Relics of the Past

Fire.

Fire everywhere.

Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but the flames that surrounded him. A pure inferno danced around him, the blaze spinning around the colt. But that wasn't what scared him.

What scared him though, is the fact that he couldn't move. Two broken and scorching beams were on top of him, pinning him into the floor. With this, the colt tried to escape, his body struggling as he could feel the flames stinging his wings on his back. As the heat singed into him, he let out a scream of terror, pain starting to flow through his body.

"AAAAAaaahhhhhh! HELP ME! SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!" he screamed, only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears. As he continued to panic, he began to look around, tears falling from his eyes as he did. He had to find a way out, he had too. And yet, his ears picked up a new sound among the blazing inferno.

It was the sound of wood cracking. Right above him.

The colt looked up, and his eyes went wide. The large support beam, holding the whole ceiling above him, had cracked. His eyes kept widening as he saw the crack in the wood grow. Then another crack appeared on the beam. And another. And another.

"No....NO! Somepony help!!!" the colt cried as he watched the beam break. "SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!"

Then it happened. The beam broke, and with it, the entire roof began to fall. And as the segmented wood above him cracked and split, all of it fell down, ready to strike the colt.

Only a miracle would save him now.

But the miracle never happened. His eyes just grew as he saw the beam charged toward him. A blaze of fire and wood prepared itself to strike colt, ready to end his young life. As it did, he let out one last scream.

"SOMEPONY HELP ME!!! AAAAAAA-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Flash screamed as he shot up out of bed.

"Flash!" yelled another voice. The pegasus quickly looked for it's owner, only to see his jakhowl partner Springer, who was now standing next to his bed. "Are you okay?"

"I...I..." Flash panted, his breath now heavy as a waterfall of sweat flowed down his forehead. He put his hoof on his head, his eyes shaking and blinking as he shook his head from his awakening. A second later, Flash looked back at Springer and back down at the bed. "I'm okay buddy...I'm okay."

Springer just shook his head, knowing he was lying. "It was that dream again, wasn't it?" Springer asked, crossing his arms as he did. When Flash didn't reply, Springer knew that he had hit the nail on the head. "That's the fourth time this week Flash. Maybe you should get some help."

"Its just a nightmare Springer," Flash said as he laid back down, not looking at Springer as he did. "I've had them before, and they've all been just that...bad dreams."

"Except you've been having this nightmare every night for the last three weeks!"

It was true. It had been a month since the battle against Discord and his world of chaos. Since then, Flash had been plagued with dreams of being trapped inside a burning building. The first time it had happened, Flash had just brushed it off as a normal nightmare, but as the nights passed, he started having it more and more frequently, until he now had it four nights in a row.

"I'm fine Springer," Flash grumbled, trying to close his eyes. "I'm not gonna get worked up over a stupid dream. I just need to cut out the cheese eating before bed."

"But you don't like cheese," Springer deadpanned.

"You know what I mean," Flash growled. He laid there for a second, still grumbling. He knew that Springer was still standing there, he could feel it...and he hadn't heard the footsteps of him going back to his bed. Knowing Springer wasn't going to stop, Flash poked his head out of the covers. "You know what? We're already up, so why don't we get to work?"

Springer just raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" Springer asked as he looked over at the clock on the wall, "there's still an hour before we usually get up...and the sun isn't up yet. Why not get a bit more sleep?"

"I don't think I could get back to sleep right now," Flash lied, shuffling out of the bed. In actuality, he was fighting to stay awake. The past four days of bad dreams had taken just about every ounce of energy from him, though he knew that he didn't want to go through a fifth bad dream before starting the day. With this, he trotted over to where his Celestic Gear Lightbringer was resting and picked it up, strapping it to his side and heading for the door. "Come on buddy, let's do some training." he said as he fought back a yawn.

Springer watched his partner exit the room, sighing as he followed him. The jakhowl had really hoped that the bad dreams would end soon. He had wanted to tell someone, but being unable to speak to most of the town didn't exactly help his cause.

A few hours later...

Ponyville was now awake and active, ponies going about their day to day lives.

One of these ponies was a young pegasus filly, who was zipping through the streets on her scooter. It was Scootaloo, a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who was on her way to the crusader clubhouse to talk about what they would be doing to try and earn their cutie marks. As she did, she looked up and smiled as she saw somepony flying above the town. It was Flash Sentry, and ever since he and his friend Twilight had moved to town, Flash had grown to become something of an idol for the little filly, (Though Rainbow Dash would always be number one) and she often enjoyed seeing him around.

"Flash!" She called out, trying to get his attention as she watched him fly over. However, the orange pegasus seemed to be ignoring her as she continued to yell his name. That had never happened before. "Flash!" She tried again, but still no response. She then looked ahead to see where Flash was flying, only to see something very concerning. "Flash, look out! Look out for that-"

But it was too late.

Flash slammed head first into the side of a building, causing him to go tumbling down towards the ground and landing with a loud crash into a load of trash cans. "Flash!" Scootlaoo yelled as rode up to him and got off her scooter. She then started moving the trash cans away, removing one of them, only to find a familiar creature rubbing his head. "Springer!" she said as she helped pull him up, "You okay? What happened?"

Springer seemed to just groan as he moved over to where the trash was and moved a bag, revealing Flash Sentry fast asleep in the garbage. "Is he...asleep?" Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked over the situation. Springer just rolled his eyes and nodded, though he didn't look to happy as he pulled a banana peel off his fur. Scootaloo on the other hoof, looked back at Flash and asked, "Wait...was he flying while he was asleep?"

Springer replied by shrugging his shoulders, giving her a look that said 'probably'.

"How do you fall asleep while flying?" Scootaloo asked in bewilderment.

Springer repeated the action, this time his face saying 'I have no idea'.

"What's going on here?" The two turned to see Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Rarity enter the fray, all looking confused at the situation. "We were out shopping and heard a loud crash. What happened?"

Scootaloo and Springer both just turned their gaze towards the pegasus sleeping in the garbage, making the other three follow suit. Rarity gasped in horror at the sight, Spike just scratched his head and Twilight raised an eyebrow before trotting over to him.

"Flash!" She said as she magically lifted the trash off his body, "Wake up!" Flash's eyes suddenly shot open, causing him to look straight in the face of his best friend. The two shared a glance of several seconds until Twilight broke the silence. "What are you doing?" She asked plainly.

"What am I doing?" Flash repeated, "What are you doing here? Why are you in my room?"

"We're not in your room," Twilight replied as she gestured to the surrounding area. "You're outside...in the garbage."

"What the-" Flash asked as he looked around, "how'd I get out here?"

"You fell asleep while flying. I watched you crash head first into that building." Scootaloo explained as she pointed to the spot Flash had hit, making the pegasus raise an eyebrow. "Then you landed in the trash cans."

"I doubt that happened," Flash said as he picked himself up.

"I watched you!" Scootaloo almost screamed.

"It would explain why you're in the trash," Spike deadpanned, pointing at the garbage on Flash's coat.

"And why you look like you haven't slept in a week," Rarity continued.

"He hasn't," Springer grumbled. Everyone looked down at him in confusion.

"What did he say?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nothing important," Flash replied, making Springer almost growl at him.

"Flash," Twilight said, sounding worried, "are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Flash shrugged, cricking his neck from the pain of the previous impact. "Must have just stayed up too late last night."

"You went to bed two hours before I did." Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. "And you took a nap a few hours before that."

"I'm fine," Flash growled as he flexed his wings and knelt down for Springer. Springer just rolled his eyes and leapt onto his back. "See you all later. I got stuff to do." Flash said before leaping into the air, leaving the four behind.

Once he was gone, Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Scootaloo shared a glance at each other. "Did anypony else get the feeling that Flash wasn't telling us everything?"

"He did seem like he was trying to keep something a secret," Rarity agreed, tilting her head in curiosity. "But it's not like him to hide something from his friends."

"Unless he thinks it'll just make us worry," Twilight stated, rolling her eyes. "He's always been like that, especially with my family."

"So how do we figure it out?" Scootaloo asked.

"Springer might know what's going on," Spike suggested, rubbing his chin as he did. "If only we could understand him."

"We can't...but I know somepony who can. Come on," Twilight montioned to her friends as they began to follow her. "I know just the pony to ask."

A little while later...

"I'm fine buddy, stop worrying." Flash groaned as they landed in front of the library. "We washed off the trash and we did a full thing of training with no sleeping. I'm fine."

"Yeah yeah, you said that five minutes before you crashed into that building earlier today." Springer growled, his paws crossed. "Come on, stop being so stubborn and ask for some help!"

"I'm fine!" Flash barked back, rubbing his temple as he did. "I just need some extra sleep, that's all."

"Yeah sure, if you can get some." Springer shook his head, hopping off of Flash. "I still say you need to ask for help."

Flash then opened the front door of the library, trying to fight back a small yawn. He poked his head inside, noticing that nopony was inside. "Twilight?" Flash called out as he looked around, "you in here?" Springer looked inside as well, only to also see nothing. The duo shared a glance before slowly walking in, surprised that Twilight wasn't in here.

"That's odd." Flash said with another look around the library. "Is she still out shopping?"

"Nope. We're all in here." a voice called out. Flash and Springer followed the voice's origin, only to see a gang of ponies come out of the kitchen. It was Twilight, followed by Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Hey girls..." he said as he looked around at them, only to see them all staring at him with very serious looks. Well, five of them, as Pinkie was never serious and Fluttershy was well...Fluttershy. Flash blinked at this, confusion slightly settling in his mind. "Okay...is there something going on here, or...."

Twilight was the first to speak, her hooves crossed as she did. "We want to know what's going on."

"What are you talking about?"

"Twilight told us about your little incident today," Rainbow replied, landing beside Flash with a dark stare on her face.

"And we all want to know what's happening darling." Rarity continued.

"Does this have anything to do with me catching you sleepin on mah barn roof the other day?" Applejack asked next. "And when you took a nap in one of south apple trees on mah property?"

"Yeah! Or when you came into Sugarcube Corner looking like a zombie and bought one of my super sugar muffins?" Pinkie added.

"Isn't that the one that makes whoever eats it to go super hyper?" Spike asked.

"Yep!" Pinkie nodded in a cartoonish fashion before pointing at Flash. "And all that happened when he ate it was him waking up! It was like an alarm clock muffin!"

Spike blinked at this before glancing at Flash and then Springer. "But...I thought you swore to never touch one of those muffins after the..." Spike shivered at his next words. "'Wild Sugar Springer incident'."

The Past...

"Flash! Calm him down! Now!" Twilight yelped as she dodged an Aura Blast by ducking, the blue sphere almost hitting her face. "What is wrong with him?!"

"I don't know!" Flash yelled back as he dodged two more Aura Blasts. He then glared at Pinkie. "What did you give him?!"

"He just took one bite of my super sugar muffins! I didn't know he would-watch out!" Pinkie screamed as she pointed at Springer, who had now summoned a certain aura weapon.

"Oh no, put that away Springer! Don't do it!" Flash commanded as he quickly unsheathed Lightbringer, using it to block another attack. "Calm down Springer! Calm down!"

"I'LL GET YOU, YOU BLASTED YELLOW ELECTRIC RAT!" Springer roared as he swung his Bone Breaker around, Flash quickly blocking each attack to make sure nopony would be hurt by it. The jakhowl continued to yell as he rampaged with more attacks. "I'LL GET YOU AND YOUR WEIRD RED CIRCLE CHEEKS! I'LL DESTROY YOUR POPULARITY, YOU BLASTED ELECTRIC MOUSE! RRRAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!"

"Springer, you have to-ow!" Springer's attack whacked Flash's chin, knocking him slightly back. The pegasus began to backpedal, only to see the jakhowl desummon the bone and charge another Aura Blast. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Everypony, get out of here now!"

"Grrr....stinking yellow rat!" Springer hissed as he summoned another sphere. "Get out of my way!"

Flash just let out a huff, shaking his head as he did. "I didn't want to do this." Flash spun Lightbringer in his hoof. "When this is over, you're never having that much sugar ever again!"

The Present...

"Thank goodness you were able to knock out Springer before things got to out of hoof." Spike added. "That could have gotten a lost worse...but why did you eat one? You know how bad it went last time one of those muffins was involved."

"Yeah, well...I just thought I should at least try the muffin myself and-" Flash tried to continue, only for Twilight to stomp her front hooves.

"Don't change the subject!" she yelled, "Tell us what's going on Flash!"

"I told you, it's nothing. I'm fine."

"Oh really?" Twilight deadpanned, crossing her hooves. "Then you wouldn't mind us asking Springer a couple of questions?"

"Go ahead," Flash said with a triumphant grin on his face, "not like he can tell you anything." However, a quiet cough made him shift his gaze over to where Fluttershy was sitting. "Oh...right." he grimaced as his ears dropped. "Forgot about that."

"So Flash, is there anything you would like to get off your chest before we ask him?"

Flash glared over at Springer, who in turn, gave him a look that Flash knew meant the jakhowl would spill everything unless he did it first. "Fine," he said with a sigh before turning to his friends, "I've uh...been having bad dreams lately."

The six mares and one dragon all blinked, having not expected that.

"That's it?" Rainbow asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Just some bad dreams?"

"Rainbow, take that back!" Fluttershy scolded, "Bad dreams are nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Fluttershy, I didn't not tell you because I'm ashamed, I didn't tell you because there's nothing to tell." Flash continued, shrugging as he did. "I've been having some nightmares, that's all. There's no problem with that, right?"

"There could be plenty of problems if it keeps happening." Twilight commented in a deadpan tone. "How long have they been occurring?"

"They started a few weeks ago. Though, I will admit that they have been happening more lately."

"And you still thought that they were nothing to worry about?!" Twilight barked back, now getting annoyed.

"I told you that they're just dreams!" Flash replied, glaring back at Twilight. "Eventually, they'll stop. That's what all dreams do!"

"And if they don't?"

"Errrr..."

"If you don't get a good night's sleep, you'll end up doing something a lot worse than flying into a wall Flash! You need help!"

"Maybe you could go see that new therapist," Spike suggested, "what's his name? Doctor Hound...Doctor Pooch...Doctor Wol-"

"I'm not going to see a shrink," Flash interrupted, "I'm fine."

"Well we think otherwise," Rarity said.

Flash just rolled his eyes at this, but said eyes shot wide open when Twilight magically grabbed his ear and pulled him towards the door. "Ow! What the hay?!"

"You and I are going to go see somepony and get these dreams sorted out!" Twilight said as she pulled him along.

"But-"

"No buts! We're solving this now!"

One transition to a certain zebra's hut later...

"So that's the situation Zecora," Twilight explained, her magic still tugging Flash's ear. "I wasn't sure who else to come to. I've never heard about anything like this in any of the books I've read on dreams, so I thought an outside source would help."

Zecora just nodded as she finished her cup of herbal tea. "It warms my heart to know you believe, that I would have your situation's remedy."

"Do you think you can help?"

"I have the perfect thing I think, to help him get his forty winks." Zecora moved over to one of her shelves and began searching for something, eventually finding it as she took it off the shelf and brought it over to the duo. Placing it on the table, the two saw that it was a bottle of navy blue liquid.

"What is it?" Flash asked as he looked at it suspiciously, Twilight's hold finally releasing from his ear.

"An ingredient to make a tea, that will make your sleep nightmare free."

"So I just pour this into my tea and it'll stop me from having bad dreams?" Flash asked before looking up and seeing Zecora nod.

"Three drops in the mixture will make it work and stop your dreams from going berserk. Take it for a week and the dream should stop-"

"Before seeing if it was a total flop?" Flash finished for her, a cheeky grin on his face. Zecora however, just raised an eyebrow at this while Twilight glared at him. Seeing this, Flash slightly shrunk back, sheepishly saying, "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Thank you Zecora," Twilight nodded before glaring at Flash one more time.

Zecora shook her head with a small smile. "No need to thank this simple druid. To help a friend, I'm happy to do it."

Later that night...

As Flash and Twilight prepared for bed, Spike was busy making his own version of herbal tea. Twilight had set up a few spells on Flash's bed, mainly to help him get extra comfortable. As the setup was happening, Springer just watched them, his nose slightly twitching as he did.

"Here it is," Spike said as he poured some tea into four cups before bringing it over to where the other three were sitting.

"Thanks Spike," Twilight replied as she put down the book she had been reading about dreams after casting the bed spells. She wanted to figure out a few more spells to help, and some calming tea would definitely help with the thinking. Bringing it to her lips, she sipped at it before sighing, "delicious as always."

"Thanks," Spike grinned as he handed Springer his cup before putting Flash's on the table.

Flash on the other hoof, just stared at the cup before pulling out a small bottle. He then uncorked it, letting out a small sigh. "Here goes nothing." With that saying in mind, Twilight came over to him and poured the potion into a science baster. With this sample, she carefully deposited three drops into Flash's tea, which he thanked her for. A second later, he took a sip.

"How is it?" Spike asked, seeing Flash's face scrunch up after he finished sipping.

"Bitter," Flash croaked out.

"It doesn't matter how it tastes," Twilight deadpanned as she pointed at the drink, "you need to drink all of it."

Flash glared at her, but finished the drink anyway. "Welp, time to see if that even worked."

"I'm sure it will," Twilight replied as she put the baster away, "Zecora's remedies have never failed before." She then turned around and stared at the still slightly twitching pegasus. "Now go to bed. You need some sleep."

"Yes mom." Flash rolled his eyes as he got up and started to go upstairs. As he did, Springer quickly finished his own cup of tea, ready to follow his partner up to bed. That is, till Twilight tapped his shoulder.

"Springer." he turned his attention toward her, quickly noticing a very serious look on her face. "If for some reason that doesn't work and he has another nightmare, come get me. Okay?"

Springer smiled and nodded, before turning and heading upstairs.

Fire.

Flash opened his eyes, and all he saw was fire.

Once again, Flash was trapped within the burning room. As his eyes saw this, he began to look around again, seeing the building fall apart. It was the nightmare all over again.

"No...darn it!" he yelled as he started to try and escape the same piece of burning wood still pinning him to the ground. "Augh! Somepony help! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"

But his screams of terror fell on deaf ears.

Just as before, his ears slowly caught the sound of wood cracking. As it did, he looked up again, only to see the same piece of lumber splitting apart like last time. One crack appeared...then another, and another. Then, the last crack appeared, as a flame surrounded the wood.

One second later, it split. And with that, the roof came crashing down.

"No....NO! SOMEPONY HELP ME! AAAAAAAAAAA-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Flash screamed as he shot up out of bed. His eyes almost bulged out of his head as his wings shot open, fear still capturing his mind. "NO! No....no...." Sweat poured down his face as he put his hoof up to his forehead. "Oh...it was a just a dream....just a dream..."

"Flash!" Twilight screamed as she and Spike rushed into room, causing him to jump in place. "Are you okay?! Did you have another nightmare?!"

"Whoa! Don't rush in here like that!" Flash barked back, trying to focus his still asleep eyes. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"You just screamed Flash, you're obviously not fine." Twilight pouted, crossing her hooves as she did. "Did the remedy not work?"

"I uh...no." Flash groaned, rubbing the side of his head as a small sting of pain hit his skull. "Ugh...my head. Why do I feel like my brain was smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick?"

Twilight just shook her head. "Maybe we should go see Zecora again. Even if she can't figure out why the potion failed, she might be able to get you something for your headache."

"That sounds like a good idea, but maybe we should wait." Flash said as he got up out of bed. He looked outside and saw it was still night time. "Zecora will probably still be asleep if we go there now."

"Okay, but no patrolling today. I don't even want to think about what might happen if you went out in your current state."

"Sure." Flash agreed, hoping that nothing bad would happen today. With that, the library's residents all headed downstairs, where Twilight was making Flash breakfast and Spike made them some more herbal tea. Springer was just waiting at the dinner table, kicking his feet with a small smile on his face, as he couldn't wait for the herbal tea.

"Hey Flash, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked as she set Flash's scrambled egg on toast down in front of him.

"You just did, didn't you?" Flash replied cheekily.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she placed Springer's breakfast down. "I want to ask what the dream is about. Maybe if we knew what happens in it, we can find a way to help."

Flash looked hesitant at the thought of explaining his nightmare. But, he also knew the nightmare almost in and out, having experienced over and over again the past few weeks. Remembering this, he decided to take a chance, thinking it would make things easier for him.

"Everytime it's the same. I open my eyes and I'm in a room filled with fire. And uh...I'm stuck. I can't move because there's a bunch of heavy wood on top of me." Flash explained, staring at the toast, trying to figure out the best way to explain the dream. He looked back up, only to see the other three's eyes grow wide. However, they remained silent, signaling him to continue. "Then...I start to look around for a way out and...and I realize I'm a colt again. I don't why I'm a colt but...it explains why I can't move under the wood. Anyways, as I continue to try to escape the fire, I start to scream and yell, calling for help." He let out a long huff as he explained the last part of the dream. "But nopony comes. And as I'm laying there, yelling...my ears pick up a sound. I look up and see a large support beam above my head...and it begins to break. It snaps again and again until...it breaks."

"Then what?" Spike asked, gulping in fear of what happens next.

"Then the roof collapses on me...and I wake up." Flash admitted, his eyes now staring back at the toast. "It always ends at that moment. I don't know why...but it does."

The three remained silent, not knowing what it could mean. Even Twilight was dumbfounded, fear showing all over her face as she rubbed her chin in thought. With this sad dark story over their heads, they finished their breakfast. As they did, they noticed that the sun was now up. Seeing this, Twilight suggested that they head over to Zecora, but not before bringing their friends along. Flash was a bit against this, but Twilight believed he needed all the moral support he could get.

"And that's what happened," Flash finished. After arriving at Zecora's and telling her the potion failed, Twilight had suggested retelling his story to her and the rest of his friends. Most of them showed faces of fear or despair, especially Fluttershy.

"Now I get why you can't sleep," Rainbow commented, a slight grimace on her face. "Even I'd be creeped out by something like that."

"It is truly horrible darling. I've never had a dream like that before." Rarity added before looking at the others. "Have any of you?"

They all shook their heads 'no' except Twilight and Zecora. Those two were going over the ingredients of the previous potion, both perplexed as to why the remedy had failed. "A puzzle I'd call your situation," Zecora grumbled as she flipped over a page in her book, "I cannot determine the potion failure causation."

"I know," Twilight replied as she pointed to an illustration, "the ingredients look right. By all appearances, the remedy should have worked."

Hearing this, Pinkie perked up as she suggested, "Maybe the problem isn't the potion."

"What do you mean Pinkie?" Flash asked in confusion.

"Well...maybe you're the problem Flash."

"Huh?! How am I the problem?" Flash barked as he pointed to his chest. "I'm the one having nightmares!"

"Actually...Pinkie might be on to something there Flash." Twilight said as she scratched her chin. "Maybe you are the reason this is happening."

"Not you too. I am not to blame for this!" Flash countered. "Why would I want to give myself nightmares?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Agreed." Zecora nodded before continuing. "I concur with your proposal. That may be the answer's exposal." She thought for a moment, then her eyes flashed with sudden realization. "Remember when you pony folk, stumbled into poison joke?"

"How could we forget? The girls literally believed you had put a hex on them." Flash deadpanned, only to receive six angry glares. "Sorry sorry...I was just kidding. I'm having a few bad days here, give me a break."

"Each of you had a strange affliction," Zecora continued, "but young Sentry had no such restriction."

"Hey! Yeah...yeah, you're right Zecora!" Twilight said as she turned to him. "The poison joke didn't effect you...and didn't Discord's magic have problems affecting you?"

"Yeah, it did." Flash replied, scratching the side of his head. He then turned and stared at the zebra. "And you told me that the only way I was immune was because of some kind of magic, right?" Zecora just nodded at this. "Well, that does make sense but..." Flash shook his head. "I've had potions before that have worked. Like the one that Princess Celestia gave me to help me discover my cutie mark, and what Grand Hoof gave me for that test to prevent me from flying. Why have those potions worked, but this one didn't?"

"That's a good question." Twilight remarked, rubbing her chin in thought. "If we only had one more clue than that."

"Maybe whatever causes it can pick what happens to Flash?" Pinkie suddenly asked, causing them all to look at her.

Rainbow just rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, like there's a type of magic that can make choices like that." She then turned to Twilight with a questioning gaze. "Is there?"

Twilight gave a confused shake of the head. "I'm actually not sure about that...but that's a question for another day. Right now, we need to find a way to help Flash with these nightmares. Now, we know that it repeatedly happens, and the potion didn't work despite that. If that's the case..." A certain thought floated into her head. "Wait a minute, maybe we need another opinion here."

"Another opinion? But who would know how to solve this?"

Twilight gave a knowing smirk. "Simple. We ask somepony who knows a whole lot more than we do." Twilight turned to a certain purple dragon, who was now finishing his tea. "Spike, take a letter."

Hearing the command, the dragon quickly conjured up a quill and scroll. "Ready Twilight."

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight recited, "I am writing to you in a hope that you might know the answer to a problem we're facing. We have recently discovered that Flash has been suffering from nightmares for the past several days. They've gotten so bad that they've begun to interfere with his work, and this morning caused him to awaken with a terrible headache. All our attempts to stop the nightmares have been useless. We hope you might know of someway to stop them before they begin to put Flash in serious danger. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Once Spike had jotted down the last bit, he rolled up the scroll and blew fire on it. The ashes of it flew into the air and out the window, off to reconfigure in Canterlot. Several minutes after it was sent, Spike started coughing until he burped out a cloud of smoke. Said cloud then magically transformed into a scroll, which Twilight quickly grabbed with her magic and unravelled. She began reading it quietly, Flash watching her lips silently move, knowing she was really interested in what Celestia had to say.

"So what's the news egghead?" Rainbow asked once Twilight had finished.

"Celestia wants Flash to come to Canterlot," Twilight explained as she rolled up the scroll. "She says she knows somepony who might be able to help with his situation."

"Who is it?" Flash asked, wondering who in Equestria could help with recurring nightmares.

"It doesn't say. I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"We?" Flash asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm going too." Twilight deadpanned as she stared at the pegasus. "What, you think I was just gonna let you deal with this on your own?" Twilight then turned to the others. "Right girls?"

"You betcha! We're coming to Flash, whether you like it or not!" Applejack said as the other girls nodded.

"Ah yeah! Road trip!" Pinkie cheered. "Can't wait to visit Canterlot again!"

Flash smiled at them, happy to have such caring ponies as friends. He then got up and headed for the door, knowing they would want to get going as soon as possible. As they did, Zecora spoke up, "Good luck in your quest my young friends. I hope you figure out how to bring Flash's nightmares to end."

"Thank you Zecora," Twilight replied with a wave goodbye. "Thanks for the earlier help!"

One transition of seven ponies and a dragon getting on a train later...

The journey to Canterlot was highly uneventful, with very few ponies on the train due to the late hour. Twilight had already decided to make a checklist of things to ask Celestia, which Rainbow took from her as a prank. As the two decided to bark at each other over this, Flash just looked out a nearby window, a glum look on his face.

"Um...are you okay Flash?" Fluttershy asked as she appeared right beside him. "I understand if you're worried about leaving Springer to protect the town."

"Hm?" Flash had just now acknowledged her, turning his head toward her. "Oh, I'm not worried Fluttershy. I trust Springer completely."

Fluttersy just frowned at this. "Then why do you look so sad?"

"I..." Flash bit his lip, hearing this question. "I'm just worried that this won't go away."

"Oh...I see." Fluttershy's ears drooped down, a glum look on her face now. A second later, her wing nudged his side. "Well, don't worry Flash. I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Yeah...here's hoping."

Eventually, they arrived at Canterlot. The eight hopped off the train before making their way to the castle. As the castle came into view, Celestia started to lower the sun, the last of the day's light shone on the main gates of the palace. As they arrived at the gates, they soon found themselves getting a salute from the guards who had been expecting them.

"Hey!" yelled a certain voice beyond the guards. They all looked back down from glancing at the sunset, only to see a certain familiar blue unicorn. "About time you all got here!"

"Trixie!" Twilight and Flash said happily as they rushed over to the unicorn. Twilight and Trixie quickly shared a hug while Flash asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Trixie countered with a raised eyebrow. "But if you're wondering why I'm here right now, Celestia asked me to bring you all up to her."

With that, Trixie lead them into the castle. The group quickly went through several corridors, Flash and Twilight starting to remember just how much of a maze the castle could be at times. Eventually, they arrived into an area Flash and Twilight recognised as Celestia's personal chambers, where Trixie knocked on the door. Several seconds later, the door was magically opened, causing the group to walk in.

"Hello my little ponies," Celestia voice spoke once they walked inside. As they did, they noticed Luna was also in the room.

"Hello princesses," they all said in unison as they bowed their heads.

"Come, sit down. We have much to talk about." Celestia commanded, pointing to a group of cushions on the floor. The eight ponies and dragon took their seats. As they did Celestia and Luna both stared at Flash before the princess of the sun spoke up again. "I would like to have a casual talk with you all but...I suspect we need to figure out this problem first. So Flash, tell us about these dreams."

Flash nodded and began retelling his dream. He told how he was a colt again in the dream, how he was trapped in the burning building, and how he felt pure fear of helplessness in the nightmare. As he continued to talk about his dream, Celestia and Luna shared glances at each other, both slightly nodding at each other as Flash kept telling his tale. After a few minutes, he was done, and waited for their opinion.

Celestia slightly shivered as she responded first. "A truly horrifying dream Flash, I won't deny that...but I'm happy to say that there's no doubt in my mind that the specialist I mentioned earlier will be able to help deal with them."

"Who's the specialist?" Flash asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Celestia smiled and turned her gaze on her sister. Everyone followed that gaze and saw an uncomfortable look on Luna's face. She slowly spoke up, "Sister, I'm still not sure about this. I haven't used that power since my return."

"It'll be okay Luna," Celestia assured her sister, patting her side with her wing. "Your power has grown significantly since you got back. There's no doubt that you'll be able to pull it off."

"Pull what off?" Twilight asked. "How do you believe Princess Luna can help Flash?"

Celestia beamed a smile at them. "My sister has an amazing ability my little ponies. This ability allows her to enter the dreams of ponies and interact with them." Their eyes went wide hearing this. As they did, Celestia continued. "When Flash has this bad dream again, we will have Luna enter his dream and help him overcome it."

"If I'm able to," Luna said in a glum, nervous-filled tone. "It has been a thousand years since I've even attempted this."

"I'm sure you can do it princess," Trixie cheered, walking up and giving her teacher a hug. Luna creased a small smile as she returned the embrace.

"Thank you my student..." Luna replied before she looked at the others. Her eyes watched the happy smiles that appeared on the other ponies' faces. She could see that they were all here to help, even if they knew that they couldn't use her magic. With this in mind, she turned and stared at Flash. "Are you ready?"

Flash just nodded. "Sure. I'm up for anything if it ends these dreams."

"Very well. I will try my best."

"That's all we ask of you Luna." Celestia said before turning to the rest of them. "Shall we all retire?"

They all nodded and got up, before Celestia showed them towards the place they'd be staying. It was a large room filled with beds, which made Flash cock an eyebrow in confusion. He turned to the others and said, "Uhhh...you know, you all don't have to be here. I thought this was about me...and Luna helping me."

"Nonsense darling, we're here for emotional support." Rarity replied as she patted his shoulder. "Isn't that right girls?"

They all nodded as Applejack added. "And if it looks like things ain't go-in right, we can all wake ya'h up."

"I guess...though I'm still thinking we're overreacting over my bad dreams." Flash said as he rolled his eyes.

"Ugh...just get in one of the beds Flash." Twilight grumbled, pointing at the mattresses.

"Fine fine..." Flash growled as he hopped into one of the beds, a deadpan stare on his face.

Luna then walked up to the bed Flash was on. "Alright Flash, for this to work, you'll need to first fall asleep. I can only enter dreams, making ponies sleep isn't something I can do."

"I'll try," Flash said as looked at the nine ponies and dragon staring at him, "but I'm not sure I'll be able to with all of you watching."

"Want us to sing you a lullaby?" Pinkie asked as she hopped onto another bed, a big grin on her face.

"No." Flash deadpanned, glaring at her. "I don't need a lullaby." He then looked at the others, a frown appearing on his face. "In fact, I don't need any of you watching me sleep. Just-urk!" Flash felt a certain familiar pain in his ear, recognizing it to be the Twilight's magic grabbing him.

"Stop complaining Flash!" Twilight barked, causing him to slightly backpedal on the bed. "Just close your eyes, lay down, and go to bed!" The other girls started to giggle as they saw her yell at him. Hearing this, she turned to them, her horn no longer showing a magic aura. "Don't laugh at this! We need to figure out-"

Twilight tried to say something more, only for her ears to hear a familiar sound of snoring. She turned around again, only to see a certain sleeping orange pegasus with a big goofy grin on his face as he laid on the bed.

"Awwwww," the females of the room said as they watched him.

That is, except Twilight, who just facehoofed. "You have got to be kidding me. He made all that fuss and then he goes and-"

"That's enough my dear student." Celestia remarked, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight immediately closed her mouth from this, which made Celestia nod. "Now, let us all be silent." Celestia pointed to Luna. "Go ahead Luna. We will all be quiet so you may begin."

"Very well." Luna then let out a small sigh. "We'll give him a few minutes to get into a deep sleep. That will help in this...dreamwalk."

A few minutes later, Luna moved over to where Flash laid and her horn began to glow, a stream of magic rope appearing out of her head. The rope then tapped Flash's head, which caused Luna to be enveloped by a sphere of light.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Rarity asked with a slight grimace.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, she's entered the dream world and has a path into Flash's dream. Once the nightmare begins, she'll hopefully be able to help Flash end these dreams once and for all."

"Let's hope," Twilight said as she looked over at the two. "Princess Luna...please help him."

Luna opened her eyes, a realm of stars and lights in front of her. Her pupils widened as she looked around before saying with a sigh of relief, "Whew...I made it." She then looked down, seeing a small rope of magic under her. She quickly followed it, only to find it attached to a large orange door with a familiar lightning shield cutie mark.

"Here goes," Luna took a deep breath as she braced herself for what would be on the other side. A second later, she gently opened the door, a slight breath of air releasing from her nostrils. As soon as she did, her wings reflexively blocked her face as she felt a surge of heat embrace her face. As she hid behind her feathers, her eyes widened as she saw the blaze in front of her. "Great moons!" she yelped before a click in her head went off. "Flash!"

As she mentioned his name, her ears picked up a loud cry that could be heard from within, making Luna flex her wings down. "Hold on, I'm coming young Sentry!" She shot forward, planning to fly into the room. However, as soon as she tried to enter the flames, she felt a force hit her back. Her whole body bounced back, barely preventing herself from falling on her rear. "What?!" She asked as she moved over to the door and tried to walk through it, only to hit some kind of invisible barrier, which briefly shone a touch of gold when she touched it. "What the-what is this? Why can't I enter this dream?"

She then heard Flash's voice cry out again, making her slam her hooves against the barrier reflexively.

Fire. Screams of terror. A burning building. A colt caught in pure distress and danger.

It was happening again. Flash was once again trapped under a burning pile of wood, his body now a colt. As the nightmare began, Flash began to scream out, fear covering his face. "HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" he cried as he tried to escape the blaze. "HELP! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"Flash!" yelled a voice in the distance.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! HELP!"

"Flash!" the voice yelled again, trying to pierce the colt's ears.

"SOMEPONY HELP ME!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"FLASH! LISTEN TO ME!!!" the voice yelled one more time. "YOU MUST LISTEN!!"

This time, the voice pierced the flames, causing Flash to stop. His eyes shrunk as he recognized the voice. "Princess Luna?" He called out, fear still in his voice. "Is...is that you? Where are you?! HELP ME!"

"Flash!" Luna called back, "You must fight the nightmare yourself!"

"But why aren't you in here helping me?! I can't move!" he cried out, tears starting to appear under his eyes.

"For some reason, I can't enter your dream. But that doesn't mean I can't help you." Luna yelled back, taking a small breath afterward. "Even so...you must stop the nightmare yourself Flash!"

Flash looked at the fire around him, gulping as he continued to shake his body in fear. "H-h-how do I d-d-do that?"

Luna creased a small smile, knowing she had got to him. "Sometimes dreams have a reason behind them, especially recurring dreams. You need to find what the dreams are trying to tell you, then they'll stop."

"But there's nothing here..." Flash cried, almost biting his lip as he looked around. "Nothing...nothing but fire."

"Ignore the fire Flash. Ignore it and look past the flames."

Those words entered his ears, causing him to stop shaking. Fear was still there, but his eyes started to look beyond the terrors. Flash began looking around, trying to find something, anything to end the recurring nightmare. His eyes shook like a leaf as his pupils zoomed around, trying to find any clue. "Gotta ignore the fire...gotta ignore the fire..." he said to himself, his mouth shivering as he did. "Come on...come on...there's got to be something..."

Then he saw it. His pupils shrunk as he saw two words that were sitting on a nearby wall.

"No way. It can't be..."

Then, just like every time before it, the beam above Flash broke. Hearing this, Flash looked back up and saw the incoming burning lumber.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Flash and Luna screamed in unison, both of them popping back up in the room. The resulting cries caused the others to jump back in surprise.

"Flash/Luna!" Twilight and Celestia called out as they rushed over to them. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"

"I...I'm not sure." Flash replied, gasping for air as he did. He then rubbed his forehead before glancing at Luna, his eyes shaking as he did. "Hey Princess Luna...is that...was that for real?"

"I...don't know." Luna said as she rubbed her head as well. "Regardless, did you see something? Anything?"

"See something? What's she talking about Flash?" Twilight asked as she glanced at Flash and Luna.

Flash just ignored her as he continued to pant, gasps constantly exiting his mouth. "I...I think I did. I think I know what the dream is now."

"Good." Luna said as she stood back up, no longer panting or gasping. Instead, she walked up to Flash with a small grin on her face. "Do you know how to answer your question over the dream?"

Flash nodded. "I think I do." He then turned his head, looking out at a nearby window. "And I think I can solve it all tomorrow."

The next morning...

"Are you sure this is the place?" Twilight asked Flash as her and their five friends all walked up beside the orange pegasus. Spike was with them as well, though Trixie had decided to stay in the castle along with the royal sisters, as Luna had a few lessons for her student today and Celestia had her usual duties. With this in mind, Twilight pulled out a small report she had requested from Princess Celestia before looking back up at the building Flash had brought them to.

"Yup." Flash nodded. "This is the place, I'm sure of it." Flash had told them last night that in the nightmare, he had seen a sign in the building. The sign had two words that had shocked everypony last night when he told them about it.

Canterlot Orphanage

"Though I got to say...it doesn't feel familiar." Flash said as he looked the building over. It was just a basic stone building, three stories high and hidden away in the northern sector. "Though this one is made of stone."

"Yeah...that's why I was asking." Twilight mumbled as she put the report back into her saddlebag. "According to the report, the original building burned down over fifteen years ago. Apparently, a rogue thunderstorm cloud got blown over the building due to a pegasus scuffle and a lone bolt struck the place. A fire soon followed, and burnt the whole thing down. They then rebuilt it out of stone..."

Twilight's friends then noticed a slight grimace on her face, causing Rarity to speak up, "Sounds like you're not telling us everything darling. Did something else happen that day?"

Twilight sighed as she recounted the last part of the report. "Apparently, a young pony was left unaccounted for and was said to still be trapped inside that day. The building was evacuated rather quickly that day, but since the fire came out of nowhere and suddenly consumed the building...nopony was fast enough to go back inside and save the foal before the building collapsed." Twilight stared at the ground as the last words came out of her mouth. "They never found a body. They thought the foal was turned to ash in those flames."

Everypony gasped at hearing that, Fluttershy's eyes beginning to tear up. Flash on the other hoof, continued to stare at the building, which still seemed unfamiliar to him.

"Hello?" The group turned and saw an elderly unicorn standing a ways off, two shopping bags in her hooves. She had a pink coat and puffy graying hair, along with a pair of round spectacles on her nose. "Can I help you?"

"Hello," Twilight said before pointing to the building, "do you work here?"

The unicorn nodded. "Yes, the name's Clarity. I've worked here for almost fifty years. Its what I was made for." She then motioned to her back, showing a cutie mark of a foal's milk bottle. "How may I help you?"

"You might know what we're looking for." Twilight remarked before turning to Flash. She noticed the nervous look on his face, causing her to roll her eyes before lighting up her horn. Flash felt a certain force push him forward as she commanded, "Go on, ask her."

"Okay okay..." Flash replied, causing Twilight's magic to stop. He did a slight gulp before walking up to the unicorn. "Um...could you help me? I uh...I think I might have lived here once, but I don't remember."

Clarity stepped closer to Flash, magically lifting her spectacles to help take a closer look. After several seconds, her eyes slowly grew wider as if she had seen a ghost. "What's your name?"

"Flash," the pegasus replied, not giving his second name because he didn't have it back then. Clarity's breath became staggered as she stepped back, her eyes widening as she tried to stabilize herself. Seeing this, Flash quickly asked, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

"Impossible...its a miracle," she gasped before turning towards the building. She then motioned them to follow her. "Come with me, quickly." The group followed the elderly pony into the orphanage, up several flights of stairs and all the way to the top floor. There, Clarity pointed to the furthest door on the right. "In there. I believe what's in there is the answers you seek."

Flash and his friends shared a confused glance, before moving over to the door. There, they saw a bronze plaque with writing carved on it.

Dedicated to the memory of Flash Relic, whose life was lost far sooner than it should.

Bellow the text was some numbers, a set of two dates that were six years apart.

Twilight looked at the dates and scowled at the second one. "That's the night of the fire," she said before looking over at Flash, "five years before we met."

"Yeah...we use the day I joined your family as my birthday, right?" Flash asked as he glanced at Twilight. She nodded. "Huh."

Flash took one last look at the door, a small gulp going down his throat. A second later, he opened it. Inside was a dusty medium sized bedroom painted light orange, with a simple little bed in the corner and a bookcase in the other. Up on the wall was a large sign for the orphanage, but it was covered in smiley faces and drawings of different animals using color paints that look like it had been done by a foal. Flash was the first to step into the room, his eyes looking the place over. As he did, Twilight and the others noticed that he seemed lost in thought, yet they could tell he had figured out something.

"Flash?" Twilight asked in a low, careful tone. "You okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think am Twilight." Flash said as continued to stare at the room. His eyes kept blinking as he slowly spun in a circle, looking at every bit of place. "I...I remember. I...I lived in a place just like this."

The Past...

Thunder.

Thunder roared outside as a certain young colt was laying on his bed, curled up in a bright red blanket. Strike after strike of lightning flashed outside the window as the colt laid there, unmoving. He was fast asleep, his ears folded over his head as he continued his slumber. That is, till his nose felt something. A smell. A pungent, disgusting, consuming smell. The stink caused his face to contort, his nose twitching as he continued to smell it.

Then, he woke up.

"Ugh...what is-"

BOOM!

"AAAAAHHHHH!" he yelped as he the sound a bolt lightning struck, the thunder piercing his ears. As he heard this, the colt flew out of his bed, fear instantly covering his being. "What was that?!" he yelped, quickly scooting to a corner of the room from the noise.

As he sat there for the next few minutes, he held his blanket close, shivering at the sounds outside. That is, till his nose picked up that scent again. This time though, he recognized it. Smoke. The colt had felt it before, when the orphanage had done a bonfire a few weeks back. But this was different. This smell of smoke felt nasty...and big. That, and he could tell where it was coming from. It was coming from outside his room.

Glancing at his door, the colt slowly approached the wooden structure, his whole body shaking like a leaf. Then, his hoof slowly turned the knob, a gulp descending down his throat. But his carefulness wasn't enough. As soon as he barely opened the door, a rush of smoke flew into the room, knocking him back. He let out a small scream as he tumbled across the room, rolling into the center.

As he did, he felt a sudden weight on his back. Before he knew it, several pieces of wood were pinning him down as they fell onto his back. He looked back up, only to see a fire outside his door, an inferno of flames twirling around as they began to eat away at the lumber. The very sight made tears of fear flow from his eyes, and a scream from his mouth.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! SOMEPONY HELP ME!" He cried as he tried to escape the wood on top of him. He continued to yell, his body wiggling inside the weight above him. "HELP ME! SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!"

As he did, more and more pieces of the ceiling began to fell. Shards of wood hit the floor, falling in front of him as he saw the flames grow in size. "No....no...." he gasped, tears still flowing down his cheeks as he watched his whole room go up in flames. As it did, he saw another flaming shard fall on top of his favorite blanket as it sat on the other side of the room after it had been knocked away when the smoke had pushed him away from the door.

Then, his ears picked up a sound. It was the sound of wood cracking. The colt looked up, only to see the large support beam above him beginning to breaking. Crack after crack appeared on the wood, causing his eyes to widen at each sound.

Then it stopped. The wood had split in two.

Then it fell.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" he yelled one last time.

Then it happened. As the beam fell, his body suddenly burst into life. The weight above him felt like a feather as he slipped out from under it, his whole body zipping out of the trap. As he did, another blast of flames hit him, knocking him to another side of the room. He let out a grunt of pain before realizing where he had ended up. He was under the windowsill, which had been broken by a shard of wood.

Seeing this, he looked back at his room, only to see half of it now consumed in flames. Knowing it was his only hope, he opened the broken window and climbed out. There, he sat on the roof, his body shaking as he saw the flames already marching around the side of the building. Taking a deep breath, he flexed his tiny wings, praying this would work.

With one leap of courage, he leapt into the air, flapping his tiny wings.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Like a rock, his body sped towards the ground, causing him to let out another scream of terror. As he did, his whole body smashed into a puddle of mud, one made by the thunderstorm. And when his body hit the ground with a thud, he quickly lifted his head up, his eyes spinning in pain as he felt the force that he had just been hit with. There, he looked back at the burning building, only to see a bunch of ponies beginning to file out of the orphanage. As he watched them, a burst of flames fell in front of him, causing him to backpedal away from the other unnoticing ponies.

Then, as if destiny itself had decided for this to happen, another bolt of thunder struck the ground. As it did, the bolt struck right in front of him, causing him to let out one last scream before his survival instincts kicked in.

He ran away, fear and survival in his mind as he ran into the darkness of the night.

The Present...

"And I never stopped running. That bolt scared me so much, I ran into the small forest behind the orphanage and then...well, as I said, I kept running." Flash explained before turning to Twilight, "I kept running until the day I met you."

His friends and Clarity were all speechless after hearing his recollection, unable to believe that such a thing could happen. The group was now in the orphanage's dining room, sitting around a large oak table as Flash recollected the tale. They had felt that it would be a better place to talk instead of the tiny colt's bedroom where Flash had regained his memories.

"Incredible," Rarity commented, unable to say anything else.

"Ah'll say," Applejack agreed.

The others just nodded.

Spike then raised his claw. "Hold on. Why didn't you remember this before? I mean, something like that..." Spike shook his head as he shivered at the thought. "Wouldn't that be like...burned into your memory or something?"

"Flash was a foal Spike." Twilight replied back, a slight frown on her face. "Foals' memories aren't as good as fully grown ponies."

"And such an awful memory," Fluttershy commented, covering her mouth with her hooves. "I'd want to forget it."

Twilight nodded at this. "Flash must have suppressed it until now. Thanks to that, the memory would have probably stay hidden." She then turned to Flash. "But then you started dreaming about it. I guess the dreams must have broke those suppressions. That and I'm betting that seeing your old room caused the suppression to shatter and let you remember completely."

"I guess," Flash replied, scratching the side of his head as he heard that.

However, before he could say anything else, Clarity walked up and placed her hoof on his. "I'm so happy to see you're alive Flash. I was heart broken when I thought you died." Flash smiled and nodded at her, a small tear almost forming under his eye. Seeing this, Clarity hopped in place. "Oh! I just remembered something." She leaned down with a little grin on her face. "Give me one moment dear." She quickly left the room, causing the others to glance at each other with questioning looks. Then, she returned while carrying something in her hooves. "Here Flash, you should have this."

She placed something on the table and Flash looked at it closely. His eyes went wide seeing it, quickly picking it up. It was the red blanket he had been holding when the fire started, but it didn't even have a burn mark on it. He knew it should have been burned to a crisp, but it looked untouched. Taking a closer look, he saw a stylised 'F.R.' sowed on it under a set of numbers Flash recognised as the same date that had been on the door upstairs. "This is-"

"You loved that thing," Clarity interrupted, "you never went anywhere without it."

"You had a blankie?" Rainbow asked while trying to hold back a laugh.

"Rainbow, don't laugh! There is nothing funny about that!" Fluttershy barked, causing Rainbow to wince.

"It's fine," Flash said while flashing his hoof, his eyes still on the blanket. "but I gotta say...something about this thing, it gives me a weird feeling. I can't even remember where I got it from."

"You were found with it," Clarity told him.

"I was?" Flash looked up at her, now realising a question he should have asked earlier. "Say...where did I come from?"

Clarity smiled at that. "I found you twenty one years ago, wrapped up in this blanket on the doorstep."

Everyone sighed, hoping they'd finally get some info on Flash's parents or even his background.

"It was late one night," Clarity continued, "I had just gotten the foals to bed when I heard a loud banging coming from the front door. I was afraid that whoever it was would wake the foals, so I quickly rushed to the door and opened it. That's when I saw you Flash, laying on the doorstep, wrapped up in that blanket." Hearing this, a small cloud of despair hung over them. Flash in particular, saddened that somepony would just abandon him as a foal like that. Seeing this, Clarity let out a small sigh before finishing, "I raised you myself and...and after the fire, I couldn't believe you were gone. I kept that blanket to remind me of you." She pointed to the piece of cloth. "Though I have to say, I'm still intrigued by it. After the fire, we found it in the middle of the pile of ash that was the old orphanage...but it didn't have a single burn on it."

"Must be made of a heat resistant cloth," Twilight commented, glaring at the fabric. "Interesting..."

"I've never heard of such a thing," Rarity also said, a shine in her eyes. "Though that does sound like a good material for a fashion line I could make..."

As the others rolled their eyes at Rarity's comment, Flash just stared down at the blanket, his mind racing as he did. Seeing this, Fluttershy walked up to him. "Flash? Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Flash barely acknowledged her, before just giving a tiny nod. "Yeah...I'm just a little...overwhelmed."

"I can definitely understand that." Clarity remarked before a lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh! That's right! There was one more thing when I found you that night."

"There was?"

"Yes." Clarity nodded before rubbing her chin in thought. "You also had a note with you in the blanket. Unfortunately, the note was lost to the fire, though I do remember some of stuff that was written on it." The other quickly gave stares that read 'Please tell us', causing Clarity to let out a small sigh. "If I remember right, all it said was: 'This is our beloved son Flash Relic, please take great care of him.'"

Hearing this last hint, Flash's ears flopped down to their sides, depression showing on his face. Another clue, lost to time and flames.

"I'm sorry you didn't find the answers you were looking for." Clarity replied with a frown. "If it helps, you may keep the blanket. It is yours after all."

"Yeah...thanks." Flash replied, squeezing his blanket with his hooves. "And uh...don't worry about the answers thing. I was just...looking for something that I already have." Flash said as he looked at his friends with a smile, "A family."

The others all smiled, knowing they didn't need to say a thing.

An hour or so later...

"Thank you for coming," Clarity said as Flash and his friends were now standing outside of the orphanage. "It was good to see you again Flash. I'm so glad you're alive."

"Yeah...and thanks for helping me." Flash replied before he pulled her into a hug. "Is it okay if I come back here sometime?"

"Of course," Clarity chuckled, returning the hug. "I would love that."

With that, the group turned and left. As they headed toward the castle, ready to tell Celestia, Luna and Trixie of their findings, Rainbow spoke up, "Huh. Who would have thought that trying to get rid of a bunch of nightmares would lead to this?"

"I agree darling." Rarity said with a nod. "Its still hard to believe in my opinion."

"I think its the most unbelievable for myself." Flash commented as he looked at the blanket in his hoof. "Guess I always alone back then..."

"So..." Twilight said in a cheeky tone, trying to change the subject. "Flash Relic, huh? That's a different name."

"I think I'd prefer to remain Flash Sentry," he replied, giving her a slightly playful glare. "I'm pretty sure that's who I am today, not Flash Relic." Flash then took one last look at the orphanage. "After all, I was just looking for answers to who I was, but I still don't have them. Until then...I think Flash Relic will stay there, lost to that fire all those years ago."

"We understand," Twilight said as she patted his back with her hoof. "And we'll be there to help when you find out the truth."

"Thanks girls. That's means more than you could possibly imagine.

Ponyville's New Defender

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We open today's story in a town where most stories happen, Ponyville. Today, Flash, Springer, Twilight and Spike were all trotting down a nearby street to do some much needed shopping. It had been a crazy past couple of days for the four, especially for one certain unicorn named Twilight, who had her head down as they shuffled down the street. It was the first time she had been outside in a week, and she was honestly considering going back home and holing up there for another week and a half.

As for why she was like this, she had recently had a near mental breakdown over not finding a friendship lesson to send to Celestia, believing that she had to find one every week. It also didn't help that after Flash had found out that his original name was 'Flash Relic', he had decided to stay in Canterlot for the past few days, as Celestia had requested for several ponies over the Equestria censuses to help him with this new information. Now that they had his full name, they could look up the records of anypony recorded with such a name or anypony associated with the name. Unfortunately, this was another dead end, as they soon found out that besides a few legal papers from the orphanage, there was nothing over a 'Flash Relic'.

Flash then came back to Ponyville a few days later, just in time to see Twilight have the previously mentioned mental breakdown. The breakdown, which included a mass hypnosis on the entire town due to a spell over an old doll of Twilight's that was also another spell of magic that didn't affect Flash, was just another day for Flash as the Ponyville's main protector. Flash was particularly glad that the spell didn't exactly affect him, allowing him to mostly stop the almost rampage that happened from the mass hypnosis, which included a hypnotized Springer fighting a crazed Big Macintosh.

With all that being said, it was now safe to say that Twilight was not to thrilled about being outside right now. But, after one week of holing up in the library, rereading the entire Equestria encyclopedia three times in a row as she did, Flash had had enough. He then proceeded to literally drag her out of the library, telling her that it was time to face the music. That, and do some simple chores while they were out.

Now, they had arrived at the main marketplace of Ponyville, where Flash bent down and whispered into Twilight's ear. "See? Nopony's even looking at you."

"I guess," Twilight gulped, her eyes scanning everypony around her while she tried to hide her face behind her mane. "Still, I don't want to-"

"Hey ya'll," said two voices, making the four turn to see Applejack and her little sister Applebloom manning a nearby stall.

"Hey AJ, Applebloom." Flash replied as they moved over to her, "How's business?"

"Going great!" Applebloom exclaimed, a big goofy grin on her face.

"Finally managed to get her outside, huh?" Applejack asked as she nodded at Twilight.

"Yeah," Flash said with a smirk, "though I'm praying nothing happens to make her teleport back to the library."

Twilight let out a small grumble at this. "Can you two stop talking like I'm not here?"

"Who said that?" Applebloom replied as she started looking around in exaggeration.

"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight growled, rolling her eyes.

The others chuckled at this, before Applebloom turned to her sister. "Applejack, can I head out now? Me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were gonna hang out at Sugarcube Corner."

Applejack just nodded. "Sure sugarcube, go have fun." Applebloom smiled before rushing off down the hill, laughing as she did so. As she disappeared into the distance, the farmer turned back to the four. "So, what are ya'll up to today?"

"Just a little shopping," Twilight replied.

"A little?" Spike commented, before pulling out a scroll that got done unravelling three feet away from them.

"Okay, fine." Twilight said with a hiss. "We gotta do a lot of shopping. Haven't had time to do any in a while."

"If you let me do it, we wouldn't have this problem." Flash commented with a slight glare.

"Like I'm gonna trust you with shopping after the last time," Twilight snapped back, gritting her teeth as she did. "Do you not remember what happened last time?!"

Flash rolled his eyes this time. "I thought we agreed to never bring that up again. You know, I didn't know that the stuff I bought would be connected to quesad-"

"Quiet!" Twilight barked, causing Flash to almost start backpedaling. "You just said to never bring it up again, so don't bring it up!"

Applejack just rolled her eyes with a smirk while Spike and Springer giggled at the sight. Twilight then started barking at them for chuckling at this, while also pulling Flash's ear with her magic. That is, till they heard a familiar voice.

"Hello everypony."

The five turned at the sound of the quiet voice and saw Fluttershy slowly trotting towards them, a saddlebag of different animal foods on her back.

"Hey Fluttershy," Flash said with a slight wave, "shopping for your animals?"

"Just the ones that can't feed themselves."

"Want some apples for ya'h little critters?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe just a few," Fluttershy replied, opening her saddlebag as she did. Applejack nodded and began bagging her some fruit. As Applejack did this, Fluttershy looked back up, only to see something in the corner of her eye. It was a cart at the edge of a hill in Ponyville, unanchored and unoccupied. That, and another pony was able to hit it, as they were currently moving backwards as they moved something along the ground, not noticing the cart behind them.

"Look out!" She called out, but it was too late. The pony nudged the cart, causing it to move just enough for the weight to shift over the hill. The laws of gravity kicked in, and the heavy cart began it's descent down the hill, quickly picking up speed as it did.

At this point, the others also saw what was happening. However, it was the sight on the bottom of the hill that made all of their eyes go wide in horror. At the bottom of the hill was one familiar looking filly, also not noticing the incoming cart.

"APPLEBLOOM!" Applejack screamed.

The little filly was happily trotting down the hill towards Sugarcube Corner, when her ears picked up at the sound of somepony screaming her name. "Applejack?" She quickly tried to turn towards the voice, only for her eyes to see a certain large wooden cart which happened to be four times her size. Her eyes shrunk as she saw the rolling object speeding towards her, her body stiffing like a board in fear.

"Applebloom! Watch out!" Applejack screamed again, quickly trying to hop over her stand in a mad rush.

Seeing this, Flash leaped into action, spreading his wings as he tried to quickly sprint into the air. However, the cart was already two steps ahead of him, causing the Pegasus to slightly start panicking as well. "Shoot!" Flash yelped as he looked at his side, seeing he had not brought Lightbringer with him. "Applebloom!"

At the same time, Applebloom still stood there, staring at the incoming wooden weapon. As she did, she tensed up, closing her eyes as the cart drew closer. That is, till her ears picked up a peculiar sound. It was the sound of something piercing the wind, whizzing past her in an instant. Despite this, she continued to have her eyes closed, not wanting to open them in fear of seeing her demise firsthoof.

But it never came. For several seconds, nothing happened. Feeling these moments inch by, she slowly opened her eyes, noticing that she didn't feel a lick of pain from the incoming collision.

As she opened her eyes, they soon went wide at a new sight. In front of her was a large black metal spear, embedded into the ground like a thrown javelin. Her jaw gaped at the sight as she looked it over, seeing that it had stopped the cart like it was nothing.

"What in the-" Applebloom gasped as she felt her hooves let out, her flank dropping into the ground.

"APPLEBLOOM!" She turned to see Applejack and her friends rushing over to her, before pulling her into a hug. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"I'm fine Applejack," Applebloom said once they pulled apart, "but how am I fine? Where'd that spear come from?"

"It sure looks familiar." Fluttershy commented, shaking like a leaf as she stared at the weapon.

Flash took one look and he knew what it was. "That's not a spear. That's Piecemaker."

"Piecemaker?" Applebloom asked, turning towards Flash. "What's that?"

"A Celestic Gear," Flash replied with a slight grimace, "and if it's here, then-" Flash stopped when he and the others heard a deep grunting laugh, making them all look around for the source.

"They weren't kidding when they said there's never a dull moment in this town."

The five quickly turned towards a nearby alley, where a familiar gray and black earth pony was standing. He slowly walked out, a small smile on his face as everypony's eyes went wide at his appearance.

"Iron Core?"

Iron Core, the apprentice knight and student to the Knight of the Winds, Skybreaker, slowly trotted up to the group. Once there, he reached out and grabbed his Celestic Gear, yanking it out of the ground and reattaching it to his side. "What's up shrimps?" he asked with a dark, almost sinister smirk on his face.

Flash's face immediately turned into a scowl. "What are you doing here?"

"Not that we aren't happy to see you," Twilight interjected, stepping in front of Flash. "Its just a...surprise to see you here."

Iron just rolled his eyes. "Well get used to it, because you'll be seeing a lot of me from now on."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

Iron didn't reply and simply reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a rolled up scroll, which he handed to them. Twilight took the scroll in her magic and unfurled it, seeing the Canterlot Royal Seal as she did. She began reading it aloud.

Official Notice:
I, Princess Celestia, hereby appoint the apprentice knight Iron Core to join Flash Sentry as Ponyville's Defender of the Peace. The two of you will work together to deal with any problem that may face the town, with Flash Sentry in command until it is agreed that Iron Core is up to speed with the routine. Accommodations have been made for the apprentice knight, and until further notice, he will be stationed in Ponyville.
Yours faithfully, Princess Celestia

As Twilight finished reading the scroll, the group turned to Iron Core with raised eyebrows. That is, expect Flash, whose jaw wanted to hit the ground in disbelief.

"Wait a minute...I have to work with you?" Flash yelped, pointing at the earth pony.

"Trust me, it wasn't my idea," Iron growled, crossing his hooves after taking the paper back from Twilight. "Skybreaker and Grand Hoof have been communicating and agreed that I need to start learning how to...work on my own." Iron rolled his eyes at his next statement. "They said I need to learn things without my teacher watching over me...and they both agreed that working alongside you would be the 'best option'."

"So you're gonna be staying here." Twilight concluded, a slight glum smile on her face. "For how long?"

Iron shook his head. "No idea. Though I'm guessing its until Skybreaker decides I'm ready to be a solo Defender of the Peace. Then I'll probably be sent someplace else."

"So...I'm guessing you just got here then?" Flash asked as he looked at Iron's saddlebag, noticing it was a bit stuffed for a small bag of its size.

"Yeah."

"Okay...this is gonna be different." Flash replied as he began rubbing his chin, not sure on what to do about the situation. A few seconds later, he looked back at Iron, blinking. "Errrr...okay, I don't know how to start this, so...why don't you get yourself settled and we'll start tomorrow. That okay?"

"I guess," he shrugged before pulling out a map from his bag, "if I can find the house I'm supposed to be staying at."

"Let me take a look at that," Twilight said as she magically took the map and quickly scanned it. A small red circle was written on the map, which Twilight glanced at before noticing the building right by the circle. She then levitated the map to Fluttershy. "Hey Fluttershy, isn't that your house right by that circle?"

Fluttershy looked over at the map and nodded. "Yes, that's my house." She looked at the circled location and her eyes went wide. "Wait...I know what that is. That's the old shack nearby." She then glanced back at Iron. "You're going to be living at that old thing? Its really run down."

Iron just shrugged at this. "Tch, as long as it stays upright, I'll be fine."

"Well then," Twilight said as she gave the map back to Iron and then turning towards Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, do you think you can take him over there to get settled, or do we need to help?"

"No, I can do it."

"I guess that's a plan," Iron chuckled before turning to Fluttershy, "let's get going shrimp."

With that, he turned and started walking away.

"Um...Iron," Fluttershy said before pointing in the opposite direction he was going, "it's actually...this way."

"Right, right...I knew that." Iron grunted as he walked past them again. As he did, Fluttershy began staring at the ground before following him. Seeing this, the others just looked at each other with slight hesitation.

"Are we sure that him going with Fluttershy is a good idea?" Spike asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I mean, it is Fluttershy, right?"

Flash just shrugged. "It's fine. Iron might be gruff, but he's good on the inside. He is the apprentice of Skybreaker after all."

"If you say so," Spike said, rolling his eyes. That is, till he started coughing, only to burp a load of green smoke with quickly transmogrified into another scroll.

"A letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed before taking it in her magic. She was about to unfurl it until she saw that the scroll had Flash's cutie mark sketched onto it. "Oh...it must be for you," she said as she handed it to him, which he quickly unraveled to read.

Dear Flash,
By now, I'm sure Iron Core has arrived in Ponyville and met up with you. I thought it would be best not to have Iron deliver this message, for fear of him deciding to read it. The real reason Iron Core has been assigned to Ponyville is because Skybreaker is worried about his attitude. I'm sure you know by now that Iron isn't a bad pony, but does give off a particularly intimidating aura. It's our hope that you and your friends will be able to help him open up and learn to show more than just this one emotion. It is also my belief that you and Iron may be able to teach one another for your growth as apprentice knights.
I have ever the confidence in you,
Grand Hoof

"So that's it," Flash commented as he finished reading. "He's here to learn how to be nice."

Twilight nodded at this. "I guess it would make sense. Sure, he needs to be intimidating at times, but he'll never be able to truly be a Royal Knight if those he's meant to protect feel scared around him."

"So it's our jobs to teach him to be friendly?" Applejack asked with a slight frown. "That won't be easy. The varmit didn't want anything with helping at the festival a while back."

"I agree but...we still got to do this." Flash replied as he gave Spike back the scroll. "We'd better let the others know about this, especially Pinkie. Who better than her to help open a pony up?"

Several nods followed before the group rushed off to gather their friends.

Meanwhile...

Iron and Fluttershy had finally arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy had quickly learned that Iron didn't have the best sense of direction, as he went off the path several times. Even when she pointed the direction they needed to go, he would sometimes mess it up. Despite this, he never got mad at her when she pointed out his errors, causing Fluttershy to loosen up a bit while walking with him. That is, till they arrived, where Iron had quite the look of skepticism on his face as he stared at the cottage filled with animal friends.

Iron looked around at the place, his hoof almost pointing at a bird house as he raised one of his eyebrows. "You live here?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said meekly with a small nod. "It's usually quiet and peaceful, so the animals are comfortable here."

The answer made him put his hoof back on the ground. "I see. Plus, the fact that it's in an area that most ponies won't go to must be a bonus for somepony like you."

"Like me?" Fluttershy asked, wondering what he meant.

"A pony who likes their space," Iron replied, looking back at the cottage. "You wouldn't be out here if you didn't like that."

"Oh," Fluttershy said in surprise, having been expecting some kind of insult.

"So...you gonna be showing me this old shack I'm staying at?" Iron asked, his expression becoming slightly serious again.

"Oh! Of course, just give me a minute to put my things inside." Fluttershy nodded before heading inside, Iron following her. Once inside, Iron took a long look around, staring at the insides of the cottage. Though he wouldn't admit it, it looked pretty cozy.

"Hello Angel," Fluttershy said as she patted a white bunny on the head. "Now I know I just got back, but I promised to help show Iron his new home." It was at that moment, the rabbit turned to see Iron and quickly hopped over to the earth pony, glaring up at him as he did. In response, Iron leaned down and glared back, showing a small smirk as he did. Seeing this, Fluttershy's eyes shrunk, already thinking that things were about to go downhill.

They continued their little staring contest, leaning in further and further as they did. That is, till Angel blew a raspberry into Iron's face. Fluttershy's heart rate sky rocketed at this, her mouth opening as she was about to scold her pet bunny, only to hear the sound of laughter.

"Heh heh heh...hahahaha!" Iron guffawed, wiping his face as he leaned back. "You got guts hairball, I can respect that."

Fluttershy and Angel's jaws dropped, surprised at his reaction. Angel then smirked, turning and nodding at Fluttershy as if to decide he liked the earth pony. Fluttershy sighed in relief at this, happy a fight wasn't going to break out in her home.

"So," Iron said as he turned towards the door, "we going or what? I need to see my new place."

"Right. Sorry for making you wait." Fluttershy then trotted towards the door. In that moment, Angel jumped onto a nearby stool and onto Fluttershy's back, indicating his wish to go with them. Fluttershy did a slight hop in place before glancing at her now occupied back. "Oh, okay then. Just promise to stay by my side. Where we're going is dangerous for a bunny."

Angel just rolled his eyes as the three of them left the cottage. It was a short walk to where Iron was staying, as the shack was located right by the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy had always been close to the forest, as it helped some of her animal friends, but never too close like the rundown shack. Iron however, was not a pony that would mind such a place. That is, till he saw the shack.

"Wow," Iron said as he looked at his new accommodations. There was only one word that could describe it: Rundown. It was a simple wooden shack, metal sheets covering the top as it's roof. However, a series of nails hung outside of its walls, several pieces of woods also hanging on the side and every window was broken. There was a small hole in the roof, though it looked like sompeony had tried to patch it up, though it poor two-bit job with the patching. The shack also had a small porch, but it's floor was half broken and the front door had only one hinge. "Now this is a dump."

"You have to live here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Eh, it doesn't look too bad. Probably nothing some old elbow grease won't fix." Iron commented as he walked up to the porch, only for his hoof to smash right through it. "Or not."

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said as she put her hooves over her mouth. Iron began growling, pulling his hoof out. He then reached for the door, only for it to fall to the floor the second he touched it. Iron let out an even bigger growl, causing Fluttershy to shake as she saw his anger rise. She did a slight gulp before speaking up, "Umm...maybe you should stay someplace else. At least, until this place gets fixed up."

"Grrr...yeah. I guess you're right." Iron agreed as he stepped away. "I'll just take a quick look around to see what I gotta do to fix it."

He began walking around the building, glaring at every bit as he did. While he did this, a small red bird flew up to Fluttershy. The pegasus hopped in place before lifting her hoof, letting the bird land on it. "Oh, hello Constance," she said with a smile. The red bird chirped a few times and Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, I see! Very well, tell Pinkie we'll be there soon." With that, the bird flew off, just as Iron came around from the other side of the shack.

"I was right, this place is a dump," Iron grumbled, clutching his saddlebag as he did. "It'd probably be easier to knock it down and rebuild it."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "Why don't we go back to town and I'll show you where everything is? Maybe we can get a better idea on what to do about the shack there."

Iron just shrugged. "I guess it's better then nothing."

One transition to town later...

After dropping Angel back at their house, Fluttershy tried to begin a tour of Ponyville for Iron. However, her timid nature made it...difficult for her to accommodate his gruff, unmoving personality. It also didn't help that just about everypony they met on the street was meet with a large, angry scowl on Iron's face, scaring them away as he walked down the street.

"That's Fresh Yeast's bakery," Fluttershy said, pointing at the building. "They make lovely bread. And over there's the Minuette's dentist office, and that's-"

"Could you just tell me where I can get some wood and nails for the shack?" Iron asked in a low grumbling tone. "I don't need to know anything else right now."

Fluttershy shined a small frown. "Oh...I'm not sure. You could ask Burnt Oak, he sells fire wood, so he might know where you can get some. Or maybe my friend Applejack? She runs a farm and they always seem to have spare lumber."

"Then I know who I need to talk to. Where do I find this Applejack or Burnt Oak?"

"Oh! Umm....the best way to find one of them is..." Fluttershy began rubbing her chin in thought, looking around as she did. Here, her eyes saw a particular building, causing her to point at it. "Um...I know this is off-topic, but that's the Golden Oak Library. Flash and Twilight live there."

"Sentry lives in a tree?" Iron asked, almost laughing as he pointed at it. "Seriously?! Why does he live there?!"

"Oh um...I think its because him and Twilight have always been together." Fluttershy then gave Iron a slight glare before walking up to the building. "But you shouldn't laugh at it, the place is very nice." She then opened the front door, motioning to Iron to follow her. "Here, take a look."

Iron just cocked an eyebrow, wondering what she was playing at. But, he knew she was harmless, so he just shrugged before following her, knowing that he would probably need to be familiar with the building if it was the place Flash was living in. As he stepped inside, he quickly noticed that all the lights were off, causing him to glance around. As he did, Fluttershy slowly shut the door behind him, a small smile on her face as she did.

Then, the place lit up, light filling up the building.

"SURPRISE!"

Iron reached for his weapon, ready to strike. That is, till he saw what was in the library as the light covered the building. It was everypony that he had seen in town that day, along with party steamers and ballons covering the main room.

"HI!" Pinkie screamed as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "So what do you think? Isn't this the best welcome to Ponyville party you've ever seen?"

"Err..."

"I'm so excited!" Pinkie yelled, ignoring his stutter. "When Flash and Twilight came by and told me about the new pony in town, I couldn't wait to throw you an awesome party so you could get to know all your new friends! HOORAY!"

"Friends? What are you-"

"Hello again darling," Rarity interrupted as she, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped over to him. "How have you been since the 'incident' in Canterlot?"

"I'm been fine." Iron grumbled, still trying to figure out what was happening. He then felt a hoof tap his shoulder.

"Never really got to thank ya'h for the save on ma'h sister earlier," Applejack added as she put her hoof off of him, tipping her hat. "So thanks."

"Eh, I was just doing my job. Now what was-"

"So we heard you're moving in," Rainbow finished, flying beside Iron.

"Yeah, and I'm-"

"Hey," Flash said as he, Twilight, Spike and Springer moved stepped over to him. Iron's eyes were now twitching, as his patience was wearing thin over that he couldn't seem to talk in this situation. Instead, Flash just crossed his hooves and smirked. "Hope you like your surprise. Pinkie throws a hell of a party huh?"

"What is..." Iron replied, trying to find words. He then rubbed his face with his hooves, slightly growling as he did. "Okay...slow down here..." Iron then glared at Flash. "First off, why?"

Flash just let out a chuckle. "It's tradition. Whenever a new pony arrives in town, Pinkie throws them a party. It's a way to get to know your new neighbours. It was a little last minute, but I think she did great."

"Oh you charmer," Pinkie said with a wave of a hoof, faking a blush.

"So what do you wanna do first?" Rainbow asked with a cheeky grin, "games, food or do you just want to talk to somepony?"

Iron however, just turned around, an almost death stare showing on his face. "I want to find somepony who can get me supplies to fix up my shack, and then get the heck out of here. And I'm guessing what I'm looking for isn't here." With that, Iron walked back to the main door. Once there, he stopped for one second before glaring at Flash. "I assume you begin work at sun up?"

"Uh...yeah," Flash slightly nodded. "But don't you-"

"Then I'll be here by then," Iron interrupted, quickly slamming the door behind him. As the door made a resounding 'slam' sound, the others just stood there, blinking.

"Well," Flash said once Iron was out of earshot, "that could have gone better. Then again, I gotta give the guy props, he darted out of here quickly." This comment resulted in Twilight trying to smack him with her tail, only to miss.

On the other side of the room was Pinkie, who's mane deflated at the sight. "He didn't like my party," she said with tears beginning to fill her eyes. "And that was the fastest party I've ever set up."

"Oh darling," Rarity added as she and Applejack moved over to her, "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I just get the feeling he doesn't like parties in general...though I will admit that this was a bit sudden."

Twilight nodded at this, "He certainly isn't going to make it easy, that's for sure. Guess Grand Hoof was right."

"Make what easy?" Fluttershy asked. "What's this about Grand Hoof?"

"After you and him left, we got a note from Grand Hoof. Turns out, the reason Iron was sent here was so we could help him become more open. We thought this party would be helpful."

"We didn't think he would so flatly refuse to even stay," Rarity said as she and Applejack continued to console Pinkie. "He didn't even try."

"That guy's just a jerk," Rainbow commented. "Why is he an apprentice knight?"

"Obviously Skybreaker saw something in him," Flash said with a slight shrug, "like how Grand Hoof saw something in me."

"Well maybe he made a mistake," Rainbow replied with a slight showing of disgust.

Flash just shook his head. "No, I know him. I know there's good inside his heart. I saw it back at The Battle of Canterlot." Everypony grimaced at the memory of that horrible time as Flash continued. "When I was fighting Lightning, I didn't stand a chance. At one point, Lightning had me down and was set to end it...but Iron swooped in and saved me. Even when we were fighting on the roof and Lightning was about to kill me there, Iron risked his own life to save mine. He took a supercharged bolt of lightning for me, even though he didn't have to. There was probably a million other ways to save me, but he didn't hesitate to do it." The group all went silent at this, obviously finding what Flash had said to be hard to believe. Seeing this, Flash pointed to a certain pony. "Flutterhy was there, she saw it happen too."

They all turned to the yellow pegasus, who quickly tensed up at all the attention. She did a slight gulp before meekly saying, "I did see him do that, and he seemed kind of friendly when we were together earlier. Angel also seems to like him and he never takes a liking to anypony when they first meet."

"That's true," Rainbow and the other girls all remarked, remembering their first time when they met the 'adorable' little creature.

Applejack then spoke up, her hooves crossed as she did. "Okay, we'll agree with that. But ya'h gotta admit, the guy doesn't exactly scream huggable. Ah mean, look at how he reacted to being thrown a party."

"Actually," Springer spoke up, "he wasn't so much angry, and he seemed...I don't know, scared." The others looked at the jakhowl in confusion, which made Flash quickly translate what he said.

"Scared?" Rainbow asked with raised eyebrows. "What's so scary about a party?"

"We don't know because we don't know him," Twilight replied before glancing at Flash, "it's like Flash said when we met Zecora. We can't judge somepony until we know everything about them."

Flash nodded at this. "Exactly. Iron may take some getting used to, but he's got a good side. We just need to find a way to bring it out...which I'm guessing doesn't involve a party."

The others all shared a glance, before turning back to Flash and nodding in agreement.

That night...

Iron had returned to the shack and was currently sleeping on an old, moth eaten bed. Despite his inability to follow basic directions, he had been able to find a hardware store with the supplies he needed for the shack. With it, he tried to start the repairs on the shack, only for his body to give out in a few hours. Now, he was on the bed that was already in the shack, though he was seriously considering getting a new one tomorrow as he felt the fabric almost start to rip from him just being on it. To say he was having a hard time sleeping was an understatement as he constantly shifted around in the terrible bed.

That is, till his ears did a slight twitch. There was the sound of trees rustling outside.

His eyes shot open, his hoof grabbing the bag right beside him. Inside was Piecemaker, which he clenched into his hoof as he hopped out of the bed and glanced outside. His eyes scanned the area, glancing around the pitch black night.

Nothing. Nothing but the darkness and the sound of late crickets.

Seeing this, he decided that he had just imagined it, and returned to his bed. Had he remained however, he would have seen a pair of glowing yellow eyes in the distance now appear. Seconds later, another set appeared, followed by several more.

Then, as they appeared, the eyes zipped through the night. As they did, they sprinted back into the forest, quickly vanishing into the woods.

The next morning...

Flash and Springer woke up at their usual early time, Celestia's sun just starting to rise over the horizon. As they headed for the door, tiphoofing to make sure they didn't wake up Spike and Twilight, Flash whispered to Springer. "Okay buddy, remember what I told you." Flash then opened the door, "We have to-oh!"

The duo found themselves face to face with Iron just outside the main door, a slight scowl on his face.

"Errrr....morning." Flash said with a look of slight surprise. "Been waiting long?"

"Let's go." Iron grunted, turning around as he did. Flash and Springer just glanced at each other before Flash motioned for the jakhowl to hop on his back. A few seconds later, Flash walked up to Iron, trotting beside him.

"So...I start the day with a patrol of the town," Flash explained with a small smile. "Though I usually fly over the town, but since you can't, we'll do it by hoof."

"Okay." Iron growled, a slight grumble in his voice. "Once I've memorized the town layout, we should probably divide the patrol between the two of us..." Iron then eyed Springer. "And your..."

"Partner. Springer's my partner." Flash replied with a slight glare.

"Right." Iron looked away. "I'm not judging. I just didn't know what he was."

"Fair enough." Flash shrugged as they began their walk through the town. Silence followed them as they started their survey of the town, as even Springer didn't speak up as walked down one of the streets. As the minutes passed, Flash felt a slight poke on his neck, causing him to turn around. It was Springer, who was motioning his head toward Iron with a face that said, 'Talk to him already!'. Flash nodded and glanced at Iron, who was wearing a stone-faced stare. Blinking at this, Flash let out a small sigh before saying, "So...about yesterday-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Iron quickly interrupted.

"You know, you hurt Pinkie's feelings when you just left like that." Flash said anyway, glaring at Iron's comment.

"Her own fault." Iron replied with a roll of the eyes. "Wasting her time on such a stupid thing."

"There's nothing stupid about welcoming somepony to the town," Flash said sternly, "Pinkie just wanted to help you meet everypony so you don't feel like an outsider." Iron didn't reply and simply kept walking. Seeing this, Flash came to halt and shook his head. "You know, I don't get you sometimes. You act like you don't care about anypony, but I know that's not true. You saved Applebloom and you helped me during the Battle of Canterlot. So why are you so determined to make it so everypony thinks you're a big jerk?"

Iron stopped and turned back to Flash, a dark glare in his eyes. "Look Sentry, let's get one thing straight. I didn't come here to make friends. I'm here because I have a job to do, which doesn't involve making friends." He then pointed to the nearby buildings. "When push come to shove, I'll put my neck out for any of these weaklings. But that doesn't mean I'm going to cozy up to them and become friends."

"And what's wrong with making friends?" Flash asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Simple. I've never needed them before, don't need them now. So what's the point of having any?"

Flash just smirked, shaking his head again. "Wrong. You do have friends Iron. What do you call Skybreaker?"

"My mentor," Iron flatly stated.

"And why is he your mentor?" Flash asked before his smirk turned into a grin. "Because he cared about you. Because he's your friend." Iron didn't seem to have a response for this, causing Flash to continue. "Then there's Grand Hoof. He obviously cares about you and sees you as a friend."

Once again, Iron didn't have a comeback. Instead, his glare just grew darker. Seeing this, Flash's grin just grew wider.

"And there's also me. I'm your friend." Flash confessed. This got Iron's attention, causing his glare to soften in surprise. "After everything we went through against Lightning Blitz, I know I can trust you with my life and I also know you feel the same way about me. That trust, that can only come from friendship. So like it or not, we're friends."

Iron remained quiet, before turning away and started to walk off. "I think I'll just patrol this section of the town on my own." With that, Iron started walking away, as Flash just stood there. He wasn't sure if he should follow Iron, as the reaction wasn't exactly what he expected or wanted.

That is, till Springer poked him again. Flash then turned to his partner. "What did you get buddy?"

"Hard to be sure," Springer said while rubbing his chin in thought. "A little more fear and mild annoyance, but...when you told him you were his friend..."

"What? What did you get?"

"It was just for a moment, but I felt a powerful surge of happiness." Flash didn't know what to think after hearing this. He started rubbing his chin as well, trying to figure what that meant. Springer then poked him again. "So...any ideas?"

"Not sure. Kinda reminds me of somepony I know..." Flash commented, his brain going through his memories. That is, till a certain memory popped into head, causing him to say one word. "Twilight..."

"Twilight? What about her?" Springer asked, surprised at hearing her name.

"He reminds me of Twilight when we first got here buddy." Springer gave him a slight look of surprise, causing Flash to chuckle. "It was before we met. Twilight was...very antisocial."

"Isn't she usually like that?"

"Eh, it was worse back then." Springer gave him another glare, which Flash just waved his hoof at. "Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is..." Flash looked back to the direction Iron had walked away into. "I get the feeling that he wants friends, but he just doesn't know how to act around ponies."

"Well...what do we do about it?" Springer asked.

"Nothing yet. We won't act until we know more." Flash just smirked at his partner. "For now, let's just get back to work."

Later that day...

Applejack was doing her usual busy work at Sweet Apple Acres. Bucking apples, feeding the farm animals and other work as she walked through the south field. "Whew..." she said to herself as she put some buckets around a tree, bucking the apples out of it in a single strike. "Big harvest this season. Ah need to-"

Her thought was stopped as she heard a series of loud grunting noises. Her ears twitched as she turned to noise, quickly trying to find out where it came from. A few seconds later, she found her answer.

It was Iron Core, who was currently swinging his Celestic Gear around in an open field just outside the farm. The earth pony was hard at work, transforming it into a spear and spinning it around for several minutes. Seeing this, she decided to watch, seeing Iron thrust the weapon around as if he was dancing, a metallic and rough grace following him as he practiced. He then turned it into a hammer, which he began swinging with excellent precision. This went on for several minutes like the spear before Iron changed it into something else. A few weapons later, Iron put the weapon down, let out a low growl as he did.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" He asked Applejack, his back turned to her.

Surprise filled Applejack before she tried to reply, "How long did yah-"

"Since you got here." Iron interrupted, still not looking at her. "But I wasn't gonna end my training because of somepony staring at me."

"Oh...sorry." Applejack replied, staring at the ground as she did. A second later, she looked back up and asked, "Um...if yah don't mind, could yah tell me why yah training on the edge of ma'h farm? Flash has his own training area, yah know."

"I wasn't in the mood for dealing with Sentry," Iron hissed, gripping his weapon again.

"He giving ya'h the third degree?" When Iron didn't reply, she knew she had her answer. "A'm guessing yer not used to being around other ponies?"

"Usually its just me and Skybreaker," Iron admitted, a certain type of gravel in his voice. "The few times we were around other ponies was when we were getting supplies or on an assignment."

Applejack just shrugged. "Makes sense. Being around so many new ponies might be a little scary."

"I'm not scared," Iron said forcibly as he turned towards her.

Applejack just raised an eyebrow at this, obviously not convinced. "Yah know I'm the Element of Honesty, right?" She asked him, "Ah can tell when somepony's hiding something." Iron growled at this, his dark glare returning to his face. Seeing this, Applejack slightly backpedaled. "Fine, ah'll drop it. But Ah'm guessing yer also here for something other than just training away from Flash."

"I was told you're the pony to come to for wood." Iron answered, slight skepticism in his voice now that he had met her face to face. "I need some to fix up my shack."

"Oh!" Applejack lit up. "Sure, just follow me." Applejack motioned him to follow her. The duo headed towards her barn, which she then lent him a cart to use, along with a good pile of wood. She also told him where to buy some nails, as she recently had to buy a surplus supply of them due to what she called: 'Cutie Mark Crusader Antics'.

"Thanks." Iron said as he began making his way towards the exit of the farm.

"If yah need anymore, don't hesitate to ask." Applejack replied, smirking as she did. "Just remember to bring back mah cart."

"Yeah sure." Iron nodded before turning back on last time. "I'll bring the cart back later. Probably tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Eeyup." Applejack nodded with a wink.

With that, he began making his way back to his shack after purchasing some nails. As he got to the shack, his ears picked up a new sound. It was the sound of a pony yelling in anger and it was coming from Fluttershy's cottage. Quickly glancing at the cottage, he uncoupled the cart and rush toward the house and what he saw made him freeze.

Fluttershy was attacking a bear. The pegasus that he had only seen as a timid, scared pony was now beating on a bear, pounding into his back as laid on the ground. She let out what sounded like a battle cry, quickly slamming her hooves into the bear's back, causing him to let out a groan of pain.

"Holy-Hold on!" Iron yelled as he pulled out his weapon and charged towards the two. Fluttershy and the bear's attention turned to him, only to let out cries as they saw him about to swing his weapon at them. The bear shot up, flinging Fluttershy off his back before backing away as Iron pointed his spear at him. "Back off!" Iron growled as his weapon changed into a blade.

"Wait!" Fluttershy almost screamed as she flew between the two.

"Are you nuts?!" Iron told her, "Get away from that thing!"

Fluttershy frowned at this, glaring at him. "That thing...is one of my friends."

"But...you were...fighting?"

"Oh," Fluttershy said as she realized what he meant. "Sorry about that," she then backpedaled and started stroking it's head, "Harry's been having back issues. I was just helping him." Iron just blinked at this, having a hard time believing what he was hearing. Seeing this, Fluttershy put her hoof over her chest as she gave a kind smile. "I'm sorry we surprised you. We didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's fine." Iron said as he put his weapon away and turned back to the cart. That is, till he felt a drop of water on his head. He then looked up, seeing dark clouds now covering the sky.

"Oh...I forgot it was supposed to rain today." Fluttershy commented as she stared at the clouds as well. She then saw Iron glaring at the sky, as his shack's roof had several holes in it, which Fluttershy also knew about. "Um...Iron?" He looked back at her, the glare still on his face. The stare made Fluttershy backpedal, making slightly gulp as she began to say a suggestion. "Um...uh...if you want...you could stay at my cottage until the rain stops."

Iron wasn't sure how to respond to this. He would like to be out of the incoming rain, but he didn't want to appear weak.

"It's okay if you don't," Fluttershy said, seeing his unmoving expression. "I just thought you would prefer that. And...I'd be a lot happier knowing you weren't out in the rain like this."

Something inside Iron cracked at that. "Sure..." he grumbled, swatting his tail as he felt drops of water tap it. "If it makes you feel better."

Meanwhile...

As the rain began to pour, the forest trees of the Everfree were rustling with the wind. Water began to cover the top of the land as more and more clouds started blanketing the sky.

Then, a creature emerged from the bushes of the forest. It was reptilian in nature, as it had light green scales on its figure and it stood on two legs. The being featured two short arms with three sharp claw at the ends of each arm and had a height of about four and a half feet. On its head and down its back was a bright red fin that went down to the tip of its tail, which featured a long, sharp, red stinger-like appendage. The creature continued to step further out of the treeline until it look up at that sky, as if it was looking for something, before turning its head back towards the forest and letting out a high pitched screech.

Seconds passed, as it stood there. Then, as if on cue, even more of the same creatures came out of the forest, though they were slightly shorter and had green fins instead of the red one. Eventually, the number of creatures that came out ranged between twenty five to thirty, all looking towards the red finned one for instructions. The red finned creature, most likely the alpha, turned towards Ponyville and let out a high pitched cry before it shot off at high speed towards the town. The rest of the pack soon followed suit, racing towards Ponyville.

Back at Fluttershy's cottage...

Silence was almost everything in the cottage filled with animals. You could hear a pin drop as the silence continued to linger there, the two ponies in the house not making a single sound. One of them was Fluttershy, who was sitting on her sofa, reading a book for the weekly Ponyville book club that she had started to attend with Twilight a few weeks back. Iron on the other hoof, had borrowed a cloth and was busy cleaning his Celestic Gear on the floor opposite her.

Every now and again, Fluttershy would look up from her book and glance at Iron for a millisecond before looking back down. As she did this for the fourth time in a row, the silence broke.

"What?" Iron asked without looking up from his work.

"Oh! Um..." Fluttershy said as she quickly hid behind the book again, "its nothing."

"It's obvious you want to ask me something," Iron countered, a slight grumble in his voice. "Out with it shrimp. What do you want?"

Fluttershy closed her book before getting off the sofa and sitting on the floor. "Why do you avoid other ponies?" The question made Iron freeze, the cloth now just dangling on his weapon. Despite this, he didn't move, just staring at his Celestic Gear instead.

"Why do you act so scary to others?" Fluttershy asked, her voice trembling as she did. "I know you're um...I know you're not really a bad pony. So uh...why do you try so hard to make everypony think you are?" She began to twiddle her hooves as she looked away from him, fearing she had already messed up. "Um...what I'm trying to say is...why don't you let ponies be your friends?"

Iron remained silent, his face stoic as his eyes continued to stare down at his weapon.

Fluttershy frowned and looked down at her own hooves. "I'm sorry," she said, "I just thought if I knew, maybe I could help you fit in better."

Still nothing.

"I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

Fluttershy turned back to get back on the sofa. As she did, a certain voice spoke up.

"When I was younger, before I even obtained my cutie mark, I lived in a small mining village at the base of a mountain." Fluttershy looked back at Iron. He was still looking down at his weapon, his face remaining still. Despite this, he continued, "We mined iron ore to be distributed around Equestria, and we were known for our metal work." He slowly turned to look out the window, staring at the rain. "My parents ran a blacksmith shop, and they were the best forgers in all of Equestria. They made tools that ponies from all over would come to buy, or even come to hire them." Then, Iron stopped staring at the window, his eyes now glaring back at his weapon. "But that all changed when he came to town."

"He?"

"His name was Longhorn. An outlaw with a rap sheet a mile long. He had come to my parents to order weapons to use against the law, but they refused." Fluttershy smiled at this. Obviously Iron's parents were ponies who wouldn't back down to bullies.

"I thought that was the end of it," Iron said, his voice now descending to a low grimace-filled tone. "But the next day...that was when everything changed."

"What do you mean?"

Iron gave her a slight glare, causing the shy pegasus to backpedal onto her sofa, a small 'meep' escaping her breath. Seeing this, Iron looked back at his gear, sighing. "I was just a colt back then." he began to explain. "I had just finished my lessons in school that day, and I had just aced a test. I was so happy...how naïve I was back then."

Fluttershy didn't like where this was going, she could tell just by his lowering tone of voice. Despite this, she gulped and asked, "What happened?"

"I returned home." Iron replied, a dark shadow covering his eyes as he began to recount his memories. "And I saw it in the distance. I instantly knew that something was wrong." He bit his lip as he said those next words. "My parents may have ran a giant forge...but they never had that much smoke coming out of the house, no matter what the order was. I...I knew that something had happened to them."

Fluttershy's heart sank as she heard this. She knew exactly where this was going.

"He burnt the entire house down. There wasn't a single ash of my family left." Iron's next words were as heavier than iron itself. "He made sure there wasn't a spit of evidence that he did it."

Fluttershy froze, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I've been hurt many times since that day..." Iron growled as he began the next part of the story, "but none of them have ever outdone the pain I felt that day."

Fluttershy had her hooves to her mouth, tears now flowing down her face.

"I knew instantly who had done it. There wasn't anypony else that it could be." Iron's eyes turned a shade of blood red, his expression was one of pure rage. "and I wanted payback. I wanted him dead for what he had done...and a few days later, I found my chance. I had heard rumors that Longhorn was hiding out in an old mine shaft outside of town. So I went to it...but I was too late."

"He got away?"

"No," Iron replied, shaking his head as he let out a draining chuckle. "Skybreaker had already captured them. He'd been assigned to bring them in and he had taken Longhorn and his cronies out within seconds. He made them look like they were nothing." Iron let out a long sigh. "But...I still wanted revenge. When I got there, I instantly saw Longhorn, sitting in a corner while being wrapped up in ropes from the soldiers. The others saw that a colt had rushed into the crime scene but it was too late." Iron's face then showed a large, vicious smirk. "I rushed over to him, taking Skybreaker's weapon from him by surprise and...I hopped on top of Longhorn, threatening him with everything I had." Iron let out a roar. "I wanted him to admit what he'd done to my parents! I wanted to make him pay! And yet...and yet...he confessed right there....with a smile on his face. He...he said they deserved it because they refused and it was just business."

Fluttershy gasped, his eyes fully wide as she heard this.

"I was so angry...I wanted to make him pay so bad!" Iron growled, gripping Piecemaker as he continued. "I wanted to make him feel the same pain he caused me. I raised the weapon high, ready to strike him down!" Iron quickly turned around, a dark glare in his eyes as he explained the next part. "It would have taken just one swing. That's all I needed..." he hissed, turning back to Piecemaker. "But I couldn't. I dropped the weapon and stepped away. No matter how much I wanted to, I knew my parents wouldn't want me to stoop to his level and take revenge."

Fluttershy smiled at this, happy he didn't darken his soul with vengeance.

"Skybreaker took Longhorn to jail and I thought that was it. My life was ruined and there was nothing I could do about it." he chuckled, rubbing Piecemaker with the cloth again. "But a week later, Skybreaker returned and seeked me out. He wanted to take me under his wing and become his apprentice. I didn't have anything else in my life, so I accepted...and a week later, I got my cutie mark. Turns out, the solider life was perfect for me." Iron glanced at his flank for a second, seeing his mark of a shield with two spears cross over it before looking back at his weapon. "But I swore to myself that day that I'd never let myself feel the pain of losing somepony I care about again."

"So you never let yourself get close to anypony," Fluttershy finished for him.

Iron remained silent, as if nothing else was needed to be said. That is, till Fluttershy walked up to him and threw her hooves around his chest. "I'm sorry that happened to you, but you can't lock away your feelings. Losing ponies is a part of life, but that doesn't mean you stop letting them in."

"I..." Iron wanted to shrug her off, to bark at her for doing this. But, he couldn't. He just didn't know how to respond to this.

So silence lingered instead. They just sat there as Fluttershy continued to hug him while Iron didn't move a muscle. Nothing needed to happen. Nothing at all.

Meanwhile...

It was a normal afternoon in the Golden Oak Library, as it's four residents were sitting inside, playing a board game. That is, till an orange pegasus let out an angry yell at a certain purple dragon, who had a big cocky grin on his face.

"And I say I only have to pay 500 bits!" Flash yelled as he slammed his hoof onto the table, causing the figures on the board to slightly hop.

"Stop that Flash, you're messing up everypony's placements!" Twilight barked back as her magic made all the figures go back to their original pieces. "You landed on the Manehattan property and Spike has two houses there. You have to pay the amount on the card!"

"No I don't! You're all a bunch of cheaters!" Flash growled before glaring at Springer. "And stop chuckling Springer. You're not even playing the game!"

"That's cuz I can only talk to you Flash." Springer countered with a smirk. "So stop being a sore loser to...what is it called again? 'Pony Property Possessors' or something?"

"What did he say?" Twilight asked with a deadpan stare.

"He said he doesn't like 'Pony Property Possessors'." Flash lied, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh really?" Twilight cocked her eyebrow before glaring at the jakhowl. "And why don't you like 'The Board Game of Monopolies'?"

"I did not say that, you liar!" Springer barked at Flash, raising his paws in the air. "And she just called it something else!"

"Its not called that Twilight." Flash deadpanned as he ignored Springer. "The box for the game clearly says-"

"That's just what the newer editions are called!" Twilight countered. "The original was called-"

BOOM!

"WHAT THE HAY?!" Twilight yelped as the sudden sound rocked the whole library. The board game they were playing flew into the air before every piece landed on Spike, making him let out a groan of disappointment. Flash and Springer quickly sprinted to the window, trying to see where the sudden explosion came from. That is, till they saw a blur flew by the window.

"What was that? Rainbow Dash?" Flash asked as he tried to follow the blur.

"I didn't sense her aura." Springer said as he closed his eyes, enhancing his aura as he did.

However, the blur passed them again, and this time Flash got a glimpse and saw something green. "That's not Rainbow Dash partner...and whatever it is, I don't think its anything good-" Suddenly, another blur zipped by, and this time, a loud scream followed. "That's not good."

"Flash, go!" Twilight yelled, pointing to the front door. Flash and Springer nodded at her, Flash quickly grabbing Lightbringer while Springer hopped onto his back. They rushed out of the library, only to hear another scream. They turned towards the yell, only to see Bon-Bon's candy store's main door open. Rushing towards it, they both peeked inside the building with slight hesitation.

"Somepony in there?" He asked as he stepped inside, only to freeze at what he saw. Inside the store were large dinosaur like creatures. They were eating anything they could get their claws on and wreaking the place while doing so. Not sure what they were, Flash and Springer backed away very slowly until they were out of the store. "Okay...not sure what's going on here, but it can't be good."

"HELP!"

Flash and Springer looked up and saw an open window on the higher level of the building. Flexing his wings, Flash took to the sky and flew up to it, where he saw Lyra and Bon-Bon propped against the door.

"Flash! Oh thank Celestia!" Lyra exclaimed after seeing him, "You've gotta help us, please!"

"What's happening?" Flash asked as he stepped inside.

"We don't know," Bon-Bon yelped. "We were just waiting out the rain when we heard a noise coming from downstairs. We went down to check and saw those...creatures, which chased us up here when they saw us."

Flash nodded. "Let's get you two out of here." He then saw Bon-Bon's nearby wardrobe and rushed over to it, quickly pushing it towards the door, barring it. The pegasus then flew the duo out of the window and over to town hall. After this, he and Springer flew back to the library, only to see Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity on the library balcony.

"Twilight!" he said as he landed on the balcony. "Please tell me you know what these things are and more importantly, how to beat them."

"They're Speed Stingers," Twilight explained as she flipped through a book with her magic before showing a picture in the book to him. "They're vicious scavengers who can move at over a hundred miles an hour."

"That explains the speed part of their name, but what about the stinger part?"

"Well, they-"

"Get back yah varmints!" yelled a voice behind Flash. He quickly turned around, only to see Applejack at the end of the nearby street. There, she was using her lasso as a whip, trying to fend back a Speed Stinger while the pony behind her tried to get to the town hall. However, as soon as the whip almost hit the monster, it dodged and shot forward, striking Applejack with it's stinger tail.

"OW!" Applejack yelped in pain, only for her body to suddenly become wobbly and she collapsed.

"APPLEJACK!" They all yelled, Flash quickly gripping his Lightbringer in anger. As he readied himself to bum-rush the creature, a blue blur zoomed through the sky, quickly grabbing the downed earth pony.

"Gotcha!" the blue blur said before bringing Applejack to the library's balcony. "Here, help her!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed, joy on her face as she saw that she had saved their friend.

"Good job." Flash complemented, spinning his blade in his hoof.

"But of course." Rainbow grinned, patting her chest in pride. She then glanced at Applejack as Twilight but her on the couch inside the library. "Is she okay?"

"Don't worry, she's just asleep." Twilight replied as she rubbed Applejack's forehead. "Its part of the Speed Stinger's method of attack. They inject a sleeping agent into their victims through their stingers."

"Is it dangerous?"

"In mass, yes." Twilight nodded as she turned back to her friends. "But she was only stung once. She'll wake up in a few hours."

"I don't get it," Spike asked as he looked over the balcony. "Why are these things attacking now?"

Twilight just shook her head. "No clue. What I've read about them was very brief. Their speedy and vicious nature make it very hard for ponies to study them."

"So you've no idea how to stop them?" Flash asked, panic slightly creeping onto his face. Twilight shook her head 'no'. "Oh great...guess we'll have to just focus on defense then. First, we need to-"

BOOM!

They all looked over at where the Doc's lab was, seeing him running away from the now smoking building as three Speed Stingers chased him. That is, till a stinger struck his side and knocked him instantly asleep. Seeing this, Flash shot a quick Flash Vortex at the three, spooking the trio as they dodged the attack.

"Save the civilians Rainbow! I'll keep those monsters at bay!" Flash yelled as he shot another Flash Vortex. Rainbow did a small salute before flying down and grabbing Doc and flying him to the town hall. Flash then turned to Springer as he shot off another attack. "You stay here bud."

"Why?" He asked.

"You saw what their stings did to fully grown ponies. I'm not gonna risk finding out what it does to something your size." Springer wanted to pout, but nodded anyways. Seeing this, Flash pointed to Twilight. "Stay here and protect the library and Twilight buddy. And Twilight? Try to find a way to stop them."

"Right," she replied before Flash flew off.

The next few minutes were filled with nothing but Flash fighting off the zooming monsters while Rainbow continued to safely guide ponies to the town hall. Every now and then, they also had to grab a few unlucky stung ponies as the situation continued, causing Rainbow to slowly start panicking.

"There's too many of them!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew back up to Flash after carrying a stung colt to the town hall. "We can't keep this up Flash!"

"Don't give up," he replied, surveying the town as he tried to watched a Speed Stinger's attack pattern from the sky. "There's got to be a-"

"HELP!"

They looked down and saw the school pony Twist in an alley, cornered by several Speed Stingers.

"Hold on!" Rainbow yelled, but in that moment the Stringers shot forward and were about to strike her. However, in that moment, the ground beneath her cracked open and a large metal pole shot out and lifted Twist into the air, where Rainbow caught her. "Gotcha!"

"Thanks!" Twist cried as she hugged Rainbow, "but where'd that pole come from?"

Flash and Rainbow both had a good idea, as a certain pony just down the street was responsible for the pole. It was Iron Core, who had struck his Celestic Gear into the ground and transformed it inside the dirt, causing a pole to lift out in another place. "Good catch shrimp." Iron complimented as he walked up to them, retracting Piecemaker as he did.

"Great timing," Flash said as he landed next to him. As soon as they did, the two quickly took fighting stances, as three more Speed Stingers appeared right in front of them. That is, till another three appeared behind them, causing the duo to stand back to back as the creatures began to encircle around them. "And...not so good timing."

"Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Have to wait. Whatever you do, don't let them sting you."

"Got it." Iron said, twirling the weapon in his hoof. "There really isn't a dull moment around here, is there?"

"Nope." Flash smirked as he spun his blade as well. "Get ready, here they come!"

What followed was a true battle of speed. The Speed Stingers had ran out of targets thanks to Flash and Rainbow's earlier efforts, causing them to get angry over the lack of victims. With this, Flash and Iron began to fight the monsters, deflecting their stingers as a series of stingers and claws attacked the duo. As they did, Rainbow watched their battle for a second, only for Flash to quickly yell at her, telling her to save everypony while they distracted the creatures.

A few minutes later, Rainbow had evacuated just about everypony. As she went back to the duo, she saw that more Speed Stingers had shown up, causing Flash to take to the sky with Iron in hoof. Flash quickly placed him down on a nearby rooftop, the two now using the moment to catch her breath.

"There's too many of them." Iron panted as he retracted Piecemaker again. "We're not gonna win like this."

"There has to be a way to stop them," Flash replied, wiping his brow. "We just need to find out why they came and what their weaknesses are."

"Maybe they just arrived here now."

"Maybe..." Flash crossed his hooves, scrunching up his face in thought.

Before they could make any theories, a loud scream caught their attention. Both their eyes went wide, recognising that voice from anywhere. "That's not good." Flash commented as he turned and saw the voice's owner. "Fluttershy!"

She was currently on the ground, her eyes shrunk in fear as she watched several Speed Stingers surround her. Her left wing was bruised, as while she was trying to follow Iron despite his warnings from earlier to not follow him, she had accidentally got hit by a Speed Stinger's claws as she glided near the ground. She had tried making it to safety on hoof, only to find herself backed into a corner with several Speed Stingers surrounding her. There were lined up in a semicircle, which had her against a building wall. From out of the line stepped the Alpha Stinger, which stared at Fluttershy for several seconds.

"Hello," she whimpered, trying to hide behind her wings. "Please stop this. You don't really want to hurt us, do you?"

The Alpha let out a powerful cry as it and six other Stingers raised their tails.

"No, please-" She couldn't finish as the Speed Stingers shot forward, all their tails ready to strike. She flinched and covered her face with her wings, waiting for the pain of the stings...but they never came.

Opening her eyes, she saw something blocking her vision from the Stingers. It was Iron Core, with seven Speed Stingers tails stabbed into his side. "Iron?" Fluttershy cried, her eyes wide as she saw Iron stand there, his face contorting in pain. Then, the stingers retracted and the pony fell like a brick.

"IRON!" Fluttershy screamed as she watched him fall.

The Alpha cried out as he readied his stinger again, only for Flash to land between them and Fluttershy and raised his sword. "Back OFF!" He called out as Lightbringer burst out a bright light. "Prepare to-huh?"

Then, something unexpected happened. The Speed Stingers all cried out. Not in fear, but in pain as the light from weapon made them step back. Seeing this, Flash shined a cocky grin as he looked up, seeing the murky, covered sky. Flash then continued to swing the shining sword at the monsters, making them scream out in pain again. "That's it. That's why you're here right now. You don't like the light, do you?"

The orange pegasus flared his wings, ready to take flight. "This ends here." he remarked before zipping into the sky, bum-rushing the clouds. The clouds quickly dispersed, causing a ray of sunlight to shine down over Fluttershy and Iron, making the Speed Stingers step back.

Seeing this from a distance, Twilight's eyes also went wide. "They can't stand light, can they? No wonder they attacked when it started to rain." She quickly turned and stared at Rainbow, who was carrying another knocked out pony. "Rainbow! Bring that pony over here now and start taking out all the clouds!"

"Huh?!" Rainbowr replied back, flying over to her with the pony. "What are you talking about egghead?"

Twilight pointed to the clouds, "These things hate light. So open the clouds and let the sun shine!"

"Oh...oh!" Rainbow shined a cocky smirk before saluting. "You got it!"

She shot into the sky at top speed, her and Flash destroying every cloud they could get their hooves on. All over town, the ponies of Ponyville watched as Rainbow and Flash worked to destroy the clouds, allowing their little town to be illuminated once again. As they did, the Speed Stingers all screamed as they were bathed in the light of the sun, rushing for the cover of the forest as pain coursed through their bodies from the sunlight. Soon, the whole town was free of the Stingers, who were now on the edge of the forest.

The Alpha hissed at Ponyville, before Flash landed on the ground. "This is your one warning," Flash said as he raised his sword which glowed, "don't come BACK!" He swung a Flash Cutter, which struck the ground in front of the Alpha. It screamed in pain before rushing into the forest, never to be seen again.

A little later...

As the sun began to shine again over the town, Twilight had arranged a team to take the stung ponies in town hall to the Ponyville Hospital. This included Applejack, and a few others that had been placed in the library thanks to Rainbow and Flash. However, one was placed in the library that didn't go to the hospital, as they feared this one needed help more than anypony else.

It was Iron Core, who had been stung seven times. Because of this, they had called Zecora for help, who was still trying to get to the library to help. As they waited for her, Fluttershy sat by his side, tears flowing down her eyes as she watched him lay on a nearby couch.

"Oh Iron..." she whimpered as she laid her head down on the couch. "Please be strong."

"I thought you said it was just a sleeping agent?" Rarity asked Twilight in a whisper.

"He got injected with seven loads at once," Twilight replied, biting her lip. "Who knows what effects that could have on him. That's why we're getting Zecora over here. She'll be able to help him quicker than the now patient-filled hospital."

Flash then walked up to Iron, a grimace on his face. "Don't you give up Iron. You're too stubborn to lose here."

The first thing Iron saw when he woke up was Fluttershy. As he saw this, his eyes squinted as he tried to remember what had happened to him. That is, till he saw the tears form in Fluttershy's eyes.

"You're awake...thank goodness." Fluttershy whimpered, putting her hooves over her mouth.

"Wha...what happened?" He asked as slowly started to sit up. Fluttershy tried to stop him, thinking he should rest some more, but he refused. As he did, he then realized that he was in the library on a makeshift bed. "What in...why am I here?"

"You got stung seven times." Iron looked around, only to see Flash and Twilight enter the room. As he saw them enter, Twilight continued to explain. "Your entire body almost shut down..." She made a slight shudder as she finished the next part. "You almost didn't make it."

"Luckily, our friend Zecora was able to make an antidote for you," Flash continued as he walked up to the bed, a smirk on his face. "Though you've been out for a week."

"What of those creatures?" Iron asked.

Flash waved his hoof. "The Speed Stingers are gone, and hopefully they won't come back."

"That's good," Iron said, laying back down with a thud. "At least I did my job."

"We were really worried about you," Fluttershy said as she watched him fall back into the bed.

"I'm fine," Iron grunted before closing his eyes.

Twilight let out a huff as she glared at Iron, seeing that he was already back to ignoring everypony around him. "You know Iron, she hasn't left your side once while you were out." Twilight said in a slightly commanding voice, making Fluttershy blush. "You could at least thank her."

Iron opened his eyes for a slight second before glancing at Fluttershy. "Thank you."

"No," Fluttershy shook her head. "Thank you, for saving me. I might not have survived."

"Eh, I was just doing my duty."

Flash and Twilight shared a knowing glance, before turning back to them. "If you're up for it," Flash said as he crossed his hooves with a smirk. "There's something we want to show you."

Iron let out a grumble, showing he already didn't want to reply. But, he also knew they were going to show him anyways. A few minutes later, he got out of the bed, though he needed some other ponies' help to keep him steady. With that, they left the library and walked through town, which was still being repaired from the Speed Stinger attack. As they did, Iron noticed something new. The townponies were no longer acting scared around him, instead waving at him with a smile or asking him how he was doing.

Seeing this, Flash smirked as he explained, "We told everypony what you did. They're really grateful to you for saving Fluttershy and helping me fight off those monsters."

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Iron growled, giving him a slight glare.

"Partially," Flash shrugged, a cocky grin slowly appearing on his face.

They continued onwards, heading out of town and were soon at Fluttershy's cottage. When they got on a particular road, Iron realised where they were going. They had arrived at Iron's shack, but it was completely different. It looked like it had been completely rebuilt. The walls of the shack were no longer rotten and cracked, the porch now looked sturdy and the windows had glass in them. It was now painted a dark brown, which Iron quite liked, and the roof was equipped with a new sheet of metal.

Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie were standing around it with a smile on their faces.

"You did this?" Iron asked.

"Everypony in town chipped in." Flash replied, nudging his shoulder. "Even the younger ones, they helped paint it."

"It's our way of really welcoming you to our community," Rarity said with a nod.

"And an apology for how we acted," Rainbow continued.

"We know friends aren't your thing," Pinkie said as she cartwheeled over to him.

"But we hope ya'll at least consider us yer friends," Applejack finished.

Iron smiled at this, before turning to them all. "Tch...I guess don't have a choice, do I?" Iron scratched the side of his head before his smile got a bit bigger. "If that's the case...thank you. Thank you, my friends."

Everypony smiled at this, happy that they had finally helped him open up.

Aura Brothers

View Online

"Tent?"

"Check."

"Sleeping Bags?"

"Check."

"Thermal clothing?"

"Check."

"Blankets."

"Check."

"Backup blankets?"

"Check."

"Backup backup blankets?"

"Check!"

"Okay," Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll, "I think that's everything."

"Thank Celestia," Flash moaned as he closed a travel saddlebag.

"Maybe we should go through it again and make sure we didn't miss anything out?" Twilight suggested, making Flash roll his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure if we missed something, we would have noticed the last three times we checked. We're good Twilight," he replied, putting the saddlebag on.

Twilight began twiddling her hooves as she opened the scroll again. "But...when preparing for a trip, you need to at least triple check your belongings for safety's sake. I don't want you to get there and find you've left something you really really need."

Flash let out a long sigh before patting Twilight's shoulder. "Listen Twilight, we're good. We have everything we need."

"But-"

"We'll be fine." Flash interrupted, winking at her as he did. "Trust me."

"But Flash...I don't know...I'm still leery about this." Twilight replied, looking at the floor as she did. "Are you sure you have to do this?"

"Yes. I want to do this and I promise things will be okay." Flash raised her chin with his hoof. "And this promise, I will keep."

"Fine." Twilight sighed, batting his hoof away. "Don't blame me if you forget something."

"I won't. Trust me, you made sure of that."

"Tell me again why you're going on this trip?" Spike asked as he and Springer walked in from the library kitchen. Springer had a bag on his back with two straps that was over his arms. This was something Rarity had made especially for the jakhowl that they had named a backpack.

"I told you this Spike. During our battle against Discord, me and Springer were able to talk to each other through our aura," Flash explained as he pointed to his partner. "Since then, we've been testing this ability and so far, we can hear each other from over a mile away. So we're going on this trip to try and help strengthen it."

Spike let out a small sigh before shrugging. "Okay, that I get. What I don't get is why you have to go all the way to a snow caped mountain to do this."

"It was Twilight's idea." Flash chuckled, pointing his head to Twilight.

"It was not!" Twilight barked back, growling. "I just mentioned that your aura connection seemed to strengthen whenever one or both of you is in a stressful situation." She then rubbed her forehead in frustration. "I did NOT suggest you going to a mountain!"

"Well, you might as well have," Flash teased, sticking his tongue out. "Come on, we both know you at least theorized my response to what you told me, before you did so."

"Point made..." Twilight grumbled, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "But I still told you because I thought you would be responsible enough NOT to do something crazy like this!"

Flash started chuckling, shaking his head. "It actually hurts that you've known me for this long and you still can't keep up with me." Twilight just glared at him, making him slightly backpedal at her approaching death stare. Flash took a deep breath before continuing. "Anyways, its not like its gonna be dangerous. I checked with Rainbow, and there isn't any snow or rain scheduled while we're there, so it'll be fine." Flash then hugged her shoulder, a small smile on his face. "I promised you that I wouldn't be reckless anymore, and I won't be reckless there. Okay?"

"If you say so," Twilight harrumphed, crossing her hooves while looking away. "I still don't like this and-"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Hmm?" Twilight muttered as everyone looked at the door. Twilight quickly went over and opened it up, revealing the local mailpony, Derpy Hooves.

"Mail call Twilight!" Derpy exclaimed before pulling something out of her saddlebag. "Package delivery!"

"Ah! Its here! Thank you Derpy!" Twilight cheered as she used her magic to levitate the package out of Derpy's mouth. "Do I need to sign anything?"

Derpy shook her head. "Nope! Have a good day!"

"You too." Twilight replied before softly closing her door. As she did, the magic aura over the package began to morph, tearing the wrapping paper off in a breeze.

"What'd ya get?"

"It should be-ah!" Twilight said before all the paper fell off. There, it revealed a book titled 'Galloping Mountain and Everything You Would Want to Know About It'. Flash gave her a questionable look as she levitated it in front of her, showing he wanted an explanation. Twilight did a small cough before saying, "Yeah...I uh, bought this book when you told me you were gonna go there." she explained with a blush. "There's supposed to be a lot of unusual plants and animals you don't normally see anywhere else on that mountain and...yeah. I thought it would help you...but the parcel got delayed in the mail."

Flash chuckled, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Twi."

Twilight smiled as she hugged back, muttering, "Sorry. I was just worried."

"I know." Flash replied, patting her back as the hug continued. That is, till he saw a large smirk on Springer's face. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Springer giggled before turning around, heading to the door. "You ready Flash?"

Seeing this, Flash broke the hug with Twilight before telling her, "Listen. Don't worry so much. Me and Springer will be fine." Flash then headed to the door, his saddlebag now snug on his back. "Come on, you can see us off at the train station with others."

Twilight released a long sigh. "Okay."

Later, at the train station...

Flash and Springer were packed up and ready to go, with their friends there to see them off. Among them was the usual ponies, along with Iron Core, who had his weapon sitting on his shoulder. "Well, this is it," Flash said to them as they stepped onto the platform and turned to his friends. "Iron, good luck keeping this crazy town in one piece. Remember, we're gonna be gone for a full week on this training resort, and this town can literally flip upside down in one day. Trust me."

"I can handle it," Iron replied with a smirk on his face. Since his arrival into town, Iron Core had slowly grown more and more accustomed to his work as Ponyville's Defender of the Peace. Flash found that he had to teach him the whole town's layout a few times, as Iron had directional problems. That and Flash had the repeating problem of Iron constantly wearing a scowl on his face, which didn't help when they did the defender's job of helping the citizens throughout the day. Despite this, Iron was starting to warm up to the friendly ponies of Ponyville, and Flash felt confidant enough to leave him to look after the town on his own.

"Well, just in case," Flash pointed to his friends. "Twilight and the others will be there if you need help. Remember, we all help each other in Ponyville."

"I'll be fine." Iron grumbled, turning around to go back into town. "Get going shrimp."

"We'll be fine Flash," Twilight commented as she walked in front of Flash. "You two need to look after yourself."

"And Spike," he said to the dragon, ignoring Twilight. "Do yourself a favor and don't stay up late reading horror comics. I won't be around to help you hunt Zombie Hamsters."

"That was one time," Spike pouted as everypony else giggled.

As they did, Springer walked up to Rarity, a big grin on his face. "Thank you for the backpack!"

"Hmm?" Rarity looked to Flash. "What did Springer just say?"

"He's thanking you for the backpack."

"Oh!" Rarity put her hoof to her chest, smiling. "You are quite welcome darling. I do hope its snug on you." Springer began nodding. "Good."

Seeing this small exchange, Flash then sighed. "I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Relax dude, we got this." Rainbow walked up and patted Flash's shoulder. "We'll keep Ponyville safe."

"This is Ponyville." Flash flatly stated. "You do realize that, right?"

"Well...yeah. But we can still handle it."

"I agree." Twilight continued, walking up and giving him one last hug. "We'll be fine. If anything comes up, we'll handle it. You go off and enjoy yourselves."

"Alright. We'll get going then." Flash said with a salute. With this, the duo hopped on the train, quickly finding a seat as the train started moving. There, he stuck his head out of a window. "Goodbye everypony! See you all in a week!" he yelled as he waved his hoof, Springer waving his paw. He heard all his friends saying their goodbyes back, waving as well as they got further and further away. As the last of Ponyville left his sight, Flash swore he heard Pinkie's voice.

"Don't forget to write!" Pinkie screamed, a megaphone in front of her mouth.

Back at the train, Flash removed his head from the window, sitting down with his partner on the train's seat. "Well Springer...looks like it's just you and me."

"Yep," Springer replied, nodding. "So...what's the plan?"

"No real plan," Flash shrugged, giving him a small wink. "We're just going to be training in the mountain. If Twilight's right and our connection increases whenever we're in a stressful situation, then this should help us strengthen that connection."

"And what if she's wrong?" Springer asked, a slight frown on his face.

"Then at least we know, and the training will be good for us either way."

And so, they sat back and enjoyed their journey. Springer decided to mainly watch out the window, admiring the sights outside while Flash took out the book Twilight gave him and began reading it.

Some time later...

Galloping Mountain was part of a mountain range that was east of Canterlot. Though not the tallest mountain in Equestria, it stood at an impressive twelve hundred meters in height, and it was home to many unusual animals and plants, the plants of which is why the mountain is so well known. The herbs and roots that grow there were famous for their uses in medicines and potions, which was why so many ponies climbed it to gather them.

At the base of the mountain was a small village, complete with a lodge where hikers could rest and different shops where they could get any equipment they would need. At the front of the village was a train station, where Flash and Springer's train was pulling into. As it did, the metal box skidded down the iron rails, sparks tapping the ground as the duo finally arrived.

"We're here," Flash said as he and Springer stepped off the train, already looking at the intimidating mountain and it's village in front of them.

"Look at all these ponies," Springer remarked, pointing at a few of them. The ponies all appeared to be rough and tough types, all having a similar body style to Iron and Mac, and some appeared to have scars in places. "They look tough."

"These ponies make their living climbing the mountain," Flash replied, his saddlebag accidentally nudging his partner. "They'd have to be tough to live here."

Seeing this, the duo made their way out of the train station, quickly entering the village. As they did, they soon noticed several judgmental stares from the locals, causing Springer to tense up. "Um...Flash? I don't like the looks they're giving us."

"Obviously, they don't think we belong here," Flash said with a slight roll of the eyes. He patted Springer with his wing. "Don't worry buddy, just ignore them." Flash then looked up and saw a nearby convenience store, causing him to point at it. "Come on, let's go get ourselves a map of the place. I'm betting that store should have one."

With that, they proceeded inside, quickly looking the place over. There, they saw the shop's clerk, an elderly gray unicorn stallion with an eye patch, who eyed the two suspiciously when they walked in. "So what do we have here?" He asked as Flash stepped up to the counter, "get off at the wrong station, did we?"

Flash shook his head. "Nope. I'm looking for a map of the mountain. Got one?"

"Of course," the unicorn said as his horn glowed brown. Off one of the shelves behind him flew a rolled up parchment, which floated down and landed into the unicorn's hooves. "This is one of the best maps we've got. Features every nook and cranny of the mountain."

"Perfect," Flash replied as he took it and unravelled it.

As he looked it over, the shopkeep spoke up, "Might I ask, what brings you to Galloping Mountain? You don't seem like the type of hikers we usually see around here."

"Training. We're here to work on our teamwork."

"You and your little pet there?"

Springer growled at this.

"He's not a pet," Flash said with a glare, removing his eyes from the map.

The clerk rolled his eyes. "Well whatever he is, you two might want to rethink going up this mountain. It's not very forgiving to those who don't know it."

"We'll be fine," Flash replied, dropping a few bits on the counter as he rolled up the mat. "Don't worry about us." With that, the two headed towards the door.

"Word of advice feather-boy," he called out, "don't try flying up at the start of the climb. You'll want to save your strength for higher up."

Flash nodded before they stepped outside. With that, the duo made their way over to the mountain. As they reached its base, they quickly noticed several shacks and sheds scattered throughout, but only a few roads in terms of where to start climbing. Seeing this, Flash looked to his partner. "You ready? We need to find a place to set up camp before the sun sets."

"Got it. Let's do this!" Springer replied.

And with that, the two headed up the snow-caped behemoth.

The trek was surprisingly easy to begin with. As said before, they took one of the roads at the bottom, finding it to be a basic upward dirt path. It wasn't until a half hour and passing several folks along the way is when things started to get rocky. It started when the original dirt path they were following ended in front of a pile of rocks that blocked their path. Deciding to follow the storekeep's advice, Flash and Springer chose to climb over it in place of flying. Springer proved his skills in jumping and agility with this and was already at the top of the pile while Flash was about half way.

After that rock pile, the terrain was no longer the nicely done paths they started on, and was instead a rocky and unstable group of rock ledges. This was also a bit of a challenge, as Flash decided this would be the part where he would use his wings. Springer rode on him as well, and the two flew up the side, quickly finding themselves passing a series of ridges and unstable land. It wasn't until they found one of the mountain range's lower peaks is where they finally landed. There, they found a small forest on the tip, along with a nice sheet of snow. Seeing this as a good stopping point in terms of going upward, the duo went into the rocky woods, soon noticing the snow getting thicker as they went through the greenery.

"Good grief, its cold," Springer said as he shivered, wrapping his paws around his body.

"And it's bound to get colder as we get further up buddy." Flash commented as he cut a bush in front of them with Lightbringer. "That's why there's snow here. Remains of the winter snow that never melted."

"Why don't they get rid of it like they do in Ponyville?"

"A mountain this size would take weeks to do, even with magic," Flash explained as he sheathed his blade. "Besides, they keep it like this because the herbs they farm here grows better in snow."

"Really?"

"You'd be surprised what tends to prefer the snow," Flash said with a smirk. "That and other facts in that book Twilight gave me."

In that second, the two froze when they heard a rustling coming from a nearby bush. The two quickly got into a battle stance, Flash re-pulling out Lightbringer and Springer forming a Bone Breaker as they prepared for whatever might leap out and attack them.

That is, till it came out.

What came out was a small ball of pink fluff, roughly the size of a buckball, with large blue eyes and a pair of long wiry antenna which both had pink puffballs on the end. The two glanced at each other as they watched the creature just sit there and stare at them. After blinking at few times, Flash and Springer put their weapons away.

"What's that?" Springer asked as his Bone Breaker dissolved. "I don't sense any ill intent with my aura...just obliviousness."

"Errr...hold on." Flash pulled out the earlier mentioned guide and shuffled through it's pages. A few seconds later, he found what he was looking for. "Oh. Its a Flufflepuff."

"A what?"

"A Flufflepuff. They live here on Galloping Mountain."

"How can anything live here? Its freezing up here!" Springer asked as the Flufflepuff bounced over to them. He bent down and patted the little creature on his head...body...whatever it had.

"According to the guide, they actually find the environment quite nice," Flash explained as he put the book away. "Their fur keeps them well insulated, so they don't feel the cold."

"That's cool," Springer said as he picked up the Flufflepuff. The little ball of fur purred as it rubbed up against Springer's cheek. "Sure is a friendly little guy."

"They're known to be very approachable." Flash commented as he walked up and began scratching the creature's head. "But they usually travel in packs. Wonder where the rest of it's friends are?"

As if on cue, the bush rustled again and four more Flufflepuffs jumped out. They saw the two and hopped over to them, causing the other to hop out of Springer's paws. The five began bouncing up and down around the two, as if playing with them.

"They're kinda cute." Springer said as one hopped up and starting bouncing on his head. "Really soft too. Bet the girls would like these guys."

"Like I said," Flash said as one bounced on his outstretched wing, "very approachable. And I agree with you there." Flash then looked to the sky, his eyes now seeing Celestia's sun. It was getting close to the horizon, maybe an hour or two away from setting. He retracted his wing and pointed to a nearby nest of trees and bushes. "Why don't we make camp here? This place is pretty good...its flat and there doesn't seem to be much here that could bother us."

"Sounds good to me." Springer replied, nodding.

The two quickly got to work, putting up the tent and unwrapping their sleeping bags while the Flufflepuffs watched. As the sun began to set, the two's camp was soon complete and they enjoyed a delicious supper of baked beans that Flash had brought along. Grand had taught him how to cook basic meals as part of his training.

As they continued to eat their supper, Springer spoke up. "This is nice. I like sleeping in the library, but it's fun being out here."

"Yeah," Flash replied as he looked up at the stars. "Reminds me of the time Grand Hoof took me and Twilight camping."

"Was it like this?" Springer asked.

"In a way," Flash chuckled, smirking as he did. "We were doing survival training, learning how to make a fire and what kind of food that's safe to eat. Twilight decided that she needed ten different guides over what type of plant, animal and food with would encounter. That and an argument with Grand over 'the ethics of using certain types of lumber for firewood'." Flash said, making air quotes as he did. He then gave Springer a flat stare. "She believed that Grand just wanted to make forest fires."

"Sounds like fun," Springer giggled. "And totally what Twilight would do."

"It was. It was also the only time I fell asleep thanks to an argument. It bored me that much!" Flash laughed as he finished the last of his beans. "Welp, we better get to sleep. We've got a long day of training tomorrow and we'll be starting early."

"Right," Springer replied as he munched down all of his beans as well.

The two got into the tent and wrapped themselves up in their sleeping bags, before slowly falling asleep.

Meanwhile...

It had been an unusual day for Twilight. She had only read one and a half books, which was considered to be a truly unusual event for her. Granted, she had acted this way somewhat when Flash was away in Canterlot, trying to find clues of his birth with Celestia and census ponies, but this time she knew better. This time, she knew Flash could actually be in trouble at any moment, which made her feel nothing but anxiety. As she did, she was now sitting at one of the library's windows, watching the night stars in the sky.

"You worried about Flash?" Spike asked as he stepped into the room, carrying a tray with two cups of hot cocoa.

"A little," Twilight said as she turned away from the window and took one of the cups in the magic. "More than anything, it just feels weird that he's not here. Ever since he came to live with us, we've always slept under the same roof. Even when I was studying late back in Canterlot, he would come to my attic and keep me company."

"So you're saying you can't sleep because you miss him?" Spike asked with a smirk.

Twilight shook her head. "Of course not. He's been gone before. It's just...it takes some time to get used to."

"Well, he's just gonna be gone for a week," Spike said as he took a sip of his cocoa. "Plenty of time to get used to it...like that time a few days ago."

Twilight let out a sigh. "You're right. And it's most likely this won't be the last time he'll be gone for a long time. If he's ever summoned to do a Royal Knight duty, it'll be likely that he'll be gone for weeks, possibly months."

Spike let out a small snort. "Wow, I never even thought of that."

"Exactly. And that'll be if he comes back at all." Twilight grumbled.

"Twilight..."

"I can't help it!" she replied, glaring at the young drake. "I just worry about these things! Look at all the tough battles he's already been through, and he's only an apprentice knight! I don't want to think about the dangers he'll have to face when he's a full knight."

"You can't let this sort of thing get to you," Spike told her, patting her side with a smile. "This is how we ended up with the Smartypants incident, remember? And Flash was just in Canterlot and not on some dangerous mountain." Twilight just rolled her eyes at the mention of that, causing Spike to chuckle and continue. "You know, if you're so worried, maybe you should talk to somepony about this." Spike suggested, "like that therapist or even Celestia."

"Maybe," Twilight said before finishing her cocoa, giving him the cup back with a slight glare. "I'll think about it."

"Good," Spike replied as he did the same with his cup. "I'm going to bed. Night."

"Good night."

As he left the room, the unicorn took one final look up at the stars, before deciding to follow Spike's lead and go to bed.

The Next Morning...

"Okay buddy, wake up." Flash said as he poked Springer's face, who was still curled up in his sleeping bag. "We got training to do."

"Mmm...five more minutes." Springer moaned. "I need....four more minutes."

"Oh really?" Flash smirked, crossing his hooves before glancing at one of his saddlebags. "And I'll just use these few minutes to, let's see...eat your special bag of food Fluttershy gave you?"

Springer immediately shot up, growling. "Don't you dare touch that! Those treats are mine!"

"Ah, you're awake." Flash chuckled, patting Springer's head. The jakhowl growled back, but Flash ignored him and turned to leave the tent. "Come on buddy, training time."

"Grrr...fine." Springer grumbled, following him.

With that, they two began their training.

First, they found a field of large boulders in the mountain's forest, deciding to have a competition where they would try and see how many they could break in an hour. It had been close but in the end Springer managed to win by just one boulder, which had broke a second before the alarm clock they usually used for their usual morning training went off. Flash had been a few more swipes from breaking his when this happened.

Their next training exercise was a race on climbing another part of the mountain, specifically it's ledges. In the idea of fairness, they used some rope to tie up Flash's wings so he couldn't easily fly to win. However, despite this restriction, the young pegasus managed to beat his partner to the top of the ledge by only a few seconds.

The two continued to spend the day challenging each other, beating each other over and over. Flash would win any type of fighting challenge, while Springer had better luck with the speed competitions. However, as the end of the day neared, the two were laying on the ground, breathing heavily from exhaustion as they had just reached a tie.

"So you wanna call it a draw?" Springer asked as they finally caught their breath.

"You nuts? No way!" Flash replied,

"So what do you wanna do to break the tie?"

Flash raised his head, staring at the forest around them. Looking at the standing lumber around him, Flash just smirked as an idea popped into his head.

"How about a race back to the tent?" He suggested, slowly ascending from the dirt. "We jump from branch to branch as a race."

"No wings?" Springer asked, pointing at Flash's back.

"We'll tie them up again."

"Then let's do it. Fly me up there and we'll start."

After flying up to the trees, Springer tied up Flash's wings and the two prepared for their race.

"You ready?" Flash asked, a cocky grin shined his face.

"You bet," Springer replied, nodding.

"Alright," Flash said as they turned to look forward. "Okay, three...two...one...GO!"

With that, the two began jumping from branch to branch, laughing their heads off as they raced. They went on like this for what seemed like hours, even though it was only ten minutes, enjoying the pure exhilaration of their game. The competition didn't really even matter to them as they hopped branch to branch, just feeling happy to get away.

That is, till Flash felt some strange. A patch of dizziness struck his head as he leaped to the next branch, causing him to stop, putting his hoof to his head. "Wha...."

"Flash?" He heard Springer call out. Turning towards his partner, he saw Springer looking at him and as their eyes locked, something happened. Everything went completely white, only for a second to pass and his vision suddenly cleared, his vision already returning.

However, something was wrong. He wasn't looking at Springer anymore.

He was looking at himself.

He wasn't sure what happened next. It felt like time had frozen in that moment, his body now moving through the air as he hopped to another branch. And as he started moving again, he looked to his hoof...only to see a familiar paw reaching out from the side of his vision. As he saw this, he knew instantly what was happening. He was looking through Springer's eyes.

"Flash, look out!" He heard Springer say, still staring at Flash's body.

With his focus on what was happening, Flash's body wasn't paying attention and his hoof was about to miss the next branch. As the danger showed itself, Flash's vision returned to his body. Unfortunately, he was a second too late, causing his hoof to miss. With this, he fell like a rock, hitting several branches as he fell to the ground, grumbling in pain as he did before coming to an undignified stop, slamming into the ground at full force.

"FLASH!" Springer yelled as he slid down a tree's trunk, landing near Flash's downed body. He then ran over to him, quickly removing a pile of branches that had followed Flash in his fall.

"That hurt," Flash moaned, pushing one of the branches off of him.

"Are you okay?" Springer asked in concern.

"I think so," Flash said as he tried to pick himself up. However, as he did, a jolt of pain surged through his left wing, causing him to tense up. "Spoke to soon." Seeing this, Springer quickly undid the rope around them, allowing Flash to painfully spread his wings and check the damage. "Looks like a sprain."

"Is it bad?" Springer asked.

"Nothing major. Just needs some rest." Flash then looked back at Springer, his face wincing as he could still feel the pain in the wing. "Maybe we should finish up for the day partner."

"Sounds good to me."

Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner...

"Over twenty four hours since he's left and the town's still standing," Rainbow said as she leaned back in her chair. In front of her was the rest of her friends, all of them glaring at her comment. "See? Nothing to worry about egghead."

"Yeah sure." Twilight grumbled, taking a sip of her milkshake. "Because I'm not careful or a mare that tries to plan ahead."

"Yup. That's you egghead." Rainbow chuckled, putting her hooves behind her head.

"Why you-" Twilight got up, only for Rarity to put her hoof in front of her.

"That's enough darling." Rarity remarked. "Remember, we're here to help Iron while Flash is gone, and we're taking a break. Calm down Twilight."

"Yeah yeah..." Twilight looked away, still grumbling.

"Besides...Iron seems to be doing well," Fluttershy said, fiddling with her drink. "And nothing bad has happened. That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah," Applejack shrugged. "Though sayin somethin like that is just askin fer trouble."

"Oh come on," Pinkie waved her hoof. "What could go wrong with just saying that?"

"Hey Rainbow, you in here?" They all turned to see Thunderlane at the door of the bakery, looking around until he saw Rainbow. "There you are," he said as he walked in, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Hey Thunderlane, what's up?"

"We just got news from Cloudsdale that this week's rain cloud delivery will be late," he explained.

"What?!" Rainbow asked in confusion, hopping out of her seat with a small frown. "Why?!"

"There was a malfunction at the factory when it was over Canterlot and the cloud shipments got blasted away," Thunderlane explained, slightly grumbling as he did. "It got blown eastwards and they couldn't recover it."

"Ugh...that's not good." Rainbow replied, facehoofing. "Well, at least we'll get a few days off. Though we need to send a message to Cloudsdale for some extra clouds."

The others all nodded in agreement, until Twilight thought about what Thunderlane had just said and her eyes went wide. "WAIT!" She almost screamed, "it's heading eastward from Canterlot!?"

"Yeah," Thunderlane replied with a shrug. "The team isn't exactly worried since there's nothing that important east of Canterlot. The clouds will had dissipated by the time they reach anyplace important."

"Wrong!" Twilight said as she slammed her hooves into the table. "There's a large mountain range in that direction. The one that Flash and Springer are on right now!" Everypony's eyes went wide at this, realizing what she meant. That is, till she continued. "And it gets worse..."

"How could it be worse?" Pinkie asked.

"The snow on that mountain will be so cold, it'll lower the temperature enough that the rain in the clouds will turn to snow. And if those clouds are meant for a whole town of ponies."

They all quickly began to catch on to what she was saying. Flash and Springer were being sent a blizzard and they didn't have a clue about it coming.

Meanwhile, back on the mountain...

Flash and Springer had just finished bandaging up the pegasi's wing. As the jakhowl completed the work, he looked up to his partner and asked, "How's that feel?"

Flash flexed his wing and nodded, happy with the work. "Not bad partner. If being a defender doesn't work out, maybe you can become a nurse."

"Very funny," Springer deadpanned as he put away the medical supplies. "I still don't get what happened Flash. Why did you suddenly lose focus like that?"

Flash thought back to what had happened and tried to put the experience into words. "It was weird. It was like...for a moment, I wasn't looking through my eyes."

Springer turned his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Whose eyes were you looking through?"

Flash turned to the jakhowl and stared him dead in the eye. "Yours."

"What?!"

"I'm serious," Flash nodded. "It was like I was looking through your eyes. Seeing what you were seeing."

"Weird," Springer replied, crossing his paws. "Do you think it has something to do with our aura connection?"

"Can't be anything else." Flash shrugged. "On the plus side, it does show our training is paying off. Though its far from perfect, at least we know we're getting somewhere."

Springer nodded before he saw something in the corner of his eye. He looked up, causing his eyes to widen. "Hey uh...hey Flash?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say the weather was supposed to be really good here?"

"Yeah, it is." Flash replied, nodding. "There isn't anything scheduled in terms of harsh or bad weather."

"Then what's that?" The jakhowl pointed up and Flash turned his head. Up in the sky and heading towards them was a large dark cloud, which was approaching fast.

"Oh no...that's not good." Flash said as he scrambled to get up. A second later, the first few flakes of snow began to fall, a sign for what was to come. "We've got to find some shelter and fast."

"Can't we just put up the tent?" Springer asked.

"No time," Flash replied as he motioned for his partner to hop on his back. "Besides, one strong gust of wind and it'll be blown away. We need to find a natural shelter, like a cave."

Nodding at this, Springer leapt onto Flash's back and the two quickly made their way through the woods as the snow continued to fall and intensify. Within minutes, the blizzard was upon them and the path ahead was almost completely white.

"I can't see!" Springer said as he covered his eyes from the snow.

"I can." Flash stated, his eyes narrowing as he ran into the thick of it. Luckily, his knight training had trained his eyes to be strong, as Grand Hoof had taught him early on how to use eyes even when things were covering his vision. Grand had used mud as the main basis of the training, which covered Flash's eyes, making him rely on his other senses. This alone made the snow harmless to Flash's eyes, those his body was quickly feeling the affects as numbness was already settling in. They needed to find cover, and fast.

It was in that moment that Flash saw it, a cave which looked like a prefect spot for them to wait out the storm. Moving quickly, they rushed inside, finding the cave was big enough to fit them and maybe another pony if the need arose. They placed their bags down and shook off the wet that clung to their fur, leaving them cold but alive. As they did, Springer pulled out several blankets, wrapping them around himself.

"Geez that's cold!" Springer yelped as he finished wrapping himself up.

"And we've got nothing that could make a good fire," Flash commented as he looked through their bags. "Couldn't grab any firewood with the sudden snow. Looks like we'll just have to wait out the storm."

"Okay. Sounds good to..." Springer tried to say, only for his ears to flare up, making him gasp as he looked back outside the cave.

"What is it?" Flash asked.

"There's...there's something out there." Springer said with a slight gulp. "Something crying out for help."

Flash just stood there, blinking for a second. He then narrowed his eyes before motioned to his back. "Hop on."

Springer nodded and leapt up onto Flash's back, discarding the blankets as they rushed out of the cave. The duo began to follow the voices, Springer feeling the aura of the crying victim. Roughly five minutes later, Springer spoke up, "The aura's getting stronger, but I can't see what's making it."

"We need to be careful." Flash said as he continued to walk forward. "Who knows what dangers could be out here." He was quickly proven right, when his hoof suddenly found itself treading on air. Instincts kicking in, Flash managed to pull himself back before a clump of snow disappeared underneath. Flash quickly gasped as he started backpedaling, realizing they had reached the edge of a cliff. "WHOA!" He said, moving backwards until his back hit a tree. "Yikes. End of the line that way."

"But the voices...they're still here!" Springer exclaimed before feeling something new. He then looked up, only to see a familiar sight. There, on a tree branch overlooking the edge, were five familiar looking pink balls of fur.

"The Flufflepuffs..." Flash gasped.

"They must be who were calling out for help!" Springer cried, pointing at them.

"No doubt," Flash said before frowning. "If only my wing wasn't injured. Then I could fly up and grab them."

"You might not be able to fly," Springer replied as he leapt off his back and onto the tree trunk, "but I can climb."

"Just be careful buddy, I'll direct you." Flash's eyes narrowed as he looked through the snow, opening his mental link with Springer. He then mentally directed Springer, as he easily talked to Springer with his mind, telling him which branch to climb.

"It's okay little guy," Springer said as he grabbed the first Flufflepuff before slowly climbing back down and depositing him on the ground. They did this three more times until only one of them was on the branch. "Hold on...I'm coming to get you." Springer said as he started the final climb. As he reached the final Flufflepuff's branch and began to slowly shuffle over to the creature, he repeated what he had said everytime before. "It's okay little guy, I'm here to help."

That is, till he felt a certain chill down his body. Before he could do anything else, a sudden gust blew through the air, knocking the Flufflepuff off the branch, its body quickly heading towards the cliff.

"NO!" Flash and Springer screamed. Before the two could even think of a plan, Springer leapt off the branch and began to plummet down after the Flufflepuff.

"SPRINGER!" Flash cried out as he looked down the cliff and saw his partner and the Flufflepuff fall out of sight. "SPRINGER!"

"I want to save it."

Flash heard Springer's thoughts in that moment, causing Flash to close his eyes. He knew what he had to do. "So do I partner." he replied as he began to concentrate. "And we will," he reached out to Springer, connecting to him like never before. "Together!" Something sparked in his soul and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was once again looking through Springer's eyes.

"I can't see!" Springer cried as he fell into the white abyss.

"But I can partner. I'll be your eyes." Flash replied, then motioning Springer to look down as he began his plummet. As he did, Flash saw the Flufflepuff right in front of him. "You can reach it buddy. He's right in front of you, grab it!" Springer did, grabbing the furball and clutching it to his chest before looking back down. Flash looked carefully for anything dangerous and saw something quickly heading their way. "Incoming branch! Destroy it now!"

Though he couldn't see it, Springer held out his paw. He created an Aura Blast, which he threw right in front of him. The sphere struck the branch, destroying it as he continued to fall. As he did, Flash spoke up again. "Two more, side by side. Straighten up and you'll go straight through them."

Springer did as he was told, straightening out his body and falling feet first. Just like Flash said, two branches roughly a foot's difference away from each other flew right past him. As he did, Flash spoke up one more time. "You're close to the ground but you need to slow down. Use Bone Breaker into the cliff!"

Springer did so, holding out his hand and creating an aura bone. With all his strength, he jammed the weapon into the side of the cliff, using it to slowly decrease their speed.

"Now jump!"

Springer did. Releasing the bone and jumping off the side of the cliff, he spun around in midair a few times until he felt a pile of snow, instantly stopping him in a wet yet soft embrace. As he felt the ground finally touch his body, Springer and Flash both cried out in unison. "WE DID IT!"

Everything felt like a blur after that. Flash directed Springer back up to meet them and together, the two managed to get the Flufflepuffs back to the cave.

"One, two, three, four, five..." Flash counted as he pushed them inside. "That's all of them. We saved them all."

The Flufflepuffs all bunched together at the back of the cave, while Flash and Springer sat down and faced one another. They stared at each other for what felt like a life time, before they both smiled and began to laugh.

"Heh heh heh...hahahahaha!" Flash bellowed. "I can't believe we did that! It's like we were one mind!"

"I know, right?!" Springer replied, chuckling as well. "It was weird. It was like, even though I couldn't see, I was seeing things in a new way. I was seeing things the way you see them."

"Same with me buddy...same with me." Flash said as the two then looked out the cave mouth and into the storm. Flash then put his good wing over his partner and hugged him. "Springer, I'm really glad I met you. You're one great partner, you know that?"

"Same here." Springer said, returning the hug. "For as long as I can remember, I was just drifting aimlessly through the world. But then I met you and my life suddenly had a purpose."

Flash just let out a chuckle. "Yeah...that's how I felt before I met Twilight and my friends. We're the same, aren't we?"

"We are," Springer nodded.

"Two souls who had nothing," Flash continued, "but through our friends, we found our purpose."

"And its a purpose I'm proud to have," Springer finished, patting his chest.

"Same," Flash said with a smile before turning back to Springer, "and you wanna know something else?"

"What?"

"Everything that's happened since we've met and everything we've been able to do...it uh... it makes me think our meeting wasn't just dumb luck."

"You think?"

"I know," he replied with a nod. "We were meant to meet. To become friends and partners." His smile grew wider. "It was destiny."

Springer's own smile intensified before hugging him again. As they did, the Flufflepuffs saw this and all bounced over to them, cuddling up to the two. The seven remained there together, each keeping the other warm as they all slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning...

The train at the bottom of mountain came to stop. As it did, one of it's doors open and six ponies with a dragon burst out. It was Twilight and friends, and the young purple unicorn did not look happy. She then turned to her friends with a look that was a mix of determination and worry. "Applejack and Pinkie, gather as much equipment as you can find. Rainbow and Fluttershy, see if you can find a place to get a map. Rarity, Spike and I will ask if anypony knows which way they went."

As she issued her commands, a gruff stallion with a bunch of similar looking ponies walked over to him. "Hey little fillies, this ain't no place for you. Go home and play with your dolls." They all began laughing, until Rainbow got in the talking stallion's face and stared him down.

"Listen bub," she said as she tapped his chest with her hoof, a death stare in her eyes. "Our friends are up that mountain and were trapped in a blizzard. So we're going up there to find them and bring them back no matter what." Rainbow then grabbed his neck. "And unless you guys have any info about them, BACK OFF!"

The stallions all cowered in fear, seeming to shrink as she yelled at them. As they did, Twilight walked in between them. "Our friends are an orange pegasus and his partner, a jakhowl. Did you see them come around here?"

One of the stallions gulped before saying, "I-I-If you're talking about the pegasus and funny dog, they went up two days ago after getting a map from the Mountain Pass store."

"And where is this Mountain Pass store?!" Rainbow asked.

They all pointed to the shop in question.

"Good," Rainbow growled, letting go of the stallion. With that, she and the others all headed towards the shop, leaving the ponies still shaking.

As they entered and told the unicorn clerk, he let out a groan before grabbing a copy of the map he gave Flash. "I told that colt it was dangerous, but would he listen? NO! No he wouldn't, the stupid colt..."

"Do you know which route he took?" Twilight asked, growling out his casual insults.

The clerk shrugged. "Afraid not. Sorry ladies."

"Ugh...of course." Twilight said as she purchased the map, quickly turning around. "We'll just have to look all over the mountain."

"Be careful now," the clerk mocked, chuckling as he did. "It's a dangerous place, Galloping Mountain that is."

"We'll be fine." Applejack barked back.

"That's what your friend said," the unicorn replied, laughing. "And look where that got him."

With that, the seven left the store. As they did, they went to the base of the mountain, only to see the gruff stallion from earlier. "Um...excuse me." he meekly said.

"What do you want?" Rainbow growled, making him flinch.

"You're friend, the orange pegasus? Um...somepony thinks they've just spotted him coming down the main route."

"WHAT?!" The girls all yelped as they all looked up the mountain. As they did, Twilight pulled out a pair of binoculars from her saddlebag and looked through them. As she did, she saw a small orange dot descending the mountain.

"It's Flash!" She said happily. "He's okay!"

The rest of them all cheered after hearing this. They then waited as Flash continued to get closer and an hour later, Flash and Springer trotted into town. As he reached the bottom, let out a long yawn, still unaware of their presence.

"Quite the trip, eh buddy?" Flash asked Springer.

"Yeah. Too bad that blizzard wasted the top of the mountain. Looks like we'll have to-"

"FLASH!" The duo turned and before they could process who had said that, they were tackled to the ground by six mares.

"Girls?" He asked in confusion. "What are you all doing here?"

"We came to save you!" Twilight said as they got up, "You know, from the storm?!"

Flash chuckled at hearing this. "Little late for that. The blizzard's already over."

"Well, we wanted to be here sooner, but..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Flash waved his hoof, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"No you're not. You're hurt!" Twilight said, crossing her hooves before pointing at his bandaged wing.

"That happened before the storm," Flash deapanned, tapping Twilight's hoof away. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Actually, the storm really helped."

"How?" Twilight asked. "Did you manage to discover a new aura power?"

"You bet," Flash nodded, winking.

"And it was awesome!" Springer cheered, raising his paws into the air.

Flash smiled at this as he turned his head and pat his head, before turning back to the girls. He then noticed that they had all gone completely stiff. "What's up?" He asked them.

"Flash," Twilight said, pointing her hoof to the jakhowl. "Springer...just talked."

"Well of course he just talked. He talks all the time Twilight. How else do you think me and him communicate?!" Flash deadpanned, pointing to his partner.

"We mean he really talked," Rainbow said, her tone showing nothing but surprise.

"As in...he was speaking perfect Equestrian darling." Rarity continued.

"Wait...are you saying..." Flash blinked, looking back at Springer in amazement.

Seeing where this was going, Springer pointed to himself. "Can you all...understand me?"

The girls all nodded at this, causing Springer to smile. "I can talk? As in...I can really talk to you all as well?!" They nodded again, making him shake. As he did, the others started to grow concerned, until he leapt into the air with a big cheer. "I CAN TALK!"

"You sure can," Spike grumbled as he covered his ears.

"But how can he?" Applejack asked. "Wasn't it only Flash and Fluttershy that could understand him?"

"It must be the aura connection he shares with Flash," Twilight replied as she rubbed her chin in thought. "Incredible. Could other jakhowls do this back when they were many of them in Equestria?"

"Eh, whatever." Rainbow shrugged, flying over and putting her hoof around Springer. "Who cares how it happened. We can understand the little guy now!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, confetti flying out of her hooves. "Springer can talk now! That means we need to celebrate with a party!"

Everypony was in agreement and headed back to the train station. They were gonna throw the biggest party Ponyville had ever seen, celebrating Springer's new ability. Flash and Springer's connection has now grown once again, this time with amazing results. And as they returned, they knew it would grow even more.

Luna Eclipsed

View Online

Nightmare Night, the spookiest night of the year.

All over Equestria, ponies were dressing up as their favorite monsters and staying out late to party or demand candy from complete strangers. It was a magical night, complete with sweets, scares and excitement.

At the Golden Oaks library, Spike and Springer were downstairs waiting for Flash and Twilight to come down. Spike was wearing a dragon costume, (Which was kind of redundant) while Springer was just wearing an antenna headband and googly eye glasses. Spike was currently passing at the bottom of the stairs, before turning to it and calling out. "Come on guys, we're gonna miss the Nightmare Night Festival."

"Can't you just go and let them catch up?" Springer asked as he stuffed his face with candy. Ever since the event with him and Flash training at the mountain and finding out everyone could now understand him, Springer had enjoyed doubling his connections to his friends now that he could actually communicate with them. He also learned that he could talk to any of residents of Ponyville now, which made things even better. Now, he had offered to stay behind and hand out candy to anypony who came to the door in exchange for his own massive bowl of candy and all the spooky comics he could read for the night.

"I'm not going so Twilight can-" Spike replied before hearing hoofsteps behind him.

"Stop complaining," said a voice above the stairs. The duo then looked up, seeing Twilight descend the stairs while wearing a blue cloak and hat with star patterns and bells attached. She was also wearing a fake white beard and a smirk on her face as she strutted down, showing off her costume. "What do you think?"

Spike wasn't exactly sure what she was. "Are you that...one kooky grandpa from the Ponyville Retirement Center?"

Twilight looked horrified at Spike's apparent ignorance of who she was portraying. "I'm Starswirl the Bearded!" she exclaimed, slamming her hooves down. However, Spike and Springer just gave her blank stares, causing her to explain in a deadpan tone. "Father of the amniomorphic spell?!" The two kept their blank stares. "Did you even read that book I gave you about obscure unicorn history?!"

The two non ponies just looked at each other in confusion, only to hear a knock at the door. "That sounds important," Spike yelped as he and Springer rushed to the door, Springer grabbing the bowl of candy while Spike opened it to reveal a trio of fillies.

The fillies then began to sing, "Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!"

As Springer handed out the candy, Twilight stepped up to check out their costumes. "Hi everypony, great costumes." She then saw that Granny Smith was behind them. "Happy Nightmare Night Granny Smith."

"I should have been asleep five hours ago!" she complained.

As the last piece of candy was handed out, the colt known as Pipsqueak squeezed through the trio, his costume was a pirate. "Pipsqueak the pirate," he said with a salute, "at your service on this, my very first Nightmare Night."

"Since you moved here from Trottingham?" Twilight asked.

"No," Pipsqueak replied with a shake of the head, "my very first Nightmare Night ever."

Suddenly Pinkie, dressed as a chicken, appeared with a loud clucking behind him. "Enough chit chat," she said sternly, "time is candy!"

"Pinkie Pie?!" Twilight yelped at the sudden pink pony. "Aren't you a little old for this?"

"Too old for free candy?!" Pinkie exclaimed before whispering, "never."

Twilight rolled her eyes but then magicked over a piece of candy, one of the smaller pieces mind you, with Pinkie licking her lips at the sight. Once done, Pinkie looked over Twilight's costume. "Do you like it?" The unicorn asked.

"Yeah," Pinkie nodded, "great costume Twilight. You make a fantastic weirdo clown." She then pecked at the rest of their candy like a chicken and shot off.

"Clown?!" Twilight yelled back as she stepped into the library. "Look at the borders on these robes, these are hoof stitched! Why does she think I look like a clown?! I look nothing like a clown!"

"It's a great costume," Spike said before snickering, "grandpa."

Twilight growled at this, her horn almost starting to light up with magic.

"Careful Spike," Springer called out, slightly giggling. "She might put you on candy watch instead."

"Whatever," Twilight replied before turning to the stairs. "Flash! Are you ready yet or what?!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Flash's voice replied. Seconds later, the young apprentice knight trotted downstairs, only to hear two long sighs from Twilight and Spike. The sighs came from their reaction of Flash's costume, which was nothing but a white sheet over his body with two small eyeholes.

"This again?!" Twilight moaned, facehoofing.

"Seriously?!" Spike asked as he facehoofed as well. "What is it with you and that costume?!"

"What's wrong with it?" Springer asked in confusion.

"Yeah!" Flash continued, tapping his chest. "This costume's a classic."

"You wear the same costume every year." Twilight groaned, shaking her head. "You know Flash, one of the fun things about Nightmare Night is that you get to wear a different costume every year. Not rehash the same thing again and again!"

Flash just rolled his eyes before tapping her chest with a glare. "Look 'Miss Starswirl', you enjoy Nightmare Night your way and I'll enjoy it my way. This is my favorite holiday and I'll do what I want with it."

"But couldn't you at least make a more authentic ghost costume?" Twilight complained as she waved her hoof at him. "Its kind of obvious what you are."

"Compared to your costume?!" Flash barked back. "You do realize that if you didn't constantly shove Starswirl facts down my throat, I probably wouldn't know who you're meant to be."

Twilight just growled in annoyance. "Fine," she said as she turned to the door, "let's just go before we miss the whole festival."

"Sounds good to me." Flash said as he followed her. At the door, he turned to Springer and nodded. "Have fun Springer."

"You too!" the jakhowl replied before shutting the door.

A little later...

The trio made their way through town, checking out the rest of the town's costumes as they did. While this happened, Twilight continued to complain about how almost nopony understood her costume, which made Flash's eyes twitch at the constant whining. "Starswirl the Bearded is only the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era," she said as they passed a cart of young ponies that Big Mac was pulling, "he created more than two hundred spells! He even has a shelf in the Canterlot Library of Magic named after him! Why doesn't anypony know this?!"

"We know Twilight," Flash grumbled, nudging her as they continued to trot through the town. "But not everypony knows that. It's not like Starswirl's a subject ponies learn in elementary school, and not many other ponies stay in school after that. There's probably very few ponies in town who've even heard about him...and I wouldn't have if hadn't been for you because I didn't go to school!"

Twilight thought for a moment about what he had just said. "Maybe I should start up a group that would teach ponies about history..." she then clapped her hooves. "Yeah! I bet everypony would love it, don't you?"

Spike agreed as he was stuffing his face with candy. Flash on the other hoof, just scratched his head before replying. "It's not a bad idea...but I wouldn't expect everypony in town to attend. Can you honestly picture Rainbow or Iron Core sitting still for that long?"

"Point made, but maybe..." Twilight said before noticing somepony walking by. "Speak of the devil," she then pointed her hoof at one passing Iron Core. The apprentice knight wasn't dressed up as anything and was walking through the hordes of partying ponies.

"Hey Iron!" Flash yelled, pulling his hoof out of the sheet and waving it. "Happy Nightmare Night!"

"Yeah whatever," Iron grumbled, trying to not look at them.

"Aren't you gonna dress up and enjoy the festival?" Twilight asked.

"If you idiots wanna make fools out of yourselves, that's fine." Iron hissed, now giving them a deadpan stare. "But I got better things to do then dress up as a bunch of freaks and weirdos."

"Like what?" Spike asked between biting into candy.

"I promised Fluttershy I would keep her safe if anything bad came after her tonight." Iron flatly stated.

"Right..." Twilight said suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow as she did. "You sure you're not just trying to show off to her?"

Iron didn't respond and just walked off, grumbling something under his breath as he did.

"Typical," Twilight laughed as they continued onto the town square, where the main activities of the festival were being held. "Well, here we are. Should we get something to eat?"

"I think someone's already thought of that." Flash said as he pointed towards the candy munching dragon of their group. Seeing this, Twilight let out a groan until she turned her head, now seeing a certain pink pony in a chicken costume. It was Pinkie, who was somehow holding her bag of candy in both her front hooves and yet still staying up right.

"Flash, Twilight, look at this bag of candy! Can you believe it?!" She exclaimed before pecking at the candy like a chicken, though it wasn't clear whether or not she was actually eating them.

As Twilight started to growl at Pinkie, Flash started looking around to check out everypony's costume in the town square. It was here that he saw Rainbow Dash flying over them. She was dressed in a darker version of the Wonderbolt costume, which looked similar to the fake Shadowbolts Rainbow had told Flash that she had met during their first adventure. That and she was pushing a storm cloud towards them. As she got closer, Flash quickly caught on, knowing what was going to happen next. He plugged his ears and waited, a small smirk on his face. Seconds passed, and as Pinkie continued to rattle on about who they got candy from as Twilight grumbled back, Rainbow struck the cloud, causing a massive thunder crash to happen by the duo. Pinkie screamed in fright before shooting off, leaving Rainbow to laugh out loudly.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded the pegasus, "That wasn't very nice!"

"Oh lighten up old timer!" Rainbow countered, leaning back in the storm cloud. "This is the best night of the year for pranks."

Flash nodded before nudging Twilight. "I have to agree Twi. As long as its nothing to bad, I don't see what the problem is. I mean, pranks are part of Nightmare Night. Remember two years ago when we did the 'bucket of fake spiders plan' on Shining Armor?"

"I know, I know...but look at what she did to Spike," Twilight said as she pointed to the dragon, who was currently on the floor coughing loudly.

"I think that has more to do with him eating tons of candy without taking off the wrappers." Flash replied in a deadpan tone.

"Yeah! It's all in good fun," Rainbow said as she looked around, "Ooh! Ooh! There's another group over there!" she then flew off, pushing her storm cloud away as several thunder crashes soon followed. Twilight just rolled her eyes and then lifted the downed dragon onto her back and the three of them continued to look around. A little while later, they found themselves at the games area where Applejack, dressed as a scarecrow, was running an apple bobbing station.

"Happy Nightmare Night Applejack!" Twilight said as they stepped over to her.

"Howdy ya'll," Applejack replied as she looked over their costumes. "Nice costumes."

"Thanks," Spike beamed a big grin, "I'm a dragon."

"She means me Spike," Twilight said as Applejack took a closer look at her.

"With that beard..." Applejack commented as she poked at it, "Ah bet yer some kind of country music singer." As Flash and Spike laughed, Twilight just growled while rolling her eyes as Applejack continued. "Why ya'll are here, you feel like bobbin for an apple?" She pointed to the tank, only for Derpy to poke her head out the water and pull out the plug which kept the water in. They watched as it slowly drained away.

"Well," Flash said once it was all gone with a snarky grin, "at least you'll definitely have winners now."

Seeing Twilight and Applejack glare at him, Flash quickly stepped away, twiddling his hooves under the sheet. They then said goodbye to Applejack as she started repairing her station. With this, they saw a stage in the town square, and the duo walked over to it. As they did, she saw Mayor Mare up there, talking at her pedestal while being dressed in a red nose and rainbow wig.

"Greetings everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night Festival." she said as the crowd started cheering. As they did, Mayor Mare pointed to the other part of the stage. "All the ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the tale of...Nightmare Moon!" She tried to sound scary, but in her current costume, she just looked goofy.

"The spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that," Spike commented, making Twilight giggle.

Suddenly there was a puff of green smoke, and from it stepped Zecora, dressed in a black dress with fake spiders in her hair. As the smoke cleared, Zecora looked around and smiled before talking. "Follow me and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon." They followed the zebra to a outcrop of the Everfree Forest, where Flash and Springer had earlier worked to make sure was completely safe, and showed them a statue depicting the dark pony known as Nightmare Moon.

"Listen close my little dears and I'll tell you where you got your fears, of Nightmare Night so dark and scary." She threw some green dust into the air, which suddenly transformed into a cloud in the shape of the pony on the statue. "Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you weary." The cloud flew towards them and exploded into a figureless form around them. "Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes." To say the younger ponies were frightened would be an understatement, as Pip and another filly screamed before rushing off. Pip was running so fast, he didn't realise where he was going and ended up slamming into something. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing," the young pony looked up and found himself under the statue, which was glaring down at him, "to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!"

Pip backed away, right into Pinkie who had gone from acting like a chicken to acting like an ostrich. The two touched and instantly screamed before running off in opposite directions.

"She's good, they're all scared." Flash commented, getting a nod from Twilight and Spike in response.

Zecora created another cloud, which flew around them all. "At night, she passes through the sky. If she sees no pony, then she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year." With that, the Nightmare Moon cloud disappeared into nothing.

"Um..." Pip asked as he pulled on her dress, "Ms Zecora? If were wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon so she won't gobble us up, how come we still have to give her some of our candy?"

"A perfect question, my little friend," Zecora continued, "for Nightmare Moon, you must not offend." She created yet another Nightmare Moon cloud, which stomped towards them. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat YOU!" Suddenly the cloud leaped at Pip and the others, showing them razor sharp teeth before disappearing. Pip, Pinkie and the rest of the group all screamed before rushing over to the statue.

"Everypony!" Pinkie cried, "Throw down some candy and get out of here!"

"Well that's one way to reduce toothache," Flash joked.

"I think Zecora may have gone overboard," Twilight replied, grumbling.

Flash was about to respond, only to feel a cold chill run down his spine. The hairs on his head started to tingle, making him look up at the sky. There, he saw a group of dark clouds spiralling around the moon while a cold wind began to blow around them. Flash turned to Zecora. "Please tell me this is just another effect."

Zecora responded by shaking her head no, causing Flash to look back up at the sky. Suddenly, there was a literal flash originating from the moon, and from it shot out a dark carriage pulled by a pair of pegasi. However, these pegasi were different, as their wings were made of a black membrane like substance.

"Thestrals," Flash almost whispered. Thestrals, or bat ponies as most others called them, were a nocturnal pony that were rarely seen. They had once been well known as the night guards who worked under Princess Luna, but they were said to have vanished not long after her banishment to the moon. Everypony saw them and grew scared as the carriage flew over and hovered a few meters away. A cloaked pony stood up on the carriage, their visual form hidden by said cloak.

Pinkie gasped as she saw the cloaked figure. "It's Nightmare Moon! RUN!" she almost screamed. With that, she, Zecora and the rest of young ponies ran off, leaving Flash, Twilight and Spike to stare at the figure. Said figure, pointed in the direction of the group and the Thestrals nodded, before pulling the carriage away. Flash and Twilight glanced at each other, before quickly rushing after the cloaked figure.

Meanwhile, back in town...

The night was still in full charge as everypony was enjoying the party that was Nightmare Night. As the ponies of Ponyville continued to celebrate, they suddenly heard a hoard of loud yelling, causing them to turn and see Pinkie's group rushing through the street. The many ponies all stared at each other in confusion, until the sky above them drew dark. There, they saw the carriage hovering above the square as it began it's descent. As if did, Flash and Twilight arrived at the square, only to see the cloaked figure flick it's head back, it's hood now falling down to reveal it's face.

And as the figure's face showed itself, the surrounding ponies immediately bowed down. It was Princess Luna.

"Princess Luna?!" Twilight exclaimed as she saw her face, only for Spike to quickly grabbed her and Flash and pull them down to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Flash asked him.

"We can't let her see us, or she'll gobble us up!" Spike cried, only for Flash to smack his head.

"News flash Spike, that's not Nightmare Moon. That's Princess Luna." Flash scolded. With that, he and Twilight pulled themselves away from the dragon and rushed over to the Princess of the Night. As they did, Luna's cloak transformed into a cauldron of bats, which fluttered away as she walked through the group of ponies.

"Princess!" She turned to see Flash and Twilight walking over to her.

Luna turned to them, and though it took her a second to see through their costumes, she recognized them and smiled. "YOUNG MS SPARKLE AND APPRENTICE SENTRY!" She yelled with a booming voice.

"Yowzaa," Flash said as they and the rest of the square covered their ears. "So much for my eardrums."

"IT IS GOOD TO SEE THE TWO OF YOU ONCE AGAIN!"

"And it's good to see you to Princess." Twilight tried to reply, rubbing her ears.

"Though hearing you could be better," Flash continued, getting a nudge and glare from Twilight in response. Seeing this, Flash continued, "So...what brings you to Ponyville?"

"WE ARE HERE ON OUR STUDENT TRIXIE'S SUGGESTION! AFTER HEARING ABOUT A NIGHT DEDICATED TO US, WE WISHED TO EXPERIENCE IT FOR OURSELVES! MS LULAMOON SAID THE BEST NIGHTMARE NIGHT FESTIVALS ARE ALWAYS IN SMALL TOWNS, SO WE DECIDED TO COME HERE AND SEE HOW PONYVILLE CELEBRATED IT!" She then turned to the rest of the crowd. "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, WE HAVE GRACED YOUR LITTLE VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE SO YOU MIGHT BEHOLD US, THE TRUE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!"

Flash's eyes slightly narrowed before yelling over his now ringing ears. "That's great and all, but would it be impolite to ask that you turn the announcement down a few decibels?"

Luna looked perplexed at this question. "WE DO NOT FOLLOW!"

"You're being too loud!" Twilight explained as her hooves shook over her ears. "Its making it hard to hear you and its frightening some of the younger ponies."

"OH!" Luna said as she looked around and saw the other ponies. The look on her face was one of realisation, as she saw the ponies weren't bowing to her in respect, but in fear.

Seeing this, Flash quickly walked in front of Twilight and said, "If its okay with you, how about the three of us head somewhere more...private to talk."

"VERY WELL! I SHALL BE OVER THERE" Luna replied as she pointed to a distance away from the square, the force of her voice almost sending Flash and Twilight flying. With that, the Princess of the Night turned and headed towards where she pointed.

As she walked off, Flash turned to the still quivering townponies. "Come on guys, stop sitting there in fear. Sides, you're lucky we were here or you might have offended her."

"B-b-but..." Mayor Mare said in a timid voice, "Nightmare Moon-"

"Is gone," Twilight interrupted her, glaring at the mayor. "The Elements of Harmony destroyed her and released Luna from the dark prison of her mind. It's obvious she's just having a hard time adjusting after being gone for a thousand years."

"You've all seen her before, remember?" Flash continued. "When me and Twilight first moved here, there was a big parade celebrating Nightmare Moon's defeat. Some of the school ponies gave her a flower necklace."

The ponies all thought back to that event, remembering the pony who had been standing next to Princess Celestia. Although, many of them remember her coat being dark blue in place of black. Unfortunately, the pony they had just seen sure did look an awful lot like the evil pony they had seen in town hall during the Summer Sun Celebration, causing them all to start to mummer to each other, obvious doubt in their voices. Seeing this, Flash let out a long sight before speaking up again. "Look everypony, we'll go talk to her. As for the rest of you, try and stay calm the next time you see her."

With that, Flash and Twilight turned and headed off to find Luna. It didn't take too long, as they found her sitting in front of the Nightmare Moon statue with a depressed look on her face.

"Hey," Flash said, getting her attention.

"We wanted to apologize for what happened before." Luna replied, turning towards them.

"I'm guessing you're still having trouble adjusting to life in this time?" Twilight asked.

Luna nodded at this. "Indeed. Though Trixie has helped us and we have gotten used to life in Canterlot...it seems we still have much to learn."

Flash just shrugged. "Its cool. Though you could do with lowering the volume in the voice department."

"But we were only using the Royal Canterlot Voice," Luna explained, "it is tradition to speak in public with the royal voice and TO USE THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!"

The duo covered their ears again, though Flash was quicker to reply this time. "Listen, I know Canterlot can be a real noisy place, so it would make sense to use it there so you can be heard..." Flash then pointed to Ponyville. "But in small towns like Ponyville, the loudest thing around is usually a cricket. A booming voice like what you used before won't have a...positive reaction."

Luna thought about what he had just said. "Your logic seems flawless."

"Maybe if you changed up your approach, you'll get a better response." Twilight suggested.

"And how would one...change their approach?"

"You just gotta get into the spirit of things," Flash explained as he thought for a moment, "like...wearing a costume."

Luna looked over the two costume and raised an eyebrow. "So it is customary to dress up as Starswirl the Bearded and...a pile of mashed potatoes?"

Though she couldn't see him under the cloth, Flash pouted before speaking under his breath. "She gets Twilight's costume, but she can't tell I'm a ghost?! Seriously?!"

Twilight giggled at that before turning to Luna. "What do you think Princess?"

Luna thought for a moment, but then shook her head. "We are sorry, but we don't think it would be a good idea to be parading around in a silly get-up. We want to be liked, but we must also keep up a dignified front."

"I guess that's fair," Twilight replied, nodding her head. "To be honest, I don't think Celestia ever wears a costume on NIghtmare Night either."

"Though that might be because this night celebrates the creature that consumed her little sister and forced her to banish her to the moon," Flash said before flinching from Luna's obvious glare. "Sorry. Wasn't thinking."

"It is fine," Luna hissed before turning her head. "Our biggest problem is being around multiple ponies. Speaking to the pair of you is fine, especially after everything we've been through. Its when we must address a large crowd that we grow nervous and..."

"Blast their eardrums with that voice?" Flash finished for her.

Luna just nodded in response.

Twilight thought about this for a moment, before smiling as an idea popped into her head. "If it's a question of nerves, I think I know just the pony to talk to about keeping them in check when needs be."

"Who would that be? You?" Flash snidely asked, only for Twilight's horn to shine. There, he felt a familiar pain in his ear. "Ow! I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Seriously, it was just a joke!"

"Whatever." Twilight grumbled before turning to Luna. "Come with us Princess Luna, I think I know just the pony to talk too."

One transition to a very familiar cottage full of animals later...

"I'm telling you Luna," Twilight said as they walked up to Fluttershy's cottage, "Fluttershy's the best pony to talk to about feeling nervous. She's bound to have a trick or two that'll help you overcome your nerves."

"Fluttershy..." Luna replied as she tried to remember. "She's the pony who was able to tame the Manticore we sent after you, was she not?"

"That's right," Twilight nodded as they finally arrived. "I'm sure she'll have a way to help you. She's the bravest pony I know."

"Hey! I resent that, you know!" Flash growled, crossing his hooves as he looked away with a grumble.

"You know what I mean, mister 'Element of Courage'." Twilight barked back, rolling her eyes. With that, she turned and knocked on the door, only for a loud scream to be heard from the other side.

"Something's out there!" Fluttershy's terrified voice said.

Luna turned to Twilight with a raised eyebrow. "Bravest pony you know, huh?" Twilight just laughed nervously, praying something would break this awkward silence. Luckily for her, something did.

"Who's out there?" Iron Core's voice exclaimed from the other side of the door. "Name your intent or forfeit your life!"

"It is I!" Luna called out, "Princess Luna, Princess of the Night!"

Fluttershy's door opened slightly and Iron's eye popped through the crack. Seeing Luna, it went wide before shutting the door and the three heard the sound of several locks unlocking. It was taking a while though, so long that Flash had time to say this. "So...got any plans for the weekend?"

Then, the door swung open and Iron stood there, bowing. "Princess. My apologies for my threat."

"Rise Apprentice Iron," Luna said, "we are here because we seek an audience with one Ms Fluttershy."

Fluttershy's head popped out from beneath her sofa, allowing her to see who was there. "Princess Luna," she said as she pulled herself out and walked over to the door, "Twilight and..."

"It's me," Flash waved under the sheet.

"Oh...well, what can I do for you?"

Twilight walked in between them and started her explanation. "Luna's trying to improve her public image here, but her nerves aren't helping. We thought, who better to help fight them other than you."

"You want...me, to teach somepony how not to be scared?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not completely. Just enough for to be able to talk to a large crowd."

"Oh..." Fluttershy said as she twiddled her hooves. Iron walked up to her and put his hoof on her shoulder, nodding at her. As she saw this, she let took a deep breath before she looked back at Luna. "Well, I guess I could try."

"Excellent!" Luna exclaimed, beaming a big smile. "Then shall we begin immediately!" She then leaned down, smirking. "First, what strategies would you suggest for us to use?"

"Well..." Fluttershy said as she tried to think, "I haven't had much experience talking to large groups, but the few times I have done it...I've just closed my eyes and imagined the ponies listening to me are animals."

They were all immediately confused by this, until Flash realised what she really meant. "Oh, so you imagine that they're something you're comfortable around. For you, it's animals." Flash then pointed to Luna. "So we need to think of something Luna's comfortable around."

"I see...that's not a bad idea." Twilight said before turning to the Princess of the Night. "So you just need to pick something you're comfortable with and imagine that."

"We see...that could work." Luna rubbed her chin in thought, before showing a small grin. "We think we have something. We will keep this image to help us." Luan then pulled Fluttershy into a hug. "We thank you Miss Fluttershy!"

"Its my pleasure." Fluttershy squeaked, feeling the crushing hooves of the alicorn. The sight made Iron slight shiver, wanting to help her but knew he couldn't do anything against the princess.

Despite that, it seemed like a great moment, if not for a certain chicken suited mare.

"Fluttershy!" Pinkie called out as she and some other little ponies trotted towards the cottage, making Flash the others to turn around and see the oncoming group. "You've gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and-" She didn't get to finish as she then saw Luna hugging Fluttershy. A scream followed. "OH NO! She's got Fluttershy and is about about to gobble her up! Run before she gets you too!"

With that, she and the others shot off and Luna tried to rush after her. "NIGH CHILDREN WAIT!" She screamed, letting her nerves get to her again, "I mean, nigh children wait..."

Flash and Twilight looked at each other, already seeing that this idea just fell through. Flash blinked and said, "Oookay, so Pinkie just messed up everything." He then pointed to Luna, who was now walking back to them with a huge frown on her face. "What do we do now?"

"Umm..." Twilight scratched the side of her head in thought. A second later, a small bulb went off in her head. "Alright, if phase one is a bust, we'll have to move onto phase two."

"We have phases in this?" Flash asked. "I thought you were a checklist kind of pony."

"Yes, there are phases!" Twilight said, smacking him with her tail. "And step two is showing everypony the real Princess Luna! The one we know and love!"

"Is that a wise idea?" Luna asked, still looking troubled as she did. "As a princess, we must maintain a certain level of respectability at all times."

Twilight shook her head. "Maybe you did a thousand years ago, but these days, the public is all about seeing a princess's less pristine qualities on occasion." Twilight then beamed a small smile, winking as she did. "I know from experience that even Princess Celestia doesn't act all high and mighty one hundred percent of the time. Showing you have a fun side will make you look more pony and therefore more relatable."

Luna rubbed her chin in thought again, only to nod soon after. "Again, your logic seems flawless." Luna then smirked, cocking an eyebrow as she leaned down to the duo. "Very well, how do we accomplish this?"

Twilight just smiled. It was obvious she had a plan.

Said plan involved the three of them returning to the main square. As they did, the town's ponies quickly saw them and started bowing in fear at the sight of Luna. When this happened, Luna's head leaned down, almost touching the ground.

"It is of no use Twilight Sparkle." Luna commented, grumbling as she continued to look downtrodden. "They have never liked us, and they never shall."

"Now now, remember what I told you as we walked back to the town?" Twilight asked, shaking her head. "I told you that we're going to have you meet my friends. We'll start with Applejack, who is one of the most likeable ponies around. I'm sure she'll be able to help you show off the real you. It's all about trial and error."

"If you say so," Luna said in a low, draining tone.

Meanwhile, Flash was working to make the townponies stop acting so scared. "Get up!" he commanded as he pushed Carrot Top to her feet. "What did I say earlier?"

"Sorry," Carrot replied, trying to keep to the ground. "She's just so...intimidating."

"She's actually a really nice mare once you get to know her. Now stop being scared and tell the others to stop bowing." Flash replied before turning to follow the two. He soon found Twilight standing next to Applejack as Luna was standing next to a bucket of fake spiders. "How's it going?" He asked as he watched the princess examine the game.

"I'll tell you in a second," Twilight whispered, her tone now a bit nervous.

They watched as Luna picked up a spider and turned towards a nearby web, before tossing the spider at it. She was a little short and the spider landed on the ground just in front of the web. Luna glanced back at them nervously.

"You can do it Princess!" Applejack cheered her on.

Luna turned back to the bucket and picked up another spider, before turning to the web again. After a deep breath, her face became stern and focused as she threw the spider. It flew through the air and landed smack dab in the center of the web, sticking to it perfectly. Luna smiled at her accomplishment, happy that she had been able to do it. "Your princess enjoys this...fun." She turned towards the three and asked, "what other ways may we experience it?"

The three smiled at each other, happy she was starting to loosen up. They then showed Luna the pumpkin toss game, which she insisted on playing. She quickly caught on to this game, shooting a pumpkin into a target with a smash.

"Ha Ha!" she cheered. "The fun has been doubled!"

The ponies who saw this all cheered, obviously beginning to see the Luna Twilight and the others knew.

As they did, Applejack then suggested. "Why don't you try bobbing for apples? We got the best apples in Equestria here Princess."

"We...I...ask that you call us...me...Luna, fair Applejack." the alicorn stuttered before turning to the rest of the crowd. "Hear me villagers. All of you, call me Luna!"

Everypony cheered yet again, obviously forgetting about the fear they had previously felt around her.

"Mission accomplished," Flash said to Twilight, who nodded in return.

The four began walking through the game area, Luna excited to try new things. "Show me to these bobbing apples," Luna asked with a smile on her face. However, as they drew near to the game, Luna saw Pip playing and then lose his balance before falling in. Acting on pure instinct, Luna rushed over to the tub to pull him out.

As she did this, a certain voice called out, "Hey guys!"

The three turned to see Pinkie and the rest of the little ponies walking up to them. Flash's eyes shrunk as he muttered to himself, "Oh no...don't tell me she's gonna-"

"Anypony seen Pip?" Pinkie asked as she looked around. "We lost him after the last time we had to run from-" She stopped when she saw Luna holding Pip by the scruff of his pirate shirt. "NIGHTMARE MOON IS GOBBLING PIPSQUEAK!" She screamed at the top of her voice, "EVERYPONY RUN!" With that, she once again shot off, followed by the rest of the little ponies.

"Help!" Pip screamed as he flailed around. As he did, Luna was forced to drop him as he exclaimed, "my backside's been gobbled!" He then ran off, leaving Luna clearly upset at the accusation.

"Tis a lie!" she declared. "Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thy ungrateful whelp." It was at that moment that Rainbow, still doing the thunder cloud thing, unleashed a crash of lighting which illuminated Luna in a very threatening way.

"Oh boy," Flash said as he and the girls looked around to see the townponies once again be consumed by fear.

Luna also noticed this and asked, "Fair villagers, please do not back away. Let us join together in...fun." Her eye twitched, obviously beginning to crack under the pressure.

"Yeah!" Flash yelled as he stepped up in front of her. "Let's just calm down and play some games."

Luna saw a nearby fake spider and picked it up, before tossing it towards the crowd. It did not get the reaction she was hoping for, as the ponies continued to look frightened. "Not enough fun for you?" she asked as her horn began to glow.

Flash then turned around to princess. "Luna, let's try and stay calm and-WHOA!" Flash barely managed to duck in time as Luna unleashed a spell which struck the fake spider. In a flash, the fake was replaced with a real spider. It slowly turned towards the townsponies, who all screamed and ran off. Luna then shot a second spell, which struck a bowl of fake spiders and turned them all into real ones as well.

"This is not gonna end well," Flash said as he pulled off his costume and took to the air. He watched as the ponies began to stampede, while some others found themselves covered in spiders.

"Haha!" Luna cheered. "How many points do I receive?"

"None!" Flash exclaimed as he flew down to her. "You're terrifying them Luna!"

"Nonsense, we are merely having the fun." However, she then began looking around, her spell casting finished. As she did, she saw the ponies of the town running around, causing major damage to the town. "No...please stop!" The sounds ponies screams of fear bombarded her ears and made her begin to pant heavily. "ENOUGH!" Everypony froze and threw themselves to the floor, Flash, Twilight and Applejack as well.

"Princess, remember!" Twilight called out. "Watch the screaming!"

Luna turned to the unicorn, her eyes now glowing bright white. "NO TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE MUST USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SAY!" Luna flapped her wings and began fly up, as she continued to royal claim. "SINCE YOU CHOSE TO FEAR YOUR PRINCESS RATHER THAN LOVE HER AND DISHONOR HER WITH THIS INSULTING CELEBRATION, WE DEGREE THAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT SHALL BE CONCEALED...FOREVER!"

Everyone was horrorstruck at this. No more Nightmare Night, the thought was inconceivable.

"Princess, wait!" Flash yelled, only for Luna to ignore him and fly off. As she did, Flash started to take to the sky, only to quickly land and sigh. "Mission not accomplished. That stunk..."

"Aww shoot," Applejack shook her head. "We had everything going our way. Luna was happy, everypony in town was happy....now look at them!" She pointed to multiple ponies around them. Some of the younger ponies were crying, while others were still shivering in fear. However, all of them looked heartbroken at the thought of losing this wonderful night of fun. Even Applejack looked disheartened at the prospect of losing the holiday.

Flash then shook his head. "No, I'm not letting it end this way."

"That's right," Twilight nodded, agreeing. "It's not over yet. We can still fix this."

"What are ya'll gonna do?" Applejack asked.

Twilight beamed a big grin. "What I do best Applejack, lecture her. Come on Flash."

With that, the duo rushed off after the Princess of the Night.

A little later...

It wasn't long till Flash and Twilight found Luna. She had only flown a little outside of town, her form now looking down at a river as she sat on the bridge above it. Seeing this, the two ran up to her, only for Luna to hear them approach.

"Leave me be." Luna said, her voice weak and sounding like she was about to cry.

"Princess..." Twilight said with a low, sad tone. "We're sorry it didn't turn out like we wanted, but you have to believe us when we tell you that Nightmare Night is one of the most popular celebrations we have."

"Oh yes!" Luna replied sarcastically, waving her hooves in anger. "I can tell from all the adoring shrieks of the children as they run away from me!"

"Luna wait," Flash said as he flew over and landed in front of her, sitting on the side of the bridge. "Please listen, this celebration is really important to a lot of ponies." He then tapped his chest. "Especially to ponies like me."

"You?" Luna asked with a cocked eyebrow, skepticism in her voice. "What possible meaning could it have for you?"

Flash sighed as he hopped off and walked up to Twilight's side as he began his explanation. "Every year, I would put on the same ghost sheet costume that everypony calls boring. I know they think it's cliche, but to me...to me, it symbolizes what this holiday means to me and how it saved me."

"What? Saved you?" Luna asked in intrigue.

"What are you talking about Flash?" Twilight also asked.

Luna turned to Twilight in slight amazement. "Wait...you don't know Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight just shrugged. "Nope. I just thought he did it to annoy me."

This made Luna giggle while Flash just rolled his eyes, grumbling. He then flashed his hoof at her. "No no...it wasn't meant to annoy you Twilight. That was never the point."

"Oh yeah?" Twilight glared, her eyes narrowing.

"Yes, I'm serious." Flash deadpanned. "Now can I continue my explanation?"

"..." Twilight's expression then softened. "Sure, go ahead."

Flash nodded before continuing. "Good." Flash turned to Luna, a serious tone coming from voice. "Before I met Twilight and was taken in by her, I lived on the street. Everyday, I would scrounge around for something to eat and some days, I wouldn't be successful. Sometimes, I would spend days going without something to eat and almost succumb to my hunger..." Flash let out a long sigh here while Luna just looked at him in sorrowful eyes. That is till Flash shined a small grin. "But then one night would arrive every year where I could get all the food I want! All I had to do was grab an old table cloth and rip some eye holes in it, and I could have my fill of all the candy I could ever eat! For weeks after that night, whenever I had a day that I couldn't get anything, I knew at least I had a little something stored away so I wouldn't starve." Flash then wore a giant smile on his face. "If it wasn't for this holiday, I probably wouldn't be here."

Luna thought about the story Flash had just told her. The holiday defacing her had saved his life. A few moments later, she let out a small sigh. "I will...think about what you said," Luna said as she passed by him and walked off.

Once she was gone, Twilight bonked Flash on the head. Flash quickly grabbed his top, groaning. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Twilight bit her lip as she glared at him. "Why didn't you ever tell me about why you wore that costume?!" she barked, scowling. "Me, Spike, Shining...the whole family has always disagreed and made fun of you for constantly wearing that costume! Why didn't you tell us that?! We would've stopped!"

"Its just something I didn't want to tell ponies," Flash replied, shrugging. "But she needed to hear it."

Twilight just shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I guess...but it didn't seem to do anything."

"Yeah," Flash said before glaring back at the town. "The main problem is Pinkie. Every time we get close to our goal, she shows up and ruins it with her screaming."

"You're right," Twilight grumbled, her horn almost lighting. "But that stops now. If we want to solve this, we need to find her."

"Agreed."

Back in Ponyville...

Pinkie was continuing to have fun in her chicken disguise. She appeared blissfully unaware that she had just become the mare who destroyed Nightmare Night, as all she seemed to care about was finding more candy. As she walked down another street of Ponyville, her tongue flapping in the wind as she kept bobbing her head around in ignorant happiness.

It was then that she saw a small piece of candy near an alleyway, which she rushed over to. She then saw another piece further in the alley, and then another and another and another, causing her to eat every single one of them like the chicken she was dressed up as. As she did, she soon found herself inside the alley, still oblivious as she ate another piece.

"Yummy, yummy, yummy!" Pinkie cheered, munching down another sweet. "This is so-urk!"

Suddenly, the mare felt something tackle her and pin her against the wall while shutting her mouth with their hoof. Once everything had stopped spinning, she saw the one who had tackled her. It was Twilight while Flash stood a few feet away, glaring at the pink pony.

Twilight then took the first initiative, her voice rising very quickly. "No more Pinkie! No shrieking, no yelling or screaming either. Okay?"

"Okay," Pinkie replied through her hoof.

Flash wasn't convinced and walked up to her. "You, young mare, have been causing a lot of trouble tonight." Flash scolded, trying sound like a parent scolding a foal. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

"What did I do?" Pinkie asked once Twilight had removed her hoof. Flash and Twilight moved away and Pinkie turned to see Luna walk into the light.

"Ah, the ringleader of the frightened children." Luna commented, holding out her hoof, "has thou come to make peace?"

Pinkie smiled and held out her own hoof to shake Luna's, until there was a suddenly thunder clap above them. As the thunder covered the sky, Luna's dark form showed itself again, even though it was for just a second.

"NIGHTMARE MOON!" She screamed before running off.

"WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT?!" Flash yelled up to Rainbow, who was laughing on her dark cloud. Flash then flew up, kicking the cloud in a way that it disappeared and the laughing Rainbow was sent hurtling towards the ground.

"Ow!" she yelped after hitting the dirt. "What was that for?!"

"Serves you right!" Flash said before turning to where Pinkie ran off too.

However, before he could take off, a flash of light appeared before Pinkie, revealing an angry Twilight. She quickly pinned Pinkie to the ground, anger pouring out of her face. "Enough Pinkie! Stop it right now!" Twilight yelled, tightening her pin on the pony. "She's not Nightmare Moon Pinkie. Don't you remember talking to her in the Battle of Canterlot and how she helped Flash before?! WELL?!"

Pinkie looked at Twilight with a confused look on her face. "I know that silly! Of course she's not really Nightmare Moon."

Twilight was shocked to hear this. "What are you-then why do you keep screaming and running away whenever you see her?"

"I'm just playing along with the act," Pinkie replied flatly.

"What act?" Flash asked as he stepped up to them. "And this better not be some joke or I'm gonna do something Iron Core would do Pinkie. And I promise you that it won't be pretty."

Pinkie just gave him a confused stare. "Isn't Luna acting scary on purpose for Nightmare Night?" she asked as if it was most obvious thing in the world.

Flash and Twilight stared at each other, only for sudden realization to hit them. "Ohhhh," they said together before turning back to the Princess of the Night before nodding to each other.

"Okay Luna, new plan."

"Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm Sentry," Luna replied sarcastically. "I believe I declared this holiday to be done and over with."

"Just trust us, okay?" Twilight said as she motioned Luna to follow her. "Now come on, I'll explain on the way." Twilight turned to Flash, smirking. "Can you get the word out for me?"

Flash nodded. "You bet. You fill her in and I'll tell the older ponies. Maybe Zecora can help, if I can find her in time."

Some time later...

It wasn't long till the ponies of Ponyville started cleaning up after Luna's rampage. Even the fillies and colts were helping out, including a certain pirate costumed colt. "Gosh," Pip said as he laid down on the ground, exhausted after moving some garbage. "I never thought my very first Nightmare Night would be my very last."

It was in that moment that Zecora showed up, having been filled in by Flash, and touched his shoulder. "Come little Pip, don't you fret, Nightmare Night's not over yet. We still have candy left to give, so Nightmare Moon might let us live."

The Mayor then walked up to them with a small smile, nodding. "Yes, come on little ponies. What's Nightmare Night without the traditional candy offering?" She put on a scary face. "You don't want Nightmare Moon to gobble you up, do you?!"

Applejack came to help as well. "Come on kids, doesn't that sound like fun?"

The little ponies weren't so sure, but did as they were told and made their way to the Nightmare Moon statue in the forest. One by one, they each placed a portion of their candy in front of it, until only Pip was left. "Goodbye Nightmare Night," he said as he placed his bag of candy with the pile, "forever."

He turned to walk away, only to feel a dark breeze blow by. As it did, a crash of thunder could be heard above the foals, causing them to look up at the statue. There, the statue was gone and instead, stood Nightmare Moon.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! YOU WERE WISE TO BRING THIS CANDY TO ME! I AM PLEASED WITH YOUR OFFERING! SO PLEASED THAT I MAY EAT IT, INSTEAD OF EATING YOU!"

A loud scream echoed through the woods as the ponies ran away from Nightmare Moon. As they did, something shot out of the trees and blocked their path. It was a large black Thestral with long fangs. He quickly hissed at them and caused their screams to intensify as they ran off in an opposite direction. As soon as they were gone, Nightmare Moon glowed white and shrank. The glow faded and Luna now stood in it's place, before spitting out a pair of fake fangs. "I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do Twilight Sparkle," she grumbled as Twilight stepped out of her hiding place.

"Just wait." Twilight replied. "Patience is key here."

"Yeah, it'll work." Another flash of light happened and the Thestral transformed as well. As the light around him faded, Flash now stood in its place. "Great work with the transformation spell Twi."

"If anything, at least I got you into another costume." Twilight said happily.

Luna jumped down from her spot. "This was stupid. Why would making them scream in terror make them like me?!"

As she said these words, she suddenly felt something tug at her mane. She looked down and saw Pipsqueak standing next to her. He was shivering, yet mumbled out, "Um...Princess Luna? I know there's not going to be anymore Nightmare Nights, but do you suppose you could maybe come back next year and scare us again anyway?"

Luna was taken aback by this, before she looked over and saw the group of little ponies who had run away from her before. She blinked owlishly before slowly asking, "Child, are thou saying thou...likest me to scare you?"

Pip nodded. "It's really fun. Scary, but fun."

"It is?"

"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year." he cheered, a big beaming grin on his face.

"Being scared isn't always good," Flash explained to the princess as he walked up to the two. "But every now and again, it's good to be scared. It's the whole reason ponies read scary stories or watch horror movies. It's good to liven things up with a bit of fear."

"And no time is that better time for that to happen then on Nightmare Night." Twilight ended, winking at the princess.

Luna suddenly realized what they were saying and smiled, before turning to Pipsqueak. "Well then, we will just have to bring...NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!"

"Whoa!" Pip cried as he was pushed back by the force of her voice, but sill looked excited about it. "You're my favorite princess ever!" With that, he rushed over and hugged her leg for a second, before turning away and rushing back to his friends. "She said yes guys!"

Twilight just giggled before asking. "See? They really do like you Princess."

"They just thought you were trying to be scary on purpose." Flash added.

"Can it be true?" Luna asked, before smiling. "OH MOST WONDERFUL OF-" she stopped herself and giggled, "I mean, oh most wonderful of nights."

And so, Nightmare Night was saved.

Princess Luna has returned to the festival, and joy had returned to the town. As she did, Flash and Twilight returned to the town at a slow, brisk pace. When they got to the main square, Flash nudged Twilight. "You know..." Flash said as he and Twilight watched Luna scare some ponies. Only this time, their shrieks of terror were followed by cries of laughter. "Despite everything, this turned out to be the best Nightmare Night ever."

"It sure has," Twilight nodded before turning to Flash. "But I know what would make it even better." Before Flash could ask what she meant, Twilight used her magic to throw something over him. Looking down, he realized she had thrown his costume back onto him. "There we go. Perfect."

"Thanks Twi," Flash replied, tugging the sheet a little.

"No problem," Twilight said before beginning to walk off. "Now come on. I want to find Spike so we can send Princess Celestia a letter about all this."

Flash shined a hidden grin under the sheet. "Sounds good. Though you might wanna leave the part about the spiders out."

Twilight nodded and they headed off, ready to enjoy the rest of their Nightmare Night

Cutie Pox

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We begin today's story in Ponyville, where we find Flash, Springer and Iron walking through town.

As the trio waltzed through town, Iron let out a long, draining sigh as he asked Flash, "Remind me why I'm here again?"

Flash just rolled his eyes. "I told you this already Iron. Its because Springer wants to try bowling."

"And again I ask, why am I here again?" Iron barked back, a hiss in voice. "I'm pretty sure I have better things to do, like you know, my job as protector of this town!"

Flash made a face that showed he was having trouble containing his annoyance. "Three reasons Iron. One, the town is fine and we've already done our patrols. Two, you need to get out more due to your attitude and three, I thought it would be good training for us."

"Training?! How is bowling training?!" Iron growled, ignoring Flash's first two reasons.

Flash shined a cheeky grin. "Anything can be training Iron."

"I don't bowl. Or do any other sports."

Flash let out a groan before facehoofing. "You have got to be-" Flash stopped himself, trying to prevent a deadly glare from leaving his eyes. "Here, think about it this way Iron." Flash then motioned his hooves. "Bowling is all about perfect control. Throw the ball too hard and it'll be sent flying out of control and probably land in the gutter. And if you throw with little force, it won't move fast enough to knock over the pins. It's a great way to train for control, the same kind of control we need when using our Celestic Gear and when Springer's using his Aura Blast and Bone Breaker."

Iron thought about what he said and eventually he sighed. "Guess you've got a point. Though this is still stupid."

Flash rolled his eyes again before nudging. "Besides, this could be really fun. I've never been bowling before." Iron just facehoofed, still not believing he had been roped into this.

"Me neither," Springer cheered, a big grin on his face. "It sounds like fun."

Iron just glared at Springer, a disgruntled look on his face. "Man...I still can't get used to that. You now talking is just so...weird."

"Get over it." Flash said as he turned to Springer. "By the way, I never asked. Why the sudden interest in bowling?"

"Oh yeah! I never told you that, did you?" Springer replied, looking back at Flash while poking his chin. "Well, when I went to Sugarcube Corner to get our desserts yesterday, I overheard someone talking about it. I heard the word bowling and wondered what it was."

"Why didn't you just ask whoever said it?" Iron asked.

Springer shrugged. "I tried, but they were already gone before I could see who it was."

"Meh. Fair enough." Iron replied.

With this final reply, the three arrived at the bowling alley. where they happened to come across a certain trio of fillies.

"Hey girls," Flash waved to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Springer waved as well, while Iron just let out a snort. Iron had found these three to be some of the more...unlikable ponies for the gruff stallion in Ponyville. Though it was mainly due to the destruction the trio would cause in town on some days, which Flash had told him to be about a third of all disasters in Ponyville. He originally scoffed at this, though he soon found out the truth when they tried to become 'Cutie Mark Construction Workers', which they then asked to expand his house...which didn't end well and was a story for another day.

"Hey Flash!" Scootaloo exclaimed, a big grin on her face. "You guys bowling today too?"

"Yeah!" Springer nodded before thinking for a moment. "Hey, weren't you in Sugarcube Corner yesterday, talking about bowling?"

Sweetie replied with an unusual sound due to the bowling bag straps in her mouth. She then put it down and said again, "Yeah, why?"

"You must have been the one I heard talking about it." Springer said, pointing to Flash next. "I wondered what bowling was, so I asked Flash if we could play."

"Awesome!" Scootaloo cheered, clapping her hooves. "You can bowl with us!"

"That's not good." Iron whispered under his breath. "Maybe we should call this off...and warn the bowling alley."

Flash gave him a small glare, hearing his almost silent grumbling. He then turned and leaned down with a smirk on his face. "So let me guess, you three are trying for a bowling Cutie Mark. Am I right?"

"You got it," Applebloom nodded. "Today's the day, I can just feel it! We're all gonna get our Cutie Marks in bowling!"

"Woohoo!" Scootaloo added.

"Yay!" Sweetie cheered.

Applebloom hopped in place. "Why after today, we won't even be the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore. We'll be the...the Three Strikes!"

By the look on her face, Scootaloo obviously didn't like that name. "That makes us sound like we've struck out."

Applebloom agreed and thought for a moment. "How about...the Pin Twins?"

"But there are three of us," Sweetie Belle reminded her.

"Okay then...hmm..." Applebloom replied, rubbing her chin in thought. A lightbulb then went off in her head. "I got it! How about...The Bowling Dolls!"

"Yeah...the Bowling Dolls...that sounds good!" Sweetie added, nodding.

"Perfect," Scootaloo said, winking.

Flash then tapped his hoof, getting their attention. "Don't go renaming yourselves just yet girls. You don't even know if you'll be any good at bowling. Have you ever actually bowled before?"

"No," Scootaloo replied, shaking her head. "But that's exactly why we're trying it!"

"Yeah," Sweetie continued, "if we're gonna get our Cutie Marks in something we've done before, we would have gotten them a long time ago."

Springer just shrugged. "I'll have to take your word for that. I still have no idea how those things even work."

"You and every other living thing in Equestria," Flash grumbled, folding his hooves. "But for now, let's just try and enjoy our time here."

"Yeah sure," Applebloom said as she turned to the bowling alley. "Let's bowl them over!"

They headed inside and all booked their lanes before the boys went and grabbed a ball. As the did, the jakhowl of the group decided to go first. "Which one do we pick?" Springer asked as they looked at the different colored balls. "This seems...different to me. Its like looking at a bunch of heavy versions of my Aura Blast."

"No idea buddy." Flash said as he patted Springer's shoulder. "Though I gotta admit, it's times like this I wish I had Twilight here with me. She probably would have read a bowling stratagy guide or something."

"Just pick one you can lift," Iron growled while grabbing the ball that was probably the heaviest of the lot. "Grab it, roll it, and knock the pins over. Simple as that."

"Guess you got a point," Flash shrugged before walking over to the lane of extra bowling balls. After a few more minutes of ball selection, they all had one that they were comfortable with and headed to the lane. The Crusaders had already started and Sweetie was up to roll. She placed her ball on the ground and pushed it forward with her head, causing to roll forward until it swerved right and landed in the gutter. Despite this, Sweetie still seemed to be enjoying herself and smiled. Seeing this, Flash chuckled. "Well, even if they don't get a Cutie Mark, at least they can say they had fun."

"I'm up first," Springer said as he moved over to their lane. He brushed his paw over the ball and got a good feel for it, before swinging the ball back with his right paw. A second later, he swung it into the air, letting go as he did. It soared a few feet through the air and landed on the alleyway, rolling towards the pins at high speed. A tremendous crash followed, knocking down all ten pins.This was followed by a loud clapping from Flash and the others, except Iron, who just rolled his eyes. "Thank you, thank you." Springer said with an exaggerated bow.

"Nice shot," Flash complimented, "Looks like you're a natural."

Springer flexed his paw. "It's kind of like using my Aura Blast. The ball's a little heavier, but I don't need to throw it as far."

"My turn," Scootaloo said as she moved over to her lane. She seemed to be going for a more badass approach and decided to use her back legs to kick the ball. However, as she did this, the ball was instead sent flying into the roof before bouncing back and knocking over a pile of balls. It then soared over the heads of a trio of suited stallions before bouncing down the other alleys and ending up in the gutter of the last lane. Everypony turned to Scootaloo, who gave an awkward smile before slowly pacing away.

Iron just laughed. "That girl's got kick! Maybe she should go work on your friend's farm."

"I don't see her waking up that early every morning," Flash replied, smirking. Iron shrugged before taking his ball and moving over to the lane. He put the ball into position and whacked it with his tail, shooting it into the air. As he did, it flew through the air and smashed all the pins with one blow. A rally of cheering followed, causing Flash to now roll his eyes. "You do realize that's supposed to be a bowling ball and not a cannon ball, right?"

"Can't argue with results," Iron said, slightly flexing his hoof.

Applebloom was up next. She managed to pick her ball up with her teeth and unsteadily move on over to the lane.

"Oh, this isn't gonna end well." Flash commented, already seeing where this was going.

Applebloom finally released her ball, tripping up as she did so. When she looked back up, she saw her ball racing down the lane and smashing into the pins, knocking them all down. Another wave of cheers could be heard, making Applebloom smile. That smile intensified when she heard somepony say, "Cool! A bowling Cutie Mark!"

"I did it..." Applebloom gasped, "I did it!" But when she looked back at her flank, she saw it was exactly the same. "What?"

"Err, Applebloom?" Springer said to get her attention. He then pointed to an earth pony colt in the next lane, wearing a black and white shirt and pointing to aforementioned bowling Cutie Mark.

"But what about my ball?" Applebloom asked as she looked back at the lane, for which Springer just moved her head slightly to the right. It seemed after getting up from her trip, Applebloom had looked up at the wrong lane. Her ball was still rolling very slowly, only now reaching the pins. However, it just touched them without making even one of them wobble.

"Sorry kiddo," Flash said as he patted her on the head. "Guess this isn't your sport."

"What else is new?" Applebloom replied in a sad tone, her ears drooping.

Flash tapped her again. "Come on, let's keep playing. Maybe after a few more tries, you'll get the hang of it."

She didn't. In fact, by the end of their allotted time, Springer had been crowned the winner with Iron coming in second and Flash third. The girls however, were unable to knock over a single pin. Despite this, two of the three girls left the bowling alley with smiles on their faces.

"That bowling sure was fun!" Sweetie cheered, her grin growing as she did. "Even if all I got was gutter balls."

"Yeah..." Scootaloo grumbled as she rode her scooter. "At least you were able to keep your ball in your lane. I don't think Mr. Kingpin is ever gonna let me play again."

Iron just shook his head. "Tch. I'll admit, it was kinda fun."

"You just enjoyed it because you got to knock something over without getting in trouble," Flash joked, getting a glare from Iron.

Springer on the other hoof, was a bit too happy. "We've so gotta do that again! Can you imagine me throwing an Aura Blast the way I threw those balls?! My opponents wouldn't know what hit'em!" He jumped off Flash's back and mimicked the way he threw the ball, while Flash pretended to be uppercut by something and fell backwards. Springer, Sweetie and Scootaloo all giggled while Iron just rolled his eyes. The only one of the group who didn't seem amused was Applebloom, who continued to trot forwards with her head towards the ground.

Seeing this, Scootaloo rode up to her. "Awww come on Applebloom. We still had fun, right?"

"And I know just what you need to put the bloom back on your apple." Sweetie added.

One transition later to Sugarcube Corner later...

The group, minus Iron who had opted out, soon found themselves in Sugarcube Corner. There, Applebloom was sitting at the counter, where Sweetie pushed a cupcake infront of her. "A treat from Sugarcube Corner will cheer you up."

They watched her expectantly, but the young filly just pushed the sugary treat away. "No it won't," she said, sinking into her seat.

Seeing this, the group turned to more extreme measures of cheering her up and brought Pinkie Pie in. "A party will cheer you up!" the cotton candy pony said as she bounced around the filly, who was wearing a party hat and an unhappy smile. Sweetie, Scootaloo and Springer all blew a party blower, but Applebloom still frowned.

"No it won't." she repeated. "Nothing will."

"Oookay. What do we do now?" Flash asked, looking at the others with a face of confusion.

"What made us think this would work?" Flash asked as he found several layers of fabric on his back. They were in the Carousel Boutique, with Applebloom on Rarity's stage as she worked her magic.

"A lovely new chapeau will cheer you up," Rarity exclaimed as Scootaloo and Sweetie looked at her with glee, only for Applebloom to still be frowning.

"No it won't," she hissed before hopping off the stage and out the door.

Seeing this, Flash let out a long sigh, shrugging off the fabric. "Oh boy, that's not good." Flash said before turning to Springer. "Can you keep an eye on her buddy? I gotta do my afternoon patrol and I'm worried Applebloom's so upset that she might walk off a cliff...for a cutie mark that is."

Springer gave a small salute before rushing after the filly, her friends following him. As they did this, Flash helped Rarity clean up and apologized for the depressing mood. She didn't mind, and let him leave after getting the last bit of fabric put away. Meanwhile, the others found Applebloom walking down a dirt road just a bit aways, her head still pointing south in despair.

"Come on Applebloom," Scootaloo called out, walking up beside her. "It's just a Cutie Mark."

"Or lack of a Cutie Mark," Sweetie added.

Scootaloo shushed her. "That's not helping."

Before Applebloom could retort, Springer then walked up to her, shrugging. "All this fuss over a silly little mark." Springer tapped his chest. "I don't have one and I'm perfectly happy."

"Except you're not supposed to have one," Applebloom growled, glaring at him.

Springer just gave her a glare back. "And obviously neither are you," Applebloom was about to yell at him, only for Springer to say, "yet. I don't know much about them, but I do know they just don't show up out of the blue. You need to be patient."

"I've been patient!" Applebloom said, her voice rising. "More than patient, but still no Cutie Mark!"

"Well moping about it isn't gonna solve anything!" Springer replied. He would have continued, but he then noticed that the two of them had wondered right into the Everfree Forest...and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had disappeared. "Oh great...how did we get here?" Springer then nudged her and pointed to the town. "Come on, let's get out of here." However, Applebloom wasn't listening, and kept walking. Springer grabbed her tail this time, trying to stop her. "Hey! This place is dangerous! We shouldn't be in here."

"Go away." Applebloom grumbled, flicking Springer with her tail.

"No! You don't need to go walking into-Applebloom!" Springer tried to say, only for Applebloom to turn around and walk away, her ears drooping down to not listen to him. A sigh came out of Springer's mouth as he shook his head. "Why did I even bother learning to speak if this is all I'm ever gonna get in response?!"

Applebloom just rolled her eyes at the jakhowl's whining. That is, till she found her body felt a small amount of force on her hoof, causing her to trip and roll down a hill. As she rolled down and landed with a thud, Springer facepawed. "Well, at least it wasn't a cliff." He jumped down and skidded down the hill, coming to a stop in front of Applebloom. The filly was already starting to pick herself up and was holding her mouth in pain, causing the jakhowl to pat her shoulder. "You okay Applebloom?"

Applebloom opened her mouth, showing she had chipped a tooth on the way down.

"Ouch, that's not good." he said with a grimace.

"Well, who is it that we have here?" said a sudden voice. The two looked around and saw their zebra friend Zecora walking up to them. "Why its young Applebloom and Springer."

"Hey Zecora," Springer waved a paw. Applebloom tried to say hello, but the pain in her mouth stopped her from doing so.

"What has happened to you, youth?" Zecora asked before taking a closer look at Applebloom. "Ah, you've gone and chipped your tooth."

"She wasn't looking at where she was going and fell down that hill." Springer explained, pointing at the ground behind him.

Zecora nodded and turned to walk away. "Come with me, I have just the trick that will fix you up quite quick." The duo looked at each other with faces of slight confusion, but followed anyways. A second later, they were inside and found that Zecora was working on a potion in her cauldron.

As she did, Applebloom began complaining about her lack of Cutie Mark again. "I've tried everything Zecora," she said, a small snort leaving her nose. "But still no Cutie Mark. Why, I'm gonna be as old as Granny Smith and still have a blank flank."

Springer groaned, crossing his hooves as he said, "Seriously? Have you not been listening to any of us?"

Zecora just chuckled and patted Applebloom's head. "Your frustration is well understood, but one must be patient for all things good."

Applebloom just moaned. "I've heard that from everypony I know," Applebloom spat, "and now from every zebra I know. I'm just to impatient to be patient."

"Yeah, I can see that." Springer grumbled, causing her to send him another glare.

"I just want my Cutie Mark and I want it NOW!" She said that last word so loudly that it startled Zecora and made her drop a bottle into her cauldron. This caused a small explosion, sending smoke up and into the two's faces. Zecora gave Applebloom a glare, causing the filly to smile and slowly back away.

"For your Cutie Mark, you will have to wait." Zecora said as she grabbed a spoon. "We must fix that tooth before it's too late." She dipped the spoon into the mixture she had brewed, scooping out a bit and pouring it into a bowl. She then handed it to the filly. "Now drink down every last drop and this mixture will fix that chip on top."

Applebloom did so and began gulping down the potion. As soon as she was done, she moved over to a reflective vase and saw the potion get to work. Springer also watched as her chipped tooth suddenly enlarged itself, before shrinking down to its proper size. Applebloom then ran her tongue over her newly fixed tooth and smiled.

"Nice," Springer said, nodding at the sight. "That's impressive."

"I'll say!" Applebloom exclaimed, "Thanks Zecora."

"No problem." Zecora replied back.

"Wow...you're a wonder cure!" Applebloom said as she looked at her tooth again. It was here that she then a potion on the nearby shelf, causing her to raise her eyebrows in surprise. "Golly, you've got tonics that heal all sorts of ailments." She looked at all the labels on the bottles. "Bad bones, bad back, bad breath..."

"What's rheumatism?" Springer asked as he looked at one of the bottles.

Zecora just chuckled again. "Yes, indeed it is true, I have quite a healing brew."

"And not only stuff which fixes the bad," Applebloom went on, "but stuff that brings the good. Good health, good hair, good heavens!"

"Sounds like you're interested in potions," Springer said, trying to not sound sarcastic. "Maybe you could get your Cutie Mark in that."

"Hey yeah!" Applebloom said as an idea popped into her head. She smiled a sinister smile and then moved over to Zecora. "Ah bet you could mix up a cure to fix...anything." She got real close to the zebra and the shook her flank.

Zecora however, did not seem to like this idea. "There are many mixtures in this room, but none for what you want dear Applebloom. A magic potion does not hold the key. For a Cutie Mark, time is the only remedy."

"Grrr...fine." Applebloom grumbled, though quite begrudgingly.

Zecora then began mixing up a new potion, combining different liquids, powders and berries into her cauldron.

"What ya'll got going on there?" Applebloom asked as she watched.

"I am brewing up another mix," Zecora explained as she put her head in a large vase, "for a rooster and his chicks. Seems the rooster has lost his croak," she pulled her head out and showed she had a weird plant in her mouth, "making mornings very slow."

"Hey, I've seen that flower blooming in Ponyville."

"Yeah," Springer agreed. "I think I've seen it near the river. What is it exactly?"

"It is one we call Heart's Desire," Zecora replied as she started shaking it so the petals would fall into the mixture. "A dash will ignite the roosters fire." Applebloom watched as she worked, amazingly interested in this certain plant as Zecora continued. "With Heart's Desire, his talent comes into view, and he'll surely give a mighty cockadoodledoo."

Springer however, decided to interrupt as he walked up to the cauldron. "So is the rhyming thing a normal zebra thing, or do you just stay up late thinking them up?"

Zecora gave him a small glare. "You truly are Flash's partner through and through, for the mouth he has is the same on you!"

"Is that an insult?" Springer genuinely asked, "I didn't understand what you meant."

Zecora just rolled her eyes as she looked around for another ingredient. "Oh my, what is this? I've run out of amethyst." She then turned and headed towards the door. "I must go get this purple flower, for my brew to have full power."

"Okay," Springer replied before pointing to the filly. "I better get Applebloom back to town before it gets late. See you later."

Zecora nodded and exited the room, leaving Springer and Applebloom alone in the tree core. As she did, Applebloom was still looking at the mixture intensely. "Heart's Desire huh?"

Springer heard her say this and instantly knew what she was planning. "No way," he said as he grabbed her tail and pulled her away, "bad idea."

"Oh come on, you heard what Zecora said!" Applebloom barked back as she pulled her tail away. "This potion makes talents come into view! So if ah drink it, then mah Cutie Mark is bound to show up!"

"She could have just said that to make an easy rhyme," Springer warned her. "You have no idea what it might do to you."

"Can't hurt to try," Applebloom shrugged.

"Yes it could!" Springer countered, giving her a glare. "It could hurt tremendously! Besides, it's not even finished. Zecora said she needed amethyst to make it work."

"I know," Applebloom said as she looked around for an empty bottle, "and it just so happens that we got some amethyst flowers growing back at Sweet Apple Acres. I'll just use them." She then found an empty bottle and poured a bit of the potion into the bottle before corking it up. "There."

Springer wanted to stop her, but he had learned from experience that any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders could find a way to still do what she just did. "I don't like this," Springer said, pointing at her as he did. "At least think it over, alright? Sleep on it or something."

Applebloom thought for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, I'll sleep on it. And in the morning, if I think it's still a good idea, I'll drink it."

"Okay..." Springer then opened the door to the outside. "Now come on, let's get back to Ponyville."

The Next Morning...

Flash was an individual that truly loved sleep. He had always been a fan of sleeping, but it wasn't until the recurring nightmare event from a few weeks ago that truly made him love sleeping. That being said, today's dream for the Pegasus was a fight against a twenty foot dragon. Flash had found himself in a tight bind against the beast, as it just knocked away his trusty Lightbringer. But he wasn't out for the count, as Flash dove into the dragon's face, punching his eye with both hooves. As he did, the knight let out a cheer as he saw the dragon yell in pain.

"Aw yeah! Take that!" Flash mocked, gesturing a 'Come on!' stance with his hooves. "I'm just getting started lizard breath!"

"Wake up." the dragon replied, glaring at him with one closed eye.

"Huh?"

"WAKE UP!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Flash yelped, falling out of his bed with a thump. He then opened his eyes, only to see Springer on the edge, looking anxious. He looked at his alarm clock and saw it was a half hour before they were supposed to wake up. "Dude, what the heck?!"

"I couldn't sleep," Springer whimpered, a small frown on his face.

"So you decided to deprive me of that luxury?!" Flash asked. "We're not supposed to train for another half hour!"

Springer began twiddling his paws. "Well, you're always saying the early bird gets the worm and uh....yeah."

"Yeah, but the too early bird usually ends up waiting while the worms get out of their PJs!" Flash replied as he picked himself up. He looked back up and saw the look on Springer's face. "Fine fine...might as well get started early today."

"Thanks Flash!" Springer cheered, hugging his partner as he did. Flash patted him back before getting up and grabbing his sword. As he did, Springer spoke up, "Hey uh...since we'll likely be finish patrol early...can we stop by Sweet Apple Acres?"

"AJ's place? Why would we-" Flash looked at him for a moment. "Oh. This is about Applebloom, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Springer asked in worry. He didn't want to get Applebloom in trouble.

"Yeah. You wanna go see if she's alright after yesterday, don't ya?"

Springer tried to hide the lying gulp in his throat. "Err...yeah! That's it!" He nodded up and down. "She was so down in the dumps yesterday that I just wanna check to see if she's okay."

Flash just shrugged. "Okay, we can do that. If nothing happens on patrol, we'll go see how she's doing. Deal?"

"Deal." Springer nodded one last time.

"Alright, let's go." Flash said as he strapped Lightbringer to his side. With that, they headed out the library (And made sure not to wake up Twilight or Spike) and began their work.

However, it seemed lady luck was not on the jakhowl's side, as that morning turned into one disaster after another. First, while on the outskirts of town, they came across a travelling sales pony whose cart wheel had broken, resulting in the three of them pushing the damaged cart close enough to town so that the owner could get somepony to help fix it. This took up almost an hour. Then while travelling through town, they heard somepony crying Timberwolf and had to spend another hour in the woods making sure it was safe so the town didn't go into a panic. These two events combined with some other smaller tasks that had to do, (Which Flash commented as being surprising that the CMC weren't involved with any of the disasters for once) meant that by the time they had finally finished their morning patrol, it was an hour and a half later than they usually finished.

"Man, today's been hectic," Flash grumbled as the two of them flew over to Sweet Apple Acres. "and it isn't even noon yet! I can't believe we had to stop a second parasprite invasion this morning! And I don't even know how to do any instruments except my guitar!"

"Yeah..." Springer barely replied as sweat appeared under his forehead. "I just hope Applebloom hasn't left for school yet."

"Hard to tell with the Apples. They all usually get up at the crack of dawn, so it depends on whether Applebloom finished her chores or not." As he said this, the duo found that they had finally arrived at the farm. There, they saw Applejack and Big Mac heading out of the family barn, carrying a bunch of empty buckets. "Hey guys!" He called out as they landed.

Applejack and Big Mac looked up at the two of them and waved. "Howdy Flash, Springer. What brings you two here this morning?"

"Springer wanted to come check up on Applebloom." Flash replied as they walked up to the two. "She was a little down heartened yesterday."

"Well that's mighty nice of yah, but Applebloom's already left for school."

"Eeyup," Mac added.

"Darn it!" Springer growled. "How long ago?"

Applejack just shrugged. "About twenty minutes ago, maybe less. You might be able to catch her if you hurry, though she seemed to be in a mighty rush this morning. Ah just figured she wanted to talk to her friends before school or something."

Springer had a feeling it was 'or something'. "Come on Flash, to the school!"

"Okay," Flash said as he flexed his wings, "see you all later."

"See yah," Applejack replied as they took off and flew to the school.

Despite the school being on the opposite side of Ponyville, it didn't take them long to get there thanks to a second wind from Flash's wings. Very soon, they found themselves landing outside of the school before hearing something coming from the back. "What's with all the racket?" Flash asked as they walked over to the school's fence. Looking over it, they saw Cheerilee and the school ponies all doing...something. They each had a metal hoop around their waist or legs and seemed to be trying to spin them around. "Okay..." Flash commented with a raised eyebrow. "Now I know I never went to school, but I'm sure this isn't normal learning criteria."

"Hey Flash, Springer!" The two turned to see Scootaloo rushing up to them while trying to spin one of the hoops around with her tail.

"Morning Scootaloo." Flash pointed to the foals on the schoolyard. "What the heck are you all doing?"

"Loopy Hooping!" the little pegasus replied, "Applebloom's showing us how to do it."

"Applebloom?" Springer asked. He didn't like where this was going.

"You gotta check this out, Applebloom got her Cutie Mark!"

"She did?!" Flash and Springer said in shock.

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded. "Come on, check it out!"

Flash and Springer quickly jumped over the fence and rushed over to see the little earth pony spinning a small hoop around perfectly. On her flank was the image of the hoop, which made Springer gulp. He knew where this was going.

Flash on the other hoof, was none the wiser and went to compliment the filly. "Way to go Applebloom! I told you your Cutie Mark would show up eventually."

"Guess you were right," Applebloom gleefully said as she continued to spin the hoop around. "Wanna give it a try?"

Flash looked down and saw a pile of hoops on the floor. "Sure," he said as he picked one up and tried to spin it with his tail. As he did, he nudged his partner. "Come on buddy, give it a try."

Springer grabbed a hoop and began looping it around with his waist, all the while glaring at Applebloom.

"You drank the potion didn't you?" He asked her once no one was looking at them.

"Of course ah did," she whispered back. "And look at what it did! Ah'm no longer a blank flank!"

"And what if the potion wears off and your Cutie Mark disappears?"

"Then ah'll just keep Loopy Hooping till it comes back!" she replied, a cheeky grin now on her face. They would have kept talking, but in that second, they heard the school bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon making pained moans. Looking over at them, they saw the two trying to Loopy Hoop, only to keep tripping over themselves.

Applebloom's grin grew wider. "Oh, don't worry girls. Keep at it and you might end up being half as good as me."

"Got any tricks to show us?" Flash asked before the bullies could reply.

"Sure," Applebloom replied. She then began doing some extreme moves with her hoop, such as hooping over it as she spun it on her leg. She then threw it into the air and actually jumped through it, followed by spinning it in her teeth and jumping through it as well. She eventually ended her routine with something she called the Hoop La. By spinning the the hoop on her tail, she created a powerful gust which then caused her to begin flying upwards.

Flash just blinked at this. "I might not know much about science, but I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be impossible."

Everypony watched in amazement at Applebloom's trick. That is, until they saw a flash of light coming off her flank. Suddenly, she stopped spinning her hoop, allowing gravity to do its thing and bring her crashing down to earth. Thinking fast, Flash managed to fly up and catch her before she hit the ground. As he did, he noticed something on her flank. Besides the Loopy Hoop Cutie Mark was another Cutie Mark, which looked like two plates each spinning on a stick. Once they landed, everypony gathered around to see Applebloom's second Cutie Mark.

"Another Cutie Mark?!" Diamond Tiara yelled before starting to laugh. "Ha! I guess that last trick really was a load of hoop la. Those Cutie Marks are fake!"

The younger ponies all gasped, while Flash tried to think of a rational expression. Springer on the other hoof, began to shake in place. He did not like the look of this.

"No they're not!" Applebloom defended herself.

Diamond turned to their teacher. "Ms Cheerilee, have you ever heard of a pony with two Cutie Marks?"

"I must say that I never have," Cheerilee said, causing her to smirk, "but maybe Applebloom has two special talents."

"Oh yeah?!" Silver Spoon snarled before pointing at the mark, "then let's see you do that."

"Now hold on," Flash tried to say only for the duo Snips and Snails to suddenly appear and throw a pair of sticks and plates at Applebloom. Luckily, the filly managed to catch them, only to immediately start spinning the plates on the sticks while holding the sticks on her nose. The ponies all gasped at the sight of this.

"Two Cutie Marks!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Two talents!"

"Too weird," Flash said before turning to Snips and Snails. "Don't ever let me catch you doing that again." The two colts both grinned nervously before stepping away.

They all watched as Applebloom performed both Loopy Hooping and plate spinning at the same time, without even needing to try. "Aw yeah."

"Oh no." Springer gulped. He had a feeling the Heart's Desire was behind this. He also knew that he had no idea what to do. On the one paw, he knew that this probably wouldn't end well, resulting in some other bad side-effect from the Heart's Desire. However, he also saw that Applebloom was happy...and he felt like he shouldn't interrupt that. Maybe.

"Alright everypony, you ready for a real show?" Applebloom asked the other with a huge grin on her face. She then ran towards Ponyville, her talents still showing as the crowd of ponies followed her, including Flash and Springer. Springer just watched the scene unfold as the reached the town square. There, everypony in town saw the filly with two talents and were amazed, including Twilight, Rarity, Spike and even Applebloom's family. It was like they were witnessing something completely new for Equestria to see.

"Flash?" Twilight spoke up as she walked up to Flash, glancing at the filly as she did. "I am seeing this, right? Applebloom with two talents?"

Flash nodded. "I know what you're thinking and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either. But...it seems like it's true." As if to further prove the point, Applebloom threw her hoop at Twilight and somehow redid her mane so it looked just like Rarity's. Flash hopped in place at the sight. "Whoa."

"I like it." Spike added.

Twilight rolled her eyes before magically correcting her mane. As she did, Applebloom continued to show off her two special talents, doing several amazing tricks. They watched her for some time till finally, the sun began to set. There, everypony decided it was time to go home.

"Well that was a blast," Spike said as he, Twilight, Flash and Springer all returned to the library.

"I'm still amazed that Applebloom has two Cutie Marks." Twilight commented, rubbing her chin in thought. "I've never read anything that mentioned that happening before."

"Maybe Applebloom's the first in a new wave of Cutie Markers," Flash suggested with a shrug. "A new generation which will have two Cutie Marks instead of one."

"You think?" Spike replied, slightly surprised at the suggestion.

"It's possible." Flash shrugged again.

"Yeah...possible." Springer mumbled, glancing at the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight noticed his disgruntled look and asked, "You okay Springer?"

Flash decided to add to this. "Yeah buddy, is something wrong? You've been acting weird all day."

"Just tired I guess," Springer lied, hopping off Flash's back. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

Flash and Twilight glanced at each other before replying. "Alright partner. If you're sure you're okay."

"See you tomorrow," Springer said as he headed up the stairs.

"Night," they all replied before Twilight went to the kitchen to make them a light supper. As they did, the three wondered what was up with him but decided to leave it until morning to find out.

When Flash got to his room later that evening, he saw that Springer was already asleep in bed. He took off his Celestic Gear and climbed into bed, ready to get some well deserved rest. That is, till he had barely shut his eyes...

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"WHAT THE HAY?!" Flash yelped, his popping up from his pillow. "Can't a pegasus get a decent night's sleep?" He asked as he picked himself up and looked over at Springer, only to find his jakhowl partner rubbing his eyes as he awoke. "Oookay. Who would be at the door at this hour?"

To answer his own question, Flash got out of bed and headed to the door. As he did, a yawning Twilight stepped out of her room. "What's with the banging?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"I was hoping you'd tell me," he replied.

The banging was coming from downstairs, making the residents quickly descend the staircase and head to the front door. "Who is it?" Twilight called out as her magic twisted the knob of the main door.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Applejack rushed in. "Twilight, yah gotta help me!"

"AJ?!" Twilight responded, her eyes squinting as she did. "What are you-it's the middle of the night!"

"Yeah," Flash groaned, a large yawn escaping his mouth. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until morning."

"Oh really?! Does this look like it can wait till morning?" She rushed outside and then came back in with Applebloom, who was doing the two special talents along with tapping her hooves on the ground. On her flank was a new third Cutie Mark.

"What the?!" Twilight yelped, now fully awake as she rushed over to inspect the Cutie Mark. "Three Cutie Marks, three talents. I've never seen anything like it."

"Two Cutie Marks I could buy," Flash said as he looked her over, "but three is definitely weird. Is it some kind of illness?"

The question made Twilight move over to a nearby bookshelf, quickly scanning through it. "That's a good question Flash. I was just reading something about unusual equine illnesses a few days back...what was it again?"

Spike was also looking through the shelves and pulled one off the top. "Perplexing Pony Plagues perhaps?" He asked as he held up the book before leaping off the ladder and onto Twilight's back.

"Yes! Spike, you're amazing! Thank you!"

Spike smiled smugly. "Yes well, I do have some talents." He placed the book on a reading pedestal and Twilight began flipping through it.

"Let's see here...Hay Fever?"

"Seen that before, definitely not it." Flash deadpanned.

"The trots?"

"Don't be disgusting," Springer remarked.

As she was about to suggest another, she let out a gasp as she stopped at a page. "By your suddenly exhale, I'm guessing you've found it." Flash commented as he and Applejack stepped over and looked at the page she was reading.

"Cutie Pox!" Twilight said in horror.

"CUTIE POX?!" They all screamed in horror.

"Cutie Pox," Twilight read, "this puzzling pony plague applicted a population of ponies back in the paleo-pony period."

"Say that ten times fast," Spike joked, only to be bucked off Twilight's back in retaliation.

Twilight continued reading. "Random Cutie Mark continues appearing all over the pony's bodies, causing them to preform all the talents that came with them."

"Just like me!" Applebloom yelped, still doing the three skills her illness gave her.

Flash just ignored her and tapped Twilight's shoulder. "It's obvious this illness is rare since none of us have heard of it, so what's causing it?"

"I have a theory," Springer whispered to Applebloom, causing her to gulp. The Heart's Desire had given her exactly that, a Cutie Mark. But it was still granting her wish and now she'd got Cutie Pox.

"So what's the cure?" Applejack asked, causing Twilight to read faster. That is, till she got to a particular part that made her eyes went wide.

"It says here there's no known cure," she explained.

"Nothing?" Flash asked, "not even a lozenge...or like, meds?"

"No." Twilight shook her head. "The cause of the breakout was never discovered and the Cutie Pox disappeared as mysteriously as when it arrived.

"So she'll get over it, right? Like with normal Pony Pox?"

Twilight's expression went dark. "No. It uh...it says the pony will continue to do the actions until..."

"Until what?" Applejack asked.

"Until the inflicted pony collapses from exhaustion and...don't make me say it."

Everypony's eyes went wide.

"Sacre bleu!" They all turned to Applebloom, who now had a fourth Cutie Mark that looked like a coat of arms. "Autre Mark de Cutie." She gasped before speaking in a dialect that none of them could understand.

"My sister's speaking in fancy!" Applejack cried.

"This is bad." Flash said as he stared at the mark. "If she just got another mark, does that mean more will appear at an even faster rate?"

"Probably." Twilight replied. "She needs help."

"Ah know she needs help!" Applejack barked back. "We need somepony to mix up a cure and fast!"

"Yeah but...there's no known cure." Twilight commented as she pointed to the book. "I mean, it says that-"

"Twilight! Ah need to help my sister now!"

It was then that Springer had an idea. If one of Zecora's medicines caused this, then maybe she had one that could fix it. With this thought, Springer spoke up, "I'll head to Zecora's house. Maybe she'll have something that can help."

Surprised at his sudden suggestion, especially since he had been quiet this entire time, Flash clapped his hooves. "Great idea Springer! You do that and we'll try and keep Applebloom in check."

"Why don't we just take Applebloom to Zecora?" Spike asked.

"There's no way we'll make it there with Applebloom being forced to do a bunch of different things. We'll stay here and keep her safe. Hopefully, she won't get any Cutie Marks that make her do something dangerous."

Springer nodded and rushed out of the library, rushing towards the forest. As he was about to enter, he noticed the very pony, or zebra, he was looking for step out it. "Zecora!" He called out as he sprinted towards her. "You've gotta help us!"

"Why, what is causing your distress?" she asked as Springer stopped in front of her. "I can't imagine what has you so stressed."

"Its Applebloom!" Springer yelled, pointing to the town. "She's got something called Cutie Pox and its making her do all sorts of weird things!"

The zebra raised an eyebrow at this. "How strange that she has come down with that affliction." She then raised her hoof. "However, before I help, may I make a prediction?"

"Go on..." Springer said, pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"My special plant named Heart's Desire, suddenly disappeared your visit prior. Tell me is it not true, that you took a sample of my special brew."

Springer looked at Zecora, who was giving him a dark gaze, before finally cracking. "Okay fine! Applebloom took some of your Heart's Desire potions even though I told her it was a bad idea and now she's come down with this illness and I don't want to tell on her because it might get her in trouble and she looked really happy but now she's in real trouble and I don't know what to do!" he ranted, almost out of breath before he gave Zecora a pair of puppy dog eyes. "So can you please save me the lecture and just help her?! Please, I'll do anything!" He begged while Zecora lowered her head to his eye level.

"Feel better?"

"A little," he replied, slightly blushing.

"I understand your rebuttal to keep your friend out of trouble. But one of the things that makes a good friend, is making sure they're safe in the end. You should have told somepony about the brew from the start, but now this affliction may tear Applebloom apart."

"So...is there anything you can do?" Springer asked.

Zecora nodded. "It just so happens there is a way, but whether it will work, I cannot say."

"Anything's worth a try. Come on."

And so, the two rushed towards Ponyville, which was unusually barren. There, they found Flash and the others in the middle of town, watching Applebloom washing some windows.

"Zecora!" Flash called out, waving at her. As she approached, he continued to speak. "Thank Celestia you're here. Applebloom-"

"I am aware of the situation and I know of its causation."

"You do?!" Applejack asked, "Then you must have a cure, right?"

"A Cutie Pox cure, I have for sooth," she reached into her bag and pulled out three seeds, "for healing power is in, the seeds of truth."

Applejack pointed to her sister. "Well then, give'em to her, quick! She needs help!"

"These seeds must be planted in the ground." Zecora explained, "With the truth, they'll grow and the cure will be found."

To say Applejack was confused would be an understatement. "Come again?"

Twilight and Flash looked at each other before Flash kind of got what she meant. "I think she means that they're special seeds that uh..." Flash gave Zecora a questioning look. "I'm guessing they only grow when somepony tells the truth about something?" Zecora nodded at this.

"If that's the case," Twilight continued. "It probably only works when they tell the truth about something they've either lied about or kept secret."

As soon as she realised what they meant, Applejack shot into action. "Well, let's get to it," she said as she knocked the seeds out of Zecora's grasp and dug a small hole, putting the seeds inside before burying them. "Alright, they're planted. Now somepony, tell the truth!"

However, it seemed that the citizens of Ponyville were all too scared of catching Cutie Pox to do so. Most had already hid themselves inside their houses as they saw Applebloom's Cutie Pox go wild. That and another Cutie Mark appeared on Applebloom, this one being a tornado, which caused her to spin around at full force. The sight alone made noppony want to speak up.

Applejack grew more and more concerned by the sight of this. "Somepony?! Anypony?!"

Still nopony replied, causing her to turn to her friends.

Flash shook his head. "Sorry AJ, I've got nothing to tell. I haven't lied about anything or kept something to myself."

"Me neither," Twilight said, nodding with a frown.

"There's gotta be somepony who can tell the truth!" Applejack called out.

It was at this moment that Pinkie popped out of a nearby bush, deciding to speak up. "Yesterday I told Mrs Cake I ate two corn cakes when I really ate three!" They all looked down at where Applejack had planted the seed, but the soil remained the same. They all looked back up at Pinkie. "Okay six!" Pinkie screamed, "I ate six corn cakes!" They looked back down, only to see no change, making them look back up at her. Pinkie looked like she was going over the edge. "Make it stop! Oh, make it stop!"

Springer wondered if telling them about the Heart Desire would do anything since he had already told Zecora, but thought it was worth a try. However, in that moment, Applebloom had had enough.

"Ah can't stand it anymore," she said as yet another Cutie Mark appeared. "It's me, I confess! I didn't earn ma'h Cutie Mark, they're all fake!" Suddenly, she stopped spinning, but then started tap dancing again. The older ponies all looked down and saw the soil begin to shift, they needed more. Thankfully, Applebloom wasn't done. "Ah figured the Heart's Desire would help me get what ah wanted most. So when Zecora left her hut, I took some of her potion!"

From the ground shot out a sprout, which quickly grew into a white flower that then bloomed. Not a second later, Applebloom leaped over and wolfed it down before sighing in relief. As soon as she did, she stopped dancing and fell to the floor. In a flash of light, one of her Cutie Marks disappeared, followed by another and another until she was back to normal again.

Everypony sighed in relief.

"Applebloom!" Sweetie and Scootaloo rushed over to her.

"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked.

"Ah'm great," Applebloom replied, panting. "And Ah've never been happier to be a blank flank. But I'm awful sorry ah lied, especially to you girls. Ah was so desperate for mah Cutie Mark, I just got carried away." She then turned to Zecora, "and Ah'm really sorry I took some of your potion Zecora, even though Springer told me it was a bad idea."

"WHAT?!" Flash said as he turned to his partner, "you knew?!"

Springer held his head. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want to get Applebloom into trouble and she seemed so...so happy. So I didn't tell anyone and got her in even more trouble. I know I was wrong."

"And so do I," Applebloom cried, resting her head on the ground as she did. She then stared at Zecora. "I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted me to come by again."

Zecora just smiled at this. "Now Applebloom do not be silly, you are always welcome my little filly."

At the same time, Flash rubbed his forehead in slight frustration before bonking his partner's head. "Stop giving me that sad face Springer, I'm not mad at you buddy. Nopony wants to feel like they've betrayed their friend's trust." He then stared right into the jakhowl's eyes. "But you can't let that stop you if you think your friend is in danger."

"I know that now," Springer said with a nod. "Sorry."

"With each mistake," Zecora told him and Applebloom, "you learn something new. Growing up into a better you." With that, Zecora turned and left the village, ready to go make a new brew.

As she walked away, Twilight trotted up to the filly and jakhowl. A certain idea had popped into her head. "Applebloom, Springer, would you mind writing to Princess Celestia about what you've both learned?"

"Happy to," Applebloom said while Springer nodded, "Spike!"

Spike instantly appeared, scroll and quill in claw, and began writing what the two of them both learned. Applebloom about never taking short cuts to what you really want and Springer about looking out for a friend. When it was over, Spike rolled up the scroll and sent it to Princess Celestia.

"Ah sure am proud of you sis." Applejack chuckled, helping her sister up. "Seems like you've finally learned the importance of patience."

"Yep...all good things come to those who wait." Applebloom replied, steadying herself before looking at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Twilight, Applejack, Springer and Spike then heard Flash counting down, and when he hit zero, he pointed at the three as they said. "Well, I've waited long enough. Let's go try something else girls!"

Flash rolled his eyes as they watched the three crusaders rush off to go earn their Cutie Marks.

"Knew that was coming," Flash said before yawning. "Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't had a good night's sleep for the last two nights." And with that, he headed home to take a nap, ready to put this exhausting day behind him

Walking a Mile in Each Others Horse Shoes

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We open today's story inside the Golden Oaks Library. There, Twilight Sparkle was in her basement laboratory with a pair of science goggles on her head, working on something with Spike taking notes. Multiple books were littered around her, along with science beakers that were filled with different colored liquids. Picking up a pair of beakers in her magic, one filled with a green liquid and another filled with a purple ooze, she poured half of their contents into an empty flask. As the two fluids mixed together and changed color, they sat there, unmoving.

Twilight let out a loud groan. "Mixture thirty eight, no visible reaction. Again."

"No...visible...reaction," Spike repeated as he wrote down what she had just said, "done." Spike looked back up, only to see a depressed, moaning Twilight. She stared at the flask, a tinge of anger in her eyes. "Uh...Twilight? Maybe we should take a break. We've been at this for a while now and-"

"No Spike. I will get this." Twilight interrupted, rubbing her eyes as she stopped staring at the flask. Placing a cork on the mixture, she moved it and the green beaker to the side and brought out a new beaker filled with a red liquid and another empty flask. "Mixture thirty nine," she commented as began lifting it and the previous purple beaker. "Let's see if-"

THWANG! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

"Aaah!" Twilight yelped as the sudden noise caused her to drop both beakers into the flask. The liquids quickly mixed, causing her eyes to grow in fear. "Oh no! Spike, look out-"

But it was too late. One second later, the mixture exploded, causing a thick small cloud of smoke to cover the room. "*cough* *cough* *cough* oh great! *cough* *cough*" Twilight hacked, swiping her hoof at the smoke cloud. "Stupid *cough* *cough* mixture. *cough*"

"You okay?" Spike asked as he moved over to her, swatting at the cloud as he did.

The unicorn's horn soon lit up and shot out a breeze of magic, pushing the smoke away. As it cleared, all that remained was a soot-covered Twilight, complete with a twitching eye and an anger filled face. She then wiped the soot off. "I'm fine Spike, *cough* but what just happened?"

THWANG! THOOM! THOOM!

The duo hopped in place as they heard the sound again. Only this time, Twilight figured out exactly what the sound was. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered this sound very well. It was an instrument, and it was being played at its highest volume somewhere in the library.

"Flash," she growled before heading upstairs. As she made her way up, the music got louder, making her face contort in rage. She was now certain that it was Flash and he was playing his guitar. Granted, it had been a while since she had last heard him play it, but she knew it was him. As she reached the door leading to Flash's room, she turned around and flexed her hind legs, ready to hit the door with full force. That is, till...

"AW YEAH!"

WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM!

A blaring soundwave blasted the door open, knocking Spike off his feet and making Twilight fall over in sudden shock. She quickly covered her ears and turned around, only for her eyes to go wide again. "What in the name of-"

What she saw could only be described as the true definition of a mess. Flash's room was completely destroyed. Feathers, comics, books and even some clothes (Despite the fact that Flash didn't regularly wear any) were littering the floor. As for the room's owner, he was currently flying with his back to her, playing his guitar and rocking his head to the loud beat. Springer was bouncing on Flash's bed, both arms up high and rocking his head as well.

"You have got to be-Flash!" Twilight called out, only to be drowned out by the beat. "Flash! FLASH!" She called out louder, only to be drowned out again. "Grrr...fine. You asked for this." Twilight's eyes narrowed as her horn lit up, an aura grabbing the pegasi's tail and quickly pulling him into the ground.

"Ow!" Flash yelped as he hit the floor with a thud.

"FLASH!" Twilight screamed in his ear, surprising him so much that he shot back into the air and slammed his head into the ceiling.

"Ow...again." Flash rubbed his head as he looked down and saw Twilight staring up at him in annoyance. "What the heck Twilight?! Don't you know not to interrupt a guy while he's rocking out?!"

"I was calling out to you," Twilight grumbled, still annoyed. "You were 'rocking out' so loud that you didn't hear me."

"Oh...my bad."

Twilight just rolled her eyes. "That's all you have to say?! 'My bad'?! Your loud music ruined my experiment!"

"Okay okay, sorry." Flash replied as he put his guitar on a nearby stand. "Jeez lousie Twilight, relax. Springer and I were just messing around. We've been training really hard lately, and we were just trying to blow off some steam."

"And you have to do it here?" Twilight barked back. "In a library?!"

"You closed the library today Twilight. That means we don't have to be quiet all the time." Flash countered, rubbing his head. "Besides, this is my room in our house, and I get to do what I want in it."

"Except what you're doing is messing up what I'm doing!" Twilight said before pointing her hoof at his floor. "And while we're on the subject, I don't know if you noticed, but your room is an absolute mess! I can't even take two steps without stepping on something!"

"Well excuse me," Flash shrugged. "We don't all have our own personal cleaning dragons."

"Can you please not bring me into this?!" Spike asked, only to be ignored.

Twilight's left eye twitched as she said, "I clean up too Flash. And at least I don't let my personal space turn into a pile of junk!"

Now, Flash rolled his eyes. "No, you would instead turn the whole public area into a forest of books."

"WHAT?! Why you..." Twilight began to shake one of her hooves in rage. "You better apologize to me over ruining my experiment right now Flash!"

"Only if you apologize for grabbing my tail like that! That seriously hurt!"

"I wouldn't have to hurt you if you wouldn't blast your music through the house!" Twilight then walked up to Flash, gritting her teeth as she did. "And I'm not going to apologize for pulling your tail because you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing in a library!"

"The library is closed Twilight!"

"I don't care! You still shouldn't have been blasting your stupid rock music!"

"Then you shouldn't have been doing your dumb experiments!"

The two were now inches away from each other, glaring at each other so much that Spike and Springer could swear they were seeing lightning sparking between them. Twilight's face showed an especially vicious frown as she continued, "At least I don't go leaving feathers all over the place."

"You try growing a pair of wings and see how easy it is to not leave feathers everywhere!" Flash countered. They then continued to glare at each other, until Flash turned away and headed out the door. "That's it, I'm done here."

"Hey!" Twilight barked as she turned and began to follow him. "Don't you walk away from me!"

"Watch me."

"Oh no you don't! You come back here and apologize to me this instant!"

As they both stormed out, Spike and Springer just stared at the door. Springer then spoke up, "Wow, that was weird. I've never seen those two argue like that before."

Spike just shrugged. "It's rare, but it does happen. Don't worry, it'll blow over soon."

"If you say so," Springer replied before the two decided to follow Flash and Twilight downstairs. There, they found them in the basement, where Twilight was beginning to try and fix her experiment while pulling Flash's ear with her magic.

"It wouldn't kill you to pick up after yourself." Twilight grumbled as she began levitating several beakers around before pouring some liquid into another empty flask. "But no, you want to be a slob."

"Who are you calling a slob?!" Flash hissed as he put both of his hooves over his ear. "And stop doing that!"

"You. That's who I'm calling a slob." Twilight glared, pointing at the pegasus in pain. "It would take little to no effort to keep things neat and tidy in your room, but no...you just decide to leave it as a big filthy mess."

"Did it ever occur to you that I have better things to do than clean up everything all the time?!" Flash barked back, rubbing his ear. "Like maybe keeping our home safe?! I'm a Defender of the Peace, not a day cleaner."

"Five minutes ago, you were playing your guitar and making a racket," Twilight deadpanned.

Flash let out a groan. "That was me unwinding Twi! Like I said, me and Springer have been training really hard lately and we wanted to have a bit of fun."

"So you decided to make a mess of your room and play super loud music to ruin my experiment?!"

"It was an accident Twi! I said I was sorry!" Flash barked back, his face now showing a hint of rage.

"No you're not." Twilight grumbled, looking away as she did.

"Oh come on! What is with you lately?! Every time I try to do something, you get angry and pull my ear like no tomorrow." Flash said as he began trying to revive his ear again. "What did I do?!"

"I do that to your ear because you keep being reckless and stupid!" Twilight barked back, waving her hoof around. "Its the only way I can keep you in line!"

"I'm not a foal Twilight. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."

"You were acting a foal in your room just now and your room is a mess that is worse than any foal could ever make Flash." Twilight deadpanned again, turning back to her experiment. She then began to pour the last bit of formula into the flask. "Just be quiet until my experiment is done and then you can go clean your room."

"You have got to be-" Flash tried to say, only to feel another tug on his ear. Realizing he wasn't escaping this, he tried to change topics. "Fine. What were you working on that's so important, that it has to destroy my me time?!"

"If you would like to know, I've been experimenting on the Heart's Desire flower." Twilight replied with a slight hiss. "I'm trying to see if it can be used to cure other afflictions without causing the Cutie Pox."

"That's it?" Flash asked, rolling his eyes. "That's what you're getting so uptight about?!"

One of Twilight's forehead veins looked like it was ready to pop. "What did you just say?!" she began to yell. "This is important research and you're just dismissing it like its nothing!"

"I'd hardly call it important." Flash deadpanned back. "If anything, its nothing more than a fun little side project."

"Side project?!" Twilight yelled as she locked eyes with him again and was now inches way from his face. "You're just jealous because you don't understand it. You're just an over arrogant meathead who's more interested in punching something than finding out how it works."

"Meathead?!" Flash barked back. He pushed his head forwards so the two of them were now buffering against each other. "Who are you calling meathead, ya bookworm!"

"Oh, real original." Twilight scoffed, pulling his ear with her magic again, causing him to falter back. "You know, I wish you could live a day in my life. At least then you might learn which muscle is actually the most important one."

While this was going on, Spike noticed that one of Twilight's potions was beginning to glow a faint gold color. "Uhhhh...Twilight? Flash? We might have a-"

"Well, I wish you could spend a day doing what I do too!" Flash barked, tapping his hoof on Twilight's chest. "I bet you wouldn't last an hour doing what I need to do."

"Flash!" Springer called out as well, trying to get their attention as the potion began to glow even more. "We have a-"

"Well you wouldn't last ten minutes." Twilight hissed, the glow on her horn now growing as well.

"Oh please," Flash scoffed, waving his hoof. "All you do is sit around reading. I could do that."

"Reading is one thing, meathead. You need to actually understand what the book said and remember it. Besides, how hard could it be doing what you do? What, exercise all morning and take strolls through town in the afternoon?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh, that sounds so hard."

"As I recall, you already tried doing my job." Flash said with a smirk. "And it ended with half the town needing to be rebuilt!"

"That wasn't my fault." Twilight grumbled, looking away. "That was the-"

"TWILIGHT/FLASH!" Spike and Springer yelled, catching their attention.

"WHAT?!" The two screamed in anger. But before they could get an answer-

BOOM!

A smoke cloud covered the room as the beaker blew up. As it did, Spike and Spriner covered their eyes, trying to make sure the smoke didn't enter their pupils. What followed was several coughs inside the cloud, only for the smoke to quickly dissipate. As it did, Flash coughed a few more times before flickering his eyes open, only to see Spike looking at him in concern.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike said, biting his lip as he asked.

"Twilight? What are you talking about?!" Flash replied, giving him a look of pure confusion.

Spike just blinked. "Uhh...you don't sound like it. Your voice sounds kinda...funny."

"My voice?" Flash asked, tilting his head before touching his throat. "What are you-my voice is fine Spike."

"No it isn't," Spike replied, shaking his head. "It's all deep, like Flash's."

"But I am Flash," he said as he tried to pick himself. As he did, he caught sight of his hoof and noticed it was the wrong color. "What the heck?!"

"Flash, are you okay?" he heard Springer say. Flash saw that Springer was on the other side of the room, looking at someone who he couldn't see.

"Flash?!" he heard Twilight's voice reply to Springer. "What are you talking about Springer? I'm Twilight." The pony finally stood up and Flash was able to see their face, which caused him to freeze in horror. Standing in front of him was...himself. Somepony who looked exactly like him was standing on the other side of the room. The Flash lookalike also looked around the room and saw him before freezing. Flash and his double slowly stepped towards each other, staring the other down.

"Are you two okay?" Spike asked as he glanced at the two.

"Flash?" The Flash duplicate asked, only for Twilight's voice to come out of his mouth.

An idea popped into Flash's head, which his copy seemed to have as well. They looked down at their hooves before moving over to some of the remaining beakers and picked them up. Looking into the glass, Flash saw his reflection and his face contorted to one of pure horror.

He looked like Twilight, which must mean...

"Twilight?" He asked as he turned to the pony who looked like him.

"Flash?" The copy asked back.

As reality began to settle in, the two just stood there, staring at each other. That is, till-

"AAAHHHHH!" They both screamed.

"Whoa!" Spike said as he and Springer covered they ears. "What's the matter?!"

"How did this happen?!" Twilight asked as she looked over her new body.

"How did what happen?" Springer asked her.

"We switched bodies!" Flash told him, grabbing his face in pure panic.

Spike and Springer stared at the two for a moment before glancing at each other in confusion and then back at them.

"You're kidding, right?" Spike asked.

"We're not!" Twilight replied, tapping at her now orange chest. "I'm Twilight!"

"And I'm Flash!" Flash cried, tapping his new chest as well.

Spike and Springer glanced at each other again before Springer closed his eyes and activated his aura. After a moment, his eyes shot open and he immediately took a step back in shock. "No way...It's true!" he said as he deactivated his aura. "Their auras...their auras have been somehow switched."

"So it's true?" Spike asked, pointing at the two. "They're uh...switched and everything?"

"It's true," Twilight said as she began a questioning rant. "But how is this possible? There's never been any record case of two ponies switching bodies, at least in terms of what I've read." As she did this, her new wings began to subconsciously flap and lifted her into the air. "Maybe this is some kind of mass hallucination, or some kind of transfer type of magic." she commented, completely oblivious to the fact that she had taken flight.

"Er...Twilight?" Flash tried to say. "You should-"

"That's it!" Twilight exclaimed, slamming one hoof onto her other. "The explosion just caused us to have a joint hallucination!" She continued to move higher and higher. "We're still in our actual bodies, but we're just seeing things. That or-"

"Twilight!" Flash yelled, but it was too late. With one final flap of her wings, Twilight's head slammed into the ceiling.

"Ow!" She cried as she held her head. Her wings stopped flapping and she fell to the earth, hitting the ground. "Ow."

"I hate to say it Twilight," Flash said as he helped her up, "but this is real."

"But...but how?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, but we need to find out." Flash said before he saw a bright light coming from his forehead. "What the-"

"HEY!" He and Twilight turned to look at Spike, who was now surrounded in a purple aura and was floating in the air. "What are you doing?! Let me down!"

"Sorry buddy, just let me uh...uh..." Flash said as he poked his horn. "Um...how do you get this thing to work?"

However, instead of getting the dragon down to the ground, Spike began to spin around, gaining speed as the seconds passed. "I'm gonna be sick." he gulped, putting his claws over his mouth.

"Flash! Put him down!" Twilight barked, reflexing smacking him with her new wing.

"I'm trying!" Flash was thinking as hard as he could, trying to get his new magic under control. "I don't know how this works Twilight!"

"Oh, you have got to be-Flash!" Twilight yelled, grabbing his face and turning it towards Spike. "You need to calm down and focus. First, imagine Spike not spinning." Flash did what she told him, trying to se that image. As he did, Spike stopped in midair. "Good. Now, imagine him slowly, SLOWLY, moving towards the floor."

Flash did so and Spike slowly descended until his claws were back on the floor. "Thank Celestia," Spike moaned as he kissed the ground. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry buddy," Flash shrugged. "I don't know what happened."

"You need to keep your emotions in check," Twilight told him, a hiss still in her voice. "Losing control of them will cause you to lose control of your magic Flash."

Flash just sighed. "I'm not a unicorn Twilight, I don't know this stuff."

"I know." Twilight grumbled, crossing her hooves as she did. "We need to fix this. Now."

A few hours later...

Iron Core was not happy. Granted, it was rare to see him happy, but he was especially not happy today. As for the reason why, Flash had not shown up for patrol, which was one of his many pet peeves. With this in mind, Iron had made his way to the town square, believing that Flash would probably be there due to him always hanging out with the other Mane 6. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but the rest of the group was, minus Twilight. As he found this, they agreed to help Iron and accompanied him to the library to find Flash.

"Sentry better have a damn good excuse for missing our patrol," Iron growled, his eyes twitching as him in the others got closer to the library. "First rule of being a knight, you do your job! That includes doing patrols and being on time for the patrols!"

"It'll be okay Iron." Fluttershy said as she patted his back with one of her wings. "Though, I hope he's alright."

"He's not gonna be okay after I find him." Iron grumbled, glaring at the library in the distance.

"Ah'm sure Flash has his reason." Applejack commented, tipping her hat at Iron. "Don't get so worked up."

"Yeah! Maybe he's been planning a party for you!" Pinkie chimed in, only for everypony to roll their eyes.

"I doubt that darling," Rarity added.

"Let's just get over there and find out!" Rainbow ended, pointing at the library. A second later, they were at the door, only to find it slightly open. After a quick glance at each other, the six stepped inside, only to see an absolute mess. Piles of books, beakers and paper littered the floor, so much so that not a single spot of wooded ground could be seen.

"What happened here?" Rarity asked in horror at the mess.

"It looks worse than when I crashed into here after attempting my Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow commented with crossed hooves. "And I thought my place could be bad with clutter."

"Hello?" Pinkie said as she jumped into the sea of books and began to do the backstroke. "Anypony in here?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" They suddenly heard Twilight's voice coming from the other side of a pile. Sharing a glance, the group waded through the books and scaled a complete hardback mountain, expecting to see her on the other side. Instead, they found Flash, sitting there while flipping through a book at high speed. "That's not it...that's not it either! Grrrr...." Flash then threw another book onto the pile, quickly grabbing another book. "This is impossible. Why is there nothing on mind magic that involves transference of whole brain emulation or substrate-independent minds?! AUGH!"

The scene made the six just look at each other in pure confusion. Seeing this, Applejack decided to speak up first, "Er...Flash? Yah'll okay there?"

Flash however, didn't reply. Instead, he continued to read the next book. "Okay okay...maybe there's a type of runic magic that could fix this. Granted, I don't know any type of rune that would transfer certain mental states, but they do have a type of runic teleportation through-"

Unfortunately, Iron had now decided that he wanted to know what was happening. By yelling, that is. "SENTRY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Eep!" Flash shrieked, his body hopping in place. "WHAT THE-huh? Iron?" Flash yelped, turning his head and seeing the six on top of the pile behind him. "Girls? What are you doing here?"

"It should be obvious why we're here Sentry." Iron growled, hopping off the pile.

"Yeah," Rainbow added as she floated down, the others following with all confused looks on their faces. "Though I gotta ask, what happened to your voice? You sound like Twilight."

"Um..."

"Twilight!" They heard Flash's voice call out from upstairs, "I got those books you asked for. Though I gotta say, they-" The group then saw Twilight walk down the stairs, several books flying in the air above her as a magical aura covered them all. "Oh! Hey girls! What are you-whoa!"

At that moment, Twilight's horn let out a sudden spark. As it did, the books shot out in multiple directions, forcing the group to hit the floor. "WHOA! What the heck Twilight?!" Rainbow barked as she dodged another book.

"Sorry about that!" Twilight exclaimed, panic in her voice. A few seconds later, she was out of ammunition and finally walked down the final step.

As she did, Iron glared at her now. "Okay, now I'm really ticked. And what's with your voice?!"

"And why were you asking Twilight a question?" Pinkie asked as she threw her leg around Twilight with a big grin. "You're Twilight, duh!"

"Um...well uh..." Twilight stuttered, trying to think of what to say.

In that moment, Flash ran up to them and began pushing Twilight towards a nearby door. "Excuse us a moment." he said before shutting the door, leaving one very confused group.

"What was that all about?" Rainbow asked.

"Those two did seem to acting rather odd," Rarity added. "Did something happen?"

"It's possible," Applejack continued.

Pinkie then hopped back over to the group, raising her hoof in the air as she did. "Oh! Oh! I know, I know! Maybe they've been replaced by some kind of shape shifting half pony, half insect creature, and the real Flash and Twilight are trapped inside some creepy green slime cocoons!" The five ponies all stared at Pinkie, obviously thinking she was going nuts. "What?! It could happen."

Before anypony else could reply, the door reopened and the Twilight voiced Flash walked out. "Okay. After discussing it, we've decided to explain what's going on."

"Well, that's good." Iron growled as he crossed his hooves, rolling his eyes. "I was going to demand you explain anyways. So, what's going on?"

"Well," the Flash voiced Twilight replied with slight hesitation. "The fact is...um...uh...I'm...not really Twilight."

"And I'm not really Flash."

The group all raised their eyebrows at this, displaying looks of confusion and disbelief. That, and they were now all worrying that Pinkie may have been right. Seeing this, Flash and Twilight nodded to each other.

"Let us explain," Flash said. And so he, or she as they would soon learn, explained what had happened earlier. They talked about the experiment and how they had been arguing before the sudden explosion. After that, they found that they had switched bodies and were now trying to find a way to fix it. As their explanation finished, the six looked at each other in both disbelief and sadness, not sure how to react to the situation.

"That's...kinda weird." Rainbow commented first.

"How do you think we feel?" Flash, in Twilight's body, replied.

"So...you just woke up and you were in each other's body?" Rarity asked, gesturing at the two of them. "And you don't know why?"

"Yes." The real Twilight nodded. "And I don't know how it happened. I've looked into every book I have, and not a single one mentions any kind of magic that swaps bodies."

Applejack just shook her head. "Well, there has to be something that caused this. What were yah working on?"

The real Twilight let out a sigh as she put a book down. "I was working on the Heart's Desire Potion. According to Spike, it suddenly started glowing and then exploded on us while we were arguing."

"Heart's Desire?" Applejack replied in slight shock. "Yah mean that plant Applebloom used to give herself Cutie Pox?!"

She nodded. "I was trying to find a way to use it in other potions due to its strong effects. Unfortunately..." She pointed to her real body. "All it did was...this."

"And you stayed here." Iron commented while rubbing his head in frustration. "Tch, so that's why you didn't show up. That's just...freaky."

Pinkie however, hopped in front of him with a frown. "Say, what were you two arguing about?"

Flash and Twilight glanced at each other over the question. "Uh...why does that matter?"

Pinkie just shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the potion heard you or something?"

Twilight rolled her eyes with a slight groan. "Pinkie, that's ridiculous. Its an inanimate object. All I did was try to use the Heart's Desire for positive effects."

Flash then shrugged, noticing where Pinkie was going with this. "Maybe not Twilight. I mean, think about it. Remember what we were fighting about?"

Twilight thought for a moment, rubbing her now orange chin. That is, till she realized what he meant. "We were...we were arguing about doing what the other does for a living. Are you suggesting that's why this happened?"

"That does sound a little far-fetched darling." Rarity added. "Though I can't deny that it would explain things, especially with our already strange lives at times."

"I would agree Rarity, but the potion couldn't do this alone." Twilight replied, tapping her hoof in irritation. "Something must have caused it to increase in power."

"Like what?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know," Twilight said with a shrug. "But even so, I can't find a way to reverse this."

"Maybe you don't have to." Pinkie chimed, only to get several deadpan stares.

"What are you talking about?!" Flash asked her in a slightly low tone. "We can't stay like this forever!"

"Ah don't think you do." Applejack added as she tip her hat with a smirk. "Ah think ah get what's happening here." She pointed to the switched duo. "Ya'll wished you could spend a day in each other's shoes, right? Maybe doing that might cause the potion's effects to wear off."

Twilight's now blue eyes shrunk at the thought. She pointed to her old body. "You mean...I need pretend to be Flash and do what he usually does?!"

"And I pretend to be Twilight?" Flash continued.

"Exactly," Applejack nodded. The two just gave her pleading stares before looking at each other in disbelief. Seeing this, Applejack shook her head before saying, "Come on ya'll. Its worth a try at least."

Flash shrugged again. "Well...I guess it's worth a try."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "If not, we can always message the princesses for help."

"Tch. I guess I'm babysitting Sparkle then." Iron slightly growled, tapping his hoof in impatience.

"And we'll stay here to make sure Flash does Twilight's usual work." Rarity added.

Flash nodded before cricking his now purple neck. "Sounds good to me. We'll start as soon and Spike and Springer get back from getting something to eat." He then stared at the door, "Though I gotta say, it sure is taking them a while."

Meanwhile...

Spike and Springer were walking through town, carrying a box of jelly filled donuts they had just bought from Sugarcube Corner. As they did, Springer put his paw in the box with a panting tongue sticking out of his mouth.

Seeing this, Spike just chuckled before looking back at the library in the distance. "Hope Twilight's found a way to reverse whatever happened to them."

Springer just snorted as he put the donut in his mouth. "I'm sure she will. I mean, this is Twilight we're talking about. I just hope it happens soon so me and Flash can do our jobs."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Spike said with a shrug. "I'm sure Iron can be Ponyville's defender until this all blows over." Spike then put his claw in the box. "But forget that, gimme a donut!"

Unbeknownst to them, a pony in a brown cloak was watching them from a nearby alleyway. He rubbed his chin in thought, watching Springer with narrowed eyes. "Its that dog-thing again. If I remember correctly, he's Flash's partner." He turned and looked at a destination behind him, smirking. "So...Flash might be having some problems, eh? Sounds good to me."

The pony quickly made his way out of town, making his way towards Ghastly Gorge. As he did, he found two other cloaked ponies standing on a rockery. Seeing this, the pony took off his hood, showing himself as a silver pegasus with a yellow mane. "I'm back."

On of the two ponies stepped forward and pull down his hood as well. There, he revealed himself as a green stallion with a brown mane and beard. It was Big Score, a criminal who Flash had defeated with the help of Twilight and Trixie. "Rickashay, what did you find out?"

Rickashay shined a cocky grin. "Sorry to say boss, but I didn't see Flash or either of the mares from the last time. However, I did find that dog-thing that's Flash's partner. According to what I overheard, looks like Flash Sentry isn't on patrol today for some reason."

"What's the reason?"

Rickashay just shrugged. "Not sure. But...this could be the opportunity we've been waiting for. From the tone of the conversation I overheard, I think Sentry is not up to par right now."

"Sounds good." Score said as he turned to the last pony. "Alright, you heard the pegasus. We strike right away." The last pony pulled off his cloak as well, revealing himself to be Big Score's other minion, Boulder the earth pony. Boulder just gave his usual goofy yet absentminded smile before saluting. As he did, Score let out a hearty laugh. "Let's go get us some revenge boys. Sentry won't know what hit him."

After Spike and Springer had gotten back with the donuts and they'd been told what the plan was, Twilight, Iron, Fluttershy and Springer headed out to the training grounds. Fluttershy was also tagging along because she had a feeling Twilight might need some first aid...and to help if Iron lost his patience.

"Okay...what's the plan?" Twilight asked as they got to the training grounds.

"The usual," Iron said with a shrug. "Just the basic training. We'll mainly do practice with our weapons and sometimes do weaponless combat."

"Right...weapon training." Twilight gulped as she held onto Flash's Celestic Gear. She had checked and Lightbringer did work for her, meaning she could use it to her heart's content, something she had wanted to do ever since learning about Celestic Gear. Though she had to admit she wasn't keen on pure combat training though. "So what's first? Sit ups, push ups? Practising my attacks on a tree?"

Iron just chuckled at her suggestion before tapping his weapon with his hoof. "The first thing you're gonna do," Iron said as he pulled Piecemaker out, "is fight me!" With that, he swung his spear, which changed into a sword. Twilght's reflexes immediately turned on, and she quickly pulled Lightbringer out as Iron charged her. The mare in a stallion's body was barely able to block his sudden attack, only to then be sent flying back into a tree.

"Ow!" she yelled as she felt her back crash into the wood. "What the heck?!"

"This is how we practice," Iron told her as he spun his weapon around, smirking. "Just like a real battle."

"But it's not a real battle," Twilight grumbled as she slowly got up, only to see Iron standing in front of her, still swinging his weapon around.

"You wanted to train the way Sentry trains and this is it." With that, Iron charged and struck Twilight's hooves, knocking Lightbringer out of her hooves. Twilight let out a yelp of pain as she tried to backpedal, only to see Iron change Piecemaker into a hammer.

"Oh no." Twilight gulped, only to then feel Iron's hammer hitting her stomach, knocking her into the air. As she found herself in the sky, she extended her new wings, trying to stop her soon descent. Unfortunately, she kissed the ground a few seconds later with another cry of pain.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said as she and Springer watched, her hooves over her mouth.

Springer on the other hoof, just let out a sigh. "Oh boy...maybe this was a bad idea."

Twilight tried to pick herself up, but her body wasn't responding. As she did this, Iron watched her while spinning his weapon around again. He shook his head, "You wanna give up? Just say the word."

"No," Twilight said, finally managing to stand up straight. "If Flash can do this, then so can I."

"If you say so," Iron replied before transforming his weapon into a large spear. "Let's go Sparkle."

Meanwhile, at the library...

Flash was currently reading through the book Twilight had intended to study that day. He wasn't even done with a third of it and his head was already beginning to hurt. His attention span was already gone, his eyes slowly closing as the pure boredom of the information was starting to make him fall asleep. That is, till something hard hit him on the head.

"Focus!" Spike barked, having hit him on the head with a ruler.

"Hey! That hurts!" Flash replied back, rubbing his forehead.

"It'll hurt even more if you don't get back to reading." Spike countered with a glare. "You've got a ton of stuff to learn."

"I am learning Spike." Flash deadpanned.

"Oh really?" Rarity said as she picked up the book he had just been reading. "Then you won't mind if we have a little pop quiz then?"

"Knock yourself out," Flash replied with a roll of his eyes, crossing his hooves arrogantly as well.

"Alright, let's see here..." Rarity began flipping through the sections Flash had just read before stopping at a random page. "What is Starswirl's third law of magical transfiguration?"

"Um..." Flash tried to remember, though he knew he didn't have a clue. "C?"

"It's not multiple choice Flash," Rarity told him in a deadpan voice. She then flipped to another page. "What is the most common substance in a living organism?"

"Uhhh...water?"

Rarity lowered the book and gave him a raised eyebrow look. "You guessed that one, didn't you?"

"Still counts," Flash shrugged, a small smirk on his face.

"No, it doesn't. Tell me Flash, are you even trying to learn?"

"Not really." Flash put his hooves behind his head. "Give me a break, I'm not used to studying. I never went to school, remember?"

"Which is probably why you think so little about Twilight's studying," Applejack commented with a slight hiss. "That's low Flash, especially for you."

"Well excuse me, I'm not a bookworm Applejack!" Flash barked back, now crossing his hooves. "Heck, I've only been able to read for a few years, give me a break."

The residents in the room all looked at each other in slight confusion with the exception of Spike. Seeing their faces, the drake spoke up, "Twilight taught him how to read."

"She did?" Rainbow asked with an arched eyebrow before turning to Flash. "Wait a minute...are you saying you didn't know how to read till you met Twilight?"

Flash closed his eyes, biting his lip as he did. "Yeah. I didn't learn till Grand told me I had to learn. Then...Twilight volunteered to teach me."

"Whoa..." Rainbow, along with the others were taken back by this. After all, all they were told about Flash's early years was the fact that he lived on the streets for several years before he met Twilight and her family. Rainbow then scratched the side of her head. "Huh. Even I learned how to read when I was just a foal. Wow...no wonder you two are so different."

"Yeah. So back off, will ya?" Flash growled back, only for Applejack to step in front of Rainbow with a glare on her face.

"Oh stop it, yah idiot!"

"What did you call me?" Flash replied with a slight hiss.

"Ah said yer an idiot!" Applejack spat, rolling her eyes. "After all, if Twilight taught ya how to read, shouldn't ya be more grateful to her?!" She leaned down, a deadly look in her pupils. "Do ya really think that little of her?"

"I don't think little of her Applejack." Flash hissed, his eyes now glaring at her while being just a few centimeters away. "And you better back off right now, or else."

"Tch. Prove it then." Applejack goaded, a small smirk appearing on her face. She then tapped the book on Flash's lap. "Prove it right now." Flash wanted to bark back, but his eyes told him to look down at the book in his lap. Releasing a long sigh, he glanced back up at Applejack, who was still wearing a smirk as she said, "So you can't do it, can yah?"

"No...I can do it." Flash replied in a low, cold tone. "I can always prove that I think Twilight is so much more than me."

"HA!" Applejack scoffed, "Yer lying through yer teeth! Yah just told us that yah think little of her studying and mind!"

"You said that, not me." Flash said flatly before slowly standing up. He then pressed the book on Applejack's chest. "And I'm tired of hearing your garbage Applejack! I do not think little of Twilight!"

"Then prove it!" she yelled back, knocking the book aside. "Prove it right now! Tell the truth!"

"Fine! I will!" Flash started to yell, only for his tone to lower. "Fine...you're right. To be honest...I'm jealous of her." The others all looked at each other in slight surprise, intently listening as Flash continued. "I...I've always lived my life by listening to my instincts. Its...its how I survived on the streets and when I trained with Grand. I was always about pushing myself physically because I knew that was all I had." Flash let out a long sigh. "All I had...was me. That's all I was till I met Twilight."

"And she changed how you saw things, didn't she darling?" Rarity asked, only to get a nod in return.

"Yeah...I uh...I was always jealous of how she saw the world." Flash admitted, almost biting his lip as he did. "She's always thinking and...and learning about everything. To her, everything is there for her big brain to understand...and that's something I don't have."

"But yah wish yah did, don't ya?" Applejack asked with her returning smirk.

"Yeah...I do." Flash looked back at the book, melancholy filling his eyes. "I forgot how much Twilight means to me, didn't I?"

"Yah sure did, ya idiot!" Applejack said as she tried to smack Flash's head, only for him to instantly block the oncoming hoof.

"Back off Applejack." Flash replied before picking up the book again. "Alright...I gotta do this if I want to get back into my body." He opened the tome, his eyes glaring at the heavy pages. "If Twilight can do it, so can I."

"And we're here to help," Spike said as he walked over with another book, this one being a guide on studying. "So let's get things going!"

Flash nodded and began to study once again.

Back to Twilight...

Twilight's body was killing her. After Iron's constant assault on her, he made her run twenty laps, do thirty sit ups and then thirty push ups. Now, she was laying face first in the ground, her body screaming at her in exhaustion.

"You okay?" Fluttershy asked as she walked up to her, kneeling down to the broken unicorn in a pegasus's body.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Twilight mumbled, her voice muffled by the dirt.

"Well get used to it." Iron barked before taking a swig of water from a canteen. "Because unless you get back into your own body, you'll be doing this every day."

"I can't believe Flash can go through all that and not want to keel over." Twilight cried as she tried to pick herself up, only to flop into the ground again. After two more tries, she limped her body over to a nearby tree and sat there. "I never realized what Flash did in terms of training. Does he seriously do all this?"

Springer gave her a look of pure confusion. "Wait...he's told me that you've known each other for years. You didn't know he does all of this?"

Twilight let out a small cough. "Actually, I've never watched him train. I was always too busy with my studies." Twilight sighed, resting the back of her head on the tree. "All I know is that he would always come back home covered in bruises or soot. Heck, I always thought his training was nothing but fighting others."

"Then you've never seen how hard Sentry works himself." Iron scoffed, pointing a spear form Piecemaker at her. "I was amazed when I first saw it. No matter what, he gives it one hundred percent every time, working to improve any fault he has." Iron let out a low chuckle. "I always wondered why a wimpy, shrimpy string bean like him was Grand's apprentice, even after the stuff I saw at the Battle of Canterlot. And yet, these past few days that I've trained with him have showed me who he really is. I can completely see why Grand picked him." Iron showed a small smirk. "Say...do you know why he pushes himself like that?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. I have no idea."

"He's doing it so he'll be strong enough to protect those around him." Iron stated, as if it was just obvious fact. "He does it to protect you."

Twilight let what Iron said flow through her head, causing her to realize he was right. Flash was always striding to better himself, not for himself, but for those around him. How could she have forgotten that? As Iron watched her think about this, the sound of a snapping twig caught his attention.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked when she saw Iron tense up.

Iron's eyes narrowed, quickly gripping his weapon. "We're not alone here." Iron replied, making everypony on guard. He looked around, trying to see if he could spot where the noise came from. "Alright, show yourself you-urk!"

Before Iron could react, something shot of the trees, tackling Iron at high speed. The earth pony flew into a tree, causing him to let out a groan of pain.

"Iron!" Fluttershy called out as Twilight and Springer took a offensive stance.

"That was fun."

They all looked up at what had slammed into Iron and gasped.

"Rickashay!" Twilight called out.

"Long time no see Sentry," Rickashay replied with a smirk. "We're here for payback."

"We?" Fluttershy asked.

"You didn't think he was alone, did you?"

They turned towards the forest and saw Big Score and Boulder step out.

Twilight quickly got up, growling at the sight of the three. "I won't ask how you three got out, but you'll be back behind bars soon enough!" With that, she closed her eyes and pointed her forehead at them, obviously forgetting she didn't have a horn right now.

"Er...Twilight-" Fluttershy called out, pointing to her head.

"Oh...right. Forgot about that." Twilight chuckled, embarrassment filling her face. Remembering she was now Flash, she picked up Lightbringer and pointed it at the trio. "Flash Force!" The beam of light shot out of the weapon's handle. As it did, the power quickly overwhelmed her unsteady hoof, knocking her back and making the attack miss the criminals entirely.

"My my," Score guffawed. "You are off today."

"He might be, but I'm not." Iron said as he began to pick himself up. He cricked his neck, spinning his weapon as he slowly walked towards the thugs. "I don't know who you jokers are, but you picked the wrong town to attack."

Score just let out a snort. "Boulder?"

"Got it boss." The earth pony turned to Iron and began to rush forward. Iron quickly changed his weapon to a hammer, ready to knock the opponent back. He spun it in his hoof once, ready to strike before he felt a certain tug.

"What the-" Iron looked back and saw a magic chain attached to his hammer, covering the head of the weapon. He looked back up, only to see a smirk on Score's face along with his horn now glowing with magic. One second later, he felt Boulder's attack, charging into him like a runaway carriage. Boulder hit him like a train, knocking Iron into several trees as his body blasted through the wood and splinters.

"Iron!" Fluttershy shrieked, only to see Springer hop in front of her and assume an offensive stance.

"With that out of the way," Score said before getting into a fighting stance. "Attack!"

Springer took this as a cue to attack, jumping into the air and creating a Bone Breaker. "Take this! Bone Breaker!" He cried as he swung the weapon, only for Rickashay to bum-rush him in the air, knocking the jakhowl down.

"SPRINGER!" Twilight and Fluttershy screamed.

"Now it's just you and us," Score said as he pulled out some ropes from his saddlebag to tie up Springer.

"Let him go!" Twilight screamed.

"Or what?!" Score asked with a smirk.

"HEY!"

They all turned towards the edge of the forest, where they saw several ponies in the distance. Score growled at seeing them, picking Springer up in his magic and turning to his cronies. "Change of plans boys. No way we can win against that many, we're bailing for now." He then turned back to Twilight. "If you don't want anything to happen to your little pet, you'll show up alone tomorrow where we first met at noon." With that, he and his cronies turned and ran into the forest. As they fled, Fluttershy helped Twilight up with a face trembling with fear.

"We need to do something," Fluttershy said before glancing at Iron, who was just now getting up.

"We can't do anything without them hurting Springer," Twilight told her, grumbling. "Ooohhhh...this is not good."

"Twilight!" They turned to see that their friends had just arrived. "What happened? We saw the light in the sky."

Twilight turned to him, her face showing nothing but fear. "We have a big problem."

One explanation and trip to the Golden Oaks Library later...

Spike was utterly surprised at how surreal the sight before him was. It was Flash in Twilight's body, pacing back and forth. It was a sight he had seen many times with Twilight, yet it was still different. Maybe it was the voice, despite the fact Flash was even talking like Twilight's usual panic/pacing talk.

"This is bad," Flash cried as he paced in a circle. "This is really really bad."

"How did those creeps break out of jail?" Rainbow asked with narrowed eyes.

"That doesn't matter right now," Applejack told her. "What we need to do is find 'em and save Springer."

"But um..." Fluttershy interrupted with a slight gulp as she wrapped some bandages around a knocked out Iron. "They expect Flash to show up tomorrow alone."

"Then that's what I'll do," Flash said, determination in his eyes. "I'll go where they specified and take 'em down."

Twilight then smacked the side of his head. "Except for one problem dummy. You're not Flash Sentry right now, I am! If you show up in my body, they'll think you chickened out and do who knows what to you and Springer!"

"Then what do we do?" Pinkie asked, her hair down.

Twilight rolled her eyes before replying. "The only thing we can do. I have to go and try to save Springer."

"But Twilight, you don't stand a chance against those three while you're in that body!" Pinkie exclaimed, her hair drooping down even more.

"We don't have a choice," Twilight said before turning to Flash. "You've fought these three before and you know what your body is capable of. We've got until noon tomorrow for you to teach me how to fight them."

Flash just crossed his hooves. "You know that's a horrible idea Twilight." Twilight just gave him a glare back, though there was obvious worry in his eyes. Seeing this, Flash let out a sigh, knowing he couldn't convince her otherwise. "Fine. I guess we gotta do this."

Twilight put her hoof on Flash's shoulder. "Don't worry Flash, I'll save Springer. I promise."

Meanwhile...

Springer didn't feel very good at the moment. Granted, he had been knocked out for sometime, as he was just now beginning to stir. There, he slowly opened his eyes, his body trying to move before he felt a small tug around his body. He looked down, only to see a full length of rope wrapping around himself.

"What...in the-" Springer tried to say, blinking at the ropes.

"Oh great, the furball's awake." Springer tried to find the sudden voice's owner, only to see Big Score and his cronies staring at him. Score then walked up to him with a large smirk on his face. "Don't even try to escape, you useless pile of fur. I'm quite the knot tier and those ropes are pretty sturdy." He let out a sinister sneer. "Amazing what trades can be taught to you in jail. Unfortunately, prison wasn't exactly my scene, so breaking out was a must."

"And getting revenge on Flash is also a must, I'm guessing?" Springer asked with a low hiss, his mind finally fully back on track.

"Smart beast." Score guffawed before leaning down at the jakhowl, a vile grin on his face. "Last time he won thanks to those two stupid unicorn mares, and I will have my revenge on them as well." He then leaned back. "But I'm going to start with Flash first. And this time, he'll be on his own."

Springer felt a tinge of despair as he saw Big Score laugh at him, his minions joining in. Seeing this, he closed his eyes to try and contact Flash through his aura, but he was too far out of range. With this, all he could do is wait.

Back in Ponyville...

"Okay, here's how this is going to work Twilight." Flash said as he circled the area of the training ground they were using for practice. In that area, Twilight was facing off against Iron, Rainbow and Rarity, who were substituting for Score and his cronies. "The key to taking these guys down is picking them off one at a time. Together, they make up for the others' weaknesses. So, if you can take one out, the rest will follow."

Twilight let out a small gulp. "Okay...how do I do that?"

Flash pointed to Iron. "Start with Boulder, the earth pony. He's incredibly strong and fast, but not the brightest tool in the box. If you can outsmart him, then you can take him down." Flash tapped the side of his head. "Out of the three, I suggest you use this to beat him. I know you Twilight, you've got ten times the brains he's got."

"Okay," Twilight said, nodding. "Brains first, got it."

"Now..." Flash pointed at Rainbow now. "Next is Rickashay. Rickashay's fast, possibly as fast as Rainbow."

"Hey!" Rainbow barked, only for Flash to wave her off.

"But unlike Rainbow, he can't turn at high speeds. I realized this in my first encounter with the guy." Flash walked up and tapped Twilight's 'new' wings. "I'm not the fastest guy in terms of pegasi, but that's not needed to beat him."

Twilight knew where he was going with this. "Let me guess, I should try to steer him into something he can't dodge? Have him chase me?"

Flash nodded. "You got it." He then saw Twilight do a small glance at Flash's wings, a nervous look on her face. He let out a sigh before tapping her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get through this."

"Right...thanks." Twilight nodded, slightly biting her lip.

Flash pointed to Rarity. "Alright, then there's Big Score. He's the tricky one. He's not very strong or fast, but he's smart...and has a mouth on him. Don't let him get under your skin."

"Got it. I...I got it." Twilight said with a final nod. "Let's...let's do this!"

Flash shined a small grin, turning to her three opponents. "Alright everypony, let's help her out. Ready?"

"Ready!"

And with that, the three charged at Twilight, who raised Lightbringer. Her whole body trembled in fear, but she readied herself as the trio rushed her, ready to strike. Tomorrow wasn't far away, and this was only the beginning.

The next day...

Noon was approaching. As the time came, Springer could feel a slight tingle down his neck. He could feel Flash's aura, though just barely but he couldn't interact with it. It also didn't help that Score's breath was pacing down his neck, a low growl coming from the unicorn.

"How long is he gonna take?!" Score hissed as he hit Springer's shoulder, causing the jakhowl to wince. "You better hope your friend shows up soon, or you'll be in trouble." Score then leaned down, whispering into his ear. "And I'm ticked off already."

"He'll be here." Springer replied in a low, flat tone. The jakhowl then shined a small smirk. "And when he does, you guys are going down."

Score let out a laugh. "HA! I doubt that mutt! Its three against one furball!" Score walked up and patted Boulder's shoulders. "And considering his performance yesterday, he's not on his game. This time, we'll make sure he takes a nice, long dirt nap."

Springer frowned, knowing he was right. He needed to find a way to escape, but he couldn't move. The bindings were so tight that he couldn't even extract a little bit aura into his paws to cut the ropes.

"Boss!" They looked up to see Rickashay flying towards them. "Sentry just entered the canyon."

"Is he alone?" Score asked, getting a nod in reply. "Good, let's get ready."

Twilight was terrified.

She really REALLY wished she was in her real body. Even after the training yesterday, learning how to do the basics of flying, (Which didn't help since Flash's wings were trained for stamina instead of speed, which made learning from Rainbow Dash incredibly difficult.) and how to use Lightbringer. The very thought of the weapon made her slowly glance at the sword, a slight gulp at the very notion of using the powerful blade.

Unfortunately, that was all she could do, as she saw her destination in the distance. As she did, she saw Springer tied to a large rock along with Score in his cronies standing in front of him. Another gulp went down her throat as she continue her pace towards them, only to see Score flash his hoof.

"That's far enough Sentry." Score said with a slight click of the tongue. As commanded, Twilight froze, her hoof slightly tapping Lightbringer. "So...you showed up. I kinda doubted you would, considering how much you're shaking." Score laughed, glancing at her shivering hooves.

Twilight took an inward breath. "That's where you're wrong Score. I'll always be there for my friends."

"And that's your weakness," Score said before turning to his lackeys, clapping his hooves. "You know the drill boys, ATTACK!!!"

With that, Boulder and Rickashay charged at Twilight. The unicorn in a pegasi's body raised her weapon and charged forward to meet them, hoping beyond hope she can by some miracle stop them.

Meanwhile...

"That's not good. That's really really not good." Flash commented as he tapped an invisible force field.

"Looks like those creeps came prepared." Iron added as he tapped the field with his own weapon. "You weren't kidding when you said these jerks were nothing but trouble."

"Yeah..." Flash admitted, hitting the field one last time.

Flash and company were currently behind where Big Score and his gang were squatting. They were going to try and surprise the criminals by attacking from the rear, especially making sure to avoid Rickashay's patrolling as they snuck around. However, as they noticed that the fight had started, they tried to rush at them, only to feel the force of the sudden force field Big Score had erected around where they were squatting.

"So...what do we do?" Fluttershy asked in a hesitant tone. "Twilight will be in serious trouble if we don't get through this!"

Flash stepped back, taking a fighting stance. "Get back everypony, maybe I can blast through this." He glanced at his new horn, gulping. "I hope." With that, his horn began to spark. He closed his eyes before shooting out a blast of magic from the horn, only for it to not even scratch the shield. "Shoot."

"Don't give up," Spike told him, patting his back. "You can do this. Try again!"

"Right!" Flash closed his eyes again, his eyebrow's narrowing as he began to summon magic once more. "Come on, come on...work!"

Back to the fight...

"Flash Cutter!" Twilight screamed as she swung her weapon, an energy wave quickly flying at Rickashay. The pegasus flared his wings and flew up to dodge the attack. As he did, Twilight tried to summon another cutter, only for the thug to slam into her, knocking her into a nearby canyon wall. "AUGH!" She yelped as she struck it, quickly falling to her knees. Twilight shook her head as the pain began to flow, trying to get her bearings. But as she did, she looked up, only to see Boulder charging head first towards her.

Thinking fast, she managed to kick up off the ground and spread her wings. Boulder missed her and struck the wall, causing an up draft which sent her flying up at high speed. "Whoa! Aaaahhh! Stupid wind!" Twilight yelled as she tried to flap her new ligaments, only to see a rock fly in front of her. Looking down, she saw Score with a collection of large rocks, all of them levitating around him. "Oh no."

WHAM!

A whole bunch of granite smacked her face, only for Score to take the rock he had missed with earlier and made it hit her back. The stone knocked her to the ground, a loud scream followed as she struck the dirt. "Oooh...wait I-urgh!" Twilight tried to say, only to feel Boulder's hooves in her back, pinning her down.

"Got ya!" Boulder said, applying more pressure as he did. "I got him boss!"

"Don't let up Boulder, especially with his wings." Score replied, trotting up to his crony. "Finish him."

"You got it boss." Boulder nodded and began to hit her feathers. Several screams of pain followed as the hooves slammed into her back, Rickashay joining as he landed by Boulder and continued to kick the downed pegasus. As this happened, a series of laughs camed from Big Score.

"You know...it's a shame Sentry." Score said as he now stood over Twilight, a huge smirk on his face. "I put so much effort into this revenge, but you not being on the ball is making it feel a little...hollow. Oh well, I'll get over it. After all, I still have your purple marefriend and that stupid blue mare. Once I'm done with you, I'll make them pay. Maybe they'll give me a bigger challenge."

Hearing this, Twilight just looked up at him, an icy glare in her eyes. "My friends will be here soon...then you'll be sorry."

Score leaned down, a huge grin shining. "Doubt it weakling. I have a little something I picked up on the black market that is keeping them at a safe distance. When I'm done with you, I'll tear them apart one at a time thanks to my little mutt hostage." Score looked back up, clapping his hooves. "Boulder! Rickashay! Finish him off!"

Boulder doubled his efforts, slamming down onto Twilight with both hooves. The very force from the hooves made it feel like her bones were close to breaking. As she felt this, she whispered to herself through the pain. "Flash...help me. I'm...I'm sorry."

Outside the force field, Flash stood there, his new horn sputtering as he collapsed to the ground. The grass embraced his body as he slumped over, panting. "I...I can't do it," Flash said through his pants. "The field's to strong. I can't break it..."

"You have to keep trying," Spike pleaded, shaking Flash as he did. "Twilight's in trouble!"

"He's right! Twilight and Springer are depending on you!" Rarity added, trying to help Flash back up. "Come on darling, you can't give up now!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Flash growled, stumbling as Rarity pulled him up. "I want to help them, but I can't use Twilight's magic like she can!"

"Then let's try something else," Iron said as he held out Piecemaker. "Iron Force!" A tornado of shrapnel shot out of the weapon, striking the force field. However, it didn't even make a dent, causing the defender to let out a low growl.

"I'll try too!" Spike yelled before breathing fire on it, also doing nothing. Rainbow and Applejack also did the same, hitting the field with their bodies, only for nothing to happen.

As Flash watched his friends, he couldn't help but feel useless. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been arguing with Twilight then none of this would have happened. "I'm sorry Twilight."

"I'm...I'm sorry Flash." Twilight whispered as she felt another blow into her back. "I'm so, so sorry."

And then it happened.

Twilight and Flash's eyes began to glow a bright gold, causing Score, his cronies and their friends to all back away from them.

"Now what?" Rainbow asked, pointing at Flash. Before anypony could answer, the two of them burst into an explosion of light which nearly blinded everypony. What nopony saw was a blue stream of light shooting out of Twilight's eyes, while a purple light shot out of Flash's body. The two lights flew into the air, through the force field and into the other's body.

Seconds later, the light show was done. As it ended, Score stopped his blinking fest before glaring back at the pegasus. "What the heck was-oh, who cares?! Boulder, Rickashay, finish this already!"

Boulder nodded before raising his hooves. He swung them down, only for his hooves to feel a sudden pair of hooves catch his attack. "What the-" He looked down, only to see a certain orange pegasus with a big cocky grin on his face.

"I'm back." he said, cricking his neck. "You guys are finished."

"What are you-" Boulder tried to say, only for an orange wing to smack his face, along with Rickashay's, knocking them both away. As the earth pony tried to steady himself from the sudden whack, Flash turned and positioned his back legs for a double back kick.

"Good night!" Flash cheered as both hooves slammed into the minion, knocking him into the air.

"WHAT?!" Score yelled as he saw the earth pony crash into a nearby tree before turning towards his pegasi partner. "Rickashay! What are you doing?! GET HIM!!!"

"On it!" He replied before shooting forwards, only for Flash to flair his wings, quickly hopping over the charging pony.

"My turn dirtbags!" Flash said as he flew over to his trusty weapon Lightbringer, raising it and pointing it at Rickashay. "Flash Driver!" He spun into a drill of energy, striking Rickashay into Boulder, knocking them into each other.

"What in the name of...what is going on?!" Score screamed, his horn now glowing with a surge of magic. "How are you suddenly so much better?! What's going on here?!"

Flash let out a long laugh before shaking his head, landing in front of the criminal. "Oh, nothing much Score. Let's just say...you're facing somepony who knows what there doing with this body."

Score growled as his horn began to levitate several boulders around himself. "Oh really? If that's the case, I'll just crush you with my own two hooves." The boulders began to spin in the air, all of them ready to fly towards the defender. "Any last words?"

Flash just shrugged, a cocky grin still on his face. "Yeah. You're late Twilight."

"Twilight?" Score asked, only for a blast of magic to fly overhead, destroying the floating rubble. At the same time, a certain purple unicorn hopped down, landing next to Flash.

"So I'm late huh?" Twilight asked in a snarky tone.

"Nah. Perfect timing actually." Flash replied with a slight shrug.

"Oh really?" Twilight playfully nudged him. "You know, That shield was a piece of cake to depower."

"Oh yeah? Only for you, bookworm." Flash chuckled before raising his hoof.

She tapped it with her's. "Oh shut up, meathead."

"You..." said another voice, causing the duo to look back at Big Score. He now had Boulder and Rickashay beside him. Score's eyes were bloodshot with rage, grinding his hooves into the dirt. "You're that blasted purple mare from last time!" He then glanced at his two minions. "That's it! Boys, kill them!"

"You got it boss!" Boulder and Rickashay yelled in unison.

"Guys!" They heard Rainbow's voice and saw her and their friends rushing towards them.

"Stay back and free Springer!" Flash called out before gesturing to Twilight. "Don't worry, we got this." Flash gave Twilight a small wink, "You ready?"

Twilight cricked her neck. "Always. Let's kick some flank."

With that, Boulder began a bum-rush at the duo, yelling at the top of his lungs. Rickashay took to the sky, quickly making a circle as he tried to get behind the two. As they did this, Score shot out a beam of magic, only for Twilight to shoot out her own. The two beams collided, causing them go into a standstill. "I got this! Take care of them!" Twilight yelled as she began to pour on the magic. Flash nodded, spinning his Lightbringer in his hoof.

"You heard her boys, you're all mine!" Flash taunted, raising Lightbringer into the air. He fired out a Flash Cutter at Rickashay, causing the pegasus to make evasive maneuvers in the air. At the same time, Boulder saw the opening and rushed towards Twilight, thinking he could help his boss. However, Flash quickly turned and faced the earth pony, sheathing his weapon as he did. Flash took the bum-rush head on. As Boulder was about to hit Flash, Flash quickly flared his wings, hopping over the earth pony as Rickashay swooped down at the pegasus.

CRASH!

"Oops!" Flash laughed as he landed, seeing the two ponies knock each other out in a single blow. Flash giggled as he pointed at the duo. "HA! Easy-peasy! Two down Twilight!"

Flash turned to ongoing magic battle, only to see Twilight winning in the standstill. As she continued, Score noticed that his minions were down, causing him to let out a low, deep growl. "You have got to be...blast it!" Big then cut off his magic, ducking under Twilight's beam. He quickly began levitating a nearby boulder, firing at the unicorn.

"Twilight!" Flash yelled as he watched the boulder fly at her, only to see it collide into her. "NO!"

"HA!" Score guffawed. "One down, one to go Sentry!" He pointed at the pegasus before lighting his horn again. "Time to die!"

A beam of magic flew out his horn, only for Flash to pull out Lightbringer, quickly unleashing a magic blast of his own. "Flash Force!" The beams connected, pushing each other back. As they did, Flash saw something in the corner of his eye, making him stop using his blade. When he did, Big Score's beam shot at him, only for Flash to quickly sidestep, dodging the blow.

"What the matter?! Giving up cuz you're marefriend is taking a dirt nap now?!" Score taunted, only to grow nervous as he saw Flash shine a small, sly smile. "What? Why are you smiling like that?" Flash began pointing up, which Score's eyes followed.

Above him were a pile of boulders, all in encased in a familiar looking magical aura. Score looked back down, only to see Twilight standing right beside Flash, unharmed. "How did-" Score tried to say.

"I can teleport." Twilight interrupted as her horn stopped glowing. "And...release."

"NO!" Score screamed, quickly summoning a shield of magic as the rubble began to bury him alive.

"Pound it!" Flash and Twilight said as they hoof bumped over their victory.

"Guys!" They turned to see their friends rush over to them, Rainbow being the first to reach them. "That...was...AWESOME!"

"Thanks!" Twilight said with a smile.

"Ah had no idea you two could fight so well together." Applejack complimented as she patted Twilight shoulder. "Heck, it was like you two were in perfect sync!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, bobbing her head up and down. "It's like you knew what the other was thinking!"

"Oh, We know each other thoughts." Flash said, waving his hoof.

"YOU WHAT?!" They all cried out.

"Sort of," Twilight chuckled as she placed her hoof over her mouth. "We've been together so long that its natural that we can understand each other so well."

"We just need to be reminded of that sometimes." Flash agreed as he and Twilight smiled at each other.

"OH YEAH?!" yelled a voice, causing them all to look back at the pile of rubble that Big Score was buried under. That is, till his head popped out of the rocks, rage filling his eyes as he tried to escape the stone prison. "This...this ain't over! I'm gonna kill you! I'm-"

"Hey Score. Guess who?" said another voice, tapping Big Score's shoulder at the same time.

"What is-oh no." Big Score looked at where the voice was coming from, only for his eyes to go wide. It was Springer, complete with a Bone Breaker in one of his paws. The jakhowl only said two words before winding up his weapon.

"Payback time."

THWACK!

A few hours later...

Score and his cronies were now locked up in the Ponyville jail cell, which Iron had to admit was glad he could finally use. Agreeing to wait for the Canterlot detail to pick up the criminals, Flash thanked him and retired to the library with Twilight. There, Flash was in his room with a quill and some parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned today that even the best of friends can forget why they're best friends. Granted, that doesn't mean you should stop being best friends, but there's always times where you won't get along. Sometimes, you just need to see things from their point of view, to learn something new about them and remember everything about them that you love. No doubt I'll argue with them again, but from now on, I won't let that make me forget what truly matters.
Yours truly, Flash Sentry.

With that, he rolled up the parchment and took it downstairs, only to find Twilight, Spike and Springer waiting for him. He then saw that Twilight was doing the same, as Spike was now reciting what she wanted written to Celestia.

"Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike finished before rolled up the parchment and taking Flash's as well, sending them off in a burst of fire.

Seeing this, Flash turned to Twilight with a small, sympathetic smile. "So...what do you wanna do now?"

"I think I know," Twilight said as she levitated something towards him. Flash raised a slight eyebrow at the object, placing in his hooves.

"My guitar?" Flash gave it a small strum before looking back at her. "You sure?"

"Of course," Twilight nodded, levitating a small book in front of her as she sat down on a nearby chair. "After everything we've been through the last few days, I think some music would be perfect."

Flash chuckled before gently strumming the cords, a small melody coming out of the instrument. "So...any requests?"

"Oh...just something nice." Twilight said with a shrug.

Flash and Springer winked at each other. "Define nice."

Twilight gave him a icy glare. "Don't you dare."

"Oh, I dare." Flash replied, his eyebrows hopping up and down. He then cricked his hoof, ready to hit the strings with a mighty strum. "Ready to rock?"

"Flash..." Twilight growled, her horn staring to glow.

"Oh no." Spike groaned, faceclawing as Springer just laughed at the glaring duo. The drake then walked to the kitchen, muttering to himself. "Here we go again"

Baby Cakes

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Our story today opens in Ponyville Hospital, where we find our heroes in the maternity ward.

The owners of Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, had been rushed to hospital when they had discovered that Mrs. Cake was in labor. Pinkie, their employee and tenant, had been watching the store while the foal was being delivered. Now, she and her friends were there to congratulate the new parents and see the foal. The seven of them were standing inside a room that had a large widow for a wall, allowing them to see a room filled with cribs that either had a blue or pink blanket bundle inside.

"Can you believe the new foal is finally here?" Applejack asked them, her eyes almost watering.

"Cup and Carrot Cake must be so proud." Twilight swooned, a big grin on her face.

"And exhausted if what I've heard about foalbirth is to be believed." Flash chuckled, only to then receive a smack from Twilight's tail.

"I wonder if it's a filly or a colt..." Rarity pondered, scratching her chin.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was practically vibrating with excitement as she looked at each of the foals one by one, trying to figure out which one was the Cakes'. "I wanna see the new foal!" she yelped, giddier than a filly on Heart's Warming Eve, "I wanna see! Which one is it?!"

Finally, Mr. Cake, a leggy earth pony with yellow fur and an orange mane and tail, stepped into the room. He trotted over to a pair of cribs, both having a foal in them, though one had a blue blanket, the other pink. He unwrapped the blue blanket first to reveal a cream coloured pegasus with a brown mane, "Meet our son, Pound Cake."

The baby let out a loud yawn as he flexed his wings, causing Flash and the girls to all go. "Awwwwww..."

Mr. Cake then moved over to the other crib and unwrapped the pink blanket, revealing a yellow unicorn with an orange mane. "And our daughter, Pumpkin Cake."

This took everypony by surprise.

"Two new foals for me to play with?" Pinkie asked in shock before grinning madly. "That's two-two-two times the fun! This is the greatest day ever!"

"Just try and stay calm Pinkie." Flash told her while not looking away from the foals. "Foals tend to cry when they're surprised. Trust me-huh?" He looked around, only to be staring at the dead air that Pinkie had once occupied. "What the-Where'd she go?" His friends all pointed at the window. Flash looked back inside, only to see Pinkie standing over to twins with a party hat and blower in possession.

"We need to celebrate your birthday babies!" she cheered happily.

"Oh boy," Flash facehoofed.

"You were just born today, woohoo!" She was about to blow her party blower, only for Nurse Redheart to show up and shush her.

"The foals are trying to sleep!" she hissed, grabbing the party blower out of her mouth.

"But I was just-"

"Shush."

"But-"

"Shush!"

Once she turned away, Pinkie looked around before tip hoofing over to the cribs and began to whisper sing. "Happy happy birthday, to you and you today-" She didn't get to finish as Redheart came back and glared at her. The next thing the group knew, they were watching the nurse drag Pinkie out of the room.

"I think it's best you wait till the Cakes bring them home before celebrating." Flash told her as he grabbed her poofy pink mane.

"I guess," Pinkie whimpered, her hair slightly drooping.

As Flash helped her up, the rest of the group were studying the new foals with raised eyebrows. Applejack was the first to question the twins. "Now how in tarnation is one of them twins a pegasus and the other one a unicorn?"

Mr. Cake shined a cheeky grin, his body slightly shaking as he did. "Easy! My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a unicorn and Cup Cake's great aunt's second cousin twice removed was a pegasus. That makes sense, right?"

"Not in the slightest," Flash deadpanned, getting another smack from Twilight.

Rainbow pumped her hooves. "Aw yeah! Just you wait, once little Pound Cake there gets his wings going, he'll be all over the place!" She zoomed around the room for emphasis.

"And be careful around Pumpkin Cake," Twilight told Mr. Cake as she pointed at the foal. "Baby unicorns have strange magic surges that come and go."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you and Mrs. Cake are up for this?" Flash added, concern also on his face. "I'm guessing you weren't expecting to raise two foals that are a different race from you."

"It may be a little different then what we had planned, but I'm sure we'll figure it out as we go." Mr. Cake replied with a determined grin.

"And if you do find yourselves unsure on what to do, you can always come to any of us for help." Twilight added, her friends nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," Flash continued before pointing to his friends. "Me, Rainbow and even Fluttershy can show Pound what he needs to know to fly. Rarity and Twilight can help Pumpkin learn to control her magic, while Applejack can help them stay in touch with their earth pony roots. Meanwhile, Pinkie can-" He didn't finish, as he saw that the pink party pony was missing again. "What the-where..." He didn't need to finish that question, as he realised where she must be before slowly turning back to the baby room.

Pinkie was back inside, holding an average sized chocolate cake in her hooves. She began whispering, "Quick, make a wish a blow out your candles, which is easy because there are zero candles! You are zero years old after all!"

"SHUSH!" Redheart hissed, causing Pinkie to accidently push her cake into her face. The rest of the group all chuckled at seeing this. That and seeing Redheart push her out of the room again.

As they watched this, Fluttershy spoke up, "Do you really think they'll be okay raising two foals?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Flash shrugged, waving her hoof. "After all, they've learned how to deal with Pinkie for Celestia knows how long. Two foals should be a snap."

Rainbow nodded. "He's right. What's the worse that could happen?"

One Month Later...

"And that's why you never say 'What's the worse that could happen?'" Flash explained as he flew over town, Springer sitting on his back as the two were carrying their saddlebag and backpack.

"So...there really was a pony named Murphy?" Springer asked with a skeptical eyebrow raise. "And he created that law?"

"Yeah...you'll have to ask Twilight about that one." Flash shrugged before landing just outside of Sugarcube Corner. Once Springer was down, he and Flash stepped inside the bakery, hearing a familiar voice singing.

"Happy monthiversary to you and you today!" Pinkie sang as she put a pair of party hats on the twins and some blowers in their mouths. "I can't believe you're already a month old! Time sure flies, doesn't it? It seems like only yesterday that you were born but now you're a month old today, hooray!"

"Catchy." Flash commented, getting the party pony's attention.

Pinkie quickly zipped in front of the duo, a huge grin on her face. "Hey Flash, hey Springer! What's up?!"

"Nothing much," Flash shrugged before putting his hoof around her shoulder. "Just wondering if you had any of those 'super sugar muffins' on you?"

Pinkie raised an eyebrow at this. "And why do you need to know whether I do or not?"

"We've been getting more and more reports about Timberwolf sightings near the edge of the forest," Flash explained, scratching the side of his ear as he did. "So...we're gonna be heading in there to check it out for ourselves. Figured if we do run into one of them and we're in a tight spot, 'Wild Sugar' Springer might be able to help."

"Oh..." Pinkie said, nodding. "Okay! Give me a minute." With that, she bounced towards the kitchen, leaving Flash and Springer with the foals.

"Hey there," Flash said to the babies while sticking his tongue out. The duo soon started laughing at the silly faces he was making.

After that, they crawled over to where Springer was standing and pulled him into a hug. "Hey!" the jakhowl yelped as they began to tighten their grip. "Not so...TIGHT! Aaah!" Springer felt the wind be squeezed out of him as the twins continued to hug him.

"Looks like somepony's got some new fans," Flash snickered, shining a cheeky grin.

"Yay," Springer said sarcastically as Pound batted his ear around and Pumpkin rubbed her face up against his tail. "Please stop doing that..."

"Awwww..." Pinkie cooed as she returned with a box balanced on her tail. "That's so cute!"

"I don't think Springer would agree with you," Flash replied, pointing at his partner.

"Get these things off of me!" Springer whined before his highly sensitive nose picked up on something disgusting. "Ugh..." he gasped, looking like he was about to puke. "What's that smell?!"

"I got it!" Mr. Cake yelled as he suddenly came out from the back of the store with a set of new diapers. He managed to get the foals off of Springer and placed them on a table, quickly doing some impressive moves with his mouth with the diapers before throwing the used diapers into a nearby trash can.

"Dude...that was hardcore." Flash complimented, clapping as he did.

"I know!" Mr. Cake replied as he placed the new diapers on the foals. "Squeaky clean and everything! Now, anypony hugry?" Mr. Cake asked as he quickly cleaned his hooves in the sink.

"Aw, no thanks Mr. Cake. I just had a big breakfast." Pinkie said, waving a hoof while patting her tummy with the other.

"He's talking about the foals Pinkie," Flash deadpanned, swatting Pinkie's poofy mane.

"I'm on it," Mrs. Cakes said as she exited the kitchen with two bottles of milk. Once she was at the table, she flicked her tail and threw the bottles into the air before they landed in her foals' mouths. A few seconds passed and the two were finished before they started making funny faces.

"Oh! Oh!" Pinkie cheered as she raised her hoof. "You're making funny faces! I have one!" She did said face, making everypony chuckle.

Mr. Cake shook his head. "No, no. You see Pinkie, the babies need to be burped." He picked them up and put them over his shoulder, patting them on the backs until they released the built up gas.

"You all good now?" Pinkie asked the foals, only to see the foals let out a cheer. "Yay! Who wants to play again?" With that, she ran off, followed by Pound and Pumpkin.

"Man, you guys have got this parenting thing down." Flash complimented, nodding in approval. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you two."

"I wouldn't say we've gotten everything under control," Mrs. Cake said with a chuckle. As if to show her point, Pound knocked over a tower of toy blocks before going to smash them. Luckily Mrs. Cake was there to stop him. "Ah! Pound Cake! No pounding things!" The baby just shined an innocent smile.

Meanwhile, Pumpkin was following Pinkie before noticing a bottle of baby powder on the floor, which she picked up and began biting on. "Ah! No no no!" Mr. Cake told his daughter while Mrs. Cake took the bottle. "We don't chew on things Pumpkin Cake!"

"Except food," Pinkie countered.

In that moment, Mrs Cake gasped as if she had realised something important. "Food! Great cinnamon sticks, I completely forgot!"

Pinkie giggled before giving a reassuring wave. "No you didn't sillies. You just fed them bottles, remember?"

"Not the baby's food!" Mrs. Cake replied.

Mr. Cake then caught on, panic quickly covering his face. "The food for the enormously big catering order we have to deliver today! We forgot about it!"

Springer gave a flat stare. "Seriously? How could you forget something like that?!"

"Springer!" Flash smacked the side of the jakhowl's head with his tail. "You have a pair of foals and see how well you remember stuff."

"He's right," Mrs. Cake cried as she started darting around the room. "With the new twins, we've been so distracted! We need to find a foalsitter to watch the foals while we take care of this!"

"I can do it!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, waving her hooves in the air. She was expecting the two to turn to her and ask, only to see a duo of frowns that then turned to Flash and Springer.

The apprentice knight laughed nervously, slowly picking up Springer and the muffin box. "You know...I think I hear Iron calling us," Flash barely chuckled before backpedaling. "So uh...yeah. I think have to, you know...gotta go, BYE!" With that, he shot out the door, leaving a smoke trail and a pair of bewildered parents behind.

Pinkie on the other hoof, just commented at the scene. "Wow, he sure can move when he wants to."

A few seconds later...

"WOOOOAAHHHHH!!!" Springer yelled as he barely held onto Flash's back as the pegasus took to the sky. "Slow down Flash! I'm gonna fall if you go any faster!"

Hearing this, Flash slowly came to a stop in the air, silently flapping his wings. "Sorry buddy." Flash said, turning his head to face his partner riding his back. "I just uh...wanted to get out of there before we get wrapped into...that."

"That?"

"Watching those foals." Flash shook his head. "Trust me buddy, we don't wanna get involved in foalsitting."

Springer tilted his head. "Why?"

"Well..."

The Past...

"You want me to what?" an orange pegasi colt asked a certain purple unicorn filly, confusion in his voice.

"I want you to foalsit Spike for me Flash." Twilight replied, a deadpan stare on her face. "I need you to do it for two hours, that's all."

The young version of Flash tried to backpedal, only to feel a certain magic aura around his ear. He chuckled nervously before asking, "But uh...why can't you ask Princess Celestia for a maid or somepony else to watch him?"

"I already asked. They're all busy." she countered in a 'This should be obvious' tone. She then tapped his chest, snorting as she did. "Listen, it'll only be for two hours Flash. Then, I'll be back from my test and I'll relieve you of foalsitting Spike. Okay?"

"But I don't-"

Twilight put her hoof over Flash's mouth. "I already asked and I know Grand Hoof isn't here today. You have no training today and mom and dad don't want you lazing around the house again." Twilight shined a somewhat smug smile before tapping her own chest. "So I decided that I could give you a task to do today."

"And that's watching Spike so you can take your test?" Flash asked, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

"That's right." Twilight nodded, ignoring his tone. She then pointed at the crib at the other side of the room. "Now, Spike is asleep and he'll probably be asleep for at least another hour. That means you'll only need to take care of him for one hour."

"But I-"

"And if you're wondering, I created eight different mathematical formulas to determine when Spike goes to sleep and wakes up in the day." Twilight interrupted before turning around and walking towards her room's bookcase. "It'll be easy Flash, you have nothing to worry about."

"Twilight, I'm not going to-ow!"

"Just do it Flash." Twilight growled, her magic quickly grabbing his ear. "Just watch over him, okay? It'll be a good learning experience."

"I-" Flash tired to say, only to go silent. It was here that he realized the cold stone fact that he wasn't escaping this. Letting out a long sigh, he turned and walked up to Spike's bed. "Fine..." he moaned in a defeated tone. "What do I need to do when he wakes up?"

"He'll probably want a gem or two to eat. I have a few in that bowl by the crib." Twilight commented as she started searching through a pile of books, not paying attention to the colt. "Just don't let him breathe fire on you."

Ten seconds later...

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Flash yelled as he ran in circles around the room as a baby dragon kept screaming, crying at the sudden awakening. "MY TAIL'S ON FIRE!!! MY TAIL'S ON FIRE!!! SPIKE LIT MY TAIL ON FIRE!!!"

"FLASH! WHY DID YOU WAKE HIM UP?!" Twilight screamed back, trying to calm Spike down at the same time.

"I DIDN'T! HE JUST SUDDENLY WOKE UP!"

"But I determined that-"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER TWILIGHT!!!" Flash wailed, increasing his speed as he ran in circles. "MY TAIL IS ON FIRE! HELP ME!!!"

"Okay okay! All you need to do is put out the fire with some basic water. There should be some on my table in the back." Twilight replied, putting Spike over her shoulder as she hugged him, still trying to calm him down. "Its okay Spike, its okay."

"WATER! I NEED WATER!" Flash yelped in pain, only to see a set of beakers and flasks Twilight had placed on a nearby table as she instructed. He then saw something similar to water and grabbed the flask.

Twilight saw this and yelled, "Wait Flash! That's my experimental-"

But it was too late.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!! MY TAIL'S IS ON FIRE!!! AND NOW ITS SHOOTING FIREWORKS!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The Present...

"And that's why we shouldn't help them with the foals?" Springer asked, crossing his paws in slight skepticism. "That actually happened?"

"Yeah, it happened partner." Flash glared at him, his eyes narrowing. "It took a whole month for half of my tail to grow back. And it also means we're not going back to help." Flash then shrugged, giving a 'don't worry about it' gesture. "Besides, I'm betting they'll have Pinkie watch over them."

"And she'll be okay?"

"Oh yeah." Flash nodded. "I mean, this is Pinkie we're talking about. Even if things go wrong, she always has something or somepony that can help her."

Springer almost bit his lip. "I hope you're right..."

Meanwhile, at Ponyville train station...

"Ponyville!" the train conductor called out as the carriage doors opened for the train that had just arrived. "We have now arrived at Ponyville!"

As a small group of ponies walked out of the most recent arriving train, a certain dark blue coated and black mane and tailed unicorn walked out. His Cutie Mark was a large mouth that looked like it was smiling. The unicorn walked off the platform and scratched his chin, staring at the town in front of him. "So this is Ponyville..." he said with a small chuckle. "I was expecting a lot more crazy."

"Crazy, crazy!" A quintet of different colored wooden puppets repeated as they popped out of his saddlebag.

The unicorn laughed at their reaction before gesturing to his back. The puppets hopped onto his shoulder, and he pulled out a map before rubbing his chin again. "Okay little buddies, we're almost there. But, there isn't a train scheduled for home till tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, tomorrow!"

"Yeah yeah..." he replied as he rolled up the map and placed it back into the bag. "Come on, let's go find something fun to do before we retire to the inn. Maybe we'll find...her again."

Back at Sugarcube Corner...

Pinkie and the twins were watching Mr. and Mrs. Cake rush to get everything sorted. After learning that everypony, and I mean everypony, was busy today, the two new parents had begrudgingly agreed to allow Pinkie to babysit Pound and Pumpkin.

"Now Pinkie," Mr. Cake asked while jogging in place. "Are you sure you really understand the responsibility of watching over two foals?"

Pinkie shined her usual grin before giving a salute. "I can be responsible! Why, responsibility is by middle name. Pinkie Responsibility Pie!"

Mrs. Cake got up in her face, showing nothing but concern as she let out a small sigh. "But this time, you have to take care of them, not just play with them." She gave her a look that said she couldn't stress what she was about to say was enough. "You have to be responsible."

"Yes, I know." Pinkie replied with a nod. "I will."

Mrs. Cake obviously didn't believe her, but a sudden bell sound made her shove her worries to one side and rush into the kitchen. She came back out pushing a large cake before grabbing a scroll and tossing it to Pinkie. "Here, your responsibilities are on that list." The scroll hit the ground, only to unroll until it revealed itself to be over six feet long.

Pinkie's eyes went wide as she gasped at the sight. "Whoa! That's a lot of responsibilities to-" She stopped herself and saluted again. "Consider it done."

Once again, Mrs. Cake looked unsure, but a brief look at the time made her overlook her doubts. She then grabbed her husband before shoving the cake out the door. She glanced back inside one last time before saying, "Remember Pinkie, take good care of our two precious ginger snaps."

"No problemo Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie saluted once more, a huge smile on her face. "Everything is under control."

The bakers nodded before turning to leave. Seeing this, Pinkie shut the door before turning back to the two foals with a giant grin. And as she shined her grin, the foals didn't smile back. Instead, they began to go teary eyed before bursting out crying. Pinkie's expression dropped as she had just realized exactly what she had just signed up for. "Uh oh."

"Don't cry little guys," Pinkie said before she shot into the kitchen, "look look!" She hid behind the wild west doors. "Where's Pinkie Pie, where's Pinkie Pie?" The twins just stared at the door before looking back at each other and once again bursting into tears. "Oh no, oh no!" Pinkie yelped as she came back to the foals, making several silly faces at the twins. "I'm right here, see?" Unfortunately, the crying kept happening. "No no no! Please don't cry!" she tried, only for the volume to increase. The pink pony then rubbed the side of her head in slight panicked frustration. "Think Pinkie, think!"

"Cheer up, cheer up!" said a sudden voice. Pinkie tried to find the voice's owner, only to see five different colored wooden dolls flying over the twins heads. Seeing this, the two fouls started to giggle, causing Pinkie to sigh in relief.

"Thank goodness, they finally stopped crying." she commented as she took a second look at the dolls. "But where did those come from...wait, I know those dolls."

"Long time no see, little lady."

Pinkie spun around and saw somepony standing at the door. It was the dark blue unicorn, whose horn was glowing as he made the puppets float in the air. "Wild Smile?" Pinkie gasped before bouncing over to him, "What are you doing here?"

Pinkie had met Wild Smile during the Battle of Canterlot, where he had been under the control of the power hungry Lightning Blitz. The two had fought, where Wild Smile was using a toy store to arm himself with toys that he used as weapons by placing the five souls he controlled inside them. Despite this, Pinkie beat him and broke the mind control, which she then instantly tried to become friends with him.

"I was passing by when I heard the sound of foals crying." Wild replied, crossing his hooves with a cocky smirk. "I hate the sound of foals crying."

"Same here." Pinkie said, nodding. "So...what are you doing in Ponyville?"

"I had a show in a little town a bit aways from here." Wild explained, "There's no train between there and Canterlot, so I had to take a connecting train." Wild gave her a small wink. "The train home is tomorrow afternoon, so I thought I would try hanging out here in Ponyville. You know, see what makes it so special."

"Ooh...okay!" Pinkie said happily, giggling. "Don't worry, Ponyville is really special, trust me. Heck, I would be happy to show you around, but..."

"You're foalsitting," Wild guessed.

"Exactly," Pinkie nodded. "Though the Cakes will be back in a few hours, so I can show you around then."

"Cool," Wild said while his puppets repeated the world. "Mind if I hang out here until then?"

"Sure," Pinkie nodded again. She then turned around and saw that the twins were still watching Wild's puppets dance. Seeing this, Pinkie decided to now look at the scroll which had all her responsibilities on it. "Next is...snack time. Sounds easy enough."

"You want some help?" Wild asked.

"Nah, I got it." Pinkie picked the twins up and placed them inside their foal highchairs before moving over the fridge. Wild watched as the twins became impatient, Pumpkin chewing on her own hoof and Pound banging his on the chair. "Okey dokey, time to eat!" Pinkie said as she placed two bowls on the foals' chairs. The two foals just stared down at the bowls of slop, before looking back up at Pinkie with a confused look. "Like this," the earth pony picked up a bowl and mimicked eating. "Num-num-num, num-num-num-num."

Wild just snickered before moving over to them. "Here, let me show you." He used his magic to lift up a spoon before dipping it into the food and bringing it back up. "Here comes the zeppelin," he said as he moved the spoon towards Pound. His puppets flew around and began making zeppelin noises. Pound was so transfixed by the spoon and noise that he didn't cause a fuss and Wild was able to plant the spoon inside. Seconds later, they saw the male twin swallow and Wild pulled the spoon out, before repeating the process.

"Oh..." Pinkie gasped before doing the same with Pumpkin. "Silly me."

"Is this your first time foalsitting?" Wild asked.

"Yeah." Pinkie nodded slowly. "I'm uh...I'm trying to show that I can be responsible."

"Well, it's a good thing that I showed up when I did." Wild remarked, causing Pinkie to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pinkie asked in a low tone.

"Taking care of a foal is a lot of hard work," Wild explained as he finished feeding Pound and wiped his mouth. "Especially two at once. It's a lot to handle for somepony if they don't know what they're doing."

"And I don't know what I'm doing?" Pinkie replied, her eyes starting to narrow. Wild just lifted Pound's bowl in response before gesturing to the foal. Pinkie instantly knew what he was implying, he was saying Pound would have just pushed the bowl aside if he hadn't interfered. In response, Pinkie mane began to deflate. "Okay...maybe I don't know what I'm doing all the time."

"That's why you need help." Wild stated flatly.

"Help, help," his puppets repeated.

"You need somepony who's experienced when it comes to foals. You know, sompony that can show you everything you need to know."

"And you think you're that somepony?" Pinkie asked, a bit of surprise on her face.

"I'm a puppeteer," Wild said with his tongue sticking out. "It's my job to understand how young ponies think and keep them happy. Besides, I'm the oldest of eight cousins with the next oldest being almost ten years younger than me. I've had my fair share of foalsitting."

Pinkie thought about this for a moment. She could tell he was here to help, but she didn't want him to do everything. "Okay," she said while tapping her chin before pointing at him. "I'll let you help, but only when I really need it."

"Deal." Wild said with a shrug. "You do what you do, and I'll stick to the back."

"Good," Pinkie nodded before moving back to the list. "Now, what's next? Let's see...ah! Its bath time!" she exclaimed as she turned back to them.

Wild shined a small smirk. "Alright. How do you wanna handle it?"

Pinkie thought for a moment before shrugging. "I guess I'll just bathe them together. That way, I can keep an eye on both of them." She moved over to the twins and took them out of their highchairs before taking them upstairs to the bathroom, quickly starting the bath.

Following her up there, Wild started commenting, "Here's a tip, make sure the water's only slightly above room temperature. Foal fur isn't as insulated as fully grown ponies, so they can burn easier."

"Got it," Pinkie said as she shifted between keeping the babies calm and checking the temperature of the bath water. Once the bath was finally ready, Pinkie turned towards the foals and tried to grab them. However, as she did, the foals quickly hopped into the air and to the floor, running as soon as the touched solid ground.

"Whoa!" Wild yelped as he tried to grab Pound, only for the foal to blitz past his hooves. "Hang on there speedy!" He tried another grab, only for the foal to go between his hooves, causing Wild to trip and kiss the floor.

"You okay?" Pinkie asked as she tried to make a grab for Pumpkin. "Can't you just levitate them into the tub?"

"No." Wild replied as he got up, "Trust me, one of the first things I learned was to never levitate a foal. It seriously stresses them out."

"Oh great," Pinkie grumbled before seeing a certain foal nibbling at a nearby towel, her twin about to go for the cloth-snack as well. "No Pumpkin, towels are not food! And don't you try to eat the towel either Pound."

Seeing Pinkie and Wild, Pound and Pumpkin both began to run together, Pumpkin having a towel in her mouth as she did. Pinkie quickly started pursuing them as Wild ran around the room. "Try and steer them towards the bath," Wild told her as he jumped in front of the duo, causing the two to split and go in different directions. "Shoot!"

"Great work," Pinkie said sarcastically as she chased after Pumpkin.

"Give me a break, would ya?" Wild replied as he raced after Pound, "I've never had to do this with two foals before."

"I thought you were the foalsitting master?" Pinkie asked as she leapt for Pumpkin, only for the unicorn baby to turn at the last moment and make her face plant the wall.

Wild would have responded, but thanks to him wanting to reply to Pinkie's comment, he had lost track of Pound. "Um..." he muttered before hearing a baby's giggle coming from underneath an overturned wicker trashcan. Using his magic, he lifted it up, revealing Pound hidden within. The baby smiled before shooting off, but Wild managed to grab him by the tail. "Got one!" he said as he held the foal up, his puppets repeating what he said as they flew around him.

Seeing this made Pinkie redouble her efforts, launching herself at Pumpkin and catching her before they both went rolling towards the tub. "Gotcha!" a very dizzy Pinkie said before getting up and plopping the foal in the water, Wild doing the same with her brother.

Once they were in the water, the two once again began to cry. Pinkie's eyes shrunk as she heard the crying again before turning to Wild. "Now what do we do?"

Wild gave her a cautious shrug. "Baths are one of the things almost all foals hate. All you can do is keep cleaning until you're done or they settle down."

"That's no good. There's gotta be something I can do," Pinkie replied as she started splashing her hoof in the water. Here, another idea popped into her brain. She put her hoof in the water and raised it up, showing that it was now covered in foam. "Look, you two! Bubbles!" She blew on her hoof and the bubbles floated in the air, causing the twins to stop crying and stare at the bubbles with happy grins. Seeing their smiles, Pinkie dunked her head in and made herself a bubble beard, which made the twins even more happy as they watched the bubbles get closer.

"That's good, but let's just hope they don't-" Wild tried to say before the bubbles began to pop, upsetting the twins once again. "Do that."

"Do that, do that."

"Don't cry," Pinkie pleaded as she picked up a rubber duck and showed it to the twins. "Look, look, floaty things." She placed the duck in the water, which made the twins once again happy. Seeing this as a sign, Pinkie rushed out and then returned a second later with more bath toys. This was followed by several beach toys, a small sail boat and finally, a river raft. Seeing this and rolling his eyes, Wild decided to take a few of them out while she was gone. All that was left was the duck, a few boats and a crocodile.

"Alright Pinkie, you keep them distracted and I'll clean them."

"Got it," Pinkie nodded, quickly grabbing the toys with a big smile. For the next few minutes, Pinkie played with the foals while Wild gently worked to scrub them down. It didn't take long till the two foals were squeaky clean and the older ponies got them out of the tub. With that out of the way, they took the twins to their rooms.

"Alright, what's next?" Pinkie tried to ask before her nose got the answer. "Uh-oh, smells like somepony needs a new diapy wipy."

"Diapy wipy, diapy wipy."

"Do you know how to change one?" Wild asked.

"Yeah." Pinkie said with a tinge of confidence. "I've watched the Cakes do it a hundred times."

"Then go ahead," Wild said as he levitated a pair of fresh ones to her.

Pinkie gulped before taking them and tip hoofing towards the foals, trying to not reveal her intentions to them. However, Pound decided to take this moment to look around, only to see Pinkie with the clean diapers. He immediately alerted Pumpkin, and the twins both smiled, thinking their favorite playmate was wanting to play a game. Seeing this, the two quickly shot off in different directions.

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie groaned as she quickly started chasing them, Wild also following suite. "Come back here Pound!"

As she raced toward the colt, Wild quickly grabbed Pumpkin as she tried to leave the room. "Gotcha!"

"Gotcha, gotcha," the puppets repeated.

"Pound! Come out of there young colt!" Pinkie commanded as she put her head behind the nearby dresser. Pound had ran over to the piece of furniture, thinking it was a good hiding spot. Pinkie gave him a serious glare before leaping behind the dresser, grabbing the colt in one fell swoop. "Not so tough on your own, are you?" She asked as she placed him on the dresser, quickly changing the diaper the way she had seen Mr. and Mrs. Cake do it.

Once she was done with the male twin, she handed him to Wild while taking the still struggling female twin and repeating the process. "Phew..." she said once it was done, wiping her brow as she placed Pumpkin on the floor next to Pound. "Really hope I don't need to do that again."

"You said their parents wouldn't be back until later today, right?" Wild asked.

"Yeah." she nodded.

"Then I hate to say it, but you'll probably need to do it at least four more times." he assured her.

"Four more times, four more times."

Pinkie let out a low whine, only to then hear a ringing that Pinkie recognized as the doorbell. "They're home!" she exclaimed before racing downstairs.

"Whoa, hang on! Why would they ring their own doorbell?" Wild asked as he picked up the twins, trying to follow the speeding mare. As he did, he instead found Pinkie sitting at the door, staring at a familiar purple unicorn.

"Twilight?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Pinkie." Twilight replied with a small smile. "I finished up the work I had to do and I heard from Flash about what you were doing. So, I thought I would stop by and see if you need any help."

"Oh. Well, you can come in if you want." Pinkie replied with a slight shrug. "But I think we've got things covered."

"We?" Twilight asked as she looked around.

"What's up Sparkle?" Wild answered as he came downstairs, both foals on his back.

Surprise covered Twilight's face. "Wild Smile? What are you doing here?"

"Long story shot," Wild said as he put the twins down. "I was in town and just so happened to find Pinkie foalsitting. Thought I would try helping her out."

"I see..." Twilight slowly replied as she looked around. It was only now that Wild and Pinkie saw what a mess the place was, with toys and baking equipment scattered around the floor. "So...how is everything going?" She asked as she used her magic to clean up the mess.

"Not as bad as it could be," Wild shrugged, motioning for his puppets to distract the twins.

"Tell me about it," Pinkie moaned, "I'd hate to think how bad it would have been if Wild hadn't shown up."

"Well, looking after foals is a lot of work. Especially twins Pinkie." Twilight responded as she levitated the baking supplies to the kitchen.

"That's what I said." Wild scoffed, only to get a narrow glare from Pinkie.

"It looks like you're doing okay," Twilight commented as she put the last of the supplies up.

"You doubted me?" Pinkie joked, before seeing Twilight's face. "You did doubt me?"

"Maybe a little," Twilight replied. Pinkie frowned at this, making Twilight nervous.

"Excuse me?" Pinkie asked, her eyebrows almost narrowing.

"It's nothing against you," she explained while shaking her head. "Its just...well, foals take a lot of responsibility."

"I'm responsible," Pinkie said, patting her chest in confidence.

"Yeah." Wild added with a nod. "She's been doing great, even if it is her first time."

Twilight tried to say something, only for Pinkie to start pushing her towards the door. "Well, thanks for stopping by Twilight. Sorry, but I don't have time to hang around. I'm very very busy with my responsibilities here."

"I'm happy to help, but-" Twilight tried to say, only to find herself outside of the shop with one final push.

"I've got Wild Smile for that!" She yelled before slamming the door. "Of all the-she thinks I can't handle things on my own!"

Wild saw this and remembered when he first did this with his family. He scratched the side of his head before saying, "Errr...maybe she was just concerned and thought you might have been overwhelmed?"

"Overwhelmed, overwhelmed."

Pinkie shot up and glared at him in the face, causing the puppeteer to chuckle nervously.

"But of course, she could also be totally wrong." he corrected.

"Wrong, wrong."

Pinkie continued to glare at him before sighing and moving away. "No, she's right. I'm barely handling myself, and that's with you helping me. I'd hate to think what would have happened if I didn't have you here showing me what to do and fixing my mistakes." She let out a small whimper. "Heck, knowing me, I probably would have ended up covered in flour somehow."

Wild chuckled at her comment, followed by his puppets. This sight made Pinkie giggle as well. As she giggled, Wild shook his head before pointing to the twins. "Like I said before, foalsitting is tough work the first time you try it."

"Especially with twins," Pinkie finished for him.

"Exactly. But you're doing great. Now, what's next on the list?"

Pinkie nodded and took out the list. "Nap time."

"Should be simple enough," Wild shrugged, motioning for his puppets to stop distracting the twins. "Let's get 'em to their cribs."

"Right." Pinkie nodded before grabbing the two. One transition to their room later, she plopped the duo in their cribs, only for the foals to just look at her with blank faces. She watched back as the two fouls sat there, obviously expecting something. "Umm...go on you two, sleepy time."

Wild and his friends just chuckled as they stepped inside the room. "They ain't gonna just go to sleep." Wild said with a slight laugh. "You gotta get them in the mood to sleep."

"How?" Pinkie asked in bewilderment. "After all that running they did, they should be exhausted."

Wild shook his head. "Why don't you let me handle this? Getting kids to sleep is one of my specialities."

"Your puppet shows are that boring?" Pinkie joked with a raised eyebrow.

"Very funny." Wild deadpanned as he went over to the cribs. He then began motioning towards his puppets. "Alright little buddies, let's begin. Now, today's story is..."

Deciding to let him do his thing, Pinkie rushed downstairs and started cleaning up the mess that they had made earlier. She already regretted making Twilight leave, as she saw what the unicorn had already cleaned up with the baking supplies. Letting out a sigh, she began, starting with the task of cleaning up the foals highchairs, empting out the diaper pin and rinsing out the upstairs bath tub. "This responsibility thing is hard work," Pinkie commented as she finished the with the bathtub. "Whew...I sure am glad Wild is here."

After this, she stepped into the foals room to check on Wild, who had moved some of his puppets souls into some of the twin's toys. Even Gummy was getting in on the fun. "And so, the great knights Pound and Pumpkin got atop their mighty alligator and rode off into the sunset." Wild placed the two puppets he was using onto Gummy's back, before using his magic to push the alligator across the ground. The twins both giggled at this, before they both began yawning. Seeing this, Wild smirked as he whispered. "Alright you two, bed time." He laid the twins down and magicked their blankets over them, before picking up his puppets and turning to the door.

"That was great," Pinkie said quietly.

"Told you." Wild whispered with his tongue sticking out, "My stories are so exciting that anypony who watches gets too exhausted to stay awake."

Pinkie chuckled at this, before they exited the room and went down the hall. They both sat down in one of restaurant's booths, where Pinkie asked if Wild wanted a drink. He said no and the two sat there for a bit, an awkward silence soon following. Even Wild's puppets didn't make any noise, as they all went back into his saddlebag.

Then, as the two sat there, Pinkie slowly spoke up, "You know, I uh..." she tried to say as she fiddled with her hooves. "Um...thank you for helping today. I'd be dead in the water if it hadn't been for you."

"No problem." Wild shrugged, slightly patting his bag. "I told you before, I can't stand hearing foals cry."

Pinkie did a slight gulp. "You know, you're a lot different from how you acted during the Battle of Canterlot...no offense."

"Its cool," Wild shrugged again, a barely noticeable grimace on his face. "To be honest, I don't even remember what I did during that time. Its uh...made being in Canterlot a bit more awkward."

"Is that why you were doing a show out of town?"

Wild nodded. "Yeah. The whole battle at Canterlot has put uh...bad light on me, Solid and Gorgenia. It also doesn't help that none of us remember what happened."

"So, you don't remember telling me about how your puppet's souls appeared?" Pinkie asked, a small frown on her face.

Wild just gave her a look of surprise. "I told you that?"

"Just that you were always alone until you started hearing voices," Pinkie replied, nodding.

"Well, it's not exactly just that." Wild bit his lip as he began to explain. "Like I said, I have a lot of cousins that are much younger than me. I was always foalsitting them and they always cried and cried, and...I hated it. I couldn't stand that I had to watch over them so much, and I didn't have any friends at the time. That is, till one day, it all changed. I don't know how it happened, but I started hearing the voices, which I eventually realised were the souls of my little buddies." Wild smiled affectionately at his saddlebag, knowing his friends were in there. "Once I learned that I could put them in objects, I realised I could use them to entertain my cousins. Tch...I still remember that first time I tried to do a puppet show for them. I was so nervous...but, as it went on, my cousins all started laughing and cheering for my stories. By the end of it, I got a loud round of applause and my heart almost exploded when I saw them all smile. Before I could react, my cutie mark showed up and I knew my purpose in life."

"Awwww..." Pinkie said with a big grin. "That's such a cute story! It kinda reminds me of how I got my cutie mark."

Wild was about to ask how she got it, but-

CRASH!

The duo heard the noise and rushed back to the twins' room, flinging the door open. Once inside, they rushed to the cribs, only for the two ponies to almost have a heart attack at the sight.

Pound and Pumpkin were gone.

"Oh no no no no!" Pinkie cried as she began looking all over the two cribs. "Not good, not good, not good."

"How?!" Wild asked in disbelief. "They were asleep!"

"Obviously not," Pinkie replied as she began looking around the room.

"Obviously not, obviously not."

Wild glared up at his five puppets, who had came out of his saddlebag. "You guys ain't helping. Make yourselves useful and help us find them." With that, the puppets flew around the room, looking for the two missing twins.

"Pound? Pumpkin?" Pinkie called out hysterically, "Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are."

"I'll tell you another story," Wild added as he opened the drawers of a nearby dresser.

Suddenly, a squeaking sound caught their attention, making them turn to a nearby closet. They shared a glance and tip hoofed towards the closet before Wild magically opened it and peaked inside. Pumpkin was inside, chewing on a rubber chicken that was drenched in his drool.

"How did you get in there?" Wild asked.

"Who cares?" Pinkie grumbled as she picked up the baby and placed him back in her crib. "Now you be a good little girl Pumpkin-wumpkin and stay in your crib for your pal Pinkie-winkie."

Wild tapped the side of the crib. "I'll keep an eye on her. You go find Pound."

"On it," Pinkie said as she shot out the room.

"Alright buddies, circle formation." He and his puppets surrounded the baby filly, not daring to blink for fear of her disappearing. In the background, Wild heard Pinkie banging around the store as she continued to look for the missing colt.

A few minutes later, she returned. "I can't find him anywhere!"

"Could he have gotten outside?"

"No way," Pinkie replied with a shake of her head. "He can't reach the handle."

"She did with the closet," Wild said, pointing at Pumpkin. "And she doesn't have...wings..."

Wild stopped himself as the two started hearing hoofsteps. That is, above them. Slowly, the two adult ponies looked up and gasped at what they saw. It was Pound Cake...on the ceiling.

"No way," Wild said.

"You can fly?!" Pinkie screamed. She switched on the light before leaping up, trying to grab Pound. "Get...down...here...this...instant...young...colt!" She finally stopped and crashed to the ground. "I'm responsible for you!"

"Calm down." Wild told her as he helped her up. "If you keep doing that, you'll just hurt yourself."

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Pinkie asked, panic obvious in her tone. "You said you can't use magic on them!"

"Maybe not on them," Wild said as his horn lit up. The next thing Pinkie knew, she was enveloped in a gray aura and began floating.

"Now we're talking," Pinkie chuckled as she reached out and grabbed Pound before Wild brought them down. As they landed, they turned back to Pumpkin, only to see her reaching for a toy outside of her crib. Before they could react, Pumpkin's horn began to glow a soft blue aura and a butterfly toy began to fly towards her. Pinkie and Wild both felt their jaws drop, Pinkie accidently releasing Pound, who began to fly again as they watched more and more toys begin to float around Pumpkin.

"I'm guessing this is the magical surge I heard Twilight talk about?" Pinkie asked as her eyes shrunk at the sight.

"Yeah..." Wild gulped. "But I've never seen one this strong before."

Pinkie moved over to Pumpkin and pulled the butterfly toy out of her mouth. "No, no, no Pumpkin," she told her as she put the toy away, only for Pumpkin to magic another toy into her mouth. "No, no," she once again removed the toy, only for Pumpkin to do it with another. "No!" Pinkie grabbed the last toy and threw them inside the room's toy chest. "I am the responsible one, and I said no!" She moved at Pinkie speed around the chest, locking it with several chains and a padlock. She turned around, only to see a certain flying colt. "That goes for you too Pound Cake!"

Wild levitated Pinkie into the air, her hooves instantly grabbing the colt. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed as Wild tried to bring her down, only for Pound to speed up and turn it into a game of tug of war. "Whoa!" Pinkie yelped as she was starting to feel like a plate of silly putty as she began getting stretched out as the two males fought.

"This kid's strong!" Wild growled as he kept pouring more magic into the pull. "What are they feeding him?!"

The two continued to try and overpower the other, knowing that eventually one would give. Turns out, that one was Wild, who finally lost his magical grip and sent Pinkie flying out of the room. The resulting loss of magic caused Wild to fling backwards into a pile of dirty blankets. As Wild pulled himself out of the pile, he heard several loud noises coming from downstairs. Eventually, the noises grew louder, only for the two to fly back into the room. As they did, Pinkie's tail got caught on the door, causing her to yelp in pain before releasing Pound. The colt then began to fly over Pumpkin, causing the filly to want to fly as well. That is, till her horn glowed and her body began to float.

"Not you too!" Pinkie moaned, pulling her tail out of the door.

"These are two of the most powerful foals I've ever had to deal with," Wild said as he watched the two fly. "Holy cow, just who are their parents?"

Pinkie grabbed a nearby basket and rushed over to the flying foals, netting the two of them to the floor. Once that was done, Wild grabbed some nearby duct tape and taped the basket cage to the floor.

"There!" Pinkie said, her eyes looking slightly crazed.

"Just try getting out of that," Wild told them.

The two foals stared at each other. Seeing this, Pumpkin's horn lit up again along with the basket before she simply walked though the net. Pinkie and Wild both stared at this before seeing Pound just push the top into the tape let out, freeing him.

"I had to challenge them." Wild said, facehoofing.

"Challenge them, challenge them."

A second later, the two foals were back at the toy chest, trying to get the toys out. With this sight in front of her, Pinkie hit her breaking point. She burst out crying, tears flowing down her face. The sound made the foals look at her, seeing her bawled her eyes out. Wild made a small gulp while the foals looked at each other in disbelief. Wild felt sorry for her, knowing how much she wanted to show what she was capable of. Then, he noticed Pound and Pumpkin moving towards her, before stopping in front of her. Pinkie stopped crying and looked down at the twins, wondering what trouble they would cause next. However, the two foals instead threw their arms around her in a hug.

Pinkie couldn't help it. She started crying again as she hugged them back.

Everything seemed to quiet down after that. The twins were more behaved and even went to sleep, this time with both caretakers watching over them. As they took turns watching, they cleaned up the new mess that had been made before Pinkie decided to write a letter to Princess Celestia about responsibility.

All was finally well.

Later that night, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were returning from there catering job. They opened the door, expecting to see a giant mess, only to see the place spotless. "Are we in the right place?" Mr. Cake asked his wife.

"I'm...not sure." Mrs. Cake replied, slightly gulping.

"Ah! You must be the Cakes." said a new voice as it approached the couple. The two looked at each in slight confusion, as they had never seen the stallion before them.

"W-we are. Who are you and why are you in our house?"

"Name's Wild Smile. I'm a friend of Pinkie's."

"I see...nice to meet you." Mr. Cake said as the two walked inside. "And where is Pinkie?"

"Up here," a whispered voice replied.

They looked up, quickly seeing Pinkie at the top of the stairs. She gestured for them to come up, which they soon obeyed and walked up the stairs. Soon, they found themselves glancing at the twin's room, seeing the two foals sleeping side by side in the same crib.

Mrs. Cake gasped at the sight. "Pinkie...this is just..."

"Amazing." Mr. Cake finished. "We had no idea how responsible you really are."

"Thanks. But I had a little help." Pinkie giggled before pointing at Wild.

Wild just waved his hoof. "It was Pinkie who managed to do it in the end. I was just lending a helping hoof."

"We're sorry we ever doubted you Pinkie." Mrs. Cake told her.

"Absolutely." Mr. Cake nodded in agreement. "Would you be interested in becoming our go to foalsitter on a permanent basis?"

Pinkie froze in fear, obviously not wanting to go through what she had gone through today again. "Um, er, let me check my schedule." She pulled out a notepad and pretended to read it. "I should be available a week from...never!"

Wild and his puppets chuckled at this until they heard Pound and Pumpkin's happy dream laughs.

"Pinkie..." Pound mumbled.

"Pie..." Pumpkin mumbled.

Hearing this melted Pinkie's heart, making her forget about the chaos and turn to the Cakes.

"I have some free time next Tuesday." Pinkie said with a smile.

"Brilliant." Mr. Cake replied.

Seeing this, Wild headed to the front door, his puppets following him. As he did, he spoke up, "Well, we best be heading out."

"Heading out, heading out."

"Do you have some place to stay?" Mrs. Cake asked as she came downstairs as well, meaning to head into the kitchen.

"I'm sure I'll find a hotel or something." Wild replied.

Pinkie quickly appeared beside him. "I know of one, I can take you there."

"Don't trouble yourself," Wild said, waving his hoof.

"Oh no you don't!" Pinkie grabbed his hoof, causing Wild to almost start blushing. "After all the help you've given me today, it's the least I can do then to help you to the hotel!"

"A-a-alright...." Wild replied with a weak chuckle.

And so, Pinkie and Wild stepped into the night, heading towards the hotel Pinkie had mentioned. As they continued to walk the poorly lit streets, Pinkie spoke up, "Hey um...I know I said it earlier, but thanks for today. I really am glad you came by when you did." Her mane started to deflate as she looked away from the stallion. "I doubt I would have lasted as long if you hadn't been there."

"Its cool. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry, don't worry!"

"Sorry you had to see me crack," Pinkie said, blushing as she did.

"I told you, don't worry about it." Wild told her, shining a small grin. "You're not the first caregiver I've seen break out in tears. Though you did take a lot longer than most, and that's usually with only one foal."

Pinkie giggled at this. "Thanks. Say, what time is your train tomorrow?"

"Late afternoon. Why?"

"Just wanted to know how long we have to hang out until you have to go home."

"Cool..." Wild replied, a small smirk appearing on his face. "You know, this place is pretty different from Canterlot. I wouldn't mind coming back."

"I'd like that." Pinkie said before coming to a stop. She pointed at a building in front of them. "Here we are."

"Nice." Wild glanced at the building before turning back to Pinkie. "So...see ya around? Maybe tomorrow morning?"

"Sure!" Pinkie nodded. "Come by Sugarcube Corner and I'll make you some sweets for your trip back to Canterlot!"

"Sounds good." Wild turned back, only to feel a tug on his left hoof. "Hmm?"

"Wild?"

"Yeah?"

Then Wild felt it. It was a small kiss on his cheek. He felt his whole face burn up as he felt the split-second lips of the party pony touch his face. He turned again, only to see a blushing Pinkie as she said, "Thanks again." She then turned around and gave one last grin before trotting off. "See ya tomorrow!"

"Uh...yeah." Wild gasped, barely waving his hoof as he watched her disappear into the night. He then rubbed the side of his face in disbelief. "Wow...what a mare."

With that, Wild walked into the hotel, an even bigger grin on his face. Today was a good day for the fun-loving pony and he couldn't wait for the days ahead.

The Last Roundup

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Today's story begins in the basement lab of Ponyville's scientific researcher Time Turner, better known as Doc. Here, the brown earth pony was busy working on his latest experiment. Standing beside him was another great scientist, Twilight Sparkle, who was looking up at something written on a chalk board.

"I can't believe it's finally finished," she said happily as she reread the equation again and again. "I must say, the formula you're using is incredible."

Doc chuckled as he fiddled with some wires. "Thank you miss Sparkle. It was a lot of work, but its just about done. All I need is one final test, and I should be able to start my patent application."

"Great..." the bored voice of Spike said from behind them. "Does that mean we're finally done?" The two ponies turned to see Spike and Springer sitting on the floor, surrounded by potatoes. The duo were using brushes to paint some of them with an unusual see-through liquid. "This stuff is giving me a headache."

"Same," Springer moaned, looking dizzy as he stood up.

Time Turner pulled out his notebook and wrote a few words down. "Good to know. I'll add that as a side effect. Until then, its probably best to wear a mask while applying it."

"Nice to know we're being helpful," Springer growled as they picked up the potatoes and moved them over to a very familiar machine. They placed them inside a chamber before shutting the hatches and moving over to the safe area. Once there, Doc grabbed the horn instrument that lead to the ceiling.

"Alright Flash, we're ready."

Outside the Doc's house was Flash, who was sitting on a large thunder cloud he had managed to get hold of while keeping his ear close to the horn that was sticking out of the roof. Once he had heard the Doc, he smirked before jumping off the cloud. "Alright, here goes!"

With that, he did a spin kick into the cloud, causing it to unleash a powerful lightning bolt. The bolt struck an antenna that was connected to the roof, causing it's electrical energy to be sent through the wires and into the machine where the potatoes sat.

"Geronimo!” Time exclaimed. Everypony watched in amazement as the machine came to life and sent the gathered lightning into the chambers. The potatoes were electrified for several moments, only for the machine chambers to open as the charge finished. Now safe to do so, the two ponies, dragon, and jakhowl moved over to the machine to check on the potatoes.

"Did it work?" Springer asked.

"Let's find out," The Doc replied as he moved over to the potatoes while carrying an amp meter. As he poked the wires inside the first potato, staring at the device to see if it detected a charge. However, no such reading appeared. The device was completely dead. He smiled at this, quickly picking up a knife and cutting the potato open. It was as hard as rock, hard to believe considering it had just been zapped by almost one billion volts.

At this moment, Flash flew into the room. "Did it work?"

"Indubitably," Doc said as a grin shined on his face. "The isolation paint's property asborbed the lightning and kept the thing it was coating completely safe."

Twilight turned to the pegasus with a smirk. "In other words, lightning-proof paint!"

"Great!" Flash cheered, clapping his hooves. "Now we don't have to worry about things being struck by lightning anymore."

Spike however, had a skeptical look on his face. "Maybe...but will this stuff protect it from Derpy?"

Everyone groaned at that. A recent accident by Derpy had caused the town hall's roof to be almost completely destroyed due to her accidently hitting a thundercloud into the building. This made Doc start up his anti-lightning research again, this time with Flash and Twilight's help as well.

"Well, now we have this." Twilight said as she held up the insulator paint.

Flash gave a deadpan stare. "Though knowing Derpy, she'll probably end up finding some other way to destroy something."

"Speaking of which," Doc said as he checked one of his thirty-eight clocks. "Shouldn't we be heading over to the town square?"

"Oh! He's right!" Twilight agreed, nodding. "Applejack's send off will be starting soon. Let's go!"

The group of five headed out of the laboratory and made their way to the town hall. There, they saw the recently collapsing roof on the building, showing an example of the previously mentioned damage. As they approached it, Doc spoke up, "It still looks bad, doesn't it? At least Applejack was nice enough to donate her rodeo winnings to help repair the roof."

Flash just shook his head, chuckling. "That's just something Applejack does. She lives for helping Ponyville. Too bad we can't go support her for this next event she's going too."

"It can't be helped." Twilight replied, shrugging. "The event was completely sold out. Besides, she knows we'll still be cheering for her here."

"True."

Eventually, they arrived at the town square, which was now sporting a pair of large holes in front of the main entrance. They also saw a large group of ponies gathered around the mayor's podium, all chanting the same thing.

"APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK!"

"Everypony's getting really riled up," Springer said as he looked around.

"Can you blame them? Its not everyday that somepony offers to try and win money to give to the town."

It was at that moment that Mayor Mare arrived at the podium, ready to speak out to the entire town. "Everypony, can I get your attention? Attention please!" The chanting finally stopped, allowing everypony to hear the mayor clearly. "Yes, there we go. We are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year's Equestria rodeo competition in Canterlot." She pointed to Applejack, who had just stepped up onstage as the crowd all let out a mighty cheer. Seeing this, the mayor continued. "And, I want to thank Applejack in advance for generously offering up her prize money to help fix the town hall."

"Yeah Applejack! Woohoo!!!" Flash turned to the voice and saw Rainbow and Derpy next to the new holes. Their sudden appearance made perfect sense, as Derpy let out a cheer and accidentally fell back into the hole.

Flash rolled his eyes and facehoofed at the sight. "Thank Celestia that girl's not a unicorn. I'd hate to see what havoc she would cause with magic."

Twilight and the others who all heard him shook in terror at the thought. "Agreed." they all said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the town were all cheering Applejack on. This included Pinkie, who was screaming as she bounced up and down. "Speech! Speech!"

Applejack blushed in embarrassment. "Aw shucks. I'm not much for speeches."

"Alright then, no speech!" Pinkie yelled before she shot off in a random direction.

"But..." Applejack tried to say, only to see Pinkie shoot back into her original spot before continuing. "This here is the nicest send off anypony could ask for. Ya'll have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little pony, so it seems only fitting to use m'ah winnings to fix up town hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud."

With that said, the entire crowd broke out into cheers before making their way to the train station with Applejack. There, Applejack stood infront of the carriage and waved to the crowd. Applejack's friends and family stood at the every front, all with big smiles on their faces as they waved back. Then, Granny Smith stepped up to her granddaughter. "I want ya to show all them high-volting rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony's like!"

"You betcha Granny Smith," Applejack told her, only to have Mayor Mare push her up front.

"And bring back all that money," the Mayor added.

Flash leaned over and whispered to Twilight. "I know she's excited, but the mayor's really focused on the money. She's gonna make AJ to nervous to compete."

Twilight shrugged before whispering. "Well, you can't blame her. With a hole in the roof, they can't have it rain anywhere near the town square. If that happens, the plants around the place will die, leading to more problems through a domino effect. It might be a small thing, but it can lead to a lot of problems."

Flash blinked at this. "Oh...I see."

"Don't worry yah mayorship," Applejack said as she turned towards the train. "Ah'll bring back a bunch of money."

As she walked towards the train, Pinkie suddenly appeared infront of her. "And remember to have fun! That and don't be nervous, or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better then you already would!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before walking up to Applejack with a reassuring grin. "Just do your best Applejack."

"I'll do better than mah best," Applejack assured her with a literal hoof bump.

As she did this, the train conductor spoke up. "The train to Canterlot is about to leave! All aboard who's coming aboard!"

Applejack smiled before turning to her friends. "Guess that means me."

"See ya in a week," Rainbow told her.

"Win lots of new blue ribbons!" Applebloom added, hopping up and down.

"And lots of money," Mayor Mare repeated.

"Good luck cowgirl." Flash finished with a smirk, crossing his hooves. "Not that you'll need it."

"Darn tootin!" Applejack said as she stepped on board, right before the train pulled off. The crowd kept watching her, seeing her stick her head out the window of her carriage. "See ya'll in a week with a big bag full of blue ribbons."

Her friends all ran along the platform, calling out their support as the train sped off. Then, the train started to vanish in the distance, only for Pinkie to call out, "And drink sarsaparilla!" Everyone gave her a weird stare, obviously not following her. "What? It gives you extra sass."

Twilight shook her head, while Flash simply chuckled before putting Springer on his back. "Welp, I gotta get to my patrol."

"Right..." Twilight giggled before raising a cocky eyebrow. "You don't want to have Iron think you're slacking off."

"Precisely. See you later." Flash scoffed before flying off. As he did, Twilight's friends all gathered around, all thinking about Applejack.

Fluttershy was the first to speak up, "Oh, I hope Applejack will be alright."

"You're kidding!" Rainbow almost yelled back, "This is Applejack Fluttershy, the best athlete in all of Equestria. She'll beat all those other rodeo ponies into the dust."

"That's right!" Applebloom agreed, nodding. "Just wait and see. This time next week, she'll have so many blue ribbons yah'll be able to swim in 'em."

A week had passed since Applejack had left town for the rodeo. As it were, today was when she set to return.

Flash, Springer and Iron had just finished their rounds and were heading over to Sweet Apple Acres to help set up her welcome back party. Iron wasn't looking forward to it, though its mainly because he still couldn't figure out what the point of parties were. That and his problems with Pinkie Pie due to his opposite personality of hers. As they arrived at the barn, they saw Rainbow and Fluttershy putting up the same banner they had used at Applejack's send off. Looking around, they saw Big Mac blowing up balloons which Twilight then arranged along with streamers and banners while the nearby tables held cake, jelly and a few welcome back presents.

"Looking good." Flash said as he looked around. "Applejack's gonna love it."

"Oh, I hope so." Fluttershy added as she and Rainbow flew down, "and I hope she's surprised by this surprise party."

"Well, that is the point." Rainbow deadpanned as she pulled a length of ribbon out of a box and threw one end to Fluttershy.

"I know..." Fluttershy replied as she caught it, "but I hope she isn't so surprised that she's startled. Because being surprised can be nice, but being startled can be...very startling."

"SURPRISE!"

Fluttershy gasped as she fell back, startled by Pinkie's sudden outburst.

"Oh Pinkie, you startled me." Fluttershy gasped, holding her chest as she started panting.

"Sorry." The hyperactivate party pony said as she helped her up. "I was just practising my surprise for when we surprise Applejack with this super cool party for becoming rodeo champion of Equestria."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes as she walked toward where Iron was standing, only for Pinkie to appear in front of her again.

"SURPRISE!"

Luckily, Iron was able to catch Fluttershy this time instead of her hitting the floor. As this happened, Twilight stomped her hooves, getting the pink pony's attention. "Quiet Pinkie!" Twilight hissed from the barn door. She was looking out to see when the guest of honor would arrive. "I think Applejack's coming."

"Everypony into position!" Flash whispered loudly as he, Rainbow, Fluttershy leapt into a pile of hay while the rest of the party goers found their own hiding spot. The only ones who seemed to be having trouble were Springer and Iron. Springer was unsure where to go and Iron honestly didn't really want to do this. "Iron!" Flash hissed as he flew back out and grabbed Springer. "Hide!"

Iron just rolled his eyes before halfheartedly hiding behind a beam as the lights were switched off. They waited for several seconds, ready to strike.

Then, the barn doors opened up.

The lights were immediately switched on and everypony jumped out.

"SURPRISE!"

"Surprise!" Pinkie said, a second too late. "Oh shoot!"

They all looked over at the new arrival, only for all of them to let out groan. Except Iron.

"Whoa..." the mailpony said as he looked around. "This is the best surprise ever. How'd you know it was my birthday?"

Twilight rushed over to the mailpony and grabbed the letter he was holding, quickly shutting the barn door in his face. Flash watched as Twilight returned to the center of the room while Pinkie rushed off to give the mailpony some cake. As she did, the others came out of hiding.

"Who's it from Twilight?" Applebloom asked, "What's it say?"

Twilight looked the letter over. "It's from Applejack!" she said happily before reading aloud. "Family and friends, ah'm not coming back to Ponyville." There was a loud gasp at this, shock on everypony's faces. "Don't worry, ah'll send money soon."

"Let me see that," Flash said as he took the letter and read it over before scratching his head. "Whoa, she even writes how she talks."

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she took back the letter, reading through it again. "That's all there is." Everyone began to speak their own concerns, all beginning to worry about what could cause Applejack to not come back to Ponyville.

"Applejack's...not coming back?" a heartbroken Applebloom asked, her eyes tearing up.

However, before anypony could comfort her, Rainbow cut in with anger and fury on her face. "What do you mean Applejack's not coming back?! She loves Ponyville!"

"And she loves Sweet Apple Acres," Granny Smith added.

"AND SHE LOVES HER FAMILY!" Applebloom cried, tears threatening to break out again.

Rarity gasped. "Something dreadful must have happened to Applejack to make her not return."

Fluttershy nodded, gulping. "Maybe she's hurt...or sad or scared."

"Everypony calm down." Flash said as he got between them all. "We don't know that for sure. All we know is Applejack isn't coming back right now, but that doesn't mean something bad's happened. We shouldn't just jump to conclusions until we have all that facts." He turned to Twilight, "Right?"

"Right!" Twilight replied, nodding. "And if that's the case, the only way we're gonna get all the facts is by going to the rodeo and searching for her."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go find her!" Rainbow barked before shooting out of the barn, followed by Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Springer.

Seeing this, Flash let out a small sigh before turning to Iron. "Well that escalated quickly. Anyways, they'll probably need me to come along for the ride Iron. You don't mind staying and-"

Iron flashed his hoof. "Get going Sentry. I can take care of the town."

"Thanks Iron." Flash replied before turning to Twilight.

"Don't worry," Twilight told the rest of the Apples as she started to head out. "We'll search all of Equestria if we have to. We'll bring her back."

"Ya'll are the best," Applebloom said with a small smile.

Granny then continued the sentiment. "Thank you girls...and Flash and Springer."

"Nothing to it ma'am!" Flash said with a salute. With that, the eight of them rushed out the barn and headed towards the train station.

Next stop, Canterlot.

The ride to the Canterlot Rodeo was one filled with tension and worry. Rainbow Dash was especially antsy, so much so that the others had to hold her down on several occasions to prevent her from leaving and flying the rest of the way. Thankfully, they were able to keep back the Element of Loyalty and the train eventually came to a stop. The friends quickly left the vehicle and Twilight suggested that they try and ask around the rodeo arena, handing each of them a photo of Applejack to show other ponies. With that, the group split up to get some clues on their missing friend.

"Excuse me," Flash said to the first pony he saw. "Have you seen this mare?" Springer held up the photograph as the other pony took a closer look at it.

The pony nodded. "Oh sure. She was one of the contestants in the rodeo. Came just ahead of me in three different events."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"I imagine she would have headed home by now." the pony replied, shrugging. "Last time I saw her was at the hay toss event."

"So you have no idea where she might have gone?" Flash asked in a disheartened tone.

"Nope. Sorry kid." he said before walking away.

Flash and Springer both sighed in disappointment. "Okay...looks like this might take a while." Flash turned to his partner, tapping him with his wing. "Think you can find her with your aura bud?"

Springer closed his eyes and opened his aura, scanning the whole area for several long seconds. Eventually, his ears flopped down and he opened his eyes, letting out a disappointed pout. "Sorry. There's too many ponies here. I can't tell one aura from the next."

"It's alright bud." Flash assured him, giving him a slight hug. "It was a long shot anyways. We'll just have to keep asking around."

And so they did, asking the many different ponies that were still at the arena.

"Anything?" Flash asked as they grouped up after an hour.

"No," Rainbow replied.

"Nope," Pinkie said in a not surprising uncheerful tone.

Fluttershy shook her head. "No. I'm sorry."

"A lot of ponies have seen her," Rarity commented as she dusted herself off. "But none of them know where she might have gone."

"Yeah, same here." Flash grunted before he turned around, seeing Twilight moan as she hit her head on the table they were sitting at. They others chuckled at her frustrations, only to hear a new voice approach them. It was a pink furred, purple maned earth pony mare, and she had just seen Twilight's photo.

"Oh! Are you folks friends with that Applejack mare?"

"Yes," Twilight said as she and the girls straightened up. "You wouldn't happen to know where she might be, do you?"

"Well..." the mare replied, a look of deep thought plastered on her lips. "Ah don't know where she might be...but ah do remember that the last time ah saw her, she was speaking with Ms. Jubilee."

"Ms. Jubilee?" They all asked in unison.

"Cherry Jubilee," the mare continued, nodding. "She owns a cherry orchid in Dodge Junction."

Flash almost backpedaled. "Dodge Junction? That's miles away. Why would Applejack wanna go there?"

Twilight slammed both hooves down on the table. "There's only one way to find out. Let's get going everypony!"

"RIGHT!" They all exclaimed before rushing out of the arena, leaving a dust cloud in their wake.

When the dust settled, the mare could be seen with her eyes spinning in dizziness. Then, another dust cloud appeared before quickly clearing, only to show Flash and Springer standing next to her. "Thanks!" he said as he shook her hoof. "We really appreciate the help."

"No...problem?" she replied, her eyes still somewhat spinning. Flash smiled and then shot off, kicking up another dust cloud.

Next stop, Dodge Junction.

One transition to a train going to Dodge Junction later...

"This doesn't feel familiar," Flash said sarcastically as he and Springer sat opposite of Twilight and Fluttershy in the train. Rainbow and Rarity were sitting on the seat across with Pinkie behind them. Pinkie had her legs crossed, a small bit of panic showing on her face.

"I just hope this lead doesn't turn out to be a dead end." Rainbow grumbled as she watched the wasteland pass by. "We better not come home empty hoofed after all of this."

"I don't know how we'll break it to the Apple family." Fluttershy commented, her ears flopping down.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "I don't know how we'll break it to Ponyville."

"And I don't know how I'm gonna make it to the next stop!" Pinkie concluded, it now being obvious why she had her legs crossed.

"I told you not to drink six bottles of sarsaparilla." Flash told her, an obvious deadpan scowl on his face. He then pointed to the rest of his friends. "And the rest of you need to calm down. We'll find her." Flash then leaned back, staring at the ceiling as he waved his hoof in a cocky manner. "Besides, worrying has never helped anypony." Flash leaned his head back down, showing a slight glare as he did. "We need to stay calm and focused, or we might miss something that'll help us find her. Even something small can lead to a big breakthrough in a case."

"A case?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you preach about stuff like that?"

However, before he reply, Twilight spoke up instead, "You got that from the Shadow Spade novels, didn't you?" Twilight pointed at him, causing Flash to chuckle and scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah...I might've." he admitted, shrugging.

"I didn't realize you read that series darling," Rarity added.

Flash shook his head. "I don't. I just remembered Twilight muttering it out loud when reading it once."

Twilight let out a low growl before turning and looking out the window. There, her eyes shined as she saw a new sight. "Hey! There it is! Dodge Junction!" Everypony looked out the window, only to see a group of buildings in the middle of the desert area, all looking like they'd been plucked right out of an old western. "Wow..."

"Huh. So that's where Applejack is, eh? Sounds good to me." Flash commented before hopping off the chair. He motioned for Springer to ride on his back, which the jakhowl happily obliged before the orange pegasus turned to Twilight. "Alright, what's the first move?"

"We should probably try and find this Cherry Jubilee pony." Twilight explained before motioning at her friends to follow her off the train. As they got off the train, Twilight continued, "Hopefully, she'll know where we can find Applejack. That or some clue as to why Applejack isn't coming back."

"But before that, I need to find a bathroom!" Pinkie chimed in, her whole body shaking like a leaf. Before anypony could reply, she shot off in search of one, only to find a porter potty. Unforunately, she soon found out it was currently occupied, causing her to knock it's door repeatedly. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" she said as she jumped from one back leg to the next, a look of sheer agony on her face. "HURRY IT UP IN THERE!"

Suddenly, the potty's door slammed open, hitting Pinkie right in the face.

"Someponies," the annoyed mare said as she walked out of the stall.

Pinkie shot into the potty, shutting it as she did her business. But as she did, the mare's voice rang a cord with her and made her gasp. Opening the door, she looked outside to see the retreating form of her friend. "Applejack!"

Meanwhile...

Flash and the others had been showing their photo to a couple of ponies, deciding to stay in a more closed group this time. That is, till Pinkie Pie appeared next to them, bouncing around in a circle. "I found her! I found her! I found her! I found her!"

"Where?" Flash replied, his eyes narrowed as he watched the pink pony. Pinkie instead, bounced away, making Flash and the girls follow. The group soon turned a corner, only to see Pinkie pointing a hoof at the middle of the next street. They followed her hoof's direction, gasping at the next sight.

There, in the middle of the street, was a familiar stetson wearing earth pony. Then she turned to look at them, a look of surprise plastered on her face.

"Oh Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed as they rushed up to her. "Thank heavens we found you!"

"We're so glad you're safe!" Fluttershy added as they all went up and hugged her except Pinkie, who was still bouncing around.

The sight made Springer give her a deadpan look. "Didn't you need to use the bathroom really bad?"

Pinkie suddenly stopped in midair, crossing her legs and chuckling nervously. "Excuse me a moment." With that, she shot back over to the porter potty, leaving a very confused Flash and Springer.

"One of these days, I'm gonna figure out how she does that." Flash said as he scratched his head.

"No you won't." Springer snarkly replied.

"Yeah...you're right." Flash bit his lip before moving back to the others.

Meanwhile, Applejack had finished the hugs, only to now start backpedaling. Her body shook as she nervously asked, "So uh...what's up?"

"What's up?! That's all you have to say?" Flash snorted, narrowing his eyes. "Why don't you instead tell us why you didn't come back to Ponyville!"

"Indeed darling." Rarity said with a sour look on her face. "Why are you here?"

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Do you have any snacks?" Pinkie asked, having finished her potty break.

"Not now Pinkie," Flash told her as he fought the urge to face hoof. That and slap her with his wing. He turned back to Applejack. "Now, you could please tell us what happened Applejack? Why are you here?"

Applejack's face was one of fear and haste, as if she was trying to think something up. But before she could speak, somepony suddenly spoke. "Applejack!" They turned to a nearby building, where a cream colored earth pony mare with a cherry red mane stood, looking at them. "Are these some of your Ponyville friends?"

"Yes ma'am." Twilight said as mare walked up to them. "Are you...Cherry Jubilee?"

"That's right sugar!" the mare exclaimed, a giant grin appearing on her face. "I'm the boss of Cherry Hill Range. Hasn't Applejack told yah?"

"No," Flash growled as he glared over at the earth pony again. "She hasn't."

"Well, I saw her compete in the Equestria Rodeo." Cherry explained, chuckling at the memory. "Never saw a pony win so many ribbons in all mah life."

Applejack blushed at this. "Aw shucks Ms. Jubilee, yah don't have to go into all that."

Cherry walked up and tapped Applejack's chin with her hoof. "And she's so modest. Anyways, I can always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back. So when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, ah snapped her up quick as ah could and brought her to Dodge Junction." Flash glanced at the others, who all had the same suspicious look on their faces. Something about this wasn't adding up. But before they could as another question, Cherry quickly turned and patted Applejack's shoulder, winking before leaving the group. "Ah'll let you catch up with yah friends. See yah back at the ranch."

As soon as she was gone, the seven of them turned back to Applejack, scowling. Flash especially noticed that she was sweating like crazy. That is, till Rainbow broke the silence. "Change of scenery?! What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's no big deal everypony." Applejack told them as she began to walk off, "I just thought cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. That's it, end of story."

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. "That's it? That's a terrible story."

"Sorry, that's all there is to tell." She turned back to them, an increasing frown showing on her face. "Thanks for checking up on me, but ya'll can go home now. Tell mah family hi and that I'm doing A-okay." With that, she started walked off until Rainbow landed in front of her.

"Excuse me AJ," the pegasus hissed, anger on her face. "But we didn't travel all over Equestria searching for you just to come home without you."

Applejack's face began to mirror the pegasi's, soon pushing past her. "Well I didn't ask yah to come looking for me. There is nothing to tell and I am not going back to Ponyville." With that, she was gone, leaving the seven behind.

Flash turned to his partner. "Springer, whatcha you get?"

Springer had be scanning the earth pony's aura the whole time, trying to figure out what was going on. "She's definitely hiding something, but I can't tell what. Weird thing was, when Cherry mentioned her winning the ribbons..." Springer scratched the side of his head in confusion. "I sensed a feeling of disappointment coming from her. Strange..."

The girls all shared a glance at each other, wondering why AJ would be disappointed in earning so many ribbons. Twilight then shook her head before getting everyone's attention. "Whatever's going on, we need to find out."

Rainbow nodded. "Twilight's right. We gotta get her to spill the beans."

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed, getting up in her face. "She had beans?! I told her I was snacky!"

"Not now Pinkie," Flash barked as he facehoofed before turning to Twilight. "What's the plan?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought before replying. "We need to stick close to her till she talks, and there's only one way to do that. We need to get a job at Cherry Hill Range."

"RIGHT!" The rest of them replied.

Fluttershy raised a hoof, "But um...how do we do that?"

Later that day at Cherry Hill Ranch...

It started when Applejack and Cherry Jubilee entered a room with a conveyor belt that was connected to a large metal hamster wheel. The two mares nodded at each other as they walked up to the machine.

"You ready to put your back into it Applejack?" Cherry asked as they stepped towards the wheel.

"Sure am Ms. Jubilee," Applejack replied as she jumped on the wheel. "Just give me the signal."

"Terrific!" Cherry turned around and exclaimed. "Come on in girls!"

Applejack looked over at the door before doing a double take as she saw Twilight and the rest of her female friends rush inside. "What are you all doin here?" Applejack asked in an annoyed tone.

"We're your cherry sorters," Twilight explained as they all stepped up to the conveyor belt and lined up. "Shall we get started?"

Applejack let out a low growl at this, but soon sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. "Fine. Let's getting going."

Cherry Jubilee stepped up to the girls and pointing to two bins. "Red cherries go in this bin and yellow cherries go in the other. Simple as cherry pie, but just one tinsy thing to remember." Cherry shined a big grin. "Have fun!" With that, she rushed out the door, entering a hallway where Flash and Springer were waiting. Her grin stayed on her face as she motioned her hoof to the duo. "Alright boys, ah'll be puttin you two in the juice room."

"Juice room?" They said together.

"I thought we'd be working with the girls?" Flash asked.

Cherry shook her head. "They've got more then enough sorters in there. What I really need, is a big strong stallion to work the juicer." She led them upstairs, showing them into another room where a large machine sat. It was a large metal bin with a large ball on a stick hanging over it. Cherry led them to a large wheel which appeared to be connected to the stick. "I'll help you at it today to show you how it's done. First, you need to fill the container with cherries."

Flash and Springer looked around and saw several bins like the ones Twilight and their friends were using, all loaded with either red or yellow cherries. Springer walked over to it and picked up a bin before emptying it into the metal device.

"Good job!" Cherry cheered before glancing at the wheel. "Now, the fun part." She began cranking the wheel, causing the ball above the bin to start spinning. She then used her tail to flick a switch, which caused the stick to extend and lower the ball into the bin.

"Ohhhh...cool!" Flash said as they watched.

Cherry nodded. "There's a knack to it, you see. Move the wheel too fast and the ball with cause the juice to fly out of the bin, but move it to slow, and it'll take forever."

"You mind if I try?" Flash asked.

"Go ahead."

Cherry moved aside and allowed Flash to step up and begin cranking the wheel. He looked up and watched the bowl as he slowly sped up, only to notice a few drops flying out. Seeing this, he slowed it down just enough so that it was still spinning without any lost juice. He kept this up for about a minute, until Cherry told him to stop. She grabbed a hoofstool before using it to climb up and look inside the bowl. "Perfect!" she said as she climbed back down. "You're a natural."

She then moved over to a lever and pulled it. Flash heard something that sounded like water going down a bathtub, making her fly up to the top of the bowl. There, he saw the juice he had just made get drained out of bowl, quickly going down a pipe connecting to a bolt in the ground.

"This leaver opens up the drain, which sends the juice down to the bottling room." She pushed the lever back in place, causing the hole in the bottom of the bowl to close. "You think you got everything?"

Flash saluted. "No problem. We'll get this all done in no time."

"Good. Now-"

"STOP!" yelled a familiar voice. The trio glanced at each other for a second before rushing out the door. They headed downstairs, back to the cherry sorting room. They burst through the door and what they saw...made Springer begin to laugh.

The whole place was covered in cherry juice. It looked like somepony had loaded a catapult of cherry juice and fired it on all the walls. Flash looked over at the girls and he too almost burst out laughing when he saw Applejack covered in squashed cherries.

Cherry on the other hoof, had anger filling her face. "What in blazes is going on in here?!"

"Looks like somepony was having a bit too much fun." Flash chuckled, putting his hooves over his mouth.

Applejack glared at Flash before turning to Cherry. "Its all mah fault. Ah got a little carried away and the cherry sorters got overwhelmed."

"Ah see..." Cherry gritted. "Go get cleaned up."

"Yes ma'am," Applejack said as she headed towards the door, glaring at her friends as she did so.

"We'll uh...start cleaning this all up." Twilight said with a gulp.

"See that you do," Cherry agreed as she left the room before glancing back at the two. "Help them boys. You two can do your other job later."

"Got it." Flash replied before helping the others find some mops and buckets. As they began to clean, Flash spoke up, "So...any luck?"

"No. She's not talking." Twilight replied, grumbling. "We seem to be striking out."

"That's because we're playing too nice." Rainbow hissed from the ceiling. "We need to call in the big guns."

"Yes," Rarity said as she and Pinkie cleaned the conveyor belt. "Desperate times do call for desperate measures."

"What do you mean?" Springer asked he and Fluttershy cleaned the wheel.

Rainbow just smiled, slowly pointing towards...Pinkie.

Flash's eyes shrunk. "Oh no. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Rainbow shrugged before giving a sinister smirk. "Maybe. But we've got no choice."

Later that day...

Applejack was in the cherry orchid doing what she did best, bucking trees. As she did, she looked around, seeing if any of her friends were around. Seeing nopony, she turned back around, only to find herself face to face with one Pinkamena Diane Pie.

"Hey Applejack, need some help?"

Applejack gave her a sceptical look. "You promise not to ask my any questions?"

"I promise," Pinkie nodded with a smile. Seeing this, Applejack motioned for her to help. The two then got to work, shaking and bucking trees to cause the cherries to rain down upon them. As they did, Pinkie's grin grew wider, before asking, "Have you ever had a cherrychanga?" Applejack turned back to Pinkie, confusion on her face. Pinkie then put her hooves over her mouth. "Oh. Right. Sorry, that was a question."

Applejack shook her head, chuckling. "That kind of question's fine Pinkie." Applejack assured her. "No, I never had a cherrychanga."

Suddenly Pinkie was back in her face. "Well no wonder, because I made it up myself!" Applejack began backing off but Pinkie just followed her. "A cherrychanga is mashed up cherries in a tortilla that's deep fried. That's a Cherrychanga! Great name, huh?" Applejack continued to backpedal, only for Pinkie to continue talking. "Oh, but maybe I should call it a chimicherry! Oooooh, that's good too! Which do you think sounds better? Cherrychanga or chimicherry? Or what if I combine them? Chimicherrychanga! What sounds the funniest?"

Applejack turned around, trying to leave as the pink pony continued to ramble on. "I like funny words!" Pinkie bounced after her. "One of my favourite funny words is kumquat! I didn't make that one up. I would work in a kumquat orchard just so I could say 'kumquat' all day! Kumquat, kumquat, kumquat!" Applejack picked up the pace, but Pinkie kept up with her. "And pickle barrel! Isn't that just the funnest thing to say? Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, pickle barrel!" Pinkie then somehow got in front of Applejack, preventing her escape. "Say it with me! Pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, chimicherrychanga!"

That kind of persistent annoyance would be enough to drive anypony crazy, but for a pony like Applejack...it still worked.

"NOOOO!" She screamed as she covered her ears, but Pinkie's voice could still be heard. "Make it stop, make it stop."

At this point, Flash and Rainbow showed up with corks in their ears, Flash covering Pinkie's mouth while Rainbow smirked down at Applejack. "The only way to make it stop, is for you to spill...the...beans."

"And if not..." Flash removed his hoof, allowing Pinkie to once again be heard.

"Speaking of beans, did you ever realise how many words rhyme with beans? Lean, mean, spleen, unclean, bean."

Applejack tried to funnel it out, but the power of the pink one was just too strong. Gritting her teeth, she then yelled, "Alright! Alright! I'll tell everypony what's going on! Just please stop talking!"

With that, Pinkie's mouth snapped shut as everypony came out of hiding to hear Applejack's confession.

"Talk!" Flash commanded, slamming his hoof into the ground.

Applejack froze, obviously trying to think of a way out. Seeing she wasn't escaping, she sighed with a small gulp. "Alright...but can it wait until tomorrow at breakfast? Ah'm plumb tuckered out."

"Tomorrow huh?" Rainbow asked, sharing a glance at the others. "I don't know."

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie asked as she crossed her heart and put her hoof in her eye.

Applejack sighed again, copying the motion. "I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast, Pinkie Promise."

Everypony smiled at this. Nopony broke a Pinkie Promise.

The rest of the day was a blur after that. Everypony found themselves exhausted after cleaning the factory and getting back to work after confronting Applejack. It wasn't long till nighttime happened, and everyone went to bed. Here, they were all given rooms to stay in by Cherry, and Flash with his partner went to a separate room.

As the duo went to sleep, Flash found himself unable to get to the world of dreams. It was here that he felt a certain thirst in his throat, causing him to be fully awake. Slipping out of bed, he tiphoofed over to the door to not to wake Springer before leaving the room. Heading downstairs and into the kitchen, he grabbed a glass of water and downed it. Thirst rightly quenched, Flash was about to head back upstairs when he noticed a light coming from down from the hall. Deciding to take a look, he moved over to the door which was producing the light, only to see Cherry Jubilee behind a desk, surrounded by papers. Seeing this, he tapped the door before slowly opening it.

Cherry looked up due to the sound, causing her to almost hop in place. "Oh! Good evening Flash. Up a little late, aren't we?"

"Just getting a drink," Flash said as he walked into the room. "I saw the light and wondered who would be up at this hour."

"Sleep can wait until ah finish this paper work. Ah'm almost done anyway."

"Oh...alright." He turned to leave, only to hear Cherry speak up.

"You and yer friends seem awfully focused on having mah new prized employee leave. Any particular reason why?"

Flash sighed before turning back to her. "She doesn't belong here. She's needed back in Ponyville, at Sweet Apple Acres. But even if we can't make her come back, I have to know why she's staying here."

Cherry nodded at this. "Ah heard a lot about Sweet Apple Acres. Ah was actually friends with her parents."

"You were?" Flash moved back over to her, curiosity in his eyes. "I've never met them."

"And you won't," Cherry replied, her tone lowering. She opened a drawer and pulled out a picture frame before placing it on the desk for him to see. Flash looked and saw the picture that showed a younger Cherry with two other ponies. One was a stallion that looked like Big Mac with Applebloom's color scheme and Applejack's stetson on his head, while the other was a peach colored mare with an orange mane that would give Pinkie's a run for its money. Cherry stared at the picture with sadness in her eyes. "We used to run into each other at rodeos and fruit fairs. Ah was sad to hear about what happened to them."

Flash didn't want to impose in asking what happened, so he simply remained quiet.

"When ah saw Applejack at the Equestria Rodeo, it was like ah was watching Bright Mac at work once again. She certainly got her will from him for sure. No matter how many times she fell short, she didn't give up and kept getting up."

"Yeah, that's Apple-wait, what do you mean by fell short?" Flash asked, blinking.

Cherry looked at him in confusion. "Yah know, how she kept missing out on first place. Didn't stop her though. She'd just dust herself off and move over to the next event. She had such a look of determination on her face."

"But I thought you said you had never seen anypony win so many ribbons?"

"Yes ah did." Cherry replied, nodding. "But yah don't just get a ribbon for coming in first." Suddenly, a million piece jigsaw fell perfectly into place in Flash's head, as he realised what was happening. Cherry noticed his dazed look and waved her hoof in front of his face. "Flash? Ya'll okay?"

Quickly snapping to attention, Flash turned around. "I'm fine, but I gotta go." With that, he rushed out the door, leaving a very confused Cherry behind.

"Strange colt that one," she told herself as she got back to work.

The next day...

The sun was set to rise in the next hour, but it seems somepony was up before it. Applejack's bedroom door creaked open as the earth pony's head peered out. Seeing nopony around, she stepped out and began walking towards the stairs.

"Going somewhere?"

Applejack almost screamed in fright, quickly turning around at the sudden voice. There, she saw Flash leaning against the wall, a smug smirk on his face.

"Flash..." she said, panting as she held her chest. "Tarnation Flash, ya'll almost gave me a heart attack."

Flash chuckled before getting off the wall. "Sorry, but you didn't answer my question. Going somewhere?"

"Er...ah'm just going fer a walk." she mumbled, her eyes slightly darting around.

"Really? With your saddlebag?" He pointed to the green apple themed bag on her back.

"Well...err...I-" She then knew she wasn't escaping this. The mare let out a long sigh before saying, "How'd yah know?"

"Seemed like an Applejack thing to do," Flash explained with a slight shrug. "Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise, so I knew you would have told us everything at breakfast. Plus, you don't lie, so I knew you wouldn't do that to get out of it. The only thing I could think of you doing was running. That way, you could still keep your promise and not tell us your secret."

Applejack frowned at this. "Ya'll gonna yell out and wake everypony up?"

Flash shook his head, leaning back against the wall again. "No." Applejack just gave him a confused look before he continued. "I'm not gonna stop you from leaving. If you want, you can walk out that door and disappear. I won't tell anypony."

Applejack smiled, quickly turning to walk down the stairs.

"But I will tell everypony the reason you left."

This made Applejack stop, turning back to the stallion and giving him a deathly glare.

"What do you know about why I'm leaving?"

Flash just smirked. "Tell me Applejack, what's the best position you got at the rodeo?" Applejack's glare turned into a look of fear. "Forth? Third? Second? I know you didn't get first place."

"How-"

"I spoke to Ms. Jubilee. She told me how impressed she was at your determination. How you kept trying, despite falling short. It didn't take long to put the pieces together."

Applejack looked at the ground in shame.

Flash pushed himself off the wall, moving over to the earth pony with a frown on his face. "You didn't win any money at the rodeo, meaning you don't have any money to give to fix the town hall. That's why you're here, aren't you? You're working here to earn the money."

Applejack fell down onto her flank, as her eyes beginning to water. "Alright, you got me. Ah didn't win any money to fix the roof. Ah let everypony down." With that, the tears came flooding out.

Flash smiled, grabbing her around the shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "It's alright," he said as he felt her tears soak his fur, "you didn't let anypony down."

"Yes ah did." She said as she pulled away from him. "Everypony was cheering me on, but no matter how hard ah tried, ah couldn't win one blue ribbon. Ah couldn't go home empty hoofed, especially not after everypony gave me such a great send off. That's why ah'm came here."

Flash rolled his eyes, slightly groaning before tapping her side with his wing. "Applejack! Nopony expects you to be perfect. If anypony knows about letting those who believe in them down, its me. I'm always worried I'm gonna disappoint Grand Hoof or Twilight, or any of you girls."

Applejack looked back at him, surprise on her face. "Really?"

"Really." Flash replied, nodding. "And I'm not disappointed in you. It wasn't fair to expect you to solely earn the money needed."

"You...you think so?"

Flash nodded again before turning to head back to his room. "Please don't leave. If you tell the others what you told me, I garuntee that you'll find that they'll say the exact same thing." With that, he returned to his room. He wasn't sure whether Applejack had returned to her room or left for the train station. All he knew is he would find out at breakfast.

A few hours later...

"You look tired," Springer told him as they and the girls headed to Applejack's room.

"Didn't get much sleep last night buddy." Flash said, yawning.

"I'm glad we're finally gonna get some answers from Applejack," Twilight grumbled as they got closer to her room. "She better give a good reason for all of this."

Pinkie smiled and hugged the purple unicorn. "Don't worry Twilight, she has to fess up after making a Pinkie promise."

They soon arrived at the earth pony's room, where Twilight knocked before opening the door. As the door creaked open, Pinkie looked into the room. "Good morning Applejack. You ready for breakfast?"

Her response however, was a completely deserted room. Seeing this, Flash saw something he had never seen before. For the first time since meeting her, Flash saw Pinkie's face become one of rage and anger. "NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!" With that, Pinkie shot towards the stairs, followed by Flash, Springer and the girls.

"She must be at the train station," Twilight said as they descended.

"Then let's get over there!" Rainbow added, wanting to take flight in the crammed building.

"Hang on." They all turned to look at Flash, who was at the back and had just made it to the bottom. "There's something you need to know."

"What?!" Twilight asked before Rainbow floated down in front of her.

"Can it wait?!" Rainbow barked. "Applejack's gonna get away!"

Before Flash could reply, the sound of a door opening caught their attention. Looking around, they saw Applejack walking into the room with a plate on her back.

"APPLEJACK!" They all said as they moved over to her.

"Hey ya'll. Ready for some breakfast?"

"We thought you'd run off," Rarity told her.

"We were really worried." Fluttershy added before letting out a sigh of relief.

Applejack just chuckled before motioning to the plate on her back. "Sorry about that. Ah just got up early and thought ah'd get breakfast ready. Ah made some of those cherrychanga things you told me about Pinkie." She showed them the tortilla like food product on the plate she was carrying.

Pinkie looked at the plate and licked her lips before smiling at Applejack and throwing her hooves around her. "I should have known you'd never break a Pinkie Promise."

"Err...yeah," Applejack replied nervously.

And so, they all sat down for breakfast. It was here that Applejack explained why she had done what she had done and like Flash had said, none of her friends blamed her. They then told her that they would find another way to fix the roof, causing the mare to let out a huge sigh of relief. However, they also told her that the only way the would agree doing this is that she would return home, which she also agreed to.

Later that day, the eight reunited friends were at the station waiting for the train home.

"Ah'm sure gonna miss you kids," Cherry told them as she saw them off. "But ah understand that you've gotta do what you think is best."

Applejack showed a small frown before taking off her hat, sadly looking at mare. "Thank you Ms. Jubilee...and uh, thanks for everything."

Cherry just nodded as the sound of the train caught their ears. "Don't mention it. And just know if yah ever truly wish for a change of scenery, Cherry Hill Ranch will be here waiting."

Applejack smiled and nodded. "Ah'll remember that."

At that moment, the train pulled up and everypony got on board. As it pulled away, they waved bye to Ms. Jubilee, who in turn waved back as they made their way out of Dodge Junction.

Next stop, home

The Skies the Limit

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Cloudsdale. The city of the skies, made of clouds and capital of all of Equestria's weather. Here, we find Equestria's number one flight team, the Wonderbolts, in their changing room after a big aerial show.

"Whoo! Aw yeah!" Soarin Skies, second in command of the illustrious flying team, yelled after getting out of the shower. "That was some show!"

"Sure was!" Soarin's teammate Fleetfoot replied. "Definitely worth those extra six hours of practice." She then rubbed her left wing, pulling it with her hooves. "Though I don't think I'll be able to fly like that for a week..."

"Well luckily you won't have to," the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, told them as she stepped into the room. "As a special treat for all your hard work, I'm giving you all a weeks vacation."

An uproar of cheers filled the changing room as the rest of the Wonderbolts celebrated. They were truly happy that would get the chance to rest their wings after all the hard work they had been putting into practice. As they did, Soarin let out a long sigh as he headed towards his locker, slowly opening it as he fought back a yawn. "Thank goodness. I don't think I could do another show like that either."

A little while later, the Wonderbolts had all finished changing. They were now making their way out of the Wonderbolts Headquarters and on their way home. As they were preparing to leave, they all talked about what they were planning to do on their week long vacation.

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna be sleeping in every day this week." That was Misty Fly, telling Fleetfoot her plans.

"I might go visit the folks." Fleetfoot replied, rubbing her chin in thought. "I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to see much of them."

"What about you Soarin?" Misty asked Soarin, who was just about to fly off.

He just shrugged. "Not sure. Sleeping in sounds good, and going to see my family is also a nice idea...I'll have to think about it."

"Sure thing...Clipper." Fleetfoot joked, getting an amused roll of the eyes from him at the mention of his nickname. "See you next week." With that, she and Misty flew off, leaving Soarin alone.

"See ya." Soarin called back before flexing his own wings and taking to the skies in the opposite direction. As he was flying, he thought about what he could do to kill time for the next week.

Despite what he had said, he probably wouldn't sleep in anyway. He had always been an early bird, as it was a habit that he had developed from years of early morning practices since colthood. He also couldn't go visit his parents, since they were currently on vacation in Fillydelphia. So what could he do, aside from spending the week eating junk food and binge read Daring Do?

Then, Soarin arrived home, a large yet basic cloud building on the edge of Cloudsdale. He quickly headed inside to get something to eat. Arriving in his kitchen, he opened his fridge and found what he was looking for: a large slice of blueberry pie, one he had been saving up for after the show. He took it out of the fridge and took it over to the oven, quickly turning up the heat inside the machine.

"Let's see...here we go." Soarin said to himself as he turned a few knobs. He let out a long sigh as he finished the preparations. "And now...the wait."

As he waited for it to be the right temperature, Soarin looked around his kitchen and caught sight of several pictures he had hanging on the wall. Some were of him and his family, while others were from Wonderbolt events. His eyes then caught sight of the newest picture to be hung up, one depicting him and the rest of his team performing during the Fantasia Parade. Soarin simply smiled at the portrait, chuckling at the memories of the festival. Despite how horrible the Fantasia Festival had turned out, what with the whole town being forced to fight one another, the parade afterword had been great...especially since he got to fly alongside her.

One of the pegasi in the photo, who was flying right next to Soarin, kept his focus the most. Rainbow Dash.

Ever since meeting her at the Best Young Flyers Competition, which involved her saving him from plummeting to his death, Miss Rainbow Dash had been at the forefront of his mind on many occasions. He had been rather disappointed when Spitfire had chosen to do most of the solo training during the day Rainbow was supposed to fly with them, meaning Soarin only got to fly with her alongside the rest of his team. Luckily for him, they had met up once again at the Grand Galloping Gala and then they got to hang out during the morning of the Fantasia Festival. Finally, they got to fly side by side during the parade, where Rainbow had proven her own skill in performing the Fantasia Flash perfectly.

But since then, due to his Wonderbolt training and her living in another town, he hadn't had a chance to see her. The thought alone made him let out a long, almost painful sigh. He took a small look at the oven, the timer still going up for the temperature. "Still going..."

As he whispered that to himself, he looked back at the pictures, only for certain idea to pop into his head. He had a whole week off starting tomorrow, meaning he could go see her. Though as soon as that thought popped into his head, he instantly dismissed it. He knew he would look pretty creepy if he went there just to see a mare he barely knew. That is, till he looked at another picture on the wall.

It was him and his old orange pegasi friend, Flash Sentry. The pic was when Soarin had gone to Flash's birthday a few years back. Flash had asked for it to be held at Donut Joe's, one of his favorite places to eat...after Flash had gotten on the good side of the owner after years of stealing from him. The duo had two big grins on their faces after they had eaten a whole buffet of donuts, their faces completely messy and filled with donut jelly. (Though Soarin did bring a pie for himself, which Flash didn't mind due to him knowing Soarin's pie loving nature) It was here that another idea popped into his head. What if he went and saw his old friend who happened to live in the same town as the mare? It would be perfectly normal to meet up with Flash, and he knew that him and Flash had some stuff to catch up on anyways.

Soarin smiled as his brilliant idea, until the smell of burning pie caught his nose.

"Oh crud!" he exclaimed as he rushed back to the oven. Despite this hiccup, Soarin couldn't help but smile at the thought of a week of hanging out with one of his closest friends. That and hopefully, he could meet up again with the mare he had thinking about constantly.

Once he had finished eating his slightly browned dessert, he went to bed in an instant. After all, sleep would make the next day happen even faster.

The Next Morning...

The small town of Ponyville was enjoying a rare moment of peace.

There was no big event that the whole town was preparing for. No major threats such as a swarm of parasprites eating the place, or a horde of Speed Stinger ransacking the town. Today, everypony could just sit back and relax.

Except for Flash and Twilight.

They were currently on their way to the town hall, where they had agreed to meet Mayor Mare. As they reached the building, a portion of the town's pegasi and unicorn population were with the mayor, causing the duo to smile.

"Ah, right on time you two. Thanks again for agreeing to help out." The mayor said as she saw the two trot up to her.

Twilight shook her head, smiling. "No problem mayor. I'm always happy to lend my organisation skills to help Ponyville."

Flash nodded. "Same here. Happy to lend a hoof."

"Good. I'll leave you two in charge then."

With that, the mayor walked back inside the hall, leaving the two to turn to the other ponies. Twilight then clapped her hooves, getting everypony's attention. "Alright, I assume everypony knows what they're doing?"

They all shared a glance before turning back to her. One of the pegasi then spoke up, "Well...we were told that we'd be painting houses."

"In a way," Twilight replied before turning around. There, she pointed to another pony, who was pulling a cart with several cans of paint. "Ah, you're here Doc. Good. Do you have enough paint?"

"Indeed." Time Turner replied before unhooking himself from the wagon and showed them the cans. "This should be enough for the whole town."

"Excellent," Twilight said as she levitated the cans over to the workponies. "Alright, listen up. This is a special anti lightning paint that we're going to coat every building in town with. Its designed to protect the houses from damage during a lightning storm. Understand?"

The workponies all nodded and each moved over to take a can and a brush. Then, a certain dragon and jakhowl walked up to the cans, which made the dragon grumble in frustration. "Remind me again why we agreed to help?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," Springer replied, nudging him.

Spike just sighed. "Maybe...but I better be getting some good gems out of this."

"Eh, cheer up buddy." Flash said, patting Spike on the head. "Don't worry, this won't take too long."

With that, the group of ponies began their work, Twilight directing everypony as Flash and Time handed out the paints and brushes.

Meanwhile...

Soarin was flying towards Ponyville, feeling the wind under his wings. He was surprised at how much he was enjoying the simple thrill of flying, noticing that he didn't have to worry about being perfect in front of a large crowd or trying to win against his fellow Wonderbolts. That or he was feeling a tiny bit of anxiety as he got closer to the town.

Then, the small town came into view and Soarin began to descend. Remembering that Flash told him about living in a tree shaped library, Soarin began to search the town for it. However, he wasn't looking for long when he noticed a large group of ponies outside of what he assumed was the town hall. Taking a quick look at the group, the Wonderbolt caught a glimpse of an orange and blue pony on the ground. Smirking, Soarin quickly nosedived and landed near the pony. "Flash!" He called out as he tapped the pony on the side, causing them to turn around and...see that he was actually a unicorn. "Oh..." Soarin said as he backed away from the orange unicorn with a blue mane and tail. "Sorry. Thought you were somepony else."

"Don't sweat it," the unicorn replied as he levitated a can of paint and a brush before walking off.

Soarin just sighed at this. "Well that was embarrassing. Maybe I should-"

"Soarin? Is that you?"

Soarin turned around, looking for the voice's owner. There, he saw a certain orange pegasus standing near a cart. Smirking at the sight, the blue pegasi walked up to him, the tow quickly spinning around before slapping each other's tails.

"Hey bro!" Flash said as they finished their usual greeting. "What are you doing here?"

Soarin chuckled, shrugging. "Eh, I got some time off and...let's just say I decided to come and see what Ponyville is all about."

"Oh. Well, it's good to see you bro but-" Flash tried to say, only for another voice to speak up.

"Flash!" the two turned to see Twilight trotting up to them. "You're supposed to be helping, not chatting. Why can't you-" It was at this moment that she noticed the other pegasus, smiling as she recognized him. "Soarin? What are you doing here?"

"Just came to hang out," Soarin replied.

"Ah. Well, its good to see you-" Twilight said before frowning as she looked at the group of ponies waiting for them. "But I'm afraid Flash is a little busy."

"He is?" Soarin asked, only to then get an explanation from Flash and Twilight about the paint and how they had offered to help. As they finished, Soarin's ears flopped down in slight disappointment. "Oh...lousy timing, huh? I guess I could wait for you to finish."

"You sure?" Flash asked with a cocked eyebrow, "It'll take a few hours. You might get a bit...bored."

"We'd hate for you to waste your vacation time waiting for us," Twilight added.

"It's cool." Soarin said with a slight shrug. "I'll find something to do."

"If you're sure," Flash said, only to get a nod from Soarin. "Alright. We'll see you later then." With that, Flash and Twilight rushed off to complete their work.

"Sure will," Soarin called out before sighing in defeat. Now he had to find something to do until Flash was done, in a town he didn't know or have anypony to tell him about it.

"Maybe a nap will make the time pass," he said before taking to the skies. He began to gather multiple clouds into a single large cloud until it was what he would class as the perfect spot. Once that was done, he sat on the cloud before pulling a part of the cloud to make it act as a blanket.

As he tried to get comfortable, which was something that would usually be easy to accomplish on a cloud bed, yet he felt like he was wasting time. Granted, he should have known Flash would be busy as Flash was hardly ever not doing something to help somepony out, and he should have thought about sending a message ahead of time to his friend. With this thought in mind, he started to drift off to sleep, hoping Flash wil have finished after waking.

Then maybe, just maybe...he would get to see her.

Rainbow Dash was bored.

She had finished her weather duties and wasn't in the mood to do any stunt training, so she was stuck with nothing to do. Unfortunately, all her friends were currently busy, either with bucking apples, sowing dresses, looking after a pair of twins and or taking care of animals and painting the town. In fact, she was so bored that she almost wished she had agreed to help Flash and Twilight with the house painting thing...almost.

"Ugh. Why is everything so...lame today?" she whined to herself as she lazily flew through town. "Come on Rainbow, there's gotta be something awesome you can do until the others are free. Think...think...THINK!" However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of anything fun to do. The only thing she could think of was hanging out with her pet tortoise Tank, but quickly dismissed it when she remembered that he was probably still asleep after the late night they had from practising their flying skills.

"Darn it!" She cried as she just flew around. "Why is there nothing fun to do right now?! Why is...wait a minute..."

It was here that she saw all the clouds she had positioned in the sky for shade today were gone. She came to a small stop to judge for wind, only to notice there wasn't any right now. The pegasus then began to spin around, looking for the clouds. "What the heck? Did somepony mess with Ponyville's cloud schedule?" she asked herself, knowing that no pegasi from Ponyville would dare mess with her cloud arrangement.

That is, till she spotted a single large cloud floating near town hall. She locked on to the arrangement, quickly narrowing her eyes as anger began to flare on her face. Thinking somepony had done it to annoy her, she quickly flew under the white tuft, cricking her neck as she arrived beneath the cloud. She didn't know who did this, but she knew she would make them pay for messing with her job.

However, she knew she needed to do her job first.

Positioning herself correctly under the cloud, she turned around and aimed her back legs by looking over her shoulder. She knew if she didn't do this right, she could accidently destroy the cloud, thereby ruining the cloud count needed for today. Instead, she would kick it in just the right way that it would split back into several smaller clouds that she could rearrange. Once she had the right angle, Rainbow kicked her legs back and struck the cloud. Just like she had wanted, the clouds split into several smaller clouds, which were blown away. However, in doing so, something large and blue flew out of the clouds before it dropped like a stone.

"AAAAHHHHH!" The blue thing yelled as it fell to the earth before smashing into the ground with a loud thud.

"Ooohhhh," Rainbow grimaced. "That had to hurt." She flew down to check to see if the pony was alright. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm ok-owww..." the pony replied as he picked himself up, groaning as he felt a small pain in back. He then turned around, causing Rainbow to see his face.

Rainbow's heart almost stopped when she saw that face. It was Soarin Skies, her favourite Wonderbolt and all time idol. Inside her head she was screaming, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Soarin Skies is here and I...just knocked him out of the sky and made him crash into the ground. NOOO!!! Why did I do that?!

Soarin likewise was having his own inner struggle, seeing the mare he had come to Ponyville for now floating right in front of him. She appeared to be frozen in midair, with the only thing moving being her wings to keep her elevated. Finally, Soarin decided to break the silence.

"Er...Rainbow?" He spoke, obvious concern showing on his face. "You okay?"

This caused Rainbow to snap out of her trance, quickly hovering up to his face. "Am I okay?! What about you?! Are you okay?!" She then began flying around him, checking ever inch of his body. "I didn't hurt you did I? A broken wing or a slipped disk? Please tell me I didn't just ruin the career of my favorite Wonderbolt."

"Rainbow, I'm fine." Soarin said as he flexed one of his wings. "See? It takes more then a fall to end this Wonder-wait...I'm your favorite Wonderbolt?"

Rainbow's face suddenly changed from cyan to deep red. "No!" She immediately blurted. "I uh, I mean...that fall obviously caused you to start hearing things! Yeah! I didn't say that!"

"I...guess?" Soarin replied, though he tried to not smirk at what he had just heard.

"So anyway..." Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head. "What are you doing here?"

"I got some time off, so I decided to come hang out with Flash. But he was too busy with the whole...anti-lighting paint thing? Something like that..."

"Yeah..." Rainbow chuckled, shrugging slightly. "I was supposed to help with that, but..."

"I get it," Soarin told her. "You're not into painting the town, are you?"

Rainbow nodded before asking, "So...since Flash was busy, you were taking a nap?"

"Yeah." Soarin replied before giving a deadpan stare. "And I was enjoying it to until somepony knocked me out of the sky."

Once again, Rainbow blushed. "Yeah, sorry...wait a minute!" Rainbow's blush disappeared as she started glaring at the stallion. "No, I'm not sorry. You messed up my cloud arrangement!"

"I did?" Soarin asked, almost backpedaling.

"Yes, you did. I'm Ponyville head weatherpony and I determine how many clouds Ponyville gets and where they need to be." She let out a huff before glancing upward. "Now I've gotta put them back the way they were." With that, Rainbow took off, quickly grabbing the clouds as she started moving them around. As she did, Soarin just blinked at the sight before flexing his wings.

"Hey! Why don't I give you a hoof?" Soarin asked as he flew up and grabbed a nearby cloud. "Just tell me where you want it."

Rainbow gave him a quizzical look, before nodding and telling him where she wanted it. This went on for several minutes until they finally had the clouds back in order. As they did, the duo flew back to the ground as Rainbow let out a small sigh. She looked back up, making sure the clouds were exactly where they needed to be. "Hmm...that should be it."

"Great!" Soarin said before turning to her. "Hay, wanna get a snack? My treat since I uh...ruined everything. Sorry about that."

"Its cool." Rainbow replied, shrugging before giving a slight smirk. "And sure, why not? I'm up for a bite."

"Good..." Soarin said before looking around, slightly chuckling. "Though uh...you'll need to show me the best place to get snacks."

"I know just the place. Follow me." she replied before taking off and heading towards their destination, Soarin following after.

As they flew, the two of them were lost in thought at their current situation.

Soarin couldn't believe his plan had gone better then he had thought. Instead of bumping into her by chance, and hoping for a five minute chat, he was getting to actually hang out with her. This was a hundred times better then he had hoped, especially considering that he didn't even know if he would have met her if he hung out with Flash.

Rainbow's thoughts weren't as...calm as Soarin's. Instead, they were more on the side of: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm flying side by side with Soarin! And on my own! It was true that this was the first time the two of them had ever been alone together, especially since the past few times they were either with the Wonderbolts or her friends. Now they were on their own...together that is, in Rainbow's mind. Wow...its almost like we're on a da-NO! No no no! Bad Rainbow! You don't go on dates. You're not some girly girl like Rarity. You're the super awesome flyer, Rainbow Dash, who doesn't go on dates. This is just two awesome flyers hanging out, getting something to eat and maybe discuss flying skills or something, who knows? That's all this is. Nothing else.

As her thoughts continued to drift, Rainbow slowly descended as she saw the restraint in the distance, where Soarin quickly followed. There, she landed in front of Sugarcube Corner, where she pointed at the restraint. "This is it. The best place to get snacks in all of Ponyville."

"Looks great," Soarin said, subconsciously licking his lips. "You think they do pies in here?"

"Its one of Pinkie Pie's specialities," Rainbow assured him.

Soarin shined a huge grin. "Great!" Soarin exclaimed before giving her an almost glare. "But don't expect me to share."

Rainbow shrugged. "That's cool. I'm not really a big pie fan."

"Seriously?" Soarin asked in amazement.

"Yeah," Rainbow replied, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Just don't tell Pinkie."

Soarin nodded as his grin grew even wider. "Nice. That just means more pie for me."

With that, the two stepped inside, where they found Pinkie standing at the counter. "Hey Rainbow!" she said as she saw her pegasus friend enter until she saw Soarin, causing her eyes to almost go wide. "Oh! Somepony new? Wait...I know you. You're that pony that Rainbow has a poster of in her room."

Rainbow once again went bright red, while Soarin just gave her a smirking look.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" She screamed loudly, quickly turning away from the two. "Its just a poster of the...whole team."

"If you say so," Soarin chuckled before moving over to the counter. "What pies would you recommend?"

"You should try a slice of my new cherry and apple recipe," Pinkie replied as he pulled a slice out of thin air. "Sweet Apple Acres apples mixed with Cherry Hill cherries. Their yummy yum yum!"

"Sounds delicious," Soarin cheered before taking the slice. He licked his lips again before turning to Rainbow. "And for you?"

Rainbow thought for a moment before smirking. "I'll have a blueberry muffin and a strawberry milkshake."

"Righty-o!" Pinkie nodded before she pulled the order out of thin air. Again.

After Soarin payed for their order and Pinkie rushed into the back at the sound of a screaming foal, the two moved over to a table to enjoy their food. "So," Soarin said as before shoving a mouthful of pie down his throat. "Tell me about yourself."

"You wanna know about me?" Rainbow asked, her eyes shrinking in pure shock.

Soarin on the other hoof, shrugged before wiping his mouth with his napkin. "Sure. I mean, it's almost a guarantee that you'll one day become a Wonderbolt, so it makes sense to get to know you."

Rainbow smiled at the complement. "Well, what do yah wanna know?"

Soarin thought for a moment, tapping his chin before a simple question popped into his head. "Say...how about how you got your Cutie Mark?"

Rainbow's mouth quickly turned into a smile as she started her story. She told him about how at flight camp she had defended her friend Fluttershy from a group of bullies. How she challenged them to a race and during it, she had performed her first Sonic Rainboom and earned her Cutie Mark. That and making her realize her love of racing and winning.

"And that is how my need for speed was born," Rainbow finished, leaning back in her chair with her hooves behind her head. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Sounds awesome," Soarin told her as he finished the last of his pie. "I wish I got my Cutie Mark like that."

"Well, how did you get yours?" Rainbow asked before looking embarrassed. "It's just...you know, a Wonderbolt's bound to have an awesome story."

Soarin just gave off a soft chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's not really that great."

"Oh come on!" Rainbow told him, waving her hoof. "I told you mine. There's no way it could be lame if you're a Wonderbolt!"

Soarin stared at her for a second, causing her to shrink back a little. Right before she was about to speak up and apologize, Soarin leaned back and said, "Alright, fair enough. I'll tell you my Cute Mark story." Rainbow perked up after hearing this, making Soarin quickly continue, "Well...to start off, I wasn't always an amazing flyer."

"You weren't?" Rainbow asked in amazement. It sounded insane to think that a Wonderbolt wasn't a naturally gifted flyer.

"Nope. In fact, the first time I tried to fly, I ended up falling almost a mile off of Cloudsdale before my dad caught me."

"Wow."

"Yeah..." Soarin replied as he looked up at the ceiling, "I was really scared after that. I never wanted to try flying again. I thought for sure I was meant to be an earth pony...that is, till I saw them."

"Them?"

Soarin just smirked as he looked back at her. "The Wonderbolts." Now it was Rainbow's turn to smile as he started his story. Soarin gave a slight shrug as his smirk got bigger. "It started when my parents took me to see one of their shows. It was the first time I had ever saw them perform, and I mesmerized by it. It was like...it was like it was hypnotic. Like somepony had flicked a switch in my head and couldn't stop staring. In fact, I was so focused on their performance that I didn't realise I was flying just by looking at them. That and my dad grabbed me and pulled me back into my seat." Rainbow let out a giggle as she imagined that, causing Soarin's smile to grow even more. "After that, I was always trying to fly. I knew from the moment I saw them that I wanted to be a Wonderbolt."

"That's just like me."

"Yeah," Soarin replied before his smile turned into a frown. "However, that didn't mean I was just gonna become a Bolt though. When I told my parents that, they definitely...humored me, but I could tell they thought it was just a foalish dream. After all, they knew how afraid I was of flying due to the earlier accident. In fact, even when I got older and kept saying I wanted to be a Bolt, they started telling me that it might not be possible. Nearly everypony told me the same thing, that I would never be that good."

Rainbow expression darkened at this. How could anypony tell somepony to give up on their dreams? It didn't make sense. She wanted to ask who Soarin's parents were just so she could give them a piece of her mind.

That is, till Soarin continued. "I wanted to prove them wrong. So...I started practising harder than anypony. I spent every ounce of my time training for flying. Heck, I practically did nothing else. I did it for years...until one day, I entered the best young flyers contest."

"The one I entered?" Rainbow asked, pointing at herself.

Soarin nodded. "Yup. And just like yours, my contest had a day flying with the Wonderbolts as a prize. Everypony told me not to enter, that I would just be making a fool of myself, but I didn't listen. I entered...and I won."

Rainbow smiled at this, imagining the shocked looks on everypony's faces when he did so.

"I'll never forget the day I met my hero, Wind Rider. He was there on that day...heck, I spent more time with him than any other Bolt." Soarin chuckled at the memory, a growing smirk on his face. "And at the end of the day, I asked him whether he thought I could be a Wonderbolt."

"What did he say?"

Soarin just smiled. "He told me that as long as I believed I could be one, then I could. The next thing I know, there was a flash of light and my Cutie Mark showed up."

"The Wonderbolt symbol." Rainbow gasped, slightly staring at the tattoo on his flank.

"Yep. Ever since then, everyone supported me and I was eventually accepted into the Bolts."

"That's awesome," Rainbow said before a glum expression almost appeared on her face. "Wish I could have been there to see it."

"Same with me seeing your first Sonic Rainboom. That sounds like a foal's dream come true."

"No kidding." Rainbow replied, twirling the straw in her milkshake. The two lingered over a sudden awkward silence, not know what to say next. A few minutes passed before another question popped into her head. "Say uh...what's it like being a Wonderbolt? You know, the team and everything?"

Soarin raised an eyebrow before answering. "Honestly? Its cool...though it can be totally stressful sometimes. Especially when Spitfire wants to do like...ten stunt shows in a row."

"Ten shows?!"

"Oh yeah. She's that image obsessed." Soarin grumbled, placing his head on the table. "In fact, there's days where I'm pretty sure everypony would rather just be a military unit than a stunt team because of her. I'm convinced she actually doesn't like the fact that the Wonderbolts are Equestria's air force."

Rainbow was taken back by this. "Really? I've always heard Spitfire is more of a military pony, like Iron or Flash."

"That's just for the cameras. Trust me." Soarin replied, rolling his eyes. "It also doesn't help that she got her position a little after I got into the Bolts."

As he said this, another question popped into Rainbow's head due to what she had just said. "Say...how did you meet Flash?"

"Hmm? Why do you want to know that?"

"Just curious. I mean, I know you two are pals and uh...I definitely know he isn't and doesn't want to be a Wonderbolt." Rainbow shrugged again. "I'm surprised you two are friends considering the big difference there."

Soarin lifted up and tapped his chin in thought. "Hmm...yeah, that's definitely true." Soarin then gave her a knowing smirk. "At the same time, the reason I met Flash was because I was a Wonderbolt."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. And oh boy was I surprised when I first met him." Soarin shook his head, chuckling at the memory. "I'll never forget that day."

Rainbow tilted her head in curiosity. "What happened?"

"Well..."

The Past...

"You want me to what?" Soarin asked in a dumbfounded tone to his superior, Spitfire, who was currently sitting behind a desk filled with paperwork.

"I want you to go to Canterlot for three weeks to help out with some pegasi military training there." Spitfire replied in a deadpan manner. "And I don't want to hear any complainants about it either."

"I-" Soarin tried to say before closing his mouth. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "With all do respect ma'am, I just joined the Wonderbolts-"

"Three months ago. I know Soarin." Spitfire interrupted, shuffling some papers as she did. "However, due to certain restraints on our own staff, also combined with the fact that the pony in this situation is asking for a stallion from the Wonderbolts for this assignment, I don't have much choice."

"They're asking for a stallion? Why?"

"Don't know, don't care." Spitfire grumbled before finding the document she was looking for. She then handed it to the young Bolt. "Here, take a look."

Soarin grabbed the paper and began to read, his eyes scanning the document. A few seconds later, he started blinking as he started talking aloud. "I hereby declare, and proved by royal decree, that the guard request one to five stallion pegasi of the Wonderbolts to the guard in Canterlot, signed...GRAND HOOF?!" Soarin looked back up in amazement. "Wait...does this mean, that Grand Hoof?!"

"Yup." Spitfire hissed, leaning back in her chair as she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "And I'm only giving one of us to those money-grubbing noble Canterlot idiots."

"B-b-b-but ma'am! This is Grand Hoof, the war hero!" Soarin exclaimed, tapping the paper. "Surely you don't mean to just send me to help him! I just got done with aerial combat training three months ago! Its how I got into the Bolts!"

"I know and I intend to only send you, and you alone." Spitfire spat before leaning over to the stallion. "We need every Bolt here. If I have to lose soliders to some other military unit because of the royal decree, I will do so with losing as little amount of soldiers as possible." Spitfire's face got dangerously close to Soarin's. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll start packing." Soarin squeaked.

"Good." Spitfire leaned back, though she was still glaring at him. "And remember, once this is done, you come straight back here. I need every Bolt here all the time."

"Okay."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Rainbow interrupted, a skeptical look on her face. "Spitfire seriously said that? The leader of the Bolts said that?"

Sooarin shrugged. "Eh, I might be misremembering some stuff. I do know she didn't like the idea...though maybe not that harshly." He then sat his head back down on the table. "Let's just say that I haven't been agreeing with Spitfire's 'ten shows in a row' methods lately. I'm allowed to be a little bias in my storytelling here."

"Ah...that makes sense." Rainbow rubbed her chin in thought before a certain thought popped into her head. "Say, you said the document for you to leave was from Grand Hoof, right?"

"Yup."

"Does that mean he uh...summoned you to teach Flash?"

"Yup."

"Huh. Guess you were meant to be friends then." Rainbow replied, surprised at the easy answer. That is, till-

"True. Though I didn't think it was going to go that way when I first met him."

"What do you mean?"

Soarin lifted his head up again, a slight smirk on his face. "Let's just say that the first day in Canterlot was quite the doozy."

"How so?"

"Well for starters, I also met Twilight and Princess Celestia for the first time that day." Soarin then shivered at the memory. "And I found a new thing to fear."

"What was that?"

"Twilight."

"Pfft-HA!" Rainbow almost did a spittake at the idea. "Seriously? You're scared of the egghead?"

"No." Soarin admitted with a small smirk. "I'm not scared of her. Just her...younger self. You see..."

The Past...

"Whoa...its even bigger than I thought." Soarin gasped as he looked up at Canterlot Castle. He was now sitting at the castle's front gate, his jaw almost dropping at the sheer size of the building. All gaping for a few minutes, his brain told him to get back to work, causing him to put his hoof in his saddlebag, quickly pulling out a small letter. "Right. Aerial combat training. Sounds like fun for three weeks." he deadpanned as he looked the letter over. "Okay...let's do this."

The young pony then walked up to the main gate, quickly showing off the letter to the guards. After a few seconds of looking the letter over, they let him pass. Satisfied, Soarin made his way into the castle...only to instantly get lost. And he only walked down two hallways. His eyes were spinning as he started down his third hallway. "What is up with this place?! Why is it so big?!" he asked himself as he trotted back in forth. "Its like it was made to be a maze..."

"Hello!" a new voice behind Soarin said, causing him to turn around. The voice's owner was a orange pegasus with blue hair and looked just a year younger than Soarin. Soarin looked him over for a second as the other pony continued to talk. "Are you lost? You look confused and...I don't think I've ever seen you here before."

"Um...yeah. I'm new here." Soarin replied, readjusting myself. "Who are you? You don't look like a guard or uh..."

"Servant?" the pegasus finished for him, chuckling as he did. He then waved his hoof before extending it out to Soarin. "Nah. I'm Flash, knight-in-training. Who are you?"

Soarin quickly took the hoof and shook it. "Soarin. I'm a member of the Wonderbolts."

As soon as those words left Soarin's mouth, Flash's head tilted as confusion spread over his face.

"Wonderbolts?"

The question made Soarin pause for a second. He wasn't sure about what he just heard. Blinking, he then asked, "Yeah, you have heard of them, right? I mean, you're a pegasus. Of course you have."

Flash shook his head, his expression still showing both confusion and a oblivious innocence. "Er...no. I haven't."

"WHAT?!" the blue pegasus's jaw dropped in pure shock at this. He then walked up to Flash, tapping his chest with some force. "You're joking, right? Tell me your joking."

"No." Flash replied, not even blinking. "Never heard of them."

"Okay...this is weird." Soarin began scratching the side of head, now realizing that Flash was not lying. "If that's the case, I guess I'm gonna have to introduce you to them." He then extended his hoof again, showing he wanted to shake Flash's once more. "I'm Soarin, the newest member of the Wonderbolts."

Flash shook back, a big goofy grin on his face. "Nice to meet you Soarin."

"Wait a minute!" Rainbow interrupted again, almost yelling this time. "You can't be serious!"

"Oh, I am." Soarin replied, his smirk growing bigger as he knew what she was going to ask next.

"You can't be." Rainbow retorted, her eyes slightly narrowing. "He seriously had no idea who the Wonderbolts were back then?! He's a pegasus Soarin. There's no way he didn't know about the greatest flyers in Equestria! You have got to be pulling my hoof!"

"I'm not." Soarin replied, his nose slightly twitching. "You do know that Flash originally lived on the streets, right?"

Rainbow leaned back in chair, almost grumbling. "Yeah, I know. I learned a while back that Twilight had to teach him how to read...like, four or five years ago. You're supposed to learn that when you're a filly or colt, not a young pony."

Soarin just rolled his eyes. "Trust me Rainbow, I've known Flash for quite some time. You would be surprised at how oblivious the guy can be."

"How so?"

Soarin's smirk returned. "Let's just say...I had to teach him sarcasm."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. In fact, I knew that I was going to have to teach him much more than just aerial combat on the first day I met him." Soarin now leaned back, his eyes starting to stare at the ceiling. "For instance..."

The Past. Again.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Flash, but I really need to find-" Soarin tried to say, only for his ears to suddenly hear a new voice.

"FLASH! Where are ya lad?" yelled the voice as it took the closest corner and started approaching the hallway the duo was standing in. Hearing this, Flash turned around and waved at it's owner.

"Hey Grand! I'm over here!" Flash exclaimed, an even bigger smile growing on his face.

"Grand?!" Soarin yelped, hopping in place. "Y-y-you mean Grand Hoof?"

"Yeah!" Flash turned back to Soarin, nodding. "He's my mentor!"

"Mentor?!"

Before Soarin could try to say more words, Grand walked up to the duo. "Ah! Flash my boy! So this is where you've been." He then noticed Soarin and raised an eyebrow. "And who's this?"

"This is Soarin!" Flash said with a big smile, pointing at the young stallion. "He said he's a uh...uh...wonder-something?" Flash turned back to Soarin with a slight frown. "What did you say you were again?"

"I'm a Wonderbolt!" Soarin barked, almost growling. "You're a pegasus for pete's sake! How can you not know that?!"

"But I just told you that I don't know what that is." Flash stated flatly. "Why are you getting so angry about that?"

"That's-"

"Now hold on there lad." Grand interrupted, putting his hoof between the two. "Soarin, is it? Are you the Wonderbolt I asked for?"

Soarin almost hopped in place again. He just now remembered he was standing in front of Grand Hoof, the war hero and royal knight. Sweat started to appear under his brow as he gulped, "Er...yes! I uh...um...yes sir!" Soarin gave a quick salute. "I am Soarin of the Wonderbolts, here on duty per your request sir Grand Hoof!"

"Request?" Flash asked.

"I see..." Grand said to himself, ignoring Flash as he looked Soarin over. "You're a mite young for a Wonderbolt. And I remember asking for a few, not one."

"Yes well...I'm the newest member and uh..." Soarin stuttered, watching Grand's moving eyes.

"Spitfire doesn't want to spare any hooves, does she?" Grand grumbled back, only to get a nod from Soarin. "Tch. I told Princess Celestia she wasn't ready for a promotion. Oh well...you do look promising, so you'll have to do."

"Do what Grand?" Flash asked, this time getting Grand's attention.

Grand just chuckled before patting Flash's back, "Simple lad. He's gonna help with your aerial combat training."

"He is?!"

"I am?!"

"Yup." Grand replied, laughing at their reactions. He then leaned down, glaring at the two. They were about to say 'Why do I need an aerial combat trainer?!' or 'Wait, that's why I'm here?!', but his glare quickly shut them both up. Instead, Grand first glared at Flash, "Let's get this out of the way lads. Yes, I asked Soarin to come here to train you Flash, and yes, its because I don't have wings and you need to learn aerial combat." he then turned to Soarin. "And yes, I asked Spitfire because we don't have any pegasi guards here at the moment because they're all on missions around Equestria..." Grand let out a long sigh. "We are so understaffed right now."

Soarin and Flash both glanced at each other, already guessing what each other was about to say. However, Grand decided to continue speaking. "Now listen up you two." Grand stood up high, snorting as he now towered over them. "I know this is sudden, but its what's happening now. I'm sorry I sprung it on the both of you, but that's how its going to be."

Sharing another glance, Soarin then looked back at Grand, a slight glum look on his face. Seeing this, Grand asked, "Not too happy about it, are ya lad?"

"No!" Soarin blurting, shaking his head. "I never said I was...I..." Soarin stopped himself, his mind still trying to catch up with the news. He looked back at Flash, who in return gave him a look that said, 'Sorry. Grand Hoof is always like this.' That alone made Soarin let out a lone sigh, but only for a second. He then remembered all the times he was told that he wasn't allowed to be in the Wonderbolts, being told to be negative about this chances. He knew he needed optimism for this situation. It was the thing that kept him going at times. With this, he looked back at Grand and said, "I'll do it."

"Really?" Flash asked, surprised considering Soarin's earlier reaction.

"Yeah." Soarin replied, nodding. "I mean, the military stuff is part of a Wonderbolt's job."

"That it is lad, that it is." Grand grinned, quickly patting Soarin on the back. The blue pegasus let out a wheeze at the strike, already feeling a tinge of pain from the 'pat'. Grand however, let out a hearty laugh and said, "I think I already like you lad! You're straight as an arrow when comes to your duty. That's a good trait to have!"

"Thanks..." Soarin moaned, his hooves now wobbly.

Flash leaned over and whispered. "Yeah...sorry about that. That's how you know if Grand likes you or not. If he pats you like that, that means he likes you."

"Wonderful..."

And so, the two young ponies were led by Grand to the training grounds. Grand asked Soarin to go ahead and give a demonstration to Flash on what he was going to be learning for the next three weeks. In response, Soarin replicated what he was trained for back at the beginning of Wonderbolt flight training camp, minus the contraptions and weather conditions they would use. With this, Soarin began his first lesson of combat training with Flash, helping Flash learn how to fly in any combat condition. As their lesson started, Grand told Soarin to keep training him till he got back, as Grand was going to go setup a place for Soarin to stay for three weeks.

Then, as their day continued...

"Alright Flash, next we'll add a spin to the original flight pattern I showed you. We'll also add an extra amount of air pressure from your wings to help balance your flight while doing the aerial spin." Soarin commanded as he gave another flap of his wings. "Remember, your wings need to be fine-tipped when doing this, so the feathers don't fly out of sync."

"Um...okay." Flash replied, trying to flap at Soarin's pace. The young stallion's body was now covered in mud and bruises from the training, as the majority of the time was spent with Flash constantly crashing into the ground due to his inexperience with rough, fast-paced flying. "Though uh...could you tell me what that means again? I don't get it."

Soarin let out a sigh, something he was pretty sure he had done the entire training session. "You don't know a thing when it comes to pegasi terms, do you?"

Flash shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."

"Its fine." Soarin rubbed his forehead before flapping over to Flash, quickly nudging the orange wings into place. "Here, just do this and keep it in sync. Your weight needs to fit your wings when you flap them."

"Okay. I'll-ah!" Flash yelped as one mistimed flap caused him to crash into the ground again. "Ow!"

"You okay?" Soarin asked as he landed right by the downed pegasus.

"I'm...okay." Flash replied, slowly getting up.

"You know, maybe we should quit for today. You've been falling a lot and-"

"No." Flash interrupted, glaring at Soarin as he did. "I never give up. Show me how to do it again."

It was here that Soarin saw the true determined look in Flash's eyes. That look was something he had seen before. It was himself, back when he looked into the mirror after telling himself that he was going to become a Wonderbolt. The look made Soarin shine a certain grin as he replied, "Good. Get up, I'll show you the maneuver again."

"Okay." Flash said, quickly ascending. The two spread their wings again, only for their ears to suddenly hop in place.

"AHAHAHA!" laughed a voice, causing them to turn around to find it's owner. It was Grand Hoof, who was now walking up to them. He was still laughing as he trotted up and patted Soarin on the back. "HA! I knew I had a good feeling about you! You're perfect to help teach Flash!"

"Really?" Soarin gasped, trying to fight the new pain in his back.

"You betcha." Grand chuckled, patting him again. "You two gave the same raw determined looks. That's good for ponies your age! Shows ya got spunk!"

"Thanks..."

Grand raised his hoof, smirking. "But, that's enough for today lads. I arranged a place for you to stay Soarin, and Flash has already had morning training. I think this is a good time to call it a day."

The duo glanced at each other before nodding at Grand. "Okay."

"Good. Now follow me lads. I have to give a report to the princess and then show Soarin to his new place." His smirk grew. "I suspect you don't mind coming along Flash?"

"Nope. I don't have anything else to do."

"Good. Let's get going then."

And so, the three reentered the castle. They all trotted down the royal halls, where Grand was pleased to see Soarin and Flash already talking up a storm, as if they were already old friends. As they did, they passed the royal library, only for a certain young red unicorn stallion to walk by. Seeing the pony, Grand's expression twisted into one of anger and fury. Flash knew this expression well as he glanced back at his mentor. It was what he wore when it concerned Grand's family.

"Um...Grand?" Flash tried to say, only to be cut off by Grand.

"Stay right here lads. Don't move a muscle. I'll be right back." With that, Grand turned and walked after the red unicorn. The unicorn had seen Grand and took off, sprinting down the halls. "Solid Script!" he yelled, "COME BACK HERE!"

As he left, Soarin felt his whole body tremble at the sight. "Um...what was that?"

"That was Grand when he's angry." Flash replied, slightly gulping. "Don't worry, he doesn't get angry at ponies like us unless for a really good reason...like the time I accidentally gave him one of Twilight's potions." Flash shivered at the memory. "Yeah...that didn't end well...though he did have good reason to be angry at me."

"Oh..." Soarin slightly gulped before turning to Flash. "Who's Twilight?"

"She's-"

"FLASH SENTRY!" yelled a new voice, making the duo hop in place. They both turned to the voice's owner, only to see a purple unicorn. "What in the name of magic are you doing?!"

"Twilight? What are you-ow!" Flash tried to reply, only to feel an all-too-familiar pain in his ear as a magic aura grabbed it. "Twilight! Stop that!"

"Oh no you don't!" Twilight barked back, pointing at the orange pony. "Look at you! You're covered in mud and dirt! Why are you walking around the castle like that?!"

"Well, Grand told me-"

"Of course! It just had to be Grand!" Twilight interrupted, pulling the ear harder. "Can't he treat the princess's castle with a little more respect?! Why is he letting you walk around like that?!"

Seeing the now pain Flash was in, Soarin tried to intervene. He raised his hoof between the two, "Now hold on, Flash was-"

Soarin found himself cut off by a death glare from Twilight. "And who are you?! Did you help in this mess that Flash is now wearing?! HUH?!"

"Well I-uh-er-I..." Soarin stuttered in pure fear, only to see Twilight suddenly turn around and start pulling Flash away.

"Doesn't matter. Come on Flash, you're taking a bath. Now!"

"But Twilight, Grand said to-"

"NOW!"

And with that, Soarin found himself alone. That and he realized that he was now leaning against a nearby wall, his whole body shaking in fear. "Whoa...that was scary." he told himself. It was here that heard some familiar hoofsteps.

"Blasted brat. All I want to know is where Lightning is and-ah!" Grand grumbled before stopping in front of Soarin. "There you are lad! Sorry about that, I just had to-wait, where's Flash?"

Soarin gulped, not sure if his heart could take anymore. "Um...scary purple unicorn..." he mumbled, his teeth chattering.

"Purple unicorn? Ah! Twilight..." Grand shook his head. "That lass...she loves to interfere with a stallion's work. I'm guessing she's making him take a bath. Am I right?" Soarin slowly nodded his head. "Figures. Welp, I'm not going to be able to stop her. So..." Grand extended his hoof, helping Soarin up. "How about we go meet the princess and then show you to your new place?"

"Um...okay."

The Present...

"And that was how I learned where true fear came from." Soarin finished, raising his head from the table. "Quite a story, huh?"

"Yeah..." Rainbow admitted, leaning back in her chair. She was trying to contain every ounce of her being not to just straight up laugh at Soarin for being scared. After all, she knew that would not be a good impression. "Though I gotta say, I don't think Flash or Twilight have really changed since then."

"Eh, I suspected as much." Soarin said with a shrug. "The only thing that's changed with Flash is that he's less oblivious. Trust me."

"So...what else do you wanna talk about?" Rainbow asked as she took another sip of her milkshake. "Got any other awesome Wonderbolt stories?"

"Well..."

Some time later...

"So...what do ya wanna do now?" Rainbow asked as the duo walked out of Sugarcube Corner. "I mean...we had a snack and uh..." Rainbow tried to continue, only to feel herself starting to stutter.

Soarin on the other hoof, started thinking for a moment while rubbing his hoof under his chin. Then, a certain bulb went off in his head, causing him to turn to Rainbow with a big smirk. "You wanna race?"

This got Rainbow's attention. She quickly tapped her chest, a small smile starting to form on her face. "You...wanna race me?"

Soarin nodded. "Sure. I've seen you do stunt flying, but I haven't seen how well you race yet." He then cricked his neck, just slightly flexing his wings. "So, wanna take me on?"

Rainbow's expression turned to one of pure cockiness. "You're on."

"Rainbow's gonna race a Wonderbolt!" Pinkie cried, deciding to appear at that moment behind them. "I've gotta tell everypony!" With that, the pink earth pony zoomed out of the bakery to go tell their friends and leaving a pair of very confused pegasi.

"What just happened?" Soarin asked.

Rainbow just replied with a sigh. "Pinkie. That's what happened."

"Why do I feel like that didn't explain anything?"

"It did. Trust me."

An hour or so later...

Rainbow and Soarin were now on the outskirts of town. They were currently stretching in preparation of their race, Soarin flexing his wings in a certain circular motion while Rainbow was cricking his hooves. As they did this, they caught sight of several ponies heading their way. It was Flash, Twilight, Spike, Springer, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Scootaloo walking towards them.

"Hey!" Flash called out as they got closer to them, "Pinkie told us that you two were gonna race."

Rainbow shined a cocky smile as she finished her stretching. "We sure are!" Rainbow flexed her wings. "And I'm gonna win."

"You wish." Soarin snarked back, a cocky smirk appearing on his face. Rainbow glared at him, an equal smirk on her face. "You're facing a Wonderbolt. Don't forget that."

Twilight nodded at Soarin. "He's right Rainbow. Soarin's a Wonderbolt for a reason."

"I know," Rainbow grumbled, cricking her neck.

Scootaloo meanwhile, was practically vibrating with anticipation. "I can't believe your about to race a Wonderbolt! This is so AWESOME!"

"You know it kid," Rainbow replied as she ruffled the filly's mane, causing the filly to fall over in a fit of giggles. She then turned to Soarin, giving him a 'you ready?' type of expression.

"So..." Soarin said as he stepped up to her. "How we gonna do this?"

Rainbow then pulled out a map which showed Ponyville and the surrounding areas, along with a red line drawn on it. "We'll be using my special race track, which goes around the edge of Ponyville. We start here, then fly around the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Then we head to the rock quarry near Ghastly Gorge, before a straight half mile towards the finish line."

Soarin looked that map over before nodding. "Alright, sounds like fun."

"I can't wait to see it!" Scootaloo cheered, her body's vibrations increasing in pure happiness.

"Wait...how are we gonna see it?" Rarity asked, pointing at the duo. "All we can do from here is watch you two start the race."

"Pinkie said she had that covered," Flash told her before scratching his head. "Though I thought she would be here by now. Not like Pinkie to be late..."

"I'm here!" Pinkie sudden voice yelled, causing everyone to try and find the party pony. Seeing their confusion, she yelled again, "I'm up here!" The group all looked up to see a balloon floating towards them, with one Pinkamena Diane Pie in its basket. She began waving at her friends as she exclaimed, "Hey everypony! Who wants to take a ride and watch a super fun race?!"

"That's a great idea Pinkie!" Twilight told her as she used her magic to bring the balloon down. "What made you think of getting a balloon?"

"Awww...I can't take all the credit," Pinkie replied as the balloon landed. "It was really Banshee's idea."

"Who's Banshee?"

"That's not important right now," Pinkie said as she threw Flash a rope. "You mind? I doubt the currents and wind will want to follow those two."

"No problem," Flash replied as he began to tie the rope around him before turning to Soarin and Rainbow. "If you two don't mind, give us a minute to get into position."

"Sure." the two agreed, nodding.

Once everypony was loaded inside the basket, Flash pulled the balloon up into the air. He made sure they were at a high enough elevation that they could watch the race but not be in the way. Flash then asked Twilight to help him control the balloon some with her magic, just to make sure they don't let the wind knock them around too much. As they did this, the others began to talk amongst themselves.

"Who do yah think's gonna win?" Applejack asked.

"Hard to say," Flash said as he tightened the rope around himself again. "Rainbow's good, but Soarin's got more training and experience. And I know he's got more stamina when it comes to flying."

"But don't forget that Rainbow's flown this course loads of times," Pinkie chimed in, smiling. "She's got the field advantage!"

"Can't argue there." Twilight agreed, nodding.

"I don't care who wins," Fluttershy said from her corner of the basket. "I'll just be happy if they're both safe after the race."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Flash assured her. "They're professionals Fluttershy."

"But..."

Twilight clapped her hooves, making everypony shut up. "That's enough debating, its time for the race." She then took a megaphone that Pinkie had brought and turned to the racers. "You two ready?"

Rainbow and Soarin nodded, flexing their wings in preparation.

"In three...two...one..."

"GO!" Everypony, minus Fluttershy, in the balloon cried.

The two pegasi shot off, a trail of vapor quickly following them as they started to disappear from sight. Seeing this, Scootaloo hopped up to the basket's edge and pointed forward. "After them Flash!" Scootaloo called out to the apprentice knight.

"You got it!" Flash replied, cricking his neck before pulling the balloon after them.

Soarin was the first to reach the forest, Rainbow right on his tail. The two began flying around the trees, both doing several barrel rolls as they dodged a series of column-like lumbar that covered the dense forest. However, about half way through the area, Soarin's wing clipped a low hanging branch, causing him to lose control. He spiraled to the ground, barely managing to pull himself up so that he could at least land hoof first into the ground.

He soon heard laughing coming from behind him. Looking up, he saw Rainbow fly past him, picking up more speed and breaking ahead. "Too bad, so sad. Later Soarin!"

Soarin smirked, not intending to be beaten that easily. The Bolt flexed his wings again, quickly shooting back into the sky. As he did, Rainbow saw that he was already catching up, causing her to dive forward, trying to pick up more speed. As she did, the two saw the end of the forest, showing their first obstacle was almost done.

At the same time in the sky, Flash had pulled the balloon to where the two were supposed to exit. Twilight currently had a pair of binoculars and was trying to see who was in the lead.

"Anything?" Applejack asked her.

"Nothing yet....wait!" she replied, seeing a flash of rainbow-colored mane. "There! Rainbow's in the lead!"

As Rainbow shot out the forest, everypony but Flash cheered. He instead smirked at the figure coming out of the forest a second later. "Don't celebrate too soon. This race is far from over."

Rainbow had stayed in the lead since they left the forest. Her lead stayed as they flew around the Ponyville's outskirts, making sure her speed didn't falter. As she did this, she soon saw that was drawing closer to the canyon. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Soarin right behind her. No doubt he was at his top speed, yet he still couldn't catch up to her. "This race is mine," she said to herself as she arrived at the canyon.

Said canyon was a large rocky area with high walls that curved so much, that they almost touched and turned itself into a tunnel. Sticking out of the ground were several large stalagmites, some of which went all the way to the roof. The rocks formed a bunch of towers, making more obstacles for the two racers.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow said as she zoomed towards it. "I got this in the bag!"

However, only a moment later, her confidence turned to nothing. As she approached the canyon, her eyes soon saw a new danger. At the top of the canyon was a terrible shake, as a load of rocks rolled down the side of the canyon. The rock formation fell apart, causing a familiar looking avalanche for the rainbow-haired pony. As the rubble fell, her eyes shrunk as she saw the rocky storm, causing her to come to a complete stop.

"Oh no..." she gulped, remembering the last time she had been stuck in an avalanche. The time where she was trying to find a pet, only to do a ridiculous challenge in the canyon...and get trapped in the process. There, her pet Tank the turtle saved her. The memory alone made her come to a stop.

At the same time...

"What the-what's she doing?! Why did Rainbow stop?!" Scootaloo cried as she and the others watched Rainbow remain where she was.

Twilight pulled out her binoculars, glancing at the canyon. "Ah! Its a rock slide. Looks like it might take a while to stop."

"So does that mean the race is over?" Pinkie asked in a disappointed voice.

"I guess so. After all, I don't think Rainbow or Soarin are crazy enough to go through there."

Back at the race...

As he drew closer to Rainbow, Soarin looked past her and saw the rock slide. His first thought was to simply stop and wait it out, only for another thought to enter his head. A cocky smirk popped on to his face. "There's no better time to test this out Soarin. This is what all that training is for." With that, the Wonderbolt shot forward, passing Rainbow and into the canyon.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow called out after him, gasping at the sight of the pegasus seemingly flying into his death.

Her friends were expressing the same things as they watched him enter the canyon.

"Is he insane?!" Twilight screamed, almost dropping her binoculars in a panic.

"Ah agree! He's gonna get crushed in that rock-filled stampede!" Applejack added, clenching her hat.

"Maybe...maybe not." Flash said with a gulp, unsure about what his friend was doing.

"I can't watch," Fluttershy whimpered as she covered her eyes.

But their fears meant nothing to the Wonderbolt. As Soarin was flying towards the rocks, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Relax...be calm and focus." He chanted to himself, taking a long, deep breath. A second later, he opened his eyes and as he did, the whole world seemed to slow down. His eyes moved lighting fast, allowing him to see and memorize the storm of rubble before him. His little grin shined a small sparkle. "Gotcha."

And with that, the world returned to its normal speed.

Rainbow's eyes went wide as she watched a nearby boulder draw close to the Wonderbolt, only for her jaw to literally drop as she saw him dodge the rock without even looking at it. "What the heck?!" Rainbow yelped, her eyes now shrinking in amazement.

Soarin flew through the rock slide, dodging the projectiles and even landing and jumping off some to propel him forward. Further and further he went, at one point grabbing hold of a stalagmite and then spinning around it to build up speed before shooting forward. She couldn't stop watching, just like her friends above her.

"How the heck did he do that?" Scootaloo asked, pointing at the Wonderbolt who was just about to exit the canyon.

"I have no idea," Twilight replied, scratching her head in surprise. "I've never seen a pegasus fly like that..."

Rainbow was just as amazed, until she realized that they were still racing and shot inside the canyon. Most of the rock slide was gone now, giving her an almost straight shot towards the goal. However, by the time she reached the other side of the canyon, Soarin would be making his way to the goal.

"Oh no you don't!" she yelled as she shot forward, picking up as much speed as she could. Everypony starting watching her again, seeing a familiar sight from the rainbow-haired pegasus. Speed continued to increase as she shot in a straight line, the mare now feeling a certain resistance from the sound barrier. She had to do her one technique to win, no matter what the cost.

Then, a vortex of wind spiraled around her, her speed now at the height it needed. And with that, she pushed last one time until-

BOOM!

A radiant explosion of multi-colored light appeared as Rainbow blasted forward at mach speed. Soarin heard the boom and looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw Rainbow on his six, just a little ways away. He could just feel her on his tail as he saw the rainbow trail behind her.

Then, he turned back around, only to see the goal. Two trees that were several feet apart.

Meanwhile...

"They're neck and neck," Flash commented, trying to decide who to watch more.

"This'll be close," Twilight added as she started to bite her hooves. "I can't believe it...."

"I wish I had a camera," Pinkie finished, her mane slight drooping. That is, till her mane regained it's poofiness as she shined a smile. "Oh wait! I do have a camera! The author let me put one in my mane!" she then reached into her mane and pulled it out, quickly taking photos.

"Ah'll never understand you Pinkie." Applejack said, shaking her head.

Back at the race...

The goal was inches way now.

Time seemed to slow down as they got closer and closer, the racers now neck and neck. Thanks to her rainboom, Rainbow had just caught up to Soarin, only for duo to finally feel their stamina draining. Exhaustion was here, and the race was about to end. Seeing this, the two shared a glance before giving one last push. The second they did so, they re-angled their wings against the wind barrier, blasting through the two trees.

The race was over.

With this, the two flexed their wings, trying to make the wind stop their flight. As they came to stop, they almost collapsed into the ground, pure exhaustion taking over as they landed.

"That...was intense." Rainbow panted, her tongue sticking out as she felt her wings twitch in pain.

"Yeah...yeah it was." Soarin agreed, falling to the ground and rolling over in the grass. "Oh...been a while since I went that far..."

Rainbow nodded before collapsing as well. "Same here."

As they laid there, Flash flew over and dragged the balloon down. As it landed, the gaggle of friends jumped out and ran over to the racers, Scootaloo first as she cheered for Rainbow.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" she cheered, a huge grin on her face. "You were so awesome Rainbow!"

"Heh heh...you know it," Rainbow replied, faintly chuckling.

"So uh..." Applejack said as she scratched her head. "Who won?"

Rainbow and Soarin shared a glance, unsure since it was so close. They both looked back at Applejack and said in unison. "I don't know."

Then, as if on cue, Pinkie hopped in front of them with several polaroids. "Don't worry everypony, I have the photo finish!"

"Nice one Pinkie." Flash commented as Pinkie started flipping through the pictures. She went over every moment she took a picture of, only to get to the goal. There, she showed shot for shot, only to see a certain pony winning by just an inch.

"I WON!" Soarin yelled happily, flexing his hooves in cheering pose. "AW YEAH!"

"No way..." Rainbow said as she grabbed the picture and looked at it closely. "I really lost."

"Well, you were facing a Wonderbolt," Flash assured her, patting her back.

"This bites," she said as she threw the polaroid away. "I would have won if it hadn't been for that stupid rock slide."

"That does bring up a good point," Twilight said before she turned to Soarin. "How did you get through that? We couldn't see from our position, though it looked like you knew where all the rocks were when you were flying through there."

Soarin just smiled at this, as if he knew the secret to the mystery of the universe. "Well, a few years ago after I had been accepted into the Wonderbolts, I was trying to train so I could get faster and more agile. However, no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to get any better. I reached my body's physical limit."

"Then what did you do?" Scootaloo asked.

Soarin smirked at the little filly. "I started training my mind."

"Your mind?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I couldn't get any faster, so I had to find a different way to improve my reaction time. Then, I heard about a form of meditation which allows you to become super sensitive about information and instincts."

"You're talking about the Theta State," Twilight realized in amazement, getting a nod from the Wonderbolt as a response.

"I can only do it for about four or five seconds, but those few seconds were all I needed." Soarin gave a cocky shrug. "When I used it back there, the rocks were basically falling in super slow motion, allowing me to fly through them with ease."

"Sounds awesome," Flash said, crossing his hooves. "Figures that you would figure out something like that."

"But like I said, I can only do it for a few seconds. With enough focus and training, any pony can do it for as long as they want."

"So you beat me using some silly egghead stuff?" Rainbow glared with a raised eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

Soarin just smirked at her. "Nope. What you call egghead stuff, I call hard training. Here's a tip for being a Wonderbolt Rainbow, speed isn't everything."

"If you say so," Rainbow replied, letting out a low snort. She then looked back at him, still slightly glaring. "So...if I wanted to learn this...feet-tear thing, what would I need to do?"

"Yeah," Flash added, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "I would love to try and learn it. Can you imagine fighting an opponent that's moving super slow?"

"They wouldn't be moving super slow Flash." Twilight corrected him. "They would be moving at normal speed, but your brain would be processing the movement so fast that it would look like they were moving slower. Besides, it takes years of study and training to pull off."

"Than I better get started, then shouldn't I?" Flash replied as he turned back to Soarin. "What do you say, wanna try teaching me?"

Soarin just shrugged. "Sure, I've taught ya plenty of things before. I can give this a go too."

"You're also gonna give me a rematch!" Rainbow told him as she flew up into his face. "And this time, I'm gonna win."

Soarin chuckled before extending his hoof. "I'll make you a deal. I'll race you again, but only when you become a Wonderbolt."

Rainbow smiled and shook the hoof. "Then don't expect to be waiting long."

"Don't worry, I won't."

The rest of that week was like a blur.

Instead of commuting between Cloudsdale and Ponyville like he had originally intended, Soarin had taken up an offer Flash gave him about staying in the library for a week. With this arrangement in mind, Soarin got to enjoy hanging out and doing different Ponyville activates. In the morning, he and Flash would work on meditating while also practising their aerial fighting skills. Then it was either apple bucking at sweet apple acres, helping with wild animals at Fluttershy's cottage, or even being a model for one of Rarity's new designs. Throughout all of this was Rainbow, who had offered to be his guide for the week. Soarin was happy for the company. The day before Soarin was set to return to Cloudsdale, Pinkie had thrown him the biggest party at the library. Everypony in Ponyville came to see off the Wonderbolt, some wanting autographs that Soarin was happy to give.

And with that, his week of Ponyville fun was done.

The next morning, Soarin was set to leave and his friends all saw him off. The only one who didn't seem happy, though she tried like Tartarus not to show it, was Rainbow Dash. Granted, she was there to send him off too, though she constantly claimed it to be 'showing Soarin one last time that she would beat him next time they raced and not because they were friends'. This gained several sarcastic remarks, causing her to blush in embarrassment before yelling at the group. That and Springer telling everyone she was lying thanks to her aura, causing her to chase after the jakhowl in an embarrassed rage.

Now, several days had passed since Soarin returned to Cloudsdale and we find our heroes, minus Flash and Springer, in the library helping Twilight with her 're-shelving days'.

"Thanks for the help girls," Twilight said as she put the last book in its rightful place. "I'm so glad I finally got to do this."

"No problem darling," Rarity replied as she flipped back her mane. "We're always happy to help."

In that moment, the front door opened with Flash and his jakhowl partner entering. "Awwww..." he cried with fake disappointment as he looked around, "Did I miss re-shelving day? Shoot. I'm so sorry Twilight."

"Yeah," Twilight rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk, "I'm sure you're heart-broken."

Flash just chuckled as he walked inside, before spotting one Rainbow Dash laying on one of the empty shelves. "Hey Rainbow, you okay?"

Rainbow sighed before turning around to face the back of the shelf.

"She's been like this ever since Soarin left," Fluttershy whispered to Flash.

"I noticed," Flash replied.

"They did get awfully close while he was here," Rarity commented, trying to hide a smirk.

"Ah'll say," Applejack added, shaking her head. "Poor gal keeps moping."

Twilight let out a sigh before walking over to the bookshelf. "Rainbow! Stop doing that! I know you miss him, but you can't just sit around moping all day!"

Rainbow just looked back over her shoulder. "Who says I'm missing him? I'm just...not feeling particularly awesome today."

"Right...sure you are." Twilight replied sarcastically.

They would have kept talking, but at that moment there was a knock at the door. Twilight trotted over to it and opened it up. "Hello?" she spoke as she looked outside, only to see Derpy in her mail uniform.

"Hi Twilight! I've got a package for Flash." Derpy exclaimed as she shined a big smile. Everypony else turned to Flash, who gave a look confusion. He didn't remember ordering anything. However, before Flash could ask, Derpy pulled out a brown paper package and handed it to him, only to notice Rainbow on the shelf. "Oh! I've got a package for you too Rainbow. You want me to go ahead and give it to ya?"

This got the pegasi's attention, causing her to get up from the shelf and fly over to the mailpony. Derpy handed Rainbow a package the exact same size and shape as Flash's before giving a salute and flying off.

"What is it?" Pinkie said as she bounced up to them. "What is it, what is it?"

Flash and Rainbow opened them, only to find a book with a note attached to it. Flash took the note and opened it, smiling as he read it. "It's from Soarin."

"Mine too!" Rainbow added, cheer returning to her voice.

Flash took a small breath, "Dear Flash, this is a copy of the book that I learned all my meditation techniques from. Hopefully it'll help you master them and enter the Theta State. Signed, Soarin."

"What does yours say Rainbow?" Twilight asked her.

Rainbow read it over before putting the note in the book. "Oh uh, same as Flash's." Rainbow tried her best not to blush, since her's had a PS asking her to write back to Soarin, who had put his address on the note.

With that, Flash and Rainbow both opened their books, looking over the written words. As they did, Twilight's eyes lit up as she quickly leaned over and looked at the books' covers. "Oh wow...I've never read that book. Mind if I give it a look?"

Flash raised his head out of the book, a deadpan stare following. "After I read it Twilight. I need to know everything about these techniques as I can."

"Same here." Rainbow added as she gave the same stare. "I need to read this to so I can do those cool moves."

"Phooey..." Twilight whined, making everypony laugh.

While that was happening, Rainbow stared down at the book. After a quick glance to make sure her friends weren't looking, she pulled book close to her chest and hugged it. A brilliant smile appeared on her face as she did this. She knew this was just the beginning.

Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

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Our story today opens up in the canyon area that Flash and Twilight had defeated Big Score and his cronies in. The place might have looked peaceful, but looks can be deceiving. For instance, the canyon was currently illuminated with orange light and several yells from a certain familiar orange pegasus.

"FLASH FORCE!"

"FLASH CUTTER!"

"FLASH DRIVER!"

You may be wondering what was happening. Was Flash fighting off a horde of bandits, or some kind of monster? The answer was no, the one he was fighting was Iron Core.

"Flash Cutter!" The pegasi apprentice knight swung his Celestic Gear through the air, unleashing a blade of light towards the earth pony.

Iron just smirked, holding up Piecemaker. "Iron Guard Shield!" In a quick flash, the spear head changed to its shield form and the Flash Cutter simply bounced off. The force of the attack seemed to only push Iron a few inches back. "Come on, that's nothing Sentry!"

"Alright then, try this! New move..." Flash began spinning like a top while in the air, his weapon glowing. "Flash Cutter Barrage!" Several blades of energy shot out of Lightbringer, firing in quick succession toward Iron. Iron smirked before transforming his shield into a sword, quickly striking down each Flash Cutter in a flash of finesse. This continued till Flash finally stopped his attack as he succumbed to a spell of dizziness.

Iron put the blade over his shoulder. "Not bad, but it still needs work."

Flash smirked at this. "Alright. If that's the case, what have you got then?"

Iron returned the spear to its base form before pointing it to the ground. "Iron Spike Assault!" He struck the ground and dug the spearhead into it. The next thing Flash knew, the ground beneath him began to shake. Before he could even ask what was happening, a line of giant metal spikes shot out of the ground towards him.

"Whoa!" Flash yelled as he flexed his wings and shot into the air, dodging the onslaught of spikes.

"How's that?" Iron asked as the spikes retracted and he pulled Piecemaker out of the ground.

"Not bad," Flash said as he landed, quickly dusting himself off with his wings. "Its a good move for taking out multiple opponents."

Iron smirked as he spun Piecemaker like a baton. "That's right shrimp. And with a little more practice, I'll be able to make more than one line of awesome iron spikes."

"Tch, yeah right. Knowing your sorry slow hide, it'll take you a million years!" Flash retorted, spinning Lightbringer as well.

"Oh yeah?!" Iron barked back, transforming his weapon into a hammer. "Let's go featherboy! I'll kick your flank right now!"

"Bring it on!" Flash readied himself, taunting Iron with one his hooves. "I can do this all day Iron! In fact, I'm gonna-"

RING! RING! RING!

The duo turned their heads to the sudden sound, only to see a tiny alarm clock ringing like no tomorrow. Two sighs followed as Flash went up and tapped the alarm clock. "Looks like that's it for training," Flash said as now he moved over to where he had placed his saddle bag.

"Shame." Iron replied as he did the same. "I wanted to spend a little bit more time kicking your flank."

"Oh please, I was kicking your flank." Flash retorted back before shrugging his head to the road in front of them. "Now come on, we've got other stuff to do."

The two headed out of the canyon and made their way towards town. They had recently decided to change their heavy duty training area to the canyon to prevent damage to the Everfree Forest. That and it made sure that they didn't disturb any random abomination inside the evil trees. As they reached the edge of town, Iron spoke up, "So...where's Springer? That mutt usually doesn't leave your side."

"The same place everypony else is," Flash replied as he waved his hoof around, insinuating the sigh in front of him. As such, Ponyville had become a ghost town, seeing there was nopony in sight. "Cider Season."

"Ah, makes sense. Though uh...you didn't want to go?"

"Not really a big cider fan," Flash explained as they passed Rarity's closed shop. "Plus, I had better things to do today then stand in a line waiting to get one cup of a drink."

"I think that might be the first thing we agree on," Iron replied with a chuckle. "And that's saying something." With that statement in mind, the duo decided to head to Sweet Apple Acres anyways, as they knew they still had to perform guard duty. That and everypony was there, so it made things slightly easier...till Iron saw a ridiculous line of ponies outside of the farm. "They're seriously lining up to buy a drink that they can get at a corner shop in five minutes?"

Flash just shrugged in response. "From what I hear, Sweet Apple Cider is supposed to be the best in all of Equestria. It must be good if this many ponies are lining up for just a cup. Pinkie was so excited that she came over last night, saying she wanted to camp out to be first in line. Heck, Twilight and Springer liked the idea so much that they did the same."

"Right...that's dumb."

They walked down the path towards the front of the line, where they saw a bunch of ponies they recognized were waiting patiently for their cup. That and one particular pony that was waiting impatiently.

"Come on!" Rainbow said as she jogged in place. "Hurry it up! I wanna a drink of cider!"

"Seriously?" Iron asked, dumbfounded at the sight in front of him.

"Oh!" Fluttershy said as she noticed Flash and Iron. "Hello you two. Are you two planning on getting a cup of cider?"

"If you are, then get to the back of the line!" Rainbow barked at them, pointing at the end. "I'm not giving up my spot for somepony who didn't get up early enough."

"I'm pretty sure we were up before you," Flash told her flatly. "And we don't want any cider. We just came over because Ponyville's a literal ghost town."

"Ghosts?!" Fluttershy yelped, only to get three flat stares in response.

"Ghost town, Fluttershy. As in, there's nopony there to-"

"Excuse me."

Flash and Iron turned around, only to see a stack of cider filled cups with pink legs walking towards them. "Pinkie?" Flash asked as he and Iron moved so the stack could pass by. "Did you buy all those for the ponies who might not get some?"

"Nope! They're all for me!" Pinkie exclaimed as she continued her balancing act.

"Seriously?" Flash asked, almost yelling. "You bought...one, two, three, four...nine cups for yourself?!"

"Ten actually."

"Isn't that a little greedy? What about the nine ponies who won't get to have a cup now?" Pinkie thought for a moment, several moments actually, until Flash just rolled his eyes and walked off with Iron. With this, they arrived at the front of the line, where they found Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Springer all enjoying a cup. "Hey everypony, how is it?"

"Not bad." Springer replied, taking his last sip.

"You really should try some darling." Rarity told him, batting her mane before taking another swig. "Its quite good."

Flash replied with a shrug. "Not really a cider fan."

"Then why are you here?"

"Not much point watching over a town with no ponies in it," Iron replied. "Besides, might be a good idea to hang out here. Me and Sentry get the feeling that we might need to do some crowd control soon."

And so, they watched as more and more ponies bought a cup of cider. As they did, the Apples kept going through cider barrel after cider barrel. Flash looked down the line and saw Rainbow and Fluttershy getting closer to the front, with Rainbow looking like she was about to lose her mind as she saw Big Mac loading the final barrel. Flash really hoped she got a cup, mostly because he didn't want to deal with an angry Rainbow. Eventually, Fluttershy got her cup and Rainbow was at the front. But as Fluttershy walked away and Applebloom pulled the tap, there was a spluttering sound as nothing but air came out of it. The last barrel was empty. Rainbow looked close to tears, before her face became one of anger and annoyance.

"Sorry everypony," Applejack said as she stepped up to line. "That's it for today."

A collective groan filled the air, as the ponies who had been waiting patiently complained.

Rainbow flew in front of the earth pony, her angry look all too visible. "Surprise, surprise. You ran out...again!"

"Yeah! You always run out!" an earth pony Flash knew as Caramel yelled.

Fluttershy blushed as she realised she had taken the last cup. "For the record, I don't mind-"

"Why can't you make enough cider for everypony?" Rainbow asked, cutting the yellow pegasi off. "Or at least for me?!"

This of course, resulted in the line breaking apart and they began crowding around Applejack, voicing their complaints. Not liking the look of this, Flash jumped in front of her, making the ponies back off slightly. He took a deep breath before yelling at the crowd. "Alright everypony, let's all try to calm down!" He glared at Rainbow and the others. "Now, you can't expect four ponies to make enough cider for everypony in town every single day! They would keel over by day five."

"He's right!" Applejack said as she leapt onto the stand they had been selling the cider from. "We've done our best to improve supply this year!"

"You always say that!" Caramel barked back.

"And it's always true!" Applejack replied proudly. "But Apple Family Cider is made with love and integrity, and only the highest quality apples in Equestria. Sorry, but that recipe takes time." Applejack's speech didn't go over so well with the crowd, who all yelled as they began to make their way home. "And if ya'll just be patient, there'll be plenty more tomorrow!" Applejack called after them.

As Rainbow turned to leave, Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of her. "She's right you know. You can't rush perfection and this year's perfection!"

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much..." Flash growled as he and Springer stepped up to her. "Because you're not going to be having anymore this year."

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screamed as she rushed up to the pegasi. "Why can't I have any more?! That's not fair!"

"It's totally fair!" Flash replied as he pointed to the grumbling ponies leaving. "You bought ten cups of the stuff and that's more than half of these ponies are gonna get this year combined."

Pinkie thought about what he had just said before turning to the still angry Rainbow, realising how greedy she was being. "I'm sorry."

Flash nodded. "But sorry doesn't cut it Pinkie. I want you to Pinkie Promise that you won't buy anymore cider this year, and to only buy one cup next year. Got it?"

"I promise," she replied as she did the action.

"Good. Now go home."

Pinkie nodded and began to head back to town while Twilight stepped up to Flash. "Wasn't that a bit harsh Flash?"

Flash just sighed. "Sometimes my job requires me to be harsh Twilight, even to my friends."

"I just wish there was a way to make enough cider for everypony," Springer added. "There must be an easier way to make more of the stuff."

Twilight shook her head before patting Springer's head. "Nothing worth having is achieved easily Springer. In fact, sometimes the hardness of getting it makes it even better."

Before Springer could say anything else, something caught everypony's ear.

BEEP! BEEP!

Everypony looked for the source of the beeping, only to see something pumping out steam and slowly making its way to the farm. Iron then stepped up next to Fluttershy, his eyes squinting at the sight. "What's that?"

Flash wanted to reply, but he couldn't. "I'm...not sure. I've never seen something like that before."

That, turned out to be a wood and metal land train that was steam powered. It was red with large front wheels and small back ones with a barrel-shaped machine on its back. At the front of machine was a stage like construct with a wooden podium. Seeing this, the machine came to a stop in front of the crowd, knocking over a post and making Granny Smith frown at it.

The crowd slowly gathered around the machine, all wondering what it was and why it was here. As they did, two identical unicorns suddenly hopped off the stage. They had the same stature as Mr. Cake, but were cream in color and had red manes and tails. They both wore a blue and white striped shirt along with a black bow tie, though one of the unicorns had a moustache under his nose. The two unicorns looked at the crowd until the one without a moustache turned to the other with a cocky smirk.

Then, he started to sing.

"Well, lookie what we got here, brother of mine! Its the same in every town!"

He moved over to Berry Punch and placed his hoof under her nuzzle.

"Ponies with thirsty throats, dry tongues, and not a drop of cider to be found."

Berry looked shocked at this as the unicorn moved back over to his brother.

"Maybe they're not aware that there's really no need for this teary despair."

The moustached unicorn nodded, before joining the song.

"That the key that they need to solve this sad cider shortage, you and I will share!"

This certainly got everypony's attention, causing them to begin chatting loudly at the prospect of solving their problem. Seeing this, the two unicorns began singing in sync.

"Well, you've got opportunity! In this very community!"

"He's Flim!"

"He's Flam!"

"We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers, travelling salesponies nonpareil!"

Springer was confused. "Nonpa-what?" Flim then moved over to him.

(Flim)

"Nonpareil, and that's exactly the reason why, you see! No pony else in this whole place will give you such a chance to be where you need to be!"

He picked Applebloom up in his hoof before kissing her forehead. He then leapt onto his machine's stage.

(Flim)

"And that's a new world, with tons of cider! Fresh squeezed and ready for drinking!"

Flam was also on the machine, riding atop a large vacuum like hose with a bronze nozzle.

(Flam)

"More cider than you could drink in all your days of thinking."

"I doubt that," Rainbow said as she flew by.

(Flim and Flam)

"So take this opportunity."

(Flim, Flam and crowd)

"In this very community."

(Flam)

"He's Flim."

(Flim)

"He's Flam."

(Flim and Flam)

"We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers. Travelling salesponies, nonpareil!"

Flash leaned over to Iron, whispering. "These guys can sure put on a show."

Iron let out a low maon before rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, and they're giving me a headache."

Flim then moved back over to the crowd before pointing at the machine.

(Flim)

"I suppose by now you're wondering 'bout our peculiar mode of transport."

(Flam)

"I say, our mode of locomotion."

Flim then moved over to the podium.

(Flim)

"And I suppose by now you're wondering, where is this promised cider?"

(Flam)

"Any horse can make a claim and anypony can do the same!"

(Flim)

"But my brother and I have something most unique and superb, unseen at any time in this big new world!"

(Flim and Flam)

"And that's opportunity!"

Flim began moving through the crowd once again.

(Flim)

"Folks, it's the one and only, the biggest and the best!"

(Flam)

"The unbelievable!"

(Flim)

"Unimpeachable!"

(Flam)

"Indispensable!"

(Flim)

"I-can't-believe-able!"

(Flim and Flam)

"Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand!"

Everypony once again looked up at the Flim-Flam Brother's machine, amazed by their claims that it could make enough cider for them all.

"What do you say sister?" Flim asked as he stood by Rarity, causing her to faint and forcing Spike to catch her. As he did this, Twilight, Flash and Iron watched as the rest of the crowd began to join in on the brothers' song.

(Crowd)

"Oh, we got opportunity, in this very community.
Please, Flim, please, Flam, help us out of this jam.
With your Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand!"

"Young filly," Flim moved over to Applejack. "I would be ever so honored if you might see fit to let my brother and I borrow some of your delicious, and might I add, spellbindingly fragrant apples for our little demonstration here?"

Applejack thought for a moment, seemingly still bewildered by the brother's entrance. "Uh, sure, ah guess."

(Crowd)

"Opportunity, in our community."

(Flam)

"Ready Flim?"

(Flam)

"Ready Flam."

(Flim and Flam)

"Let's bing bang ZAM!"

They fired their magic at the machine, causing the hose to once again extend and fly over to a nearby apple tree.

"And show these thirsty ponies a world of delectable cider."

(Crowd)

"Cider, cider, cider, cider..."

"Watch closely, my friends!" Flim said as the machine created a vacuum, which caused the apples to be sucked inside the hose and inside the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand.

(Flam)

"The fun begins!"

"Now, here's where the magic happens," Flam explained from atop the machine. "Right here in this heaving, roiling, cider-press-boiling guts of a machine, those apples plucked fresh are right now as we speak being turned into grade-A, top-notch, five-star, blow-your-horseshoes-off, one-of-a-kind cider!"

Everypony, even Twilight, Spike, Springer and Rarity, were beginning to believe what they were saying to be true. Only one pony didn't like what they were selling.

(Granny Smith)

"Now wait, you fellers, hold it!
You went and over-sold it!
I guarantee that what you have there won't compare!"

She moved closer to the machine, looking mighty angry.

"For the very most important ingredient,
Can't be added or done expedient,
And it's quality, friends, Apple Acres' quality and care!"

Everypony seemed to believe her. What was the point in having so much cider, if it tasted horrible? Flim and Flam also seemed to be listening, but the smirks they both had showed they weren't worried.

(Flim)

"Well, Granny, I'm glad you brought that up, my dear, I say I'm glad you brought that up!
You see that we are very picky when it comes to cider if you'll kindly try a cup."

He handed Granny a cup and she took a swig. Her eyes went wide from the delicious taste, only to then realize that she need to hide said deliciousness reaction. As she did this, everypony began looking at the machine through a little window, seeing one apple after the other being pulled along on a conveyor belt. Said apple would stop in the center of the window before one of the two lights on the side flashed. If the green light flashed, the apple was moved into the cider making area, but if the red light flashed, the apple was dropped into the rubbish.

(Flim and Flam)

"Yes, sir, yes, ma'am, this great machine accepts the very best."

(Flam)

"So whaddaya say then, Apples?"
"Care to step into the modern world and put the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand, to the test?"

Once again, the crowd was chanting cider over and over. Flim rushed over to said crowd with a smirk. "What do you think folks? Do you see what the Apples can't? I see it clear as day! I know she does! So does he! Come on Ponyville, you know what I'm talking about!"

(Flim and Flam)

"We're saying you've got..."

(Flim, Flam and Crowd)

"Opportunity, in this very community
He's Flim, he's Flam
We're/They're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers
Traveling salesponies nonpareil!"

(Flim and Flam)

"YEAH!"

With that, their song came to an end and before anypony else could react, Applebloom shot in front of the brothers and held up her hoof. "You got a deal!"

The crowd all cheered, but Granny Smith wasn't so easily swayed.

"Not so fast," she barked before motioning the apples into a huddle circle. Flash tried to listen in, but even his hearing couldn't pick up what they were saying. In the blink of an eye however, Flim and Flam somehow got into the huddle and joined the conversation.

A few seconds later, the huddle was broken by Applejack with a scowl on her face. "Hang on there! Who gets the seventy five?" she asked the brothers.

"Why us naturally," Flim told her.

"And," Flam butted in, "we'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free."

Applejack turned back to her family. "Cider sales keep our business a float through the winter. We'd lose Sweet Apple Acres if we agreed to this."

"So?" The brothers asked in unison. "What'll it be?"

"No deal," Mac told them flatly.

The looks on Flim and Flam's faces were one of anger, obviously hating the refusal. "Very well. If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we'll just have to be competitors."

"You wouldn't dare!" Applejack barked back, growling.

"Oh no!" Flim replied before turning back to their machine, showing a fake frown.

"Don't you worry everypony!" Flam said from his spot at the podium. "There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!"

"Once we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business," Flim whispered to the Apples, causing them to all gasp.

With that, the two brothers started up their machine and rolled down the road. As they did, Springer turned to Flash. "I uh...don't get how of this works. They aren't really gonna try and drive Applejack and her family out of business, are they?"

Flash did a slight shrug. "That looks to be their intention buddy."

"Can't you and Iron do something?" Fluttershy asked.

Iron just shook his head. "Sorry, but no, we can't. As long as they don't break the law or put anypony in danger, we're powerless to stop them."

Hearing this made everypony grow sombre.

"Hey now," Applejack yelled as she jumped back onto the stall. "We ain't gonna let a pair of fancy speaking show ponies beat us. Sure, they have their high tech do-hickey, but they don't have the love that we put into each barrel of our cider. You'll see!"

"I hope you're right Applejack," Twilight told her with a slight grimace.

Applejack only sighed in response. "So do ah."

The Next Day...

Once again, the town of Ponyville was deserted. Like yesterday, everypony was back in line to try and get a cup of cider. Flash, Iron, Twilight, Springer and Applejack were all standing by the stall with Twilight, Spike and Springer all having a cup of cider in possession.

"Still worried about Flim and Flam?" Twilight asked Applejack as she finished her cup.

"Granny Smith says they were just blowing hot air," Spike replied, taking his last sip.

Applejack sighed before shaking her head. "I'm not so sure. They sounded mighty serious when they threatened to run us out of business."

Springer let out a shrug. "I did sense that they had a really weird aura to them. I couldn't quite put my paw on it."

"How could they run you out of business anyway?" Flash asked, blinking at his friends. "They can't make cider without apples, and you guys are the only apple providers around. That means they shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Before anypony could answer him, they heard Applebloom call out. "That's it! Last cup!"

"OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!" They all heard Rainbow scream from a mile away. The rest of the line also housed their displeasure at the sound of not getting a cup.

"Come on back tomorrow everypony," Applebloom assured them, waving at the crowd.

More annoyed yells filled the air until they were drowned out by the sound of a familiar vehicle. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand rolled up to the stall, knocking over the same fence that Granny Smith had just that minute repaired. As the machine came to a stop, Flim and Flam leapt off and moved over to Applejack. "What seems to be the problem here?" Flim asked her.

Flam then stepped up. "Oh my, oh my, out of cider again."

Flim then moved over to the back of the machine, which then unloaded a barrel. "What have we here?" He asked as the barrel landed on the ground. "Who would like a cup?

Flash and Iron barely managed to push their friends out of the way of being trampled as the stampede of cider starved ponies rushed past them. They crowded around the machine as the twins began filling cups. "Don't worry everypony!" Flam said as he handed to first cup to Rainbow. "We've got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy six thousand to make more in an instant!"

Applejack, who Flash heard gasp for some reason, pulled out her trusty lasso and threw it at the barrel. She managed to snag it before yanking it away, causing the barrel to almost collide with Rainbow, spilling her drink. "You can't sell that cider!" Applejack barked as the barrel rolled to her hooves. "That's made from Apple Family apples."

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?!" A distraught Rainbow cried as she moaned the loss of her cider.

"She's right," Flash said as he moved over to the brothers, his hoof ready on his blade. "If you want to sell that cider, you'll need to pay the Apples for every...apple, you used to make it."

The Flim-Flam Brothers raised an eyebrow at the pegasi's presence. "And who might you be?" Flim asked.

"Flash Sentry," the apprentice knight replied before gesturing to Iron. "Me and Iron Core are the ones in charge of keeping the peace around here, by royal authority." He empathized the last three words as he continued. "So the two of you either pay up, or I'll be forced to confiscate these barrels."

The brother shared a glance before turning back to the crowd. Flim did a slight gulp as he waved at the crowd. "Don't worry everypony, there are plenty of apples in Equestria. We'll find some others and make more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!"

Applebloom chose to take this moment to challenge the twins. "We'll make more cider than you could ever imagine!"

The crowd were beginning to get restless hearing the smack talk. However, before the twins or filly could say anything else, Big Mac grabbed Applebloom by the tail and pulled her away. Granny Smith turned to her tail hanging granddaughter. "Now, it ain't about the speed, young'un. Its about quality."

The crowd only groaned hearing this, with Rainbow looking more annoyed then ever. "Who cares how good the cider is if I never get to drink any?!"

"So you would drink something that tastes disgusting as long as you get to drink it?" Flash asked her, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "I'll remember that."

"You know what I mean!" Rainbow barked back before Flim appeared and grabbed her by the cheeks.

"Oh, look at these poor, dissatisfied ponies." Flim fake gasped, waving his body around in fake despair. "How sad they have to rely on these Apples!"

"Ponyville is Sweet Apple Cider country!" Applebloom yelled with a frantic wave of her hooves, causing Mac to lose his grip and drop her on her head. "You ain't-"

Applejack's hoof inserted itself into the filly's mouth, interrupting her as Applejack tipped her hat at the duo. "She's right. Our cider speaks for itself."

"Then let's put it to the test." Flim mocked as he laid on a couch that was bolted to their machine's stage.

"Anywhere, anytime." Applebloom challenged.

Once again, the crowd was getting riled up, excited at the sound of a possible competition. Flash and Twilight shared a concerned glance, fearing that this might be getting out of hoof. Thankfully, Granny Smith seemed to share this thought as she spoke up. "Well, that's enough now. We ain't doing no contest here."

Flam however, was all about the idea of the contest. Casting a cocky smirk at the ponies, he said, "With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!"

"We'll do it in forty five minutes!" Applebloom yelled, causing the crowd to grow even more excited.

"Easy, Applebloom, easy," Granny told her granddaughter, patting her head. "We ain't doing that. Now, how about we-"

"What's the matter Granny Smith?" Flim interrupted, his hat shielding his eyes to show his relaxed position. "Chicken?"

That did it.

Granny's eyes narrowed, one of them twitching as she hissed. "What did you call me sunny?"

"If you're so confidant in your cider, then what's the problem?"

In that moment, Granny Smith moved at speeds even Rainbow would have trouble reaching as she suddenly appeared in front of Flim. "Tomorrow morning, right here!"

Flam then got back into the conversation. "But I'm afraid we haven't any...apples!"

"You can use our south field," Granny told him sternly. "It'll be worth it to teach y'all a thing or two about cider making!"

That was all Flim and Flam needed to hear. "Excellent! We have a bet!" Flim held out his hoof to shake. "Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville."

Before Granny could shake his hoof, Flash decided to interject. "Hold it!" He cried, flying in between them. He let out a long sigh before turning to Granny. "Are you sure about this? You know what could happen if you lose."

"Ah know," Granny said, a low growl in her tone. "But this is something we have to do."

Flash saw the determined look in her eyes, recognizing it as the same one he had seen Applejack use so many times. A look which said 'I will win, no matter the cost'. Flash let out another sigh before stepping back so he was in a position where he could see both her and Flim. "Fine. But to make sure its an even contest, I'll be making the rules."

Flim gave a devilish grin. "Deal! No matter what rules you make, me and my brother's machine will not be beat."

"We'll see about that!" Granny barked back, shaking her hoof at them. "And when we beat ya, Ah don't ever want to see you bambahoozlers around here ever again!"

"Agreed." Flam said nonchalantly before turning to Flash. "Now, the rules?"

"Will be told to you all tomorrow." Flash replied, lightly jabbing the unicorn's chest. "That way, you'll both be on even footing and there can't be any cheating."

The brothers gave each other a cocky smirk before leaping back onto their machine. "Until tomorrow."

With that, they drove away. And as Applejack watched them disappear, a look of worry appeared on her face. Then, Twilight tapped her shoulder, a look a little less worry on her face. "Don't worry Applejack, I'm know you'll win tomorrow."

"We'd better," Applejack replied with a long sigh. "Cause if we don't, we're gonna lose the farm."

As they watched Applejack and her family return to their farm, Flash and the others all shared a sombre look. Flash let out another sigh before saying, "I really hope I didn't just do something I'll regret later."

"This isn't your fault Flash," Twilight told him. "The uh...competitive spirit came over all of them. Though um...I do hope you've got a good set of rules to help them win."

"Yeah..." Flash replied, a slight bit of sweat appearing under his mane. "I hope I do too."

The Next Morning. Again.

For the third day in a row, the town of Ponyville was empty. Everypony was once again at Sweet Apple Acres. However, instead of trying to get a cup of cider, they were all there to cheer the Apples on in their battle against the Flim-Flam Brothers. As for the Apples, they were all warming themselves up, bright and ready for the competition. Big Mac was stretching out his legs to make sure he wouldn't cramp while Granny was preparing to do quality control as Applejack and Applebloom were practising for apple collecting by using a punching bag.

As they did this, Twilight walked up to her honest friend. "Applejack, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Applejack had the same determined look on her face had Granny had yesterday. "Me and the family area hundred percent confidant in our cider making capabilities Twilight. We know we'll win."

"And besides," Applebloom continued as she held onto the bag. "Nopony calls granny a chicken."

Before Twilight could say anymore, the sound of Mayor Mare's voice caught their attention. "Attention everypony! The main event is about to begin!"

Hearing this, Twilight let out a sigh before turning to Applejack one last time. "Well...good luck Applejack." She then returned to where the others were waiting.

"Thanks Twilight," Applejack said as she looked over at were the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy was parked. "We'll need it."

The two teams moved over to where Mayor Mare was. "We're just waiting for Flash to arrive and explain the rules."

"I'm here."

Everyone turned to see Flash step through the crowd and into the field, a group of townsponies following after him.

"What took you so long?" Applejack asked him.

"Sorry. Had to get everypony together." He pointed to the ponies behind him, Applejack counting about fifteen of them and recognising some as Cheerilee, Thunderlane, Lyra and Bon Bon. "They all agreed to help in the contest."

"Help?"

"I'll explain," Flash said before turning to everypony. "Okay, here's how the contest's gonna work. There'll be two rounds, the first being the cider making round. Both teams will have an hour to make as much cider as they can and when that hours up, the barrels will be counted up and the teams will be awarded one point for each one."

"So it's just a race to make the most cider?" Rainbow asked from the crowd.

Flash shook his head. "Nope. That when the second round comes into play. The second round will be a quality contest. Both teams will pick three of their opponent's barrels and those barrels will be pitted in three one on one tests." He pointed to the group behind him. "These ponies have agreed to be taste testers and will be split into three groups of five. Each group will test one of the Apples' barrels and one of the Flim-Flam's barrels, before picking which one they prefer. The barrel that gets best three out of five wins its side an additional ten points, meaning there is thirty points up for grabs. After the second round, whoever has the most points win. Everypony follow?"

There was a collective nodding as the two teams prepared for the contest. A few minutes later, Mayor Mare turned to the Apples with a small smile. "Okay...are both teams ready?"

"Ready!" Applejack spoke for her family.

She then turned to the brothers.

"Ready!" They said together.

The mayor turned to Time Turner, who spun around the hourglass he had brought. "Then let's...GO!"

With that the Apples, minus Granny Smith, rushed off to their stations. Meanwhile, the brothers just yawned as they lit their horns and activated the machine.

Everypony watched as the two teams got to work.

Applejack bucked the apples our of the tree and Applebloom caught them in a bucket she balanced on her head, before taking it over to Granny Smith who looked through them to see which one was good and which one was bad. The good ones, she threw into a juicing machine that was powered by Big Mac running on a tread mill. The apples were crushed and the cider made from them was funnelled into an empty barrel.

"Great job ya'll," Applejack said seeing the first barrel filled. "We've already filled an entire barrel."

Applebloom smiled as she rushed another bucket of apples over to Granny. "I'll bet those guys don't even have-" Her sentence was stopped by her own gasp as she and the others saw the machine had just finished filling its sixth barrel.

It was only now that the Apples realised how much trouble they were in. Despite this, the four earth ponies still intended on winning. As Applejack bucked more apples, she looked over and noticed that Applebloom was so focused on their opponents, that she missed the apples that dropped. "Come on Applebloom, focus! We gotta forget those guys if we're gonna have a chance of winning!"

Hearing this, Applebloom shook her head to snap out of it. "Sorry sis," she said as she picked up the apples and rushed them over to her grandmother. "Better keep up Granny. We're falling behind." She dropped the bucket and grabbed an empty one, before rushing back over to Applejack.

However, it was obvious the Apples were feeling the strain. Granny was beginning to sweat and Big Mac was already looking exhausted. Applejack then let out a yell at her brother. "Rest when it's over Big Macintosh!" Hearing this, Mac took a big breath of air and upped his speed.

But despite their determination, the Apple Family were still falling behind.

"This is just dreadful," Rarity said to the others. "Even at top speed, the Apples are only making one barrel to the twin's three."

Springer just nodded. "At this rate, even if they win all three taste tests, they'll still lose."

"Why didn't I make it thirty points instead of ten?" Flash moaned.

Twilight on other other hoof, was trying to think of a way to help them, an idea soon popping into her head. She rushed over to Mayor Mare, followed by the others. "Um, Ms. Mayor. Are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?"

They watched as Mayor Mare thought. "Well, I'm not sure." She turned to the twins. "Flim? Flam? Would you object to honorary family members helping?"

Said twins simply smiled. "Are you kidding?" Flim asked.

"We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helped!" Flam agreed. "It's a lost cause."

Hearing this, Mayor Mare turned back to the group. "I guess it's okay." She turned to Applejack. "Applejack, what do you think?"

Applejack and the other apples all smiled. "Ah say ah would love to have the rest of mah family helping out."

"ALRIGHT!" The whole group yelled before lining up.

Twilight walked along the line, seeing who was willing to help. Flash, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Springer and...Iron. Twilight stared up at the earth pony, who just smirked back at her before smiling and turning back around. "Okay everypony, we're not gonna let those smooth talkers take our friend's farm."

"YEAH!" They all agreed.

"Fluttershy and Iron, help Applejack with the trees."

"Got it," Fluttershy replied.

"Leave it to us," Iron said, cricking his hooves. "Time for a workout!"

"Pinkie and Flash, you're on apple catching duty."

"Yes sir, ma'am sir!" Pinkie replied with a salute.

Flash just chuckled before saluting as well. "You got it. We won't let a single apple hit the ground."

"Rarity, you've got a good eye. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station."

"Of course," Rarity replied, nodding.

"Same with you Springer. Your nose is second to none."

"I won't let you down," Springer said as he pounded his fist into his paw.

"Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Macintosh press?"

"In my sleep!" The pegasi waved her hoof in a cocky manner.

"Alright everypony," Twilight said as she turned to the contest. "Let's save Sweet Apple Acres!"

"ALRIGHT!" They all cried before getting to work.

Applejack and Iron Core used their incredible strength to knock the apples out of the trees while Fluttershy flew into them, shaking the apples loose. On the ground, Pinkie, Flash and Applebloom were working to catch as many apples as they could. "Over there Applebloom!" Pinkie cried as she pointed. "Don't miss them!"

Applebloom leapt over to where Pinkie had instructed, catching a bunch of falling apples. "Right behind you Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie did a backwards flip, managing to catch some more falling apples.

"Great work girl!" Flash called out as he zipped around the trees. "Keep going! We got this!"

Granny, Rarity, and Springer were going through the apples to see which ones could be used. Springer took a whiff of one and flinched before throwing it away. A second later, his nose found a good one, quickly throwing it into the press. Said press was now being powered by both Rainbow and Big Mac, while Twilight started replacing the full barrels with empty ones. After a while, the Apple team's stake grew to the same size as the twins and quickly got bigger.

"Based on these figures, we're making seven barrels for every three of theirs." Twilight said as she finished doing the math.

This got the crowd cheering. "Keep it up everypony!" Applejack ordered as she, Iron and Fluttershy continued bucking. "We're back in this!"

Upon hearing this, Flim literally spit out his drink before turning to Flam. "Come on brother, we've gotta pick up the pace!"

"Right! Now uh..." Flam thought for a second only to come with one solution. "Let's double the power!" The two fired their magic at the machine, causing it to increase in power. The added power caused the machine's vacuum to go into overdrive, causing to not just suck up apples, but the entire tree as well! Because of this, the apples going into the machine were all battered, bruised and mixed with the destroyed pieces of trees. Production came to a staggering halt, as the machine wouldn't allow any of the damaged apples into the juicer.

"We've gotta try something else!" Flim panicked, rubbing the side of his head in frustration. "We can't lose now Flam!"

"I've got it brother of mine," Flam replied, flipping a switch that shut off the quality control for the machine. Without the quality control, even the most damaged, inedible and probably toxic apples, were cleared to be sent into the press.

"Well done Flam!" Flim exclaimed as he watched the machine get back to work. "We're at top productivity!"

The two unicorns high hoofed, unaware that one of their opponents had seen what they had done.

"Iron!" Flash called out to the earth pony. "Stop looking at what they're doing and get back to work!"

Iron just smirked. "Yeah, sure." He turned back to the trees and started smashing them with his tail or back hooves. "We got this now."

A few minutes later, the machine started pumping out more barrels that the group's production. It also didn't help that everyone was starting to get tired, which made a few start panicking.

"What'll we do?!" Rainbow asked, pointing at their pile of barrels. "There's no way we can catch up now!"

However, before anyone could reply, Iron spoke up. "Stop whining! We don't have to catch up, we just have to keep it close!"

"He's right," Flash said as he brought another bucket of apples to them. "We can't give up. Come on everypony, we can do this!"

Rainbow nodded and doubled her efforts along with Mac.

And so it was that the two teams created more cider then had ever been made before in the history of Sweet Apple Acres, as the last few grains of sand neared the bottom of the glass. Eventually, after filling what felt like the two hundredth barrel, the Mayor cried out. "TIME'S UP!"

The second they heard that, the members of Team Apple collapsed from exhaustion while the crowd cheered for them. With this, the Mayor started counting the barrels, writing the scores on a clipboard.

"I'm proud of you Applejack," a panting Twilight told the earth pony. "I'm sure all your hard work will be...rewarded."

However, before the farmer could reply, Mayor Mare spoke up. "We have the scores everypony!" The two teams turned to her. "Team Apple has seventy eight filled barrels." Everypony smiled at the amazing effort. That is, till they heard Flim and Flam's score. "And Team Flim-Flam has ninety five barrels."

"YES!" Flim and Flam cheered, hearing their victory.

Team Apple were all disheartened until they heard Flash cry out. "This isn't over!" Everypony turned to him as he and Iron stepped up. "Don't forget, there's still another thirty points to win."

Iron chuckled before crossing his hooves. "He's right, you know. All we have to do is win all three taste tests and we'll defintely have enough points to beat you."

Suddenly remembering about the second round, Flim and Flam started sweating. Hiding their concern, the two moved over to the barrels. "That won't happen!" Flim blurted out.

"Not against this great cider!" Flam finished. He tried to use his magic to take the barrels from the bottom, only to hear a sudden hoof slam the ground, causing them to both hop in place. It almost felt like a quake, causing the brothers to slowly turn around as sweat flowed down their faces.

There, they saw Iron Core, who was wearing a devilish grin on his face. "Oh no you don't. Don't forget, we get to pick which barrels to try."

Flash walked in front of him, a flat stare on his face. "He's right. I did say that."

A series of gulps went down the twins' throats, knowing they were in trouble. They both gave each other 'Think of something!' looks as Applejack moved to the front, trying to decide which of their opponents' barrels to pick.

"Go for the top one." Iron called out to her, his grin still showing on his face.

Applejack turned to Iron, a confused look on her face. "Pardon?"

"The last three barrels. Trust me."

"Alright," Applejack said before turning back to the twins. "We pick the top three barrels."

The twin's eyes both went wide, and before they could think of a way out, Twilight's magic enveloped the three chosen barrels and flew them over to where the taste testers were. Their eyes shrank as they kept trying to think a way out. That is, till another voice spoke up.

"Aren't you going to pick a barrel?" Flash asked the twins, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...er...." Flim stuttered, twiddling his hooves. "We uh..."

"We were thinking um..." Flam continued, stuttering as well. "I...that is to say, we..."

Flash rolled his eyes before crossing his hooves. "I don't know what going on here, but please go ahead and choose. If you don't, I'll consider it forfeit."

Flim and Flam gave each other a defeated glance before looking at their opponent's barrels. Realizing they were out of time, they used their magic to pick up three barrels for the taste testers. The two barrels were placed on different tables as the first five tasters stepped forward.

"Team Apple, if you please." Mayor Mare asked, pointing to the tables.

Applebloom moved over to the barrel and pulled the tab, filling five cups to the top before handing them to the drinkers. The five took a swig of it, each letting out a refreshed sigh as they did. Each of them liked it.

"It's looking good," Flash said with a wink. "I think we won."

Twilight however, had a look of concern on her face. "Yeah...but how will they like Flim and Flam's?"

Iron let out a dark chuckle, getting their attention. "I don't think we have to worry."

"Why's that?" Spike asked.

Fluttershy walked in front of the dragon, glaring. "Iron, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Iron shook his head, waving his hoof. "Trust me."

Before they could say anything else, the sound of cries filled with pain could be heard. The taste testers had just drunk the twin's cider and all seemed to hate it.

"I can't get the taste of my tongue!" a pony named Cherry Berry cried.

"Mine's got rocks in it," Bon Bon complained.

"I wouldn't pay one cent for this dreck!" A unicorn named Comet Tail yelled. He then turned back to Applebloom. "Can we have some more of yours? We gotta wash this taste out."

"So..." Applejack asked him and the other four tasters. "You like our cider better?"

"YES!" They all screamed before taking another swing of the Apple's cider.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, nudging Iron. "You obviously know."

Once again, Iron just chuckled. "Those idiots were so eager to make more cider that they doubled the power in their machine and began sucking up the whole tree along with the apples. That ruined the apples, so they switched off the quality control to get more cider going." Iron rubbed his chin with a wicked grin. "I would say about half their barrels are filled with inedible cider." Hearing this made the others all smile. "Good thing I kept an eye on them while I was working."

"I'll say," Flash said, nudging the defender. "If the other two barrels are that bad, we've won for sure."

Hearing this, the taste testers all moved over to the twin's other two barrels and removed the lid. The smell alone was enough to make them want to puke. They all turned to Flim and Flam, a disgusted look on their faces. Flim and Flam both saw this and began to nervously chuckle.

"Looks like we've encountered a slight problem, here in Ponyville." Flam said.

"Nopony wants our product." Flim agreed. "Next town?"

"Next town!"

Before anypony could do anything, the two leapt onto the machine and kicked it into gear. In a puff of smoke, the two were gone. Applejack couldn't believe it.

"They're gone." she gasped. "They're really gone."

"That means you win," Twilight told her. "Sweet Apple Acres is still in business."

"And..." Caramel butted in, "we can still have high quality Apple Family Cider."

Applebloom agreed. "Thanks to this silly competition, we've made enough of our cider for the whole town!"

"And then some," Flash finished as he pointed to the stack of barrels Flim and Flam left behind. "Half of these things should still be good."

"Ah don't know about that." Applejack said as she looked at it. "Selling cider those two made..."

Flash shrugged. "Think of it as...collateral. Especially considering that they didn't pay you back for wreaking a bunch of your trees."

Hearing this, Applejack gladly agreed to sell it.

And so, the whole town got to enjoy a cup of delicious Apple Family Cider as Applejack wrote a letter to princess Celestia. Flash and Iron were watching everypony enjoy their drink. That is, until they saw Twilight walk towards them with a trio of cups in her magic.

"I know you don't really like cider," she said as she placed two of the cups in front of them. "But even you must be parched after all that hard work."

Flash and Iron both smirked before taking the cups and drinking their contents down, their eyes going wide in doing so. "Wow..." Flash said, impressed. "This is better than I thought it would be."

"Agreed," Iron shrugged, taking another sip. "Not bad."

Twilight just smiled before taking a seat next to them, watching everypony get a cup. Eventually, it came to only one pony that hadn't gotten a cup. It was Pinkie, who was pouting at her ban until a cup was placed in front of her.

"Here Pinkie," Rainbow said, looking slightly away.

"But...I'm not allowed-"

"You're not allowed to buy a cup," Rainbow told her, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure this is fine."

Pinkie smiled happily before taking the cup. The two cheered and then drank the cider down, enjoying the beverage tremendously.

Into the Forest

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Another time, another place...

"So...you're still watching him?" an orange pegasus asked a silver coated unicorn mare. "You don't ever get tired of it, do you?"

"You don't either." she replied, chuckling. "After all...I believe today will be different for him."

"How so?" the stallion asked as he glanced at the dish the mare was staring at before draping his wing over her, nuzzling her side.

"I think..." the mare let out a small breath. "I think he's about to learn the truth."

He quickly stopped his nuzzling after hearing this. "The truth? Do you mean about us?"

The mare shook her head, almost giggling as she did. "No, far from it. What I mean is, he's about to learn the truth about...her."

"I see." the pegasus replied, letting out a long sigh as he did. "Tell me, do you think they'll ever forgive us if they find out about each other?"

"I don't know." She then gave him an all-knowing smirk. "He is your son after all."

Flash's training ground outside of Ponyville...

Flash was standing in the center of a clearing with Iron, Springer and Twilight off to the side. The defender was doing a series of breathing exercises, feeling the wind around him as he slowly prepared his body. As he did, Springer stood to said, surrounded by ropes tied to a log in front of him while Twilight had the book Flash had gotten from Soarin open in her hooves as she waited for it to begin.

"You ready?" Springer asked his partner.

"As I'll ever be," Flash replied as he jogged on the spot.

Twilight did a slight gulp before asking, "Are you sure about this? You haven't been studying this very long."

"I need to put it into practical use," Flash responded while stretching his legs and muscles. "How else am I gonna know how far I am to mastering it?"

"I guess you have a point," Twilight replied, a small sigh following. "Though this seems a little extreme..."

"And if he doesn't do it, at least I get a show out of it." Iron added with a dark chuckle.

"Very funny," Flash said before turning to his jakhowl partner. "Alright bud, you know what to do."

"Right, I'll begin the count down from thirty." Springer nodded as he unsheaved his claw.

Flash nodded back before standing up straight and closing his eyes. As the sound of Springer's counting rang through his ears, he took long deep breaths to calm himself. He tried to feel the slowing of time, the wind flowing as he felt his wings twitch at the senses around him.

Then, he heard Springer's count hit zero.

"Go time."

Flash's eyes shot open, only to hear a certain snap of a rope. From the side, a boulder attached to a rope swung down towards him. Seeing this, Flash leapt into the air and spun, allowing him to barely dodge the rock. But before he could even come to a stop, he heard the sound of something else being thrown through the air. Looking around, he saw a large log attached to two ropes swinging down at him. Seeing this, a regular pegasi would have slowed their momentum, trying to descend quickly to dodge such an obstacle. However, instead of slowing his momentum, Flash flapped his wings once and used it to shoot himself forward. Once he was close enough, he stuck out his front hooves and grabbed hold of the end of the log. He curled himself up against the timber and began rolling down it. Once at the end, he uncurled and extended his back legs to shoot himself forward.

"Not bad," Twilight said as she watched him. "Wish I was that maneuverable."

"Meh, whatever." Iron shrugged before smirking at Springer. "Let's see how that idiot does against twice as much stuff."

Springer nodded and cut a bunch of the ropes, unleashing a horde of objects. As this happened, Flash's ears perked up, causing him to look at the new sounds. There, he saw all manner of rocks and logs flying at him. "Oh Celestia," he said before randomly dodging them. He did alright for the first few dodges, but eventually a stray log caught his wing. His focus immediately vanished, causing a rock to hit him as well. Then another log, followed by two rocks that struck him on both sides.

"OOOH!" The three observers said as they flinched from seeing Flash be sandwiched between the boulders.

"That had to hurt," Iron commented, slightly chuckling as they watched Flash slide out from between the rocks and land on the ground with a thud.

"You okay?" Springer asked as Flash picked himself.

"Ugh...ow." The pegasi replied as he rubbed his head, pain striking all over his body. "I think my heart, liver and stomach have switched places...but all in all, I think I'm okay."

Twilight walked up to him, dusting him off with her hooves. "You're not okay Flash. You lost focus and that's why you're hurt."

"I know, I know...geez lousie, this would be so much easier if I had Lightbringer." Flash mumbled, slightly groaning as well.

Twilight smacked the side of his head. "This isn't about simply blasting your problems away Flash. There'll be a time when you can't use your Celestic Gear to protect you, so learning these techniques will be important."

"I know that Twilight!" Flash growled. "Look, Soarin's figured out how to do it, so I should get it easy."

Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Soarin practised for years to enter the Theta State, and he can only do it for a few seconds. It could be decades before you're able to master it."

"In the meantime, maybe you should stick to what you're good at Sentry." Iron remarked, a big evil grin on his face.

"I am good at this," Flash whined.

"Hardly," Twilight joked, smirking as well. "Though you do seem to have gotten the clearing your mind part down." She then turned to Springer and whispered. "Probably because there's little in there to clear."

"I heard that Twilight." Flash said as he turned to her, steam coming out of his nostrils. "Wanna say that again to my face?"

"Oops," she said before running off, Flash in hot pursuit. Iron and Springer watched as the pegasus chased the unicorn, who teleported away whenever he got close.

"Ugh...this is why I hate working with this idiot." Iron grumbled, facehoofing. "Just get a room already."

"What does that mean?" Springer asked innocently.

"Umm..." Iron mumbled, only to be saved from the explanation as Twilight let out a loud yelp, returning their attention to the two. They saw Flash had gotten hold of her and was now running his wings over her.

"Stop!" Twilight yelled between giggles, "that tickles!"

"That's why I'm doing it," Flash replied with a smile on his face.

Iron just rolled his eyes, before hearing a new voice catch his attention.

"FLASH!"

Everypony turned to see Spike rushing towards them, scroll in claw, causing Flash to cease his assault on Twilight and help her up.

"What's up Spike?" Flash asked once the little dragon was close enough to them. Spike, panting from the run, held up a scroll with Flash's cutie mark emblazoned on it. Flash took the scroll and unfurled it, before reading what was on it aloud.

Dear Flash,
I'm writing this note to tell you that some old friends of mine will be arriving in Ponyville for a few days. Because of this, I would like you to show them around and help them with whatever they need.
Your mentor, Grand Hoof.

"Old friends?" Springer asked.

"Yeah...but there's no names written here." Flash replied as he looked the scroll over.

"They must be very important if Grand wants you to help them," Twilight added, scratching her chin in thought. "Though it is odd that Grand didn't tell you what they need help on...or who they are."

"Maybe they're just some old retired guards," Iron guessed, shrugging.

"We'll just have to wait until they get here," Twilight ended, getting a nod from the others before they made their way back to town. As they did, Iron took a different path as they got closer to Ponyville.

"Guess I'll see you later," Iron said as he began to walk off.

"Going somewhere?"

"Fluttershy asked me and Applejack to help build a new cave for her bear friend."

"Ah...well, have fun Iron." Twilight said as they watched him walk off. Once he was gone, she chuckled. "Wonder how long it'll be until those two finally figure it out?"

"Figure what out?" Springer asked innocently.

"You'll see," Flash replied, chuckling as well.

At that moment, they entered the town and decided to get a snack at Sugarcube Corner. That is, till a certain orange blur zip past them, conjuring up a dust cloud that gave the four a lung full of dust. Flash then flapped his wings, pushing the dust cloud away before speaking. "Hey!" he yelled before coughing again.

The 'hey' was enough, making the blur came to a stop and revealed itself as the little filly Scootaloo. She looked back over her shoulder and saw them. "Hey," she said as she turned around and zoomed back to them. "What's up Flash?"

"What are you up to?" Flash asked once she was close enough to them.

"I'm going to hang out with Sweetie and Applebloom. We're gonna try and get our cutie marks in snowboarding."

The group all gave each other a questioning look before turning back to the filly. Spike was the first to ask. "Don't you need like...snow, to snowboard?"

Scootaloo shined a big grin. "That's what Sweetie said, but I figure mud can work just as well." The four of them each gave her a frown, making her shrug. "What?"

"I'm not even gonna say it," Flash told her, slightly grumbling.

"Same," Twilight agreed. "I would say don't go, but you probably wouldn't listen."

"True," Scootaloo said, shrugging.

"Just be sure you absolutely want to do it," Flash tapped her chest before beginning to walk away. "And if you do, think of what Rarity might do to you if Sweetie comes home covered in mud." With that, they left the little filly to mull their warning over.

"She's gonna get in trouble, isn't she?" Springer asked when got out of earshot. "Shouldn't we stop her?"

Flash shook his head. "No. Its just like Twilight said, she'll do it anyways." The pegasus then hung his head, "Though I wish I could help her instead of just preventing every disaster her and her friends make."

"I agree." Twilight nodded, crossing her hooves. "And I really wish that I was wrong." She turned to Flash, seeing his expression, making her pat his back. "What's wrong Flash?"

"Oh uh...I don't know." Flash replied, showing a small frown. "It just reminds me of...me."

"You?"

"Yeah. It reminds me of what I used to be..." Flash gave a slight smile to Twilight. "Before I met you."

"Oh...yeah, I can see that." Twilight blinked, rubbing the side of her head. She then saw Flash's expression sour, knowing that he was remembering the days of being an orphan on the streets. Here, she decided to pat his shoulder. "It's okay, you've got us."

Hearing this made Flash smile. "I do, don't I?" He gave Twilight a small hug. "Thanks."

"No problem." Twilight returned the hug back. "Now, let's get some food. Treats on me."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

The Next Morning...

We find Flash, Springer and the rest of the Mane Seven at the train station, waiting for the train carrying Grand Hoof's friends to arrive. Out of all of them, Pinkie was the most excited, bouncing in place. "Oh boy! I can't wait to meet them! I'm gonna throw the biggest welcome to Ponyville party EVER!" She jumped into the air and stayed there.

"Calm down Pinkie," Applejack told her, causing the pink earth pony to freeze before slowly returning to earth. "Old ponies like these probably ain't up to big parties like yours."

"Phooey," Pinkie said, her mane slightly deflating.

"I'm sure they would still like a party," Twilight assured her, patting her head. "They might instead like a...small, quiet one."

"That sounds like fun," Fluttershy said quietly.

"I hope these old guards can tell us some cool war stories," Rainbow added.

"Maybe it'll inspire me to create a new fashion line," Rarity agreed. "I do need some new ideas..."

"I just hope they're not gonna try and judge me," Flash interrupted in a nervous voice.

"Why would they do that?" Twilight asked him, blinking.

"They might have been through some incredible adventures when they were younger," Flash explained as he continued to look down the line. "Compared to them, I'm just some kid."

The girls all rolled their eyes at Flash's modesty. However, before they could say anything, the sound of a train whistle caught their attention. They looked around and saw a train heading towards them, pulling up to a make a cloud of steam in its stop. Everypony looked into the steam as the passengers emptied out onto the platform, until they saw a pair of older stallions walk out.

"Hello," Flash said as he walked over to them, "it's nice to meet you. I'm Grand Hoof's apprentice, Flash Sentry."

The two stallions stared at him weirdly.

"Grandpa!" They all turned to see a unicorn filly rushing over to them, followed by a unicorn mare. "It's great to see you!" the filly said as she hugged one of the stallions.

"Great to see you too pumpkin," the stallion replied as he hugged back. They then all turned to Flash, who chuckled as he slowly stepped away. The stallions, filly and mare quickly left the station, leaving the group to giggle at Flash's embarrassment.

"Flash Sentry?"

They turned around and saw two ponies step out of the now descended steam. The first was a unicorn stallion who looked the same age as Shining Armor, if not slightly older, with gray fur and a black mane. He wore a pair of half moon spectacles and his cutie mark was a red cross with an arrow sticking out of it. The second was an earth pony mare who looked their age, with a light green coat and a mane that had both blue and pink in it. Her cutie mark was a flower with some kind of chain around it.

"I believe you were waiting for us?" the unicorn asked as they stepped towards the group.

"Um...yes?" Flash wasn't sure how to respond.

The mare giggled at his response. "I'm Heather, Heather Bloom. My associate here is First Aid. I believe your mentor sent you a message about us."

Realisation hit them like a bolt of lightning.

"Your Grand Hoof's old friends?" Flash asked in shock and disbelief.

First nodded with a smile. "That is us!" She then turned her head, seeing the confusion on Flash's face. "What? You were expecting somepony else?"

"Well..." Flash chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "When I thought about meeting Grand Hoof's old friends, I was kinda expecting somepony...well, old."

Once again, they duo chuckled at this. "Sorry to disappoint you." Heather cackled. "Though I do see where you're coming from."

"Oh no," Twilight interrupted as she stepped in front of Flash. "We're not disappointed, we just weren't expecting you. We're pleased to meet you, I'm Twilight-"

"Twilight Sparkle," First Aid interrupted before pointing at the group. "Yes, we know who you are. Along with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike and Springer."

"You've heard of us?" Rainbow asked suspiciously.

Heather nodded. "Oh course, Grand told us all about you. Besides, you're the heroes that stopped both Nightmare Moon and Discord, why wouldn't we know about you?"

"I like them," Rarity told the group, who all nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Flash said as he stepped forward. "Let me be the first to welcome you to Ponyville."

"Happy to be here," First replied as they began to make their way out the station and into town. "You would not happen to know of anyplace we can get a bite to eat? Its been a long trip and the train snacks were not exactly filling." The next thing he knew, Pinkie was in front of his face.

"No problem!" she exclaimed with a giant grin plastered on her face. "Sugarcube Corner is the place to be for all your snacking pleasure!"

"Sound delicious. Please, lead the way."

And Pinkie did, bouncing ahead of the group as they made their way to Pinkie's bakery home.

"So, what brings the two of yah to Ponyville?" Applejack asked as they made their way through town.

Heather turned to her, a calm smile on her face. "We're travelling scholars. First is working to become a doctor and I'm a botanist. We travel all over Equestria and its outskirts to learn about different medical and floral sciences." Heather then patted First's side. "We've even managed to combine several of our discoveries to help cure many serious diseases."

"I see...so, why are you here?" Twilight asked, scratching her chin in curiosity.

"We've learned that there's a zebra living around Ponyville in the Everfree Forest that is known for her medicine." Heather replied. "We haven't met one in a long time, so we're here to see her."

"You mean Zecora?" Rarity asked.

"You know her?"

"We're close friends." Twilight nodded as they arrived at Sugarcube Corner. "We could probably introduce you to her if you like."

"That would be great," Heather said as they stepped into the bakery and gathered around one of the larger tables. "You think she can teach me about the flora of the forest?"

"I'm sure she could," Twilight said before turning to Pinkie. "We'll just have a snack first and then head over to Zecora."

"Excellent idea," First Aid replied before he turned to Pinkie. "What would you suggest?"

Pinkie's usually large grin grew even wider, before she rushed over to the kitchen and returned with a platter of cup cakes for them to try. First and Heather both slicked their lips at this.

Meanwhile...

At the school house, recess had just begun. A white unicorn filly was trotting away from the school, followed by an orange pegasi filly and yellow earth pony filly. The unicorn didn't look happy, her eye twitching as she glared at the pegasi.

"Sweetie Belle..." Scootaloo muttered, twiddling her hooves. "How long are you gonna give me the silent treatment? I said I was sorry." Sweetie remained quiet as she got closer to the edge of the playground, where a wooden fence kept them from going into the forest. "How was I supposed to know Rarity was gonna go nuts?"

Sweetie gave her the most deadpan stare ever. "It's Rarity. How else was she gonna react?!"

Scootaloo just rolled her eyes. "So you go a little dirty. That doesn't make it my fault that Rarity wouldn't let you back in the house and levitated you into the bathroom through the window."

"It was your stupid idea to go 'mud-boarding' in the first place!" Sweetie yelled. "And she made me take three baths!"

At this point, Applebloom decided to interject. "Alright Crusaders, that's enough. Scootaloo said she's sorry, so there's nothing else to say. Agreed?"

The two other fillies sighed before nodding. "Agreed," they both said.

"Great." Applebloom nodded as well. "Then lets get to thinking up our next cutie mark trial. Sweetie Belle, its your turn."

"Okay...um..." Sweetie Belle mumbled, trying to think. As this was happening, the three of them were unaware that a pair of eyes was watching them from within the safety of the trees.

Back to the Mane Seven...

On the edge of town, the Mane Seven and their new friends were heading towards Zecora's hut in the forest.

"This is quite exciting," First Aid said as they walked. "I have always wanted to learn about zebra potion making, but never had the chance to study their techniques."

"I guess going all the way to the zebra lands would be quite the trip?" Rarity asked.

"Indeed." First replied, nodding. "But now I can learn everything right here...hopefully."

"Yeah..." Rainbow added in, twiddling her hooves as she did. "Though uh...just a heads up. Zecora...talks funny."

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy barked, giving her a disapproving glare.

"What?! Its true!"

"Even so, that's just plain mean!"

Heather just gave them a confused look. "In what way does she...talk funny?"

"She talks in rhyme," Flash explained, rubbing the side of his head. "And uh...we don't know if its a zebra thing, or a Zecora thing. Just uh...go with it. Trust me."

"Interesting," First said, tapping his chin.

"By the way," Flash interjected, raising an eyebrow. "You never said how the two of you and Grand met."

"Oh, we met him several years ago." Heather replied, waving a hoof. "We had learned that a small settlement had come down with an unusual virus and we decided to check it out."

"Grand had also been sent to investigate," First continued. "He was there to see if the virus was going to spread and to see if he needed to incur a quarantine. He uh...was not too happy that we were there, but we refused to leave and told him that we wanted to help."

"He finally agreed and we got to work, eventually discovering that it wasn't a virus causing the town's sickness. Somepony had poisoned their water supply." Heather added, her eyebrows raising up and down. "We eventually managed to find a cure and help Grand bring the ones responsible to justice. Ever since then, Grand's kept in contact with us whenever he can."

The group were impressed with the story. Especially Twilight, who spoke up,"That's an amazing story. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two about different medicines and flowers."

"We would be happy to share our research with you," First said as they got closer to the edge of the forest. "You are Princess Celestia's student, correct?"

"Yes. I am-"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

They all froze and turned towards the sound of the sudden scream. Twilight's eyes shrunk as she said, "That sounded like it came from the school." As soon as her words left her mouth, two other ponies screamed at the noise.

"Applebloom!" Applejack yelled.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity cried.

Suddenly, they were all almost blown off their hooves as Flash shot into the air at it top speed, zipping off towards the school.

Rainbow hopped in place before flaring her wings. "Hey! Don't leave me behind!" With that, she also shot into the sky and flew after him.

Seeing this, Twilight motioned to the group. "Come on!" Twilight yelled as they rushed towards the school. Flash, with Springer hanging on for dear life, was flying through the air at his top speed. They got closer and closer to the school, hoping beyond hope that whoever had made the scream was okay.

That is, till they arrived at the school.

As Flash reached the building, he could feel a rush of fear overtake him as his eyes now saw school yard outside of the building. There, he saw Cheerilee and the school foals all rushing away from the schoolyard. As for why they were running, he saw the culprit and Flash almost started to backpedal.

It was some kind of red snake like monster, though it was only ten meters in length and had a large thin spike like instrument on the end of its tail. The strangest thing about it though, was that it had a pair of pincer arms half way down its serpentine body that looked similar to a scorpion's.

"What is that thing?" Springer asked as they got close to it.

Flash did a slight gulp. "I don't know, but we need to get it away from everypony." As he picked up his speed, he saw the creature look down at something in front of it. It was two fillies that Flash knew all too well, and they were cowering around something that was laying on the ground. "Oh no..." he gasped when he realized what they were holding. "SCOOTALOO!" His top speed seemed to double, causing him to skyrocket towards the creature and slam into it. The force of the tackle caused it to be thrown clear of the fillies, who Flash turned to. "Get out of here! NOW!"

"We can't!" a teary eyed Sweetie replied, "That creature stung Scootaloo! She's unconscious!"

"She's too heavy to lift!" Applebloom finished.

Flash growled at hearing this, quickly turning back to the creature. He was about to yell at the fillies again, only to tap the side of his body. "Oh great," he said as he reached for Lightbringer, only to remember that he had left it at home when he and the others went to meet First and Heather. He looked back at the creature, only to see an aura blast fly through the air, striking the monster in the side of the head and sending it flying backwards. Flash looked back and saw Springer, who had leapt off him when he had gone to tackle the creature. Looking behind his jakhowl partner, Flash also saw Rainbow flying towards them.

"What the heck is that thing?" She asked as she got closer.

"It doesn't matter," Flash told her as she pointed to the fillies. "Scootaloo's hurt. You need to get her to the hospital."

Looking down and seeing her unconscious fan, Rainbow nodded before flying down and picking up all three of the Crusaders. She flew off with them in hoof, leaving Flash and Springer to deal with the creature.

"I'll keep it distracted and you hit it when you see an opening. Got it buddy?" Flash told Springer, receiving a nod from the jakhowl. Flash shot at the creature, quickly starting to circle around it at top speed. This caused it to become agitated, snapping it's claws at the pegasi. As it did this, Springer summoned another aura sphere, which smashed into its lower jaw. The creature let out a horrid hissing as it slivered back, quickly taking a fighting stance after the blow.

"Alright buddy, I think we just made it mad. Get ready, I'll get another opening and-"

Before Flash could say another word, a series of metal poles shot out of the ground between it and its opponents. Flash and Springer turned to see Iron, Piecemaker stuck into the ground only a few feet away.

"Need a hoof?" He asked.

"Not needed," Flash replied with a smirk, "but appreciated."

Seeing it was now outnumbered beyond what it could handle, the creature turned back to the forest and slivered back inside. With it gone, the three defenders turned back towards each other.

"What the heck was that?" Iron asked, a slight growl in his voice.

"Not sure," Flash said before flexing his wings, "but that doesn't matter right now. Whatever it was, it stung Scootaloo. We have to go make sure she's alright."

"Flash!" They turned to see Twilight and the others rushing towards them. "Is everything alright? We saw Rainbow flying away so fast that we couldn't even call out to her!"

"No time Twilight." Flash turned to his partner. "Fill them in, I'm going to the hospital."

Springer gave a small salute before Flash shot into the sky, his wings soaring in the air as he headed towards the injured filly.

As soon as Flash arrived outside the hospital, he headed inside so fast that the automatic doors barely had time to open. He rushed over to the desk, where Nurse Redheart was sitting. "Scootaloo, where is she?" As soon as she gave him the directions, he was off again, down several corridors and up a series of staircases. Finally, he arrived in the corridor he was told to find, seeing Rainbow, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle outside a room.

"Flash!" Rainbow cried out seeing him.

"Rainbow, how's Scootaloo?"

"We don't know," the pegasi mare replied. "The doctors took her in and we haven't heard anything else."

Flash sighed, turning to the fillies standing next to them. "Alright you two, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

The two nodded before beginning their story. They had been on the edge of the playground planning their next Crusader outing, when the creature had shot out of the forest and attacked them. Scootaloo had been the first to react, pushing the two of them out of the way before being stabbed by its tail.

"Then she just collapsed," Applebloom finished.

"You know the rest," Sweetie muttered, tears dropping down her face.

Flash sat back and mulled over the information, trying to think of some way to use it to help Scootaloo. However, nothing he thought of felt like it could help. "I see...That creature, I've never seen anything like it."

"Yeah...what was that thing?" Rainbow asked.

"It was a Scorpentine!"

The all turned towards the voice, seeing First Aid and the rest of their friends arriving in the corridor.

"You know what that thing was?" Flash asked as he got up and walked towards them.

"I have studied them before and recognised it from your partner's description. Scorpentines are hybrid monsters similar to Manticores. Their venom is a well known ingredient in many different cures."

"So why was that one here?"

"I don't know," First replied, scratching his chin in worry. "But I am more concerned about its size. Even at full size, a Scorpentine should not be more than fifteen inches long."

In that moment, the doors to Scootaloo's room opened and the doctor came out.

"Please tell us you know how to save her." Twilight asked as they gathered around him.

The doctor let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, but whatever venom was injected into her, it's causing her blood to become infected. If we can't find a way to purify it...well...." They all looked through the door, seeing Scootaloo in bed and still unconscious. The look of pain on her face made them all feel a sense of dread.

"There has to be something we can do!" Rainbow asked in a panicked voice.

"Maybe a blood transfusion?" Twilight asked, "Let's drain the infected blood and give her some new blood to cure it."

"Usually that's what we would try," the doctor replied, "but unfortunately, Scootaloo has a very rare blood type. We don't have a donor for it."

"There's gotta be something ya'll can do," Applejack said. "She's just a filly."

"There is," First interrupted, getting everypony's attention. "Like I said, Scorpentine venom is used to help cure many illnesses. One of those illnesses, is Scorpentine stings. If we mix it into a potion that will neutralise the venomous toxins, the venom will become an antivenom that we can inject into her blood to cure it."

"So we need to get some of its venom?" Springer asked.

"Yes," First nodded. "Without it, the cure will not work."

"Well then," Flash said with a stern expression on his face, "looks like we're going on a Scorpentine hunt."

An hour later, we find Flash stepping out of the library with a saddlebag and Lightbringer strapped to his side. Twilight, Springer and Spike followed him out, Twilight speaking up to the pegasi. "Are you sure about this?"

"Its the only way," Flash told her. "I'm gonna find that monster and get a cure for Scootaloo."

"Flash!" They turned to see Applejack rushing towards them with Zecora in toe.

"Zecora! Do you know what's happening?" Twilight quickly asked.

Zecora nodded. "Indeed I do young Twilight, to hear what happened is a horrid sight."

"Please tell me you have a way to cure her," Springer asked her.

However, Zecora simply sighed before shaking her head. "Though it saddens me to say so, my answer to your question is no."

They all frowned at hearing this. As they did, Flash let out a long sigh before saying. "Well, if that's the case, I've got no choice but to hunt that thing myself." He turned towards the Everfree Forest.

"Flash..." Twilight added, tapping his shoulder. "That's reckless and you-"

"I have to Twilight," the apprentice knight interrupted. "Its our only way to save her."

"I...I know." Twilight replied, her ears drooping down. She knew the look he had on his face all too well. "But be careful." Flash nodded before they all headed over to the edge of the forest. There, they saw the rest of their friends waiting for them while First, Heather and Rainbow were all wearing saddlebags.

"You all ready?" He asked as they arrived.

"I still think I should go with you," Iron grumbled, nudging Flash. "You'll need extra muscle against this thing."

Flash turned to him and shook his head. "Sorry Iron, but no. I need you and Springer here as a safety net in case it comes back. I don't want anypony else getting stung."

"So then why are they coming with us?" Rainbow asked as she pointed at First and Heather.

First slightly chuckled before explaining in a deadpan tone. "You will need somepony to mix the potion once we get the venom. The particular strain of venom loses its potency very quickly, so we will need to mix it as soon as possible."

Heather nodded. "And my expertise in magical plants will come in handy. The Everfree Forest isn't the most documented place in Equestria, so we'll likely be flying blind."

"Maybe it'll be best if we all go after this thing?" Applejack suggested, showing a face of obvious concern. "Safety in numbers ya know."

Flash shook his head again. "No. We're on a time restraint, so a larger group will just slow us down. Me, First, Heather and Rainbow will be the only ones going after this thing. The rest of you do what you can to help Scootaloo." He then turned to Zecora and Twilight. "If we don't make it back in time, it'll be up to the two of you to find an antidote." He received two nods before turning around, glaring at the forest in front of him. "Alright, let's get this party started!"

Meanwhile...

Back at the hospital, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were watching over Scootaloo. The filly was beginning to thrash in her sleep, causing her friends to grow concerned.

"Hold on Scootaloo," Sweetie told the weakening filly, "Flash and the others will be back with the antidote soon."

"She's right, just keep fighting." Applebloom assured her, tears flowing down her face.

Despite their words of encouragement, Scootaloo continued to thrash. Seeing this, the two shared a troubled look before looking out the window. They both prayed that Flash and his team would be successful.

Back at the forest...

Flash, Rainbow, First and Heather were making their way through the forest. They had now gone further then anypony had gone before, having passed the castle of the two sisters and were now in the thickest part of the woods.

"Stay close everypony," Flash told them as he used Lightbringer to carve them a path through the thicket. "It's easy to get lost in here."

As Flash was busy hacking away at a large barrage of thorns in front of them, he felt a certain tinge in the back of his spine. With this, he stopped his slashing, making the trio behind him come to a stop as well. "What's up?" Rainbow asked when he stopped cutting.

Before Flash could reply, whatever it was he had felt, sprung into action. It shot out a nearby bush and wrapped itself around Rainbow and Heather's legs.

"What the?!" They both yelled before being pulled into the air. Flash and First watched as they were lifted into the air and saw that it was a mass of living vines, squeezing the two like sponges.

"Living vines?" Flash asked in amazement, his blade slightly twitching.

"Fascinating," First commented, his eyes shining at the sight. "I have never seen such a thing."

"Oh yeah?!" Heather barked sarcastically, "You think this is interesting?! Wanna swap places and get an in depth look?!"

"Hold on!" Flash cried out as he flexed his wings and took to the sky. He then rushed towards the two and brandished his Celestic Gear, slicing the vines and freeing the two mares. First's horn turned on, instantly grabbing both with his magic and slowly let them down. As they reached the ground, Flash landed right by then. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Rainbow replied, brushing her body with her wings. "Let's just get going already."

"We'll need to watch out for more of those vines," First commented, brushing off Heather. "This forest has just shown us that it doesn't exactly like us."

"Right...let's get going," Flash grumbled, sheathing his blade. "Keep an eye on your surroundings. Who knows what else is out here."

"And you two better stick close," Rainbow told Heather and First. "No offence, but a pair of eggheads like you won't stand a chance against the stuff in here."

The duo nodded, making Rainbow and Flash turn around and continue on. As they did, Heather and First however remained behind for a moment and shared a smirk. Behind them was another living vine tried to sneak up on them, only for an an arrow to suddenly fly out of First's bag, cutting the vine in an instant.

"Hey!" They heard Rainbow call out, though she didn't look back at them. "you coming or what?"

"We are on our way," First replied as he and his earth pony partner followed after them.

Back at the hospital, everypony was watching as Twilight and Zecora worked to help the doctors treat Scootaloo. Zecora had just returned from her hut, carrying bags filled with different potions.

"This potion will not cure the affliction," she said as she handed Twilight a bottle of green liquid. "But it should help lessen the pain's infliction."

Twilight nodded as she took the bottle in her magic, pouring it down the filly's throat. As soon as she swallowed, her pained look seemed to weaken, though the pain was still obvious as she shivered under the hospital bed sheets. The sight made the onlookers all wince, scared that she wasn't going to make it.

Among them was Mrs. Cheerilee, who was watching with tears in her eyes. "This is all my fault. I can't believe I let a foal in my care be hurt like this."

"Nonsense darling," Rarity assured her with a hoof around her neck. "Nopony was expecting that creature to appear."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "She's right. And don't worry, Scootaloo will be fine. Flash and the others will get that cure, no problem."

"Yeah!" Pinkie added with a repeating nod. "Flash can do it! He's a royal knight after all."

"I hope you're right," Cheerilee mumbled, still shivering at the sight. "Oh Scootaloo...."

"Don't worry," Twilight told her, tapping her shoulder with a small smile. "If I know Flash, he's already on his way back with the antidote."

"We're never gonna find that antidote," Flash said after his team had squeezed their way through several large trees branches that had grown over the floor. They were now in a circular clearing, roughly thirty meters in diameter.

"We're getting close," Heather assured him as they dusted themselves off.

"What makes you think that?" Rainbow asked, only to see her move over to a patch of bright red flowers.

"Because we have just found a bunch of Red Oleanders. They are the go-to food for Scorpentines," First explained, leaning down to pull one out of the ground. "Not much for ponies though."

"Are you saying that they'll come by to eat those?" Flash asked, only to get a nod in return.

"Great!" Rainbow said as she flew over to the patch. "So all we gotta do is wait for one to show up, then we snag it and get its venom!"

"Except we will need more than one," First told her as he and Flash moved over to them.

"Scorpentine venom is stronger the bigger the Scorpentine," Heather explained, grabbing the flower from First and put it in her saddlebag. "Considering the size of the one that attacked Scootaloo, we'll need at least five normal sized Scorpentines to equal its poison dosage."

Rainbow didn't like the idea of waiting for five of those things and trying to catch them all sounded even more annoying. However, her thoughts soon erased that idea as she froze in mid-air. "What if we got the poison from the one that stung her?"

"Well, that would be preferable," First replied. "But that thing could be miles away."

"Or maybe...its right behind you!"

Flash, Heather and Rainbow quickly spun around, only to come face to face with the ten meter long snake scorpion hybrid. The Scorpentine slivered out of the trees into the clearing, its pincers preparing to attack.

"The Scorpentine," Flash whispered.

"It really is that big," First said as he used his magic to correct his glasses. "Incredible. This might be a new record for Scorpentine length."

"First!" Heather scolded him, smacking him with her tail. "Let's catch it first, then admire it!"

"She's right," Rainbow said as she landed in front of the two. "This thing's going down."

"Rainbow and I will keep it distracted," Flash told them as he raised Lightbringer. "You guys stay back and look for a chance to get the venom."

"Err...right." First complied after Heather nudged him again.

"We'll follow your lead," Heather said with a nod.

Flash and Rainbow both gave either a nod, their wings flaring. "Then let's do this. Rainbow, you go first, and watch that tail."

"Right!" Rainbow replied before she began flying in circles around its head. Seeing this, Scorpentine extended his claw to grab her, "Too slow!" She barked as she dodged a swipe of the claw. "Missed again!"

While this was happening, Flash was flying low, getting close to the creature with Lightbringer primed. Once close enough, he did a ninety degree turn and used his back legs to kick it off the ground. "FLASH CUTTER!" He yelled as he shot up the monsters body, slicing Lightbringer into it as he did.

The Scorpentine let out a high pitched hiss of pain, causing it to thrash wildly around the clearing. As it did, Flash and Rainbow retreated to a safe distance, watching the monster thrash.

"Great...we made it mad!" Rainbow grumbled. "Was there a reason for that?"

"The only way to get the venom is to make it try and sting us." Flash replied, rolling his eyes. "Then we use that opening to fill a container."

"I have the container ready," First said, showing a jar with his magic. "Now just get it to sting you."

"Okay." Rainbow said, pointing at the Scorpentine. It had finally stopped thrashing and was now staring them down, clicking its claws as it did so. It then started swiping at the pegasi, who managed to dodge the attacks.

"Missed me," Rainbow mocked it as she flew backwards. As she continued to dodge the claws, the monster primed it's tail. The monster swiped at Rainbow again, causing her spin in mid-air, dodging another blow. "Missed me again!" That is, till the stinger flew out to the side, striking her side and barely grazing her. The blow sent her flying, making her scream as she was sent flying into a large tree and falling to the ground with a thud.

"RAINBOW!" Flash yelled, his distraction allowing the Scorpentine to use it pincers to grab him. Before he could react, the monster thrust him into a tree, making him drop Lightbringer.

"FLASH!" Heather yelled, panic covering her face.

"Stay back!" Flash told them as he struggled to pull himself free from the pincer. However, he soon wished one of them could help when he saw the Scorpentine raise its stinger-ended tail. "Oh no."

As the stinger shot towards him, Flash flinched at the oncoming pain, closing his eyes. He was ready for the blow...only to feel nothing. Flash cracked an eye open and what he saw made them go wide.

The Scorpentine's tail was being pulled back by a long green chain with a metal flower head shaped instrument on the end. Flash followed the chain to its source and saw it was Heather, who was holding the chains handle in her mouth, pulling the tail away.

"What?!" Flash asked in amazement.

Suddenly, a hail storm of arrows appeared out of nowhere and struck the Scorpentine in the back, causing it to cry out and release Flash. The pegasus dropped down, grabbing Lightbringer and took the sky, his wings twitching in pain as his flight reaction started. Once in the air, he looked at where the arrows had come from and saw First Aid. He was carrying a silver crossbow like weapon in his magic. At the same time, Heather's chain unwrapped itself from the Scorpentine's tail and retracted until only the flower was visible. Flash soon landed behind them, amazed at what he was seeing. Heather and First stood side by side, looking up at the monster before looking back over their shoulders.

"Still think we don't stand a chance against stuff like this?" Heather asked.

Flash was just dumbstruck. "Who the heck are you guys?"

The two of them just smiled.

"I am First Aid, the Healing Knight!"

"And I'm Heather Bloom, the Floral Knight!"

Flash's eyes went even wider as he realised who they were. "You...you're Royal Knights?!"

They both nodded before the Scorpentine's cry caused their attention to change. The creature raised one of its pincers and brought it down to flatten them, but the three quickly dodged the attack. Heather was the first to leap into action, pointing the end of her weapon at it.

"BLOOM FORCE!" A tornado of leaves shot out of the weapon, striking the creature all over it's body.

As this happened, First turned to Flash. "You need to get back in, I will cover you." He pointed his crossbow at Flash. "AID FORCE!" A beam of light shot out of the weapon and struck Flash, causing him to be enveloped in a bright aura.

"Whoa!" Flash said as he felt the pain he had sustained in the fight begin to dull while his body also felt like he had just taken a six hour nap. "I feel...good."

First chuckled, nodding. "Indeed. My magic is not very effective in one on one combat, but in a group? It is the best of the best."

Flash flexed his wings. "I'll say. I've never felt so powerful!" He turned to the Scorpentine and shot into the sky, raising his weapon and spinning. "FLASH DRIVER!" He created a giant tornado, bigger then he had ever made before, which struck the monster in an instant.

Meanwhile, Rainbow managed to regain consciousness and pull herself out of the wreckage of the tree. There, she saw her three teammates fighting off the monster, making her blink at the amazing sight. Seeing Heather and First with weapons was confusing, but seeing how well they were doing, she decided to take to the sky.

"Flash Cutter!" Flash yelled as he unleashed the energy blade.

"Bloom Lash!" Heather cried as her chain extended and the end flew at the monster.

"Aid Bolts!" First exclaimed as he fired off several streams of light, which faded to reveal arrows, all of them striking Scorpentine.

The three attacks struck the monster, causing it to fall backwards and land into a bunch of trees.

"Awesome," Rainbow said as she landed.

"We can keep this thing at bay," First commented as he re-aimed his weapon, "but we will never get its venom like this. We need to detain it somehow."

"I can try and wrap it up." Heather suggested, tugging her weapon.

"We need more than one rope," First told her as readjusted his crossbow. "That is not going to be enough Heather."

"Or maybe...we need more vines." Flash said with a smile on his face. With that, he took back to the sky and flew at the monster's face. He gave the monster a taunt with his hooves. "Come get me!" With that, he shot into the trees, the enraged Scorpentine following after him.

"What's he doing?!" Rainbow asked, pointing at the fleeing pegasus.

"I think I know," Heather said with a smirk, motioning them to follow Flash.

Flash was flying as fast as he could, trying to keep ahead while not losing the trail he had previously forged. The Scorpentine was close behind, using its pincers to rip through the trees so it could follow.

That is, till Flash came to stop. He had reached his destination.

Flash turned back to the monster, smirking as he did another taunt with his hoof. The Scorpentine let out a roar, swinging both pincers. Flash quickly flapped upwards, dodging the strike. As he did, Flash landed on the monster's back, quickly pressing up to the monster's body as it started to try striking it's back. Flash kept still, dodging each claw.

"Come on...come on!" he muttered after dodging another swipe from the pincers. "Where are-ah!" He looked at the ground and saw the vines moving closer to it, meaning he needed to take it down now. Quickly shooting upwards into the sky, Flash raised his sword over his head, spinning as he did. Lightbringer began to shine, causing him to turn into a shining wheel of light that shot towards the Scorpentine. "FLASH...GRINDER!" The wheel struck the monster in the head, acting like a buzz saw on the beast. Flash then stopped spinning and kicked the creature, causing it to fall backwards and crash into the ground.

This was all the vines were waiting for, as they shot at the Scorpentine and began to wrap around it. Its mouth, pincers and tail were soon completely locked into place. Seeing this, Flash landed a few feet away, only to hear the hoofsteps of First, Heather and Rainbow rushing toward him. When they arrived, the Scorpentine saw them and began to thrash, but doing so just made the vines hold on tighter.

"Great work Flash," First said as he pulled out the jar and moved over to the creature's tail. The Scorpentine saw him getting closer and tried to stab him with its tail, but First was faster and managed to block it with the jar. The venom quickly filled the jar, making First step back in surprise. A second later, it was full and First pulled the jar away, showing the purple liquid inside. "Alright! We have it."

They all smiled seeing it. "Great! Now, let's make the potion."

Heather and First quickly got to work, mixing the venom with several other ingredients. Flash and Rainbow kept an eye on the Scorpentine, ready to act should it manage to break free. However, that was unnecessary, as the vines continued to pull at the creature.

A few minutes later, First held up the jar, which now had a bright blue liquid in it. "Done!"

"Great!" Rainbow exclaimed, grabbing the potion. "I'll get it to the hospital." She didn't even wait for an answer, as she was already in the sky, breaking every speed law possible as she shot to the hospital.

Seeing this, Flash turned to the duo. "Let's get going. I have a feeling this is far from over."

The journey back to town was a blur, with the only thing on Flash mind during being Scootaloo's recovery. As they arrived back in town and rushed to the hospital, Flash found that a large crowd had now gathered there. Pushing past them, they got inside and rushed to Scootaloo's room.

"Girls?" Flash asked as he moved over to them and saw the sombre look on their faces. "What's wrong?"

Twilight turned to Flash, tears in her eyes before rushing over to him and throwing her hoofs around him. "I'm so sorry! Its...its too late."

Flash's heart almost stopped hearing that. "She's..."

"She's still alive," Rarity told him, her own eyes brimming with tears. "But the venom had infected so much of her blood that the cure won't work."

"We weren't fast enough," Rainbow said, her wings clinging to the floor as tears began to appear under her eyes. "I...wasn't..." She couldn't say another word, causing Fluttershy to go up and hug her, tears already falling down her eyes. At the same, the others all began to cry as well.

All of them, except Flash.

"NO!" He almost screamed as he pushed Twilight off and moved over to Scootaloo's door. "We didn't go through all this just to fail! There has to be something we can do!"

Everypony gave him a sympathetic look before First stepped forward. "Flash, her blood is too infected. The only way to save her now would be to replace her blood with new uninfected blood."

"Then that's what we'll do," Flash replied, snorting.

"Were you not listening earlier?" Heather asked him, glaring at the defender. "Her blood type is rare. We have no donors."

"Indeed." They all turned to see the doctor enter the room. "Her blood is so rare that only three percent of ponies in Equestria has it. Triple Z!"

"Yes...it is the worse possible scenario with that blood." First added, sighing. "It is the one blood type that appears in the worst of times when trying to save a patient."

"I agree...and I don't remember helping anypony with that blood type First. I think this is the first for us..." Heather continued, her ears flopping down.

However, Flash ignored their ramblings. Instead, his mind began to process something different. "Triple Z....triple....z." he muttered, blinking. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Twilight tapped Flash shoulder, worry on her face. "Flash? You okay?"

"No...I..." Flash put his hoof over his head, memories flowing through his head. "Discord..."

"WHERE?" Pinkie asked as she looked around wildly.

"Discord?" Twilight replied, leaning slightly back. "What about him?!"

Flash shook his head at her. "Triple Z....I remember..."

At that moment, a certain memory played in his head.

Hearing this, Discord simply laughed. "You?! What can you do? You're nothing!"

Flash's glared hardened. "You don't know anything about me."

Discord just raised his eyebrow at this. "Don't I?"

...

"Oh! Might I suggest a change in careers? Its about how rare your triple Z blood type is. With Royal Knight mortality statistics, you'll likely end up bleeding out without anypony to blood transfuse you some."

The memory stopped, causing Flash to rub his forehead in surprise. "Discord...yeah, he said that, didn't he?"

"What are you talking about Flash? What do you-"

Flash quickly interrupted her, waving his hoof in front of her. "My blood...its Triple Z!"

"It is?!" Twilight gasped, slightly backpedaling. The rest of the room did the same before smiling at one another. There was still a chance. That is, till Twilight walked back up to him. "And Discord made you remember this?"

"Yeah..." Flash gave a reluctant nod. "He said that when I...fought him with Springer." Flash then saw Twilight's sceptical face, making him speak up to stop her next comment. "I know what you're thinking, but we're out of options Twi. We have to try." Flash turned and walked up to the doc, flexing his hoof. "Take my blood. Let me try and save her."

First walked up to the doctor and adjusted his glasses with a wink. "Very well. Let us begin."

And so, they took some of Flash's blood and mixed the antidote before placing it in an IV. As they hooked it up to Scootaloo, First had the rest wait out of the room, including Flash. The next few hours would be the longest anypony had ever experienced, as they waited to hear whether the blood and antidote had worked.

"Come on," Rainbow said as she and Flash paced outside her room. "How long's it gonna take?"

"We have to be patient," Fluttershy told her.

"You be patient, I want some answers!"

Twilight on the other hoof, was glaring at Flash. "You need to calm down Flash. You just donated blood."

Flash gave her an almost death glare, "I'm fine Twilight. I'll rest when I know Scoots is safe."

In that moment, the door opened and First stepped out.

"How's Scootaloo?" Flash asked, appearing right in front of him with fear in his eyes.

First's sombre expression made them all fear the worst, only for him to change it into a bright smile. "The blood and cure are working, she will be absolutely fine."

The whole hospital was awakened by the uproar that rang through the hall, as the group all cheered hearing their friend was safe.

"She will need to rest and recover for a few day, but she is out of the woods." First then turned to Flash. "Can I talk to you for a moment? I uh...need a second opinion over something else."

Flash gave him a confused look, but nodded and quickly followed First into an empty room.

"What do you think that's about?" Applejack asked the others.

"I don't know," Twilight replied as she stared at the door.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, we find the Scorpentine is still wrapped up.

The creature was now asleep, small snores escaping its mouth. That is, till it heard the sound of a stick breaking. Quickly waking up, the creature saw a green aura radiated around it's body. The monster's eyes shrunk as it saw what the aura was doing to it.

The creature began to shrink!

It kept shrinking until it was about fifteen inches long. And as it hit this height, it was then levitated away from the vines and moved towards the source of the broken stick.

"Oh, poor thing," a dark female voice said. "What did they do to you? Oh well. Despite the hiccups, I would say that this little experiment was a success." A large jar appeared from the darkness, which the Scorpentine was dropped inside before a lid sealed it. "Don't worry, I have plans for you little one."

With that, the jar was levitated back into the dark of the night.

The Next Morning...

As Celestia raised the sun over the horizon, its rays streamed in through the window and hit Scootaloo's face. The filly flinched away from the light, her eyes slowly opening at the heat of the rays began to warm her body. She let out a long groan as she sat up, quickly noticing she was in a hospital bed.

"Hey! You're awake."

She looked around and saw Flash sitting in a chair next to her bed.

"Hey..." she said in a small moan as she laid back. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember...something...coming out of the forest and then...nothing. Just pain."

Flash sat up and placed his hooves on her bed. "Let me catch you up." He told her about the giant Scorpentine, how it stung her and how he, Rainbow, First and Heather ventured into the forest to get the cure. "But when we got back, it turns out we were too late and the venom had infected too much of your blood. Turns out, we needed to deliver the antidote and replace some of your blood to save you."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked, blinking at the defender. "Who's blood did I get?"

Flash let out a small chuckle, tapping his chest. "Mine. Turns out, we share the same very rare blood type."

"Triple Z..." Scootaloo replied, looking back at the ceiling. "I remember being told about my rare blood when I was younger..."

"Well, it turns out that I have it too."

"Heh...what are the odds?" Scootaloo said with a smile.

Flash's smile wavered. "Yeah, about that..." Flash sat back down, causing Scootaloo to almost flinch at the sight. But before she could say anything, Flash continued. "First did some tests on our blood to make sure we were compatible. Turns out, our blood is incredibly similar..." Flash let out a small sigh, slightly looking away from the filly. "That kind of similarity, it uh....it only exists between members of the same family."

This got Scootaloo's attention. "What are you saying?"

Flash let out another sigh, looking back at the filly. "I...don't know how to say this, but...the doctors found out something more when they compared our blood." The pegasi began to twiddle his hooves, making Scootaloo slightly shiver in fear. She had never seen him be so...nervous. To her, he was always confidant and daring, things she always looked up to. That is, till Flash got up and walked over to her.

Then, his mouth began to move again. As it did, three words came out that would change both of their lives forever.

"You're my sister."

Family Bonds

View Online

A week had passed since the incident involving the Scorpentine and the discovery of Flash and Scootaloo's relation. Scootaloo was still in the hospital, recuperating from the deadly monster sting until the doctors had told her that she was being discharged tomorrow morning. Right now, she was in her room with her best friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. They had been keeping her company everyday after school, playing board games or reading comics together.

"King me," Scootaloo said as she moved a small board game piece around.

"We're playing chess," Sweetie told her with a deadpan stare.

"Oh...right." Scootaloo replied before letting out a horrible groan. "I'm so bored!" She cried out as she sat back in her bed.

"Don't worry Scootaloo," Applebloom said as Sweetie put away the game. "Ya'll be out of here tomorrow, then you can go home."

"Yeah...I know." Scootaloo moaned, rubbing her head in frustration. "I'll finally get out of this snorefest..."

"Speaking of homes," Sweetie said as she returned from putting the game away. "You must be so excited! You're moving in with your new big brother!"

At that sound of that word, Scootaloo's stomach seemed to do several back flips. Even now, a week after learning about it, she still had trouble believing it. She and Flash were siblings. She had idolised Flash since the day she had met him, almost as much as Rainbow, and would have given anything for him to treat her like a sister. But now that that fantasy was actually coming true, and all Scootaloo felt now was nothing but a pile of nervous nerves.

Over the last week, Flash, Twilight and the orphanage caretaker Ms. Blossom, had been coming to see and talk to her. Apparently, they had been investigating Scootaloo's past and discovered it had several similarities to Flash's story. Scootaloo had been left at the orphanage's doorstep one night with nothing but a blanket wrapped around her and a little note telling her name and birthday. Same story, different pony.

It was here, after much discussion, it was agreed that Scootaloo should move in with Flash and Twilight at the library. Scootaloo however, wasn't sure how she felt about this. Sure, she had often dreamed about having her own family, but she never actually expected something like this to happen.

"Scootaloo?" The little filly was broken out of her thought storm by Applebloom. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sweetie added, "you spaced out for a moment. I asked if you were excited."

"Sorry..." Scootaloo replied, shrinking slowly back into the bed. "I am excited...I guess."

Meanwhile...

Across town, Twilight, Rainbow and Ms. Blossom were just exiting the Ponyville Orphanage. They were loading some boxes onto a cart, all of them filled with Scootaloo's possessions.

"Is this the last of it?" Rainbow asked as she put the last box onto the cart.

Ms. Blossom nodded. "Yes, that's everything."

"Great. Let's get going then." Twilight said as she began magically pulling the cart. The duo quickly followed her, all of them conversing over the current situation.

"I still have trouble believing it..." Rainbow commented, her wings slowly flapping in the wind as she hovered by the two. "Flash and Scootaloo...siblings."

"Well, it's true," Twilight replied, nodding. "According to First, he found connections in their DNA based on the blood Flash donated. According to him, he found that multiple helixes were exactly the same in both ponies thanks to his magic scans." Twilight then noticed the two's confused looks, making her dumb down her explanation. "They both have the same blood type, plus all the other similarities between them...including DNA."

Ms. Blossom nodded. "They're both pegasi with orange coats, both abandoned at an orphanage as foals, and now they're both going to be taken in by another family."

"Even though Flash is part of her family," Rainbow pointed at Twilight.

"Either way, I'm just glad that she's finally going to have a true home."

"And we're happy to give it to her," Twilight said as they arrived outside the library and put the cart down. "Let's put the boxes in her room and let her decide where to put everything when she's here."

"Right..." Rainbow added before raising an eyebrow. "Wait a minute-what room?! Doesn't the library only have two bedrooms?"

"It did." Twilight replied with a coy smile. She opened the door and showed them inside, directing them upstairs to the outside of a certain door.

"Isn't that Spike's broom closet?" Rainbow asked, pointing at the slab of wood.

"It was," Twilight said as a certain magic aura moved the doorknob, opening the door. There, Rainbow and Ms. Blossom looked inside, only to see a large space that was the same size as Twilight and Flash's room.

Rainbow looked around in amazement. "How did you-"

"Undetectable Extension Spell," Twilight interrupted with a smug smile.

"Incredible," Ms. Blossom added.

"I know. The only thing it's missing is a window, which we're looking into."

"Cool," Rainbow said as she put down the box she had brought in. "Hey, where's Flash? Shouldn't he be helping with this?"

Twilight let out a small sigh, rolling her eyes as she thought about the stallion. "Training. Ever since finding out who they really are, he and Iron have been working to hone their skills with First and Heather."

Meanwhile...

"Flash Cutter!" Flash yelled as he unleashed the energy blade at Heather, who dodged the shot as it cut down the tree behind her.

"Bloom Lash!" She cried as she pointed her Celestic Gear at him, which extended and fired the flower shaped mace head at the pegasi.

"Whoa!" He yelped before leaping into the air, barely dodging the mace.

Heather retracted the weapon back into the handle, her ears picking up a yell. Turning, she saw Iron, Piecemaker in hoof, rushing at her while letting out a mighty battle cry. She quickly managed to side step him, reunleashing her Celestic Gear. "Bloom Coil!" The chain shot out and wrapped around the earth pony's back legs, tying them up and causing him to fall face first. "First."

"No need to ask," the unicorn said from his spot on a tree. Using his magic, he pointed his crossbow Celestic Gear at Heather. "Viribus Aid!" An arrow made out of red magic appeared on the crossbow, firing the arrow at Heather. The arrow exploded and bathed Heather in red energy.

"Thank you," she said before thrusting the chain back, causing Iron to be sent flying into a tree.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Springer commented from the sidelines. "So...First can increase a pony's physical strength. Nice."

"Looks that way," Flash said as he flew down next to him. "Even so, that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up." With that, he shot forward, ready to strike her with Lightbringer.

"Celeritas Aid!" Another arrow, one made of green energy, flew past Flash and struck Heather. The light around her turned from red to green as she turned to the charging pegasus. Then, in a gust of wind, she was gone and Flash suddenly felt a small breeze behind him.

"Surprise!" Somepony called out, causing Flash to turn around before feeling a hoof-punch in the face. He cried out as he was sent hurtling towards the ground, landing with a mighty thud and kicking up dust.

"Speed too," Springer added as he put a piece of candy in his mouth. "They're good..."

Flash groaned as he tried to pick himself up, while Iron was also trying to correct himself. They both heard giggling, which made them look up to see Heather spinning her Celestic Gear by the chain.

"You give?" She asked with a cocky grin.

Flash and Iron both glanced at each other, feeling the bruises that had just been inflicted on them as they turned back to her. "We give," they said before collapsing on the ground. Heather giggled once again as First leapt down from the tree, all moving over to where Springer was sitting. As they sat down, Springer threw each of them an apple to eat.

"You guys are amazing," the jakhowl told the two Royal Knights as they munched on the piece of fruit.

"Thank you sweetie," Heather said with a bright smile, scratching the jakhowl's ear. "We try our best."

"It took many years of training to get where we are," First explained. "It took us even longer to become as well oiled at knowing what the other is thinking."

"So you two are a Royal Knight team?" Iron asked, gulping down the apple in one go. "How long have you been working together?"

"Since the day we first met."

"Which was?" Flash asked.

First and Heather shared a glance, nodding to each other before turning to the three. First let out a small sigh before speaking up, "Alright...since we will most likely be working together in the future, it is best you know everything about us. My story began many years ago, when I was just a foal. I lived with my father in a small village, where he ran a small medical office. He was one of the best practitioners in Equestria, but I was never really interested in learning about the art of medicine. That all changed however, when my father came down with an unknown illness." The three did not like the way this story was going, but kept listening anyways. "My father tried everything to cure himself, but he couldn't even diagnose what disease he had. Eventually, he became to weak to search for a cure and was bed ridden, suffering for several weeks until finally..."

Even though he didn't finish, everypony knew how the story ended.

"We're sorry," Flash said, the others nodding with his statement.

"It's fine," First assured him, waving his hoof. "It was sixteen years ago, so I've gotten over it. Even so, at the time, it hurt. My father was dying and I didn't have any way to help him. So, I vowed I would learn every thing I could about the pony body and be able to cure any disease."

"So you started travelling all of Equestria," Springer added.

"That's right," First nodded. "I travelled everywhere for three years...that is, till I met Heather."

They all turned to the earth pony, who sighed before sitting up. She then began to speak up, "Well...my story, like First's, begins when I was very young. My family owned a little plot of land that we grew flowers and vegetables on, which we sold in a nearby town to make a living. However, one day they both started feeling ill. There wasn't a doctor in the village, so we couldn't find out what they had. Day after day they got more and more tired, until they were too weak to even get out of bed. I was forced to do everything: cooking, cleaning and going to buy groceries. And as I did this...that's how I met First."

The Past...

The ten year old Heather was walking through a small village, three paper bags jammed with groceries on her back. Due to the size and weight of the bags, she was having trouble keeping them balanced on her back. "Stupid groceries...why did I buy that extra-ah!" a small rock placed itself in front of her hoof, causing her to trip. What followed was three bags spilling, their contents flying everywhere. "Darn it...not again."

Heather slowly picked herself up, grabbing one of the bags in her hoof. "Why me? Why does-huh?"

Her eyes went wide as a blue aura covered the groceries, putting them back into all the bags. She looked up and saw a thirteen year old unicorn stallion before her, the groceries now floating around him. "Here you go," said the stallion in front of her.

"Oh! Um...thank you," she said happily as he put the groceries back on her back.

"You are most welcome." he replied, giving her a small smile. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is First Aid."

"I'm Heather, Heather Bloom."

"Nice to meet you Heather Bloom. I am impressed that a filly like you is here all alone." First said as he looked around. "I would have thought that somepony your age would have somepony helping you with your shopping. Tell me, where are your parents?"

Heather just shined a small frown. "At home. They don't feel well, so I'm doing the shopping."

"That's very sweet of you," First told her, patting her head.

"Thanks." Heather replied, readjusting the bags as she did.

First just blinked as he watched her. The filly was struggling to keep the bags on her back, as they were almost bigger than her combined. He then thought about how she had told him that her parents were sick and shrugged to himself. The next thing Heather knew, two of her bags were being lifted off her back. "Tell you what, how about I help you take these home and then I will take a look at your parents. I am training to become a doctor, so I might be able to help."

Heather smiled at this and nodded. "Okay!" she said as she started skipping down the street, able to keep the bag on her back. "I know mommy and daddy are gonna love you." she cheered before turning around, "Um...can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What's a doctor?" she asked innocently.

"Wha...you don't know?" First replied, pure shock on his face. Heather shook her head in response, causing him to be even more dumbfounded. "Well...a doctor heals other ponies, makes them feel better."

"Ooohhhh...okay!" she then turned around again, skipping down the street. First just chuckled as he followed her.

They made their way out of town and travelled down a dirt road for about half an hour. It was that they arrived at a little cottage with a large back garden. Heather opened the door to let them in, allowing First to see how homey it looked. He looked around and saw many pictures of Heather with two older ponies, many of which showed the three of them in the garden. As he got further inside, First caught a whiff of an unusual smell but chose to ignore it and just told himself that it must be fertilizer.

First then tapped her shoulder. "Let us put all this away, then we can go take a look at your parents." Heather nodded and they got to work. "How about you tell me what the symptoms of your parents illness while we do this?" When he saw Heather giving him a confused look, he knew he had to rephrase it. "How does the illness make them feel?"

"Oh..." Heather replied, her head drooping. "They both started coughing one day. It was only a little at first, but now they do it more and more and it keeps getting louder and louder. Then they started feeling dizzy and began to get tired and less hungry. Now they can't get out of bed. For the last few days all they do is sleep, they won't even eat anything I give them."

"I see," First commented as they put the last of the groceries away. "Why don't I go take a look myself?"

Heather nodded wildly before rushing up the stairs, First calmly following her. As they ascended the stairs, First once again noticed the unusual smell. That is, till the reached the bedroom door.

"Mommy?" Heather said as she opened the door and peered inside, "Daddy? There's somepony here to see you. His name's First and he's here to make you better." She then stepped inside, First following behind her.

Once inside, First's nostrils were assaulted by the smell, which was now a hundred times stronger. He looked over at the bed and saw two earth ponies, the same ones from the pictures, laying motionless on the beds. He didn't need to take any tests or ask any questions to realise what had happened.

"Mommy?" Heather climbed onto the bed and started poking her mother, "Come on mommy, its time to wake up. You too daddy."

She poked a few more times before First walked up and grabbed her poking hoof. "Stop. That's not going to help."

"Huh? Why not?" Heather asked as she turned her head to First, only to see a grim look on his face. "What's wrong?"

The stallion did a large gulp as he saw her face, worry all over it. This was not going to be easy. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes before saying, "Heather...they are not going to wake up."

"What?" Heather asked as she looked back at them. "Why?"

"Because they...they are dead."

"Dead? What's dead?"

It was then that First realised that the young filly must not understand the concept of death. "It is...well...death is..." First thought for the right way to explain it. That is till he glanced out the window, seeing the garden. "It is like when a flower becomes wilted or a vegetable goes bad. They have gone to sleep and...well, they will not be waking up."

Heather's eyes went wide hearing this, turning back to her parents. "You're lying! Mommy and Daddy will wake up! They have to!" She began shaking her parents once again. "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Please wake up! WAKE UP!" She burst out crying, hugging her parents motionless bodies as she did.

First sighed at seeing her heart broken sobs, already hating what he had said to her. A few minutes later, he used his magic to lift her away from her parents and brought her to him. Heather clung to him as he turned and walked out the room, carrying the filly down stairs and putting her on the couch. Heather continued to cry for hours on end, with First holding her in comfort. Eventually, the two drifted off into a restless sleep.

The next morning, First woke up as the first few rays of Celestia's sun hit his face. He got up and saw Heather was still holding onto him. Blinking at this, his horn lit up as he slowly peeled her off, putting her back on the couch. Deciding that she was still going to sleep, First made his way upstairs to do some tests on the two parents, wanting to make sure that whatever had killed them wasn't contagious.

Despite his age, First had learned much about medicine from his three years of travelling. Using a few magic scans, he found his results, almost too quickly. "This is...is this poison? No...it is a toxin. One that seems to be infecting the immune system." he said to himself, scratching his chin in thought. "Not only that, they both have it..." He looked at the door, the stairs just out of view. "Does she have it too? And where did they get it?"

He looked back at the dead patients, only to see the window above them. There, he could see the garden and an idea popped into his head. He quickly left the room and rushed downstairs, heading out the back door while trying to make sure not to wake up Heather. A minute later, he approached the garden, pulling out a surgical mask over his snout before heading into the garden.

"If I am right, its probably here." He commented to himself as he starting searching the greenery. He combed the whole garden until finally, tucked away in a corner, he came across a flower he recognised. "Here we go..."

It was a very rare and deadly flower, the Vitiosus Viola. The flower was known to unleash a highly toxic pollen as a defense from being eaten by animals. It reproduced similar to dandelions, by having its seeds be picked up by the wind and blown to another area. There was also one other thing to know about Vitiosus Violas, which was that one in every seven ponies was immune to the pollen. Heather must have been one of them, which was why she was unaffected the plant. Deciding not to risk anypony else being infected, First uprooted the flower and placed it in a nearby bucket. He used a sparking spell he had learned for lighting campfires and burnt the bucket.

"There we go...but I better check if there's anymore of those flowers." As he said this, he searched the garden again, burning three more flowers, all of them hiding in tiny corners. After this, he checked the garden one more time before walking back to the house. There, he saw a certain filly now waking up.

"Heather," he asked as he walked over to her. "Do you have any other family? Somepony to look after you?"

Heather just shook her head. "No, Mommy and Daddy were the only family I had." Her eyes began to once again fill with tears. "What will happen to me now?" That was a good question. First would most likely have to take her to some kind of orphanage or something, but who knows where the closest one was. Heather then asked him a question he was not expecting. "Can I stay with you?"

First had not been expecting that. "I do not know. I travel a lot, so if you come with me you will be camping and having to forage for food."

"That's alright, I like camping and I know lots of different flowers you can eat." Heather rushed over and gave him a pair of puppy dog eyes. "Please, you're my only friend. If you leave, I'll be alone...I don't want to be alone."

First tried to think of a reason not to bring her, but the eyes were too much. Eventually, he sighed and nodded. "Okay."

The Present...

"And we've been together ever since," Heather cheered, a big smile on her face.

First nodded. "Over time, Heather's interest in flowers began to grow. So whenever we arrive at a new location, we would study the medicine and flora of the area. Its become very helpful in my journey of becoming a doctor."

Flash, Iron and Springer just sat there, blinking at the story. That is, till Flash spoke up, "Wow...and I thought our history was tragic. I'm sorry that happened."

"It's fine," Heather waved her hoof. "I've gotten over it."

"So the two of you travel all over Equestria?" Iron asked. "Is that how you met Grand Hoof and became Royal Knights?"

They both nodded before First explained. "He was amazed by our talents in medicine and botany and when he heard about how we had been surviving on our own since foalhood, he invited us up to Canterlot to meet Celestia. When we arrived and told her our story, she asked to become Royal Knights, believing our service could help Equestria."

Heather nodded at this. "We went through several trials to see if we were worthy, and when we passed, we were knighted and presented with our very own Celestic Gears." She pulled out her weapon, which was nothing more than the handle and mace head. "The Flower Chain."

"And this," First said as he showed them his crossbow. "This is Crossbolt."

"Since then, we've been the Floral Knight and the Healing Knight. For the past few years, we've continued our studies while also helping whenever the Princess has need of us."

"If you were knighted just a few years ago, why didn't we know about you?"

"We chose to have a quiet knighting," First told him as he put his weapon away.

"Some knights are usually so famous that when they're knighted, it's a big thing." Heather added as she fiddled with the mace head. "We weren't into being famous, so we asked that Celestia to not make a big fuss. Only she, the other princesses and the Royal Knights know about us. It uh...it helps keep things low key."

"I guess that makes sense," Iron replied, shrugging.

Springer finally decided to speak up. "So how many Royal Knights are there now?"

Flash thought for a moment. "When I first met Grand, the number was supposed to be twelve. So with First and Heather, that would make fourteen."

First waved his hoof at the pegasi. "Actually, there are only seven Royal Knights in Equestria now."

"Seven?!" Flash gasped. "What happened to the other five?"

"They either retired or died," Heather told them, shrugging. "Probably from old age or...well."

"This life we lead is not one without risk," First added, adjusting his glasses.

"We know that," Iron darkly chuckled. "One of the best perks of the job in my opinion."

"But even so," Flash said while looking at the two. "So I know you guys, plus Grand and Iron's mentor Skybreaker make four we've met...huh. Who are the other three?"

"You will likely meet them in time," First assured him. "Well...at least, I am pretty sure you will meet the other two. We have never met the seventh one."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Heather replied, nodding. "Even Grand hasn't met the pony. We've all asked Celestia, but all she ever says is that the seventh member is lost and they'll find their way back one day."

"Sounds...ominous," Springer said, slightly shivering at the moment.

"That is usually the way with Princess Celestia," First replied as he looked at the sky, seeing where the sun was now. "Is that the time? Wow, time sure does fly." He and Heather got up as Flash, Springer and Iron did the same. "Looks like we have to get going. We agreed to meet up with Zecora to learn more about zebra medicine."

"We'll see you guys later," Heather added, winking at the three.

"Sure," Flash replied before watching the two walk off. He turned to two and asked, "Ready for the midday patrol." Two nods followed before they headed off, ready to do their job.

Later that day...

Flash and Springer arrived back at the library, both of them finishing their midday patrol. There, they found Twilight and Spike in Scootaloo's new room. The two of them were working on putting the bed they had got from Quills and Sofas together, while seeming to have trouble with the instructions.

"I'm telling you, it's Pole B three in section eight C," Spike told her as he held the large sheet of paper in his claws.

"It can't be." Twilight replied, growling at the drake.

"It is!"

"Does this look like it fits in here?" Twilight replied as she levitated the two pieces, one a long wooden tube and the other a plank of wood.

"Give it to me and I'll show you," Spike said as he put the instructions down. "I'll just-"

"No way," Twilight interrupted as she levitated the pieces out of his reach. "I'm not buying another bed because you broke something."

"I'm not going to break anything," Spike grumbled as he leapt up and try and grab them.

"You two seem to be having fun," Flash said as he and Springer stepped into the room.

"What was I thinking when I decided to get a flat pack?" Twilight moaned. "Could you please help Spike understand how this works?"

"Sure, let me take a look," Flash said as he picked up the instructions, looking at the section Spike had been reading. He then rolled his eyes. "Spike, that's a D, not a B."

"Oh..." Spike, who had climbed on one of the boxes filling the room, said as he reached for the levitating pieces. That is, till he reached too far, tipping the box over and making its contents fly everywhere.

"SPIKE!" Twilight scolded the dragon as she lowered the bed pieces and began picking up the spilled contents. "What did I just say when we started doing this?!"

"Sorry," Spike winced, backpedalling. "I didn't mean to."

Twilight's eyes twitched, ready to go into rage mode. That is, till she felt a certain nudge from Flash's wing. The following look on Flash's face lowered her temper. A sigh later, she looked back at the drake and spoke, "Its...its fine Spike. Just...just help me pick this stuff up, okay?"

"Okay..."

As they continued to pick up the items, Flash and Springer helping them, Flash noticed something laying on the floor that looked very familiar. It was a red blanket, which Flash picked up and looked over. It was just like the one he had gotten from Clarity, which now lay on his bed, thought this one had the name 'Scootaloo' sowed into it.

"Whoa," he said as he rubbed the fabric. "I guess this is the blanket she was found in."

Twilight slightly nodded. "That would make the most sense. It does look just like yours." Flash smirked as he gently folded the piece of cloth and placed in on top of the box. Twilight was also smiling as she continued building the bed. "So, how are you feeling?"

Flash gave her a confused look. "About what?"

"About Scootaloo being your sister. You uh...haven't actually said how you feel about the news." Twilight remarked as she slowly said her next words. "And I...I know you're worried because you've been trying to distract yourself with...knight stuff."

Spike and Springer stopped what they were doing and looked over at the apprentice knight, obviously wanting to hear what he had to say. Flash's flank hit the floor as he thought over Twilight's words. He looked back at the unicorn, only to see a look that said: 'Just tell me already'. The look made him sigh, a shake of the head following. "To be honest...I don't know. I mean, I always wanted to be part of a family. Even when you guys took me in, I felt like an outsider." Twilight frowned at this. Even after all the years they had been together, he still didn't feel part of the family. That is, till he said his next set of words. "But now, I suddenly have somepony I can actually call my own family. Plus, its not somepony I just met, but one I've known for a while and got close too."

Twilight's frown turned to a smile. Not the biggest smile though, as she felt that he shouldn't have said that he was outsider. In fact, the thought made her not want to respond as Flash continued. "Even so, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I want Scootaloo to be happy...but I don't know the first thing about being a brother. What if I mess up and do something that makes her hate me? What if I'm not capable of looking after her? What if-"

"Flash!" Twilight interrupted as she moved over to him. Her hoof gently placed itself on his shoulder. "First off, you know exactly how to act like a brother. What you call looking out for her, taking her to see the young flyers competition and the Fantasia Festival or even going into the dangerous woods to fight a monster...heck, do I have to say more? You've always treated her like your sister since the day you both met! The only thing that's changed is that you get to live with her and actually get to watch her grow up."

The lecture made the pegasi smile, a small tear almost forming in his eye. As this happened, Spike and Springer walked up to him and sat down at his side. Seeing this, Twilight sat down on Flash's other side, her hoof now around his shoulder as she continued. "Besides, its not like you'll be alone in this. We'll be there to help every step of the way. Trust me." Spike and Springer nodded at this.

Flash nodded as well, his smile increasing ten fold. Before they knew it, the four were hugging. Silence covered the room for those few seconds. Then, Twilight released herself from the hug, standing up and returning to the bed pieces. "Tell you what, we'll finish this up while you go see your sister. You haven't really spent any one on one time with her since finding out."

Flash nodded, getting up and moving over to the door. "I'll see you later. Help her out Springer, okay?"

"Sure, no problem."

Flash left the room and headed downstairs, his hooves going at a very slow pace . That is, till he heard a certain annoyed voice. "I said C twelve, not D twelve!" Flash chuckled at this, heading out with a smile on his face.

Scootaloo was sitting alone in her hospital room, Sweetie and Applebloom having left to go home before curfew. As she laid on her back, a multitude of thoughts flew through her head. "Why aren't I happy?" she asked herself. "I should be, there's no reason I shouldn't. But every time I think about living with Flash, my stomach feels like its on a roller-coaster. Why? I don't get it."

Before another thought happened, there was a knock at the door. A second later, the door opened and First Aid and Heather stepped inside the room. "Hey there," Heather said as they moved over to her. "How you doing?"

"I'm okay I guess," Scootaloo replied, her eyes looking away form the two.

"Good," First said as he levitated her chart over to him. Ever since revealing he was a Royal Knight with an incredible amount of medical knowledge, First had been asked to check up on her every now and then. His knowledge of Scorpentines meant he was the best pony to have should there be any other problems. "So how do you feel?"

"Fine," Scootaloo said flatly.

"Just fine?" First asked.

"Yeah...just fine."

Heather sat down next to her, giving a stare that kinda creeped Scootaloo out a bit. "You don't look fine. You look like you've got something on your mind." Scootaloo looked away from her, causing Heather to smile as she knew she had hit the mark. "Come on, tell us what's on your mind."

Scootaloo looked back at her, seeing her glare turning into a smile that screamed 'you can trust me'. Slowly, she sat back around and looked at the two of them, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I'm worried about living with Flash."

The two older ponies gave her a confused look, "What do you mean, worried?" First asked.

"I don't know," Scootaloo replied while unknowingly wrapping herself in her duvet. "I know I should be happy that I finally have a brother or any family member, and I am, but every time I think about living with him I...I get this unexplainable fear in my stomach."

"I see," Heather said as she turned to First with an all-knowing smile. "I think I know what your problem is."

"You do?" Scootaloo asked, a bit of hope in her eyes.

"Yes," Heather nodded as she got off her chair and sat on the bed. "Let me tell you a story. When I was very young, my parents died. I didn't have any other family and I didn't know what I was gonna do. I only had one friend, First Aid. So, I begged him to take me with him. He agreed and we went on our journey, but after a few months of travelling I began to feel a strange feeling whenever we were moving."

"You did?" Scootaloo said.

"I did. And I think you're feeling those same feelings. You know what I realised those feelings were?"

"What?"

Heather chuckled as she put her hoof on Scootaloo's chin. "I was scared I was being a burden to First." This statement alone made Scootaloo's eyes go wide. She wanted to respond, but Heather continued, "When I saw how dedicated to his studies he was, I began to worry that having me around was distracting him from what he loves. And...I think you're feeling those same worries about Flash and his life."

Scootaloo let what Heather told her wash over her and thought about it. Was she worried that having to look after her was going to ruin Flash's life? He was working to become a Royal Knight. Could he do that while having to look after her?

First now stepped up to her bed, giving her a happy smile as he knew Scootaloo needed an answer. "What Heather did not know back then, was that she was not a burden. Before meeting her, I did not realise how lonely my life had become. But meeting her and allowing her to become my travel companion, it put new meaning into my life. I no longer spent my nights sitting in solitary silence and staring into the campfire. Instead, my nights were filled with laughter and singing campfire songs." He turned to Heather and gave a joyous smile. "If she had not been with me, I may have become some antisocial introvert and may not have been worthy of becoming a Royal Knight."

Heather smiled back at him before turning back to Scootaloo and placing her hoof on the filly's shoulder. "Scootaloo, we don't have a family, and everyday we wish we did. You can probably relate. But now...now you've been given a gift. You've found your family and have the chance at a new and better life, with your brother. Don't you want that?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment, only to let out a small sigh. She then began to stutter out, "Of course I do, but...but I don't want Flash to feel like he has to take me in because he's my brother. I-"

"I'm sure he doesn't." Heather interrupted her, patting her shoulder.

"How can I know for sure though?" Scootaloo asked, tears almost appearing in her eyes.

"You could try asking him."

They all jumped at the new voice, causing them to turn and see Flash standing at the door.

"How long have you been there?" Scootaloo asked him in worry.

"Long enough," Flash replied as he glanced at First and Heather. "Can you guys give us a minute?"

The two Royal Knights nodded and made their way out the room, leaving Flash and Scootaloo alone once the door was closed. The tension in the room was so thick, it could be cut, sliced, and diced with a spoon. That is, till Flash made his way over to her bed and sat on the chair Heather had been sitting in. A long sigh followed as he asked, "You're really worried I don't want you living with me? Is that true?"

Scootaloo didn't reply. Instead, she simply looked down at her bed sheet.

Seeing this, Flash sighed again before patting her shoulder. "Scootaloo, don't do this. Please...talk to me."

Scootaloo continued to stare at the sheets, depression filling her being. Seconds passed until she slowly muttered, "Do you..do you want me living with you?"

"Oh course I do," Flash replied, nodding.

"Because you think it's your responsibility?" Scootaloo asked, her head turning to him, a deep frown on his face.

The look made Flash almost shiver. He knew he had to chose his next words carefully. Closing his eyes, a release of air came out of his mouth and nostrils before he looked back at her, "Yes."

Scootaloo's eyes began to tear up, the feelings she had felt before increasing tenfold. Seeing this, Flash quickly continued, "But it's more than that. Did you know that Ms. Blossom once told me she would have considered me adopting you?"

The tears stopped at this. Scootaloo just stared at him in wonder, obviously wanting to hear the rest.

And with that look, Flash continued. "She said the only thing stopping her from actually suggesting it was that I was so young. Considering I'm only nine years older than you, I can agree." Flash looked down for a bit, his hoof scratching the side of her head. "But ever since then, whenever I saw you...I uh...I thought about what she said and pictured you living we me. I know its silly but..." Flash shook his head before letting out one little chuckle. "Every time I did, I got a happy feeling in my chest."

Scootaloo's eyes went wide hearing this. He wanted her.

"And now...now that I know you're my sister, that feeling is stronger than ever before." Flash looked back up and gave her a happy smile. "Yes, I feel responsible for you...but don't think for a minute that I don't want you in my life because of it. I want you in my life because of who you are, not what you are."

Scootaloo's tears increased, but they weren't tears of fear and sadness. They were tears of joy. She jumped out of bed and threw her hooves around Flash, pulling him into a hug as she cried into his coat. Flash didn't even hesitate to hold her, flexing his wings around her as he placed her back on the bed, both of them laying on it as the tears continued. They laid there for several minutes, until Scootaloo finally stopped crying and pulled away from him.

There was one more question on her mind. "Flash?"

"Yeah?"

"Why...why do you think they left us?"

Flash knew who she was talking about. The very thought about it made a mix of emotions swirl in his stomach. "I don't know. I've asked myself that question many times, but I could never come up with an answer. I uh...I just figured that...it didn't really matter in the end."

Scootaloo frowned after hearing that, turning to stare at her wings as she responded. "I always thought...maybe they knew from the start that I couldn't...you know. I thought they didn't want me because of that." She turned to look at him. "But they left you as well and you're perfectly normal! So...so why did they leave us?! Why?!"

Flash just sighed as he held her closer. "I don't know. I wish I could answer that for you...but I can't. I don't have the answer." He looked back down and tightened the hug. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm here now and I promise...I promise I won't ever abandon you."

All that was left was a smile on Scootaloo's face. That was all she needed as she embraced the hug. Silence followed, but that was all that they needed.

Meanwhile...

In a forest area, a pair cloaked ponies lay side by side. One was a unicorn with a silver coat and purple mane, while the other was a pegasus with an orange coat and blue mane. The two were staring at a dish, which showed Flash and Scootaloo in the hospital.

"Now they know," the pegasus said, shaking his head at the sight.

"I told you," the mare added as she wiped a single tear from her eye. "I told you that they would find out eventually."

"Yeah..." The pegasus let out a long, pained sigh. "They must hate us."

"I know," the mare agreed as she nuzzled the stallion. "But we both agreed that this was for the best. Their destinies are more important than our happiness." She looked back at the dish, more tears filling her eyes. "I just pray they'll forgive us."

The Next Morning...

Outside the Ponyville Hospital, Flash, Twilight and Scootaloo had just exited and were making their way to the library. Scootaloo was especially glad to leave the medical facility, as she sure that boredom was about to kill her after waiting a week in that white, bland room. Now, she was walking down the dusty roads of Ponyville, nudging her 'new' older brother as she spoke up, "You know, you didn't have to come and pick me up."

Flash just shrugged. "Somepony had to fill out the paperwork."

This remark resulted in a smack from Twilight's tail. "That explains why I'm here," she joked. "Not so much you meathead."

"Ha ha," Flash said sarcastically while Scootaloo giggled.

Twilight just rolled her eyes before looking down at the little filly. "Anyways...Flash told me about how you're scared of being a burden."

"Oh?" Scootaloo replied as she quickly started staring at the ground, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Twilight let out a little sigh before shaking her head. A small smile appeared on her face as she then patted Scootaloo's head. "Don't worry about it." she said, causing Scootaloo to look slightly up, a tiny smile trying to appear. Seeing this, Twilight winked as she continued. "As far as I'm concerned, you're as much a part of my family as Flash is. In fact, I told my parents about you, and they asked us all to come to Canterlot for a dinner party so they can get to know you better."

"Really?!" Scootaloo asked in amazement. She remembered meeting Twilight's parents during the Fantasia Festival and knew they were very nice ponies, so hearing how happy they were to accept her as part of the family made her feelings of doubt lessen even more.

However, she couldn't think about it too long, as they had just arrived outside her new home, the Golden Oaks Library. Flash and Twilight ushered her in front of them, making the filly open the door. As she did, Scootaloo soon noticed that the whole place inside was bathed in darkness. Stepping inside, her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, until-

"SURPRISE!"

"Surprise!" Pinkie's voice called out, "Darn it! Twice in a row!"

Scootaloo blinked as a burst of light lit up the library. The filly rubbed her eyes with her hooves, blinking more as she tried to focus her eyes. And as she did, her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. It was her friends from school, ponies from the orphanage and some very familiar older ponies. Looking around at the sight, she then saw that the room was filled with balloons, streamers and a big banner that had 'Welcome Home Scootaloo' written in funny letters.

"WOW!" She cried as she turned to all her friends. "Thanks guys! But...why is-"

"We had to celebrate silly!" Pinkie interrupted as she placed a party hat on the filly's head. "This is your, 'congrats on getting out of the hospital and discovering your long lost brother party'!"

"Awesome..." Scootaloo gasped, her body shivering at the sight. "So...awesome."

As she did this, Sweetie Belle hopped behind the filly and began pushing her towards an area of the room. "Come on Scoots. Pin the tail on the pony's over here."

"You can go first if you want," Applebloom added, putting her hoof around the pegasi's shoulder.

"Awesome..." Scootaloo repeated as they all rushed over to it.

Twilight chuckled at young ponies antics. "Having her around is sure gonna liven things up, isn't it?" she asked Flash as she stepped inside.

"It sure is," the pegasus nodded as he closed the door behind them. As he did this though, he saw something that made his raise an eyebrow. It was Heather and First walking down a nearby street, their saddlebags strapped to their backs. After quickly glancing inside to see if anypony was looking, he stepped outside for a second.

"Hey!" He called out, getting their attention as he trotted up to them. "Are you leaving?"

"Afraid so," Heather replied with a small smile.

"We have learned all we can here," First told him, nodding. "It is time to go find our next adventure and see what we can learn there."

Flash frowned at this. "So you guys were just going to go without saying goodbye?"

The two Royal Knights gave him a sad look. "We are not big on goodbyes. In fact, we are more on...until we meet again."

"Will we meet again?" Flash asked them, raising an eyebrow again.

"Oh course," Heather nodded, winking. "We're all Royal Knights, meaning when Equestria needs us, we'll be there."

"Until then," First said as he and Heather turned back to the train station. "We gotta keep going. Simple as that."

Flash sighed, but nodded anyway. "See you...and thank you, for everything."

They both nodded and walked off. As they did, Flash shook his head, a small smile on his face as he returned to the library.

Later That Night...

The party was over. Scootaloo had especially partied herself, and was now making her way to her new bedroom. Everypony had returned home as well, exhausted but happy just like the orange filly. At the same time, Flash was in his room with Springer, sitting at his desk with a quill and some parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I've always felt like an outsider, watching as the ponies around me took something so special as having a family for granted. I always thought I would be like that, an outsider. But now, I can say I finally understand what it means to have a real family. I know I'll always love Twilight's family, how they raised me as a colt, and be glad for what they've done for me. But now I have something different, a true family member, blood and everything. And I'll gladly admit that I'm scared that I might make a mistake with this new endeavour, but I guess I'll just have to keep to my Element and try and ignore those fears. Because of this, I'm writing this letter to you. To thank you for sending me to Ponyville, and letting me stay. Because of that, I got to find my sister and be a part of her life. Thank you.
Yours truly, Flash Sentry.

Flash finished the scroll and rolled it up, deciding to send it to her tomorrow. Getting up from his desk, he decided to go see how Scootaloo was settling in and headed to her room. Once outside, he knocked on the door.

"Come in."

He opened the door and saw Scootaloo laying on her new bed, her bed sheets untucked.

"Hey," he said as he stepped over to her, trying to make sure he didn't knock over any boxes. "How you settling in?"

"Okay I guess..." Scootaloo replied, letting out a small sigh as she felt the last piece of energy leave her body.

Flash smiled as he began tucking her in properly. "Don't worry, you'll be more comfortable once we get this place just the way you want it." He finished the tucking and put her blanket over the bed's quilt, her body snuggly under it. Seeing this, Flash turned around and headed out the door, only to hear his new sister call out:

"Night bro."

Flash stopped, his heart beating as that was the first time he had heard her say that. He stood still for a few moments, slowly turning around to smile back at her. "Night sis."

Hearts and Hooves Day

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Hearts and Hooves Day.

A day where those who love and cherish each other show those feelings by giving cards and presents for the pony they care for the most. Many times on this day, ponies will even confess those feelings, asking them to be their Special Somepony. Everywhere you look, the town was covered in paper hearts and glitter, pink and red all over the place.

Which was the biggest complainant to one certain pegasus.

"Way too girly..." Flash grumbled as he and Springer flew over the town after their morning patrol.

"Tell me about it. It looks so...ugh, I don't know what to call it." Springer shivered as he looked down at the buildings before glancing back at Flash. "So...what's the legend behind this holiday?" He had learned a while back that all the holidays were created from special events that occurred long ago.

"No idea," Flash replied as they arrived outside the library. "Better to ask Twilight that."

He then opened the door, stepping inside to see one Twilight Sparkle reading a book with a pair of saddlebags next to her. The door opening caused her to snap out of her reading trance and look over at the two. "Oh!" she said as she shut her book and smiled at them. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." Flash nodded. Twilight and Flash were heading to Canterlot, where they were going to be spending the day with Twilight's parents. Springer had agreed to keep an eye on things until they got back that night.

"Hope you have fun," Springer said as he jumped down to the floor.

"Thanks." Flash replied, only to switch to a frown. "Although, I wish Scootaloo didn't have school today. Velvet and Night have wanted to meet and spend time with her."

"I know..." Twilight said as she patted his back. "But, she's been looking forward to the Hearts and Hooves Day Party at school all week. I'm sure they'll be another time for us all to get together soon."

"Yeah...yeah, you're right." Flash replied before looking around the room. "Where is Scootaloo anyway? She usually doesn't leave for school until the last minute."

"I don't know," Twilight shrugged with a confused look on her face. "She said she needed to get something from her room, though I don't know what-"

"I'm here!"

They all turned to the stairs at the sound of the exhausted filly. There, they saw Scootaloo carrying what they first mistook for a rolled up rug, but quickly realised it was a large piece of pink paper. From the look on Scootaloo's face, it must have been heavy.

"You okay there kiddo?" Flash asked his sister.

"I'm...fine," she wheezed out before collapsing under the strain.

"What's with the big roll of paper?" Springer asked.

"You planning to try for your wallpapering cutie mark?" Flash joked, only to get a glare from Scootaloo.

"No," she growled as she pulled herself out from under the roll. "Me, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are making a card for our teacher. We each agreed to get the parts we need, and I'm on paper!"

"That's nice," Twilight said before looking over at the roll. "Do you really need a piece of paper that big though?"

Scootaloo shined a huge smile, nodding. "Uh-huh! We wanna make the biggest Hearts and Hooves Day card Equestria's ever seen!"

"Well, you'll certainly break that record," Flash chuckled.

"Yeah..." Scootaloo said before trying to pick the roll up again, only to struggle at the awkward size. "But I've gotta get it to the club house before school starts."

The older ponies both giggled before Twilight pranced over, her horn shining. A second later, the paper started to float. "Why don't we give you a hoof?" Twilight asked as she put on her saddlebags at the same time. "If you try to bring this big thing on your own, you might drop it and get it dirty."

"Thanks Twi," Scootaloo replied, quickly proceeding to the door. The rest grabbed their saddlebags, leaving the library at a brisk pace. It wasn't long till they began their trek to Sweet Apple Acres.

And as they made their way through town, Springer spoke up. "Hey Twilight?"

"Yes Springer?" Twilight replied, glancing back at the jakhowl.

"I was wondering...what's the legend behind this holiday?"

"Oh?" Twilight gave the protector a small smile. "Well, the legend is actually about a love potion."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked in amazement.

"Yeah," Twilight replied, nodding. She then opened her saddlebag and pulled out the book she had been reading earlier, quickly levitating it over to Springer. "It's all in here, even the instructions for making the potion. You guys can read it if you want."

"Thanks," Springer said as he took it, not noticing Scootaloo quickly pacing back to look at the book as well.

As the jakhowl read the novel, Flash turned to Twilight. "Say, I wonder what the rest of our friends will be doing today."

"I know what Spike's doing," Twilight said with a roll of his eyes.

"Rarity?" The others all asked in unison.

"Rarity," she repeated, nodding.

Meanwhile..

At the Carousel Boutique, we find Rarity in her kitchen, sipping coffee and sketching out the concept of her next great design. As she does this, two small pins levitate into her mouth, both fiddling around her teeth as she grits at the papers before her. "Grrr...why can't I get this right? Its like I have no ideas today..."

Taking the pins out for a second, she took another sip of the bean brew, only for her ears to pick up the sound of four tiny hooves descending the nearby staircase. The sound made the unicorn look up, her eyes now seeing her sister Sweetie Belle. She had on her saddlebag, which appeared to be loaded to the brim with supplies.

"Morning Rarity," she said as she dropped the bag and leapt up onto the table.

"Morning darling," Rarity replied as her horn lit up and levitated the filly's breakfast in front of her.

Sweetie's eyes went wide as she smacked her lips. "Oh goody! Heart shaped pancakes!"

"Well, it is Hearts and Hooves Day," Rarity replied with a shrug. She then turned to her sister with a certain type of glare. "Speaking of which, are you planning on giving a card to anypony?

"Only to Ms. Cheerilee," Sweetie casually replied as she began eating. "Me, Scootaloo and Applebloom are working on a card for her. I just hope I got enough bows."

Rarity looked down at the almost overflowing saddlebag, which she now guessed was filled with bows. "I'm sure you have darling. But are you planning to give one to any...colts?"

Sweetie almost spit out her milk, her mouth slightly bloating at the reaction. After a painful swallow, she turned to her sister and gave her a disgusted look. "I'm not giving a card to a colt! They're gross!"

The unicorn rolled her eyes in response. "Oh nonsense darling, everypony should have a very special somepony. That's the whole reason behind Hearts and Hooves Day. I bet even your teacher will have one."

"Really?"

Rarity nodded in reply. "Really. I know colts might seem disgusting and childish now, but that's only because they have a lot of maturing to do. Once that happens, I think you'll see them in a different light."

"You really think so?"

"I do," Rarity replied before leaning over with a wink in her eye. "And the one thing to know about picking a colt is that you don't want just anypony. You don't want one that's older or younger than you and you don't want one who you don't think you can get along with. Finding the right colt is a difficult task, so it's never to early to start looking. You understand darling?"

Sweetie nodded before finishing eating her pancakes, quickly cleaning up her dishes and grabbing her bag as she began to head out. "Well, I gotta get to the clubhouse so we can make the card. Bye Rarity!"

"Have a lovely day deary," Rarity said as she waved goodbye to her sister.

As Sweetie opened the door to go out, she quickly noticed a newcomer to the shop. It was a certain purple dragon who had just walked up to the building. He was hiding something behind his back.

"Hey," he said, waving his unoccupied claw.

"Hi Spike!" Sweetie said as she moved past him. "See you both later!"

"Bye Sweetie!" Rarity called after her sister. Once she was gone, Rarity turned her attention to Spike, raising an eyebrow as she got up from her chair and greeted him. "Good morning darling. What can I do for you Spiky Wiky?"

As Spike stepped inside, he started to blush and trip over his words. "Well...I...you see...It's Hearts and Hooves Day."

"Yes, I've noticed," Rarity joked, chuckling as she continued to get closer to the drake. However, she soon came to a stop as when she noticed that Spike wasn't laughing. This alone was enough to tell her that there something was on his mind. Spike always laughed with her, even the jokes she did that she knew were not funny. "Is something wrong Spike?"

"Oh...no. It's just that..." He finally brought his other arm around and showed a single rose in his claws, which he thrust out towards her as he looked at the ground. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!"

Rarity was taken aback by the outburst, only to then smile at the little dragon as she took the flower in her magic. "Thank you darling," she said as she placed the rose behind her left ear. "It's beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you," Spike mumbled as he looked back up and saw what she had done.

"Um? I'm sorry darling, I missed that."

"Nothing. I said nothing." Spike blurted, clamping his mouth shut as sweat poured down his face.

"If you say so," Rarity replied as she turned back to her drawing board and fiddled with the sketch on it again.

"Do you uh...have anything you need...doing?" Spike asked as he moved over to her.

Rarity thought for a moment, only to stand there and blink. Her mind could think of a thing that the little dragon could help her with. "I'm sorry Spike, but it's probably going to be a pretty quiet day today. Nothing needs doing that I haven't already done."

"Oh..." Spike let out a disappointed sigh.

"And I'm sure you don't want to spend all day with me darling," Rarity told him as she levitated the pins back into her mouth. "I suspect there must be something else you would rather do then stay with me."

"Not really," Spike replied, shaking his head. "Twilight and Flash are in Canterlot, so the library's pretty empty and...well, Springer agreed to patrol the town, so I can't hang out with him."

"I see," Rarity replied as she looked away from the sketch again. Her hoof scratched her chin as she tried to think about something the drake could do. That is, till she looked back at the sketch, a pile of paper pencils sitting right by it. Her mind instantly went over how she couldn't think of any designs today, as if creativity just wasn't there. Her eye went back to the drake one more time, eyeing his claws. She remembered how much writing the dragon must do for Twilight, and a small idea drifted into her head. "Spike?"

"Yes?"

"Well...since you have nothing to do..." She bit into her lip as she tried to think of the right words to say here. "Why don't you...try and make your own dress design?"

"Dress design?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh course," Rarity replied, nodding. "I know dress design isn't really a...boy hobby, but I'm curious as to what kind of design a dragon would come up with."

"Oh..." Spike said.

"You don't have to if don't want to. I just thought it might be something you would like to try." Rarity finished, trying to make sure she didn't embarrassingly say, 'also, I'm completely out of ideas today'.

Spike thought for a moment. He did not expect to be able to make anything all that great, but if he could impress Rarity, then maybe she would want him around more often. "Sure," he said with a shrug before moving over to the desk. Putting a pencil to his claw, he started tapping his chin with it, blinking as he began to think.

Rarity silently chuckled as she smiled at the sight. Turning around, she walked into the kitchen, cleaning the rest of the utensils that she and Sweetie had used for breakfast. As she did this, she thought about what to do next. Granted, even if Spike did not make a great design, it could help her out of her rut. That alone would be enough, though she had a feeling it would turn out even better than she was currently thinking as she opened the refrigerator.

It was here that she saw the rest of the groceries her kitchen had. Blinking at the sight, she then concluded lunch would need to be outside today. Perhaps she could get something at Sugarcube Corner. And as that thought entered her head, Rarity wondered what Pinkie and the Cakes would be doing. Hearts and Hooves Day was likely one of their busiest days of the year, with tons of orders for heart shaped cakes and desserts.

Sugarcube Corner...

We begin with a certain pink earth pony in the shop's kitchen. She was busy icing the cupcakes that would be put on sale that day, while Pound and Pumpkin watched from their spot on the floor. Pinkie calmly hummed a song as she worked, gently placing the icing on the little cakes. Once she had finished the last one and saw there were some icing left in the gun, she took a quick look around before pointing the gun into her mouth and pulling the trigger.

"Yum yum yum!" she said with her mouth full of frosting. Once she swallowed the last bit, she picked up the cupcakes and quickly took them out to the store. "Here's the next batch Mrs. Cake."

"Oh thank you Pinkie," Mrs. Cake replied as she took the tray and placed it on the counter. "That should be the last set we need for a while. How are the twins?"

"Behaving perfectly," the pink pony cheered as she bounced back into the kitchen. However, when she saw the twins, they had started arguing over a toy bear. Quickly moving over, she leaned down "Hey! Don't fight you two, that's silly."

The twins however, weren't listening and continued to pull at the bear.

"Don't do that," Pinkie commanded as she leaned down further, knowing that if and when they tore that bear in half, it would cause a pair of tantrums. The only problem was that if she tired to take the bear away, she would likely cause a tantrum. What to do?

But before she could come up with an answer, the bear they were fighting over suddenly glowed and floated out of the twin's grasp. Pinkie's eyes went wide at this as the bear floated up before beginning to dance in midair. The twins watched this, laughing and clapping at the sight.

Pinkie on the other hoof, put a smirk on her face as she turned to a nearby window. "Thanks Wild."

"Aw..." a voice said as a certain unicorn stepped up into view. Wild Smile smirked as he and his dolls popped their heads through the window. "I wanted to surprise you some more."

"It was kinda obvious silly," Pinkie giggled as she walked over to the nearby door and opened it. "Who else can make a pair of angry foals cheer up so easily."

"It is my specialty," Wild replied as he stepped inside, his tongue sticking straight out.

"Specialty, specialty!" his puppets repeated as they floated over him.

Pinkie's smile grew three times the size, trotting over and pulling the stallion into a hug. "I'm so happy you're here!" she cheered, tightening the hug until abruptly stopping and pulling back with a questioning glance. "But uh...why are you here?"

Wild just chuckled at the question. "Well actually, I'm thinking of getting a place here."

"Place here, place here." The puppets repeated, the toys now flying over to the twins.

"REALLY!?" Pinkie screamed in joy.

"It's just an idea right now," Wild assured her, his eyebrows hopping up and down. "It seems I'm getting more and more show invitations in this area of Equestria, so instead of getting a hotel every time, it makes more sense to have a place here. That way I can divide my attention between here and Canterlot when needed."

"That's great!" Pinkie cheered, confetti flying out of her mane. "I hope you do decide to move here, even if it is only half the time."

"Well, it's certainly growing more desirable now," Wild told her, a small bit of red appearing under his cheeks.

"Oh, how cute."

The two ponies turned to see Mrs. Cake standing at the kitchen door, looking at the two of them with a smile on her face.

"Hey Mrs. Cake," Wild waved at her, trying to hide his slowly appearing blush.

"Hello Wild dear, its good to see you again." the baker said as she stepped over to her children, who were still being entertained by the dancing bear along with Wild's puppets. Suddenly, her eyes glowed with an idea, making her turn to the two young ponies. "Say, why don't the two of you take the twins to the park? It would certainly make running the store easier, especially today of all days."

The two ponies smiled before glancing at each other and nodding. Pinkie then spoke up, "Um sure Mrs. Cake, but don't you need me here for the cooking?"

Mrs. Cake shook her head. "No, we're good for now. I'm more worried that we won't be able to look after the foals and run the store. That's why I'm asking this."

Pinkie looked back at Wild, only to receive a shrug in response. With this, Wild then replied, "Eh, why not? I love to help out with foals."

"Love to, love to," the puppets repeated.

"I'll go get their stroller," Pinkie said as she bounced out the room.

As she did this, Mrs. Cake then walked up to Wild, tapping his chest. A piercing glare was on her face. "So young colt, may I ask what your intentions are for Pinkie?"

Wild gave her an odd look. "Intentions?"

Mrs. Cake crossed her hooves in response. "Pinkie might not be my real daughter, but I still see her as part of my family. As such, it's my responsibility to make sure she's safe from things that can hurt her." She leaned a bit closer, her eyes slightly narrowing. "And that includes colts."

Wild's eyes twitched a little, barely looking away for a split second. He could feel himself almost leaning back. "Er...why would you need to keep her safe from me?"

"Pinkie's a smart girl," Mrs. Cakes explained, a piece of air coming out of her nostrils. "However, she can be quiet naïve, especially around the opposite sex." She got closer to him and looked him dead in the eye. "I think you're a nice colt, but I'm warning you. Treat her well or else."

Wild was now visibly sweating in fear, gulping as he could now only see Mrs. Cake's glare. As his gulp finished, he slowly nodded in agreement. "I will...I promise."

It was here that Pinkie returned to the room, the twin's stroller being pulled by her tail. "Ready to go?" She asked Wild, not looking at him as she trotted over to the foals.

"Er...yeah." Wild looked back at Mrs. Cake, who gave him a nod. "I'm uh...ready."

"Great!" Pinkie replied as she placed the twins in the carriage and steered it towards the door. "Let's get going."

"Sure," Wild said as he stepped up next to her, trying to get rid of his fear sweat.

"Have fun," Mrs. Cake called out as they left the bakery and headed towards the park. Once they were gone, Mrs. Cake began mixing up a new set of cupcakes.

"Hello," she then heard somepony call out from the store, causing her to look up and see Rainbow Dash at the counter.

"Hello Rainbow," she replied as she stepped up to the counter. "What can I get you?"

"Something that'll give me the energy to get to Cloudsdale," Rainbow stated as she looked down at the cakes behind the glass. "I'm gonna spend the day with my parents."

"That's nice," Mrs. Cake said as she pulled out a vanilla cupcake and placed it in a bag. "Here you go, that'll keep your wings flapping."

"Thanks," Rainbow replied as she paid for the bag, quickly putting in her hoof. As she did, she waved goodbye and flew out of the bakery and into the sky. It had been a while since she had visited her parents, and she had decided that she should see them every now and then. Even though they could be majorly embarrassing at times, they were still her parents and she loved them.

With this in mind, she slowly made her way higher and higher into the sky. That is, till she heard a certain voice.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!"

The voice of her biggest fan Scootaloo caused her to look down and see her, Springer and the rest of the CMC on the ground. "Hey kids!" Rainbow yelled back. "What can I do for ya?"

"Could you get us a small tuft of cloud?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sure," Rainbow replied as she looked around and saw a large cloud nearby. Flying over to it, she ripped off a piece and then flew down to the group, handing it to the little pegasus. "So what's this for? School project?"

"Errrr....yeah," Scootaloo said as she took the cloud.

"Special project," Springer replied, nodding.

"Well, have fun," Rainbow told them as she flew back into the air. "Just don't let it turn ya into a bunch of eggheads like Twilight!"

"We won't!" she heard Scootaloo yell back as she left earshot.

Rainbow continued her journey to Cloudsdale, eating the cupcake on the way to the cloud city. Once in its boarders, she made her way towards a certain little cloud cottage. Landing on the bouncy castle-like ground, Rainbow raised her hoof and knocked. Rainbow let out a long sigh, ready for what was about to happen next. As she did, a few seconds passed.

That is, until the door flung open. The cloud door would have made a slamming noise if not for the material it was made of as a pair of hooves grabbed the rainbow-haired mare and pulled her inside.

"RAINBOW!" Rainbow felt the air in her lungs start to squeeze out, her father Bow Hothoof crushing her in a mighty bear hug. "Hey slugger!"

"Hey dad," Rainbow wheezed. "Good to see ya."

A second later, he let go and Rainbow took a deep breath of air.

"Is that my little girl?" she then heard, causing her to turn around and see her mother Windy Whistles walking into the hallway, smiling. "Oh Rainbow!" she exclaimed as she rushed over and pulled her into a less constricting hug.

"Hey mom." she wheezed again.

Windy pulled away and looked Rainbow over. "Look at you. You must have grown a good few inches."

"Maybe one or two," Rainbow replied, dusting herself off with her wings. "And you two are still the same."

"Oh stop that young lady!" Windy barked back, putting her hooves on her hips. "We are your parents, and we have the right to love you!"

"Yeah yeah...its good to see you two too." Rainbow chuckled back, giving her mom another hug. With this, the three of them moved into the kitchen, where they began talking, all of them catching up over their last time seeing each other. As they did this, Rainbow then noticed three pieces of paper laying on the table. Rainbow's eyes went wide as she looked down and read the sheets. "Are these?"

"Wonderbolts tickets," Bow said with a smile. "Pretty cool huh?"

"No way!" Rainbow replied as she picked them up. "How did you get these?"

"Doesn't matter," Windy told her daughter. "You want to go see them in action?"

It wasn't long before the three of them arrived outside the cloudosseum. Rainbow's parents still hadn't revealed how they had got the tickets, but at this point, Rainbow didn't care. After all, it was the Wonderbolts. What else could possibly matter?

"This is so awesome!" Rainbow said when she and her parents took their seats and waited for the Wonderbolts to arrive. "I can't wait!"

"Glad you're enjoying it," Bow said, patting her back with his wing. "We knew you would."

"Thanks guys," Rainbow replied, giving both a hug.

Before anything else could be said between them, a booming sound caught their attention and made them look up to see six pegasi fly into the stadium. They did several flips as the crowd cheered them on, a few doing a series of other stunts. They continued till a powerful explosion rocked the sky, acting like it was a bunch of fireworks. Once that happened, the six ponies landed on the ground near the race track.

The crowd all cheered seeing this. All except Bow and Windy.

"These Wonderbolts can't hold a candle to you Rainbow," Bow grumbled, crossing his hooves.

Windy nodded. "If you were down there, you'd wipe the cloud with them."

Rainbow chuckled at this, not wanting to risk telling her parents how she had raced a Wonderbolt and actually lost. If she told them, they would have a fit. That and she definitely was not going to tell them that she and him had been writing letters to one another.

Down below, the said Wonderbolt was stretching himself out. A few seconds later, Soarin Skies looked up into the crowd, seeing if he recognised anypony in the audience. It wasn't rare for his more...attached fans to follow him to the shows. However, when he looked around this time, his eyes went wide as they landed on a familiar rainbow maned pegasi. He smiled seeing her, alongside two pegasi that he guessed were her parents. Looks like she was spending the day with her family, which Soarin was glad since he couldn't get the day off to see her.

"Well well well..." he said to himself as he did one last stretch, still staring at her. "If she's here, I've got to win." he muttered. He knew now he had to impress her. After all, if he won the race, he could end up impressing both her and her parents.

As he did the last stretch, Rainbow had spotted Soarin staring at her and felt herself getting hot under the feathers.

"Rainbow, are you alright?" Bow asked, looking at her in concern. "Your face has gone all red."

"It has?" Rainbow squeaked, reaching up to her face. She then shook her head. "I uh...I'm fine."

Windy gave her daughter a suspicious look, her mare's intuition quickly kicking in. She turned to her husband. "Bow, why don't you go get us some snacks."

"Sure," Bow nodded, leaving a second later.

Once he was gone, Windy moved closer to Rainbow. "So, which one is it?"

"What?" Rainbow asked.

Windy crossed her hooves, giving her an all-knowing smirk. "Which one of those Wonderbolts do you know?"

Rainbow tried to hide a gulp. "How...how did you know?"

"It's a mothers job to know," Windy told her, tapping her with her wing. "That look on your face says it all. You like one of them, and by like, I mean...you know." Rainbow wanted to rebuttal this claim, but her mother kept talking. "You're not the type of girl who would fall for a colt without actually knowing him, so that means you actually know him. So I'll ask again..." Windy leaned over, an eyebrow raising as she got closer and closer. "Which one is it?"

Rainbow's red face returned as she looked at her hooves, shaking as she whispered. "Soarin."

"Oh..." Windy said as she tried to remember which one that was, looking back at the bolts. She then saw the stallion, looking him over "An excellent choice." Windy then gave her another knowing smirk. "So, mind telling me how you two know each other?"

Rainbow let out a deep breath, knowing she wasn't escaping this one. She then explained how she had met Soarin and their growing friendship. That is, till she mentioned their previous race, causing her mother to shriek, "He beat you?!"

"Barely..." Rainbow replied, her head slightly lowering. "And only because of a cave-in and his awesome theta thingy."

"But still, it's an impressive feat." Windy said before noticing Bow returning with their snacks. "Don't worry, I won't tell your father. But I expect to meet this colt soon enough."

"Sure mom," Rainbow replied as her father sat down.

Down below, the Wonderbolts had finished stretching and were ready to begin the race. They stepped up to the starting block and flexed their wings as the ref came up.

"Ready?" he said as he raised his flag before waving it. "GO!"

The six pegasi shot off the start line, already flying at high speed. Rainbow watched them between her parents, her eyes observing every technique. As she did, she grew concerned as she saw Soarin start to lag behind the rest of his teammates. She wanted to call out to him, telling him to get the lead out, but didn't want to draw attention to herself. But then the final lap arrived, and something happened. Soarin shot forward, quickly overtaking the other flyers and gain a considerable lead, crossing the finish line and winning the whole thing.

Rainbow couldn't help it, she leapt into the air and screamed. "YES! WAY TO GO!"

Bow gave her a confused look while Windy just giggled as their daughter slowly floated down, an embarrassed look on her face.

Soarin came to a stop as he landed beyond the finish line. As he did, he quickly found himself surrounded by reporters, camera flashing everywhere. He shielded his eyes, turning away from the devices as he looked up, his eyes soon found a certain blue pegasi. Then, he saw her. Time started to slow down as he saw her, both of them smiling at each other.

That is, till Soarin was quickly pushed away to the winners podium, losing sight of Rainbow.

The mare sighed at seeing him be pulled away, not going unnoticed by her parents. Bow continued to give her a confused look, but Windy simply continued to smile. A few seconds later, the cloudosseum began to empty out. There, the family of three headed to the exit. As Rainbow left, thanking her parents for bringing her, she began to wonder how Fluttershy's day was going since she to was having her parents over.

Fluttershy's cottage...

On the outskrits of Ponyville, Fluttershy was busy cleaning her little cottage before her parents got there. This had been a yearly ritual for them since Fluttershy had moved to Ponyville. They would come to visit their daughter on Hearts and Hooves Day before going out to enjoy the evening together. Fluttershy had just finished dusting when she looked over at Angel. "How's the salad coming?"

Angel, who was busy mixing vegetables in a bowl, looked over at her and gave a salute.

"Oh good," the pegasus mare commented as she looked around for any dirt she might have missed. She then heard a knock at her door, causing her to jump before she realized what it was. "Oh, they're here!" She trotted over to the door and opened it, revealing a pair of middle aged pegasi. One was a stallion with a blue coat and light pink hair, while the other was a mare with a yellow coat and red mane. "Mom, dad, it's so good to see you," Fluttershy said as she hugged the two.

"Hello dear," Mrs. Shy said as she hugged her back.

"It's nice to see you to," Mr. Shy also said.

Fluttershy stepped aside to let her parents in, but before she shut the door, her eyes caught sight of a pony walking down the road. It was Iron Core, who was heading to his home. "Iron," she quietly called out, only being heard because of Iron's finely tuned hearing.

Iron Core turned towards her and stepped up to her cottage. "Hey shrimp," he said once he was at her door. "Need something?"

Fluttershy did a slight gulp before quietly saying, "Oh um...I had my parents come over and...I thought you might like to meet them."

Iron was surprised by this, raising an eyebrow at the sudden invitation. However, the stallion did a small shrug before saying. "Sure, why not?"

With that, the two went inside and saw Fluttershy's parents on the living room sofa, snacking on Angel's salad. Upon seeing the naturally intimidating Iron, they two began to shiver, moving closer to each other.

"Mom, dad," Fluttershy said as she walked up to them. "This is Iron Core, a friend of mine."

"H-hello," Mr. Shy stuttered.

"I-it's nice t-to meet you," Mrs. Shy said, sounding as shy as her husband.

"Hey there." Iron replied before giving Fluttershy a quizzical look. She nodded at him, making him turn back to the duo. "So, you're the shrimp's parents?"

"Yes," Mr. Shy said with a gulp.

Iron once again gave a quizzical look, quickly glancing back at Fluttershy. The look on her face was one of apprehension, but it was enough to tell him to be nice. Seeing this, Iron bit his lip before saying, "I'll uh...I'll go get some drinks." With that, he left for the kitchen.

"The kettle's on the stove," Fluttershy called out.

"Sure." Iron replied as he left.

Once he was gone, Fluttershy turned to her parents, a small scowl on her face. "What was that about?"

The two older pegasi gave each other a glance before focusing back on their daughter. "Didn't that colt seem a bit...scary, to you?" Mrs. Shy asked.

"No," Fluttershy growled back, only to then think about how she acted when she first met Iron. She put her hoof on her chin before replying, "Well actually...maybe at first I did." She then looked back at her parents with a hopeful smile. "But he's very nice once you get to know him."

"I don't know." Mr. Shy gulped, shivering.

"He was carrying a spear dear," Mrs. Shy added. "As in a weapon."

"He's an apprentice knight who protects the town. He was likely on his way home from training when I called him." Fluttershy replied before walking up to them. "Just talk to him. He's nice, I promise."

The two older ponies still looked unsure.

"Please," Fluttershy added, a desperate frown on her face. "Just get to know him before you decide if he's scary or not. I don't want him to feel like nopony likes him."

The two looked at each, obvious hesitation on their faces. Despite this, they nodded to each other before looking back at their daughter. "Well...if you trust him dear," Mr. Shy replied, his voice still trembling. "I...I guess we can try and get to know him too."

"Thank you," Fluttershy said with a smile. In that moment, Iron stepped into the room with a tray of tea in his mouth.

Meanwhile...

Back at Rarity's boutique, the unicorn had just finished the last few touches on her new design. "There we go...absolutely perfect." Putting her pencil down, she decided she should see how Spike's little project was doing. Getting up off her chair, she moved over to the table Spike was working on. "So, how's the design coming along darling?"

"Okay I guess," Spike said as he stopped drawing and held up what he had been working on.

Rarity took a quick look, expecting to see some silly doddle, but what she saw made her eyes go wide. Spike's design was just like something she had drawn. It was a flowing dress that appeared to have a scale like pattern, with projections sticking that she guessed was suppose to represent claws or fangs. The dress just screamed beautiful draconic.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Spike asked as he looked down, not even looking at her face.

"Are you insane?" Rarity said as she took the drawing. "This is amazing. How did you come up with something so...so...incredible?"

The response made Spike look up at her in surprise. "I...don't know. You said you wanted a dragon's idea of a design, so I just thought of one of your designs and tried to make them more...dragon-like."

"It's marvelous," Rarity told him, smiling as she continued to look the piece over. "Granted, we'll need to make some adjustments so its more made for ponies but..." She gave him a small wink. "What say we make your little creation a reality?"

Spike's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Absolutely," Rarity nodded as she walked off and began using her magic to gather the materials they needed. Spike was shocked by the fact that Rarity not only liked his design, but actually wanted to create it. He then smiled, following after her.

Meanwhile...again.

In the park, we find Pinkie, Wild and the Cake Twins enjoying themselves.

"Peekaboo," Pinkie said as she played with Pound, waving her hooves over her face. Wild on the other hoof was using his puppets as a flatbed that Pumpkin was ridding on as he floated them through the air. The two foals giggled and laughed as they enjoyed themselves, grabbing the attention of the ponies around them.

"Hey Pinkie."

The pink party planning pony turned to see Lyra and Bon Bon walking over to them. "Hi Lyra! Hi Bon Bon!" she replied as she picked up Pound.

"Who's your friend?" Bon Bon asked as she nodded at the stallion now holding Pumpkin.

Lyra meanwhile, raised an eyebrow. "Wild Smile?"

Wild chuckled before waving at the green unicorn. "Hey Heartstrings."

Pinkie's gaze shifted between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

"Smile here was a few years above me in Celestia's School," Lyra explained as she gave him a suspicious glance. "He was known for causing practical jokes and getting in all kinds of trouble for them." She then giggled into her hoof. "One time he filled the school's water tank with jello powder so that every time somepony used a tap or flushed a toilet, it would send out the stuff."

Pinkie burst out laughing at the mental image of that. Lyra and Bon Bon also laughed, while Wild just rolled his eyes. "Wasn't my best plan, especially since Princess Celestia made me eat the jello for every lunch time until it was all gone."

Again, the three mares burst out laughing, causing Pound and Pumpkin to start as well. A few seconds later, Lyra asked, "So, what are you doing here Smile?"

Before Wild could answer her, Pinkie jumped in front of him with a grin. "Oh, he's moving to Ponyville."

Wild rolled his eyes again. "I'm thinking about it. I haven't decided to yet."

"Don't be silly, you're totally gonna do it," Pinkie told him, waving her hoof in a cocky manner.

Lyra and Bon Bon smiled, seeing the interaction between the two. They both gave each other a knowing glance before waving goodbye to the duo. As they left, they saw Ms. Cheerilee walking down the path. "Hey Cheerilee," Bon Bon said to her, "where are you off to?"

Cheerilee simply smiled. "Sweetie Belle and her friends asked me to meet them at the gazebo. I think they're trying to get me and Big Mac together."

Lyra gave her a big smile. "That's nice. The two of you would make a lovely couple."

Cheerilee just rolled her eyes. "Maybe, and I wouldn't say no if he asked me out. However, the girls seem to think that if they get us in a romantic setting, we'll just fall head over hooves."

The two giggled at this as Cheerilee began he trek once again.

"Oh Hearts and Hooves Day," Bon Bon commented, glancing at her friend. "What an amazing day."

"Just as amazing as Valentines Day," Lyra replied.

"Valen-what?"

"Never mind."

Bon Bon wanted to reply, but she knew better than to question Lyra when it came to her randomness.

Back at Cloudsdale...

Rainbow and her parents were now making their way to their favorite café for a late lunch. As they sat down at a table, Rainbow licked her lips as she looked at the menu. Her eyes scanned it over, "Hmmm...looks like they've added some new stuff."

"Hope they still do that special soup I like," Bow added as he flipped a page.

"I'm sure they do," Windy told him, patting her husband with her wing. "They just better have the salad I had last time."

Bow was about to respond, only for a waitress to walk up to them. "Hello everypony, what can I get for you?" She asked.

They all gave their choices and the waitress left. As she did, the three continued to talk, all of them talking about the event they had just seen. A few minutes later, the door bell for the café rung and Rainbow heard one of the waitresses call out. "Hey Soarin."

Rainbow's head shot up and turned to the door. There, she saw the Wonderbolt, now out of costume, step inside the café. He gave the waitress a wave before saying, "I'm celebrating, so I'll take you're best pie."

"Sure thing Clipper."

As Soarin turned to find an empty chair, he noticed Rainbow and her parents. A smile popped onto his face as he walked up and moved over to them. "Hey Rainbow."

"Oh...hey," she replied, her eyes shrinking at the even that was now just happening. She could now feel the tomato red coloring now appearing on her face.

Windy smiled at her daughter's reaction, while Bow looked amazed at the fact that a Wonderbolt would just walk over and introduce himself to them. He then glanced at his daughter and back at the Bolt. "Wait a minute...you two know each other?"

"We sure do sir," Soarin told him, nodding. "Your daughter here saved my life once and helped us out during the Fantasia Parade."

Bow's eyes grew even wider before turning to Rainbow. "Why didn't you tell us you were in the Fantasia Parade?!"

Rainbow's face went even redder. "It was kinda last minute. I would have told you, but I kinda went to the parade after the day before."

Windy giggled at this before turning to Soarin. "Would you like to join us?"

Soarin smiled, nodding. "Sure." He took a seat between Rainbow and Windy, only for the waitress to return with their food.

"Here you go Clipper," the waitress said as she placed a pie infront of him.

"Thanks," Soarin told her, licking his lips. He lowered his mouth, ready to take a bite, only for Rainbow to speak up.

"Hey uh...why did she call you Clipper?"

Soarin let out a low grumble before closing his mouth. He leaned back and looked slightly away. "That's...my nickname. All the Wonderbolts have them." His wings twitched, almost unfurling. "Try and guess how I got it."

"Because you're as fast as a ship?" Rainbow guessed.

Soarin wanted to chuckle, but just shook his head instead. "Nope. I got the nickname because on my first day as a Wonderbolt, I clipped my wing on a flag pole while I was landing." The three all chuckled at that, causing Soarin to give her a slight glare. "Don't laugh so much Rainbow, you'll probably get one when you're a Wonderbolt."

"Really?!" Rainbow asked, trying to think of a cool nickname. "As long as its better than the one I had at flight camp."

"What was it?"

Rainbow wasn't sure she wanted to tell him. The very memories of flight camp made her shudder, only for her mother to nudge her. Rainbow looked back at her, only to get a small nod. Seeing this, Rainbow let out a sigh and said. "I was...Rainbow...Crash. I crashed into a trash can on my first day."

Soarin and her parents snickered at this. "That sounds like a Wonderbolt nickname," Soarin told her as he took a bite of his pie. "You'll probably end up with it if you crash."

"Thanks for the warning," Rainbow said with a pout.

"Don't worry about it," Soarin assured her. "All nicknames are given in good fun. It doesn't mean anything bad."

Hearing this made Rainbow feel slightly better, but she knew she was still gonna do everything in her power to make sure she didn't get that nickname. As she did this, Bow and Windy watched the interactions between the two, both having slightly different mental opinions on it. Windy was happy her daughter had found somepony to like, even if she was in the denial stage of her emotions right now. Bow meanwhile was just catching on to what was happening and wasn't sure how he felt about it. Despite Soarin appearing to be a nice young colt, he was a little concerned about the idea of his daughter dating. Though if she was going to do it, he guessed a Wonderbolt would be the only worthy one.

The four of them continued to enjoy their lunch, conversing about Wonderbolts and different flying skills.

Meanwhile....yet again.

Back in Ponyville, Iron, Fluttershy and her parents were now talking, as the adults had finished their meal. Despite their unsteady start, the two older ponies had started opening up to Iron and he in turn started to open up to them. Right now, he was telling them about his Great Test.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Shy said after hearing what Skybreaker had told Iron. "He actually told you to jump over a canyon?"

"He told me to find a safe way over the canyon," Iron replied, a breath of air blasting out of his nostrils. "When I couldn't, I thought about jumping over it."

"How wide was the canyon?" Mr. Shy asked.

Iron thought for a moment. "About ten meters. I probably would have made it, but my earth pony strength hadn't been reduced as part of the test."

"So you tried to jump over it?" Mrs. Shy gasped, putting her hooves over her mouth.

"I was gonna...but I realized it was a stupid idea and told Skybreaker it was impossible. That caused me to pass the test."

The two older ponies nodded, glad at the younger pony's judgment. "I must say Mr. Core," Mr. Shy said, "Fluttershy was right when she said about how nice you were."

Iron raised an eyebrow before turning to Fluttershy. "What did you tell them?"

Fluttershy did a slight gulp as she tried to shrink into her couch. Angel snickered at the sight as she said, "Oh uh...nothing bad I promise."

Mrs. Shy nodded. "She just told us that even though you look angry and scary, you were actually very nice."

"Oh," Iron said as he looked away from Fluttershy. He was a bit surprised at how...honest they were being. "Well, I am trying to learn to open up a bit."

"Well, you're doing a very good job of it," Fluttershy assured him.

Before they could say anything else, a loud knocking caught their attention.

"IRON!" They heard Springer yell from behind it. "Are you in there?! We've got a big problem!" They all shared a confused look before Iron rose up and moved over to the door. He quickly opened it, seeing the distressed jakhowl as he looked up at him and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I knew my aura wasn't wrong. We got trouble."

"What is it?" Iron asked as he reached for Piecemaker. "Monster attack? Riot? Crusaders?"

"Crusaders."

Iron let out a low hiss. "Oh great. What did those three do now?!"

Springer took a deep breath, "The Crusaders wanted to get Cheerilee and Big Mac together for Hearts and Hooves Day, but when the two wouldn't get together, they decided to make a potion Twilight told me and Scootaloo about. But when they drank it, they became over-infatuated with each other and then they realized that they had actually drunk a love poison, which makes it so they'll never want to do anything but look at each other. So now we have to keep the two apart for an hour so the potions wears off but I get the feeling it isn't gonna be that easy and Flash is out of town and you're the only one I could think of to help me," Springer gasped for air as the four ponies just stared at him. "Please...help me..."

Iron shook his head and his face became one of deep focus. "Alright, lead the way."

The jakhowl nodded and rushed off, the earth pony following him. Once they were gone, Fluttershy's parents turned to their daughter. "Is this normal?" Mr. Shy asked.

Fluttershy gave a nervous chuckle. "Recently...yes."

Meanwhile...one more time.

Back at the boutique, Rarity and Spike were in Rarity's main room, working on his design. They were making it out of purple material with green highlights to represent the creator, while sowing thread into it to give the appearance of scales. As Rarity sewed the last 'scale', she proclaimed, "I must say, this is coming together perfectly. It looks better in real life than it did on paper."

"Thanks," Spike said with a blush.

Suddenly, the two heard a banging sound coming from downstairs, causing them to share a confused look.

"Odd...there shouldn't be anypony down there. I closed the shop today." Rarity commented as she stared at the door.

"I'll go see what's going on," Spike said as he left the room and headed downstairs. There, he saw the strangest of things. It was Ms Cheerilee was in the changing room in a wedding dress despite getting in the building without the bell over the door ringing. "What the heck?" Spike asked when he noticed she had been trapped inside the changing room by a bunch of objects.

"Spike!"

He turned to see Sweetie Belle moving up to him.

"Sweetie, what's going on?"

"No time to explain," Sweetie told him, running in place. "I need you to keep Rarity upstairs for as long as possible, about twenty minutes preferably." Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, obviously wanting to know what was going on. "Please," she begged him, gesturing her hooves. "Pleeeease?"

Spike stared for several more seconds before sighing and heading back upstairs.

"Thank you!" he heard Sweetie call out.

"So...what was it?" Rarity asked once he was back in the room.

Spike looked up and saw that she was so focused on the dress that she wasn't looking at him. He did a mute gulp before thinking up a small lie. "Just uh...Opal. She was playing with her toy and knocked over a manikin."

"Oh...okay." Rarity replied, still staring at the dress. "As long as she doesn't break anything."

"I'm sure it's fine," Spike assured her.

"Well then..." Rarity remarked as she levitated a few pins over to the dress. "Let's get back to work then, shall we?"

"We shall," Spike agreed, nodding.

Just outside the store...

Iron and Springer had just arrived in the center of town, following Mac, Cheerilee and the CMC's aura's. They came to a halt before Iron yelled at the jakhowl. "Where are they?!"

Springer closed his eyes and focused, as his ears flared up for a moment. "Sweetie and Cheerilee are still at the boutique, but Mac, Scoots and Applebloom are on the move and getting closer to the shop."

Iron nodded as they picked up their speed, only to stop when he noticed something. One of the houses was moving, scraping along the ground as if being pulled. "What the-?!" He then noticed a rope tied around the building, which appeared to be the thing pulling it and was connected to. "MAC!"

Big Mac did not respond, to concerned with getting to Cheerilee. Iron looked up at the house and saw one of the windows opening, showing Berry Punch hanging out of it. Seeing this, Iron pulled out Piecemaker and threw it at the rope. It struck it and snapped the rope, bringing the house to a stop as Mac continued.

"NO!"

The two turned to see Applebloom rushing after Mac, yelling at them. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Because I couldn't risk the chance of the house falling apart and crushing that pony," Iron told her as he retrieved Piecemaker.

"But now there's nothing stopping him from getting to Cheerilee," Applebloom replied, panic filling her voice.

Iron just smiled as he turned to Mac's retreating form, "Don't be so sure," he said before thrusting Piecemaker into the ground. The earth around Big Mac then erupted as a wall of metal poles shot out in front of him, turning into a metal cage. This made the red stallion come to a stop, causing Iron to smirk. "There. No way he's getting out of that."

Springer and Applebloom smiled, agreeing that there was no way Big Mac would get out. However, that thought started breaking when Piecemaker started vibrating. "What the?" Iron asked as he grabbed the pole, looking back at the cage. Inside, Big Mac was pushing into the metal bars, slowly bending them. "What in the name of-"

SNAP!

The beams broke, letting the stallion to leap out. Seeing this, Iron retracted the poles and pulled Piecemaker out of the ground, amazed at what had happened. He then turned to the filly and jakhowl. "That potion of yours doesn't happen to grant any added benefits like, let's say...INCREASED STRENGTH?!"

The two glanced at each other before looking back and shrugging.

"Great..." he hissed, turning around to rush after the stallion. The duo ran behind him, all of them trying to catch the enchanted earth pony. Then, they saw that the boutique was coming up fast, only to also see Scootaloo and Sweetie's heads pop out of the ground. Catching onto what they were doing, Iron caught up with Big Mac and started trying to steer him towards them.

Then, he did one last push, knocking the stallion into the hole the fillies had made. "Smoochy Poo!" Mac screamed as he disappeared with a cry. As a thud followed, Iron sighed in relief as he, Springer and the girls gathered around the hole that Mac had fallen into.

"I sure am glad you found those shovels Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo commented as they kept looking down, watching Big Mac try to get out of the hole. She then sat down, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

Iron meanwhile, wasn't so happy. He tapped his hooves on the ground, getting the fillies attention. They all gave him a nervous chuckle as they saw the anger on his face. Then he spoke, "Don't think I won't be telling Flash, Rarity and Applejack about this."

As all of them gulped at this, a nearby clock tower began to ring. This made their ears spike up, smiles returning to their faces. "One more minute and the spell will be broken!" Applebloom cheered.

"SCHMOOPY DOO!" Mac yelled from the pit, his voice being carried through the air and into the boutique.

"Oh no..." Springer said as they all turned towards the shop. As they looked at it, the front door started being pounded on. The knocking made them all gulp, knowing what was coming. Iron readied himself again, only to hop in place as he suddenly saw a good section of the building's wall being ripped down.

"Holy cow!" Iron yelled as Ms. Cheerilee, wearing a wedding veil, leapt out the building and started looking around.

"SCHMOOPY DOO!" Mac yelled again, giving away his location. Cheerilee smiled and started running towards them.

"Do something!" Sweetie told Iron.

"Grr...fine! I don't want to hurt a civilian but-"

Before Iron could say any more, Cheerilee turned into what looked like a purple bolt, steamrolling through the five like a bullet. All five flew into the air like bowling pins hit by a bowling ball, all landing with a 'thud'. As they all crashed into the ground, Cheerilee blasted down the pit. A few seconds passed and when the five of them all managed to get up, they carefully walked towards the pit to look inside.

"Ohhhh...please be normal, please be normal." Applebloom repeated as they reached the end and looked down, only to see Cheerilee and Mac giving them a confused look.

"Am I wearing a wedding veil?" Cheerilee asked.

"Eeyup," Mac said.

Cheerilee then looked at him. "Are you sitting on a feather bed in a hole in the ground?"

"Eeyup," he repeated.

Cheerilee then turned to the ones looking down at them.

"This is gonna be a long story," Springer groaned, facepawing.

"Well, you better get telling it."

They turned to see Rarity and Spike walking towards them, having seen the damage done to her shop.

Iron smiled as he turned around and grabbed the four before they could flee. He looked back, his grin growing wider. "Oh, you're gonna love this."

Meanwhile...insert repeating gag here.

Pinkie and Wild had just returned to Sugarcube Corner and saw Mrs. Cake sweeping up the debris from a broken wall. It had been destroyed thanks to Big Mac pulling the previous house from earlier, the building knocking into the other as he did the earlier marathon.

"What happened here?" Wild asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mrs. Cake just sighed, stroking the broom back and forth. "Its...been a very weird day."

"Without me?" Pinkie asked, sounding shocked.

"Believe it or not," Mrs. Cake replied, chuckling. She then turned to the duo with a small smile. "You all have fun?"

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie beamed while Wild just smirked in response. His horn started glowing and levitated all the broken pieces of the shop wall, placing them in the trashcan.

"Thank you," Mrs. Cake told him.

"No problem," the unicorn stallion nodded. "Magic makes it easy."

In that moment, the baby pegasus in his hooves yawned, followed by his unicorn sister. "I should probably get these two to bed," Mrs. Cake said as she took her foals and went inside, leaving Pinkie and Wild alone. The two glanced at each other and back at the sight of the store, still staring at the broken wall.

Then, Wild broke out in a fit of chuckles. "Heh heh...I gotta say, this town sure is a wild one."

Pinkie laughed back. "That's why I love it so much."

"Yeah...it certainly would be a nice place to live." Wild commented as he scratched the back of his head. "Or even visit when the busy life of Canterlot gets to be too much."

"So...you gonna move here?" Pinkie asked, her eyes going wide.

Wild smiled at her. "Yeah, I am." He did not get to say anything else, as Pinkie leapt and pulled him into a hug.

"THAT'S GREAT!" Pinkie exclaimed, tightening the hug as Wild's face started to go blue from the constriction. "I'm so glad! Pound and Pumpkin like you a lot, so I know they'll love having you around more!"

"Thanks..." Wild wheezed, his body slightly shaking at her immense strength. "Can't...breathe..." Once Pinkie got off him, he let out a series of coughs, covering his mouth with his hoof. Pinkie then apologized, only for him to wave at her reassuringly. After all, he was doing this to hide his nerves.

A few more seconds passed and an awkward silence happened between them. As it lingered, Wild could feel a rush of nerves pour over him as he started to say, "Listen uh...once I get settled..." Wild started to fiddle his hooves, his face going red as he slowly said, "Do you um...wanna hang out...with me...alone?"

Pinkie gave him a curious look. "You mean...like a date?"

Wild gave her a silly grin. "Yeah...a date."

"A date, a date," the puppets repeated, making Wild want to glare at them.

However, his eyes were on Pinkie, who was now staring at him. What felt like hours for Wild passed, only for it to be a few seconds as Pinkie started smiling again. Wild was about to smile back, only to feel a familiar peck on his face's cheek. Wild could feel his face burn as Pinkie then said, "Sure. I'd like that." With that, she turned towards the bakery and bounced through the hole, hiding a slight blush on her face.

Wild just stared as she disappeared inside. A smirk soon followed as he and his puppets walked off. "Wow...what a mare."

Cloudsdale...

Soarin, Rainbow and her parents were now walking through the city. They had finished their dinner at the café and were now enjoying the stroll to Rainbow's parents' house.

"This has been fun," Soarin said, winking at the three.

"Yeah," Rainbow replied, trying to hide an obvious blush.

"I certainly didn't think I'd be meeting a Wonderbolt today," Windy commented as she nudged her husband. "I mean, it sure was fun hearing about all your stories Soarin."

"Thanks," Soarin replied, nodding. He then nudged Rainbow. "And it was fun hearing about all those Rainbow stories."

"Yeah..." Rainbow repeated, embarrassment now in her tone. She then looked back up, only to see her parents's house in view. "Oh...we're here."

"That's the place?" Soarin asked as he pointed at the building in front of him. They all nodded in response. Seeing this, Soarin flexed his wings, "Well, if that's the case, I better get going. Spitfire'll de-wing me if I'm late tomorrow."

"Sure," Rainbow replied as she flexed her wings as well. "I better get back to Ponyville." She did a slight crick to her neck before glancing back at the Bolt. "Um uh...see you around."

Quickly reading the moment, Windy grabbed her husband by the wing and pulled him away. As she did this, Soarin scratched the side of his head as he said, "So...wanna keep writing to each other?"

"Uh yeah, sure!" Rainbow slightly blurted, biting her lip soon after as she tried to stumble for more words. Her mind screamed at her as she tried to speak up, only to say, "Or uh...maybe we uh...um..."

"Maybe what?" Soarin asked, leaning slightly over.

"Maybe...we could...hang out...alone?"

"Really?" Soarin asked, hopping in place. Seeing this, Rainbow started mentally hitting herself, calling herself stupid for saying that. That is, till Soarin let out a sigh in relief as he said, "Thank Celestia."

"Huh?"

"I've been trying to think of a way to ask you out for a while," Soarin explained, his face now red as a tomato. "Glad you asked."

"You have?"

"Yeah..." Soarin muttered, looking away. "I uh...like you. A lot." Rainbow's face began a completion with his over most redness as he continued. "So yeah, I'd like to hang out with you." He then looked back, a soft smile on his face. "So uh..I'll write to you next time I'm free, then we can decide what we wanna do. Sound good?"

Rainbow started nodding, unable to open her mouth. Seeing this, he smiled back before taking off without a word. As she watched him fly away, shock made her stand still, that is till a certain loud squeal let itself out just a few meters away.

"I can't believe it!" Windy cheered. "My daughter's dating a Wonderbolt!"

Rainbow's face became red once again. "We're not dating."

Bow had a hard look on his face before shining a small smirk. "Eh, I guess if anypony's worthy of my Rainbow Dash, it'd be him."

"Dad..." Rainbow growled. "I just said-"

"Oh just think," Windy interrupted, putting her wing over her husband. "His teammates could perform at their wedding!"

"MOM!"

Fluttershy's Cottage...

The day was nearly done. As such, Fluttershy was now seeing her parents off. As she did, she told them, "Thank you so much for coming. It was nice having you over."

"We love being over," Mr. Shy replied as he gave his daughter a hug.

"And it was such a pleasure to meet Iron," Mrs. Shy added, nuzzling her daughter. "Despite how he looks, he's a darling. I can't wait until the two of you get together."

Fluttershy's face went bright red.

"I agree," Mr. Shy continued. "When you first moved here, I was so worried you wouldn't have anypony to protect you. Sometimes, I still feel that way...but I'm sure a Royal Knight will be able to keep you safe."

Fluttershy smiled at this, glad her parents approved of Iron.

"Well, we better be off." Mrs. Shy ended as she hugged her daughter. "Take care, okay?"

"Okay," Fluttershy replied, finishing the hug. Once that was done, the two flew off. Fluttershy smiled as she watched them fly out of sight before her gaze turned to the road and she saw Iron walking towards her. She could see frustration and exhaustion on his face, causing her to take a small breath before calling out, "Iron? Are you okay?"

"No." Iron grunted back, "I'm absolutely exhausted despite that fact that we managed to fix everything!" He then paused for a second before adjusting his statement, "Well, almost everything. I'm gonna need to find a way to move an entire house back into place tomorrow, plus I'll have to help fix an entire section of Rarity's house!" Iron then facehoofed, grumbling. "I can't believe those three brats...and one of them is now related to Sentry! Why?!"

"Oh..." Fluttershy replied, blinking before giving him a soft smile. "I see. Well, why don't you come in and tell me about it?"

Iron simply smiled at her, nodding at the buttercream pegasus. "Sure shrimp."

Ponyville...

Back at Rarity's boutique, she and Spike were looking over the damage Cheerilee had done. Seeing this, Spike's face turned into one of regret as he said, "Sorry Rarity. If I had told you the truth, your shop wouldn't need fixing."

Rarity looked down at the little dragon, seeing his saddened look. She then patted him on the head as she let out a sigh. "Don't worry about it Spike. I know first hoof how hard it is to say no to Sweetie when she uses those eyes on somepony. I'll have to teach her not to use her gift for evil." Spike chuckled at this. "Now come on," Rarity told him as she stepped back inside. "Let's go finish our little collab. In fact, maybe I'll model it once it's done."

Hearing this, Spike rushed in after her.

Later that night...

Flash and Twilight had had a nice time in Canterlot, having enjoyed spending the day with her parents. They had told them about their recent adventures, especially over the Scootaloo incident. A big amount of laughs had especially happened when they explained the body-switching episode, and a particular crazy moment involving Flash having to dress up as a vigilante called the Mysterious Mare-do-Well. (He hated the name due to him being a stallion)

Now, the two were returning home after getting off the train. As they did, they couldn't help but notice that the town looked a little different.

"Was that house always there?" Twilight asked as they passed it.

"I don't remember seeing it there before," Flash commented as he looked it over before glancing back at purple unicorn. "I'm not sure."

"Do you feel like something happened while we were gone?"

"I wouldn't put it past this place," Flash said as they got closer to the library. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow."

They then opened the door to the library, only for their eyes to go wide. In front of them was the adorable sight of Spike, Scootaloo and Springer asleep on the floor.

"Aww," Twilight cooed.

"I bet they had an eventful day," Flash chuckled.

Twilight levitated three of them onto his back, Flash using his wings to keep them steady. "Why don't you put them to bed and I'll make us some hot chocolate."

"Sure," Flash said as he trotted towards the stairs. Twilight headed towards the kitchen, placing the kettle on the stove as she levitated some mugs and poured powder into them. As the kettle finished boiling and she poured out the hot chocolate, Flash arrived and sat at the table. Twilight magicked the mugs over and sat down, handing one mug to Flash. Flash smiled as he took the mug a held it up. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day."

Twilight nodded and raised her mug, clanging it against Flash's before taking a sip. "You think next year we'll be spending this day with our own special somepony?" Twilight asked.

Flash thought about what she had said, nodding at the question. "You maybe, but I don't have any plans to see anypony. All I care about is growing stronger and protecting my friends."

Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on Flash. You must have some plans for the future."

Flash simply smirked at her. "You know I never think that far ahead."

Twilight smiled back, sipping at the cocoa. "I hope you do find somepony special."

"And I you."

The two continued to smile at each other, completely oblivious to the fact in front of them.

It's About Time

View Online

It began at the earliest hour possible. And by earliest, it meant 3 o'clock in the morning. Here, Flash Sentry was currently asleep in his bed. He had spent the evening helping Scootaloo study for her history test over Equestria's knights tomorrow, a subject he knew a lot about due to his training and he also knew that Twilight would go into things four grades higher than the filly could understand. Now, he had gone to bed both physically and mentally exhausted. (The physical part was due to a competition between him and Iron, which included fifteen duels in a row) Now, he was enjoying a particularly fun dream involving dinosaurs, space ships and a talking pizza.

However, his fun-filled dreams were about to be shattered as the sound of loud hoofsteps rumbled downstairs. The noise alone made Flash's eyes barely open, his ears flopping back and forth.

"What's going on?" Springer asked from his basket, trying to wrap his blanket around his ears to block out the noise with no success.

"I have an idea," Flash moaned as he pulled himself out of bed, landing on his head before picking himself up and walking over to the door with a yawn. When he opened it, he came face to face with Spike, who was carrying his alarm clock and had an annoyed look on his face.

"You too?" Flash asked.

"Yeah," the little dragon replied as he crossed his claws, growling.

"Let's go," Flash yawned as he walked down the hall, passing Scootaloo's room as he did. In that moment, it opened and his little sister's head popped out.

"What's with the noise?" The little filly asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, just something you'll have to get used to when living with us. Just stay right there." Flash flatly replied as he stepped past her and headed downstairs. There in the main library, they saw the cause of the noise, which caused the duo to look at each other and nod. It was one Twilight Sparkle, who was nervously pacing around the room.

"Twilight?" Spike loudly hissed, getting the purple unicorn's attention.

"Oh?" she said, turning to them. "Hey guys."

"What are you doing?" Flash asked before scratching his ear. "And please be quick, I'm sure my bed really wants to tell me to not care right now."

"Yeah! It's the middle of the night!" Spike added as he pointed to a nearby window, the moon still floating in the sky outside. "Why are you down here making noise and pacing like this?!"

Twilight's eyes shrunk at this question. Her voice went frantic as she replied, "Frankly, I don't know how you can sleep at a time like this!"

Spike simple raised his alarm clock. "Its Three AM Twilight! THREE AM!" With that, Spike turned to head back upstairs, only for Twilight to teleport in front of him. "Ack!"

"But Spike! It's awful, it's horrible, it's tragic!" She exclaimed, making Spike slightly backpedal.

"Twilight..." Flash flew in front of her and pushed her backwards. "You need to calm down. Take deep breaths." Twilight did as she was told, breathing in for a good five seconds before breathing out again. Seeing this, Flash patted her back with his hoof. "Good. That's good...now, tell us what's wrong."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo yelled from upstairs. "Why are you freaking out?!"

Twilight did not reply, choosing instead to use her magic to levitate a calendar over to them. "Here." The duo looked at the calendar, seeing the date was the fourth. "Now do you see what's wrong?"

"We forgot to celebrate...arbour day?" Spike asked.

"No!" Twilight exclaimed as she moved over to a nearby desk. "The problem is that I just finished planning my schedule for the month, but I forgot to leave time to plan for next month!"

Flash raised an eyebrow. "And that's a problem...how?"

Twilight rolled her eyes in frustration, her horn shining as she used her magic to move a book off the desk and shove it in their faces. "Don't you see?! There's no time in my schedule to put together another schedule!" She dropped the book and began to pace once more, this time more frantically. "I could move my meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board to the following Tuesday, but then I have to reschedule my lunch with Pinkie Pie, and you know what a nightmare she is with scheduling."

This time, the two gave each other an 'are you kidding me' glance, which made Spike head upstairs to where Scootaloo was. As he went up there, Twilight cried out, "This is an absolute disaster! My whole year could be thrown off!"

"And I woke up from an ice cream dream for this..." Spike grumbled as he passed Scootaloo. "Why do I live here?"

"I hope Ms. Cheerilee accepts acts of demented family members as a good excuse for being let off history tests..." Scootaloo mumbled, letting out a yawn.

"Don't even think about it," Flash told her as he flew up to her. "You two get to sleep. I'll try to deal with this." The two easily agreed and after telling Springer to go back to bed as well, Flash made his way back to the almost hyperventilating unicorn.

"What am I gonna do?! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!"

"Well, this takes me back," Flash commented as he rubbed his eyes, remembering the many times growing up in the Sparkle household where he had to help Twilight through one of her panic attacks. One particular memory involved him, Soarin and Cadance all trying to teach Twilight that it was okay to not study history for one week due to multiple magic lessons that Celestia was giving her all that week. "Come on Twilight. I'm sure we can find you some time to make a new schedule." He flew over to where the book had fallen and looked over all the events, his eyes blinking at the words inside. "Oh boy...this is gonna take a bit. I have not done this in a while..." he mumbled to himself as Twilight walked up to him.

"Thank...you," Twilight panted, her tongue extending after each pant.

"No problem," Flash replied as he put the book down. "But you've seriously gotta stop worrying about the future so much. You can't make a plan for every little thing."

"I can try," Twilight pouted as she sat next to him.

Flash rolled his eyes. "And when something unexpected happens that ruins that plan, then what'll you do?"

Twilight gave him a glare. "A good plan takes the unexpected into account."

"You can't account for the unexpected," Flash remarked back, shrugging. "That's why it's...unexpected. You seriously gotta learn to go with the flow." Flash patted his chest. "Look at me, I never plan too far ahead and my life's great."

Twilight glare intensified. "And how many times have you been battered, bruised and almost killed because you didn't think ahead?!"

Flash wanted to reply, but his small amount of energy didn't help him with making a suitable comeback. Instead, he started pouting as he said, "Okay, you got me there."

"I rest my case," Twilight hissed as she returned her focus to the book, trying to find a way to fit making a schedule for a whole month into all the busy events already planned. "Now, let's get to work."

"Yes ma'am," Flash fakely saluted. "And hope we get back to bed soon."

SMACK!

"Ow!"

The Next Morning...

When Springer woke up that morning, he looked up to see that Flash's bed was completely empty. Doing a quick aura scan, he found that Flash was downstairs and quickly got out of his basket to go find him. As the jakhowl left the room, he saw his partner just down the stairs, face down on a desk, fast asleep. It was here that he saw Twilight to the side, writing in a book at a frantic pace. Knowing he probably shouldn't disturb her due to the earlier morning antics, he tiptoed over to partner and began to shake him. "Flash...Flash! Time to wake up Flash."

"PINEAPPLES!" Flash cried out as his head shot up.

"Pineapples?" Springer asked, eyebrow raised at the exclamation.

"Oh..." Flash mumbled as blinked rapidly, his head shaking around as he looked at the room. Realizing where he was, the defender let out a yawn and started stretching out his body. "Must have fallen asleep."

Springer rolled his eyes at the statement. "Obviously. Now, what's this about pineapples?"

"I was dreaming about pineapples," Flash told him with a shrug. "So sue me."

"Whatever," Springer replied before seeing the bags under his eyes. "Were you awake all night?"

Flash let out another yawn. "Mostly..." the pegasi then tried to lay his head back down on the desk as he mumbled out, "I was trying to help Twilight redo her schedule and-"

"Oh, my gosh!" Twilight called out as she held up the book. "I think I did it! If I can find a way to read The Art of Invisibility Spells and Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot at the same time, that should leave me a half-hour scheduling window!"

"Hooray..." Flash said half heartedly, trying to raise his hooves in the air. "Please kill me now..."

"Seriously?!" Springer remarked, but before he could say anything else, his attention was attracted to something else. A gust of wind filled the room, odd considering that none of the windows were open. The jakhowl turned to the middle of the room, blinking as several magic sparks seemed to appear from the middle of the room.

"Huh?" Twilight asked as she looked at the sight as well while Flash lifted his head up to see what was happening. "What in the name of-" she tried to say, only for a bright light to appear in the center of the room, causing her to shield her eyes. As she did, Flash and Springer jumped in front of her. Springer created a Bone Breaker and Flash, not having Lightbringer, found the heaviest book that came to hoof and raised it as a weapon.

"Are you ready buddy?" Flash asked, squinting at the light.

"Ready!" Springer replied, nodding and twirling his weapon.

That is, till the light faded. As it did, the three of blinked at the next sight before them.

In front of them...was them.

Or more specifically, Twilight and Flash.

A second pair of Flash and Twilight were now standing in the room and they looked...beaten up. To start, both were wearing black ripped-up rubber suits. The Twilight was wearing an eye patch, had a bandage around her head and a large cut on her left cheek. Flash on the other hoof, had a short and horrible styled mane along with a crooked nose and a large black eye.

The two new ponies looked around for a second, only for the new Flash to turn to the new Twilight. "You couldn't wait could you?"

"Oh shut up Flash!" The new Twilight barked back.

As for the originals, along with Springer, they just sat there, unable to comprehend the sight before them. That is, till Flash broke the silence by saying, "Ooookay. I know what's going on here."

"You do?!" the duo asked in shocked unison.

"Eeyup." Flash cheekily replied. "I'm still dreaming!"

"No you're not." Springer growled, nudging the stallion. "You're awake. Trust me."

"Then I've got to be hallucinating from a lack of sleep."

"No, you're not!" Springer repeated before pointing to the two, "I see them too!"

"Oh...great." Flash replied, now rubbing his eyes. "Well, if that's the case...I got nothing."

Meanwhile, the new Twilight starting shaking her head as she rushed over to Twilight, quickly grabbing her shoulders. "Twilight, I don't have much time. You've gotta listen to me."

Twilight backpedaled while shrugging the other's hooves, staring at her twin in suspicion. "Who are you?!" She asked. "I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two mes? It's not scientifically possible." She poked the second with her hoof. "You are not scientifically possible!"

"Yeah," Flash nodded with a glare. "They could be fakes...or I'm still sleeping. I'm still going for the second option."

"We're not fakes," the second Flash barked back before pointing to a certain jakhowl. "Ask Springer. Scan us buddy."

They turned to the jakhowl who was already scanning the other duo. He then hopped in place as his eyes widened while pointing at the other Flash. "No way...they're really you. I don't know how, but those two are...well, you guys."

"Yup." Other Flash replied as he walked in front of the four. "Listen up, we're from the future. We-"

"THE FUTURE?!"

Future Flash and Twilight covered their ears as the other three yelled that. A second later, the future Flash rolled his eyes as he replied, "Yes. We're from the future."

"Is this the part where one of us faints?" Present Flash asked.

"Oh, I am so on it." Springer remarked before he fell back with a thud.

"That was quick."

Meanwhile, Twilight decided to completely ignore the unconscious Springer and rushed towards her future self. "Amazing. I can't believe I actually learned how to time travel. How did I-"

"Twilight listen, I've come with a very important message." Future Twilight interrupted, only for the present Twilight to interrupt back.

"What happened to you? The future must be awful."

"Meh, its not so bad." Future Flash shrugged before scratching the side of his head.

"Stop it Flash! This is no time to be playing around!" Future Twilight barked at him before turning back to her present self. "Please, I don't have much ti-"

"Is there some sort of epic pony war in the distant future or something?" Twilight interrupted.

Future Twilight shook her head. "Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning. But that's not important right now. What's important is-"

While the two Twilights conversed, Flash and Future Flash continued to stare at each other. Flash glanced at his mane, his eyes slightly shrinking at the sight. "Oookay, that doesn't look good. What happened?"

"Can't tell you," Future Flash replied, crossing his hooves. "We both know that we've read enough comics to know that changing the past can have disastrous consequences. Remember the comic run of Cyborg-Hoof and Metapool?"

"Point made." Flash shrugged, pointing at his later self. "Though if that's true, why are you here?"

"I was trying to stop Twilight, but she cast the spell before I could stop her."

"Oh...yeah, that makes sense. Though I have a bad feeling that there's more to this."

"There is." Future Flash grumbled, rolling his eyes. At that moment, his body began to shine, showing familiar sparks of energy. Future Flash then smirked as he gave his present self a salute. "Looks like we're about to head back to our time. See ya later past me."

"Later." Flash saluted back. "Say hi to future Springer for me."

"I will." Future Flash replied before tapping his chin. "Oh, and look out for the broom."

And with that, the two disappeared in a flash of light.

"Future Twilight?" Twilight asked the dead air.

"Broom?" Flash said in confusion as he stepped forward. "What broom?" He soon got his answer as the end of a broom that Spike had left on the floor the previous day swung up and smacked his nose. "OW! Should have seen that one coming."

Twilight rushed over to him. "Let me take a look," she said as she moved his hooves away. Flash's nose was now bloody and crooked, just like Future Flash's. "Oh no! This must be what Future Twilight trying to warn me about! Their clothes, your nose, her scar, your mane...oh, what a mess they are!...I mean, we are...or will be." Twilight then gasped as a horrible thought entered her head. "They must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!"

"But Future Flash said changing the past can have major consequences on the present," Flash, still holding his nose, told her. "And we really-"

"Well, this isn't the past!" Twilight barked back, interrupting the hurting pegasi. "This is the present, and that means the future can still be changed!"

In that moment, Spike and Scootaloo came downstairs.

"What's going on now?" Spike asked.

"And what happened to him?" Scootaloo asked ask she pointed at Springer.

Flash just sighed. "It's a long story."

A little later in Ponyville, we find Pinkie and Fluttershy walking through town. Pinkie was 'walking' with a bunch of balloons tied to her back, causing her to float a few inches of the ground. "C'mon Fluttershy!" The pink party pony cried as she moved through the air, as if she was swimming. "The party can't start until the party supplies get there!"

Fluttershy on the other hoof, was currently being bogged down by a multitude of heavy bags on her back. The pressure alone made her drag her body across the ground. "Happy to...help," she grunted under the weight. "But...can I carry...the balloons next time?"

"Need some help?"

The pegasus looked up to see Iron Core standing besides her.

"I'm good," Fluttershy replied as tried to pick herself up. "Don't trouble yourself. I-oh!"

Fluttershy suddenly found herself knocked over as something purple knocked into her. Pinkie and Iron soon saw that it was Twilight, who now wearing a pair of novelty glasses and nose as the gag material had fell out of the supplies. She quickly scrambled up and hopped onto a nearby bridge. "Listen everypony!" She called out, seemingly unaware of the novelty items on her face. "I've got something really important to say!"

The townponies who heard her turned, only to start laughing. It was now that Twilight noticed the glasses and knocked them off. "This is no laughing matter, we have a crisis on our hooves!" That shut the ponies up, who were now giving Twilight their complete focus. "I've just been visited by myself from the future."

Once again the laughter began, causing Twilight to groan in frustration. "This isn't a joke," Twilight cried as she leapt of the bridge. "My future self tried to warn me about a horrible disaster that's going to occur sometime before next Tuesday morning!"

"What kind of disaster?" Applejack asked as she, Rainbow and Rarity arrived at the scene.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, semi-panic in her voice. "I got sucked back into the future before I had a chance to explain!"

It was at this point Pinkie, still floating, cried out. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" She rapidly kicked her legs through the air, only to float just slightly faster.

"Now hold on," Iron said as he stepped forward. "I'm all for stopping a disaster, but how do we know this isn't just something you dreamed up?"

"Oh, its real." They all turned to see Flash, Springer, Spike and Scootaloo walking up to them.

"What happened to you?" Iron asked as he pointed to Flash's nose.

"That doesn't matter," Flash grumbled, fiddling with his nose as he continued. "What matters is that Twilight's telling the truth. The two of us appeared from the future and both of looked like we had been through a warzone."

"Ooookay." Iron replied with a raised eyebrow. "And if I believed you, then could you tell me what's about to happen?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. Like I said, I got sucked back into the future before I could explain."

Iron's eyebrow raised even further. "So we're supposed to stop an incoming disaster, but have no clue as to what it is?" Iron looked back at Flash. "Okay Sentry, this better be some dumb joke or-"

"I know its not much to go on-" Flash remarked, waving his hoof at the defender.

"That's nothing to go on," Iron deadpanned.

Rarity rushed up to Twilight. "Whatever should we do, Twilight? How do we stop the disaster if we don't know what it is?"

Twilight's face became an expression of extreme seriousness. "We'll just have to work together to make sure we're safe." She turned to the pegasus in the air. "Rainbow Dash, you and the other pegasi spread out over Equestria and look for any kind of problem that could lead to a disaster...and I mean anything!"

"You got it," Rainbow replied with a salute, shooting off into the sky.

"Everypony else-" Twilight said before being interrupted by a screaming Pinkie.

"Anypony else wanna panic with me?" She asked, getting absolutely no reply. "No? Okay!" She then continued to panic, still screaming as she floated away.

"Everypony else," Twilight restarted. "Time to disaster proof Equestria!"

And so, everypony worked to fix anything that could lead to an unsafe situation. They started fixing up cracks in the dams and bridges, filling up the town's water silo, and even cleaning up the dirt of the road. Flash, Applejack, Springer and Iron had been put on Everfree Forest patrol, with instructions to make sure anything with teeth, claws or stingers did not come within a mile of the forest's border.

"Done," Twilight said as she double checked her list for the fifth time while Spike walked beside her, "and done...and done...and done. Again." She then turned to the forest team as they returned from their patrol. "Flash, Applejack, what about the Everfree Forest?"

"The perimeter's clear," Applejack assured her.

"Biggest thing we saw near it was a squirrel," Flash replied. scratching his side. "Are we done here?"

"Great," the unicorn ignored him before looking up at Rainbow.

"And my team gave the all clear from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus," Rainbow said with a slaute.

"Excellent!" Twilight cheered as she did one final tick. "Well, we've done everything on the list, but still," Twilight's face once again became one of concern. "Future Twilight and Flash looked like they had been through a horrible ordeal. I just have this nagging feeling we should be looking for something bigger than loose bolts and leaky pipes."

"We can't be that sure Twilight," Flash said as he placed his wing on her shoulder. "For all we know, what happened might have started out small and built up. Maybe stopping these things from happening has saved the future. Besides, if something big was going to happened, somepony will have seen it. It's not like some monster is just show up out of nowhere and roar at us."

Suddenly, something showed up out of nowhere and roared at them. They all turned towards the sound of the roar and saw it was a giant black three headed dog, which leapt over a nearby store and came into full view.

"Okay everypony," Pinkie said as she calmly walked into the center of the street. "Follow my lead. AAAAHHHH!"

The towns ponies did follow her lead and began running and screaming loudly.

"Yeah...should have saw that coming." Flash commented as he tapped his sword by his side.

"Is that what I think it is?" Iron asked as he walked up to Flash, Piecemaker in hoof.

"Yup." Flash agreed. "At least I think it is." The pegasi blinked at the sight before glancing at Twilight. "That's uh...Cerberus, right Twilight?"

"It is! That's Cerberus!" She cried as she watched the giant dog gnaw on a nearby roof. "He's supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus! But if he's here, then all the ancient evil creatures that have been imprisoned there could escape and destroy Equestria!"

"Destroy Equestria?!" Spike asked in shock, hopping in place.

"Yeah!" Twilight exclaimed, looking...oddly happy. "Isn't it great?!"

"You and I have a very different opinion on the word great," Springer commented, pointing at the beast.

Twilight however, ignored him and yelled, "Hey, Cerberus!" She called out, getting the beast's attention. "You look like you could use some obedience training!" She got into a ready position and sparked her horn. "Magic obedience training!"

"Careful Twilight," Flash warned her as he and Iron readied their Celestic Gears. Cerberus looked down at Twilight and roared while the unicorn closed her eyes and prepared her magical attack. However, when she reopened her eyes to attack, she was shocked the discover that Cerberus was on its back, getting its belly rubbed by Fluttershy.

"Who's the cute widdle three-headed dog?" she said as if talking to a baby, using her hooves to massage the creature. "You are! You are!"

"Wow..." Twilight gasped, her horn sputtering as she cancelled her magic. A second later, she and the apprentice knights moved closer to animal caretaker. "Fluttershy, I knew you were good with animals, but this is-!"

"Awesome!" Flash interrupted.

Iron nodded. "You wouldn't think this thing was the only thing keeping a bunch of evil monsters from raining down terror."

"Aww," Fluttershy blushed as she kept scratching him. "He's just a big furry guy who got out of his yard, that's all. Right Cerberus? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"

"ARF! ARF!"

"Even so," Flash said as he sheathed his weapon. "We should probably get him back to Tartarus before whatever's trapped in there realizes he's gone and makes a break for it."

In that moment, Pinkie Pie rushed past them while continuing to scream in fear. "Pinkie!" Twilight called out, causing the pink earth pony vanish and teleport next to her.

"Yes Twilight?" Pinkie asked, sounding completely calm.

"Do you have a ball I can borrow?"

Pinkie did not reply, and instead rushed over to a nearby tree, which had a large hole inside of it. "Of course! I have balls stashed all over Ponyville," she explained as she dug around in it. "You know, in case of ball emergencies."

"That's...oddly specific," Flash said as he watched Twilight catch a ball from Pinkie.

"Hey Cerberus!" Twilight called out as the dog monster looked up and saw the ball. "Look what I have." She levitated the ball its eye, causing Cerberus to drool at the mouth. She then turned to her friends, gesturing Flash to follow her. "Flash and I'll be back as soon as I've returned him to the gates of Tartarus. Once he's back home, there'll be no disaster."

"But be on alert. This might have been set up by somepony who caused the disaster." Flash said to Iron, who nodded. He turned back to Twilight. "Let's get going."

"Let's."

The Next Morning...

When the sun rose over the horizon, Springer slowly ascended from his bed, yawning. "Mmmm...that was a good sleep. I hope Flash comes home soon..." Springer said to himself as he got up and left the room. "Wonder how the others are?"

There, he saw two others leave their room. The young drake spoke up first, "Morning Springer, how was your night?"

The jakhowl shrugged. "It was okay. You?"

"Best night sleep I've had in weeks," the dragon replied, a yawn soon following.

"Morning," Scootaloo said as she left her room.

"Morning," the two non-ponies replied, only for their ears to pick up the front door opening and closing. Looking down, the three saw Flash and Twilight walk into the building. Both were covered in mud, but had a smile on their faces.

"Hey guys," Spike said as him and the others stepped up to them. "How'd it go with Cerberus?"

Flash smirked. "Oh, it was an adventure the likes of which nopony has or ever will experience again. I can't even describe it, you just had to be there." Flash then cocked an eyebrow, his cheeky smirk growing. "Especially the parts where nothing happened between here and Ponyville."

"Sounds gripping," Scootaloo giggled, getting a ruffle of her mane as a result.

Twilight's smile increased as she walked past them, checking off other checklists in response. "The best part is that we got him back before any of the evil creatures could escape."

"Perfect," Springer commented with another yawn. "Disaster averted. Sounds good to me."

However, Spike then clutched his stomach and suddenly let out a loud belch along with a smoke of green mist. The mist reconfigured into a scroll, which conked Twilight in the face and made her cry out. Twilight moaned as she reached up and felt the area the scroll had hit, only for her expression to change to one of fear. "Oh no," she said as she rushed to a nearby mirror.

"What's the big deal?" Spike asked as he finished reading the scroll. "it's just a lost dog flyer. I guess the Princess hasn't heard we found Cerberus yet."

"It's not that," Twilight replied before spinning around. "It's this!" She pointed to her cheek, which was now sporting a large red cut.

Scootaloo flinched seeing it. "Oooh...that looks like it stings."

"It's just a paper cut," Spike deadpanned with a roll of his eyes.

"But it's in the same spot where that future Twilight had a scar," Flash caught on, walking up to the unicorn. "That's not good..."

"So...what does that mean?" Springer asked, nudging his partner with his paw.

"It means we haven't changed the future at all!" Twilight cried out, rubbing the sides of her head in fear. "The disaster is still coming!" She then began to pace in a circle, muttering to herself for several minutes. "If the disaster wasn't caused by Cerberus getting loose, then what could it possibly be?"

"I don't know, but you might want to give the pacing a rest." Spike said before letting out a laugh. Twilight looked down, only to see that she had somehow created a moat of some kind around the table she was pacing around. "You've worn a groove into the floor."

"I don't have time for another one of your lectures Spike," Twilight called out as she continued pacing. "This is serious!"

"My lectures?!" Spike blurted out. "What are you-"

But Twilight wasn't listening. She was already in self-talking panic mode. "I did everything I could think of to change the future, but it didn't work! Why didn't it work?!"

"You don't know that Twilight. In fact, the paper cut could just be some coincidence." Flash said as he stopped her from pacing and pulled her out of the hole. "You need to relax. For all you know, the disaster might be caused by you doing something to prevent it."

Twilight suddenly gasped before grabbing Flash's face. "Flash, you're a genius!" The next thing he knew, Twilight suddenly kissed him on the check before teleporting away.

"Errr...No problem." Flash commented as he rubbed his cheek, a little perplexed by what she had just done.

Twilight then reappeared in the middle of the room, standing perfectly still. "If that's the case, the next best thing is for me to do nothing!"

"Nothing?"

"Yes! If I stand right here and don't move a muscle until next Tuesday, I can't possibly do whatever it is that Future Twilight wanted to warn me not to do!"

All of them blinked at the declaration before Springer spoke up, scratching his head as he did. "Oookay. I guess that could work," he turned to Scootaloo. "Errr...would it? I think I'm kinda lost on this." The filly just shrugged in response.

Spike on the other hoof, shined a cheeky grin. He started pacing around the now still unicorn. "So...no matter what happens, you're not gonna move a muscle, huh?" He got a devilish look on his face. "Then maybe you won't mind if I..." He shot off and reappeared a few seconds later, his claws holding something. "Eat an entire tub of ice cream?"

Twilight stared at Spike, who had pulled out a spoon and was about to dip it in the icy dessert. She then looked over at Flash with pleading eyes. The pegasi rolled his eyes and moved over to the dragon, snatching the tub away from him.

"Hey!" Spike moaned as he reached out for it.

"Sorry bud, Twilight would kill me if I let you." Flash looked back at his sister and partner. "That includes you two as well. Don't get any ideas, go it?"

"Phooey!" Spike said with crossed claws while the others just nodded in response.

As he put the tub away, there was a knock at the door. Scootaloo went to answer it, only for it to reveal Rainbow Dash. "Morning kiddo!"

"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered, happy to see her idol. "What are you doing here?"

"Just here to see if Twilight got back." Rainbow looked up and saw the purple unicorn. "Ah! She's here. Hey Twilight, another pegasus got back from Baltimare with an all clear and–" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Twilight standing completely still. "What's going on? Why's she just standing there?"

Spike let out a laugh. "She's decided that she's not gonna move until next Tuesday cause she thinks it'll prevent the disaster from happening."

"Pfft-really?! HA!" Rainbow guffawed as she floated over to Twilight. "Oh, this is too rich." She suddenly gasped loudly, "hey, Twilight! There's a mouse right behind you!" They saw panic cover Twilight's face, making the two let out a series of laughs. "HA! Gotcha!"

"Oh! Oh! I wanna try!" Scootaloo said as she walked up to them.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Umm...." Scootaloo rubbed her chin in thought. A few seconds later, a lightbulb went off in her head. "I got it!" the filly ran back up to her room, quickly returning with a small case on her back.

"What's that?"

"Its the case me and the crusaders keep our stage clothes in!" Scootaloo responded as she dug around the chest. "It also has stuff Pinkie used to use in her comedy acts. She let's us play with them from time to time. Now let's see...here!" Scootaloo pulled out a fake mustache and some fake googly eyes. "Let's make her laugh!"

"Nice!" Rainbow replied as she landed and start rummaging through the chest.

Scootaloo started first, which included the fake face hair and putting on some nerdy glasses. "Look at me Twilight!"

"No me!" Rainbow barked, adverting Twilight's eyes as she saw Rainbow put on a rainbow-colored afro...which made no sense she already had rainbow-colored hair. That and a pair of googly eyes over regular ones.

"Or me!" Spike called out, making Twilight turn to him. There, she saw the young drake with a clown nose, fake vampire teeth and glasses with fake slinky eyes coming out of them. The trio started laughing as they saw Twilight's now puffed up face, as she was trying to not laugh.

Spike then took off the apparel grabbed a nearby quill. "I got another idea. How about this?" he said as he started using the quill to tickle the unicorn. This lasted for several seconds, causing the other two to giggle at Twilight's pained expression.

"What's going on?" said a new voice. It was Flash, who was returning to the room with Springer. The jakhowl had wanted a drink and was now joining him back into the room. However, as they entered, Twilight had had enough. She sparked her horn and enveloped Spike in a magic aura, which she used to toss the dragon away from her. Spike crashed into a nearby wall, causing him to unleash a fireball in surprise. That fireball shot towards Twilight, who did not have enough time to react. Luckily however, she felt herself be pushed out of the way, falling to the floor with a thud.

"FLASH!" She heard Scootaloo cry out. Twilight then looked up, gasping at a new sight.

Flash's mane had been burned almost completely off, leaving it both short and horribly scarred.

"Are you okay?" Rainbow asked him.

"What happened?" Flash replied, scratching his head. "I feel kinda funny..."

"I'm so sorry Flash," Spike said as he got up. "I didn't mean to. It was a total accident."

"What are you talking about?" Springer then grabbed a nearby mirror, showing to the defender. He saw his new do and let out a sigh. "Oh no..."

"Aw, its not too bad," Scootaloo tried to assure him, only getting a frown from her brother in response. "Or...not?"

"This is bad!" Twilight said as she got up. "Now your mane looks just like Future Flash's. It's just another sign that the future hasn't changed! Not doing anything didn't work either! Oh, I wish there was a way to know what was going to happen so I could stop it!"

Flash rolled his eyes again as he walked up to the mare, patting her on the shoulder. "Stop panicking. Relax Twilight."

"Relax? How can I relax?!"

"Simple. You slow down." Flash assured her, patting her again. However, this didn't work, as Twilight was still shaking in place. Letting out a sigh, Flash continued, "Listen, the reason this whole thing is happening is because of the future. We can't see the future and its okay. You need to relax and figure this out without thinking you have to control everything."

Twilight's eyes shrunk as Flash's statement went through her ears. A smile appeared on her face as she turned and kissed his cheek again. "You're right Flash! You're exactly right!"

"Errr...yeah." Flash commented as he rubbed his cheek. He then patted her with his wing again. "See? No need to panic or-"

"I know what I have to do!" Twilight interrupted him, her expression no longer showing a smile.

"Uh-oh..."

"I have to monitor...EVERYTHING!"

Three facehoofs, a faceclaw and facepaw soon followed.

Several days later...

Pinkie Pie was happily skipping through town when she noticed Iron walking down the street. Deciding the say hi, she bounced over to him. "Hey Iron!" she said once she was besides him. "What'cha doin?"

"Sentry hasn't reported for patrol or training for three straight days," Iron explained as he made his way towards the library. "He better have one heck of an excuse for sending Springer out to do his job."

Pinkie thought for a moment. "You know, I haven't seen Twilight for a few days either...wonder what she's been doing?"

"Probably distracting Sentry with something stupid." Iron grumbled before arriving at the library door. He opened it, only to see the main library empty. The two shared a glance, making their way upstairs soon after. As they arrived at Twilight's room, Iron blurted out, "What the heck?!"

The room was filled with mathematical charts and graphs, with telescopes pointed out of every window. Twilight was sitting in the middle, now sporting a new bandage on her head and was zipping around the room with Flash and Spike sitting in the corner watching her. "Off by point zero two from yesterday," Twilight said as she looked into a telescope and then a graph. "Carry the fifteen," she rushed over to a book on her desk. "Negative azimuth on the fourteenth moon."

"Yup. I knew it." Iron grumbled, rolling his eyes at the sight.

"Knew what?" Flash asked as he turned to the new visitors.

"I told Pie here that Sparkle would be the reason that you weren't coming to training." Iron said as he pointed at Pinkie. "Though I gotta say, Sparkle's really lost it, hasn't she?"

"You have no idea," Flash replied with a shrug. "Its been a long while since I've seen her this far gone. Granted, I always had Princess Celestia to fall back on when necessary but..."

"Aw, who cares?!" Spike interrupted as he stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "As long as I can keep eating ice cream, I don't care how far she goes. Heh heh heh...sorry Future Spike."

"Just don't come crying to me when you're on the floor with a stomachache," Flash deadpanned.

Pinkie then turned to Twilight and moved up besides her. "Are you okay?" She asked her friend.

Twilight turned to Pinkie and smiled. "Ah Pinkie, I'm glad you're here." She grabbed her hoof and moved her over to one of the telescopes. "Can you help me recalibrate the apertures on the nine-and-quarter catadioptric telescopes?"

"Sure," Pinkie replied, though she had no idea what any of that meant.

As Pinkie tried to help her, Iron walked over and sat down by Flash. "So uh...where did the bandage come from on her head? I don't remember that when you came to me two days ago with your mane like that."

"Eh, one of telescopes fell over after Scootaloo tried to mess with it. Hit Twilight on the head, so Scootaloo isn't allowed in here for now." Flash gave him a shrug. "I gave her some bits to go get some lunch."

"Ah..." Iron glanced back at Twilight, seeing the bags under her eyes. "When was the last time she slept?" Iron asked.

"Not since our future selves arrived," Flash replied. "And she really needs to-"

"There's only three days until next Tuesday," Twilight interrupted, barking at the two as she continued working. "I can sleep all I want after that!"

"You've been awake way too long Twilight," Spike said as he opened another tub of ice cream.

"Yeah," Pinkie added, nodding. "Tuesday's not three days from now. Tuesday's tomorrow!"

"Oh boy," Flash sighed, knowing what was going to happen next.

Twilight let out a loud gasp, suddenly teleporting all over the room. She then teleported over to the telescope Pinkie was supposed to be recalibrating. "Pinkie! Did you finish recalibrating the apertures on the nine-and-quarter-inch catadioptric telescopes?"

Pinkie blinked several times, soon smiling. "I have no idea."

Twilight pushed her aside and looked through the telescope, only to then cry out in pain. "MY EYE!"

Flash instantly took flight and rushed over to her, but as he did, Twilight accidently knocked the telescope with her tail. The telescope flipped over and crashed into Flash face, sending him flying.

"HA! That had to hurt!" Iron guffawed, watching the scene.

Pinkie meanwhile, had moved over to a nearby fireplace. "Don't worry Twilight," she said before rushing over to her. "I have eye patches stashed all over Ponyville, encase of eye patch emergencies." She applied the eye garb to Twilight and seemingly made a mirror appear in front of the purple unicorn. "There. Now you look like a pirate, a sleepy pirate with a really weird mane cut."

Twilight looked at her reflection and gasped. "The eye patch...another sign!"

"You okay Flash?" she then heard Spike ask, causing her to look over at where Flash had landed.

"I'm okay," Flash replied as he got up. "My eye hurts though."

"HA! Now, that's a shiner!" Iron guffawed again, almost falling over in laughter.

"Huh?" Flash mumbled as he moved over to mirror and saw that he now had a large bruise over his left eye. "Oh come on..."

"And another sign!" Twilight shrieked, her body now zooming around the room to check all her work. "Nearly all the signs have come true! I haven't done a thing to prevent the catastrophe!"

"Now hold on Twilight..." Flash tried, only to see a purple blur zoom past him.

Twilight then reappeared in front of blackboard filled with equations. She vibrated as she looked them over, yelping as she did. "If Tuesday's tomorrow, and the disaster happens by Tuesday morning, then there's only one solution!" She turned towards the others and gave them a mega-serious glare. "I'll just have to...stop time!"

The four stared at her, obvious believing she had well and truly snapped.

Then, Iron decided to speak up.

"I'm out," he said as he turned and walked out the room.

"This can only end badly," Flash said with a sigh.

That night...

Twilight and her three friends had just arrived in Canterlot, where they disembarked from the train while dressed in black rubber suits. No sooner had they left the train, Twilight broke out into a run to the castle. "Okay," she finally said as they arrived at their destination. "The Canterlot archives are right over there. Let's move." She began tip hoofing towards the building, while Flash and the others simply trotted normally.

They entered the archive's gardens and watched as Twilight leapt from one hiding spot to another. "I don't think we need to sneak around Twilight," Spike deadpanned as they followed her.

"Yeah," Flash agreed. "Last I checked, it's not illegal to walk around Canterlot. Is there a curfew we should know about?"

Twilight shushed them, only to suddenly gasp. "Guard!"

The others looked over and saw a night guard walking towards them. They then watched as Twilight leapt onto a nearby fountain that had a statue and mimicked it's stance, obviously trying to pass as a statue. "Seriously?" Flash asked her, only for her to glare at him.

"Guys!" Twilight cried out, causing them all to sigh before they each stood like a statue. The guard slowly walked passed them, not even giving them a single glance.

Once he was gone, Twilight let out a long sigh. "That was close."

Flash stared at the guard's back and rolled his eyes. "That guy's either a really bad guard, or he already saw us and was just ignoring us."

Spike meanwhile, was pulling at the rubber suit he was wearing. "I dunno why we have to wear these things either."

"Aren't we wearing them for fun?" Pinkie asked in confusion.

"No, there's nothing fun about this!" Twilight barked back.

"Don't worry Pinkie," Flash assured her. "We can have fun later if we want."

"Guys! Focus!" Twilight told them in a harsh whisper. "The only way to prevent this disaster is to stop time." She pointed to the building. "Time spells are kept in the Starswirl the Bearded wing, the most secure section of the archives. That's why we're sneaking around!"

"Twilight, you can't be serious." Flash interjected. "You have level five access, meaning you can walk up to the guards and ask them to escort you to that section."

Twilight unfortunately wasn't listening, and leapt into a nearby bush, ripping her suit as she did. She then shot to a nearby window, only to not reach it. "Shoot!" she glanced back at Flash. "Flash, lift me up will you?"

Flash just rolled his eyes and walked over to the doorway, where the guards caught sight of him.

"Flash," one said as he saw him. "Is that you?"

"Hey guys, long time no see."

"What happened to you?" The other asked.

"Oh you know, regular Royal Knight stuff."

"Remind me never to try and be one," the first said, causing the three of them to laugh.

Flash then pointed to his friends behind the bushes. "Anyways, Twilight needs to look something up. You mind?"

"Oh, of course," the second said as they opened the door. Flash turned to the others and gestured for them to enter. Spike and Pinkie stepped over, followed by a twitching Twilight.

"What happened to her?" The first guard asked.

"Don't ask," Flash replied as he stepped inside. He then leaned his head back out. "Trust me."

The four of them made their way up the stairs and through the halls, Twilight still insisting on them sneaking around. Thankfully, the soon found themselves outside the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, which they quickly found out was locked.

"Oh no," Twilight said, looking at the lock.

"Now what do we do?" Spike asked, only to then hear a pair of hoofsteps.

"The guards!" Twilight cried as she began to panic.

Flash rolled his eyes and watched as a shadow came around the corner, soon revealed to be another night guard. The guard saw them as smiled. "Oh hey Flash...Twilight, been a while."

"Hey Shadow Spear," Flash replied, waving. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Shadow then cricked his neck. "Hey Flash, I've been practising since our last spar. Think we could have a match sometime? I know I'll win."

"Sure Shadow." Flash then pointed to the gate. "But uh...could you do us a favor? We need in there."

"Oh sure," his horn glowed, unlocking the gate.

"Thanks pal," Flash said as the other three went inside. "You free tomorrow?"

"I get off two hours after sunrise."

"Then I'll meet you at the training grounds." With that, Flash walked inside, where he saw Twilight glaring at herself in the mirror. "What's up?"

"Don't you see?" Twilight asked as she turned to him. "We look just like our future selves. The last sign has come true."

Pinkie walked up to them. "And that's bad...right?"

Twilight just let out a sigh. "Come on, its almost Tuesday morning. The disaster could happen at any moment."

"But how do we find the time stopping spell?" Spike asked.

"How do we know one even exists?" Flash added.

Twilight thought about this and her panicked face grew more and more worried. "I...don't....KNOW!" She then started rushing around the room, looking at any and all scrolls she could find. "Start looking! That's our only hope!"

The three nodded and began look through the scrolls, trying to find anything related to time in any shape or form. "Time spell, time spell, time spell," Flash said as he moved through the many scrolls. He then grabbed one and unravelled it, reading the title. "The cook while you read spell...the proving pears are superior spell...the flaming carrot spell...geez lousie, Starswirl was into some weird stuff. The all purpose beard cleaning spell...seriously?!"

They kept looking, occasionally glancing over at the window to check if the sun was up as they searched for the much needed time spells. But then, the light of the morning dawn crept over the horizon and the sun arose. They had run out of time.

"Twilight," Spike cried from the window, "it's over. It's officially Tuesday morning."

Twilight almost screamed as she moved over to the window. "No!" She cried. "Tuesday morning, the disaster! INCOMING!" She pushed Spike away and flinched on the ground...only for nothing to happen.

Spike bent down and poked her. "I dunno Twilight," he said as he looked out the window. "I don't see any disasters. Looks like a pretty nice day."

In that moment, Princess Celestia walked by. "Oh hello Twilight, I didn't know you were coming by. Happy Tuesday." She walked away, seeing Flash as she did. "Oh dear. Flash, you might want to see a mane dresser. Your mane's looking a little...unknightly."

"Yes your highness," he bowed, watching her walk away.

Once she left, he moved over to Twilight. "Is it possible that there never was a disaster? That I've just been making myself frantic over nothing?"

"I guess," Flash shrugged. "I mean, the only reason you thought there was a disaster was because of how our future selves looked. But we started looking that way because of our attempts to change the future. Though I am wondering why we went back in time..."

Twilight looked herself and Flash over, suddenly giggling at the sight. "I don't know. But I do know one thing, we look ridiculous." They all laughed at that. Twilight then shook her head, her lesson now learned as she finally calmed down. "And it's all because I couldn't stop worrying and let the future handle itself! Well, not anymore. From now on, I'm gonna solve problems as they come, and stop worrying about every little thing."

"Welcome to my world," Flash said with a smile.

Spike also smiled. "So does that mean there won't be any more late night pacing?

Twilight nodded. "No more late night pacing. If only I had learned this lesson a week ago, we wouldn't have had to go through all this."

In that moment, Pinkie's head suddenly appeared with a scroll in hoof. "Twilight! Twilight!" she cried. "I found something! It doesn't stop time, but it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once, and it only lasts for a few moments." She watched as Twilight levitated the scroll to her. "Does that help?"

Twilight looked at the scroll and smiled. "Pinkie, you're a genius."

"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie cheered as she bounced up and down.

"Now I can go back and tell past Twilight that she doesn't need to go berserk with worry about a disaster that's never gonna come!" Twilight explained as her horn lit up.

As these words left Twilight's mouth, Flash's head suddenly realized what was happening. His eyes then went wide, making his dash towards to her. "Twilight, wait a minute!"

But it was too late. The duo were soon enveloped by a flash of light, disappearing shortly after. That is, till a few seconds later, they reappeared. Spike and Pinkie had watched the spot they had been in, glancing at each other as they saw Twilight's new frustrated look on her face.

"Waste your time...worrying...about..." Twilight let out a yell before slapping herself in the face. "Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!"

"What happened?" Spike asked, still blinking.

Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Remember last week when future us came to warn us about something? That was me trying to warn myself not to worry so much! Now I'm gonna spend the next week freaking out about a disaster that doesn't even exist! Ugh..." She then turned to Flash. "You!" She poked him in the chest. "Why didn't you tell past you about what was gonna happen? He would have listened to you and told past me about what present me wanted to tell past me!"

"Well..." Flash said as he pushed her hoof away. "If present me had told past me what present you had wanted to tell past you, then past you never would have become present you and present you wouldn't have learned the important lesson that past you has learned over this last week!"

"But if we had...no wait...that's..." Twilight to rebuttal, only to trip over her own words.

Flash tapped her chest. "Trust me on a guy who's read a ton of time travel storylines in your brother's comics," He then lifted her chin, staring directly into her eyes. "Time travel doesn't solve problems. It just makes stories about a guy who goes around in a blue guard outhouse and does things that make no sense!"

Twilight sighed. "I guess you've got a point."

"Wow...my head hurts." Spike commented while Pinkie just giggled at the sight.

"Come on," Flash said as he started walking towards the door. "Let's go home."

"Right," Twilight said as she followed him. "Come on Spike." Spike didn't reply, except with a loud moan. "Spike?" She looked around and saw Spike on the floor.

"My stomach...I-I think it's all that ice cream. I thought the stomach ache would be future Spike's problem...but now I am future Spike. Ohh..." Twilight and Pinkie giggled as Twilight levitated the dragon onto her back and headed for the door.

Later, back at Ponyville...

Everyone was in Rarity's Boutique, where Twilight was explaining her and Flash's trip to the past. The only ones not there, were Rarity and Flash, who were pre-occupied with something else. As they did this, Iron spoke up, "So let me get this straight," Iron said as he scratched the side of his head in frustration. "So you went back in time to prevent yourself from going crazy with worry about the future, only to end up causing yourself to go crazy with worry and eventually traveling back in time." Twilight nodded. "Ugh...and to think I had to patrol the town for three straight days because of that?! You gotta be kidding..."

"Iron! Don't be mean!" Fluttershy reprimanded him, causing the pony to shrink in his seat. The others gave each other a knowing glance. That is, except a certain filly.

"My head hurts," Scootaloo moaned, rubbing her head with her hooves.

"I agree squirt." Rainbow added, slumping down in her chair.

"Well, that's pretty much it," Twilight sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "I created a quantum loop, with no beginning or end."

"Think of the chicken and the egg," Spike explained for those who did not understand her gibberish.

"So...we went through all that work disaster proofing the town for nothing?" Rainbow asked, hopping back out of her chair. "Really?!"

"Sorry everypony..." Twilight whimpered, now slumping in her chair.

"Aw, don't worry sugarcube," Applejack told her with a pat on the back. "We might not have stopped a disaster, but we did manage to fix a lot of problems that might eventually happen."

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered with a big smile, "And it was a lot of fun!"

"Yeah...fun." Iron grumbled, shaking his head. "You're all insane."

In that moment, Rarity arrived in the room. "Well everypony, I think my work is done." she said as she trotted up to the table. "And I must say, I believe I did a good job."

"So you managed to return Flash to normal?" Twilight asked.

Rarity did a slight shrug. "Well no....but I did manage to make him look decent." She turned around and called out. "Come on out darling."

A few moments later, Flash entered the room. His black eye was now gone, covered up by make-up, and his crooked nose looked to be on the mend. But the biggest change was that he was now sporting an all new mane style, which was spiked up but not as long as it once was. "Well..." he asked sheepishly. "How's it look?"

The others all stared at him for a moment. He had a feeling they were about to burst out laughing, only to get an audience of smiles.

"You look great bro," Scootaloo assured him.

"I like it," Fluttershy added.

"Same here," Twilight said as she walked up to him. "Sorry about everything I put you through this week."

"Don't worry about it," Flash told her with a wink. "Just promise to not have any more freak-outs for a while."

"Promise," Twilight nodded with a slight blush, causing them all to laugh

Dragon Quest

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Today's adventure begins at Flash and Iron's training ground, where we find the young pegasus sitting down with his eyes closed. Flash was doing his theta state training, meditating to try and clear his mind.

However, as he closed his eyes and tried to relax, a buzzing sound began to buzz around him. Cracking his eye open, he saw the culprit: a fly. "Shoo fly," he said as he flapped his wings, only for the insect to just float there. "I said buzz off!" He flapped his wings again, this time making the fly go away. Flash sighed in relief before closing his eyes again.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

Flash's eyes cracked open again, causing him to look up in a tree and see an owl. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" He asked the owl, who just stared down at him. "Either fly away or be quiet!"

"Hoo! Hoo!"

Flash let out a hiss, grabbing a nearby stick and throwing at the bird. The stick almost hit the owl, causing it to leap out of the tree and fly away.

"Finally!" Flash moaned as he closed his eyes again. "Maybe now I can get some peace and-"

"Sentry!"

"OH COME ON!" Flash yelled, wildly waving his front hooves. He turned to the new voice's owner, only to see Iron Core. "What!? I'm trying to meditate!"

The earth pony frowned at him. "Don't you yell at me feather-brain. Not my fault you can't relax."

"You have got to be-Iron! I've told you about this!" Flash exclaimed, his hooves slamming into the ground in frustration. "I'm supposed to do it for three hours a week to clear my head! So far I've only been able to do it for...two hours and forty one minutes. Whatever you need, can it not wait nineteen minutes?!"

"Oh, it can." Iron said as he turned to walk away. "I just hope the dragon migration takes longer than that." Suddenly, an orange gust of wind shot by him, on his way to the area outside Fluttershy's cottage. "Typical, you stupid feather-brain."

A little later, the two defenders arrived in the area they had agreed to meet the others in for the migration, where a large trench-like pit had been dug. Inside, they spotted Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Springer, who looked up at them.

"Well, look who it is," Rainbow grumbled with a frown. "Deciding to show up after the pits been dug. Maybe we shouldn't even let you in it."

Twilight gave her a glare. "By that logic, you and me shouldn't be allowed in it either."

Rainbow gave her a nervous chuckle. "Er....yeah. Nevermind! Come on in!"

Flash and Iron leapt into the trench, waiting for the main event to begin. As they settled in, Flash started looking around, blinking as he noticed somepony missing, "Where's Fluttershy?"

"Oh uh..." Rainbow commented as she rubbed her stomach. "She...declined our offer."

"That's saying something," Twilight chuckled as she put a pair of binoculars over her eyes. "I don't see any dragons."

"Me neither," Applejack added as she looked through her binoculars.

"Me neither either," Pinkie finished as she looked through hers, only they were the wrong way around.

"Shoot!" Rainbow called out as she looked up at the sky. "You don't think we missed them, do you?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think so. We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are. This way, we can watch every moment of the migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves."

Flash leaned back, putting his hooves behind his head. "Yeah, that sounds good to me. Having fought against a dragon myself, I would like to keep as much distance as I can from them."

"Wait...you fought a dragon?" Iron asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"Yeah. We had to-" Flash started to say.

"Yoo-hoo!" interrupted a new voice.

They all spun around to see Rarity walking up to them, wearing a camouflage suit that swapped green and brown for purple, yellow and violet. She magically unfurled a red carpet up to the trench, which caused an explosion of confetti as it did. "Well?" she asked as she posed. "What do you think? Am I the toast of the trench or what?"

Applejack giggled. "You'll be toast alright. Especially when the dragons see you parading around in that getup."

"Yeah," Flash added. "You'll go from looking good to looking like a roasted marshmallow."

"You look very nice Rarity," Twilight explained as she teleported the carpet and confetti away. "But could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?"

"Nice is an understatement," Rarity replied to her as she walked down the stairs and into the trench. "I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?"

"Anypony with any actual survival training," Iron said with a roll of the eyes. "If you could actually hide yourself in that and not be found by me, I'd eat Piecemaker."

Rarity was about to reply, but in that moment, Pinkie called out. "Ahoy maties! Dragons ho!"

Everypony looked up, their eyes quickly seeing a giant winged reptile flying through the sky. Seconds later, another dragon flew by, then another and another until finally the sky was filled with them. "Oooh!" They all said as they watched them move through the sky. "Aaaaah!"

"Those things are awesome!" Springer exclaimed as they watched a dragon fly low.

"Amazing..." Twilight agreed.

Rainbow, who had also agreed but wanted to look cool, blew a raspberry at put on a bored expression. "Pfft, pretty lame moves. Is that all they've got?"

"You wanna go up there and tell that to their face?" Flash asked her, only for her answer to be interrupted as a dragon bumped into another and caused it to breath fire towards them. Almost everypony managed to duck in time, but Rainbow was not so lucky, and was almost hit by it.

Once it was over, the ponies and jakhowl brought their heads back up. "What do ya think of that move Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked the slightly singed pegasus. "Still think they're lame?"

Rainbow, whose mane and face were now covered in soot, was staring at where the dragon had just been. "Uh, not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind."

"And formidable," Rarity said as she watched the dragons fly by.

Pinkie was crouching down, "And super super scary."

"Yeah!" Everypony turned to see a dragon they all knew walk up to them, wearing an apron and pushing a tea trolley. "Us dragons are definitely a force to be reckoned with," Spike said as he handed Pinkie a cupcake and Applejack a cookie.

Rainbow saw what he was wearing and chuckled, soon breaking out in laughter. "Yeah right Spike. That's one of the scariest aprons I've ever seen!"

Flash, Pinkie, Springer and Applejack laughed too, causing Spike to frown.

"What's wrong with wearing an apron?" He growled as he looked down at his pink frilly kitchen wear. "You won't be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales...feathers. That's one tough stain!"

"One tough stain against one lame dragon," Rainbow replied, causing the others to double their laughter.

Spike glared at Rainbow, until he heard Rarity come to his defence. "You leave him alone Rainbow Dash! Spike's style is unique. He doesn't have to look like other dragons."

"Or act like them," Twilight cut in.

"Or be scary and dangerous in anyway," Iron chuckled. This caused Spike's eyes to go wide.

Rarity nodded before moving over to the baby dragon. "My little Spikey-wikey is perfect the way he is," she said as she patted him on the head.

"I don't act like other dragons?" Spike asked, a tinge of despair in his voice.

"Well..." Flash pointed up into the sky, where a large group of dragons had gotten into a tussle and were biting and scratching at one another. "Have you ever done something like that?"

"Yeah," Pinkie said as she hopped up to the dragon, nodding. "You're not even close to acting like a real dragon."

"But why would you want to Spike?" Applejack asked.

"Yes darling, I agree." Rarity added, patting the dragon on the head. "Besides, you've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of."

"Really?!" Spike asked in amazement, loving any praise he could get from Rarity. "What's that?!"

To answer him, Rarity grabbed him by the cheeks. "The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!"

Spike did not like the sound of this. "Cute?!" He asked in horror. "Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?"

"Oh sweetie," Rarity replied with a smile, waving her hoof. "You are turning the most delightful shade of red. It is most becoming."

Spike groaned at this.

"Relax bud," Flash assured the drake. "Pretty much everything is cute when they're young, even dragons. Once you hit your growth spurts, you'll look super fierce."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're only ten so..." Flash looked a bit confused, turning to Twilight for answers. "What is that in dragon years?" Twilight just shrugged, not sure how to respond.

Seeing this made Spike sigh. "So what your saying is, I'm gonna be like this for years." He turned and began to walk out of the trench.

"Oh come on Spike," Rainbow called after him. "Don't be such a baby."

Obviously confusing what the pegasus meant, Spike growled as he continued to leave.

"I hope he's okay," Springer said as he watched his friend disappear into the distance.

"Oh, he'll be fine." Rainbow added as she turned her attention back to the dragons.

The rest of the day was spent watching the migration. Once the last of the dragons flew into the horizon, the group split up to return home. Flash, Twilight, Springer and Rarity headed to Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack so they could pick up Sweetie and Scootaloo, who had been watching the migration from their club house.

"You enjoy the migration Scootaloo?" Twilight asked the filly as they almost finished their trip home.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo nodded. "Dragons are so awesome! I wish there were more in town so we can learn about them."

"Don't let Spike hear you say that," Springer added as he opened the door. "He's only just realised he's not very dragonoid in nature."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked as she walked in first. "I always thought he knew."

"Well I didn't!"

They all turned to see Spike, who was sitting on the staircase, despair covering his face. This made them all glance at each other before Flash spoke up, "Hey uh...you okay there buddy?"

"No!" Spike yelled, a mix of sadness and anger in his eyes. "I've been thinking about what the others said. I don't act like a dragon, do I?"

"Hoo?" Twilight's pet owl Owlicious asked.

"Me!" Spike told him, pointing at his own chest. "I don't act like a dragon!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Twilight asked him. "Not acting like a dragon, that is?"

"How would I know?!" Spike exclaimed, raising his claws into the air. "I've spent my entire life around ponies! I don't know what it means to be a dragon! I...I don't have a choice about how I should act..."

"That's not true," Flash told him as he went up and patted the drake with his wing. "What you are doesn't determine who you are. I mean, look at the bad ponies we've fought. Big Score and cronies, Shake Shocker, Lightning Blitz...they were all ponies, but they acted bad because they wanted to."

"Maybe..." Spike let out a long sigh. "But I still don't know anything about what dragons do. Like this migration. I don't know why they do it."

"He's got a point," Scootaloo agreed.

"Yeah," Springer added, scratching his chin with his paw. "Like, think if you weren't born in Equestria. Think of all the traditions you wouldn't know about."

"I know. Heck, I don't even know where I came from," Spike pouted.

"I've told you before Spike," Twilight said as she walked in front of the drake. "You were given to me as an egg."

"But where did the ponies who gave you that egg get him?" Springer asked.

"I asked Celestia that," Flash replied, a slight grimace on his face. "She said the egg had been confiscated off a bunch of poachers who stole it to sell to criminal nobles as exotic pets. She tried everything she could to get them to tell her where they stole it from, but they wouldn't talk. With no way to safely return the egg to its home, she had no choice but to keep it until it was given to Twilight."

"That doesn't tell me anything about who I am," Spike said as he got up and moved over to a nearby mirror. Tears began to form in his eyes as he continued, "I need answers. I feel like...like I'm looking at a complete stranger."

The rest of the group saw this, quickly sharing a look and nodding.

"Don't worry Spike," Scootaloo assured him. "We'll help you find out who you are."

"Yeah," Springer agreed as he patted his friend on the back. "We're here for you."

"We'll look in every book we have until we find the answers you need." Twilight told him, pointing at the books around them.

Spike smiled at this. "Thanks guys."

The Next Morning...

Flash yawned as he continued to read the book he had randomly picked up, looking for any signs of dragon behaviors and customs. As he did, the sound of flickering pages and light snoring filled his ears, causing him to look up and see the conditions of everyone else.

Scootaloo, no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, conked out near midnight. Springer had fallen asleep thirty minutes later, but had woken up three hours later and continued the search with renewed eyes. Twilight looked exhausted, having read through almost every book in the library. "Nothing," she said as she sped through another book and threw it away. "Nothing in this one either!"

"Nothing at all about dragons?" Spike asked before throwing the book he was reading away. "This is getting ridiculous!"

"What?!" Scootaloo cried as Spike's outburst woke her up.

"I know!" Twilight exclaimed, looking absolutely defeated. "It's hard to believe, but ponies know next to nothing about dragons! Apparently they're too rare and too scary to try to talk to or study!" She then heard the sound of forced back tears and turned to see Spike.

"I wonder if dragons cry," he said, sinking into the floor.

Springer sighed at seeing this, picking up another book and continuing his reading. He knew how Spike was feeling. He didn't know a thing about his species despite what he had been told by the princess. Granted, he didn't wish to know about his species as much as Spike did, but he still understood Spike's feelings.

"It's okay Twilight," he then heard Spike reply to something Twilight had told him. "I'm gonna discover who I am if it's the last thing I do!"

Suddenly the doors opened, with Rainbow and Rarity trotting inside. "Yoo-hoo!" Rarity cried, shocking Spike into jumping inside a pile of books.

"Hey everypony!" Rainbow added as they walked in.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said as she rushed over to her, a huge grin on her face.

"What's up squirt?" Rainbow patted her fan's head as she turned to the others. "Ya wanna join us for breakfast?"

"Sounds great!" Twilight replied as she got up. "I'm famished."

Flash nodded. "I could eat a horse...why'd I say that?"

"You've been awake too long," Springer told him. "That or those past three days with Pinkie and the..." Springer shivered in place at the next two words. "'Noodle incident.'"

"Count me out," Spike said as he jumped out of the book pile. "I've gotta get an early start."

"An early start?" Rarity asked in confusion.

"Yes!" Spike replied as he took a heroic pose. "I'm going on a quest of self-discovery! I need to learn what it means to be a dragon, and the only way I'm gonna do that is to join the dragon migration!"

"WHAT?!" The five ponies and jakhowl cried.

Spike pulled out a stick and spotted a red blanket from out of nowhere and laid in on the table. As he did this, Rainbow moved over to him. "Spike, that's nonsense talk!" She told him indigently as she watched him move over to the fridge. "I know that you're a dragon, but those dragons mean business! They're big, and tough, and scary..."

Spike took out a load of food and placed it in the blanket. "And I'm small, and meek...and I like to wear aprons." He threw the apron he was carrying away, which landed on Springer's head. "See?! This is exactly why I need to spend time with them!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying is that you could get hurt."

"Darling," Rarity jumped in. "This time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash. I don't want those big, ugly, nasty dragons to hurt one little scale on your cutesy-wutesy head!" She rubbed his head, but the little dragon flicked her hoof away and headed towards the door.

"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind." As he reached the door, Springer jumped in front of him. "You gonna try and stop me too?"

"Nope," the jakhowl pup shook his head. "In fact...I wanna come along."

"WHAT?!" The others yelled once again.

"Not you too Springer," Scootaloo cried, feeling some tears start to appear in her eyes. "Don't do this..."

Springer then walked in front of everypony else, a determined look on his face. "I wanna help Spike find out who he is." Springer explained as he pointed at the drake. "Besides, we know that my species isn't in Equestria, but I had to have come from somewhere. Maybe on this journey, I'll learn who I am too." He turned to Spike while shining a grin. "So...fancy a travel buddy?"

Spike stared at him for a moment, only for a smirk to follow. "Go get what you need. We leave in ten minutes."

"NO!" Rarity cried out.

"Flash!" Scootaloo yelled at her brother. "Do something! You too Twilight!"

Flash and Twilight, who had been strangely quiet for most of this conversation, both shared a glance. As if having a mental conversation, the two nodded before turning to their non-pony companions.

"Don't tell me you think they should go!" Rainbow exclaimed before they could say anything.

"Yes," Twilight said with a nod. She then turned to her faithful assistant. "Spike, I couldn't answer your questions and my books couldn't either. So...I understand why you want to look elsewhere." she gave the drake a valiant nod. "Therefore, I also believe you need to go on this quest."

Flash nodded as well, joining in as he patted Springer's shoulder. "And Springer, I've always known that one day you would want to learn more about who you are. I can't stop you from going." Flash let out a small chuckle. "I mean, come on, I'm your partner, not your parent. I don't have any right to stop you."

"None of us do," Twilight finished, turning to the others. "And you all need to agree as well."

Rarity blinked at the statement, only for her ears to slightly droop down as she said, "I...I suppose you're right."

"I still say you're nutty," Rainbow grumbled, crossing her hooves before giving a 'meh' expression on her face. "But hey, I've done lots of nutty things."

"We know!" The others told her.

"Thanks you guys," Spike said.

A few minutes later, the two were all set to begin their journey. Springer had filled his backpack with everything he and Spike might need on their long voyage. With that, the two headed to the door. As they both stood in front of it, Twilight spoke up, "Well then you two, I guess this is goodbye. We can't wait to hear about it when you both return."

"Keep each other safe," Flash instructed them as he gave Springer one last pat on the head. "Remember your training bud."

"I will." Springer nodded.

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "We hope your trip–"

"Quest!" Twilight corrected her.

"Quest," Rainbow rephrased, "answers some of your pesky 'Who am I?' questions."

"Thanks everypony. I know it will."

"We'll see you soon," Springer said to the rest of them. "Hopefully with some answers that is."

"Good luck," Scootaloo said before giving Springer a hug. After returning it, the duo left the library and began their long hike away. The ponies watched the two walk out into the distance, slowly leaving the town on foot.

"Goodbye dearies!" Rarity cried, still waving at the slowly disappearing duo.

"Go get 'em!" Rainbow yelled.

"We have faith in you!" Twilight exclaimed, waving at her leaving assistant. "Remember to be careful."

Then...time began to pass. The duo were gone as they disappeared into the distance. It was here that Rarity leaned over to Twilight and asked, "We're following him right?"

Twilight replied with a nod. "Of course."

"WHAT?!" Flash hopped in place before glaring at the two. "Seriously?!"

"Oh come on Flash! You can't say you're not at least a little worried about them." Twilight barked back.

"Yeah, I am." Flash replied before crossing his hooves. "But I trust them. I know they'll be alright. Sides, Spike's got Springer with him. He'll take care of him."

"Sorry to say, but I'm not taking that chance." She looked back towards the two retreating figures. "We're going after them."

Flash rolled his eyes, facehoofing. "Oh boy..."

And so, the adventurous baby dragon and his trusty jakhowl traveling buddy began their journey after the migrating dragons, both hoping to find the answers they seeked.

The journey was long and full of peril.

They boldly passed through a fire lake of flying fireballs. Mightily tracked through the forest of pain. Stopped for a picnic lunch at the jagged cliffs of insanity. Plowed through the fields of cherry blossoms, (Which would have been a much better place for lunch) and leapt through the trees that grew in the swamp of lost souls. After this, it was three mile hike through the land of a thousand and two needles, (The worst place for lunch) and trudged through the domain of the ogre, Townbreaker. (Who was thankfully asleep at the time)

Eventually, the two arrived at their destination. The border of Equestria, and the entrance into the land of dragons. Here, they find their first part of the new land, a deep lush forest.

"I think we're getting closer," Springer said as he cut through some bushes with his Bone Breaker.

"How can ya tell?" Spike, who was wearing a fake beard that was keeping his face warm, asked.

"The dragons are flying lower," the jakhowl replied, pointing up and the few dragons they had seen before. "I can also feel a large amount of different auras nearby."

"Perfect," Spike said as he began to rush forward. Springer followed him, noticing a nest of phoenixes as he did. Soon, they found themselves at the end of the forest and came in sight of a mountain range. There, a multitude of dragons were conglomerating at the top. Seeing this, Spike pulled off his fake beard and began to rush up to the top with Springer on his tail. It didn't take long till they were at the top, as the slope was relatively smooth. As they hit the peak, they both looked down and saw a multitude of dragons of veering shapes, sizes and colors.

"Incredible," Springer said as he looked at them with wide eyes. Unfortunately, their admiration was short lived when a red dragon unleashed a burst of fire that almost cooked them.

"Whoa!" Spike yelled as he and Springer dodged the fireball.

"Wait...aren't you fire proof?" Springer asked him after they both hit the dirt.

"Oh yeah," Spike replied before getting up. He then looked down into the crater and saw a group of dragons, all around a age Spike could agree with. He took a deep breath as he watched them walk around the crater. "Alright...teenage dragons. That's more my speed."

With that, Spike rushed down into the crater, with Springer in hot pursuit. As Springer was ran down into the rock bowl-like wall, he suddenly stopped when he got the unusual feeling of being watched. His ears flared, making him start looking around. He blinked as he kept looking, trying to see if any of the dragons were staring at him. However, the dragons seemed to have no interest in him.

That is, till he caught a glimpse of a dragon that seemed to be smiling at him. Springer blinked at the drake, who was almost entirely black-skinned with the exception of black scales with red tips. The sight made Springer feel off, and when he blinked again, the dragon was gone. "What...was that?" Springer asked himself, shaking his head a second later. "Spike...need to stay with Spike." With that, Springer returned his gaze to Spike and the teenage dragons, where he soon followed.

Up on the crater top, Springer made his way there, his eyes still scanning around as he saw Spike hop down into the crater. There, he saw the dragon from earlier, this time laying down beside a rock wall. Springer opened his mouth for a second as he tilted his head at the sight, only for another dragon, a blue skinned one with green spikes, flew down and landed next to the dragon. It growled at it, obviously seeing the area the dragon was laying on was it's. However, before the blue dragon could do anything, the black dragon turned and made a smile. The grin alone made both the new dragon and Springer shiver in response. A second later, the blue dragon apologized to him and flew off, making Springer just blink at the sight as he watched the drake fly away. After that, Springer didn't look back at the dragon. Instead, he decided to go back to his friend.

As Springer finally reached the teenage dragons, he noticed a medium sized red dragon spot him. The dragon snorted as he watched the jakhowl approach them. "Well, what do we have here?" He asked as he moved over to Springer, glaring down at him. "Looks like a little furball showed up."

"That's Springer. He's my friend." Spike explained, pointing at the jakhowl.

The dragon just snickered. "You keep weird friends half pint. To dragons, something like this isn't a friend...it's food." With that, he unleashed a fireball from his mouth.

"NO!" Spike cried as he watched the flames fly at Springer with blinding speed.

"Bone Breaker!" Springer yelled as he created an energy bone, deflecting the attack with a single strike.

The dragons were all amazed at this. "How'd he do that?" A purple dragon with yellow hair that covered his eyes asked.

"I'm a jakhowl," Springer explained as the bone dissolved. "I can create weapons made out of aura."

The dragons all looked confused, blinking at the jakhowl. For a second, it seemed like time had stopped, only for sudden cheers to erupt. "YEAH!" "THAT'S COOL!" They cheered.

The red dragon looked at the little wolf creature with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, I won't deep fry you...yet." He then turned to Spike. "As for you, you're gonna need to show us that you're a real dragon like me, Garble."

"How?" Spike asked, tilting his head.

"By acting like one," he replied before turning to the rest of the dragons. "Who's up for a little belching contest!?" The dragons all cheered, all of them stepping up one by one, unleashing rays of fire. It wasn't long till it was Spike's turn, which Garble turned to with a big cocky grin. "Think you can beat that peewee?"

Spike gulped before walking forwards. "You got this Spike!" Springer called out. Spike nodded at him and took a deep breath, trying to do his best belch. It was in that moment that the green fire shot out of his mouth, only for the smoke to transform into a scroll.

"What's this?" Garble asked as he took the scroll and read it, laughing as he did. "Ha! Get this, guys! Spike's pen-pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!" The dragons all laughed as Garble scrunch up the paper and toss the scroll away.

"Ooh," Springer said as he watched him destroy the paper. "Really hope she never finds out about that."

"Or what?" Garble asked him as he got right in his face. "What's the 'princess' gonna do to me?"

"Dude, she moves the sun." Springer deadpanned, "She once banished another pony to the moon for a thousand years. If she wanted to, she could sneeze and you'd be inside out." He then flicked the dragon's nose, causing him to move back and growl.

Garble leaned down back at Springer, growling. "Alright smart guy, let's see what you got."

"I can't breath fire," Springer told him, his eyes gazing around. He then spotted a nearby rock, making him smirk. "But I can do this!" He formed an Aura Blast and tossed it at the rock, shattering it into dust. "How's that?"

The dragons were all amazed by this again while Garble simply growled under his breath. He turned back to Spike. "Maybe tail wrestling is more your speed."

"Err..." Spike was not sure how to respond to that.

The dragons all cheered again, making Springer notice just how easy it was to impress these creatures. A few seconds later, all the dragons began teaming up with each other, all locking tails. Garble then walked in between two of the dragons and raised his claw. "Ready?" He asked them before slashing his claw down, "GO!" The two dragons began pulling at one another, a full test of strength following. This lasted for a few seconds until one of them before one of them pulled the other off its feet. "THE WINNER!" Garble cried while holding up the winners tail, the dragons all cheering again.

Spike looked down at his tail, trembling as he did so. "You don't have to do this you know," Springer told him as he patted the purple drake's shoulder.

"I have to," Spike replied, slightly gulping. "If I don't, they'll never see me as one of them."

Springer wanted to reply back, only for a new dragon to walk up to them. It was long, green and covered in gems. It also had a long pink tongue sticking out of its mouth and its expression was one of pure obliviousness. That is, till it spoke up in an odd tone. "I challenge Spike to a tail wrestle."

"Who's this weirdo?" Garble asked, only to be answered by a nearby purple dragon.

"Crackle's cousin." They all looked up at a dragon that was almost identical to the new one, only he looked a little...special.

"That would explain it," Garble commented, snorting. It was obvious that explaining its features wasn't worth it. As such, Spike and the dragon locked tails. Garble cricked his neck and slammed his claw down again. "GO!"

Spike began pulling, but was not having much luck. That is, till the new dragon just seemed to collapse, as if he had given up. No dragons had ever given up tail wrestling before, making the dragons cheer again. "Spike's the winner!" Garble cheered, lifting him up by the tail.

Springer meanwhile, moved over to where the new dragon lay. "Hey Twilight," he whispered with a cocky grin.

"Who?" The new dragon asked.

"Don't play dumb," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Your costume might fool them, but I knew it was you the second you appeared. You can't hide your aura from me."

"Oh," Twilight replied as the 'dragon' slowly got up.

Springer chuckled as he watched the fake neck roll around. "Hey Rainbow, hey Rarity."

"Hey," the two ponies inside the suit replied.

"What are you girls doing here?"

"We were worried about you and Spike, so we decided to come."

"And where's Flash?"

"Back in Ponyville. He said he trusted you to stay out of trouble."

Springer smirked at this, happy to see his partner believed in him so much. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," Twilight replied as they turned back towards Spike.

"Alright," the little dragon called out. "Who's next?"

"Getting a little cocky, huh?" Garble asked before his eyes suddenly went wide. His body stiffened like a board, only to then shine a big dark smile. "I like that. So how about you wrestle...him!" He pointed to a dragon that looked about the same size as Spike, though most of his body was hidden by other dragons.

"I don't like where this is going," Springer said to himself. Unfortunately, Spike had agreed to the contest and the rest of the dragons moved. There, they revealed his true opponent, who was actually the biggest out of all the teen dragons. His tail was about twenty feet long and had retractable spines. "I knew it!" Springer growled as he rushed towards Spike.

But before he could get close to him, Garble picked him up by the back of his neck. "Don't get in the way furball," he said as he held him. "GO!" They watched as Spike was thrown into the crater wall with a loud wail and thud. The dragons all laughed as Garble dropped Springer into the dirt.

"Hey!" Springer cried as he picked himself up.

"What!?" Garble asked menacingly.

Springer frowned at the dragon, but his attention was quickly diverted to something behind Garble. It was the dragon with black dragon again, standing right behind Garble. It gave the jakhowl a menacing grin before walking off, leaving Springer with a confused look.

Garble, mistaking Springer's confusion for fear, smirked. "That's what I thought," he said before walking away.

"You okay Springer?" Twilight asked as she moved up to him.

"Yeah," Springer replied as he brushed himself off. "There's something weird about that dragon."

"Garble?" Rarity asked.

"No, not him. I mean..." Springer replied as he tried to find the dragon and point him out, only for him to disappear again. "Weird."

A little while later, after Spike managed to recover from his wrestle, Garble grabbed him and climbed to the top of a pile of gems. "So Spike, you haven't exactly proven yourself as a dragon yet," He dropped the little dragon on the pile. "Have you?"

As Spike picked himself up, he looked up at Garble. "But, I get an A for effort?"

"Maybe...but let's see how you do in this next contest." Then he knocked Spike off the pile, causing him to go crashing all the way to the ground. "KING OF THE HOARD!"

As Springer helped Spike up, they saw the teenage dragons begin to climb up the pile. "Come on!" Spike said as he rushed towards it, Springer in hot pursuit.

"I'll clear the way," Springer said as he leapt up to the top. There, he saw Garble wrestling another dragon. The sight made Springer smirk, creating a Bone Breaker soon after, which he pointed at Garble. "Surprise!" He cried as he used it to sweep the dragons legs, causing him and the one he was wrestling to go tumbling down the pile. He then saw Spike make it to the top. "Need a paw?"

"I got this," Spike said as he managed to pull himself up. Once at the top, he smirked as he looked down at the beaten dragons. "King of the hoard!" He cried before high fiving Springer, only for the force of the jakhowl's paw to knock him back, causing him to go rolling down the pile.

Garble stepped up and stared down at him. "Looks like this is another fail for you little Spike," he said before looking up at Springer. "The fact that you needed that furball to help you proves how undragonly you are."

"It's called teamwork," Springer barked as he leapt off the pile and landed next to Spike.

"Dragons don't do teamwork. We do things ourselves, or not at all. The strong stand alone, but only the weak stick together." Garble turned back to Spike, fumes blasting out of his nostrils. "You got one last chance to prove you're a dragon peewee. Its time for lava cannonball!"

Spike gulped at the sound of this.

A few minutes later, Springer and Spike found themselves standing over a pool of steaming, bubbling lava. The sight made both of them glance at each other, gulping.

Garble then stepped up and announced, "Whoever makes the biggest splash is the ultimate dragon!"

Springer looked down again, gulping once more. "Looks...toasty."

Garble just frowned at him, only for his eyes to suddenly went wide. Then, a malicious smile appeared on his face. "I'm sure it's nothing to a great jakhowl like you. So let's see you swim furball!" He used his tail and knocked Springer over the cliff, causing him to go flying off and fall towards the lava.

"SPRINGER!" Spike cried.

"OH NO!" Twilight and the girls yelped as they watched from the sidelines. "We have to save-"

"Aura Blast!" Springer yelled as he threw a ball of energy towards the lava pit. He then threw a second sphere, which struck the first. An explosion followed, knocking the jakhowl back up to cliff. As he landed on the rough dirt, he began to cough as he turned to Garble. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"What's the matter?" Garble chuckled. "Not fire proof?"

"Of course not!" Springer yelled, blue aura now pouring out of his paws. "Do I look like I'm-"

"Whatever wimp," Garble said as he pushed him aside and moved over to the edge of the cliff. "GERONIMO!" He leapt of the cliff, diving into the lava as if it was nothing but water. The rest of the dragons followed, all jumping off the cliff until only Spike and Springer were left.

"You sure you're okay?" Spike asked his friend, patting him on the back.

"Yeah," Springer said while shaking his head in frustration. "I'll be fine..." the jakhowl gave the drake a cocky smile. "Go show them how we do it in Ponyville."

Spike nodded and moved over to the edge, looking down again at the tremendous drop. He then moved back out of fear before hearing Garble call out. "What wrong Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?" He and the other dragons laughed, causing Spike to frown and walk back over to the edge. Taking a deep breath, he leapt off the edge...only to start spinning in midair until he struck the lava face and stomach first.

SMACK!

"OOH!" The dragons all flinched.

"Ouch," Springer cringed, quickly racing down the cliff as he yelled out, "Spike, you okay bud?!"

Spike's head broke the surface, spitting out a mouthful of lava as he turned to the rest of the dragons. "Was I...that bad?"

Garble shook his head. "No dude. That was awesome! No pony could live through a belly flop like that!" He let out a chuckle. "You're one tough little dragon."

The rest of the dragons also voiced their approval before climbing out of the lava pool. They then stood in two lines of three, spinning around and raising their tail's eye. Garble stood at one side of them, while Spike and Springer stood on the other side. Spike nervously walked through the dragon tunnel, arriving at Garble's feet. "Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy." He spun around and used his tail the same way Flash had told Springer that Celestia would knight ponies with a sword. "I hereby dub you 'rookie dragon', and will now perform the initiation ritual." He picked up the little dragon and gave him a noogie. "Now let's party dragon style!"

The other dragons cheered, only to then stuff their faces with gems. Seeing this, Springer moved over to where his backpack was and pulled out some food. As he ate, he saw his pony friends were watching and moved over to them. "Looks like Spike's learned everything he needs."

"Maybe...but I'm worried though." Twilight replied, sighing.

"What's the matter?" Rainbow asked. "Spike's been accepted and he's not hurt."

"But what if being around these dragons causes him to change?" Twilight barked back.

The others thought about it. The mental image of Spike acting like Garble popped into their heads, making them all shiver.

"What a horrid thought," Rarity commented. "I sure hope that doesn't happen."

Springer rolled his eyes, waving his paw at the ponies. "Don't worry, Spike isn't like that. There's no way he'll just start acting like them."

"I hope you're right," Twilight muttered. "I hope you're right..."

A few hours later...

The party had lasted a long time. Springer was surprised at just how much the dragons could party, and was also glad Pinkie wasn't here due to just how long it was going. Then, something new happened as Spike spoke up, "That...was that a great party."

"Great, Huh?" Garble said before scoffing. "Maybe by Ponyville standards." He lazily punched Spike in the arm. "Stick with us, Spike. We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon."

"I'm not going anywhere," Spike replied contently. "The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever."

Springer's eyes went wide, as he heard the others whisper in shock. "Forever?"

"Spikey-wikey is going to stay with these awful dragons?" Rarity asked in horror. "Forever?"

"Oh no...this is terrible!" Twilight squeaked.

"I should've stopped him back at the library when I had the chance," Rainbow growled, cricking her neck. "I'll go get him."

"No Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied, glaring at the pegasus. "This is all my fault! I encouraged him to go. Let me save him."

"But-"

"Y'know Spike," Garble spoke up, causing the ponies to go quiet again. "I think you just might be ready for a real dragon raid." The rest of the dragons cheered at this. "There's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we're gonna swipe 'em!"

"And then do...what?" Springer asked, walking up to the dragon.

They turned to see the jakhowl, causing Garble to frown. "What we do with them isn't your concern."

Springer frowned. "If you're gonna harm them, then it is my concern!"

Garble turned back to Spike, pointing at the jakhowl. "You see this Spike? This is what weak little ponies do. They make those they come in contact with weak." He turned back to Springer. "In this world, it's take or get taked!"

"It's 'taken'," Springer corrected him. "And I think I've seen enough of dragon culture." He turned to Spike. "I'm not gonna stop you from going, but think about this before you do. If you do this, then you'll be going against everything you once stood for. Don't let all the good things you've learned about dragons make you forget about all the good things you've learned about ponies." He moved over to where his backpack lay and put it on.

"Springer? Where are you going?" Spike asked in a fearful, innocent tone.

"Home," Springer replied. "Where my-our family is waiting." With that, he turned and began to walk away.

Garble crossed his claws in anger, only to for his eyes to go wide. He let out a low growl and grabbed a rock. "I've had it with you!" He called out as he threw it at Springer.

Hearing this, the jakhowl glanced back, only to see the flying rubble. Instincts kicked in, causing him to create a quick Aura Blast, which destroyed the gravel. However, the force of the explosion knocked him to the ground his body now rolling. He quickly hoped back up, only to see Garble flying straight at him. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough this time, as the dragon's tail smacked him into a rock. "AUGH!" Springer yelped in pain, his aura diminishing as pain surged in his body.

As he tried to fight the pain, Garble grabbed the jakhowl by the neck, slamming him back into the rock. "Time to fry, furball!"

"STOP!" Garble spun around to see Spike, fear covering his face. "Don't hurt him...please."

Garble stared at the little dragon, gritting his fangs. He then looked back at Springer. "If I ever see you around here again, I won't stop. I'll fry you to a crisp." He let the jakhowl go, who then slid down the rock in a slump. Spike wanted to run over to him, only for Garble to pick up the drake and fly away. As Springer felt his consciousness begin to fade, he looked back up one more time, trying to see Spike.

But there, he saw nothing. Nothing but a black figure and it's wicked, malicious smile.

"Springer!" He then heard Twilight call out as she and the others rushed over to him.

"Are you alright deary?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah," Springer replied as he tried to get up, only to hit the dirt a second later. "Ugh..."

"You're not," Twilight replied as she looked around. None of the dragons were looking at them, so she sparked her horn and levitated Springer into the dragon costume.

"We've gotta go after them," Rainbow said as she tried to fly the costume upward, but the weight of the costume and its occupants were too much for her.

"Rainbow, stop. You're not going to be able to get us airborne."

"But we gotta help Spike!" Rainbow barked back.

"Then we'll just have to hoof it. Come on."

The ponies quickly tried to make their way to where the dragons had flown off too, only to soon realize running wasn't enough when it came to chasing something that was flying. As they tried to tail the dragons, they saw them fly into a forest, making them grimace as this would make tracking the dragons harder.

That is, till a still weak jakhowl spoke up, pointing at a certain direction. "That way."

"How do you know?" Rainbow asked.

"They said they were going after phoenix eggs. They must have been the ones I saw when we arrived here earlier."

"Lead the way," Twilight said. They followed Springer's guidance for several minutes, until they saw a certain clue for what they were looking for. It was a brilliant burst of light, almost like a mini sun, shining in the distance. They all realized it must have been caused by a phoenix, making the four of them rush towards it as the light started to die down. That is, till they came up to the tree, where they saw Spike and the teen dragons. Then, they saw Spike holding a phoenix egg.

"Hey!" They heard Garble say. "You stole an egg?"

"Errr..." was all Spike replied with.

Garble smirked. "Well, I guess the raid wasn't a total waste after all." The rest of the dragons all cheered at this. "Nice going Spike," Garble said as he smacked Spike on the back, almost making him drop the egg.

"Well," a brown dragon with blue horns said next, "what are you waiting for Spike?! Smash it!"

"Smash the egg?" Spike asked in shock.

"Yeah!" a purple dragon exclaimed. "Throw it on the ground as hard as you can!"

This caused Spike's friends to gasp, causing all of them to comment on the situation.

"Spike?! Smash that poor defenseless egg?! Why he-"

"No way he'd do that," Rainbow finished for her.

"I hope you're right," Springer replied, but got ready to leap out and stop him just in case.

They watched as Spike raised the egg above his head, while the other dragons chanted 'smash it', and held it there for several seconds. Finally, Spike showed his true self. "NO!" He cried as he protectively held the egg. "It's just a defenseless egg, like I was, and I'm not gonna let you hurt it!"

The dragons did not like this response.

"What did you just say?" Garble asked.

"I said...NO!" Spike replied firmly.

Garble growled. "No one says no to me!" He unfurled his claws, ready to take the egg by force.

Spike stepped backwards, until he walked right into something. Looking around, he saw it was Twilight and his friends in dragon costume. Then, the costume was pulled off, revealing the ponies and jakhowl within.

"Nopony's gonna lay a claw on him!" Rainbow yelled.

"That's right," Twilight added.

"So back off!" Springer cried as he created a Bone Breaker.

"Fighting's not really my thing," Rarity muttered before taking a fighting stance. "I'm more into fashion...BUT I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES IF YOU TOUCH ONE SCALE ON HIS CUTE LITTLE HEAD!"

The dragons saw this, only to start laughing their heads off.

"Ohhhh, so scary..." Garble guffawed before turning to the baby dragon. "Spike, are these namby-pamby ponies your friends?"

"Yes, they are!" Spike said proudly, "And they're better friends than you could ever be." He stepped forward and poked Garble in the stomach. "Now, if you don't back off, you'll see what us ponies do when confronted by a huge group of jerky dragons!"

"Oh yeah," Garble leaned down, smoke pouring out of his nostrils. "What's that?"

Spike then yelled at the top of his lungs. "RUN AWAY!" With that, he shot off, Springer and the ponies following. Garble let out a hiss before ordering the other dragons to go after them. As the flunkies prepared to take flight-

"FLASH CUTTER!"

An energy wave shot through the air and struck the ground in front of the dragons, causing them and the ponies to come to a stop.

"What the heck?!" Garble yelped, hopping in place. "What was that?!"

"Was that what I think it was?" Spike asked.

"Oh yeah!" Springer replied, feeling the presence.

Suddenly from out of the trees shot a orange blur, which landed between the two groups and revealed itself to be Flash Sentry.

"Flash!" Twilight cried in joy.

"Thought you guys could use a hoof," Flash told her before turning back to the dragons and raising his sword. "Look flame for brains, I'm in a forgiving mood, so I'm giving you this one chance. Leave my friends alone and return to where you came from...or become rust on my blade."

The dragons growled at this. "You don't scare me pony," Garble told him as he and two other dragons charged forward. "I'll use that sword as a back scratcher!"

Flash sighed, shaking his head as he chuckled to himself. Flash spun his blade in his hoof, glaring at the attacking trio. Following with a smirk and in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly on the other side of the dragons, who had completely stopped moving. Seconds later, the three let out moans of pain as they fell forward.

"I warned you," Flash said as he flew back over them towards their friends. "Let's get out of here." The others nodded as Twilight's horn began to spark. In a flash of light, the six of them were on back the outskirts of Ponyville. "There we go...good to be home."

"I'll say," Spike sighed before turning to the others. "Thanks for the help everyone."

Twilight shined a small smile, nodding. "Of course! What are friends for?"

"You're more than friends," Spike said as his eyes began to tear up. "You're my family."

With that, the group all pulled each other into a hug. Once they were out of their hug, Twilight turned to Flash with a smirk, cocking an eyebrow. "So...I guess you were worried after all."

"Of course," Flash replied as Springer jumped on his back and he started walking away.

"I knew it," Twilight grinned, crossing her hooves. "I had a feeling you would-"

"I was worried that you three would get yourselves into trouble," Flash continued without looking at them. "So, I decided to keep an eye on you."

"WHAT?!" Twilight exclaimed, anger appearing in her eyes. "You were worried about US?! Not Springer?!"

Flash turned and stuck his tongue out. "Like I said, I trust Springer to stay out of trouble."

"AND NOT US?!" Twilight screamed as she raced after him. Flash just laughed and ran away, with the others in hot pursuit. "COME BACK HERE, YOU MEATHEAD!"

With that, they all ran back into town. As they did, a big grin appeared on Spike's face. He and Springer were back with their family. That alone was enough.

Meanwhile...

Back in the dragon lands, Garble and his cronies were still reeling from their 'fight' with Flash. Garble himself let out a long groan as they walked back to the crater. "Ugh...what was that?! How did that pony do that?!" he muttered to himself. As he rubbed his temples as he continued to walk, his ears suddenly picked up a voice.

"Hee hee hee..." giggled the voice, causing them to all look in front of them. There, the black and red dragon from before walked out of some bushes, standing in front of them as it continued to chuckle. "Hee hee hee..."

"What are you laughing at?!"

However, the dragon only gave a large sinister smile in response. That, and another set of chuckles. "Hee hee hee..."

That alone was enough for the black and red dragon as he remembered everything that had happened today.

Earlier today...

The black dragon silently moved through the other dragons, shifting through them like a blade of grass. A grin barely shined on his face as made his way behind Garble.

"Getting a little cocky, huh?" Garble asked Spike.

Here, the black dragon placed his claw on Garble's back, causing the red dragon's eyes to go wide for a few seconds. Then, a large smile appeared on Garble's face.

"I like that. So how about you wrestle...him!" Garble pointed to the large dragon. The other dragon and Spike began to prepare to wrestle, only for Springer to rush up to Spike. As he did, the black dragon tapped Garble's back again.

A second later, Garble bent down and grabbed the jakhowl. "Don't get in the way furball!" he yelled as he held him. "GO!"

Later, the dragon silently moved with the others as they headed up to the cliff overlooking the lava pool. There, Garble yelled at the other dragons. "Whoever makes the biggest splash is the ultimate dragon!"

Springer looked down at the red and orange muck, a shiver going down his spine as he did. "Looks...toasty."

The dragon reached over and touched Garble's back again, causing his eyes to go wide once more. One second later, Garble was in front of Springer with a grin. "I'm sure it's nothing to a great jakhowl like you. So let's see you swim furball!"

Only a moment later, Garble's tail swung and knocked Springer over the cliff, his body now plummeting toward the heated-death pool.

"Home," the black dragon heard Springer tell Spike. "Where my-our family is waiting." With that, he turned and began to walk away.

Once again, the dragon reached over and touched Garble, causing his eyes to expand. When they returned to normal, Garble growled before grabbing a rock. "I've had it with you!" He called out, the piece of rubble soon flying into the air at a certain jakhowl.

The Present...

"I said...what are you laughing at?!" Garble screamed, fire brimming from his mouth's fangs.

"Hee hee hee..." was all the dragon responded, it's claws over his mouth as he continued to laugh. "Hee hee hee..."

As the laughing continued, Garble's eye twitched. Topped with his day already going bad, Garble let out one last growl before saying, "What...are you...laughing at?! STOP LAUGHING!!!"

However, this time, the dragon stopped laughing. Instead, he shined one last grin, one three times bigger than the last. The dragon then waved its claws, turning around as it let out one last chuckle.

"Hee..."

"I SAID STOP IT!" Garble yelled, his body now rushing over to the black and red dragon. He then reached out his claw, ready to grab the dragon's shoulder. "COME HERE YOU-"

BLAM!

The sight made the other two dragons stop dead in their tracks. They weren't sure about what just happened. In fact, it made little sense to their tiny brains. One second, Garble was about to grab the laughing dragon. The next, Garble's body was behind them, his body covered in purplish-blackish fog as he was now laying inside a torn-up tree. The pillar of lumber had been destroyed thanks to his body slamming into it from the sudden blow.

"Whoa..." one of them said, "Uh...you okay Garble?"

"Uggggghhhhh...." was all he could moan at the two other dragons.

The duo glanced at each other before turning back to the laughing dragon. "Hey, what the heck are...you?" the other tried to ask, only to notice the laughing dragon was now gone. All that remained was the forest and nothing else. The two looked at each other in pure confusion.

"What the-where did he go?"

Just a little ways away from the three...

The black dragon continued to walk through the forest, it's giggle fest now reborn. "Hee hee hee...hee hee hee..."

Then, the dragon cricked its neck and expanded it's wings. As it did, it assumed a pose only regular dragons would use to take flight. But as it did, the dragon hopped into the air, only for a purple aura to encase its body. A shining light illuminated the forest's darkness for a second in that light, only to immediately dissipate.

There, the dragon was gone. Instead, a new, smaller creature with the same familiar sinister grin stood. Its red eyes shined in the darkness as it started giggling again. That, and words began to come out as well. "Hee hee hee...to think staying with those dumb dragons would give me what I was looking for! HA! And considering that he was with those ponies, he must be staying in Equestria!" the creature guffawed as it covered its mouth, its grin widening again. "Springer, was it? Interesting...very interesting...to think that I would meet a jakhowl out here with these stupid scale-brains! And I was so sure that the jakhowls were all gone for good!"

Then, a small shimmer, an almost blood red glow, shined in the creature's eyes. "Hee hee hee...Looks like I'm going back to Equestria. This should be fun..."

Hurricane Fluttershy

View Online

The day started out like any normal weekend.

At the Golden Oaks Library, Flash, Twilight, Springer, Scootaloo and Spike were hanging out on the balcony enjoying themselves. Flash was softly playing his guitar while Twilight was reading a book. Springer and Spike were sitting back to back, both reading a comic. Scootaloo on the other hoof, was trying to get her weekend homework done before losing more free time for the weekend. To say that they were all content with their current objectives would be an understatement.

Unfortunately, their quiet morning wasn't permanent, as it was suddenly interrupted by a powerful gust of wind. The blast caused their books, comics and homework to almost go flying all over the place. Twilight managed to use her magic to grab the flying papers, bringing them back to their owners. She then turned towards the cause of the gust and frowned.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Sorry guys," Rainbow said as she flew down towards the balcony, carrying a bag of flyers. "Guess I came in a little too fast there."

"You think?!" Flash replied as he put his guitar down. "What's so important that you'd come up so fast that you almost blew us all off the balcony?!"

Rainbow smiled back. "You won't believe this, but Cloudsdale's picked Ponyville to help restock their water reserves!"

This got their attention, especially Scootaloo. "That's great Rainbow! I can't wait to see it."

"You know it," Rainbow playfully saluted before turning to Twilight. "That's why I'm here. Is it okay if I hold a meeting of the town's pegasi here?"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, still slightly agitated by Rainbow's earlier gust of wind. However, thanks to Rainbow and Scootaloo's bright smiles, she shook her head and replied. "Sure, I don't mind."

"Great!" Rainbow cheered before turning back around. "I gotta get going. Lots of flyers to hand out."

"What flyers?" Flash asked, only for Rainbow to give her a flyer. His eyes soon scanned the paper. "Mandatory meeting for all Ponyville Pegasi. Tonight at the Golden Oak Library, seven o'clock." He then looked back up at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow. "What would you have done if Twilight had said no?"

"I knew she wouldn't," Rainbow giggled before leaping off the balcony and into the sky.

As she left, Flash turned back to his old friend. "Twilight, you're too predictable."

"I know," Twilight grumbled with a roll of her eyes, only for another gust of wind to appear, blowing their papers away again. "Oh come on! What the-"

"Oh Twilight!" Rainbow interrupted as she stopped and floated in front of Twilight. "Can you also set up a projector for a film I want them to see?"

"Sure..." Twilight replied darkly.

"Great! Thanks Twilight!" Rainbow called out before once again flying off, another gust following the leaving pegasi.

"Seriously. Too predictable." Flash grumbled as he started picking up the papers. Again.

"Shut up Flash."

Later that night...

Flash sighed as he, Scootaloo and Spike put the brooms up they had been using to clean the floor. With so many ponies coming over, Twilight had had them cleaning up the library all day. This included sweeping and mopping the floors, dusting the bookshelves and tidying up their own room encase somepony wandered into them.

"Are we done yet?" Scootaloo asked Twilight with a slight whine.

"Yeah..." Springer moaned as he climbed down from dusting the bookshelves. "My paws are killing me."

Twilight checked her list again, a smile soon appearing on her face. "Yes! That's everything."

Everypony sighed in relief, only for all of them to collapse from exhaustion. This made Twilight roll her eyes before hearing a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw the familiar Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow."

"Hey Twilight!" she said as she walked in. "The other pegasi should be here in a few minutes. Is the projector all set up?"

"Yup," Twilight pointed to the device Spike was sitting next to.

"You could have helped you know," Flash told Rainbow.

"I was busy," the rainbow-maned pegasus replied.

"Doing what?!"

"Crunching the numbers," Rainbow said as she pulled a notepad out of her saddlebag. "Based on the number of pegasi in town and the current wing speed record, I've been trying to figure out how fast everypony will need to fly in order to break it." She then turned to the others and saw they all had wide eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," Flash replied, though his eyes were still wide. "Its just...I don't think I've ever seen you do math before."

"Because its important!" Rainbow barked back. Before they could say anything else, they heard the sound of approaching voices. "They're here!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew back outside with Flash on her tail.

Every pegasus pony in town was gathering around the library door. The sight made Flash let out a small sigh before landing and pointing to the front door. "One at a time please," Flash said as they allowed them into the building.

"Alright, go on in. Find a seat." Rainbow also said as she pointed at the library as well. Once the last pony was in, Rainbow looked inside and counted the number of heads.

"What's up?" Flash asked, seeing her confused expression.

"We're missing one," Rainbow replied before looking around. A second later, her eyes narrowed as she floated over to a nearby tree. "Alright, enough games. Come on Fluttershy."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, only to hop in place when he saw a pair of eyes poking out of the tree's bark. "What the-?!" He soon got his answer when the tree seemed to come apart and reveal Fluttershy, who appeared to have been hiding within a tree costume.

"Come on, let's go!" Rainbow said as she started pushing Fluttershy towards the library.

"Nice costume," Flash told her, interrupting Fluttershy almost refusal.

"Thanks," Fluttershy replied as she was pushed inside, her tree hat coming off as it hit the door frame.

Once they were inside and had disposed of Fluttershy's tree costume, Rainbow placed a film into the movie projector and had Spike start it up. The film was very old, probably one of the first ones ever made, and told them about how Cloudsdale collected the water they needed to create the rain. It also told them how the tornado needed to collect the water had to have a wing power of eight hundred or more, or it would not be able to be sent to Cloudsdale. Suddenly, the film cut out, causing everypony to look toward to projector. Spike had somehow gotten the film wrapped around himself, causing the film to stall.

Spike laughed nervously as they looked at him. "Er...intermission?" he said as Springer facepawed.

Seeing she needed to step in, Rainbow flew in front of the film screen. "So, here's the scoop. Cloudsdale has chosen our own highland reservoir as a source of the rainwater that they need for all of Equestria. And you know what that means." She didn't give them time to respond. "It means it's up to Ponyville's pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale."

Hearing this, the many pegasi all began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Not only that," Rainbow went on as she changed the screen to show a Wonderbolt poster. "But Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, will be here to oversee the water transfer and record our top tornado wing speed." She once again changed the board, this time showing a graph. "Now last year, Fillydelphia broke the wing speed record with a top speed of nine hundred and ten wing power. But I think we can do better!" She changed the board again. "I think we can get a top speed of over a thousand!"

Once again the murmuring began, only for Flash to notice that one of the pegasi looking nervous.

Rainbow's face became incredibly serious. "IF...each and everypony trains, and trains hard to get their wing power numbers up." She suddenly frowned when she heard the sound of coughing. "That coughing better be from a popcorn kernel, Thunderlane."

Everypony turned to the black pegasus with silver and white mane, who was suddenly very nervous at the attention.

"Nopony's getting sick on my watch." She turned to the rest of the room. "So, are we gonna train hard?"

"YEAH!" Everypony else cried out.

"Are we gonna be strong?"

"YEAH!"

"Are we gonna be fast?"

"YEAH!"

Rainbow then flew up to Bulk Biceps. "Record smashing fast?"

"YEAH!" The colossal pegasi screamed.

"WHO'S WITH ME!?"

Ever pegasi cheered at the top of their lungs, all except two.

Meanwhile...

Outside the library, Flash was following a yellow pegasi that had sneaked out while everypony else was cheering. "Fluttershy?" He called out.

Hearing her name, the shy pegasus turned around. "Oh, hello Flash. Is something wrong?"

Flash cocked an eyebrow, crossing his hooves. "You tell me. Are you alright?"

Fluttershy stared at him for a moment, sighing as she knew where this was going. "I can't help with the tornado. I'm too weak."

Flash tilted his head in confusion. "You...you're kidding, right? I've seen you move at incredible speeds. Remember when you managed to catch that family of squirrels that fell out of that tree? There must have been like...six of them."

"Seven," Fluttershy corrected.

"Seven. They would have been roadkill, but you managed to save them."

"That was an emergency," Fluttershy explained, twiddling her hooves.

"And this isn't," Flash replied, crossing his hooves again. "Without the tornado, then there won't be any rain water to nourish Equestria. And without that nourishment, the trees and plants will all die. If that happened, where are all your animals friends gonna live and what are they gonna eat?" Fluttershy thought about this, her figure slightly shivering as she did.

"I won't force you to do this," Flash replied as he turned around. "But I want you to remember what I told you about fear when we faced that dragon." With that, he returned to the library.

As Fluttershy headed back to her cottage, she remembered what Flash had told her when they faced the dragon. "Whenever I'm feeling scared, I ask myself one question. What am I more afraid of, what could happen if I act or what will happen if I don't? Almost every time I ask myself that question, I find that what will happen scares me more than what could happen."

What if Flash was right? What if they couldn't make a tornado strong enough to suck up the water? The thought of what could happen filled her mind, showing her images of her animals in peril because there was no food or places for them to stay.

"I...I can't let that happen."

The next morning, all of Ponyville's pegasi were at the track located in the Ponyville park. Rainbow was walking through the group and watching as they all stretched.

"Stretch those glutes, Flitter! Nice flexibility, Cloudchaser. A little...too much flexibility, Blossomforth. Uh, somepony give Blossomforth a hoof. Let's see some faster trotting, Thunderlane! Good pace, Silverspeed!" She then blew her whistle, getting everypony's attention. "Keep it up! We're gonna need all the wing power we can get to break that record!"

"YEAH!" Bulk once again screamed.

"Hey Rainbow Dash," Flash said as he stepped up to her. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"It's about Fluttershy-"

"You mean how she's skipping out on training?" Rainbow interrupted, growling. "Yeah, I know. When I find her-"

"Actually, could you go easy on her? She thinks she's not a strong enough flyer to help with the tornado."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. "That's nuts! Her flying skills are top notch...well, when she's rescuing a bird...or some other animal."

"I think it's more like stage fright," Flash told her, rubbing the side of his head. "You know how she gets when she has to do things in front of others."

"Yeah...I know." Rainbow replied, still grumbling. "She hasn't changed..."

Flash put his hoof on her shoulder. "So just go easy on her if she doesn't show up."

"Alright...I will." Rainbow said as she pushed the hoof away. She let out a small sigh before looking up, her frown turning to a smile at a sight behind the defender. "Though I don't think I'll have to."

Flash raised an eyebrow before turning around to see Fluttershy walking up to them.

"Hey," she said in a soft, weak tone.

"You came," Flash replied happily.

"I knew you would," Rainbow told her, hopping in front of Flash. "Thanks for showing up."

"I just thought about what would happen if I didn't," Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves as she looked down at the ground.

"Well, we're glad to have you." Rainbow shined a smile as she patted her old friend. She then turned to the rest of the pegasi. "Alright everypony, time to see what you've all got!"

They all grouped up, while Twilight and Spike arrived with a funny looking device. Two pegasi mares, Cloudchaser and Flitter, walked up to them with confused looks.

"So..." Cloudchaser asked, "what exactly does this machine do?"

Twilight smiled as she went into over-complicated explanation mode. "This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential." She turned back to the pegasi. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah," Flitter said before turning to Spike. "What exactly does this machine do?"

Spike rolled his eyes as he put his notepad down and went into Twilight translation mode. "It tells you how fast you're flying and how strong your wings are."

A collective breath of understanding spread across the group, causing Twilight to frown before she heard the sound of coughing. "Is that you again Thunderlane?" She asked as she levitated a can of disinfection over to the pegasus and sprayed it. "Please, we need to have a germ-free environment."

"It wasn't me," Thunderlane defended as he pointed to the mare next to him. "it was Blossomforth."

Rainbow decided to show up at this moment, an annoyed scowl on her face. "Don't worry Twilight," she told the unicorn. "Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed. Why don't you get over here and be our first test flyer, Thunderlane?"

Flash watched as Thunderlane glared at Blossomforth as he made his way to the start of the track. Everypony watched as he flexed his wings, beating them as hard as he could. He then shot off the starting line, flying across the track and passing the anemometer. The gust of wind he created caused the device's propellers to spin.

Twilight checked the gauge and smiled as she looked back. "We have nine point three wing power."

The crowd all cheered at hearing this.

"Not bad, not bad." Rainbow said as she watched Spike jot it down. She then moved over to the starting line and began cracking her joints, flexing her wings and beating them strongly. She shot off the start line, becoming nothing but a rainbow blur as she did. She shot passed the anemometer as well, creating a gust of wind so strong that everypony had to dig their hooves into the ground so they didn't get blown away.

Twilight, whose mane had been blown into a mess, smirked as she read the gauge. "Sixteen point five wing power!"

The ponies were all amazed by this, cheering as they saw how powerful their best flyer was. That is, till Rainbow flew over and hovered above them with crossed hooves. "Now listen up!" Rainbow called out over the crowd. "If each of you can get your numbers up to at least ten point wing power by the end of the week, we'll no doubt set a new tornado speed record. We'll be number one!"

The entire squad cheered loudly at the sound of that and shot into sky to prepare themselves. Several pegasi all began to line up, each shooting down the line, allowing Twilight to record. Flash and Fluttershy were right at the back of the line, Flash hoping the others would be too focused on their own training to watch Fluttershy.

"Impressive," Rainbow said when she saw the third to last pegasi's score. She then turn back to the line, where only two ponies remained. "Fluttershy, your turn." She blew her whistle as Fluttershy stepped up to the line.

Unfortunately, Flash's theory about nopony looking at her was dead wrong. All the ponies present turned to watch her. The sight alone made Fluttershy shiver in pure, unending fear.

"You got this Shy," Flash assured her, patting her side. "Don't worry, we're here for you."

Hearing this gave the mare some relief, but she still felt like she was gonna faint from all the attention. Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy flapped her wings and began gently moving forward. As she did, she slowly began to pick up speed. Unfortunately, when she passed Cloudchaser and Flitter, the two began laughing. Hearing this caused Fluttershy to suddenly come to an almost halt as she slowly passed the anemometer. Her gust was so weak that the propellers barely moved. Flash watched as Twilight read the gauge, only to not say the score out loud. He let out a groan as he walked up to Twilight and Rainbow.

"Tell her," he heard Twilight say.

"No you tell her," Rainbow replied.

"No you!"

Flash, Fluttershy and the rest of the squad turned towards them, as Rainbow stopped arguing with Twilight and turned towards Fluttershy. "Um..." was all she seemed to be able to say at first. "Great job, Fluttershy! You measured...uh...uh...point five."

Fluttershy seemed happy with this score, until Spike opened his big fat dragon mouth. "Point five? Isn't that like...less than one?"

Flash face hoofed as he watched Twilight swat the little dragon over his head. Flash looked back at his friend, only to see Fluttershy's face morph into one of pure despair before rushing off with her face hidden.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out as she rushed after her. "Where are you going?"

"I don't belong here," Fluttershy replied, tears already forming under her eyes. "I knew I wouldn't be able to contribute to the tornado."

"But I need you," Rainbow barked back while floating by her.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy cried, tears now flowing down her face. She then zipped away, flying into a nearby batch of trees. Rainbow looked like she was going to follow, only to decide against it. Letting out a sigh, she turned around, only to see Flash and Twilight standing in front of her.

"We have to get her to help," Flash said while rubbing his head, frowning. "Not just for the tornado, but for her."

"Yeah, I agree." Twilight nodded. "She seemed to be doing okay...that is, till just before she was about to pass the anemometer."

"What are we gonna do?" Rainbow asked as she pointed to where Fluttershy had run off to. "I mean, I can't help her and train everypony here at the same time."

"Why don't you leave her to me?" Flash said as he stopped rubbing his head. "I'll see what I can do to get her to help. That and I think I know the right pony to help me with her."

"But what about your training?" Rainbow asked, leaning down to the pegasi's eye level. "And don't tell me you're already ready! I know you don't train for speed like most pegasi Flash!"

Flash just smiled, turning around as he flew over to the start line. He cricked his neck as he flexed his wings, leaning down as he took a deep breath. Taking one single step with his hoof, the pegasi shot off like a rocket, blasting past the anemometer and causing a gust which caused the propeller to spin almost as fast as when Rainbow did it.

Twilight looked at the gauge and smiled. "Fourteen point nine."

Flash smirked as he turned to Rainbow. "I think I fulfil your requirements. Can I go now?"

Rainbow sighed, nodding.

"Thanks," Flash said as he turned to leave.

"What are you gonna do to try and help her?" Twilight asked.

"As I said before, I have an idea on one pony that can help her."

Meanwhile...

Fluttershy was in a beautiful meadow, crying while being surrounded by her animal companions. Her tears continued to flow as she heard the sound of a squirrel coming up to her. Looking up, her face covered in tears and grass saw the little rodent offering her acorns. "Oh...thank you." she said as Angel cleaned her face, "but I'm afraid a couple of little acorns won't solve my big flying problem."

A duck quacked at her, saying something only she could understand.

"I tried, but you should've seen those ponies laughing at me-"

Several birds interrupted her, chirping away at her.

"I know it's important to have confidence in myself-"

She was interrupted again, this time by a badger who started to retell a story.

"Yes, yes, I do remember. The river was swelling-" the badger then mimicked a heart attack. "And you were scared." The badger nodded at this. "Yes, I did tell you to never give up...and to believe in yourself."

"Sounds to me like you should take your own advice."

Fluttershy looked over at the source of the voice and saw Flash, walking over to her. He was not alone, as Iron Core was walking by Flash's side.

"Flash? Iron? What are you doing here?"

"Sentry told me about your flying problem," Iron told her, a surprisingly soft smile on his face.

"And we're here to help you," Flash continued.

"What's the point?" Fluttershy asked as she looked away from the stallions. "There's no way my point five wing power will be able to help the tornado."

"Oh come on! You're a better flyer than that!" Flash barked back, crossing his hooves in slight irritation. "I was watching you and you were going way faster than that, but you slowed down just before the meter. Why?"

Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, trying to avoid the subject. However, she could feel their eyes staring at her, making her shiver in place as she muttered the answer, "When I was really young, I went to flight camp with Rainbow. I wasn't very good, so all the foals used to tease me. They all laughed and sang, 'Fluttershy can hardly fly' every time I did something."

Iron and Flash glanced at each other before Iron asked, "What's that got to do with this?"

"Today when I was flying, I heard the others all laughing at me and it made me remember when the foals at camp teased me."

"And that made you slow down," Flash finished, shaking his head. "Fluttershy, you can't let what a bunch of foals did to you back then hold you back now."

"But they were right..." Fluttershy replied as tears began to seep out of her eyes again. "I'm the worst."

Flash shook his head, knowing where this was going. "Maybe the old you was, but you're a lot stronger now. You think those foals would be laughing at you if they saw you talk down both a manticore and a dragon?"

Fluttershy didn't respond to that.

"Or how about how you faced off against Nightmare Moon and Discord?"

"But I didn't do that on my own."

"And you won't be alone doing this," Flash told her, patting his chest as he did. "Me and Rainbow will be there, along with all the other pegasi."

"But how am I suppose to get my wing power all the way to ten point o?"

"Your wings are probably stronger than you think shrimp." Iron assured her. "That's why we've come to help you."

"Help me?"

"We're gonna help you train until you're strong enough to be in the tornado shrimp."

"How?"

"Tell her Sentry." Iron said as he turned to Flash. Flash nodded.

"My wing power is fourteen point nine," Flash explained. "If we can get you up to five point one, then together we'll make up the ten point o limit."

This got Fluttershy's attention. "You'd share your wing power with me?"

"Sure, that's what friends do," he then leaned on Iron's side with a grin. "Lean on each other for support."

Iron then moved and let the pegasus fall on his side with a thud, chuckling as he did so. "And I'm gonna try and help you try and fight your fear, the same way you helped me open up to others."

Flash got up and dusted himself off. "If you're willing to try, we're willing to help. What do you say?"

Fluttershy wasn't sure how she what to say. That is, till her companion Angel Bunny walked up and tapped her side. He puffed up his chest, showing he was ready to help her and her other animal friends were there to help as well. The sight alone made her understand what her choice must be. She then got up, gulping as she said, "Alright, I'll do it. Train me!"

Flash and Iron smirked seeing this.

And so, Fluttershy's training began. The first thing they did was see how fast she really was, so they had her fly over a meadow while the two of them looked away. Using a spare anemometer, they were able to estimate that Fluttershy's real wing power was actually four point three. Despite how low this actually was, Flash and Iron told her it was a great starting point since they were aiming for five point one.

So now they were working on strengthening her wings.

"What are these again?" Iron asked as he watched Flash began pulling out equipment out of a bag. They were a pair of bungee cables with hooks, along with a pair of smaller hooked cables. Flash was tying the two longer cables around her wings, using the hooks to connect them before attaching the small cables to the undersides of her wings.

"They're wing weights," Flash explained as he pulled out a pair of metal balls. "They normally used for physiotherapy in wing recovery, but professional flyers also use them to help build wing muscles. I needed them after breaking my wing as a colt, and Soarin had me use them back when he trained me in basic flight combat." He then gave Iron a cheeky grin. "I uh...got injured a lot when it came to complex aerial combat. Mainly cuz I didn't learn to fly till like...three or four years before I was supposed to start learning. That and Grand isn't a pegasus pony, which didn't help." He then connected the two balls to the bungee, causing Fluttershy's wings to be dragged down to earth.

"Maybe we should try the next set down," Fluttershy said as she struggled to lift them.

"Those are the lowest," Flash replied as he looked the cables over. "Just try and lift your wings parallel."

Fluttershy nodded and did so, only for her wings to not move. That is, till she looked down, a crowd of her animals friends standing there, cheering her on. The sight alone gave her a boost. Slowly, she managed to lift her wings until they were in glider position.

"Good, now just try and keep them up as long as you can."

Fluttershy nodded and held them up for as long as she could, which was almost a full minute. There, she was unable to hold it up any longer and dropped them.

"Not bad," Flash said with a nod.

"Now we know what to work from," Iron added, only to then turn to Flash. "Right? Sorry, I don't much about this pegasus stuff."

"It's cool." Flash replied, quickly turning back to Fluttershy. "Don't worry, we'll get you through this."

Over the next few days, the three of them worked on improving Fluttershy's flying speed, doing everything in their power to help her improve. Currently, Fluttershy and Iron were sitting in the meadow resting up after a big training session, as they had Fluttershy move up to the next level weights for the first time. Flash was off preparing Fluttershy's next session, while the two were simply talking.

"Alright," Iron said as he messed with a boombox he had brought with him. "We're gonna work on you blocking the laughter out. Now, I want you to listen, but ignore it."

"I don't think I can," Fluttershy replied with a gulp.

"Yes you can. You're stronger then you think you are." Iron said before turning back to her. He then saw the doubt in her eyes, causing him to sigh before shaking his head. Getting back up, he sat down in front of her with a grim yet determined look on his face. "You know, when we first met, I thought you were weakest pony I had ever met." Fluttershy frowned hearing this, only for Iron's confession to continue. "But I realize now that back then, I was the weak one." This made Fluttershy blink in confusion while Iron looked down at the ground, unable to look at her. "I was weak for not being able to look past your weak body and the fear on your face. You...you showed me your true strength when you rushed into that church while there was a psychopathic unicorn in there. You, who had no fighting abilities, who I saw only be a medic to other ponies and shiver while doing it, rushed inside so that you could tell that unicorn what was happening to his grandfather."

"Princess Celestia asked me to do it," Fluttershy replied meekly, her voice trembling.

"But you did it," Iron replied back, looking back up and glaring at her. "Any other pony would have seen the lightning coming out of the church and ran away, but you went in. What were you thinking about when you did it?"

"I...I don't know," Fluttershy said, trying to look away. "I know I was scared and I wanted to stop, but my body just kept moving."

Iron just smiled, chuckling at her statement. "I know what it is."

"You do?"

Iron nodded. "Yeah. Your need to help your friends overwhelmed your fear, allowing you to tap into the strength hidden in your heart."

Fluttershy thought about what he had just said. "Strength...hidden in my heart?"

"That's something I learned from knowing you and the others," Iron explained as he gave her an all-knowing smirk. "When Sentry was fighting against Lightning despite how injured and exhausted he was, he was able to dig deep and finally take him down."

"He was using the strength hidden in his heart," Fluttershy caught on.

"Exactly. Just like how you did back then. You were able to ignore your fear then, so you can ignore them now to help your friends."

Fluttershy thought about this, only to smile as she felt the happiness in that Iron had such faith in her. Seeing her smile, Iron leaned over and put one of his hooves on her shoulder. "Now, close your eyes." When she did so, he pressed the button on the stereo. The device started blasting out the sound of laughter.

Hearing this, Fluttershy's mind warped back to the time in flight camp.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

Iron watched as Fluttershy started to hyperventilate, as whatever memory she was reliving played in her head.

"Ignore it!" He told her. "Hear it, but don't listen to it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Do or do not," Iron replied, putting his hooves on her shoulders again. "There is no try. Ignore it!"

Fluttershy did everything she could to block the sound out, trying to listen to other things around her. The chirps of the birds, the bluster of the wind and the sound of Iron's breathing. Eventually, the sound of laughter began to fade from her mind, her breathing becoming calm and steady.

"Nice..." Iron said as he switched the stereo off. When Fluttershy opened her eyes, she saw Iron smiling at her. "You've just taken the first step to overcoming your nerves. But it's only a start."

Fluttershy smiled back at him as she nodded, only to then pull him into a hug. Iron was initially surprised at the motion, only to soon return the embrace. After this, the next few days were rinse and repeat, with Flash working to strengthen her wings while Iron worked on helping Fluttershy learn to ignore her fears.

Finally, the day before the tornado event had arrived, with the three ponies and Angel Bunny about to do their final test.

"You ready Fluttershy?" Flash asked her from the other side of the field.

"Ready!" she called out before flexing her wings.

"Okay," Iron said as Flash readied the anemometer. "GO!"

Fluttershy then shot off and flew through the air, faster than they had ever seen her move. A gust soon followed, causing the anemometer to spin and the dandelions around them to go flying into the air. Flash looked down at the gauge and smiled as he read the result.

"So," Iron asked as Fluttershy landed next to him. "What did we get?"

Flash looked over at them, showing a smile, "Five point four."

Fluttershy gasped in joy. "I did it?"

Flash just nodded back. "You did it."

Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears as she started cheering. "I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!"

"This is great. Looks like everything is good." Iron said while nudging Flash.

"Yeah," Flash replied, nudging back before he coughed under his breath. He then saw Iron giving him a funny look, causing him to shrug in response. "I must of breathed in some of those dandelions."

"Sure," Iron replied as Fluttershy hopped in front of them.

"I'm so happy!" she exclaimed as she flexed her wings. "And I feel so pumped! Is this what it feels like to be Rainbow Dash?!"

Flash chuckled at the comment before winking at her. "Alright speedy, you should go rest up. We want you running on a full tank for tomorrow."

"Oh...okay." Fluttershy began to walk off, leaving the two stallions alone.

"I'm glad she's happy," Flash commented as he rubbed his chest. "But I hope this confidence boost doesn't turn her into another Rainbow Dash. One's enough."

"Tch, I doubt that." Iron replied before turning to him. "You should go rest up too since you're also part of this whole tornado mess. I'll deal with cleaning up and then go on patrol."

"Thanks Iron. I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah, put it on my tab."

With that, Flash walked off, but not before letting out another cough.

The Next Morning...

Fluttershy was literally skipping through town on her way to the library. To think she was actually excited to be doing something that she was absolutely terrified of doing just a few short days ago, but she was. It was here that she arrived outside the library and knocked on the door, ready to greet her friend Flash as she agreed to go with him to the tornado event. That is, till nopony answered at her knock.

Blinking, she slowly opened the door. "Hello?" she spoke out, only to receive no answer. "Hello?" Again nothing. As she walked into the building, worry started to build inside her. That is, till she heard something that made her jump.

"RRRAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!!"

It was coming from upstairs and Fluttershy had heard it enough times from sick animals to recognise it in a heart beat. Quickly rushing upstairs, she found herself outside Flash's room.

"RRRAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!! WHY?! Why does it-*cough* *cough*!!!"

Hearing this, Fluttershy opened the door and stepped inside. There she saw Twilight, Scootaloo, Spike and Springer standing around Flash's bed and Scootaloo was wearing a doctor's mask around her mouth and nose. They turned around at the sound of the door opening and saw her, Twilight's eyes growing wide as she exclaimed. "Fluttershy?!"

"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked as she walked into the room. As she did, she suddenly found a mask like Scootaloo's being magically strapped around her face.

"Keep that on," Twilight told her. "Don't want you getting sick too."

"Too?" It was then that Fluttershy saw Flash on his bed. His face was red and was sweating terribly, with a wet cloth on his forehead. "Oh dear," she said as she moved over to him. "What's wrong with him?"

"Feather flu. It came out of nowhere."

"I doubt that," Twilight said with a frown as she looked Flash over. "Have you been noticing any symptoms lately?"

"No...*cough* *cough*...er..." Flash replied, his voice sounding scratchy. His eyes glanced at Twilight and saw the glare she was giving him. "Maybe a small cough, but I thought it was nothing...*cough*."

"Flash..." Twilight grumbled with an exasperated sigh.

"This is terrible," Fluttershy gasped, putting her hooves over the mask.

"Aw, it's just the feather flu," Spike said with a wave of his claw. "A few days rest and he'll be fine."

"I know that," Fluttershy barked back. "But there's no way Flash can fly in this condition for the tornado!"

"Oh...right." Spike replied, twiddling his claws. "Sorry."

"I'm fine," Flash said as he tried to get up. "I can still...*cough* fly." But before he could even try and get out of bed, he was enveloped in a magic aura and pushed back into the mattress.

"No, you're not." Twilight told him. "You're staying in bed and resting."

"You can't make me," Flash argued as he tried to get up again.

Twilight rolled her eyes as her horn lit up, her magic conjuring a long piece of rope. Said rope quickly tied Flash to the bed. "Yes, I can."

Flash quickly started struggling against the bonds, but he was no match for Twilight's expertly tied palomar knot. "Lemme go Twilight! This is ridiculous!"

"Maybe..." Twilight said will rubbing her head in frustration. "But if it makes you stay in bed, then I say it's worth it." She turned to Springer. "Make sure he stays in bed and don't untie him."

"Right," Springer replied with a salute.

"Where are you going?" Scootaloo asked.

"I still need to help Rainbow monitor the tornado," Twilight replied as she levitated some papers around her. "You guys think you can handle looking after him?"

"We'll be fine."

Twilight nodded before she and Spike headed to the door, only to stop and turn to Fluttershy. "Aren't you coming?"

"Um...no." she replied, slumping over in as she began shaking in place. "I'll uh...I'm staying here. To help Flash..."

"But what about the tornado?" Spike asked.

"Without Flash, I won't be able to pull my own weight."

"Don't say that," Twilight told her as she put her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Every little piece of wing power is sure to help." Fluttershy's face told her that she did not think that. "Come on, don't tell me you don't want to help." When she saw Fluttershy nod, she sighed and turned to leave with Spike.

"Fluttershy...*cough*" The pegasus mare turned to Flash, who gave Fluttershy a glare despite how heavy his eyes seemed. "Please go."

Fluttershy shook her head. "No. Without you, I won't be able to contribute."

"But you put so much work into getting stronger. I mean, we-urk!" Flash told her as he tried to move again, for the ropes to tighten again. "I hate that all that effort is going unused."

"It doesn't matter," Fluttershy replied as she forced a smile. "I appreciate all the help you gave me, but I guess I'm just not meant to be a strong flyer."

"Don't say that," Scootaloo told her.

"Yeah," Springer added. "You're a great flyer."

"Thanks...but you don't have to pity me." She then turned towards the door. "Get some rest, I'll make you some soup to help with your throat." With that, she walked out the door.

She then headed down to the kitchen and began gathering the ingredients for the special soup she made whenever her animal friends got ill. It took half an hour to finish, was the normal amount of time for making the dish. Now finished, she balanced the bowl on her wing and slowly made her way up to Flash's room. When she entered the room, Springer grabbed the bowl off her wing.

"Thank you," Fluttershy said as she moved over to look Flash over. He had fallen asleep and was resting calmly, while Scootaloo was busy replacing his wash cloth. As she watched him rest, she suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs before the door harshly opened. It was Iron Core, who had quite the stern look on his face.

"Shhh!" they all told him.

"You'll wake him up," Springer said as he pointed to Flash.

"Too late," Flash moaned. "Is that *cough* Iron? Nopony else makes that *cough* kinda noise."

Iron's left eye twitched at the jab while he got three glares, but he ignored them as he moved over to Flash's bed. "So I hear you're sick."

"What gave it away?" Flash replied before Springer wiped his runny nose.

"You've got some soup if you're hungry," Fluttershy said as she pointed to the bowl on his bedside table.

"Thanks," Flash replied as he glanced at it. "Looks delicious...it'd probably smell delicious too if I could smell anything." He then turned to Iron with a cheeky grin. "You come because you're worried about me?"

"Not a chance idiot. I'd rather eat Piecemaker before caring about a moron like you."

"Love you too metalhead." Flash chuckled, only to let out another series of coughs. "Uuuuggghhhh...this *cough* sucks..."

"Yeah...you're in no condition to fly moron. Stay in bed." Iron growled before turning to Fluttershy. "I came because the tornado team need you."

Fluttershy looked back down at the floor. "They don't need me to break the record."

"This isn't about the stupid record!" Iron yelled, stomping his hooves. "Sentry's not the only one that's sick shrimp! Eight others have the feather flu! Without them and you two, they might not have enough wing power to create a tornado strong enough to send the water to Cloudsdale!"

Everyone's eyes went wide. If they could not get the water to Cloudsdale, then there would be no way for the weather factory to make the clouds needed to sustain life in Equestria.

"Sparkle did the math. Based on everypony's recorded wing power, they'll only be able to reach seven hundred and forty."

"But they need eight hundred," Scootaloo said.

"Which is exactly the problem." Iron replied before hearing a certain orange pegasus struggling under his bonds. Iron turned to the bed-ridden defender. "What are you doing?"

"I need to help them," he said as he tried to break the ropes. "Somepony *cough* untie me."

"You're in no condition to fly," Springer told him.

"I don't care," Flash barked back, still struggling against the ropes. "I can't just lay back while this situation is *cough* happening. I need...to help!"

"You can't help," Iron said as he placed his hoof over Flash's ropes. "I've worked with enough pegasus ponies thanks to Skybreaker to know what feather flu does to a pony who doesn't take it easy. All your feathers could fall off!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take!" Flash almost yelled. "I need to *cough* *cough*...ugh, stupid coughs. I need to *cough* help!"

As Fluttershy watched Flash try and get up, something inside her clicked. Despite being ill, Flash was still willing to try and help those around him. This must have been the strength hidden within that Iron had told her. The sight alone made her remind herself about what she was doing. She just sitting there, moping about being a weak flyer. Everypony watched as she did an about face and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Scootaloo asked.

"Where I'm needed," Fluttershy said, quite boldly considering who had just said it. "If Flash is willing to try and help when he's sick, then I have no excuse."

"Atta girl," Iron chuckled before nodding. "Come on, let's get you to the reservoir."

Fluttershy nodded before turning back to Flash. "I'll do what I can."

"That's all we can ask of you," Flash replied. "That and *cough*....nevermind." Flash glanced at Springer. "Can I get some of that soup now?"

With that, the two ponies rushed out of the library. They dashed through town towards the reservoir, only to soon notice a strong wind in the air. "They've already started!" Fluttershy said as they got closer. "Am I too late?!"

"Its fine shrimp. We just have to hurry!" Iron replied as he started to increase his running speed. "We need to get there before they exhaust themselves."

Fluttershy nodded and doubled her pace, though she soon found it hard to run with the powerful wind trying to blow her away. As she continued, they arrived at the reservoir, where a large tornado was blowing beside an extra large anemometer.

"Twilight!" She called out as she spotted the unicorn next to the device.

Twilight looked over at her and smiled. "Fluttershy!" She screamed over the sound of the wind. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help," Fluttershy yelled. "I don't know if I can increase the tornado's power enough, but I want to try."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "They could certainly use the help." she then gave her a slight questioning look. "Though I gotta ask, are you sure you're up for this?"

"I uh...I'm not sure." Fluttershy replied, gulping. "But I-"

"You are up for this," Iron interrupted, patting her on the back. "Just do what you can, that's all we can ask of you."

"Then you better get up there now!" Spike cried out, his claws causing scratches in the anemometer's side.

Fluttershy nodded and prepared to fly into the tornado, only to then see something shoot out of it. It was a yellow pegasus with a blue mane and tail, who seemed to have been propelled out of the tornado and crashed into the ground. This was followed by another pegasus, followed by another and another.

"They're breaking up!" Twilight screamed as the tornado threw out the last few pegasi, including Rainbow Dash, before completely vanishing. As it left, a hovering sphere of water quickly fell back into the reservoir. Twilight and Fluttershy rushed over to a tree that Rainbow had faceplanted into. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm fine," Rainbow replied as she pulled herself out of the tree.

Twilight looked over at the anemometer's gauge and saw what it read. "You were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow however, was not planning on being beaten so easily. "We've got to try again!" She cried out as she took to the sky, only to be dragged back down by Twilight's magic.

"You've pushed your crew to their limit already," Twilight said as she pointed to the multitude of dizzy, tired and in a few cases, wet ponies. "If you break apart again, somepony could get hurt! You should quit, its not safe!"

"No," Rainbow said as she knocked Twilight's hoof away. "One more time! I've gotta know that we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying!" She shot into the air. "C'mon ponies, let's make this happen!"

The other pegasi all cried out in agreement, all soon preparing to once again pull off the tornado. Seeing this, Rainbow nodded before turning towards the only healthy pegasus who did not take part of the plan. "Fluttershy...I know you don't think you can help, but-" She did not get to finish, as Fluttershy placed a hoof on her mouth.

"I'm in," Fluttershy said with a determined glare. "I promised Flash I would try."

Rainbow smiled back, handing Fluttershy a pair of goggles. "Glad to have you on board." With that, she flew off to prepare the rest of the pegasi. As Fluttershy put her goggles on, she suddenly felt her nerves once again begin to grow as the sound of the chanting foals echoed through her mind.

"You can do this."

She spun around to see Iron.

"Remember, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. Just focus on flying as fast as you can and you can do it."

"I'll...do it, not try."

Iron nodded as they heard Spike sound the horn, instructing the pegasi that it was time. Iron watched as Fluttershy shot into the air like the others, flying in a circle at top speed. Slowly, the tornado began to form and create a gust of wind. He then walked over to Twilight and Spike, who were watching the meter dial begin to slowly move.

"Here we go," Twilight said as she read to gauge. "One hundred wing power! Two hundred! Five hundred!"

In the tornado, Rainbow watched as everypony worked as best they could. "Stay in position!" she called out to them. "Flap those wings. Faster!" She then moved over to where Fluttershy was. "You're doing great Shy, keep it up!"

"I'm trying my best!" Fluttershy exclaimed. However, the sounds of laughter once again began to echo through her mind.

Outside the tornado, the three watches all struggled to keep themselves from being blown away while watching the dial. "Seven hundred and fifty five wing power..." Twilight said as she put her hooves over her mouth.

"That's five more then last time," Spike commented.

"It must be the shrimp."

"Even so, they need another forty five wing power."

"But they fell apart at seven forty!" Spike exclaimed. "Do you think they can stay together long enough?!"

"I know they can," Iron said as he forced himself through the wind, right to the edge of the reservoir. Looking into the tornado, he finally spotted Fluttershy and saw how terrified she looked. Obviously the memories from flight camp were getting to her again.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"it yelled in her head, causing her to clinch in pain.

"C'mon!" She then heard Rainbow call out to the team. "Just a little harder! I can see the water trying to funnel through!"

"Seven ninety six..." Twilight commented as she kept scanning the gauge over. "They're so close....just a little more..."

"Just a little more power!" Iron called out to them all. "Everypony give it your all!"

"We already are!" Fluttershy heard the pony next to her call out.

"Just keep pushing!" They heard Rainbow called out.

Each and every pegasus put everything left within them to push forwards. Everypony except one.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"Seven ninety eight..." Twilight said. "Just a little more...wait!" She put her hoof on the gauge. "Seven ninety seven! They're losing power!"

Though they didn't want to say it, they knew which pegasus was slowing down. It was Fluttershy, who was fidgeting in flight as her head continued to ring. The only thing Fluttershy could hear was the sound of those young foals laughing at her.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"No...no...stop it!" She yelled internally. "Please just-"

"You can do this Fluttershy!" The young mare looked around to see Iron standing right next to the tornado, trying his best not to be sucked inside. Her eyes went wide as she heard those words. He never called her by name. Then, he yelled again. "Don't stop Fluttershy! Remember what I told you!"

Fluttershy did remember what he told her, her mind flashing back to the time in the meadow.

"You know, when we first met, I thought you were weakest pony I had ever met. But I realize now that back then, I was the weak one. I was weak for not being able to look past your weak body and the fear on your face. You...you showed me your true strength when you rushed into that church while there was a psychopathic unicorn there. You, who had no fighting abilities, who I saw only be a medic to other ponies and shiver while doing it, rushed inside so that you could tell that unicorn what was happening to his grandfather."

"But you did it. Any other pony would have seen the lightning coming out of the church and ran away, but you went in. What were you thinking about when you did it?"

"Your need to help your friends overwhelmed your fear, allowing you to tap into the strength hidden in your heart."

"The strength...hidden in my heart!" Fluttershy yelled, rubbing her head with her hooves as pain surged thorugh her mind. The sound of the foals rung loud and clear again, but she would not listen. "NO!" She screamed, shooting forward as fire burned in her eyes.

The other pegasi watched as a yellow and pink bolt shot past them.

"What was that?" A pink stallion asked.

"I think it was Fluttershy," a green mare replied.

Outside the tornado, the others watched as the anemometer's dial hit eight hundred. Within the tornado, the water was sucked up into the vortex, quickly shooting into the air before funneling over to Cloudsdale.

"She did it!" Twilight exclaimed as she and Spike danced. "She did it! They all did it!"

Iron just smirked as he watched the last of the reservoir's water be depleted. Spike then rushed over to the horn and blew it, causing the tornado to slowly weaken and the pegasi to fly out. Said pegasi cheered as they flew towards the ground, each happy that they had accomplished the seemingly impossible. The only pegasus who had not landed was Fluttershy, who was still flying in a circle. Eventually, she came to a stop when Rainbow pushed a cloud in front of her. "Whoa girl, take it easy!"

"Whuh-what?" Fluttershy said as she got her bearings. "Did we do it?"

"Yeah, we did it!" Rainbow replied before pulling her into a hug. "You did it!" She then pulled out of the hug and offered a wing for her to high five, which she did.

"Great job Fluttershy," Flitter said as the two landed. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah!" Cloudchaser agreed. "We couldn't have done it without you!"

"Nice job, Rainbow Dash." The pegasus spun around to see Spitfire right behind her. "You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts. Your team is good."

"Thanks," Rainbow said before pointing to a certain pegasi behind her. "But if you wanna talk guts, then you've gotta give it to my number one flyer, Fluttershy!" She then called out. "Let's hear it for Fluttershy!"

The pegasi gathered around the mare, grabbing her and lifting her into the air. "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can really fly!"

True happiness appeared on Fluttershy's face as they gathered around her, chanting her name. That is, till she saw Iron standing off to the side with a smirk on he face. Before she knew what she was doing, she shot over to him and pulled him into a big hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much Iron!"

"I didn't do nothing shrimp," Iron chuckled back, returning to hug.

"That's not true!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she pulled away from the hug. "I never would have been able to do this if you hadn't been cheering me on!" She then did something nopony expected. She kissed Iron on the cheek.

Everypony gasped at seeing this.

It was not until after she had done it that Fluttershy realized what she had done and her face did a bright red tomato impression. Iron likewise was blushing, amazed at what had just happened. That is, till his smirk reappeared. "Don't mention it shrimp," Iron said before the two went to join the rest of the celebrating crowd.

Later that night...

"She kissed him?" Flash asked in amazement.

"She sure did," Twilight replied as she put up some graphs she had made when helping with the tornado.

"Wow. Go Iron."

The two were in his room, talking about what had happened at the reservoir. Flash's fever had broke, which amazed Twilight at the speed of it, and he looked to be on the road to recovery.

"A part of me wishes I could have helped," Flash commented as he felt his nose twitch. "Though another part of me is glad I couldn't."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. If I had been there, we would have had enough power to create the tornado and Fluttershy wouldn't have had to push past her limits. Now she can feel proud at her accomplishment."

"I guess you're right," Twilight said as she finished filing the papers.

"I know I am." Flash grumbled before turning to Twilight. "Now, can I ask a small favor?"

"Sure."

"UNTIE ME!" He gestured to the ropes that were still keeping him trapped on the bed.

"You promise not to get up?"

"I promise." The next thing he knew, the ropes were being untied and he was free.

"That's all I needed to hear. After all, I know you don't break promises."

"Darn right I don't," Flash said as he relaxed himself in his bed. "Can't believe you still don't trust me after all this time..."

"You'd better get some sleep," Twilight said as she ignored his last statement. "One more day of rest and you'll probably be back to full health."

"Right..." Flash said as he got comfortable. "Night."

"Night," Twilight replied as she walked out the door.

As Flash felt himself slowly drift to sleep, he thought back to the events leading up to today. He was happy Fluttershy was able to dig deep and show her true strength, while also being happy that Iron was able to help her bring it out of her. Those two really were good for each other. One was able to help the other improve their social skills in very different ways. As the last of Flash's consciousness faded, he wondered what the future would hold for those two.

Ponyville Confidential

View Online

It was another peaceful day in Ponyville.

Flash and Springer were on their midday patrol. They had just finished checking out the village's outside canyon and were on their way back to town, when the two of them spotted something floating along the creak. When Flash saw what it was, he raised an eyebrow in confusion before landing. "Is that...Scootaloo?"

Indeed, it was his sister along with Sweetie Belle, floating down the river in a boat that looked to be made out of newspaper. "Oh...this can only end badly." And his prediction came true, as the ship soon became so water logged that it began to sink with the fillies inside.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Springer asked him.

Flash just shrugged. "That stream's not deep or strong. They'll be able to swim out of it."

A second later, the two young pony's heads broke the water's surface. Flash and Springer chuckled at the sight, only for Flash to see two ponies in the corner of her eye. It was Pinkie and Wild Smile walking up to them.

"Hi Flash!" Pinkie waved.

"What's up?" Wild added.

"What's up, what's up?" his puppets repeated.

"Eh, nothing much. Just the sky. Say, how's the move coming along?" Flash asked the unicorn as Wild walked up and shook Flash's hoof.

"Not bad," Wild shrugged, shining a smile. "I got myself a nice little two bedroom apartment, so now all I need is move some of my Canterlot effects into it."

"And I already agreed to help!" Pinkie cheered. "Hooray!"

"Cool. If you need any pegassistance, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks." Wild replied before pointing at the lake. "Now, you mind explaining why your sister and her friend wanted Pinkie and me to help them Origami a bunch of newspapers into a boat?"

"Not sure," Flash answered as he turned to the two fillies that were making their way to them. "But I get the feeling that it has something to do with them getting their cutie marks." As he said this, the duo walked up to them, covered in mud and paper as they collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "Oh boy, this should be good. Hey sis."

"Hey..." Scootaloo replied, though her voice was muffled by the grass her face was currently rubbing.

"You okay?" Springer asked as he started pulling pieces of paper from her mane.

"We're fine," Scootaloo mumbled as she lifted her head. "but I think Applebloom's plan to get our cutie marks is a bust."

"What's it this time?" Flash asked, smirking as he helped clean his sister up. "Cutie Mark Crusader Pirates?"

"No..." Scootaloo told him while rubbing her head. "She said we could use the paper to get our cutie marks, but it didn't work."

"We've tried everything," Sweetie added. "From paper mache to making bird houses, but none of it worked."

This caused the older ponies to chuckle under their breaths, obviously understanding something they did not.

"What's so funny?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well," Flash replied, a smirk now on his face. "When Applebloom said you girls should get your cutie marks with the paper, I think she meant by writing for it. You know...journalism."

The two little fillies stared at them, blinked twice, then stared at each other before releasing a loud groan and collapsing again. The three ponies and jakhowl all chuckled.

"Come on," Flash told them as he helped them back up. "Let's get you two cleaned up before you accept your first Ponyitzer."

The two fillies slowly got up and the group started making their way towards town, soon making a beeline towards the spa. It took almost an hour of washing to get the mud and slime out of their manes, only to then rush out of the spa and back to Applebloom. The sight alone made Flash and the others chuckle before making their way to Wild's new house.

"Here it is," Wild said as they arrived outside one of the large houses in Ponyville. It was an apartment-style building, complete with several other ponies living just next door. "Let me show you the inside." He opened the front door and headed inside, passing Caramel as they arrived at the third floor. "This is it."

"This is it, this is it!" The puppets repeated.

What followed was a blank set of rooms, mainly a kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. There was literally nothing else, as nopony had lived there for some time. The others blinked at the sight before Flash spoke up, "Not bad. Could use some sprucing up though."

"I don't know," Springer said as he looked around. "It's kinda-

"Dulls-vile!" Pinkie interrupted before pulling a paint brush and can of paint out of her hair. "We need to get this place looking fun as soon as possible!"

The two stallions and jakhowl laughed at this, watching Pinkie already make her way of painting a nearby wall. As she did, Flash turned to Wild. "Any idea what you're gonna use the spare room for?"

Wild just shrugged. "I'll probably just put a bed in it and sleep in it whenever I've got company. Script and Gorgenia said they'd come visit sometimes."

"Oh!" Pinkie perked up, suddenly appearing between the stallions. "I can throw them a party!"

They all laughed at her enthusiasm. As she got back to her painting job, Flash and Wild started to talk about the plans for the apartment. Flash told him he could help with the heavy lifting, and suspected he could get Iron in on it too if he convinced him it would be a good workout. Flash and Springer stayed in the building for a few hours, watching as Pinkie painted different parts of the wall with different colours to see what worked. It took about five coats before Wild told her he liked the last one she did. It was here that Flash noticed the sun was beginning to set.

"We'd better get our evening patrol done before it get's to dark," he told his partner before turning to the others. "See you all later."

"Bye!" Pinkie muffled out, as her paint brush was still in her mouth.

"Catch ya later Sentry," Wild said, sticking his tongue out.

"Later, later!" the puppets repeated.

Flash and Springer headed out of the building and did their evening patrol, finding nothing out of the ordinary as they did. After checking the edge of the Everfree Forest, they headed back to the library. When he opened the door, he was treated to the sight of Scootaloo and Twilight at a table. They had the school's newspaper, The Foal Free Press, open and Twilight was explaining to the filly the different types of newspaper columns.

"So what kind of story do you think I should write first?" Scootaloo asked her with hopeful eyes, a pencil just barely in her mouth.

Twilight shook her head. "Hold on Scootaloo, that's not really how journalism works. You can't just make something up. You have to keep your eyes open for a situation that you think will make a compelling story."

"Right..." Scootaloo spat the writing tool out and slumped in her chair. "But...how do I know if something's worth writing about?"

"That depends on you," Twilight said with a shrug. "You have to ask yourself if you think the story is something other ponies will want to know about."

"She's got a point," Flash added as he and Springer sat down at the table. "And when you write your story, you gotta make sure you've got all the facts right. Don't just write what you think is going on, research it."

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow. "That sounds...kinda boring."

Twilight shook her head again. "Don't think of it like that," Twilight then tapped her chin, only for an idea to pop in her head. "You see...being a journalist is like....its like being a detective. You're searching for the facts and exposing the hidden truths to the world." They all watched as Scootaloo's eyes began to grow wide in wonder.

Flash smirked seeing this, deciding to chime in. "And getting all those facts means that when you reveal the truth, nopony can say you're wrong."

"Huh..." Scootaloo mumbled, blinking at what they had just said. "I guess you gotta point. So...I should just look all over town for something noteworthy?"

"Pretty much," Twilight nodded.

"Alright!" Scootaloo almost yelled as she jumped up from the table. "Then I better get some sleep so I can be ready to write The Foal Free Presses next best...what are they called again?"

"Articles." Twilight corrected her.

"Right!" Scootaloo clapped as she rushed upstairs.

As they watched her go to her room, Springer tugged his partner. "You really think she'll get a cutie mark this time?"

Flash shrugged. "Can't be sure. But if she does, she'll have our support."

"Agreed." Twilight chimed as she opened the school paper again.

Flash then leaned back in his chair, letting out a yawn. "Besides, out of all their schemes to get a cutie mark, this one is at least both realistic and safe. That alone is enough for me." Twilight giggled at that, glad to see Flash was taking his role as caretaker so seriously. As she stopped giggling, Flash began to stretch out his body before hopping out of his chair. "Welp, I better get some sleep too. I'm Theta training again tomorrow."

"How's that going by the way?" Twilight asked him in curiosity.

"Better." Flash grumbled, scratching the side of his head. "Its my concentration that's the problem. When I'm relaxed, I can kinda do it...but when I'm in an action situation, I still have trouble with it."

"You just need to learn to relax when doing it." Twilight told him, remembering what she had learned from reading the book Soarin had given him. "Let your mind be open so it can process the information."

"I know, I know..." Flash whined, crossing his hooves. "Its just hard to relax when I'm trying to keep myself from being beaten to a pulp."

Seeing this, Springer decided to chime in. "Maybe you should go somewhere more relaxing, like the spa. Maybe you can't relax because you're too tense in your usual situations."

Flash thought about what Springer had just said. It was true he hadn't really relaxed and let himself unwind in a while, so it was worth a shot.

"The girls and I were planning to go to the spa in a few days," Twilight told him as she put the paper down. "Feel free to join us."

"Hmmm...maybe I will." Flash shrugged as he headed upstairs to bed.

The Next Day...

"Iron Force!"

Flash leapt into the air, barely dodging the metal tornado.

"Aura Blast!"

He then stopped flapping his wings, dropping down in time for a ball of concentrated aura to fly over his head. Flash then opened his wings again to glide back up into the air, while closing his eyes and trying to clear his head.

"Come on, you can do this. Relax, clear your mind."

"Iron Lance Fury!"

Flash's eyes shot open as he saw the flurry of projectiles flying towards him, causing his brain to go into overdrive as he tried to dodge every single one. His body flung around the sky, barely skimming by the rampage of metal and iron. As he dodged the last bit, his body felt like it had ran ten marathons. His mind felt like mush as he slowed down his flight, not noticing that he had flown close to a ledge that a certain jakhowl was running along.

"Bone Breaker!" Springer cried as he created the energy bone and leapt at Flash, ready to conk him on the head. Flash however, saw the attack coming, kicking off the nearby ledge to help him back into the sky. As he did this, Springer's attack quickly missed, causing the jakhowl to curl up and front spin to land safely on the ground below. When his paws hit the ground, Iron walked up to Flash's partner, a smirk on his face.

"Looks like he's tiring. You ready to give him another beating mutt?" Iron asked as he looked up at a now heavily panting pegasus.

"Can you blame him?" Springer replied as he created another Aura Blast and threw it at Flash. "We're able to tag out and catch our breath. He can't do that."

Flash dodged the attack and flew towards the ground, trying to find some cover. That is, till he turned and saw Iron point Piecemaker at him while Springer formed another Aura Blast. The Jakhowl launched the ball of energy, Iron unleashing his Iron Force attack at the same time. The new metal tornado struck the Aura Blast and caused it to become a spinning ball of metallic energy, which flew towards Flash at mach speed. Flash quickly spread his wings again, only for his back to let out.

"Aw shoot." was all Flash could say before the attack smashed into him, his body spinning into a nearby rock wall. "AAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!"

Iron and Springer moved over to Flash, whose eyes were spinning around their sockets. "Wanna call it a day?" Iron asked, a cheeky smirk on his face. "Or do you want more beatings, ya wimp? Please say yes."

"I'm good...." Flash grumbled as he grabbed his head to stop his eyes from spinning.

"Here, let me help you." Springer said as he helped him up and moved him over to his saddlebag and Lightbringer.

"Thanks..." Flash mumbled as he strapped the two to his side. With that, the three of them headed out of the canyon and back towards town. As he did, Flash let out a long sigh. "Darn it...I still can't focus. I know Soarin said it took years to learn how to enter the Theta State, but I thought I'd be able to get it sooner or later..."

"Guess you're not the prodigy you think you are, ya wimp." Iron guffawed, Piecemaker rattling on his side.

Flash just glared at him, only to sigh yet again. "I guess you're right. I haven't had this much trouble learning something since I started sword training."

"But you're great with a sword," Springer told him as they arrived at the edge of town. "Lightbringer's a sword and you said Celestic Gears take the form of the weapon the wielder's most comfortable."

"It does...but that doesn't mean I was ever naturally good with a sword." Flash rubbed his head in frustration. "In fact, I was once terrible with swords. It took Shining showing me a few tips and weeks of practice for me to actually get any good."

"Whatever. I honestly think you should quit while you're ahead." Iron told him, turning towards a different part of town. "Or don't. I can't say I don't like kicking your flank more than usual because of your stupid training."

"Oh shut up!" Flash barked as he watched Iron head off to do whatever he had planned to do. Seeing this, he turned and started to think. His mind began creating strategies, formulas to beat the Theta State. He continued to struggle, only to feel a little nudge from Springer. "What?"

Springer did not reply, and instead pointed over at a tree. Looking at it, Flash almost burst out laughing when he saw the sight Springer was pointing at. It was Scootaloo, who was up in a tree while wearing a journalism hat.

Scootaloo was trying to get herself a story. Doing what Twilight had suggested, she had chosen to write about the new birds' nest that had 'appeared' in the local park. That meant she had to climb up to it and hold onto the branch, while also keeping hold of her notepad and pencil. Then, she started to chirp to the brothers. "So, anything to say about your new home?"

The birds replied with loud chirping.

"I see...how do you spell that?" She really wished she had asked Fluttershy to be her translator as she simultaneously tried to write and keep a grip on the branch. That did not go as planned, as her notepad soon fell out of her hooves. As she tried to catch it, she soon found herself letting go of the branch. This in turn, meant she began to fall down to earth, though she did try and stop herself with her wings, only to slam into a muddy puddle.

"You okay sis?"

Scootaloo looked up to see her brother and Springer standing over to her. "I'm fine," she said as she pulled herself out of the mud.

"You sure?" Springer asked as he picked up her muddy hat. "That fall looked painful."

"I'll live," Scootaloo grumbled.

"So...is this your big story?" Flash asked as he looked up at the nest.

"Yep," Scootaloo said as she looked down at the mud soaked notepad. "What do you think?"

"I think whoever made that birds' nest needs an arts and crafts lesson," Springer said as he looked up at the nest. "Who uses newspaper to build something that needs to stand up to the rain?"

"Yeah..." Scootaloo laughed nervously as she walked away. "Well, I better get back to school. Diamond Tiara'll have a fit if she doesn't get any news stories."

"Diamond Tiara is running the school newspaper?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't she the-"

"Yeah, she is." Scootaloo interrupted, turning her back to Flash. "But I can handle her."

With that, she rushed off. As she did, Flash glanced at his partner. "I think we should keep an eye on the school news paper bud."

Springer nodded. "If she's running it, I agree."

Meanwhile...

Scootaloo had just arrived outside the school's underground newspaper room, where she also saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "Hey girls, how'd it go?"

Applebloom gives her a shrug. "Okay I guess. Granny Smith didn't have as many stories as I thought she would."

"I spent more time acting like a mannequin then I did a reporter," Sweetie mumbled, letting out a sigh.

"Well, I ended up taking a mud bath," Scootaloo told them as they descended into the cellar like room.

There, they saw Diamond Tiara sitting at the far desk with a writer to her left and Shady Daze to her right, printing several papers. The pink earth pony filly looked up at the three as they headed towards her. "I hope you've got something," she said with her usual angry voice. "Because everything so far is unusable."

The Crusaders placed the stories they had written on her desk, allowing her to look through it. However, by the look on her face, she did not like them. That and the yelling that followed. "Baby birds born? Rarity's hot new hat? Ponyville, the early years!?" She tossed the papers onto the floor, jumping down in front of her desk to get into the crusaders' faces. "I don't know what you call this, but it sure isn't news!"

The three soon found themselves backed up into the far wall. Sweetie gulped as she tried to say, "We just thought-"

"Get something else on my desk by the end of the day, and it better be juicy!" Diamond Tiara interrupted, grabbing the trio with her hooves. The next thing the three fillies knew, they were being thrown out of the room with a thud. Following them was their notepads, pencils and hats, which all hit the floor in series of clangs.

Scootaloo moaned as she picked herself up. "Now what'd we do? Do you know what I had to do to get that story?!"

"Oh, you don't even wanna know what I had to sit through," Applebloom moaned, scratching her sore flank. "This is-"

Before they could say anything else, a sound caught their attention.

"Oh! Get it off me, Snails!"

"Eh?! You get it off me, Snips!"

The trio looked at each, wondering what was going on. They gave each other a nod before deciding to investigate, walking slowly around the school house as they followed the voices. "Aah! Stop it!" They heard the first voice cry out. "You're making it worse!" They looked around the corner, only to then see Snips and Snails. The two had somehow gotten a single piece of gum stuck to their flanks, sticking them together like glue. They watched as Snips karate chopped the gum, only to get his hoof stuck in the gum. "Oh, great!"

"I'll get it," Snails said before he used his back legs to kick Snips away. However, the gum remained intact and Snips was soon catapulted back into Snails, causing the gum to spread even more over their bodies. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Sweetie giggled at this, only for an idea to pop into her head. "Hey Featherweight," she called out to the pegasus photographer who was currently taking pictures of a squirrel nearby. "C'mere." The skinny pegasus turned towards her and was soon at her side. "Take a few pictures of this," she told him as she pointed to the two struggling unicorns. "Then, meet me during lunch." With that, she turned back to her friends. "Girls, I have our story."

Later That Day...

Back at the Golden Oaks Library, Flash was sitting in the center of the room with his eyes closed. Behind him was Springer, who was currently drinking a soda while reading a comic book, looking up every once in a while to see if Flash was doing okay.

That is, till the front door opened with a loud thunk. The jakhowl turned and saw Twilight and Spike step inside, both carrying shopping bags in their claws and magic. Springer then put one of his paws up to his mouth, shushing them as he pointed towards Flash. "Shhh! He's trying to relax and clear his head."

Twilight replied by staring at Flash for a second, only to roll her eyes in response. "I think he's a little too relaxed."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Springer asked as he looked back at Flash, only for his ears to suddenly catch the sound of a snore. Flash had fallen asleep while meditating. "Oh..." Springer mumbled while Spike started laughing at the sight.

A grin on her face, Twilight went up to pegasi as her horn started to light up. Her magic then engulfed Flash's ear, quickly twisting it. "AAAAAHHHH! OW!" Flash yelped as his eyes went wide, waking up as he started rubbing his ear. "Hey! What the heck Twilight?!"

Twilight just rolled her eyes again. "How's that clearing your head thing going?" she asked sarcastically, her eyebrows hopping up and down.

Flash let out a growl before blushing, a nervous smile on his face. "Yeah yeah...you've made your point."

"You bet I have." Twilight replied as she swatted his shoulder. "Come on, I need your help with the gro-"

SLAM!

That was the sound of the front door slamming open, as one orange pegasus filly walked inside. Her face wasn't exactly anything happy-looking, but there wasn't any depression on it either. Spike blinked at the sight before saying, "Hey Scootaloo, welcome home. How'd the paper thing go?"

She let out a small sigh. "Not bad...but my bird story didn't get picked to be printed."

Twilight's ears folded as she added, "Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry Scootaloo."

"So what did get printed?" Springer asked her.

Scootaloo didn't reply, and instead took a copy of the Foal Free Press out of her bag. Twilight took the paper and levitated it closer, the three boys gathering around her to see the picture on the front page. "Snips and Snails in Bubblegum Fails?" Twilight read the headline as they looked at picture of the two unicorn colts stuck together.

Flash snickered at this. "I know those two are attached at the hip, but this is pushing it." Spike and Springer let out a laugh while Twilight rolled her eyes again. However, Flash could tell she was fighting not to laugh this time. Flash then turned back to the page and read the name at the bottom. "Who's Gabby Gums?"

"You don't know?" Spike asked in surprise.

"I don't. And I've made sure to know who everypony in town is. It helps me do my job better, but I've never heard of Gabby Gums." He turned to his sister. "Did they just move into town or something?"

"If this pony has, Pinkie's gonna have a heck of a time making her a party." Twilight cut in.

Scootaloo lifted her hoof, a frown still on her face. "Actually, I think its supposed to be a pen name."

"Makes sense," Twilight said as she continued to read the article. It was that she started to realize what kind of writing Gabby did. Gabby was a gossip writer, something that Twilight had not always liked reading back in Canterlot. "I hope this Gabby Gums pony doesn't take this to far."

Scootaloo titled her head, surprised at her statement. "What do you mean? I mean, isn't it just a bit of harmless fun?"

Twilight shook her head. "It might look harmless now, but this kind of thing can get out of hoof really easily."

Flash nodded in agreement as he read the article, seeing where Twilight was going. "She's right. I mean, having your most embarrassing moment shown for all the world to see? I certainly wouldn't want that."

"Snips and Snails didn't seem to mind," Scootaloo replied, still tilting. "In fact, they really like all the attention."

"Maybe they did, but that doesn't mean a different pony will want that." Flash told her as he took the paper and pointed at the picture. "Think about it sis. If instead of Snips and Snails, you and...Sweetie Belle were the ones this happened to. Would you want a picture of it for all the world to see?"

Scootaloo thought about what he said for a moment, quickly realizing he was right. It might have been funny to her and the others, and Snips and Snails were to stupid to be embarrassed, but that didn't mean it was right to do it. "Oh...I think I get it. I understand."

Twilight shined a small smile as she took the paper back and folded it. "That's good Scootaloo. In fact, why don't you talk to whoever this Gabby Gums character is and tell them that. I think it would help them greatly Scootaloo."

"I will," Scootaloo said with a nod.

"WHAT?!" Sweetie Belle screamed the next morning. "You want to quit writing Gabby Gums?!"

"I do," Scootaloo nodded, a determined look on her face.

"But....why?" Applebloom asked, blinking at her friend. "I mean, didn't we all agree to try and do this for our cutie marks?"

The pegasi filly took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do next. With that in mind, Scootaloo told them everything Flash and Twilight had told her. "So...I've decided I don't wanna do it any more. I'm gonna write about real things, not gossip."

The two other crusaders took what Scootaloo, and by extension Flash and Twilight, had said to heart. Both gave each other a glance before nodding. Applebloom then said, "You're right Scootaloo. I don't wanna get my cutie mark by writing mean stuff about out friends and neighbors."

The two then turned to Sweetie Belle, who sighed. "I guess you're right...but Diamond Tiara won't like this."

Scootaloo just shrugged. "So what? Its not like she can force us to keep writing."

One transition to the Diamond Tiara later...

"I WON'T LET YOU TO QUIT!" Diamond Tiara screamed after hearing the crusader's plan to stop being Gabby Gums. "Gabby Gums is the glue that holds this newspaper together!"

"Actually," Shady spoke up from his spot next to the printing press, "we don't use glue. We just fold the paper...over and..." Shady stopped when he saw Diamond Tiara glaring at him. "Shutting up now."

Diamond Tiara turned back to the crusaders, daggers in her stare. "Without Gabby Gums, this paper will return to being the monotone piece of drudge that I set out to replace. I'm not letting this gold mine shut down!"

"But if we keep writing stuff like this, we might end up hurting somepony's feelings."

"FEELINGS?!?!" Diamond Tiara screamed as she slammed her hooves into the table. "I don't care about feelings! Gabby Gums is my bread and butter, and I'm not gonna let you goody-two-horseshoes take that away from me!"

The trio all glanced at each other, nodding. Sweetie then stepped forward. "We're sorry Diamond Tiara, but we've made our decision."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo also stepped forward. "You can't force us to keep gossiping!"

Diamond let out a snort, only to then start chuckling. They gulped at this, as they knew this meant trouble as Diamond started speaking again. "Oh yeah? If that's the case, I'll just have to make sure you stay." She leaned down, a sneaky grin now gracing her face. "After all, when you see this, you may not want to quit after all." She spun around and threw a folder on the floor, which opened to reveal the three of them in very embarrassing positions. "I told Featherweight to document everything," she explained as she jumped down off her chair and picked the pictures back up. "And that's exactly what he did."

"Gimme those!" Scootaloo cried as she reached for the folder, but Diamond Tiara held them out of reach.

"Sorry girls, but this is property of the Foal Free Press," she jumped back into her chair. "And if Gabby Gums really does go into retirement, I'll need something to fill that empty column space. Now get out there and bring me more Gabby Gums!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders all turned towards each other in horror, realizing the think they had become most afraid of was actually gonna happen. That is, till Diamond slammed her hooves down again. "What are you three still doing here?! The clocks ticking, so GO!"

The three sighed, turning to leave the press room. Once they were outside, they looked at each other and shared a look of fear.

"Now what do we do?" Applebloom asked first.

"What she wants us to do I guess..." Scootaloo mumbled, her head almost touching the ground as she drooped down.

"Well, at least until we find a way out of this." Sweetie told them, crossing her hooves. "Until then, we'll just have to look for gossip that won't hurt ponies feelings."

"Is there even such a thing?" Scootaloo asked as she looked back up.

Sweetie just gulped. "I hope so."

A Few Days Later...

Flash sighed as he felt his tensions be washed away by the perfectly heated water of the Ponyville Day Spa's hot tub. He could not remember the last time he felt so relaxed. As he continued to twitch, trying to make sure his body was in the right relaxing position, he looked over at Pinkie and Fluttershy who were also in the large tub. They both looked like they were about to fall asleep in pure relaxing bliss. Springer on the other hoof, had gone off to have a steam with Iron. Flash and Springer had learned that Iron didn't care for the spa, but Skybreaker had made Iron uses steams in town spas before. Iron said he had found a certain 'addiction' to them, and enjoyed how they felt. That and they were 'a stallion's place in a spa'.

At the same time, Flash looked out of the bath and saw his other friends on massage tables. Rarity was giggling as she felt her hoof being worked on. "Oh, this is the life, isn't it? The best hooficure I've ever had!"

"You said it," Applejack agreed while being massaged by one of the spa ponies.

Spike, who was wearing cucumbers over his eyes, nodded. "I don't know if I've ever been so relaxed. I feel like-"

"YOU GUYS!"

"Aaah!" Spike cried as he shot up, the cucumbers going flying as he watched Rainbow enter the room.

"The new Gabby Gums just came out," Rainbow explained, acting completely unaware that Spike's cucumbers had landed on her face. "Gorgenia's fake eyelashes revealed!"

"We already read that one Rainbow Dash," Rarity told the pegasus who was now eating one of the cucumbers from her eyes. "Come on, relax. Have a hooficure, it feels amazing.

Rainbow Dash looked almost insulted by the suggestion. "Did you forget who you're talking to?! The day I get a hooficure is the day I turn in my daredevil license!"

"You have a licence?" Flash asked with a cheeky grin.

"Figure of speech," Rainbow replied before looking down at the paper. "Besides, I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet." But before she could start reading, Spike took the last cucumber off her eye. That, and he then literally reached into her mouth and pulled the other one out.

"Well do it quietly, will ya?!" Spike told her as he put them on his eyes. "Some of us are trying to unwind!"

"I like Gabby Gums too," Twilight said as she read her own copy of the paper. "But don't you think she can be a little mean?"

Applejack just waver her hoof at the unicorn. "She's not mean Twilight, she's a hoot!"

"I'm gonna tell you what I told Scootaloo," Flash butted in. "Imagine the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you, then imagine that thing being printed in a newspaper for the whole world to see."

"Oh, it wouldn't be that bad," Rarity chuckled, also waving her hoof dismissively.

Flash just turned to gave her a raised eyebrow. "Remember when Rainbow's stunt caused a gust so powerful it blew your mane into windswept mess?"

Rarity's face turned from white to bright red. "We agreed never to speak of that again."

"Well, what if this Gabby Gums character managed to get a picture of it and put it in the newspaper?" Twilight told her with a glare. "Then everypony would be laughing at you."

"That doesn't sound very nice," Fluttershy added.

"And look at this one," Twilight said as she showed them a picture of Princess Celestia eating a piece of cake. "Celestia just like us. is the headline. It just shows you that Gabby Gums doesn't value anypony's privacy."

"Oh, lighten up Twilight," Rarity said as she turned back to white. "It's nothing but harmless gossip!"

Flash rolled his eyes as he spoke up, "Again I say, mane disaster."

Before Rarity could reply to that, Pinkie shot out of the tub with a newspaper. "Yeah, I mean listen to this one:Mayor, Not Naturally Gray!" She showed them all a picture of the mayor with pink hair and a bottle of dye. "The Mayor in a mane dyeing scandal? Who wouldn't wanna read that?"

"The Mayor," Flash deadpanned.

"Exactly," Twilight agreed, crossing her hooves. "The ponies being featured might not like how they're being represented."

"Agreed. I mean, can you imagine if Gabby Gums did an article about somepony like Spoiled Rich?" Flash asked, shuddering at the thought. Spoiled Rich was Diamond Tiara's mother and a total snob who looked down at almost anypony. "The school might end up getting sued or something."

"I doubt that would happen darling," Rarity huffed, laying back down in the massage chair.

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Even if it did, it'd just show she can't take a joke."

"Exactly," Rarity said, looking at the pegasus. "Rainbow, why don't you join me in one of these delicious hooficures?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, turning to Twilight who just nodded at her. "It's that good, huh?" The others all nodded in agreement. "Well, maybe just one little hoof." She sat down as Lotus moved over to her with a hoof file. The spa pony tried to get to work, but Rainbow kept fidgeting, making it impossible to work. Finally, before Lotus even got close, Rainbow leapt into the air. "Forget it! I don't like ponies touching my hooves." She flew over to where her paper had landed and opened it up. "Man...I'd love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me."

"She did one on me," Spike replied.

"WHAT?!" Spike suddenly found himself surrounded by everypony accept Flash.

"When were you gonna tell us about this?!"

"Uh...just now?" Spike said as he chuckled nervously.

Flash just chuckled as he watched Spike be questioned by the girls, picking up the one of the papers and flickering through it. He frowned as he saw that once again, Scootaloo's name was not on any of the articles. He had been checking the paper everyday, trying to find a story written by either her or her friends, only to come up empty. Were they getting pushed aside to make way for Gabby Gums?

"Should I talk to her?" He wondered, not wanting to sound nosy but still wanting to make sure she was okay with not getting published. In the end, he decided he should stay out of his sister's business. If she was feeling upset, she would come talk to him...or at least he hoped.

Meanwhile...

Scootaloo needed somepony to talk to.

The crusaders had just tried to get their Spike story published, only for Diamond Tiara reject it once again. This followed with another threat to publish the blackmail material if they did not get a 'real Gabby Gums story' on her desk before the day was out. There was just one small problem. They didn't have any gossip to write about.

"You got anything?" Sweetie asked her.

"Nothing," Scootaloo slumped to the ground, whimpering. "Well, nothing that Diamond Tiara would like anyway."

"What are we gonna do?" Applebloom asked, her body shivering in panic. "I mean, we gotta-"

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

"Hey girls!" said the sudden Featherweight, who had just taken pictures of trio. "I've got another patch of pictures for you!" He placed the photos down in front of them, ignoring their glares from him taking pics of them. He quickly turned and flew off, making the trio now look at the new pictures. Their eyes shrunk as they saw the ponies on them.

"I don't like where this is going," Applebloom gulped before looking back up at her friends.

"We've got no choice," Sweetie whimpered, shaking in place. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

The Next Day...

"APPLEJACK ASLEEP ON THE JOB?!"

Flash covered his ears to protect his eardrums from bursting, as cowgirl pony screamed next to him. Flash was his six main friends, along with Spike and Springer in a back booth of Sugarcube Corner. They were mainly back here to hide from the laughing they had all received earlier today.

"Can y'all believe this?!" Applejack cried before turning another page. "And this one too! Big Macintosh, What's He Hiding? Who the hay does this Gabby Gums think she is?!"

"Not so nice when the horseshoe's on the other hoof huh?" Flash said with a smirk. "I warned you."

As Applejack glared at the Pegasus, Twilight took the initiative by showing them the next article. It was showing a picture of Twilight sneezing that made her look like she was turning her nose up at something. "Listen to this one,Twilight Sparkle, I Was a Canterlot Snob.A well-placed scaly source close to the prissy pony says Twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing but muddy roads and low-class rubes." She turned to said scaly source. "Spike!"

The little dragon cried out as he unleashed a burst of fire which charbroiled the paper he was holding.

"How could you say such a thing?" She asked him, looking hurt.

"Well I didn't!" Spike defended himself as he picked up the burnt paper. "Gabby Gums made that up! I never said anything like that!"

"Look at this," Springer yelled as he held up a paper with a picture of him scratching his back with a Bone Breaker. "Springer's Flea Folly.I DON'T HAVE FLEAS!"

"Everypony, please!" Rarity waved her hoof dismissively. "She's just a harmless school pony engaged in a little harmless gossip. You're really making too big of a deal out of this."

Twilight slammed her hooves down on the table. "But it's all lies! Gabby Gums prints whatever she wants! She doesn't care whose reputation she destroys!" She showed them another article, which had a picture of Fluttershy. "Fluttershy Has Tail Extensions?!" They all turned to the yellow mare, who suddenly hid herself from their gaze. Twilight then showed a picture with Pinkie dancing in a fruit dish. "Pinkie Pie is an Out-of-Control Party Animal!"

"Well, to be fair, she's kinda got a point with that one." Flash commented as he took the paper away from the purple unicorn. That is, till he saw a long glare from her. "Hey, I'm not saying what she's doing isn't bad."

Twilight continued to glare at him as grabbed the paper back and flipped through some more. "Oh look. According to this one, the Cakes are breaking up!"

Suddenly, Mr. and Mrs. Cake shot out the kitchen into the store. "We are?" Mrs Cake asked.

"Wouldn't you be the first to know that?" Flash barked back, his left eyebrow raised.

Before anypony could reply to that, the door of the bakery was literally ripped open and in came a floating pile of papers. "Well, my life is officially over!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she dropped a pile of papers on the table. "Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale." She showed them all an image of her at the spa, about to get a hooficure. That, and she looked like she was enjoying it.

"Rainbow Dash, Speed Demon or Super Softie?" Twilight read.

"I grabbed as many copies as I could, but it was too late!" Rainbow collapsed into the pile. "I'm a laughing stock!"

Twilight turned to Rarity. "See, Rarity? Your so-called 'harmless gossip' can be very hurtful!"

Rarity just rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you ponies have no sense of humor. So she tweaks a few ponies every now and then, maybe they deser–" She did not finish her sentence. In that moment, she flipped to a picture of her on her 'woe is me' couch. "I'LL DESTROY HER!" She screamed. "The Drama-Queen Diaries...She's reprinted my diary! How could Gabby Gums possibly get access to my private diary?!"

As she started to rant, Flash blinked at the article. That was a good question. The only way this Gabby Gums could have gotten Rarity's diary would be if she had access to Rarity's room and only two ponies had that access. As that thought hopped into his head, another idea came by. Scootaloo. His sister had kept writing...her and her friends always quit after one to two attempts. That, and Gabby Gums somehow got her hooves on Rarity's diary. Somepony he didn't know, so it was probably a pen name. A pen name like Gabby Gums.

That last thought made his eyes go wide as he put the paper down, folding his wings. "No way..." Flash mumbled despite it being loud enough for the others to hear.

"What's up?" Twilight asked as they turned towards him.

Flash could instantly feel the stares around him. He opened his mouth, only to shut it a second later. Unfortunately, Twilight knew that look. It was the look he had when he figured something out, mainly when it came to flying or fighting techniques. The unicorn leaned over and stared at him straight in the face. "You think you might have figured out something, don't you?"

A small gulp went down his throat. "Yeah....I think I did. But I'm not sure if I want to say it."

Applejack slammed her hoof right by Flash. "Whatever it is, tell us. Now."

"Yeah! Spill it!" Pinkie added, imitating a dog's growl.

Flash's nerves flared up, but knew he had to tell. A second gulp happening, he told them everything he had just figured out. However, as soon as he named the culprits, two certain ponies slammed their hooves into the table again.

"Are you accusing my darling little sister of being this beastly Gabby Gums?!" Rarity cried as she got up in his face.

"And mine?!" Applejack asked as she did the same.

Flash tried to backpedal, taking a second to collect himself. Then, he spoke back, "You do realize I'm also accusing my sister of it as well, right? And I'm sorry if that upsets you, but can you think of some other way Gabby Gums could have gotten your diary?!"

Rarity was about to reply, only for her mouth to almost close. "Oh my..."

"And can any of you girls remember seeing anything those three have written in this paper?" Flash asked.

"No," Applejack said, shaking her head.

"No," Rainbow added.

"No..." Twilight mumbled, drooping down.

"Yes!" Pinkie said, until the others looked at her with deadpan stares. "I mean no...sorry."

"And have you heard any of them complaining about not being published?"

"No," they all said in unison.

"And why do you think that is?" Flash finished as he tapped the paper in front of him with his hoof.

"Because they have been getting published..." Twilight caught on, gulping at her next words. "And they've been using a pen name."

The ponies all thought about that and realized he had a point. That, a long moment of silence followed. That is, till a certain jakhowl spoke up, "So...what do we do?"

Flash slumped down and put his wing around his partner. "I...don't want to accuse them without proof. I don't know if I'm right."

"So let's get some proof!" Rainbow declared, standing up. "We go up to them and make them tell us!"

"And if we're wrong just like Flash said?" Twilight asked, crossing her hooves. "The girls will think we don't trust them. I suspect none of us want that."

"I know I don't want that," Fluttershy said, barely raising her hoof.

Flash then clapped his hooves, getting their attention. "If that's the case, we should keep an eye on them until we know for sure. Sound good?"

The others nodded. They might not like the idea of spying on the girls, but if it proved whether they were Gabby Gums or not, then it would be worth it.

Later that day...

The crusaders were back in the schoolyard, trying to come up with their next big story. All three of them having a look of utter defeat on their faces. Scootaloo's head was flat on the table, slowly muttering through the cracks of the wood. "Anything?"

Sweetie was looking through the pictures they had left, trying to come up with something. "Nothing, not even something to use to make something up with."

"We're in trouble," Applebloom cried, her lips quivering. "What'll we do now?"

Scootaloo groaned as she looked up. "I don't know. Ever since we started making things up, ponies have been keeping out of the spotlight."

Unknown to them, Springer was sitting silently in a tree branch not too far away. He was watching them while connecting his sight to Flash.

"Well?" Rarity asked impatiently as they stood outside the schoolyard. "Anything?!"

Flash had his eyes closed, putting himself in a meditative stance. "They're talking about something...but Springer's too far away to hear them."

"Well that doesn't help us," Rainbow growled. "Come on Flash, we need to-"

"Wait!" Flash interrupted, flashing his hoof at blue pegasi. "Sweetie Belle's pulling something out of her saddlebag. It's...a book."

"A book? What does it look like?"

"Um...It's cover is purple...with a heart on it."

Rarity let out a mighty gasp. "That's my diary!"

"That settles it! Let's go give those three a piece of our minds!" Rainbow yelled as she flared her wings, only to feel a certain magic aura cover her body.

"Let's give them a chance to explain," Twilight growled as she kept Rainbow pinned. "We owe them that much."

"Grrrr...fine!" Rainbow growled, knowing she wasn't going to get out of her grasp.

The others all nodded as they headed towards the schoolyard, where they saw the three fillies still sitting around the picnic table. The trio noticed them heading their way, quickly hiding all the photos and Rarity's diary. Unfortunately for the crusaders, each and every one of incoming ponies, even Pinkie and Fluttershy, had a stern look on their faces.

"Is there something you girls want to tell us?" Twilight asked, crossing her hooves they came to a stop in front of them.

The three glanced at each other nervously, before looking back at them. "Um...no," Sweetie gulped.

"Nothing at all," Scootaloo added, shaking her head.

"Everything's good," Applebloom nodded. "Everything's-"

"Oh really?" Flash interrupted, leaning down and glaring at his sister's face. "Nothing you wish to...gossip, about?"

The three looked like they were about to faint. That is, till Rarity stepped forward, her eye twitching in anger. "Enough of this! We know you three are Gabby Gums and you better tell us why!"

Their eyes shrunk at the outburst, causing Sweetie to stutter out, "Y-y-you know? How?" She quickly got her answer as Rarity used her magic to lift her saddlebag and pull out her diary.

"Oh look at this, its the gilded pages of your betrayal!" Rarity screamed.

"Oh...yeah. Right..." Sweetie whimpered, twiddling her hooves.

"How could you do this to me?!" Rarity yelled at sister, grabbing her with her hooves. "You stole my secret diary and published it for all the world to read! Gossip can be a very hurtful thing. It is an invasion of privacy, just like when I snooped through your saddlebag. You didn't like that much, did you?"

"No," Sweetie and the others replied in unison.

"What is important is that you understand how your column makes the ponies that you're writing about feel!"

Flash nodded in agreement. "Seriously, and this coming from the mare who had defended Gabby Gums the most!"

"And then there's what ya'll did to us!" Applejack added. "Yah made me look like a lazy bum!"

"You made me look like a girly girl!" Rainbow yelled.

"You made me look like a snob!" Twilight barked.

"I don't have tail extensions," Fluttershy said, trying her best to glare at them.

"And I don't have fleas," Springer finished after jumping down from the tree.

"I...We're sorry. We didn't-" Scootaloo tried to say, only for her brother to step forward, glaring at her.

"Are you? Are you really?!" Flash hissed as he crossed his hooves at his sister. "Even after I told you how bad gossip was, you still went ahead and did it."

"But....we didn't want too," Applebloom added, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Ah promise, we didn't-"

"Oh, don't go trying to make us feel sorry with ya'h water works!" Applejack leaned down and snorted in front of her face. "Yah'll not getting any sympathy from us."

Now all three girls started to cry, making the older ponies grow uneasy. "We're really sorry," Scootaloo said as she wiped away her tears and looked up at Flash. "Please don't be mad."

Flash let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "I'm not mad. I'm just...disappointed. I told you not to do this and-"

"We really didn't want to write those articles," Scootaloo told him as she rushed over and started hugging him. "But we had too."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked her, her horn about to spark as she was about to grab Scootaloo with her magic.

"Diamond Tiara!" Applebloom interrupted her, tear now dropping off her face. "She's threatening to publish embarrassing photos of us if we don't get new Gabby Gums stories!"

"She's blackmailing you!?" Rarity asked as she turned to Sweetie, who in turn nodded. "Oh, my poor little sister." She used her magic tp pull the filly into a hug, as Applejack did the same. All the anger was almost completely forgotten.

"Why didn't you tell anypony about this?" Twilight asked as she and the others gathered around them.

"Who knows what she might do if we blabbed," Sweetie said, sniffing.

"But I don't care anymore," Scootaloo cried as she made Flash's chest wet with her tears. "It's can't be any worse then you lot hating us."

Flash shook his head again, patting his sister's head as he continued the hug. "Scootaloo, you should have just come and told somepony when she first threatened you. Blackmail isn't just something wrong, it's a literal crime and she had no right to force you to do that."

"We're sorry," Applebloom repeated, only for Applejack to put her hoof in her mouth.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," Applejack said. "Now we gotta solve this mess."

"She's right," Rarity agreed with a nod. "What matters now is putting an end to this whole situation."

This made Sweetie Belle's eyes light up. "So...you'll tell Ms. Cheerilee about Diamond?"

Flash shook his head again. "No. You girls are gonna tell Cheerilee."

"US?!" The three yelled.

Flash nodded. "If we fix this, Diamond Tiara will just try and do this again when we aren't around. She needs to learn that you won't be bullied." He could see how nervous the three of them were now. He then flashed his wings, giving them one of his signature smirks. "You can do it. You told us, so now you tell her."

The three glanced at each other, soon nodding and turning towards the schoolhouse. The eleven of them slowly headed inside and found Ms. Cheerilee, who noticed how crowded her classroom suddenly was. "Oh, hello. Is something the matter?"

The three glanced back at their older siblings, seeing their reassuring smiles. With that look alone, they turned back to their teacher.

In the underground news room, Diamond Tiara was waiting for Gabby Gums to arrive with their next big scoop. The only problem was, it was almost time to print the paper and they were nowhere to be found.

"Where are they?" She asked as she pulled the folder with her blackmail material out. "If they don't show-" She did not finish her sentence, as in that moment she heard the door opened. "It's about time!" she yelled as she spun her chair around. But as she did, she came face to face with a very angry looking Ms. Cheerilee.

"Diamond Tiara!" She called out as she and the rest of the group walked into the room. "What's this I hear about you blackmailing your classmates into writing hurtful gossip?!"

Diamond Tiara was dumbfounded, her eyes shrinking at the sight. Her mind stopped as she started to stutter. "Um...well, you see...I...um."

Cheerilee saw the folder in her hoof and quickly took it from her, opening it up to see the pictures. As soon as she saw them, she glared at the filly. "I am very disappointed in you Diamond Tiara. You are off the news staff."

"WHAT?!" Diamond Tiara cried as she jumped off her chair in a panic. "But the newspaper's never been this popular!"

"But this isn't news," Cheerilee told her as she handed to folder to Twilight. "And just know that for very single one of these articles you forced your classmates to write, you'll be serving a week's detention."

"WHAT?!" Diamond Tiara did the math in her head and realized how long that was. "That's not fair!"

"Hopefully this'll teach you that blackmail is a serious crime." The teacher then leaned down, staring daggers into the filly's eyes. "Now please leave. This room is for news staff only."

Diamond Tiara growled as she walked out the door, glaring at the Crusaders as she did.

"I wish you'd have come to me sooner girls," Cheerilee told them, flipping through the folder with a sigh of disappointment. "What a mess..."

"So do we," Sweetie said, letting out a small sigh.

Scootaloo nodded. "In the future, I'm not gonna keep my problems bottled up."

"Same here," Applebloom added.

"Good to hear," Twilight told them as the others nodded in agreement.

As they did, Cheerilee closed the folder and stared at the trio. "Well girls, I'm afraid Gabby Gums is going to have to retire from journalism."

"That's alright," Sweetie nodded before turning to her friends. They also gave her a nod, causing her to then ask, "But if it's okay, can Gabby write one more column? To say sorry to everypony she hurt?"

Cheerilee and the other ponies quickly agrred, happy that they were taking responsibility for their actions. "Of course."

By evening that day, every single house in Ponyville was given a copy of the Foal Free Press. The front page had the headline,An Open Letter to Ponyville by Gabby Gumsand inside was a letter.

To the citizens of Ponyville,
For some time now, you've been reading this column to get the latest dirt and the hottest buzz. But this will be my final piece. We want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment we've caused.
Y'see, I'm actually three little fillies, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo
As the popularity of our column grew, we got swept up in the hype. We knew that what we were doing didn't feel quite right, but we ignored the guilt because everypony seemed to want to read what we were writing.
From now on, we promise to respect everypony else's privacy, and we won't engage in hurtful gossip any more.
All we can do is ask for your forgiveness, Ponyville
Signing off for the very last time,
XOXO, Gabby Gums

That night...

It was safe to say that everything was back to normal, or as normal as Ponyville gets. Everypony forgave the three fillies and Gabby Gums had hung up her journalism hat for good. This alone was enough, as they had spent the whole day going around town, apologizing to everypony in town. And that, was the day.

Right now, Flash was tucking Scootaloo into bed.

"Thanks bro," she said once she was snug in his bed.

"Don't worry about it," Flash finished as he went to turn out the light. When he put his hoof on the lamp, he heard a certain ruffle in his sister's bed.

"Hey Flash?"

"Yeah?" Flash looked back to her.

"Um...thanks for today." Scootaloo whimpered, her mouth slowly going under the covers as she tried to hide under the bed. "And...for not turning your back on me when you found out I was Gabby Gums."

Flash shook his head, smiling. "I'll never turn my back on you Scootaloo. I just wish I had talked to you when I first suspected something. Then maybe, I could have stopped this before it got out of hoof." Flash scratched the back of his head, his eyes looking slightly away. "Guess I've still got a lot to learn about being a caregiver...and a big brother."

Scootaloo hid her smile. "Well, I think you're doing a heck of a job."

"Thanks," Flash switched off the light and headed out. "Night...sis."

"Night bro."

The Misadventures of Springer 2: Dreams of a Jakhowl

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"Well well well...what do we have here boys?" says the green-coated unicorn with a brown mane, tail, and beard in front of me. It was Big Score, the manic that kidnapped me a while back. Beside him was his idiot partner Boulder, a big gray stallion, complete with a tongue sticking out of his mouth and his eyes constantly looking cross-eyed. Big just laughed at me as he says, "Looks like we won, see? Not bad, eh Boulder?"

"Yeah boss, we won! We won!" responds Boulder, his tongue flapping now. "We're gonna rule the town boss! Rule the town!"

"Aw shaddap Boulder, ya moron!" Big Score barks as he slapped Boulder across the face. "Be quiet, see?"

"Sorry boss. I'll be quiet."

"Yeah yeah...idiot." Big then turned to his other companion, a silver coated pegasus. "Rickashay! Get the goods, see? We're gonna tear this town apart, see?"

"Yeah boss. You got it boss." he replies, nodding his head up and down in a cartoonish fashion before saluting.

Big Score walks up to me, his face right in front of mine. "So, you thought you could win? Ha!" He begins cackling as he leans his head back. "We own this town now, see? We won, see?"

I just let out a long, gravely growl. They're gonna pay for what they've done here.

My name is Springer. I was given that name from my partner, Flash Sentry. His friend Twilight Sparkle says I'm something called a jakhowl, which is something I still don't understand, but I don't mind. Right now, I'm tied to a chair while these three punks laugh in front of me. Behind them are everyone I care about, all of them tied up and knocked out. They beat us all, and I still can't believe it happened. There's Flash, Twilight, Spike...everyone, all tied up and beaten. I can't stand the sight in front of me, my mouth snarling as I keep letting out several growls.

As my mouth continued to make the noise, Big Score let out a low, filthy chuckle. "So...you still think you can beat me?"

I click my tongue, a small breath escaping my mouth. "Yeah, I do."

"And how are ya gonna do that? You're tied up, see?"

I know I can't see my face, but I know I'm giving him a death stare. "I'll start by escaping these ropes." I say as I lift my paws up, the ropes now falling to the ground.

"What the-" Big tries to say in disbelief. That is, till I slam my paw into his face with as much force as I can muster. "AUGH!"

I quickly ascend from the chair, knocking it away with my foot as I focus my aura into my paws. I assume a battle stance, my right paw higher than my left one while both pouring out a bunch of aura. As they do, Big stumbles back before yelling and pointing at me, "He's free! Get him, see?!"

"I got him boss! I got him!" Boulder yells, quickly bum-rushing me. Seeing the tankish stallion charge at me, I put my paws together, summoning a sphere of aura.

"Aura Blast!" I yell, firing the attack. The sphere immediately struck him, knocking him away like he was made of nothing. I crick my neck, quickly turning to the third pony, Rickashay. The pegasus just stares me down, his wings flared. As I see this, my paws begin to glow as aura covers them. He's going to attack, and I'm ready.

"You'll pay for this." Rickashay hisses, clawing the ground. I motion my paws, saying 'Bring it on', causing him to snort. "Grrr...die!"

Rickashay lets out a roar, dashing toward me. As he charges, I quickly summon a Bone Breaker, ready to strike back. And as he continues to bum-rush at me, I spin my weapon once, putting myself in a battle stance. He's just a few steps away-

"ENOUGH!" yells a sudden voice. Rickashay and me both come to a screeching halt, only to see a rain of magic beams strike the ground around me. As they do, the beams hit Rickashay, causing him to let out a scream before vanishing. I quickly put my paw over my eyes, the light still shining over the sky. As I did, the beams hit the others, making them all vanish.

A few seconds later, the light stops. And inside the light, was a familiar looking pony. I just stood there, blinking at the sight. The pony was of a dark-looking nature, with her black mane, long horn and wings all showing the same colors. It was Princess Luna. What is she doing here?

"Greetings young jakhowl." she says as she lands right by me, a small smirk on her face. "It seems you like quite the adventurous dreams, just like your partner."

"Dreams?" I ask, still trying to process what she just said. Is she saying this is a dream? Was that why Score and the other ponies had weird accents and-

"Indeed." she nods, interrupting my thoughts. "This is a dream young jakhowl. Surely Sentry told you about how I entered his to help him some time back?"

Did he do that? I mean......yeah, I guess he did. I kinda forgot about that. It was when he kept having nightmares, wasn't it? Right. Well, I better ask why she's here. "Um...Princess Luna?"

"You want to know why I'm here, yes?" she quickly answers, causing me to nod. "Indeed. It was not my intention to interrupt your dream, but I had to speak with you."

"With me?" I point to myself, surprised at her declaration.

"Yes. You see, I have recently discovered something that I believe will interest you." Luna explains, circling her hoof in the air. "I believe I have found another-"

THOOM!

The ground suddenly let out a shake, causing me to almost lose balance. As it did, I yelp, "Whoa! What was that?!"

Luna replies with a grimace on her face. "Blast! Your dream is ending! Sentry must be trying to wake you in the real world!"

"Huh? Flash is waking me up?"

Luna nods. "Yes. I can't stop him, my real body is in Canterlot after all." She then leans down and stares at me again. "We're out of time. If that is the case, we will meet in reality instead in order to go over what I have learned." She puts her hooves on my shoulders. "Listen Springer, we will discuss more in reality. But just know this-"

The next words send a chill down my spine.

"I believe I have found another one of your kind."

Then, I felt nothing. Nothing but a bright light.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" I yell, my head flying out of my bed.

"Whoa!" says a familiar voice as it's owner hops away from me. Its my partner, Flash Sentry, who is currently wearing a face full of worry. He walks back up to me, patting my head. "You okay bud? You were whimpering in your sleep."

"I...I..." I try to reply, but words fail me. I'm not sure what to say. I blink a few times before squinting my eyes, quickly glancing around until I see the clock on the wall. I see the hour and minutes hands and instantly realize why he woke me up. Its time for morning training. I turn back to Flash with a small frown on my face. "I'm fine Flash. It was just uh...just a crazy dream."

"You sure bud? You look a bit shaken up." Flash tries to inquire, only for me to give him a deadpan stare.

"I'm pretty sure I'm fine." I grumble as I take off my blanket. "So, we doing morning training or what?"

"You know it." he says with a smirk. He motions for me to get on his back, which I do without a second thought. We then proceed into the kitchen, where Flash quickly grabs our usual water bottles before we quietly leave the building, making sure we wake nopony up. Though to be fair, the only one we would probably wake up is Twilight since Scootaloo and Spike sleep like literal rocks.

A few minutes later, we're flying over Ponyville, making our way to our usual training ground. As we fly over, I let out a long, tiring sigh. I'm still a bit asleep, yet I feel more awake than ever as well. Despite this, only one thought is going through my head.

Another one of my kind.

That's what Princess Luna told me in my dream. That is, till Flash woke me up. Though...what does that mean? Did she really find another jakhowl? I thought I was the only one around...

"Springer!" yells a voice, knocking me back into reality. I then see we've already landed, and Flash is motioning to the ground. "Hop off buddy, we need to start training."

"Err...yeah." I reply, hopping off as well. "Sorry about that."

"You sure you're okay bud?" he asks again, putting his wing around me. "Look, if something's wrong, you don't have to hide it from me. We're partners."

"I uh..." I try to say, only for nothing else to come out of mouth. How do I even word this? I mean, I have nothing to hide...I'm just not sure how to tell him. I try to speak again, only for my mouth to close a second later. Darn. How do I word this? I then just turn to him, staring at him in the eyes. "Flash, I...uh..."

"Morning you two." suddenly says a new voice. Me and Flash turn around to see Iron Core walking up to us, his weapon Piecemaker resting on his shoulder. "You sure got here early. I usually have to wait on you two lazy bums."

"Lazy?!" Flash barks back, a growl already in his voice.

Oh no, not again.

"You heard me. Lazy." Iron replies, a smirk on his face. It didn't take a second before Flash is up in Iron's face, yelling back at him.

Ugh...this again. Just about every other morning, these two end up bickering over who's a better soldier. That or something else. Granted, I'm used to it by now. So much so that I turned around, rummaged through my backpack, and pulled out my usual morning snack: Bon-Bon's special super sugar-free chocolate. (I can't have sugar due to the Sugar Springer Incident...which I honestly can't remember anything except something about a yellow rat) Bon-Bon gives me these chocolates all the time, mainly due to me being her best customer and saving her on my first day of being Ponyville's solo defender. So, I take out the piece and pop it into my mouth, the flavors already filling my senses. Mmmm...good stuff.

I turn around, only to still see the same two arguing as usual. Some things never change. With that, I turned around again and went over to our main tree we use for weaponless combat, the chocolate now already down my throat. I crick my paws and neck, positioning my body as I do a few stretches. Let's see...what should I do for the first exercise routine? Yesterday, I did mainly Bone Breakers and a few offensive stances with palm strikes. That would be a good start, though it would be nice to have something that could evenly...fight my attacks...like another jakhowl.

I don't know why that thought entered my mind. I mean, Princess Luna did say that, right? There's another one of my kind...and she would meet me soon to talk about it. Or...something like that. Maybe I was just dreaming...though it felt so real. Did she really find another? I mean, I know I went with Spike to find other jakhowls, only to come up empty. Heck, despite the journey, I was pretty depressed after that. I know Flash knew I depressed despite how much I tried to hide it but...

Another jakhowl.

Now that I think about it, I never really thought about what I would do if I found another jakhowl...and I still don't know. What if the other jakhowl is happy where they are? What would I do then? Would I...would I have to stay with them or something? Should I do that?

I turn back to Flash and Iron, only to still see their still ongoing argument. Ugh...these two will never truly get along, will they?

"Oh yeah?" Flash barks back, "And what makes you so good at the job that I've been doing longer than you, huh?!"

Iron stomps his hoof, pressing his face up to Flash. "Simple. I'm not a pansy like you!"

"Pansy?! Why I oughta-"

"ENOUGH!" yells another voice way above us. That's the second time I've heard that today. I look up and see the voice's owner, Princess Luna, as she descends down to us.

"Princess Luna?!" the other two exclaim, quickly bowing down as she lands in front of us. I bow as well.

"Arise you three." she commands, gesturing her hoof at us. We all look up, only to see a face showing a tinge of anger. "Tell me, why are you two arguing this early in the day?"

"Errr...well I uh-that is um..." Flash stutters while Iron just scratches the ground with his hoof. I couldn't help but giggle at this.

"Enough." Luna repeats before pointing at me. "I have come young jakhowl, just like I told you earlier."

"Told Springer?" Flash asks, looking at me now. "What's she talking about buddy?"

"She uh...er..." I now stutter before looking back at Luna.

Luna raises her left eyebrow. "You did not tell him?"

"I...didn't know what to say...or how to explain it."

"Ah. Tis understandable. Such news is...alarming for somepony like you."

"Uh, what news?" Flash asks, now nudging me with a glare on his face. "What's she talking about buddy?"

"Do not fret young Sentry, he means you no harm in not telling you." Luna replies, placing a hoof between us. "The news is...alarming for the young jakhowl."

Flash crosses his hooves. "Okay, I get that. What is this news about my partner?"

"I have found evidence of another jakhowl." she bluntly states.

Flash freezes up at this. Even his aura is still, as if he has no reaction to this. I'm not sure how long it was till he replied, but he soon did. "Wha-what? You found another jakhowl? Really?!"

"It is true." Luna replies, closing her eyes for a second as she did. She reopened them and gave us a look of...I'm not sure. Uncertainty? But, she kept talking anyways. "I believe I have found evidence of another jakhowl."

"Wow..." Flash gasps, almost backpedaling.

Luna nods. "Indeed. Tell me Sentry, do you remember when I tried to help you with your nightmares?"

"Yeah. You uh...went into my dreams, right?"

"Exactly." Luna's expression didn't change as she continued. "Since then, I've been practicing my dreamwalking magic. As such, I have restarted my duty of protecting foals from nightmares, and have been preventing bad dreams around Equestria." We all shared a glance, surprised at the statement.

"Wow. That's cool." Flash compliments, a small grin showing up on his face. "But uh...what's that got to do with Springer and another jakhowl?"

"I'm getting to that." Luna replies, gesturing us to stay silent as she continued to explain. "Now, a few days ago, I found a nightmare a filly from Appleloosa was having. As usual, I went to help the filly...only to see the most unexpected sight." I could feel a tinge of confusion in Luna's aura as she said these next words. "The filly's nightmare was her being attacked by a large, dark shadow. Now, that's a simple nightmare that I have seen many times. After all, the darkness is something many young ponies fear. But when I tried to interfere, I was...interrupted."

"Interrupted?"

"Yes." Luna nods again. "As soon as the shadow tried to attack the filly...I saw it. A jakhowl. It appeared in front of the filly in her dream."

I went wide-eyed at this. Flash was probably wide-eyed too, though I wasn't looking at him.

I'm also guessing that Luna saw our expressions and knew she had to continue. "Yes. You see, when the jakhowl appeared in the dream...it attacked the shadow and destroyed it. Then, the dream ended, and I got kicked out of the filly's dream. At first, I thought I was seeing things...but then I went to the filly's dream the next day."

Flash crosses his hooves, "Let me guess. It was just like me, wasn't it? She had the same dream over and over again?"

"Indeed. The jakhowl appeared again in the dream, saving the filly from the darkness." Luna's aura showed a bit of frustration now. "No matter what I did or when I went to the filly's dream, it always did the same thing. I couldn't prevent it." A small snort flew out of her nostrils. "It was yesterday that I realized what the dreams meant."

"What they meant?" I ask.

"Yes. Dreams can be many things. Visions, memories, fates...they can be seen as real or fiction. As such, I believe this dream is close to reality for this filly. In fact, I believe that the recurring nature of this dream means that she knows a jakhowl."

"What makes you say that?"

"Simple. The filly is always saved. It means the filly knows about the jakhowls and knows it will save her. That means there is some 'belief' in this dream." Luna then points at me. "Young jakhowl, have you ever gone to Appleloosa?"

I shake my head. "No. I've heard about it, but I've never been there."

"Yeah. I've been there and I've told him about it, but he's never gone there before." Flash adds.

"I see. If that's the case," Luna pats my shoulder with her hoof. "Young jakhowl-no. Young Springer, you must accompany me to Appleloosa! We must meet this other jakhowl!"

I open my mouth...only for nothing to come out. I'm not sure what to say. I mean, another jakhowl?

Thankfully, Flash decided to speak for me. "Hold on Princess Luna. Why are you-"

Luna interrupts him with a flash of her hoof. "Silence young Sentry!" Flash's mouth quickly shuts as she continues. "I believe that a jakhowl is in this town. Because of this, myself and Springer will go to Appleloosa and verify it. After all, he can see the aura of others. This ability will be needed to verify the jakhowl's identity!"

"I...okay." Flash stutters before glancing at me. I'm not sure what my face is showing right now, but I can see a little worry on his. He turns back to Luna, "Alright. If that's the case, I'm coming too. I'm his partner, so-"

"No." Luna interrupts, letting out a snort from her nostrils.

"Huh? But why-"

Luna flashes her hoof again. "Silence young Sentry. You are needed here." She then points her hoof at Iron. "And do not say that young Iron is here so that you can just leave Ponyville. You are both needed here right now."

Flash and Iron glance at each other while I stare at them. Flash then asks, "We...are?"

Luna nods. "Yes. Besides..." Luna looks like she's biting her lip as she crosses her hooves. "I...believe my sister may soon ask for you Sentry. Don't ask me why."

"Oh...okay." Never heard Flash sound so defeated. Then again, he can't say no to royalty...at least, that's what he's told me before. He turns to me, blinking slightly before asking, "Well, what about you buddy? You've been really quiet."

"I..." I open my mouth again...only to close it. I still don't know what to say. I glance between Flash and Luna, both giving me expectant looks.

"Is something wrong young jakhowl?" Luna asks me, leaning down. "Do you not want to know if there is another jakhowl out there?"

"I...um..." I stutter. I feel myself backpedaling, a gulp going down my throat. What do I say? What do I-

"Just go." says a new voice. We all turn to its owner. Its Iron Core, who's shaking his head.

"Iron?" Flash asks, only to get a raised hoof in response.

Instead, Iron walks up to me, growling. "Just go already. You have a chance to find some answers and you got nothing to lose, right? Then get going."

He's not wrong. I blink at this before turning back to Luna as Flash now speaks up. "He's right Springer. Go ahead."

Luna nods at me. "Yes. We will find the truth together young jakhowl."

I blink again before looking at my paws. Why was I doubting myself? I don't know...guess I'm just being dumb. I look back up at Luna and nod again. "Okay. I'll go with you Princess Luna. Let's find another jakhowl!"

"Excellent!" Luna cheers before her horn suddenly lights up. I shield my eyes as a bright light covers her. A second later, I lower my paws and see a new sight. Luna no longer has her wings, and now has a green cloak over her back. Her hair is also light blue...and no longer wavy. I open my mouth to ask why, only for her to flash her hoof again. "Don't ask, I shall explain." She pats her chest before giving us all a smirk. "We shall be taking the train to Appleloosa. I am royalty, so I shall be using this illusion to be able go through the town in an...easier manner."

"Makes sense." Flash admits before leaning down and hugging me. I embrace him back as I feel a smile appearing on my face. A second later, he leans back and gives me a big cheeky grin. "Go find the truth buddy. I'll tell everypony what's happening with the picnic we're having later, so go ahead and leave with Princess Luna, okay?"

"Okay!" I nod. I forgot about that picnic...eh, whatever. I mean, this is kinda more important.

Iron walks up and pats my head. "I hope you find something good mutt."

"Thanks Iron."

And so, I joined Luna onto the next train to Appleloosa. Next stop, hopefully another jakhowl!

I let out a small sigh as I looked out the window of the train. It wasn't the first time I've ridden one of these things and...honestly? I have no idea why I was impressed with riding one of these things. I guess its just like Flash said. 'Its just a hunk of metal. I honestly rather be flying.' Makes sense. I mean, I like riding on Flash's back while he's flying a lot more than this boring piece of steel.

"Is something wrong, young Springer?" asks a certain voice.

I turn to its owner, Princess Luna. She told me earlier to refer to her as 'Light Moon' as long as her disguise is on. I shake my head at her. "No. I'm just...I don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling."

Luna gives me a nod. "Tis understandable. After all, what we're doing is very important for you."

"I...I know." I let out another sigh. I'm still not sure about this. I mean, another jakhowl? What does that really mean? My mind feels like mush as I keep thinking like this.

Then, I felt a small nudge on my shoulder. Its Luna's hoof.

"Cheer up young one. There is nothing to worry about." Luna says as she leans down, patting my head. "Here, let me tell you about a jakhowl I once knew."

"You once knew?" I ask back, gasping.

"Yes." Luna nods and creases a smile. "He was my friend centuries ago. His name was...Sharp Paw." The pause made me slightly shiver. Her tone sounds...nostalgic.

Despite that, she continued. "Centuries ago, he was the leader of the jakhowls. Back then, the jakhowls didn't exactly roam Equestria. Rather, they mainly stayed in certain groups, all huddling together just like us ponies do in towns and cities. In fact, he was the one who had them do this. Though, there were certain times of the year that he would have the jakhowls all meet together." She chuckles at this. "They loved Sharp Paw. He was kind, courageous...a true leader."

Luna started looking out the window, a wistful look on her face. "My my, it still feels...different thinking about him. Him and the jakhowls." She rubs her chin before staring back at me. "You know, you're just like him."

"I...am? I don't think I'm like a leader."

"Oh, but you are like him in some ways, young jakhowl. I can see the drive in your eyes Springer." Luna leans down, smirking. "You and Sharp Paw have the same drive. I'm sure you can meet this other jakhowl and get along with them."

I blink at this. "Oh...thanks."

"Don't worry Springer, we'll figure this out." Luna says as she leans back up.

We didn't talk much after that. Rather, we just sat there in those leather seats. My mind still raced, unsure about what I had to do. I mean, if there is another jakhowl, what do I do? Do I just...meet them and figure out from there?

A few hours later...

We had arrived. I had heard about Appleloosa before, and it was exactly how Flash had described it. That was, 'dusty, hot, and kinda boring.' Yup. That's what it looked like to me. Nothing but a bunch of wooden buildings...in the desert. Complete with ponies wearing clothes similar to Applejack's and...I think those are buffalo? They're weird giant furry brown beings, just like Flash described. Their aura is big...yet it feels rough and soft at the same time.

As we hopped off the train, I could feel the desert heat in the air. My fur tinged as I felt the temperature rise from the AC in the train to the desert town. As my feet tapped the ground, I felt something new. I felt...sand. I had never felt something like that.

And I already don't like it. That was quick.

Anyways, I turned to Luna who gave me a quick glance before saying, "We have arrived my friend. Come, we need to check in at the inn here. Then we can begin our search."

I give her a nod, the two of us soon moving towards the middle of the town. As we began our trek in, my eyes soon saw the words 'inn' on a sign, causing me to point it out to the princess. She gave me a nod and we both ventured inside the building. There, Luna made her way to the counter, where she gave the guy at the desk a bag of bits.

As she got our room key, the clerk spoke up as he looked down at me. "Well I'll be! Its another one of them blue doggies!"

I almost backpedal at this while Luna gives him wide eyes. I point at my chest. "You...know another jakhowl?"

"WHOA!" The clerk exclaims, leaning back as his eyes now go wide. "You can talk?!"

Me and Luna exchange a glance before I reply. "Yes. Does the one you know not know how to talk?"

The clerk shakes his head. "No. We had no idea you doggies can talk...or that you're called a...what did ya call it again?"

Luna places her hoof on the counter. "A jakhowl. Tell me, where is this other one? It is the reason why we are here."

The clerk tilts his head. "You're here for Tricky?"

Tricky? That's the other jakhowl's name? I rub my chin at that. Strange...but then again, I don't know if Springer is a strange name among the jakhowl. I then feel a hoof on my shoulder. I must have blanked out there for a minute.

"Come Springer. The clerk told me that Tricky usually hangs out at this town's square." Luna says as she gestures me to follow her. "I shall put our belongings in our room and then make our way into town."

"Uh...yeah. Got it." I say with slight hesitation. I follow her upstairs to our room where we do what she said. A few minutes later, we leave the hotel, thanking the clerk for the info. Then, we made our way to the town square.

Turns out, the square was packed. I mean, really packed. Nothing but ponies and buffalo everywhere, all of them buzzing around. So many auras to pick up here, it almost makes me feel nauseous. However, before I can feel anything, Luna puts her hoof on my shoulder again. As soon as she does this, its like my nerves calm down a little.

Huh. She must be telling the truth. She really is used to jakhowls.

I'm glad she is. It makes me feel...good. I mean, I wish Flash was here to help, but Luna's aura still helps. I can feel true warmth and love from it.

With that, I turn back to the crowd, only for my ears to pick up something new. Laughter. A whole lot of it. Heck, the auras are showing nothing happiness right now. I glance at Luna, who gives me a nod before we start walking into the laughing crowd in front of us. As we make our way through the ponies and buffalo, I feel the auras around me. All of them happy, all of them so...like, happy beyond happy. It feels strange...so much so that I turn off my senses for a minute. There's too many here, I can't stand that much aura.

As we go through, I notice something else. Everything is ignoring me and Luna. They just stand there, like nothing is going on in terms of two individuals pushing through the crowd. Strange. Despite this, we kept pushing forward, my ears picking up more and more cheers.

Then, me and Luna made it to the center. There, my eyes went wide.

In the middle of the crowd, in front of all these happy auras, was a jakhowl.

He looked just like me, black ears, yellow collar, blue tail...except he was wearing a hat similar to Applejack's and a small brown coat, similar to other Appleloosa ponies. Not only that, he was standing on a ball, yipping as he was...juggling? Yeah, he was juggling what looked like four plastic balls.

He looks so...happy.

Then, I felt Luna's hoof again. I look at her for a second, only to notice that she's leaning down to my level. She points at a nearby filly, who's clapping at the other jakhowl. She whispers to me, "There, do you see that filly?"

I look at the filly. She's light brown all over, her mane and fur are all light brown, and her cutie mark is a flower covered in sand. Luna then says, "That's the filly from the dreams. She must be connected to the-"

"Holy moley!" yells a new voice, causing the two of us to hop in place. We both look up and see the filly suddenly in front of us, with wide eyes. "You're another Tricky!"

"Wha-"

I feel two hooves grabbing my face, feeling a sharp tug. "Ack!"

"No way! Its another Tricky!" the filly exclaims, shaking me up and down. I grab her hooves and pull away. I look back at the filly and she just stands there, smiling at me. "Hiya doggie! I'm Dusty Flower!"

"Dusty Flower?" I say, not meaning to speak up.

"WHOA!" Dusty exclaims as she backpedals, the others around us also backpedaling. "You can talk?!"

"Yeah...I can talk." I grumble, rubbing my face. "And don't do that again."

"Wow...that's so cool!" she exclaims, turning to another pony standing nearby. This one has a light orangish-yellowish coat and bright orange hair. He has a brown vest and hat on. "Hey Braeburn, look at this! Its a talking one of those doggies!"

"It is?!" Braeburn replies as he walks up to me. "You can talk?"

"Yeah, I can talk." I repeat, only for him to lean down and put his face right in front of me. "Whoa! Not so close!"

"Sweet apples, you can talk! That's amazing!" he yells, leaning back. "I thought you blue doggies just barked."

"Yes, I can talk." I repeat again, a growl under my breath.

"Oh, sorry little fellah. I didn't mean any harm." He says, an honest aura around him.

"Its cool." I reply, only for Dusty to walk in front of him.

"Say, what's your name?" she asks while Braeburn nods in agreement, obviously wanting to know as well.

"Springer."

"Oooohhhh...neat!" she points to the other jakhowl, who still hasn't looked at me. Why hasn't he looked at me? She then says, "So, where'd you come from? I really really wanna know! I mean, I found Tricky over there a few days ago and he can't talk like you. So, what's-wait a minute!"

She turns to other jakhowl and waves at him. "Hey Tricky! Come over here!"

"Huh? What is it Dusty?" I hear him say. Wait, I can understand him? Though he is a jakhowl...guess I should be able to understand him. He looks at Dusty and hops off the ball, asking, "What do you need Dusty? Is there-whoa!"

He stops as he glances at me. As he does, I stop as well. Time feels like it freezes as I stared at him for a second, only for my ears to pick up Dusty's voice. "Isn't that neat Tricky?! He looks just like you! You know, except without the hat and vest I gave ya..."

"WOW! You really are like me!" Tricky says as he zips up to my face, making me almost instantly backpedal. He has a huge grin on his face as stands there, wagging his tail like crazy. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Tricky, what's your name?"

"I'm uh...Springer." I reply, only for him to look up at Luna.

"Hiya! Who's your pal?!" the jakhowl asks, causing me to look at Luna.

"What did he just say?" Luna asks.

"He's says he wants to meet you." I reply.

She turns to him and bends down, presenting her hoof. "Greetings young jakhowl, I am Light Moon. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

"Okay!" he replies back, though I know Luna can't understand him. He turns back to me and points at Luna. "She's weird."

"I..." I try to reply, only to blink. Not sure what to do here. However, Tricky instead decides for me as he walks up and grabs my paw, shaking it.

"Welp, it was nice to meet ya but I wanna go entertain everyone else now!" he says as he stops shaking my paw. He then turns around, quickly hopping back on the ball he was on earlier. As soon as he does, the crowd begins to cheer again, as if on cue.

Then, I felt a familiar hoof. I look up at Luna. "Seems this jakhowl gets distracted easily." she says as she gives me a calm yet serious look. "Do you think he will answer any of your questions?"

"I...don't know." I honestly say, looking back at Tricky as he walks on the ball. He sure is carefree. Its like nothing can faze him.

Luna nudges me again. "And his aura. What did you think of it?" she asks me.

I freeze. That's right...I should have checked his aura the first time I laid eyes on him.

But I didn't.

Was I that distracted? Was I really not paying any attention? I slowly close my eyes, ready to scan him over.

But then I feel it. I feel...off. Like my balance is gone. I feel...strange. I feel like I'm on a tightrope that's constantly moving, tilting me back and forth. I open my eyes, only for them to widen in amazement.

I see a flood of auras around me, all of them....lowered. Weren't they happy before? I know I tried to stop scanning since there were so many around me, but...their auras shouldn't be this small. They're all...so tiny for ponies. And buffalos. Its like all the auras have been compressed. And...they're not happy. I can't feel real joy from them.

But then I look at Tricky.

My eyes shrink. My stomach ties up in a knot. I feel...I feel almost sick. I can't believe what I'm seeing. How is this possible? I take a step back, my fur feeling Luna's cloak.

Tricky...doesn't have an aura.

There's nothing there. Its as if there's no life in his body. Its like he's just a...lifeless body in front of me.

I put my paws over my mouth. I feel nauseated. I feel like there's a stir in my throat, burning within my stomach. Why do I feel this way? What's happening to me? I feel another nudge from Luna.

"What's wrong Springer? What happened?" she asks, only for me to stare up at her.

"Something's wrong...really really wrong. I feel sick. I...I need to leave." I reply to her, to which her eyes widen for just a second. Then, her horn shines as her magic levitates me onto her back.

"Come. Let us return to the inn."

You know, I've never rode on Flash while he's wearing something. Turns out, its not that comfortable. I guess the cloak Luna made wasn't really made for passengers. Though to be fair, I don't think any cloaks were really made for that. Anyways, as I rode Luna's back, I continued to rub my forehead, still feeling nauseated. Ugh. I feel so...wrong.

"Are you okay young jakhowl?" Luna asks, looking back at me as she continued to walk to the inn. "Check your aura. It will tell you how you're feeling."

I look down at myself, especially my paws. I blink as I flex my paws, my eyes feel like they're swimming...my aura feels kind of off. My aura has been reduced, just like that crowd. Was it when he touched me?

"Well? How is your aura?" Luna asks again, snapping me back into reality. I look at her, only to see that her aura is fine. Its not compressed or shrunk or anything. What's going on? Why am I like the others?

"I...don't know." I respond, shaking me head. "My aura feels...small."

"Small?"

"Yeah...small." I shrug, flexing my paws again. "It feels like I have less aura right now. I don't know why."

"Hmm..." Luna turns back, staring ahead as she rubs her chin with her hoof. "That is not good. Less aura is bad for a jakhowl." She looks at me with a fierce stare. "Come, we will start by making you get some rest."

I don't think I can refuse that. "Okay."

A few minutes later, we reached our hotel room. It didn't take much for Luna to put me on one of the beds, my breathing going a little shallow. My aura feels...it already feels like its getting better but still. As I lay there, Luna levitates a small blanket to me, blinking as she looks at me.

"Are you alright? Is your aura coming back?"

"I...I think so." I turn to her. "How did you know my aura was low?"

"Its common knowledge when working with jakhowls." she replies as she opens her bag and levitates a bottle of water to me. "Jakhowls in most situations, can not get sick. Their aura allows them to negate things like viruses or parasites. The only problem that happens is that they have less aura to use for a while."

"I...I see." I stutter, grabbing the bottle she gives me. As I take a swig of water, I ask, "What do you think made me suddenly lose my aura like that?"

She closes the bag as she replies, "I don't know. I would say its the desert heat, but that would have affected you as soon as we got here." She turns back to me, her stare now...kinda glaring at me. "Tell me, what did Tricky's aura look like?"

Wow. She looked right through me. I open my mouth, only to stop. I can't seem to talk to for a second. As I do this, her glare turns into a soft smile, her aura softening as well. Then, she walks over to me and pats my head. "I apologize Springer, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." She looks down, sighing, "Its just...it feels like I'm talking to Sharp Paw at times."

"Oh...sorry."

She shakes her head, quickly hugging me. "Do not apologize to me. I am sorry that I keep thinking you are an older jakhowl."

"Oh...yeah." I hug back, feeling a small smile on my face. "Well, thank you for helping me."

"Of course." She ends the hug and leans back, "However, I still must know, what did you-"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Both of us hop in place, turning our heads to the door. Luna gives me a small glance before walking up to the door, slowly opening it. "Hello?"

"HIYA!" yells a certain voice as the door fully opens. Its Tricky, though he's not wearing the hat and vest from earlier. He gives us a small bow before staring at me. Staring at me with a big smirk. "Hi again Springer! How ya doing?"

"I'm...okay?" I respond, not realizing that I'm actually lying. I look back at Luna, who gives me a few blinks before back to Tricky. "Um...why are you here Tricky?"

"Simple." His smirk turns into a huge grin, his teeth shining. "I want to talk to you."

I point to myself. "Talk to me?"

"Is that what he said?" Luna asks.

He nods before crossing his paws. "Yup. After all, you're probably wondering why another jakhowl is here, right?" He points to Luna. "If you'll leave her and follow me, I'll tell you everything."

"What did he say now?" Luna asks again, staring at me with an expectant look.

"He said he wants me to follow him and you can't come."

"WHAT?!" Luna shrieks, glaring back at Tricky. "You can not be serious! He just got here and Springer is not feeling well."

Tricky glances at me. "Tell her that I'll tell you everything. That and-" he raises his paws, closing his eyes as he makes a...well, a peaceful expression. "I mean no harm. Honest."

Both me and Luna stare at him for a second. Our eyes must be going a mile a minute with our blinking. Still not sure what I'm looking at here. However, I don't translate to Luna. She figured out what he meant with just that expression. That's impressive, I'll give him that.

Me and Luna talked for a bit after that. I told her about how the auras of the crowd were off and how I still didn't understand what was going on with me. I think the both of us weren't sure what to really do, but she reluctantly agreed in the end. We need answers. With that, I walked out the room, Tricky motioning me to follow him as quickly as possible.

I followed Tricky outside. I could feel a series of shivers down my side, my nerves couldn't stand it. Why? Why does this jakhowl have no aura? And why do I feel so...I don't know. It feels like all the warning signs keep blaring in my head as we both leave the hotel. My feet feel like they're going to fall apart as I keep following him.

We soon left the hotel, taking a quick left as we walked down on the dusty main road of Appleloosa. Luna's moon is shining over us as I follow him past two buildings, only to take another turn. There, he walks just a bit more...only to stop. I stop as well, seeing that we're now stuck between two buildings, just like an alleyway. I can still feel the tingling.

"Hey." I say, a bit of air coming out of my nose. "Why'd you stop?"

"Simple." Tricky replies, turning around with a small smile on his face. "We're here."

"Here?" I look around. "This is just some dumpy alley."

Tricky shrugs. "Eh, location doesn't matter too much to me." He then crosses his paws. "After all, I accomplished what I wanted to do."

Accomplished? What does he mean? "What are you-"

"What am I doing?" he interrupts, his smile slightly getting bigger. "Simple. I wanted to get away from Princess Luna."

I freeze. How did he know about her? Did he see through her disguise? I mean, he doesn't have an aura, how did he know? Just...what is this guy?

"Don't play dumb." Tricky says next, pretty much shutting me down to retort. He just shrugs again, pointing back to the direction of the hotel. "I know your roommate is her. Don't deny it."

This time, I cross my hooves. "Okay, you made your point. So...what do you want Tricky?"

Tricky snaps his paw. "Ah! Before we continue, I need you to stop calling me that. My name is Shade, not Tricky. Tricky is a...name Dusty Flower made up since she can't understand me. That and she named me Tricky because of the tricks I do for the crowd, like you saw before."

"Ooookay." I reply, not sure how to respond to that. Okay, his name is Shade. Shade...the jakhowl. Maybe jakhowl. I'm not sure what I should be thinking now. Guess I'll just have to get used to that. "So Shade, what do you want?"

"Ah! The million-bit question! You finally asked it!" Shade claps his paws, giving me a cocky fake bow afterword. "Good work Springer."

I let out a low growl. "Don't mock me Shade." I uncross my paws, aura burning in them. "Answer me. What do you want?"

Shade casually puts his paws behind his head. "My my, already angry? You got a quick temper there jakhowl. You should get that checked out."

"I'm serious."

"I know." he puts his paws down again. "But, before I answer your question," His smirk gets a tiny bit bigger. "Isn't there something else you should be asking about? Maybe something about my aura?"

I blink, my aura in my paws lessening. He knows about that too. I shouldn't be surprised, I mean...I don't even know if he's a jakhowl. He's so...different. I tense up as I then ask, "Yeah...why don't you have an aura?"

"Simple. I'm not a jakhowl."

"Not...a jakhowl?" Why did I pause?

He gives me a nod. "Yes. I'm not a jakhowl, though I do know about them. After all, why would I be taking this form right now if I didn't know?"

"Form?" So he looks like something else?

His eyes light up as he claps again. "Ah! That's right! I never showed you!"

"Showed me?"

He nods vigorously. "Yes! I never showed you!" He then crosses his paws again, that smirk still on his face. "After all, we've met before and I didn't show you back then."

"Huh?" That was all I could say. I've met him before? WHAT?! How?! I know I would have remembered another jakhowl...wait a minute. Did I meet him before I met Flash? I mean, I know I barely remember anything before that but...

"Oh come now, don't tell me you've already forgotten about little old me?" he asks, his tone dripping with cheekiness.

"I've never met you before today Shade." I reply, a snort leaving my nose.

"Oh? Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Even if I do...this?" he says before taking one step back. Then, he does what I could only describe as a tiny hop, only for his body to suddenly envelop in a ball of multi-colored lights. Yet...it doesn't shine. The colors just flow through the ball as it stays in the air for a little bit. Then, it stops. The ball disappears, only for a new figure to appear. A new...yet very familiar figure. He gives me a grin. A very familiar, very large grin.

Its the dragon from when I went with Spike to meet other dragons. The one that was black all over except the red tips on it's scales. The one that kept appearing behind Garble, staring at me with it's huge sinister grin. He now towers over me, giggling.

"Hee hee hee...hee hee hee..."

A second later, he hops in the air again, turning back into a jakhowl.

"Ahhh....never get tired of that." he says as he cricks his neck. "Remember me now Springer?"

"What....is this?" I barely say, blinking. "You...you're that dragon from back then?!"

He nods. "That's right." He put his paws behind his head again. "Ah yes, that was fun. Messing with those dumb, idiotic dragons that is. Tell me, how's your pal....uh, what was his name again? Spark?"

"Its Spike." I flatly reply.

Shade just gives me a shrug. "Eh, whatever. That's not important right now Springer." His smirk returns. Ugh, why does that smirk make me so angry? He then says, "What's important right now is..." He points at me and himself. "You and me."

I pause for a second. "What do you mean?"

"Simple." His smirk turns into a grin. A really big, vicious grin. It makes feel a chill down my spine just looking at it. I know I saw it before when he was a dragon but....ugh. Why do I feel so...disgusted at what's in front of me? Is it because he doesn't have an aura?

Despite this, I didn't tune him out. He kept talking.

"You see Springer, you and I are connected." He points back to himself again.

"Connected?"

He nods. "That's right. You see, I'm something called...a Trickster."

"Trickster? What's that?"

He wags one of his paw's fingers at me. "A Trickster is....how do you say this?" He rubs his chin, looking above me. "A Trickster is a being that is...destined to fight the jakhowls."

"Destined?" I can't seem to say more than one word right now.

Shade crosses his hooves, smirking again. "I see you're confused, so I'm make it simple. I'm here to fight you. Or more specifically...to play a game with you." I try to respond, only for him to flash his paw. "Let me finish. I know you have questions, so I'll just explain everything now. Sound good?"

I can feel my eyes narrow. "Okay."

"Good. Now, let me explain." He taps his chest. "I am a Trickster, and Tricksters love to do one thing, and that's play games. Specifically with jakhowls. Its what we Tricksters are destined to do with jakhowls."

I blink at this. They're destined to play games with jakhowls? That sounds...dumb. I then respond, "You...have to play a game with me? That's it?"

He nods. "Yes. We have to play a game. In fact, I've been looking for you to do this."

"Looking for me?"

He nods again. "Oh yes. After I saw you with that purple scale-brain, I knew you were the jakhowl I was looking for. Heck, that's why I came back to Equestria."

"Back?"

He nods once more. "Oh yes. You see, I came back to Equestria when I first saw you back there. You're the reason why I went town to town after that, trying to figure out where you were." He hops in place again, turning into a small colt. He gives me a huge grin, "Hee hee hee..." He hops again, transforming back into the jakhowl form. "And as you can see, its quite easy for me to get around towns without suspicion."

I can feel my paws clench even more, aura slightly burning in them now. Did he literally just say that he went around causing trouble just because he met me back then?! Does that mean he's done a bunch of bad things here as well?! Just because of me?! I let out a low growl. "If that's the case, why show up here as a jakhowl?!"

"Oh that?" He looks up, his grin shining again. "Well...let's just say this town is special."

"Special?"

"Oh yes." He nods and snaps his paw. I feel a sudden chill as I sense something. I turn around and see Dusty Flower, suddenly standing behind me. Yet, she's not saying a thing. She's just standing there, a dull look in her eyes.

That is, till I sense her aura. Its...gone. Just like him.

I turn back to Shade, growling. "What did you do to her?! Why is her aura gone?!"

He doesn't respond immediately. Then, he grins. His grin...grows bigger and bigger. Why does that grin bother me?

"Simple. I'm controlling her." Shade responds as he waves at Dusty, who then walks up to him. He puts his paw on her head. "She's mine to control, just like everyone else in this dustbin of a town. Surely you noticed how...tame the auras of that crowd were. Why do you think they mainly ignored you?"

I don't respond. After all this, I think I know one thing for sure. This guy likes to talk. Flash has told me about this with the comics we read. When a villain likes to monologue, let him go overboard. Finish your thoughts later.

So, I continue to listen, "You see Springer, this town is my playground. Its filled with ponies and buffalo that I can easily control and manipulate thanks to the powers I have. That and thanks to a certain...individual I met when I left the Dragon Lands. I have to thank you for that, especially since you motivated me to leave."

I think I know what this means, especially if I think back to when me and Spike were with the other dragons. I point at Shade. "You used that power on Garble, didn't you?"

He claps again. "Ha ha! I knew there was something special about you Springer! You are correct! I used that on...what was that piece of garbage's name again?"

"Garble."

"Eh, whatever." He shrugs again and begins patting Dusty mane. "Let's stop talking about that and back to my ability. You see, my ability could only influence others until I met my...benefactor. The individual helped me realize my true potential, my true..." He waves his paw in front of me, only for what looks like a dark aura to appear, covering his paw. It looks like...like a claw now. Almost like a shadow embraced it, turning it into a claw of darkness. Yet it looks like a shadow more than anything. He grins as he finishes his sentence. "Power."

I backpedal at the sight. I...I don't sense any aura. I don't sense anything on that paw, but I feel...I feel danger from it. He just chuckles at my movement. "Hee hee hee...what's the matter Springer? Scared?"

"No." I reply, my aura burning in my paws even more.

"Hold it!" Shade says, pointing his 'claw' at Dusty's neck. "Put that aura away."

I clench my paws again, and then let the aura out. I just realized he took a hostage. I can't help it though, I'm really distracted here.

"Here's the deal jakhowl." he says as he 'turns off' the 'claw'. "As I said before, we're going to play a game."

"I refuse." I immediately say.

He shakes his head as he puts his paw on Dusty again. "And you don't want her dead? Or maybe I should ask one of the buffalos I'm controlling in this town to go on a rampage? Destroy a few buildings and...do some serious damage perhaps?" He asks me with that same grin. I just glare at him, giving him my response. He then says, "Good. Now, we'll start our game tomorrow. Though to be fair..." He taps his chin as he stops the grinning. "Its going to be more of a duel. After all, I'm on a time limit thanks to my benefactor."

"Time limit?"

"Yeah..." He scratches the back of his head, looking away. "I'm also in this town to test how many I can control and or influence with my powers. I only had a few days, but..." He looks back at me, the grin returning. "Then you appeared, the thing I was looking for! You're going to make this boring, dull town so much more exciting for my last day here! Heck, it might convince me not to destroy this dirtpile!"

"Why you little..." I growl, feeling my aura in my paws again.

"Yeah yeah, whatever..." he says as he turns around, patting Dusty's head again. "Meet me in the town square tomorrow morning. There, we'll have a good old fashioned duel to decide the fate of this town." He looks back at me, smirking. "And if you don't, I'll kill Dusty here and..." He raises his paw, that dark shadow looking aura thing encasing it again. "Well, lets just say I'll use my power to make everyone here tear each other apart. Understand me?"

Then, he turned around and walked away. He just...walked away.

And I couldn't do a thing to stop him.

I can feel pure anger in me right now. My aura feels tense, like a burning flame. I can't seem to calm down. Thankfully, Princess Luna easily sees this when I reentered the hotel room. As suspected, she immediately asked about what happened between me and Shade. I recounted everything relatively easily...that is, till I said he was Trickster. That word made her eyes light up, her aura tensing as she quickly hopped off the bed and grabbed my shoulders.

"Are you serious? He truly is a Trickster?" She asks, disbelief on her face.

"Yeah...or at least, that's what he called himself." I say.

She lets go of me and starts rubbing her chin. I can see her slightly biting her lip as she starts to speak, "This is bad...this is truly bad."

"What do you mean?"

She ignores my question and glares at me. "What else did he say? Why is he here?"

"I..." I stammer. Seems I need to tell her everything before getting some answers. I recount everything else, how he was there in the Dragon Lands, how he can control other ponies...and the duel tomorrow. This detail in particular lights a fire in her eyes.

"Grrr...as expected of a Trickster. Even after all these centuries, they're still vile." she hisses, turning away from me as her aura flares again. "I should have known. I should have guessed that if a jakhowl can come back to Equestria, so could a Trickster."

"What do you mean? Just...what is a Trickster?"

"A Trickster is..." she hesitates. I can feel myself blink as she stood there, unsure on what to say. I'm not sure how minutes passed as she stood there, looking like...like she had lost a good friend. She looked sad as she started on her next words. "A Trickster is a being tied to the jakhowls. They are...beings without aura. Without true life."

"Without...true life? What do you mean?" I ask. I mean, that doesn't make any sense.

Despite this, she continues. She looks at me with a face that her aura can show me as one thing. Regret. "The Tricksters were a set of beings that the jakhowls fought many centuries ago. They were known as...creatures of darkness and shadow. They wield no aura and life has little meaning to them. They live to create misery and mischief."

"Um...okay." I don't get all those words, but I have an idea what they mean. I tilt my head. "If they're that bad, why is this the first time I've ever heard of them?"

"That is..." She lets out a long sigh. "They disappeared around the same time the jakhowls did."

I hop in place. I didn't expect that. "What do you mean? Are you saying that they just...vanished like the jakhowls did?! And at the same time?!"

"Indeed. At least, according to my sister." Luna looks away from me for a second. "When I came back from...the nightmare, I...I had to read up on a lot of the history that I had missed." She looks back at me. "That includes the jakhowls. Remember when we first met in Canterlot, back when you were with Sentry and Cadenza?"

I nod.

"You see, after I saw you, I knew I had to do some research. I had to know if the jakhowls had returned. I...I started thinking about Strong Paw again after I first saw you. But..."

"You didn't find anything, did you?" I finish for her.

"Yes. There was nothing. No traces of jakhowls for the centuries I was gone....and no trace of Tricksters either."

A light goes on in my head. "You think they might be the reason the jakhowls are gone?"

"I...don't know." Luna replies, sighing again. She then shakes her head. "Regardless, that's besides the point here. No matter how much we go over the past, we can not change it. The Tricksters are back, just like the jakhowls."

She's got a point. I better ask about this more later. After all, the duel is what's on my mind more than anything else. I cross my paws and glare at her. "You're right. We need to talk about the duel tomorrow."

"Agreed. If this 'Shade' has challenged you to this duel tomorrow and he plans to use Dusty Flower as a hostage, we'll need to stop him during the duel. That will be our best opportunity."

I'm pretty sure I'm giving her a version of Flash's cocky smirk now. "Sounds good to me. So, you got a plan?"

She rubs her chin. "No, not yet. But that doesn't mean you should go in unprepared." She stands up straight, looking at me straight in the eyes. "Allow me to go over the known abilities of Tricksters. After all, I fought plenty of them several centuries ago."

I nod again. "Alright."

"First, as you can probably guess, Tricksters are shapeshifters. This ability allows them to be cunning creatures. However, there is a flaw to this."

"Let me guess, they can't talk while shapeshifting, can they?" I guess. "At least, except if they're a jakhowl?"

She nods. "Yes. The jakhowl is the only transformation I know of that they can still talk in. That being said, the jakhowl form isn't their real body. They look much different from a jakhowl."

"Really? What do they look like?"

Luna gives me a...dispassionate look. "You'll know when you see it. Trust me." She crosses her hooves. "They'll be much smaller...and darker looking." Gee thanks Luna, that describes a lot. Unfortunately, before I can ask anything else, she continues, "Also, they also can't replicate the abilities of whatever they're copying. In other words, if they turn into a unicorn, they can't talk or perform unicorn magic."

"Huh...okay." I tap the side of my head in thought. "Sounds good to me. That and if he does shapeshift, I can tell its him. I mean, he has no aura, so I can tell he's different from others."

She shakes her head. "That's also a problem young jakhowl. You should know this."

"Yeah..." I cross my paws in slight frustration. "I can't sense him coming if he tries to sneak attack me, right?"

"Indeed." she nods again. "Secondly, you told me 'Shade' could...influence others, is that correct?"

"Yeah." I bite my lip. "He said someone he met before finding me helped him increase his power over it. Makes sense, as I'm pretty sure he only influenced Garble back then."

"Hmm...that is a troubling ability. Very few Tricksters have that power...." She claps her hooves. "Very well, we shall just have to prepare for that as well."

"Um...okay." We glazed over that really quickly.

"Hmmm...seems we have no choice. We'll just have to...'wing it' as my student says sometimes." Luna says as she gives me a bright smile. "Besides, we should get some rest. I suspect tomorrow will be a tough day for the both of us."

I nod. She's not wrong. I mean, if this guys wants a duel, I'll gladly give him one. Besides, I do technically need to pay him back for the misery he put me through with the dragons.

And with that, we both headed off to bed. I quickly hopped onto the second bed, still surprised at how big it is compared to my basket. I soon dove under the covers, curling up into a ball. As I close my eyes, my ears flicker one more time.

"Springer?" Luna says, causing me to look up and at her.

"Yes?"

"I...have one more thing to add."

"What's that?"

"I...I think I now know what Dusty Flower's dream meant."

Huh? "What? What do you mean Princess Luna?"

"The dream...I was wrong about the dream." I feel...sadness in her aura. "I was wrong. And I'm sorry I was wrong."

"Wrong? About what?"

"About there being another jakhowl. There was never another jakhowl here."

Oh. Yeah, I forgot about that. But its not her fault. I let out a little sigh. "Its fine. I...I understand. We both didn't know things would turn out this way."

Luna turns to me, a soft smile on her face. There's tears flowing down her eyes. "Thank you Springer. Thank you so much."

"Wha-why are you crying?"

"Because...you remind of Sharp Paw so much..." she says with a slight chuckle. "He would forgive me for anything."

"I...I see." I feel a fire in my aura. I decide to change subjects. "So...what do you think the dream was about?"

"Ah. The dream..." Luna turns and looks up at the ceiling. "Do you remember when I said dreams can mean many things?"

"Uh-huh."

"I believe...I believe you are the jakhowl in that dream. And I believe that dream was a dream where Dusty was crying out for someone...no, a real jakhowl to save her."

I blink at this. I'm the jakhowl in the dream? Huh? Wait a minute, does that mean.... "Um, Princess Luna? Does that mean the shadow in the dream is-"

"Yes. The shadow is...the Trickster. He must have been secretly tormenting her with his ability." She turns to me, a stone-cold glare on her face. "Tomorrow, you must face him and save Dusty Flower."

The Next Morning...

To say I had a good night sleep is...well, its actually pretty accurate this time. Despite what was about to happen today, I fell asleep almost instantly after finishing my talk with Luna. That alone was good, as I felt refreshed and ready to go. Heck, it felt good to be in this shape, especially since my usual mornings are filled with exercises and training regiments. That alone made me feel...good about what was to come.

Unfortunately, just a few minutes from waking, the inevitable came.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

That was the sound of a pair of hooves batting at the door. I scanned the wooden frame, instantly noticing the aura behind it. Its Braeburn. I glanced at Luna, who was waking up as well. She gave me a quick nod and I turned to open the door. Behind it was the earth pony, sweat covering his panic-filled face.

"Springer! You gotta come with me! Please!" he yelled, his teeth chattering.

I'm not sure what my face was showing, but I'm sure it was a cold stare. "What did he do?"

"What did-how did you know it was-nevermind!" He stuttered, shaking his head. "Listen! Tricky suddenly went crazy this morning! He has Dusty Flower tied up to the town's water tower and he's somehow controlling the buffalo! He even has Chief Thunderhooves!"

Chief Thunderhooves? Must be the leader of the buffalo. I give Braeburn a nod and say, "Got it. I'll stop him, just lead the way."

Braeburn takes a step back, his eyes somewhat widening. "You...you would do that? Why are you-"

I cross my paws, glaring at him. "The reason he's doing all that is because of me. He wants me to duel him and he's using Dusty as a hostage to make sure I do it."

Braeburn lets out a small gulp. He's already got a good idea on why this is happening. "Oh...but uh....why is he doing this? What did you do?"

"Young Springer here has done nothing." says Luna, causing me to turn to her as she continues. "The one you know as Tricky is an evil creature. That is all." She pats me on the head as she gives Braeburn a smirk. "Do not worry, we will stop him."

"I..." Braeburn tries to say something, but Luna's smirk stops him. He just gives us a small nod before gesturing to the hallway outside. Me and Luna glance and nod at each other, both of us grabbing our things as we leave the hotel room. As we left the building, we were greeted by a crowd of ponies and buffalo outside the hotel. Thankfully, Braeburn quickly explained to them what was going before a riot happened, and they let us through.

Then, we made our way to the square.

I could feel my aura tingle as I walked to the square. Granted, there was a huge crowd behind me and in front of me as I walked to my destination. Their auras are all lowered, as if they are either afraid, or they know they can't do anything. Though now that I think about it, maybe that's why they ignored me in that crowd yesterday. Shade's been here long enough that he must have influenced all of them at some point.

Luna walks side by side with me, patting me in that same spot on my head. However, I couldn't fully calm down this time. After all, this 'Trickster' is doing this to the town just because I'm here. What a stupid reason to cause trouble. I'll make him pay.

As my feet touched the ground of the entrance of the square, I looked straight ahead and gulped at the sight. I could feel my eyes widening at the very sight before me. In front of me was two very alarming things. One was a massive buffalo that I quickly noticed Shade riding, his body laying back in a lazy position. This buffalo paled in comparison to the others, even if I could barely feel any aura in him. He was tall, wide and filled with fur. That and he had to be the dictionary definition of dark brown, as his whole body was that color. Well, with the exception of his headband, which was blue with white feathers that had brown tips. What an odd combination.

However, it was the second sight that really got me. The second sight was the water tower Braeburn described earlier, which was a tall wooden structure held together by five poles. The top looked like a big cylinder with I can only guess is filled with water. There were four poles on the outside and one in the middle. The outside poles all had a buffalo standing by them, all of them with barely any aura inside them. He was controlling them as well. Not only that, the fifth pole had not one, but two individuals tied to it. It was Dusty Flower, who looked knocked out, and another buffalo. One that looked really young and-

"Oh no! He got Little Strongheart too?!" Braeburn yelps beside me, causing me to almost jump in place.

"Who?" Luna asks.

Braeburn pointed to the hostages. "That buffalo tied up there! She's Little Strongheart!" He put his hoof over his mouth, his teeth and aura chattering. "She must've tried to stop Tricky and lost!"

"I see." Luna says before tapping my shoulder. "Come Springer, we must-"

"Don't move another muscle!" says a new voice. Its Shade, who hops up from his place on the buffalo. He points at Luna. "Tell her Springer! Tell your princess that she isn't allowed to do a thing or the hostages get it!"

"What did he say?" Luna asks, turning to look at me.

I give her a hesitant glance. "He said you can't do anything or he'll kill his hostages."

Luna turns to glare at Shade. "Tch. Typical Trickster. Always playing dirty for their games." She points at the water tower. "Trickster! I suspect you will have those buffalo destroy the poles and drop the tower on your hostages if I act, yes?!"

Shade gives her nod, that blasted grin already plastered onto his face. He then hops down from the buffalo, patting it after landing. "That's right. Not only that, I'll use the other buffalos I'm controlling to go on a rampage through town."

I translate for Luna, only to see her glare go more intense. Steam is blaring out of her nostrils now. Then, Shade says, "Just tell her to agree Springer. In this situation, no princess is going to help you. Its just gonna be me and you."

I crick my neck before glancing at Luna. Our eyes connect for a few minutes. She lets out a long sigh before saying, "Very well. I will not interfere." She turns to me and puts both of her hooves on my shoulders. "Springer, I believe in you. You can win this."

I nod. "Got it. I'll beat him."

She gives me a smile. A true, shining smile. I...I can feel warmth in me by just looking at it. "I know. Now go out there and win!"

"Yeah!" I nod again and turn back to Shade. As I start to walk up to him, he flashes his paws, making me stop.

"Hang on there champ! I never said I was your opponent." he says, smirking at me with that grin.

I can feel my paws clenching as I ask, "Wha-what do you mean? Wasn't this a duel?!"

He shakes his head, "No no no..." He wags a digit of his paw at me. "Rule number one of Tricksters Springer, we live to play games. Also, we live to play dirty in our games. So..." He leans next to Chief Thunderhooves and smirks at me. "Here's my first dirty play. I'm gonna have you fight him."

"Wha...what?" I stammer, my eyes widening. "You want me to-"

"Fight the big bad chief himself." he finishes for me. "That's right, you're fighting this giant monster of brown fur. This walking carpet is gonna be your opponent."

Insulting your fighter? Not much of a showing of confidence here. I shake my head and point at the fake jakhowl. "That wasn't part of the deal! We were supposed to fight and-"

"And I'm altering the deal." He interrupts, patting the buffalo. "Don't worry, I won't alter it any further. So, you ready to rumble?"

"No! I'm ready to kick your-"

"I wasn't talking to you, aura freak." he says before snapping his paw. "Get him chief!"

I try to retort, only to feel the ground beneath me shake. I turn to the buffalo, only to see a mountain of steam blast out of his nostrils. That's not good. I can feel myself tensing up at that sight alone, and he looks like he could run me over with ease.

"CHARGE!!!!" Shade yells, pointing at me.

On cue, the buffalo starts charging at me. I clench my paws and quickly glance at my feet. I look back at the dark brown charger before me and start to sidestep. However, I soon noticed that that wasn't enough. As I tried to dodge the incoming bum-rush, I forgot just how big the guy was. That, and he was quicker than I thought.

As I tried to sidestep, Thunderhooves did a small leap off the ground, his left hoof about to hit me square in the face. In a literal split-second motion, I ducked beneath the swipe, spinning my legs as I tried to spin around his charging body. His attack had missed, but as soon as I completed my dodge, I saw that he had already turned around. He started another bum-rush at me, making me put my paws together.

"AURA BLAST!" I yell, quickly firing off a sphere of aura at my attacker. However, as the attack hit him...it did nothing. The aura collided with his body, making him let out a grunt of pain...but not stopping him. It didn't even slow him down as I stood there in his line of fire.

"Darn it..." I say to myself, only to feel the full brunt of his charge the next second later. It felt like three hundred trains slammed into me, pain blaring through my body. He had hit me with his head, fully headbutting me and lifting me with just his noggin. He let out a might roar before flinging me over him, my whole body screaming in pain as I hit the ground behind him.

"AUGH!!!" I yell as I hit the dirt, my limbs shivering. I really hope I didn't break anything. That or I'm already dead. Considering what just hit me, I wouldn't put it past me...

"Springer! You must get up!" I hear a voice say. Its probably Luna...though my ears could be picking up something else. I put my paws into the ground, picking myself up as I slowly stand up. I rub my forehead as I shake my head, turning around back to my opponent. As I look back, I see that he's just standing there, steam blasting out of his nostrils again. I clench my paws once more, taking a fighting stance.

"Get him chief! Run him down!" Shade yells as the buffalo lets out another roar. I guess if you're under Shade's control, you can't say regular words.

I lower my paws before doing a slight flick of the wrist. "Bone Breaker!" I yell, instantly forming my bone-like aura weapon, wielding it like what Flash calls from his comics: 'A Stallionurai'. I feel my teeth grit as I see the charging buffalo in front of me. As he charges me, I quickly sidehop.

"Hiyah!" I scream, smacking his side with my Bone Breaker, only to see the end fall apart as it hits him. How hard skinned is this guy?

As I slow down from the dodge, the chief has already spun around, ready to charge again. I spin the weapon again, pulling my paw like throwing a javelin. "Take this!" I yell, flinging the bone at him.

"RRRRAAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!" the chief yells, running through my thrown weapon, smashing it into pieces. I can feel my eyes widening as I see this...only to forget to start dodging. He slams into me, knocking me flying over him again.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" I scream, the world spinning around me. I can feel the dirt hit my face, my whole body skidding through the ground. As the ride stops, I try to move, only to feel nothing.

That is, except another voice for my ears.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Well done Chief!" says a nasty voice. That's Shade for sure. My ears keep hearing his voice. "Now, finish him off!"

That made me go wide-eyed. I've got to move! I've got too! I tense up my aura, pushing my body as I slowly turn over. I try to raise my head, only to see the buffalo slowly walk up to me. I stare at the buffalo's eyes, noticing that there's nothing there. His eyes are blank, dull and lifeless.

Then, he stands over me. He raises his hoof. It feels like time is slowing down as I see his hoof raise. But...its raising so slowly. Hesitation. He's hesitating. He's fighting Shade.

I can feel it. I can feel his aura. Its so bare...but its there. I can feel him hesitating. I stare at the raised hoof over my face. Seeing it, I start to get up. I can feel my body slowly rising as my body surges in pain. As I do, I close my eyes for just a second.

Then, everything went white.

White.

Nothing but an endless white void was in front of me. I blink at the sight. What happened to me? I know I was fighting Chief Thunderhooves and-

"Hello young one." says a voice. I hop in place, quickly turning around from the voice. As I do, I can feel my eyes shrink at the new sight before me.

Its...its that older looking jakhowl I saw a while back. Back when I first learned Bone Breaker. Its tall, blue and black and stands on two legs like me. It has a white spike on its chest and on the top of its paws. There's a small cut above its left eye, like a tiny scar. But that wasn't what surprised. As I looked this...older jakhowl over, I saw that it was smiling. And the smile was so...soft looking.

That and one other thing. This one's voice and how it looked...it looked like it was...a female.

I don't know how I knew the one if front of me was a girl, but I did. I could feel it. And I could hear it in her voice.

"Hello young one. Welcome to where you belong." she says to me, that soft smile still staring at me.

"Where...I belong?" I stutter as I take one step back. "What...what's going on? Where am I? Who are you?!"

But she doesn't answer. She just stands there, staring at me with that kind face. Then, she raises her paw and says, "I am a helper in your journey."

"Helper?"

She nods. "Yes. I am here to help you reach the next step." I open my mouth, only for her to flash her paw, making me instantly close it. I don't think she's going to give me the answers I seek. Guess I gotta listen to her. "You see young one, I am here to teach you one last thing before you move to the next stage."

"Next stage? What do you mean?"

She does a light chuckle as she replies, "That is something for your future to answer for you. In the meantime, I will show you something new. Something...you will need on your journey."

"What I need? Wha...what do you mean?" I tilt my head. "I don't get it."

"You don't have too. You just need to understand one thing."

"What's that?"

Her smile disappears. Instead, she stares at me with cold, glaring eyes. Then, she lifts her right paw, only for three shining white dagger-like things to appear over her paw. Pure white...yet it shines like steel. She walks up to me and leans down, putting herself on one knee. Her voice is clear and pure as she says, "You must defeat the Trickster."

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" screams a voice as I open my eyes. I then notice I'm standing. I blink as I look around, trying to figure out how I got back on the ground.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" yells the voice behind me. I don't recognize it. I turn around, only to see Chief Thunderhooves rolling around, screaming.

Then, I notice why he's screaming. His left horn is gone. Its been cut clean off.

"Holy horned toads! Did you see that?!" yells another voice. That one I recognize. Its Braeburn, who I turn and stare at in the crowd. He points at me and says, "Springer just took out the chief's horn!"

Huh? I did what?! But how did I-

"Chief! Stop yelling like a baby and take down the jakhowl!" I hear another voice say. I turn to its owner, only to see Shade throwing a tantrum. "Stop whining about your stupid horn! Do you hear me?! Stop whining and-"

He says something else, but I tune it out. I don't hear a thing. That is, till i look down at my right paw. There, my eyes must have shrunk at the sight.

My right paw, the top of it...was shining, with three dagger-like things on the top it. It was shining just like that female older-looking jakhowl showed me. Shining like pure steel. I flexed my paw, only to feel nothing. I then touch it with my other paw, only to feel...cold. It feels chilled, like it was made of metal. In fact, it reminds me of Flash's sword. It feels so...metallic. And the shape it gives my paw, its like a claw of some kind. I look back at the buffalo, whose still wriggling in pain and look back at my paw. I see. I cut his horn with this, didn't I?

I flex the paw once more. I can feel a smirk on my face as I say to myself, "Nice. You're a new move, aren't you? Just like Bone Breaker. If that's the case, I think I'll call you...Steel Paw. That's got a good ring to it." I look at my left paw now and flick it. Nothing happens. I flick it a few more times, only for...nothing. Hmm...guess I can only summon it on my right paw for now. "Looks likes I'll have to do some training like I did with Bone Breaker."

"Stop doing that!" I hear Shade yell, putting me back into reality. I look back at the buffalo again, flexing my right paw as I do. That is, till I check his aura. Here, I hop slightly in place. His aura...its back. Granted, there's not much, but its back.

I instantly get it. When I cut off his horn, the pain must have knocked Shade's control off of him. Nice. I turn back to Shade, feeling a huge smirk on my face. "Hey Shade!"

"WHAT?!" Shade barks at me, glaring and pointing at me. "Listen you jakhowl, don't think this duel is over! Once the chief stops rolling around like a baby, he's gonna run you over or I'll-"

"Do nothing." I interrupt, pointing my Steel Paw at him. "You just lost control of your fighter."

"What?" Shade gasps, turning back to the buffalo. "Chief! Listen to me right now! Do it!" He yells a few more time, only to turn back to me with a look of pure fury. "You....you broke my control over him! How dare you!"

I cock my right paw back, smirking. "Give it up Shade, you lose."

"Why you stinking-fine!" He stomps down, only to lift his paws up. "Dark Claws!" he yells as both of them become engulfed in that dark shadow aura from earlier. He let outs a loud, vicious bark. "Let's go jakhowl! I'll tear you apart myself!"

I swipe my paw, lowering after that. "Oh no you don't, I won the duel Shade. I'm not fighting you." I point my right paw at him again. "Let Dusty Flower and Little Strongheart go."

"Don't mock me you stinking jakhowl!" he barks back, the dark stuff around his 'claws' growing even bigger. Just what is that? Its not an aura, but it looks like...a shadow? He keeps yelling at me. "If you don't fight me right now, I'll kill those two! Do you hear me?! I'll gladly-"

"Shut up." I interrupt, putting my right paw back into a fighting position. I should have known he was gonna be stubborn. I let out a small sigh as I say, "Let them go Shade. We can have our duel without-"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" he screams, charging at me.

I quickly put myself into a defensive stance, staring at the rushing figure towards me. That is, till I see that my right paw isn't shining anymore. Shoot. Already lost control huh? That's...not good. I look back up and see the two Dark Claws coming at me. Blinking once, I hop back a step, avoiding Shade's first swipe of his claws. He throws three more swipes, all of them barely missing me as I keep hopping back.

"STOP RUNNING AND FIGHT-" his mouth stops moving as I quickly swing a jab into his face with my right paw. I follow up with my left, only for him to block it with his right. As he does, I cock my right paw back, only for him to hit me with his left claw, slamming my stomach.

Pain. It feels like getting hit by Flash's hoof, if we weren't training that is. I take one step back before hitting his face again. I continue with three more blows, each of them jabs into his face. I cock back for another hit, only for him to stagger back. Then, he gives me a glare, showing that annoying grin again.

"That all you got?" he says, charging me again. I throw another punch, only for him to dodge and hit my shoulder with his claw. I let out a yelp before trying to counter, only for another claw to hit my stomach. I feel a bit of spit fly out of my mouth, only for another blow to my face. I close my eyes as the blow strains my face. Then another blow. And another. And another. I...I can't move. I just feel him hitting me over and over again.

That, and my ears hear him. Just barely though.

"HA! TAKE IT JAKHOWL!" he roars as I feel another blow. "Not so tough now, huh? I guess fighting that walking carpet slowed you down!"

I feel another two or three blows, this time straining my face. As I feel myself take one step back, Shade stops for a second. My eyes had been closed for most of this, but the pause helps. I squint my eyes, only to see Shade cocking his claw back. He's readying for a final blow.

"SAY GOOD NIGHT JAKHOWL!" he yells, his left claw now not showing any of that...darkness? Shadow? I guess that's what it is. Now, his right is fully encased in that 'shadow'. Seeing this, I clench my right paw.

I can feel it. I can feel the metallic feeling from before. I suck in my breath before yelling, "STEEL PAW!" I jolt forward, just as he was about to charge at me. Then, I feel it. He swings his right claw at me, ready to strike. We both swing our attacks.

Then, it hits.

My Steel Paw slams his jaw as his claw hits my shoulder. I turn the blow into an uppercut, swinging as high as I can. "PWAUGH!" he yells as I see him flip into the air, my blow knocking him off his feet. Was he really that light? I know I'm not that light, and I'm a jakhowl.

That is, till I see the next sight. As I see him flip in the air, only to see a ball of light engulf him. Its the same as back in that alley. A second later, the ball fades as a new figure hits the ground. Then, I froze.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The figure that hit the ground is something I had never seen before. It was...a fox? It kinda looks like one of those I've seen Fluttershy take care of but, this one is colored...differently. Its fur is slate gray with a tuft of red on the top along with a bunch of black fur on its neck. That and it has...red eyebrows? That and red tips to his paws. Was that why when he turned into a dragon, he looked like a black dragon with red-tipped scales?

"Whoa! What is that?!" yells a voice, followed by several others. Oh yeah, I forgot what was going on. Guess the fight was really...distracting.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was still standing still and the 'fox' shook it's head and hopped up. He looked up at me before looking down at himself and saying, "What the heck?!" He glares back at me. "How dare you! How dare you destroy my disguise!"

"Disguise?"

"Yes, you stupid aura loving monster! This is the true form of a Trickster!" he screams, narrowing his eyes. "You'll pay for that!" He turns around and yells, "Buffalo! Destroy the tower!"

My brain, which I'm pretty sure is still hurting, clicks. "NO!" I yell, turning my head to the tower...only for nothing to happen. Instead, I see four buffalo, stumbling around with looks of confusion on their faces. I blink a few times, only to feel another click in my brain.

"Looks like you lost your control on everyone." I say, not thinking about what I just said.

He turns around, staring daggers at me. "WHAT?!" he turns back and yells again, only to get no reaction. "NOO!! WHY IS....RAAUGH!!!!" Shade turns back and lets out a low hiss. "You'll pay for this jakhowl! You'll pay right now!"

I on the other paw, just summon a Bone Breaker. "Give it up Shade. You've lost."

"Think again." He says before turning back to the tower. "Say goodbye to those two. DARK BLAST!"

My eyes shrink at the next sight. Granted, my eyes really hurt right now, but still. Shade opens his mouth, only to see what looks like my Aura Blast, except its colored in a combination of black and purple. Before I can react, the sphere flies out of his mouth, instantly hitting the bottom of the water tower. The poles underneath instantly turn to dust from the blast, causing the tower to fall. I yell out "NO!" while a volley of voices follow in the crowd around us.

Shade lets out a cackle. "AHAHAHA! Say goodbye to-"

"ENOUGH!" yells a familiar voice. As my ears hear this, I see an even more familiar magic aura covering the entire tower, instantly stopping the tower's fall. I turn around, seeing Luna with her horn shining. That and she's taken off her cloak, destroying the illusion she had on her and exposing her wings.

"WHAT?! NOOOOO!!!" Shade yells, turning back around. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU SAVE THEM!" Shade opens his mouth again, summoning another one of the dark spheres. "DARK BLAST!"

I quickly get in front of him, clapping my paws. "AURA BLAST!" I roar, firing an aura sphere.

Our two attacks collide, both hitting each other with full force. As the two strike, both vibrate in the air, causing both of us to just stare at the collision. Then...

BOOM!

I try to shield my eyes with my paws, only for a dust cloud to kick up from our actions. I let out a series of coughs as the dust blasts past me, my ears picking up several more coughs around me. I can feel the cloud expanding, only for my ears to pick up one more voice.

"I'm done." I hear the voice say as I squint my eyes open. I can't see anything, even with my aura. It feels like back when me and Flash were in on that mountain. Then, the voice continues. "You win this round of the game jakhowl. I guess this town is no longer my playground."

"What?! What are you-"

"We'll meet again. Count on it."

I fully open my eyes this time, summoning a Bone Breaker. I began swinging it around, trying to get rid of the dust. As I do this, I keep yelling out Shade's name, only to get no response. That is, till the cloud fades around me.

Then, I see...nothing. Nothing but the buildings, ponies and buffalo of the town.

He got away.

"SPRINGER!" a new voice yells. I turn around, only to feel my legs give out. A second later, my face hits the dirt with a groan. Was I that tired? I had been fighting all day. That or-

"SPRINGER! SPRINGER!!!" yells the voice again, getting closer now. Then, I feel an aura lean down to my head. Its Luna. "Are you alright?!" Luna yells in my ear, quickly lifting me up from the ground. I let out a groan of pain as my eyes begin to adjust back to reality.

I let out a cough before saying, "No. I'm not."

"Oh Springer...I'm sorry I didn't help you. I should have helped you." she replies, putting her hoof around me.

I look back at her and shake my head. "Its okay. You had to keep the citizens safe. I understand." I then look back to the where the Trickster was, the space still vacant. "He just...he got away." I lower my head, admitting the truth. "I lost."

I feel her fully embrace me now, her hooves wrapping around me as she hugged me. "Its okay young jakhowl. You need not worry. It is okay to fail and you did your best." She then ends the hug and looks at me straight in the eyes. "Do you hear me? Its okay."

"I..."

I don't how to respond. I just lay stand there. I can't seem to move. So, she hugs me again and I feel...warm. I sink into her fur, feeling the calm, cool warmth. A few seconds later, she ends the hug and puts me on her back. "Come young jakhowl, you have done well today."

"But I-"

I feel a hoof over my mouth. "No more talking. Get some rest."

"....okay."

It wasn't long till I drifted into a nap. My whole body felt like a broken rag, battered and beaten. While I slept, Luna went through town, checking to see if everyone was okay. She helped repair the water tower with her magic and explained to the citizens why this had happened. Unfortunately, I soon found out that the mayor of the town was not happy with the explanation, saying I should be banned from stepping foot in Appleloosa ever again. His reasoning was that Shade was technically looking for me and innocents got caught in the crossfire, which was true. He also apparently yelled back at Luna, which she did not like. Gotta say, the guy apparently had some real guts to stand up to Princess Luna like that, especially since she had revealed who she was during that fight.

Despite this, I'm not banned from the town. At least as long as Luna is here with me. Good thing I don't have an urge to come back here. With that, Luna brought me to the train station as I waking up from my nap. Here, she told me all that happened while I was out. As she did, we said good bye to Dusty Flower, Braeburn, and Chief Thunderhooves.

It started with Dusty hugging me.

"Thank you so much Springer!" she says as I returned the hug. "Thank you for saving me from Shade!"

"Hey, I was just doing my job. I'm a Defender of the Peace after all." I reply, ending the hug.

Braeburn walks up and tips his hat. "Ah need to thank ya'll as well. You saved our town from that mischief maker. Thank ya."

Me and Luna nod back. Then, Thunderhooves takes a step forward. "I must thank you as well. Thank you for saving me and all my buffalo brothers and sisters."

"Its no problem. Though uh..." I twiddle my paws at the my next words. "Sorry about your...horn."

"Ha ha, don't worry about it." he guffaws. "My horn is the least of my worries if it means my buffalo are safe."

I give him a small bow. "Thank you."

He shakes his head. "Nonsense. It is I who should be thanking you." He turns his stare to Luna and bows, "And thank you as well Princess Luna. Thank you for saving our town."

"Tis nothing. It is my duty as a princess." Luna nudges me. "Come Springer. I wish to leave for Canterlot and inform my sister of the return of the Tricksters. Then, I shall drop you off at Ponyville, agreed?"

I nod. "Sounds good to me." I turn back and give them a wave. "See ya'll later."

"See ya later pardner."

"Bye!"

"May the fates be with you."

A few minutes later, I'm in sky with Luna. I gotta say, I prefer flying compared to the train. I won't deny that. But as we continued our path to the city, Luna speaks up, "Are you alright Springer? How do you feel?"

"I'm..." I need to be honest. "I'm a bit shaken up, but I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

I nod. "Yeah. And uh...Luna?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. Thank you for taking me here so I could help save them from Shade."

Luna turns her head around and gives me a huge smile. "Of course."

And with that, everything is settled. At least, for today that is. But as I continued to sit on her back, I crossed my hooves as I thought about the past two days. Shade, the dreams that led me there, and...he was the dragon back then. He came to Equestria and put real lives in danger...just to get to me.

I lift my right paw, flexing it for a bit. A second later, my Steel Paw appears, shining like the new move that it is. I feel a breath of air fly out of my nostrils as I stare at it. Shade...Tricksters...dreams...I was the jakhowl in the dream, there to stop an evil shadow.

I cancel the Steel Paw and look ahead, staring above Luna's horn and head. I feel both paws clench as I say to myself one thing: "We'll meet again, huh? Alright Shade, I'm fine with that." I raise my right paw, a burning blue aura flame encasing it. "And next time, I'll bring you in. Count on it."

A Canterlot Wedding PT1

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It had been an hour or two since Springer had left with Princess Luna.

Thanks to the princess calling the two out for fighting for no reason in the morning, Flash and Iron decided to train separately. Now, Flash was doing his theta state training while Iron continued his daily workout. The orange pegasus was in a meditative stance, his eyes closed as he let out a long sigh.

"Calm...focus..." Flash muttered to himself, air repeatedly coming out of his nostrils. "Have to stay...calm. Have to be....focused." As he let out another sigh, his mind starting to calm down. The thoughts in his head slowed down, his brain trying to stop every thought.

That is, till a certain thought entered his head. It was the idea of Springer meeting another jakhowl. Then, he started to see Springer staying with the other jakhowl, leaving and-

"Grrr...AUGH!" Flash moaned as he fell back, his body now laying in the grass. "Darn it! Why can't I focus?!"

Iron stopped and turned to the defender, raising an eyebrow. "Hey! Get up lazy bones! You'll never master the theta state doing that!"

Flash waved a hoof, looking away. "At this point, I'm starting to think I'm wasting my time. Besides, I...I can't stop thinking about Springer."

Iron rolled his eyes, rubbing his head in frustration. "Oh please, the furball's fine. So he's gonna go meet one of his own kind, what's so bad about that? You scared he's gonna leave you or something?"

That thought repeatedly appeared in Flash's head, causing him to sigh again. What if this new jakhowl knew how to find others and asked Springer to go with him, leaving Flash forever? What would Flash do? The pegasus felt his stomach churn at that thought, making him frown.

Iron facehoofed. "Oh jeez, I can't handle this. I'm out of here."

"Hey!" Flash yelped as he hopped up, glaring at him. "Don't just leave! I'm having a heart-wrenching emotional conflict here, so come comfort me!"

"No," Iron deadpanned, turning around and waving his hoof goodbye. "You've got a whole bunch of female friends, go have one of them comfort you."

"Fine! I'll go do that then!" Flash yelled as Iron started to disappear into the distance. "At least they know how to make a pony feel better, ya stinking metalhead!" He growled as he got up and grabbed Lightbringer, grumbling as he did. He then remembered that his friends were going to do a picnic later today, which caused him to spread his wings. "Maybe they'll be able to help. I sure hope so..."

A few minutes later, he was in sky, making his way to his friends. There, he saw his friends in a meadow, unfolding a picnic basket. Everypony except Pinkie was already there, though Iron was also walking up to the picnic. This made Flash guess that Fluttershy had invited him.

Landing nearby, he walked up to them and asked, "Hey girls! How's it going?"

"Hey Flash!" Twilight waved to him, patting her side to signal him to sit by her.

As he sat down, he asked, "Say, where's Pinkie? She's not one too be late."

Twilight shook her head and shrugged. "No idea. I hope she didn't forget or got the wrong time."

"I doubt Pinkie would forget. Maybe she's-"

"We're here!" They all turned to see Pinkie rushing towards them, a big pink cake balanced on her head with Wild Smile by her side. "Sorry we're late!" she said as she put the cake down. "Hope you don't mind, but I invited Wild."

Rarity gave them a smug wave of the hoof. "Of course not darling. Considering he'll be spending more time in Ponyville, we'll need to get used to him being around more."

"Gee thanks," Wild deadpanned as he sat down. Apparently, Rarity was still leery of him after The Battle of Canterlot, especially since he knocked her out back then.

"Thanks, thanks," his puppets repeated.

With this, the picnic began. The friends all began to eat, talking about their past few days in Ponyville. However, a few minutes in, Rainbow Dash noticed a certain missing member. She tapped Flash's shoulder, "Hey Flash, where's Springer?"

The question made Flash shiver. A small frown appeared on his face as he replied, "Yeah...about that..." He started the scratch the back of his head, doing a slight gulp. He then saw everyone's expectant looks, wanting an explanation. A sigh later, he began to tell the tale of this morning with Princess Luna.

"Wow..." Twilight gasped as Flash ended the explanation. She began rubbing her in chin in thought. "I can't believe there's another jakhowl. I mean, there was always the possibility, but to think Princess Luna would be able to find one." She shined a small smile before patting Flash's back. "Isn't that great Flash? Now Springer won't be alone."

"Yeah...great." Flash groaned, looking away.

"You okay partner?" Applejack asked.

"He's just being a drama queen," Iron chimed in with a roll of his eyes, getting a glare from Flash. "He thinks Springer's gonna leave him forever."

Fluttershy put her hooves over her mouth. "Oh dear. Surely you can't think that Flash. I'm sure he won't leave you."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "After everything the two of you have been through, there's no way he would leave you."

Flash turned to her, the frown deepening. "You think?"

"I'm sure of it," Twilight assured him, half-hugging him with her hoof. "You two share a bond that some of us wish we could have."

The others all nodded at this, causing Flash's frown to shrink a little. "Yeah...I guess. Thanks girls."

"No problem," Twilight said as she magically put one of the hay sandwiches into her mouth. "Now come on, eat your meal Flash."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Flash grumbled as he put the sandwich in his gullet.

As they continued to eat, Rarity leaned back with a huge smile on her face. "Ahhh...it is gorgeous out. Just gorgeous."

"And the food doesn't look half bad either," Iron mumbled as he looked at the cake Pinkie had brought. "Its the only thing that's worth looking at in this place."

Iron felt a smack from Fluttershy's wing. "Iron, the cake is the last thing we eat." She glared at him before showing him a sandwich. "Here. Eat."

Iron opened his mouth to reply, but Fluttershy's stare was enough to stop his retort. Instead, he took the sandwich and ate it with a grumble. He then glared at Flash, who was chuckling at him. Iron gave him a death glare, only for the two defenders to pick up a new sound of someone running towards them.

"What's up?" Twilight asked as she saw them looking at the distance.

"I think...Spike's rushing towards us."

They turned to see the little purple dragon baby rushing towards them. "Twi...light!" He cried once he had eventually gotten close to them. He stopped right in front of her, panting heavily as if he had just run all the way from the library. "I...have...I was uh...lemme just-" He didn't finish as he then burped out a puff of smoke, which quickly reformed into a scroll. Twilight clapped at the sight, taking it in her magic and unfurling it.

"Dear Twilight," She started. "I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot. Wedding?!" She stopped for a moment, looking at the others in a confused manner. She started reading again, "I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music."

The buttercream pegasus let out a gasp. "Oh my goodness! What an honor!"

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight continued. "I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception."

"Yay!" Pinkie cried before turning to Wild Smile, a knowing smirk on her face. "You'll help, right?"

"Just try and stop me." Wild replied with a stuck-out tongue.

"Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception."

"Well, color me pleased as punch!" Applejack said with a tip of her hat.

"Rainbow Dash." The said mare let out a yawn, expecting to be given some boring job. "I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their 'I do's'."

Rainbow's body shot up like a rocket, leaping into the air. "Yes!"

"Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids."

Rarity's eyes went wide in shock. "Princess Celestia wants me to–" She suddenly spoke in an unintelligent manner as her eyes twitched and she started to look wobbly on her hooves. "Wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding...I, ah, oooh!" Finally, she collapsed on the ground with a big goofy grin on her face.

"Flash and Iron, the two of you will be helping with security. Grand Hoof along with Heather Bloom and First Aid will also be there."

"Seriously?" Flash said with a raised eyebrow. "Whoever's getting married must be important."

Iron nodded. "No kidding. Having three Royal Knights and two apprentices is almost like having a complete army there."

"And as for you Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight looked through the letter again, still confused. "But...I don't understand. Who's getting married?"

"Oh, wait!" Spike yelped nervously as he pulled out another piece of paper. "Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she took the paper in her magic before reading it aloud. "Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and-" She suddenly let out a loud gasp before screaming, "MY BROTHER?!"

Everypony gasped at hearing this. Well, all except Flash, who wanted to say 'Called it!'. Instead, he just put another spring roll in his mouth, slightly staring at Twilight with a smug smirk. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Twilight's reaction was about to be.

"Your brother's getting married?" Applejack asked before shaking the purple unicorn's hoof. "Congratulations Twilight, that's great news!"

Twilight's eyes shrunk as steam blew out of her nostrils, pure anger on her face. "Yeah sure, great news...that I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot, Shining Armor! I mean, really?! He couldn't tell me personally?!" She raised a sandwich in her magic and started mimicking her brother. "Hey, Twilight, just thought you should know I'm making a really big decision that changes everything. Oh, never mind, you'll hear about it when you get the invitation." She slowed the sandwich and started talking normally. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who in the hoof is that?!"

Flash snickered at this, knowing from the start that Twilight would not know the name since she had never heard anypony say it. Well actually, the name had been said around her, but always when she was in a book or something else. As he snickered, Iron and Wild leaned over, whispering to the stallion.

"Hey Sentry, what's going on here? I thought she knew Princess Cadenza?" Iron asked.

Wild nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I thought she liked her."

Flash shined a cheeky grin. "She only knows her by her shortened name. I've considering telling her for like...I don't know how long. Maybe I'll tell her when this stops being fun."

Iron and Wild actually chuckled at that, getting the mare's attention. "What are you three snickering at?" Twilight asked as she walked up to them. "Flash, aren't you upset about this?! You know, about the stallion that is also technically your older brother, is getting married and you're not angry?!"

Flash gave her a deadpan stare. "No Twilight, I'm not."

"WHAT?!" Twilight shrieked, her horn about to lit up and grab his ear.

Flash however, laid back with his hooves behind his head. "Twilight, I saw it coming years ago. I mean, the two of them were always making goo-goo eyes at one another. I'm surprised it took them this long to decide to tie the knot."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight growled as her horn lit up, causing Flash to put his hoof over his ear. "Are you saying you know who this Mi Amore Cadenza is?"

"Yes, I know. And please don't pull my ear." Flash replied with a smirk, "In fact, we've all met her. Heck, you've known her for years."

"No I haven't!" Twilight almost yelled, grabbing Flash's neck with her hoof. "I've never met this mare before. I don't know any Mi Amore Cadenza!!!"

Unfortunately for Flash, all he could do is snicker. He then started laughing, making Twilight's horn light up. The following chuckle made a magic aura pull his ear. "Ow! Stop it Twilight!"

"Then stop laughing at me!"

"Okay okay!" Flash waved his hooves around in a panic. "Just stop. I'll give you a hint about who she is, okay?"

"I DON'T WANT A HINT FLASH! TELL ME WHO IT IS!!!" Twilight exclaimed, pulling Flash up to her face. "TELL ME NOW!"

Flash let out a low sigh, giving her another deadpan stare. "Calm down Twilight. All you need to do is sound out her whole name and you'll get it."

Twilight raised her eyebrow at this, but Flash just gave her a 'go on' motion. "Me-A-more-ray-K-dense...ah." Flash could see the gears turning in her head. "Mi Amore...Cadance?!"

The other girls realised who she was talking about and suddenly looked at one another in amazement.

"Princess Cadance?!" Pinkie asked, repeating Twilight's words.

Flash nodded. "That's right."

"I can't believe it," Rarity gasped, putting her hoof over her chest.

"She was so nice back at the festival," Fluttershy added with a happy smile. "To think she's the one getting married."

Twilight on the other hoof, looked like she had just been hit by a buffalo. "Cadance...and my brother...together? But when did...how did that...HUH?!"

Flash patted her shoulder, winking. "Like I said, I'm surprised it took them this long."

"B-b-but how?" Twilight asked in amazement. "How long have they been...romantically involved?"

"Since before I met you," Flash deadpanned as he put another spring roll in his mouth. "Thought apparently they had just started dating like...a month before that."

"WHAT?!"

"Eeyup." Flash replied as he started chewing his food. He raised his left eyebrow. "You can't seriously tell me you never figured it out? It was so obvious."

"No, I didn't!" Twilight hissed as she lit up her horn again, ready to pull Flash's ear. "Are you telling me that you knew about this for years, but never told me?!"

Flash gave her a shrug, gulping down the treat. "I honestly thought you would have at least figured it out. I mean, I get that you didn't know about Cadance's real name but..." Flash let out a sigh. "Up until a few years ago, when you suggested the Shining try dating somepony and when he didn't tell you anything, I figured he was keeping it a secret. Though I don't know why, since everypony knew about them."

"Everypony?! You're kidding, right?" Twilight growled.

Flash started counting on his hoof. "Well there's me, your parents, Princess Celestia, Donut Joe-"

"Donut Joe knew before me?!" Twilight shrieked, her horn flaring again.

"Yes. Donut Joe knew." Flash replied sheepishly, almost backpedaling. "Please don't hurt me Twilight. Okay?"

Twilight continued to frown, only to let out a long sigh and look away. The others watched as she stared off into the distance, a sad expression on her face.

Applejack called out to her. "Twilight? Um...you okay pardner?"

"I thought I knew him," Twilight replied in a sad, low tone. "Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship, there were only two ponies I ever really accepted as a friend." She let out a long sigh. "And Shining Armor was the first one of them. But now I realise that I knew so little about him."

"That's not true Twilight," Flash told her as they all gathered around her. "So you didn't know one thing about him, that doesn't change the fact that you two are the closest siblings I've ever met. You two have the kind of relationship I want me and Scootaloo to have."

"Then why didn't he tell me he was getting married?!" Twilight asked as she glared at him again.

This time though, Flash wasn't intimidated. He just gave her a shrug. "No clue. But you can ask him yourself if you want to go to the wedding."

Twilight levitated up the wedding invitation and scrunched it up in anger. "Oh, I'm going alright. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind...before making sure he and Cadance have the best wedding Equestria has ever seen!"

The others all smiled at this, knowing what to do next. With this, the ended the picnic and began to pack up for Canterlot.

Two hours later...

The train to Canterlot was in full steam ahead as it chugged along the tracks. Inside one of the carriages was our heroes, all of them talking about the wedding in excitement. The CMC were just as excited, having also been invited to the festivities as well.

Sweetie Belle had a huge grin on her face, her whole form shivering in excitement. "This is gonna be so awesome! I've never been to a wedding before."

Scootaloo nodded in agreement before glancing at her older brother. "Same here. Though uh...does this mean I'll be related to a princess?"

Flash wasn't sure how to respond to that. He rubbed his chin in thought, "I guess it would be an...honorary relation. I've always considered Shining and Cadance my brother and sister, so I guess it counts."

"Awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed with a hoof pump. Flash chuckled at this as he turned to look out the window and saw Canterlot in the distance. The others joined in, all admiring the massive city.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves "Ohhh, I can't wait. This is gonna be amazing."

"Yeah it will!" Rainbow bragged, hovering in place as she put her hooves behind her back. "A sonic rainboom? At a wedding?! Can you say "best wedding ever?"

Pinkie nodded as they went through a tunnel. "BEST WEDDING EVER!"

"So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding," Spike grumbled as they exited the tunnel, giving them all a glare. "But I'm the one who gets to host the bachelor party! And I have no idea what a bachelor party is!"

They all chuckled at this, only for everyone to notice Twilight sitting alone, staring out the window with a glum look on her face. Applejack and Flash moved over to her, the earth pony speaking first, "Why the long face sugarcube?"

"I'm just thinking about Shining Armor," Twilight moaned, her ears flopping down. "Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he and Cadance are starting a new family together, we'll probably never see each other."

Flash rolled his eyes at this, putting his wing over his friend. "Don't be like that Twilight. Do you honestly think Cadance would do that to you? If anything, this'll just bring you guys closer together."

Twilight stared back at him. "You think so?"

"We do," Applejack nodded, patting her friend's soulder. "You're his sister. He'll always make time for you."

Twilight just frowned. "Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married."

Flash was about to reply, only for his ears to pick up a certain pink pony's voice. "We're here!"

"We're here! We're here!" several floating puppets repeated.

They all looked out the window and saw she was right. The city of Canterlot had come into view and when it did, they saw it was actually engulfed by a purple energy field like bubble.

"What's that?" Wild Smile asked.

Flash crossed his hooves at the sight. "It must be the Canterlot Defense Grid. Princess Celestia told us about it during the Battle of Canterlot. My guess is that Shining Armor's the one powering it."

"Whoa," the others all said as they watched the train get closer to the bubble. At the train's entrance to the city, they saw several guards standing there with their spears crossed. When the train arrived at the entrance, they uncrossed their spears and it chugged past and through the field. As they did, the purple energy passed through the train car and hit everypony in it.

"That was weird," Applebloom shivered, rubbing her hooves in slight digust.

The train soon pulled up to the station and came to a stop, the train doors opening for the metal machine. The group all nodded to each other, all grabbing their stuff before hopping onto the platform. There, they saw a plethora of royal guards.

Rainbow leaned slightly back at the sight. "Whoa. What's with all the guards?"

"I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions," Rarity explained with a wave of the hoof. "Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies."

In that moment, Flash and Iron stepped onto the platform and the guards saw their Celestic Gears. Faster than Rainbow in cider season, the guards surrounded the two with their spears pointed at them.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Flash yelped with his hooves raised. "Easy guys! We're Flash Sentry and Iron Core, the apprentice knights!"

"We're here to help with security," Iron added.

The guards did not look convinced. This was evident as their spears got closer to the duo's necks. That is, till-

"At ease stallions!"

The guards suddenly pulled back and moved aside, allowing them to see a familiar green earth pony mare. Flash let out a long sigh as he called out to the mare. "Heather! Great to see you!"

She gave the two stallions a nod before motioning her hoof. "Its good to see you as well. Now come on, there's a lot of work that needs doing."

"Are you gonna be attending the royal wedding too?" Scootaloo asked as she rushed up to her, happy to see one of the doctors that helped her a while back.

Heather patted the filly's head. "I wish I could, but me and First will be on perimeter duty."

"Seriously? All these precautions just for a wedding?" Spike asked.

"It's not just for the wedding," Heather explained, rubbing the side of her head in frustration. "A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has upped security to the max."

"Tch, that explains the force field." Flash commented as he looked back at the purple bubble.

"Exactly," Heather grumbled as they arrived at the outskirts of the castle. "Since Princess Luna is away on some mission, it falls to use to keep Canterlot safe during the night." It was then that they saw First and Grand Hoof standing with a bunch of guards.

When they turned to see the others, the two stallion knights smirked. "Good to see you kids," Grand called out before turning to Twilight. "And congrats on getting a new sister-in-law Twi."

Twilight gave the old stallion a death glare, causing him to almost lean back. "Thanks. You wouldn't happen to know where my brother is, would you?" she hissed, her eye twitching.

First nodded, ignoring her glare. "Last I saw him, he was on the battlements."

"Thank you." Twilight growled as she turned around, her eyes narrowing at her new destination.

Grand nudged his apprentice. "You go too Flash. I expect you'll want to talk to him as well. That and that glare she was giving is...yeah."

"Got it." Flash replied as he took to the skies after Twilight, turning to call over his shoulder. "Scootaloo, stick with Applejack and give her a hoof."

"Okay," he heard her reply before she was out of earshot. It didn't take him long to catch up to Twilight, as he saw that she was talking to a few guards for directions.

That is, till she turned and walked up to a certain white stallion. She sucked up a breath before yelling. "SHINING ARMOR! I've got something to say to you mister!"

Shining turned around and smiled as he pulled off his helmet. "Twily, Flash!" He started to rush over to his sister, only for Flash to land in front of him.

Flash gave him wavering hooves, "Careful bro. Twilight's not in the best of moods with you."

"Huh? Why?" Shining asked, only to feel a certain magic tug on his ear. "Ow! What the-"

"How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I'm your sister, for pony's sake!" Twilight screamed as she twisted his ear. "Who do you think you are?!"

Shining let out a small whine as he covered his ear with his hooves. "Ow ow ow! Stop that! It's not my fault! Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security."

Flash walked inbetween the two. "Heather told us. Canterlot's being targeted, right?"

Shining nodded. "Exactly. Princess Celestia asked that I help provide additional protection." He then gave his sister a sympathetic look, causing her magic to leave his ear. Shining turned and pointed to the bubble over the city. "Here, you need to see this." He stepped back and closed his eyes, his horn beginning to glow brighter and brighter. Eventually, a purple burst of energy shot out and into the sky, striking the top of the shield and causing the entire thing to glow even brighter.

Flash covered his eyes from the shine. "Whoa. I knew you were good with shield spells, but I didn't think you were that good."

Shining gave them a cheeky grin. "You underestimate me." He said, though by the way he was holding his head, the spell was giving obviously him a headache. He then turned back to Twilight. "The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hoof has been my top priority."

"I know how that feels," Flash agreed as he tapped Twilight's shoulder. "Heck, think back to the time travel incident Twilight. You were so focused on stopping a disaster that you couldn't think of anything else. When you're in a position of authority to protect others, you'll-OW!"

"Shut up Flash." Twilight grumbled, pulling his ear now. She looked back at her brother, letting out a long snort. A second later, she facehoofed before saying, "Okay, okay, I get it. You've got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field that only you can conjure up. But still...how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding?" She looked at Shining with tears in her eyes. "Am I not that important to you any more?! WELL?!"

Shining placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Hey, you're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now."

This got Twilight and Flash's attention, enough for Twilight's grip on Flash's ear to disappear. "You want me to be your best mare?!"

Shining gave her a comforting shrug. "Well yeah. I thought about asking Flash, but with all the security I heard Grand had planned for him-"

"Say no more." Flash grumbled as he rubbed his ear in slight pain. "I think Twilight will be a much better choice."

"Thanks," Shining chuckled as he turned back to his sister. "So, what do you say?"

Twilight paused for a second, only to then shine a huge smile. "I'd be honored."

Seeing this, Shining pulled his little sister into a hug. "Thanks Twily! I know Cadance will be happy to hear that."

Flash smirked at this, his eyebrows hopping up and down as he leaned over to Twilight. "So when are you gonna tell your brother that you didn't know he was even dating Cadance?"

Twilight gave him a death glare, while Shining stared at her in confusion. "You didn't know? Its not like we kept it secret or anything."

"Well..." Twilight twiddled her hooves before blushing. "I uh..."

"Typical Twily," Shining guffawed, tapping his hoof on the bridge. "Smartest unicorn in Equestria, but can't see things that are right in front of her." This made Flash laugh and Twilight blush even harder.

That is, till Twilight let out a low hiss. "Well, I might not have been happy about not being told but...." she let out a long sigh. "If you had to marry somepony, I'm glad it's Cadance."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Same here." he then leaned his hoof on Shining's shoulder. "And here I thought I could boss you around when I became a Royal Knight. I guess this'll put us on equal hoofing."

"Very funny," Shining deadpanned, pushing off Flash's hoof.

"I just can't believe it," Twilight said, shaking her head in amazement. "You're marrying Cadance. Now that I think about it, I just can't stop thinking about how amazing this is. You're marrying Cadance!" She started dancing around happily, causing Flash and Shining to wink at each other. This is, until a familiar pink alicorn walked up to them.

It was Princess Cadance, who now stood there with a disapproving look on her face. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important?" She asked.

"Cadance!" Twilight cried happily before leaping in front of the alicorn, crouching down to do their special dance. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Cadance just stared at Twilight, looking perplexed by her actions. "What are you doing?"

This made both Twilight and Flash raise an eyebrow. Since when did Cadance not do their special dance? Flash blinked as he asked, "Uh...Cadance? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Cadance replied as she trotted past them and over to Shining Armor. She placed her hoof on Shining, giving him a small, calm smile.

Seeing this, the captain of the royal guard grinned before turning to the younger ponies. "Welp, I've gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?"

Cadance gave the two an unusual glare. "Absolutely."

Shining hugged his finance as he said, "Well, we'll let you get to it." With that, he and Cadance turned to head off, leaving Flash and Twilight on the bridge.

"Did something seem...off about Cadance to you?" Twilight asked.

Flash nodded, scratching the side of his head. He turned to Twilight with a perplexed look. "Maybe it's wedding jitters?"

"Maybe...maybe not." Twilight commented, crossing her hooves.

Looking back at the leaving couple, Flash flexed his wings. "I'd better go report to Grand. You gonna be alright on your own?"

"I'll be fine," Twilight said as she walked off, leaving Flash alone.

The young pegasus sighed, hating seeing Twilight like this, but knew he had other duties to attend to. Once again, he flexed his wings and took to the sky, flying over the castle towards the usual training ground. Grand was there, directing a bunch of guards to where they were meant to patrol. Flash also noticed he now had a large war-hammer by his side, Grand Hoof's Celestic Gear named Grand Slammer.

The older pony looked up and saw Flash coming in for a landing. "Hey kiddo, ready to get to work?"

Flash nodded to his mentor. "Sure am. Where's Iron and the other knights?"

"Already on their assignment," Grand replied, letting out a long snort from his nostril's. "We need to be vigilant, especially with the recent breech we had a few days ago. That's why we had Shining Armor create this force field."

"Breech?" Flash asked, not liking the sound of that.

Grand nodded back. "Yup. Last week, a group of guards patrolling the gardens were ambushed by a unicorn with yellow fur and a green mane. The unicorn tried to knock them out with a sneak attack but failed. When the guards chased the unicorn through the gardens, they lost him, only finding the gardener who hadn't seen anypony come by. Then there was another incident that night, this time a silver pegasus was seen flying near the throne room tower. They disappeared when they heard the guard yelling at them."

"That's not good..."

"And it gets weirder," Grand went on. "The gardener those guards spoke to was found in her supply shed the next morning. She said she had been in there all day, after somepony knocked her out and tied her up with a gag.

"That is weird." Flash commented as he gripped Lightbringer. "Alright, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anything strange."

"Good lad," Grand said as he handed him a sheet of paper. "This is your schedule. You're to be at these spots during these times."

"Got it," Flash replied as he took the sheet and saluted his mentor. He then took back to the sky, quickly heading over to the first location on his list, the sculpture garden. He soon arrived there and began his patrol, not daring to overlook a single thing. That is, till about twenty minutes of patrol, in which Flash was starting to get bored. He was used to patrolling a much larger area, not a fairly small statue garden. As Flash landed on the ground and walked through the place, he came up to a corner, only to not notice somepony turning the same corner.

"Ow!" He yelped as he rubbed his head from the collison that soon happened. As he did, he glanced at the pony he had bumped into. He saw it was a unicorn mare that had dark green fur with an orange mane and tail. She wore thin glasses and her Cutie Mark was a stone mason chisel. "Gorgenia?"

Gorgenia blinked, her surprise quickly fading to a deadpan stare. "Oh, hello Flash Sentry."

"It's just Flash," the pegasus replied at an almost similar deadpan tone.

Gorgenia raised an eyebrow. "Okay....What are you doing here Flash?"

"Patrolling for the wedding. What about you?"

"Making sure none of the statues need any work," Gorgenia grumbled as she now walked past him, going to a statue just behind Flash. "Its my job after all."

"Right....yeah. Sorry." Flash gulped as he leaned against the tree and watched her do her thing. He blinked at the sight, seeing a sad look in Gorgenia's eyes. Seeing this, he spoke up, "So uh....how have you been lately?"

"I've been okay," Gorgenia replied in a still deadpan tone.

"How's work?" That made Gorgenia pause, making Flash stop leaning against the tree. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Let me do my work Flash." the mare huffed as she spun a brush in her hoof.

Unfortunately for her, Flash was going to listen. Instead, he walked up to her and said, "Gorgenia, I...look, I know we don't have a good history with you and...Lightning. But, despite our past, I'd like us to be friends."

Gorgenia paused again, not looking back at the defender. Instead, she resumed cleaning the statue. "Go away Flash. I don't have anything to say to you."

Flash crossed his hooves. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not leaving. This is where I've been assigned to patrol and I'm patrolling it." Gorgenia let out a sigh and turned to the pegasi, both of them now staring at each other before Flash said, "And considering your attitude, something's obviously wrong Gorgenia. Even if you don't want to be friends, I need to know what's wrong." He uncrossed his hooves, giving a pleading expression. "Please...just tell me."

Gorgenia gave him a long, cold stare. She then took her glasses in her magic and began wiping them as she let out a sigh. "Alright, you win. I can see why Lightning had a problem with you...and why you're a friend to that harpy."

Flash smirked at this, though he didn't like the last word she said. He waved his hoof with his grin, "So, what's wrong Gorgenia?"

"Here," she said as she levitated a folded up piece of paper out of her saddle bag. "A few weeks ago, Cadance came to me, asking me to commission a statue to commemorate her wedding."

"A few weeks ago?" Flash asked as he grabbed the paper, unwrapping it. "How long have those two been engaged?"

Gorgenia rolled her eyes. "Since the Battle of Canterlot apparently. Anyways, a few days ago, I went to her to show her my sketch idea." Flash finished unfolding the piece of paper, seeing it depict both Cadance and Shining's cutie marks intertwined.

Flash could only blink at the sketch, "Whoa...this looks amazing."

"She thought so too," Gorgenia hissed, taking the sketch away from Flash. "But I noticed she looked a little concerned. When I asked her about it, she said she was thinking of putting the wedding on hold due to the security breech. I managed to talk her into sleeping on it, but then the next morning when I went to see how she was doing..."

"Yeah?" Flash asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"I...I don't know," Gorgenia huffed, stuffing the paper back in the bag. "She was like a completely different pony. She didn't seem to remember our conversation about putting the wedding on hold and what's worse..." her voice began to rise in volume. "She told me that she had chosen to cancel her commission!"

"What!?" Flash yelped, his eyes going wide. That wasn't the Cadance he knew.

"I thought we were friends." Gorgenia hissed as she turned around, pulling out the brush again. "After what happened in the Battle of Canterlot, she's been supporting me, helping me after everypony went against me after The Battle of Canterlot and..." A stray tear appeared under her right eye. "But no! I was right all along! She's just a blasted harpy like I've always said she was and over these last few days, she's-" She stopped when she felt Flash put his wing on her back.

"Stop. Please." Flash told her, causing her to look at him, more tears going down her face. He then gave her an even stare, showing he truly meant business. "That's not the Cadance I know and I know that's not the one you've come to know. Am I right?" Gorgenia stared at him for a few seconds, only to give a weak nod. Flash gave her a soft smile. "Good. I'm gonna find out what's wrong with her, so stop beating yourself up, okay?"

"I....okay." Gorgenia nodded again as she replied, "Just uh...thanks. Sorry about the cold shoulder. I'm just....I miss Lightning and the past few days haven't been the best for me."

"Its cool." Flash flexed his wings, only to look back at Gorgenia as a new thought popped into his head. "Oh and uh, Wild Smile is here in Canterlot. He came with us from Ponyville."

"Got it. I'll make sure to run into that troublemaker later."

With that, Flash made his way out of the sculpture garden. It was here that he looked at his schedule, only to see he now needed to go somewhere else in Canterlot for the next patrol round. He soon head over, two hours passing by as he continued his job. All while doing this, he was thinking about what Gorgenia had told him, a look of pure concern on his face. That is, till his ears picked up something new.

"Well somepony's looking down."

The pegasi looked around for the voice's owner, only for his vision to be suddenly occupied by a light blue unicorn with platinum hair. "Trixie?" He asked.

"The one and only," Trixie Lulamoon waved her hoof, showing off her old selfish persona. That is till she shined a huge smile and pulled the pegasi into a hug. "Its so great to see you!"

"Same here," Flash replied as he hugged her back. "So how's the student of the night doing?"

Trixie just shrugged. "Pretty well. Princess Celestia has put me in charge of the fireworks for the wedding after party. Though I'm also helping with the security..." Trixie let out a long huff as she scratched the side of her head in frustration. "My mentor Princess Luna apparently decided to go on some errand that she said was of up most importance."

"Yeah, it is." Flash replied, interrupting her rant.

"You know what it is?" Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow, almost backpedaling. "She wouldn't even tell me."

Flash just rubbed the side of his chin. "It uh...it involves Springer. I shouldn't say anymore until I have more information."

Trixie crossed her hooves in slight irritation of no answers, but shrugged a second later. "If you say so. But even so, I've been put in charge of night watch so Celestia can rest for tomorrow. It's...a bit intimidating."

Flash waved his hoof. "You'll do fine. You've come a long way from when we first met."

Trixie nodded at this. "And I owe it all to you and Twilight." In that moment, she looked out the window and saw Celestia was beginning to set the sun. "Ooh, I'd better get going." She started to rush down the corridor, only stopping for a second to look back at him. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya later."

Once she was gone, Flash headed out of the castle and back over to the training ground. There, he saw Grand, Iron, Heather and First standing with glum looks on their faces.

"My sections were clear," Iron started.

"Same with ours," First adding, motioning to Heather. "Whoever caused that breech has not shown themselves once."

"You think they might have left when they saw the heightened security?" Flash asked.

Heather shook her head. "As much as I'd like to think that, we can't afford to let our guard down. I can't help but think that this is even worse sign of what's to come."

Grand let out a low growl as he nodded. "I'm starting to think you're right." He gave the four a hard glare as he crossed his hooves. "However, until then, the four of you should get some rest. We'll all need to be at full attention tomorrow." They all nodded, heading off into different directions. As they did, Flash stayed with Grand, a glum look on his face. "You okay there kiddo?"

Flash let out a low sigh. "Yeah...I'm fine."

Grand rolled his eyes. "Flash, I've known you far too long not to know when you're feeling upset. What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Flash grumbled as he rubbed his chin in thought. "It's just...something doesn't feel right. Like something in my gut is telling me there's danger, but I can't put my hoof on it."

"I'm sure you're just feeling nervous due to all this extra security," Grand replied as he tapped his student's back. "Don't let it get to ya or you'll be seeing conspiracies all over the place. Try and relax kiddo, or you won't be able to enjoy the big day tomorrow."

"If you say so," Flash shrugged.

"Good. Now go get some rest." He began to walk off, only to stop and turn around. "Oh yeah, your friend Pinkie was here earlier and asked me to tell you that they were all meeting up at Jazzy Juice."

"Got it. Thanks Grand." With that, he flew into the sky.

"Which way is it again?" Flash asked as he flew around the city. It had been so long since he had been to Jazzy Juice, apparent as he took six wrong turns. On the seventh, he found what he was looking for, quickly descending. "Sorry I'm late girls." Flash said as he landed right by the table. "Security detail ran longer than expected."

"That's fine Flash," Rarity replied with a wave of her hoof. "Its how it works here in Canterlot."

Flash nodded before turning to his sister. "How's your day been sis?"

"Exhausting," Scootaloo groaned, kissing the table with the side of her face. "I had no idea the castle's kitchen staff worked so hard."

Flash chuckled at this. "Yeah...before meeting the Apples, I thought they were the hardest working ponies in Equestria."

Applejack almost blushed, waving her hoof. "Aww shucks, none of that."

"Okay," Flash said with a cheeky grin, causing the earth pony to almost glare at him. He then looked at his friends with a curious glance. "Hey, where's Twilight?"

Applejack gave him a glum look. "She rushed out ta here few minutes ago after havin a hissy fit about Cadance."

"Hissy fit?" Flash asked.

"She's just being over sensitive," Rarity replied with a slight huff. "Cadance is making a few high priority wedding demands, like how she wanted her dress."

"And how my birds were out of tune," Fluttershy continued.

"And it seems I'll need to take my apple fritters off the menu," Applejack finished.

Flash's eyes went hide at this, confusion all over his face. "Why?! Cadance loves apple fritters. I know, we used to make them all the time....though mostly Cadance since Twilight can't cook anything that concerns heat, at least back when we were foals."

"Well according to Twilight, she threw away a bag of them that I gave her."

Now Flash was really confused. Cadance was not the kind of pony that would do that, he knew that for sure. He had spent years with her and Twilight, the three of them being especially close back then. But now, Flash knew something was wrong. With that, he lifted himself from the table, flexing his wings.

"Where are you going?" Rainbow asked, knowing the wing movements with ease.

"I'm gonna go talk to Cadance, just to see if she's really okay."

"Suit yourself," Applejack said with a roll of her eyes.

Flash flapped his wings and took to the sky, heading back towards the castle. If he remembered correctly, Cadance's room was just above the gardens, near the throne room. He soon arrived outside the room and knocked, not getting an answer. He knocked again, only for the door to go slightly ajar. Flash glanced inside, seeing nopony there, "Cadance?" He asked as he stepped in.

Flash looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. Nothing to explain on why Cadance would be acting so different from usual. Flash blinked at the room before spinning around, only to see Cadance standing with a frown on her face. "What are you doing in here?!" She asked in a low, almost harsh tone.

"I came to see how you were doing, but you weren't in here."

"So that gives you the right to snoop through my belongings?" Cadance hissed, walking up and glaring at the pegasi. Her horn began to flare as she was about to open her mouth again.

"Sorry," Flash interrupted, raising his hooves with a weak frown.

"Just go. I have to prepare for my dress rehearsal." Cadance grumbled as she pointed to the door.

"Sure," Flash began to make his way to the door, only to turn and ask, "But before I go, how are you feeling Cadance?"

"I'm fine," Cadance replied, not looking back at him.

"Are you sure?" Flash asked as he now stood there, unmoving. "Because I was talking to Gorgenia earlier and she said you were thinking of postponing the wedding until the security threat died down."

Cadance let out a small snort. "I was just being silly. I'm not ruining my special day because somepony wants to pick a fight."

"I...see." Flash commented, his voice starting to go deadpan. "And the reason you decided cancel Gorgenia's statue was..."

"I realized that I didn't need a pathetic statue to commemorate my wedding," Cadance huffed as she waved her hoof at him, trying to show pure disinterest. "Besides, everypony should be focusing on me, a true princess, and not a hunk of rock."

That was it. Cadance would definitely never say something like that.

Suddenly, something sparked in Flash's brain. What Grand Hoof had told him earlier replayed, with him going over every little detail. It didn't make any sense unless you add Flash's idea into it. It was that it made perfect sense....but there was only one way to be sure.

"Hey Cadance."

"Yes?" the pink alicorn slightly growled, Flash hearing how strained her voice was. Obviously, she was trying to stay calm.

"Do you remember when you first taught me how to fly?"

"Of course I do.".

"And how I crashed into that carrot dog stand and spent the next few weeks having to hand out carrot dog flyers to pay for it?"

Cadance let out a small chuckle at that. "Oh I remember that. I could tell you hated every minute of it." As she finished her chuckle, she turned to see a bright light at her neck. It was Flash pointing his Celestic Gear at her.

"I never crashed into a carrot dog stand," Flash said with a stern look on his face. "Instead, I crashed in your 'finance's' backyard with him and his little sister watching. You'd know that, if you were the real Cadance."

Cadance froze. She gave him a look of pure shock, only to quickly morph into one of dark humor. "I guess you're more than just a pretty face. And here I thought I had everypony fooled."

"You got the look and voice down, I'll give you that." Flash said with a slight shrug, his blade still at her throat. "But I know Cadance better than anypony. There's no way she'd do all the things I've heard you've been doing."

"I guess I should have made more of an effort," the fake Cadance grumbled, giving a look of pure disinterest despite the sword at her neck. "I thought Celestia was the only one I needed to really fool, but I guess I was wrong. Though to be fair, I'm betting its because you lot want me to suck up to all of you like the real Cadance would."

Flash didn't move, his pose like a statue as he asked, "I'd like to know how you managed to fool Shining Armor. He's the one pony I can think of that would be able to tell the difference more than me."

"Oh, he did." she replied, a low dark chuckle coming out of her throat. "But before he could act, I...persuaded him to not sound an alarm."

"Persuaded? What are you talking about?!"

The fake Cadance didn't respond. Instead, her horn began to glow a dark green aura. Before Flash could react, she unleashed a green burst of magic that struck him and sent him flying into the far wall. He slammed into the ground with a thud, his weapon flying out of his hooves. Seeing this, he tried to recover, only for a pink hoof to come down and step on the blade. Flash looked up to see the fake Cadance staring down at him.

"You could be a nuisance, though not much of one. After all, you're about to be under my control." She unleashed another green blast, which struck Flash in the head. "Obey me."

Flash's head felt like somepony was hitting it with a hammer, as the fake Cadance's voice began to echo in his mind. "No...no!"

"Don't fight it," she said, her voice starting to morph. It sounded like the sound of pure happiness, as if joy and goodness was warped into her voice. "Embrace me."

"No...I..."

"EMBRACE ME!" the fake Cadance yelled, her horn flaring. "Did you not hear me, I said-"

"NO!" Flash screamed, only for his eyes to shoot open and flash a light of vibrant gold. The light shot out his eyes, seemingly infecting the green magic before hitting the fake Cadance's horn. A small explosion followed as it sent her flying back, her body crashing through her makeup table.

Flash groaned as he rubbed his head. "What was that? What just...my head..." He started to get up, only to look at where the fake Cadance had landed. There, his eyes went wide, as a flurry of green fire consumed the pink alicorn. As the flames grew, the pony was replaced by a black creature that looked like the cross between a pony and an insect. She was the same height as Celestia and had a dark blue mane and tail, while her horn and legs had holes in them. A pair of hole ridden wings were on her back.

The insect creature picked herself up, looking down at herself before turning to Flash. "What are you?"

Flash just smirked as he stood up, lifting his weapon. "I don't know, but it seems I'm immune to your mind control. The question is, what are you?"

The creature just gave him a low, sinister smile. "I am a queen," her horn glowed again.

Suddenly, a circle of fire appeared around Flash, quickly changing into an orb of magic. The insect stepped up to the orb, her grin still shining. "Since I can't control you, I'll just keep you someplace so you won't be a bother."

The orb began to sink into the ground, taking Flash along with it. "You won't get away with this!" Flash cried in anger. "I'm not the only one who thinks something's wrong!"

"Like that matters," she replied in a low, uncaring tone. She watched as the last remnants of Flash and the orb disappear, only to start laughing as she transformed back into Cadance. "Pitiful pony trash. You have no right to stand against me."

Flash moaned as he regained consciousness, slowly opening his eyes to look around.

However, all he could see was darkness. Even his well trained eyes couldn't make anything out. As he picked himself up, his hoof touched something hard and cold. He flinched back, only for him to stare at his hoof. The touch felt...familiar. He touched the cold object again, only to grin as he grabbed the object. It was Lightbringer.

Grasping one end of the sword and focusing, Flash watched as Lightbringer's blade began to glow. He raised it above his head and illuminated the place he was in, revealing it to be a cave of some kind. The walls were made out of a purple crystal, which refracted the light of Flash's Celestic Gear.

"Where am I?" He asked as he flexed his wings and flew around, trying to find a way out. However, after a few different paths in the caves, Flash found no exit. he even increased the light of his blade, only to find nothing. Seeing this, he looked back at his sword and said to himself, "Alrighty, time for plan B. If there isn't an exit, I'll just have to make one." He leaned against the wall and started tapping it, but the sound he heard meant there was nothing but solid wall. He moved a few feet and did it again, only getting the same result. This continued for a few minutes, until he heard a slightly different sound. "Perfect." he stated as he leapt back and pointed Lightbringer at the wall of rock. "FLASH FORCE!"

A laser of light magic soon followed, blasting away an entire wall section. "Yes!" He cheered, spinning the blade in his hoof. "Who's awesome? I am! I am the-" he stopped his self-complimenting as his ears picked up something new. It sounded like...coughing. He tensed his grip on his weapon as he yelled, "Who's there?!"

Receiving no response except another cough, the pegasi walked into the hole he had created. He kept his hoof on his blade, ready to respond to any danger. That is, till he stopped at a new sight. There, at the end of another dead end in the cave, was a very familiar pink alicorn, who looked a little worse for wear.

The alicorn looked up and when she saw him, her eyes went wide before a smile appeared on her lips. "Flash? Is that you?"

"Cadance?" Flash asked with a suspicious look. He watched her get up to move over to him, but he kept his sword raised. "Don't make another move. I'm not-"

She flashed her hooves, interrupting him. "It's me! I'm the real Cadance."

Flash's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on his weapon. "Prove it. Now."

Cadance let out a small gulp before saying, "On my birthday the first year you were staying with Twilight, you got me a blue card with lightning bolts because you didn't know that was a boy's card. You kept apologizing for it after Twilight explained your mistake. Every year afterwards, you would make sure to get me the girliest card you could find."

The pegasi blinked for a second, his blade still dangling in the air. Cadance did another gulp as he stood there, only to see the sword slowly lower. As it did, Flash shined a big smile as he shot over and wrapped his hooves around her. "Cadance! It really is you!"

"Flash!" Cadance hugged back, her eyes beginning to tear up. "I'm so happy that you're here."

"How did you get down here?" Flash asked her as stopped the hug, leaning back. "And why is there some weird fake version of you in Canterlot?!"

Cadance frowned at this, letting out a low sigh. "That faker snuck into my room several nights ago and surprise attacked me. She used her magic to create some kind of slime that hardened around my body so I couldn't fight back. Then she transformed into me and sent me down into these crystal caves. The slime finally dissolved, but...it was too late. I was trapped down here."

"Why didn't you try to escape?" Flash asked as he looked over at where he had entered from his make-shift hole. There, he saw a long winding tunnel behind the alicorn.

"I tried, but-" Cadance tried to explain, only for the two to hear the sound of hoofsteps.

Flash quickly unsheathed his sword, putting his right wing in front of her. He turned around, hearing the sound coming from his hole from earlier. "Stay behind me Cadance, I'll-" Flash didn't finish as well, as the hoofstep's owner walked through the hole, causing him to go wide-eyed. "Twilight?"

The purple unicorn turned and blinked. "Flash?"

"Not you too," Flash muttered as he lowered his weapon. That is, till Twilight's eyes saw the alicorn behind him, causing her to flare her horn. Seeing this, Flash quickly moved in front of the princess. "Whoa there Twilight, stop! The one behind me is the good Cadance! I promise!"

"Out of my way Flash! She hypnotized Shining Armor!" Twilight cried as her horn continued to glow.

"That wasn't me," Cadance told her as she pushed Flash aside, walking towards her while crouching down. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves..."

"And do a little shake," Twilight ended, her horn calming down. She then smiled as she rushed up and threw her hooves around the alicorn. "It really is you."

"I'm so happy to see you Twilight," Cadance said as she hugged her back. "I'm so glad you two are here..."

The hug continued for another minute till Flash let out a small cough. Twilight tried to glare at him, while Cadance broke the hug as Flash said, "Don't mean to spoil the reunion, but we've kinda got a situation on our hooves."

Cadance nodded as she patted Twilight's shoulder. "He's right. We have to get out of here."

"That won't happen!" yelled a sudden voice. The three got into a fighting stance as they looked around for the source, only for an image of the fake Cadance to appear on the crystal walls.

"You!" Cadance growled.

"Well looky here," the fake guffawed. "Three little nuisances, all trapped together."

"Why are you doing this!?" Twilight barked back. "Tell us now!"

"She won't need to." Cadance said, causing the duo to glance at her. "She's trying to force Shining to drop the protection barrier."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because she's a changeling. They have the power to takes the form of somepony you love and gain power by feeding off your love for them. She has a whole swarm waiting outside the city, preparing to attack. But if they did, Shining's barrier would be able to send them all flying."

"Unless she weakens him too much to use it," Twilight finished before turning back to the image. "Is that what you're planning to do to my brother?!"

The changeling gave a huge grin. "Correct. Soon the barrier will be so weak that my army will be able to conquer Canterlot and devour all the love it has."

"Not if we stop you! We'll get the real Cadance out of here and reveal you for the fraud that you are!"

"That's very unlikely, you pony trash. There's a reason she hasn't already escaped. After all, my pet will keep you entertained." She laughed as her face vanished from the crystal.

"What did she mean by pet?" Twilight asked with a slight gulp.

"I'll show you," Cadance explained as she rushed back through the hole and into the chamber she had been trapped in. Following her, Flash and Twilight soon found the end of the tunnel, discovering a fifteen meter drop into a large chamber filled with cone like stalactites that were about twenty meters in height.

As they looked down, Flash looked up and saw a tiny, almost microscopic, light on the far side of the chamber. "There!" He yelled as he took to the sky and rushed towards it.

"FLASH WAIT!" He heard Cadance cry out, but it was too late.

WHAM!

Something suddenly shot out of the darkness and smashed into Flash, sending him flying into the far wall with such force that he actually dented it. "AUGH!" Flash moaned as he hit the rocks, his wings stinging in pain. He then looked at the perpetrator of his wound, only to gulp at the sight. It a giant creature that was red in appearance and had a snake like body with pincer-like claws half way down its body and a sharp stinger at the end of its tail. "Ah shoot...its a stinking Scorpentine." the pegasus whispered.

The monster looked down at Flash, its tail wrapped around one of the stalactites as it let out an angry hiss. It raised its pincer and shot it forwards, trying to strike the pegasi again. However, the defender shrugged off the rock and leapt out of the way, almost splitting fur as he dodged the claw. With this, he took to the air again, flying back into the tunnel where the girls were. The Scorpentine slivered up to the hole and peered into it. It was too large to do anything else, unable to fit into the tiny space.

Flash panted as he and the Scorpentine stared at one another, "So I'm guessing that that's what she meant by pet?"

Cadance nodded. "When I tried to escape, it attacked me as well. In my weakened state, I couldn't put up a good enough fight and was forced back in here."

"But we have to get past it!" Twilight yelled as she pointed at the monster. "Heck, how did a Scorpentine even get down here, especially at that size?"

Flash also wondered that, until he noticed the Scorpentine was actually looking at him alone. He moved from side to side and so did the Scorpentine's gaze, making him wonder why...unless.

"No way..."

"What? What is it Flash?"

"I think...I think this is the same Scorpentine that stung Scootaloo."

"That's impossible," Twilight told him as she tempted to slap his head at his logic. "Who could it get from the Everfree Forest into the undergrounds of Canterlot?"

Cadance shook her head. "Unless the changeling put it here Twilight. She must have grown it to this size and used the Everfree Forest to test it."

"Then she brought it down here to be a guard dog." Flash finished, crossing his hooves. "That's why it's focusing on me. It remembers me beating it..." Then, a smirk popped onto the stallion's face. "That's just...perfect."

"What are you planning?" Twilight asked him, gritting her teeth as she knew that look. That was the bad idea look.

Flash's smirk grew. "If it's gotta a bone to pick with me, I can distract it long enough for your two to get out of here."

Twilight let out a low groan. "Oh that is the dumbest thing I have-that's crazy Flash! We can't leave you to fight that thing alone!"

Flash turned to the duo, his smirk gone. Instead, a new expression showed itself, one of pure seriousness. "You have to. We have to stop that wedding and Cadance is the only one who can do that."

"But-"

"We don't have time to argue! This is our best option and you know it!" Flash saw the concerned look on Twilight's face, putting a hoof under her chin and making her look him in the eye. "I'll be fine. I'll take this thing down and be right on your tail."

"Promise?" Twilight asked, blinking at the pegasi in front of her.

"Promise." Flash nodded as he turned towards the Scorpentine and readied his Celestic Gear. "Give me ten seconds to get it away from you, then rush out."

"Got it," the two mares said in unison.

"Good. I'm counting on you two." Flash told them, his sword beginning to glow. "Flash Force!" He unleashed a beam of light, striking the Scorpentine's face. The beast yelped and moved away from the tunnel, allowing Flash to take to the air. "Come and get me ugly!"

The Scorpentine quickly recovered and turned to him, hissing as it started following after him. Flash looked back at the tunnel, only to see the girls starting to sneak away. He switched his focus back to the monster, only to see a tail come flying at him. "Whoa!" He cried as he dodged it, unleashing a Flash Cutter into the Scorpentine's tail.

Flash looked back at the girls, seeing they were now out of the tunnel. Smirking, he turned back to the beast with sword in hoof. As much as he would like to go with them, he knew the Scorpentine would just follow and put them all in danger. If he wanted to keep them safe, he needed to defeat the creature. Spinning the Celestic Gear in his hoof, he gave the monster a 'come on' stance with his hoof.

"Alright you overgrown garden snake, let's dance!"

A Canterlot Wedding PT2

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In the underground caves of Canterlot, something that one could only describe as a seizure of bright flashes and lights covered the area. As for why this was happening, it was one apprentice Flash Sentry fighting the super sized creature known as the Scorpentine.

"Flash Cutter!" The apprentice knight cried out as he swung his sword through the air, unleashing an energy blade at the snake scorpion hybrid. However, the Scorpentine simply swiped one of its pincer-like claws, deflecting the attack.

"Damn it!" Flash yelled as he landed on the side of a stalactite. This was the third attack the monster had destroyed with ease. It looked like the Scorpentine was much more powerful then the last time. Chrysalis must have used some kind of dark magic to increase its power, making it more dangerous than ever. Seeing this, the Scorpentine shot towards the pegasus, forcing him to jump away and barely miss the oncoming pincer attack. As he dodged this, the stalactite he was sitting on was turned to dust, causing Flash to gasp before spinning Lightbringer in his hoof.

"Flash Vortex!" He unleashed a tornado of light at the monster, only for it to shield its head with its pincers. The blast struck and consumed the beast, causing the stalactite it was wrapped around to crumble. The beast let out a yell as its body fell down from its lost footing. Seeing this chance, Flash put all of his strength into his back legs and kicked off the ceiling, spinning like a top at the beast. "Flash Driver!" Transforming into a shining drill, Flash flew at the Scorpentine as it began to regain its bearings. Unfortunately, it looked up and guarded its head again with its pincers. The drill struck said pincer, only to come to halting stop. "Aw, son of a-"

Flash's swear was soon interrupted as the creature's toxic stinger appeared, causing Flash to take to the air again. As he avoided a swipe of the tail, a pincer followed, slamming his stomach. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" he cried in pain as he flew into another stalactite, breaking through it before crashing into the cavern wall. A surge of pain unleashed itself into his nerves, causing him to fall and roll down a small rock formation, landing in a heap on the ground. "Ooooohhhhh...that hurt."

The pegasi blinked as he slowly lifted his head, only for his ears to pick a familiar hissing noise. Hearing this, he tried to move, only for his body to refuse to take his weight, his legs collapsing beneath him. "That's not good. That's really not-"

Flash's mouth stopped moving as he now saw a new sight. It was the Scorpentine, standing over him as he had successfully slivered up to the rock pile Flash was on. His body tensed before presenting its pincers and stinger, both primed to strike.

"Oh no...come on body, move!" Flash groaned as he shook on the ground. "Come on....come on! I'm not dying here!" Flash's eyes glared at the beast in front of him, the stinger almost over his body. "Come on....MOVE!"

WHAM!

That was the sound of the stinger hitting the ground, its toxin oozing out of the tip. However, the tip found not flesh, but rocks as it stood there, not hitting its target. The Scorpentine looked at the spot before looking up, only to see Flash standing tall, his body shaking as Lightbringer shook his hooves.

"Huff...huff...okay, I'm good." Flash panted, his body fully tense as it slightly staggered. It felt like his body had the strength of ten stallions, though his wings felt dead. Despite this, Flash began to hop backwards, as the monster's pincers were now its main source of attacking. The pincers repeatedly swung around, making Flash do repeating back flips as he dodged every blow.

As he did a third dodge, Flash pulled his weapon back, staring the beast down. "FLASH CUTTER!" He unleashed another energy attack, striking the Scorpentine in the right side of its head. As it reeled back, Flash felt his wings beginning to regain strength, causing him to take to the air once more. "Alright big guy, here comes the pain!"

Flash leapt in the air, his sword aiming directly into the Scorpentine's eye. The pegasis shot forward, ready to hit the orb, only for a pincer to ram into his waist, squeezing him. Flash wheezed as the air was pushed out of him. "That...pain thing....was supposed to be for you, not...me!"

The monster angrily hissed at Flash, slamming and dragging its pincer along the ground. Flash cried out as his upper body grinded along the stony surface, his wings feeling the jagged gravel. As this continued, Flash let out another scream, only to feel his body suddenly be flung into the air. With a painful thud, he nailed the rocky ground beneath him, his body finally giving up and refusing to move. Flash could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, his ears picking up the slithering monster in the distance. His eyes fluttered open, only to see a blurry image of the hybrid creature looking down at him, its tail raised to finally end it all.

Was this it? Was this how he died? Failing to protect those he cared about?

Time seemed to slow down, as the blurry tail began to descend towards him. His mind beginning to fade away.

"Ow!" Flash cried as he landed with a thud on the ground.

"That was good," he heard Cadance tell him. He looked up to see the teenage alicorn smiling down at him. "You were able to stay in the air for a good five seconds longer this time." Right now, the two of them were in Canterlot park, where Cadance was trying to teach Flash how to properly fly. Off to the side were Twilight and Shining, both watching the scene unfold.

The young colt just groaned as he picked himself up, dusting himself off as he moaned, "Yeah...but I barely got any higher than last time."

Cadance shook her head in disapproval, only to then pat Flash's head. "It doesn't matter how high you can fly. What matters is how long you're able to do it, and you're getting better each time."

"Doesn't feel like it," Flash said, only for his ears to pick up two new voices.

"Come on Flash! Flying can't be that hard!" yelled a certain Shining Armor as him and his sister both began yelling at the pegasus. "Just flap your wings and you'll get it!"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Did you not read that book on aerodynamics that I gave you?!"

Flash frowned at this, ready to reply. That is, till Cadance spoke up, "Be quiet! Until you two grow a pair of wings and become master flyers on your first try, you don't get an opinion!"

The two unicorns quickly shut up, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Princess of Love. "We'll be quiet," they both said in unison.

"Good," Cadance remarked as she turned back to Flash. "Now, let's try it again Flash."

"What's the point?" Flash grumbled as he sat down on his flank. "I'll never get this. Flying's supposed to be a natural thing for pegasi, but I can barely get off the ground. I'm hopeless."

"Don't be silly," Cadance told him, raising his chin with her hoof. "Just because being able to fly sets pegasi apart from other ponies, doesn't mean they're all supposed to be naturals at it. In fact, one of my pegasi friends called Diamond Rose is actually afraid of heights."

"She is?" Flash asked in amazement.

Cadance nodded. "Trust me, flying terrifies her. Besides, by your logic, unicorns should be able to use magic easily. You've seen how hard Twilight works to use her's, haven't you?"

Flash nodded, only to look away. The frown on his face grew as he flexed his wings to his sides. Seeing this, Cadance sat down next to him and placed a hoof around his shoulder, "Listen, I know you're frustrated, but you can't just give up on something you really want to do. As long as you keep trying and believe you can do it, then eventually something will just click and you'll have mastered it without even knowing you have."

Flash looked back at her, his lips quivering. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

Flash smiled before throwing his hooves around her waist, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "Thanks Cadance."

Cadance also smiled as she hugged him back. "Don't mention it Flash. I know you don't think you're anything special, but you're wrong. You are one of the most special ponies in Equestria, and one day, you'll show everypony that."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

As soon as those words left her lips, Cadance and the rest of the world vanished, leaving Flash in the empty nothingness.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!" Flash yelled, quickly jerking his head up. He began to pant, his eyes pulsating as he looked around as the memory ended. He began to shake his head, trying to regain his focus. He put his hoof over his forehead, letting out another moan before blinking, his focus finally returned. That is, till he looked around. Here, he saw that he was in a white void, a realm of nothingness but the color white.

That is, till he turned around and saw a screen. It was the Scorpentine, towering over his body as his stinger was about to strike. He flinched back at the scene, only to pause as he saw that the screen was paused. The monster wasn't moving, causing Flash to blink again. "Huh? What is going on? Wasn't I just fighting that...wait..."

Flash tapped his head again, rubbing it as he talked to himself, "Wait a minute. I was fighting the Scorpentine and then I remembered...." Flash's confused expression turned into one of a big smile, remembering the memory he had just relived. "That's right! Cadance...Cadance always believed in me! Even before I did anything amazing, she knew I could...no, she knew I would do it. I...I can't let her faith in me be wasted! I can't let myself lose here! I...I have to win!" Flash yelled at himself internally, looking up as he saw the monster still towering over him. He needed a way to turn the tables and he needed it now.

With that in front of him, he closed his eyes, knowing he had to figure out something. As he did, he leaned his head back, his mind melting as tried to think of solution. Then, he remembered.

The Theta State.

He had spent so long trying to master it these past few months. He repeatedly failed time and time again, trying to find some way to figure out the puzzle that was that power. It was here that he knew it would be the one thing that could save him, the one thing he needed for victory.

As he laid back, eyes still closed, he tried to clear his mind in the singular moment. Every feeling started to drift away, his mind slowly becoming blank. But as it did, he felt it again. Doubt. Doubts that he felt he still couldn't pull it off, he still couldn't win. But as he felt that, he remembered what Cadance had told him. He remembered about continuing to try when trying to accomplish something.

Then, he felt it. He felt the world start to slow down within his mind. The world around him began to falter and melt away, as if nothing was there. There was no cave, no monster, no one there but himself. The world changed around him, the white void being the only thing there besides the defender. As he did this, he felt his mind pulse back and forth, trying to return to the real world where the monster's stinger was waiting for him. However, his mind stopped this, continuing to stay in the calm, focused white void.

Here, he slowly focused his mind more and more, everything now gone. As he did, time had basically stopped outside, the stinger above him was almost a statue now as it froze above him. His focus continued to grow, yet his senses were not dulling. However, as he did this within the mind, he did not notice that something was coming up behind him. That something was a ball of golden light, which slowly floated up towards him inside that void.

Then in that moment, a tiny spark of the light flew off the ball and began to flicker over to Flash. Like a leaf in the wind, it flew over his head, landing on his forehead. As soon as it did, it exploded in a radiant burst of light, quickly spreading and consuming his entire body. In that split second, his body became a pillar of light, his entirety filled with shine like no other. All of him glowed except his eyes, which were closed shut. Then, as he felt the surge blast through him, he opened them, only for his sky blue colored eyes to disappear, and a new, blank white eyes with no pupils or irises to appear.

Despite this, Flash could still see. In fact, his eyesight felt better than ever. He knew then that he had done it. He had entered the Theta State.

THUNK!

The Scorpentine's tail strike had caused a giant dust cloud to be blown up, blocking the creature's view at where the apprentice knight was laying. However, the beast began to slight cackle, knowing it had hit its target. But as the dust cleared, the hybrid monster's eyes shrunk as it now saw that the pegasi was gone and its tail was once again stuck in the rocky floor.

The Scorpentine began to glance around, only to look upward, finally spotting Flash. There, it saw the flying pegasi, the pony now staring down at the creature with his blank white eyes. The beast hissed angrily as it raised its body and began to sliver up one of the stalactites towards Flash. Seeing this, Flash shot off the ceiling again, only for the monster to swing its claws at the pony. But as the claw grew closer, the pony vanished, only for two hooves to slam into the creature's face, causing it let out a groan of pain.

With this, the Scorpentine flinched back, raising its pincers again to ready for another strike. It soon flung them at the pegasi, only for time to slow down. Flash's new mental state had fully kicked in, and saw everything. Time felt like nothing as he watched the creature slowly make its way towards him. Seeing this, Flash dove forward, slipping through both pincers as his sword slashed the creature's chest.

The Scorpentine roared in pain as it thrusted its other pincer at Flash. As it did, Flash easily dodged it, allowing himself to see an opening in the pincer's armor. Cricking his neck in the split second, the defender performed a backwards slash, severing the beast's pincer with ease. The Scorpentine cried out in pain again, allowing Flash to perform the same maneuver on the other pincer.

As the new surges of pain flowed through the beast, its glared at Flash with bloodshot eyes. Letting out one last roar, its swung its stinger at the pegasi. In response, Flash spun in the air, blocking the attack with his sword. The force of the attack caused Flash to be pushed back to the ground, only for him to flex his back hooves as he propelled himself back into the air with one push. As he did, the stinger fell to the side, leaving the monster wide open. Seeing this, Flash charged forward, his blade bursting with magic. "FLASH CUTTER!" He swung the blade down, slicing the tail off with one clean motion.

Now completely disarmed, the Scorpentine cried out again in frustration. It was then that a bright light caught its attention and it looked up to see Flash, his sword raised as it shone brighter than a star. "It's over." He placed both hooves on his sword and shot towards the beast, the blade's light extending until it was about six feet long. "FINAL...STRIKE!" He swung his sword down, the light cutting straight through the monster. As it did, the magic of the blade surged, only for light to burst through the cave.

BOOM!

The chambers' walls were filled with light from the explosion, a dust cloud soon appearing where the Scorpentine had been. Seeing this, Flash collapsed down on his flank, panting heavily from exhaustion. He blinked and his eyes returned to normal, his breathing slowly pacing.

"Holy cow. That...was awesome." Flash commented, chuckling to himself. He couldn't believe that he had actually managed to not only enter the Theta State, but also used it to defeat something like a Scorpentine on his own. As he thought about what just happened, another alarm bell went off in his brain.

"Twilight and Cadance!"

Getting back up and flexing his wings, Flash shot into the air, flying towards the exit of the chamber that Twilight and Cadance had rushed out of. He flew at high speed through the tunnel system, trying to navigate it the best he could. Here, he saw a speck of light in the distance, realizing which way he needed to go. With this, he found an old mine cart, but ignored it due to his wings, quickly racing down the rails that the cart was attached to. With this, he saw a small hole in the distance.

"This must be how Twilight and Cadance got out," Flash told himself as he landed in front of the opening. As soon as he did, the brightness of the sunlight shone down upon him. He felt the fresh air hit his coat, refreshing him as he looked around and saw nothing but rocks. His ears picked up the sound of running water as well, telling him that he must be close to the city. Sure enough, as he flew around the rocks, he saw the waterfall that was near the city border.

That is, till he saw the city.

"Oh no."

Shining's protection spell was gone. The barrier was missing and all he could see was a mass of black creatures, all attacking the capital like a plague. His ears also picked up on the sounds of screams coming from the city, showing just how far the invasion had gone.

Shooting towards the city at his highest speed, Flash passed the entrance, only to find himself surrounded by the creatures. They looked like the changeling queen, but smaller and he could not tell if they were male or female. No doubt they were the drones that Cadance had told him about.

They soon charged at him, causing the defender to kick them away in a swift counter. But as he did, he saw three more in front of him, all ready to strike. As he did, Flash gulped as he soon noticed he was about to fight a full army alone. The thought alone made him wish he was back in the Theta State again. That is, till his eyes suddenly returned to the blank white form, the changelings around him quickly slowing down.

"No way..." he told himself before twirling his trusty sword in his hoof. "Flash Cutter!" He swung his sword around, knocking several changelings back. "And now...Flash Vortex!" A magic tornado soon followed, knocking away the rest of the group around him. Seeing this, Flash shot forward, only to see a volley of ten changelings trying to charge at him. But as they did, Flash smirked, as they were barely moving in his eyes. "Flash Force!" The sword shot out the magic laser, instantly blasting the changelings away. With this, the path was clear.

"Please don't let me be too late," he said as he took to the sky, trying to double his speed. But as he got closer to the royal building, he saw another swarm of changelings crowding around the entrance ground. His new state of mind giving him better vision, Flash found that he could see past the swarm, quickly seeing four certain ponies fighting the horde. Seeing them, the pegasi smirked again. "I don't think I'm too late yet. Here goes nothing!"

Grand, Iron, Heather and First were fighting at full-throttle, stopping the changelings from entering the castle

"Grand Impact!" Grand Hoof yelled as he slammed his war-hammer weapon into the ground, causing multiple stone shards to fly out at the swarm. As the rest of the insectoid creatures dodged the shrapnel, Grand pulled his hammer back, only to swat another part of the horde like they were flies.

"Bloom Coil!" Heather tossed her chain mace at a changeling, tying it up and dragging it through the air. It slammed into another changeling, and another and another before she whipped it towards the ground. Seeing this, she retracted the whip, only to switch it to the mace mode. With this, she started whipping the chain through the air, smashing changelings out of the sky.

"Iron Lance Fury!" The apprentice knight Iron pointed his spear at another section of the swarm, the head of spear extending. As it did, the blade glowed with power before unleashing a flurry of metal darts that struck the horde, knocking them all out of the sky. One by one they fell, making Iron smirk as he watched them. "This is too much fun." his weapon changing to a sword while his hoof was gesturing a 'come on' stance. "That's right, give me more to slaughter! Come on, ya filthy roaches!"

Meanwhile, First Aid was providing support to the three, while occasionally shooting down a changeling or two. "Celeritas Aid!" He fired a trio of green arrows, which struck the other knights and began to raise their speed. He watched with a smile as the three of them moved like lightning, smashing, slashing and whipping the invaders twice as fast as before. He then noticed another changeling, flying towards him with its fangs bared. "Aid Bolt!" He shot an energy arrow at the creature, hitting it in the chest and causing it to go limp as it fell from the sky. He then looked up at the swarm, frowning as it looked like there were just as many as before. "This is madness. No matter how many of them we defeat, their numbers do not seem to drop."

"That doesn't matter," Grand smashed another changeling's head. "We can't give up, no matter how hopeless it seems. We need to keep them out of the castle until Twilight and the others get back."

"Right!" The other three replied as they continued to fight against the changelings. But as they did, Grand looked up at the swarm, feeling the same hopelessness that First had mentioned. That is, till-

"FLASH DRIVER!" From out of the swarm came a shining drill, which cut a hole through the cluster of insectoid ponies and flew straight at the four of them. As it did, the dill disappeared and revealed a familiar orange pegasi who landed in front of them. "Sorry I'm late."

"Flash!" Grand cheered, happy to see his apprentice was safe after hearing Cadance and Twilight explain what had happened. "Good to see ya lad!"

"Same to you!" Flash replied before swiping his sword through the air, cutting down several changelings. He then turned back to the four, only to receive four gasps at the sight of his blank eyes.

"What the-what's with the eyes Sentry?!" Iron asked in an irksome tone. "That's just freaky..."

Flash just smirked. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to focus on taking these things out."

Grand shook his head in response. "No kiddo. Right now, you need to get to Canterlot Tower."

Flash looked back at his mentor after cutting down another changeling. "What?! I have to help you guys!"

Heather shook her head. "Twilight and the rest of your friends are on their way to get the Elements of Harmony. They're our only hope of stopping these things."

"But Celestia-"

"Has been defeated," First cut him off. "The changeling queen was able to overpower her due to Shining's love for Cadance."

Hearing this, Flash remembered what Cadance had told him about how changelings feed, making him sick to his stomach at a certain thought. "Please don't tell me Shining married that walking block of swiss cheese."

"He didn't," Iron told him as he punched a changeling in the face, a wicked grin on his face. "Twilight and the Princess got there just in time to stop the wedding, but not enough to stop the queen."

Grand smashed another changeling down before turning back to Flash. "That's why we need you with the others. Without you, the Elements are useless."

"But-"

"Flash!" Grand almost yelled as he smashed his hammer into the ground, unleashing another wave of flying rocks. "Right now Equestria needs its Element of Courage more than it needs an apprentice knight. Now GO!"

Flash wanted to argue more, only to then flex his wings. He looked back up at the swarm. "Fine, but I won't make it in time with all of these creeps in my way."

Grand walked up and patted his apprentice's shoulder. "Leave that to us. We'll give you a path, you just focus on getting through it."

"Here!" First pointed his crossbow at Flash and fired a green arrow, a burst of speed magic flowing through the defender's body. "That should help."

"Our turn!" Grand pointed his war-hammer at a section of the changelings. "GRAND FORCE!" Suddenly, a tornado filed with dirt and rock shot out the end of the weapon, striking the swarm of changelings like bowling pins. As they flew through the sky from the attack, a small opening appeared. "GO FLASH! NOW!"

Flash nodded and shot ahead. As he did, he instantly felt another group of changelings heading towards him, causing him to glance to the side. There, he saw a rain of iron darts fly by, knocking the group out of the sky. That is, till he looked at his other side, seeing a bum-rushing changeling. Flash gripped his blade for a counterattack, only for a chain mace to grab the changeling out of the sky, zipping him away from the defender.

"Don't screw this up Sentry!" He heard Iron yell at him as he reached the other side of the swarm. As soon as he did, he looked back, only to see the swarm turn back and encircle the four.

It took every bit of Flash's will to stop himself from going back and helping, knowing that his other friends needed him as well. "I'll be back, I promise." With that, he turned and flew towards Canterlot Tower.

He flew at near mach speed thanks to First's magic, making his way through the city. As he did, he looked down and saw that the changelings had captured many of the city's occupants, trapping them all in strange green slime cocoons. He bit his lip at the sight, making him want to fly down and save everypony he could. But he knew he couldn't, he had to get to Canterlot Tower.

Eventually, Canterlot Tower came into view and Flash looked to the entrance, where he spotted another swarm of changelings fighting against six familiar ponies. "Girls!" he exclaimed, seeing a flurry of blows as the girls fought the insects off. Flash smirked at the sight, gripping his blade as he was about to fly down to them.

That is, till he saw something in the corner of his eye.

It was one lone changeling doing nothing. He was just flying in place, a look of...curiosity on his face. Flash blinked at the sight, surprised that he wasn't just flying down, attacking anypony he could get his hooves on. Instead, it just...floated there.

Gripping his sword, Flash flew towards the changeling and body checked it. The two of them flew towards the ground and Flash slammed it into road. The changeling looked dazed for a moment, only to quickly recover when he felt something sharp touch his throat. Looking up, he saw the anger-filled face of Flash staring down at his, "Why aren't you attacking like the other insects?! What's your game?! TELL ME!!!"

Then, the changeling did something he was not expecting. It yelped a girly cry. "Please don't hurt me," the changeling said as it tried to hide its face in terror.

This made Flash pull his sword back in surprise, only to put it back at the neck a second later. "Don't try and pull the scared crocodile tears act. Why were you just floating there?! Were planning to do something to my friends?!"

However, the changeling just cowered more, still trying to hide its face. "Nothing! I swear to you! All I was doing was watching them."

"Why?!"

The changeling gave Flash a weak glance, its whole body shivering. "It's just...I've never seen friendship like that before. I was just curious, that's all."

Flash continued to stare at the changeling, trying to figure out whether or not it was telling the truth. His head was telling him that he should take this changeling down before it attacked, but his gut was telling him he should listen to what it had to say. As he did this, he remembered what his mentor would always say. 'Always trust your gut first kiddo. You'll survive a whole lot more battles that way.'. This saying usually followed a 'training beating' from his mentor, but that's besides the point.

Flash let out a huff before slowly removing his blade. "Alright...spill it changling. And make it quick, because I'm not feeling very nice today."

"Um...okay." the changeling squeaked, his shivering slightly lowering.

"First off, you have a name?"

"Thorax."

Flash gave him an odd look. "Gesundheit."

"No, that's my name, Thorax. And it's true that I'm a changeling, but I don't want to hurt anyone. Even though I need love to live, I don't want to force it out of someone."

Flash was not sure why, maybe it was his new theta state of mind, but for some reason he could tell that the change...Thorax was telling him the truth. Flash gripped his blade slightly before leaning down, glaring at him with his now-blank eyes. "Are there others who feel this way?" he asked. If there were more, then maybe they could help prevent this invasion.

Thorax shook his head rapidly. "I'm not sure. I've heard other drones complain about how hard getting food is, but...no one disobeys the queen."

Flash watched him continue to shake, fear all over his face. He blinked at the sight, surprised at what he was seeing. Maybe the changelings only followed this queen out of fear. If that was true, then showing them the ponies of Equestria would help them may allow them to stop the queen and earn their alliance.

Flash fully sheathed his sword and proceeded to get off the changeling. "Okay...if that's the case, leave Canterlot and don't come back."

Thorax showed nothing less than shock on his face from this. "Really? You're letting me go?"

"Don't make me regret it," Flash turned towards Canterlot Tower. He flexed his wings, ready to take off before he felt something grab his hind leg.

"Wait!" The changeling told him as he pulled the limb. "The queen knows about the Elements of Harmony, so she had a squadron of drones wait inside the tower. If you go in there, you'll be overwhelmed in seconds."

If that was true, then he needed to warn his friends. Flash looked back at the changeling and nodded. "Thank you...Thorax. Now, you'd better get out of here before we blast you and the others to the far side of Equestria."

"Um...thank you." The changeling replied, twiddling his hooves. As he did, he said one more thing, "Um...before you leave, could you tell me your name?"

Flash turned back to the tower, glaring at the fight in front of him. "Flash Sentry."

A second later, Flash was gone. He took the sky, ready to help his friends as the changeling watched him fly away. Thorax stood there, blinking in admiration of the following scene.

Once it was back in view, he spotted his friends still fighting the swarm on the bridge to the Canterlot Tower. He glanced tot he left, seeing a new swarm approach the group. "Not happening!" He charged his weapon and swung it through the air. "Flash Cutter!" The energy blade struck the changelings, knocking them flying as he landed next to the girls.

"FLASH!" They all cheered in joy.

Twilight rushed over to him, a huge grin on his face. "You're alright!" She was about to hug him, only to come to a screeching halt as he turned to her with his new blank eyes. "Oh my goodness! What happened to your eyes?!"

Flash gave her a weird look, only for brain to spark the memory of earlier today. He gave her a shrugging wave of a hoof. "Relax, I'm good. Check it out, I'm in the Theta State!"

"You are?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"Yeah!" Flash nodded, only to spin around simultaneously punch three charging changelings, dodging each of their blows like it was nothing. As he did this, Flash swung his blade again, shooting out another energy blade that knocked the rest of the horde away.

"Whoa!" they all went once the last changeling flew through the air from the blow. However, another swarm was making its way towards them.

"Come on, we have to get the Elements now!" they heard Twilight tell them. They turned towards the tower, only for Flash to hop over them and land in front of the wooden frame.

"Wait. I've been told that there's another swarm in there. They know about the Elements and they're waiting for us in there."

"And you know this how?" Rainbow asked.

"Just trust me. If we go in there, we'll be trapped."

"But we need the Elements," Twilight replied, pointing at the door. "They're our only hope."

Flash nodded as he tightly gripped his blade. "I know that, but we need to be careful. I'll go in and break them up, then you girls follow me."

"Right!" The others agreed.

Flash smirked before turning to the door, spinning the blade in his hoof again. With this, he pulled back his hoof, punching the door open with a mighty thud. As he did, he pointed his blade forward. "Flash Force!" A laser blasted out of the sword, instantly scattering the group inside. He then rushed inside, the girls following suit while shutting the door behind them.

The following battle was nothing less than insane. The defender and his friends charged in, battering and beating every insect pony in the way. Everywhere Flash looked, a changeling was there, ready to be knocked away. He had lost sight of the rest of the girls as he continued to fight, but he knew they were doing okay. After all, a few purple flashes were going on a ways off, showing him that Twilight was still fighting.

Just as he had cut down another changeling, Rainbow landed near him, knocking another away. "They're endless," she said.

"Just keep going," Flash told her. "We just have to-"

"STOP!"

Suddenly, everypony in the building froze, looking over and seeing Twilight on the ground. Standing above her was a changeling drone with red spines and purple wings, who was pinning the unicorn down while having one hoof on her head to keep her horn aimed away from him.

"Don't move!" The changeling growled. He then lowered his head with his mouth open, showing a pair of sharp fangs that he traced along Twilight's neck. "Surrender, or this one gets it."

The six other ponies stared at each other in shock, before turning to each other as if to ask what to do.

"Don't do it!" Twilight struggled against the changeling. "I'm not worth it!" But the changeling then poked her neck with his teeth, making the others' decision obvious.

"You are to us," Flash told her as his eyes returned to normal. He threw his weapon to the ground while the others gave themselves up.

"Secure that one!" The changeling pointed at Flash, who suddenly found himself encased in the same green goo he had seen other ponies captured in. It hardened, and soon everything but Flash's head was trapped inside the green, rock like substance.

Seeing this defeat, Twilight started to cry. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Twilight," Flash told her, his body trying to shake in the green cocoon.

Soon, she and the others were also secured as the lead changeling turned to the swarm. "Let's see what our queen wishes to do with them."

Meanwhile...

Back at the castle, the queen of the changelings Chrysalis watched as her drones finished encasing Celestia inside a cocoon. She then looked at where she had trapped Cadance, alongside Trixie, Spike and a still hypnotized Shining Armor. She chuckled at the sight, only for the door to suddenly open. Following the moving wooden frame was a group of drones, all of them carrying the four Royal Knights that had been fighting outside the castle. The knights were all trapped inside the same green slime cocoon as the princess, soon tossed aside like garbage.

Chrysalis laughed at the sight. "Perfect! Just perfect! Now that the Royal Knights have been defeated, nothing will stop me from feeding on Equestria's love."

Trixie turned to the princess and dragon. "This is bad. What can we do?"

"I don't know," Cadance replied, irking at the sight before her. "We have to do something..."

"Trying to come up with an escape plan, are we?" They all turned to Chrysalis, a huge vicious smile on her face. "It won't work. Nothing can stop me now."

Cadance gave the queen a dirty look, hissing. "Twilight can. She and her friends will defeat you."

But in that moment, the door opened, with Twilight, her friends and some changelings walking inside. A trio of changelings flew in carrying the incapacitated Flash, who they tossed to the floor. Chrysalis smirked before turning back to Cadance. "You were saying?" She turned towards Twilight and gave her an evil smirk. "You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you?" She then looked at the red finned changeling that had captured them. "Excellent work Pharynx."

The changeling bowed. "I live to serve, my queen."

Chrysalis nodded and waved her hoof at the rest of her subjects. "Now...go! FEED!" The changelings nodded before almost all of them rushed out, Pharynx being the only one to stay in the room. Chrysalis continued to laugh before placing her hoof under Twilight's chin. "It's funny really. Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along. Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct." She laughed louder as she flew through the room.

Applejack walked up to Twilight. "Sorry, Twi. We should've listened to you."

Twilight just shook her head. "It's not your fault. She fooled everypony."

"Not everypony." They all turned to see Flash, now awake and trying to break his containment. "Some ponies noticed, like you, me and Gorgenia. She didn't think we were a danger, so she put up a half-hearted act."

Chrysalis continued to laugh as she stepped over to the trapped pegasus. "And I was right. You weren't a danger. Even though you managed to defeat my Scorpentine, you weren't able to stop me."

Flash scowled at the changeling queen, "Why are you doing this?! They must be a way for your swarm to feed on love without forcing us to give it to you. Don't you care about anything else?!"

"All I care about is finding food for my subjects!" Chrysalis barked back. "A piece of garbage like you wouldn't understand!"

"And what about your subjects? Don't you care about how they feel?"

"They are my only concern."

Flash let out a snort, giving her a deadpan stare. "Then you should know that not all of them are happy about this invasion. I met one who felt horrible about it. He even told him about the changelings you hid in the tower."

This caused everypony to take on a look of surprise. That is, except Pharynx, how stepped up to the trapped pony. "Silence pony! Your lies will not trick us! No changeling would betray the hive!"

"His name was Thorax!"

That made Pharynx and Chrysalis back step in surprise, only for the queen to frown. "That problem child again. I've had enough of his insolence. Pharynx, find your brother and bring him to me!"

"Yes your majesty!" Pharynx saluted before flying out the door to search for the changeling.

Flash continued his struggle, growling at the insect before him. "Aren't you listening?! Thorax doesn't want to attack ponies, and maybe he's not the only one. If you were a real queen, you'd listen to what your subjects have to say."

"SILENCE!" Chrysalis screamed as she rushed towards the pegasi, lifting him by the throat with her magic. "I AM THE QUEEN! MY SUBJECTS WILL DO AS I TELL THEM, AND ANY WHO REFUSE WILL BE PUNISHED!" She then leaned over, her face directly in front of Flash's. "And because Thorax told you that, I will personally punish him in front of you to show him how useless he is for the hive."

Flash felt the tight grip around his throat, preventing him from breathing. But even so he would not let her intimidate him. "You're describing a dictator, not a queen."

"BE QUIET YOU FILTH!" Chrysalis yelled, lifting the pegasi right out of the slime with her magic. As she did, she flung him across the wall, his body slamming the stone with a might thud. With the pain that followed, the defender fell to the floor, almost instantly losing consciousness. He tried to lift a hoof, but after almost two days of no sleep, constant fighting and injuries, his body went limp like a ragdoll.

"FLASH!" His friends all cried out in shock as they rushed over to him. As they did, Chrysalis could only laugh, turning to a nearby window. There, she saw all of her drones swarming the city, pillaging the love in the city. Seeing this, she continued to laugh, ignoring everyone else.

Flash slowly opened his eyes and saw his friends staring down at him in fear. "Are you alright?" Twilight asked him, tearing up again.

Flash weakly nodded, most of his body still not moving. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." He looked over at Cadance, then at Chrysalis. "Quick! Before she sees, help Cadance."

Twilight looked back at the laughing changeling, seeing her looking away, and nodded. She slowly crept towards the princess of love. "Cadance! Go to him while you still have the chance!" she whispered as she used her magic to remove the holding slime.

Once she was free, Cadance slumped over and began to crawl over to her finance. There, she saw his blank hypnotised face, almost making her want to cry as she hugged him. Doing so caused her horn to spark, unleashing a small heart from the appendage. The others watched in amazement as the heart flew from her horn towards Shining's face, creating a flash of pink light that enveloped the two. When it faded, Shining opened his eyes and revealed they were no longer green. The spell had been broken.

"Alright!" Flash muttered, finding it hard to even keep his eyes open.

Shining held his head, shaking it as he felt nauseated. "Ha–where...huh? Is...is the wedding over?"

Everypony smiled at seeing him back to normal. That is, till Chrysalis landed in front of them, glaring at the bride and groom. "It's all over!"

Twilight felt a wave of shock at her sudden appear, only to quickly turn to her brother. "Your spell! Perform your spell now!"

"Blast her and her army to the far reaches of Equestria!" Flash barely yelled. "DO IT!"

However, Chrysalis just laughed. "What good would that do?! My changelings already roam free! I've already won!"

Shining's eyes went wide as he heard this. He then closed his eyes and tried to fire his shield spell, only to get a single spark. "NO! My power....my power is useless now. I don't have the strength to repel them." But in that moment, Cadance moved over and hugged him yet again.

"My love will give you strength!"

Chrysalis laughed again. "What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment! You're finished!"

"Don't listen to her!" The two turned to Flash. "If friendship can defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord, then an equally powerful force like love is sure to have the same power!"

The royal couple nodded at the pegasus. Shining once again tried to spark his horn, only this time, Cadance placed the tip of her horn on his and created an electrical link. Everyone watched as the power of their love began to build, creating a brilliant pink light that enveloped the two. Then, Shining and Cadance began to levitate as the light grew ever brighter.

Chrysalis saw this light and backpedaled, shocked at what she was seeing. "What is...what is this?! What's going on?!"

Suddenly, the two lovers opened their eyes, which were glowing pure white, the pink aura surrounding them changing to a brilliant white. As it did, the magic they were generating exploded, unleashing an energy wave that flew throughout the room. It passed the ponies, all of them feeling a warm comforting feeling, completely unharmed. But when it struck Chrysalis, she suddenly found herself being blasted out the window.

"NOOOOO!!!" she yelled, flying into the distance. All throughout Canterlot the love blast swept through the city, causing any changeling it touched to be sent flying to the furthest reaches of Equestria. Canterlot, was saved.

Back in the castle, the light finally faded and everypony looked around to see that not one changeling was left. Twilight rushed over to Celestia while Flash slowly got up, feeling what could only be his fifth or sixth wind. He then moved to where the Royal Knights had been held. The love wave had also destroyed the cocoons holding them, so the three of them were beginning to get up.

"You four okay?"

Grand just smiled at his apprentice. "We're fine kiddo."

"Just a little bruised," Iron agreed as Fluttershy helped him up.

With this, everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Everypony had been saved, and it had been thanks to the couple of the day. With that, Twilight and the others helped everyone in the room, slowly helping them recover from the invasion. As they did, Celestia told Twilight that they should still do the wedding, which everyone agreed to.

At the same time, Flash found out that his little sister Scootaloo was thankfully safe. She had been with Night Light and Twilight Velvet, and as soon as she saw Flash, she leapt up and hugged her big brother, "I was afraid I'd never see you again." she said as she started to cry into his chest.

Flash smiled and hugged her back. "I'm fine. A little tired, but all in all, I'm fine." He turned to his foster parents. "Thank you."

The two nodded. "She is part of the family," Velvet told him before looking over at her other children, pulling them both into a hug. "We were so worried about you."

"We're fine mom," Twilight assured her.

Shining nodded. "Yeah, we are."

Celestia smiled as she moved over to them all. "Well then, we'd best get ready for a real wedding."

Everypony nodded with a smile.

Pinkie leapt in front of them, confetti flying everywhere. "This is gonna be the BEST WEDDING EVER!"

And so, the preparations were underway.

Twilight, Cadance and the girls went off to get everything ready, while Shining, Flash and the knights worked to make sure Canterlot really was changeling free. Once they were sure, they returned to the castle to find Twilight, Pinkie and Cadance with a bunch of musical equipment. They moved over to them and Flash looked the stuff over. "Hey, what's all this?" It was then that he recognized an electric guitar Twilight was carrying. "What the-that's mine!"

"Good eye," Twilight magicked it over to him. "You, Iron, Heather and First are gonna be playing at the reception."

"WHAT?!" The four of them yelled in unison.

Pinkie hoped in front of them, a slight frown on her face. "The DJ's equipment got damaged, and Celestia mentioned you all play an instrument."

Flash turned to the others with a raised eyebrow. "You do?"

The others just shrugged.

"Bass guitar," Heather replied.

"Keyboard and saxophone," First continued.

"Skybreaker made me learn the drums to work out my aggression," Iron finished.

Twilight chuckled at their responses before patting Flash's shoulder. "Great, you'd better get to practicing then."

Flash turned back to her, glaring, "Now hold on, we didn't agree to this!"

Before Twilight could reply, Cadance appeared, giving Flash her best puppy dog eyes. "Please Flash, it'd mean a lot."

Flash's eyes twitched at the sight, only to let out a long sigh. "Ugh...fine. Let's do this." With that, the other knights grabbed their equipment and rushed after him, leaving Shining and the girls. Twilight and Cadance high hoofed in joy.

Eventually, everything was prepared and the wedding guests returned to the castle.

Flash was standing besides Twilight and Shining Armor, waiting for the ceremony to begin. He looked around, seeing Velvet and Night in the front row beside Grand, Heather, First and Iron. He then spotted Trixie, Solid Script, Wild Smile and finally Gorgenia, who had managed to complete her stone statue just in time. The rest of their friends were standing on the other side of the alter, all dressed in their amazing bridesmaid dresses. Flash looked down to see the suit he was wearing, the same one he had worn to the gala.

Then, Fluttershy's birds began playing the wedding march as the doors opened and the crusaders skipped inside while throwing flowers along the ground. Flash smirked at seeing his usually tomboyish sister in a dress.

As they finished their entrance, the beautiful bride that was Cadance walked into the room.

"Seriously, though," he then heard Twilight say to Shining. "I get why the queen of the changelings wanted to be with you, but how did you get someone as amazing as Cadance to marry you?"

Shining just chuckled at this. "I told her she wouldn't just be gaining a husband. She'd be getting a pretty great sister, too." Flash saw Twilight smile hearing this, causing him to smile and his friends happiness.

Finally, Cadance arrived at the alter as Shining stepped forwards. The two smiled at each other and turned to Princess Celestia, who began to speak. "Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza–"

"Princess Cadance is fine," the bride corrected her.

Celestia nodded. "The union of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable." She turned to Spike, the ring drake. "May we have the rings please?" The little dragon nodded and presented the rings, which the princess of the sun magicked onto the royal couple's horns. "I now pronounce you mare and colt!"

Everypony cheered and applauded as the two kissed. Once that was done, they stepped out onto the balcony were a large crowd had gathered to see the happy couple. As they watched the two wave to the crowd, Celestia turned to Twilight. "This is your victory as much as theirs. You persisted in the face of doubt, and your actions led to you being able to bring the real Princess Cadance back to us."

"You too Flash," Grand told his apprentice, patting his back. "You trusted your gut and because of that, Twilight and Cadance were able to escape."

Celestia nodded. "Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn."

They watched as the royal couple once again kissed, only for Celestia to whisper something to Rainbow. The next thing they knew, the speedy pegasus zipped out of her dress and into the air, before-

BOOM!

A Sonic Rainboom exploded and Rainbow flew over the city while her namesake flowed after her, arching over all of Canterlot.

Soon, the sun was set and the moon raised as the reception was about to start. Flash, Iron and Heather were setting up their instruments, while First was softly playing his keyboard as the bride and groom danced a slow dance. The others were watching them waltz, until they noticed somepony flying towards them. Looking up, they saw that Luna and Springer had arrived, landing nearby.

"Hello everypony," the princess of the night said as she walk up to the group of friends, the jakhowl on her back quickly hopping off. "Have we missed anything?"

"Oh, you would not believe us if we told you princess," Trixie told her teacher as she gave her a quick hug.

"Oh yeah? Wait until you hear what happened to me," Springer commented as he began to look around for his partner. "Where's Flash?"

The others pointed to the stage, only to see Pinkie and Twilight as Pinkie hopped onto the platform. There, Pinkie shined a huge smile before yelling, "Let's get this party started!"

Iron nodded before tapping his sticks together. The four of them then started playing their music, all working in perfect harmony.

Pinkie then threw a microphone at Twilight, who caught it with her magic. There, she stood next to Flash, both started to sing,

(Both)
Love is in bloom!

(Flash)
A beautiful bride.

(Twilight)
A hansom groom.

(Flash)
Two hearts, becoming one.

(Twilight)
A bond that cannot be undone.
Because-

(Both)
Love is in bloom!
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom.
I said love is in bloom!
You're starting a life and making room, For us!

Everypony started dancing to this. Pinkie and Wild, Soarin and Rainbow, Spike and Sweetie, all were having fun. Flash even spotted Trixie and Script together. Everypony was enjoying themselves as the second verse started.

(Twilight)
Your special day.
We celebrate now...the pony way.

(Flash)
Your friends are all right here.
Won't let, these moments disappear.
Because-

(Both)
Love is in bloom!
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom.
I said love is in bloom!
You're starting a life and making room, For us!

(Iron, Heather and First)
For us... For us... Aaaaah...

Eventually, the song came to an end and the crowd continued to cheer. As it did, Shining and Cadance were now about to head off to their honeymoon. They were walking over to a guard drawn carriage, where Flash and Twilight were waiting for them.

Shining smiled at the two. "Twily, Flash. None of this, could have been possible without the two of you. Love you guys."

Twilight and Flash smiled back, only for Twilight to rub up and hug her brother. "Love you too, BBBFF!"

As they both hugged, Shining look up and smirked at Flash, "Oh no you don't," Shining grabbed the pegasus and hugged him as well.

"Okay, okay..." Flash laughed before hugging back.

Shining pulled away and got into the carriage with Cadance. "Ready to go?"

Cadance was about to nod, only to hop in place and looked down in the carriage. "Oh, almost forgot." She hung out the window and tossed her bouquet towards a group of mares. "Heads up everypony!"

"IT'S MINE!" Everypony heard Rarity scream as she pushed passed the other mares and grabbed the flower arrangement. The fashionista smiled down at the bouquet, only to see the other mares glaring at her, making her laugh nervously.

Her friends all laughed at this while turning toward the carriage as it was pulled away. "Now this, was a great wedding."

"Oh yeah," they all turned to Spike, who had an especially big grin on his face. "Just wait until you see the bachelor party."

They all laughed once again, soon turning to watch the carriage disappear into the distance. Once it was gone, the lot of them found a table to rest after their particularly trying day. As they did, Springer and Luna walked up to the table, where Flash quickly gave him a hug.

"Hey buddy!" Flash said as he continued to the hug. "So good to see ya!"

"Hey Flash." Springer replied, barely returning the hug.

Feeling this, Flash ended the hug and leaned down, a look of concern already on his face. "You okay buddy?" Flash then saw the slight frown on Springer's face. "What's wrong? Did you not find another jakhowl?"

"I uh...well, a lot happened Flash." Springer muttered, slowly turning back to his seat. As he did, Flash wanted to reply, only for a hoof to appear in front of him. It was Luna, who gave him and the rest of the group a stern stare.

"Allow me to explain. I went to my sister over what we found while you were having the party and it is very....disturbing news." The others all shared a quick glance, they didn't like the sound of that. Seeing this, they all settled in their seats, Flash keeping a wing of Springer as he sat down beside him.

One tale later...

"A Trickster?" Twilight asked in amazement once the story finished. She began rubbing her chin in thought. "Hmmm...I think I remember seeing one of those in the same book we used to find out about Springer."

"Indeed." Luna sighed, shaking her head. "They are a crafty, vile lot. As you can see, though they are like the changelings you fought today, their abilities can be considered to be much more dangerous. After all, it only took one of them to throw that entire town into chaos."

"Hold on," Flash waved his hoof before pointing at his partner. "This...'Trickster' thing attacked Appleloosa and the Dragon Lands just to get after Springer? Why?"

Luna let out another sigh. "It is in the Trickster's nature to do this. Tricksters are...they have always been creatures that prey upon the jakhowls and vice versa. They are two species that are always in conflict." Luna then bit her lip as she said her next words, "And it seems this Trickster is especially nasty. He caused some serious trouble for us in Appleloosa."

"That's worrisome." Twilight commented, giving Springer a soft glance as she saw that he was still depressed. "Are you okay Springer?"

"I'm uh...I'll be okay." Springer muttered, staring at the table. "I just wish I beat him...but instead, I failed and-"

Flash shook his head before grabbing Springer, hugging him fiercely, "Don't you dare say that! You did your best buddy, that's all we can ask from you!"

The others nodded in agreement while Luna patted Springer's head, "Indeed. Your friends are correct Springer." She then gave him a playful nudge and wink, "Besides, I made sure not to tell them of your...new ability."

"New ability?" Flash leaned back before cocking an eyebrow. "What's she talking about buddy?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that..." Springer admitted as he raised his right paw, "Watch this." Clenching the paw, three white dagger-like appendages appeared over the paw. The others all leaned back at the sight, surprised at the sudden power while Springer just chuckled at their reactions. He gave Flash a cocky smirk before saying, "Like it? I call it 'Steel Paw'."

"Whoa...that is cool buddy." Flash said while nodding. "Its like...you have a metal claw on your paw. That's wicked."

"I know." Springer then retracted the move, giving the paw a glum look. "Unfortunately, I can only summon it in my right paw right now." He gave Flash a big smirk, "Guess that means more training, eh?"

"Sounds good to me." Flash laughed back, patting his partner's head.

"Ugh, you two are such meatheads." Twilight commented while rolling her eyes. "We just finished the wedding and you're already talking about training."

"Same to you bookworm." Flash barked back, sticking his tongue out. "Pretty sure you're ready to go hide yourself in the library, reading twenty books before talking to another pony."

"What?! Why you little-"

As the two just decided to start bickering, Luna gave the others a curious glance before asking, "They still haven't figured it out, have they?"

"Nope." Everyone replied in unison.

"And it'll never change." Springer added as he leaned back in the chair, his glum look returning.

As it did, Flash stopped and hugged his partner again. "Hey! Cheer up buddy. Stop looking so down in the dumps."

"But-"

"Don't think for a second that that town being under attack is your fault." Flash interrupted, "Its Shade's fault that he attacked the Appleloosa. Besides, if he ever shows up again, we'll stop him. Especially now that I've mastered the Theta State."

"I'm still amazed you can do that," Twilight told him with a slight huff.

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "So, can you like...go in and out of it?"

"Pretty much," Flash replied with a shrug. He blinked and his eyes returned to the blank whites, showing he was in the Theta State again. He then blinked again and they were back to normal.

"Freaky," Applejack muttered, almost leaning back from the sight.

Twilight agreed. "It's like your switching it on and off like a light switch."

Fluttershy looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"The Theta State shouldn't be so easily achieved," Twilight explained while giving Flash a fixed glare. "Even for somepony who's done it before, it shouldn't mean that they can go in and out of it like Flash is."

Pinkie scratched her head. "So, its like he's got some kind of...Theta...Mode?"

"Theta Mode," Flash thought this over before smiling. "I like it. Alright, Theta Mode it is."

Twilight let out a slight huff. "But that doesn't explain how you're able to do it."

Flash just shrugged. "At this point, I'm just rolling with it. What matters is, we managed to stop the changelings and Cadance and Shining got their happily ever after. I'm good for now."

The others agreed, with Twilight eventually doing the same. They may have another mystery on their hooves, but for now, they would just enjoy the happy ending they had worked so hard to achieve.

-The End-

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S2

by Banshee531

Relics of the Past

Ponyville's New Defender

Aura Brothers

Luna Eclipsed

Cutie Pox

Walking a Mile in Each Others Horse Shoes

Baby Cakes

The Last Roundup

The Skies the Limit

Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

Into the Forest

Family Bonds

Hearts and Hooves Day

It's About Time

Dragon Quest

Hurricane Fluttershy

Ponyville Confidential

The Misadventures of Springer 2: Dreams of a Jakhowl

A Canterlot Wedding PT1

A Canterlot Wedding PT2