the cave. He hoped that none of them chose to check on the elements, but it seemed the day's excitement had exhausted them.
He soon heard himself yawn, "I don't know about you all, but I wanna get some shuteye. We can do some of Twilight's friendship activities tomorrow."
"If that's what you ponies want," Twilight giggled, the group soon fixing and getting inside their tents. After a few minutes, the fake Flash decided to risk it and headed out of the cave, tiphoofing as he saw all the ponies were asleep in their tents. Not wishing to push his luck, he took to the skies and flew off next. He was up above the forest in seconds and flew as far away as he could, all the while trying to think where he would go from there. What hope did a fake pony who looked like the most famous pegasus in Equestria have at living any kind of life?
But hopefully he would find a way. He would live, live on for those that couldn't. And who knows, maybe this was meant to be, and a great destiny awaited him in the future.
The next morning...
Twilight yawned as she woke up, feeling fully rested and ready to greet the new day. As she stepped out of the tent, she spotted Applejack and Starlight in the middle of the campsite trying to start a fire.
"Now the trick is to move yer hooves downwards as yah spin the stick," Applejack explained as Starlight pushed the stick she had against the block of wood. She moved her hooves down as the stick pressed against the wood, the wood soon catching on fire. "Yee-haw!" Applejack cheered as Starlight smiled, the unicorn carefully blowing the flame that appeared to give it more life.
The others soon came out of their tents as they did this, looking excited to have some flame cooked breakfast. "Where's Flash?" Rainbow asked, Twilight replying that he had gotten up earlier to take a walk and stretch out his body. "Will he be back soon? I don't wanna wait to eat."
"I'm over here," Flash chimed in as he walked out of the nearby cave. They saw him fly out while carrying some very oddly colored pieces of wood. "Does anypony know why these logs were in the cave?" He dropped them in front of the fire as the ponies picked them up and looked them over.
"Not sure," Applejack replied, "But they kinda look nice."
"Really nice," Fluttershy added as she stared the yellow one over. "It's almost the same shade of yellow as my coat." She held the wood to her wing and saw the color was almost the same. The others all found it was almost the same for them as well, all except Flash and Starlight.
"Maybe a wild animal brought them into the cave?" Starlight guessed, "Never knew a tree could be blue or pink though."
"It's the Everfree Forest," Rainbow shrugged, "Who knows what you're gonna find in here." She looked the blue log over and smirked. "Hey Applejack, do you think you could widdle a version of me out of this?"
"Probably," Applejack nodded. "I could probably make one of everypony, but it could take a while." They all stared at the wood for a few moments, wondering if they wanted to make Applejack go through all that trouble...and quickly made their decision.
"NAH!" They threw the logs onto the fire, letting them burn up and keep them warm as they began to cook breakfast. And once they were fed, they would enjoy an entire day of fun filled activities that would hopefully make up for the terrible day they had had yesterday.
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Great episode, specially with the new dinamic of Flash Clone.
Maybe something similar like Psycho Pink? anypony here saw Power Rangers Lost Galaxy?
Not much change but Flash's clone is probably the big change since unlike his evil teammates, he's essentially Token Good Teammate as he was more shy and lack confidence in himself and that's the reason he avoid a grim fate that his teammates went.
I'm curious if we will see his clone later at some point (probably Season 9)
Here's highlights
Uh no, here's come the Queen.
Callback to that episode! Sound like Flash doesn't want to go through that situation again.
King Sombra: I'm about to end this Tree's career.
You're not wrong, Flash.
At least he got a happy ending unlike his teammates, hopefully he will come back at some point (most likely Season 9 to ties it loose ends).
A big bait and switch moment!
11353989
You're forgetting that this universe's incarnation of Sombra is no longer evil and is seeking out Princess Amora's pieces.
11354094
We know that.
But who know? Banshee could suddenly make him evil again but we have to wait and see.
Plus, it's just a joke that despite the statement saying Tree would continue protecting Equestria, it will eventually get destroyed in Seadon 9 opening to prove that statement wrong.
Good chapter & nice twist at the end with copy Flash, here's hoping he does good later on!
As for Highlights :
lol sorry Springer, no sugar rush for you & the young pups!
Well you got the *bug* part right Flash!
Oh yeah, this will go along swimmingly!
Not gonna lie, that part was creepy!
Here's hoping it's a good destiny!
Drat, there goes the *evil Mane 6 figurines* chapter!
Good adaption there Banshee, looking forward to the next one!
Nice one! It is fitting that you did this chapter at what I am assuming is the midway point of the story, since this was the mid-season finale.
I was wondering what Mean Flash would be like in this chapter. I was thinking he might be something like his evil counterpart from that one timeline, but he really just came off as a huge coward. I guess that makes sense, considering it is the opposite of courage. Though it was impressive that he was able to tell the difference between the real Mane 7 and their counterparts, since not even Mean Twilight made the realization in canon. He's a coward but he seems smart and resourceful.
I have to admit, I was really surprised when he actually survived the ending of the chapter. I guess just being a coward wasn't enough to warrant the Element of Courage to destroy him. This reminds me of a saying said by Starscream: "sometimes cowards do survive". I'm really curious to see what he will do in the future now. Chances are a lot of ponies are going to mistake him for the real Flash, unless they are smart enough to realize his cutie mark is different from the real Flash. I'm not sure he will be too much of a villain in the future, but you never know what might happen. He might develop and change his attitude.
I also thought that ending scene where they burned the logs of the Mean 6 was hilarious in a dark sorta way. I think I remember a fan comic that did something similar? Though I was a bit surprised that Mean Twilight's log was left to be burned too, since the episode Frenemies in Season 9 showed Chrysalis had a purple log she spoke to, which I think was heavily implied to be the remains of Mean Twilight.
11354225 Oh...oops.
poor clone flash,
what if the villains try to use him b y promisig to revive his fellow clones. Cause I feel bad he alone. Tho there is a chance he might return to his creator
Speaking of Changelings will we see Thorax and his new family sometime in the future
I am wondering when will Twilight and Flash be made aware that they are basically the closest thing Heart and Soul got to parents
Um is the how you mean to write this or did you mean to write something different?
I did not expect that ending. What's going to happen to the surviving clone?
Maybe Fake Flash could meet the Mane Seven in a filter episode where he explains how he was created causing worry in the ponies about Chrysalis.
When the changeling queen tried to attack and capture them, she orders Fake Flash to take them down as her servant, but Fake Flash refuses to do so and Flash's Element Of Harmony turns him into an nearly identical twin brother.